Lesson Learned

I need to be weak.

Mitsuko felt a warm tug in her chest. "Oh..." She looked around the library properly, noticing that it was practically sparkling. "I see...but what about the cameras? We were the ones who were meat to clean."

Koro-sensei chuckled. "Well, the cameras all around the school may or may not be mysteriously down for maintenance."

The corner of her lip twitched up. "Oh, really?"

"Either way I had to come. The whole class was determined to kidnap you to get you back to E Class, but I had to talk them down—kidnapping is a tricky business," he continued, chuckling softly. She smiled fondly. "Nagisa especially was worried."

Her smile faded, remembering the night before. "Yeah, I had a feeling he would be..." She forced her smile back on when she looked at him. "Thank you for helping."

Koro-sensei nodded. "I couldn't deny a student in need." He looked at her pointedly. "Especially when they don't look happy where they are."

Her smile grew grim, leaning against the bookcase. "I've been thinking about what you said about the Principal, and about fear." She looked at him and sighed. "And it made me think about a lot of things...and how he wasn't always..." She swallowed thickly. "He wasn't always like this."

"No, he wasn't." Koro-sensei nodded, sitting on the floor. "Fear can make us think we're justified for making harmful decisions."

She nodded faintly, shifting uneasily. "...When things started to change, I kept telling Gakushuu I wanted things to go back to normal."

Koro-sensei was quiet for a moment. "Some things are harder to get back once they're gone."

Mitsuko grimaced. "I really messed things up with Rio..." She looked up at Koro-sensei searchingly. "And I kept blaming her, but that wasn't fair." She curled her arms around herself. "It's like I can never explain things properly with her. I either say too much or not enough."

"As is the way with young love," Koro-sensei sounded amused, patting her on the head. "As someone who has seen both sides, I strongly recommend you talk to Nakamura, at least to clear the air."

Mitsuko hummed, frowning when she remembered what Karma had said. "I just don't like being vulnerable."

"Hardly anyone does," Koro-sensei replied. "But sometimes we have to make ourselves weak to become stronger."

She looked up at him thoughtfully. "You really think so?"

Koro-sensei chuckled faintly. "Yes. It's a lesson I live by." Then he looked over his shoulder. "It seems your brother will be waking up soon." He stood up and moved away. "I shall take my leave." His smile was warm. "I will ask you to try to visit the Old campus to at least reassure your classmates before they resort to drastic measures."

She smiled faintly, standing up. "I'll try."

He looked pleased, nodding as he was half out of the door. "Thank you, and good luck."

Mitsuko looked around the bookcase when she heard Gakushuu yawn. "Hey," she greeted, walking back over when he stirred awake. "Morning."

Gakushuu sat up, trying to rub away the dark bags under his eye, looking unusually unpruned with his hair out of place and wrinkled clothes. "What time is it?"

She glanced at the clock. "5:30 in the morning." She smiled, sitting next to him. "We actually managed to finish cleaning on time."

His brow furrowed. "What are you...?" He trailed off, looking around the very clean library in confusion. "How—?"

"I carried on cleaning after you passed out," she lied, shrugging. "We already cleaned so much beforehand anyway."

Gakushuu looked more confused. "We did?" His frown deepened. "I don't reme—"