Stun gun still firmly grasped in his hand, Nagisa watched as Takaoka's body collapsed onto the jagged concrete. A small puddle of saliva began to leak from the unconscious man's mouth, pooling around Nagisa's foot. He'd done it. He'd defeated Takaoka. There was a brief moment of silence before the sound of cheering erupted from the other side of the roof. In the corner of his eye, Nagisa could see his friends bouncing up and down with joy but he didn't go to join them. His eyes stayed glued to the body in front of him. Thoughts flickered through his mind, moving too fast for Nagisa to fully focus on any of them. He'd done it. What was going to happen next? A hand firmly grasping his shoulder startled Nagisa out of his trance. Spinning around, he was greeted by Karma's familiar face, his eyes displaying a mixture of amusement and worry.

"Nice job, I didn't think you could be so strong." Karma teased, a playful smirk tugging at his lips. "I mean, if I was the one who had to fight Takaoka, I would have defeated him in less than half of the time it took you to." When Nagisa didn't respond, Karma's smirk morphed into a puzzled frown and his voice became softer.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, concerned. Nagisa's eyes widened in surprise, as if he hadn't noticed that Karma had been talking to him.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Nagisa said, but the unmistakable shake in his voice suggested otherwise. Karma opened his mouth to protest and point out that he clearly wasn't okay, when a helicopter flying above them interrupted him.

All of the students climbed into the helicopter as Mr Karasuma finished talking to the assassins they had fought earlier. After being informed that the virus wasn't deadly and that everyone who had been infected would make a full recovery, everyone was laughing and joking together, looking back at the events that had just unfolded and smiling. Some people praised Nagisa for his bravery during his fight with Takaoka, others teased him about when he had to dress up like a girl to sneak through the club. Throughout all of this, Nagisa stayed silent, his eyes cast downwards. The feeling of Karma's piercing stare burned on the side of his head but he chose to ignore it. No – one else seemed to notice Nagisa's strange behaviour – they were all too excited as they talked about the things they wanted to do on the rest of their vacation. A foot abruptly appeared in front of Nagisa and kicked his leg, causing him to slowly raise his head. When he looked up, his eyes immediately gazed into Terasaka's.

"Uh, are you alright? You're acting kinda strange." He said, his question causing some of their classmates to look over in curiosity.

"I'm fine." Nagisa replied, repeating what he had said to Karma earlier. Not wanting Terasaka to ask any more questions, Nagisa lowered his head again. He didn't miss the look that Karma and Terasaka shared as he did so.

Once they arrived back at their hotel, people began reciting the events of that night to the students who had been ill with the virus. Nagisa lingered behind everyone else, his thoughts weighing him down so much that the idea of socialising seemed impossible. The sound of his friends' voices chatting near him and his own voice snarling at him inside his head was becoming unbearable. Finally, Nagisa mustered up enough energy to move. He slowly wandered away from the group, across the desolate beach and towards the sea. The voices of his classmates began to fade as his feet led him further and further away but the voice in his head remained. Nagisa eventually stopped walking and faced the sea, the waves gently crashing against the sand providing him some comfort. As he watched in silence, hypnotised by the repetitive motion of the waves, water rushed up in front of him and encircled his foot, soaking his shoe. Just like Takaoka's saliva did after you knocked him unconscious, his thoughts reminded him. Now that the adrenaline from the fight had worn off, Nagisa's entire body ached. His ribs felt like knives stabbing his lungs every time he breathed. The muscles in his arms and legs felt weak and useless. Underneath is nose was a patch of dried blood and bruises littered almost every inch of his body. Despite Nagisa's body desperately begging for him to lie down and rest, he decided to stay standing motionless in front of the ocean, alone with his thoughts.

Nagisa was unaware of how much time had passed when he felt a swift gust of wind behind him and a tentacle gently resting on the top of his head. His body turned slightly to see Korosensei looking down at him, his wide grin still plastered onto his face.

"Nagisa, it's getting quite late. Your classmates have started to go to bed, I advise you do the same." He said in a caring tone. Only then did Nagisa realise how long he had stood motionless by the ocean for. The sun had fully set and the crescent moon was on display, surrounded by thousands of shimmering stars. The frosty night breeze gnawed at his bones as he still wasn't wearing anything over his tank top. As if he could read Nagisa's mind, Korosensei slipped a soft blanket onto Nagisa's shoulders.

"Go and rest," he ordered, "we'll talk in the morning." Nagisa attempted a small smile but it quickly turned into a grimace. Korosensei took one final look at Nagisa before he disappeared into the night. Shivering, Nagisa wrapped the blanket tightly around his body and began the slow journey across the beach and back to the hotel.

Almost as empty as the beach, Nagisa entered the quiet hotel. No-one was around as they had all decided to go to bed. Nagisa couldn't blame them – it had been a tough day for everyone. Heading down the hallway, and ignoring his body crying out in agony at the movement, he spotted Mr Karasuma and Professor Bitch having what appeared to be a serious conversation. Nagisa edged closer towards them as his curiosity forced his feet forwards. Their muffled words became louder and louder until Nagisa was close enough to hear what was actually being said. His stomach dropped. They were talking about him. Nagisa's sharp intake of breath caused both adults to whirl around in surprise. Karasuma's stoic face displayed no emotion but his eyes reflected what appeared to be concern. On the other hand, Professor Bitch's was hanging open slightly in shock and her guilt from being caught talking about Nagisa behind his back was etched into her features. The atmosphere became tense as all three of them stared at each other, not saying a word. A whirlwind of emotions enveloped Nagisa as he dashed past his teachers and made a beeline for his room. Faintly, he could hear the sound of footsteps following him. He pushed his body to move faster despite his body's protests as he almost sprinted down the hallway. The blanket on his shoulders slipped and laid forgotten on the floor as Nagisa swung his room's door open, dived inside and slammed it shut behind him. He didn't care if he woke anyone up, he just wanted to escape from everything that was happening to him. Crawling into his bed and pulling the covers over his head, Nagisa allowed silent tears to slip down his cheeks as he squeezed his eyes closed and willed himself to fall asleep. There was one thing Nagisa hadn't noticed in his haste to get to his bed however, and that was that Karma's bed was empty.