"The third term is upon us, class—let's play hard and kill hard this year, too."
Unfortunately enough, his usual "welcome back" speech fell flat, and no amount of pep talk was enough to get his students worked up. Obviously, they were all still troubled by the situation, and none of them could properly come to terms with the fact that they would eventually have to kill their teacher—no more fun assassinations, only blood-chilling loss.
The silence the class had been plunged into was broken by none other than Irina, surprisingly enough.
"The most foolish kill is to kill recklessly, out of emotion or greed. That's what animals do."
"Bitch-sensei…" murmured Yada.
"Next is to kill your feelings while you kill your target, giving up so very much in exchange for a bounty," continued the woman, unperturbed. "Like I did. You really need to think this through, kids, so you won't kill off the feelings you hold most dear."
Not kill our feelings, uh? No matter how she tried to convince herself, Ame was as troubled as the rest of her classmates. She had gotten caught up in their games, and she now faced an abrupt reality. And yet, it would be the easiest way to deal with killing someone we all came to care about so greatly…
.
.
Ame didn't really know whether to be surprised or not, but Nagisa was the one to take the lead and gather the entire class outside, a little further into the forest in order to avoid being eavesdropped on by the adults. The usually loose-lipped girl decided to stick to the sidelines this time around—at least until her input was requested.
"It ain't like you to be callin' us all together like this, Nagisa," remarked Terasaka, curious.
"There's something I'd really like to discuss," announced the blue-haired boy. After a few seconds, he raised his head, determined. "I don't know if it's even possible, but I want to find a way to save Korosensei's life."
"Save it… You mean, a way to keep Korosensei from exploding come March?" understood Mimura, surprised.
"Where would we even start with that?" wondered Okano.
"I don't know yet," admitted Nagisa. "I don't know, but…!"
"I'm in!" Kurahashi was quick to give her opinion, beaming. "I wanna look for tons more creepy-crawlies with Korosensei!"
"Kurahashi-san…"
"If you hadn't said something, Nagisa, I would have," stated Kataoka, smiling as she stepped forward. "I want to repay him."
"Kataoka-san…!"
"Our assassination work has gotten us far enough," mused Hara.
"Let's tackle a whole new challenge!" grinned Sugino.
"Like launching a new series," chuckled knowingly Fuwa.
"We'll regret it if we don't," agreed Okano, nodding. "We should do what we can, at least."
More students started rallying together around Nagisa, but Ame simply leaned against the tree behind her, watching everything unfold with a calculating gaze. Her own feelings aside, she was now well-aware of the kind of influence she had over her fellow classmates. They had grown and learned to trust her judgment and, if she was to give a single sound argument, many would be swayed to her side without properly considering their own feelings—and she didn't want that to happen. For this to work out properly, everyone needed to be conscious of their own feelings and act upon them accordingly, without her manipulating the situation.
"I hate to spoil the mood…" Rio was the first to take the opposite stand. "But I'm against the idea. Our bond is one of assassin and target. Korosensei said as much. And I really treasure the bond we've built over this past year. But that's exactly why… I think we have to kill him."
"You're… against it…?" repeated Nagisa, taken aback.
"You say you wanna save him, but how, exactly?" demanded Terasaka, unimpressed.
"W- well—"
"It's not like we haven't thought about it," added Yoshida.
"But what if time runs out before we find a way?" continued Muramatsu.
"You think that octopus is going to be happy, having such half-assed students, coming to such a half-assed ending?" insisted Terasaka.
"But- but isn't it at least worth considering—"
"It's always the talented ones, mistakenly thinking everything will go their way." All eyes turned to Karma, who had been sticking to the shadows up until now. "Ne, Nagisa. Aren't you getting a tad full of yourself? Here you are, the most gifted assassin in the E-Class, and you're suggesting we just quit this assassination?" He started walking up to Nagisa, like a predator stalking up to his prey. "What about the talentless students who've still been trying their hardest to kill him? To put it another way, it's like a hot woman telling a bunch of homely ones they should all quit trying so hard to find boyfriends."
"That- that's not what I…" Nagisa bit his lower lip, troubled. "Besides, when it comes to assassination, you're way better than me."
"You saying that just ticks me off even more," scowled Karma. "Isn't it more like you're the worst at understanding how the less powerful feel?"
"No! That's not it! I'm just being honest with my feelings!" protested the blue-haired boy. "Karma-kun, do you hate Korosensei? We saw that movie with him… and had all kinds of fun!"
"That's just it!" snapped back his friend, finally losing his cool. "That octopus put everything he had into making a fun classroom that wouldn't turn out lazy losers like you! This classroom couldn't exist if our bloodlust were blunted! Can't you see all his hard work! Or do you have little-kid brains to match your body?" Without any warning, he roughly shoved Nagisa. "What is it? Got something to say?" He shoved him again. "How about you say it after beating me in a fight, for once? I'll gladly take you on—bring it." He started shoving him repeatedly, making the poor boy stumble back. "Come on. Come on, come on, come on—!"
