A/N:
At LavaLilly: Haha! Thank you!
At ramamiss: Namimori part is along this update, so I'll see your reaction regarding it. And thank you for your kind words. They made me smile. A lot.
At ramrom: Thanks! You're the best too!
At Guest: Here is the update!
At ChuLian: Thank you! I'm so grateful that you binge-read this story, and you liked it. I may sound confident when I write, but I'm a total nervous wreck regardless of how ready I am with criticism. And to answer your question: Since Tsuna got the permission to call the class with their first names, he uses them in his mind. Like 'Ah, Yukiko went with Sumire, so it means I have to teach Kirara.' The reason he (more of I) couldn't use them in the narration is because I don't want you to confuse them. Like with Ryouma. If Ryouma didn't permit Tsuna to use his name in the early chapters, he would still be Terasaka for me so you won't be confused of who is who. It's more of my fault why Tsuna doesn't call them by their first names in his narration. Gomen.
I am actually miffed. I checked the last few chapters, and I thought I reached 72 chapter (minus epilogue) which I have told you in the past chapters-because I really thought I did. And when I counted really really slowly, it turned out that it was only 62 chapters. And I was like, dude! That could've been like an indication that this is Tsuna's story because there should be 72 chapters with 72 Sawada facts. (I mean you get me, right? Tsuna is 27, while Natsu is 72, and argh!) T T Talk about reality versus expectations.
Anyway, go on. Shoo. Let me wallow my addled brain that refuses to work the maths months ago.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Tsuna waved back at Nagisa who waved at him. "Ready?"
"Yeah." The bluenet responded as they continued to walk. "Where's Itona?"
"He went to Ryouma and co, since I am to see you and Karma." He answered.
"You look a little stuffy." Tsuna didn't turn to his other side after Karma said that. The redhead patted the brunet's hip. "I knew it."
"Just in case." He reasoned as he tried to evade those hands. "And you aren't inspecting me. It's not my fault you didn't carry any."
"You're carrying weapons?" Nagisa gawked.
"No one said we needed a fair fight." Karma pointed out as he stopped and contented himself by putting his hands on his jean's pockets. "What do you think of Kayano though, Tsuna?"
The asked brunet scratched his left ear in thoughts. "I don't really know. I'm not the one you should be asking that since we aren't close. I don't know who is Kayano Kaede in a general sense. Since the time I discovered she has this grudge on Sensei, I stopped thinking that she is who she wants us to see."
"So, you thought she has this certain connection with Koro-sensei even before the assassination classroom happened." Karma pieced.
He nodded.
"Do you think she'll come back?" Nagisa queried, sounding worried.
"She has to." He answered. "Her persona is part of Class E. Whether she likes it or not, she still needs to come back, like Itona." Then he shrugged. "Who knows, maybe she'll get tired of pretending all the time as Kayano Kaede and just wanna be herself in our class. After all, the tentacles corrupt the mind and force the container to believe in their hatred."
Tsuna adjusted his grip on Daemon who has been listening to their discussion. The ghost in the doll's body more or less told Tsuna who are his possible (and probably as it is) main elements out of twenty-eight (plus Gakusho) individuals of Class E.
Nagisa is the main storm. Karma, the main rain. Itona on lightning. Although not yet harmonized, he has Gakusho on main cloud with Ryouma. Of how on mafia did he able to have the delinquent as his cloud, he has no freaking idea. By means of mist, Daemon told him that Kayano's flames are volunteering. It's just that Tsuna is not yet ready to recognize her. And when it comes to the sun... That's a whole different version of discussion.
"Right on time." Ryouma huffed as they approach.
Class E is already assembled, wearing their own kinds of winter clothes. Even Karasuma-sensei and Irina-sensei were there, waiting.
"Sorry." Nagisa apologized sheepishly.
"It's not our fault you don't take your time walking, Terasaka." Karma teased. It earned an agitated Ryouma.
"Sensei." Tsuna called out to Koro-sensei who stood by the entrance of the grass field. The two teachers turned to them from a distance. "You okay?"
Koro-sensei's smile visibly faltered. "I-I don't really know, Tsuna-kun. I'm worried of Kayano-san."
