"So how are you doing now? Your injuries all better finally?" Yuki asked, earning a nod from Sora.
"At long last, yes." Sora replied with a smile. Yuki laughed at that and walked alongside him. Where to? That was a wonderful question. One that nobody except for Koro-sensei could answer.
And for some reason, he had actually decided to not talk for a little bit.
It was a sweltering day outside. And for some reason Koro-sensei decided on a wilderness hike.
"Phew!" Koro-sensei was walking through the woods. "Helter swelter!" He passed a small caterpillar. "I understand this is what it's like in Osaka when a heatwave hits." He was fanning himself with a mini Koro-sensei fan while Class E followed behind.
Sugino grimaced. "So hot...why's he got us out here on the back of the mountain?"
"It's not like it's any better than the classroom." Yuki joked.
"I miss AC..." Nakamura groaned.
"We all miss AC, Nakamura." Okano agreed.
Ritsu was in her swimming gear while she talked to them through the phone. "If he's looking for a pool, there's one at the main campus," she said to Nagisa who was holding the phone. "But that's not in this direction, is it?"
No," Nagisa replied, frowning.
"Maybe we're going swimming in the river?" Sora joked. "That was fun right Okajima?"
Okajima shuddered at the mention of that day. "Never again!"
"Hey, Nagisa." Karma walked alongside him. "I hear you really did a number the other day," he said. "I sure wish I could've seen that assassination of yours."
Nagisa smiled sheepishly. "It wasn't that impressive. Sora roundhouse kicked the guy into next week with still healing broken ribs."
"Nope! This is your moment Nagisa. I did absolutely nothing cool on that day." Sora countered.
"You really hate attention huh?" Yuki asked with a smile on her face.
Koro-sensei chuckled when he came to a spot and turned around to face them. "All right, we're here!" He parted the bushes. "Behold!"
The class gaped in shock when they saw the clean water bank that had been converted into a makeshift pool.
"A pool I made specially just for E Class!" Koro-sensei announced.
The class cheered and threw their jackets off to jump into the pool.
"Woohoo!" Hiroto jumped in along with the others.
Sora stared in shock. This guy was honestly too much sometimes.
"Quite gawking and jump in!" Yuki cheered, pushing Sora in from behind before she jumped in after him.
There was a chorus of splashes as the class all jumped in one by one.
The students were all playing and swimming in the pool having the time of their lives.
Kayano was sitting in a floating ring while holding a Koro-sensei themed beach ball in her hand. She sighed. "It's fun, but a little depressing" she said quietly to herself as she stared at the ball. "I'm a terrible swimmer..." She looked around. "And this suit leaves nothing to the imagination..."
The side of a camera flashed into view. "Don't worry, Kayano..." Okajima held the camera up to view. "Someone somewhere will want a body like yours someday." He took a series of pictures.
The girls groaned.
Kayano blanched. "Hey, Okajima, maybe don't go acting like a dashing young man while setting up that camera to snap sneak pics."
Meanwhile Nagisa was relaxing in the pool as well.
"Nagisa...you..." Rio sounded disturbed.
"Huh?" Nagisa looked over.
"You're a boy!" Rio exclaimed in horror.
"You just noticed!" Nagisa screeched.
"Do you blame us?" Okano commented.
Koro-sensei blew his whistle. "Kimura! No running at the poolside!" he chastised the boy when he ran past Kanzaki. "You could trip and hurt yourself!"
Kimura stopped and looked over. "Oh, uh, sorry..."
Koro-sensei blew the whistle again when Rio and Hara were holding their breath underwater.
"Hara and Nakamura!" he yelled when they came up for air. "Watch the breath-holding!" He was shaking with nerves. "I'm worried that you'll stay under too long and drown!"
"Okajima!" Koro-sensei grabbed the camera with his tentacle. "I'm confiscating that camera!"
Hazama was in the shade reading.
"Hazama, don't just read all day—swim!" Koro-sensei chided.
Sora and Yuki stood side by side in the water, staring at their teacher.
The class watched in anguish as their teacher kept blowing the whistle insistently every second.
