CLOUDLESS | KHRXAC

CHAPTER 14: allow me to reintroduce myself

During his absence, Koro had Koro-sensei deliver the study material to the students, a simple stack with references to check and document themselves on various topics regarding the assassination history. He had Karasuma tell them about the essay due for today a homework to make up for his absence if you will.

Absorbed in his paper, and perhaps still feeling somewhat out from the constant motion sickness and use of low concentration Sun pills, Koro failed to notice the time. The bell rang to announce the soon to begin class and snapped him out of his thoughts as he shot up from his sitting position.

Faster than the regular eye could see, he packed his material in his briefcase, straightened the folds of his white blazer, and evened out the wrinkles of his V-neck black long-sleeved shirt.

"Bonjour class~" he sang upon entering the room, acting as if he was not late in the slightest. His pair of black-rimmed glasses rested atop the bridge of his nose as his green eyes swept over the students for a quick headcount.

"Whoah! Everyone's here!" he marveled in exaggerated surprise, the cheery grin never leaving his lips. "I'm so touched. I also missed you all so much while I was in Kyoto," admitted with a pout, lips pursed as he wiped a non-existent tear from the corner of his eyes. "A-ny-way!" he said, clapping his hands to change the tone of the classroom. "I see that we have a new student!" he remarked excitedly, his gaze glued on the large machine at the back of the class.

Koro waved at the girl, who waved back at him, an equally bright smile on her features.

"You must be Ritsu-kun!" he stated, stars in his eyes as he gazed at the A.I., Verde would either love or completely disdain her, he thought to himself.

"Yes, I am 'Autonomously Intelligent Fixed Artillery,'" she introduced, bobbing her head from where she stood on the screen. "Please feel free to refer to me as Ritsu," she added with a grin as she tilted her head to the side. "You must be Yucca-sensei, from the Varia, yes?"

There was a beat of silence.

Yucca? Was that their teacher's real name?

Koro blinked the cheery smile on his lips faded and turned into something more genuine and mischievous. "Aaah, ding ding ding," he said with an indulgent sigh. "Yes, would you like to continue my introduction, Ritsu?" he asked her, his voice not as boisterous as his pace calmer.

From where he sat, Nagisa realized that it was similar to how he'd acted with Okuda during the class trip. He concluded that the blond was being genuine with them.

"The information is restricted, Sensei. I do not have the authority to access it," Ritsu countered with a gloomy shake of her head as she held out her two pointer fingers in a cross.

Koro hummed. He swept his gaze over his students before going to pick up his chalk. "I was planning on doing a pop quiz regarding the study material haded to you during my absence," he explained, grinning at the horrified faces of his students. "But I changed my mind."

In clear littering, the words Mafia and Vongola were clearly etched.

"Let me introduce myself again. My name is Yucca Gesso, but some people refer to me as The White Plague," he told them, a peaceful smile on his lips. It wasn't as bright and broad as the one he used to wear around them. It was much smaller but much warmer too. "As I said before, I specialize in large-scale assassination plans and am part of an Elite Assassination Unit named the Varia," as he spoke those words, Yucca wrote the name Varia underneath Vongola.

"Today's lesson will be about the Mafia but will center around the current political systems employed in Europe, using Vongola as our case study," he exclaimed.

Curious, 3-E began to take out their pen and notebook for some notes. Ritsu appeared to do the same as she parallelly began to summon search windows to look up the Famiglia.

"I don't know how far you guys went with Irina's classes and if she talked about the mafia, but you should find some correlations if she did," he told the group. Koro observed as some students noted that Irina could be a reliable source of information in case of homework.

"To this day, it would not be far fetched to say that Vongola, an Italian Famiglia, is the most powerful in Europe, if not one of the most powerful and influential in the world," he began, feeling something akin to a blend of pride and bitterness at the statement. "It has a long history, having had nine different bosses to this day, and is considered the 'capo di tutti capi,'" he said, writing the Italian name down. "Or 'boss of all bosses' by numerous Mafia."

Koro took this moment to explain that, at first, Vongola was a vigilante group but changed to more brutal practices during the second Don's reign before mellowing down a few generations later.

"—One of the critical factors of Vongola's strength is, of course, their pedigree, but also their brute force. I don't know if any of you met the sniper during your school trip to Kyoto," Koro called, seemingly changing subjects. "See, although he isn't part of Vongola, he remains an ally of the Famiglia. A few of his ex-partners now work under the Famiglia," he explained, referring to one Sun and one Mist Arcobanelo.

A sharp hand shot up, bringing Koro's attention to the serious Kataoka, frown marring her face. "Sensei, isn't it dangerous for us to know this type of information if Vongola is so— feared?" she cautiously asked. She also didn't know how to address their blond teacher anymore and opted for simply not mentioning his family name.

Koro nodded. "Why yes," the class tensed, and he chuckled. "But most of what I am telling you is common knowledge within the Underworld. No one would kill for this information as it is easy to find it, fufufufu," he reassured with a wave.

"Now, as I was saying, although one can rule with compassion and kindness, it is essential and sadly necessary for an organization of Vongola's scale to wield power. Here, this power comes in the form of allies, influential members who made a name for themselves, and reputation."

As he enumerated those three facts, Koro drew three columns on the board.

"Vongola has the advantage of being well balanced and having as much in each category—"

The bell rung, cutting Koro off and making him lift his chalk from the blackboard. He blinked his green eyes, glancing at his wristwatch, and sure enough, two hours had gone by already.

"Nyurafufu, I guess that'll be all for today. We'll continue tomorrow," Koro said as he clapped his hands. "Kataoka, Isogai, could you both collect the homework for today, please?" he asked them as he set his chalk down in the box and wiped the board off of his notes. The two class representatives executed themselves.

If the students hadn't been so immersed in the lesson or obsessed by the upcoming recess, they might have noticed that their blond teacher's laugh was eerily similar to Koro-sensei's cackle.