[11.1]

Good Luck Charm

"Are you nervous?"

After releasing his aim, Chiba cast a glance at Hayami, who was similarly holding a gun, arms firm towards the target.

"Yeah," he replied.

Tomorrow he would be taking the entrance exam to his dream school. He would be lying if he said that he was completely calm right now. That's why, to relieve the tension in his mind, he had asked his sniping partner to have a quick practice in the afternoon.

She lowered her gun and, then, inserted a hand inside her pocket. "Maybe this will help," she said as she fished out a miniature pouch –

– a good luck charm.

She tossed it towards him, which he seized with ease. "Thanks." He gave it a look, with a corner of his mouth turned up, before hiding it inside his pants.

'She said her exam is next week,' he thought. 'I should also give her one.'

"You will pass it."

He glanced at her, whose eyes became keener, filled with surety, as she added, "I'm sure of that."

...

He was struck-cold when he had waltzed in the living room and came upon his older sister, Emi, who has sharp azure eyes and long raven hair, sitting on the couch while working something on her laptop.

"Nee-san, you're home," he blurted out of shock.

Trotting down the stairs was their five-year-old sister, Hitomi, with shorter hair fixed into pigtails, color the same as them. Although her eyes were maroon-red like Chiba, its roundness and cheeriness did not hold an intense gaze.

"Onii-chan, welcome home!" Hitomi cried out with glee as her frail small hands clasped his legs.

An affectionate smile crossed his face as he stroked his sister's head, which disappeared right away when Emi had stood up, displaying her hourglass figure, with a serious expression.

"You know, Mom told me something unimaginable after I came back home from the university since it's our break," she began to say. With a hand on her hip, she sashayed her way to him.

Then she stopped before him, her height on an even level as him, as her face shifted. "When did you get yourself a girlfriend?!" she fussed.

This was why he dreaded her being here in this house.

"I don't have a girlfriend," he said firmly before walking past her.

Hitomi scuttled after him and begged him to play with her. Gently, he turned down since he needed to prep himself up for tomorrow. Pouting her lips, she dragged her feet to the living room to watch TV instead as he climbed the stairs.

Emi let out a huff when her eyes fell on the tiny object swaying from his bag. She sneered as her eyebrows rose.

"So what's that on your bag?" she queried, which halted him on his steps.

He looked down on his hand carrying his bag, then, at his sister. "A charm," he said flatly.

"I know what that is!" she groused. Shortly after, her smirk returned, crossing her arms as she leaned sideways on the wall. "So did your girlfriend give that to you?"

"She's not my girlfriend."

She finger gunned at him as if she had hit the bullseye. "Ah. That means 'she' actually exists." She stood upright on both feet before turning to the kitchen. "If you need love advice, you can ask your dear Onee-san," she proclaimed as her legs started moving.

Chiba breathed out exasperatedly. Again, this was why he did not want her to return. Every time she found something about his personal life she would poke fun at him for it. Like Karma and Nakamura.

He was lucky that he had gotten only questions from her today. But he knew that next time it would not be the same.

[11.2]

Valentine Bits

It was Valentine's Day tomorrow.

Since Hayami was occupied with her entrance exam, she did not have the time to think about what to give to her sniping partner. And so for the day before the event, she has been spending twenty-five minutes roaming around the grocery store for suitable chocolate.

She picked up a box of chocolates tied with a red ribbon and embellished with lace and hearts. She quickly set it back. There was no way that she would give a honmei chocolate. Although what she felt for him was 'special', it was not to the extent that what she wanted to convey was romantic.

She wandered around further until she stumbled upon the candy section. Her eyes were scouring every item on display when one caught her attention.

It somehow reminded her of the pellets they used in the assassination. It was not grandiose but not thoughtless either. All she needed was a simple one that would much or less show how much she admired and respected the recipient for what they have been through together in the assassination.

This compact chocolate, fused with an idea, satisfied all of her conditions. Clutching it in her hand, she knew exactly that this was it.

...

When the next day had arrived, she went towards him after class and told him that she has something to give to him on the shooting grounds. Upon going there, Chiba remained standing on the ground as he kept his eyes on her, waiting for her.

