Chapter 11: End of Term Time / 2nd Period


The morning sky was covered with grey, heavy clouds, and the inside of the E Class classroom was smelling damp, but Korosensei was up at the podium, smiling and bright yellow like always.

"Okie-dokie," he said cheerfully, "time for an overview of what we've covered this year. I hope you're all ready for classwork battle!" He raised a tentacle. "I assume you'll be aiming for the top spot, Karma?"

Karma just grinned and leaned back in his chair. "I dunno," he said lightly. "Idiots like me have trouble getting their heads around the hard stuff."

"And you, Nick?" Korosensei asked.

I grinned easily and stretched out indolently, draping my arms over the desk and letting my stomach rest against the front. "Well, maybe," I said. "I'll get what I get, of course. But, who knows. Maybe I'll do okay."

Korosensei nodded as the number 50 appeared on his forehead. "Now then. As you know, for the first-term midterms, I gave you all the objective of placing in the top 50." Karma and I succeeded, but the rest of the class failed that challenge thanks to Principal Asano pulling a Principal Asano and pushing more information onto the test at the last second. "My apologies for that. I was too impatient for results; nor, did I take into account how gifted your opponents were. That said, things are different now. You've matured in mind and spirit. I'm confident that the goal I set for you will be within reach, whatever the opposition has in store."

I glanced around the classroom; of the people I could see, everyone was fired up and ready to go. Even Ritsu, who hadn't been present for the initial failure, was pumped up, clenching her hands adorably with a headband around her forehead. Instead of the students slumping forward, almost resigned to their failure, everyone was sitting tall with their back straight.

Man, now I might actually have to try, if only so I don't disappoint them all.

"This time," Korosensei said, "you'll place in the top fifty, win your tickets back to the main campus, and, heads held high, proudly graduate from E Class once and for all!"

"Uh," Sugino said hesitantly, "you make it sound so easy." We all turned to look at him. "A Class has a new teacher to help 'em prep. And you're not going to believe who it is."

...No. He wouldn't waste the time to...

Nah, this is Principal Asano we're talking about. He'd spare no expense to make sure A Class comes out on top and proves his system right. Teaching lessons? He'd go right ahead and do it. The final boss of the Kunugigaoka Junior High School has finally appeared, it seems.

"So, we've come to that, have we?" Korosensei mused, bringing a tentacle to his chin.

"Bad luck for them, right?" Mimura sighed. "Who'd want to be brainwashed by that creep, right? You guys know what I'm talking about. The way he can trap you with that steely-eyed glare..."

"His teaching methods are hard-core," Sugino said. I smiled slightly as I watched Korosensei gnaw on a handkerchief nervously. I forgot, he buys into the hype, that's one of his weaknesses.

"And he can't even move at Mach 20!" Sugaya added. Up front, Korosensei shivered in abject fear and let out a quiet scream into his handkerchief.

"If he's the one prepping them for the exams," Isogai said, "they've probably already lost the will to defy him."

I rolled my eyes. They make it sound like the principal is gonna just... I dunno, literally brainwash the students into being infernal engines of hate and destruction or something. That's possible, yeah, I saw him do it to Shindo back when we played baseball, but I doubt he'd be able to do it to an entire class with only a few weeks to prepare.

Y'know what, I'll even make a bet with myself for no real adequate reason beyond boredom. If he does manage to brainwash the entire class, I'll, uh... Hm. I'll probably just suffer the embarrassment of knowing I was wrong? Sure, sounds good.

The rest of the class was entirely review, with Korosensei going over the material that we should expect to be on the tests. It was almost boring, like every other review day ever, but Korosensei somehow managed to keep my interest the entire time. It was uncanny; if anything, that was his real superpower. Forget going Mach 20 and being a super-creature that was basically unkillable, he's able to teach middle school students and keep their attention during review sessions.

Unfortunately, I'm going to be going through this every day until the finals arrive, so I guess I should get used to it. At least it's not new material up until the last minute, which would be extra rude and no fun at all.

After classes, a large group of us were walking down the hill together. I'm not really sure why, but the atmosphere of the near-rainy day just made it feel more comfortable to be in a group. "When you think about it, Korosensei and the principal are kinda similar in a lot of ways," Fuwa said conversationally as we walked through the main campus.

Maehara looked at her. "Really? Like how?"

Fuwa nodded. "Well, for starters, they both have, like, extraordinary powers, and yet they settle for being teachers. Seriously, as manipulative as he is, the principal could have been prime minister, or a business tycoon, or something."

I snorted. "Everyone knows that politicians don't have brains," I said. Beside me, Terasaka grumbled under his breath. Weird. "I could totally see Principal Asano running the mafia, though. He seems like the Godfather type."

"Yeah! But here he is," Fuwa said, "totally devoting himself to this place. I mean, it's no wonder he's such a ruthless guy." She has a point. I can't really begin to understand the principal's deeper motivations, but one does have to wonder why exactly he's just staying here. The man was undeniably brilliant, and this position just seemed restrictive.

Of course, Nick, let's be smart about this. It's basic human nature to be greedy, so if Principal Asano wasn't reaching for the feast in front of him and contenting himself with just this small meal, he had to have another reason. Something keeping him tied to this place.

Interesting, if irrelevant. Whatever his reasons for staying on as principal are, knowing them won't help me place higher in the exams.

"Huh?" Kayano said suddenly. "I-It's Asano!"