He stared at the man before taking one of his tentacles. "You're GOD." Inky black eyes widened. "On par with Reborn when you both were at your primes. When everything didn't turn out like this. When you were still you and he was still him. And do you know what you and Reborn have always told my counterpart? Trust your gut. Trust your intuition. Trust your instincts. I trust mine; you trust yours. If you think it's the right thing to do, if you feel like you need to do it, do it. I'll support you. We will support you. Wherever you go, whatever battles you need to do, any confrontation you need to go through, I will always have your back, Sensei. And I will stamp that on my dying will."
"You can't die yet." Daemon chimed from his spot-on Tsuna's arm. "Tsunayoshi is still deciding who are his main elements. And the sky expects his sun to not crumble on him while helping him."
Koro-sensei stared at them with surprised eyes.
"It's still tentative." Tsuna breathed as he pulled one of his anti-sensei knives from its hiding and slipped it by the heart. "As long as I don't have your cure, I won't decide."
The teacher nodded, watching his hand pat the place. "You're awfully paranoid, Tsuna-kun."
"Your tentacles can regenerate, but your heart is vulnerable." Daemon answered for him. "Tsunayoshi's paranoia has their own reasons."
The teacher smiled gratefully.
"Sensei," Both turned to Isogai who nodded at them. "it's about time."
"Let's go, Everyone." Koro-sensei said and moved towards the field.
"I'll be by the trees." Daemon said to him before disappearing from his arms with mist flames.
Tsuna followed Koro-sensei closely with Karma and Nagisa on either side, but meters away. Embarrassing to admit, the brunet didn't know how to get to the grassy field behind the Kunugigaoka Park. He never really found himself getting there. He's more on the streets, running away from his bullies and trying to lose them so they wouldn't see where he lives, or the works he did. Other than that, he didn't have the time to really explore Kunugigaoka, so he's pretty clueless where it was.
As what the description and the said location was told, the back of Kunugigaoka Park was a grassy field. The grass reached Tsuna's knees. A good mockery of how short the brunet was. It's stretched far and wide, and surrounded by trees. And at the very center was Kayano with her green hair and two black tentacles.
Tsuna groaned a little when he felt his intuition tweaking him. He looked around to try and locate Shiro's location. The asshole must be somewhere he could see the plain. He likes to be fucking dramatic even if the act didn't suit him.
"You came!" His attention went to Kayano who exclaimed that happily. "Let's end this!"
He'd leave the searching for Shiro's location to his intuition then.
"I'm practically your mother, Koro-sensei. I named you." Kayano stated again as she fully faced them. Her eyes were blown, seemingly excited with the notion of killing Koro-sensei. "And Mama is here to punish you."
"Kayano, it's far too dangerous for you to use your tentacles any more than you already have. If we don't remove them and treat you immediately, your life could be in danger." Koro-sensei informed.
"What are you talking about?" Kayano queried cluelessly. "I feel better than ever. Stop trying to upset me with your stupid bluff."
"Kayano," Nagisa called out. "We all had so much fun together. We even helped each other get past the tough times. Was that all an act?"
"Every last second." She replied with a smile. "No matter what, I am an actress. When Mister Takaoka was beating the crap out of you, it was so annoying that I wanted to jump in too. When those delinquents kidnapped me, and the God of Death kicked me, I could barely keep myself from killing them. But I put up with it and pretended to be a weak little girl. I mean, if I'd revealed myself before now, I wouldn't be able to get revenge on my sister."
"Your sister? You mean Miss Yukimura?" Fuwa verified.
Kayano pointed a finger to Koro-sensei. "I bet you really regret killing my sister, Monster."
The brunet perked up to that. "You don't-"
"Tsuna-!" Ryouma hugged him by the shoulders, keeping him still.
"She absolutely loved teaching. She even told me a bit about the Class." She remarked.
"I know what you mean." Takebayashi sympathized. "I only knew her for two weeks last March, but her passion really shone through."
"But come on, guys. Think about it." Sugino defended. "Would Koro-sensei really just kill such an awesome teacher? All year long, he hasn't done anything that awful."
"Hey. At least listen for what he has to say for himself, Kaede." Kurahashi agreed.
"Yeah." Karma noted. "He's so special, they came crying to me while I was suspended. But still, are you sure about this? I just don't see how this could possibly turn out well for you."
