Disclaimer: I do not own Assassination Classroom.
XXIII.
I woke up with a silent scream on my lips, broken images flashing across my inner eye. I couldn't even start to comprehend, what I was seeing, before it all vanished.
My breathing was too loud for my ears, too heavy and my heartbeat was set in an erratic pace.
What the hell had that been?
That night I didn't find any sleep again.
Admittedly, letting Karma kiss me wasn't my best decision. I had liked it, but somehow giving Karma hope like that... was wrong of me.
Okay, I was mentally older, which was even weirder, because I was 25 years his senior. Hell, I could be his mother if I went by age. At least I had the mind of a 25 years old, I still didn't know whether I was simply crazy or really reborn, but let's not dwell on that.
That only lead to insanity.
(You sure, you aren't insane already?)
...Shut up.
Yeah, in my mind I was older, but at the same time I was physically a 15-year-old school girl with hormones raging in my body and influencing my mind. Which really confused me sometimes. Especially lately, when everything seemed to be crazier than usual.
I was not just talking about my class.
Still, that was probably not an excuse. But I couldn't bring myself to regret it. I did not like to regret things, regrets made life only harder. This did not mean that didn't have some, but I tried to make only few of them. It had been more done impulsively than anything. Simply as that.
I watched Karma more or less bounce on our way to school. I didn't know that a single action could make someone so annoyingly happy. My feelings were conflicted, but Karma was happy, wasn't he?
I was being cruel to him, making him hope like that. Furthermore, I was asking so much from him and I couldn't let him go. I wonder how long it would take until he was fed up with it. Just how-
''Hey, Sayo! Stop standing there and hurry up. I still want to go to the supermarket before school,'' his voice ripped me out of my dark musings.
''Yeah, I'm coming,'' I shouted back, trying not to sound too depressed. ''Damn your long legs. Where's your lunch? I hope you haven't forgotten it again, so that you can get some snacks instead.''
''Oh, shut it, Sayo.'' He rolled his eyes. ''I just want to get a drink.''
I huffed, but speed up my walk anyway. I was oddly reminded of my mom and me. Not that I was so impatient, but my mother had the habit of worrying. Actually... weren't we going on a class trip in a few days? Right, another assassination attempt on sensei and mother hen time for my dear mom.
Since I could do nothing about my mother's habits I focused on assassination.
I should probably consider trying to kill him more. Maybe some kind of pitfall filled with BBs or net trap made from paper thin wires made from anti-sensei material. Or anti-sensei powder?
My ideas all involved putting the for our teacher deadly material into another from. The powder I could grind and the net trap would be probably a bit of work, but manageable. I should probably go requesting again.
Terasaka's grenade had been actually quite good when you ignored the part where Nagisa sacrificed himself. I should ask him about that. He used black powder for that one, didn't he?
Some clothes made from the harming material would be practical too.
I frowned.
If the government knew of the structure of sensei's cells, why didn't they develop some kind of laser or something else that would be able to catch our teacher? Light was still faster than our teacher after all.
Some kind of beam that could destroy Koro-sensei's cells. Though that was kind of straight out of a fiction book. If I could come up with theories like that, why wouldn't the world's best professors not be able to and develop it with their funds. I didn't know how much our teacher differed from us, but he had to have another cell structure. We weren't harmed by the anti-sensei material after all.
But he behaved just like a normal human, which made me sometimes think. Of course, we were saving the world by it, but... that guy was the best that could have ever happened to class E, including me. I never had so much fun before if I was honest.
But Koro-sensei wouldn't like it one bit if I would come at him only halfheartedly. Killing him was like a goal that we could only dream to reach, but tried anyway.
I wanted to kill him. Not anyone else but my class and me. Just I was maybe a bit afraid of that that would come after. I could just brush it off like usually, but what if things go wrong? Because I wouldn't be the only one affected. My class was in this too. If this universe was supposed to be a shounen manga at first things could go awry fast. Very fast.
I think I had the right to worry, didn't I?
''-yo, Sayo. SAYO!'' I jumped and whirled around.