I glanced ahead and sure enough, the top student in the class was waiting outside the gymnasium, leaning against the pillar. He had his bag with him, so... he wasn't in class? That's weird, though. Why would Principal Asano kick his best student out of class?

"What the hell do you want?" Maehara asked bluntly. "Your lackeys too busy to do recon on us?"

Asano didn't rise to the bait. He just stepped away from the wall and faced us. "It pains me, that I have to say this," he growled, right hand clenched and shaking, "but I have a favor to ask of you."

Oh? My head tilted to the side slightly as my lips curled into an interested smirk. What's this, what's this? The proud, mighty Asano, coming to E Class? My, my. What was the world coming to? Beside me, Karma made a little noise of interest.

I realized my eyes were fully open, now.

"Let me just cut to the chase," Asano said. "The principal... I need you people to kill him."

The rest of the class seemed shocked. Of course, my first instinct was to ask whether he had any preference on the method, and if he wanted anyone implicated in the crime, but I managed to catch myself before I blurted out a question that might seem a little... bloodthirsty. Especially around my classmates.

"So to speak," Asano continued, staring at the ground. Aw, damn, no fun at all? "I don't mean something like murdering him, of course." I clicked my tongue in irritation. Then I realized a few of the E Class members were looking at me strangely and I gave them a weak smile. I can't help it! I'd been trained for years to kill first, ask questions later. "That would be patently absurd. I mean you should kill his philosophy."

"Absurd, yeah," I laughed weakly. None of the others seemed to buy it. "Of course, it's just his philosophy..."

"I'm not sure I understand," Yada said to him. "How exactly?"

Asano raised his head and waved a hand. "It's easier than you think. All E Class has to do is dominate the top spots on the end of term exams. It goes without saying that I'll be placing highest," he said, pressing his hand on his chest.

"Y'know, I just love the casual arrogance, there," I said. "Really, I mean it." He even said it like it was an absolute fact. I could respect that kind of confidence in his skills.

"Of course, whether or not I perform as expected makes no difference," Asano continued. "For detritus like you to show up A Class, however? Now that'd be a slap in the face to his policies." Karma let out a little chuckle, echoed by my own. The rest of the class wasn't so amused by his insults, though.

Kataoka said, "Alright, look. We all know the relationship between the two of you isn't really the best. But he's your dad! You want to rake his life's work through the mud, to reject his legacy?" Honestly, she probably meant that to be a rebuke, but I think I was on Asano's side on this one. Fuck the principal. And fuck shitty fathers, too.

"Oh, on the contrary," Asano said proudly, straightening his back. "Believe it or not, my father actually wants me to take him down. That's what I've been groomed to do. This will be the fulfillment of his legacy." So... like lions, who eventually challenge the king of the pride and take over? Or, no, wait, don't the young males get driven off and start their own prides?

Hahhh. The animal kingdom just doesn't support these kinds of metaphors, I guess.

He continued, "That's how we are. That's what our relationship is BUILT on. Then again," he said, lowering his head to stare absently at the ground, "if you didn't know the pleasure of being raised by him... let me assure you his methods are hell on earth. ...The only thing supporting A Class right now is their hatred of you. He's pushing them past their limits. If it raises them to victory, my father's methods will be the only thing they trust from here on out."

I glanced over at the main building. It was... ominous, I think would be the best way to describe it. Like the malevolent aura of a massive centipede curling around the school.

"You can't let that happen," Asano told us, staring at his hand. "Hatred only gets you so far. I know this for a fact. Scorning one's enemies is childish. My flunkies need to learn a healthy respect for their foes. Otherwise, their strength will be lopsided and I'll only ever be second in command. The thing about defeat... is that it gives you perspective. So I'm asking you, give the teacher a lesson. Let them all know what it is to lose."

Then, solemnly, he bowed to us.

I folded my arm and cradled my elbow, my other hand supporting my chin. Oh? This is interesting. Asano is swallowing his pride and asking us to destroy his classmates. His words were arrogant, obviously, but I could tell they weren't just lip service. He was actually worried about his classmates.

"Hah!" Karma laughed, standing over Asano and leering down at him. I just sighed and rubbed at my forehead. Oh, my gods... "That's big of you and all, but let me tell you right now - I'm actually gonna be the one to take the top spot! And Nick's coming in second." He stuck his tongue out mockingly at the A Class boy.

Karma. Karma, can you stop being so Karma for just one gods damn day. Please.

Asano scowled, and the rest of the class just sighed in resignation. Yeah, we all saw this coming.

"What'd I say?" Karma taunted Asano, staring at the A Class boy. Asano had straightened up from his bow to glare at Karma. "I said next time, we weren't gonna be taking it easy on you. Prepare to surrender your throne, Highness, you're going down. Oh, don't worry, though!" he said brightly. "You'll look just as good in tenth place."

"Uh oh!" Muramatsu said with a grin. "Guess the gloves are off now."

Takebayashi adjusted his glasses. "Just don't let it turn out like last time, please," he said.

"Don't oversell it, man," Terasaka said, rubbing Karma's shoulders. The red-head blushed with remembered embarrassment. "Just try to do better than me."

Eyes flat, Karma turned and grabbed Terasaka's shoulders before driving his knee into the bigger boy's stomach. Repeatedly.

