Kyandi: Hey, Kyandiacs!
Takina: Guess who got ahead of herself.
Kyandi: Okay, so I was suppose to post this chapter tomorrow, but...I couldn't wait.
Takina: It's all because someone had to add something to this chapter that made her grin like the Cheshire Cat.
Kyandi: Hey, you grinned too!
Takina: For a much different reason than you.
Kyandi: Yeah, yeah, whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep at night.
Takina: Just get on with it.
Kyandi: Alright, alright. Everyone, enjoy and review.
Takina: Kyandi-sama does not own Assassination Classroom.
Chapter 20 Just Desserts
When Takina next awoke, it was the following evening and she found herself tucked away into her bed, her jacket and shoes removed. A few of the other girls were already awake and turned to look at her as Takina sat up and instantly reached for the back of her belt. When her fingers didn't ghost over the familiar shape of the sheathed knife, a frown fell on her face.
"We removed the knife so you could sleep. Its right next to you." Kataoka told her.
Takina turned to look down, her shoulders relaxing when her eyes landed on the knife laid beside her pillow. Reaching out, she snagged it before getting to her feet.
"Hey, Takina." Okano called.
"Yes?"
Takina moved to her luggage, digging out her PE uniform, rather another another set of her own clothes. The other girls seemed to be dressing in the same fashion. The other girls watched her as she dug her gym clothes out of her bag.
"Why do you carry that knife? Do you carry it all the time?" Yada asked.
"Yeah, I carry it all the time. By this point, it's...it's more for a sense of security." Takina said, getting to her feet, her clothes in one hand and the knife in the other. "My father trained me in knife wielding, said it would be far more useful to me than a gun because, eventually, a gun runs out of bullets, but a knife doesn't. Which was fine with me, anyway. I've always hated guns. He insisted that I never go anywhere, do anything, without the knife on me. He would even launch sneak attacks on me while I was sleeping or in the bathroom, expecting me to have the knife in grabbing reach, even then."
"That's so wrong." Kataoka remarked.
"That's my father. Far to extreme in all of his methods. I finally got to the point where I always had the knife. It became a sense of security. I didn't feel safe, or relaxed unless I knew it was on me. Even now, far away from my father, I can't be without it. It's too...uncomfortable. Came in handy this time." Takina remarked, shrugging her shoulders.
"Don't you think what your dad put you through is wrong?!" Kurahashi demanded.
Takina turned to look at the girls. They were all looking at her with worried looks. She thought for a moment before she gave a shake of her head.
"Maybe when I was younger, I might have, but now? It's normal to me, now." Takina told them. "I know more than I did when I younger, and besides...there's not much more I can do than I've already done. I mean, I'm in a completely different country, half way across the world. That's just all there is to it anymore."
Takina gave another shrug of her shoulders and headed for the bathroom to change. The girls watched her go, all of them still concerned for Takina. The more they learned about her relationship with her father and how he had raised her, the more they all hated the man. He had taken his daughter and turned her into a little soldier too afraid to take two steps without a knife on her. And to see Takina just continue on as if the whole thing was nothing, broke their hearts.
While she was physically away from the situation, it didn't take a genius to see that she was still stuck there, mentally.
Takina, once changed, headed out to the beach with Kayano and Okano, where they found several of their classmates, all in their gym clothes, watching as government people worked on building some kind of structure just off the shore.
"Good morning. Are you feeling better?" Okano asked as they approached.
"Yeah, thanks to you guys. So everyone's in their jerseys after all." Hara greeted.
"Well there aren't any other guests, and these are comfortable." Kimura replied.
"So they have Korosensei in that thing?" Takina asked, looking down at the structure, her hands on her hips.
"Yeah."
"It probably won't work, but they said they'd fortify it so that it'll be able to kill him when he returns." one of the others told them.
"Karasuma-sensei's been taking command without rest or sleep."
"That man really is a monster. He's not even showing signs of fatigue while I passed out cold last night." Takina retorted, actually sounding a little sour about it.
