Kasumi Aika's POV
"Yes! An out-of-season research project for our assassination classroom: Hijack the space station and steal their experiment data!"
Did somebody say... SPACE STATION?!
So we began researching unprecedentedly behind Irina's and Karasuma's back :D
"The reentry capsule carrying the research data. The capsule will be transported to the lab unopened, to prevent unlikely theft by the target super-creature." Korosensei read out loud. "Very clever precautions indeed. I can't carry anything too heavy. Use a five-ton capsule as a safe and there's no way I can steal it."
"That's why we get them to show us while it's still in space." I said.
"But does Japan really have the tech to launch a manned rocket?" Okano wondered out loud.
"Their technology is reliable enough for that, anyway. My influence might've moved things along."
Ooo, going to a space station! I might to get there before 707! Oops, wrong fandom.
~~~~~
"Our plans are in place. Now to put them into action. The rocket will only hold two people. Who wants to go?" Isogai asked.
"Me!" All of the boys and I raised our hands. I frowned at the girls. No girl wants to go?! Whaaaat ｢(ﾟﾍﾟ)
"Oho, the boys and Aika-chan, eh?" Rio smirked.
"It's an experimental vessel with no successful flights yet... who still wants to go?!" Korosensei yelled.
Almost all the boys lowered their hands... only Itona and I wanted to go XD
"I still do!" I exclaimed. "I've been to everywhere but a space station! It'd be a good breath of fresh air! (╯✧∇✧)╯"
"I still want to go." Itona said. "A rocket would make any mech-head's mouth water. But I'll give up my seat this time. Nagisa. Karma." Itona said.
"Huh? I'm not big on these risky challenges that rely on others. Just send Terasaka up with a dummy. If it crashes, no harm done." Karma said.
"WHAT?!" Terasaka yelled.
"Hmm, what about Karma and Aika?" Rio suggested. "Those two could handle pretty much any situation. Anyways, you totally wanted to go to the space station for 707, don'tcha?" She winked at me.
"N-NE?! H-How did you know that?!" I stuttered.
"Bitch-sensei already told me that you've gone to space facility missions a decent amount of times, but never actually entered a rocket, even less a space station. And I heard you and Fuwa-chan fangirling about Mystic Messenger the other day."
Oops, looks like I've been caught... f(^_^;
"Then shouldn't it be better if Aika-chan goes? Since she has some experience." Nagisa agreed with the blonde.
"Karma to provoke, and Aika-chan for safety." Kataoka said. "They might be a good choice for hijacking a space station."
"Yeah. We'll save our money and pay our own way."
"Karma-kun, let's give it a shot! Okay?" I gave him my best encouraging closed-eye smile. "A graduation trip to outer space with your friend. What could be better, right?"
Karma seemed to reconsider it. "W-Well, I guess it'd be fine... with you..." He muttered the last part under his breath.
"Hmm? What did you say there, Karma-kun?"
"Ah, nothing."
"Well! That's that!" Korosensei rubbed his tentacles together.
~~~~~
Cape Shimazu Space Center
"Hmm, feels a bit more cramped this time..." I muttered as I crawled through the vents with Karma.
"Maybe it's because you got fatter." He teased.
"Funny coming from you, since you're taking up most of the space." I shot back. OOOOOOHHHH! Get dunked on- wait wrong fandom again XD
"Hidoiyo, Aika-chan." He chuckled.
"Security analysis complete! I've placed a remote-control virus on the control-room computer. Now the control center and its system will act on my command."
"Arigatou, Ritsu." I thanked. "Looks like Kimura-kun did his role. "Ritsu, this is a bit sudden, but a part of our entry route is aboveground. Can you do something?"
"Roger. Checking your current position... done! I'll turn off the corresponding camera for ten seconds."
"Roger that."
"Three... two... one... zero!" We then quickly ran to the other side, off we kept going. We then reached the rocket launch. "Security guard passing through. Next patrol in ten minutes. Surveillance camera angle correction complete. It's not off, so be careful."
"Got it." I opened the sewer trapdoor and closed it back when we both got out. We then ran towards the rocket ship. A fifty-meter staircase to the rocket hatch... and once we reached the top, we were met by a Korosensei with a bad getup.
"Inspection? Perfection!" The octopus said, followed by a nyuruhuhuhuhu.
"Any accident would be a liability issue." Karma said once we reached Korosensei.
"Please don't say such awful things!"
