Even though Nagisa had known the weight of his actions, and thought that he was prepared for the backlash, the reality was far worse. He'd almost have preferred it if there had been a giant confrontation. But no, instead, simply nobody had spoken to Nagisa at all. It wasn't even as if everyone had been there, when Nagisa followed Asano's order, though he couldn't exactly blame them for spreading what had happened. Or the subsequent reaction. Nagisa was a traitor.
He was almost, sickeningly, a little grateful that they had Bitch Sensei's problems to deal with. If buying flowers and trying to set her up with Karasuma was going to take the focus away from him, then Nagisa was surely here for it. Unfortunately, things hadn't gone to plan, and their teacher had been more than mad. Nobody had seen her for days.
"Day three, huh?" Chiba said, when she didn't show up for their English lesson.
"Maybe we went too far," Yada thought.
Korosensei, dressed up in something ridiculous, leaned over by the window. "Call me if anything happens with Irina Sensei. I've got to get to Brazil to take in a football match. Samba-bye!"
"That's right –" Maehara started, "he'd had his mind set on attending that game for a while now. He's your typical once every four years fan."
Kataoka looked down. "I wonder if Bitch Sensei's okay."
"No good," Yada said after attempting to call her number, "I can't get through."
That sounded... suspicious.
Surprisingly, it was Ritsu who spoke up. "There's no sign of her on GPS or public surveillance cameras."
That was definitely alarming. Sure, Bitch Sensei locking herself up to mope for a few days sounded like her exact response to a situation like this, but this was all adding up far too much to just be normal. Then again, she had looked extremely hurt, at everything. Perhaps they'd been underestimating the extent.
"She wouldn't leave over something like this, would she?" Chiba asked, almost rhetorically.
"That's not it," the man who had sold them the bouquet of flowers for Bitch Sensei the other day entered their classroom. "There's still something you need her to do."
"Right?" Fuwa said. "And besides, it's fun having her around."
"Yes, you've bonded nicely, you and her," he said, setting down the flowers he carried. "My preliminary research has already verified that much. All I'll do is exploit that."
Wait. This wasn't right. Why was this man here, saying such threatening things? Nagisa felt a chill run through his whole body, and sickness boil in his chest.
"I'm the assassin known as The Repaer," he said, like it was nothing. "And now I have a lesson for you all. A flower's beauty negates human caution and opens the heart. But the original reason flowers evolved to be so lovely and fragrant – Ritsu, bring up the image I sent you – was to attract insects."
The image pulled up on Ritsu's screen was nothing short of horrifying. So horrifying, in fact, Nagisa hardly believed it was real, much like something out of a thriller movie or a video game. There was no mistaking it, though. That was their teacher, beaten and chained up like a torture victim. He almost threw up.
"I'll cut to the chase," the Reaper continued, "If you want to keep her alive you must all come to the location I specify – and not a word to your teachers. You don't have to if you don't want to. I can send her to you. To each of you. Equally. In little pieces. And my next flower will likely be one of you."
"Hey, now, buddy," Terasaka, apparently uncaring that he was up against the most famous assassin, "we have no real obligation to save that bossy bitch. Plus... did you think we wouldn't give you a beat down, right here, you kidnapper?"
The reaper just smiled. "That's incorrect, Terasaka kun. Wrong on all counts. You all like her more than you think. And a human could never cut down The Reaper. Fear not. The Reaper only cuts people down."
As if nature itself obeyed his command, wind gathered. Nagisa found himself blinking in the intensity of it, and like that, the Reaper was gone. The only evidence he'd even been there in the first place were the flowers, swirling in the gust out of the window. Lovro had been right, all that time ago. That definitely was the world's best, a whole other level to anything they'd faced before.
Isogai bent down to pick up something, a sheet of paper that had apparently been left. "'Come as a class to the location on the map before six tonight.'" He read aloud.
"Just like with Takaoka and Shiro," Chiba said. "They must be looking to take us hostage and draw out Korosensei."
Sugino slammed his fist down on his desk. "Damnit!"