"He's amazing." Mimura agreed. "Can we become super human like that in ten more years?"
"Who knows." Takina replied.
"And even though Bitch-sensei looks that way, she's pretty amazing too." Okano said, all of them peering down the beach where Irina was reclining in a beach chair in the most revealing swimsuit Takina had ever seen, a cup wedged before her breasts so that the straw reached her mouth.
"You know, the hitmen we met at the hotel weren't bad, either. After so many years of experience, they've mastered some truly amazing techniques, and they've really solidified their mindsets towards their work." Takina remarked.
"And now that I think about it, there's also Takaoka, who made me thing, "I don't wanna become like that."." one of the boys remarked.
"That's how the world is. We chase after those we think are respectable, and leave behind those we think aren't." Takina said idly, the others agreeing with her.
An explosion rocked the island then, as the structure holding Korosensei was blown to pieces. While part of them had hoped it worked, they all kind of already knew the results. Sure enough, Korosensei appeared among the students, back to his normal self.
"Sensei's useless state has caused trouble for everyone. But, fighting against the enemy, and fighting against the virus, truly, you all did very well!" Korosensei told them.
"Good morning, Korosensei. You're really not the same without your tentacles." Nagisa told him.
"Yes, good morning. Well then, shall we continue and enjoy our trip?" Korosensei asked.
"First things first," Korosensei let out a shrill shriek as Takina suddenly attacked from behind him, slashing at him with an anti-sensei knife. Moving faster than they've ever seen her move, Takina attacked again and again, Korosensei dodging her. "Tell me, how did you know I had that knife on me."
Takina only stopped her attack in order to let him answer her.
"Though you try to hide it by leaving your shirt un-tucked and hanging loosely, I could always tell the tale-tell faint outline of a knife tucked into the back of your waist band. Then there was the scent of metal that was always on you." Korosensei answered.
Takina frowned, her eyes drilling into him, as if she was trying to decided on whether or not she believed him. Finally, she straightened her back, her free hand going to her hip.
"Fine." she said, Korosensei relaxing, only to let out another shriek as Takina suddenly threw her anti-sensei knife at him, moving from a relaxed posture with the ease and quickness of practice. "Since you didn't peek under my clothes, I'll let you off the hook with just that."
"Didn't you say you'd get him banned from candy makers world wide?" Nakamura asked, Korosensei freaking out for a moment.
"Yeah, but I said I would do that only if he went under my clothes again. Since he didn't, I'll let him off easy...this time." Takina replied.
Takina retrieved her knife then, heaving a sigh as she tucked it away. While she was grateful that he hadn't figured it out by going under her clothes, again, the other part of her was a little upset that he had figured it out so easily.
"All that aside," Mimura said, "Continue our trip...but it's already nighttime. And we're leaving tomorrow."
"It feels like we've lost a whole day, doesn't it?" Nakamura asked.
"Nurufufufu. It's good that it is nighttime." Korosensei said, changing in the blink of an eye. "In return for yesterday's assassination, I've made sure to prepare a special event."
Takina had a feeling she really wasn't going to like this. When Korosensei planned "special events", it usually meant something questionable. Then there was the traditional clothes he was wearing and the sign he now held.
"There's only one thing to do on a midsummer night, isn't there?" Korosensei said.
"A "Test of Courage"? Is this a Japanese thing?" Takina demanded, looking from the sign to her classmates.
"Sensei will take on the role of the ghosts. It's been a while, so I'll be sure to move around with plenty of clones." Korosensei told them. "Of course, if you want to kill sensei, that's okay! That would be the perfect ending to an assassination trip, wouldn't it?"
"Sounds interesting. I need to work off the frustration from not being able to move last night!" Meahara exclaimed.
"Will someone explain to me, the foreigner, what a Test of Courage is." Takina requested.
The others instantly explained to Takina the point behind a test of courage, and how it was basically to scare those that walked through.
"It's typically done around Halloween and during the summer." Isogai explained.
