Katsu

The world that we live in isn't as peaceful as it always seems. Don't allow the smiling faces of the youth, or the sound of the birds chirping, or even the sounds of cars driving down the street fool you. There is more going on just beneath the surface of what we call our society. As the warm breeze blows through my hair I feel myself get bumped by a couple of people from behind me as I fall down to the ground. As my bookbag sprawls open all of my notes and papers come flying from out of the bag as that same summer breeze blows everything into the air. I grab onto my hair as I run my fingers through the strands, another windy day? This is going to make my hair look a mess.

"Sorry Katsu, I didn't see you standing there, you gotta stop being lost in thought like that!" A boy who's wearing the same school uniform as I am says to me as he starts to run towards our high school. Nanako Academy, one of the most prestigious schools in the entire country. Or at least that's what the advertisements and pamphlets would allow you to believe.

"Hey, Katsu! I know that you have the notes for Mr. Jeffersons Physics class, can you email them to me before lunch? I could really use them, I forgot to take them down yesterday." A tall long-haired female asks me. Her soft brown eyes glow in the sunlight as she looks down at me. I want to say no but the word gets caught in my throat as I silently nod my head to her. "Thanks, Katsu! They don't call you that for a reason!"

As she skips off towards the school I suck my teeth as I start to pick up all of the papers that were knocked from out of my bag.

"Hey Kat! These papers are yours, right? You don't mind if I copy some of the answers right! I'm sure that if you did my father could look past some of some legal problems that you may run into if you let me take some of these answers for my biology class, I've kinda been slacking a bit you know?" The boy says as he grabs a handful of the papers from in front of me and starts to sift through them until he finds the ones that he's looking for. When he finds them he throws the rest of the papers back onto the floor as he walks off towards the gate of the school.

"Victoria! Are those new glasses? They look great on you! James! I see that you've started going to the gym a bit! You might need to get a bigger size suit jacket! Eddie! Here's the DVD for that anime you recommended to me a week ago! I wasn't expecting that twist at the end, who would've guessed that it was actually the dog that was behind everything the entire time!" A deep but boisterous voice yells out from behind me. A giant six foot eight silver-haired boy runs right past me so quickly that he almost looks like a blur. "Ah, Katsu! Your hair is looking more vibrant than ever! Did you try a new conditioner?! I'm loving the salmony look that your hair is giving today! It's almost like it's glowing! Oh yeah! You got another ten full-ride scholarship offers in the office waiting for you Kat so you should probably go pick them up! I'll see all of you guys in class today!!"

As he runs off into the school I can't help but chuckle a bit as I go back to pick up all of my papers. Given the number of papers, taking into account the direction of the wind as well as the rate at which I can pick them up, odds are I will not be able to recover all of them.

"Mr. Barrett! It is not Student Council like behavior to be running to school! You should know this!" A soft voice yells from behind me as that same voice lets out a small chuckle. "I would've been able to say the same for you but we all know why that's the case, am I right Kat?"

I lower my head a bit as a smile breaks across my face. I'm never going to be able to live that decision down will I? I can't believe that those people took my decision to heart like that. As I go back to picking my papers back up I'm shocked to see that none of them are in front of me. Did they disappear? Did the wind blow them away?

"Come on Kat, where you seriously just going to lie there on the ground until someone came and picked you up?" The voice of a girl says from behind me as I turn around. As a gleaming smile spreads across her face she hands me all of the papers that had been blown in the wind back into my hands.

"My papers, how did you get them back?" I ask her as she puts her finger on my lips.

"You ask too many questions. Sometimes you just need to clear your mind and allow things to just be." She says to me as she puts her hair behind her ear. Violet Nanako. The granddaughter to the headmaster of Nanako Academy, as well as the Treasurer on the student council. Over the course of these past three years, she and I have both been competing with one another for the number one spot in our graduating class. She's the only one in the school who can go back and forth with me in a battle of wits, she's someone who I look at as a friend and in a weird kind of way a great rival.

