Yellow Experience
After a hideously long wait due to also writing my other fanfics, I can finally return to my favorite one. Judging by the replies, I see you found last chapter epic. I'm very happy about it. Though it'll take a long time until we reach something very epic again, things have to cool down for a while.
I do not own JoJo's Bizarre Adventure or Assassination Classroom
Chapter 17: Start at the End
"…Uhh…" Haruno just woke up, rubbing his eyes. He slowly raised his torso, looking around no one was around.
He reached for his pocket, taking out his mobile phone. The delinquent noticed 2 things: It was already evening, he slept through almost an entire day, and his phone battery was really low. Due to uncontrollably falling asleep last night, he forgot to charge it. "Damn it…"
Walking around the hotel, Haruno found nobody, figuring they must all be outside. He went to the bathroom, washing his face. He didn't bother dying his hair blond again or changing.
5 minutes later the delinquent left the hotel, going outside. In the distance, on the beach, he noticed a huge block of concrete that wasn't there before. Construction machines were also present. "The hell's this?" Haruno muttered to himself, curiously approaching the site.
His classmates were all there, it turned out. "Oh look, Haruno-kun woke up!"
"Hey!"
"Good morning- no, good evening!"
"How did you sleep, Haruno-kun?"
Like last night, it didn't take long for him to be surrounded. "So that's where you are, guys." the delinquent greeted, rubbing the back of his head. He then pointed at the massive concrete construction. "By the way, what is this thing?"
"Concrete mass surrounding a cage of iron plating filled entirely with Anti-Sensei material and Korosensei himself. They from the government said it'll be able to kill him when he returns to his normal form."
Rubbing the corner of his mouth with his left thumb, Haruno expressed his doubt. "It probably won't work."
"Well, let's see. The time of detonation is near."
Then: *Boom!*
A devastating explosion rocked the waves and everyone's eardrums. It ripped a large hole in the upper side of the concrete construction. A few seconds later, the debris resulted from the hole rained down in the water around the now severely deformed concrete block.
"He detonated!"
"Did we get him?"
The suspense was immense. People expected results. Though deep down, the outcome was clear.
Korosensei truly overdid himself. Merely seconds after breaking out of a death trap, he found time to put on clothes, beach clothes. "Sensei's useless state has caused trouble for everyone. But, fighting against the enemy, and fighting against the virus, you all truly did well." the yellow man said, appearing behind the students.
"Ha! Good evening, Korosensei." the delinquent greeted first, preventing anyone from saying 'morning' by mistake. "You're really not the same without your tentacles."
"Yes, good evening. Well then, shall we continue and enjoy our trip?" The octopus man didn't beat around the bush, he was this energetic after 'awakening' not even a minute ago.
His students expressed some concerns.
"Continue our trip? But it's already nighttime."
"And we're leaving tomorrow."
"It feels like we've lost a whole day, doesn't it?"
That didn't discourage the teacher. "Nurufufufu. It's good that it's nighttime." On the contrary. "In return for yesterday's assassination, I've prepared a special event. There's only one thing to do on a midsummer night, right?"
Too fast for normal eyes to see, Korosensei changed his attire again. It appeared white and spooky. In his tentacle, he read a sign reading 'Test of Courage'.
"Test of courage?"
"Sensei will take on the role of the ghosts. It's been a while, so I'll be sure to move around with a lot of clones." the yellow man explained. "Of course, if you want to kill Sensei, that's ok. That would be the perfect ending for an assassination trip, wouldn't it?"
Haruno scratched his head. Right now, the octopus man gave off the impression that he has an ulterior motive. Faintly turning his head, the delinquent glanced around. The others didn't seem to catch on. 'What are you planning, Korosensei?'
"Sounds interesting. I need to work off the frustration from not being able to move last night."
"Eh? But it sounds scary, don't wanna~"
"It's alright, it's alright!"
Beside his outward smile, the teacher's inward smile was far wider. His students really weren't expecting what he had planned: A couple setup!
Or in a certain special case, a harem setup!
XXXXXXXXXX
The game's location was an underwater cave on the island. The shortest exit was only 300 meters away from the entrance, but the cave was more like a labyrinth.
Class 3-E's students were to enter the cave as a boy/girl pair. Haruno went inside with Hinano.
Kurahashi Hinano, the petite nature-loving orangette, was happy to finally spend some time with the delinquent. Out of all the 'contestants' trying to be with Haruno, she spent the least amount of time around him, because other girls were more dominant in their demand. Hinano didn't forget to mention this topic.
"Ah, it's nice to finally do something with you, Haruno-kun. Even if this place is a little creepy."
"Yeah, come to think of it, I barely interact with you." he admitted, shrugging. "It's mostly Rio-san, Kirara-san and Yukiko-san I interact with when it comes to the female gender. And contrary to them, I barely know anything about you."
"Haha, it's not surprising." she giggled. "Everyone knows more about you than you about us. You're always in the spotlight of our class."
"That's true." the delinquent said in a neutral tone. "I do sometimes feel bad about it though, others deserve it too."
"Maybe. But honestly, you're the most suitable person to be for that. You're funny, kind, smart, strong…" the orangette listed. "…and you can dance better than anyone."
"Heh, so you guys saw the torture dance too?" Haruno chuckled, smirking.
"Yes, we watched the videos our friends sent to us." Hinano nodded. "The torture dance and how you destroyed Takaoka-sensei."
"I see. So even though you weren't there, you all who were infected are aware of what happened last night."
"Mhm. When we woke up in the afternoon today, the first thing we did was listening to the events. How you were commander and all this, how amazing you were and are. Everyone speaks of you on a positive note."
Shrugging, the delinquent placed his palms behind his head. "Sounds good and all, I appreciate thanks and gratitude, but always hearing about yourself becomes stale after a while. I want to hear about my classmates too."
This was a good sign to the orangette. A chance to give character to their almost nonexistent relationship had come. She took the initiative, though still ended up blushing a bit. He was her crush, after all. "Well then… would you be interested in… hearing about me?"
"Sure." Haruno spoke. "Go ahead, I'll listen."
"Uhh… this may not sound very interesting, as everyone can like nature… but because your special power is centered around nature, I like you even more." Hinano shyly told, hesitating a little. "I mean… I really admire it! Such a beautiful power, I wish I had the same."
"…Understandable." the delinquent awkwardly replied, rubbing the back of his head. He was proud of his power and appreciated the compliment, but the topic was about him again.
Haruno had to steer the conversation away from him. "So, uhh… What would you do if you had this power?"