"Well, that explains it. We don't really celebrate Halloween in Switzerland." Takina replied.
"Seriously?!" Meahara demanded.
"Well, yeah. Generally, aside from shops, supermarkets and department stores, the only places that really do anything for Halloween, are bars who have theme nights. We have other holidays around that time of year, but we don't really do Halloween. This Test of Courage, though, sounds interesting." Takina said, basically saying she was game.
With that, Korosensei paired them off in boy/girl pairs. Takina found herself paired with Karma. Once they were all split up, he had the first pair, Nagisa and Kayano, enter an underwater cave. They would have to pass through the cave, dealing with whatever Korosensei threw their way. When Karma and Takina entered the cave, Karma went first, flashlight in hand.
At first, they were both silent, neither really reacting to the so called "scary" stuff Korosensei had set up for them. When they reached a stretch of the cave in which they were completely alone, Karma glanced over his shoulder at Takina, who was looking around them. She only looked up at him when he came to a stop.
"Why are we stopping?" she asked. "Another pitiful attempt to scare us?"
Karma, not really sure how to go about this, because he never apologized, couldn't even turn to look at her. Takina crossed her arms as she watched his back, giving him a minute to collect himself. Finally, Karma told himself that he just had to treat it like a band aid. Just grab and pull.
"Look, about the whole transfer offer thing..." Karma started, still keeping his back to her. Her silence wasn't making this easier. "I'm...I admit that I didn't handle it the best."
"Handle it the best?" she repeated.
Her tone was carefully blank, but he was sure she was enjoying it. Which only made him frustrated. Reaching up to rub at the back of his head, he swallowed his pride.
"I'm trying to say that I'm...sorry. I should have known better." he told her.
"Now was that so hard?" Karma clenched his jaw, wanting to blurt out, "Yes!", but he kept it to himself. "Hold out your hand, Akabane."
Curious as to what she wanted with his hand, Karma did as she asked. Takina stepped up to his side, and placed something in his hand that she had just dug out of her pocket. Karma held the object up to the flashlight, one eyebrow rocketing up as he saw what it was. Looking at Takina, he gave her a questioning look.
"I need you to hold on to that for me. Just in case. If you want to make it up to me, then do this for me, and don't tell anyone about it. It's something that really could risk my life." she told him.
Karma's eyes dropped back down to the object before a smirk curled his lips and he quickly tucked it away in his pocket.
"Alright, but I don't want to hear you complain later when you're the one that put your life in my hands." he told her.
"I'm already regretting it." Takina retorted, turning to continue on. Karma fell into step with her, glad to finally have the apology behind him. If he was being honest, being at odds with Takina, sucked. "Hey, I have a question for you."
"Yeah?"
"This whole Test of Courage is about scaring us, right? Well...what are you afraid of?" Takina asked.
Karma thought about it for a moment, honestly giving the question some thought. When he answered, the answer had her looking up at him in questioning.
"Wait...you're afraid of not being afraid?" she said, repeating the answer he had given her.
"After seeing Nagisa back there...honestly, I was shocked." Karma replied.
"I wasn't."
"Yeah, I got that. It was written in the way your whole body relaxed. Like you knew what he was going to do before he did it." Karma replied. "The two of you are weird."
"You're just jealous that we work so well together." Takina retorted.
Karma gave a curt laugh. He was not about to confirm or deny that statement.
"Anyways, I don't mean the fact that he defeated Takaoka. I mean the way he came back after defeating him. He wasn't scared at all. This person just stopped such a strong opponent. Normally, a guy who just showed how strong he is would be on alert. But Nagisa came back into our group as if nothing had happened. He actually looked like he was kind of embarrassed from all the attention. If we fought, I'd win one hundred percent of the time, but for a hitman, that outcome has no meaning what so ever. I'm not capable of being alert. Not being afraid...it was the first time I began to think that that's actually the scariest thing. In a way...it reminds me of you."
Takina looked up as Karma came to a stop and turned to look at her, his expression the most serious she had ever seen it.