''What?!'' My heart was beating too fast for my liking and I had positioned myself so that I would be able to sprint away any given chance.
Surprise appeared on Karma's face.
''Sayori, are you alright?''
''I-'' I took a minute to gather my thoughts. ''I think I am. I suppose I lack a bit of sleep.''
Karma still looked concerned and moved to put his hand on my forehead.
''You aren't warm,'' he said, frowning. ''But are you sure that you don't feel sick? It could be like last time.''
I shook my head.
''I'm fine. Just need a bit if rest,'' I assured him.
''Okay, then.'' Then he added jokingly. ''Sleep in class. Koro-sensei will give you warm milk and a blanket and then you can go and dream of me.''
I quirked my lips.
''Why dream of a fake, when I have the better original directly in front of me?'' I purred, with all the lessons of Jelavic-sensei backing me up.
Karma's face matched his hair the second he had understood what I had said. He knew I was teasing him, at least I thought he did. After all he started it. Childish, yes, but I had never claimed to be overly mature.
I let my friend stand there and went on. He would catch up when he was done.
School had been normal today. The usual assassination attempt, the ridiculous way of teaching and an hour P.E. with dearest Karasuma-sensei, who didn't exactly seem as annoyed with me as before now. But it may have to do something with his speech and our impending class trip.
Ah, yes did I mention? I got glasses now. At an appointment with a doctor I had been diagnosed with a minor case of astigmatism, which explained why couldn't really focus on targets very well. They kind of blurred. Not that I noticed, since I was always just burying my nose in some book. Well... it probably explained my headaches from reading, but I had always brushed them off as exhaustion.
I had been short-sighted before and now was simply reintroduced with glasses.
Yay, professor-styled glasses. We meet you again. In short, I got myself some rimless glasses. Again, as I might add.
Having it diagnosed so late in my life was not great, but I hadn't really missed anything, since I hadn't really learned anything new in class. The only thing that it had influenced until now, were my reading time, because I had to take a break now and then because of headaches, and target shooting.
In shooting, I was better with throwing knifes because notably bigger and heavier than bullets and could get a better feel of them.
Also, hitting a target with big things normally resulted into at least a bit of it hitting, don't you think so?
At least I improved. I could now hit five out of ten targets instead of my meager two out of ten. Okay, it wasn't a really good but undoubtedly an improvement.
''Karma-kun, wanna be in the same group for the class trip?'' I heard Nagisa asking my childhood friend. Interested, I turned my head to them, watching the exchange.
''Sure, but only if Sayo can come too,'' was his answer. Aw, he thought of me.
''Heh, I thought so. She can also join us, but are you sure that Sayori won't mind?'' Nagisa was the one with the common sense and manners. In our class that was definitely a rare thing. Sorry, but I had seen what for things my classmates did. Goldfish dishes and perverted outings only being the top of it.
''Sayo won't mind. Will you?'' he addressed me directly.
''Sure, go on. Don't care.'' I waved my hand nonchalantly. ''As long as you don't go and drag me into something troublesome, Karma.''
''Eh, but Sayo! I would never do that.'' I deadpanned. But before I could say anything Sugino cut me off.
''But Karma, if you pick fights we'll get in trouble,'' the baseball player countered. ''If that's not troublesome I don't know what is.''
''My point exactly,'' I added, still giving Karma an unimpressed look.
He pouted.
''But I even made sure no one would get notice of it and shit. Why don't you trust me~?'' he asked in a whiny voice, while holding a familiar picture of two beat-up looking students, holding their student ID.
I had to smirk at the thing. Guess who took this one? Apparently, we couldn't go out without getting into fights.
Amused, I watched Sugino and Nagisa panic about the picture. Karma stood beside me, smirk evident on his face.
''Are you going to tell them that I helped you taking this picture?'' I asked him out of the blue.
''Not now. The effect will get even better later on.''
I nodded, then yawned.
'''Kay, tell me when you're gonna do that. I'll be sleepin' for a bit,'' I managed to squeeze out, before laying my head on the table.
''Yeah, night,'' I heard him say, before I more or less drifted off. I lacked sleep and now I was going to get it back.
