After the incident by the baseball field, a few things changed within 3-E.
The first most obvious change, apart from the frustration of losing while so close to victory, was how much more vicious the main building got in their harassment of the students. It was as if seeing 3-E so close to success had triggered them, making them react in a way that reduced 3-E to an even more bitter state. They were afraid that 3-E would take this near victory as synonymous with success— that they would grow overconfident and challenge them.
So the main building nipped the problem at the bud, squashing whatever self-esteem that could have appeared from the next day onward.
Fortunately, 3-E was not the same class as at the beginning of the year, the harassment was a chore, a heavy strain on their psyche, but they knew how to cope and deal with it. The lesson they received on psychological torture did magic, promoting their resistance and defensive mental mechanisms by leaps and bounds. Whether it was a fortunate or unfortunate turn of events was hard to say.
The second change was with Koro— Sorrel Aarden, or was it Yucca? The blond teacher would have a pensive look on his face, hidden by a mask of friendly composure. His argument with his supposed cousin had put the hitman's mind in shambles, and although his guard was instinctively up, the assassin seemed to be often musing to himself.
In this fashion, June reached its end. With Sugaya showing off his artistic talents through tattooing skills, the cloud over 3-E alleviated slightly. On the other hand, the harassment went back to its previous state. It remained somewhat meaner than before, but it was much tamer than after the baseball game.
July made its entrance, the rainy season still going somewhat strong, and after a few days of class, Karasuma got a notification from the higher-ups about a new teacher to take up his role. Karasuma supposed he could understand. Even now, after delivering his latest lesson, his students tried to bond with him only to get flatly rejected.
It would be frustrating to have someone take over after almost four months of hard work, but the mission's success was the top priority, as were headquarter's commands.
The Ministry of Defense's newly dispatched member was to arrive today; a competent member from the Special Service Division, recognized by his peers for his brilliant teaching and admired by his students for his guidance, earning him deep-rooted loyalty.
His name was Takaoka Akira.
—An asshole with issues if Koro had to describe the man.
Leaning over the teacher lounge's windowsill, his green eyes overseeing the class, Koro allowed his gaze to last one second longer on the new teacher. It was long enough for people to think he merely sized him up, but not too long that Takaoka would deem him a threat.
After all, the man was from the Special Division. He was keen on feeling people's attention on himself, especially those that looked at him like hawks preying over their next target.
With thinly veiled contempt and rage forming in his eyes, Koro peeled his gaze away from the students who ignorantly basked in the illusion of a good-natured man. Humans were simple-minded; bribing and friendly appearances when paired well could be deadly.
Koro could at least recognize that in his approach, Takaoka was quite skilled. In one afternoon, with pastries, games, and pleasantries, he won over the vast majority of the classroom.
He'd need to keep an eye on him. He'd also need to build one of his next lessons on how to better read such people. Seeing how easily 3-E fell into the man's grasp was a sad proof of their deep-rooted naivety.
"Are you going somewhere, Yucca?" the feminine voice of Irina called out in mild surprise as the male stood, straightening up. Since his 'big reveal' where Koro gave out more information, the staff had begun to refer to him by his real name while the students, confused as ever, tried to go with the all-winning Sensei to avoid blunders.
Koro gave Irina a quick smile, not letting his eyes linger on her for too long before he glanced at Karasuma, who was now talking to Takaoka. Something about how in the military, it would have taken a month and not three to get the students there. The new P.E. teacher also added that he'd make a much better educator and that in no time, 3-E would be full of assassins more than able to take Koro-sensei down.
"Mmhm," Koro hummed, walking over to Takaoka and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I want to see how exactly Takaoka-sensei plans on training the students," he explained, giving the man a friendly grin. His grip on his shoulder was a bit too tight to be friendly, but not strong enough to be considered threatening.
Takaoka brightly smiled in return, face lighting up.
It wasn't a well-spread fact yet, but Yucca was part of the Varia's higher-ups— as in the very top of the hierarchy. If Takaoka left a good long-lasting impression on him, not only could he possibly gain a contact, the number of opportunities would be limitless. Add to this his successful teaching and Koro-sensei's death. He was in for a road of glory!
"I personally give a lot of importance to the training and well-being of new recruits in my division," Koro continued, flashing a smile at the four teachers. "Seeing Takaoka-sensei's teaching could be enlightening, who knows, fufufu?"
Takaoka's grin broadened. He made a note that Yucca supposedly paid attention to his recruits' well-being. Does it mean he would be less inclined to the carrot and stick method he used? For now, Takaoka decided to tame his training regiment. He'd toe Yucca's limits, and once defined, he'd get to serious teaching.
Koro hadn't realized that because of his intervention, Takaoka would not get fired on his first day.
::
To Koro's surprise, Takaoka's training regiment, while demanding, was not as brutal as in his memories. Of course, the students were left breathless and sweaty after each session, barely dragging their sore bodies around and almost dozing off in each class, but Koro saw no purposefully made bruises littering their skin.
The Varia Cloud Guardian wondered if it had to do with his presence somehow. Maybe it was the butterfly effect? Unknowingly, he shaped Takaoka's mentality to something less vicious?
Koro blinked his green eyes, the contact hiding his purple irises and the veil of deeper purple that covered them. The hitman had his Cloud flames spread over the training grounds to watch every student during P.E. classes. It was a habit he developed soon after Takaoka's arrival to ensure the students' safety even if he wasn't looking.
Watching the students with mild interest, a gentle smile adorning his features, Koro allowed his attention to wander about, soon going to his brother.
The problem with Byakuran being his brother was the boy's stubbornness— not that Koro was not stubborn. It had been more than a week already, and their cold war was going strong.