Eh, better Terasaka than me. I wanted to say basically all of that; good thing everybody else got their jabs in before me, so that Karma blamed them.

"Asano," Isogai said. I was more interested in counting the number of times Karma drove his knee into Terasaka's chest. "We've been working our butts off to win all along," he said, stepping forward. Off to the side, Karma let Terasaka drop. Ten times, a nice round number. "Just like you guys have. When you get right down to it, everyone's on the same side. We're stoked when we win, frustrated when we lose... No need for ranks beyond that. That really should be enough, right?" he asked. "E Class will strive to do the best we can. That way A Class will have an opponent they can be proud to face."

I just sighed and rolled my eyes. A Prince Charming he may be, but sometimes his motivational speeches tended to swing a bit on the sappy side. "Don't overthink it, just bring it on," Karma said. Grinning with the lust for battle, he drew his finger across his neck. "Try to make it fun, okay? Come at us like you want us dead," he hissed.

Asano smirked, baring his teeth. "How amusing!" he said. "Very well, I'll fight with my gloves off too."

I chuckled as the A Class boy walked away. This... This was starting to be interesting. I'd - we'd been offered a challenge, and it was time to rise to the occasion. This was going to be...

I realized I was smiling with battle lust myself and laughing a quiet, breathy laugh.

Before too much longer, there was only one week left until the second term finals. Everyone in E Class was studying like crazy as the Korosensei speed clones dashed around to tutor us. Anything we didn't understand, we could have Korosensei go over; like that, I managed to secure my strengths and shore up my weaknesses.

Of course, there was really only one Korosensei. He tried his best, but there were so many of us that his afterimages started to, uh... get sloppy. I squinted at Korosensei's head... Is that the Evolution of Man? Heh. It is.

There was an aura of tension around the classroom as everyone studied and focused. It made sense; we were putting so much effort into this test, and if we performed poorly then it would be a devastating, possibly permanent blow to E Class's pride. But it was okay. We were going to kill this test, just like we've learned in our assassination classroom. We will use the second blade Korosensei taught us to carry.

...

I jolted awake in the middle of the night, heart pounding. I lunged out of bed, scrabbling for the Nightblade - it wasn't there – my knee hit the carpet and I rotated, clearing my bed and getting my right foot on the ground. My foot slipped as I rose and I slammed my left foot down, shaking the apartment from the impact. And then I froze, hands held in a combat-ready stance, as the sleep fog cleared from my brain and I looked around. I was... in my apartment. This wasn't Aincrad.

I could barely remember the dream I'd been having, but it must have been a bad one, since my heart was trying to jackhammer its way through my ribs and out of my chest. Pressing at my chest lightly, I took deep gulping breaths of air in an attempt to calm down.

It was... fading, but I still had flashes of the dream. The sensation of a massive monster, staring up at me as I fell down towards it - and then its maw opened and snapped shut around me - and then I woke up.

Damn... Haven't had a dream about Aincrad in a long time. I thought I was past them, now.

Standing up and proud I only swayed a little bit, I swallowed and stepped back over to my bed. I patted the sheets and frowned; my shirt had been wet, and as expected the sweat had soaked through into the bed itself. Ugh... and there wasn't anything worse than sleeping in wet sheets. Sighing to myself, I staggered to the shower and turned it on, stripping out of my pajamas sleepily.

Yes. If I can't sleep, then I'll go to school. That makes sense, though maybe it's because I'm super exhausted.

After I took a shower and got dressed, I headed out into the chilly December air, rubbing my arms and letting out a little sneeze. Ergh... Maybe if I start running, it'll warm up. Hey, I can take that route over the rooftops, I think. With another shiver, I slung my bag over my shoulder and started running.

Pushing the door to the E Class classroom to the side, I stepped into the abandoned classroom. At least my jacket kept out the worst of the chill of the heat-less room, though it was by no means comfortable. I took my seat with a yawn and folded my arms on the desk. It was about one in the morning, so I could -

"Nick? What are you doing here?"

I jolted upright and nearly fell out of my seat at Ritsu's unexpected voice. "Gah!" I yelped, staring at her glowing panel. She was dressed in cute polka-dot pajamas and was rubbing her eyes sleepily. "R-Ritsu!" I gasped. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Oh, sorry," she said. "But... you didn't answer my question."

I hesitated, and then shrugged elaborately with a disarming smile. "Woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep? Wanted to come down here? Take your pick, I guess. Don't worry, just go back to sleep."

Ritsu looked at me, and then said, "Alright. Good night."

I kept up the smile until her screen finished turning off, at which point it fell off my face and I sat back down at my desk. If I was going to be here until the morning, might as well be productive about it. I reached into my bag and pulled out my notebook and the small flashlight I'd started carrying around for situations like this, flicked the light on, and settled in to get comfortable.


Finally, it was the big day. The final showdown. The final countdo-

Okay, brain, no. Focus.

E Class was walking to class as a group, mainly because we felt more comfortable together rather than alone, and as we passed A Class's exam from a shiver went down my spine. We all looked their way and my eyes widened at the sheer killing intent and hatred their class was giving off. It was like they were just repeating 'Kill E Class no mercy Kill E Class no mercy' over and over again.

Freaky. No wonder Asano wanted us to help out.

…Wait, the principal brainwashed the entire A Class, which meant I lost my bet with myself, mother fu-

"Yeah, not the biggest fan of the look in their eyes," Yoshida said as we all kept walking.