But fate didn't like me and decided not to let me sleep. Or I was just being a drama queen, since there was really no way to sleep during lunch in a classroom. Especially not our classroom.
Anyway, I was woken up by Sugino's loud voice.
''-last member of our group, class idol Kanzaki!''
Still dazed, I watched Sugino show Kanzaki off to the others, which didn't make any sense. Why would he try to show her off? They weren't a couple, despite Sugino's obvious crush, and we already knew her.
I let the baseball player's words wash over me once again.
Last member. He had said last member.
Which was great. I liked Kanzaki. We had been classmates before and spent time with each other-
Yeah... Immediately, I felt guilty.
I had pretty much spent no time with her or spoken with the calm girl at all, except for a casual good morning or goodbye.
I was being a bitch to her, wasn't I? Because somehow, I was part of the reason why she was even in class E. I had encouraged her bad behavior and even took part in it myself.
I winced internally.
I was supposed to be the adult in this, but still had not done the right thing.
My eyes followed Kanzaki's movements and no, I was not stalking. That was Asano's specialty. She was talking to Kayano and Okano about something, probably the trip, and turned around to look me straight into my eyes.
For a moment she was surprised, then something shifted in her eyes that I couldn't recognize, before they turned into anger.
I understood the anger. I truly did and I kind of deserved it, but I couldn't read the other emotion.
Silently, we stared at each other, Kanzaki's expression becoming unreadable now. I wanted to apologize, but now seemed to be the wrong time. In the end Kanzaki was the first one to avert her gaze. Mostly because of some ruckus Jelavic-sensei was causing.
''Come on, Jela-bitch-sensei! You-'' Half of the noise reached my ears but I droned them mostly out. Out of my peripheral vision I could still see Kanzaki talking to Kayano, but soon I focused my eyes on something else. Namely a very thick book in front of me. It was trying to tell me it was a school trip guidebook.
No way in hell. How the fuck could this thing be so thick? It was bigger than my head, dammit.
''Karma, what is that supposed to be?'' I asked the redhead standing at my desk with his own monster in his hands.
''A book, Sayo-chan, a guidebook to be exact. I thought you love books?'' He tried to smirk at me, but looking closely he was having a bit of trouble not to gape at the guidebook.
''Don't call me Sayo-chan, that's just weird,'' I ordered him and grimaced. ''This book is at least 3000 pages thick and I bet he even wrote it all himself. Or even turned himself into a printing house. And produced the paper himself.''
''And you are going to read it all, aren't you?''
I held up my hands.
''Come on, I'm not that crazy.''
''No, but you're an obsessed bookworm.'' He pinned me down with a pointed look. My hands were twitching for the hardcover of the book.
I scowled at him, but didn't deny anything. Instead I hit him for his smug face. With the guidebook.
Hah, serves him right for being an asshole.
I could see something yellow shifting, but ignored it. My mistake. It was yellow. I definitely noticed it by the time Karma moved to flick my forehead, but only hit a yellow tentacle.
''How sad!'' he wailed, tears streaming down his face. I blinked. ''How can you two simply fight with each other, when your sensei is trying to convey his heartfelt feelings to you?! Sensei was so excited when he heard we were going on a class trip!''
I paused a second. Talk about over exited. Then-
''Is that so, you takoyaki? If you say it's going to be so ex-Hai-ting to you then you are certainly, going to fish a few nice memories,'' I was talking shit and really, really enjoyed the way he simply seemed to shut his mouth. ''I will de-fin-itely prepare a nice net to catch you, when you swim out too far. I will fillet you for sure then.''
I inwardly cackled at their stumped faces.
''Oh cod! Are you too koi to say anything now? Hello? Salmon there? This is a good oppor-tuna-ty to kill that octopus there. No? Nobody going to take the bait? Well, fish. I-'' And then a hand closed my mouth, preventing me from speaking. I saw a glimpse of red and immediately poked the person's side. Karma flinched and gave me the chance to slip away. Automatically another chance to talk came.
