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: Hello snowflakes~ You all get the new chapter a little early thanks to my lovely new author-in-crime *drum rolls* midwifeceremony1! MWC helped me edit this chapter right away, so I am able to get this out a little early! I am moving in the next two weeks, so even though the chapters are written (unedited!) they probably won't come out until either next week or the week after next. Anyway, this is just a short and sweet little chapter. Chiba is a little different than his cannon and it will start being like this more and more because ~Character Development~ Don't worry, it won't change so drastically that you'll see Chiba acting like Terasaka but he will be more open (especially to a certain hazel eyed girl). Okay, enjoy!
Mizuki POV
"Thanks for walking me back to the park."
"Of course. I do believe our date was cut short." Chiba joked with her.
Mizuki looked down in embarrassment as she recalled how she acted.
"Hey, hey," Chiba grabbed her shoulder again to make her look at him. They stood in the middle of the sidewalk, passerby walking around them as he kept her still. "It's okay. I already told you I don't blame you. Don't be so hard on yourself, ne?"
Mizuki blushed. "Okay." She replied quietly.
Letting her go, they continued to walk towards the park. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up again. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but why'd you think I was using you? You also seemed pretty upset when Teresaka-san and the others were using Nagisa-san for the suicide bombing."
Mizuki stayed silent. She contemplated telling him. He had been so kind to her and he seemed genuine, but she didn't know if she was ready to reveal her hurt. Then again, he already defended me against Traitor and he comforted me when I broke down. The least I could do is give him an explanation.
"It's kind of a long story."
"Well, we have a long walk. I still can't believe you ran all the way just to catch me. I'm flattered." He teased.
"Ha ha. Yes, I ran all the way to catch you. Do you want the story or not?"
"Hai, hai. I'll be quiet."
Mizuki took a deep breath to prepare herself. "Alright. To understand, I'm going to start from the beginning. During my first year at Kunugigaoka, I was kind of a loner. I enjoyed the company of books more than people. Enter Asano Gakushuu. As one of the top scoring students overall and the top scoring student in English…" Mizuki went on to explain how he recruited her to be a part of the Big Five and how she stupidly believed his 'good intentions'. "Originally, I just wanted to be a part of the group because I thought it would help inspire the other students to work hard. The more time I spent with him, though, the more I saw how lonely he was. I don't know why; maybe I empathized with him or maybe it was because I wanted to live up to my mother's teachings, but I decided to befriend him. It was difficult at first because of how closed off he was, but somehow I managed to befriend him. We became the top two students at the whole school always competing - well for me it was always trying to beat him while he stayed one step ahead of me. I didn't realize the friendship was mutual until he started initiating invites to study together or just to hangout after school. By the end of our first year, we were practically inseparable; the King and the Angel of Class A. Then during spring break, my mother," Mizuki paused and took a shuddering breath. "She- she was involved in a fatal car accident."
Chiba looked over to the girl next to him. She was clearly still heavily affected by her mother's death. Reaching over, he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiled. Mizuki looked at him in surprise before giving him a small smile back.
She took another breath and continued her tale. "After her death, I went into depression. I was basically a walking corpse. I neglected my family and let my grades slip. He had tried to comfort me but I was unresponsive to his attempts. If it weren't for the notice I received that I would be transferred to Class E if I didn't get my grades up, I might not have snapped out of it. After that, I threw myself into my studies. I actually managed to beat him that year." Mizuki said with a dry chuckle remembering her hollow victory. "I got better after that. We rekindled our friendship, I started being a better sister and daughter. Both of my parents used to work so money was a little short after she died, so I decided to take up a part time job." she lied. Her family wouldn't have struggled without her mother's job if her father hadn't decided to abandon them.
"But-" Chiba started.
"It's not allowed by school rules, I know. But I didn't really have a choice. What kind of family would I be if I let my siblings starve because of my own issues?" She said this part bitterly. Honestly, she wasn't sure if she were really talking about herself for neglecting her siblings after her mother's death or her father's transformation into the monster he was now. Either way, Chiba didn't need to know about that. She trusted him more now, but there were some things that were better left hidden. "Anyway, long story short, he caught me at my part time and revealed his true reasons for befriending me, which were to use me as a pawn in his goal of ruling over the school before ratting me out to his father. He probably figured a person like me breaking school rules would hurt his reputation so he decided to get rid of me. It wasn't long after I got the notice that I would be transferred to Class E next school year." Mizuki finished. "Since then, I realized there are no truly pure intentions in this world which is why I doubted you." Mizuki looked up at him and said with sincerity, "I am really sorry. I hope you can understand why I doubted you, but that is still no excuse for the way I treated you. I'm really grateful you still want to be my friend, Chiba-kun."
Chiba stared at her. After hearing what she went through, he wanted nothing more than to beat the idiot Student Council President to the ground. He turned so he was facing her head on and grabbed her shoulders making her look up at him. "Hiyashi-chan, thank you for sharing that with me."