Nakamura smirked slightly. "Ignore 'em, you know they're just psyching themselves up."

I looked back at the window. I think more of them had pressed up against the window, just to keep us in their sights a little bit longer. "Um... I guess, but this is starting to remind me eerily of Psycho," I said, attempting to play on psyching. The 'joke' fell flat, and I sighed. Fuck.

"Think you can beat 'em, Karma? Nick?" Nakamura asked.

"Eh, I dunno," Karma said easily. "I mean, if they're actually planning to kill me, that might slow me down a tad."

I shrugged and shook my head, spreading my arms in elaborate pantomime. "I'll get what I get."

We took our seats and prepared our writing utensils. This was it, the showdown between E and A Class. This was the final battle between us; the loser here would be totally and irrevocably crushed.

The ticking hands of the clock got closer and closer to nine.

Two guilds, led by monsters. I was hungry for battle. Hungry for massacre.

...On paper. Totally. Just on paper.

...

The gates to the sandy, dusty arena opened and I gripped the hammer in my hand tightly. My weapon was a war hammer with a wicked-looking spike on the end, matching the anvil-like head on the other side and the nasty spike on the end of the shaft. The rest of my classmates, gathered with me, prepared for battle. Their weapons weren't as powerful, but they were still strong.

Our opponent? A massive, bipedal lizard-like monster with four arms. Its blue scales seemed even harder than diamond, and the hammer it clutched in two skeletal arms was absolutely gigantic, the head blotting out the sun. Its head was a strange skull with horns adorning it, and gleaming red eyes stared down at me from several stories high.

Hah. Still got nothing on a bone centipede that can kill me in a single blow. You'll have to try harder than that, exam-makers.

With shouts, everyone hoisted their hammer and charged.

Our first exam: English.

I was bilingual.

The fight started and immediately we were on the defensive; the monster was just so massive that even a single step would send shocks through the sandy coliseum floor, kicking up dust and obscuring our view. It roared before rearing back and beginning to slam its hammer down. Terasaka and a few others had been trying to approach, but at the sight of the attack made them turn and scatter.

I stepped forward, staring up at the descending hammer head.

Step one: comprehend the attack.

I braced myself, standing in the exact center of the plummeting shadow.

Step two: counter precisely, using knowledge and position to minimize force required and maximize force exerted on the opponent.

Instead of holding my hammer over my shoulder normally, I reversed it so that the end of the staff was facing up, with the head of the hammer pointing to the ground. Then, with a grunt and shout, I swung the hammer upwards, meeting the boss's hammer with the head of my own.

Step three: Ensure that speed and accuracy do not falter. Don't waste time and energy, kill it in a single blow.

I nearly dropped my hammer from the force of the impact. It traveled through me and rocked the ground, sending up a massive cloud of sand around me as the other E Class students shouted. My knee nearly buckled.

But I wouldn't be beaten by a middle school test. I rotated my feet and pushed with my might, forcing my hammer to shift upwards and knock the boss's weapon away. Hammer Sword Skill, Rising Crash. One of Liz's favorites.

While I'd held the boss's attention, Nagisa had closed in to the leg. With a shout, he swung at the leg and slammed his hammer into the meat of the Achilles tendon. The boss let out a massive roar from the pain - which distracted it long enough for Nakamura to jump high in the air and bring her hammer down on the monster's head. I stepped to the side casually as a spike broke free with a crash and plummeted, landing point-first in the sand next to me. "Careful," I called out as Nakamura landed lightly next to me.

"You can handle it," she said with a laugh.

"Pencils down!" our proctor finally announced. The boss had been defeated, its hammer bent and broken.

English: Time Up.

Everybody in the classroom finally slumped over in their chairs, totally exhausted from the grueling test we'd just taken. "It's no good," Mimura panted. "I couldn't get through 'em all."

"This is hard," Kurahashi complained. "There's not enough time to answer every single little question."

"The listening comprehension part was a beast," Kimura said, tilting his chair back. "Bet even Professor Bitch wouldn't know what all those vocabulary words meant."

Honestly, the hardest part of the listening comprehension was trying to figure out what the English word even was. The accent for the words was particularly thick; fortunately, I was pretty good at figuring out the meaning of a sentence, even if I didn't hear every word perfectly. Comes from a long time of skimming through books and quest dialogue, I guess. What a normally-useless skill.

But... this might be really bad for the others. They were all exhausted from just the first test. Hah... Gotta just keep on keepin' on, I guess.

Our second exam: Social Studies.

The mountainous region was filled with fog, making it difficult to see very far. I gripped the sword in my hand, and spared a smile at it. Heh... Elucidator, buddy, glad to see you again. A shame Kazuto had to leave you behind in Aincrad, but here you are, bailing me out again. Glad you got my back.

As the ground rumbled, heralding the start of the boss fight, Nagisa exclaimed, "What the... Uh oh. Take a look at that!"

I stared up at the mountain he was pointing to, and then tilted my head incredulously. "The fuck even is that," I said flatly as I stared at the boss.

Emerging from behind the mountain, I could almost fool myself into thinking our fight was just a normal tank; at first, all I could see was the massive, main barrel. And then the rest of it came out from behind the mountain. "Woah," Nagisa breathed.

It had no less than six pairs of grey-skinned, grasping hands, which matched the long, stamping legs that on second glance were just more hands gods damn it. Seriously, couldn't we just have one relatively normal Social Studies boss? This is ridiculous.

