COLLISION, assassination classroom

CHAPTER #015. TIME FOR A SCHOOL TRIP: PART ONE!

A hand clamped down on his shoulder, making the male startle so hard his knees banged on the underside of the desk. Hajime, wincing at the jolt of pain, glanced at the owner of the hand and couldn't help the way his expression instinctively twisted. Akabane smiled light-heartedly at him, goldish eyes twinkling in amusement. "I happened to overhear that you don't have a group yet. Means you're free to join me then, right?"

"No thank you." Hajime declined, before he was yanked out of the chair by a strong grip on both his shoulders. "Karma-kun! What are you–!"

"You owe me~" Akabane chimed in a sing-song, pulling the brown haired male against his side with an arm around his shoulder. The action oddly reminded Hajime of Atsushi, and his eyes widened in faint horror at the thought of the two of them meeting one another.

The redhead dragged them toward the center of the classroom and neared the seats aligned next to the windows. Hajime had an inkling of what Akabane was planning and sighed in resignation, relenting to the manhandling. Of course, Akabane would do this. The two approached Nagisa, who looked up from the route sheet to blink in surprise at the odd duo of students. It must have looked weird, seeing Akabane and Hajime acting familiar despite not being seen interacting much in the classroom.

Though, a few students had already noticed that the two seemed to be growing closer since the beginning of midterms.

Akabane raised an innocent eyebrow as he locked eyes with Nagisa, while Hajime attempted to straighten his features into something less annoyed.

"Karma-kun, Takano-san, want to be in the same group?" Nagisa offered, pointing to the last assassination route scheduled during the afternoon. It was a good choice. Everyone would be tired and subdued from the previous activities by then which set up the perfect chance to go for the kill.

Akabane hummed, "Hm, ok~"

Hajime stood to his full height, standing shoulder to shoulder with the redhead and shrugged off the arm wrapped around him. Akabane raised his hands in a mockery of surrender when Hajime shot him a glare, looking entertained at the reaction he garnered from the usually amicable and gentle-hearted male.

Nagisa scratched his cheek with a hesitant smile. "How about you, Takano-san?"

The brown haired male turned away from Akabane. His expression faltered and softened upon meeting azure eyes, before a reluctant sigh escaped him. Being in the same group as Akabane was most likely going to be bad for his blood pressure and sanity, but the level headed and kind Nagisa would be there to balance it out. If worse came to, Hajime would just use the blue haired male as a barricade. The thought had him nodding, "Sure, if you don't mind."

Nagisa smiled a bit wider at his response, "Not at all!"

Sugino approached the trio from behind with a nervous expression as he took in the two new group members. His dark blue eyes landed on Akabane. "Ehh? Are you going to be alright, Karma-kun? While we're traveling, it will be problematic if you pick fights, won't it?" He was clearly aware of the reputation Akabane managed to reap. Hajime snorted, but covered it with a cough as he turned his head to the side.

"It'll be fine~" Akabane drawled, holding up a photograph. His face suddenly morphed into something devious, a devilish smile curling his lips as Hajime took the photograph from him. Sugino and Nagisa crowded near him and the three of them peered down at what appeared to be photographic blackmail. "I make sure to prevent eye-witnesses from talking, so it won't become public knowledge."

In the picture, Akabane stood with his arms over two students wearing defeated expressions. The male student with an old-fashioned hairstyle in particular looked bruised and battered, sporting a swollen cheek and blackened eye. Hajime blinked at the ID cards students were holding and smiled in amusement. It appeared he wasn't the only one that held leverage over his victims to keep things quiet. At his side, Sugino leaned toward Nagisa and whispered loudly,