"Many things." the orangette said, her enthusiasm growing. "But primarily, I'd go and revitalize nature. Go to places where nature and wildlife are deteriorating and give new energy to those places."
"Wow, that sounds like such a great thing to do." he praised, smiling at her. "You know, I might see myself doing this in the future."
Hinano, complimented by Haruno, smiled back at the delinquent. "I'd love to join you."
"Feel free to."
This was a fun and good conversation. But it came to an end when Haruno heard a noise to his right. He turned his head to the right, away from the girl to his left. "Huh, what was that?"
Turns out it was nothing to be alarmed of. The delinquent turned his head back to the left. But to his utter surprise, Hinano was gone. Now there was someone else, but it was not the orangette. It was Kanzaki Yukiko, who looked just as confused as Haruno himself.
"Huh?"
"Wha-"
"Yukiko-san?"
"Haruno-kun?"
It took a few seconds to process the confusion. "Weird, I was together with Hinano-san just now. Where did you come from?"
"Same, I was with Sugino-kun a few seconds ago. Didn't expect to see you, Haruno-kun."
That was a weird occurence, but not the time to get frightened.
"Haruno-kun, what could be the reason?"
Scratching his cheek, Haruno pensively searched for a reason. "I don't know, but I suspect Korosensei to be behind this. Yes, this must be his doing." he figured, lightly shaking his head. "Maybe it's a prank."
"Maybe." the black-haired shrugged. "But I'm not gonna complain, though."
"Yeah, me neither."
These two didn't mind being in each other's presence. Deciding to just go on, the two continued their path.
"Uhm, Haruno-kun, there is something I still haven't done yet." Yukiko mentioned.
The delinquent looked at her in curiosity. "What is it, Yukiko-san?"
"I haven't thanked you yet, from the bottom of my heart. For saving me. Again." she said, bearing an extremely beautiful, warm and dignified expression.
"Oh, that's no problem, not at all." Haruno reassured, rubbing the back of his head. He tried not to get distracted by her magnificence. He couldn't deny she was wonderful. "It's honestly weird, though, this class has too many enemies. I mean for that to happen twice, to save not only you, but others too… It's ridiculous."
"Haha, it is ridiculous." the black-haired girl giggled. "But Haruno-kun, I really don't mind being saved by you, no matter how often that happens."
"Oi oi, don't say stuff like that. No matter how you feel about that, I hate seeing you getting pulled into awful situations."
"I know." Yukiko smiled. "That was on purpose, you know. I was a little selfish there. I wanted to hear that gentle and caring side of you."
"Heh." the delinquent chuckled. "Is that so? Touché, Yukiko-san."
Suddenly, there was the sound of an Okinawan sanshin instrument playing in the distance. It originated in the darkness, gradually approaching them.
Haruno's eyes narrowed, he protectively stepped in front of Yukiko. "Be careful, Yukiko-san. I bet that's another prank from Korosensei." He paused a little. "Or worse, a spook attempt."
"Mhm. Be careful." she wished for him, nodding in support.
A few seconds later, a slowly approaching figure with a yellow head appeared in front of them. The octopus man was dressed like an ancient Okinawan and played a sanshin with his tentacles. That long and wide kimono was bloodstained and partially ripped, giving it a scary touch.
'He's here!' The delinquent and the black-haired girl glanced at each other.
"This is a cave of tragedy, smeared in blood. Ryukyu, the name by which Okinawa was once known as, is where the royal family lost in battle and fell to an untimely death." the teacher told, trying to speak with a spooky voice.
"Is that true?" Yukiko whispered to Haruno, not knowing whether Korosensei's tale was true or not.
"He probably just made it up to make this seem more real." Haruno whispered back.
Korosensei wasn't done with his little story yet. "You must never separate from each other. If you proceed alone, you will be haunted to death by a wandering spirit."
With that said, the yellow man left, proceeding to tell the exact same story to the next walking pair.
"…Hearing the same story being told to the next pair makes this story seem more realistic than I expected." the black-haired girl commented.
"Perhabs." The delinquent turned his palms upwards. "I don't know, I might read something about Okinawan history and mythology when we return to the mainland."
"We must never seperate each other…" she repeated, a blush forming on her cheeks. "Sounds wonderful, though."
"Mhm." Despite not being interested in a romantic relationship at the moment, he was genuinely open for this in the future. That thought did put a content smile on his face.
Ever since Haruno stepped in front of Yukiko, he walked in front of her since. When the delinquent wanted to see her face, he had to look backwards. And when he wasn't looking, the octopus man secretly switched out the girl again.
"Eeeeehh?"
Noticing that this wasn't Kanzaki, Haruno immediately turned around. To his surprise, Kataoka Meg was there. She too looked extremely surprised.
'Korosensei… what was that about 'You must never seperate from each other'?' the delinquent recited his words, inwardly facepalming.
Like Yukiko earlier, Meg adapted to the sudden change a few seconds later, although still rightfully confused. "Haruno-kun? That's strange, where did you come from?"
"It's more like 'where did you come from', since I haven't changed location." he wanted to clarify in an understanding manner. "Just know that Korosensei's behind it. He's playing a prank on us or something."
"W-well, that doesn't sound so assuring." she awkwardly said, rubbing the back of her head. "He did just scare me, so I bet it's gonna happen a second time."
"Heh, you can count on that." Haruno agreed with a slight chuckle. "Damn that Korosensei, I'll play some pranks on him too when we get this over with."
"Good luck with that, give him a good taste of his own medicine."
"You're the only one who's gonna need some medicine." a familiar but distorted voice echoed from the darkness.
"Huh, who was that?!" Meg asked, taken off guard. Her eyes widened and body stiffened a bit.
"Can't you tell?" Suddenly it became bright in the cave. A wooden gate became visible in front of the two, with the yellow man hovering above it. He was wearing the same bloody and aged Okinawan kimono as the first time going out and scaring his students, a little lazy considering how fast he could technically change clothes.
"There was a married couple among those that ran away. The pursuers draw near, so they held each other atop a chair and committed suicide." the octopus man told a story.
"Whoa there, it's getting fucking dark!" the delinquent stated with seriousness in his voice, complaining about the fact that if that story was fake, then suicide shouldn't be taken so lightly.
"That chair is this one here." the teacher went on, not commenting on Haruno's remark.
Her and him, the two students a teacher was trying to scare, turned their heads to where the tentacle finger was pointing. There was a bench with heart design motif, shapes of a heart were present everywhere on the bench. That was clearly a couple's bench.
"It's a traditional Ryukyu couple bench. If 2 people sit here for one minute, the cursed gates will open." Korosensei told.
