Ring, ring! I picked up my cellphone to see the caller ID: Kurahashi.
"Moshi-moshi?"
"Aika-chan, Aika-chan! Can you come with me to the forest?" Kurahashi asked.
"Umm... why?"
"I want to find some beetles! Please come with me~"
"Oookay, then. I'll go. When should we meet?" She won't try to kill me, right? Lolz no.
"At the school mountain in 20 minutes!"
"Okay, bye." I hung up the phone, then put on some attire.
"Alice, I'm going to the mountains! See ya!" I said as I walked out.
~~~~~
"Hmm..." I hummed as I looked through the trees. No beetles, Kurahashi-san."
"No worries! Let's keep looking!"
"Well, I did find something."
"What?"
"Boys. Maehara-kun, Nagisa-kun, and Sugino-kun."
"Eh...? Let's say hi to them, them!" Kurahashi said, walking along the branches towards them. What an innocent girl... If only I was like her. The innocent girl that I was is dead, I killed her because she could never survive in my world-
No! Shut up! You're fine... you're okay. Just like what mom said, just believe in a lie to make it true.
"Aika-chan! Aika-chaaaan!" Kurahashi called out. "Let's go bug hunting with the others!"
I snapped out of my thoughts. "Oh? S-Sure!" I followed her and the boys.
"Do you like bug-hunting, Aika-chan?" Sugino asked.
"Oh? I've never actually done this before. I've learned about them, but never actually caught them, so this'll be my first time seeing one in real life!" I said, grinning.
"Mmm. A pretty nice haul." Kurahashi looked her bug trap.
"Did you make this, Kurahashi-san?" I asked.
"Mmm! It's a homemade trap of mine. I put it out last night. There are about 20 more of them out there, so that's about a thousand yen for each of us if we're lucky!"
"Not too shabby for a side job!"
"I hope we caught the one I was looking for!"
"What an insufficient trap." I heard a boy tutted. "And you call yourselves the E Class?"
Okajima-kun?
"Pulling in a measly thousand yen at a time? Yeah, right. My trap'll bring in a cool ten billion!"
"Ten billion..." Nagisa muttered. "You don't mean....?"
"Oh, but I do. If we're planning an assassination on this tropical isle, that octopus is bound to let his guard down in the meantime. And that's what I'm after!"
...The hell am I looking at?
"Alright! Here we go! He went right into my porno trap!"
"Wow. When do you see the speedy Korosensei too absorbed in reading to make the slightest movement?"
That one must be right up his alley. I sweatdropped. "And what's with the stag beetle getup?"
"Is he trying to blend in? That's just sad."
"Every mountain has one: The smut stash. The kids who find their dreams there grow old enough to buy their own porn mags and then leave behind dreams for someone else to find. It's a place filled with neverending dreams..." The pervert looked at us, smiling. "I'm glad you're here! Lend me a hand! We'll use our porn power to give him a dream he'll never wake up from!"
...We seemed to have reached maximum crassitude.
"I did some major research into his turn-ons, y'know. Can't buy the stuff myself, but I found a few."
"Eh? Wouldn't he like anything with big boobs?" Nagisa asked.
"In real life, sure. But dirty magazines are dreams. Everyone looks for their ideal in those pages. For photos and mangas alike, the tiniest difference gets a whole 'nother response."
"Whoa. You actually did some research into this?!" I looked at the photos that he collected during the past month.
"It's just like your traps, Kurahashi. You need to work out ways to attract your prey for long periods of time, right?"
"Yeah."
"I've got a dirty mind. If you wanna hate it, go on ahead. But it's only because I'm a super-lech that I know... pornography can save the world." He pulled out an anti-sensei knife.
...He reminds me of someone. But he's got some mad talent to make that sound real cool.
"I'll get him, alright! Under all that porn is a net strung with anti-sensei BB pellets! He's buried in all that mag right now. We can nab him for sure! Someone cut this rope and trigger the trap." Okajima pointed at the rope that was tied to a tree. "I'll jump in there and finish him off!
He's really interesting. It's kinda rare to meet an assassin that would eliminate someone like this. But anything could be a weapon anyways- what the...
Korosensei suddenly looked up, looking like he's staring at something.
"Byooo!!" Korosensei bwooped. It was weird.