"Asking questions is the only way to make progress. If we're content in not knowing information then as people we will never grow or adapt." I say to her as she starts to slap me on my back.

"Oh, Kat! See! It's when you say stuff like that that makes you so enjoyable to be around!" Nanako says as she starts to laugh. The glasses on my face start to slowly move down my nose as the stinging sensation on my back sends goosebumps across my body. But despite her saying that for some reason everyone tries their absolute best to stay as far away from me as possible. Am I too intimidating? Is it because they're afraid of me? Am I not friendly enough? What is it?

As groups of people pass her and I all of the speak to and greet Nanako while completely ignoring me, she's popular with girls and guys alike, and why wouldn't she be? She's being groomed to be the next headmaster of the school and her grades are on par with mines, on top of her seemingly scary charisma to befriend whoever she meets she's someone that everyone would want to be around. But despite all of that she still decides to cling to my hip. Why is that? As I rub the back of my head I let out a deep sigh as I start to walk towards the school. As the sound of the school bell ringing fills my ears I get slightly sick to my stomach a bit as I enter the school.

"Yoooo!!!! Kat!!! I'm shocked to see that you're late!" As the sound of my best friend's voice fills my ears I raise my hand into the air as the sound of a basketball bouncing fills the hallway. Phil Barnes; The star of the Nanako High basketball team. What he lacks in academics he more than makes up with his athletic abilities. He's already as a high school student getting attention from professional leagues. His future is all but set, he has popularity and fame.

"Phil, as always you're here bright and early. I didn't know that you practiced before school started." I say to him as he wraps his arm around me.

"Practice? Before school? Nah, I just wanted to get some solo work in before school started, the team does have practice today after school though." He says to me as he starts to flex his muscles. When he does a host of girls all starts to squeal as he winks at them.

"Phil, the odor of your sweat is reaching all the way back here. You need to take a shower before you get to class. Presenting yourself like this is not becoming of a Nanako High student." Violet says as Phil sniffs his armpits. As he gags a bit he quickly takes his arm from around my shoulder as he starts to run back towards the locker room.

"And no running in the hallways Phil!!" Violet yells at him as the sound of something crashing into the ground makes everyone jump a bit. As Violet lets out a deep sigh she starts to shake her head as some of the students start to call for her to help with whatever mess that Phil made.

"Kat, I'm sorry, but I have to go deal with this mess." She says as she starts to run behind all of the students that have started to crowd the entrance to the locker room. As I let out a deep sigh I chuckle a bit as I start to make my way up the giant staircase. Yeah, funny stuff like this is the kind of stuff that I'm going to miss. As I start to make my way up the stairs the sound of a huge explosion going off from a couple miles away stops everyone in their tracks as the entire school starts to shake violently. As I quickly grab onto the railing of the staircase the sound of gunfire going off in the distance causes all of my senses to flare up as the sound of people screaming from outside of the school causes everyone on the inside to immediately run towards the door and start to look outside of the window.

As the sound of the gunfire and screaming starts to get even louder two members of the student council come running down from out of their office and down the stairs into the main hallway as the students inside of the school start to frantically run around and panic amongst one another.

"Students of Nanako High, I urge you to remain calm! We have no idea what is going on outside so as a precaution we would like for all of you to start to make your way towards the auditorium until the situation outside calms down." Avery Wilson, the President of the student council bellows out as another series of explosions shakes the school.

The giant chandelier above her head starts to sway back and forth violently as all of the students in the hallway let out a collective gasp. But even without looking up she remains calm and collected. As she runs her hand through her white hair she snaps her fingers as everyone stops in their tracks and turns their attention towards her. Her bright yellow eyes stare across the entire student body as everyone stops in their tracks to wait on the next thing that she has to say.