"I'm relaying recorded footage of the dummies to the control room. If you swap them out now, you won't get caught!" Ritsu told us.
"Jya, let's go, Karma-kun."
He gave me a small smile, and then entered the space ship. Space ship +_+
The flight director began to count down as I kept myself from getting too excited.
"You know, we've felt this kind of excitement, you and me." Karma spoke up.
"Yeah." I chuckled. "Our trip to Hawaii. But... we might've change a little since then."
"Whoa!" I squeaked as the rocket ship quaked. I felt a hand intertwined in mine. I looked at it to see Karma, holding my hand tight.
Ba-dump.
"Nyuyah! It sure is fast!"
"Eh? Why did you tag along, Korosensei?!" I yelled.
"Well, you know, I worry. Don't be overly concerned about getting that data on me! You're on a journey through space, enjoy it!"
"...Korosensei, You use every ounce of your life to give us opportunities to learn. We're very grateful for that. But your life means more to us than just teaching material." I couldn't help but to smile from saying that.
"I know. And I'm glad. Ngurunyunyunyunyu!" Korosensei's voice then trailed away from our mach 23 speed. For the first time, we were faster than Korosensei.
"...Aika-chan." Karma finally spoke up.
"Y... Yea?"
"Let's have fun in the space station."
"L-Let's!" I gave him another closed-eye smile. We faced front, waiting patiently to get into the space station. Once we knew we were safe enough, we got out of the space suits, and hid beside each side of the door.
"Your country sent you a doll to play with." I heard someone say from the other side. "How about welcoming it aboard and giving it a big hug?"
"Okay!" The stranger opened the latch, and frowned. "Huh? Where's the dummy?"
Surprise madafaka!
Karma tackled the man from behind. "What?!" The man yelped.
"What's wrong?" Two other astronauts entered the shuttle. "Huh?!"
I had my bomb in my hand and a knife at the other. "Hello!" I greeted cheerfully.
"Hey, it's Mizui-san! I've seen you on TV!" Karma said.
"Wh-Why is there a kid in here instead of a dummy?"
I ain't a kid (;｀O')o
"Hey what's- you again?!" It seems like he remembered me when I infiltrated the space facility before :P
"Hey there~ uwu"
"I have terminated the comm-link with Earth!" Ritsu said.
"Thank you, Ritsu." I then faced the three astronauts. "We have a bomb. We'd like to do this peacefully. Please back away so we can talk ^^"
"This place is a little cramped." Karma said, a knife in hand. "Let's talk somewhere with more space. Come on, move it."
Ooh, a threatening Karma +_+ I've always wanted a partner like him!
Once we moved to a more spacious place, I explained our situation. "Therefore, please allow us to copy the American team's data. We won't be making any other demands."
"I think you know, but our teacher is a monster. I don't know what he'll do to the earth if you refuse."
Man, these guys calmed down way too quick. Well, that's an astronaut for you.
Clap, clap, clap, clap.
"First, let me give you two daring kids a hand. Bravo." The fella with a gray beard clapped his hands.
"Oh, you can speak Japanese!"
"But are you really gonna take on the six of us, soldiers included? A bomb doesn't scare us. Because... we've been running experiments here, not knowing when this is all gonna blow up and kill us all."
Dang it... I kinda hoped we could do this the easy way...
"Enough pointless conflict. This is no place to fight. We'll talk, so please, let him go."
Oh, we are taking the easy way (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑
Karma sighed, then let his hostage go.
"Even if you do steal the data, how are you going to get home?" Mizui asked. "Are you going to ask us for help while you hijack us?"
"We can make it back on our own." I assured. "Our classmate's worked out the return orbital calculations perfectly."
"Yep!" Ritsu chirped.
"Our teacher can do any fine-tuning by pushing us in midair."
"This is way too reckless!"
"Maybe because you're young, but aren't you taking your lives too lightly?"
I'm not. Is what I wanted to say, but Karma beat me to it.
"I didn't come here because I wanted to. I came because my friend asked me to." Karma looked at me, and smiled. I smiled back. "And you mentioned our lives. We've done plenty of thinking about that lately. I mean, we're students of a class that'll kill its teacher. We should know by now to be prepared to face life with life. Just like you, right?"
"It seems you have genuine faith in your target's plans... All right. I'll take it upon myself to accept the hijacker's demands." The astronaut faced one of his comrades. "Prepare the data."
"Huh?"
"But first, help us offload supplies. We'll put you to work and get you out of here already."
