Class 3-E.

The End Class.

The class from which no students held any hope of ever returning to the main campus, the class where all the dreams were crushed, the class where all of the ambitions died and vanished, the class... the class that had to assassinate their own teacher.

There was a blast of wind, gaining the students' attention. They were tensed, ready to jump in action. A few gulped, trying to calm down their nerves. Sweaty palms were rubbed over pants and skirts, a few knees were shaking in anticipation, and teeth were gritting a tad too loudly.

Their teacher casually strolled in, placing the roll book on the desk.

"Now, then…" His voice echoed in the thick silence. "Let's get started. Student on duty, on your command."

"Stand- stand up!" called Shiota Nagisa.

All students did as told, aiming their guns at the creature.

"Attention… Bow!"

They started firing. Instantly, the yellow octopus started evading all of their attacks at Mach Speed 20 with ease.

"Good morning everyone! Now, fire away all you like—I'll just be taking attendance. So… Isogai-kun?"

"H- here…!"

"I'm sorry, you'll have to speak up with all this gunfire."

"Here!"

"Much better. Okajima-kun?"

"Here!"

"Okuda-san?"

"Yes!"

The creature kept on going through the roll call, each student answering through the gunfire. However, once he reached the student number eighteen, no one answered.

"Naoki-san?" he called for a second time.

But as per usual, she was absent. Refraining the urge to sigh, he pursued with the roll call.

A week earlier

.

.

Two weeks had passed since Yukimura Aguri's death and the moon's mysterious destruction. The news only talked about the later one, though, and none of the students were aware of their teacher's fate saved for Ame. During the third week of school, as soon as she noticed her sensei's absence, she knew something was wrong. She had Usagi look into it and… well, she learned about everything.

She didn't tell her classmates. If they wanted to know, they'd ask or look for answers. However, now that Yukimura-sensei was gone, a new teacher had taken over her duties. It was a no-name, boorish man who gave long lectures about how much failures like them cost to society but weren't actually worth it, and was of no help at all in the lessons. No one bothered with questions anymore, struggling to understand by themselves, and Ame had returned to her previous habits, though she found herself skipping more and more of her classes.

The second month of school was starting when she arrived late as per usual… only to find numerous security agents around the E-Class campus. Frowning, she went inside and reached the classroom. When she entered, it was only to find even more agents, her dumbstruck classmates… and a gigantic, yellow octopus.

A moment of silence followed her arrival and she blinked a few times, trying to make sense of what was standing before her.

"Oh, good morning! You must be Naoki-san, right?" the thing greeted.

Correct that: it was a gigantic, yellow, talking octopus.

"Okay," she sweatdropped, before turning to her fellow students. "Which one of you spread hallucinogenic gas in the classroom?"

"He's very real, unfortunately," sighed one of the agents at the front, drawing her attention. "Please, go take your seat. I will explain everything."

"Right…"

Shooting a wary look at the grinning octopus, she quickly went to her desk and offered a wide-eyed look at Nakamura. The blonde simply shrugged, offering a nervous smile: she too had no idea whatsoever of what the hell was going on.

Gosh, I knew I shouldn't have woken up this morning.

"Hello, how do you do?" then inquired the creature, his tentacles slithering around. "I'm the one who blasted your moon."

There was a moment of silence. The students blinked, unsure of what to do.

"I plan to do the same to the Earth next year," casually informed the monster. "Now I'm your teacher. Nice to meet you!"

I… have never been so confused in my entire life, sweatdropped Ame, along with the rest of her classmates.

"I am Karasuma, from the Ministry of Defense," then greeted the agent that had directed her to her seat earlier. "First, please understand that what I'm about to say is a state secret." He sighed heavily. "Let me be blunt: I want you to kill this creature."

The teen shot a look at Nakamura, whose eyes had widened so much it was almost funny, and kind of ironic. She always complained about her eyes being too small…

"Um…" Mimura Koki raised his hand. "What is that? Is it the alien that came to attack us or something?"

"How rude!" snapped the octopus. "I'll have you know, I was born and raised on Earth!"

"For real?" mumbled Ame, unsure of how she felt about that.

"I'm afraid I can't discuss the details, but he's telling the truth," then confirmed Karasuma. "Come March next year, this creature who smashed the moon will destroy Earth as well. Only the world's leaders know about this. If news of this guy gets out there, we'd be looking at a global panic. You've got to kill him in secret before that happens. In other words…" He suddenly pulled out a knife, slashing it at the monster. "An assassination!" But it easily avoided the blow, literally vanishing from sight, only to reappear on the other side of the agent. "But this guy… is extremely fast!" He tried again, he failed again. "You try to kill him… and he ends up grooming your eyebrows instead— immaculately!"