"Falling into panic and hysteria will not make

the situation that we find ourselves in any better, the best thing that we can do for now is to remain calm and follow our school's emergency procedure. I am sure that law enforcement will handle whatever it is that's going on outside of those doors. So for right now our only course of action would be to wait until everything outside calms down." She says as all of the students start to calm down a bit. As all of the students start to slowly fall in a single file line they all start to make their towards the auditorium. Avery Wilson, the daughter of an American politician, it would make sense that in a time like this that she would be able to calm down and rally the students like this.

Phil, Violet. I have to check and make sure that they're alright! As I start to make my way down the stairs I can feel someone place their hands on my shoulder just as I'm snapped back to my senses.

"Just where the hell do you think that you're going Katsu? You heard the President, you're to make your way to the auditorium until we're given more instructions." I hear a male voice say to me. As I turn around I can see that it's Adam Bryant, the student council's Vice President.

"I'm aware that you declined a spot on the student council Katsu but that doesn't mean that you're above the orders that were given to you. You need to make your way to the auditorium now." He says to me as I tear my shoulder away from him. Adam is the son of the worlds most famous lawyer, he could convince a fish that breathing air is more beneficial to it then swimming in the water so I know that talking to him won't get me anywhere but sitting in that auditorium completely in the dark to what's going on outside.

"Look Adam, you don't have to worry about me, what you really need to be worrying about is making sure that the students who can't take care of themselves get to where they need to get to safely." I say to him as I start to walk down the stairs. "Unlike these guys I'm pretty sure that I can take care of myself. I don't need to have anyone telling me what to do or how to do it. I'm sure that this situation will blow over soon enough."

"You know for someone as smart as you, you really need to turn your damn brain off sometimes. Sometimes you don't need to have a definitive answer or reasoning to take action." Adam says to me as I start to laugh a bit.

"No, you definitely do. Like how in about seven seconds that chandelier is going to come falling down from the ceiling." I say as Adam looks up at the ceiling. "Everyone who's in front of and behind me will be fine as long as you wait a couple of seconds, just going off of the rate and severity of the explosions happening outside lets me know that in about ten minutes this should all blow over."

Immediately after I say that I can hear the string that was holding the chandelier up snap as a loud crashing sound follows as it slams down into the ground. As a host of students let out an array of yelps and gasps I run my hand through my hair as a big bodied male appears next to me holding the President in his arms.

"Madam President, are you alright?" David Barrett, son of the worlds most famous athlete asks her as he lowers her onto the ground. As she fixes her hair she nods her head to him as he turns his attention towards me.

"Thank you David, your help is greatly appreciated." Avery says as she turns her attention towards me. "You continue to prove giving you the position of Head Of Security was not a mistake."

"Katsu. I'm assuming that you heard what I said but you're going off to do your own thing aren't you?" She asks me as I stare at her blankly. "Your safety as well as the schools safety is my number one priority. Just because the teachers haven't arrived yet doesn't mean that you can just do whatever you want. You still have to follow the hierarchy that's established. If you refuse to follow the rules then you'll drag everyone in this school down with you. All three hundred and thirty of us."

"Is that what you think?" I ask her as she folds her arms across her chest.

"No, this is what I know." She spits back at me as she walks up to me. "Your lack of listening to authority is going to put not only you in danger, but everyone around you in danger as well. Don't let your intelligence cloud your judgement Katsu. I have a feeling that this situation is bigger then it appears to be."

"Oh yeah? Well I would be more than happy to hear why you think that? Considering who your father is I would place my money on you knowing something about this. How else would you be able to remain calm in a situation like this?" I ask her as I cross my arms. As those those words leave my lips it feels as if the eyes of the entire student body have diverted towards both Avery and I.

"What is it that you're trying to imply there Katsu? I'm curious about what my father or family has to do with anything that's going on outside right now." Avery asks me as she closes the distance between us until her face and mines are nothing but a couple of inches away from one another. Her breathing is strong but controlled, her eyes and mines both find their way to one another as I run my hand through my hair.

"Is it really an implication if whats being said is the truth?" I ask her as I adjust my glasses. "See here's the thing, I know that you don't need me to say anything because you know exactly what I'm talking about Madam President."