Koro-sensei was sat in his lifeguard seat, blowing the whistle as he held his megaphone and kickboard.
"I guess when you make a pool, you start feeling like the high ruler of it all," Rio muttered.
"Yeah..." Sugino agreed. "It sorta puts a damper on all our gratitude."
Koro-sensei chuckled, shielding the sun from his eyes. "My elaborate plan makes the most of the natural surroundings." He said, surveying the pool. "From the scenery to the layout. It must be enjoyed in an orderly fashion."
"Aw, don't be such a stick in the mud, Koro-sensei!" Hinano admonished. "Have a splash!" She splashed him.
"AH!" He flinched from the splash, trembling in his seat.
The class stared at him warily.
"Uh?" Hinano was confused.
"What was that scream?" Nagisa said.
Karma reached out and shook the lifeguard high chair.
Koro-sensei screamed. "Karma! Stop that! I'll fall in!" He clutched onto his chair for dear life.
Karma laughed like a small child as he shook the chair harder.
"I'm going to fall in!" Koro-sensei pleaded. "Do you hear me?! I'll fall in! Please!"
The class stared in shock.
"Koro-sensei..."
Koro-sensei jumped off the chair and was panting like he was about to have a panic attack.
"Don't tell me...." Isogai trailed off.
Koro-sensei tried to compose himself. "Oh, I just don't feel like swimming, that's all!" he tried to lie, whistling weakly. "It's not like my tentacles get all swollen so I can't move or anything..."
"He can't swim..." Sora murmured.
"That's...huge." Maehara added.
"With that kickboard of yours, I was sure you were going to swim," Mimura said, pointing at the board.
"This is not a kickboard!" Koro-sensei replied defensively. "It is a wafer." Upon closer inspection, there was a bite mark on the board.
"You bought a snack?" Mimura said.
Further away from the pool Terasaka had been watching from the bank, he was fully dressed and looked at his classmates with disdain.
"Tsk." He scowled and walked away.
Sora watched him out of the corner of his eye.
That may be a problem.
____________________
"Are you serious, Koro-sensei?!" Yoshida yelled, making Terasaka stop by the window of the classroom. "It's just like the real thing!"
Terasaka slid the door open, where Koro-sensei was in full bike gear on a motorcycle in the middle of the classroom.
"You made that out of wood?" Sora asked, legitimately impressed.
"That's so cool~" Yuki chirped.
Terasaka's face tightened, eye twitching. "The hell are you doing, Yoshida?"
Yoshida stiffened, forcing a smile. "Hey, Terasaka!" He looked nervous. "The two of us were talkin' motorcycles the other day since no one else around here is into 'em."
"Not only am I grown-up. I am also a capital-M Man among men!" Koro-sensei puffed out his chest. "I've been known to dabble in this kind of hobby," he said. "And this baby can hit 300 kilometres an hour."
He got off the bike and took his helmet off. "What I wouldn't give to ride the real thing one day!" He shook his biker gear off and replaced it with his teacher's robes.
"You kiddin'?" Yoshida grinned. "It'd be faster just to hold it and fly!" He and the others in the class laughed.
"But is that as fun? That's the real question here." Yuki inquired.
Terasaka gritted his teeth in boiling rage. He kicked over the face bike out of spite.
"MY BIKE!" Koro-sensei screamed. "AHHH!" Koro-sensei screamed in horror.
The rest of the class were not happy either.
"Geeze, Terasaka, what was that for?!" Yoshida snapped.
Koro-sensei sobbed behind them.
Terasaka's eyes were darkened with anger, as his jaw twitched.
"You apologize!" Rio ordered sternly. "The not only grown-up but also capital-M Man among men Koro-sensei is crying!"
"
That's a mouthful." Yuki muttered.
"Yeah, what she said!" Fuwa and Mimura yelled.
Terasaka kept his back to them. "You guys are just buzzin' like a bunch of bugs..." He reached into his desk and threw a repellent can on the ground. "Time for an extermination!"
"The hell!?" Sora shouted, immediately stepping in front of everyone. At this point he was pretty sure he would take a bullet for his classmates based in reflex alone.