Well, I can take solace that the grade point average on these tests will be ridiculously low. Most people will barely pass, let alone get a good score. Hells, it would be a miracle for us to pass.

From the top of the mountain E Class had chosen as our base of operations, Maehara looked out over the monster. As the main cannon began to swerve towards us, the orange-haired boy jumped and swung his sword down. "Take that!" he snarled as his heavy blow bent the barrel, making its most powerful weapon useless.

I couldn't really wait to see more, since the rest of the turrets and guns and holy shit that's a minigun opened fire on us. Instead, I just laughed as I danced through the bullet storm, grateful for Shino's help back in GGO. This was so much easier than dodging Hecate's bullets!

I approached the monster, weaving through the flying lead, and then dashed forward as I unleashed the Vorpal Strike Sword Skill, severing one of the hands the tank boss was using as a leg and making the boss tilt. Before it could take aim with one of the turrets under its body, I was already dashing away.

Just like that; get in, take the opening, and get out. No wasted time, no getting tripped up on anything tricky.

Social Studies: Time Up.

Our third exam: Bites the Dust – err, Science.

We were back in the arena this time. Our newest boss fight was some massive lich-like monster, with grey plate armor covering its entire body. The large pauldrons on its shoulders had two rib-like structures on each shoulder that wrapped up over its head, projecting the image of some weird ribcage protecting its head. Tacky. Anything resembling skulls, coffins, or bones was just... tacky.

No I'm not holding a grudge against Death Gun and the Laughing Coffin murder guild shut up.

"So, how's A Class doing?" Chiba asked as the boss roared and rampaged, using some weird electrical ball in its hand to send out streaks of yellow lightning that shattered the pillars around it.

"We sneaked a peek at them during the break," Mimura said. The two of them, along with Yada, were running away from the boss's electricity with their staffs clutched in their hands. I was content to just hover in midair, absently batting away any stray bolts coming my way. "And dude, talk about seething!"

From above the boss, madly laughing shadows plummeted down. They weren't even trying to be tactical; this was just a rush of bodies, every man and or woman for themselves. They slammed into the head of the boss, sending it toppling to the side; once each student had a grip, they just started hammering away at the plate armor. They were just bulling through the boss without finding its weak point.

"They were like blood-crazed animals," Mimura continued. "Never underestimate the power of hatred, I guess."

Fortunately, this test was just about over. My weapon this time hadn't changed from the first semester. "I can be shot," the mechanical feminine voice declared.

A smirk spread across my face as I aimed my staff at the boss, a crackling ball of energy at the tip expanding outwards. "Oh. A Class is still up there, banging away. Oh no what a shame. Well, casualties of war and all that, totally unavoidable, so on and so forth. Go ahead and fire."

"Let's shoot it!" As the massive ball of energy exploded, enveloping the boss in a massive laser blast, I smirked. When your attack hits everywhere, the exact location of the weak point doesn't really matter, now does it?

Science: Time Up

Our fourth exam: Japanese.

"Forget A Class!" Nakamura yelped. "Just look out!"

We were facing the boss in the arena again; so far, only Social Studies had taken place in a different map. The boss this time was just a massive version of the enemy we'd fought in the first semester. I guess there just wasn't much variation in the questions they could ask. The massive gleaming katana in its hand was a little worrying, but it was okay. My weapon was more than a match for his.

After all, the sword in my hand was Sugu's favorite blade.

"Every man for himself!" Okuda yelped as the boss reared back, raising its weapon over its head. The ponderous titan swung down with a shout, sending a spray of sand everywhere from the impact. The wind blasted us, forcing us to guard our eyes against the sand whipping at our flesh, but when the dust cleared the blade had halted above the sand, stopped there by a single blade.

The blade was being held by a pink-haired girl with two long twin tails. "Ritsu?" Okuda asked.

The girl turned around and - that's not Ritsu. "Don't worry, I know what's up," the weird girl said. I vaguely remember her face... "We land in the top 50 or we're done, isn't that right?"

"Who are you?!" Sugino shouted, staring at her.

Oh right! She was the fake Ritsu, since the real Ritsu wasn't allowed to take the tests. "Oh," Nagisa said. "That's the fake Ritsu."

"Bingo," the girl said. "And the real Ritsu broke it down for me like so. I had to put forth the effort to get a score similar to what she would have gotten, since reaching our goal hinges on no-performers like me working hard to drive up the average for everybody else."

I barked out a quiet laugh. Sounds like Ritsu.

Maehara grinned. "Right then," he said, laying his blade on his shoulder. "Let's do this."

I stepped forward and stared up at the sneering oni mask. "You're big," I said softly, "I'll give you that. But... you won't win." I gripped the hilt of my blade. "I've fought against my little sister. She's way scarier than you."

Japanese: Time Up

Our fifth and final exam: Mathematics.

"Begin!" the proctor barked, and we all flipped over our exam sheets.

I smiled, relaxed. This, right here? This was the easy part.

Starting at the beginning, I gripped the sniper rifle I held in my hands and gently patted the replica's side. "Alright, Hecate," I said. "How about you and me make Shino proud, huh?" The gun didn't reply. That would be silly, since guns can't talk.

