Perhaps one day, when Kayano recounts her junior high years, she will find it poetic that the day of her class's graduation is the day they finally succeed in assassinating Korosensei.
But right now, as she makes her way to the 3-E classroom, she can only feel the ache in her chest and the weight in her heart. Part of her still can't believe that it really happened. That their teacher really broke apart into those painfully beautiful shards of light, that now he's gone and no more reachable than the stars in the night sky.
The other part of her tells herself to keep walking and to hold her head up high. Because that's what he told her all those weeks ago, and that's he would've told her now.
Her classmates walk down the hall alongside her. Amid the footsteps and shuffling, she can hear soft sniffles and even some quiet sobs. And although it's to be expected, that doesn't stop the pain that twists inside herself at those sounds of grief.
However, she doesn't expect to hear a voice call her name from behind her before she can reach the classroom door.
"Kayano."
She quickly blinks away the remaining tears in her eyes and pulls Maehara's jacket a bit tighter around herself. Then she turns around.
"Karma?"
The only source of light is the moonlight that dimly shines from the window high on the wall, so she's just barely able to make out his expression. He looks composed at first glance, but she can detect weariness in the tight line of his lips and maybe even sorrow in the shadows of his eyes.
"Is something wrong?" she says.
"Are you, uh..." Karma pauses. "How are you holding up?"
Instinctively, Kayano raises a hand to her chest—to the place where that horrible rip tore through her body less than half an hour ago. Even though she's been fully healed, she can still feel a sting in her heart as she thinks about how she was saved. About who saved her.
"Don't worry." She drops her hand. "It actually barely hurts now. I'll be fine."
He blinks. "Oh, that's good to hear. But I didn't mean that. I meant..." There's a flutter of movement on his face that nearly looks like a wince. "I meant Korosensei," he finally says. "Are you feeling okay?"
It takes Kayano a moment to process his words through the surprise that fills her. "I'm probably managing about as well as anybody else here." Then she adds, "What about you?" She couldn't help but notice the way his voice seemed to waver at the name of their teacher.
His gaze flickers to the side. "Same," he says. "But, well, you also... went through some stuff this past year."
He doesn't say it directly, but Kayano instantly knows that he's talking about her sister.
"And more importantly," Karma continues, "I know how much you cared about him and how much you wanted to save him."
It's been over two months since that battle, but her memories of it instantly resurface with steel-sharp clarity. The fury that emanated from him and the uneasiness that spread across her classmates. The pain that shook her body as she took blow after blow and the feeling of falling through empty space as she pulled the trigger.
And beneath it all, the determination that burned inside her as she fought for her purpose.
"Yeah," Kayano says, softly. "I really, really wanted to find a way to save him. To keep him in our lives." She pauses, feeling her heart clench. "And now, knowing that it was all for nothing..."
Karma slowly nods. "Yeah, so with how things turned out, I didn't know if you were—"
"But you were right, Karma."
"Huh?"
"Killing him was the right thing to do. It's what we were working towards this whole year, and it mattered so much to our class." A small smile is on her face before she realizes it. "Of all the ways everything could've ended in that situation, this was the best one. I'm glad that we did it."
Karma looks taken aback by that. After a few moments, he says, "I guess we were both right in our own ways back then."
"Yeah."
Then he smirks. "You never apologized for almost breaking my ribs though."
"What? You apologize first for headbutting me then."
They enter the classroom together.