"Right now, your body should be hot, but your neck should be cold." Itona remarked. "It's an abnormality in the metabolism of everyone with tentacles implants. Fighting in your condition is not a good idea. You'll lose control to the fever and the pain. Then the tentacles will suck away your life force and you'll die-"
Even before Itona could finish his statement, everyone gasped in horror as Kayano's tentacles got caught into some kind of fire.
"Shut up!" She barked, glaring at them. "Background characters shouldn't be meddling in the final battle!" She then focused her attention to Koro-sensei with this victorious smile. "Any weakness or flaw can be a weapon if you polish it right. You're the one who taught me that, Koro-sensei. If my body get too hot to bear, I'll just get even hotter and turn completely into tentacles."
"No." Koro-sensei denied. "Any more and you'll-"
"I'm in perfect shape." She stated before brandishing her tentacles.
Tsuna jumped back as fire went around Koro-sensei's back and separated the class to the latter.
"A ring of flames!" Sugino exclaimed in surprise.
"She- She turned the environment to her advantage!" Fuwa gasped.
"My whole body's getting sensitive." They heard her say over the fire. "Now, I won't miss any opportunities for attack!"
"Stop it, Kayano!" Nagisa shouted in persuasion from the side. "This is wrong! We all studied together! If you sacrifice yourself just to kill him, there'll be nothing of you!"
"I'm not sacrificing anything, Nagisa. Just killing this monster." She responded and jumped. "When I focus on something, I really get into it." And she started to attack Koro-sensei.
"I told you," The brunet said as he pulled his twin guns from their holsters. "Don't call Koro-sensei monster in front of me."
"Tsuna!" Some of them exclaimed.
"Back away." He stated scathingly as he aimed all of his guns. "I won't be able to move if you're getting in my path." And he pulled his triggers.
The class watched as Kayano's tentacles explode, making the girl pause and them to take breaths. Their classmate turned to them viciously, and they didn't even see how Tsuna moved. He was already rolling away from his spot that was attacked by one of the regenerated tentacles. It didn't take long for another one to explode before the other, until every aim was on spot.
Koro-sensei covered for Tsuna when he's not being attacked. The teacher was the defense, the student was the offense. They looked so in sync that every move was almost too fast for them to follow. Even when Koro-sensei asked them for help to distract Kayano and remove her tentacles, Tsuna was attacking continuously to give their teacher a breather and rely his message properly. It made sense a little, since Koro-sensei couldn't attack Kayano for she was his student, so Tsuna was doing the attacking for him.
(Sawada facts no. Sixty: He could keep up with other people who possess tentacles like Koro-sensei.)
"Tsuna-kun!" Koro-sensei shouted as he intercepted the tentacle that was about to hit the brunet who ran out of ammu.
"Cover!" Tsuna shouted to Koro-sensei as he clicked his used magazine out and reloaded by just inserting his next magazines from both sides of his hips.
Koro-sensei did cover for the both of them, deflecting every attack.
"Tsuna is equipped?!" Kimura questioned around, after seeing how the brunet was able to distract Kayano almost perfectly as per plea of Koro-sensei. "How did he even thought of doing such thing?!"
"He said it's for precautions." Itona said to them after hearing the asked question.
"He's always prepared for these kinds of situations." Ryouma gritted as the others tried to think of a way to help the brunet and Koro-sensei.
"Koro-sensei!" A shrill shout, filled with horror, pulled them away from their thoughts.
At the center of the fire was Koro-sensei, struck at the very middle of his chest by Kayano's tentacles. Most of them exclaimed in fright as well. The teacher took that chance to wrap his tentacles around Kayano though. Their classmate struggled to get out of his hold, but Koro-sensei's grip was pretty tight. Just then, they noticed Nagisa in front of the two. And in seconds, all of them gasped at what the teal-head did.
Nagisa kissed Kayano.
They all watched in bathed breaths as seconds go by. The devil duo, Karma and Nakamura, started to take pictures that some of them sweatdropped at. By ten seconds, Kayano buckled and almost collapsed if Nagisa hasn't caught her. She looked out of it, face all red, and the black veins that sprouted from her nape that even reached her jaws slowly disappeared back to their origins. Nagisa parted from her and laid her down to the ground slowly as the tentacles stopped moving as well. She was defeated with just... That.
"Koro-sensei, does this work?" Nagisa queried after doing the deed.
