It was another day in school, and it was break time. You were sitting in your desk, listening to music with your eyes closed, but when you opened them, you saw some people in a crowd, talking to one another, and you took off your earbuds to hear what was going on.
"You've sure got it rough, saddled with suck weird names." You heard Karma say to some group of other students.
They all stared at him and made a face that said: "What did he just say?"
"Well... What about you, Karma?" Kiruma asked him.
"Oh, me? I actually rather like my name." He answered. "Guess some kids inherit their folks' strange tastes."
"Hmm..."
"What about you, (Y/N)?" Karma asked you.
"Me? Well, when I was younger, I kinda wished I had a different name, but I actually came to like my name." You answered.
"If I were you, I'd still wish that I had a different name." He joked, and now you just made the same face as everyone else was making towards him.
"I'm not satisfied with how I was named, either." Professor Koro stepped in.
"Huh? I thought you liked 'Professor Koro.' Kayano named you that." Sugino said.
"I do like it. That's why I'm not satisfied."
What?
"There are still people who won't call me by that name." Professor Koro looked over at Professor Bitch and your uncle, and they flinched. "Mr. Karasuma just says 'Hey' or 'You there.' We're not some middle-aged married couple!" He complained.
"But it's embarrassing for a full-grown adult to be like, 'Professor Koro!'" Professor Bitch admitted.
"Then why don't we call each other by code names instead?" Yada requested.
"Code names?" Isogai asked.
"Yeah-- we make new names for everyone. Like the assassins we met on the island: they called each other by code names to hide their real ones. Don't you think it's kinda cool and assassin like?"
"I see. Good idea!" Professor Koro liked the idea. "Here's what we'll do:" He took out a lottery box. "Write down your suggestions. We'll call each other by the names I pull out of this box.
"Sounds fun, but do we have to think up names for everyone?" Okano said.
"I'm just writing down whatever comes to mind." Muramatsu said, and you also heard Hazami chuckle.
"Alright... Using real names is forbidden all day today!" Professor Koro announced.
"Whaaat?"
You put your pen to your lips and struggled to think of what name to write. You tried to think of a name for everyone, and you were only friends with a few people in this class, and just acquaintances with most.
"Hey, what if I write 'No. 2' for your code name?" Karma asked you.
"What do you mean by that?"
"It means you were always second place in academics back in the main campus." He smirked.
That felt like a stab in the chest, because that actually kinda triggered you, but you tried to act cool about it.
"Sure, whatever... Do whatever you want." You said.
You decided to write his name as "Semi-Senioritis," since he always thought highly of himself, but there were some flaws in him being the "best" at everything.
When everyone was done writing their names, Professor Koro started drawing out the papers. Soon, your turn came and he put all your name suggestions in the box, and you prayed that anything but "No. 2" came out.
"And the code name for (Y/N) is... 'No. 2!'" He announced.
"What?! No way..." You groaned, but you accepted it.
"Wait, what does that mean?" Nakamura asked.
"Because she was always in second place back in A Class. She was always behind Asano. So she's 'No. 2'" Karma answered.
You were kinda pissed off at Karma for him doing that. Of course, he was quite a sadistic person, but you thought he shouldn't mess around with something someone's sensitive with.
Karma was after you, and you prayed that the name you put for him was drawn, so he wouldn't be laughing about you no more.
"And the name for Karma is... 'Semi-Senoritis!'" He said.
Your heart speak with joy, and you were about to cackle, but you stopped it by covering your mouth.
"Was that you...?" Karma looked at you.
"Maybe..?" You smirked.
~~Time skip~~
The teachers decided that you guys should try some training with your new code names. You guys got changed into your gym uniform, and the main idea is that your uncle would run around in a forest, with a picture of a target on his back and chest, and you guys all had to try your best to get closest to a bullseye with a paintball gun you guys were given. If someone got a bullseye at least once, the game ends with the class' victor. But if time runs out, you guys will lose.
You tried hiding on top of a tree, and you were further away from most of your classmates. You were planning to ambush him, but you weren't 100% sure it was gonna work, since your uncle is a sly and fast man. If he saw you, before you saw him, he'd surely go a different way.
You heard other people yelling through the forest, and you heard footsteps, but it didn't belong to your uncle.
"What're you doing up there?" You looked down to see Karma.
"What does it look like? I'm trying to ambush him." You answered.
"You know, if he sees you before you spot him, he's gonna go the other way and probably not come back, knowing you're here. And you're never gonna know if he ever came or not."
