You just stare at him in shock, your face heating up rapidly as you took in his words. No. No. He was just being nice. That's all. You had no real redeeming qualities, you tell yourself. You cried at the dumbest things, didn't have particularly good skills, and weren't really what most people would consider attractive. What exactly could he be attracted to? Still, the odd look he gave you seemed to bore into your very being, flustering you. You just abashedly turn your head away from him, or at least tried to despite his feelers grabbing your face, muttering your disdain aloud.
"That joke isn't funny." He just narrows his eyes at you, more appendages gripping onto your shoulders. You notice the frustration and sadness behind those eyes, making you shift uncomfortably. Ah, I messed up again. You think, watching his embarrassed grin turn into a frown, the pink color on his face receding slightly.
"What makes you think I'm joking? I am completely serious. To be honest," He starts off, the color on his flushed cheeks deepening as he moved his head closer to you, an involuntary gasp coming out of your mouth as his soft head gently bumps against the tip of your nose. You feel your heart beating extremely fast in response, and understood that he could probably feel and hear that as well, given his proximity.
"I...might have…liked you from the moment I first saw you…" He mutters, voice slightly shaky and less confident than usual. You try not to let his words affect you, though you feel your face burning despite your best efforts to keep calm. You let out a light chuckle, trying to relieve some of the tension in your body.
"You mean when you were checking me out on the first day, right? Don't think I didn't notice while I was cleaning..." You self-loathingly joke, trying to deflect your nervousness and surprise, a large grin creeping across your face. He looks shocked at this, reeling back at bit, the tentacles that still had a hold on you wiggling for a few seconds.
"No! It...it isn't like that! I mean, you're qu—" He makes an odd noise then, closing his mouth shut before he can finish his words, piquing your curiosity. What was he going to say? You just attempt to lift your hands up to cup his face; it was slightly difficult because of the tendrils wrapped around your shoulders, the things slowly encroaching onto your upper arms. You manage it however, leaning slightly on the tips of your feet, despite the frantic beating of your heart against your chest as your stomach twists inside out. Just go for it! You try to encourage yourself, pushing past the anxiety that threatened to leave you standing there stupidly, daringly pressing your lips against the middle of his face, right above his usual perky grin. The skin there was oddly textured, kind of sticky and soft, yet not unpleasant, just like the tentacles holding you. You could feel said appendages stiffen as you pressed a bit more forcefully against his head with your lips, wanting him to really feel it.
You didn't need to see the color of his skin to know he was embarrassed, able to feel the heat with your lips and your hands. You just pull away slowly, too anxious and embarrassed yourself to get a look at him. Maybe that was a little much, you think, your cheeks blazing hot despite your attempt to keep calm. You just blink in surprise, those beady eyes gleaming with an odd twinkle as they stare at you.
"I thought you said we were going to take things slowly? Isn't that right?" He taunts, a smirk creeping up on his face. You just scoff, trying to look as indignant as you could muster.
"Yeah, I did...That...was payback. Doesn't seem right if I'm the only one blushing like an idiot all the time…" You mutter, making up a flimsy excuse. You were partially telling the truth though; watching him get all flustered was adorable. You wanted to see it more often, an idea popping up in your mind then. Koro Sensei doesn't miss the mischievous glint in your eyes then, a couple tentacles lifting your head up.
"Hmm? What are you plotting? That is a dangerous glint in your eyes…" Your smile just gets bigger, the words tumbling out of your mouth before you can stop yourself.
"...H-huh!? I don't—Now get out; I have to get changed!" He gives you a knowing glare then, tentacles wiggling slightly as he starts to pull away slowly.
"Are you sure I can't help you with—"
"No, you idiot! That's waaaaay too soon! Like I said, a couple dates or something wouldn't be a bad place to start!" You nearly yell out, your voice squeaking slightly, the octopus giving you a small wink as he opened the shed door. He backpedaled a second later, watching as two small forms let out a surprised cry and nearly toppled against him. Some of the other kids only let out startled gasps and chuckles, a shock of blue hair among them making you curious. They hadn't been listening in, had they?
"Rio-san, Maehara-san...What are you guys doing wi—?" Said teens only gave him a nervous glance, quickly getting up from their positions on the ground before shaking their heads quickly.
"Awww! So much for that assassination attempt." The girl muttered, though you could feel the hint of a lie there, her tone somewhat strained. The short haired boy didn't seem any better, backing up slightly while rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
"Darn it! We'll get you next time, Koro Sensei!" You just watching their forms grow even smaller and blurrier as they ran off into the school building...
