Short A/N: I have seen a review from an anonymous guest and I didn't know how respond directly so, I am just going to post my answer here.

"Mika should have noticed that Nagisa was a guy all along because he was wearing a boy's uniform."

It does make sense, yes, that she should have known that he was a male. That reason and the fact that Koro-sensei said his name as "Nagisa-kun" makes her character absolutely dense. For those who do not know what "-kun" is, it's simply a gender-neutral honorific suffix but it is typically used with a boy's name. Kayano asked her why didn't she notice that Nagisa was a dude because of the reason stated above. Plus, I actually wrote it that way on purpose to balance the dramatic atmosphere of the chapter with a bit of hilarity. Thank you for using your precious time to make a clever review to my story, anyway! I truly appreciate it.

Just a reminder that this story is somewhat different from AK's actual plot. Imagine that all of the students are already complete from the very first day.

Chapter 3: His Innate Talent

Three days had passed and I still couldn't get over the fact that I'd mistaken Nagisa as a girl. It was completely humiliating. They still laughed whenever they mentioned that awkward moment. I wouldn't blame them, though. It was absolutely hilarious when you think about it. Seriously speaking, Nagisa would definitely be a fine lady when you imagine him as a female. He would be exceedingly prettier than me.

Three days had already passed and Kayano decided to call our teacher, "Korosensei". Apparently, Korosensei didn't have a name until the day Kayano branded him as such. We had to write a poem that should end with, "it was tentacles all along." Korosensei told us that we should end it that way, or anything between the lines. It was pretty awkward writing that as a conclusion. I mean, how could you pour all of your emotions in your poem if you had to end it… that way? It would have sounded ridiculous if I wrote…

"In solitude, even before time existed
To drown in tears, truly exhausted
All I knew was I was alone
It was tentacles all along"

To write, for me is literally significant. I was very passionate about writing. And to add such ludicrous detail in something that I love doing was… annoying. Why should my poem end that way? I thought about adding Korosensei's name in my poem. I didn't have any choice. To dispense my feelings in a poem that should end with such silliness was pointless. My work would be ruined if I did that.

"Undefeatable, and inhumanly fast
Should be reaped by this class
With their combined bloodlust
To kill how killing never was

How do you ever annihilate
One so near yet so far away
One who is truly far superior
Than me, the total inferior?

I cannot ever wield a knife
And I'd shoot a gun so wrong
Korosensei, how would I take your life
Was it to aim at your tentacles all along?"

My poem didn't make any sense. Thank you for giving me a hard time, octopus-sensei. This was, by far, the worst thing I had ever written. I usually was satisfied with my works, but this thing… this thing completely went out of hand. I didn't even try my best. I hated this but I had to do it. For the sake of my grades. Geez.

And now…

There were two brand new teachers in Class 3-E. One was a debonair man with spiky dark-night hair and eyes that could pierce through you like razor sharp knives. He seemed professional wearing his black business suit, white collared shirt, and a black tie.

"Tadaomi Karasuma, but you shall call me Karasuma-sensei," his voice was deep. Despite his piercing eyes, his personality was a lot more likeable than Principal Asano's menacing character. I knew this partly because I couldn't sense ominous shadows from his eyes and also for the reason that Kurahashi-san's peridot orbs were filled with so much adoration that they turned into hearts.

The other one was a seductively attractive tall young woman who looked like a foreigner. Her face was rather round (not like Korosensei's though) and her long hair was a shade between gold and blonde. Her eyes were quite appealing. It caught my attention the most because they were as blue as the serene sky, but there was something concealed within those untroubled orbs. I could sense something peculiar behind those baby blues.

She introduced herself as Irina Jela-what's-it. I didn't completely understand what she said despite of her clear pronunciation. I couldn't quite catch the last syllable of her surname. It sounded like "bitch" and I hope I heard it the wrong way.

"Call me Jelavić-sensei. I will be your English teacher," she said in a happy tone, then she stared at Korosensei with a look that's not suitable for very young audiences. This made Korosensei's face turn into a bright shade of pink. What a lecher.

