Kyandi: Pft! You guys are seriously going to kill me with the hilarious reviews you leave!
Takina: I love how one of your readers thinks I can't top Akabane with this and that I only had one HP left.
Kyandi: Well...the second part was true.
Takina: I was not that bad!
Kyandi: You so totally were.
Takina:...
Kyandi: But no worries! We already have a plan for getting back at Karma. I just find it ironic with that review's wording.
Takina: No hints.
Kyandi: Right! So I'm not tempted to give hints, we'll get right to it. Everyone, please enjoy and review. Keep those hilarious reviews coming!
Takina: Kyandi-sama does not own Assassination Classroom.
Chapter 31 Woman Scorned
The next day, the whole class were forced to stand back and observe the scene before them. The back of the classroom had become the fascination of everyone.
On one side, they had an overly pleased and smirking Karma with a bruise spreading up the left side of his face as he leaned back in his seat.
On the other side there was a thorough frazzled Takina who was doing everything in her might not to look towards Karma.
After some of them had heard from Okajima about what had happened the day before, they could understand the way Takina was currently acting. Those who hadn't heard, though, couldn't keep from being curious.
"What the hell happened to your face?" Terasaka asked Karma.
Takina buried her face in a hand as Karma's grin got impossibly bigger.
"I hit him, okay?!" Takina answered, unable to deal with the tension anymore.
Everyone looked from Takina to Karma before Okano, who was one of the ones who didn't know what happened, turned to Karma.
"What the hell did you do to her?" she demanded.
"Why do you automatically assume I did something to deserve the hit?" Karma asked.
"Because you're Karma."
Answer enough.
"Maybe she liked what I did." Karma added.
"Oh god, shut up." Takina told him, dropping her head on the desk. "Nagisa, answer her, please. I just can't even right now."
That Takina even admitted that, on top of how she was acting, had those who didn't know, turning to Nagisa who heaved a sigh.
"Karma kissed her in front Okajima, Sugino, me, and all of the Elite Five." Nagisa told them.
"He got way up in there." Okajima added.
"Can you not say it like that." Takina demanded, wrapping her arms over her head.
While it was a little adorable to see Takina acting embarrassed about something, Karma looked far too smug for the girls. While Kataoka and Hayami got Takina out of the classroom, the other girls got onto Karma about respecting girls before Takina finally had enough of him and beat him black and blue.
Karma highly doubted it would ever come to that.
While he had done some pretty out there things, Takina had only smacked him around a little. Whatever others might think about him, he did plan on doing anything bad enough to make her want to murder him.
He did have some morals.
Not that Takina could agree at the moment. Sitting out on the front steps of the building, Takina heaved a sigh as Kataoka and Hayami, with Isogai behind them, joined them.
"That boy is going to be the end of what little sanity I have left." Takina remarked.
"Why didn't you just deck him for that?" Okano asked.
"Yeah, none of us would blame you if you did. I don't think even Korosensei and Karasuma-sensei would blame you." Kataoka agreed.
"Because, one, I had already left a mark, and, two...I kind of deserved it after doing something similar to him back during summer break. Besides...getting that angry would just be like admitting he won. He hasn't won yet." Takina replied.
"What in the world could you possibly do to top that without getting really inappropriate?" Yada asked.
"I don't know, but I'll think of something. For now, I'll settle for beating him and Asano both on finals." Takina answered, before leaning forward to hang her head between her knees. "First, I have to get these traitorous cheeks under control. You know, I never use to blush, ever, until I came here."
"Well, class is about to start, so don't take to long, okay? And we're here if you need us." Kataoka told her, gesturing for the other girls to head inside.
"Yeah, thanks. Oh..." Takina turned as the others started inside. "Megu, Isogai, can I talk to you two for a moment?"
The two stopped as the girls continued on inside. As the door shut behind the others, Takina got to her feet to face the two. Digging into the pocket of her skirt, she pulled out two objects and held them out to the two.
"Can I possibly get the two of you to hang on to these for me? Just in case of emergencies?" Takina asked.
The two took the objects, surprise crossing their faces when they realized what they were.
"Takina, you didn't tell us that you-"
"I didn't say anything for a reason." Takina said, cutting Isogai off and making the two look up at him. "I've had someone use this against me before. Almost got me killed. I've learned to be careful with who I trust this information to. A few others in class have one of these to hang on to, just in case, but I really don't want to spread the word more than that."
"How bad?" Kataoka asked, looking down at the object in her hand.