Koro could see that Byakuran disliked the ambiance. He could see that he somehow regretted his words— their consequences at least. But the teen was not going to lay his pride down and apologize for something he did not see as wrong either. There was a reason why Byakuran made it as Tyrant and Dictator, and his headstrong philosophy indeed was part of the reason.
What's more, Koro was at fault as well.
Deporting all of his attention to his students and ignoring his brother when he previously told him this mission would be an occasion to bond was nothing but dumb.
He sighed, brushing his blond hair back as his half-lidded eyes gazed at his students. During his musing, the group had huddled together, sitting in a half-circle around Takaoka, who handed out a piece of paper to them.
"So? What do you think of your new schedule?" the round man boisterously asked, hands to his waist as he gave a hearty laugh. "With this, we're going to take down your homeroom teacher in no time!" he boasted, a broad grin on his lips.
Whispers ran through the class, covered by their breathlessness.
"You're— kidding, right?"
"Ten periods...?"
"Training until nine!"
Koro slightly frowned, the whispers coming to his ears like the rustling of grass against the evening breeze.
"This much is a given!" Takaoka said, motioning to his students and the schedule. His smile did not fade. It did not twitch. It remained evident and in place. "I got the Board Chairman's approval, too!" he continued as if to solve all resistance before adding, his voice dropping to imitate the Chairman's: "The Earth is in a time of crisis, so there's no helping it."
Silence, Koro's hidden purple irises flashed, the violet turning deeper as dashes of orange appeared.
Takaoka clapped his hands, breaking the tense atmosphere with his cheery voice and enthusiastic grin. "If we follow this curriculum, your abilities will grow by leaps and bounds! So without further delay, let's—"
"Just a— Hold on a second!" Maehara cut, abruptly standing up. Adrenaline, probably. Koro could see every twitch and micro-expression of his student, his vision momentarily enhanced by the flames gathered in his optic nerves. "This schedule is impossible!"
"Huh?" Takaoka intelligently vocalized, seeming incredulous.
"If this is all the time we get to study, our grades will drop!" Maehara hurriedly reminded. "The Board Chairman knew that when he approved of this!" the teen added, an expression of barely repressed disgust flashing through his eyes as incomprehension veiled his gaze. After all, at the moment, in 3-E's collective cognition, Takaoka was a kind and friendly teacher.
"And there's no time for us to have fun either!" Koro did not blink. He could see Takaoka's smile minutely receding with each word— alarms blared in his mind. "There's no way in hell we can do this!" Maehara finished. He was about to step forward when a blur pulled him back, making him stumble backward.
It happened without warning.
No one really saw what happened or understood the happenings.
Takaoka's head was buried in the ground, eating dirt for one second— a second for them to process what was about to happen.
Koro exhaled loudly, his eyes lackadaisically gazing at the sky as if to calm his nerves. His lips stretched into a flat unreadable line. The students swore his usually green eyes were now a deep, deep, almost black purple.
Maehara blinked, still sitting on the ground.
"It's a shame, Mist isn't my specialty," Koro mused as he lifted Takaoka's head. The military agent seemed to regain a fraction of his bearings. He slowly started to struggle. Without delay, Koro bashed the man's head in the ground again, and again, and again.
With unrestrained violence, and repressed emotions rolling off of him in waves, Koro lifted the dazed Takaoka before unabashedly raining hits on his body.
It took another dozen seconds before the action registered in their mind.
It was like tunnel vision. The only thing Koro saw or registered was Takaoka. Using him as an outlet for his feelings and frustration, the hitman did not seem to see a problem in bashing him or punching him— Takaoka was about to hit Maehara in the gut with his knee, there was no place for mercy.
Probably tiredness and Byakuran's issue combined with how he already disliked Takaoka, Koro did not stop to think that, maybe, it hadn't yet registered in the students' minds that their new P.E. teacher was dangerous.
Or, maybe, it was the influence of the Varia, the environment that Koro now considered his home, that made him so violently reckless now. Perhaps, it was because he felt comfortable around his students that Koro acted like he would with the Varia.
Koro was about to land another beautiful hit in the man's face, one precisely angled to dislocate his jaw.
His phone rang a precise tune that broke Koro out of his violent trance.
He stopped his fist millimeters away from its target. Koro released his grip, also letting the unconscious agent fall to the ground. He shook his hand, taking a napkin to wipe his hands as he reached for his phone. His purple eyes went back to green, the flames hiding behind the lenses as they did before.
"Ah— Chairman Asano?" he said, seeming surprised by the call. His eyes remained unreadable, and his lips a flat line as he gazed down on Takaoka's limp figure. He hummed. "Oh?" Surprise coated his voice as he pushed the man's figure with his sleek leather shoes.
"Ah— I-I see," he answered, voice holding a stutter just like his persona's would, yet his expression never changed as he gazed at the body with repressed emotions. "I'll be there immediately!" he hurriedly added. They exchanged pleasantries, and the Chairman hung up.
Koro sighed, gently humming to himself. His green eyes swept Takaoka to look at the bewildered students and Karasuma. He smiled.
::
Purple eyes followed the blond's figure through the corridor with minute indignation. Anger gnawed at him as incomprehension and frustration bubbled in the pit of his stomach.
Although Byakuran knew that Yucca wasn't exactly Yucca, it did not change the fact that the man remained his brother deep down. Byakuran knew Yucca's ways the best, one of Yucca's most relevant traits when working was the respect of hierarchy.
The only reason he would go against the top's orders would be if the gains overweighted the losses.
Going against the Chairman had no gains.
So when Byakuran saw his brother come down the top floor with a resigned look perfectly painted on his face, he couldn't help but be slightly disappointed.
He wasn't sure why Yucca went against the Chairman. Whatever the reason, he didn't like it.
Byakuran sighed. He wasn't surprised when he learned that Yucca got suspended from his functions for the two following weeks.