''Aw, are you all too orcaward to do anything? Well then, sensei.'' I looked up too him. The grin on our teachers face had frozen. I had rattled my entire speech down in a few seconds, apparently not enough time for anyone to react. ''Then I'm giving you a coddy hug now. Don't be so slippery and stay still.''
Stretching my arms so that I would be able to grip him, I moved forward. Everyone could kill me for my horrible puns later. Our teacher was frozen, dang it. Had I known his reaction, I would have planned something for this.
The reaction was instantaneous. I had anti-sensei knives, hidden in my blazer, and could reach them easily, but I had to secure the target first. Everyone else could attack during that, given they would do something.
I saw them shift in a second. Gone were the stumped faces, replaced by sharp blood lust and wicked grins.
My fingers could already feel the soft material of Koro-sensei's clothes and I latched onto them. They were really smooth, his clothes I mean.
For a short while everything seemed to be still. I could feel myself slowly falling forward, gravity pulling my body down and dragging sensei down with me – the slow shuffling of gear and weapons. Ah, they were ready. And suddenly everything spun into action. From my left I saw Hayami, our best sharp shooter aside from Chiba, aiming at sensei, her eyes razor sharp. I was clutching the fabric in my fingers tighter and drew my arms out in a hug-like fashion.
Woah, his body had a weird form and knocking him over had been easier than expected. Like hugging a very light tree made from jelly. Mmmh, jelly...
I was hungry, okay, but it would be better if I concentrated on the situation.
Trying to get a better grip on the body, I shifted slightly. We had almost touched the ground, sensei's body only being short of a few centimeters from the wooden planks. I could see that he was already injured.
Some of my classmates had already gotten stray hits with their guns and many were making their way towards us with knives. Not bad, considering that we hadn't been able to land a single hit on him at the beginning.
At the same time, I felt sensei moving beneath me. And suddenly, or rather like always, when had cornered him, he was gone. Before I could react, I was already dangling in the grasp of some yellow tentacles and my classmates firing at an empty space.
Frustrated, I let out a string of curses. I shouldn't have moved, dammit. He probably used the momentary space to kick the air so fast he would be able to use the counter force to speed away while not affecting me. Instead he had snatched me out of the air and held me now.
For a moment, everyone stared at the blank space and began to search for us. Looking at the scene, I let out a resigned sigh. This had been too uncoordinated. There had been no way, that we could have succeeded. Maybe I should get some new jokes and shock Koro-sensei to Neverland. And there he could play with fairies, help Peter Pan defeat Captain Hook and then deal with Wendy's issues...
Yeah, I was tired. And apparently when I was tired I thought shit. And my brain-to-mouth wasn't on too. Hallelujah, maybe I should stop talking for today.
I continued to stew on those useless thoughts for a while, until I noticed something.
...Something was massaging my shoulders. Something with only three fingers. Realizing who it was, I hastily jerked away and stared at the tentacles that had touched me mere seconds ago. Then I moved my eyes to the face whom the limbs belonged to. I simply stared at him without saying anything. He seemed to be unnerved after a while.
I smirked. Good, serves him right for giving me such a scare. While the massage felt nice, I did take intrusion to my personal space kindly.
''Sensei, please don't do that without warning me.''
He bowed his head slightly as an apology.
''I am sorry, Sayori-kun. Sensei got a bit carried away, but you seemed so tense.'' In a sheepish gesture, he scratched his face with a tentacle. After a short moment, it moved back. ''But I have to ask you, are you alright? You seem a bit more lethargic than usual.''
Just to have something to do with my hands, I took off my glasses to inspect them for dust. They were clean.
''Are you worried, that I won't be able to kill you, sensei?'' One side of my lips curved up. ''Don't worry, I only lack sleep. I kinda act a bit weird when I'm tired.''
Distantly, I was aware that I was being pretty impolite to him, but I shrugged it off. My now behavior was mildly based on Karma's, I found out. Well, I could pull off a Karma imitation, maybe I can act like someone else next time.
Sensei seemed to grin a bit weirdly. Not that it was easy to tell with his face, but I could simply feel that he was amused.
''I can tell, Sayori-kun. Though sensei must admit, you were the last one I expected to like puns. Your humor almost rivals mine.'' He nodded sagely. I didn't know what for an expression to wear, so I decided on a shit-eating grin.