Ame held back a snort. How more ridiculous could the situation get? A blast of wind however wiped off her smirk as the creature suddenly faced them all again, his grin clearly mocking now.

"This super being has the power to turn a full moon into a crescent. His speed tops out at Mach 20! In short, if he gets away, we'll be left helpless, awaiting our destruction," pursued Karasuma.

"And that's no fun," added the octopus. "So, I made your government an offer: no killing me. Instead, I'll teach Class 3-E at Kunugigaoka Junior High School."

It still doesn't make any sense, the students sweatdropped yet again.

"We don't know what he's after," admitted Karasuma, a vein popping on his forehead. "But we were forced to agree, on the condition that he doesn't harm any of your students. We have two reasons: first and foremost, coming to a classroom every day lets us keep an eye on him, and second, it gives some thirty people the opportunity to kill him from extremely close range."

"That still doesn't make any sense," Ame replied, clicking her tongue and resting her chin on her palm. "Why would a super creature agree to that? Even more importantly, why would we agree to this?"

Karasuma glanced at her, unperturbed. "Success will be rewarded with ten billion yen."

She snapped her mouth shut at that. Jaws dropped and hit the floor, eyes almost fell out of their orbits, hairs stood on the end of their necks; the students were under shock.

Ten… ten billion yen!? Echoed internally the black-haired teen.

"It's only right," remarked the agent. "A successful assassination will literally save the Earth. Luckily, he doesn't think much of you. See?" Their attention was reported to their new teacher, whose face was now stripped in green. "Those green stripes mean he's looking down on you."

"What the hell kind of skin is that!?" protested the students, weirded out for good.

"Obviously," taunted the monster. "If the government can't kill me, how could you? Even when they sent their cutting-edge fighter jets after me… I ended giving them a coat of wax right there in midair!"

"You must find a chink in his defenses and strike at it," announced Karasuma, brandishing his knife from earlier. Now that Ame took a closer look at it, the weapon seemed unnaturally soft. "You'll have weapons and ammo that won't hurt humans but will work on him. Also, you must keep this a secret from your family and friends. Now, there's no time to lose. If the Earth should disappear, we'll have nowhere left to run."

"We'd already be lucky enough not to be amongst the seventy percent that will be blown apart, so thinking of escaping is kind of far-fetched…" Ame muttered under her breath.

Her new teacher apparently heard her, though, and a weird laugh escaped him.

"And that's about it! Now let's make the most of your one remaining year, everyone!"

Well, guess things are going to be interesting again.

Back to the present day

.

.

The octopus was in the middle of an English lesson when the orange-eyed girl suddenly walked in, late yet again-for not saying she had already missed most of the day.

"Naoki-san, where were you this morning?" inquired the yellow monster, his tentacles wriggling around.

"Lost on the road of life, I'd guess," she stifled a yawn, slumping down in her seat. "Do continue with the lesson, I won't interrupt it again."

"Naoki-san…" He was apparently annoyed but finally sighed. "Do stay after class. I wish to talk to you."

Why does it sound so much like Yukimura-sensei? Ame was somewhat surprised at the sudden pang in her heart but instantly pushed it down. "Whatever."

Apparently satisfied with that, their teacher then returned to his lesson. The black-haired girl held back a groan, before letting her gaze wander outside. It was a beautiful day, and she hated to see it waste away like that.

Well, there's no way around it, I guess… Plus, it's not like she actually wanted to skip anymore. After all, there's a ten billion bounty on the octopus's head. Ten billion yen…

That was a lot of money.

That was a lot of easy money.

I just have to time everything carefully. As soon as the opportunity presents itself… Her fist clenched a little. I'm claiming the kill—and the prize.

"Later!"

It was lunchtime. Their yellow teacher had vanished and was apparently heading for China with his Mach 20 speed. As soon as he was gone, though, Ame lazily straightened up and stretched her arms.

"Ne, Ame?" The girl glanced at Nakamura, who was eying her with curiosity. "How come you haven't tried anything yet? I thought you'd be the first to jump on the opportunity, what with the reward and all, but you haven't made a single assassination attempt yet…"

An amused smile quirked the girl's lips as she let her finger trace the contour of her ring.

"Tell me, Rio. What kind of student do I look like?" she asked.