"…" The delinquent stared incredulously at the bench, his expression almost resembling a poker face. He genuinely couldn't tell if the octopus man was shitting him or not, due to his lack of knowledge about Okinawan and Ryukyuan culture. After all, that was easily the most overlooked region of Japan, which is also considerably different culturally than the rest. "Really?"
"And hold on a second! The cursed gates opening, is this a good or bad thing? Your story doesn't make sense!" Meg argued, finding some flaws in that tale.
Korosensei had no desire to give an easy answer. "Nurufufufu, sit down, start a conversation and find out yourself!" he encouraged the two, then withdrawing. There were others (not) waiting for the same treatment.
"…Looks like we have no choice, huh?" Haruno spoke, awkwardly glancing and smiling at her.
"Seems so." she returned the expression.
Then they sat on the couple bench, slightly facing away from each other, but only by a couple of degrees.
"A minute, huh? What are we even supposed to talk about in such a short amount of time?" the delinquent questioned.
"You know, he didn't say we weren't allowed to talk more than one minute." Meg argumented, having the opportunity to talk to her crush for more than some seconds like usually, while certain other girls clearly were talking to him more frequently.
"I guess." Haruno shrugged. He woke up not too long ago, he was far from tired and had no complaints against that.
"Ah, Haruno-kun, the girls you saved from the virus while they had to stay behind thanked you, didn't they?" she asked, giving their conversation a direction.
"Hm, yeah, they did. What about it?"
"Nothing, that's good. I just want you to hear about it from another perspective." Meg told, clarifying herself. "About you, from the perspective of those that went with you, those that you commanded."
"Eh, if I remember correctly, Karasuma-sensei already told me I was a good leader yesterday." the delinquent shrugged again. "Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't want to hear you, I just know already."
"But I wanted to tell you because you've inspired me." she explained, not getting discouraged by his words.
"Hm?" he perked up, raising his eyebrow. Haruno turned his head towards her, interested in her explanation. "I inspired you?"
"Yes, you did." Meg confirmed, her tone becoming more passionate. "Your ways of being a leader did. You did many smart things that day, cleverly organizing the infiltration. A-"
"Hey, that doesn't count. I had lots of help yesterday. Without Ritsu-san or Korosensei, this wouldn't have been half as succe-"
Haruno interrupted Meg, and Meg interrupted Haruno back. "You've had your own moments as well. Like taking out those 2 guards and your plan with the animals and shoes." she reminded, her voice becoming slightly sharper. "And that was rude, Haruno-kun, interrupting me…"
"Sorry, sorry." the delinquent apologized, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "I won't do that again."
"More than that, you have the perfect attitude of a leader." she went on, forgiving the interjection. "You motivate but you don't overly push orders. That makes those under your command feel safe and willing to follow, not scared because of impossible demands."
As her curiosity and talking mood increased, she unconsciously turned her head closer to Haruno, tiny angle by tiny angle. Before Meg realized, she was already looking in his eyes. "Honestly, with the clear leadership skills you have, I wonder why you never applied to become out class' male class representative."
"That's a good question." he said, leaning his head on the folded hands behind his head. "Honestly, it's because I didn't desire to. Seems boring, I don't want to do that much paperwork, and it doesn't feel that important to me. I don't consider myself lazy, but others can do that job."
"Eh? Is that it?" Meg asked in surprise. "But that is an important role."
"Okay, the role itself might be important." Haruno corrected himself. "But it's not important to me. When something is important to me, like last night, or my personal dream, then I'll take a leadership role. When it's not, I leave it to someone who wants that position more than me."
"Ah, okay, I understand." she spoke, her lips curling into a narrow smile. With her clever mind, Meg deduced what a person Haruno was. He's focused on success and an excellent leader who's willing to put in work when something's important to him, but focuses only on what's important, maximizing efficiency and managing to not have time problems. Leaving personally less important things to others, not that many things take up his time and energy, and he's not perceived as a greedy self-important usurper. The best way of a leader, perfectly what inspired her.
"Hey, Meg-san, wanna know something?" the delinquent then asked.
"Yes, please." she replied, all ears.
"I think I do know what inspired you, but honestly, you don't need to emulate me. My ways involve too much violence, you're not good at that. Not to mention, you shouldn't even start with that." he gave his advice the best he could. "Meg-san, as our female class representative, I already think you're good enough as a leader. I mean, no one complains about you, right?"
Meg blushed. That was the first time her crush complimented her, and in a meaningful way, not to get on her good side. It felt even better because the person praising her was better at the matter than her. "T-Thanks, Haruno-kun. I don't know what else to say."
"You're welcome."
During that discussion, far more than just one minute passed. The gate had opened long ago already. The fastest groups were already nearing the exit of that cave.
"Oh look, the gates are open."
Standing up from the bench, Haruno and Meg made their way towards the gate.
"This was a wonderful conversation." she almost beamed, feeling great inner happiness.
"Fully agree." He was of the same opinion. "Talking with you was nice."
Already in front of the gate, and to not make the same mistake again where the girl is taken away from behind, the delinquent chivalrously let Meg pass first. "Ladies first."
"Why, thank you." she thanked. All in all, the day was a success. She got to deepen her relationship with her crush and had a meaningful and enjoyable chat. They'd certainly gotten closer, although a few girls were still ahead of her.
And speaking of ahead, a certain yellow man was ahead of her, taking her away. In front of Haruno. And that boy still had a long way ahead, with some more girls to meet. Next on the octopus man's list was Yada Touka.
Touka, like all the swapped girls before her, got confused very quickly. "Huh? What the… what am I doing here?"
Her first instinct was to check her surroundings. Haruno was there, she could ask him something. "Oh, hey Haruno-kun, do you know what-"
"Just blame Korosensei." he merely interrupted her. "Trust me, it's not the first he's done this. He's pulling a prank on us, especially on me."
"Oookayy~" the brunette replied, sweatdropping. She didn't know what the hell was going on, but at least she wasn't alone, and her company was someone she actually liked. "Did you notice anything strange by the way, Haruno-kun?"
"Strange?" the delinquent repeated, curious about what Touka meant. There were many things currently going on that could be considered 'strange'. "As in?"
"I don't know… all of this." Touka answered, displaying her palms upwards. "What's Korosensei even planning? This isn't a normal Test of Courage."
"Ah, you mean that." Haruno figured. "To me, it looks like Korosensei is meddling in our private affairs. I figured that out when he made me sit on a couple bench not long ago."
"Really? That's what you did? Not horror at all." She was genuinely surprised.
"I personally don't think Korosensei's antics are scary." he voiced his opinion. "It's way too comical. Though being on the receiving end of his pranks, I can't say I find it too funny."