He was honestly starting to worry about his lack of self-preservation.
Smoke sprayed into the room, making them all flinch.
"What is this!?" Yoshida yelled. "A bug bomb?!"
Koro-sensei was reaching the end of his patience, he reached out to touch his shoulder. "Terasaka! Pranks are pranks, but this is going too—"
Terasaka smacked the tentacle away. "Don't touch me, monster!" He glared at him. "You're beyond creepy—and so are all of you, getting' pulled into bein' all buddy-buddy with a monster!"
The whole class was struck silent.
"What's got your knickers knotted, hmm?" Karma remarked slyly.
"You tryin' to start something'?" Terasaka growled. "Fine by me!" He marched forward. "From day one, you've been—"
Karma grabbed his jaw to shut him up. "No, now, Terasaka. If you want to fight, actions must come before words," Karma warned gently.
Quickly Yuki stepped in between them.
"Alright you two that's enough. You're both big strong alpha males. Are you happy now?" She grumbled, clearly annoyed with the whole situation.
Terasaka sweated, and roughly smacked her arm away. "Let me go!" he snapped, walking away. "Buncha losers."
Sora watched him go with a concerned expression.
____________________
Later at night on the mountain, Terasaka kicked a tank of chemicals into the river. Sora followed him from the shadows. Hiding in the trees and bushes as he followed the taller boy.
Someone was clapping. "Well done," a new voice broke him away from his thoughts. "Here's your 100,000-yen rewards." Shiro handed him the money. "We got a lot of prep work done, thanks to you."
Terasaka smirked.
"That octopus has a good nose on him," Shiro said, while Itona watched from the trees above.
"That's why we had to ask an inside man, like you, to help us set the stage for Itona to really show his stuff," he explained. "Ryoma Terasaka, I understand all too well how you feel. Just relax. Follow my plan to the letter and he'll be dead before you know it." Koro-sensei was shown with a sword speared through his back. "We'll put E Class back to what it was before he came."
That's what he wanted? He was really that afraid of change!?
Itona dropped drown from the trees and landed next to Terasaka, making him tense. "You. You're weaker than that red-headed fellow and the lazy one." he said eerily.
Sora pondered that. Who was the lazy one?
...
Oh.
"Even though you've got more raw energy and a better physique." His eyes were wide and ominous. "Know how I can tell?" He reached out and used his fingers to widen Terasaka's eyelids. "There's no vision in your eyes." Terasaka froze from the sudden contact. "No will or way or want to win."
Terasaka gritted his teeth when Itona backed off.
"The slow-witted cow who dimly chews the grass before it is no match for the wolf with cow-killing vision," Itona recited.
Terasaka looked ready to punch him. "Why, you little—"
"We're being watched." Itona stated.
Sora sighed. He was caught, so he may as well come out. He smirked as he slipped out from behind the tree.
"Damn Itona. You're pretty sharp." Sora joked.
"The hell?" Teraseka muttered. "When did you get here?"
"I've been here the whole time you dull bastard." Sora shot back.
"Ah, Mr. Hibiki. To what do we owe the pleasure of this meeting-"
"Spare me the damned monologue and tell me what you're planning Shiro. I don't have time for your crap." Sora spat.
"And why on earth would I tell you that?" Shiro asked.
"Because I hold all the cards here dumbass. I give one ring to Koro-sensei and-"
"Ren Izumi."
Sora went quiet, Teraseka looked around confused.
"I advise you choose your next few words very carefully." Sora threatened.
"What do you think he would do if he was released from Juvy. And found out that you of all people had found people to love?" Shiro asked. "Keep quiet, and don't interfere. And you'll never have to see me again.
He laughed.
"Upset me. And I'll see to it that you lose everything, all over again."
"You're bluffing."
"Am I? Is that a risk you're willing to take?"
"You're better than this Itona-"
"He is not. He is my weapon. Nothing more, nothing less."
Sora had nothing else to say.
"Have a good night. Sora Hibiki."
Sora seemed horrified.
This was bad.
