They were now trying to save Korosensei's life, and of-fucking-course Yanagisawa had to butt in.

Clad in her special gym uniform, Akari glared daggers at Yanagisawa. She was so tired of everything–so tired of the media villainizing Korosensei and treating them as helpless hostages, so tired of the government trying to ruin everything, so tired of Yanagisawa and his shitty plans. Korosensei couldn't even celebrate his birthday without being interrupted.

Akari paled when she saw a tentacled monstrosity emerge from behind Yanagisawa. There was no doubt about it–this person had also received the tentacle cells, but not in the way she and Itona had received theirs. This monster didn't even have a humanoid appearance. She and Itona exchanged terrified glances.

This one was on a whole other level.

Yanagisawa cackled as he took in their horrified looks. His one fake eye made him look even less human, if that was possible. "He is nothing like that failure Itona, or that little girl over there. He has fully harnessed the destructive power of the tentacles."

"Tch, that freak…" Itona scowled, but Akari had seen how his eyes had widened in fright. Kayano blinked, the earth rumbled and she was knocked to the ground. She gasped, head ringing from the impact. The monster was so quick she couldn't even see his attacks! Yanagisawa claimed the monster could reach a top speed of Mach 40. For the first time, Akari didn't doubt Yanagisawa.

"The remainder of his life of his life will last no longer than another three months," Yanagisawa stated nonchalantly as he watched the fight from above. He giggled uncontrollably, the noise sending chills down Akari's spine. "See? He's perfect! He's the ultimate weapon!"

Something snapped inside Akari.

"You're always like this!" Akari barked at Yanagisawa, fists clenched. "Hurting everyone around you… while watching safely from above! You're despicable!"

Yanagisawa looked at Kayano with contempt and mild amusement. Kayano hated that look–it felt like he had something up his sleeve.

"Kayano–" Itona said abruptly, as if he'd discovered something.

"Do you really think so?" Yanagisawa remarked idly.

Before anyone could stop him, he ripped off his hood and stabbed his neck with a syringe. Akari froze, dread filling her up. She knew what was happening–

"Do you honestly believe that I have not prepared myself for death?"

Impulsively, Akari leapt forward–

"No!"

To Akari's surprise, it was Itona who held her back. "He's dangerous!" he hissed. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Akari's eyes narrowed. "You think I'm gonna stand here and do nothing?! He just injected himself with the tentacle cells!" she spat out. Behind her, a tentacled Yanagisawa pounced at Korosensei and joined the fight, but they were moving so quickly Akari had no idea what was happening.

"Kayano… he's right," Nagisa tried to convince her. "We can barely understand the situation."

Akari hated it, but she was completely helpless. None of them, not even Karasuma and Bitch-sensei, could do anything to stop Yanagisawa as he ruthlessly ordered the monster to attack her class over and over again, which forced Korosensei to shield them. Fury bubbled in her veins and threatened to explode–

"Itona," Akari said. "I'm going to stop him."

Itona's eyes were also blazing, reminding her of when he still had tentacles. "I'm coming with you," he said coolly.

A new, gruff voice joined in the conversation. "Oy! Are you guys planning on getting your revenge?!"

Akari and Itona spun towards Terasaka. "You two knuckleheads know what happened last time," he snarled. "You wanna try that shit again?"

Akari thought about her elaborate revenge scheme that involved faking her identity for a year. She'd been so consumed by her fury and heartbreak that she couldn't fully appreciate the wonderful friends and teachers she'd been blessed with. All along, she'd thought no one would like her after they knew the truth, but the contrary happened. Why continue to wallow in her pit of despair and loneliness? Why continue the never-ending cycle of hatred and revenge?

Akari inhaled. She still desired justice for Aguri, and she would never forgive Yanagisawa, but now she had someone else to fight for.

"We're doing it to protect Korosensei," Akari stated firmly.

"He's done so much for us. It's our turn," Itona added.

Together, Akari and Itona jumped in front of Korosensei, both armed with guns and knives. Adrenaline coursed through Akari's veins and her heart felt like it was about to leap out of her ribcage, but she faced the monster with unwavering determination. When the monster's tentacles flew towards them, they both dodged. Akari snuck a look at Itona to make sure he was okay.

Yanagisawa chuckled. "Well, well. You two are former tentacle users, after all. You must've retained some of your kinetic vision."

Behind Korosensei, her other classmates were screaming and pleading them to stop, but Akari paid them no heed. She and Itona had the most experience with the tentacles, so they should be the ones to step up.

"Number Two," Yanagisawa called out, then gave the monster a thumbs down–

Something barrelled into Akari's chest and she choked back a scream. She looked down and her eyes widened with horror–

"ITONA!"