Also losing his cool, Nagisa grabbed the boy's outstretched arms and wrapped his legs around his neck, effectively trapping him into a flying triangle choke. Karma's eyes widened, and he instantly rammed the boy into the ground in an attempt to force him to let go.
"I… am not going half-assed!" snapped Nagisa, effectively choking him.
But Karma wasn't about to be beaten so easily and, once the surprise of the attack passed, he slowly rose back to his feet, fully intending to punch the living daylights out of him. At that point, though, it got too much for the rest of the students to handle, and Maehara and Isogai were quick to interfere. They instantly took hold of Karma in order to hold him back—though they were having a seriously hard time, what with how strong he was—while Sugino simply picked up Nagisa without much difficulty.
"Stop it, you two!"
"What are you trying to prove?"
"Damn it! Chill out already!"
"A junior-high fight? Most excellent!" At once, all eyes fell upon none other than Korosensei, who had suddenly appeared before them… cladded in some sort of military uniform. "But this classroom is based in assassination—shouldn't you decide things with these, instead?"
He showed off the guns he was holding, and a moment of silence ensued as the rest of the students stared in sheer disbelief. How dare the instigator of the fight actually try to mediate it? And by encouraging the students to go at it with weapons, nonetheless! But, it quickly turned out that Korosensei had a plan—and really, they should have seen it coming.
"Red and blue paintballs?" mused Takebayashi, taking a better look at the two crates before Korosensei.
"Red for those who want to kill me, blue for those who don't. First, everyone will state his or her position clearly and choose a color," explained the octopus, smoking a pipe. "Then you'll do battle here on this mountain. The class will accept the opinion of the winning team. Win or lose, no grudges allowed! What do you say?" No one replied, unsure of what to make of this turn of situation, and he took off his sunglasses. "You know… I'll respect your decision, my dear students, if you give it your all to reach it. What I'd hate most is for this class to end in discord. If you care about me… just promise me that won't happen."
"Well?" Isogai walked up to the crates, before looking at the rest of the students. "What do you think?"
After a moment, every single member of the E-Class nodded in agreement. It was the best course of action, and one that would ensure a fair outcome.
"All right, we'll settle it with these: kill, or don't kill."
Even though it was decided, though, none dared to make the first move. After a few seconds of hesitation, though, someone finally decided to speak up.
"Okay. I guess I'll choose," announced plainly Chiba.
"Me too," nodded Hayami, also stepping forward.
"Working so hard toward that insta-kill shot, I think we've come a long way," explained Chiba, stopping before the crates. "As for who—or what—brought us this far?"
"We don't want to take our eyes off that target," completed his fellow sniper. "And so, we want to keep going."
At once, the two of them grabbed red equipment.
"When I tried to kill Korosensei? I regretted it," admitted Kayano—she insisted they keep on using that name, since she apparently liked it. "I wanted him to live longer. It must run in the family—my sister must've thought the same way. And that's why I… I want to keep Korosensei safe, too."
On which she grabbed blue equipment.
"The- the power of science is infinite!" stated Okuda, also grabbing a bottle of blue bullets. "If it can destroy, then surely it can protect, too!"
"Besides, it's not like there's no hope at all," added Takebayashi, joining the blue team. "If we all come together, we can see for ourselves."
"Us hands-on types see the assassination itself as our graduation project. If Korosensei's gonna die when time runs out, we'd sooner show him our finest masterpiece," announced Okajima.
On which he, along with Mimura and Sugaya, joined the red team.
"Korosensei's the one who told me to be an assassin worthy of the name Justice. I'll take that advice," added Kimura, also joining the red team.
"I'd like him to keep giving us more advice," replied Kanzaki, picking up a blue gun.
"The planet's life or our teacher's life? You could weigh the two until the cow comes home," snorted Hazama, swinging a red knife. "Let's cut the crap and kill him."
"I want to be true to my own feelings. Isn't that enough?" sighed Yada, picking up a jar of blue bullets.
"Of course it is!" grinned Maehara, also picking up some blue equipment. He then jabbed his thumb at Isogai. "Me and him, we're simple guys at heart: we want to save him because we want to save him! Right?"
"Yeah, though I do want to respect everyone else's opinions," nodded Isogai, smiling a bit.
"I'm simple, too," stated plainly Itona, going up to the red crate. "I joined this class to kill him. In coming to kill him, I met you guys. It's fun, spending our days trying to kill Korosensei. And that's reason enough for me."
"Killing Korosensei may be my prime directive, but after many repeated thoughts and actions, I've come to recognize that the target's death would be our greatest loss," explained Ritsu from Kataoka's phone. "It's difficult to determine the correct decision with my current specs. In the spirit of cooperation, I will remain neutral."
"Wait, didn't Ame provide you with a body that other time?" recalled Sugino, thinking to a few months back. "What happened to that, anyway?"