Fine by me. So we helped them on the supplies, and inside the last supply bag, I found a bag of astronaut ice cream +_+
I couldn't help but to open one. It was square, freeze-dried and divided into three flavors: chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. I tried to lick it, but it didn't melt. This is the greatest invention of ice cream... It's like an ice cream flavored biscuit! I snapped off a piece of the chocolate piece and popped it into my mouth.
"So chocolaty... so creamy... <3" I moaned.
"Hey! The ice cream supply!" One of the astronauts exclaimed, only to see me enjoying one.
"Hello~! I couldn't help it, I love ice cream too much."
"You gotta excuse her, she's an ice cream eating fanatic." Karma said, picking off the strawberry side and popped it into his mouth. "And I like strawberry flavored ones."
"Karma-kun! Don't take my ice cream ( >д<)"
"Gomen, gomen. I just had to~" He then zipped up the ice cream supply and handed it over to the astronauts. "If you can send us some astronaut ice cream, that'd be great. And that's the last bag~" He then floated back to me.
I quickly stuffed the astronaut ice cream into my mouth, then stuck my tongue out when I finished.
"How childish." He rolled his eyes, before laughing. I replied with a simple 'Hmph', and floated around. My eyes soon landed on a window that gave me a good view of the Earth.
"Nee, Karma-kun! Look at the view from here~!" I awed, looking out a window. "Kirei na..."
"This might just save him." Karma said as he enjoyed the view.
"Yeah..."
"And that'd be enough, right?"
"Hmm? What do you mean by that?"
"Well, I'm not going against the class' decision to save him... I'm just wondering what Korosensei wants us to do." He then floated away.
What... Shinigami-sensei would do... I shook it off and followed Karma, proceeding to the downloading data. We connected Ritsu to the laptop, and started copying the data.
"That's the lab data on preventing that supercreature from exploding."
"No signs of falsification. I can confirm it's the full data from the experiment in question. I'll just grab a copy."
"Copy complete." Karma then disconnected Ritsu from the laptop. "Now to get back and validate it." He then tossed my phone back to me.
"Yeah, and we shouldn't overstay our welcome." I fished out the bomb. "Hey, astro-santa!"
The bearded astronaut actually looked up XD
"Think fast!" I tossed the bomb at him, which he caught in panic.
"Whoa! Hey!"
"To be honest, there's just some sweet jelly bean inside." I admitted, giving them a peace sign.
"Oh no -_-" They sweatdropped.
"Just say you were too spooked by the bomb to disobey." Karma teased.
"We're very sorry for the troubles, although we don't look like we do ^^"
"And at least it killed some time, right?" Karma played with his knife by bending the blade. It's actually just a normal anti-sensei knife :P
The two of us then floated back to the space shuttle.
"You guys are an awesome group of heroes." Karma said.
"Come back anytime, but next time, do it the right way."
"I've had enough. However... I'll make sure to increase the budget for space exploration when I get in power." Karma assured before taking a seat in the shuttle.
"Yeah, I'm lookin' forward to it."
"And if, by any chance, a person named Luciel comes here, tell him that I got here first :3"
"...Really, Aika?" They sweatdropped.
"Just kidding~ but I'll make sure I'll enter properly instead of infiltrating next time, okay?" I gave them a thumbs up before taking a seat as well.
"You better keep your word for that. Hey redhead, keep your girlfriend in check next time when she enters a space facility."
Karma and I immediately went red like tomatoes as the hatch closed. "W-We're not d-dating."
"Heh, keep telling yourselves that."
Then the shuttle took off. I looked at Karma to see him playing his Nintendo. "One Piece, eh?" I questioned.
"Hmm? Oh yeah. This game's not bad." He then kept playing.
After a moment of silence, I sighed. "Our time in space sure went by in a flash."
"Mmhmm."
"Now, time for us to go home. Ritsu?" Silence. I looked at my phone. "Ritsu?"
"I'm on it. I've crunched a ton of numbers to get you down safely. This spaceship might as well be my own body by now. Plus, all those sensors I have are picking up more than ever before. External temperature, air pressure, speed, the scenery... Aika-chan, Karma-san, I even have a clear read on your respiration, your conversation, your heartrate, your warmth. To think so much, to move, to feel... how wonderful... This mission has evolved my intelligence... I'm experiencing it firsthand! Hey, you two... I just gained awareness of an emotion for the very first time. I'm happy. Happy to be a part of this class."
Ritsu...