As she crosses her arms and starts to laugh Adam joins Avery at her side and he whispers something in her ear as she nods to him.

Her and I continue to stare at one another until I notice that everyone has stopped what they're doing to look over at the both of us. As David looms over top of Avery and I we continue to stare one another down as explosions continue to happen outside of the school.

"Look, if these explosions continue to happen at the rate and frequency that they're happening then the odds of all of us dying in one of those explosions goes up exponentially if we're all gathered in one place. So if you really want to try and help these people then what you should do is have these guys break up into groups and disperse across the entire school, you can cover more ground as well as having more access to information about what's going on." I say to her as I fold my arms as well. "But, I guess your plan of keeping everyone in one spot in the dark about what's going on works too right?"

After I say that another series of explosions goes off in the distance as the school building shakes even more violently. These explosions are getting closer, at any rate we have at least a couple more minutes before whatever the hell is going on out there reaches the school. As everyones phones start to go off at once, as everyone pulls their phones from out of their pockets a loud siren starts to go off as I look down at my phone.

"This is a message from your Government, the state of- is undergoing a state wide lockdown. Due to unknown circumstances we are recommending that if you are not inside that you find somewhere very quickly." The female announcer says as the audio feed starts to cut out a bit. "You ha- reason to- everything will- fine. Stay- and- together."

After the audio is done being played the sirens continue to sound off as some of the students start to talk frantically amongst themselves.

"What's going on outside?!"

Why are they putting us on lockdown?!"

"We're going to die aren't we?"

"I don't want to die! I just want to go home!"

As these cries start to fill the hallway Avery lets out a deep sigh as she backs away from me. She has bigger things to worry about then one student. If she's really going to act like the student body president then she would direct her attention towards those who need it right now.

"David, you escort Katsu here to where he needs to go. After he gets what he's looking for you are to bring him to the auditorium immediately. No stopping for anything on the way do you understand?" She says to him as he looks to get ready to argue with her, but as she glares at him he quickly backs down as he nods his head to her.

"Understood Madam President. I'll have him back before you know it, you have nothing to worry about." He says as she nods her head to him. As I let out a deep sigh David wraps his arm around my shoulder as he pulls me in close to him.

"Well, it looks like we're going to have a bit of fun together aren't we?" He asks me as he starts to laugh out. As I try to pull myself away from him his grip on my neck gets even tighter as he laughs even louder. "Oh come on Katsu, don't be like that! I finally get a chance to see this intelligence of yours on display!"

"This has nothing to do with that." I say to him as I slip from out of his grip. "This is about making sure that everyone is safe."

As he starts to laugh at me once again my eye starts to twitch as he picks me up by my collar with one hand. As my hair falls down over my face he carries me down the staircase as the last of the remaining students walk past us. As they look at us David waves to them as some of the girls swoon at him. This is so embarrassing.

"David, I trust that you'll make it back safely right? It won't look good on either of our resumes if you couldn't even handle taking care of someone like him." Adam says as David gives him a thumbs up.

"You don't have to worry about me Mr.Vice Prez, you just keep a seat saved for us when we get back." David says to him as Adam follows behind Avery.

"Everyone! You are to start making your way towards the auditorium now! We will wait there until this situation blows over! I assure you that everything will be fine!" Adam yells out as the students follow him and Avery down the hall towards the auditorium.

"So, where are we going? Lead the way... what is it that they called you? Kat? Yeah! Lead the way Kat!" David says to me as he places me on the ground. As I fix my collar I start to make my way towards the showers where Phil was headed, if anything Violet and him should still be there, I highly doubt that they would try to run, seeing as how Phil seemed to hurt himself before he got to the locker room.

"Please, don't call me that." I say to him as he slaps me on my back and starts to laugh.

"To the showers, Violet and Phil should still be there." I say to David as he runs past me.

"So you're looking for your friends huh? I never expected that from you." David says to me as him and I arrive at the locker room doors. As I try to turn the handle on the doorknob to my dismay I find that it's locked. What the hell? Why is the door locked?

