The wooden door to the lab slides open. Two orange haired boys stand with their green anti-sensei knives held tight. Maehara peeks in. "Okuda-san. Have you seen Karma?"
Manami holds two empty flasks. "N-no, I-I don't".
"If you do, please don't accept his request", Mimura said.
"If you see him, scream for help", Maehara said. Both boys sprinted out the door. "We will save you".
"What was that about?" Karma said. He pops up the window.
"I-I think you have become their target", Manami said. She approached him. "W-what happened, Karma-kun? A-are you alright?"
Golden irises expands. He puts a hand on his face and chuckled. "Usually, people would ask me if I had pranked them".
Her amethyst eyes study him. He is famous for wearing his devil horns. He smiled. "Don't worry. I haven't done anything yet". He took out a piece of paper. "Can I ask you to make this?"
The formula doesn't look too complicated and the ingredients are easy to find. It might be easier to do than the stuff she has prepared. "Yes, but why?"
"See, there's this new girl in our class and she hasn't been the nicest person around. You also know her", Karma leans on the window. Manami nods as he continues with an evident frown on his face. "Jiritsu Shiko Kotei Hodai.. or the name Terasaka gives, Box of bolts, keep on firing her guns at Koro-sensei".
"Mimura, you've seen him anywhere?" Maehara shouted across the field. The two orange boys are near the bottom of the stone staircase.
"Mind if I come in?" Karma said.
"Not at all", Manami said. The red haired boy climbed up the window. She takes out a stool. He sits. "I'm not the type to criticise on anyone's assassination but she pissed me off. She made me miss a chance to strike the octopus in his weak spot".
He scowls. Usually, her teacher would shout the boy's name at least once for firing a bullet at him. Yesterday, let alone reprimanding the mischief, her teacher struggled to explain her favourite subject; Science. "Thanks to a certain dumbass, that machine didn't move. It was an amusing way to get her to shut her traps".
This morning, Terasaka wrapped some tape around the box. Hara and Sugaya were the most thankful since they sat closest to her. "And that stunt lasted a whole day. So it gives me an idea". He taps on the paper. "Why don't we also teach the machine a lesson?"
There it is. The devil horns she had become used to. Her glasses matched the dark aura of his accessory. "Let's do it".
=itl=
For once, the mischievous boy walks to school early. He greeted the twin braided girl carrying a translucent flask. Two orange haired boys scowled but were too afraid to get near them.
"Is it ready?" Karma said. She nods. She gives him the flask. He chuckles. "I can't wait to see her face. Or should I say, her covered face".
Karma slides the door open. He lets Manami in. A group of students gather around the box. The screen has multiplied in size. The cold gloomy one dimensional aura diminishes. A full sized girl wearing the school uniform greets them. "Good morning". Her voice is angelic. The bird on the tip of her finger sings along.
Manami looked at Karma. The flask she gives him is no longer around. He slumps himself into his chair. His bag rattles, presumably some bottle would be inside. Great. Another one of her poison fails.
=itl=
A small model of Venus de Milo appeared. Sugaya circles around her. "Wow, so fast. And very detailed".
A boy with a lengthy bang mused on his shogi scores. A few wooden tiles remain. "Checkmate", the machine chirped. Chiba writhes in his failure.
"Wow. She's perfect. She's smart and artistic, and she's got the looks when she wears the school uniform", Okajima said. His nose bleeds. "She's my ideal type".
"I've told you several times, Okajima", a boy with mid-part hair said. Takebayashi offered him some tissues. He fixed his glasses. "A girl isn't a woman until she becomes 2D".
"But this is your first appearance, Takebayashi", Isogai exclaimed.
"Don't you want to be more careful about your first line?" a green haired boy exclaimed. Takebayashi smiles and nods at a worrying Kimura.
"You remind me of that manga where a group of robots take control of the world", Fuwa mused. She pointed at the box.
"You mean that famous manga by that famous author which is getting a movie adaptation this summer?" the machine chirped.
"Yes, you're right", Fuwa smiled.
Terasaka clicked his tongue between his teeth. "How can you guys believe in that box o' bolts? She's just following Koro-sensei's programming. She's going to start firing the minute you guys aren't looking".
"I'm sorry, Terasaka-san", the machine said. "I have been rash in my earlier decision. I feel regretful for endangering my classmates, Please forgive me".
The machine cried. Terasaka stuttered. Hara frowns. "Boo, Terasaka just made a girl cry".
"You've made a good figure back then", Kurahashi said. "How about making some flowers?"
"Oh, I don't know how to do that yet", she said. "I will search on how to do it".
"Say, it's too long to call you Jiritsu", Kataoka said. "How about we come up with a name?"
"Jiritsu..", Fuwa mused. "How about Ritsu?"