"Wh-What the-?!" Maehara was at loss of words.
"His eyes just went all 'bwoop'!" Sugino said.
"I don't have any data on that face! What kind of porn does that signify?!"
"Nyehehehe! There you are!" Korosensei extended his tentacles and caught something. "Ah! A Miyama stag beetle, and look at those eyes!"
A Miyama stag beetle?! And the eye colors... they're white! An albino! Those things can reach up to 100,000 yen!
"Are they white, Korosensei?" Kurahashi quickly got out of her hiding spot, running towards Korosensei.
"Ah, Kurahashi-san!" Korosensei looked at the girl. "Indeed they are!"
"Wow! Just what I've been looking for!"
"Yes, right here on this mountain!"
"Oh man! And we were so close!" Okajima cried.
"Lemme have a look!" I said, staring at the pearl white eyes of the stag beetle. "That's a good catch, Korosensei!"
"Yay! Miyama stag beetle! Yay!" The two cheered, jumping up and down over all those... magazines.
"Demo..." I pointed down, sweatdropping. Korosensei began to turn pale, looking down. He began to cover his face in embarrassment.
"How mortifying! How super-duper mortifying! I'm so ashamed. Such behavior is unbecoming of an educator. I knew there was a trap under all this porn, but with each magazine more to my taste than the last, I couldn't resist!"
"He saw right through it..." Okajima gawked at the octopus.
"So what's the big deal, Kurahashi? That's a Miyama stag beetle, right? In games and stuff, they sell for way less than a giant stag." Sugino asked.
"Miyamas have been selling for more lately. They're still hard to breed. One this size could fetch twenty thousand."
"Twenty thousand?!"
"And," I continued off of Kurahashi, "if you look closely, its eyes are white. Normal Miyama stags would have black eyes. It's an albino. An albino stag beetle are only white in the eyes. A natural-born Miyama white-eye, is extremely rare. You could sell this for hundreds of thousands of yen, easy." I ended the lecture with a shrug as Korosensei gave Kurahashi the albino beetle.
"Hundreds?!"
"I told Korosensei I was hoping I could see one someday, and he said he's use his zoom eyes to find one for me! Okay, you lowlifes, whoever wants this baby, raise your hand!"
The boys shot their hands up high, but I just gave a small hands up.
"ME!/Me."
Kurahashi simply laughed. "What to do, what to do?" She ran away with it. Lol.
"I was the one who caught it!" Korosensei cried. So we (mostly the boys, I just looked at the them and ate some ice cream) chased Kurahashi around the mountain, and Okajima ended up falling into the sea on the process. It was fun.
~~~~~
Really, Jelavich? I thought as I looked at her, lying on a beach chair, drinking some tropical juice.
"Well, well! I see you brats are working up a good sweat, summer vacation is not withstanding."
I pointed a gun over my shoulder and gave Irina a warning shot, since it just whizzed just past her shoulder. My other gun aimed at the target. "You should train to, Irina-sensei." I pulled the trigger, and it hit perfectly in the middle. "Your knife and gun skills aren't that much better than ours."
She seemed to not care of my warning shot. "Grown-ups are sneaky. I'll just hitch a ride on your strategy and take the best parts for myself."
That little...!
"You think you're a big shot, huh, Irina?" I know that voice.
"L-Lovro-sensei!" Irina and I yelled out. I quickly clamped my mouth shut.
"Sensei? He taught you before?" Nagisa gave me a strange look.
"Ah, no. It's just that I'm used to call the grown-ups with -sensei, because they're usually my teacher. Ahahaha... I should stop that habit." I lied.
"He's here as a special instructor for the summer. He'll give us tips on our strategy from a pro's perspective." YES!!!
"Spend one day resting, and your fingers and arms forget about killing. If you don't want to flunk out, hurry and get changed!"
Irina shot out of her chair. "Yes, sir!" She began to run to the campus, going to change her clothes. I love it when Lovro-sensei's here. I won't have to deal with a lazy assassin after all, then.
"Thank you for your assistance." Karasuma thanked.
"To make matters worse, I lost contact with assassins who'd shown the most promise."
"Were they scared off, knowing that even the pros had failed?"
I gritted my teeth as I overheard a bit of their conversation. He lost all three of them? I thought they won't chicken out that easily! I'll have a personal chat with them once we meet.