"One that doesn't really care…?" tried the blonde, unsure of where her friend was going with this. "You're rather nonchalant about your grades or school in general, always late and often skipping… You don't even seem interested in the assassination."

"Right. Now, tell me: what kind of danger represents an uninterested assassin?"

Understanding dawned on the other girl, and she gasped. "No way! You've been planning this all along?"

"It wasn't that hard to fake, of course," shrugged the blue-eyed teen, leaning back into her seat. "But I've had my eyes on the bounty ever since he arrived a week ago. I took for granted that he heard of me before, considering he knew my name when I first came in, and so he more than probably knew of my character already. I simply let him build up his assumptions. And, when the time is right…" One of the plastic knives suddenly slipped out of her sleeve, and her smile turned feral. "I'll strike."

"I'll never understand how you can be so cool yet be such a failure when it comes to academics," sweatdropped the blonde. Then, she beamed at her. "But I'd say you have a good enough chance! And now he wants to talk to you after class… Will you act then?"

"Who knows?" simply mused the eighteenth student. The knife slipped back into her sleeve, and Nakamura could only marvel at the ease with which her friend handled it. "One way or another, though, the money is mine."

"Ah! Don't count me out just yet," grinned the girl, extending her fist to her.

Snorting, Ame bumped her own against it.

.

.

Ame narrowed her eyes slightly as Nagisa suddenly started to make his way towards their teacher. He obviously wasn't done with the assignment, it had just been given. However, looking closer, she spotted the knife hidden between the papers, and she held back a smirk. Due to his casual pace and the total lack of bloodlust, she hadn't even noticed what he was about to attempt until she noticed the weapon.

Hell, it might even work!

And even though Ame wanted the money, she wasn't about to mess up someone else's attempt. Plus, she was curious. Would he actually manage to lend a hit? The anticipation rose in the class as the rest of the students finally realized what was going on. Then, when Nagisa reached the unaware octopus, he suddenly moved. However, his wrist was easily caught by the slithering creature, who chuckled mockingly while using a tissue to pull the knife out of the boy's hand.

"I told you, didn't I?" he taunted. "Be more inventive!"

But as soon as the knife was out of the way, Nagisa suddenly moved forward and wrapped his arms around their sensei.

A heartbeat passed.

There was a moment of silence.

Then, there was the explosion.

Ame cursed, covering her head as she dropped it against the desk to protect herself from the numerous projectiles. Those that did hit stung, but didn't pierce her skin, so she guessed they were all Anti-BB balls.

Still, though, for Nagisa-san to be at the center of the explosion…

The blue-haired boy wouldn't come out of this unscathed, that much was certain.

"Yes!" suddenly cheered Terasaka, in the back.

"We did it!" echoed Muramatsu, pumping a fist in the air.

"Ten billion yen! Cha-ching!" laughed Yoshida.

Ame was almost scared to look. Forcing herself to lift her eyes, she instantly noticed the dark form on the floor and held back a cringe.

That monster? Or… or Nagisa-san?

Feeling a little sick, the orange-eyed teen ignored her classmates' cries and protests directed at the three responsible for this mess. She got up, her heart beating in slow motion, and made her way to the collapsed shape… and let out a sigh of relief.

"Nagisa-san's fine!" she called, drawing everyone's attention.

"What do you mean, Naoki-chan?" asked Kayano, worried and hopeful at the same time.

"I don't really know how, but he's perfectly fine," mused the teen, staring at the weird, yellowish thing now covering the boy. He looked uninjured, though unconscious. "I think this membrane protected him, wherever it came from…"

"As it happens, I shed my skin once a month." All the students startled at the voice of their teacher which came out of seemingly nowhere. "I protected Nagisa-kun there, by covering him with my old skin. It's my once-monthly ace-in-the-hole!"

DANGER.

RUN.

DANGER!

The black-haired girl snapped her eyes to the ceiling, where the octopus was hanging. His eyes had turned red, gleaming despite the light, and the atmosphere seemed to thicken, the sudden feeling of danger enough to make her choke.

Get out. We have to get out.

GET OUT!

But no matter how hard she wanted to, her body wouldn't move.

"Terasaka. Yoshida. Muramatsu. You three… you're behind this, right?"

And then, his skin turned to a pitch black. The happy-go-lucky creature had become this monstrous being, one that could very kill each and every single one of them before the first corpse even hit the floor.

Ame knew then and there that this was a fight they couldn't win.

"N- no!" Terasaka managed to bit out without pissing himself, somehow. "It was all Nagisa's idea!"