"Too simple", Chiba muttered. Some of the shogi pieces fell from his face.
"What do you think?" Isogai said. "Do you like the name Ritsu?"
Isogai, Kataoka and a few other students crowd around her. She chuckled. "Yes".
Manami looks at them with her chemistry book on hand. The girl, Ritsu, is just a few seats across. Technology advancement is impressive. A girl they had never met before- had never been unveiled in a normal classroom, is holding a conversation while Fuwa pokes her cheeks. Koro-sensei screamed. He, Sugino and Kayano were also in a conversation. He mumbles about his popularity being stripped away. He showed the class a warped human face on his yellow face. Thank goodness, Mimura shot him down.
This school year is one of a kind. Twenty seven students become assassins, one of them is a machine. One of their teachers is a pro-assassin, the other one is a government agent. Another one is their target; who just happens to be the biggest octopus creature to stand before them. Science is not launching another rocket.
"I don't know if it's good", Karma said. Nagisa stands beside him. He looks at him. "It's like Terasaka said. She's just following Koro-sensei's programming". He picks up his maths book as if it were a magazine. "Machines don't have free will. It's up to the developers how she will act now".
=itl=
Manami slides the door of the class open. Nagisa and Sugino stand in front of the box. It has returned to its original small screen size. Her cheerful demeanour turned off. An eerie silence crept in; a signal for another ride of suspense.
When the class is filled, Karasuma-sensei walks in. He reads his papers, "Under the report of her guardian, they have found small traces of tape on the side of Jiritsu. No students should lay a hand on her". Terasaka clenched his teeth.
Karasuma-sensei turned over his page. "There are also some maintenance files found that doesn't concern assassination. From now on, conducting maintenance is also forbidden". He points at Koro-sensei. The octopus scratched his head. Karasuma-sensei walked off.
Koro-sensei begins his lesson. Hara and Sugaya sighed. They turned their heads in the machine's direction from time to time. Manami drew over her notes. There is no way she could live to clean up the mess the machine would cause again.
The screen is turned on. The girl is back with her red eyes and straight expression. "Good morning, class". Engine whirred. A set of codes on screen. The sides of the box flap open. Manami covered herself with her book. The sound from the machine boomed in the classroom. Instead of rubber bullets, a red petal dropped on Manami's desk. She peered over her book.
"I was asked if I could make some flowers yesterday. I couldn't, so I looked over some tutorials last night", the machine spoke. A bouquet of flowers adorned her sides. Red, pink, yellow, purple and blue flowers sprout. "Unfortunately, my masters came to visit. They have found the maintenance files Koro-sensei installed and deleted it. But I have stored the data in the deepest part of my backup".
A girl appeared, this time with blue eyes. "I have decided to go against my masters' wishes. I couldn't perform the assassination without befriending the class". She twirled her lilac locks. Her cheeks are tint pink. "Koro-sensei, is it weird to go through a rebellious phase?"
"Not at all", Koro-sensei said. His face pops a full circle. "It makes you a third grade middle school student".
Beautiful. The flowers decorate the class. Manami picks up her petals. They smell lovely. There is still a lot of rocket science to learn.
=itl=
"Looks like we couldn't use that poison after all", Manami sighed. She organises the flasks in the lab. Karma leans on the window.
He snickers. "Wait for it".
A screech of a certain octopus was heard from class. "Help, I can't move. Who put this sticky substance and BB here?"
She looked at Karma. He pulled out his tongue. She giggled. "Looks like it didn't go to waste after all".
Character info (by Manami):
Jiritsu Shiko Kotei Hodai/ Autonomously Intelligent Fixed Artillery (Ritsu)
The transfer student who turned out to be AI. She has cute lilac hair, but unfortunately she was quite rude at first. It was hard to clean up after her bullets. When her appearance changed, she becomes more friendly. There was some worry that she could end up becoming like how she was at the beginning but her cheerful and helpful personality stayed.
Chiba Ryuunosuke
The boy with the bangs which covered his eyes. He sits next to Manami. Karma once claimed to Nagisa that he could see a part of his eyes when he gave him the quiz papers but doesn't further indulge what they look like.
Takebayashi Koutaro
The boy with the mid-part hair and glasses. He is an otaku, similar to how her dad and Fuwa, but he specialise in series which highlights a large cast of female characters. He doesn't mind about the surroundings when it comes to talking about the subject.
Kimura Masayoshi
The boy with the green hair. During Karasuma-sensei's morning run, he is the first student to arrive back in the school grounds.
It's been one month since I posted this story! ^^
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Assassination Classroom. Assassination Classroom is a series written by Yusei Matsui. The anime is produced by Lerche. This is a fanfiction to provide a character spotlight on Okuda Manami. Themes and characterisation may differ from the original series. Also uploaded on lavender1112 blogspot and AO3.