"Hey! Come on guys open the door! We have to get moving! We don't know what's going on outside so we all have to stay together!" David yells as he starts to bang on the door, but right when he does that a huge explosion that's quickly followed by the sound of screaming and gunfire goes off seemingly right outside of the doors of the school. As David and I are both knocked to the ground pieces of debris start to fall down from the ceiling.

As I cover my face David grabs me by my collar and throws me out of the way just as a piece of the ceiling falls onto the ground just a couple feet from us.

"Kat! Are you alright?!" David asks me as he picks me up from off of the ground. As I let out a deep sigh I nod my head to him as I wipe my clothes free of any dirt or debris.

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks for that, but stop calling me Kat." I grumble at him as the sound of a loud siren starts to go off once again. As I almost jump from out of my shoes all of the lights in the school go off at once.

"We have nothing to worry about, the emergency lights should come on at any moment." David says as he grabs onto my collar once again. Immediately after he says that a small red light starts to illuminate the hallway that we're in as the door to the locker room swings open. "Look, whatever it is that you came down here to get you have to hurry up Kat. Being underneath of the school like this isn't someplace that I want to be. Especially with everything that's going on right now."

As him and I start to make our way into the locker room the sound of dripping water and the smell of wet clothes fills the air as David and I start to wander around the dimly lit locker room.

"Given the size of the locker room as long as we each cover half of the space we should be able to find Violet and Phil in roughly two and a half minutes." I say as the sound of David slamming locker doors fills the room. As I jump a bit I run my hands through my hair as I regain some of my composure. Just where the hell could those two be? As I look in all of the showers on my side of the locker room I find nothing, next I walk past every row of lockers opening and closing them hoping to find them but no success.

As I close my eyes I imagine the layout of the locker room in my head. There are approximately eighty five lockers, five showering stations and fifteen changing stations. Taking into account the area width of the underground of the school there can only be about seventeen more places that they could be hiding if you add in their weight, height, and mass and the amount of area that David and I should be able to cover we should find them in the next thirty seconds.

"Kat! How is it looking on your end?! Did you find them?!" David yells out to me as I run my hands across the locker doors, but as I do I notice that a couple of the lockers are dented in. What the hell? Did those two get into a fight or something? No, that's not possible. Even if those two did get into a fight there's no way that they could've made dents like this, not even Phil with his physical prowess could do something like this even if he tried to. This feels animalistic.

As I get a closer look I think that I can even make out something that looks like claw marks? As I go to place my hand on the marks I can hear David slam another series of lockers as I let out a deep sigh. What the hell?

"David! What are you do-

But before I can finish my sentence I can feel someone wrap their hands around my mouth from behind me as they start to pull me into one of the lockers. What the hell?! What's going on?! As I start to try and break free I can feel something wet drip onto my face as the sound of heavy breathing fills my ears.

"Kat, you need to stand still now." David whispers in my ears as the sound of locker room doors opening and slamming shut rings throughout the locker room once again.

"Wait, if that wasn't you slamming the locker doors, then who the hell was it?" I whisper as the salty scent of blood fills my nose. Is he hurt? Just what the hell is out there?! As shiver start to run up my spine the sound of something that resembles a low growling sound reverberates across the room. As David wraps his hand around my mouth even tighter I can feel my eyes widen as sweat begins to pour down my forehead.

Just what the hell is going on out there?! Is that some kind of animal?! An alien or something?! The stench coming that's wafting it's way into the locker that David and I are hiding in almost causes me to throw up as my body starts to heave a bit. The smell of something that's mixed with burned flesh and garbage fills the locker as David clinched onto my body even tighter. He starts to tap onto my forehead in a rhythmic sort of way as the sound of lockers continuing to open and close starts to get closer and closer. The stench starts to get stronger and stronger as David continues to tap on my forehead. Is he trying to communicate with me using morse code?