"Pretty bad. Like I said...it almost got me killed. If the need comes, you'll have to act quickly if I can't act for myself. I'm trusting the two of you." Takina replied.
"You can count on us." Isogai assured her.
"I know I can. But please...don't let the others see those. The last thing I need right now and more questions." Takina told them.
Tucking the objects away in their pockets, the three headed indoors. While Takina no longer showed just how embarrassed she was thanks to Karma, the girl still went the whole day without looking at him or talking to him. Karma was sure, if given a little while, she would be back to her usual bantering self. After all, Takina bounced back quickly.
It was one of the things he liked about her the most.
After class though, the class, mostly those who had actually been involved in the incident with Matsukata, decided it would be best to apologize to Karasuma as well, since the man had to pull strings in order to smooth everything out. Takina, as one who hadn't been involved, stood to the side and listened.
"Karasuma-sensei, we're sorry for causing you trouble." Isogai said, on behalf of the class.
"This is part of my job too. Don't worry about it." Karasuma replied. "How do you guys feel? I think this last incident was a huge loss in terms of both assassination and studies. Were you able to learn something from it?"
"I thought that becoming strong was for your own benefit. That acquiring abilities to kill was for prestige and money. That acquiring knowledge was for grades." Nagisa said. "But the abilities we acquired, I remembered that it can be used for others, too. If we acquire the abilities to kill, we can save the world. If we acquire knowledge, we can help someone else."
The last part Nagisa directed towards Karma and Takina, giving the two a smile. It took them a little by surprise, Takina waving it off while Karma shrugged in a "who knows" kind of way.
"We won't use them recklessly anymore, probably." Okajima added.
"We'll be careful. About everything." Maehara agreed.
"That even goes for those of us who hadn't been involved." Takina said, speaking on behalf of those who had been innocent.
Karasuma was glad to see that they had learned their lesson. Nodding, he got to his feet.
"I understand your thoughts well. However, we can't restart intensive training with the way you are now." Karasuma said, tossing a gym jersey onto the desk that looked like it had seen better days. "I mean, look at this."
"A torn up jersey...ah, it's mine." Okajima said, recognizing his own jersey.
"Training and assassinations will become more difficult. The strength of the school jerseys will no longer be able to hold out." Karasuma said, heading out into the hall where two of his subordinate were carrying in boxes. "If they get worn out, parents will become suspicious as well, and, foremost, they can't keep you guys safe. This is a present from our country. Today marks the day, where you all will become stronger, in both mind and body. Starting today, physical education will be carried out wearing that."
The new training uniform gifted to the students was, in Takina's opinion, far better than their gym jerseys. Fully black under gear covered them from the neck down, the boys' differing from the girls' in that the top had short sleeves while the girls' was sleeveless, and the boys' had pants, while the girls' had shorts. Takina, after changing into the uniform, as the rest of her class did, looked down at it, turning to take it in. It was easy to move in, light, and, if she was honest, a little cute.
She could roll with this.
"I'll say this beforehand, you won't find PE clothes tougher than that in the whole world." Karasuma told them. "It's a reinforced fiber which was jointly developed by the military and a corporation. Shock resistant. Stretch resistant. Severance resistant. Fire resistant. Every factor is globally cutting edge. They just so happened to be looking for performance test monitors. That means they were made just for you guys."
"It's super light...how is this lighter than our jerseys?" Kimura asked.
"And these shoes are really bouncy." Yada added.
"Don't think that those are it's only features. The dye in the clothes react to a special volatile substance. You can temporarily change the color of your clothes however you want! Utilizing all the variegated colors, no matter where you are, it displays a camouflage effect. Shock absorbent polymer effectively protects the shoulders, back and waist. And if you wear the hood and blow air into it, you have completely defense, even for your head and neck! In other words, you can execute dangerous assassinations without receiving injuries."
"Well, if that's the case..." Everyone turned to look at Takina as she adjusted her own gloves, having preferred to continue using them over the new ones. "How about we take them for a spin. I happen to know where a very slippery octopus is, at this very moment."
Grins spread across her classmates faces before they were all moving. Takina lead them to where Korosensei was currently having himself a little barbecue. He had thought he was keeping it a secret from the students, but Takina was harder to fool than that.
Turning to Nakamura, Takina gave the girl the signal to go. Anti-sensei blades in hand, Nakamura jumped from the top of the cliff they were sitting on. Korosensei let out a squeal as Nakamura dropped right on top of the grill he was using.
"Wha-what are you doing, falling from such a place, Nakamura?!" Korosensei demanded, dusting off his skewers.
