Disclaimer: I do not own Assassination Classroom or anything associated with it. I only own the OC Hiyashi Mizuki and her siblings. All rights go to Yusei Matsui.

A/N: Thank you guys so much for the reviews, favorites and follows! It really means a lot to me.

Special thanks to Boi for your feedback on my Tanaka poem. I probably won't rewrite it though because I'm lazy lol and also it's already posted so that'd just complicate things.

Thanks to PatrickStarSpongy for letting me know about the error. I'll correct it for future chapters.

Also Thebla thanks for the review.

Alright next chapter Mizuki left early but she decided to wait for Nagisa in order to ask him how he got so close to hitting Koro-sensei. She's hiding in a tree waiting to corner him cause she's not ready to face her other classmates. (And it's definitely not because she cares if Nagisa is okay or not). Here's we go!

POV Switch (Shiota Nagisa)

Nagisa tapped his pen against his desk. He really should have been thinking about what to write for his poem, but all he could think about was how happy he was that Koro-sensei was their teacher.

It was a strange thought… After all, he was trying to destroy the Earth. Yet, he was the only teacher to ever look at them without disgust or pity or any other demeaning emotions in their eyes. He looked at them as equals; students worth teaching.

Of course, there was the whole issue with Hiyashi-san. Nagisa was thoroughly confused at the turn of events that day. Why did she protect me? He wondered to himself.

When he had woken up from his unconsciousness, he had felt the killing intent from his sensei, but when he glanced in the direction of Koro-sensei, all he saw was the back of his female classmate as she shielded his vulnerable form with her own body. Kayano had also told him she had called out his name after the bomb went off sounding worried for his wellbeing.

Did I do something? She's been pretty distant from the rest of the class so why would something suddenly change?

He wanted answers, but he also figured that she was embarrassed by her actions as she had practically run from the classroom not five minutes after the whole bombing incident had died down. If she gave him an opportunity to, he would ask. If not, then he would respect her space.

Across the room, a certain blonde haired girl was having a completely opposite train of thought than the kind-hearted blue hair boy.

POV Switch (Nakamura Rio)

Tsk… I bailed her out and she doesn't even have the decency to stick around to explain things to me. Rio thought bitterly to herself.

She wasn't actually upset, just really, really curious. Why would Hiyashi pretend to be mute? Was she really not an elitist from Class A? Maybe she was just that shy? Rio did not like not knowing.

Rio tapped her pen on her desk impatiently as she thought about her estranged classmate. Frustrated, she decided to go demand answers from the girl. She left 10 minutes ago. If I run downhill I should be able to catch up before she passes the gate around the mountain.

Luckily for her, Rio's best subject was English, not to mention she was actually smart, so thinking up a passable poem wasn't hard for her. Once she finished writing, she gathered her stuff and headed towards the front to turn in her poem and leave.

"All done Nakamura-san?" Koro-sensei asked her as she approached. His head had already lost the light pink color. Normally, Rio would attempt one last assassination before she left for the day, but she had more important things to address.

"Hai!" Rio responded in her normal cheery voice to mask her true thoughts. "We'll get you one of these days sensei!"

She turned and walked out the door before he could respond. Shouldering her school bag, Rio quickly exited the building and started a brisk jog downhill; her blue eyes scanned the road downward for light reddish brown hair.

I will get my answers. Rio thought in determination.

Mizuki POV

Mizuki heard fast footsteps heading in her direction and lifted the leaves in front of her as she squatted on a tree branch near the building. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw a blonde blur zoom past her down the mountain.

What the heck is Nakamura doing? She wondered incredulously. Shaking her head she put the branches down and sat down to lean against the trunk of the tree. She glanced down at the ground with bored eyes. The ground wasn't too far down, but it was enough to make a normal person dizzy. Luckily for her, Mizuki frequently scaled high places.

Free running was something she had always been interested in as a child, and, after her mother's death, it was a way for her to run from her problems. When she was younger, she had been far too afraid to try anything more than a few leaps and hops across rocks and other small obstacles. However, the idea of falling and seriously injuring herself had become less frightening the emptier she felt after her mother's death (which in itself was a scary thought).

Especially before her father had gone berserk, Mizuki had spent a lot of time in the forests a few miles from her house climbing trees, back flipping off the rocks, leaping and rolling around the forest floor. Everyday after school, she went there to try and run from the reality of her mother's absence; to run from the reality that her family and school life was slowly falling apart; and the run from the reality that the ones closest to her could leave her at any time without warning. Eventually, she got over the fear when she decided the good moments were worth the pain of losing the person after spending days remembering her mother's smiling face, her delicious cooking, all the fun moments where everything was sunshine and rainbows.

Even though there were the dark clouds of her mother's death, her father's abandonment, and Asano's betrayal, Mizuki's siblings managed to bring the sunshine back out with their soft innocent smiles as they looked to her as if she were their idol, their hero. They were her whole world, and she'd be damned if she let anything happen to them.