"I know I only have one shot of this, so I'm trying to make it count and good." You said. "Anyways, go away. You're gonna blow my cover."
"Alright... Good luck, then."
"You too, Semi-Senioritis." You both grinned.
You stood there for a few minutes, wondering if you should move around more, but you decided to stay. Because one, it was too much work. And two, you gotta have at least one person waiting and being patient enough to make an ambush.
You then heard footsteps, and you checked to see who it was. It was your uncle. He was very wary of his surroundings, but he did not spot you up in the tree, thankfully.
He ran fast, and you didn't want to shoot him from the front, or he might spot you. Instead, you waited for him to go past you, and you'd shoot the target on his back, which already had a few paint marks on, and you got your paintball gun ready.
You followed through the aiming guide with one of your eyes, and even though he was fast, he seemed to move slow when you were concentrating. But even though it looked like he was moving fast, you had to shoot him fast before he disappeared from your view.
You pulled the trigger right before he disappeared under the other trees, and you got him on the circle in the middle of the target. He turned his head, and you jumped down from the tree.
"You saw that, Mr. Karasuma?" You said, and it kinda felt weird calling by his name. "I can do stealth!" You pointed towards him, with your gun over your shoulder.
You were the closest to get a bullseye so far, and you were pretty proud of that.
"That doesn't mean you'll be actually able to catch that monster! Great work, however, No.2." He started running off again.
You chased after him, but he was too fast for you. But you kept chasing. You put away your big gun, and took out your two small guns that looked like pistols.
You did some parkour on the tall rocks, and you tried to be careful not to injure yourself again.
You jumped onto a tree branch again, and you saw that he was hiding behind some other rocks, because shots were getting fired from behind him. He was too distracted at watching them, and didn't notice that you were hiding in the tree in front of him.
"Hey, Mr. Karasuma..." You said, and that caught his attention.
He quickly turned to see you, but you already fired before he could look at you. However, you did not get him this time.
"Impressive. You almost got me again, No. 2. But you're not getting me twice." He told you.
You then looked around your surroundings, and saw that this entire area was surrounded with other students to block the exits from your uncle.
You saw Chiba, AKA Dating Sim Emo Character about to shoot him from a distance, and Isogai, AKA President Poverty and Semi-Senioritis behind some bushes, and they were blocking out the exits. While Nagisa, AKA Gender, Kataoka, AKA Dignified Didact, and Nakamura, AKA English Lass were the ones shooting him from behind.
You heard the paintball gun from Chiba blast, and it happened in a flash you couldn't see what happened, but it hit a piece of wood that your uncle held up to protect himself with.
"Dating Sim Emo Character! Assume your target is always on guard!" He yelled, but then you saw Dating Sim Emo Character make some signal by moving his finger down.
You then heard some leaves rustling, and you saw Kimura, AKA Justice, jump down with two of his small paintball guns, ready to shoot the bullseye.
Your uncle turned around in a panic, but the triggers have already been pulled. And before you knew it, one of them made a bullseye.
Everyone stared at it in amusement, and everything got silent before you all started celebrating. Everyone came over to see what had happened, and they all saw the paint on the center of the target, and they joined the celebration.
When classes were over, you guys all had a discussion of what this whole "code name" experience was like.
"So how did it feel, spending the day under code name?"
"Kind of... painful..." You all answered.
You didn't really like your code name, and so did most of your classmates.
"'Scrunchies and Boobs'?" Yada complained.
"Being called "Amazing Ape" over and over..." Okano was hunched over her desk.
"Ah, yes, I see, I see." Professor Koro said.
"What does 'Box o' Moe' mean?" Ritsu asked.
"Probably exactly that." Hara answered.
"My name really had to be something triggering..." You mumbled.
"Professor Koro!" Kimura said.
"Hm?"
"Why was I the only one with my real name?" He asked.
"Because I knew what you'd be doing in phys ed training today." He answered. "I figured, with your mobility, you'd play quite a role. And given the awesome moves you pulled off, the name 'Justice' is a perfect fit."
"So it is!" Kurahashi agreed, but Kimura still didn't really seem satisfied.
"Just to reassure you, Kimura..." Professor Koro took out a petition for name changing. "It should be relatively easy to put in for a name change."
"Oh, right!"
"Still, Kimura... If you kill me, I bet this is how the world will see your name: ''Justice' indeed! A perfect name for the hero who saved Earth!'" Kimura seemed to quite like that idea. "To be honest, there's no great meaning to the grand names our parents give to us. What's meaningful is what we, so named, accomplish in our lives. Names don't make a person. They're merely left behind in our footsteps as we walk through life. How about cherishing that name for a while longer?" Professor Koro suggested. "At least... Until the assassination's over with. Okay?"