"Wow...even if I fall on the barbecue grill from that height, it doesn't even hurt or feel hot." Nakamura exclaimed.
Korosensei moved then, retreating to a lounging chair he had set up on the back mountain. Following him, they utilized the camouflage effect of the clothes, setting Chiba up in a sniper spot. On the signal, Chiba fired, splattering the pages of Korosensei's manga with paint balls.
"Chi-Chiba, was that you just now!?" Korosensei demanded, his head whipping back and forth from his manga to the direction the shot came from. "Nyuyah! I can't read either of the two great parallel world arcs of Hunter and Toriko!"
Barely keeping their laughter to themselves, they fell back and followed Korosensei as he moved indoors and got to work using clay to remake the chest of a woman from one of his magazines. Takina was more than happy to give the signal that had two of her male classmates crashing through the windows to fire on the inappropriate sculpture.
"Wh-what is going on today?!" Korosensei demanded in tears. "I don't even have time to breathe!"
"It's new equipment, so I told them not to show off their skills, but it seems they wanted to show you." Karasuma told him. "The usage of their new "abilities"."
"We respond to your lessons with assassinations. That's how we do things here." Terasaka remarked.
"Since we were just in trouble, we have to reply with a serious assassination." Fuwa added.
"In other words, we promise, Korosensei, these "abilities" or ours won't be used outside of our goal of protecting someone." Takina added.
"That answer receives full points. Starting tomorrow, we will resume our regular lessons." Korosensei told the students.
He was glad to see that the students had learned their lesson. When he had first came to the class, he had only felt stagnated blood lust scattered here and there throughout the class. There was little danger of the students being able to pull off an assassination. But now, he could feel it overflowing through the class. In fact, about the only person he had yet to feel any blood lust from...was Takina.
Watching as the students left to go change, Korosensei's eyes zeroed in on Takina's back as she talked with the girls. Even for well trained assassins, hitmen use to concealing their blood lust, to perfectly hide their blood lust for this long...Korosensei had never seen an assassin with the patience to keep it perfectly under control. It would take the patience of a monk devoted to spending hours a day meditating.
But for someone to have no blood lust at all...that was unheard off too. Most people fell in between the controlled blood lust and having none. They were neither one or the other, but Takina...Korosensei had a bad feeling about what this meant about the girl. He already suspected quite a bit about her, and about her upbringing, but he had no definitive proof. It didn't help that he couldn't gather the information either because no one, not even her school files, had what her previous name was.
He knew her real first name was Hillevi, but there were hundreds Hillevis in Switzerland. Without her father's name, without her family name, he had no way of even contacting her father and step-mother. Which, he suspected, was why Takina had changed her name and had set up all of her records the way they were. Korosensei had even tried to trace her back by her mother's maiden name, Itamatsu, and had hit a dead end there too.
Looking at all of that, he knew...Takina was trying to hide something.
But what?
If only he knew...he was about to get the biggest hint yet.
-0-0-0-0-
"We got an awesome present, huh? As a boy, that stuff gets me really hyped up!"
Takina had to somewhat agree with Sugino. The new gear had been a nice gift. She had almost hated taking it off.
"For the girls, I threw out the idea for the design."
Takina, Sugino, Kayano, and Nagisa turned as Irina suddenly spoke from behind them.
"Bitch-sensei." Kayano greeted.
"That Karasuma wanted to make the clothes the same for the boys and girls, so I said, "expose the body line for the girls some more"." Irina told them, explaining how her original idea for the girls consisted of nothing more than a short skirt and a bikini like top made from pockets.
"Cute, Bitch-sensei, but not practical. There would have been a lot of open gaps in the defense." Takina told the older woman. "I think the middle ground between you two worked just fine."
"That guy really doesn't understand a girl's heart. He ended up not giving me a present." Irina said, pouting. "Even that octopus got it! Ah, I get pissed just remembering it!"
Irina stomped off, fuming.
"Is there a reason Karasuma-sensei should give Bitch-sensei a present?" Sugaya asked.
"Ah. I remember. Four days ago, it was October tenth." Kurahashi said then.
"Oh...that was her birthday." Takina added, as it clicked in her head too.
"So it passed by while we were doing our extracurricular activities, huh?" Okajima said.
"She had been hoping for a present from Karasuma-sensei, but didn't get one, and with her pride being what it is, she didn't say anything." Takina remarked. "She's as awkward as always, huh?"