"Nagisa wait up!" Mizuki heard Kayano's voice call out.

Idle chatter could be heard as more and more students finished their poems and left the school. Mizuki blinked a few times to clear her head before peaking through the branches to search for a certain blue haired boy. It didn't take her long to spot him walking side by side with their green haired classmate as well as the boy who was super into baseball. He was smiling and chattering along with them looking like he hadn't just tried to blow himself up to save all of humanity.

I don't know if I should feel respect or exasperation. This kid needs to learn to worry about himself more. Mizuki thought with a sweatdrop.

She reached down into her pocket for the small pebble she had picked up before climbing the tree. Waiting for them to pass by her tree, she took aim and threw the stone at Shiota's shoulder while the other two were looking ahead. Shiota stopped and picked up the stone looking at it quizzically.

"Everything alright Nagisa-kun?" Kayano asked him.

Nagisa POV Switch

Nagisa stared at the pebble in his hand. He was sure this had been what had hit him on the shoulder just now.

A hand waved in his face.

"Huh?" He questioned in confustion.

"I asked if everything was okay Nagisa-kun." Kayano said to him with a worried look on her face. "You sure you're okay after today?"

"Yeah, that couldn't have been easy to go through." Sugino agreed, putting his hand on Nagisa's shoulder.

"No, no everything is fine." Nagisa said with a reassuring smile while waving both his hands in front of his chest. "Koro-sensei's skin covered all the damage. Actually, you know what, I think I forgot one of my notebooks in the classroom. Why don't you two go ahead?"

"You sure, buddy?" Sugino asked him. Both of them had worried looks on their faces. He felt uncomfortable with their concern. He wasn't used to other people wanting his needs ahead of his own; after all, his own mother put her needs before her son's so why should strangers put his needs before theirs?

"Al-alright." Kayano responded, unsure. "We'll see you tomorrow Nagisa-kun."

"Mm! See you guys tomorrow."

Nagisa made a show of turning around and walking towards the school building. He hadn't taken more than a few steps before he felt two hands grip under his arms and pull him up into the tree. Before he could cry out, one of the hands clamped over his mouth and he found himself looking into sharp hazel eyes.

Hiyashi-san?!

"Huh? Nagisa's already gone?" He could hear Kayano from down below. He made muffled sounds of protest only to be shushed by his fearsome classmate.

"He's probably already getting his notebook." Sugino reassured Kayano. "Come on, if we walk slower he can catch up."

Nagisa felt his heart warm at that. He didn't know what he did to deserve friends as good as those two. Then again… he glanced backwards at the girl who had one hand over his mouth and the other gripping his body so he didn't fall off, he didn't know what he did to deserve this girl's wrath. Maybe she blames me for ruining her mute facade. Also, side note, how the heck did she pull me up? She had to have reached down with her whole body and I may be small but I'm not that light!

When his friends were out of earshot, she took her hand off his mouth and turned him around to face her fully. Blue eyes met hazel. They stared at each other for another few seconds: him in confusion and her- well doing whatever she was doing.

"You really are unaffected by today aren't you?" She finally asks.

His intelligent response to that was, "Huh?"

"Are you sure you're okay? No concussions or other serious injuries I should know about?"

"Why do you care?" He asks. His voice holds no harshness, only pure curiosity.

"I don't." She immediately denies. She blushes a bit and looks away before saying in a quieter voice, "Okay I care a little… but only as a classmate." She finishes in a louder, decisive tone.

Nagisa was beyond confused now. He thought she was going to take her anger out on him. He definitely had not anticipated her admitting to care about him. For some reason, that made him blush a little and look away in embarrassment. Unfortunately, he had chosen to look down. Down at the ground that he suddenly realized was very far away, too far in his opinion.

Nagisa swayed a bit on his seat on the tree branch. Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder steadying him. He looked back up to see Hiyashi holding him steady with an apologetic look on her face. It was the most open he's ever seen her. Normally her face was as emotionless as a blank slate. Everyone in the class agreed even Koro-sensei had more expression on his face than her.

"Sorry." She apologized. "I forget that most people aren't used to being this high up, but I needed to talk to you alone. Do you want to go down first?"

He nodded silently.

"Okay, follow where I climb." She said to him before starting the descent.

He gripped the branches tightly as he followed her down the tree. He could feel the bark digging into his skin. Honestly, he felt more scared scaling down the tree than going up to kill Koro-sensei. He heard Hiyashi's feet thud down on the ground and reassured himself that it was almost over… until he felt the branch he was holding onto crack and break off the tree.

"AHHHHHHH!"

The blue haired pigtail boy shut his eyes tight bracing for the pain of hitting the ground. Only when he peeked one eye open, all he saw was the silhouette of his pretty brown haired classmate as she cradled him in her arms like a baby.

"Don't worry. I won't let you get hurt." She teased with a wink.