"What has Korosensei done to you?" the brunette inquired.
"He keeps taking away my female companions and switching them." the delinquent told. "To be honest, I've had good conversations and enjoyed my time with all three before you, but he still interrupted my good time with them. And I know for certain that he'll take you away as well."
"Or at least try, I'll stop him this time." he added, a grin forming on his face.
Touka had another question. "And Haruno-kun, what do you think has Korosensei planned for us?"
"To be honest, I don't know. Korosensei's extremely creative and unpredictable, I have no idea what he's about to do next." Haruno truthfully answered, though he rolled his eyes, as he had some kind of prediction. "But I bet it's something stupid."
And speaking of stupid, it came true. As the two passed a corner, they found a tiny room-construct with thin pushable japanese paper walls. There was a light inside the room, the japanese paper walls let through a certain amount. Inside was the shadow of a disguised teacher with a round yellow head. The octopus man held a knife in one tentacle.
"I wish to see blood… The resentment I bear from the murder of my brethren… it will not subside until I've seen blood…"
That voice of Korosensei gave the brunette goosebumps and made her sweat. Even the delinquent could admit that the yellow man, for the first time, put actual effort into appearing fearsome.
'Maybe… I was wrong?'
"Blood, or perhabs… I'd like to see a couple make out… I would be satisfied with either."
'How stupid, I was right all along.' Haruno now had an expressionless face. His eyes and mouth were straight and narrow, his voice was low. "Touka-san… you see that shit?"
"Yeah, how dumb…" Touka made the same expression.
"Nuaaaaaahh! Don't say that!" the octopus man comically yelled in disappointment, stopping to fake his voice. His shadow was making weird movements. "This is very authentic!"
Ignoring their teacher's childish behavior, the boy and girl stared at each other. "I'm not familiar with the law. Is this even legal?"
"I don't know. Even if it is, it's morally not something a respectable teacher should do."
They were very blunt, forcing the teacher to comically run away in shame. "Nuoooh! Are you saying I'm not respectable? Just you wait until usual class returns, I'll give you extra homework!" Packing up his entire makeshift room, Korosensei made haste.
"He's gone…"
"Korosensei can get so indecent at times." she remarked, crossing her arms.
"At times I wonder if he has a secret fetish he projects upon us." Haruno commented, then letting out a chuckle. "Heh, little does he know."
This remark got the brunette's full attention. "Ahm, Haruno-kun, are you perhabs-?"
Haruno shook his head. "No, I am still a virgin."
"What?!" Touka blurted out, her eyes widening. She wasn't even going to ask that, he jumped to the conclusion himself. "How can you say that so openly?!"
"Because I don't see how being a virgin is shameful." he replied, explaining his views. "People have different opinions. Some people think being a virgin is shameful, others think not being a virgin is shameful. I believe neither are shameful, that's just my opinion."
"Okay…" she spoke, suddenly realizing that the topic of dialogue was indecent, something they've criticized the yellow man for. But on the other hand, it wasn't forced, initiated by them and not a third party. Though by her, even if accidental. Involvement leads to intimacy, and right now, the brunette was involving herself with the delinquent. Of course, intimacy right now was not appropriate, but at least Touka found the courage to bring up the "b"-word.
"Haruno-kun…" she started off, trying to speak in a tone that'd grab his interest. "Wanna hear my opinion?"
"Hm?" Haruno curiously raised a brow. "Your opinion on what?"
"I'll tell you." The brunette smiled, the fish had caught the bait.
"Sure, go ahead."
"In my opinion…" Touka took a deep breath "you're perfect boyfriend material, and since this is evidently a romantic setup by Korosensei, which fits the motive, I want to ask you if you want to go out with me."
A few seconds of silence followed. Haruno blinked a few times. He knew he had to respond fast, otherwise it'd get awkward. He was under time pressure, something that rarely happened, whether in fights or in academics. Romance truly was a difficult topic.
"Wow, that's a sudden opinion… and a surprising one… and a daring one…" The delinquent rubbed the back of his head, smiling awkwardly. He couldn't take his eyes off the brunette awaiting his answer with interest. "Though that opinion… is also brave… Yes, you need major bal- major courage to say that out, I can respect that…"
Talking became easier for Haruno. "For that reason, my answer is-"
"Oh no no Haruno-kun, not now." Suddenly, Korosensei reappeared, interrupting their moment. He still bore his usual smile, though from his tone they deduced that he was treating this seriously. "Not now, not now. Answer only after you're done. It's still too early."
Utterly confused, the boy and girl stared at the yellow man in disbelief. 'Just what is going through his mind?'
"Well, if you excuse me, I believe this is a good point to progress with the program." the octopus man vaguely said.
Then he switched into a fast pace. He grabbed Touka and attempted to get away.
"Hold on!" The delinquent snapped, trying to stop his teacher from escaping.
Knowing Haruno would use his fast Stand, Korosensei quickly launched himself away from the Stand user's range, even sacrificing 3 tentacles he'd later regrow. He managed to get away yet again.
At this moment, the delinquent didn't think of himself, but thought of the brunette. He imagined how she must've felt, having been denied her answer. 'Maybe' was his supposed answer.
'Damn, Korosensei and I are really gonna have a talk about this one day…'
That day was not going to be today, even though the yellow man returned for a brief second, bringing yet another girl with him. Now it was Nakamura Rio who received the honor.
"Ah~?" A confused Rio voiced out, blinking and looking around. "Ara, how did I end up here?"
The octopus man was clearly doing this without the girls' knowledge. He was effectively teleporting them from one place to another, it was natural that they initially didn't know what was happening.
"Hello Rio-san, I see you also ended up being a piece in Korosensei's grand prank today." Haruno ironically greeted. Though he was happy too see her. Similar to Yukiko and Kirara, she was one of the closest girls to him.
"Oh, Haruno-kun, thank god you're here." Like him, she was also happy to see him. "You just mentioned Korosensei and a prank. As of right now, I'm very confused, I don't know anything about what's going on. Would you mind filling me in, please?"
"Ah shit, here we go again…" the delinquent muttered to himself in annoyance, though maintaining a smile. He was going to be polite to the blonde, as this really wasn't her fault.
XXXXXXXXXX
"…and that's basically it." Haruno concluded his cave story, up to this point. He still felt that the end was far from over.
Rio attentively listened to him as they walked. It was very informative, both about the situation and the progress of her 'rivals'. 'You girls are getting too close to Haruno-kun for my liking, especially you, Yukiko-chan and Touka-chan. Just you wait, I'll get ahead of you again!'