"I think I will." Kimura said.
"So! Today's the day we used code names. Now to tell you mine!" Professor Koro started writing his code name on the black board. "Please call me this from now on: 'Prince of the Fateful Eternal Wind.'"
The room went quiet from how unbelievable it was, until the room burst with rage that everyone took out their guns.
"Why do you get to pick such a fancy-pants name?!"
"And what's with that smug look?"
"Aw, c'mon, why not? Just for one day!" He screamed, and everyone started shooting him in rage.
"The Octopus of the Idiotic perverted Chicken!" Your class shouted, so at the end of the day, his code name ended up being "The Octopus of the Idiotic Perverted Chicken."
When you guys were packing up and saw the sun briefly about to go down, you saw Itona walking up to Terasaka and his gang.
"Hey, I'll put up with that nasty ramen again today. C'mon." He said, and he started walking away.
"Now, look here..." Muramatsu said.
"He's totally a Terasaka guy." Karma commented.
"He really is." Nagisa agreed.
"Nasty ramen?" You asked.
"Oh, the day you left early after Itona joined Terasaka and his gang, they took him to Muramatsu' ramen shop, and apparently Itona didn't really like it, but he continued to eat it because they're feeding him for free." Kayano answered.
"Oh... Oh, wow." You laughed. "That's iconic."
"Anyways, let's go. No. 2." Karma continued to call you that. "We have somewhere to be."
"You guys are going home together again?" Sugino asked.
"Yeah, she also has a favor to return." Karma said.
"Oh, okay... See ya guys, then."
"See ya." Karma waved.
"Bye..." You said.
When you guys were out that classroom, Karma tossed you his bag.
"Anyways, what restaurant do you want to go to? It better not be expensive." You said.
"It's not, it's not. Nagisa and I went there often, until we kinda stopped talking."
"Oh... Can I ask why?"
"I got suspended for beating up a star student. That's also a reason why I'm down here in Class E." He answered.
"Oh... Right..." You forgot that he was suspended after doing that, but you didn't think that it was enough for him and Nagisa to stop talking.
"Anyways, where is it?"
"It's just a fast food place. I'm good with that."
"Fast food for dinner?" You questioned. "That's not a very good meal."
"It's good enough for me." He said.
"Nuh-uh. I'm not letting you not get a proper meal. I'm taking you to KBBQ."
"If you insist." He said.
You led the way to your favorite KBBQ restaurant you used to visit when you were younger with your uncle. But now, you guys barely go out. You were also surprised that they were still in business.
"Anyways, I used to come here often for KBBQ with my uncle. I wonder if the workers are the same and if they remember me..." You opened the sliding door, and the workers greeted you, but they cut off their sentence mid-sentence when they realized who was here.
"Welco--... (Y/N)? Is that you? Karasuma's niece?" One of them asked.
"Yep... That's me!" You nervously laughed.
"Oh, you've grown so big!" She said. "And who's this? Your boyfriend?"
"What? No, he's not... I'm here to treat him for dinner." You explained.
"Awh, really? Come, take a seat." She led you guys to a seat for two people. "Anyways, what do you wanna order? The usual?" She asked.
"Yep!"
"Alright..."
"What's this 'usual'?" Karma asked.
"Oh, my uncle and I always ordered pork belly when we came here. Hope you don't mind."
"I hope I don't get disappointed."
"Is this your first time at a KBBQ?"
"Yeah. Never had any." He said.
"That's ironic..." You said.
"What do you mean?" He questioned.
"Didn't you tell me your parents travel around the world a lot?"
"Yeah, why?"
"And they never went to South Korea?"
"They have, but they never really brought back KBBQ with them, since it is meat and might rot on the way if it wasn't kept cold."
"So you never went to a restaurant either?"
"Nope."
"That's... Wow..."
Soon enough, a different worker came over and set up the grill that was on the center of your table, and they started laying down the long, thick strips of pork on the grill. The sound of sizzling slapped you in the face with nostalgia.
"Enjoy your meal." He said.
"Yeah, thank you." You said, and you both awkwardly waited for the meat to finish cooking.
You stared at it, and when the bottom of it was done grilling, you had to flip it, so it got both sides cooked nicely. When that was done, you picked it up with your chopsticks and started cutting them into smaller pieces with a pair of scissors they gave you. When you finished, you put them down and gave him a piece on top of his rice.