As we were preparing for the test, Korosensei had pressed on us the importance of plotting out our method of attack immediately, since the test was so long and the problems were so hard. He suggested we try answering the questions and then skip whichever ones we couldn't figure out right away. Go for the high point values first, and then work our way backwards.

I didn't see the point. After all, I'm gonna need a perfect score if I want to prove I could do it; and that meant answering all the questions correctly regardless of the difficulty and the point value.

So, let's just get started.

While the others were all busy fighting a massive monster that was sending out massive numbers of plates that zigged and zagged in the air unnervingly, protecting the main crystalline body from the bullets of my classmates - a probability problem, some voice in my mind whispered to me - I turned my attention on the first problem.

It was alien-like as well, resembling something more like a floating sphere with colors swirling around its surface in an almost hypnotic pattern. I grimaced, glaring at it; I hate conics, just because they're a massive pain in the ass to visualize even if the actual difficulty of the problem isn't that bad. I got comfortable and settled down, taking aim down Hecate's sights. Honestly, the problem itself was inert, so I didn't have to worry about dealing with the little minions like the others. But the swirling pattern made it difficult to figure out exactly what the test was asking.

So, why bother? I just closed my eyes, exhaling, and then opened them again. This time, I could see the faint red path that would lead me to the correct solution. All I had to do...

I exhaled until there was no oxygen in my lungs.

...was follow the path. I fired, and the bullet shot towards the floating sphere. It traced the red path perfectly, and disappeared into the swirling colors. I didn't bother watching the enemy die; instead, I packed up my sniper rifle after ejecting the cartridge and moved on to the next problem, joining the others.

The explosion behind me didn't even phase me.

"I see Terasaka's going at things with his usual bullheaded approach," I said drily as I walked up next to Takebayashi. The thug in question was just smashing the plates directly, one at a time and not even trying for subtlety. Well, I guess if it works it works. And he was the one we were most worried about, so that heralds nothing but good things.

I took aim, squeezing off three quick shots. Each one shattered an important plate, putting massive gaping holes in the swirling defense patterns of the crystalline monster. "Screw you, octopus!" Terasaka shouted in rage. "I may be a moron, but I'm hella strong!" Ah, what were we worried about? Sure, he'll place last in E Class, but it doesn't matter in the end.

"Remember guys, we're the End class!" Okano said cheerfully. The plates she and Maehara were fighting stopped swirling and took aim, a bright blue light gathering in the center of the plate. "We don't play it cool, we play it quick and dirty! Zero in on your targets weakness!"

The nice thing about using the sniper rifle? All I needed to know was the right spot, and the sheer power of Hecate would do the rest. I took aim as the others were unloading into the main body.

I exhaled.

And I blew the monster's core out with a single shot. "Hah," I sighed with pleasure as the crystal crashed to the ground, black smoke streaming from the cracks caused by E Class's bullets. Even if they hadn't managed to hit the core precisely, they still got partial credit for the question.

"Woo hoo!" Okajima celebrated. "I think that did the trick!"

"No time for review, people," Terasaka barked. "Onto the next one!"

Before he could take a step, the entire ground shook. As everyone stumbled, trying to figure out where the next boss was coming from, the ground surged and cracked, lifting a few kids off their feet. Maehara in particular was thrown into the air as a monster erupted from the earth.

"Oh, crap," Chiba grunted. "Recurrence relations, at the end?"

The gleaming panel on the monster's back was asking us to find the general formula for a given recurrence relation sequence. What the hell? This wasn't middle school level material! This was hardly high school level material.

I stepped back. The plating on this monster was too thick for my bullets to pierce through. Its legs were too heavy for me to shoot out, and for some unknown reason its body was being supported despite not actually having any connections. There wasn't anything for me to do.

"You wanna take this one?" I asked Karma, who was watching from the rear confidently.

The red-head grinned. "Sure thing. Don't want to let you have all the fun." With another shrug, he took his hand out of his pocket and gripped his assault rifle at the ready, running towards the monster.

Seriously, though, this thing was on a junior high exam? That was supposed to just be a rumor. Why would it be on this exam?

There wasn't any more time to question it, though. The monster reared back and lifted its massive trunk-like legs. "Mayday! Mayday!" Sugaya shouted.

"Hold on, I need to reload!" Okano shouted as she tried to run away. The problem was, the impact from the thing's feet hitting the ground still knocked her off her own.

E Class opened fire on the monster, but their bullets just weren't strong enough. The generic knowledge wouldn't be enough to stop this monster. But... A flash of color caught my eye and I peered down the scope, examining the top of the monster. Maehara was desperately trying to climb to the top, and above him... Karma.

The boy grinned before bringing something to his mouth and then dropping whatever it was into a hole in the monster's back. The monster suddenly lost all of its color, the white turning grey and the display fading away. As he landed in front of all of us, the monster toppled to the ground and then exploded. He didn't even flinch as he held up a grenade, exactly like the one he'd tossed into the boss. "Aw c'mon!" he said. "I showed you guys last week! You have to take it to a particular solution!" He grinned, without any mockery in it.

See, the thing was, Korosensei wasn't the only one tutoring us during the review period. He'd had the students teach each other, lecturing on our strongest subjects and helping out the weaker ones. Karma and I had tag-teamed Mathematics, and he'd been the one to cover this stuff, even if it had been just a rumor. Man, am I glad he did.