"Well, as fun as it was to have my own body, it was only a prototype and, as such, there were still many issues we needed to deal with," shrugged Ritsu. "Also, I would imagine it's much like a woman wearing high-heels: after a while, it gets tiring, and there's always a smidge of discomfort. As such, I won't use that body unless I truly need to."
"I was in the Don't Kill camp, but…" Okano bit her lower lip. "But after hearing everyone's thoughts, I'm not so sure. Korosensei, killing you doesn't mean we hate you, right?"
"Of course not, Okano-san," confirmed calmly Korosensei. "In fact, when I'm being killed is when I feel closest to you all."
"In that case…" Slowly, she bent over and picked up a jar of red bullets. "Sorry, Nagisa-kun. I think my feelings are closer to these guys' here."
Nagisa simply nodded with a small smile, harboring no hard feelings. If anything, he now felt a little bad for pushing so much without realizing that so many other students shared an opposite opinion. Though, that didn't change his mind and, as such, he went over to join the blue team. At the same time, Karma moved and went to grab the red equipment. The two were still a little pissed about their previous fight, so they didn't say anything and stubbornly turned their back to each other, each marching over to their respective groups.
Not too long after, every student finally picked a team. It's only once the last of them picked a team that Ame finally decided to make her move. Stretching her arms a bit, she walked over to the two crates in the middle of the clearing, and many flinched upon seeing her.
"Gah, I forgot she was there!" cursed Okajima.
"Damn, this is going to be difficult if she picks the red team," sighed Sugino.
"Here's hoping she won't suddenly go soft," grunted Terasaka.
Ame completely ignored all of them, staring at the two crates before her. After a few seconds, she heaved out a sigh.
"As a member of the Zodiac, I like to consider myself a professional—as such, I always complete the missions I am given, bar a few exceptions. And, at the beginning of the year, we were all given this exact mission: kill Korosensei before the end of March of the same year. As such, and as a professional, it would only be natural to keep moving forward and seek to achieve this mission, regardless of one's personal feelings on the matter." After half-a-second of stillness, Ame reached out to grab… a jar of blue bullets. "But I believe this mission is one of the few exceptions. Korosensei, you're the only teacher who ever gave a damn about me, and I consider you one of my precious people. As such, I don't want to lose you. I've learned to fight, to steal, to kill…" She looked down at the blue bullets she was now holding, smiling a tad bitterly. "For once in my life, though, I want to use my abilities to save someone, instead. And… I already have a death weighing on my conscious. If I add more to the body count, I won't be able to stand it."
"So you've finally learned to care more about yourself," mused Korosensei, smiling softly. "Good for you, Naoki-san."
She simply nodded back, before grabbing some more equipment and walking over to join her group. She could feel the somewhat disappointed stare of Rio burning into her back, and the already calculative, wary one of Karma, but she didn't pay them any mind. Whatever happened during the incoming fight didn't have anything to do with their friendship, and she could only hope that the outcome wouldn't put a dent into the bonds the class had built over the year.
.
.
"Steal the other team's flag or wipe them out to win. I'll be the referee. I'll make calls and watch for zombies and other illegal plays from the midpoint. Otherwise, I'll pretend I don't know where you're attacking from, so don't worry." Karasuma paused, and Ame took in a deep breath in order to steady her nerves. "All right: let the interclass assassination survival game… begin!"
In the span of a second, the Red Team's proficient snipers took out Takebayashi and Kataoka, and Ame silently praised Karma's strategic sense. By eliminating those two right off the bat, he effectively got rid of their most brilliant players and, as such, eliminated the possibility for the team to formulate a proper back-up plan to counter his.
Though, while it was a logical move, it was almost completely useless in the big picture, Ame mused internally.
::
"Ame-san, what would you suggest?"
"Me? You're the leader here, Nagisa-kun," Ame replied with a small shrug. "You're the Team Leader and, as such, it's you who has to make the calls here."
"R- right. Still, I don't think I'm really cut out for that kind of stuff…"
"Well, what do you want to do? I mean, I know you want to save Korosensei, but what do you specifically want to do in this impromptu survival game?"
"… Win." His eyes hardened a bit. "I want to beat Karma!"
Ame simply nodded, smirking a bit. "Then he's yours—leave the rest to us."
"So you do have a plan, Ame-chan," sighed Hara, visibly relieved.
Ame's smirk turned into a carefree grin. "Nope! Not a single one, ah ah!"
"Aah!? You're the one with the experience here! How can you not have a plan!?" protested Maehara.
"Unfortunately enough, I'm not like Karma—group strategies aren't my forte. While I'm observant, I couldn't possible build up a plan that would guarantee us victory by making every single person here work with their natural talents." Her smirk then returned, a tad more vicious than before. "What I am good at, though, is exploiting weaknesses. So, listen up! I'll tell you every single thing you ought to be able to exploit to your advantage, but what you decide to do with this information is entirely up to you!"
"Still, shouldn't we try to coordinate our moves?" wondered Takaoka, frowning.