While flaunting the chocolate bits in her hand, she said, "Let's make a bet. If you're able to hit the targets using these bits, I'll give you the rest."

She, then, slotted in several chocolates into the magazine before handing it to him. "So what do you say?" she challenged with a small smirk.

Thrusting the magazine into the pistol, Chiba replied, "I'm in."

...

After dropping his bag onto the floor, he lurched himself to his bed and lifted the chocolate bits to the ceiling. The words she told him when she had flung the chocolate at him rung inside his head:

"I really respect you. Let's continue to get along from here on out."

He was happy to receive something from her and that she, too, wanted to be with him longer. But for some reason, he still felt lacking in her pragmatic phrase.

What am I expecting? A confession from her?

He ran his thumb across the container and opened it as he brought it low towards him. Then he munched on a few bits and closed the lid before letting his arms fall to his sides.

He now knew what to do after their graduation. On White Day.

[11.3]

Music Competition

Upon coming back from the restroom, Hayami caught wind of Chiba and Nakamura inside the classroom having a debate over which music was better – American Pop or Japanese Hardcore Punk.

Since she rarely saw him become worked up about anything else besides assassination, she ended up spectating them while returning to her seat when Nakamura whipped her head in her direction.

"How about you, Rinka? What would you choose: Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars or All Generations by Hi-STANDARD?" the blonde prankster asked.

Hayami stepped closer to them – to Chiba's seat – before glancing at him, who looked eager for her answer.

"I don't even know both of those songs," she said drably with her arms across her chest.

Both music-lovers fell out of their seats. She must be joking. Those songs were popular with the present generation, so unless you lived in a cave, you would have heard them.

"You're serious," Nakamura uttered in disbelief after taking a good look at Hayami's deadpan face. She turned to Chiba with an outstretched hand and told him, "Chiba-kun, let me borrow your headphones."

Then she fiddled on her phone before handing the plugged-in headphones to the orange-haired sniper. "This is Uptown Funk," she said.

While Hayami was listening to the song being played, both Nakamura and Chiba were gawking at her.

A few moments later, Nakamura started playing the second song. "Now this is All Generations. Both of these songs are trending now."

"Nurufufufufu…"

Their heads turned when Korosensei had suddenly appeared, garbed in an Elvis Presley outfit.

"Even though both of you love music, you have different preferences, which is understandable," he told the two of them. "But the problem is which one is better? We can find that out with a –" with a microphone in one tentacle, he did the iconic pose of Elvis "– music show!"

Before any of the three could react, Korosensei dashed to the front, now back in his teaching attire. The attention of the whole class whipped towards him as he began to say, "Everyone, let us have a music competition between Nakamura-san and Chiba-kun to determine which of the music genre they like is better."

SUGAYA: That's so random…

OKANO: He is doing anything that he wants again.

ISOGAI: Why not? It could be fun. The exam's over anyway.

The yellow octopus lifted one tentacle as he said further, "Although school and assassination are your top priorities, it doesn't mean that you should not flourish on your interests. Music is not only an outlet for your talent and skills. It is also a great way of expressing your emotions.

Now, I will give you five days to prepare, so you only have until the weekend. The others can join Nakamura or Chiba, whoever you want, while we three teachers will be the judges. Chiba-kun and Nakamura-san, you have fifteen minutes to organize your group before we start our next class."

...

So far, Chiba had gathered Hayami for the drums and Yada for the keyboard but still short of two members – a vocalist and an electric guitar player. He would be playing the bass guitar himself.

Nakamura, as expected, was already done with her recruitment. Her group, consisting of Isogai, Maehara, Nagisa, Kayano, Okano, and Kataoka, was flocked together in one corner, already brainstorming ideas.

"It is hard to imagine that a muscle-head like you would appreciate music."

When Chiba had heard the red head prodigy started throwing insults at the agitated Terasaka, his head turned over his shoulder.

TERASAKA: Huh? Waddya mean? Of course, I like music. I listen and sing to it every time I shower.

KARMA: That's impossible. Not with a pea brain like yours.

TERASAKA: Hey, do you want me to prove it to you? I can sing right here, right now!