"Full points, Nagisa! Now's my chance!" Koro-sensei praised and started to move.
The class went closer to see what happens. Like how he did it during Itona's case, their teacher removed the tentacles in a fast manner before laying Kayano on the ground again. Okuda assisted Kayano's head to lay on her lap.
"So, is Kayano going to be okay?" Okuda asked worriedly.
"Yes. Probably." Koro-sensei answered positively. "Though she could certainly use some peace and quiet."
As the class teased Nagisa with his kiss attack, the brunet ran towards Koro-sensei, almost tripping in hurry.
"Sensei." Tsuna panted as he put a hand on the teacher's chest and inspected the man's physique. He scowled when he realized it. "Fuck. She penetrated the anti-sensei knife." He cursed and took the penetrated knife out of the way.
He didn't flinch when the man coughed blood right between them, tentacle cupping his hand. He inspected the wound, and sighed in relief when he noticed that the knife became somewhat of help to make the hole less deep than it could've been.
"Koro-sensei!" Some of the class called out in panic.
"I'm alright." The teacher assured, panting. "My heart just needs a while to regenerate."
"I got him." He assured to the others as he let his hand lit blue and orange flames in a soft glow. Like how he practiced it secretly, he made the bleeding go slow as the body harmonize with its regeneration ability. "Breathe, Sensei. I got you."
As asked, Koro-sensei breathed and smiled a little to the others. "I'm fine. No doubt you have plenty you want to ask me, but I'll have to ask you to wait a bit longer."
"Koro-sensei..."
The moment Koro-sensei wrapped his tentacle around the brunet's body was the same time the latter pulled out his dagger and blocked the incoming attack. Glaring at the direction where it came from, he threw his dagger with all his might before pulling the other from his built and threw it as well.
The first dagger was for Shiro who was blocked by the man beside him wearing all black outfit from head to toe, face covered. The second dagger was for the gun that was held by the man. The moment it hit the most vulnerable part; the gun exploded. Tsuna didn't even look back to Itona when the latter tossed to him the third dagger he entrusted, and redirected it to Shiro's direction who was surprised with the sudden explosion. The third dagger almost got Shiro's head, if the man didn't evade it. Instead, it nicked a great portion of the man's hood.
"You just can't keep your hands to yourself, Sawada-kun." Shiro said from a distance, patting the tear. "I could just kill you with how much of my plans have been thwarted in your hands."
Tsuna didn't say anything, taking a good hold on Koro-sensei who is slowly recovering. He didn't tear his eyes away though, just in case the bastard did something.
"Don't get too carried away, drawing us in by playing dead." Shiro directed to Koro-sensei. "You clearly have a long way to go before you kick the bucket. Tsk. What a useless girl. If she was planning to put her life on the line for her revenge, you'd think she'd wait for a better time to act. You're a frightening monster, indeed. Over just one year, you've repelled innumerable dozens of assassins with ease. However,"
Tsuna tensed up as the man pulled his face mask off completely and dropped something. It was a voice muffler.
"There are two remaining right here." A familiar voice from his counterpart's past said. "I am the last one. You took everything from me, and so you will receive your desserts." And he looked up, letting his face be known.
"Yanagisawa Kotarou." The brunet spat the man's name. "I knew it."
"Oh? You know me too, Sawada-kun." The man laughed. "He tattled, then?"
He smirked. "No. I just heard how much of a failure your research was a year ago. It's quite funny how you went on so grand and conceited about it, only it flopped terribly. Your name and picture were all over the articles I've read last year. This monster didn't tattle. You did."
(Sawada facts no. Sixty-one: He knows Shiro is Yanagisawa Kotarou.)
The man's smile got wiped out of his face before he turned away and patted his companion's shoulder. Tsuna winced when his intuition clicked him terribly. "Time to go, Number Two. When March comes, let us give him the perfect death for his accursed life."
He waited for the man to do something after Shiro left him there. He just stared at them, dropping the useless gun on the ground and flew off.
"Hmph. I don't care what that ugly freak really looks like." Takuya said from the far side, sitting beside Okuda and Kanzaki who gasped. "We've got bigger problems. She's waking up."
"I want to see her." Koro-sensei said to him.
Tsuna sighed before helping the man up. "Sometimes, I think you'll be the one who will give me heart attacks."