The shuttle began to quake again. I held Karma's hand and the arm rest. He squeezed my hand, and I felt my heart warmed up. What is this feeling? Whatever it is, it's... nice.
"Right on schedule! And what a grueling grip it must have- ow!"
"Huh? Korosensei!" I called out. Then the parachutes ejected, slowing our fall.
"So I didn't need to intercede in the negotiations after all! You really must have gotten through to those space guys!"
"Guess so." Karma replied.
"Now to give you two a little shove. Hup! Ow! Hup! Hot! Ow! Hot! Onward! OWWW!!"
I giggled silently. The things Korosensei does for us were amazing. "Let's get ready, Karma-kun."
"Ne, how about we drop the honorifics?" He suggested.
"Eh?" I cocked my head to the side, slightly confused.
"We've known each other for almost a year now. And from everything we've been through, I don't feel like saying any honorifics anymore. What do you say, Aika?"
I let that sink in. Aika... "Sure, Karma." I grinned. You're the first one to ever call me like that.
PSHHHHH...
Looks like we landed. I took off the seat belt and opened the hatch to be met with grinning faces.
"We're home!" I grinned.
"And we got ice cream." Karma said, showing the...
"THE ASTRONAUT ICE CREAM SUPPLY?!" I squealed.
~~~~~
"Whoa! Check out this data!" Maehara awed. "I'm glad you got it, but with all this jargon, I can't understand a word!"
"I'll handle it. Let's see here..." I translated, "An experiment in space proved that the risk of explosion for a tentacle creature is inversely proportional to its size. The bigger it is, the more stable, while the smaller ones have a higher likelihood of exploding. Unlike those of a small mouse, the probability of the human-sized creature going berserk and exploding is much lower than expected."
"Huh? That means..."
"Additionally, the medicine indicated below is administered and a silicon chemical compound is periodically stimulated through the entire body... simply put, by 'relieving muscular stiffness', the risk of them going berserk decreases dramatically."
"'Stiffness'?"
"When the following conditions are satisfied, the possibility of explosion, even at the highest, is less that 1%!"
"One percent?!"
"It is likely that other cells usually die out before explosion occurs and the creature gently evaporate within 90 years."
"So can you make this drug or what?"
"It's actually very easy! In fact... the one Okuda-san made before was almost exactly like this one."
"THAT ONE?!"
"You're kidding me! The key to solving this was right there all along?!" Fuwa exclaimed.
"Are you sure? I mean, it's almost too easy to find." Muramatsu agreed.
"No, it wasn't all that easy." Kayano murmured.
"Kayano..."
"Because my sister risked her life to stop Korosensei as he was turning into a destructive creature. Because Korosensei followed in her footsteps, risking his life to teach us. If we hadn't risked our lives, we probably wouldn't be able to make that drug, and we wouldn't have grown into a class that could look for answers way out in space."
"Either way, lass than one percent is as good as zero! Even if we can't kill him, Earth won't explode!" Sugino and the rest of the class whooped. But... I just couldn't. I don't know why. I'm happy, but I feel like this is all too good to be true. The world I know doesn't work this way...
"Then... what about the assassination?" I spoke up.
"Huh?" They looked at me.
"The one we've been working on since our first term? Should we just call it off as of today?" I frowned.
"Huh?" Sugino placed his hands on his hips, frowning. "I... I guess we can. Wait..."
"Nagisa, Whaddya wanna do?" Terasaka inquired. "This was your idea."
"No matter how minute the possibility, the government won't cancel its assassination plans, not as long as he remains a dangerous creature." Karasuma said.
The entire class smiled. "I want to treat everyone's feelings with care, especially now that we've come through that tunnel. Here's what we decided: if we couldn't kill Korosensei by the March deadline, we'd graduate from assassination and go back to being plain old students and teachers. But until that deadline, we'd wield our blades with conviction. After all, here 'assassination' is our bond with our teacher, and a compulsory course from Korosensei, who'd nurtured us. That's what we made up our minds to do."
~~~~~
"Merry Christmas!!" Korosensei cheered, holding wine and a chicken thigh in his tentacles.
"Merry Christmas!" We cheered as well, pulling off the party horns that contained tons of anti-sensei.
"What a marvelous Christmas Eve! Yes, February means Christmas, all right!"
WHOOSH.
"Happy New Year!" He whooped. I looked down to see myself wearing a kimono. "A new year is upon us! Tackle your studies and your assassination with new emotion! Now then..."
WHOOSH.
"Time to laze the day away."
