"Are you sure you have everything?"

"Yes, Obaa-san—"

"Your toothbrush? You didn't forget it, did you?"

"No, I didn't—"

"What about a few changes of clothes? Underwear? Do you need something for your periods—"

"Obaa-san!"

The old woman chuckled a little at Ame's reddening cheeks. She then looked at the luggage on the girl's bed, smiling.

It seemed a little sad, though.

"Your parents would be proud of you," she then remarked softly. "Of you and the woman you're growing up to be."

"O- Obaa-san, where does that even come from?" laughed Ame, a little nervous.

"Ah, ignore this old woman's rambling," replied her grandmother, shaking her head. She then glanced at the clock on the wall. "Though, you should probably get going if you don't want to be late."

"Right, my ride—" The loud honk of a car suddenly blasted through the window, making her cringe. "Yeah, nevermind, they're here."

She quickly gathered her bags, making sure she wasn't forgetting anything, before turning to her grandmother and hugging her tightly.

"Obaa-san… As long as you're proud of me, then the rest doesn't matter," she then whispered.

Her grandmother's grip tightened on her. "I'm always proud of you, Ame."

Suddenly feeling a little emotional, the girl quickly pulled away and, after kissing the woman on the cheek, she quickly left her room. Waving goodbye to the kids on the way out, she stepped outside, only to find Hana waiting for her.

"Took you long enough!" greeted the red-haired beauty.

"Maa, maa, it's not like you have better to do," snorted the teen, jumping in.

"Cheeky brat."

.

.

"I see it! I see it!"

At Kaede's exclamation, Ame tilted her head to get a look at their destination. The island had appeared in the distance and it already looked great, if the green palm trees, the white beach, and the gigantic resort were anything to go by.

"Six hours from Tokyo!"

"The place where we'll kill Korosensei!"

"At last!"

Ame couldn't stop the wolfish grin from stretching her lips.

It's time to claim that bounty!

"Welcome to the Fukuma Resort Hotel! Please, enjoy this tropical juice with our compliments."

Ame simply nodded, grateful for the fresh drink. It was more than hot outside, after all, and they were allowed to relax and enjoy their trip a little, weren't they? They had won it fair and square, after all, and the assassination wouldn't take place until later that night.

"Man, this is the life!" sighed happily Mimura.

"Everything's just so bright and vibrant!" added Kimura.

"We can go directly to the beach from the hotel, and it seems they have plenty of leisure activities available too," remarked cheerfully Korosensei.

"We'll save the you-know-what 'till after dinner," informed Muramatsu. "First, let's have some fun, Korosensei!"

"In groups, like we did on our school trip!" added Yoshida.

"Niryufufufu! I'm all for it. Play hard, kill hard!"

Oh, poor guy. He has no idea of what's coming at him.

.

.

"Are you sure these will work?"

Ame rolled her eyes at Sugaya's disbelieving tone. "Yes, I am. Look, this equipment is top notch, okay? I mean, as long as you don't throw it in the water. The waterproof equipment goes to Group 2."

Group 2 was composed of Sugino, Karma, Nagisa, Rio, and Kaede. They would be the scout team, so to speak: they'd examine the place chosen as the assassination spot from every angle to make sure their plan could be executed without a hitch. That's why Ame had lent them special equipment that'd allow them to stay underwater for a longer time and take more precise calculations, along with communication means.

"How does it work?" wondered Maehara, looking at the strange earing in wonder.

"Easy. You put it over your ear like this—" She attached it to the top of her ear, which was quickly dissimulated by her hair. "—and you hide it with your hair. Since it's the same color tone as your ear, they'll be even harder to notice."

"What good will hearing be if we can't talk?" then pointed out Terasaka.

"Actually, I have a few micro-mikes," shrugged the teen, pulling out a metallic sheet covered in dots. She popped one of the dots out of the sheet, kind of like a pill. "You stick one of those to the back of your teeth, in the back of your mouth, and it'll work for five to six hours. After what, you'll swallow it without even noticing and it'll be digested in a day and a half."

"Is that… really safe, though?" sweatdropped Sugino.

"Yes, it is." She was growing a little impatient, now. "Look, guys, you put me in charge of finding the necessary equipment, to which I agreed. I'd never let you use something if I knew it might hurt you, okay?"