There was a half-second of silence. Then, the monster disappeared. Before any of them could fully comprehend what had just happened, though, he was back, and he dropped numerous nameplates that scattered loudly on the floor.

Nameplates? Ame paled. Those are from everyone's houses…!

"My agreement with your government says I won't harm you," he stated darkly, a few nameplates still in his tentacles. "But if you try another assassination like that one… I might just harm someone else." Ame's breath hitched at the barely hidden threat. "Your family, your friends… Or I could wipe out the whole planet apart from you."

There's no running away, the black-haired girl realized, dread churning in her guts. No escape route, no easy way out. If we ever want to escape that thing… then we'll have to kill it.

Though, I guess it's a good thing it's not my real address that's written in my student file, uh?

"What- what the hell's your deal anyway!?" finally snapped Terasaka, acting stupid and brash as per usual. "You're just a giant pain! Showing up all 'I'm gonna blow up your Earth' and 'assassinate me'! What's so wrong with using an annoying method to kill an annoying guy, uh!?"

And, as if nothing ever happened, the whole air suddenly lightened. Ame gasped, taking in some much-needed air as their sensei's face turned orange, with a darker circle.

"Annoying?" he chirped, back to normal. "Hardly. Your idea itself was a very good one. Especially you, Nagisa-kun." One of his tentacles patted the boy's head. "The way you carried yourself so naturally on your approach gets full marks. You made it right through the chink in my defenses. However!" The three other teens tensed as their sensei glared at them. "None of you looked out for Nagisa-kun, not even Nagisa-kun himself. Students like that aren't fit to assassinate anyone." He then turned to the rest of the class. "We need an assassination worth smiling about— one to be proud of! You're all capable assassins who have that power within you. Just some advice from your teacher and your target."

Considering the situation had finally been handled, Ame managed to force her stiff muscles to move and slowly made her way back to her seat. Slumping down in her chair as their sensei concluded his lecture, she bit her lower lip in anger.

She was ashamed to admit it… but she had been terrified. She had never felt so scared in her life, never felt so utterly helpless.

I need to kill him—

"Oh! How about 'Korosensei'?" suddenly exclaimed Kayano.

"For 'un-killable', right?" blinked Maehara, before grinning a little. "Sounds fitting."

The rest of the class loudly stating their agreement brought Ame out of her dark musings, and she sighed internally. Giving that damn octopus a name would only strengthen the bond he was already forming with the students, something she found particularly idiotic.

Well, nothing to do about it now. She started rubbing her temples, feeling a headache forming. One way or another, though, I'm ending this once class is over.

.

.

At the end of the day, Ame found herself left alone with the newly named Korosensei. Since the beginning of the week, she had probably been the worst student this octopus ever had, and so it was no wonder he finally cracked.

"How are you feeling, Naoki-san?" he inquired, gesturing for her to take a seat.

"What's it to you?" she replied, instead leaning against the window. She then shook her head. "No matter. Why don't we stop avoiding the real matter at hand, uh? 'Cause I've got places to be, people to see… You know how life works."

He straightened a little, apparently more serious now.

"We have known each other for almost a week now. Each time, you arrived late in class. You skipped a few of your lessons, you left early two times, and you pay absolutely no attention when you actually bother showing up to class. You haven't even attempted to kill me yet! So tell me, Naoki-san: what have you so busy that you can't afford to actually succeed in your studies?"

"That's none of yer business. What I do with ma time isn't any of yer concern," she scowled a little. "And if I haven't tried ta kill ya yet, it's 'cause I know I can't. Just today's incident was enough ta make it definitive: none of us are strong enough ta kill ya, even less me. Have ya got any idea of how terrifying that was?" Her tone rose a little. "I'm a coward, sensei, through and through. I've always been taught ta run from da fights I can't win, 'cause that's one of da rules if ya want ta survive in this world. There's just no going against da natural order of things!"

The yellow creature stared at his student for a moment. Her arms were crossed over her chest in a defensive position, and she wasn't looking at him per se, either. Her eyes were actually fixated on the wall behind him. Her knuckles had turned white, and he could hear the maddening pace of her heart.

"I never expected you to be such a defeatist, Naoki-san," he admitted.

"I'm being realistic," she snapped, rising to her feet. She then grabbed her bag. "Look, if you're going ta waste ma time, then count me out. I've got better things ta do!"

As she reached the door, though, he suddenly appeared between her and the exit at Mach 20, tentacles wriggling frantically.

"W- wait!" he begged, flustered.

Gotcha.

