𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆↪ 𝑲𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒂 𝑨𝒌𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒆

Three: Provocation Time

"What are you getting at?!" Maehara asked annoyed, just wanting to go home already.

"Like they said," Korosensei spoke up, slowly twirling around in a perfect circle. "Assassins always have a backup plan. What about you? You aren't taking your studies seriously; you're banking on getting that ten billion yen to kill me." His slow twirls gradually grew faster by the second. "But you're really just refusing to face your problems."

His twirls became powerful and fast enough to create a huge whirlwind, causing the entire class to cover themselves for protection. "What if I get bored and leave?" he continued to explain. "What if someone else kills me first? Then you're stuck with no way out of Class 3E. Let me put it in another way; those without a backup plan don't have the right to call themselves assassins!" The whirlwind was powerful enough to create a tornado of dust.

"The schoolyard was covered in weeds, so I cleaned it up for you," Korosensei said, the tornado finally clearing up. When the dust has completely cleared out, the schoolyard field was spotless and shaven. "I am capable of disintegrating this planet. Weeding this was nothing to me," he sternly continued, his eyes gleaming fiercely.

Sugaya and Fumiko glanced at each other in a worried manner. Meanwhile, Karma stood back on a tree trunk scratching the back of his neck, not intimidated by the octopus' threats.

"Show me, that you have some sort of backup plan. Show me, that I'm not wasting my time or I'll flatten this school building and leave!" Korosensei threated the entire class, including the teachers.

"A backup plan? By when?" Nagisa spoke up.

"No hurry. You have 'till tomorrow," Korosensei replied back. "I want every one of you to score in the top fifty of tomorrow's midterms," he challenged them.

The class was stunned. They were Class E. Not A, B, C, or D. But Class E. The class where delinquents and students with the worst grades ended up at. How were they going to reach the top 50?

"You're closer than you think. You already have everything you need for your backup plan thanks to your fabulous teacher," he began motivating them. "Go into that exam with confidence," he pointed his tentacle at his students. "Give it your best and raise your head high with a smile on your face. Take pride in the fact that you are assassins and the students of Class 3E!"

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The sidewalks of Kunugigaoka were decently packed, with students gossiping about their day, businessman getting off from work tiredly, and food carts selling their edibles to hungry people.

Fumiko stared down at the study guide that Karma made her. A determined smile formed on her face as her nail poked one of the staples. "This is it. This will be my secret weapon," she thought to herself with confidence. Putting the math book back into her backpack, she looked forward. Her chocolate orbs beaming with motivation. A few moments later, she suddenly heard her stomach growling.

"I can't study properly with an empty stomach," she thought, slapping her hand over her belly.  Her eyes then shifted to spot a Karaage Fried Chicken stand. The smell of fresh and greasy chicken filled up Fumiko's nostrils. It made her drool at the thought of taking a bite of the juicy, crispy meat. "I'm still going to cook sushi when I get home. But I guess it wouldn't kill me to get some Karaage for a snack," she said, making her way over to the food cart.

"May I take your order?" the seller asked her.

"I'd like to have four pieces of Karaage Chicken please!" she chimed, licking her lips at the poultry in front of her.

"Four? Alrighty then! That'll be at least 300 yen!" he beamed, getting a tong to put the pieces of chicken inside a paper food tray.

"300? That's pretty cheap for some chicken," Fumiko thought as she handed the seller her money. "Thank you for the food!" she said as she took the chicken and went on her merry way. "God this looks good," she hummed to herself.

She picked up a wing and proceeded to take a bite of it, anticipating the flavor of the fried chicken. However, the moment she took a bite, she only tasted air. Confused, she turned around to find that Karma was eating the chicken she has bought for herself.

"At least ask 'May I have a bite' before you just take other people's food, Karma-Kun!" she chastised.

"But I'm already eating it~" he purred, licking the crispy crumbs off his lips.

"I am not in the mood for your games. I've already had a stressful day with all of the studying we did. On top of that, I had a light lunch and I'm hungry. So please just leave me alone for the rest of today. Tomorrow you can go back to bothering me," she sighed.

"Hmm," the redheaded devil thought.

"Well?" she said with a hint of impatience.

"Okay. You have yourself a deal," he said.

"Thank you."

"Although, I want at least two more of those chicken wings that you have," Karma pointed at her tray.

"That's only going to leave me with a big drumstick," she frowned, looking down at the remaining parts of her plate.

"Fine. Now please. Stop bothering me," she said, offering him her food.

"Thanks for the free meal, Bambi~ You're such a sweetheart~" he cooed.

She pulled out the drumstick from the tray while he went off and chow down on his free wings. Walking away, the pink-haired lad blushed at Karma's comment about her being a sweetheart. She then realized what was going on and she shooked her head. "Don't you even dare! You're supposed to be in love with Sugaya-Kun, not..... whatever Karma is. He's not like other boys, that's for sure," she thought before taking a bite of her drumstick.

She closed her eyes in bliss, letting the grease of the fried batter and the juice of the meat dance around her tastebuds. "Mmm. This chicken is wonderful!" she exclaimed, feeling slightly better.

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Dearest Diary,

Once again, that cheshire cat of a boy, Karma, annoyed me. He gave me a study guide for math, which happens to be my worst subject. It was a nice gesture, but he smacked it on top of my head just to get my attention and he yanked my pigtails once again to tell me that I'm not stupid as I appear. Stupid?! I'm not stupid! Sure, I'm a bit of an airhead. But let's get one thing straight: I am not stupid whatsoever! On the way home, I stopped to get some Karaage Chicken and he took three of the pieces out from my hand! I was left with only a drumstick, which was delicious. But besides that, he keeps calling me 'Bambi' all because of my eyes and timid personality. He might be helpful, but he's still a pain in my ass. I am praying that tomorrow he will finally take the hint to leave me alone!

- Sincerely, Fumiko Junpei.