"Congratulations, Ran-chan~" Koro sang as he cracked a party popper, confetti coming out of the cardboard tube and falling over the younger's head of white. "I knew you could do it!"
Midterms went by fast, and a week later, results were out. It hadn't gone any differently from how Koro remembered it. Although 3-E did notably better than usual, they were out of touch with the exam subject making for one big flop within the classroom. As asked by their homeroom, the only one to rank within the top 50 was Karma, who came in fifth with 494 points. Koro deduced that he should have been fourth, if not for Ran taking the first spot and moving everyone down by one place.
"Thank you, Yucca-nii-chan," Byakuran sang, brushing the colorful confetti out of his hair with a chuckle. The exam hadn't been so challenging, most of the information being things he knew. Apart from history and modern literature, where he had to check if it was different from his memories; all was well. What's more, with the Chairman popping up to teach them all the added material last minute, there were meager chances of Byakuran failing.
The two brothers spent their time together, chatting over some quality dinner inside of their condo and appreciating one another's company. Dinner went on, and by the end of it, both males laid on the couch with the TV before them and a movie playing.
Byakuran, lying on his brother's torso, brought a marshmallow-flavored popcorn to his mouth. It wasn't as good as marshmallow, but the popcorn was a must when watching a movie. It was part of the protocol, so he had to do with what he had. Snuggling into his brother to feel warmer, the younger of the two hummed.
"Ne, Nii-chan, can we spend the trip together?" he asked with upturned eyes and a pout adorning his lips.
The Kyoto school trip was coming, and as 3-E's teacher, Koro had been invited to attend, much like Karasuma and Irina despite not being the homeroom teacher. They would be there to help supervise the class and students.
"Mmm~ we'll see, I suppose," Koro mused with narrowed eyes, his hand gently ruffling his brother's soft white locks of hair. He laid a big smooch on the younger's shoulder, making him squirm and laugh at the ticklish sensation.
The mention of the trip reminded Koro that RedEye, the sniper, was now long dead, and he wondered who would be the one to replace him. After all, RedEye had the unfortunate chance to encounter him during one of his missions, resulting in a show-down between both assassins. The sniper would have probably won as Koro had not prepared for the ambush, but Koro's gift to see his death seconds before it happened had saved him in the nick of time, turning the tables and ending in the sharpshooter's demise.
The trip to Kyoto soon came. Koro did not forget to dye his roots blond and take another pair of green contacts if the first one met some troubles.
::
"A-are you okay, Aarden-sensei?" Okuda asked, visible worry on her shaken face as she observed their despondent blond teacher in the hotel reception. He was almost as bad as Koro-sensei, except he was human so he couldn't melt into the sofa.
Sweat beaded at Koro's forehead, gliding along as he rested his head between his hands, inhaling and exhaling in turn as he forced himself not to puke. Ran wasn't there; 3-A and every other main building classes were located in another more luxurious hotel, leaving 3-E in a traditional inn, the Sabireya inn, in the outskirt of Kyoto.
With no one to provide him some Sun flames to soothe his motion sickness or Rain flame to calm his erratic heart, Koro found himself practically defenseless.
He heaved a very loud sigh, his head going back to look at the ceiling as he blankly blinked his green eyes. His glasses were on the couch, discarded, and left him spectacles-less.
"Okuda," he drowned, his voice coming out raspier and lower than usual, it was devoid of cheeriness, but it wasn't cold like when he called his subordinates. In fact, it appeared pretty genuine. "Could you hand me the black pill tablet in my wallet please," he asked, finding trouble in regulating his breathing.
"A-ah! Y-yes, of course!" the girl cried, fumbling to reach for her teacher's handbag.
"Inner pocket, left," Koro muttered, feeling light-headed. He swallowed, preventing bile from rising as he forced his eyes shut.
"F-found it!" the glasses-wearing teen said as she hurriedly brought the tablet to her teacher. It was a simple tablet made up of seven rows of different colored pills.
In order: orange, red, blue, yellow, green, indigo, and purple.
"Blue and yellow," Koro mumbled, extending his hand for the said pills. The moment Okudo put them in the palm of his hand, his eyes cracked open to check the color before he brought them to his mouth and swallowed them.
"Oh my god, do you need some water as well, Aarden-sensei?" Okuda asked, seeing him take both pills dry and without hesitation.
Koro shook his head. He sighed, his body finally calming down as he felt the effect of Sun and Rain flames slowly wash over him. "No, I'm fine now," he countered, retrieving the tablet from the black-haired girl before grinning, his cheery attitude back as if it never left. "Thank you so much, Okuda-kun!" he chirped, quickly slipping back in his role and leaving the poor girl at lost.
Koro stretched, feeling rejuvenated. The black pill held drugs with a high concentration of flames. They were actually one of Verde's latest inventions: Flame Pills. Their use was quite dangerous and needed to be strictly controlled, lest one got nefarious aftereffects.
They came with both small and high concentrations, depending on the use and the person using them. Low concentration pills were accessible to anyone, so long as you did not consume more than one, there was no risk of aftereffects. Low concentration Sun pills were quite popular, making up for emergency care within missions where Sun flames bearer were not present. As for high concentration pills, those were customarily reserved for people who possessed the said flame.
They were much more potent in their efficiency but also more dangerous. Each person possessed a different flame affinity, and the uncontrolled ingestion of a foreign flame could lead to grave consequences. It was for this reason that having someone inject their own flame was still the favored method.