The rest of the day proceeded as normally as possible for you, though you couldn't help the slight churning in your gut from anxiety. You did your best to ignore what had happened in the shed between you, though the thoughts popped up in your mind often, distracting you. You just dismissed them as part of your selfish, indulgent imagination, trying to teach the afternoon classes as efficiently as possible before you had to switch out with the new teacher for her first English class. You would still supervise the lesson, just because it was her first time and you were concerned, to say the least, about how Irina would handle things. Also, you admitted to yourself, you didn't want to be in the same room as him right now. Even if this was only a smidge better, at least here you could focus without becoming too distracted. You just sat in the back of the class, in one of the empty seats, your gaze every so often leaving the teacher at the front of the room to chastise talking students.
Unfortunately for you however, your seating arrangement did leave you in closer proximity to one Akabane Karma, the redhead giving you a sly grin as he watched you go about your work. You just sigh heavily, looking up from your stack of papers and drumming your fingers against the top of the desk.
"Akabane-kun, could you please focus on the lesson? You're missing imp—" He interrupts you with his usual snarky response, eyes glinting predatorily.
"[Name]-Sensei, we both know I understand the material already. Besides, this bitch is clearly not taking us seriously. Look at her." He gestures to the taller blonde woman, who was currently in the middle of instructing the entire class in a language exercise.
'You are incredible in bed.'
Along with other such words were written on the board in a curly English cursive. It was quite hard for you to make out, even with your distance seeing equipment, but you managed. They made your face flush, even though they weren't really anything to gawk at. You had written worse terms before, and read worse scenarios. They're just junior high kids; they don't need to know about this shit, do they? I mean, if it works, it works, but I kinda don't like it...Geez...And you couldn't deny her words; people often do try harder for someone they love or are infatuated with. Even if it is just a small temporary thing, to give someone the energy to learn a new language just to talk with their significant other was an interesting concept to you. By the time you shook out of your thoughts, Irina had already started moving on to the second part of the lesson.
"Now, bite the bottom of your lip. Good; your front teeth help distinguish the sounds from one another…" You watch as she gives a self-satisfied smile, her eyes narrowing as she turns back to the chalkboard. You couldn't really make her out well, but you could still feel the frosty glare she threw towards the kids and yourself, by extension. The minutes go by as she continues writing sentence examples on the blackboard, the kids still stuck in their odd poses, teeth glaring against lips in a comical fashion. Or you would have seen it as comical, had the person who ordered them to do so wasn't filled with a mix of anger and something else you couldn't figure out. You only shake your head at the sight, admittedly unsure whether to interfere or not, hearing a comment from Karma.
"See? She's messing with us. That assassin doesn't consider us worth her time…" You just offer a small nod, quite tired of the game she was playing. These were children; students of yours, not targets or playthings for her to use. At least, that was how you saw it. You liar...You just don't want her to take the only thing you are good at, do you? Like she tried to—You stop that line of thinking before it even begins to surface, taking your stack of papers you had been working on and carefully putting them in a folder. Your feet feel unsteady as you stand up, anxiety causing you to nearly turn for the door to the hallway right of you. You didn't waver however, watching as some of the students turned their puckered faces your way. You could see the embarrassment, shame and anger in those eyes. That's it! You half walk, half stomp across the columns of desks, putting a hand on the taller teacher's shoulder. Her eyes are like ice as she looks at you, an equally cold frown painting her face.
"Irina-Sensei, would you mind talking with me for a moment? Outside?"
"Hmm? Tch. Whatever…" You just turn to the class, faking a smile as you speak.
"Sorry everyone. I'm going to borrow Irina-Sensei for a bit. Relax, and have a study hall." Several of the students released their poses at the end of your sentence, sharp exhales coming out of their mouths. You ignored that, too focused on the teacher in front of you, grabbing her wrist somewhat sharply before dragging her out of the room. You strode down the hallway, Irina glaring at you all the while until you were sure the students could no longer hear you. You really didn't care too much about her predicament; if she had wanted to make you let go, you felt she could have easily done so. Or dislocated your wrist, whichever.
"Look, you're probably not used to working with children. You're an assassin, not a teacher." You start to say, loosening your grip on her wrist as you crossed your arms over each other. You exhale at the sound of one of the sliding doors opening a crack; of course they'd try to spy on you. You just ignored them, focusing on the blonde in front of you.
"I know they're rough around the edges, but they're all good kids. You can't just, ahh...Tch. Aren't you being a little childish yourself, responding to their taunts like that? I do get it; it's annoying to deal with. But you're the adult here; you have to act like it…" You say, taking a deep breath before continuing.
"You gotta...tone it back a bit with the sexual stuff, alright? They're barely fifteen years old for god's sake! Have some decorum about it, discretion or something, I guess." You explain, watching as Irina narrows her eyes at you, brows furrowing.