''Glad to hear that, Koro-sensei. From now on we shall be pun rivals,'' I announced with all seriousness, which admittedly wasn't much.
I heard a groan behind me. Apparently, Karma and the others had reached us by now and had been listening to our conversation. Now my childhood friend looked very exasperated and on the verge of... I didn't know what it was.
He stepped forward to sling his arm around my shoulder. I twitched slightly from the sudden weight on my shoulders. The little shit was using me as an armrest.
''Sayooooo~ Why did it have to be fish puns? Today's dinner was supposed to be fish. Now I won't be able to look at it without laughing. And I can't eat then!'' His voice was pitched to a really annoying sound. It was probably revenge for not telling him my non-existent plan.
''You can always come over. We're not having fish today,'' I paused. ''I think.''
I totally deserved the look he gave me.
Well, today's plan was a failure. Let's see what's going to happen in Kyoto.
''Sayo-chan! Take your pajamas with you. And your hair-dryer. Don't forget to take your underwear with you!'' My mother's voice carried through the house. The evening before the school trip, she was fretting over my bags and I would have loved to let her do it, but she insisted I should do it myself.
You are already a big girl, she said. Yeah, I had laughed right in front of her face. What for a bad child I was and she was still worrying. In the end, she had checked at least two times, that I had everything with me and still wanted to visit Karma to see his things.
We had dinner at Karma's and funnily enough fish, of all things possible, had been the main dish.
In the evening, I was sitting in my room and didn't know what to do. My eyes wandered to the monstrous guidebook on my desk and my finger twitched.
Ah, to hell with it. I cracked open the first page.
The next day my dad drove Karma and me to the train station, where we had to meet the others of our class. The trip would take a little less than four hours.
Enough time to catch up a bit of sleep and read.
Tonight's rest had been better than usual, but still not enough in my opinion. Seven hours were acceptable, but sometimes I would love to be able to sleep ten hours without waking up from weird dreams or the kind.
I yawned at the thought of sleep.
Arriving at the station, we both went to the back of the car to get our luggage from the trunk and heaved them out. Though my dad insisted that Karma should get mine for me. Such mother hens all of them. Sure, I was almost a head smaller than Karma, but that didn't mean I lacked strength. Not with the rigorous training we all went through, but I couldn't really tell that my parents. State's secret and so.
At least I was taller than most girls in class, but still lacking in height in comparison to my old body. Nostalgic, I tried to recall a few memories of my former life.
In hindsight, I had been tall for an Asian girl. About 1,70 meters and that had just annoyed my whole family. I had been able to pat almost all of them on the head. I really wanted that height back, but alas it didn't seem like I would grow a lot anymore. What a pity.
I had spaced out enough not to notice that we were already standing on the platform with all my other classmates. It was slightly embarrassing and surprising every time I did that. A complete shift in scenery and I wouldn't even notice.
My luggage was a bit heavier. That might have to do something with the heavy tome in it. Sadly, I hadn't been able to read even the half of it, since I actually needed sleep for today, so I just took it with me.
Really, this book was way more interesting than quite many books that I had read before. For example, he had written a short resume for every sweet shop in Kyoto and even put hand-drawn pictures in there. I would be trying a few different types of mochi. They sounded really good.
The tapping of heels against the floor distracted me – they were coming towards us. I could kind of guess who it was. Not that anyone else of our class would be able to wear them, it would go against the school's dress code.
I was greeted with the sight of a celebrity coming towards us. With shades and grace. On closer inspection, it was just Jelavic-sensei. Well, she drew enough attention with her looks alone, being a celebrity would only be an unneeded plus.
Karasuma-sensei didn't look so happy.
''-Change! Now!'' Hah, called it. Though, I could have probably lived without seeing our P.E. teacher so pissed.
''Sayo, come on. The train is taking off soon,'' Karma reminded me. Maybe I imagined the strawberry blond wisp behind Karma. It was gone now.
''Yeah, I know. But Koro-sensei's still missing,'' I complained. ''What will I do without my awesome pun rival?''