Honestly, the whole student-tutoring helped immensely. Without that, I wouldn't have been able to answer several of the questions in the Social Studies exam - Isogai's lectures had been easy to follow and remember for even Terasaka, which made it simplicity itself for me - or remembered some of the techniques and formulas in Science and Math. By teaching the others, I was able to polish my own blades to the sharpest they could be.

A loud boom echoed from the other side of the arena, and we all looked over to see Asano standing before the broken and shattered figure of his own penultimate problem. The alien boss monster was lying in a crumpled heap, flames consuming its form. Hah... Looks like he was gonna be a problem after all...

Above us, a dark shadow flickered with eldritch purple energy as the sky grew dark and a swirling portal opened up. A massive boss monster started plummeting towards the earth, flames surrounding it as it breached the atmosphere.

"Relax," Karma said to the class as he and I walked forward to meet the boss. The others were too busy watching the boss enter. "Just do your best, okay? You're guaranteed to get at least partial credit!"

I grinned lightly as I chambered a bullet. "Don't worry. We'll get full credit, so leave that to us."

Asano approached us, staring ahead resolutely with his cold eyes.

We stopped, facing each other, and I tilted my head with a little smile. Meanwhile, Karma and Asano were busy staring each other down, healthy killing intent swirling around them.

To our right, the final boss fell from the heavens; it was a massive, crystal-clear cube with a statue of a woman emerging from the top and staring down at us with something almost like pity on its face.

It was a fragile, beautiful work of art.

I couldn't wait to smash it.


Oh, gods, this just looks awful.

'As shown in the diagram to the right, the crystalline structure known as a body-centered cubic unit consists of multiple cubes having sides length a arranged periodically, with an atom at each vertex and at each cube's center. Most alkaline metals, including Na and K, are body-centered cubic units. Focusing on atom A[0] in a body-centered cubic unit, of all the points within the space, the domain D[0] consists of the set of points closer to A[0] than to any other atom. Find the volume of D[0].'

I let out a quiet whistle as I took in the blank, featureless room I was standing in. The central atom, huh? And I had to find the volume surrounding it.

Of course, my first thought was a sphere with diameter a. But... I blinked as the blue sphere representing D[0] appeared around me. The parts of the sphere furthest from me, however, were a crimson red; they were closer to the corner points than to the center. I couldn't take the easy route.

I only had a few minutes to solve the problem, too. The test before had wiped out more than half the students, and of the ones left only three of us in the entire grade had the chance of solving this last question. The rest of the students that even saw this problem had just wasted too much time on the other problems.

I had to do this. Let's be about it, then, shall we?

My fingers twitched, sending out webs of lines as I split the cube into eight, with the center point acting as one corner and the pre-existing corner acting as the opposite corner. The sphere wasn't the worst way of solving this, even if it didn't work. Because the center point was the center, I could just focus on this one corner, figure out how much territory I owned, and then multiply that number by eight.

Now, let's see. I stared at the smaller box, smirking lightly at the shadowy figure of the opponent in the exact opposite corner. The bottom left and right corners were mine, as well as the one directly above me. They were a straight line, compared to the opposing corner's diagonal line. Value a instead of a root 2. But... the opposing bottom corner wasn't mine. I set out a web, frowning. The threads were tangled, but my angle was forty-five degrees and I could calculate exactly how far I needed to go if I knew the distance from the end - but I couldn't find it. The webs twisted in on themselves, and I snarled.

Shit. I didn't know enough. I couldn't find the length of the diagonal without knowing the X and Y values, and I didn't know those because I didn't know the diagonal. Giving that up as a lost cause, I sent a web towards the upper opposite corner; naturally, it ended halfway. That was the middle point. Now, I could draw a triangle between the points I know, and I did that; the web formed, hanging in midair, and I gnawed at my lip. Was that everything? How could I know? What about to my left? I couldn't just say the clash was even all the way to the corner, since the opposition clearly owned the upper left corner instead of me. It would slide off to the side...

Damn, damn, damn, I'm running out of time, shit!

This isn't... I'm losing track of the web. I twitched my fingers, trying to draw out the answer, but it seemed cloudy in my mind. This wasn't... I couldn't see the answer. It wasn't working. The webs were burning up against the enemy's presence, and I couldn't seem to think clearly -!

Stop. Nick. You know better than this.

Like a switch had been flipped, I sat back in my chair, idly erasing the work I'd already done. With a wave of my hands, all the tangled lines and webs that I'd placed down to mark my known positions were erased, leaving me back in that empty white box, standing in the center.

I knew better than that. I was letting my madness and my bloodlust act up, instead of keeping it sheathed like it belongs.

Now that I'm calm, let's start over. If the answer isn't coming to me, then that's because the path I'm following isn't right. Clearly, I don't need to mathematically define the area I own.

Let's just... start from the beginning.

I am in a cube. This cube has sides of length a, which means the volume of the whole cube is a cubed. Write that down. Now, let's go back over the question exactly. If I'm meant to solve this, then the answer is here. I'll build my little virtual world based off the words, leaving nothing out.

'...an atom at each vertex and at each cube's center...'

The box formed around me, the white walls forming from little blue polygons as it assembled. I stood in the exact center, equidistant from each corner. Four above me, four below. Four to my left, and four to my right.

Continue on. Don't get held up by the minute details.

Goal: find the volume of domain D[0], the set of points closer to my point than any other point.