Wait… his mind stalled, She winked at me?!

"Uh, th-thanks, I guess." Nagisa stuttered out. "For this and for protecting me today. Sorry you blew your mute persona though."

She looked surprised at his apology. "No worries. Just don't want a classmate's death on my conscience... again."

He stared at her.

"Kidding." She reassured him with a small giggle.

He let a small smile grace his face at that. Then he remembered what he had wanted to ask her earlier, "Hey Hiyashi-san, why did you protect me today?"

She paused as if considering her answer before replying, "What you did was dangerous. I may not care for anyone in class but that doesn't mean I would just stand idly by and let one of you die. I'm not heartless."

"I never thought-"

"Save it." She cut him off, her face growing hard and closed off. "I know I'm from Class A, so none of you see me as one of you who all came from Class B and lower. I'm not going to pretend I do care about you guys, but I care enough to save your life even if you choose to throw it away... that being said, you really should look out for your own wellbeing more Shiota-san." Her eyes softened a bit at the last part.

Nagisa looked down towards his feet. Here was another person who was caring about his well being. Someone who claimed not to care about the others in her class despite having thrown herself in front of him like a human shield to save him from the wrath of their teacher.

She closed her eyes and took a breath before continuing, "Look, I may not know what you're going through, but I know that look you had in your eye after lunch. It's the look of someone who doesn't give a damn about whether they live or die because the world could care less."

Nagisa could see her hands trembling slightly at her sides. He thought back to what Koro-sensei had said in the classroom. Everybody does have their own history and stories that makes them who they are.

"Here's my advice." Nagisa blinked as she brought him back to the present. "Don't give up yet. It might take a bit of time, but you will find a reason to live. Yes, the bad moments are everywhere. They bring you down. They shake your confidence. They make you wonder why you should bother to get up everyday just to face them again and again and again. But in between those bad moments are the wonderful ones. The ones that make you smile, laugh, and be grateful that you are still alive to experience them. Maybe it'll be a person that makes you feel this way. Maybe it'll be an accomplishment you strive for. But there will be something, so before you decide to give it all up, look for it, experience it, then you can decide if your life is so easy to give away."

Nagisa was speechless. He thought about all the times he had gone home to his mother in a bad mood. To the time when his father had abandoned him to live with his controlling wife. To the time when he was rejected by his friends for being kicked down to End Class. She was right. Those times were hard and hurt. They made him feel insignificant which was what had inspired him to attempt the suicide bombing in the first place. But in those memories, he could see the few shining good memories. Meeting new friends in the End Class. The times before his parents' divorce. The biggest and brightest memory was the most recent: when Koro-sensei patted his head and told him and the class to assassinate him with pride.

His heart had been filled with so much determination and hope at the idea of a teacher who saw them as equals and he knew he had found his something.

"Thank you, Hiyashi-san. I appreciate what you have done for me today and the advice you have given me." He said gratefully, "I think I have found the will to live that you were talking about with this class. I want to assassinate Koro-sensei with everyone proudly and with smiles on our faces."

She gave a small smile at his response. This unguarded look on her face gave her a much softer appearance and really displayed her beauty.

"You know," he continued in a softer voice, "You should take your own advice."

She gave him a puzzled look.

"I don't know if you've found your will yet but if you just let us in, we could help fill the spaces between the bad memories with good ones."

For a brief second, it looked like she was considering it. Then, her eyes flashed with something akin to fear and her face hardened again. This was the face he was used to seeing in his classmate.

"Thanks for your concern, Shiota-san, but I'm fine by myself. Why else would I pretend to be mute?"

"To protect yourself." He mumbled under his breath. Outloud, he said, "I'm sure you have your reasons."

"Of course I do. Now for the real reason I pulled you aside, do you mind sharing Koro-sensei's weakness? Out of all of us, you came the closest to getting a hit on him."

Nagisa tried not to feel hurt at the thought that she only wanted to use him for his information on Koro-sensei like Terasaka had. She's just pushing me away as a self-defence mechanism. He reassured himself.

"Of course, Hiyashi-san." Pulling out his small notebook that he had been keeping a record of his observations of Koro-sensei and handed it to the girl who took it in surprise. "You can copy down the notes from there and give it back to me tomorrow."

"How do you know I won't just keep it to give myself the advantage?"

Why are you trusting me? Nagisa heard the unspoken question and answered, "Well for one, I remember most of the things in the notebook. More importantly, though, I think you're the type of person who keeps her word, aren't you Hiyashi-san?"

She paused for a bit again before responding, "Hmpf, I will return this to you by tomorrow." Then as an after thought she said, "Thank you."

He smiled at that. She tucked the notebook into her backpack and turned to head down the mountain. He looked at her retreating form for a little before turning towards the school building to retrieve his notebook. What he didn't see was the hazel eyed girl turning around to give him one last glance before turning back around and hurrying down the mountain.

Chapter 9 End