She extended her hand, as if to push him out of the way. At the last moment, though, the knife slipped from her sleeve and she slashed it at his face. His small eyes widened somewhat as he barely managed to avoid the hit, and she used the opportunity to slip between two of his tentacles… before promptly cutting them off. Yellow liquid spurted out.

The teacher instantly disappeared.

Blinking a few times, startled, the teen then huffed in annoyance. Spinning on her heels, she twirled the knife in her hands as she faced her sensei again, who was now standing at the complete opposite of her.

"Tche," she grunted, putting away her weapon.

"Naoki-san…" His two tentacles regenerated, and his face suddenly turned orange as his smile widened, if possible. "What a wonderful assassination that was! Have you been planning for a while?"

"Since your arrival in this class," she shrugged, lifting her bag on her shoulder. "I knew you had heard of me before since you knew me by name and obviously by reputation. I simply decided to play with your expectations of me, which forced you to lower your guard."

"And your earlier outburst…?"

"Was partially true," she admitted, running a hand through her hair. "You scared the crap out of me, sensei. However, un-killable being or not, I'm not about to give up so easily on the bounty. I want the big prize, sensei! Now my cover's blown, though, so I guess surprise attacks won't work as well anymore…"

He chuckled, green stripes spreading over his face. Then, he was once again next to her, though this time patting her head. The teen stiffened at the touch. Despite the oddness of the situation, she could still feel the pride in this simple gesture.

"You have great potential, Naoki-san, both as a student and as an assassin. However, I must make things clear: from now on, you no longer will be late to class, nor will you skip said class. If you do not obey those rules, then I will have you disqualified from the assassination race."

"What?" she protested, stepping back. "Ya can't do that!"

"If you are not ready to pour all of your efforts into your studies and your assassination, then you are not fit to do both," he replied, his tone even. "Your access to the special weapons and ammo will be refused, and you no longer will be allowed to take place in any of your classmates' attempts to kill me. Have I made myself clear?"

The teen lowered her eyes, her grip tightening on her bag. In a way, she knew he was right. She knew that skipping and failing her studies like that wasn't any good, but she simply couldn't bring herself to really care about it. However, the idea of being kicked out of the assassination mission left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth, one of defeat.

Ame didn't know defeat. When she accepted a challenge, she went through with it.

And I need the money too. Her grip tightened even more. This opportunity… I can't mess this up!

"Fine," she bit out, gritting her teeth. She then looked back to her sensei. "Fine! I won't skip if I can help it, and I'll try to always be on time from now on. But… I've gotta be honest with you about something, sensei. Or rather, two things."

"Go on, Naoki-san. I'm all ears."

"First, believe it or not, but there's an actual reason as to why I always come in after the roll call," she informed. She wasn't exactly comfortable with what she was about to share, but she had no choice at the moment. "It's just… Ugh, I don't like guns, 'kay? They bring back… bad memories, to say the least. I can look at them without much problem, but hearing… Anyway, having a morning shooting round doesn't exactly make my day."

"Ah, I understand, now," he nodded, thoughtful. "If you can promise me to be on time as much as you can manage, then I can promise you that I will find a solution to your little problem. What is the other 'thing', then?"

"Err…" She couldn't tell him everything either, but today had shown her that she wouldn't be able to act as per usual if she didn't tell him the basics. "I've got a job. And they often call for me when I'm at school. I need the money, so that's why I often end up leaving early. For that situation… I'm sorry, but I simply can't ignore them. Or at least, not all of them. I need that money. Right now… right now, it's more important than anything else."

Once again, Korosensei stared at her for a moment, deep in thoughts. Then, he chuckled yet again, and she scowled a little.

"What's so funny?"

"How about a deal, Naoki-san?" he then proposed. Again, she was painfully reminded of Yukimura-sensei. "If ever you receive such a call during class hours, then you will be allowed to leave. That is…" Green stripes once again spread on his face. "If you can manage to escape."

"… what?"

"It is just as I said! If in class, you escape the classroom. If outside, you escape the campus itself. If you can manage that, then I'll let you go. However, if I catch you while you try to escape, then you have to give up and pursue with your usual day 'til the end. So, feeling up to the challenge, Naoki-san?"

The girl's right eye twitched. "Don't look down on me. I'm a master at evasion tactics! I'm game, Korosensei. Let the best of us win!"

"Niryufufufu," laughed her teacher. "Let's have a fun class together this year, Naoki-san, and good luck." His green stripes became even more pronounced. "You're going to need it."

.

.

"Well, you sure find yourself in a pinch, uh?"