"So Bitch-sensei, what's up with the bold outfit?" Terasaka-kun asked blatantly. It was purely disrespectful to say such thing out of the blue, and calling her bitch-sensei in front of the whole class was unforgivable. We had the same question in mind though, but I didn't bother to say anything. If you had something to say with such insolence, it was better to say nothing at all.

She glared at Terasaka-kun sharply and it could literally send knives through him. He didn't seem affected though.

"It's Je-la-vić. Do you even know the difference between 'bitch' and 'vić'? No wonder you're in Class 3-E! Tch, I mean, you really are the dimwit of the dimwits!"

This left half of the class open-mouthed, and the other half obviously… outraged. And maybe I was in between. She's an adult, she should know to choose words that were more courteous than what she had just said.

"And I am the teacher in this room, you're only a mere student. Respect me. Or do you need me to spell the word out for you because you're so dumb? Plus, I like the way I wear my outfit! Why do you give a damn about my clothes, anyway—"

"Please. Stop it, Irina-sensei. Insults are not allowed in this classroom. You already said it yourself, that you are a teacher. You should act like one. Terasaka-kun and this class are not dimwits. They simply have a different way of learning than the other classes. You're an English teacher, then you should teach them how to pronounce your name properly. You should know that it's better to make them learn by actually teaching them, not by announcing such rudeness," Koro-sensei interrupted. And it was Jela-what's-it's turn to be open-mouthed… and probably angry at the same time.

"And as for you, Terasaka-kun. I hope this doesn't happen again. If you are to ask someone who's older than you, you should ask them nicely. It could have prevented Irina-sensei's reaction." Terasaka-kun looked the other way, trying to avoid shared gazes with Korosensei.

Bitch-sensei's face became beet-red and I could tell that it wasn't out of humiliation, but out of immature anger.

"Why did Terasaka-kun only get a short lecture about being disrespectful, while me on the other hand had a… URGH!" She stormed out of the room. This was really awkward.

The whole class sat there in awkward silence. Korosensei followed Bitch-sensei out of the room, and I was hoping that he would apologize and not… you know… being the lecher he was.

Then, Karasuma-sensei shook his head and sighed.

"Okay, we are going to do an activity outside of this room. Time to get started!"

Thank you Karasuma-sensei for attempting to break the ice because as you can see, you had succeeded. Well done, our dear teacher.

Finally, after that blood-boiling drama, we went out of the classroom and proceeded to the forest. We all organized ourselves in straight lines and we looked to Karasuma-sensei's direction.

"Now, we are here for a reason, obviously. I just want to assess every single one of you about your skills in the aspect of assassination. We would do another activity like this at the end of the semester in order to see your progress. And I would gladly do my best to assist those students who are left behind. But keep in mind, that we only have until your graduation to assassinate that octopus," Karasuma-sensei said while he was holding a small box.

"In this tiny box that I am carrying are numbers. All of you should pick a number and find the person with the same number as you have. They would be your partner in this activity that we would be doing. All of you have to try and kill your opponent. Today, you will try to eliminate your enemy in close combat. Tomorrow, you will do a far-ranged fight. Of course, you don't have to literally kill them. You're going to use the weapons that you need to use in order to annihilate your octopus of a teacher. Just mark them with a red 'x' on whatever part of their body that you want to target. Winning, of course, doesn't guarantee that you have shown an impeccable talent. Bear in mind that your triumph in this activity could only be a fluke, thus you have no reason to boast about such accomplishment for this is only an assessment."

"Now, pick your numbers randomly in this bo—"

"But, Karasuma-sensei! What if, by chance, two people of different combat preference were partnered together? What if one person is better at close combat than a far-ranged one? And the other prefers vice versa," asked Okuda-san, her face looking quizzical.

