Disclaimer: I don't own Assassination Classroom. Assassination Classroom is owned by Yusei Matsui and Shueisha.
A new day, a new morning. A new day, a new start. A new day in the land of China, where two people were living inside of a small shack near a forest. A new day, a new session of chores. A new day, a new time for Sakura to be found staring at the wall blankly. Wait.
"Uh, Sakura? Is everything okay?" Nagisa asked as he gave her a head pat. Sakura leaned into the pat, but quickly shook her head.
"Hey, Nagisa?"
"Yeah?"
"Is it really okay for me to learn how to fight?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Well, it's just, I don't think that I can do much with it."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you're teaching me to fight. But what can I really do with it? I mean, there's only so much I can do with my ability to punch people in the face." Sakura said as she punched the air a few times. Nagisa hummed as he sat down at the table with her.
"Hey, Sakura. I need you to grab a few things for me."
"What?"
"I need you to grab a few things for me. It's a small list. I need something to hold some water, something to hold some dirt, something to hold some pencils, and something to do magic with."
"Wha…?" Sakura stared at Nagisa before eventually standing up and walking out. She grumbled as she went through the house.
"Uh, first off, something to hold water in? Uh, I guess I can grab a bucket or something." she said as she walked outside. She looked around and spotted the bucket that she used to bring water from the river in the forest. She grabbed the bucket and hoisted it up.
"Uh, I don't think he said to bring water, just to bring the bucket. Next, uh, something to hold dirt? A flower pot? I think he brought some flowers to grow here." Sakura said as she made her way over to the garden. Sure enough, there were multiple rows of pretty flowers. Sakura wasn't much of a flower fan, but she could admire the plants. Especially when they had a cool name. Snapdragon.
"Uh, where's the flower pots?" she wondered as she walked around the garden. She grinned when she spotted the orange pots.
"Two down, two more to go." she said as she put one of the pots into the bucket to carry them easier. She lifted the bucket up, and then did a quick curl. She was still skeptical about doing nothing but chores, but she noticed that she was definitely getting stronger.
"I guess days of carrying large buckets of water, digging, and chopping wood are pretty good at exercise." she commented. She looked around as she scratched her head.
"Okay, the next thing is something to hold pencils in. I have a pencil case in my room, so I guess I'll just grab that." she said out loud. She had to wonder if these were the right answers though. It was so easy for her to gather these and find the answers. And if her wood plank experience was anything to go by, he was probably trying to teach her something.
'Probably about what I was saying earlier. Maybe this is another lesson about fighting? I doubt it. But I guess I'll just grab the stuff and find out.' she thought as she walked into the shack. She passed the kitchen, where she saw Nagisa grilling some fish next to a box of donuts that he got from the nearby town.
"Lunch soon?" she guessed.
"Yep. Did you get everything?"
"No, but I'm halfway done."
"Then you're moving too slow." Nagisa said as he went back to grilling. Sakura frowned.
'Too slow? Does he want me to be faster?' she thought. With that in mind, her footsteps quickened, unaware of Nagisa shaking his head in the kitchen as she left.
'She only needs one thing.' he thought.
Sakura came to her room and spotted her pencil case sitting on her desk on top of a math workbook. She placed the bucket down and walked over to the case. Inside were just a few pencils and pens, so she dumped them out and tossed the case into the bucket. Three down.
"Now, something to do magic with." she said. She looked around before pulling open the desk drawers. Inside was a deck of cards.
'Man, I wonder if I'll ever beat Nagisa.' she thought. The two played poker every night, and Sakura always lost to her teacher.
"Okay, that's everything." Sakura said. She carried the deck of cards in one hand, and the bucket in the other. She returned to the kitchen, where Nagisa was still grilling some fish.
"Got 'em." she said as she put the bucket on the small table before kneeling next to it. Nagisa turned off the grill and sat down next to the table. He looked as Sakura took out the case and pot from the bucket and placed them next to the bucket and cards before returning her hands to her lap. Nagisa looked over the four objects and nodded.
"Something to hold water. Something to hold dirt. Something to hold pencils. Something to do magic with. These are things that can do those four actions. But…"
"But?"
"You didn't need four things," he said. Sakura blinked.
"What?"
"Four actions doesn't mean four things. All you needed to get was this." he said as he put something on the table. Sakura stared at it.
"A cup?"
"Yep." Nagisa stood up and walked over to the window, where a pot of dirt was sitting. He used a small shovel to take some dirt and put it into the cup. He showed it to Sakura.
"Holds dirt." The cup was taken to the sink and rinsed out before being filled with water.
"Holds water." He dumped the water out and filled the cup with a few chopsticks. He showed it to Sakura.
"Holds pencils." Finally, he took out a small ball and placed the cup over it on the table. He shook the cup before lifting it up to show no ball underneath it.
"Does magic," he finished. He placed the cup down in front of Sakura, who looked at it before looking up at him.
"Is this another lesson?" she asked.
"Yep. Sakura, the things you learn, be it fighting, or something else, doesn't have just one use. You grabbed four things for four actions because you assumed you needed four things for four actions, when you only really needed one. The things you have can be used in different ways to achieve different things. Even in fighting. Especially in fighting. The smartest fighter is the one who adapts with what they have. And the smartest person in society also does the same. Not to mention the fact that using one thing in different scenarios is less work than grabbing multiple things to each do one thing. It's about " he said as he cleared the table. Sakura thought.
"So you're saying that learning how to fight can be used in society?"
"Yep. Fighting isn't just knowing how to punch people in the face. You have to build muscle, and that muscle can be used to help others. You have to build skill, and that skill can be used to help others. You have to build endurance, and that endurance can be used to help others. Everything has layers, and those different layers can be used in different ways. You just gotta think." Nagisa said. Sakura looked down at the table. It was a simple lesson, but she guessed that it was helpful.
"Okay, I get it." she said.
"Good. Now, I'll get back to cooking. Uh, just put those other things back where you found them." Nagisa said. Sakura quickly did just that before coming back to the kitchen.
"Okay, I know that you said that you can make what you have in any way, or something like that, but can you really do anything with anything?" she asked when she sat down.
"Just gotta know what you can do. Like how my hand-to-eye coordination from knife fighting and knife throwing helps me with sports with my friends. Or how my guitar practice gives me the skill I need to second-hand deal."
"I knew you cheat!"
"So I do." Nagisa said dryly. Sakura smiled smugly, but then frowned when she realized that Nagisa does in fact cheat.
"Okay, putting that aside, I don't really think you can use anything for anything. What if you get into a fight, and all you have is one of those donuts?" she gestured to the box. "Jelly donuts are tasty, but can they really help you in a fight?"
"Yep." Nagisa said as he pulled out one of the jelly-filled donuts.
"How?! Prove it!" Sakura jumped to her feet and took a stance. Nagisa tightened his grip. And so Sakura spent the next few minutes washing jelly from her eyes as Nagisa finished cooking their lunch.