Note: The teams are the same as in canon, so:

Red Team: Karma, Nakamura, Terasaka, Itona, Hazama, Chiba, Hayami, Yoshida, Sugaya, Okajima, Kimura, Mimura, Muramatsu, Okano

Blue Team: Nagisa, Isogai, Kayano, Okuda, Takebayashi, Kataoka, Yada, Maehara, Kurahashi, Kanzaki, Hara, Sugino, Fuwa


.

.

.

As Kayano walks over to the Blue Team, she doesn't miss the way a faint uneasiness ripples over her teammates—even if it's for just a split-second as Sugino then shoots her a friendly smile and Kurahashi cheerfully waves at her.

"Mr. Karasuma says the battle's starting in five minutes." Kurahashi grabs her arm to pull her into the group. "Come on!"

Kayano nods and lets herself join the circle, finding a spot beside Kataoka and Kurahashi.

"The Red Team overpower us in sheer power, and they also have a lot more specialized members," Isogai is saying. "So if we want to win this, it'll be really important for us to make sure not to get split up."

By now, everybody's attention has returned to Isogai, so Kayano tries to push down the guilt writhing inside her. But even then, she still notices the stiffness that remains in her teammates' forms and the way some of their faces are tilted away from her ever so slightly.

Because as subtle as those signs may be, she can't help seeing through their attempt at concealing their uneasiness—especially not after she's spent so long hiding her own emotions.

Maybe this is just karma, a part of her thinks wryly. That acting expertise I used to deceive my friends for so long is finally hurting me now.

But whether her teammates' uneasiness is from discomfort at her conflict with Karma, or if it's from distrust towards her... she doesn't know. And she's not sure if she wants to find out.

"But we've got strong fighters on our side, too," Isogai says, glancing over the team with a smile. "Just don't let your guard down, and make sure to communicate as much as possible."

"Two minutes!" Mr. Karasuma calls out.

"All right, guys!" Isogai pulls up his hood. "Time to get into position."

Everybody nods, picking up their weapons before spreading out into the forest. As Kayano gets into position, Nagisa walks up to her.

She turns to him. "Nagisa?"

"Kayano, I..." His voice trails off for just a second. "I want you to know that I do believe you when you said how much this means to you. And I'm grateful that you stood up for my side back there."

From the hesitation in his tone, he clearly has more to say, so Kayano just nods.

"But Karma, and others, too, probably," Nagisa continues. "I also understand how they feel. About you—you hiding your identity and your abilities the whole time."

Kayano feels a resigned smile form on her face. "That's okay."

"But it's not just from that," he says quickly. "I mean like the entire time, I didn't know your true name or your true motives, right?" He pauses. "But I also didn't know that you were in pain from those tentacles, or how lonely you might've felt the entire time."

Kayano blinks at him.

"You've always been hiding from us. Everything about yourself." Nagisa smiles, and it's small and hesitant. "I guess I'm just trying to say that... I hope that someday, you'll be able to express yourself without hiding. Both the good and the bad."

It takes a moment for his words to sink in, and an even longer moment for Kayano to open her mouth. "Nagisa—"

"One minute left!" Mr. Karasuma calls.

"Ah." Nagisa pulls up his hood. "Okay, I need to get into position now." He gives her one more quick smile before slinking off into the forest.

Kayano stares at his departing figure before shaking her head and returning to her position beside Kurahashi.

"Now." Mr. Karasuma's voice booms through the speakers in her hood. "Let the intraclass assassination survival battle..."

Kayano tightens her grip on her knife as Nagisa's words echo in her head.

"Begin!"

~.~.~.~.~.~

"Hey, Itona." Karma walks over to Itona. "Can I ask you a few questions about tentacles?"

Itona turns to him mid-conversation with Terasaka. "Sure. I'm not doing anything important anyways."

Terasaka makes an offended face and glares at Karma. "What do you even have to ask about now?" he grumbles. "You already told us the battle plan, and we have like three minutes before the battle starts."

"There are just some things I realized I wanted to get informed of first." Karma shrugs with a satisfied smirk. "And clearly it's more important that talking to you."

Terasaka snorts. "Do what you want," he mutters, walking over to Yoshida and Muramatsu.

Karma turns to Itona. "Don't worry, this should be quick," he says. "So first, I wanted to know specifically what kinds of physical enhancements you had."

Itona blinks. "The biggest ones were agility and reflexes, probably. Kinetic vision too. I was able to visually track Korosensei's movements back then."

Karma nods. "So lots of speed. What about strength?"

"Not much. The power of my attacks always came from the speed of my tentacles."

"All right, cool. I just have one more question."

Itona tilts his head. "Kayano?"

Karma blinks, surprised, and then makes a wry smile. "So you already know what I'm about to ask," he says. "That makes it easier, then. How strong do you think her enhancements are now?"

"If she's the same as me, then they should've dulled."

"By how much?"

"Enough so that her capabilities are limited to human levels now." Itona pauses for a second. "But I remember my reflexes and agility being the slowest to decline."

"Reflexes and agility, huh."

Itona nods. "It's only been a bit over two weeks, right? So my guess is that she's still maintained some of the enhancements in that aspect."

"I see."

Then Karma realizes that Itona's staring at him.

"What is it?" he says.

Itona's expression is unreadable as ever. "Are you going to change the plan?"

Karma glances over at Chiba and Hayami. They stand in the corner of the clearing, giving their sniper rifles one last check.

"Nope," Karma says. "Same plan. For now, at least."

"Okay."

"Well, anyways, those were all my questions." Karma slightly tilts his head at Itona, a sort of half-nod of gratitude. "Thanks."

"Wait."

Karma pauses halfway through turning around. "Hm?"

"I don't plan to get involved in your issue," Itona says. "But there's one thing I think I should say."

"Oh? I didn't take you for such a talker." Karma doesn't need to ask to know what issue he's talking about. "But sure, say it."

"What Kayano said about the tentacles isn't a lie."

Karma narrows his eyes.

"With strong emotions, they latch onto your mind. Especially if you're mentally at a low point. The negative feelings are amplified, and they turn into the only thing you can focus on."

Then Itona pauses, showing the first ever hint of hesitation since the conversation began.

"Is that all?" Karma says.

"Hm." There's a beat of silence as Itona seems to consider Karma's words. Then he says, "I don't know her or her relationship to the class that well. Or what she did to you guys. But I know that she was telling the truth."

Karma opens his mouth on instinct, because uncertainty isn't something he wants to show, and especially not to this—but he isn't sure what kind of words are going to come out.

"One minute left!" Mr. Karasuma calls.

"Positions," is the word that comes out. He turns his gaze to the rest of the clearing and scans the Red Team. "We have one minute left." His voice is firm. "Get into your positions, everyone."

He's met with quick nods before the team begins dispersing into the forest. Karma heads to a boulder at the edge of the clearing. As he sits himself at its top, he withdraws his knife.

"Now." Mr. Karasuma's voice booms through the speakers in his hood. "Let the intraclass assassination survival battle..."

Karma spins the blade in his hand as Itona's words echo in his head.

"Begin."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.


A/N: I hope this chapter was still enjoyable despite its shortness! I took some time to plan the actual course of the civil war. And so far I'm liking it and really excited to get it started ;)) While working on it, I actually spent quite some time looking at the canon events of the civil war, so it may be beneficial to get refreshed on that for the next chapter - but it probably won't matter. Anyways, thanks for reading, and I'm looking forward to the next update!