"But, us causing a commotion might have played a part, too." Kurahashi pointed out.
"Alright. Should we give her another push on the back?" Maehara asked.
"I have a feeling that we're about to be needless nosy again." Takina remarked.
Maehara, grinning at her, dropped an arm around her shoulders. Takina had a really bad feeling about that smile.
"Since you have all the funds, you get to lead the present shopping team!" Maehara told her.
Takina heaved a sigh. She was starting to regret that she was the one with all the money. After discussing their plan, they all split up. While Kataoka's group worked on distracting Irina and getting her away from Karasuma, Takina, leading a group made up of Karma, Nagisa, Sugino, Kayano, Okuda, and Kanzaki, made her way into town to do some present shopping.
"But hey, hasn't Bitch-sensei pretty much gotten every kind of present there is to get?" Sugino asked as they walked the streets.
"This is though, huh." Kayano agreed.
"It doesn't matter if it's something she's gotten before." Takina insisted. "It just has to be something thoughtful from Karasuma-sensei to her, from one adult to the other."
Agreeing with her, they started to pick their brains for an idea. But what did a group of teenagers get for a woman who already had two of everything? It was then that someone called out to them.
"I knew it. Hey, you guys!" Takina and her group turned as a man selling flowers at a road side stand, called out to them. "Was he alright after that? You know, that old man that hurt his leg."
"Ah, back then, the flower shop guy that called the ambulance." Nagisa said, placing the man. "Well...kind of. We apologized and worked for free, so he forgave us."
Takina stood back as her classmates approached the man. She wasn't sure what it was setting it off, but her paranoia was back and it was jabbing her in the ribs, telling her, there was something off about this man. Maybe it was the white van the man was working out of. She had sense lost count of the number of times her step-mother had warned her about seemingly harmless men and white vans. Maybe that was what was setting off her paranoia. Whatever it was, Takina didn't like it.
"I see. I'm glad it didn't turn into anything serious. And, just now, you guys said something about wanting a present, right? Something to give to an adult." the man said, turning to his van.
"Ah, yes." Kanzaki confirmed.
"How about this?" the man said as he turned and presented a single flower to Kanzaki.
"I see. A flower bouquet." Kayano said.
"Even though they wither away in just a week, they go for thousand, tens of thousands of yen. It's actually much more extravagant than a name brand bag. Even though everyone's heart is different, even though you can pick from any number of presents in this day and age, why do you think flowers are still the most popular gift?" the man asked as he picked out flowers to put together in a bouquet.
"Because they're the perfect symbolism for the human condition." The man stopped, him and the others all turning to look at Takina, whose eyes, now an arctic blue in color, were fixed on the man, her expression carefully blank as her eyes moved down to the flowers in his hands. "So transient, coming in all colors, shapes, and sizes. Here one day, and gone the next."
"Exactly! It's not about the heart. It's the colors and shapes, the fragrance, and the transience, it's because they're a perfect fit for the human instinct." the man agreed with a smile. "You're very clever."
"More like perceptive. I'm use to always questioning the actions and words of those around me." Takina replied.
The man's eyes shifted to her face, but her friends didn't see it past the bouquet in the man's hands.
"That totally makes sense." Okuda said, drawing the man's attention from Takina.
"Right? It would've been a great speech if he weren't holding that calculator though." Karma added.
"Mmm, well, this is a business. How about it? This too is a fate of the flowers. I'll make it cheap." the man promised them.
The group agreed and, once the flowers were in Kanzaki's hands, Takina paid the man, her eyes still sharply intent, even as they walked away. Looking up from his flowers, the man caught her eyes even after her classmates had turned away. When he gave her a wink, Takina merely blinked back before turning her back and walking away.
Her paranoia was growing, and when that happened, Takina learned not to question it.
"He was a good person, wasn't he? That flower shop guy." Kayano remarked.
"Yeah, just peachy." Takina replied, glancing back over her shoulder.
"Umm...guy don't really get the value of flowers." Sugino remarked sheepishly.
"Well, there's probably a good chance that that pure-hearted bitch will be happy." Karma replied.
"Don't try to act like you understand the value of flowers anymore than Sugino, Akabane." Takina told him, jabbing an elbow into his ribs. Karma held his hands up in surrender, not even trying to pretend like he did. "Anyway, let's hurry on back and get these to Karasuma-sensei."
Agreeing, the seven of them took off, hurrying their way back to the school. When they got back, they found Karasuma, alone, in the teacher's lounge. Approaching him, they explained that the flowers were for Irina and that they wanted him to give them to her.