"Ame-san's right," then nodded Isogai, stepping forward. "We trusted her with this task and it's too late to back out now anyway. Though, I suggest only one person per group gets one so that we don't crowd the com."

"Good idea," agreed Ame. "There are five groups, plus me. So, who volunteers?"

Isogai took the micro-mike for Group 1, Kaede took the one for Group 2, Terasaka took the one for Group 3, Kanzaki took the one for Group 4, and finally Hayami took the one for Group 5. Ame herself wasn't part of any group, coordinating the preparations with Ritsu's help.

"Kaede, what's Group 2's situation?" the black-haired teen asked.

"We're almost done and everything seems fine. Nothing should get in the way of the plan."

"Good. Make sure to double check, and don't forget to get changed afterward, so Korosensei doesn't get suspicious," nodded the teen, writing down in her notebook. "Group 1, how's it going?"

"Korosensei just left with Group 3, he doesn't seem suspicious," answered Isogai. "… Also, Maehara wonders, and I quote: 'where the hell did you get this equipment? It's awesome!'—again, his words. Though I gotta say, I'm curious myself."

"The wonders you can find on the internet," she simply replied, amused.

"… Maehara says that's not an answer."

"Well that's the one you're getting!" she chuckled. "Now get your heads back in the game, your job's not done yet. You need to go prep the chapel while Korosensei can't see you."

"Right on it."

"Oh, wait! Now that I think about it…" Ame quickly checked over her notes. "Right. You guys noticed how seasick Korosensei got, right? Isogai-kun, can you go and check if there's any way we can rent out the shipboard restaurant instead of the one on the beach? It might help throw him off his rhythm some more."

"That's a great idea! I'll get to it right away."

"Good. Okay, what about you, Group 5?" she pursued, writing some more things down.

"We left as soon as you gave the signal and we are now looking for our sniper spots," answered calmly Hayami. "I believe Chiba might have found his."

"Good, that's good. Be careful to leave your scent around," reminded the black-haired girl.

"Copy that."

"Okay, so… Kanzaki, where are you guys?"

"We're at the store looking over the equipment. It's all there already!"

"That's great! It arrived earlier than expected…" Ame jotted it down. "Terasaka, don't answer but listen: as soon as Korosensei's done with your group, go join Group 4 to help them move the equipment. The equipment wasn't supposed to be ready until later but since Korosensei will be occupied with Group 5, we'll use that to our advantage: you'll have more time than planned to set everything up, but you'll need to be subtle, okay? Grunt if you got it."

After a few seconds, he grunted.

Satisfied, Ame looked back at her notes. Their plan had been set in motion as soon as they left the city, using every opportunity they got to divert Korosensei's attention. Since he already knew they were planning on assassinating him, getting him by surprise was impossible. However, they could still throw him off and, with how they had planned things, Ame honestly believed they had a chance at killing him.

If everything goes well and he's still alive even after all this work… then I honestly don't know what more we can do.

"Aa? The beach is completely deserted!" Irina had just arrived, and it took her a few seconds to spot Ame. "Well, save for you. Where's everyone else?"

"Working," answered briefly the girl, narrowing her eyes at her notes. Maybe it'll be a little risky to move before dark… No, we'll set up the gear later, as planned. "Terasaka, forget about the last instructions. It's too risky and, if you're seen, it's as good as over. Just try to keep Korosensei busy a while longer, to give Group 5 some more time to set up."

"Ah? Just make up your mind already—no, stop it, damn octopus! I wasn't talking to—ugh, forget it."

Irina lifted an eyebrow at her. "Terasaka? You're talking to him live?"

"Everyone's connected right now," confirmed the teen, flipping through the pages of her notebook. "We're—hey! Give it back!"

The pro assassin completely ignored her, though, reading through her notes with eyes sharpened by experience. After a few more seconds, she glanced at the girl.

"Who taught you to write in codes?"

Ame clicked her tongue in annoyance. "We're back to that, really? Look, I've got my secrets just as much as anyone else. Just leave it be already."

After a few seconds, the woman scoffed and threw the notebook back. The teen easily caught it, glad her teacher had decided to forget about it.

Red Eye's right, though. I totally lost the habit of hiding what I can do and what I know. If I get too complacent, it'll get me in trouble.