"Try it. If you feel like it has too much grease, you can pat it down on a paper towel."
"No, I think it's okay..." He stared at it for a second before putting it in his mouth.
"Is it good?" You asked eagerly.
"Yeah, pretty decent."
"Here, lemme show you a better way of eating it." You said.
"Hm?"
You grabbed a piece of lettuce, and placed a piece of meat, some rice, kimchi, and a bit of Korean hot sauce, and you wrapped it all up.
"You don't understand how good this is. Here, take it." You reached it out for him to take it by his hand, but he instead leaned in to put in his mouth. You slightly blushed, but when you saw how packed his face looked, you started chuckling a bit.
But then this moment reminded you of that time when you guys kissed, and you blushed even more.
"Hm? What's wrong?" Karma asked you with a stuffed mouth.
"N-Nothing!" You answered. "A-Anyways, how's that?"
"The many flavors getting mixed in is pretty nice." He said. "And this includes majority of the nutrition you need: vegetables, meat, protein, and grain."
"You have a fancy way of explaining things... This isn't a cooking contest, you know." You made yourself one and put it in your mouth.
It was quite big, so your face also got quite chubby, and Karma smirked as he got an idea.
"Wait, stop chewing." He told you.
"Hm?" He then placed a piece of lettuce on your head.
"Don't move." He then took out his phone and you realized he was trying to take a picture.
"Wh- don't take a picture!" You hovered your hand over your mouth as you spoke, and it was hard to speak with all that in your mouth.
"Aw, come on. I'm keeping a secret for you, can't you let me just have it?"
You were about to tell him you kept helping him out throughout the entire time, but you didn't want to hear him threaten to spread it again, so you obeyed.
"Fine, fine. Just one." You stood still with your full cheeks.
He quickly snapped a picture, and you aggressively took off the lettuce from your head.
I should've brought him somewhere else...
You slowly started chewing the remainder food in your mouth and swallowed it.
~~Time skip~~
When you guys left the restaurant, it was dark outside. You guys ended up staying there for a couple of hours. Not just eating, but also some small talks.
You guys also stopped by at a boba shop. You guys were full, but you had space to fit boba in.
"Since you took me to KBBQ, and it was my first time, it's on me this time." Karma said to you.
"Do I have to return this favor? Or..."
"Like I said, it's on me." He said. "Which flavor?" He asked.
You gave him the one you wanted, and he also ordered his.
Once you guys got your orders, you guys left the shop, because it was getting late and they were closing soon. So you guys decided to drink it as you went home.
As you were walking down the street after Karma thanked you, you heard some unfamiliar voice coming from behind you two. You guys turned around to see a very attractive girl looking at Karma, who seemed to be around your age, because she was also in a school uniform.
"Hey, um... Is it okay if I have your number?" She asked Karma.
What the...
For some reason, you were pissed.
"Or... Are you guys dating?"
"Oh, we're n-" You were about to answer, but Karma cut you off.
"I'm sorry, but we are."
You gave him a strange look, and he slowly grabbed your hand.
"Oh... Okay... Sorry for bothering you!" She ran off in the direction she came from, and she went to her group of friends.
"Wh-Why'd you say that?" You questioned him.
"Because if I said no she's probably gonna keep asking me out, even if I refuse to give her my number."
"Is this your first time?"
"Of course not, and that's how I learned it."
"Not surprised, to be honest."
"Yeah. Anyways, let me walk you home." He said.
"Uh, does this mean I have to repay you?" You asked cautiously.
"Nah, this one's also a freebie." He said. "You know, I won't always expect something in return from you."
"Thanks, I guess." You chuckled.
(A/N): Quick note, I actually had to look back on my earlier chapters for something, and when I went to look at them, I noticed that I actually wrote around 3.5k words per chapter. It's been so long I forgot how many words, and my latest chapters had 2.5k. So I quickly fixed that, simply by copying and pasting some words into the previous chapter... I'm sorry if you had to reread some of it, but hey, if you were keeping up with each update, that shouldn't have been a problem for you probably... Anyways, my name is Ren, and have a good day or night!
P.S: I know I said I'm going back to school-- which I am, and it's a school night-- morning right now, 1:06 AM, and I also said I wished I updated more over winter break, but then I realized that I should probably make up some procrastinated chapters, so here I am. I know it's probably not healthy for me, but I really couldn't give a damn because I've stayed up longer on other school nights before- and the teachers are cutting us some slack, too, so... Yeah...