My initial approach isn't wrong. Because this is a cube, even though it's a crystal and repeats indefinitely I can safely ignore the other points. Because I am in the center… The lines sliced out from me and severed the cube into eight smaller cubes.

Because I am the center, I can place myself at one corner of the new cube, and my target at the diametrically opposite corner. The exact point doesn't matter, the cubes are generic.

Which points do I own? The bottom left corner, the bottom right corner, and the corner immediately above me. Those are the points that are direct lines from my corner. The Pythagorean theorem dictates I am closer to these points than my opponent is, because the straight line from his corner to the point in question is a diagonal angle. My distance is one half a, his distance is one half a times root 2.

Which points does my opponent own? The corner exactly opposite from me, the top left corner, the top right corner, and the corner immediately below him. Those are the points that are direct lines from my opponent's corner. The Pythagorean theorem dictates he is closer to these points than I am, because the straight line from my corner to the point in question is a diagonal angle. My distance is one half a times root 2, his distance is one half a.

This is where I started entangling myself last time.

What else does he - wait. Wait.

I need to count myself.

Counting myself, I own four corners. Counting the opponent, they own four corners. There are only eight corners available in the cube to own, which means that all corners have been claimed.

If all corners have been claimed, split equally... and because the opponent is based in the corner exactly opposite from me...

Hah. I'm really just...

...Looking in a mirror.

I reached out towards the shadowy figure of the opponent, spreading my palm flat, and the figure did the same. As our hands pressed together in the center of the false cube, the shadows receded and I realized I was staring at myself.

It was just a trick of the perspective the whole time.

As the mirror between us shattered, I knew; if it was a perfect mirror, and it was, then I owned exactly half of this cube's domain. And this was just a construct I created... Turning, I swiped my hand around the other seven cubes surrounding me, and the mirror in each shattered. If I own half of this smaller cube's domain, and if each of the eight cubes were equal, and together the domain of the eight cubes totaled the domain of the large cube...

...I owned half of the large cube's domain.

I smiled slightly and wrote down the answer in the wall of the cube, slinging Hecate back over my shoulder. I didn't need you for this one, but I appreciate the support none the less. I pressed my palm to the answer and the wall rippled like water before shattering entirely into blue polygons of light. As they scattered in the air, I saw I was standing in the air, in a blue, sunny sky. It almost reminded me of when I cleared Sword Art Online, watching from above the clouds.

Hah. That was easier than expected, I think.

"Hey, Nick," Karma said, grinning. I looked over my shoulder lazily to see him standing there, hands in his pants. "What took you so long? I beat you, for once."

I just laughed. "I decided to take it easy, this time around," I said. "Sometimes it's nice to relax, y'know?"

Mathematics: Time Up

The bell rang, everyone put down their pencils, and like that the end of term exams were over.


A bit on the shorter side, but this is a good stopping point, I think. The tests are over, and y'know, it's okay to have tension build up!

The first half of the chapter dealt with the preparation for the exams, mainly. Nick is studying, he's snarking a bit, the usual. And then Asano out of nowhere, asking for help. See, the thing is, we don't get to see this because we're glued to Nick, but Principal Asano scolded Young Asano for not doing more to sabotage E Class's ramen stand – like putting cockroaches in the food, and then making a huge stink about it. Yikes. Then, after Asano protests and says that Mr. Principal is going a bit far, Principal Asano brainwashes the rest of the Big Five into hating E Class. From there, the Principal does the same for the other A Class students, barring Asano.

The other thing is, we don't get to see it, but Principal Asano is apparently a godly teacher as well, just like Korosensei. He's super quick, but the material he covers is incredibly easy to understand compared to the usual A Class teachers.

Then we get to the studying part. Nick has more nightmares, and the stress of being one of the best is slowly starting to get to him. He just wakes up after a nightmare (he assumes it's from Aincrad, but is it...?) and to calm himself down he goes and studies – but in E Class, for whatever reason. He's still sleepy and his usual modus operandi in Aincrad was to go out and kill monsters when he had nightmares, so, uh… old habits die hard? Basically, the point I was trying to make was that he's subconsciously feeling the pressure. I was trying to have him act 'aggressively nonchalant' during the entrance to the exams, just to push the idea that he's feeling the pressure but forcing himself to believe he's not.

Finally, the exams proper; they're fun to write. I enjoyed it, at least. It's something where it's all happening in Nick's head, so I get to enjoy myself and go wild with it – as seen by how his mental image of his sword is Elucidator, for example, or how his Science weapon is a pretty obvious reference. And, of course, can't forget the chance for him to pretend to do the badass 'I'm not going to look at the explosion' thing. Not that he'd do it in real life – explosions have a shockwave, and you can bet Nick's not stupid enough to take chances.

The last question was the hardest part to write, actually. I knew the vague outline of how I wanted it to go – Nick starts, he gets worked up, then calms down and takes a second look to solve the problem – but I didn't want to just use the Karma method of solution, even though it's perfectly valid. Nick's character growth is not Karma's growth, after all, and Nick just doesn't tend to consider others in his inner self. I mean, if I'd gone that route he would have imagined each of his seven family members standing at the corners (and his cat at the eighth, since let's be honest he likes his cat more than he likes klein, sorry klein) and realized that they all had the same radius too, since the atom A[0] was picked arbitrarily, and each of the corners was the center of their own cube. In the end, though, I went with this for a reason.

Many thanks to everyone that favorited, followed, or reviewed.