____________________
The next day during lunch, Koro-sensei was distracting the students with his loud sniffling and running nose, but to them, it looked like crying.
"No, no—this is my nose," Koro-sensei replied. A zoom-in pointed out the difference in height with his nostrils. "I'm not crying; my nose is running. My eyes are here." An arrow pointed to the exact location of his eyes.
"Who can tell?!" Bitch-sensei snapped.
"I've been feeling a little off since yesterday," Koro-sensei told her, while the snot dripped down his face.
Sora watched the scene, his fists clenched tightly underneath the table.
"Are you alright? You seem stressed." Yuki pointed out, looking over at him with concern. Sora smiled at her.
"I'm fine. Just tired is all." Sora explained. Yuki stared in concern for a moment longer, but eventually sighed and smiled back.
Just then Terasaka entered the classroom. "Oh! Terasaka!" Koro-sensei stood up and ran to the boy's side, spraying snot everywhere. "I was worried you wouldn't come in today!" He gripped his shoulders while the snot covered Terasaka's pissed off expression.
Terasaka looked like he was barely keeping his composure.
"Hey, octopus..." Terasaka said calmly. "It's time we killed you for real. Come to the pool after class." He grinned viciously. "After all, water's your weakness." He turned to the rest of the class. "You all come help! I'll knock him smack into the water for you!" The class stared at him in surprise.
Hiroto stood up, rubbing the back of his neck. "You haven't helped with anyone else's assassination, Terasaka." He narrowed his eyes. "And now, when it's convenient for you, you're ordering us around...you really think anyone's going to jump at the chance to help you?"
Terasaka chuckled dismissively "Like I give a damn either way." He turned to leave. "Hell, I'd be happy to have the ten-billion-yen prize all to myself."
Yoshida glared at him as he left. "What's his deal?"
Muramatsu sighed. "I can't keep up!"
"Well, I'm not going," Hinano announced dismissively while eating.
...
"How does one piss off KURAHASHI!?" Yuki freaked out.
Okano nodded, crossing her arms. "Same."
"Oh, let's all go!" Koro-sensei said brightly.
By this point, his snot had spread into a pool-like good that was trapping E Class in place.
"Whoa! His snot's all hardened! We can't escape!" Kimura cried out while the rest of the class struggled.
"Here Terasaka is ready to assassinate me," Koro-sensei lectured while his head was covered in the yellow slime. "This is the perfect chance for everyone to kill and make-up!"
"First of all: you are gross!" Kimura shouted.
____________________
Later on, the class were all gathered at the pool with their knives ready, waiting.
"Yeah, there we go!" Terasaka yelled, gesturing them to move around. "Everyone spread out in the pool, just like that!"
Kataoka sighed. "Who does he think he is?"
Yuki stared up at him as well. "Freaking tyrant."
Takebayashi hadn't got in the pool yet. "I have my doubts." He pushed up his glasses. "Do you even have what it takes to make another person swim?"
Terasaka looked annoyed. "Hey, Takebayashi, shut up and get in!"
Kimura glared at Terasaka form the pool. "Yuki's right. Terasaka's turned downright tyrannical."
Mimura grimaced. "Just like he was back in first and second year."
Koro-sensei's snot seemed to have cleared up when he approached the pool. "Ah, I see. You'll knock me into the water and have everyone stab me, yes?" he asked, while Terasaka nervously held a gun in his hand. "Then tell me: how will you knock me in?" The others were looking on expectantly. "That pistol won't make me move a single step." Terasaka stared at the gun uncertainly.
Sora watched in confusion as well. This was a plan laid out by Shiro. There's no way it would be as simple as this. What the hell was that gun? What was the plan here? He looked around the outside of the pool for anything that stood out.
There had to be something.
Terasaka aimed the gun at Koro-sensei. "You ready for this, monster?"
He looked around the waters edge.
"Of course I am. My nose has even stopped running!" Koro-sensei chimed.
He looked inside the water.
Terasaka glowered at him. "I've always hated you. Wanted more than anything for you to disappear."