"We could, but then we'd be easy targets. The best thing would be to split up in small groups of… let's say, four people maximum, in order to move quickly and undetected. So, here's what's going to happen: I'm going to tell you how I think Karma will work things out on his end, and you'll then decide what your target is and what you want to do in order to strike it. As it is, a strategy that's set in stone will be much easier to counter then numerous, individual strategies that aren't dependent on each other to succeed. Aim for your target, try to surprise them if you can, think outside of the box. That's the best chance we have at besting Karma's intellect."
::
Kanzaki, who had practically become a master at an online war game a few weeks prior, and who was now using all of her knowledge and experience to her advantage, soon took out Okajima and Chiba
::
"Hayami and Chiba are the most dangerous, because they can take us out before we can reach them. However, it'd be completely illogical to position them at the exact same place and, considering Hayami has a better sense of balance and physical aptitude than Chiba, she'll surely take the high-grounds, while Chiba sticks to the ground. In other words, he will be the easiest target out of the two."
::
Thank you for the advice, Ame-san!
The girl cheered internally, already running toward her next target. She was trying her hand for a head-on confrontation. If she moved fast enough and struck down every single person in her path, she could reach the flag and claim victory in a flash. That hope grew steadier as she eliminated Sugaya, and the red flag finally appeared. Just as she was about to try and go for it, though, an arm snaked around her throat and lifted her from the ground, effectively choking her—though not in a lethal way. Karma then landed the killing blow, before releasing her and using his coms to contact the rest of his team.
Hazama swiftly eliminated Sugino and Fuwa, literally crawling into the dirt and the shadows in order to go unnoticed. Isogai quickly took her out afterward, though, and it didn't take a genius to understand she had been used as a sacrificial chip.
Though, how did they know our position? Someone—
Out of nowhere, none other than Mimura stumbled into the clearing. Yada and Isogai instantly lifted their guns, ready to take him down too, but he quickly raised his hands in surrender.
"Ah, wait! I've been eliminated too!" he assured, before turning around and showing off the splatter of blue paint on his back. He then deflated a bit. "No idea who got me, though…"
::
"You might not have noticed, but Mimura is the perfect scout thanks to his greater sense of observation, which he developed in order to become a film-maker. So, he'll definitely be sent ahead in order to relay our formations to Karma, and then we'll just be easy pickings for them. So, the quicker in the game we get rid of him, the better."
::
The two surviving members of the Blue Team exchanged an unsure glance, while their fallen opponents left. They had an inkling as to whom had secretly eliminated the orange-haired boy, but something about the splatter of paint on his back… didn't sit right, to say the least.
It could have been none other than Ame-san. She and Nagisa are the only ones in this class talented enough to actually kill someone without being noticed, and Nagisa is already hidden somewhere else, guarding the flag, reasoned Isogai, unconsciously scanning the trees around them in the hopes of catching sight of their hidden ally. Well, whatever she's doing, it's obviously working… Keep it up, Ame-san!
Kurahashi let out a yelp at, all of sudden, Okano pounced out of the bushes and attacked her head-on. With three swifts moves, her opponent succeeded in striking her with the red-tainted rubber knife, effectively eliminating her. Kayano didn't even have the time to process that she had just lost her partner—Okano was now attacking her.
They exchanged numerous blows, neither of them willing to give up, before Kayano suddenly stumbled off the edge of a small cliff. Too startled to react in time, Okano could only stare in horror as the green-haired girl victoriously brandished her gun as she started falling. Kayano was too far out of reach for Okano to reach her with her knife, meaning she was done for—
"Got you!"
—or so Okano thought, before Kimura suddenly shot Kayano from behind. The green-haired girl fell on the ground, the bitter taste of failure filling her mouth. She hadn't even succeeded in taking out a single opponent!
"Wish we'd seen this earnest side of you sooner, Kayano," mused Kimura.
"While you were working hard on your own, we were all polishing up the for-realsies parts of ourselves, too," added Okano, extending a hand to help her up. "Whatever we end up doing because of this battle, this time we're all being earnest together."
At first surprised, Kayano then accepted it. The two girls exchanged a smile, before the Red Team members took off into the wild once again. However, they had barely crossed two meters before two projectiles whizzed passed Kayano's head, and struck Okano right in the back. Blue paint splattered all over her uniform and she stopped in their tracks, startled. Her eyes widened upon realizing that she just been eliminated.
"W- what!?"
"Shit! That must've been Ame!" gasped Kimura, quickly glancing around. No matter how he tried, though, he couldn't catch a glimpse of her. "Damn it! Gotta run!"
The only reason he hadn't been eliminated too was that he had been running ahead of Okano, meaning he had been out of her range. However, she moved quickly and silently—meaning there was no telling when she would attack him again. So, he wasted no time in running off into the woods, hoping the high trees would give him some sort of cover, or at least an opening on the black-haired girl. As he ran, though, he spotted a wonderful opportunity.
::
"Kimura is another you might want to watch out for: he's the fastest in the class, and he'll definitely use that for a hit-and-run tactic. However, as fast as he can run, that also means he has less time to decide his every move. If you can get him to panic, he'll definitely make a rash decision and won't be able to react in time."