"Good question! Well, one of the characteristics of assassins is versatility, thus they should be adaptable to their surroundings. Because, at some point in a critical situation wherein death's grasp is a nanometer away from them, for example their desired weapon to use is not in sight and the only thing they have is a weapon they're not used to wield or to shoot, they're going to have to use it no matter what. Because assassins are supposed to be flexible and resourceful," replied Karasuma-sensei wittily.

My classmates stood there in awe, like they had watched an amazing talent show. Karasuma-sensei sure did know how to use his words pretty well. I, on the contrary, was amused but unlike them, I didn't want to do this activity. May it be fake or not, anything that involved violence wasn't something that I was interested in. You see, I had enough of witnessing cruelty. I had already been kicked and awfully maltreated. I spent years of tolerating Aunt Chiyoko and her husband's vehement aggressiveness. I was quite sure that I never ever wanted to be like them, even if it costed me my life.

And then out of the blue…

"Nurufufufu! Very well said. You sure do know how to be a real teacher, am I right Irina-sensei? Nurufufufu!"

We were all surprised not because of Koro-sensei but because of Irina-sensei.

"Y-yes," she said while her eyes were closed. She was totally embarrassed because of that scene in the classroom. And why were we surprised, you ask? Well, before she was wearing a rather showy uniform but now she was wearing gym clothes and her hair was up in a neat ponytail, finished up with a hairband.

She was somewhat kawaii this way than her overall look a few moments ago, to be really honest.

"Without any further ado, you should all pick your numbers. This activity is just a pre-test, but do your best."

All of the students went to Karasuma-sensei and got our own ripped papers with a number written on each of them. Subsequently, they were eagerly looking for their partners. And I, on the other hand, just stood there. I didn't even bother to open my folded piece of paper. I merely observed my surroundings, looking at my classmates in pursuit of their respectful opponents.

In a blink of an eye, everyone had already found their partners.

Well maybe not everyone.

"The Autonomously Thinking Fixed Artillery, obviously won't be joining this activity because, not to be blunt, 'she' clearly has far more superior skills than all of your capabilities combined," said Karasuma-sensei when everyone was settled.

"She would help me, Irina, and the octopus score and observe all of you," he added.

Great. The "machine" had the chance to just sit its arse there on one of the comfortable-looking benches because it was supposed to do those kind of things, right? Relax and freaking enjoy the show? Oh, what a perfectly good time to be a machine right now. I would totally give up everything to be in its position.

Just when everything was about to start, I saw Nagisa roaming around and seemed to be looking for something. He stared at the sheet of paper he was holding and then anxiously searched for something. Korosensei seemed to had taken notice of him as well.

"Nagisa-kun," he called. Everyone looked at our teacher. He whispered something to Nagisa and then they looked at me. Oh…kay? What was up?

Nagisa went to my direction, and then I finally realized that he was the only one without a partner, except from the Autonomously Thinking Fixed Artillery because she didn't freaking need one, fortunately for her!

"Can I see your number, Mika?"

I unfolded my tiny piece of paper and showed him the number written on it. He, then, smiled and said that he was my partner. Lucky for me, I didn't mind losing to him. He was my friend, anyway. I knew that he wouldn't judge.

"Alright! Let's begin this activity. First pair: Sugino and Isogai!"

The two boys stood up and walked to the front. The rest of the students just sat in pairs and their gaze followed Sugino-kun's and Isogai-kun's motion.

I could hear Nagisa saying something but I did not totally understand what he said. All that I perceived were "two" and "great". Nothing more. I could also see Karasuma-sensei saying something to the two guys, and I could also see them nodding. Each of them grabbed a knife that we should use to kill Korosensei.

Karasuma-sensei tooted his whistle. I guess this was the beginning.

I could see them sweating. They were just as completely nervous as I was, the only difference was they were actually doing something. That they were actually participating in this activity. That they were willing to fight.

Isogai-kun was the first one to charge at his enemy, and Sugino-kun immediately dodged. Wow, I never thought Sugino-kun had really great reflexes. Isogai-kun was also quick to attack. They were doing pretty well, though. I couldn't understand why Karasuma-sensei didn't seem pretty amused. These two boys were amazing, but why wasn't he satisfied?