"We using these?" Terasaka said casually, holding up their new PE clothes.
They had been a gift from the government. Though their class referred to them as PE clothes, in reality they were armour worthy of the field. Built with some of the best technology out there, it wasn't a light gift to receive. It kind of gave Nagisa the feeling that the urgency of everything was hiking up, and reminded him of how little time was really left.
"To protect someone, right?" Nakamura said.
Terasaka nodded. "Greatest assassin or not, we won't let his plans go off without a hitch!"
"Just one issue." Nakamura pointed towards Nagisa, and everyone's eyes followed.
They didn't have to say it. The shift in the atmosphere was more than telling enough. Loud and clear, everyone was thinking the same thing. Nagisa was too much of a liability, worse than useless. He hadn't immediately thought about it, the desperation to save their teacher from that danger clouding almost everything else. Regardless of it all, there was no way Nagisa could live with himself if they did nothing.
"He requested all of us," Nagisa said, finally. "Twice over. We can't just leave Bitch Sensei to that monster."
The silence was uncomfortable. Nagisa wasn't magically forgiven, despite this do or die situation. He swallowed, knowing that nobody had much of a solution.
"M-maybe he wouldn't notice if Nagisa didn't come," somebody said, quietly.
Isogai cleared his throat. "I doubt it, he wouldn't have emphasised it otherwise."
Kayano stood up. "I-I know not everyone was there, but we saw Nagisa kun fight against Takaoka san. That was only a couple of months ago. I don't think he's putting himself in any more danger than the rest of us. In terms of assassination, Nagisa kun is one of our best."
Though he wasn't sure if he actually believed all of what Kayano had said, Nagisa was thankful that at least somebody wasn't treating him like an invalid.
"I agree with Kayano chan."
Finally, the eyes turned to the back of the room, and Nagisa's heart leapt through his throat.
Karma stood up properly. "A guy like that reaper? He has this planned down to a T. There's no way around it, even if we wanted there to be. But," he exhaled, "Kayano chan is right. In this, I trust Nagisa's own judgement. There's no way the rest of us could tell what his own body can handle."
He was surprised, just a little. It seemed Karma's views had changed significantly since that time on the island. There was no doubt he really had meant every word of that apology.
"I'll do it," Nagisa said. "As long as nobody spends extra time looking out for me. I know I can handle myself. Besides," he tried to lighten it, "he wants us as a class, right? He probably won't go after us individually." Hopefully, anyway.
"Mm," Okajima said. "A class."
"Okajima kun," Isogai warned, "there are far more important issues right now. So, we're agreed?"
The atmosphere was still stiff, and nobody was about to just let Nagisa's betrayal slide, but Isogai's words at least meant people weren't refusing to look at him anymore. There wasn't much of a plan to make, given that they were far from having the upper hand in this, but they still discussed the precautions, before going their separate ways.
Once Nagisa had returned to the Asano residence, it felt like preparing for war. Unusually, against a very human and the most terrifying target at all. None of his assorted guns and knives would come much in handy, for this, though he knew Takebayashi and Okuda were coming up with something. All Nagisa had to do was adorn his PE clothes.
Their built in technology meant that they stretched to fit whoever was wearing it, to give the best protection no matter the conditions. Due to this, they turned out to be the most comfortable clothes Nagisa actually had access to. If they were more inconspicuous, Nagisa would consider wearing them all the time. In this condition, with the graveness of the situation, that joy was somewhat diminished.
The time came for Nagisa to leave, finally. He tried to be as silent as possible, not wanting anybody to notice his absence. Still, that didn't stop luck being against him. The second he closed the bedroom door behind him, he instantly heard the sound of a second door.
"Where are you going, Nagisa kun?" Asano said, no obvious threat in his tone.
Nagisa didn't trust that intuition at all, though, and he didn't have time for this. "Just out for a class thing?"
"Dressed like that?" Asano took a few steps towards him. "You look like you're about to join the army."
"Don't worry," he said, "I'll be back later tonight."