Well, I doubt it could be worse than my name on the Dark List, but still.

"The last guest just left," suddenly announced Karasuma, showing up from nowhere. "The E-Class has rented out the hotel and its environs. This assassination…" He looked down at the papers in his hands. "It's the biggest one yet. So far, it's gone off without a hitch, but…"

"You're worried something might go wrong?" easily guessed Ame, lying back on the chair with her arms crossed behind her head. "Understandable. There's nothing more we can do, though. Every group is accomplishing its part of the job and as of now, everything's going smoothly."

"I saw the documents," huffed Irina, annoyed Karasuma hadn't even glanced at her sexy swimsuit. "A complex plan like this should go off the rails once or twice. Do I look like I'm just having fun? No, I'm gunning for my share of the spoils. I'll have my chance when the brats' plan goes awry—and I won't let it get away."

"You'll fail," replied flatly Ame.

"Aa!? You little—"

"The chances of Korosensei living long enough to see tomorrow's morning are getting lower and lower each passing hour," sighed the girl, shaking off the woman's rant. "To be honest, there's nothing left to do. Now, we can just wait, and hope it'll work out." She then looked back at Karasuma. "Any other worries you feel like sharing?"

"Yes. Where did you get this kind of communication tech?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "I saw you give out the micro-mikes and the ear-coms earlier. This isn't the kind of technology you can get just by ordering it online."

"Depends from where you're ordering it online," she pointed out, amused. "Though, does it really matter? I mean, it gets the job done, doesn't it?"

"One day I'll make you spill, Naoki, and you better have a good explanation," he retorted.

He was only half-serious about it, though. After all, he had long since given up on unraveling the walking mystery that was Naoki Ame.

.

.

"Phew! What fun that was! No wonder I'm so tan!"

Am sweatdropped at that. "You're not tan, Korosensei—you're burnt to a crisp."

"Even his teeth are tan," mused Kimura.

"So much for reading his expressions," remarked Okano.

"Well, Korosensei, after dinner comes the assassination," announced Isogai.

"Yes, yes! But first, the shipboard restaurant!"

All excited, their teacher quickly headed away, taking the lead. The rest of the students could only sigh. Hadn't he had enough excitement for one day already?

"To think we had to pretend we had fun while we got everything ready," muttered Terasaka.

"Though, it did go rather smoothly, uh?" pointed out Kaede, a tad amazed. "We always knew where Korosensei was—at all times! And we got everything ready in no time!"

"I guess it's thanks to Ame and Ritsu's awesome coordinating!" grinned Rio, slinging an arm around her friend's neck. She started rubbing her fist against her head. "So cool, Ame!"

"Gah, knock it off, Rio!" protested the teen, struggling to get away.

The blonde simply laughed.

"Here we are, at the shipboard restaurant we've rented out. Let's slowly savor our meal as we take in the night sea," suggested Isogai, falling back into his waiter persona.

"I get it…" chuckled Korosensei. "First you'll get me good and seasick to weaken my capabilities, eh?"

"Of course," confirmed confidently the class representative. "That's assassination 101."

"You're so right." Korosensei didn't seem all that worried, though. "But will it really work that well? Seasickness is no match for a teacher who's all pumped up anticipating a wonderful assassination—"

"You're too dark!" suddenly snapped all the students, unable to read his expression.

I bet his face is covered in green stripes right now, but I can't see a damn thing!

"… Am I really that dark?"

"Forget your expression—we can't even tell front from back!" replied Rio, annoyed.

"It's too confusing. Do something, would you?" added Takaoka.

"Niryufufufu! Have you forgotten, students? I can molt and, in doing so, shed this dark skin!" He moved too fast for the human eye to follow and, next thing everyone knew, his skin was back to its normal yellow—well, as normal as yellow skin could be. "There! Back to normal."

"Oh! That's your once-monthly molt!" gasped Fuwa.

"Just another of its uses!" replied Korosensei, all proud of himself. "I tend to save it for particularly sticky situations, but—" He suddenly stiffened. "GAH! WHAT DID I DO!?"

Ame facepalmed at that. How much more of an idiot could he be? He had just shed his once-monthly ace without even thinking about it twice!

To think this wasn't even part of the plan…

But hey, who were they to look at a gifted horse in the mouth?