::
That's Hara! And she's completely opened!
If he was going down, he could at least take another person of the Blue Team down with him. So, switching course, he made a beeline for Hara and, without a moment of hesitation, he pounced on her. Just as he was about to shoot her, though, a hidden net suddenly rose from the ground and effectively trapped him.
"A homemade trap I worked on at night. Mama's mighty!" beamed Hara, rising to her feet.
"The unarmed Hara must have looked like some tasty prey," teased Maehara, walking up to the trapped boy with his blue-coated knife. "Can't do a thing now, can you? Though, why were you running as if the Devil himself was on your heels?"
"Ugh, might as well have been…" groaned Kimura, slumping in defeat a Maehara struck him with the rubber knife. "Ame can be pretty damn scary when she wants to be…"
"Ame? Uh, haven't seen her since we split up," mused Maehara, glancing around. "She was chasing you? I didn't see anyone, though. I think you might have been imagining things."
"Right. She likes playing with people's expectations," mused Hara, freeing Kimura from the net with practiced ease. "She probably spooked you and made you run right into our trap, since you believed she was after you."
"So you're saying I completely fell for it? Damn…"
Karma analyzed the covered field ahead of him with a small frown. The two wildcards of the enemy team had yet to actually reveal themselves and, while he knew for a fact that Ame had succeeded in eliminating a few of his teammates, he had yet to confirm how. She completely blended in with the forest, practically a killer ghost than came and went as she pleased and depleted their numbers little by little… And then there was Nagisa, whom not even Mimura had managed to locate before being taken out of the game.
Those two are such a pain in the ass to deal with…
"Nakamura, be wary—Ame's most definitely aiming for the flag," warned Karma, silently analyzing the whole situation. "At that point, each team is at fifty-fifty, so we'll also be making our move toward their flag. Make sure you guard it properly, yeah?"
"Of course," scoffed the blonde. A somewhat somber look then fell on her face. "I want to win this battle properly and kill Korosensei as a class."
Karma glanced at her, before nodding in agreement. "Aa. Okay, listen up: Terasaka, Muramatsu, Yoshida, you know the plan. Hayami, Itona, get ready. Hold them back and, if you can, eliminate all of them."
"Roger," chorused the rest of his team members.
Hara, Okuda, and Isogai were all taken out by Hayami before Yada finally managed to shoot her—though she was also eliminated by Itona shortly after. However, in terms of experience with hand-to-hand fights, Maehara was clearly in the lead and, with little effort, he managed to strike down the white-haired boy.
On the other side of the field entirely, though, Karma's plan suddenly went haywire. As soon as Muramatsu, Yoshida, and Terasaka tried to approach the blue flag, they were all taken out from point-blank range by none other than Nagisa, who finally revealed himself. They had no idea of where he came from, seeing as there had been no one around just a second earlier, but they were now down for the count.
So he was blending in with Karasuma-sensei? The only one to use Self-Defense Force camo—and he waited for his prey at the perfect sniping point!
Karma narrowed his eyes at the blue-haired boy, who simply stared back evenly, silently issuing the challenge of picking up with the fight they had started earlier.
Nakamura and I are the only ones left in the Red Team, while the Blue Team still has Nagisa, Ame, and Maehara. They have the advantage of numbers, and Ame's unpredictable, but if all three of them decide to coordinate an attack and converge on our flag…
"Nakamura, protect the flag," he ordered, getting up. "I'll go and take care of Nagisa. If they team up, we'll definitely lose. Keep an eye out for Ame."
"Got it."
On which the leader of the Red Team started making his way toward the open field where Nagisa was standing, while Rio stood back, carefully analyzing her surroundings—
"Ame isn't the only one you should be looking out for!"
Maehara pounced out of the bushes, aiming directly for Karma's back. Just as he reached the red-haired boy, though, Karma spun around his own knife and rammed it into his opponent's helmet, easily taking him out. Rio couldn't help but grin at that.
"And that is why he told me to look out for Ame only," she taunted. "Because she wouldn't be stupid enough to reveal her position before striking."
"Ugh…"
Karma went ahead to confront Nagisa and, as much as Rio wanted to watch the fight, she still had her own opponent to look out for. Karma had decided to specifically set her up with Ame, hoping their friendship would at least slow her down a bit, but Rio knew Ame better—in a fight like this one, there wasn't any place for hesitation, and Ame wouldn't hold back.
That being said, if she beats me here, she won't grab the flag right away—she'll wait to see the outcome of the fight between Karma and Nagisa. If Nagisa wins, then she won't do a thing. If Karma wins, then she'll wait for him to come back in order to confront him head-on too. Because, at that point in the game, the Red Team wouldn't accept a half-assed victory. She can't go at it in a roundabout way like she's used to.
"Quite bold of you, to stand out in the open like that."
Rio smirked a bit at that. "Uh. And here I thought you weren't dumb enough to reveal your position before striking."