"What do you mean?" she demanded.
"Even when admitting a weakness to me," Karma started, his hand going to the pocket he had stashed the object she had given him in. "There was no fear in your eyes. I've yet to seen you scared. Anxious, wired, yeah, but not scared. From what I was told, you stepped right in front of that Takaoka guy, taking a hit meant for Kanzaki. Even after he knocked you silly-"
"He did not knock me silly."
"You still stepped in front of him again, without a moment's hesitation." Karma continued, as if she hadn't interrupted him, putting a frown on her face. "You were willing to go jumping in front of him again last night. It's like you have no sense of self-preservation."
"I don't."
Karma stopped, meeting Takina's eyes as she admitted this. Nothing about her expression suggested even the slightest bit of joking, and the neon green of her eyes, mimicked that. She was being serious.
"Were you hoping to hear something else?" she asked. "I hate to break it to you, but if it comes down to me, or someone close to me, the other person takes priority. That's how I was raised, how I was trained. It's a lesson I learned the hard way. It's as firmly ingrained in me now as the rest of my training."
That didn't make him feel better. In fact, it made him feel worse, knowing that, if trouble happened, Takina would place her classmates' well being far above her own. Knowing that she would do that for him if ever he was in danger. But then his attention snagged on one sentence she had said.
"What do you mean, "It's a lesson you learned the hard way"?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm not getting into that." Takina told him, moving to walk past him.
Karma stepped in her way, blocking her.
"What did your old man do?" he asked.
"It's wasn't my father. It was me. Now move."
"No until you tell me what happened."
"No thanks."
Karma eyes met Takina's, the two standing almost chest to chest as Karma blocked her way and Takina refused to back down. As much as Takina liked a clash of wills with Karma, she really wasn't in the mood for it.
"What do I have to do to get you to drop this?" she asked.
An evil-looking smirk curled Karma's lips as he looked down at her. Takina had a feeling that she wasn't going to like this.
"What if I asked for something like a kiss, huh?"
Takina knew he was just trying to get to her. His smirk said it all. If only he knew the fire he was messing with.
"Who would want to kiss you?" she retort, shoving his face away and moving past him. "After last night, your appeal factor has gone down in comparison to Nagisa."
Karma caught the twitch of her lips, that showing him that she was joking, just pulling his leg. Catching up with her before she could get too far out of the range of the flashlight, he gave her a smirk as he looked down at her.
"I won't lose. The one to take Sensei's life will be me." he told her.
"Only if I don't beat you to it." Takina replied.
They reached the next of Korosensei's set-ups then, both of them coming to a stop.
"By the way, looks like he set up something stupid to try to scare us." Karma said as they looked down at the Twister game set up before them. "Who was the biggest coward in Class E again?"
"Regardless of the fact that it's the very person setting this whole thing up, I have a feeling this isn't about scaring us." Takina remarked.
Karma was inclined to agree with her. Ignoring the Twister game, the two moved on. They didn't get very far before Korosensei came rocketing through the cave, shrieking like a little girl in a haunted house. Whatever had scared him, he didn't look like he was going to stop anytime soon. Takina and Karma watched as he went rocketing past them, bouncing off the walls.
"I vote we just leave." Takina suggested.
"Right behind you."
It was only after all of the students had exited the cave to find Korosensei draped over the ground, that they got their answer behind the whole Test of Courage. The answer had Takina slapping a hand to her face. She couldn't believe what she had been tricked into taking part in.
"In other words," Meahara said, recapping what Korosensei had just told them. "You were trying to set up couples by scaring us and using the Suspended Bridge Effect?"
"You tried too hard to rush things." Kataoka added.
"Even before you tried to scare us, it was obvious what you were after when you paired us! Especially with those two!" Meahara added, pointing a finger at Karma and Takina.
"Wait, what is that suppose to mean?" Takina demanded, while Karma just grinned from beside her.
Meahara just gave her a sheepish smile, not really willing to tell her that everyone kind of already saw the two of them as, eventually, being a couple. Meahara had a feeling that Takina wouldn't take it too well.