Green stripes appeared on Koro-sensei's face. "Yes, I know. After this assassination, We'll have a nice long talk."
He noticed something glowing red. And his eyes went wide.
"Teraseka stop-"
Too late.
He pulled the trigger. And a second later a beep went off from the damn, which triggered a hidden bomb.
The dam exploded, releasing the water.
Koro-sensei's gasped in horror.
"Huh?!" Terasaka looked over his shoulder in shock.
"My students!" Koro-sensei dived in without hesitation.
"AHHH!" The students were whisked away by the river current.
Nagisa struggled to keep his head afloat. Meanwhile Yuki tried to grab the edge of the pool.
Isogai desperately tried to swim against the current. "We're getting swept away!"
Shiro and Itona were watching from the river bank.
"You'll have to jump in and save them, Koro-sensei," Shiro taunted.
Sora grit his teeth. He was gonna kill that bastard.
Terasaka was trembling from shock. "No way... you never told me about this!"
Koro-sensei was desperately trying to save his students from falling over the waterfall, but his tentacles were swelling up quickly. "It's steep and rocky up ahead—" Koro-sensei anxiously stared at his tentacles when they swelled up red. "If they fall. They're done for!"
Down at the bottom of the river where the waterfall met, Shiro was watching the scene play out. "In the time it takes for him to notice and save them his tentacles will be absorbing more and more water," Shiro said smugly.
Itona extended one of his tentacles to examine it. "Mucus can protect them from a little water." As mucus dripped from his tentacle.
"That's right, Itona," Shiro praised. "He can use mucus to solidify the water around him and tweak the permeation pressure." The scene from earlier showed Koro-sensei leaking snot and mucus all over his head. "But he's all out of mucus."
Karma ran through the woods towards the pool. "Ugh." He stumbled a little when he saw the water and his classmates were gone. "What the hell?"
Sora ran toward Karma with a panicked look on his face. "The blew the dam!"
Karma looked somewhat shocked. Probably amazed they would go that far.
"I-it wasn't me!" Terasaka stuttered, staring in horror at what he'd helped do. "It ain't like what he said...I was supposed to get Itona over here and push him in!"
Karma's gaze narrowed dangerously. "Oh, I get it..." he said softly. "It wasn't your plan—you were just being strung along."
Terasaka turned to him desperately. "Look, I'm tellin' ya, it's not my fault!" A helpless, unnerved, smile forced itself on his face. "Blame the guy who made me go through with it! He's why everyone got swept away!"
Karma punched him hard in the face, knocking Terasaka to the ground.
"They didn't get swept away—you did." Karma looked down on him coldly. "If you've got the time to go pointing fingers, try using it to figure out what you want to do here."
Then Karma ran off, leaving Terasaka frozen on the ground with a large bruise on his cheek.
"If he didn't do it, then I would have." Sora stated, running after Karma.
"AHHH!" Yoshida fell off the edge of the waterfall but was caught by Koro-sensei at the last second.
"He's the last one!" Koro-sensei used his tentacles to balance and bungee jump along the cliff edge, rescuing students.
Suddenly, Itona's tentacle yanked Koro-sensei down towards the water.
"Long time no see, Koro-sensei," Shiro greeted politely. Koro-sensei stood up, drenched in water with his tentacles a painfully swollen red. "What you've soaked up there is no ordinary water, it contains a substance that blunts tentacle movement." Itona was facing Koro-sensei head-on. "With Terasaka's help, and Hibiki's silence. Everything went...swimmingly."
Yuki looked up at Sora with a betrayed look in her eyes. He clenched his fists at that, why did she of all people have to look at him like that.
"So you knew?" Karma asked.
"I knew they were planning something. Just not what it was." Sora admitted.
"And why didn't you tell us?" Karma asked, glaring at Sora.
Sora sighed. "He knew all the right buttons to push."
"Itona..." Koro-sensei tensed.
Itona's tentacles sprouted as he stepped forward. "Come, brother. A rematch to see who's stronger."
"We reduced the number of tentacles, focusing power and speed in those remaining," Shiro told him curtly. He curled his hand into a fist. "They're easy enough for a simple child to control."