I felt someone tap my shoulder. "Aika-san."
"H-Hai, L-Lovro-sensei?" I turned around.
"You still kept it a secret?"
I nodded my head. "I'm a pro at this, I can probably pull it off until the end of the year. Unless he comes along. That would be a bit of a stitch."
"That's good." Lovro then looked up, and raised his voice a bit. "Anyway, what's this very first step, psychological warfare?" He pointed at our plan.
"First, we throw him off, blunting his moves." Nagisa explained.
"Korosensei was scavenging for dirty magazines earlier. So he paid each of us off with an ice pop." Maehara grinned evilly. "As if that's enough to keep our mouths shut in this day and age!"
"The entire class will be ganging up and picking on him!" Terasaka's group joined in, joining Maehara with the dark smile.
"So we'll corner him with that blackmail material... and more. I made that part of the plan." I smiled innocently. :P
"A brutal assassination method indeed." Lovro sweatdropped. "But the final key is that final, killing blow. Pinpoint timing and accurate aim will be crucial."
"Are you worried about this class' firepower?"
Class' firepower... The first thing I thought was Chiba Ryuunosuke and Hayami Rinka. They're natural born professionals, their results do the talking. I aspire them.
As I looked around, Fuwa's aim seemed to be a bit destabilized. "Fuwa-san, try doing it cross-legged. Maybe it'll help." I advised.
"Ah, uh... sure." She sat cross-legged, then shot her target.
"See? It's more stabilized now." I gave her an encouraging smile.
"Ah, arigatou, Aika-chan. How did you know?"
"J-Just guessing." I lied, smiling. I should keep the advice to myself now. I don't want them to suspect what I am.
"You seem to be having trouble keeping pace with others." Lovro said to Takebayashi. "Don't force yourself. Instead, go for a firing style that suits you."
I just realized... where's Karma?
"BOO!" I felt hands on my shoulders. I instinctively elbowed the person on the gut, tackled him, and pointed the knife to his neck. After I realized who it was, I sighed.
"Really, Karma? Don't startle me like that." I put the knife down, and stood up.
"Impressive reaction skills, Aika-chan." He praised.
"Where were you, anyway? I didn't see you all day."
"Doin' stuff. Duh."
"Idiot." I hit the back of his head.
~~~~~
"Welcome to the Fukuma Resort Hotel! Please enjoy this tropical juice with our compliments." The waiter gave us a tropical Bay Breeze cocktail. He looks familiar...
"Man, this is the life!"
"Everything's so bright and vibrant!"
Hmm... I looked skeptically at the juice. I sniffed the cocktail, and a faint smell, it was hard to pinpoint, but it was rather off. Rotten fruits? I dunno. It's too faint to catch... I shouldn't drink this.
"You're not going to drink it, Aika-chan?" Nagisa asked.
"Oh, uhm... I smelled pineapple. I don't really like pineapple..." I lied.
"Soudesu ne... well, we're going to do the you-know-what after dinner. We're going to 'have fun' first. We'll be in groups. Me, Karma-kun, Sugino-kun, Kayano-san, and Nakamura-san. Do you want to join with us too?"
I shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
~~~~~
"Do I have to wear a a swimsuit, Nakamura-san? I don't want to... And I have to take my glasses off as well!" I whined. "Can't I just wear t-shirt and shorts?"
"C'mon! Please~ I don't wanna be the only one wearing a bikini. Besides, I promise that I'll treat you some ice cream after all this."
Shoot. She put ice cream into this.
"...It better be Ben & Jerry's." I muttered.
"Now that's the spirit! Put this on!" Nakamura gave me the swimsuit and pushed me into the changing room. Good thing I brought a pair of colored lenses.
~~~~~
"Happy now?"
(Aika-chan's swimsuit and (colored lenses) eyes)
"YES! Extremely! Let's go now, Aika-chan!" She grabbed my wrist and lead me to a floating chapel.
I'm beginning to doubt this... T^T
"Okay, we're here!" Nakamura stopped. I skidded to a halt as well, looking at the snorkels.
"Nice." I grabbed one, then looked up. "Group 1 is doing a good job on throwing him off."