Ame smirked bad, silently sliding down the slope before landing a few meters away from her. She didn't seem bothered in the least by the ongoing fight in her back, seemingly confident in Nagisa's ability to win, and Rio clenched her fists a bit.
"I suppose you're not willing to talk this out?" mused Ame, twirling a rubber knife in her hand.
Rio's eyes hardened at that. "You can't change my mind with your pretty words, Ame. I know you like getting into everyone's head, but I won't be manipulated so easily!"
At that, Ame's smirk vanished, and she offered a stern stare. "No manipulation, no tricks, no traps. No running away, either. I promise."
Ame was a lot of things, and an occasional liar was amongst those things, but she wouldn't consciously break a promise if she could help it, even to prove a point. If she made that promise now, then Rio could trust in that—even though she couldn't trust in Ame herself.
She'd be an idiot if she did that.
"Then, let's get to it," urged Rio, taking a defensive stance with her own knife. "I'll beat you, Ame! And then we can all finish this assassination—together!"
Ame's eyes widened a bit as she finally took notice of the sheer, raw determination brimming in her friend's eyes—and, if she looked hard enough, she could see frustrated, almost desperate tears. As much as Rio tried to act like a delinquent who did dumb stuff for the sake of it, she was probably the most earnest person Ame would ever meet, and she only now realized how much this assassination actually meant to her.
No, not the assassination—this class, thought Ame, taking her own stance. She thinks that, if we give up on the assassination, then all of the bonds we've created will vanish along with it.
As she was, though, Rio wouldn't listen to what she had to say on the matter, and Ame internally cursed herself as the blonde attempted to strike first. Her friend was visibly hurting, but she hadn't noticed up until now, too caught up in her own troubles. Once again, Ame had failed to see beyond herself, had failed to understand how Rio felt, and it brought them to where they were now: a girl who believed she'd lose everything if she lost now, and another one who was once again acting on selfish intentions—who just wanted to make herself believe that she was a good person, just by saving one life amongst so many others.
And by acting so selfishly, I've completely discarded Rio's feelings, believing her to be foolish and childish… when, in reality, she is the one fighting to actually save this class as a whole.
"Head in the game, Ame!"
Too distracted by her sudden realization, Ame didn't see the next blow coming, and she took a rough blow to the guts. Stumbling back, she barely managed to avoid the blonde's knife, hunching over and ramming her elbow into her opponent's side.
But still… I can't lose here… I don't want to lose here…
I want… I want to save Korosensei, no matter how selfish it might be!
Having regained a more regular breathing pace, Ame pounced once again on Rio, this time taking the offensive. She was used to much stronger and more experienced opponents, and it wasn't hard to target all of the openings Rio left for her.
There!
Rio's center was wide open. She instantly aimed to hit there with her knife but, just before the blue-tainted rubber could reach its target, Rio grabbed Ame's arm kicked her legs, effectively making her lose her balance. Using all of her weight to make her topple, Rio spun Ame around using her hold on the girl's arm, effectively slamming her into the ground face first. Ame's helmet flew off as Rio rammed a knee into her back, locking her into place and knocking the knife out of her hand while she was at it.
"The- the hell was that?" groaned Ame, her head spinning a bit.
She was lying flat on her stomach, her right arm held tightly in her back, and high enough to break the moment she tried to free herself. With Rio's knee pressing into her, she couldn't move her legs, either. Tilting her head back, she locked gazes with the blonde, who was now holding her red-tainted knife above her.
There were still tears in her eyes, though.
"I- I beat you, Ame," she choked out, her hand trembling a bit as she lifted her knife. "I win…!"
And she brought down her knife. At the exact same moment, though, a gunshot echoed… and red and blue paint mingled together as a heavy silence followed. Rio could only gawk as she only now noticed the gun Ame was holding in her left hand, and with which she had just fired, effectively hitting her friend right in the heart.
"You- you used a gun…?"
"W- well, I knew no one would expect it," grunted Ame, heaving out a sigh of relief as Rio finally released her. "Though, you used a move I totally didn't expect."
"Karma- Karma taught me, just before the game started… He knew it was the best way to take you off guard, since we're so used to fighting each other…"
There was a moment of silence as the two of them sat on the ground, mulling over everything that had just happened. After a few seconds, though, the pressure became too much for Rio, and she turned a teary-eyed gaze at the black-haired girl beside her.
"Ame, I'm sorry—"
"Don't be." Without hesitation, Ame wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders, and she gently pressed their heads together, smiling lightly. "You fought well, Rio."
"… you too, Ame."
They stayed like this for a short while, regaining their breath and taking a moment to simply calm down and properly think things over. In the end, they were just glad that they managed to understand each other, even if they had to come to blows for it.
In Rio, Ame saw the determination to protect the bond the E-Class shared.
In Ame, Rio saw the need to become a better person.
In the end, they understood each other, and it was all that mattered at that point.