.

.

"All right, Korosensei. It's after dinner!" announced Maehara.

"Here's where we're meeting," added Sugaya. "A floating chapel, away from the hotel."

Ame could only grin as they all stepped inside, spreading in the little cabin, while Korosensei was invited to take a seat before the television placed at the front.

"This is going to be a fun assassination!" exclaimed Mimura.

"First, we'll start with a movie," informed Okajima, obviously impatient to get started.

"Your intelligence, inventiveness, and your earnest efforts…" Korosensei's eternal grin widened. "That's what I most look forward to. I expect a no-holds-barred assassination! Now, then… What on Earth are you going to do?"

"First, you'll be enjoying a video Mimura put together," answered Isogai. "Then, the eight top-testers will destroy nine of your tentacles. That'll be the signal for us all to jump in and begin the assassination. Does that sound all right, Korosensei?"

"More than all right," nodded their teacher, apparently eager to begin.

"Thanks for setting this up, Mimura," thanked Sugaya, patting the boy's shoulder.

"Ah, it was hard work—I was editing all through dinner!" chuckled the boy.

"Very well. Shall we get started?" suggested their teacher, sitting more comfortably. "No need to hold back. Come right at me!"

"Then here we go, Korosensei," warned Ame.

She then turned off the light. Almost instantly, the video started. The black-haired girl bit back a knowing grin as the students started discreetly moving while their teacher paid attention to the little movie Mimura had worked on. It had been Karma's idea, no surprise about it, and it was probably the only part of the plan that all of them were a hundred-percent certain would work.

The plan is in motion. In exactly one hour and four minutes, we'll move in.

Now… now, we can only wait.

One hour and four minutes later

"I- I'm dead… I'm already dead…"

Ame snorted, turning the lights back on. "You're really pathetic, you know that?"

"For all that to be out in the open… I can't go on living…"

Well, he asked us not to hold back, but maybe it was a little harsh after all, she sweatdropped internally.

"Now, did you happen to notice anything while you sat through our top-secret video, Korosensei?" asked gingerly Rio.

Ame pulled out her knives, exchanging eager grins with the other seven students in charge of getting rid of the tentacles. At the same moment, Korosensei somehow managed to snap out of his shock to finally notice the water that had slowly been filling the chapel since the beginning of the video. Thanks to the natural high tide, he couldn't sense it until it was too late.

"Well, someone must have shortened the supports pilings of the chapel," taunted Terasaka.

"Boat-sick, shamed, and now waterlogged…" resumed Rio, grinning. "You've slowed down quite a bit, haven't you?"

All of the students aimed their guns at once. Already prepared, Ame twirled one of her knives, her fingers practically aching to throw them.

A few seconds more…

"And let's not forget you shed your monthly-molt," the black-haired teen added, taking her stance. "It's time to keep your promise, Korosensei. No dodging~!"

That was the magic words for Ritsu, who instantly gave the signal for the beginning of the operation. Although the micro-mikes no longer worked saved for Ame's, since she put another one earlier, they were all still connected through the small earrings.

"Commence operation," ordered Isogai. "Fire!"

All of the students instantly fired on their respective tentacles, Ame throwing her two knives along and effectively destroying two of them. Korosensei flinched but didn't dodge, true to his word, as they knew he'd be.

"5 seconds elapsed."

That was the signal for the second team to move in. Karma, Kaede, Takebayashi, and Hara instantly fired up their engines while the students inside the chapel backed away to take cover. A moment later, the chapel fell apart thanks to the jet-skis pulling on its walls—leaving Korosensei wide in the open. He instantly lost his composure at the sudden change of environment, panic settling in.

"35 seconds elapsed."

A moment later, the rest of the students of the E-Class suddenly burst out of the water, flying above the ocean using the fly-boards Ame had ordered online a few days earlier. They quickly linked their arms together, forming an inescapable cage around Korosensei and thus cutting off any possible escape route.

"53 seconds elapsed."

The top-testers, saved for Ame, instantly jumped in on the fun, running around to surround him. Ritsu's box-body came out of the water and took aim with her guns. At once, they started firing. Instead of aiming for their teacher, though, they aimed at each other's bullets. It only confused him even more, slowing down his reaction time a bit more.

"56 seconds elapsed."