Asano eyed him suspiciously. "Why would you want to go to a 'class thing' anyway? You're better than them."
That made Nagisa feel uncomfortable. He shuffled awkwardly. The only thing worse than hearing the usual A Class taunts would be to join in with them. Nagisa still had some pride left in him.
"Why are you so against them?"
"Why aren't you?" Asano retorted. "Look, I know you're all buddies on the surface, but really Nagisa. Are they your friends? They didn't seem particularly pleased for your success. I know that if it were my friends who had exceeded all expectations, I'd feel nothing but pride and happiness for them."
They had been ignoring him for days, without even giving him the chance to defend himself... No. Nagisa wanted to punch himself for even buying into it for a second. Though, in some way, he wondered if Asano genuinely believed the words he was spouting. It didn't look like Asano was just going to give up, and Nagisa didn't have the time to wait out whatever he had to say.
Nagisa knew of two, sure fire techniques to stun a target and incapacitate them. His clap stunner move would be the easiest and quickest to execute, but it also relied on a few conditions. Nagisa didn't have any kind of weapon in his hand, and even if he did, he assumed that Asano didn't know the fear of near death like his other opponents had. That left Nagisa with only one option.
Before Asano could say anything else, Nagisa wove his way into his personal space. As quickly as he could physically move, he combined pacing light onto his tiptoes, and winding his arms around Asano's neck to pull him more down to his level – he was around the same height as Karma. He just barely took in the stunned look in the other boy's eyes as he sealed their lips together.
Asano didn't respond much to Nagisa's kiss, mostly passively letting it happen to him. In a sense, Nagisa was glad of it, as it made the mechanics of the kiss of death far easier to replicate. Within no more than five seconds, Asano's arms slumped at his sides, pliant. It was easy for Nagisa to pry his mouth open with his own lips, slipping his tongue inside to seal the deal. When he started to feel Asano's weight rest on him, Nagisa knew he was nearly done for. Just a little more, one finishing move... It didn't need to be as extreme as the trick he'd used to take Karma out. Nagisa pulled back as he would naturally, but captured Asano's bottom lip between his teeth and tugged very lightly, before releasing him entirely.
Huh, he thought as Asano dropped to the floor like a puddle, total overkill. "I'm sorry about this," Nagisa said anyway, stepping around his body to make his exit.
It turned out that the location the Reaper had marked out wasn't so much in the middle of nowhere. Instead, it was something he'd probably walk past every day without questioning, quite like the assassin himself. From the outside, it just looked like a plain building, a bunker if Nagisa really had to describe it. Apparently, though, it was also a tomb.
"Is that the way in?" Maehara said, staking out the location from the bushes.
"I did a loop around from above," Itona said. "No sign of anyone in the area."
"Ritsu," Hara said, speaking into her copy of the phone app, "if we're not back by midnight, tell Korosensei what's going on."
"I will," the AI agreed. "Stay safe, everyone."
"Let's go." Isogai commanded.
Just like it was a regular drill, something they'd practised over and over like an art form, they approached the bunker silently. Once the door was opened easily, they flooded inside, stealth their key. It lead to an open, grey room.
"That's all of you?" The voice of the Reaper asked from some kind of intercom. "Okay, then: I'm closing it up."
On cue, the doors slid shut. They were locked in.
"Hmm," Karma paced over to an area, as if he'd spotted something. "So you can tell what we're doing? 'Reaper'? More like 'Peeper'."
"We kept our end of the bargain!" Kataoka said. "Just give back Bitch Sensei and it'll all be over!"
Below his two feet, the floor began to shake, and then Nagisa became very aware that they were traveling downwards. Even inside him, tiny kicks protested the sudden change of motion. Not only were they locked in, but they were going to be trapped underground. The technology seemed old and unsafe, but they made it to the bottom with only a small bit of debris.
"Trapping complete!" The Reaper stated. "Doing it all at once like this keeps the risk to a minimum."