"B-but I wanted to see it!" Korosensei cried, finally picking up his face. "Don't you all want to hold someone's hand and look embarrassed with a big grin on your face?!"
"Ew, no. What do I look like? Some lovey-dovey, teenage girl?" Karma instantly opened his mouth to say something when Takina said this, but the girl, without looking at him, shoved a hand in his face. "Not a word out of you."
And it was when the two acted like this that their classmates saw them as a potential couple.
"Korosensei, you have to do that kind of stuff gently." Nakamura said. "Kids like us wouldn't like to be pushed into things like love affairs. It's not like we're all sleazy like that."
"Uhh...I understand." Korosensei replied.
It was then that the nagging voice of Irina reached them all. Turning they watched as Irina and Karasuma emerged from the cave, Irina gripping his arm.
"I told you, sticking to me wouldn't do anything. I picked up some nice luggage after that all nighter." Karasuma was telling Irina.
"What the hell, aren't you a man?! If there's a beautiful girl, you have to kindly escort her!" Irina retorted before she noticed the students.
Letting go of Karasuma's arm, she slipped away. Of course, seeing the two adults, some of the students got it into their heads that, just like Korosensei had done to them earlier, they would now play matchmaker for their teachers.
"You do realize you're now going to do the exact same thing that was just done to us, right?" Takina voiced, but no one was listening to her.
Heaving a sigh, Takina gave a shake of her head. Even though she was sure nothing would benefit from them butting in, Takina found herself being dragging into the whole process of trying to set Irina up with Karasuma.
Step one, Irina's wardrobe choices.
They tried putting Irina in a dress that Kanzaki had worn the day before, but on the more maturely curved Irina, the dress only worked against her.
"First of all, none of the sizes match." Yoshida remarked.
"To think that Kanzaki was wearing such ero clothes."
Takina had to smack Okajima across the face for that comment.
"Alright, enough! We can't do anything about her ero-ness! Rather than her titties, what's important is the compatibility between the two people!" Okano said, Kayano nodding in agreement in the background.
"Does anyone know what type of woman Karasuma-sensei likes?" Korosensei asked.
"A Commando Jane doll?" Takina retorted sarcastically, Karma snickering from beside her.
"Ah! Now that you mention it! Earlier, he was really talking up that girl from the commercial on TV! He said, "That's my ideal type"!" Yada said, showing them what she was talking about.
"I'm pretty sure that's his ideal military type." Takina retorted.
"No, it's possible to think that he likes strong women. If so, then all the more, with Bitch-sensei's muscles, it's hopeless." Takebayashi remarked.
"Th-then how about some homemade food?" Okuda suggested. "The hotel dinner might be fancy, but we can still give it a try. Just those two and Karasuma-sensei's favorite food."
"There's only one problem with that." Takina remarked. "I don't know about the rest of you, but the only thing I've ever seen that man eat is hamburgers and cup noodles. That's kind of a pitiful idea for what's suppose to pass as a romantic dinner."
Seeing Takina's point, the students started to think that, maybe, the problem there wasn't Irina, but Karasuma. Takina, already kind of over the idea, just rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, let us prepare what we can by dinner time. The girls will help style her in a way a conservative Japanese person would like. The boys will work on setting the mood for their dinning area." Korosensei ordered.
"Then you'll definitely have to cut me out. I have no idea what appeals to Japanese men." Takina remarked.
"Then suggest something guys from Switzerland would like." Nakamura told her.
Takina leaned her head back, peering over her shoulder at the others.
"Oh, you don't want that. All the guys back home that I know, want the same thing and that makes Bitch-sensei's normal outfits look tame." Takina told them.
They definitely were going to be asking Takina for fashion ideas for Irina. Aside from a comment, here and there, Takina didn't try to butt in more than she needed to. They had dinner on the last side that nine, eating around nine. When Karasuma walked into the dinning room, the students had taken up all of the seats, leaving him with nowhere to sit. Instead, they declared that he cramped their style and sent him outside to eat at a table they had set up out there.