"Come on, we should go and see the end of the duel," then urged Ame, pulling away in order to get back up. She hissed as pain shot through her arm. "Ugh, you really did a number on me with that move…"
"Well, that'll teach you to get complacent, won't it?" teased Rio, linking her arm with the girl's uninjured one.
Ame snorted at that. "Fair enough."
They started heading in direction of the field where Nagisa and Karma were still duking it out, while the rest of the class watched with rapt attention. Most of them probably hadn't noticed that Rio and Ame had been fighting, but the girls really couldn't blame them—the fight between the two boys had been a long time coming, and was the result of years-long, unspoken rivalry.
"Good job, Ame-san, Nakamura-san," greeted quietly Isogai as they joined the group.
"Thanks. What did we miss?" asked Rio, looking over at the two.
Before Isogai could answer, though, the fight suddenly took an unexpected turn. Using hand-to-hand combat, Karma's expertise, Nagisa managed to trap the red-haired boy in a triangle chokehold. Most students gasped when they saw Karma somehow managing to get his hands on his red-tainted knife but, just as he was about to bring it down on Nagisa's unknowing back… he stopped. Then, a wry smile graced his lips as he dropped the knife and gave up.
In the end, I guess Nagisa managed to get through to him.
That being said, Nagisa was too caught up in the fight to realize Karma had just given up, and Karasuma was forced to interfere.
"That's enough! Due to the Red Team's surrender, the Blue Team—the Don't Kill team—has won!" announced loudly the man.
"YATTA!"
All of the students sporting the winning color started cheering loudly, while the others simply heaved out sighs of defeat, though none of them really seemed to mind. In the end, the game had managed to make most of them change their mind about the situation, something for which Ame was quite glad—and she was all the happier when Karma extended his hand to Nagisa, helping him back to his feet.
"No hard feelings, uh?" she mused.
"No hard feelings," confirmed Rio, sparing her a smile.
Ame could only smile back, glad they were on the same page. Afterward, well, the two teams got mixed up together as the students shared their thoughts and impressions about the experience they had just gone through. In the end, their conflict had been the best way to deepen their bond, and something told Ame that she wasn't the only one who had been worried about the social aftermath of the battle.
"I'm sure you all have your own thoughts on this, and I have no objection to the course the class has chosen," then announced Karasuma, effectively earning everyone's attention. "However, there's one condition on your search for a way to save him: you have until the end of the month. Though you might be taking a break from assassination, there are plenty of other efforts underway to take this guy down. If someone's going to kill him, it can't be anyone else. I want it to be you. So, promise me that no matter how January turns out, February and beyond will be spent giving your all to assassination. Whether you save him or kill him… give it your all."
"Yes, sir!"
"Naoki," he then called out, turning to her. "I understand your stance as an info-broker, but please refrain from doing anything too illegal—the government won't take kindly to a criminal breaking into their records in order to save a potentially world-destroying creature."
"… Does it count as going against your instructions if I did it before you told me all that?"
Karasuma sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose. He really should have expected Naoki Ame to already be neck-deep into illegal territory, what with her secret background. Still, he had been hoping for some kind of restraint, at least. On one hand, she obviously trusted him enough not to betray her and sell her out to the government he was working for but, on the other hand… what the hell was he supposed to tell his boss?
"Wait, Ame! You already have a plan!?" gasped Rio, her eyes going wide.
"Well, not a plan, per se," admitted Ame, scratching the back of her head. She then looked over at Takebayashi, much to everyone's surprise. "I was actually discussing the matter with Takebayashi earlier, and I've realized that we both came to the same conclusion."
"Which would be?" asked impatiently Terasaka.
Takebayashi pushed up his glasses, clearing his throat. "Are the world's leaders really only thinking about killing Korosensei? Neither of us thinks so. After all, their original goal is to save Earth. Along with their research on killing him, they must be doing research that doesn't involve killing him, too."
"In other words, there is the possibility that the world's leaders are also looking into the creation of a serum, for example, or a way to contain or entirely stop the explosion," explained Ame, crossing her arms over her chest.
"It's true: the world's top science facilities have formed project teams focused on saving the planet," confirmed Karasuma with a firm nod. "Of course, that information is all top-secret. It would be tough for you to find out what they're studying."
"Tough, but not impossible," countered Ame, pulling out her phone. She started typing something as she pursued with her explanation. "Takebayashi shared his theory with me earlier in hopes that, with my contacts, I might be able to confirm the existence of such a research, along with its contents. As it was, we were all rather busy with the whole 'Kill or Don't Kill' debate, so I asked one of my colleagues to look into it. Of course, he couldn't possibly break through all of the firewalls and systems protecting the information, so Ritsu helped him out while we were fighting. And, apparently, they found something."
"Thanks to the experience I've gained from working so closely with Ame and the Zodiac, I can now easily get into just about any online PC," stated cheerfully Ritsu, appearing on the screen of Ame's phone, which she now held up for everyone to see. "I've learned so much, this year! Here, take a look!"