''Probably crack them on your lonesome.'' He smirked. ''Not like they will get any better. Didn't you want me to punch you every time you actually even thought of joking like that?''
Moving to the train, I pulled a face.
''Yeah, I remember. Dark times.'' I nodded my head. ''But I have accepted that part of myself now. I can't simply stop it, since I would only reject my true personality. Better live like this than regret later on.''
''From which anime did you pull that now?'' Karma deadpanned. Slowly, I moved my head to the side, not looking at his eyes.
''I didn't,'' I muttered.
''Yeah, sure. Some Naruto quote? Or something else?''
''Oh look, we should go to the others and stow away our bags,'' I not so subtly averted the subject and Karma let me. It was hard to imagine that my friend had just a month ago thrown himself from a cliff. Sometimes I still felt like strangling him myself for that, but it would defeat the purpose of sensei saving him.
Apropos sensei...
He was hanging outside of the train window. Poor Nagisa, who was the closest one to the window, had a panic attack and did the next best thing.
Phone that thing glued to the window. Totally logical choice. Sensei still had one of those weird cellphones, which could be folded.
Apparently, he had been buying sweets when the train had departed and had a camouflage on his skin. Not very subtle when his clothes were still visible, but he boarded the train when we arrived at the next station.
I spent the journey with reading the guidebook and snacking. Since I had told my classmates to feel free to take some food too, it was empty fast. They were playing cards, but I didn't feel like cursing my luck. But I still stabbed after the yellow tentacle, trying to get my food.
''But Sayori-kun!'' the octopus with a new nose, thanks to Sugaya, protested. ''You allowed everyone else to eat them too!''
''But if you eat them they will be gone at the speed of sound,'' I reasoned, setting the guidebook down to take the knife in my hand and unintentionally disturbing Karma, who had been resting on my shoulder.
''Sensei would never take advantage at one of his students!'' The tentacle nearby told otherwise. Needless to say, it was cut off swiftly, but he probably let me to take some cookies.
''Sayo,'' a sleepy voice protested.
''Yeah, I know. No moving.'' I patted his head. ''Go on and sleep.'' Looks like I wasn't the only one without a good night's rest.
Then I heard the click of a camera.
My head served around to see who had taken a picture. Of course, it would be Koro-sensei.
''You two are just adorable. Why don't you pose a bit for the camera? Sensei would be only too glad to take some nice photos.'' Out of jest I put up a peace sign. ''Very nice!''
He turned to Nagisa and Kayano.
''Nagisa-kun! Turn around! Sensei wants to take photos.'' With a wry smile, I watched our homeroom teacher flitting around the train and taking pictures of every single one of us. Well... we weren't in Kyoto yet, but that were at least fifty shoots or more. At least I wouldn't get nagged at by mom for not taking any.
I was shaken awake by someone, distinctly aware of the weight on my right shoulder. Annoyed, I slapped the hand away. It felt so nice, I didn't want to wake up.
''Sayori! Stop cuddling with Karma and wake up. We're in Kyoto!'' This was unmistakably Nagisa's voice. He was probably the only one I wouldn't punch for that remark in the class.
But that didn't mean I wouldn't threaten him.
''I'm gonna kill you, you little shit.'' And with that I was awake.
''You can try, but wake up Karma, please. We're arriving at the station any minute now.'' I was tempted to refuse, but Nagisa probably know me well enough to get me out of here. So instead of protesting more, I glared at him and went to wake up Karma.
The traditional inn we were staying at was probably one of the cheaper ones in Kyoto. The floor was slightly rumpled and some floorboards were broken. Okay, it was probably the standard Japanese inn you would be staying at, when you were in a public school. But since we were a private junior high the other third years were allowed to have private rooms in a luxurious hotel.
We would be staying here three days and two nights, second and third day used for assassination. The four groups had to lead sensei around Kyoto and find good spots for a hired sniper to kill him. Our group had chosen Gion, a district in Kyoto, which was in front of the famous Yasaka shrine.
Kanzaki had chosen the place, though I wondered why she would select such a popular tourist spot. Well, I was curious what would happen.