Akari's body crashed on the ground and the world spun before her eyes, but she forced herself up. In the distance, she saw a blur of white and she stiffened. Holy shit–Itona had pushed her out of the way and holy shit what if he'd been struck?! Akari would never forgive herself–

She ignored the blood running down her cheeks and shakily stood up. Her ears rang and she could hear Yanagisawa's cacophonous laughs. She tried to run to him, but her pathetic knees wobbled.

"ITONA!" Akari hollered again.

Itona, who was covered in dirt, stumbled to his feet. Thankfully, she couldn't see any blood on him. If it hadn't been for him, Akari was sure she would've been impaled. In some sort of twisted way, Akari was glad Itona had learned to interpret Shiro's hand gestures and orders.

"So weak," Yanagisawa mocked them. "Just one blow and then–"

Itona, who looked oddly calm, stared straight at Yanagisawa. "Who has no vision now, huh?"

White smoke erupted from Itona, blinding them all. Akari sniffed the air and instantly recognized that as one of Okuda's custom bombs. Itona was providing her with a temporary cover. With his odd choice of words, he was practically screaming at her to do something. But what?

The cogs in Akari's brain turned quickly, and her eyes darted around the area. Yanagisawa was giving out orders to the monster–Itona could understand them. Wait, the monster hadn't attacked them afterwards because Yanagisawa was busy taunting them. Déjà vu washed over Akari and she suddenly recalled a scenario long ago–the pole-toppling competition against Asano–

The realization hit her.

The monster was useless without Yanagsiawa's orders.

No vision.

So that was what Itona wanted her to do!

Ignoring her throbbing bruises, Akari charged towards Yanagisawa. Yanagisawa, disoriented by the bomb, noticed her a little too late, which provided Akari with the perfect opportunity.

She yanked out a gun and aimed it towards Yanagisawa's remaining eye-

BANG!

.

.

.

Good. She didn't miss.

Yanagisawa howled and clutched his bloody eye. "YOU BITCH!" he screeched. "LIKE TEACHER, LIKE STUDENT–"

Akari spotted a syringe in his hands, snatched it, and promptly crushed it to pieces with her boot. Now that Yanagisawa was blind, he was essentially powerless. He could no longer give out orders. She contemplated punching his face, but decided against it and dashed towards Itona. Itona was evading the monster by leaping from tree to tree, but he was obviously struggling judging from his sloppy movements.

Akari dived in front of Itona and diverted the monster's attack. "You alright?" she yelled at him.

"Yeah, how about you–"

"Kayano-san, Itona-kun, stay back!" Korosensei demanded frantically. "This is my fight, not yours!"

Akari snatched Itona's hand and dragged him behind Korosensei. "Glad you understood my meaning," Itona said simply, but she could see a relieved smile on his face. Akari wiped the blood from her face and gave him a bone-crushing hug.

Itona was alright. He was safe. They'd somehow managed to survive that attack.

"Don't get too emotional." Itona petted her back. "This isn't over."

Akari's arms dropped to her sides, and along with the rest of her class, she looked grimly at Korosensei and his first student. Korosensei's tentacles were pitch black, showing he was furious that his students were hurt. Out of nowhere, blinding light emitted from Korosensei.

"Anger…" Korosensei turned red, and quickly became blue. "Sadness… joy… pain…" Korosensei went from blue to his signature cheerful yellow back to black. "I'm fusing every colour, every feeling, every experience, be it positive or negative, and all of life to create… pure white energy!"

Itona took a step back and subconsciously leaned against Akari. Korosensei was using his superhuman body, plus everything he'd felt and learned, and his skills from his assassin days combined with his love to protect everyone. Everything had melded into one, balancing each other out, so that–

"May you graduate in peace, my dear student."

Then white dominated her vision and she could see no more.

Itona could hardly believe it. The faintest bits of yellow light slipped from his fingers and dissipated. Korosensei was really dead. And they could do nothing to change that. Not even when they blinded Yanagisawa or killed the second Reaper.

He couldn't stop the hot tears from trickling down his face. They'd tried so hard! Itona had realized Yanagsiawa was the only one who could give orders to the second Reaper, so blinding him seemed like a feasible and effective solution. But they were still forced to kill Korosensei.

So fucking unfair.

Kayano was sobbing, fisted hands on her empty lap where Korosensei's head used to lay. His heart twisted at the sight. He remembered how she'd comforted him at the lab, during his panic attack, and after the monster's attack. Kayano had always been there... Itona stumbled towards Kayano and wrapped an arm around her.

"Akari," he choked out, "you don't always have to be the one to comfort me. We don't have to wallow in our grief alone. Let me help you."

So underneath the crescent moon, in each other's arms, they cried their hearts out.