Sanctuary (Karma Akabane x OC)

Breaking Toxic Morals

"So be it, take the boy if he interests you that much."

"But be warned, with those tentacles eating away at his brain like that, he'll only live for another 2 days or so."

"Now I must be on my way, his successor awaits my much-needed attention."

With that troubling statement revealed, Shiro disappeared from sight in a cloud of smoke, leaving behind no trace of his whereabouts or the answers to the ambiguous questions that had arisen that evening. 

~~~~~

After Itona had been released from the restraints of the net, with the help of Maehara and Isogai, the class gathered together to discuss their options in what to do next. The silver haired boy laid motionless on the ground, his tentacles rapidly turning black as they rotted away with his brain.

 It wasn't looking good for him; someone had to do something and fast. 

"So we can't just cut them off?" Kataoka suggested awkwardly, already knowing the answer. 

"Unfortunately, they've rooted themselves too deep to just simply remove them," Koro-sensei explained grimly, having already assessed the boy's poor current state. 

"If he doesn't let go of his pathological need to win, I'm afraid there's not much we can do in terms of abstracting the tentacles." 

"Something must have happened in his past to bring him to this," Fuwa grimaced, her passion for deep-seated backstories seeping through.

"Though, there's no way he's just gonna spill the beans right here, right now." 

"Then how are we supposed to help the guy?" Maehara challenged sternly, gazing down at the boy in front of him who was struggling to keep his eyes open. 

"Earlier, I got Ritsu to do a little digging into the cell phone rampages," Fuwa responded earnestly, lifting up the glowing screen on her phone so her classmates could see. 

"The targets for his destruction had to be linked to something otherwise why would he bother?" 

"What did you guys find?" Isogai queried curiously, squinting his eyes at the bright screen. 

"One company's president had a son named Itona Horibe," Ritsu answered seriously, bringing up the relevant information. 

"They used to have a booming worldwide business selling electronic parts."

"Wait, they used to?" Sugino questioned, pressing for answers. 

"What happened?" 

"They declared bankruptcy just a few years ago with the president and his wife skipping town and leaving their son behind with close relatives." 

"No wonder he turned out like this," Maehara muttered under his breath, glancing back to Itona's body. 

"No doubt his parents abandoning him must have been a punch to the stomach; something like that would be hard for anyone." 

Upon hearing the revelation, Katsuna's focus began to gradually stray towards a certain redhead standing opposite to her. Undeniably, she knew Itona's situation resonated deeply with Karma, noting his drawn back composure and cut off look.

~~~~~

"They work overseas so they're rarely ever here, so it's just me most of the time."

~~~~~

For some unknown reason, Katsuna felt the overwhelming need to comfort him as she silently observed his fallen expression.