Episode 21: A distant echo

Just for a minute

The silver forked sky

Lifts you up like a star

That I will follow

And now it's found us

Like I have found you

I don't want to run;

Just overwhelm me

They were trapped. Nagisa pressed himself against the chair that hid him from the assassin's view. He tried not to consider too much about the situation they got in. He didn't want to panic himself. He liked theaters. The comfortable chairs and the calm darkness. He remembered the last time he went to a theater. It was about a year ago with his former class. They went to see a play from an American writer, but Nagisa didn't remember his name. He just rethought the inner peace he felt sitting there for a minute, in absolute silence and isolated from the outside world. Until Karma showed up and sat down beside him. He kept talking nearly the whole time. Nagisa was annoyed first but ended up being very entertained. Karma resynchronized the whole play spontaneously, whispering into Nagisa's ear. He really had to concentrate on not laughing too loud. Nagisa really wished he cloud time-travel back to that evening. Right now, he was concentrated on not breathing too loud, so the assassin wasn't able to find out his location.

Koro-sensei started giving the class advices, and they followed his instructions. Suddenly they all had changed places in order to confuse their opponent. Hayami and Chiba managed to knock him out. Karma was glad that their teacher's plan worked. He came closer to Nagisa as he quietly asked the other boy: "Do you remember the last time we've been to a theater?" He saw the blue-haired boy's grin as his own mood improved as well. The group continued their way to the top. Nagisa noticed Terasaka heavily breathing. He touched his forehead for a second as the tall teen stepped back. But he already figured out what was happening. "You're infected, aren't you?", he asked Terasaka. He pulled him aside. "I'm fine, no need to worry. I can't back out now. I need to help them", he said. Nagisa was concerned. Maybe someone else of their group was infected as well. Probably Kayano, or Karma… His thoughts got distracted by Ritsu informing the class that they reached the last floor and the room where the signal led her to.

I want to see you

As you are now

Every single day

That I am living

Painted in flames

All peeling thunder;

Be the lightning in me

That strikes relentless

They entered the room quietly. Everyone was nervous, still managed to make no noise. At the end of the room, they found an armchair. On the table there was a remote control. Karasuma-sensei who already got strong enough aimed on it this one of the guns, ready to shoot at an arm grabbing it. Beside the chair there was a suitcase with a small package adhered to it. Obviously a bomb. Suddenly the person sitting in the armchair threw a handful of other remotes up into the air. As they fell back on the ground, the person turned around. It was a tall man, they all have already seen him before: Takaoka. His eyes stared at the group with an insane expression. "You're bad children", he spoke, "that's not what your father told you to do. Let's go up on the roof. Or you can say goodbye to your friends." They had no choice but to follow him. Karma kept his gaze on Nagisa. He seemed scared, as well as the rest of the group. Karma understood it. He was scared as well. As they had reached the roof, Takaoka revealed the two aspects of his plan: he wanted to kill Koro-sensei by endangering Kayano, and he wanted revenge. He wanted to take revenge on Nagisa. Karma stepped forward and told their former teacher: "oh, that's the case! You did all this only to get Nagisa? I'm sure you'd have more fun against me". Nagisa's eyes enlarged as he heard Karma's words. Was Karma actually trying to sacrifice himself in order to save him? Terasaka stepped beside Karma and spoke "What an idiot you are. It was you who made the rules and still you lost against Nagisa". Takaoka cut him short: "Don't forget who has your classmates' lives in his hands!" He grinned madly as he added: "So Nagisa, come join me and go up on the helicopter base. Kayano grabbed Nagisa's arm as she shouted: "Nagisa you can't go with him, by no means!" But Nagisa ignored her words as he pulled away his arm. He stepped forward. "I don't want to. But I have to…" He handed her Koro-sensei. He passed his classmates, looking at Karma. There was something in the redhead's eyes that sent shivers down his spine. It was like he literally said please don't do that without using any words. Takaoka's shouts made him move faster. He climbed up the helideck. In the middle of the deck there was a knife lying on the ground. Nagisa stopped a few steps away from it. Takaoka raised his arm holding the remote and pressed the button. The bridges between the base and the rest of the roof exploded. Now Nagisa had no way out. Takaoka spoke: "You certainly know what I want. A revanche for the last time". Nagisa responded: "I'm not here to fight". The man told him: "I know. And I don't want it to be over too soon. Before we fight, you need to do something else. Apologize." Nagisa stared at him, like the rest of the group did too, unsure of what he meant. "On your knees. Apologize honestly for what you did". Nagisa followed his wish. He didn't want to upset him. The risk for his classmates was too high. Sugino. Kanzaki. Terasaka. They had to get well again. He bent his head, his face touching the ground. "I attacked you in an unfair way because I'm too weak to fight otherwise. I'm sorry." Takaoka didn't seem satisfied yet. He walked over and put hi shoe an Nagisa's head, pressing him on the floor. "I'm honestly sorry", he repeated.

Karma felt a burning rage rising inside him. He couldn't sand seeing Nagisa like that. But he couldn't do anything to help him. He had to wait for what would happen. He had faith in Nagisa, but was unsure about what Takaoka would be doing. His hand clenched to a fist. Takaoka laughed as he walked back to get the suitcase. He kept talking about how funny the virus' victims would look like without getting the antidote. While saying: "you definitely want to see this, Nagisa" he threw the suitcase up in the air. Nagisa fell back on his knees as the suitcase exploded. Takaoka busted into laughing. Nagisa felt like something just hid his stomach and now he was unable to breathe. He turned his head and looked at Terasaka who simply stared at him. Nagisa felt devastated. He couldn't stand his opponent's madness anymore. It was time for his own. He reached to the ground. His fingers felt the cold iron. He grabbed the knife tightly. As Takaoka saw his hand around the knife, he stopped laughing. Nagisa was heavily breathing. His hands were shaking, and his mind got empty. As Karma noticed what was going on, he felt kind of the same. Only his head was filled with concern. Not again, he told himself. He won't lose Nagisa again. He felt a rush in his veins as he heard Nagisa's quiet voice: "I…I'll kill you!"