The majority of the class were watching the fight from the top of the cliff.
"Is this for real?" Sugino exclaimed.
"That's not much water. Is he really that powerless?" Kataoka questioned.
Terasaka appeared from behind. "It ain't just the water."
Isogai glared at him. "Terasaka!"
Terasaka ignored the glares. "He can't go all-out 'cause he just got finished savin' you all." Further down the cliff Yoshida and Muramatsu were hanging onto the cliff for dear life. "See? Look above him there."
"Whoa!" Kimura yelled. Hara was handing onto a large tree trunk on the edge of the cliff. "Token chubster Hara could fall at any second!"
"I wonder if she can hear you..." Yuki muttered.
"And to protect her and the others, Koro-sensei..." Hinano trailed off.
"But she's fat and heavy—this don't look good," Terasaka said grimly.
"We've got to help her!" Kataoka shouted.
"But how?" Hinano replied.
"Wait a second..." Isogai said angrily. "Don't tell me they roped you into doing this?!"
Terasaka closed his eyes and smiled bitterly while the others looked at him questionably.
"That's right," he replied with a sharp smile that looked more like a grimace. "Shortsighted guys with no vision and no goals are doomed to be played by smart guys like them."
He scowled, tugging at his collar. "But you know...at least lemme pick who's pullin' the strings." He narrowed his eyes. "I've had it up to here with those jokers, and I sure don't like the idea of 'em walkin' off with the prize." Itona was getting the best of Koro-sensei. Terasaka turned to Karma who had been calmly observing the chaos. "So, Karma—why don't you try controllin' me?"
"Huh?" Karma looked at him curiously.
"Gimme a strategy outta that shrewd noggin of yours!" Terasaka said earnestly with a new wave of determination. "I'll pull it off perfectly and save all of them!"
Karma smirked. "Sure, but can you even handle one of my plans?"
He reached out and undid the buttons of Terasaka's shirt with one swoop of his hand. "You might die.
"Hold up, when did we enter The Yaoi Genre?" Yuki muttered.
"Yuki stop breaking the fourth wall." Sora pleaded.
Terasaka smirked. "Oh, I'll do it, all right," he replied. "I'm the perpetrator who gets results."
Down at the bottom of the river, Koro-sensei had absorbed too much water and was near his limit. His head and entire body were double the size.
A number of students winced.
"All right, time for the killing blow, Itona," Shiro commanded.
"Hey!" Terasaka jumped down next to him.
"Terasaka?" Shiro looked over in surprise.
"You tricked me good!" Terasaka growled.
"Don't get so upset. We just pulled your classmates into it a little," Shiro replied dismissively. "Perfect for a fellow who stands out in the E Class like you."
"Shut up!" Terasaka took off his shirt. "I ain't gonna forgive you for what you did!" He stood behind Itona with his shirt bared. "Itona! You and me, one on one!"
"Stop that, Terasaka!" Koro-sensei yelled. "He's not someone you can win against!"
"Stay out of this, Octopuff!" Terasaka shouted.
Shiro chuckled darkly. "What a hero." His eyes glowed eerily. "Shut him up, Itona."
"Karma!" Nagisa yelled.
"It's all right," Karma told him calmly.
"Shiro's not out to kill us students, and it's precisely because we're alive that Koro-sensei's attention is divided. Even Hara: she might look like she's in a pinch, but Itona's attacks won't be aimed at her." Karma smiled crookedly. "It's like I told Terasaka: he'll hit you with a tentacle hard enough to knock you out." Terasaka faced Itona, and then a tentacle whipped out and hit him in the stomach hard. "But if you take that speed and power and hold on as if your life depended on it." Terasaka held on to the tentacle with his shirt wrapped over it as he gritted his teeth to hide his pain.
"You held up well!" Shiro praised. "All right, Itona, give him another!"
Itona released Terasaka, making him collapse in the water, but then Itona's face scrunched up and his eyes watered as he sneezed.
"Huh?" Shiro looked over in surprise.
"Terasaka's still wearing yesterday's shirt," Karma explained evenly.