"Okay, got it. This is all Korosensei's fault." the blonde cleverly concluded, her words not competitive unlike her thoughts. "And you're going to take revenge by pulling another prank on him."
"Precisely."
A smile appeared on the beautiful blond's face. "Then let me join in on the fun please, because I too feel like paying him back."
"The more the merrier." the delinquent smirked at her, accepting. "Now with the two of us, we can plot about the revenge prank. Any ideas, Rio-san?"
"Wouldn't you be better suited for that? Karma-kun and you are the class' most proficient pranksters." she returned.
"…Makes sense, right." he said after a second of waiting, blinking once. "I'm thinking of something time-consuming. Something that'll waste many precious hours of Korosensei."
"Ufufu, how cruel." Rio giggled with closed eyes and her fingertips in front of her mouth. "I like it. Let's do this, Haruno-kun."
"Nooooooooooooo, not something time-wasting! Anything but that!" Korosensei suddenly exclaimed from the darkness, listening to the pair's intent from the shadows. "Have mercy on this poor teacher of yours!"
Haruno and Rio stopped in their tracks. They did not expect to hear that. How shameless from the yellow man.
"You've been eavesdropping on us, Korosensei?" he questioned, further feeling annoyed.
"Now that a quarter of the pairs have already finished their journey, I have more time on my tentacles." the octopus man informed. "As more and more pairs leave, I'll focus more on Haruno-kun."
"Not cool." she harshly but quietly stated, crossing her arms.
"I know I know, but hey, this is something I have to do." the teacher selfishly reasoned, making excuses for himself. "Anyways, in return I have something very cool. Walk around the corner in front of you, there's a broad and dark area following. There I have set up a cool and spooky horror show for you. I promise, it'll be very scary. Keep your pants dry, you two!"
Exchanging glances, the blonde and the delinquent nodded, silently agreeing to try out the challenge. Close to each other, they walked right into the darkness.
Korosensei was ready, initiating his surprise horror show. Small colorful flames randomly lit up, seemingly in midair. Those served as a purpose to make various fake skulls hanging from thin threads around the heads of Haruno and Rio visible.
If not for his Stand eyesight giving him additional clarity, Haruno would've been spooked by the flying skulls. 'Whoa, I can admit that Korosensei can instill horror if he really is serious about it. Not bad, not bad at all.'
"We, who barricaded ourselves and starved, fell so low as to scramble to consume a single bone."
Rio, clenching her teeth, widened her eyes in fear. Sweatdrops slowly ran down her cold face. For more normal people like her, the yellow man's spooky tricks could really be terrifying. The delinquent placed his reassuring hand on the blond's shoulder. Who knew if the horror show could get more spooky or not.
"You guys will do the same for us."
Another string with something at its end was lowered. That something was crunchy sweet stick of wheat approximately as long as a hand. About 5/6 of its surface was covered in a brown and sugary overglaze. A demonstrative sample image was also stuck on the thread a few centimeters above.
"Now, start eating from each end."
"That's the pocky game!" Rio shouted in outrage, blushing at the mental image the octopus man placed in her head.
"…" Haruno, like last time Korosensei went with a twist, had a blank expression on his face. 'This is even worse than what you did earlier when I was with Touka-san.'
Embarrassed and reddening even more, she pulled out her Anti-Sensei gun and started firing at where she guessed the yellow man was hiding. "What are you trying to do here, Korosensei?! This isn't scary at all!"
She'd guessed right. The octopus man fled from his hiding spot and away from these two in general. "Nyuuaaaaaah! Th- This isn't part of my plans!"
"Tch! Stop lying." the delinquent spat, crossing his arms. In actuality, the teacher wasn't believing his own lies.
"…"
Once Korosensei wasn't visible anymore, the blond stopped shooting. She'd emptied her magazine. "What a shameless pervert… Instilling ideas in my mind like that…"
"So I see you wanna play the pocky game with me." Haruno joked. Though for Rio, it was real.
"Yes… I guess now I do, thanks to Korosensei's brilliant idea…" she admitted, averting her gaze from embarrassment. "Though I'd never try to force it like he did."
"Hey, it's not like it's your fault. Blame it on Korosensei." he told, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head. It was embarrassing for him as well. "I know you wouldn't force it, I know you that much."
"But it still sounds like I'm a pervert now." the blonde pouted, ashamed in an awkward way. "To be honest, I've always had some lewd fantasies involving you, Haruno-kun, how could I not? And the other girls have some too, I know for sure. Especially that Kirara-chan, who knows what kind of fantasies she has about you."
"Come on, you're a teen. It's excusable." the delinquent argumented for her sake. "Can't judge anyone just for having thoughts."
"Even if you now know that I want to play perverted games with you?"
"I like how you keep it cool and according to personal choices." Haruno truthfully let her know. He was being generous, she was just as much as a victim as him in this situation. "So yeah, I'd be willing to play the pocky game in private, according to our own choice and not due to someone else forcing it."
That sounded very promising. Rio couldn't stop her advance just there, though, she had to follow through and gain the upper hand. "Then… would you like to visit my house someday? We can do many cool things there, like playing video games."
"…Sure." he accepted. "Now that I think of it, I've never visited anyone's house other than Karma's and Nagisa's."
And about Nagisa's house, he only went there a few times anyway, as the bluenette's mom told her son to not bring home that delinquent again.
The blonde was greatly pleased. 'Yes! I've come so far with Haruno-kun! It's only going to become better from here on.'
Meanwhile, the delinquent had other thoughts. Yes, for him, deciding relationship matters through own choices was the way, not through outside forces. But he felt like a hypocrite, as without Korosensei's meddling, they wouldn't have had this discussion, and he certainly wouldn't take steps towards the love route himself. He felt like one of those people preaching things but never taking action themselves.
Though this conversation was still insightful, something Haruno let her know. "All this open talk about perverted stuff… not my thing, but at least I can somewhat get used to it when talking to you." He awkwardly folded his hands behind his back. "Haha, if both parties feel a bit uneasy about something, they can warm up to it together and share the embarrassment, I guess."
Talking to Rio had never been as easy as this. And it warmed her heart MUCH more than his.
"I… really look forward to having you as my guest." Rio said, not trying to hide her blush anymore. "My family's really cool, I can see you liking them instantly."
He believed her words. "Sure, most definitely."
It was not going to be a date, that was clear. But it could be considered a pre-date, meaning the blonde successfully climbed on top of the 'ranking'.
"Well then, shall we go?" Rio asked, giving the delinquent a smile. "After I chased him away, I doubt Korosensei will harrass us again."