It was Sugino-kun's turn to attack Isogai-kun. He dashed towards his partner and aimed at his chest. Isogai-kun was stunned for a moment, until he came to his senses that he was going to be attacked. He avoided his opponent's strike, the knife almost touching his shoulder. Close call! Isogai-kun, then, suddenly threw his knife at Sugino-kun. Before he could even look at his enemy's direction, he was already hit by the knife on his back. It now had a streak of blood red line. Just another red line perpendicular to that mark would mean that Isogai-kun wins.

The tables had turned now, actually. Sugino-kun had the upper hand this time. He grabbed his opponent's knife on the ground. Isogai-kun was left unarmed. Vulnerable. He still needed to run and get his weapon, but with Sugino-kun holding it, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. He wouldn't stand a chance against his partner.

Sugino-kun charged at Isogai-kun. Isogai-kun rolled over to dodge his attack. This was a sticky situation for him but looking at his face, it seemed like he had an idea in mind. He sprinted towards the buckets of paint. Sugino-kun attacked again, but his knife hit one container of paint and then its lid was sliced open, sending the red liquid all over the place.

Karasuma-sensei, along with the other teachers and the damned machine that got the comfortable seat, put on interested faces. I could already sense that something bizarre was about to happen.

The battle continued and I could feel that they were about to reach the climax of this fight. More attacks came from Sugino-kun but Isogai-kun dodged each strike warily. Now, both of them were sweating not because of nervousness, but because of the tension that was building up. Sugino-kun already had a mark and Isogai-kun was unscathed. Zero. Zilch. Zip. But, Sugino-kun had two weapons and Isogai-kun… well… Zero. Zilch. Zip.

Just then, Sugino-kun ran very fast towards Isogai-kun. And he just stayed there like no one was planning to attack him. He just stood there as if he was a statue. He. Just. Stayed. There. Like. A. Boss.

And of course, the obvious outcome: Isogai-kun got smeared with one visible red line. When Sugino-kun was about to mark him with another line (to form an x), Karasuma-sensei blew his whistle, catching everybody else's attention.

"We have a winner!"

All of us just sat there in bewilderment. I heard confused whispers everywhere. I couldn't blame them, I was absolutely puzzled, too.

"I don't understand," I told Nagisa. He nodded in agreement and replied, "you're not the only one."

"But how come? Sugino-kun still hasn't finished marking an x on Isogai-kun," Nagisa said to Karasuma-sensei.

"But I haven't announced the winner yet," Karasuma-sensei replied. I looked at everyone and I was pretty sure that I had just seen a big "what the hell did just happen," written on each of their faces. The two boys stood up and Sugino-kun turned around. We saw a red 'x' imprinted on his uniform. The winner's name didn't have to be announced because it was already obvious. We were dumbfounded because of what we saw.

The big question was, "how?"

"Nurufufufu! Great job, boys! Your battle surprised me. I didn't expect to watch such an intense scene. Isogai-kun, you were brilliant," Korosensei commented.

"All it takes is to mark your opponent with an 'x' and then you win the fight. I have already expected something interesting is about to happen when you ran towards those buckets of paint. The reason why you ran towards those buckets was to lure Sugino-kun and make him cut one container open and for you to dip your hand in the spilled red paint until you get the chance to mark another line on Sugino-kun's back, therefore etching a red 'x' on that part of his body. When he finally charged at you, and you deliberately let him mark you with a red line, and you had the chance to streak another line on your target. And so, you did. That was absolutely witty of you, Isogai-kun," he added. Karasuma-sensei was kind of speechless, probably because the things that he wanted to say was already said by Korosensei.

"And as for you, Sugino-kun. Don't worry, you did an amazing job as well. If it was an actual battle, you could have won because you had your opponent's only weapon. Your reflexes were truly commendable, and I know that you can still improve that," Korosensei praised Sugino-kun. This cheered him up. Well, he had no reason to frown because he showed pure excellence when he fought with Isogai-kun.