"Huh?" Nagisa looked over in surprise.
"Which means it got a direct hit at point-blank range from whatever was in that weird spray," Karma told them. Itona was sneezing badly now, and his tentacles were leaking mucus from where the shirt had made contact. "That's sure to have an effect on Itona." A splash distracted Itona. "So, having made a chink in his defences, the octopus..." Koro-sensei rescued Hara from the tree and gently placed her down. "...Can rescue Hara." Karma signalled for the others to move out.
Yuki blanched. "Your entire plan hinged on Teraseka not doing his laundry!?"
"Yoshida!" Muramatsu!" Terasaka yelled from down below. "Gimme a real big one!" he splashed the water.
Yoshida and Muramatsu stared at him like he was crazy.
"Seriously?" Yoshida smirked.
"Sheesh!" Muramatsu moved down.
Karma smiled smugly, while the rest of the class waited by the edge. "His weak points are the same as Koro-sensei, right?" He pointed his thumb downwards, signalling for them to jump off. "So all we have to do is use his same tricks right back on him."
"Ugh!" Shiro looked up in shock as the students leapt off the cliff and splashed into the water.
The whole class overcrowded Itona and splashed him from all sides, soaking his tentacles.
Karma watched from his perch on a large rock. "You've absorbed a lot, I see." He smiled slyly. "Your advantage is dwindling."
Shiro narrowed his eyes at them.
Karma looked back at him unflinchingly. "So what now? We don't want you to claim the prize money, for one..." He narrowed his eyes. "Your plans almost got us all killed, and Terasaka got all beat up in the process," he listed off.
"If you want to keep going, we're going to need to have a hardcore splash party."
E Class collected bags and handfuls of water in preparation.
Itona looked around in fear, tensing.
"Well, you got us. We withdraw," Shiro replied flatly, turning away from them. "Even if we were to slaughter all these children, who know's how his antimatter organs would run amok."
He looked over his shoulder. "Let's go, Itona."
Itona's face scrunched up with rage.
"Hang on a second." Sora called out, sliding down the hill himself and landing in the water.
"Mr. Hibiki, did you need something?" Shiro asked, earning a nod in response.
"Yeah, I want your protege." Sora stated, pointing at Itona. "Give him here."
"Sorry but he stays with me-"
"It's not your damn choice old man." Sora shot back, turning toward Itona. "What do you want Itona?"
"I want power!" He declared, earning a sigh from Sora.
"And you think you can get that from Shiro? Even though you've lost every fight he's backed you in?" Sora asked.
Itona stared at the ground.
"How about this. Let's fight right now." Sora offered. "If I win then that clearly means that Shiro is holding you back right?"
Itona's eyes widened at that. And from behind him, Sora heard a few complaints.
"Sora are you insane!?" Yuki asked, he turned toward her and saw worry on her face. But he didn't say anything, simply offering her a quick reassuring smile.
"And if I win?" Itona asked.
"Well then nothing changes. You would be provided with, Shiro would be the right answer for you." Sora explained.
Shiro scoffed at this. "That's enough Itona, we're leaving."
"I accept your challenge." Itona replied. "I'll show you right now that I'm the strongest!"
Itona sprouted his weakened tentacles and shot forward.
"Sora!" Koro-sensei panicked.
But as the attack landed, Sora didn't even flinch. Instead he just glared back at Itona. His tentacles were so weak from the water that they barely even damaged him.
"Do you get it yet?" Sora asked. "Solitary strength...means nothing at all!"
As he said this, he landed a powerful uppercut on Itona's chin. The young man fell back, onto the ground in a daze. The fight was already over.
Sora had won.
"Why? How?" Itona muttered from the ground. Sora smirked and looked down at him.
"Because you aren't fighting for anything. When you fight to protect, or to save, you become stronger." Sora explained. "Because you have more reason to fight."
Sora offered him a hand.
"You're already strong. So let's give you a reason to fight too." Sora stated. "If we do that, then you'll know what true strength is."
Itona looked back at Shiro, then back at Sora.
And he reached out his hand.
And took Sora's.