Chapter 4: Debriefing
I'm over 100 followers! Thanks so much everyone, when I saw that it made my day, this is my most popular story and I'm glad that everyone likes it.
Ok guys, here's a note about this chapter. Japanese honorifics are so confusing DX So I watched a couple episodes to see what Nagisa and Kayano address each other with. It seems that Nagisa just calls her Kayano, but I couldn't find an episode where Kayano addressed Nagisa by his name, so I'm not adding an honorific, because they seem to be familiar with each other. If anyone knows, please tell me, because I'm a perfectionist and wants to get it right.
The plot will finally be revealed. I hope everyone will continue to follow after they learn what it is.
A tiny bit of NagiKae moments here but Nagisa ruins it. Though I was rereading Chapter 159, and Nagisa's denseness makes me want to pull my hair out. Gosh, he's so dense!
So, OCs are coming in! I just don't have enough characters for this story. Don't worry, this story will still mostly follow the Ansatsu Kyoshitsu.
Oh, and also, everyone knows how the manga ended in March right? I was wondering, does anyone know if that had anything to do with the graduation date or Koro-sensei's death?
Finally: Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 are not up to my standards, so I apologize if you dislike them. Just hold out, alright?
…
An icy wind swirled ominously around the top of the mountain that day. That day, where the Assassination Classroom would delve into the confidential world of secrets again.
December 26th.
Akari clasped her hands together, exhaling softly on them and holding them close to her chest to preserve warmth. Her long, cheap coat fluttered wildly as cool December air swept over her. Despite being an actress, Akari never liked the expensive, dramatic brand names that celebrities donned. She preferred quality, not value.
As she gradually trudged through the forest of broken twigs and brush, she could spot the sunrise in the distance, a sea of varying colors she would never be able to pick out. Slightly different beautiful shades of color peering out behind the general oranges, pinks, and yellows.
On this freezing winter day, at five thirty in the morning even, many would wonder why prodigious actress, Kaede Kayano, was trudging through the mountains on an exceptional school's property.
The answer? Ohhh… it's confidential.
Though universally popular (as poor, traumatized kids) almost ten years ago, the famed Class 3-E's reputation as assassins would most likely never be known to the world.
She was almost there. With her eyes fixated on one of the many trees that were littered around bordering the clearing, she flung herself into the air with precision, landing on one of the lower branches silently, balanced like a ninja, eyes scanning the campus that played an irreplaceable role in shaping her life.
A lone figure was in the center, lying peacefully on his back as he stared absently up at the dissipating stars. It didn't take long for her to recognize his hair, the color of the sky.
"Kayano." Before she could even open her mouth, his soft call managed to float its way to her. With a fond smile, she touched down on the grass, making her way to him.
"Hey, Nagisa." She stood besides him silently, fingers of her clasped hands playing with each other behind her back. Her aura was content, but secretly, she was a bit uncomfortable. Her heart still fluttered whenever she was with him, but it was especially awkward after no means of contact in nine years. We're finally alone again, though…
"So…" There was a rustle movement, and she glanced down. He sat up with a cat-like stretch, his baby blue eyes blinking up at her, ready to start a conversation to break the silence. "Sorry for not asking yesterday, but how have you been, Kayano?"
She noted absently that he immediately steered off the subject of the assassination. "Well, as you probably know, I've been doing fine. Actress, singer, blah blah blah." She laughed slightly, waving her hands in a gesture.
"I didn't mean your occupation." Her attention was drawn back to his eyes, which weren't wary or suspicious like the prior day, but soft, tender. Her heart beat faster. "I meant you, Kayano. How have you been, personally?"
She tried her best to hold down her blush, wrestling it down in her mind. She despised herself for her reaction at barely anything. "I, um-"
"Oi! How long have you two lovebirds been here?" A teasing voice that Akari would always recognize. Rio.