KARMA: Oh please, no. My eardrums will explode.

An insane thought crossed Chiba's mind. He approached the red head, whose back was facing him. "Karma, do you know how to play the electric guitar?" he asked.

Karma was holding an electric guitar as he whirled around. Strumming a complicated melody, he replied, "Not really~", dragging out the last syllable with a tune.

'Where did he get that?' Chiba thought, his gaze fixed on the instrument in Karma's hand.

"Would you like to join my band?" he asked as he moved on from the peculiarity of the electric guitar.

"If you insist," said Karma with a cock of his head. "I can also do the vocals."

Then Sugaya walked up beside them. "Hey, Chiba. Even though I do not have the talent for music, I'll be willing to give you a hand in other stuff," he said.

A smile hovered on Chiba's lips. "Thanks," he told the two boys before turning towards Sugaya. "I do need your help with something. I will ask Okuda-san and Takebayashi's help for it too."

"Cool," Sugaya uttered. "Now I want you to take a look at this." On top of his splayed out hand was a sketch portrait of Chiba, revealing a pair of eyes with its bangs clipped up.

"So?" He looked at him with bated breath.

When Chiba had shaken his head, Sugaya withdrew his hand as his shoulders drooped with a defeated look.

...

On the actual day of the competition, Korosensei set up a stage in the open space in front of the building. He placed before the stage a long table covered in white cloth with three wooden chairs for the judges. Seats were also provided for the students not participating.

The first one to perform was Nakamura's group named Pop is Life. Their performance was a mashup of the hit pop songs (inspired by KHS's pop medley video).

Isogai and Maehara were the singers with the other members as dancers. Burning up in embarrassment while dressed in tight women's clothes was Nagisa, who was dancing provocative steps on the center of the stage. The music was edited by Mimura, and Hara and Okajima were in charge of costumes and props.

Everyone gave a round of applause, with impressed whistles and cheers, when the music had ended. They enjoyed their performance particularly Karma, who had recorded Nagisa's spectacle on his phone.

"Thank you, Pop is Life, for the impressive number! The next group is No Eyes Punk, led by Chiba-kun!" Ritsu announced from the side of the stage, clad in a dark red dress with long white gloves. "Will their Japanese Hard Punk outshine the first performance?"

The whole audience fell silent when Chiba had climbed the stage along with his band. His fringe, which was fixed above his head with a clip, was nowhere to be seen on his face although was replaced with a pair of sunglasses – much to everybody's disappointment except for Hayami.

The sunglasses were modified by Okuda so that Chiba could have a transparent view while the outer side of the lens was tinted to prevent anyone else from seeing what was behind it. Sugaya did the paint and tint of the glasses and decorated their musical instruments with his 'art'.

Chiba, then, began strumming the bass guitar while Yada played the keyboard in a slow tempo. As soon as Hayami hit the cymbals, Karma set off a loud and accelerated rhythm from his guitar before singing in a yell-like rough tone,

"Wise men say, only fools rush in. But I can't help falling in love with you…"

After the last tune, howls, cheers, and inconsistent clapping surrounded the wide-open field. The sniper duo shared a look, accomplished smiles on their faces, as they told each other in their minds,

Well done.

With a ragged breath, Karma's eyes roamed around the audience until they landed on a certain purple-haired bespectacled girl.

Ritsu's voice resonated through the speakers over their racket. "What an explosion! Thank you, No Eyes Punk, for bringing more destruction to everyone's energy. I'm sure both performances today landed a kill-hit on our target in terms of music."

"After computing the judges' scores that were sent to my data, I will now announce the winner of this competition," she added.

She opened the white card in her hand, the anticipation sending each and every one of them into a fever pitch. "And the winner is –" she trailed off as a drum rolled in the background.

"– it's a tie!"

They were all thrown into a whammy at the outcome, which they expected to be only one winner.

After their reactions settled, Ritsu continued, "Both groups got the same score of 98.5, which was computed by getting the average of the three judges' scores."

"Although I'm not familiar with music –" Karasuma said with a proud smirk, arms crossed "– I commend the students for being able to pull off such performances."