Koro-sensei only snickered as they walked for Kayano. They looked over when the girl opened her eyes and her gaze became clear. "Oh, Kayano!" The teacher exclaimed in relief. "Thank goodness."
"Kayano," Nagisa called after running to the spot. "you okay?"
The girl nodded, flushing a little. "Yeah."
"Kayano." Some of the class called as they came nearer as well.
"At first, my bloodlust was pure." She started off, staring straight at the sky. "But... The more time I spent with Koro-sensei, the more I started to lose confidence in it. Like, what if there's another story behind his actions that I don't know about? And should I make sure I'm right before I kill him? And at that time, the bloodlust in my tentacles started to swell up. They wouldn't let me give up the assassination. I'm such an idiot." She lamented. "You were having so much fun in your pursuit of assassination, but all I wanted this entire year was revenge."
The class fell silent with that confession.
"Hey, Kayano." Nagisa once again called and touched his hair with this grateful smile. "You know, when you gave me this hairdo, you helped me be less self-conscious about how long my hair is. You said this before, but it bears repeating: You came up with the name 'Koro-sensei', and we've loved it for a whole year."
Tsuna looked up to their teacher who shuffled when the others turned to him as well. The brunet smiled softly at how the others loved him.
"It doesn't matter what your goal was. What matters is that you made everyone in our class your friend." Nagisa concluded. "No matter how much you had to suffer on your own, I won't let you say that all those fun times we had together were just an act. Koro-sensei promised us he'd tell us everything if we all got together. Yeah, he's not exactly a saint and he doesn't always act appropriately, but c'mon. Let's listen to him. All of us together." He smiled.
"Ok." Kayano said in a soft voice, and bit her lower lip as she tried to contain her tears while her whole body shakes in effort. Regardless, they still poured. "Thank you... I can finally stop acting."
The class smiled at that while some others, like Isogai and Kataoka turned to the both of them.
"Koro-sensei, Kayano sure didn't spare any effort in trying to kill you." Isogai stated. "This was an assassination that took a lot more than your run-of-the-mill courage and determination. So there's some connection between... This assassination, your past, Miss Yukimura, and us, too. But why?" He stepped forward as the others turned to Koro-sensei as well. "Please, tell us. No matter how bad your past is, as long as it's the truth, we can accept it."
A moment of silence.
Koro-sensei sighed deeply before turning to the brunet who kept on watching him. He smiled. "Tsuna-kun, I have to do this on my own."
"Not alone." The teen negated and pulled away slowly. "You'll be speaking alone, but I'm at the side. If you need someone to clarify what happened, I'll help you."
"I know." The teacher nodded.
Tsuna went to the side and stood there. It was like a neutral ground. He's not part of the class who wanted to know the other's past, and he's not part of the past the teacher is about to reveal.
"If at all possible, I wanted to leave the story about my past until the very end." The man, in his creature body, started off. "But now, it seems I have no choice. Your trust and the bonds that link us are just too precious to me." He turned to the brunet who nodded before he continued on. "On that southern island, during summer vacation, Karasuma-sensei said this about Irina-sensei, 'she's as capable as any other outstanding assassin out there.' I think those words hit the mark quite nicely.
"Class E is my very first teaching experience ever. But that certainly didn't affect my performance. I managed to teach you nearly every subject without a hitch. Why do you think that is?"
"You don't mean..." Takebayashi voiced for all of Class E.
"Yes." Koro-sensei confirmed. "Up until two years ago, I was the master assassin known as the 'God of Death'."
Karma and Nagisa turned to Tsuna who noticed their movements. The latter nodded, confirming that: Yes, Koro-sensei is the original God of Death, and yes, Tsuna knew all along.
"Also, one other thing; even if nobody manages to kill me, I will inevitably die this coming March." The teacher informed. "In other words, the ever-changing future that rests on the assassination is whether just one person dies or the entire world."
The brunet let out a breath and flopped down on the ground as Koro-sensei started to tell his tale. He looked up when Daemon suddenly appeared in thin air and slowly descended on him.
"This is going to be hard on them, isn't it?" The first generation Vongola mist remarked.
Tsuna sighed. "If they can't handle this much, they won't be able to handle mine."
Daemon hummed. "Time will tell."