"They sure are, and with a little assassination in the mix." I saw Sugino, Naigsa, and Karma walking to my direction. "They're trying not to draw his attention to the other groups."
"A-AIKA-CHAN?!?!?!" Sugino gawked at me.
"Ah, domo." I greeted. "You didn't know it was me?"
O///O (<- Sugino and Karma's reaction)
"B-But your eyes..."
"Colored lenses. That's all." I told him.
"A-And you're wearing a..."
"Nakamura-san forced me."
Snap!
"For fan service, Aika-chan!" Nakamura showed the picture of me with the bikini.
"Nuu! Nakamura-san...! Nobody wants that! DX"
"Nu-uh! Karma-kun might want it! Do it for the ice cream, remember?"
Why you do this to me T^T
"Well, we're up next, guys!" Kayano said. "Let's do what we have to do and get changed ASAP! And try not to ogle at Aika-chan too much~!"
"What?! Kayano-san! I'm not even that pretty!" I cried before diving into the sea. Gotta do what I have to do... and add some things to do while I check things out. Things I'll need for the future.
~~~~~
At the Ship
I changed right away when I got out of the water, wearing more comfortable clothes.
(Aika-chan's outfit ^^)
"Here we are, at the shipboard restaurant we've rented out. Let's slowly savor our meals as we take in the night sea." Isogai said, a glass of water on his tray.
"I get it. First you'll get me good and seasick to weaken my capabilities, eh?" Korosensei smiled(?) he's so tanned that I couldn't even see his teeth. He looks like a black ball or something!
"Of course. That's Assassination 101."
"That's right. But will it really work that well? Seasickness is no match for a teacher who's all pumped up anticipating an assassination-"
"You're too dark!" The girls yelled.
"...Am I really that dark?"
"Forget your expression, we can't even tell front from back!"
"It's too confusing. Do something about it, will you?"
"Nyehehehe! Have you forgotten, students? I can molt. And in so doing, shed this dark skin!" In a blink of an eye, he's back to a yellow octopus. "There! Back to normal!"
"That's your once-a-month molt!" Fuwa told him.
"Just another of its uses. I tend to save it for sticky situations but..."
3... 2... 1...
"That's right... once a month." Korosensei went to his emo corner, moping. "At least I you can see my expressions now."
What an idiot... hobbling himself before an assassination! How have we not been able to kill this screw-up yet? At least, now, our blades might reach him. But I'm not going to just enjoy the food. I'm going outside.
"Excuse me." I stood up, and left the dining table, up to the deck of the ship, and decided to take a nice gaze of the setting sun. "The stars are almost out. How nice."
"I know, right?"
I sighed. "You're almost like a stalker, Karma-kun."
"I'm not, I also happened to be wanting a breath of fresh air."
"Uhuh." I said, readjusting my glasses. "The sky is red and blue, the sun and stars are out. Funny how two opposites could be so beautiful."
"Yeah." I felt his arm draped over my shoulder.
Ba-dump
"Karma-kun, do you think it our assassination will work out in the end? I feel like there will be something going wrong."
"Stop being such a party pooper, Aika-chan. We're here to kill. And I know we can do it."
I just hope you're right... I just nodded silently to Karma, admiring the sun as it goes down. It brings back so many memories...
~~~~~
"Alright, Korosensei. Dinner's over." Maehara told the seasick target.
"Here's where we're meeting. A floating chapel, away from the hotel."
Everything's been going out swimmingly so far.
"Take a seat, Korosensei." Okajima offered. "There's nowhere for you to run here."
"It'll be a fun assassination. We'll start with a movie." Mimura patted the TV.
"Your intelligence, your attentiveness, and your earnest efforts... Those are what I look forward to the most. I expect a no-holds-barred assassination!"
End of Chapter Nineteen
Omigerd! 800+ reads?! I could've sworn last week was around 650?! You guys are ze bomb <3 I wish I could do better, but this is all I could do for meow :3 I'm pretty much making two chapters in one week, this one and the special >_< I might not be able to do the next week's chapter becoz I'll be going on vaca (possibly no wifi either), so... take this as the chapter for next week >:3
Message from future me: I hope you guys will have a Merry Christmas!!
Closing brought to you by SaeYOUNG and SaeRAN (=Zen?)
Pocky-Chan, out!!!