Karasuma started rubbing his temples as the students crowded around Ame in order to get a better look at the data now displayed on her phone. Not only Ame, but Ritsu too?
I'm getting too good at covering for criminally-inclined children…
"Wow! We can see what labs around the world are researching, and on what schedule!" gasped Maehara, awestruck.
"However, there are no online traces of the data we're looking for," then admitted Ritsu.
"I guess the top-secret stuff is only passed around in person," sighed Isogai.
"Well, is anyone doing research on how to save Korosensei, then?" asked Kimura.
"As a matter of fact, there is," grinned Ame, tapping the top right corner of her phone. "Take a good look at this!"
"Ah! An American research team!" exclaimed Fuwa, leaning closer to the screen. She started reading. "Preventing destructive antimatter chain reactions due to tentacle-cell aging and fission. Final samples to be returned from ISS on 1/25…?"
"ISS…?" echoed Kayano, tilting her head. "Does that mean…"
"The- the International Space Station!?" gasped Mimura. "That's where they're doing their research!?"
"It- it could be!" assured Okuda. "Lots of research has to be done in zero-gravity or in a vacuum, and if there's any chance an experiment could cause a huge explosion, there'd be less damage in outer space!"
"Which is why Ritsu couldn't get her hands on the information we need—because it's up there, way out of anyone's reach," confirmed Ame, having already read through the debriefing Usagi had sent her earlier.
Isogai bit his lower lip as he thought it over. "If only there was a way to get this data…"
"Unfortunately, you're just one tiny, distant outpost of assassins," then remarked Karasuma, crossing his arms over his chest. "Depending on the circumstances, that data may never come to you—"
"Which is why we will go to it," cut off Ame, now grinning from ear to ear. She started typing again on her phone. "Karasuma-sensei, you might want to at least cover your ears if you don't want to be officially recognized as an accomplice, because what's to come is most definitely, highly, in all senses of the term, illegal. And Bitch-sensei too, if you don't want to deal with liability issues."
"Naoki, you can't—"
"Karasuma-sensei…" All eyes turned to Karma. "No matter what happens, we won't quit this assassination. But, we don't want to be lukewarm about it. If there's a way to save him, we will. And if not… we've decided to handle that, too. Right, Nagisa?"
"Right," nodded firmly the blue-haired boy. "After all, it's our class's critical goal."
"So, I want to know for sure, right now—so we can stick with our assassination 'til we graduate," concluded Karma, before sharing a knowing smirk with Ame. "If Ame says there's a way for us to get that info, then I'm ready to do whatever it takes to get it—and I'm pretty sure I speak on behalf of all of the students here."
"… very well." Karasuma sighed again, giving in. "We will leave you to it, then. But Naoki, be warned: I will be keeping a closer eye on you from here on out." His eye twitched a bit as memories of all of her past infractions came back to mind. "I won't sell you out, but there's a limit to the number of laws I'm willing to let you break."
Ame couldn't help but laugh at that. "As if you could actually stop me! But, well, I suppose it's only fair to let you try. Now, why don't you go and take Bitch-sensei on a date?"
The poor man looked like he was about to try and strangle his student but, before he could make a move, Irina grabbed his collar and started dragging him away. Ame waved cheerfully their way, before reporting her attention on Korosensei, now serious.
"Since you're apparently aware of what I'm going to suggest, why don't do the honors yourself?"
"Ah, I see no problem with that," nodded Korosensei, before glancing at the students. "Before that, though, how about you all go get changed, and then we can discuss this matter in the classroom?" He then turned to a pale shade of purple. "Because… well, frankly, you all stink."
The students all cringed at that, only now noticing the smell that had started to gather all over their little group, and chorused their agreement, before heading back inside.
A few minutes later, everyone was back in the classroom and sitting at their desks, with Korosensei at the front.
"Very well. Here's what you're trying to do: sneak a peek at the data before it reaches America on its way back from space," summarized the octopus. He then showed them a laptop, on which was displayed the picture of a… rocket ship? "Conveniently enough, as Naoki-san uncovered, they're about to launch this baby up to the ISS!"
"A manned rocket?" recognized Itona, somewhat confused.
"Yes—a proof-of-concept craft being developed here in Japan. It's supposed to carry an experimental dummy, but—"
"But what if there were real people in it instead?" cut off Ame, smirking lazily.
"Gah! You completely stole my thunder!" instantly accused Korosensei.
"What!?"
"You- you can't mean—"
"No way!"
"Ah! That Ame is crazy is already common knowledge at that point, but it looks like our teacher's not completely right in the head, either," snorted Karma, leaning back into his seat.
"Oh, bite me," huffed Ame, blowing a raspberry his way.
"Yes!" exclaimed Korosensei, practically shaking with excitement. "An out-of-season research project for our assassination classroom: hijack the space station and steal their experiment data!"
"No way…" sweatdropped Nagisa.
Ame's smirk simply widened, if possible. "Yes way."
Hi! I'm still hoping for more answers concerning my suggestion at the end of the last chapter: anyone interested in a sequel?