"I admit that I was entertained by your talents especially Nagisa's, but in the end, I still prefer piano music," said Irina.

Korosensei stood on the stage with a grin morphed on his features. "It should occur to you now that it doesn't matter who wins in this competition and which genre is better. What is important is how music has impacted our lives, and how it has connected us to other people."

He turned to the two music enthusiasts. "Chiba-kun and Nakamura-san, you two both share a love for music but what type you like to listen to is different. While you argue over which one is better, don't you notice your perspectives about music widen? And you also get to know and understand the other person better with their preferences. Of course, this also applies to other things like sports and movies," he preached.

Nakamura's mouth formed into a beam as she drew near her music rival. Her hand extended, she said to him, "It was awesome battling you and your band. Let's exchange playlists after this and, then, we can criticize each other's music more. What do you say?"

With a consenting hum and nod, Chiba shook her hand.

...

The peace and quiet inside the music room – as well as the overstretched shadows – when they returned in the main building the last of the equipment they had used for the music competition, denoted that school has ended a while ago.

"As always, Korosensei has turned the competition into one of his 'lessons'," Hayami pointed out after finishing placing the drum set back in its place.

"I didn't know that you can play the drums," said Chiba as he sat on a stool and positioned his bass guitar on his lap.

Knowing that he wanted to jam a little more, she perched herself on the chair by the drums. "Fujiwara taught me," she replied. "He is good at it."

As far as Chiba knew, Fujiwara was the guy that they had run into in the first semester and the same one that had come to eat in their class at the school festival. Hayami once explained her past with him – how they had been friends until he confessed to her, and how he treated her badly when she had rejected him.

Although Chiba was aggravated for what Fujiwara had done, he simmered down upon hearing that he already apologized to her.

He began strumming the chords when she stated, "I saw your band's performance two years ago."

He stopped, "I see", and then resumed his strumming.

Being reminded of those days when he could play his music freely without worries has made him downhearted since he missed playing in a band. That was why he was grateful to Korosensei for launching today's music competition.

"You must have wanted to play again," she said.

"Mm."

The relaxing tune reverberated around the room, and Hayami listened to it in comfortable silence. Then she thought of something, which she shared with him by, "Can you play jazz?"

The corners of his mouth turned up, as though he was treating her simple inquiry as a challenge, when in fact he has been practicing how to do jazz using bass after knowing her related interest.

She wore a gentle smile as he started playing. Somehow, she felt like dancing but instead, she picked up the drumsticks and followed the beat.

A few minutes later, it was silent once again.

"That was fun," she uttered as that would be her first time playing jazz with an instrument. Even so, she preferred to move her body to the music.

"We make a pretty good band even with just the two of us," he claimed before getting up from his seat to put his guitar back in its case.

In turn, she covered the drum set with a white sheet before glancing at him playfully. "We better start composing our first song then," she quipped.

[11.4]

Stolen Moments Revealed

Since Korosensei was not included in the class graduation album, he became dead set in making one besides the school's publication. This meant something unorthodox again which was already the norm in Class 3-E, where the students were assigned to kill their teacher by March.

Only a few weeks away till their deadline.

At first, the whole class was not motivated to take part in another of their teacher's frolics. But when Korosensei showed Hayami a picture of her in a pet shop wearing an elevated expression as she rubbed her cheek to a kitten followed by those of her other classmates, which were embarrassing and meant to be kept private, it was now clear to them that they have to participate in the editing.

"Everyone look for your photos! Grab and throw them away!"

All except for Karma scrambled to the stockpile of photos to discard shreds of evidence of their humiliating moments. Hayami could not believe her eyes when she saw another photo of her pursuing a cat, looking like a pervert. She immediately tore it into pieces before anyone noticed.

Likewise, Chiba was shaking as he stared at his picture walking to school with bed hair, his mouth wide open from yawning.

"Chiba and Hayami have gone out on a date?!"

All twenty-eight pairs of gazes darted towards Kimura, who was holding a photo showing the two snipers sitting face-to-face in a café. Nakamura, Terasaka, Kurahashi, and several more clumped around Kimura to take a look.