"Ugh, I know."

Inu chuckled at the face she was making, apparently finding her plight amusing. He then shook his head, reporting his attention on the flowers he was arranging. With a sigh, Ame leaned back into the couch and watched him work. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, she found herself slowly forgetting about her troubles as the scent of the flowers filled the air.

Inu was nineteen, only four years her senior, but he always looked much older than his age. He was extremely talented too, and always accomplished his missions without any trouble. In the group, he was the best tracker. He could find any target in record time, anywhere, anytime, under any condition. He had already joined when she was initiated, and they instantly hit it off, what with being the youngest members of the Zodiac.

"Ne, Inu?" He never told her his real name, like many of the others. "Where are the other members? I know Saru is somewhere in America with Tora, Ratto, and Ondori, and I also know that Usagi is somewhere in the base working on our security system, but what about everyone else?"

"Curious, aren't you?" he mused while carefully cutting one of the flowers. "Well, Hebi, Uma, and Yagi are on an infiltration mission together. Ryu is planning in his study along with Buta, Same is somewhere in Kyoto, Buru is still undercover and Karasu… well, he's Karasu: he's pretty much everywhere."

That earned a laugh from the teen. "True that. And they all know about Korosensei?"

"Kid, we knew before you did," he mused. "Though none of us would have guessed that he'd become your sensei. Still claiming the bounty?"

"Aa. I'll tell you guys if I ever need reinforcement," she confirmed.

Always well informed, the Zodiac members had learned of Korosensei as soon as the lab exploded. A week later, the bounty for the creature's head had made a huge wave in the Underworld, and they had instantly started gathering their information. After all, there was no doubt that many would pay for their services soon enough.

The look of pure surprise on most of their faces had been totally worth it, though. None had expected that octopus to actually become her teacher, of all things. She placed her claim on the mission, something all of the members respected but, of course, that wouldn't stop the group form selling their info to the greatest buyer. They had to make money somehow, after all.

The Zodiac was one of the shadow clans of the Sumiyoshi-Kai, the third largest Yakuza group in Japan. They were hardly known by the other clans, if not at all, and were an extremely closed group. Officially, they owned the territory around Tokyo, but let smaller gangs run around freely as long as they paid for it. Half of the profit they made was handed to the Zodiac, and they could do whatever they wanted with the other half. Drugs, gambling, and other illegal activities were allowed, as long as they didn't involve children under the age of fifteen.

The members of the Zodiac itself were not allowed to involve themselves in such activities. Saved for some gambling, they were more into information gathering and more… specialized, missions. They usually acted for their own ambitions but helped if they could manage to do so without compromising themselves.

They were Ame's second family. Or third, depending on how you looked at it. She didn't know the real identity or even the name of most of the members, but she still considered them like her brothers and sisters, or weird aunts and uncles. They always looked out for her and taught her a lot of useful things and, frankly, the only reason she wasn't a full-time member like the rest of them was that they still hoped she'd be able to have a better future than that. Ame didn't care about that stuff, though. She couldn't wait for the school year to be over with because then, they'd finally have to accept her decision of truly, fully joining the Zodiac.

Well, if they managed to get rid of the crazy octopus first, of course.

Ame got home early that day. She didn't have any mission, and she didn't feel up for going on a run or anything. Despite the brave front she put up, she was still a little shaken by Korosensei's outburst. She had faced strong killing intent before, but even Saru's couldn't compare.

Someone suddenly knocked on her door. Before she could answer, it slammed open, revealing a grinning boy. With short, messy brown hair and a small scar over his right eye, he was spinning a basketball ball in his hands.

"Kiba! I told you to stop barging in like that!" she protested.

"Whatever. You said we'd play when you were free!" he replied.

"Who said I was free?" she replied, lifting an eyebrow. "Maybe I was about to do my homework, you know?"

The boy scoffed, throwing her the ball. "You never do your homework, Ame-nee."

"Cheeky brat," she huffed. He wasn't wrong, though. "Tche, fine! I'll kick your ass as per usual."

"As if! I'll beat you this time!"

The challenge taking her mind off of her current preoccupations, the teen wasted no time in leaving her room and slamming the door behind her, shoving the boy a little as she started running.

"Race ya!"

"Wha—no fair! Oi, wait up!"

She simply laughed, going even faster. She could let loose for a little while. The assassination was going to take a lot of her time, she knew that now, and it'd be even harder to hang out with the kids considering she was getting more and more missions.

She'd enjoy her small moments of peace while they lasted.