Essentially, we spent the first day checking in the hotel and a bit of sightseeing. We weren't going to do some kind of trips with the whole class later on, since the survival of the planet was more important. But at least we got to know that sensei had motion sickness. A mayor weakness we could exploit.
I must admit, I spent a far chunk of time just buying Kyoto's food and looking for a suiting souvenir for my parents. Karma banned me from buying books, which was probably sensible. Mom would get a fit if I brought any more books home.
My arms were loaded with three different kinds of mochis and a steaming cup of matcha tea, one of Kyoto's specialties, while I was sitting in front of the sick Koro-sensei.
He didn't really look good. His head had lost its usual velocity and he looked like a freshly cooked noodle. Additionally, I was torturing him with full intent through eating those sweets right in front of him.
Personally, I thought there was nothing better than mobbing our class teacher when we weren't trying to kill him. Really, he was so gullible sometimes, that it wasn't just funny anymore.
''Are you alright, sensei? You should probably go to bed.'' Okano would have made a convincing actor, had she not just stabbed after Koro-sensei with a knife. And then Kataoka and Isogai, and Okano again... You get what I mean.
I turned my head to the shuffling nearby. Kanzaki was searching for something in her bag, but looked as if she couldn't find it.
I pressed my lips together. Well, might as well see how it would go.
''Hey, Kanzaki. What are you searching for?'' I set down my food to see how I could help.
''Ah, Sayori-san...'' She looked surprised and for a moment her hands stopped moving in her bag. Should I be grateful that she still addressed me by my first name? Though I never got around to ask her whether I could call her Yukino... ''It's nothing. My itinerary for our trip just gone.''
''Oh, are you sure that you haven't lost it in the train or on the way to the inn?'' I looked around as if it would magically appear if I wished for it strong enough.
''It could be...'' She sighed. ''It probably fell out of my bag somewhere.''
''I could try and look for it outside the inn,'' I offered. ''Maybe I'll find it?''
''Yeah, I can come with you, Sayori-san. I'm sure it's somewhere out there, Kanzaki,'' Kayano, who had been standing the whole time beside the distressed girl, added.
''No, you don't have to.'' Kanzaki shook her head. ''It's my fault that I lost it, you two don't have to go outside now just because of that.''
''Are you sure? You put so much effort into it,'' Kayano protested, looking rather troubled. It was sweet how much she cared.
''I don't mind going outside. A bit fresh air would be good,'' I added carefully. Honestly, I didn't really know what I would be able to do besides that.
''Um,'' she hesitated, then seemed to give in. ''Okay, we could look, but I don't think that we will find anything.''
''Don't worry!'' Kayano interjected optimistically. ''We'll find it.''
A tentacle held a guidebook aka dictionary in our way. I was impressed that it didn't even shake.
''You are very diligent, Kanzaki-kun. Sensei is touched. Though if you don't find it, you can use the guidebook sensei designed for you.'' He still looked pale and exhausted. What did that say about his otolith?
''Who the hell would take that fat thing with them. We-''
''Let's go outside!'' I interrupted loudly, slightly embarrassed for some reason. I took it with me, so what? The other two looked at me for moment, probably a bit freaked out by my abruptness, but didn't comment which I was grateful for. Outside a gust of wind blew into my face
''You took the guidebook with you, didn't you, Sayori-san?'' Kanzaki was looking a bit amused. There goes my pride...
''You're right, Kanzaki-san. I was already wondering why Sayori-san seemed to flee out of the room-'' The green haired girl had an 'aha'-moment. ''Were you embarrassed, Sayori-san?'' she asked slyly.
''...Maybe?'' I mumbled, cheeks coloring just a tiny bit red. Sometimes my obsession with books was a bit over the top.
''Haha, don't be. Nagisa-kun took it with him too.'' She turned back. ''Now let's find the notebook. I still want to eat some pudding.''
We went out with our cellphones to light the dark. It was already late, the sun had already set, and more than often I was stumbling over something.
In the end, we hadn't found it.