"Why? I'm an assassin; seducing people is my job. Well, along with killing them. Why shouldn't I use that to teach these kids? Some of them might need those skills down the line." Almost as if on cue, you felt like you were being watched, a chill running down your spine. You ignore it, attempting to state your own thoughts on the subject.
"Look, I just...they're only kids, dammit. Some of them, like Nakamura and Okajima are perverted, yeah...but at least that still has a quality of innocence about it. Adults...they warp things, unlike children who see the world in more pure terms. I...What I'm trying to say, I think, is that I am concerned these kids are growing up too fast. They're being taught how to kill, how to seduce, and they're barely finishing junior high! I don't know; maybe I'm in the wrong here...I just don't want them to grow up so fast without experiencing a normal childhood." You attempt to explain, turning your face away from the blonde as you spoke, unsure of yourself and your words. You didn't need to look at her face to feel that the hostility around her has softened, though there was still an undercurrent of it emanating from her lithe form.
"..." She says nothing, only letting out a small exhale as you feel her eyes on you. They didn't contain the usual cold stare that often sat upon her face however, but something you couldn't describe. She nodded, short wavy hair bobbing up and down as she did so. You could see a flush start to color her cheeks then, confusing you.
"I get it...Man, you don't give up, do you?"
She comments, a self-derisive smile lifting up your face for a moment. It matched with the odd tug you felt in your chest, the weird sensation making you want you to go lay down in the staff room or some other isolated area. Huh...Giving up might be one of the things I'm good at. You lament, finding the irony in her words. She gives you a strange look, one that made your stomach drop. You just avert your eyes, not understanding the energy she was giving off. You understand a fraction of a second later, familiar yellow tendrils wrapping themselves around your shoulder. Of course he'd overheard. Koro Sensei just stares at you for a moment, usual grin plastered on his face, before speaking once up.
"I'm not sure about your reasoning, [Name]-Sensei. If the kids didn't want to be here, they had every right to decline. You remember the proposition Karasuma gave them on the first day of classes? Quite a few of the usual students did leave, so the rest who stayed obviously knew what they were getting into. Of course, most of them probably feel pressured that killing me is the only way they'll be able to leave Class E…Then again, that's why we're here, isn't it? To show them they have the power to get out of Class E on their own merit." He comments, green stripes appearing over his face as he wrapped another tentacle around you. You felt your face flush at the contact, though it wasn't even intimate; just a simple tap on the shoulder if anything. You just sigh, understanding that he was sort of right. It still left a bad taste in your mouth, however.
"I suppose...Like you said though, they're probably pressured by this school to see assassination as their only option. I...think I'm just having trouble coming to terms with it. The fact that they have to kill; even if it is him...Or something…" You mumble, trying to sound more confident than you felt. You feel your shoulders droop, your eyes heading to your feet, both Irina and the octopus giving you more odd looks.
"What?" You quizzically drawl, only eliciting more glares from the pair. Irina's eyes seem to soften a smidge then, focusing on yours.
"You really are quite innocent, aren't you?" She says, her eyes leaving yours after a few minutes of silence. You just feel a tentacle mess up your hair, your gaze staring up at him. He only smiles at you, making you feel confused. What the hell is going on?
"You're just a regular teacher, a civilian; of course you have no idea what being a killer is like." The octopus starts to explain, making you try to focus on his words. "Sometimes, in this environment made for killing...It's a bit difficult for us to remember that. After all, you and the kids are the most normal of us here; Karasuma may seem like anyone else, but he is a military official. He's seen his share of death too, though he's too stoic to show it."
"...So? I don't think I get your point…"
"...We shouldn't be expecting you or the children to grow used to this odd environment so quickly, is what I'm getting at. If you did, I think we'd have a much bigger concern on our hands. Am I wrong?" He answers, causing you to only tilt your head in confusion. Honestly, he was right; working with the kids all day, talking with him and Karasuma in the staff room, helping him grade tests and papers—though you were the one that really needed the help, you think—had made you start to forget just what you were doing here. You could feel your face heat up once again, making you start to look downward at your feet, the floor suddenly very interesting to you.
"I suppose not…" You mutter, covering your chin with your hand in thought. Do I really belong here? I'm just so out of place...You think, a self-derisive smile coming onto your lips. You try to look up then, meeting the blonde woman's blue eyes.
"We still need to go over your teaching strategies, Irina-Sensei. You...mmm...your teaching style needs some work. I can't have you teaching the kids anything too explicit now, can I?"
The blonde only gives you an odd look, a sly grin creeping up on your face. You might not be able to change the subject of what she went about teaching the students, but at least you could do this much. You just attempt to wiggle out of his grip, heading into the staff room along with the pair. This was going to be interesting...