Three of the walls appeared solid, but the forth was like metal bars, though far too tightly packed for anybody to consider slipping between them. It was also likely the most secure part of the trap. Everybody else seemed to have the same thought, and began punching the walls in the attempt to find some sort of escape route.
"Bitch sensei!"
"It's alright," the Reaper said casually, "of he comes quietly, no one gets killed."
"If we go the defiant route..." Okajima stepped up to the bars, "you won't get mad enough to kill?"
"Nope." The Reaper confirmed. "You're a little too scared, even for a kid."
Okajima kept the charade up. "Actually, I'm a little relieved."
"Here! It sounds hollow here!" Somebody shouted.
They all knew what to do, on that cue. Without haste, a small bomb was attached to the spot, with a detonator time of just a few seconds. They stepped back to prevent from being hit by anything. At the sound of the bomb, Okuda threw one of the smoke screen capsules she'd crafted, obscuring them from any cameras. In under the space of the minute, the entire class had made their escape.
"Now for the moment of truth." Maehara said, as they went out into the open space. It didn't look like much, just a gigantic, open network of tunnels.
"Can you hear me, E Class?" The Reaper said over yet another intercom. "The truth is, I'm very pleased you escaped. It'll be the warm up before the unknown big game. I expect great things from you."
"It's like... A game." Hayami realised
It was. A highly sadistic, thought out game. Forget pleased, the Reaper had likely been counting on his escape. Like this, with just his voice appearing at unknown times, they couldn't even see his face. That made him the most dangerous threat Nagisa had faced. Faces told the most stories, after all.
"Let's intercept him here." Isogai said, taking the lead. "No matter which way he comes from we'll have the upper hand if we outnumber him."
It was sound logic. They'd already accounted for this, in their discussion earlier. If there ever was a chance to split up, half of them would search for Bitch Sensei. Those who had already volunteered wasted no time in speeding off, leaving the rest of them to try and keep the Reaper busy, to keep his all seeing eyes on him.
"Back us up, Ritsu." Hara requested.
"Don't feel like it." Ritsu said from the screen. "Not like I'm gonna defy the Reaperman. I'd sooner turn off than do any work."
"She's been hacked!"
The sickening sound of footsteps drowned them out. Nagisa turned to look, but there was no sign of the Reaper, despite hearing the sound get closer. He had to really focus before he saw it, just the slightest hint of a shadow. Although he could just about sense that, Nagisa couldn't make out the Reaper at all. This was the skill of a true assassin.
Yoshida and Muramatsu seemed to catch sight of the figure too, running towards him together for a quick attack. Although they both threw punches, they missed horrifically, unable to connect to his seemingly non-existent skin. Together on the ground, they slumped.
"The first skill I honed upon becoming an assassin was head on combat," he said as he approached, smacking Kimura hard into the wall. "It's ninety nine percent unnecessary for an assassin, but without it, the remaining one percent of targets would get away. If you're looking to become the world's best assassin... it's an indispensable skill." He approached Kayano, and kneed her hard in the chest, the sickening crunching sound echoing in the tunnel as she collapsed. "Females are so very fragile. Can't be treating the rest of my hostages so carelessly."
Nagisa's eyes raked from Kayano's form to the shadowy mass. Something powerful over took his body, right then. A voice inside him said that this was what he was meant to do. Though this was the most famed assassin of all time, Nagisa could rely on his second blade.
"Move aside, everyone. I'll take him."
"Nagisa kun..." Karma said, panic and warning lacing his tone.
He took a deep breath. The cracking sound must have been from their new clothes, the armour absorbing the shock. Nagisa was certain Kayano was mostly unharmed, only a little bruised at worst. But there was no way the Reaper knew that. It was like Nagisa just knew, he'd thought it was her ribs. He'd revelled in breaking them. What Nagisa was feeling, as he approached the assassin, wasn't bloodlust, it was anger.
Before Nagisa could take another step, a deafening noise, the slamming of hands together, rung out right in front of his face. It was as if his nerves turned into solid stone, shock paralysing his entire body. His brain was awake, but he couldn't move even the slightest inch.