"About that…" Haruno sweatdropped, almost cringing. Korosensei was going to return. Return to take away Rio and exchange her with another girl. That was a given.
When the time came, Haruno initially stood still. Just after the yellow man grabbed the girl to take her away, the delinquent summoned [Ougon no tomodachi]. The Stand forcefully took hold of half the tentacles, drawing the octopus man close to its master's face.
"I'm going to let you in on a thing, Korosensei." he informed in a menacing tone, his eyes shadowed. Restrained like this, the teacher felt inferior to his student, beginning to sweat. "For every more girl you bring me and later take away, your punishment prank's gonna be meaner. And we aren't going to be done with only the prank, we're gonna have a talk, that's not negotiable and decided. Take care for now, Korosensei."
Korosensei wasn't one to give up. He wasn't going to. But he felt immense fear thinking about what atrocious pranks awaited him. 'Only 3 more girls… it can't get worse than that!'
Wrong.
Anyways, the yellow man went on with his plan. Being gone for a short while, he brought back Okano Hinata for Haruno.
"Wait, this isn't where I was just now…" Hinata realized, kept in the dark by the octopus man's speed. She took a look at her hands and her surroundings, needing a few seconds to adjust to the change.
"H-Haruno-kun? What gives?" the brunette asked, also finding out her former partner wasn't with her either.
"And another one…" he mumbled to himself, fed up with this.
"…?" Hinata had no clue what the delinquent was talking about.
With every new girl, the explanation was getting longer. Even the usually patient Haruno was getting fed up, but he made sure not to direct his irritation towards the girls who were also victims of their eccentric teacher's harem setup. "Listen, the thing is…"
XXXXXXXXXX
"…and that's how it is." he concluded for the second time.
"Oookayyy, what a weird story." she voiced her opinion. "If what you're saying is true, then Korosensei isn't acting sympathetically."
"You can say that." the delinquent agreed. "I understand what he's doing, but not his motive. I can't tell if he's doing it for my sake or for his sake on a pretext."
"Yeah, Korosensei is hard to read at times." the brunette said, then correcting herself. "No, impossible to read, as even you don't seem to be able to read his motive right now."
"Yep, one more reason why he's a pain in the ass right now." Haruno chuckled. "And he's enjoying himself."
"Do you really think so?" Hinata inquired.
"Absolutely. He puts a lot of effort into his perverted but creative bullshittery, and it works. I mean, I'm still going along with it."
Was Haruno subconsciously enjoying hanging around with all these girls? Absolutely.
"Makes me wonder what he's up to next."
Nothing good. As this pair reached a wide space, there were 3 things to find: A radio with music playing, a Twister game, and a sign trying to market the Twister game as a scary Ryukyuan game.
Stopping in their tracks, the two stared at what was in front of them in disbelief. "How's that supposed to be scary?"
"It is scary!" Korosensei, hidden in the darkness, insisted. "This game can cause you muscle discomfort, broken bones and broken ankles if you grossly mess up!"
"…But Korosensei, NO ONE messes up this badly." the brunette reasoned, sweatdropping.
"Then try it! Play it and find out!" the yellow man comically adamantly invited them. He really didn't sound convincing.
The delinquent shook his head, slightly amused by how the octopus man was behaving. This teacher, despite being so unique, managed to have uncountable moods and personalities. "Hinata-san, Korosensei really wants us to play Twister, doesn't he? Well, I guess I'll consider playing. At least Twister is something harmless and not perverted."
'Ohoh, that can easily be arranged.' Korosensei mischieviously thought.
Hinata, good with sports and outdoor activities, liked this proposal for two reasons. This was a semi-sportive activity, AND she could do it together with Haruno. She believed doing physical activities together, especially as a fun game, could improve chemistry between people. "I'm also fine with that."
"Good." the yellow man spoke, coming out of the darkness. "I'll be telling you what limbs to move."
"But Korosensei, don't you have other pairs to interact with?" she asked with curiosity. "You shouldn't be focusing on us right now."
"That's no problem, actually." the octopus man stated. "Over half the pairs, including all of Haruno-kun's former partners, have already left the cave. There aren't many students remaining."
"Ah, okay, got it."
Korosensei then took out a small square cardboard with a spinning arrow. That arrow pointed at a chart, the chart referring to the Twister positions. "Now then, we shall start the game. Get ready, please."
[Note: There are 4 columns and 6 rows on the Twister mat. Those columns each have the same color. In this case: blue = far left; green = center left; yellow = center right; red = far right. As for the rows, 1 = top; 6 = bottom]
As the arrow was spinning, Haruno and Hinata glanced at each other, nodding. Once the arrow stopped spinning, the yellow man started giving instructions.
"Haruno-kun, left hand on Blue 3."
"Okano-san, right foot on Yellow 6."
"Haruno-kun, left foot on Blue 6."
"Okano-san, left hand on Green 2."
"Haruno-kun, right hand on Red 3."
"Okano-san, left foot on Green 6."
"Haruno-kun, right leg on Red 6."
"Okano-san, right hand on Yellow 2."
As one may have noticed, their positioning was very symmetrical. With a little imagination, one can realize that this positioning was actually extremely indecent looking. Without giving too many clues, this positioning could be described with the words 'give and take'. Literally.
"What the…" Him and her, the players of this game, literally got to experience first hand how indecent those postures were. The brunette, on the 'receiving end', blushed as red as the dots in the right column.
"Hyaaaah, Korosensei, you perveeeeeeeeeeeeert!" she screamed as images of the real thing began flowing into her brain. This was only a play resembling something real, but it had a very similar hormonal effect.
The delinquent wasn't pleased either, not at all. Almost shocked. He sent the octopus man, who was growing bolder as time went, a murderously intimidating grin, his eyes looking very dangerous. "Korosensei… explain this!"
"Nuuuuhhh…" the teacher lowly let out in fear. That frown sent shivers down his spine. Haruno was becoming to him what he himself was to the other students in his angry, black state. A terrorizing existence.
This whole harem setup, Korosensei was doing it for the sake of Haruno and the girls liking him. It was pretty hard for the yellow man to swallow that the delinquent didn't see his efforts in a favorable light. But then again, one was a pervert, the other not. One was forcefully suggestive, the other more reserved.
"I'll correct it! Yes! I'll get you out of this position!" the octopus man frantically offered, comically sweating buckets. He immediately spun the arrow on the cardboard anew.
"Okano-san, left hand on Red 1."
"Haruno-kun, right hand on Red 2."
"Okano-san, left foot on Yellow 5."
"Haruno-kun, left hand on Blue 2."