*D-O-N-T M-O-V-E*

Don't move? Don't move! As I force my body to spot moving I stop everything, my eye movements, my breathing, shit, if I could stop my heart from pumping I would do that too. I can hear the locker next to David and I swing open so hard that it gets torn off of the rest of the locker as David and I both jump a bit. When we do the sound of heavy breathing from outside of the locker turns towards us as I ball the both of my fists up. Think, think, think! How the hell are we going to get out of here?!

First things first, I need to eliminate what it couldn't be. There's no way that a human being could tear the door of a locker off as easily as that without pulling on it a couple times, no kind of animal besides maybe a gorilla or something like that could pull off a feat like that. No, not possible. Those claw marks on the locker wouldn't be consistent with that. A tiger? Lion? Bear? No way, with their sense of smell there's no way that with their sense of smell that they would fail to run into us this many times. Is it showcasing some sort of deductive reasoning? Or is it just toying with us ?

We have to do something! We can't just stand here and let whatever the hell this thing is hurt us! As I close my eyes I brace myself for the worst to come. The handle on the outside of our locker starts to jiggle a bit as my heart starts to pound in my chest. As tears start to swell up in my eyes my mind races and starts to think about each and every possible way that I could try and get out of here. Run? No if I try to do that I'll probably get mauled to pieces, fight?! No, even if David were to fight with me with the condition that he's in there's no way that we could fight it off. Did it get to Phil and Violet? Are they dead? Did they get caught in the explosion or did whatever the hell this thing is get to them first?! Is this how it ends?! Is this really how I die?!

As my breathing starts to get even more rapid I can feel my head starting to spin as David wraps his arms around my body even tighter to try and keep me from moving and it almost works, right as I can feel myself starting to go over the edge Violets face appears in my mind as I feel her soft hands on my cheeks.

"You think too much Kat. Sometimes you just need to clear your mind." She whispers in my ear as the phone in my pocket starts to ring. Shit! Shit! Shit! The exact moment that my ringtone starts to go off I can feel all of my senses flare to life as the pulling on the door gets even more intense and violent. This is it! We're going to have to fight! As I reach for my phone I can feel the inside of the phone shifting in the palm of my hands as the outside starts to shift as well. A weapon! I need something to fight with! As a surge of pink electricity starts to course throughout my body and into the palm of my hands the sound of a loud siren going off once again causes whatever the hell is outside to stop what it's doing as David grabs onto my wrist as tightly as he can.

As he stops me dead in my tracks the sound of footsteps walking away from our locker room sends a wave of relief washing across my body as I let out a deep sigh. But David and I wait in the locker for a couple more minutes before we finally decide to exit the locker. As David releases his grip from off of me I slowly open the door as I step from out of it back into the locker room. As David closes the locker behind me he lets out a deep sigh as he looks down at my hand.

"Kat, you know that bringing weapons to school is against the school policy right? Do you know what would happen if you got caught with something like that?" David asks me as I look down at the hand where my phone was. As I examine what's in my hand I press on the trigger of it and when I do a small bolt of electricity comes from the top of the once phone and now taser as I drop it onto the floor in shock.

What the hell? When the hell? How the hell did something like this happen? As I reach down to pick up the taser a bolt of pink electricity shoots throughout my fingers as the taser turns back into my phone in front of me. As I let out a cry of surprise I fall down onto the ground in shock as my breathing starts to get more rapid, but before I can even process what's going on the sound of someone cocking a gun sends a shock throughout my body as David quickly grabs me by the back of my collar.

"Kat, stay behind me. Don't move." David says sternly as I freeze in my tracks.

•Authors Note: "What's up everyone, we're back at it again with another story. This is a story that I've had in the back of my mind for a while now and I'm finally happy to get this out to you guys. "It's time to fight Professor Katsu" will be an arc to arc series where after each arc I'll take a short break to focus on Deviant which will take up a lot of my time. Do not worry though, I will make sure to give each and every story my full attention though. So as always leave comments on what you enjoyed and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.