Every single one of us (except from the two boys and the judges) became instantly afraid afterwards because we all had this feeling that we should equal the first two guys' level of competence, ability, knowledge, and intensity. I wouldn't be able to reach their skills. I was just a lowly teenager who was involved in some assassination crap that I didn't want to be included in, in the first place.

The next battle began between Kirara Hazama and Minami Okuda, and well… it didn't turn out pretty intense as the first one because Okuda-san immediately surrendered. Hazama-san did not even have to mark an 'x' on her body for the people around to declare that her opponent won.

The rest of the matches were uneventful. Some of the students seemed confident and the others were well… the opposite. Some of them looked like they peed in their pants. Some of them didn't know how to hold their knives. Some of them were klutzes. Others could have shown their hidden talents in assassination more if their opponents weren't so scared of them. Bitch-sensei told them that they should stop hiding in their eggshells. Korosensei said that he will help them get out of their comfort zones.

Chiba-kun and Hiyami-san were great. It was almost a tie but Hiyami-san was a nanosecond faster than Chiba-kun. The both of them threw their knives at each other when they finally marked their opponents with one red line. Hiyami-san was the first to mark an 'x' on Chiba-kun's arm.

And then it was our turn. It was Nagisa's and my turn. I wasn't ready. I never was. I looked at Nagisa's face from the side. His eyes showed determination, which was a good sign because I wanted him to win against me. I knew that he could also feel my rapid pulse because when he looked at me, he said that everything was going to be okay, and then he smiled reassuringly. And surprisingly, I calmed down.

Karasuma-sensei blew his whistle, signaling the start of our fight.

I looked at Nagisa and he closed his eyes while taking a deep breath. When he opened his azure orbs, I felt a strange sensation in my system. His eyes of serenity looked like they were longing for blood to shed. The peculiar thing was it didn't scare me at all. In fact, it sparked something inside of me. It, then, gradually blazed into fire.

Then came the freezing ice, numbing me. I felt nothing but this uncontrollable desire to… to… kill.

I had a tunnel vision. Nothing else was in sight but Nagisa, my target. Nagisa, my opponent. And here I was, charging at him. I aimed my knife at his heart, but as I was running closer and closer to him, he smiled. Then, a realization came at me. Nagisa wasn't something, he was someone. He was someone that I shouldn't just kill. He was a friend of mine.

Don't cry, Mika. Don't.

Slowly, I put my knife down and I looked to the ground.

I didn't want violence, and then here I was… I almost stabbed my friend. Even if all of this was fake, I still didn't like what I felt. I was engulfed by the same exact thing when I was with Aunt Chiyoko in my room a few days ago. The thing that scared the two of us.

Bloodlust.

This wasn't right. Did I just literally want to kill Nagisa (although this was just some dumb activity)? Did I just point my knife at him? Did this anti-violence heart of mine turn into a hideous monster? No. No. This couldn't be! Stupid Mika! Baka! Baka!

Nagisa's smile turned into a frown. He could totally see my devastated side, but I didn't care. At least he was the only one who could see me like this. Not even my classmates, or the teachers know that I didn't want to fight with him right now.

My eyes pleaded for him to win this stupid battle. He nodded as if he understood what I wanted to imply. He walked towards me, and I felt the tip of his knife etching an 'x' on my shoulder. Subsequently, Karasuma-sensei blew his whistle.

Nagisa hugged me tightly afterwards. Like he wanted to absorb the pain that I felt. Like he wanted to carry the weight of the world that was upon my shoulders. Like he sincerely cared for me. I hugged him back, and my traitorous tears rolled down my face. My eyes were waterfalls and his shoulder was a river, receiving the heaviness that the water was carrying from the top of the cascades.

"It's okay, Mika. Everything is okay," he whispered into my ear. I knew deep inside that it was a lie. My life was a huge mess and now, I was also involved in this assassination classroom. But still... my mind wanted to believe him.

And so, it did.

Thank you so much, Nagisa.