worn out.

V For Vergessenheit geraten

Everything, in the end is for nothing, Atsu had realized this at a very young age. That everything would lead to emptiness an a void that couldn't be filled by money, or friends, or fame. A void, that's where he was, fretting over which direction to turn on a forked path in the middle of nowhere. A complete darkness looming over him.

They had a new student today, a girl with pink hair and purple eyes, it vaguely reminded Atsu of those twins from chapter three, excluding the prologue. His dark eyes wandering around with something akin to sehnsucht. Something he cannot describe anymore, a warm feeling he is deprived of. A longing for something unattainable.

The sky is orange and purple, pink clouds float aimlessly in the tinted abyss of the world. He twists the rustic doorknob, opening the molding wood, the classroom is empty. Abandoned and alone, sometimes wonders what that would be like, to disappear, or as his uncle would say vergessenheit geraten: to be forgotten.

Atsu had gotten to school early that day. Early enough that the block of machinery that sat next to his desk was still figuring out it's data. He sits down in his seat, black waves settle over his charred eyes.

"You're the AIFA, correct?"

It beeps, glitching awake. A teen esque program showed on the screen, purple hair and dead, rustic carmine eyes. She wears the uniform shirts, or at least the collar from what Atsu can tell. His eyesight seems to have been deteriorating these past few days.

"Yes that would be correct. You are Atsu Hino, yes?"

"Hm, yes."

Both voices mimic one another, blind of wavering in tone. Emotionless. Blank, he truly is a robot, isn't he?

"So our parents will be working with each other."

"I suppose so."

The screen pixilats, fading green cubes on the corners of the screen until it becomes a sleek black.

"I wish you luck."

He puts his head on his arms, his vision disappears and a virtual sea comes to his blind eyes and he can't breathe, the air tastes like dust.

_

Atsu wakes up to the sound of Kerosensei giggling. It's a terrible sound, truly, hideous and childish and nasally. Atsu hates it, he decides.

"Hn, well then. Welcome to E-class, Autonomous Intelligence Fixed Artillery!"

No, Atsu just hates this teacher, his voice, his motivation, his smile. It's all to similar to her. She smiled widely, she did voices whenever he wasn't smiling. She made him laugh, even if her eyes were sad, she made him happy. What did he do in exchange? He let her drown. How pathetic.

"Thanks you Kerosensei, I certainly appreciate it." Her voice drones on, it is like his, blank. Motionless. Empty.

His head is pounding again and get can't breathe. His thoughts are choked in the dusty air and he'd rather taste copper, because when he tasted copper he could breathe.

The air is covered in a thick blanket of tension, the only sound is the broken clock with worn hinges ticking loudly and chalk on the blackboard. Kerosensei holds a book in his right tentacle, Atsu scribbles that down, mayhaps it will come in handy. Destroy the right tentacle before the left, step one.

If Korosensei is dead, Atsu can go back to normal classes. He just hopes he's not to sick by the time he makes the perfect plan. He needs to do this, the Earth needs to make it past March because it's Kanashi's birthday in April.

He's too distracted, he only breaks out of his stupor when gunshots ricochet off the walls. "Hold kjeft, jeg prøver å komme en plan." Atsu mumbles, the machine hears and responds.

"Jeg beklager hino, det er i min programmering å drepe målet."

"Du vet norsk?" The class is staring now, eyes glued to the conversation. Staring and probing with their minds, the only one that knows a lick of the language is Irina, and she's only conversational. She only takes in bits and pieces, humphing at anything she doesn't understand.

"Ja, Hino."

He let out a suspiration, his lips trembling with annoyance. "Well that sucks."

"Recalculating trajectory, redirecting angle, and turning auto-evolution phase twenty-eight-zero-two."

Green data shows on the midnight screen, scrolling back into oblivion. The teacher copies this, his face strip with viridescent. "Tisk tisk tisk. Stubborn artillery."

Shots fire again.

Atsu gives up on the utopia of silence, so he goes back to staring out the window. Birds are far more interesting than people anyway.

_

He woke up coughing. Not that it's never happened before, but he woke up coughing. His lungs burned and his mouth tated tangy and bitter. Like salt and pennies.

The odd thing is he doesn't remember falling asleep. Only that Turasuka was the one that woke him up. Atsu sputters, something sticky leaves his mouth onto the wheathered desk. It leaves a crimson stain on the wood. "Dritt."

"What the hell does that mean, Robot?"

Terasuka is calm, it's unlike him, Atsu knows. "Jeg ikke vet."

"Fine don't tell me I don't care, I'm'una ask you to do me a favor seeing as I woke you up. Help me tape the machine will ya?"

"Sure, why not."

And so they did, restraining the machinery down until the golden sun dripped out of the lavender sky and midnight dyed the world above their heads.

Atsu walked home, his feet scuffling on the path down the mountain, Terasuka following behind, whining at the branches as they hit him.

"Yo' Hino,"

"Yes, Terasuka?"

"You said you can feel pain right?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you flinch when the guns went off, any sane person would've, if they're not deaf."

The sound of the woods echoes around them. Owl callings and croaking frogs, all sorts of scammering in the dead leaves and cold wind.

"I just have a high pain tolerance is all, I got hurt a lot as a kid, so I guess I'm used to it."

"One more question. Why did'ya' cough up blood before?"

V is for Vergessenheit geraten;

I want to be forgotten

To fall into oblivion

To never see the sun again

To die alone in the Hell I'm in

So, dear God

Is that a sin?