Okano Hinata was bored out of her mind.

Despite being the world's only assassination classroom, even Class 3E had days where a lull loomed over the mountaintop classroom. Okano's gaze drifted to the window, where the trees were changing color for the fall, calling her to get out of the boring class. Maehara, who sat in a seat between her and the window, gave her a sympathetic glance, and Okano made a mental note to talk to him after class.

Which would be in…. she glanced at the clock. 2:15. Forty-five more minutes until class ended. This was torture. Okano resisted the urge to rest her head on her desk, instead opting to wiggle her toes to release some extra energy. It was a trick she'd learned years ago to avoid making the students around her anxious or annoyed with leg bouncing- she learned instead to wiggle her toes, which were concealed in her shoes.

Unfortunately, today, all the toe wiggling only made her want to get up and jump around even more. With Korosensei droning on about something historical at the front on the classroom, Okano found herself daydreaming about doing gymnastic tricks over the rows of desks. Today was NOT a good focus day. Must be something in the air.

"The Louisiana Purchase was made in 1803 from France. Can anyone tell me in which president was in office at that time? … Okano?"

Crap. That was exactly the worst thing to possibly happen.

Okano suddenly snapped back to attention, the sudden pressure of being called on in front of her classmates sent her heart pounding. She stuttered, "I … uh… I don't know…"

Korosensei waved a tentacle at the board. "I did mention him just a few moments ago. Perhaps you can find a hint on the board?"

Korosensei's paused, seemingly to give her a chance to remember the answer, but as the seconds ticked by it became clear that Hinata had no intention of saving herself from the awkward interaction. Even though Korosensei's writing was normally easy to follow, today it seemed like a jumbled, impossible-to-read mess..

Okano's face flushed. Shoot. He totally called her on not paying attention. She thought sitting in the front row would help her focus, but on days where it just seemed impossible, it could cause really awkward situations.

Korosensei gave a hum, but opted to move on with the lesson, thankfully turning his attention away from his embarrassed student, "Well there's a clue class. Can anyone else tell me the answer? Takebayashi?"

"Oh, umm, Thomas Jefferson?" Takebayashi called out from the other side of the classroom. He didn't seem comfortable being called out next, but at least he knew the answer. Korosensei's face flashed an orange circle.

"Correct! Seems like you've been paying exceptional attention Takebayashi. Keep up the good work!" Korosensei praised. "Moving forward from the Louisiana Purchase…" Korosensei droned into the background once again. Now Okano was too embarrassed to pay attention.

She didn't dare turn to her left, where Maehara was once again shooting a supportive glance. She didn't want to believe that she just messed up like that in front of him. In front of her entire class.

She glanced at the clock again. 2:17. Unbelievable.

Okano sank lower in her chair, and began bouncing her leg. She must have too much energy pent up. Her classmates would just have to ignore her. It was going to be a loooong class.

Time continued to move forward exceedingly slow until the bell finally rang, letting the students out for the day. That of course didn't mean that most students would leave. This was the assassination classroom after all, and preparations for the class's next assassination attempt needed to be arranged.

Okano began collecting her things when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to the person behind her.

"Hey Okano, what're you doing after class today?" asked Nakamura with a devious grin on her face. Nagisa and Kayano turned their attention to the conversation from their desks too.

Okano grinned back at them, relieved that the group has seemed to forget about her blunder in class earlier. "I'm completely free today. In fact, I was hoping someone had something up their sleeves. I've been bored out of my mind all day."

Nagisa nodded sheepishly, "Honestly, I've kind of been feeling that today too. Must be the changing weather or something. The day just seemed to drag on."

Maehara leaned his chair back, balancing it on the front of Nagisa's desk, tilting his head back, "So did I hear assassination or not? What's the plan?"

Nakamura scooted in closer to the group, glancing toward the back of the room where Korosensei was talking with Satuo, making sure he couldn't hear their plan. "We all know that Korosensei can't resistjuicy gossip. Picture this: We stage a love confession, and ultimately a lovers quarrel."

A tenseness fell over the group, and Kayano blurted out "Wait what kind of assassination is that?! And why would you single out us?" she asked, looking flustered.

Nakamura shrugged. "Cause you all sit close together, so it'll be easier I suppose." She smiled at the end, seemingly keeping something from her response. "You and Nagisa, and Maehara and Okano. You guys are good friends, so it'll be more believable too.. With the way I want things to plan out, we need a believable team of actors in the front of the room who sit relatively close together. You'll essentially be putting on an act for the next few days, until the climax of the drama, where we make the final kill shot."

Maehara looked skeptical, laughing, "How is acting like we're couples going to kill Korosensei? You seriously believe that that's what it takes to take the octopus down?"

Nakamura folded her arms, "Of course it's going to be more complicated than that. It's basic science. We're going to draw Korosensei's attention into a telenovela-worthy drama. By the time we get to an all-out fight, he'll be so distracted that he won't notice our planned assassination. You all remember how bad he is in a crisis."

Okano shifted in her seat. "Ok… and how exactly are we going to kill him?"

Nakamura unfolded her arms. "Well, I haven't exactly gotten to that part yet," she admitted reluctantly. "But we have a few days of setting up the assassination before we actually have to have that part ready. I'll put together something before then."

"We should remember to add in a few fake assassination attempts in the meantime. Something that looks like we're working on other ways to kill him, otherwise he'll realize something's up," Nagisa chimed in.

"You know, we could actually include that into making our faked relationships seem more real," Okano pointed out. "If we act more couple-y when pulling off assassination attempts, Korosensei will be forced to watch the drama unfold"

Nakamura nodded, "That's a good point. You'll have to be as obnoxiously in Korosensei's face as possible."

Kayano piped up nervously from the back, "Wait who said that we all agreed to this yet?! I don't know if all of us are comfortable faking a relationship like that for a few days! Doesn't it seem risky?"

Nagisa shrugged. "I don't see the harm in it. Korosensei has taken an interest in shipping his students before, not to mention Professor B*tch and Karasuma. He seems like the type to get easily distracted by over-the-top drama. This could actually work if we play our parts correctly."

Kayano hunched over, seemingly defeated. "I suppose…"

Korosensei began to make his way toward the front of the room again, and the group instinctively went back to collecting their things.

"I'll be sure to text you guys later," Nakamura said casually. The group resounded with "Sounds good"s and "See you guys later"s, as they stood up to leave. Okano gave Maehara a fist bump as he passed by her desk to walk out the door. Maybe this day wasn't so bad after all-

"Okano, would you mind staying behind for a moment?" Korosensei said, stopping Okano from walking past him.

Or maybe she spoke too soon.