Then Maehara cried out suddenly – "They went out more than once!" – and flipped towards everyone the second date picture of Chiba and Hayami in the cinema.

Everyone's faces were now filled with mischief as their heads rotated to the pair. Both Chiba and Hayami gulped tensely as they stepped backward away from them.

The two looked at each other – Let's get out of here – and nodded at once before dashing to the door.

While some were still caught up in the revelation of the sniper duo's dating status, discussing what-ifs and being hyped up that their ship has sailed, the rest went back to disposing of their pictures.

"Everyone, outside now!" Korosensei burst out as he wore an animal costume. "We need to add variety to our photos with some costume alterations!"

...

"That was close," Chiba breathed out as he glanced back at the building. "It would have been torture if they bombarded us with questions."

Hayami crossed her arms. "I had a hunch that Korosensei was following us on our 'appointments' but I never thought that he would be taking photos," she said.

When their classmates had collectively emerged from the entrance, Chiba turned over his shoulder and flinched. "What are they doing outside?" he asked.

She merely shrugged in reply just as their yellow octopus teacher gave them a small fright from the tree branch above.

"We are having a photoshoot to add to my collection for the graduation album. You two are joining," Korosensei told them.

"Pass," said Chiba.

Hayami was about to say "Me too" when she was cut-off by the tentacle worming around her torso and Chiba.

"I'm sorry. You don't have much of a choice." Korosensei snickered deviously before taking them to where their classmates were.

They have been trying out various themes for their costumes until Korosensei thought of dressing the pairings in class into matching outfits for matchmaking purposes and as a reference for his novel.

...

While Korosensei was busy multi-tasking the photoshoot and the boys' costumes, the girls went inside the classroom to change. Upon finding out what they were going to wear, some of them voiced out their complaints.

"I don't want to wear that!" Hayami refused as she edged further to the back of the room.

Lifting the maid costume in her hands, Nakamura said with a sneer, "Why not? It'll look good on you."

Hayami shook her head violently, using her arms to shield herself.

This was ridiculous. Why on earth would I –

"Touka. Kurahashi. Back me up please," Nakamura called out over her shoulder.

Emerald-eyes widened at the brunette in a ponytail and at the orange wavy-hair, who were both closing in on her like predators. She tried to plead with her gaze to which they responded with apologetic smiles. But behind their façade, she could see two horns growing each from their heads.

Hayami gritted her teeth and braced herself for what was to come.

"You look so kawaii, Haya-chan!"

"It fits you perfectly."

She squirmed sheepishly beneath the frilly costume as she fiddled with it. She was not one to put on this type of clothing because it was eye-catching and 'too cute'. It did not suit her personality and taste as well.

Nakamura placed one hand on her hip as she leaned to the sniper's ear. "You know who else will think you're cute?" she whispered.

As an answer to her question, the blonde prankster added, emphasizing every syllable – "Chi-ba-kun."

Turning her head away, a blush tainted Hayami's cheeks.

...

"Ah," both of them blurted out at the same time as soon as they saw each other in their costumes.

While Hayami was a maid, Chiba was clothed in as a butler. Sweeping her gaze around, she found that her classmates' outfits were also complementary – like Nagisa and Kayano as both devils.

Upon looking back at her partner, she stiffened when she had caught him eyeing her profoundly while holding his chin. "What is it?" she asked with reluctance.

"Cute," he mumbled, the word running out of his mouth before thinking twice.

She smiled, a bit red-faced at his subliminal compliment, and said, "You look good yourself too."

Then Korosensei appeared in front of them in a flash, together with his camera, after finishing assembling their props – a prearranged round table by Hayami's side as she held a ceramic teapot and a tray on Chiba's hand with a towel slung over his other arm.

A tentacle ready on the button, Korosensei barked out a few instructions for their pose before pressing it.

SNAP!

.

.

.

.

.

Author's Note

Yes, finally. One chapter left.

This chapter is filled with rainbows and unicorns but we know (for those who are finished with the anime or manga) what's in store for them the following month.

I don't think there's anything more for me to say. My brain is already washed out from writing this chapter.

Thank you to those who have been reading this story so far. Please be dear and express your thoughts in the comments below.

Thanks a bunch.