Sure enough, the smirking blond diplomat sauntered into the clearing, followed closely by Sugino and Kanzaki, who donned friendly smiles.
"So?" Rio leaned in to get right in Nagisa's face as he rose to his feet. "How have you two been getting along together?" She flung an arm around his neck in an amiable way and he sighed, an immovable rock as he still stood completely upright as she tried to drag him down. Obviously failing. Since when was he this strong? Akari wondered, gazing at them.
"Nakamura-san, for the last time, Kayano and I are just friends."
Rio paused, her teasing azure eyes becoming serious in a blink of an eye, her attention flashing to Akari, who quickly turned away to greet Kanzaki. As a diplomat, Rio had learned the ability of reading little changes in people's expressions. And even though Akari turned away, she could tell her emotions from her stiff body language.
Meanwhile, Akari could feel her heart cracking, bit by bit. He was still quite as dense as ever.
"Kayano-chan?" As Sugino went to greet Nagisa in Rio's place, Rio approached Akari, a worried look on her face.
"Don't worry about it, Rio-chan!" She finally turned around, a forced cheerful smile on her face. "It's true, Nagisa and I are just friends!"
Her eyes caught on a redhead emerging from the clearing, dragging Manami along with him. She recalled Karma's words of advice from a Valentine's day over nine years ago, "Unless you tell him directly, he'll never figure out how you feel." (A/N: Chapter 159!)
It's true, she knew that. But… she would be completely heartbroken if he rejected her. She knew that she was a coward… but she couldn't help it!
Avoiding Rio's concerned gaze, she watched as more and more of her former classmates streamed out of the trees with cheerful, yet grim faces. Yes… that would be their role in this story, the role of cheerful young adults with bright futures. "Ohayo, Hinano-chan!"
...
Karma noted an immediate tension between two close friends as he entered the grassy clearing, dragging his wife behind him. Catching Rio's eyes, he realized, with the intellect of a fellow trickster, that something had happened. Nagisa, as always, seemed to be perfectly normal, but Kayano was putting as much distance between her and Nagisa as possible. He sighed as the most possible theory formed. Nagisa, what did you do now?
Of course, he would never ask him directly. He himself wouldn't know.
"Oh, you're all here. I really never expected you brats to be punctual."
A foreign blond woman emerged from the trees, donning an ever self confident smirk. She had really continued developing as an assassin over the years. Karma knew. It had been interesting, one day, in his spare time, to skim through the files of the assassins that the government had under their control. Of course, the top assassin, Smile, was classified information, stored safely under a lock that even Karma couldn't pick. However, for their other assassins, they had a ranking list. And Bitch-sensei was in the Top 10.
"B-bitch-sensei!" The class replied in surprise. Karma merely raised an eyebrow.
He honestly wondered if he could even beat her in a fight these days. If he could, that would probably mean that the government assassins aren't that good.
Interesting. He smirked inwardly, a gleeful voice pondering in his head. I wonder if I should challenge her...
"Bitch-sensei!" The ever optimistic biologist, Hinano Kurahashi piped up. "Why are you here?"
"Me? Well, the Head said that he wanted a professional who has been at the target's site before to speak to you all. And because my husband's being a jerk and didn't want to come, I had to come instead." She pouted cutely, a sigh escaping her rosy lips as she glanced, irritated, at the way she came.
"You're married?" Kayano reacted first.
Kurahashi looked as if she was about to complain about not being invited to the wedding, but instead opted for another reaction. "NOOO! You took Karasuma-sensei away from me! How could you, Bitch-sensei?!" She obviously understood that there was only one man that fit the description.
"WHAAAT?!" Finally, everyone else broke out of their stupor, whereas Bitch-sensei simply examined her already perfect nails.
"Grow up, kids." She replied absently, but smugness was evident in her tone. "You expected me not to be married? Heck, Karma and Okuda are married! And that's one deadly couple…" She mumbled underneath her breath.
Glares from said couple commence.