"The clap stunner. Yours and Lovro's might just startle a cat." The Reaper taunted him. "But this skill has yet another level. Human consciousness has a wavelength: the higher the peaks, the more sensitive one is to stimulation. So when your foe's consciousness is at its most sensitive peak, you strike with your most powerful sound wave. That impact won't just temporarily spook your opponent. It'll paralyse their nerves, immobilising them for a while."
Nagisa felt his knees buckle. The Reaper sighed, kicking him hard in his midsection so that he fell hard onto his back the rest of the way. "Omegas get me mad most of all." He raised his voice. "So that's it, eh? Now then, I seem to be short some people. Come along, don't waste any more of my time."
Once Nagisa regained sensation, he choked, breaths coming up short. He was certainly winded from the impact, but he didn't feel particularly injured. It seemed, as he looked around, that the rest of them had been knocked out whilst Nagisa was in shock. Hopefully, nobody had witnessed more than just the clap. Nagisa didn't want them to worry over him. He sat up properly, and instantly regretted it, stomach cramping up weirdly as he got the urge to vomit.
It took more strength than it usually would, but Nagisa managed to unsteadily pull himself to his feet, before being shepherded off with the rest of his classmates. They were dumped back in the cage, a collar placed around each of their necks.
"Try not to mess with them too much. These are individual bombs. Wouldn't want you to prematurely explode!"
It took him mere minutes to round up the Bitch Sensei rescue squad, who received the same treatment. With them, Bitch Sensei, who looked completely unharmed, stood next to the Reaper.
"She was with him all along," Itona said angrily. "She tricked us."
Perhaps the betrayal would have felt worse, if the room wasn't spinning. Another cramp, like a snapping band around his midsection, made Nagisa slide down against the wall. On top of whatever that was, he felt stupid, like a failure. He'd been so out of his league it was laughable, and now they were all in danger.
"Nagisa..." Kayano voiced her concern.
Nagisa waved her off, trying to focus on one solid thing.
"I don't know how you're going to try killing Korosensei," Karma said, "but will it really all go according to plan?"
"No matter how poor my intel, I'll still get results. That's the world's best assassin for you." The Reaper said confidently. Before he could continue to boast over his victory, though, something seemed to come up on his phone.
"Karasuma?" Bitch Sensei questioned.
The Reaper considered it. "How did he know?"
"The octopus." Itona answered for him. "Said if there was ever a wall his students couldn't get over... Then it'd be his turn."
"Well, shucks. That sure throws a wrench in my plans." It didn't sound like it had, really.
"Korosensei and Karasuma Sensei!" Hara exclaimed.
"But Korosensei was still in Brazil!" Nakamura said.
The Reaper shrugged. "Oh well. Plan sixteen it is."
"My time to shine." Bitch Sensei walked off with him.
Though everyone was discussing how excited they were to be rescued, and how they could always have faith on their teachers, Nagisa couldn't find the enthusiasm. He was started to sweat, and shiver. Internally, he knew something was very wrong with him. Though there wasn't a lot he could do about it, in a cage.
"Nagisa kun," Karma got his attention, "are-"
"I'm fine," Nagisa snapped.
Before he could be questioned any further, Korosensei crashed through the roof. Well, it seemed the Reaper's plan had gone smoothly, if trapping their teacher was the goal. He was scarily good.
"Korosensei?!"
"Are you okay?!"
"Irina Sensei..." Korosensei said in disbelief, as the ceiling above them closed in. "Class... is everyone unhurt?"
Maehara groaned. "I can't believe he captured you too."
Korosensei placed one of his tentacles on the bars of the cage, and it immediately started steaming. "Bars made of anti-me material, eh? It's tricky stuff, to be sure... but my body has finally overcome it!"
"Really?!" Okuda said with excitement.
"Now to reveal to you... my secret internal organ weapon!" Korosensei fell to the floor, and stuck out his tongue to start licking at the bars entrapping them. "I made this tongue with a coating of digestive juices. Give me half a day and I can lick these bars away."