"A birthday bouquet for Irina? Why me? She'd probably be happier receiving it from you guys." Karasuma told them.
Takina slapped a hand to her face.
"You are so dense." she muttered.
Karasuma raised an eyebrow at her because he didn't quiet hear what she had muttered, but Karma stepped in before he could ask her what she had said.
"How about you think of it as necessary battle strength for that bitch, Karasuma-sensei? Isn't it also the job of a supervisor to grasp the hearts of his colleagues? It's a secret that we got it, okay?" Karma told him.
"Yeah, because, quite frankly, Karasuma-sensei, right now, grasping the hearts of your colleagues, is sort of a weak spot for you." Takina added.
Karasuma looked from Takina to Karma, finally admitting that they had a point before he took the flowers from Nagisa.
"Alright, I'll give it to her. Thanks for the consideration." Karasuma told them.
With the flowers now in his possession, they left the lounge and sent a signal to the others. After they quickly ditched Irina, the woman, now annoyed, came storming into the building, slamming over the door of the lounge.
"Ah, Karasuma! Listen to this, those brats-"
Irina cut off when she found Karasuma waiting for her in the lounge.
"Perfect timing, Irina." Karasuma said, before sort of thrusting the flowers towards her. "Happy birthday."
"No way...from you?" Irina asked, her cheeks going red.
"Sorry it's late. I was busy with some things." Karasuma told her.
"Wow, I'm so happy. Thank you. Considering it's you, this is so nice. You're not scheming anything, right?" she asked, obviously happy over the flowers.
"Don't be ridiculous. I genuinely want to congratulate you. This is probably the first and last birthday present after all." Karasuma told her.
Outside the windows, where she and her classmates sat listening, Takina silently slapped a hand to her face. Things were about to go down hill, she could just tell.
"What do you mean, first and last?" Irina asked, her smile now gone.
"It's obvious. Our mission will end, or the world will end. It's one or the other. Either way, this will end in less than half a year." Karasuma told her.
Her expression going sour, Irina passed Karasuma, making her way to the windows. Takina was already around the corner of the building by the time Irina slammed the window open to look down on the others.
"I thought it was something like this. This straight-lace...there's no way he'd think of giving me flowers for my birthday." Irina said, before pulling the small pistol she carried. Scaring the students, she shot past them, the bullet hitting a tree behind them. "Did you enjoy yourselves? Did you have fun? Watching a pro hitman dancing on cloud nine according to your scenario?"
"You're mistaken, Irina-sensei. The students were acting purely out of good will to-"
"I don't believe you, octopus reporter!" Irina snapped, cutting of Korosensei when she saw the camera he held. Remembering, once more, that the whole reason she was there was to do her job as an assassin, not a teacher, Irina shoved the flowers back at Karasuma and headed for the door. "This has opened my eyes. Thanks for the best present every."
With that, Irina grabbed her bag and left, Takina peering around the corner of the building as the woman head off away from the building.
"Let's leave her be." Korosensei told the students. "We should be able to speak with her calmly come tomorrow."
Takina didn't want to be the one to say it, but...that was if Irina ever came back.
"Karasuma-sensei! Don't you think that was cold what you just said?!" Maehara demanded.
"Don't tell me...do you still not get it?!" Okano asked.
"Do I look that dense?" Karasuma demanded.
Well, if he wanted an honest answer...Takina would have to say yes.
"I can't help it if it seems heartless, but if she can't regain her composure, I'll hire another assassin. If you blade is one that dulls from love, you don't have the qualification to work here. That's all it is." Karasuma told them.
Takina stood back from the others, her eyes shifting from the window, to the path Irina had taken down to the foot of the mountain. She had a feeling that this whole thing was going to lead to a much bigger issue. Her own instincts were telling her what she had known her whole life.
Hell haft no fury like a woman scorned.
And Irina had been scorned.
END
Takina: I wonder how long it'll them to realize that the reason they don't sense my blood lust is because I'm drowning it out to sense everyone else's.
Kyandi: They're going to start figuring it out soon.
Takina: They're going to start figuring out a lot of things soon.
Kyandi: Oh, yeah. And then there's Elvira.
Takina: Oh god.
Kyandi: No worries, no worries. A lot of interesting things are coming up.
Takina: Then get to writing.
Kyandi: I am! I'm interested in seeing if any of our readers have guessed what it is you keep giving to your classmates to hold on to. With that said...everyone, please enjoy and review.
Takina: We'll be back tomorrow.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!