"Ok, ok! Fine! Anyway, I don't know why they sent me here. But well, to get down to business." She glanced up, her cerulean eyes serious as she flipped her platinum hair behind her head in one elegant movement. "This mission is on a luxury cruise ship."
"A cruise ship?" Megu raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"Yeah. It's one of those cruise ships that takes endless trips around the world, stopping at docks on the way once in awhile (A/N: Idk if there are actually ships like that.). Only the really rich and wealthy are able to afford to ride it. However, starting about a month ago, people have been going on the ship and never coming back. When the ship returns to their stop and their relatives ask for them, the staff merely reply that they stopped at a different stop. People go looking for their relatives and don't return. Some officials have been on the ship, never coming back."
"Why doesn't anyone just lock down the ship or something? Confisticate it?" Karma questioned, brows furrowed at receiving this new information, automatically turning on to work mode.
"It zooms off at like Mach 20. They've tried at multiple ports. They sent me to do reconnaissance, and I saw tentacles flailing around in one of the windows. After I gave the government this information, they immediately ceased to deal with it with normal officials. So, they've turned to all of you."
The young adults digested this information slowly, murmuring amongst themselves.
"Why us? I mean, I know that we are the only group experienced at assassinating… tentacles… but…" Kayano voiced curiously.
"Like the Head said before, you all are also a very large team of assassins. Since we cannot allow any normal people to go on the boats and it'll be suspicious with too less people, you all can go on and work as a group. However… there is still not enough people. The boat is like the rich hotel you've been to ten years ago. It's mostly full of rich people in their early twenties and kids. We need a fifty person group… but even you all don't have that many people, so…" She snapped her fingers once, a quick, crisp sound in the bright, icy morning.
And children emerged silently from behind the trees.
...
Nagisa wasn't startled like the rest of his class was when the kids appeared. He obviously already knew of their presence. They ranged from ten to fifteen year olds with ragged, revolting appearances that, frankly, didn't bother him much either. He had seen much worse. Besides, with his keen ears, he had heard their breathing, even and healthy. They probably have just been in some training exercise.
"These nineteen orphans are from around Japan who have showed promise in becoming assassins. I want all of you to teach them. Since they barely have any skills at the moment, you guys can teach them in a way to incorporate them into your team." Bitch-sensei announced, a bit of pity laced within her voice as she announced that they were orphans. He immediately picked out that it was ingenuine and that there was a testing tone underneath.
"How could you treat them like that?" Yada gasped with sympathy for the little kids, the mother figure in the Ansatsu Kyoshitsu. "That's terribly cruel!"
Bitch-sensei smirked softly, the corners of her lips curling. "Really? Say, Nagisa, what do you think?" Those piercing eyes that seemed to penetrate his soul. Who else knew of his identity?
If he was fazed, he didn't show it, but merely shrugged. "They're completely healthy. You probably nursed them back to health from whatever condition they were in before, though some still are a bit thin. Their condition is probably just due to a tiring training exercise."
"What about their camouflaging skills?" Bitch-sensei questioned with a knowing smirk.
"Pretty good for kids their age. Probably due to natural talent and their orphaned childhood though. I could pick them out. But then again, I could pick even you out, Bitch-sensei."
"Irina-sensei? Why does he call you Bit-" One of the older girls began to ask while Bitch-sensei quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.
"So, yep! You guys fail! Try until even Nagisa can't find you!"
"Bitch-sensei, you shouldn't ask them to do something you can't." He advised calmly, his sky blue eyes holding some level of mockery, but genuine amusement.
The kids turned to stare questioningly at her as she fell sideways, anime-style.
"Nagisa's observing skills were always top notch, after all." Sugino remarked cheerfully, clapping his friend on the shoulder.
The director flushed humbly, scratching the back of his neck, "Really, it's nothing. Just something I picked up while living with my mother." He informed the rest. It wasn't completely a lie… but there was no way, and Karma knew it, that his skills would be so enhanced after just living with his moody mother. Watching the redhead carefully out of the corner of his eye, he realized that he was becoming more and more suspicious.