Despite this, as the Harmony, Sky flame could tame all other flames and encompass them. For this reason, Sky flame bearers were allowed to take in high concentration pills of flames they did not share an affinity with. However, it was still unadvised to go beyond one pill if their Sky flame was not powerful enough.
Koro was lucky enough to possess Sky flames despite not holding Sun or Rain flames. It mainly was the flame of the body he inhabited, making up a solid base and allowing him to take up to two high concentration pills at once. Otherwise, he'd do with only his Cloud flames, the dominant one, brought along by his soul.
The black tablet held the high concentration pills while the white tablet the low concentration ones. It was these that Koro fed to his students during classes.
"Are you really feeling better, Aarden-sensei?" Okuda asked, surprised by how fast he came back from the dead. She stole a glance at Koro-sensei, who was still melting on the sofa while dodging Okano's knife strikes and couldn't help but stare at the black tablet in the blond teacher's hands. The scientist aficionado in her screamed with interest, feeling like those pills were all but common. "Were, were your pills this efficient?" she suddenly came forward, curiosity overtaking her body as she boldly came forward and into the man's personal space to glare at the drugs.
Her passion for science empowered her, making the usually timid and demure Okuda much more forward. Stars gleamed in her eyes at the prospect of such powerful and unknown medicine. She felt the adrenaline pumping through her veins.
Looking down at the top of her head, Koro's lips fell, the bright grin turning into a genuine, fond smile as his green eyes seemed to glimmer with endearment. This Okuda, confident and forward with her likes and dislikes, reminded Koro of the Okuda he last saw before dying.
It made him nostalgic.
Without noticing the change in his comportment, or maybe he did but ignored it, Koro hummed, slightly nodding. "Yes," he said, confirming the girl's words whose eyes widened in confirmed astonishment and wonder. "An acquaintance, the best scientist, made them," he explained with a light chuckle. "He is currently working on making some more with different properties as a side project of his ongoing experiments," he told her.
While it is true that the creation of flame pills was a revolution, to this date, there only existed the SKY FLAME PILLS series. Verde's side project was to recreate the Earth flames, dear to the Simon Famiglia, and perhaps later delve into more complicated schemes like the Oath flame or the flame of the Night, wielded by the Vindice.
Koro did not know what Verde's main experiments were about at the moment, but he did not doubt that the outcome would be magical.
Okuda appeared breathless, she wasn't sure about those pills' exact properties, but from the effect they had on her teacher, they had to be prodigious. For the creator to consider furthering them a mere "side project," just how skilled would he be? What was worthy enough to be a "main project?"
"Amazing," she breathed, blinking her large dark purple eyes from behind her pair of round glasses. "He must be so amazing," she reiterated as if to have reality settle into her.
Koro chuckled.
"Well, this I can't deny," he agreed with a firm nod, gently patting the girl's head. The same way he would pat their head when he was Koro-sensei. "He is very good at his job. His personality is bearable, though," he mumbled to himself.
"Can I— Can I have some of them?" Okuda asked in a breathy voice, seemingly not in contact with reality just yet. "To study them!"
A strained smile came on Koro's lips. "They are pretty dangerous, Okuda," he said, not noticing his lapse and how he didn't add the '-kun' as he usually did as Sorrel. "Taking more than one could be lethal," he divulged, watching as her eyes widened.
Yet, instead of fear, interest bloomed in her eyes.
"Haaah," he sighed, snapping the girl out of her fantasy. She seemed overcome by a blush, losing all build-up confidence and boldness as she went back into her shell. She played with her fingers and gnawed at her lower lip in what appeared to be shame.
"I-I—" she stuttered, not knowing what to say or how to apologize.
Koro laid a hand on her nape, making the girl stiffen and tremble in fear. His green eyes gleamed with an orange light behind his colored contact lenses as he sent small inoffensive waves of Sky flame into Okuda's body. Retrieving his hand, he watched as she remained stiff and straight, tense like the stretched string of a bow.
He observed her, quite surprised as he blinked his green eyes before retrieving his wallet. "I guess I can give you this one," he said, plucking a red-colored pill from the white tablet. "It shouldn't do you any harm. You're compatible," he told her with an encouraging smile.
Okuda's jaw dropped open, making her mouth gap like a fish. "Thank you?" she squeaked, unsure and nervous as she received the pill in the palm of her hand. A pale red, different from the vibrant blue and yellow, the blond teacher asked of her.
"This one's property should enhance your strength," he roughly explained, not delving into the details of flames. After all, it was common knowledge within the mafia that such confidential information should not be shared with outsiders, lest the Vindice convicted you.
Okuda nodded, greedily taking the information before carefully wrapping the pill in a handkerchief like it was her treasure.
"I think the composition is basically the same as the other pills, with just one ingredient changing, perhaps the ratio as well," he added in a mutter.
"T-thank you so much, Aarden-sensei!" Okuda exclaimed, giving the blond a 90° bow in the process. She straightened, a bright smile on her face as she added. "You're a very kind person, Sensei!" and she waltzed away, too preoccupied with the idea of this unknown medicine to care about anything else.
Koro blinked, not knowing what to say before his face broke into a fond, dotting smile. His eyes moved to the side, meeting Karasuma's and dodging Irina's. He flashed them his bright grin, the mask back on his face like a second layer of skin.