Ame threw her knives at his "feet", instantly drawing his attention. That was the opening Hayami and Chiba were waiting for. The dummies left on the shore had done their job at distracting Korosensei and with the confusion caused by the hail of bullets, the hydraulic cage cutting off his route and the opening Ame now provided them with, they had the perfect shots.

They fired in less than a second.

"Game over!"

A gigantic explosion followed.

Not expecting such a reaction, Ame didn't move in time and got blasted away along with the rest of the students. Her body hit the body somewhat harshly, but the blow wasn't enough to knock her out and she easily swam back up. Her head broke the surface, her ears ringing a little and the breath completely knocked out of her. It took her a few seconds to understand what exactly had just happened as she noticed her classmates in much a similar state and the completely destroyed chapel.

"Did we- did we get him?" she asked, coughing a little.

"Stay alert!" barked Karasuma, running up the dock. "He can regenerate! Isogai, Kataoka: change of plans. Watch the water!"

"Y- yes sir!"

Ame wouldn't be able to fight in the water, that much she knew. She made a face when realizing she had lost most of her knives but didn't ponder on it, simply swimming back to the dock. As soon as she climbed on, though, Kaede's cry got everyone's attention.

"Look! Over there!"

Ame narrowed her eyes at the indicated spot. It was quite far and it was getting dark, but she could still see loads of bubbles breaking the surface of the water.

This can't be… He had nowhere to run! This was the perfect assassination plan! He can't have survived that—

From the water suddenly burst… a round sphere with Korosensei's head in it.

… wait, what?

"Niryufufufu!" That was his laugh. Despite clearly lacking a body… their teacher was still very much alive. "My trump card of all trump cards: my perfect defense form! The exterior is crystallized high-density condensed energy. Otherwise said, the energy left over upon shrinking my body down hardens in a shell around it. In this form, I'm absolutely invincible!"

"No way… If you always stay in that form, we can never kill you!" protested Yada.

"If only that were the case," replied the octopus, amused. "This energy crystal will decay in about a day and, the moment it does, my body will re-inflate, absorbing energy and returning to its usual form. On the other hand, for the approximately one day until this crystal decays, I can't move an inch. That brings with it certain risks. What I'm most afraid of is being placed into a high-speed rocket during that time and discarded in the far reaches of outer space… But I've thoroughly studied that eventuality. Nowhere in the world is there a rocket capable of making that flight within 24 hours."

There was a moment of silence until Nagisa broke it. "So… we failed…?"

"Invincible my ass!" barked Terasaka, suddenly picking up the sphere in which was trapped their teacher. "Something like this has gotta be breakable somehow!"

He started hitting it with a wrench, but to no avail.

"I see!" exclaimed Karma, back on the dock and standing next to Ame. "Pass!"

Terasaka complied begrudgingly; annoyed he couldn't even leave a dent. Karma grinned evilly as he caught Korosensei and, without wasting a moment, he showed him his phone—on which was a picture of their teacher reading porn magazines. As the octopus started freaking out, the other students could only sigh in defeat. After all of their hard work, they still couldn't succeed and their assassination had failed miserably.

"Ah… ah ah ah…"

They all looked up in confusion. Who was laughing—

"Ahahahahaha!" All eyes snapped to Ame as the girl burst in laughter, holding her stomach. "This- this was awesome!"

She snapped! All the students thought, nervous sweats rolling down their foreheads.

"A- Ame… are you… okay?" asked Rio, a little worried.

"Okay?" Ame jumped to her feet, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm more than okay! Don't you even realize what we've done? We've managed to push Korosensei to his limit—something no one else has managed so far! We forced him to use his ultimate trump card and we've gotten farther than any other assassin ever has! It's simply amazing! It's—" She suddenly paused, clearly confused. "—I have no idea of what I'm saying. Why am I so cheerful?"

She really snapped, cringed internally her classmates.

Most of it was the adrenaline talking, but Ame believed every word of it. Contrarily to what she was expecting, their failure didn't taste bitter. In fact, it didn't feel like a failure at all. Sure, he was still alive, but they still got one step closer and uncovered one of his greatest aces. That had to count for something, right? Their hard work had paid off, and she couldn't be happier.

"Seeing you so positive is a little freaky," snorted Rio, shaking her head. "But I guess you have a point."