Acting on impulse, Chiba stepped closer towards her and wrapped his arms around her. He felt her stiffen for a second before relaxing in his embrace. "I will never betray or use you, Hiyashi-chan." Chiba promised, tightening his hold on her.
"Thank you Chiba-kun." He heard her whisper before burying her face in his chest to hide her teary eyes.
…
"Nee-chan and Chiba-sensei sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G!~" Sang a mischievous voice.
Mizuki leaped out of Chiba's arms like a startled cat and looked at the source of the sound.
Ren was holding Reo's hand gleefully singing. Reo saw his older sister's embarrassed face and gleefully grinned joining in with his twin, "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes- mmpf!"
The twins were cut off by a hand to each of their mouths. Mizuki glanced back at Chiba with a blush still holding her hands over her siblings mouths, "Sorry about that. Ignore them. They're just being little trouble makers."
Chiba had a hand over his face to hide his own blush before reassuring her, "It's fine Hiyashi-chan."
Ren broke free of her sister's grasp and exclaimed, "Oooooo he's already calling your Hiyashi-chan! He's basically your boyfriend now!" She looked at Chiba and winked, "You should just call her Mizuki-chan. She doesn't like our family name that much- ITAI!"
Mizuki was glaring down at her sister. "Enough of that Ren-chan."
"Hai, hai, but the angrier you get, the more right I am~"
Mizuki just sighed and covered her face in her hands. Today has been a roller coaster of emotions. I think I've cried and blushed more today than I ever have before combined.
"Alright you two. If you tease your sister any more I don't think she'll survive." Chiba said with a chuckle. He reached out and placed a hand on both their heads. "Let's go back to the park."
"Haaai!" Ren cheered running back into the gates towards the park.
"Do you like Nee-chan Chiba-sensei?" Reo asked, looking up at him. His dark brown eyes looked at him inquisitively.
Glancing at the said girl who had started chasing after her little sister who still had her phone, he felt something warm blooming in his chest, "Hai, I like Mizuki-chan a lot." Looking down at the boy, he put a finger to his lips and gave a playful smile, "But let's keep this as a secret between us, ne?"
Giggling Reo agreed, "Hai!"
Reo started to run after his siblings but turned to Chiba again and said, "I like you Chiba-sensei! You make Nee-chan smile. She stopped smiling like that after Gaku-nii left. She always smiles for us, but it's different with you. Keep making Nee-chan smile, Chiba-sensei!" Reo gave him a wide grin before turning around and running into the park.
"Aa, I will." Chiba said quietly.
I will keep making her smile like that. He promised himself.
Chapter 16 End
(Also Ryuu-chan date arc done!)
A/N: So, I hope you Chiba Ryuunosuke fans liked his little date-ish arc. It wasn't an official date by the way. This was a huge step for Mizuki cause she's finally meeting another human being that has no other intentions except being her friend. It is an important moment that'll start Mizuki's growth as a character and healing her. Also you got the devilish duo being their adorable selves. The next arc is Karma's~ I have a feeling Karma's votes might go up after this;) Again, thank you to midwifeceremony1 for being my wonderful new beta reader! Also, thank you to all my readers for the favorites and reviews! I love reading them and it inspires me to keep writing. You guys are the best. (By the way, I hope everyone is staying safe from the virus. I know we've been in the pandemic for a while, but there are still many people suffering so I hope you all stay safe and healthy! Also, to my US readers, I pray for your situation. I am sad to know there is still such terrible racism among the authority in the US. Black lives matter. All lives matter. Don't lose hope in the world. As soon as we lose hope in humanity and each other, the world becomes an unbearable, lonely place. Lift each other up. We can only try to see the best in each other and learn to forgive but never forget. Keep making your voices heard!)
Review Replies:
abi'eybie: Oh definitely;) Thank you for your lovely review! You have definitely renewed my confidence in my writing. I'm also so glad you are open to different endings. Honestly thought it would be easy for me (I will not share my bias but honestly I don't think it's hard to figure out), but turns out there are so many great guys in Class 3E. I hope I can continue writing good chapters for you!
Guest1: Your vote is accounted for! Welcome Chiba fan~ I agree. The other boys don't get enough attention. They are honestly all equally badass and deserve more attention. That said, the main boys are pretty cool too.
ILikeFoxes828: YES! EMBRACE THE FLUFF! In all honesty, I have no idea what I'm doing half the time with those two. I have one younger sibling but she's already well past that age so I'm never sure if I'm getting their personalities right for their age. If I make them seem a little too mature, it's because of their background and the fact that, again, I don't actually understand tiny children. Your feedback helps me so much so thank you!
Ship Poll:
Ryuunosuke Chiba: 15
Akabane Karma: 3
Asano Gakushu: 7
No ship: 3