"Say..." The Reaper's voice cut in over the intercom. "Keep licking like that and I'll detonate everyone's neck bombs." He, Bitch Sensei, and Karasuma entered the room together, standing on the other side of the bars. "Now, then – better hurry. I'm about to flood this place with water. This is a drainage canal. On my command from the control room up above, two hundred tons of water per second will squeeze you into noodles against these bars."
"Wait! You intend to kill the students, too?" Karasuma said with alarm.
"Of course," he said. "It's too late to wait."
Karasuma snapped his attention. "Irina! You knew as much, and yet..."
"As a pro, I just prioritised results, that's all." Bitch Sensei looked down. "Isn't that what you wanted?"
"True, it may be a little harsh..." The Reaper trailed off. "Or should I let our best chance of saving the world slip away before our eyes?"
Karasuma eyed him sternly. "Here's how the government sees it." Before the Reaper could even react, Karasuma smacked him hard. "The lives of twenty seven people are weightier than the earth. If you still plan on killing them too... I'll stop you. And I'll tell you this, Irina," shrugs off jacket, "being a pro isn't quite so carefree."
The Reaper turned, and made a run for it.
"I don't think so!" Expertly, Karasuma too turned to begin his pursuit.
"Turn on your transceiver!" Korosensei called.
"Hmph. How rash. Karasuma may stand apart from others... but he goes even further. Just look at how easily he trapped that octopus." Bitch Sensei stopped in the middle of her sentence, receiving something over an ear piece. "Understood."
Once Bitch Sensei left the room, there was nothing left to do but wait. Although there was plenty to discuss, the tension was far too thick for that. Instead, it was completely silent as they looked to Korosensei's half of the transceiver, their lifeline. No sound came from it, until a little bit of static could be heard, followed by what sounded like an explosion.
"Karasuma sensei!" Korosensei called to him. "Are you alright?!"
Karasuma's voice came over it clearly. "What is it?"
"I finally got through. What was that explosion?"
"I'm alright," he responded. "But Irina's trapped under the debris. I don't have time for that. I'm going after The Reaper."
"You cant!" Kurahashi took the device from Korosensei. "Why won't you help her, Karasuma sensei?"
"Kurahashi..." Karasuma sighed. "Irina partnered with the Reaper to get results in her own way. A real pro accepts her own responsibility."
Kurahashi's voice was only full of determination, though. "What's being a pro got to do with it? I know this is coming from a fifteen year old... but Bitch Sensei is only twenty one! Growing up in an environment with no peace of mind, she probably forgot to pick up some of the pieces along the way that would make her a grown up. So please... rescue her, Karasuma Sensei. Just like how you forgive us students when we make mistakes."
Saying nothing else in response, Karasuma turned his end of the transceiver off. Despite her betrayal, Nagisa felt his stomach drop at the idea Bitch Sensei could be seriously harmed, although she was, well, a bitch.
"Hey," Itona said, tugging on his own collar. "These collars are pretty simple. I bet they only have a detonate and unlock function built in."
Terasaka looked over at him. "So?"
Isogai perked up. "We can take them off?"
"Yeah," Itona said. "They're not advanced enough to have recognition technology."
"Over there," Mimura pointed. "See the camera? It only points in this direction. If we stayed against this wall here, it would be like a blind spot."
Sugaya stood up. "I bet if I use some of my paint spray, we could use the built in camouflage technology to disguise ourselves from his peeping eyes even more."
The plan was executed swiftly, hopefully to confuse the Reaper of their whereabouts. Nagisa was thankful to be on the bottom of their little stealth plan. The idea of anything athletic seemed far, far out of reach. He wasn't sure how long they were there, though as a team, focus was high, until it was cut off by a ginormous splashing sound.
"What was that?" Kayano questioned.
Nakamura moved out of formation, as did the rest of them, to gather around Korosensei as his super vision eyes popped out. "Hey what's going on?"
"The Reaper has a knife – no, a wire! He uses that on Karasuma and – no, he blocks it with his elbow! He's using his knife as a shield, and seeing that, he switched to a kick.. but at the same time! What a great fight!"