While the others crowded around to watch from a distance, Takina remained in her seat, playing a game on her phone. She remained there as, Irina was able to tell Karasuma that she liked him, but in such an awkward way, it had her walking away from the whole thing, kicking herself. The students were waiting for her, complaining about her indirect kiss and over all, giving her a hard time. Even Korosensei joined in, causing Irina to lose her temper.
Takina put her phone down then, turning to look over at them.
"What did you guys expect?" she asked, drawing attention to her. "We all already knew that Karasuma-sensei is super dense and, in case you haven't noticed, despite all her experience seducing men, Bitch-sensei is just as dense when it come to owning up to her feelings."
"Well, excuse me!" Irina snapped at her. "I don't need this from some little brat who's never had her first kiss!"
"When did I ever say I haven't had my first kiss?" Takina retorted.
Karma chose then to laugh, making Takina twist to look at him. He just couldn't keep from teasing her, seeing how this was the second time she had neither confirmed nor denied if she had already had her first kiss.
"You want to talk big, but you're a complete newb!" he teased.
Silence fell over the room as everyone looked from Takina to Karma as Takina ran her tongue over her teeth, her expression not giving anything away. Karma's lips curled into a grin as she got to her feet and walked over to him, staring down at him with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Akabane, remember when I warned you that if you screwed up on finals I would make it the most embarrassing moment of your life?" she demanded. Karma's grin faltered as he looked up at her serious expression as she leaned over to put her eyes on level with his. "Yeah, well...here's your punishment."
Gasps rang out from their classmates as Takina took hold of Karma's face, trapping it between her hands before she did the last thing any of them had expected her to do in front of a crowd of on-lookers.
Takina kissed Karma.
They watched as, in shock, Karma stiffened, his eyes going wide. Then Takina was tilting her head, parting his lips to deepen the kiss and Karma's cheeks turned a bright shade of red. The boy grabbed at her wrists, trying to pull her hands away from his face, so he could break the kiss, but Takina wasn't letting go. The longer she held on, the redder Karma went in the face, until they could no longer tell the difference between his face and his hair. The longer she held on, the more jaws that dropped. They were all left speechless.
Karma, on the other hand, was torn. If it had been out of sight of their classmates and teachers, he would have had no problem with the kiss, and he told himself he wouldn't have been shocked by it in the least. But there, in front of such a big group...Takina had been kidding when she said she would aim to embarrass him.
Then she finally broke the kiss, pulling back enough to look down at him. Karma's lips pressed together, his jaw clenching when Takina's lips curled into a grin.
"First kiss, my ass." she said before she released his face, turned on her heel, and walked away. "I'm happy with myself, now."
Karma dropped his face into a hand, trying to hide it, but the rest of the class had already seen his red cheeks. He had been the one to poke the bear, so to speak, and had paid the price for that. Now that he thought about it, he had kind of asked for it when he had teased her back in the cave about her paying him to drop the subject with a kiss. That being said, as his classmates blew up of the development, badgering Karma, he didn't know whether to focus more on the embarrassment...or the fact that Takina had kissed him.
Either way, he had lost this round to Takina.
He wouldn't lose the next one.
END
Kyandi: Well, a reader did say for you guys to just kiss already.
Takina: Since it was a punishment for him, does it really count?
Kyandi: Uh...yes! A kiss is a kiss, no two ways about it.
Takina: I still don't think it counts. I mean...it was like kissing a dead fish.
Kyandi: You took him by surprise, in front of the whole class. Can you blame him?
Takina: Considering Bitch-sensei ranks him third in her Kissing Techniques Scores? Yes!
Kyandi: Well, who knows...he might be the one to kiss you, next time.
Takina: If there is a next time.
Kyandi: Okay. You keep telling yourself that. Everyone, please enjoy and review.
Takina: Wait, what are you hinting at?
Kyandi: Just say your line.
Takina: ...We'll return as soon as possible.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!