At that, the tension in the air lessened. Ame had a good point and it did make them feel a little better about the whole affair and, soon enough, the fire was back in their eyes.

We'll get him next time! They all swore internally.

"We'll disperse for now, students," then announced Karasuma, taking hold of Korosensei. "The top brass and I will discuss how to deal with this one."

"Going to throw me in a pool full of anti-me material?" Korosensei laughed as the man placed him in a plastic bag. "It won't work. A portion of my energy would explode; like before, the blast would send everything nearby flying. But… you should be proud. As Naoki-san so wisely said, even the armies of the world couldn't get this far with me. It all comes down to the magnificence of your plan."

The praises lifted everyone's spirits a little more but, despite their determination slowly growing again, it was easy to tell everyone was still very much disappointed at how things had turned out. Many also seemed unusually exhausted, though it was probably the backlash of all their hard work. So, it was with a weight on their shoulders that the students of the E-Class made their way back to the hotel.

.

.

Why am I so cheerful? I just can't stop grinning… It didn't take long for Ame to notice that the adrenaline shouldn't last this long or affect her this much and that something was actually wrong with her. I remember Hana mentioning this as a light symptom of some poisons. I've built up an immunity to most but, if I ingested too much without noticing, I can still be affected in some way. Could an assassin have left the Citadel and gone after me? But when? I was with everyone the entire day!

Such a state could greatly dull her senses and mess with her head, too. It felt as if energy was buzzing through her entire body and she could barely stay in place. She knew that, if trouble arose, she'd get reckless.

What's going on with me? I have no control whatsoever!

Around her, her fellow students were too exhausted, both mentally and physically, to really notice her state. Most were slumped over their table, their heads hidden between their arms, and all the students were deadly silent, reflecting on the failed assassination.

"Ritsu?" Ame snapped her eyes to Chiba. "You recorded the attempt, right?"

"Yes: all of the assassination, with a high-speed camera whenever possible," confirmed the purple-haired program.

"I knew the second I fired that I'd missed," admitted the boy, lowering his head. "That my bullet couldn't kill him."

"I can't say for sure," replied Ritsu, going over some calculations. "The exact time it took him to move into that form is unclear. However, if your shot had been 0.5 seconds faster, or if Hayami-san's had been 30 centimeters closer, you would have had a 50 percent chance of killing him before he noticed."

"… I was so confident. I mean, in rehearsal, we practiced firing from even less stable spot—and I didn't miss. But when the time came, my fingers stiffened and my vision narrowed."

"Same here," nodded curtly Hayami.

"The pressure of absolutely not being allowed to miss. That crucial now-or-never moment…"

"To think it'd be this different from practice…" muttered the female sniper.

Chiba simply gritted his teeth.

"It's not your fault." They lifted their heads in surprise as Ame approached their table, a serious expression over her face. She reigned in her unusual giddiness, but couldn't stop her mouth from moving. "It's no one's fault. The plan failed, and that's that. I understand it's easy to blame yourselves for what happened, but none of us think you're at fault. We worked hard, and you should be proud of the result. We did something amazing tonight, and you guys are the only people who ever got so close to killing him—in the entire world, including the pros." She turned to the rest of the group, crossing her arms over her chest. "This is just a minor set-back. We still have half of the school year left, and now? Now, we know what to expect, we learned to use our strengths, and we learned of our weaknesses. Next time, we'll be more prepared. Next time, we will kill him. Got it?"

"Ugh, I don't understand how you can be so energetic…" groaned Maehara, looking a little red in the face. "I'm just so exhausted!"

"Let's head back to our room and rest," added Mimura in a drowsy voice. "I really don't feel like doing anything…"

"What? One lousy miss and you lose all your oomph?" snapped back Terasaka, annoyed. "We did what we were supposed to do, so tomorrow we can just enjoy ourselves!"

Ame narrowed her eyes a little at that, letting her eyes wander across the plaza. More or less half of the students seemed completely out of it or extremely tired. Some were sweating heavily, their faces red and their eyes almost closing by themselves. The other half of the class seemed completely fine, though, just suffering from low morale.

There's no way…

"Ooh, yeah! Tomorrow I get to take in some swim-suited beauties for sure!" dreamed Okajima.