"What the heck are you saying?!" Okano complained, his commentary confusing for all.
"Explain it so we understand!" Maehara demanded.
"Oh," Korosensei said, "we planned for this, just in case. I can just about stick one tentacle through." He demonstrated it, extending it to the far reaches of wherever Karasuma and the Reaper were engaging in this epic battle. Even Nagisa had it in him to gasp in alarm at the sound of a gunshot, but Korosensei seemed unfazed, pulling out a carton of tomato juice from who knows where and downing it.
All they could do was wait, until Karasuma eventually emerged, shirtless and unscathed. Bitch Sensei, despite her apparent injuries, looked mostly fine too. In his arms, Karasuma carried the body of the Reaper, completely immobile. For a moment, Nagisa wondered if he was dead for good, though that really wasn't Karasuma's style at all.
"The man had marvellous skills, but put too much faith in them." Karasuma reflected, once he'd let them all out of their cage.
"Whoever influenced him was a fool." Korosensei said sombrely, looking over at his body. "He could have used his skills to follow a much straighter path."
"Sparing people or killing them... It's all up to the person and the world around them." Karasuma agreed.
"Yes, it is. Right, Irina Sensei?" Korosensei turned to her.
She tried to pick up and sprint off, but she had nearly been crushed mere minutes before. Even Bitch Sensei couldn't heal that fast. Most of the class followed her, and she was quickly grabbed by Muramatsu and Yoshida.
"Hey bitch! What's the big idea, running away?"
"Argh! Just do whatever you want!" She gave in. "The boys with their usual pent up animal lust, the girls with their usual envy of my beauty- just let it all out in an explosion of sexual violence!"
"Her ideas are getting wild." Kimura said.
"Look," Teraska addressed her, "just come to school like always. No more shirking your duties for days on end."
"I'm dying to know more about that story- swindling Arabian royalty until you were on the brink of war!" Yada smiled.
"If you don't come back, I'll just keep that French Boys Over Flowers manga you leant me!" Kataoka added.
Bitch Sensei pouted. "You know I was this close to killing you all."
"Is that a problem?" Takebayashi said. "Backstabbing, treachery, isn't that what makes you a bitch?"
"And if we can't even enjoy school with a bitch, what are we doing being junior high assassins, anyway?" Nakamura smiled
"That's right." Karasuma approached her, and pulled out a single red rose, no clues to how he'd come across it. "This flower wasn't borrowed from one of our students. I came by it intentionally, by defeating the enemy. Is that good enough for your birthday?"
"Yes." Bitch sensei blushed.
"Karasuma sensei, a word before things take a turn for the racy?" Korosensei asked.
Karasuma sighed. "It definitely won't, but please."
"I don't want the students involved in this kind of danger again. I must insist on an environment where we can safely kill and be killed."
"I know."
Nakamura cleared her throat. "I can't speak for everyone else, but... If we're going to forgive Bitch Sensei for nearly getting us killed, as a class, it's right that we forgive Nagisa kun too."
That caught Nagisa off guard. It took a lot of effort to focus on her words, but Nagisa looked up, trying his best.
"Look," Terasaka said, "maybe it's not our business who you hang out with in your spare time. If we judged that, we're no better than the A Class after all."
"As long as you don't become too much like them," Sugino added.
"I w-won't," Nagisa said faintly.
Nakamura's eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Nagisa kun? You look a little-"
Nagisa felt his insides lurch uncomfortably, and an internal dropping sensation he'd never experienced before. Without really thinking about it, he naturally let his hand fall to the source of the sensation, mostly located in his lower behind. It felt... damp. He brought his hand back, in front of his face as he struggled to focus on it. Though it was blurry, the colour of crimson coating his pale skin was unmistakable.
Once he realised that he was, in fact, bleeding, his knees crumpled. Faintly, as all the colours blurred together into darkness, Nagisa realised he hadn't felt any of the usual jabs or rolls that plagued his stomach since the lift had been lowered. How odd. How peaceful?