''I'm sorry that you had to come with me outside. And thank you for helping search.'' Kanzaki smiled at us. It was a bit more directed towards Kayano than me, but I was glad that she wasn't openly angry at me.
''It was nothing, we offered, didn't we?''
I nodded at Kayano's words. We were in the same class, helping each other was normal.
''How about I treat you some pudding. Didn't you say you wanted some, Kayano-san?'' I pointed at the nearby supermarket. ''Let's go there.''
Since they agreed to come with me, I paid for their food. Mom and Dad had given me a generous amount of pocket money for the trip and had said that I should at least spent half of it.
Normally, I spent most of my money on books, but since I had gotten a smart phone I often simply read some well written fan-fictions or spent the money on cheap e-books. Lately, most books that I had with me were from a library nearby, since sensei would probably take my phone and my shelves were full.
Now that I hadn't really asked for pocked money and used my savings for more minor things, my parents were kind of baffled and simply had given me the money, they normally set aside for my want for literature, as pocket money for the trip. I had shrugged and taken it. Either way, it would come back to them in form of a souvenir, next present for their birthday or something like that. If I didn't have enough money, I would help the neighbors and earn money like that.
In the end, we moved back to the inn and went to the bath. Traditional inns were kinda weird. You went in groups into the bath, showered there with other people and went back with them only to sleep in the same room together. Of course, that only applied to class trips. At least the water was warm and comfortable.
After that, I went to the boys' room to talk a bit to Karma, though there was some rule, I think, not to go into each the other gender's room after ten o'clock. I ignored it.
In front of the sliding door I heard some noise. There was a lot of shuffling and other things, that surprised me a bit. So, either I go in and get some nice blackmail material or I walk back to our room and talk with the others.
''Karma~!'' That voice sounded familiar and then a loud sound of something falling onto the floor, followed by a pained nose.
Oh, the choice was so obvious.
Opening the door with a fast tug, so I could see what was up, I was frozen by the image before me. The futons, Japanese mattresses, were already lain out, but I didn't see any other boys, except the two in front of me.
I opened my mouth to say something, then closed it again. Oh fuck...
Nagisa was lying on the ground, face very red and looking exhausted. On top of him was Karma crouched on all four, his expression was slightly frozen by my entrance.
This scene looked very suggestive and I blame every yaoi manga, that I've read for the following thoughts.
Woah... My mind felt oddly blank.
''Ah,'' I found my voice again. ''Sorry, for intruding. I'll be gone and you can do... whatever you were doing. Yeah, bye.'' I didn't think that I had ever moved so fast before.
Omake
Since some reader wanted this.
I leaned in just to see how Kataoka would react to my advances. And she responded remarkably well. Her face was getting slightly red, but otherwise the class rep held still and had her hands in a good position. I let her go and smiled.
''I bet you're a really good kisser,'' I teased her, simply because I could.
''S-Sayori-san!'' Then she took a breath and calmed down. ''That's not nice to play with feelings like that.''
I pouted a bit, feeling like a scolded child. Well, I just felt a bit playful today, so I shrugged.
''Sorry, just joking.'' I turned my head just in the right moment to see Karma and Nagisa. Nakamura was standing at the sight, a sly expression on her face. On reflex, I pulled out my phone. The blond just moved, coincidentally stumbling against Karma, who on reflex took a step forward to stabilize, eyes comically wide, and-
-crashed with his lips against Nagisa's. *click*
I was now in the possession of a very nice picture and currently rolling on the floor. Let's see what they would give me for not giving one to Koro-sensei.
Yeah... sorry. This last bit was one 'in the heat of the moment' thing. Haha... But this is my longest chapter ever.
Anyway, thanks for reading, following, favorizing and reviewing. Really so many of you reviewed... I'm so happy. 300 follower!
Your responses for Asano in class E were awesome. I'm really thinking of putting him there and giving him more of a personality. One reviewer told me that I was only using him to make Karma jealous. Which is probably true. Not intended but true. Though I wasn't aiming for a love triangle. Not really. And probably never will.
Wish you a nice day.
-Yuki
Question: Which one is more handsome? Isogai or Maehara? (Of course, you can choose someone else too)