He looks… almost delirious…!?

No. No way. This can't be. There's just no way—

"Ame, can I just… lean on you for a bit…" Rio was swaying a little in place. "I just… just need…"

"Rio!"

A second later, the blonde collapsed. Easily catching her, Ame's eyes widened when realizing how bad of a shape she was in.

"I- I want to go back to my room and change…" Her friend offered a tentative smile, but it didn't reassure her in the least. "But I can't… can't seem to move…"

"You're burning up!" gasped the black-haired girl, feeling the heat from the girl's forehead without even touching it. "Crap!"

"Okajima-kun!" suddenly exclaimed Nagisa.

Ame felt her heart miss a beat as Okajima collapsed, blood spurting out of his nose. It wasn't a perverted nosebleed, though—there was too much blood for that. It didn't take much longer for the rest of the exhausted students to collapse.

This is bad this is bad this is bad this is bad bad bad bad—

"Oi! What's happening here?" exclaimed Karasuma, suddenly stepping outside.

"Poison," murmured Ame, though it really was as if she had just yelled it for the world to hear considering the heavy silence. "It's poison."

Karasuma narrowed his eyes at her. "What?"

"T- there's no time!" She turned to the waitress, worried. "Ma'am, where's the hospital on this island?"

"W- well, it's just a small island…" stuttered out the woman, startled. "T- there isn't one—"

"What? How can there not be a hospital!?" snapped the teen, her hands practically shaking with worry and pent up energy. "This is an isolated island and da nearest city is six hours from here! What kind of idiot builds a resort here without thinkin' of buildin' a small hospital in case of emergencies like this!?"

"Naoki, enough!" snapped Karasuma, forcing her away from the terrified waitress. "What do you mean by poison?"

"The symptoms. The timing. The people affected," she resumed, breathing in and out quickly to clear her mind. "Everything doesn't add up. The class was targeted!"

Understanding dawned on him. "You got infected?"

"I've built up an immunity to poison ages ago," she reminded him, shaking her head. "I mean, I did ingest it one way or the other, but it won't affect me in the same way because of my immunity. I'll be fine, but the others—"

A ringing sound suddenly echoed, cutting her off. Both startled at that before Karasuma pulled out his phone. His eyes widened when he realized it was an unknown number. After a moment of hesitation, though, he answered.

"Yes?"

"Hey, teach. Your precious students seem to be in a really bad way."

"Wha—who's this!?" snapped the man.

Ame was simply listening, using her ear-com to tune in on the conversation. She couldn't recognize the voice but the tone was inhuman: the person talking was modifying their real voice. That heightened the chances that it was someone they would surely be able to recognize on the spot if they heard their actual voice.

But who?

"Who I am doesn't matter. Those brats aren't the only ones going after that marked man."

"You mean you did this?"

Ritsu had connected everyone's phones to the ongoing conversation, thus allowing the rest of the students to follow.

Things weren't looking so bright, though.

"Eh, eh, eh, how observant. It's an artificial virus. Once you're infected, it's all over. The incubation period and initial symptoms vary, but after a week, the body's cells will be shredded, ending in… death." Ame's eyes widened in horror. "There's only one remedy, likewise an original concoction; unfortunately, I'm the only one who has it. It's too much of a bother to give it to you, so you'd better come to get it directly. You see, there's a hotel atop this island's mountain. And bring me the one with the bounty."

So that assassin isn't after me, understood Ame. They're aiming for Korosensei, using us and his current state against him.

"Come up to the top floor in the next hour. Though, teach, you seem pretty tough. Dangerous, even. So send your shortest student still standing, a boy. And send the girl with the bounty, too." Crap, talked too fast! "We'll talk at the front desk here. Follow the rules and we'll swap the target for the remedy, and that'll be that. But contact any outsider or be even a little late and the remedy will be destroyed."

Ame paled, looking around. The shortest boy student still standing was Nagisa, and she couldn't help but feel the assassin was a little too specific. It only seemed to indicate it truly was someone they had met before, or who at least knew of them.

"I've got to thank you for immobilizing him like that, though. Looks like the gods are on our side."

On which the call was cut and the reality of the situation suddenly dawned on everyone. As of now, the game had reached a whole new level, with a third party happily joining the fray and obviously intending on making his own rules.