"Okano-san, right hand on Blue 1."
"Haruno-kun, left foot on Green 6."
"Okano-san, right foot on Green 5."
"Haruno-kun, right foot on Yellow 6."
Now this postion, it was an improvement compared to the first one, but still very, very perverted. Though at least this position appeared somewhat more ambiguous than the first one, where it was clear what that was a reference of. Imagination is still necessary here.
In this position, Hinata could see Haruno's face. Coupled with her own positioning, it made her heart go fast. Not in an indecent embarrassing sense, though. And yet, she blushed just as much. "Ahoohh… this is… that's…"
"Eheheh…" Korosensei giggled, admitting to his guilt. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Better, right?"
"Tch, you never learn…" the delinquent lowly spat, severely irked by the yellow man's continuous perversion. [Ougon no tomodachi] punched several holes into the ground next to the Twister mat, breaking off a dozen small rocks. The Stand then threw those rocks at the octopus man. But those rocks weren't just any rocks. In midair, they transformed into venomous snakes, ready to bite their target.
"Hiiiiiiiiiiih! Snaaaaaaaaakes!" the teacher cried out in phobia, rushing away. For now.
With the Twister guide gone, there was no need to continue playing the game anymore. Haruno got out of the position first, as he was 'above'. He helped her get up, reaching out his hand. She took it.
"Unbelievable…" the delinquent muttered in annoyance. "He's getting more perverted as time flows. At first I was only talking to my partners, now he's having me do this kind of stuff…"
The brunette, though understanding his feelings, gave him a saddened chuckle. "Sorry for this shitty time. Korosensei definitely knew that we girls, deep down, would appreciate this kind of closeness. And yet you don't, you must be hating this. I really feel bad about being part of something that made your day worse."
"Hinata-san, it's not like that. I have nothing against spending time with you." Haruno, again and again, had to clarify that it was not the girls' fault. "Something like Twister, we can play it again. It's a perfectly normal game, that's not the issue. Just not with an outsider instructing certain poses. What I'm trying to say is, each and every time, Korosensei is spoiling the fun, not you or any other girl. Believe me, I like you girls."
While appreciating the positive feelings towards her, Hinata also knew that the mood couldn't stay like this forever. She had to cheer him up, with something fun, because together with her, Haruno didn't have some real fun. "Haruno-kun, is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"
"…Tell me about yourself, I guess." the delinquent said after deciding to scrap telling her once more that this mood wasn't her fault. That itself was mentioning that something was wrong, he had to actively steer the topic to something more positive. "Please, that'd be nice."
"Me?" The brunette pointed at herself, unsure what to say. "I, uhh… like sports and stuff. I know it's not something very interesting, but I have 2 brothers and a father who are very passionate about it. My family's very masculine and sportive, so I kinda picked that up…"
"I see." Haruno responded, then clapping once. "At least you have a hobby or passion. In my opinion, everybody needs one. That itself is good."
He felt like being supportive. She picked that up. "You're awfully supportive, Haruno-kun. Even if it's not much."
"People have dreams and interests. Some are outlandish, others are normal, and yet others are controversial or polarizing." the delinquent described. "Achieving those are what make people happy. As long as a dream, interest, hobby or whatever isn't directly harmful to others, I'm supportive of that. Because hindering the aspiration of someone is one of the meanest things one can do."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yeah. Whether you think your passion is boring or not, if it's important to you, then indulge in it. If you have fun, it's good, right? I'm supportive of it."
This conversation was flowing well. "Indeed, I do have fun. Having your support makes it seem like the right thing to me." Hinata was very passionate about it, though that passion lead to her academic demotion into the E Class. "Haha, if only I had someone supporting me that way when it comes to my grades."
"Hm?"
"Well, what did you expect? Most of us weren't demoted to this class because of violent behavior."
"True…" The delinquent remembered that he was the odd one out. "About that, what if I were to support you academically?"
The brunette perked up at that. It sounded promising. "Wait, what?"
"In other words, what if I helped you study?"
"You'd do that? But I didn't ask you to."
"Hinata-san, it's my personal offer. People should support others without the other party having to ask for help."
"But… I'm legitimately terrible at school. Do you really want to trouble yourself with me?"
Haruno had a solution for that. "Even if I don't elevate your grades up to the highest level, I can still help you, right? Korosensei wants all of our class to place within the Top 50 academically. Scoring that high would suffice for you, not?"
"This sounds too good to be true…" Hinata commented, pessimistic.
"Why the pessimism?" he joked at the remark. "Weren't you the one to try and lighten up the mood?"
"Oh!" The brunette's eyes widened, that was an embarrassing mistake to her. "My bad, my bad. I guess that's technically possible then. But still, you're extremely optimistic, Haruno-kun."
"Remember my words earlier about dreams, interest, support and such? Optimism is the correct mindset for that kind of stuff." The delinquent always had answers ready. "One may not be optimistic about something at a time, but that can change. Hinata-san, applying this logic to you, I can only say this: You may be hesitating to accept my offer now, but if you ever feel optimistic about change, then come and ask me. I'll be there to accept."
His words were overwhelming. Charismatic, wise and kind. And most of all, supportive. Hinata couldn't help but feel swayed by this. Her motivation was already growing. And not only her motivation.
"Haruno-kun…" She showed him her kindest smile. "Thank you for saying this. You'll hear from me soon enough."
Speaking of hearing, Korosensei thought that it was time for Haruno to hear another girl. With Hinata, a relationship improvement had already occurred just now. Personal chemistry and understanding improved. He made his way to swap girls, and he knew just the right girl whose turn it was to deepen her relationship with the delinquent.
Fetching the brunette from Haruno, the yellow man replaced her with another brunette, Fuwa Yuzuki.
"Huhh?" Yuzuki, very confused, blinked a few times, checking her new location. She came to a conclusion soon after. "Now that's a deja-vu. I've been in this place before."
"Not the only deja-vu around here…" the delinquent muttered. "Hello Yuzuki-san, wanna know what's surprising to you but not to me?" He wasn't unnecessarily hesitating there.
"Haruno-kun?" The brunette didn't expect him there. How could she, she was so new to this prank, while he was a veteran through and through. "Why am I here? And what's not surprising to you?"
"Let me tell you about it…" he almost laughed, having memorized the following words by heart.
XXXXXXXXXX
"…and then I met you here." Haruno updated his story. It was quite the story, Yuzuki, a first-time listener, was bound to find it incredible.
"Wo~w. What Korosensei's doing is incredible." the brunette remarked. "But how you've put up with his pranks until now is even more incredible."