"Irina-sensei~" One of the boys whined childishly after watching the exchange with interest. He narrowed his eyes at Nagisa, realizing with raw observation how much higher he was in skill. "There is absolutely no way we can hide our presence from him!"
Bitch-sensei's eyes turned cold, threatening. The children's eyes widened as they all backed away, leaving the young boy behind as the victim. His eyes widened with the rest of them, realizing that it had been the wrong thing to say.
"Jun." Bitch-sensei threatened darkly, the wind suddenly making her platinum hair flail, like a demon's. "Do you seriously have the guts to complain about that? People's lives are on the line."
"Irina-sensei!" Another young boy interrupted, racing to Jun's side. "Never mind about that!" Anyone could sense that she was about to enter "Pissed off Bitch" mode. "More importantly, if these are going to be our teachers, would you mind telling us who they are? And…" His electric blue eyes flashed to meet Nagisa's duller shade. "...if they are capable of teaching us?"
That moment, Nagisa could pick out the potential this child had - No. The potential they all had.
Oh, this was going to be fun.
…
Summary: Kaede's part was just fluff, Karma's part anyone could narrate, and something actually happened in Nagisa's.
That was a rather… pessimistic statement. I can see why people keep telling me to stop degrading my stories. But I think it's true. Didn't like this chapter.
So, here's the thing about me: I excel in writing one shots much more than full stories because I just move… much too fast.
That doesn't mean I don't enjoy writing multi chapters though, and I hope you all enjoy it too.
Nevertheless, I want to move at a normal pace and me, being the writer, can't critic my own story well. And I am much too impatient to get a beta reader. Sooooo… Please, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me if I'm moving too fast.
Sorry about the many OCs. I would ask you guys for them but it gets much too complicated when I do that, and most OCs have a meaning. Don't read too much into that though, I'll explain at the end of the fic. And… remember to tell me to explain if I forget, no matter how long this story had been completed for when you realize.
Finally, reviews:
Anisademongirl: It's in a PM I think, but it's so good to be back. I missed you a lot too.
Marianneanimelover: Thank you~
Guest: Ah, sorry. Pairings have started a bit, but it's mostly plot for now.
PixieSweets: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy the plot.
tongcraftunlimited: Thanks. I do hope people will say that even until the end because I'm a big writer on plot twists.
hachinonana: I like your enthusiasm! All questions will be answered, I assure you.
IarIz: Nagikae fans wooh! Thanks for liking the plot.
That one person: A bit of NagiKae right here. And that person, I wonder who? *Evil cackle*
NoGameNoLyfe: I am a fan of that pairing, so perhaps.
I12BFree: Like I said with someone else, I enjoy the enthusiasm. Ok, the thing about Manami still being Okuda is because 1) they are too used to calling her that and it'll be strange with two Akabane 2) Idk it feels more official in her government position and she started the position before she got married 3) Technically, her surname is officially Akabane, she just hasn't used it yet. Though she plays an important role, Manami doesn't appear much in this story actually, but I'll try to make her use it if you want to okay? A fluffy Karmanami moment in the next chapter, btw. And for the other couples: I'll think on it. This story is really more plot than pairing.
AvaTheDarkLord: It's actually taking all my restraint to keep that hidden :)
Darman700: Updates monthly!
Dragon warriors: Not going to drop it yet!
AshuriIncarnate: *laughs lightly* Yeah, that was why I first began the story too. I'm glad you see potential in it and I hope I don't let you down :) Thank you for reviewing.
nataia: Thank you.
I'm so happy that I'm finally getting good comments on plot. I actually don't see those often. And I hope everyone will still enjoy the plot even after this chapter. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! 13 reviews for last chapter alone!
Arigato for supporting me!
~Hana
