K A R M A A K A B A N E
赤羽 業
student no. 1
season 2 episode 21
At this point, everyone most likely wanted to bombard the teacher in front of us, eager for answers due to the events and the pent up frustration from the situation we were in.
I leaned on the row of stacked boxes when we were directed into one of the tents stationed in the main campus, Iroha standing beside me as the rest of the class circled around Karasuma-sensei.
Isogai, being the class representative, was the first one to pry, "Karasuma-sensei, what happened to Korosensei?"
"Time was up" he answered us with a brief explanation, "The government implemented their last resort, the one they've been preparing all this time".
"Their last resort?" Isogai waited for the officia to elaborate Takabeyashi trying to guess what he meant, "That barrier, you mean?".
"That's only a cage to keep him trapped" he answered simply, "In a week, they'll use a high-power laser to kill him".
"No!" Maehara shouted, clearly against it like we all were, "What about our assassination?".
"You tried your best so far. Now leave the rest to us" he left us on the edge, clearly pissing Terasaka off.
He scoffed, unconvinced, "Oh, now you're the big man, all 'leave it to us'?!"
"We're completely in the dark!" Kurahashi stepped into the mess, letting out her complaint.
"And that statement made it sound like it's all Korosensei's fault!" Kanzaki added.
"This is not cool." Kataoka agreed with them, "They told us to kill him, and now they're elbowing in on our job?!"
Isogai attempted to reason out with the official, "And it won't sit well with Korosensei unless we do the deed!".
"Stop acting like this isn't any of our business too! What happened to 'I want you guys to be the one to kill him'?!" even Iroha let her rage out.
Nagisa begged, "Karasuma-sensei, please—let us go!"
The square faced us, a stern expression on his face, as he said, "There are elite troops posted throughout town and on the mountain. No more openings for you to use to your advantage. Give it up".
"No! There's so much we haven't talked about with Korosensei! So much we still want to do! So please, let us g—" the blue-haired male argued, only to be cut off when Karasuma-sensei pinned him down.
He told him clearly, "I can't let you go! This is national policy! Now you listen closely, Nagisa... Don't give me a hard time. Are we clear?".
I sighed, exhausted by the bullshit and their wasted efforts. Even I felt bad for Isogai, Terasaka, Iroha and the others, who kept the mouth shut out of the rage and pent up frustration.
"It's no use, Nagisa" I attempted to stop him from wasting both time and energy, "In the end, he's just another company man. When push comes to shove, he'll just follow orders to save his own skin".
"That's exactly right. My position lets me protect people when they need it most. Besides, even going by my own conviction, I'm thinking he should be killed after all" Karasuma-sensei confirmed what I said before turning toward one of the soldiers on standby and ordering, "Arrange transportation and escorts for them at once".
The soldier saluted in recognition, "Sir!".
When all the grownups finally left us junior-high kids alone, silence engulfed us for a moment until Terasaka cursed audibly, breaking the tension in the room. "Dammit! Karasuma, that bastard!".
"Terasaka-kun..." Nagisa called for his attention.
"Ha?!"
"Karasuma-sensei just said 'don't give me a hard time' very clearly" he said.
Terasaka, being the simpleton he was, asked, "Yeah? So what?".
"Remember what he said earlier? If I ever have a hard time, I'd trust you without hesitation. I can count on you." Nagisa reminded us of earlier that day, when Korosensei had us caught up in yearbook making. "So I think 'don't give me a hard time' means he trusts us and can count on us to handle things".
"We have Karasuma-sensei's trust— he's leaving this to us. So..." he trailed on, raising the class' moral with that short monologue of his.
"Let's put our heads together and sort it all out: what we want to accomplish, what we're capable of, what Korosensei would want us to do".
✖︎︎●✖︎
When the escorts and vehicles arrived, being one of the last ones to get sent of, Iroha and I took our time talking to each other.
"It's like they dropped a bomb on us" she admitted, "we could've made this last week at the least bit worthwhile, but we're not even allowed to step into the mountain".
"That's just how it is when someone else has authority" I told her, knowing full well just how those types of people worked and how right now, it frustrated the class to no end.
"Still. Just because you have all the power in the world doesn't give you the right to fucking trample over the weak. So what if we're just kids in junior high? What do they know about Korosensei that we don't? Because for all I know, we didn't hijack a space station just to find an antidote, for nothing. We didn't spend a whole year trying to kill him just to waste time. Trying to kill a teacher who's done so much for you was hard enough, and for them to throw us away after all our efforts, the world could end for all I care" she ranted, calming down once I ruffled her hair.
"Sorry... I ended up rambling" she sheepishly apologized.
"Everyone's feeling the same thing you are so I won't blame you" I assured her, watching the last batch of vehicles approach us.
"But take the time to clear your head. You work best that way" I added.
"Karma" she called my name one last time before we were about to ride in the car and separate ways for the night, "You have something up your sleeve, right?"
"Maybe".
"Well, you can count on me" she swore as if reading my mind.
"I knew that ages ago, Iroha".