Where's he going with all this? (・_・ヾ
"So you're trying to take all the fun year-end events you missed out on and cram them into February?"
"Ah! Exactly right! Our only winter break, and only Kasumi-san came to visit!"
"I only came to get my phone..."
"And you were so earnestly worried and trying so hard on my behalf that it didn't feel right for me to invite you over..."
"Dumb thing to fret about when we were all so bummed out." Yoshida muttered.
"With all that behind you, now's the perfect time! We'll take back the winter break we lost, all at once!"
Mach speed monster celebrating new year events at mach speed? ^^; (A/N: also mach speed paced story line :P)
But... it's already February. Future-facing February. We've got to figure out where we're going before we say goodbye. Thirty two days left before graduation day, and before Korosensei's dead-line. And also, the day of...
~~~~~
"Where are you headed, Karma?" Nagisa asked.
"Ah, I'll stay at Kunugigaoka." He shrugged.
"Huh?!" The rest gawked.
"You mean you'll take the entrance exam all over again?"
"I figured you for something better. I mean, you could get into the best high schools around."
Karma smirked. "Put yourself in the main-campus students' shoes. The guy they thought they'd chased away is back, and standing head and shoulders above them. What could be better than seeing those punks' humiliated mugs for three whole years?" He stuck his tongue out.
Such a winning persona (-∀- ; )
"Besides, there are better schools for average academic ability, but only Kunugigaoka has students who'd be fun to take on in one-on-one academic showdowns. I'll have no problem getting the job I'm after. I figure I can take this time to just enjoy a battle or three."
"That's so you, Karma." I chuckled.
"That reminds me, what school will you go to, Aika?" He asked.
"Ah, uhm... If I won't get homeschooled again, I might stay in Kunugigaoka."
"Ha...? Really?" Karma tilted his head to the side as he smiled.
"Hontouni? With that brain of yours, you might actually be able to skip high school." Kayano pointed out. I chuckled.
"I might. But I won't skip high school. I'd like to live a normal life for once. Ah, Nagisa-kun, you got into your dream school, right?"
"Uh-huh. And Kayano, Sugino, and everyone else... It's almost time to say goodbye. Each of us, going our own way."
~~~~~
"Kasumi-san, I'd like a word with you." Karasuma told me. He called me to the Ministry of Defense's interrogation room.
"Is there something you'd like to say?" I raised a brow, sitting on the opposite side of the table.
"I was talking to your guardian a few days ago." He leaned in, his hands intertwined. "She told me everything."
My eyes widened. "Everything?"
"Everything. I apologize for not telling you this, but she insisted. Thought it was the safest and fastest path."
"Just cut to the chase already, Karasuma-sensei." I snapped.
"I'd like you to join the Ministry of Defense." He said. My eyes widened.
"...What?"
"Your intelligence is far superior than anyone, with the IQ of 300-330, the highest IQ known to history. Your assassination and many other skills were honed by the Shinigami himself, and, as much as I hate to say it, your experience in field work has surpassed even mine. The only problem you have is the personal grudge against your father, which I will not specify any more than that. So the higher-ups wanted to make a bargain with you, concerning that."
"...I'm listening."
"Join the Ministry of Defense, and we will give you support on taking down that organization. Despite being a very secretive organization, it's the third largest employer organization after People's Liberation Army and Walmart, and the largest assassination organization in the world. Taking it down in your current strength is impossible, even with those connections you have with retired or supposedly 'dead' assassins. We will not ask for details, and you can still work here, even after our contract is done."
"...In short, if I join the Ministry of Defense, I can take down my father's organization and have a job."
"Yes."
"How long does this deal last?"
"If the Earth doesn't explode, we'll let it stand until the last year of high school."
I stood up. "Thank you for the chat, Karasuma-sensei. I will honestly think about it, but I've got an assassination waiting for me. I supposed you do too?"
I noticed Karasuma's eyes widened the slightest bit. Looks like I hit the spot.
"Just kidding. Have good day, Karasuma-sensei." I then left the building.
End of Chapter Five
I'M BAAAACK- OML IT'S BEEN ALMOST A MONTH SINCE I'VE UPDATED （;≧皿≦) BUT I'M BACK (FOR NOW) THO +___+ I iz currently suffering on school, and became addicted to this app named Amino XD *coughs*I'mactiveintheMMamino-*coughs* and I've been distracted with competitions TvT ples forgive dis potato
Closing brought to you by wasabi and mustard,
Pocky-chan, out!