"Maybe I'm too soft." the delinquent shrugged.
This earned him a heartily laugh from her, Yuzuki found that this statement sounded absolutely wrong. "Hahahahahahahaha! "Haruno-kun, stop joking! You? Soft? Have you forgotten Takaoka-sensei and that one subordinate of his already?"
"When it comes to my friends." Haruno added to the first statement, correcting it. "About Korosensei's shit, it's a mixed feeling. I do enjoy spending time with all you girls and getting to know you better, but I don't like getting abruptly seperated from either. And while all the girls so far had a good time with me together, they were brought and or taken without a warning. I like my friends, but can't stand forced and half-assed stuff like this. Though because it's with my friends, I can tolerate it."
He truly had his way with words.
"Ah, so you mean it that way." the brunette observed. "In that case, sounds just like you."
"You really think so?"
"Of course." Yuzuki knew something else that sounded like the delinquent. "You know what else sounds just like you? Being verbally gifted and superior like this. I already know that your former partners also listened to a speech of yours like that one."
She didn't need to be there to know this was true, something Haruno himself acknowledged with a guilty smirk. "Come to think of it, you're absolutely spot on. I wonder why it's me to talk so much more. According to stereotypes, you girls should be the ones to do the talking. Haha, but then again, stereotypes mean nothing."
"See? You're doing it again!" the brunette cheerfully teased. What she had above all the other girls interested into Haruno, was the talent and personality to create a cheerful and funny atmosphere.
"It's a habit of mine." the delinquent admitted, lightly smirking. "If you wanna put end to this, better talk about something you have more expertise in."
"Something I have more expertise in?" she repeated, her expression then changing into a passionate grin. "That can only be one thing: anime and… MANGA!"
Speaking of manga, Haruno had a pun ready. "Color me surprised… Oh wait, you don't do that in manga."
Yuzuki let out a genuine loud chuckle at this. "Hahaha! That was both terrible and clever at the same time! You're humorous, Haruno-kun."
"Really? My kind of humour is usually the kind you'd expect from Kirara-san or Karma."
"No, no, it's more than that." the brunette assured him. "Your humour is well-versed and has a wide potential target range. I know that from years of reading manga."
"Oh, is that so?" The delinquent really found himself an interesting chatting mate. "Those years of reading manga must tell you a whole lot more about myself, then."
"Uh, yeah." she casually claimed. He felt to challenge that claim, now heavily engaged in this conversation.
"Then, what type of food do you believe I like?"
"An interesting question." Yuzuki began, then proceeding to give him her theory. "You're a dignified, cool but modest guy. Someone like you wouldn't touch unhealthy fast food unless you're eating out with friends, and wouldn't eat highly expensive food for the rich unless on a special occasion. You also have quite the interest in foreign fashion, which isn't typically japanese or even asian. For these reasons, I conclude that your favorite food is: authentic italian cuisine!"
Haruno was shocked and very, very much impressed. That was exactly how it was. This girl got it 100% right. Acknowledging her skills, he expressed praise with a smile. "Completely not the answer I expected, but completely an answer that impressed me. Well done, Yuzuki-san."
"See? I told you, hehe."
"Haha, yes. Meanwhile I don't know nearly as much about you, Yuzuki-san." the delinquent shrugged.
Perfect words for the brunette, for she could make her advance. "In that case, why don't we hang out together more frequently once we go back? You can get to know me as much as you like."
"Yuzuki-san… is that an invite to date?"
"Is it?" Yuzuki suggestively challenged, growing very bold.
Sadly for Haruno, he didn't know. At least not the manga detective way like her. "Sorry, I don't read romance manga. I can't tell."
"Oh, you don't need to, Haruno-kun." she giggled, proceeding to say something in an undertone he couldn't hear. "You don't need to, when you can experience the real life version."
Walking a little longer, the pair encountered a group of 5. 4 boys and 1 girl, the last remaining students in the cave besides the two. And those were walking right in the opposite direction. Those were Ryouma, Itona, Takuya, Taisei and Kirara
"Hey guys, what's up?" Haruno greeted them.
Terasaka had an urgent question. "Yo, Haruno. Nice seeing you here. Anyway, do you know where this cave's exit is? We've been wandering for ages and want to get the hell outta here."
'So they're lost.' the delinquent figured. "Certainly not where we're coming from."
Itona bumped Ryouma in the side with his elbow, slightly annoyed. "I told you we were going the wrong direction."
"Come on, at least we found someone to tell us the right direction." Terasaka bargained, unwilling to admit fault.
"We could've figured that out ourselves if we went with Itona's suggestion." Muramatsu bluntly pointed out.
"Don't take his side, Muramatsu!" Ryouma comically snapped.
"Ahem." Kirara spoke up from behind, interrupting their bickering. "Can you guys put an end to this already? I want to leave."
"Right, right." They stopped their petty argument, turning around to walk the way they came from initially.
While those two groups joined together, the goth girl drew closer to the group with the boy she wasn't with tonight yet. "Talk about surprises. I didn't expect to meet you today."
Haruno thought otherwise, letting out a chuckle. "Well, I kinda did."
"Hm?" Kirara was intrigued, glancing at him. "What do you mean?"
"Hopefully, this is the final time I have to tell this story…" the delinquent murmured, almost suffering. "Anyways, the explanation is…"
XXXXXXXXXX
"…be lucky I met you before Korosensei would've made you meet me."
This time, even the boys listened. Terasaka's group was speechless. Even though Haruno and Korosensei were on opposing sides, they were united by the fact that the delinquent had a harem, although its recognition was limited. One was the supplier, the other one the enjoyer of girls. It made all but the more reserved white-haired extremely jealous.
"Raaaah, you harem bastard! Don't you dare complain about what that damn Korosensei did to you!"
"That's right! We would've much rather been in your place!"
"And now you're taking our Hazama too!"
"Tough luck, boys." Kirara half-consoled, half-joked about them. "Though don't fret, there are still some fish in the sea for you guys. How about asking out Hara or Ritsu?"
Chubby Hara Sumire and Ritsu the AI girl… Of course, the three had nothing against these two, but they didn't suit their tastes. The three made disgusted faces.
"Thanks, but no thanks!"
"Hazama, you're cruel for even joking about that!"
"Yeah, I'm not gonna fuck a computer! Who do you think I am? Steve Jobs?"
Ryouma was the one who said the last line. Following that, everyone immediately stared at him in disbelief.
"…What?" Terasaka shot back, awkwardly under pressure. "I was just referencing a Youtuber I like."
Everyone decided to forget what they'd just heard. Ryouma found this embarrassing as hell, cringing and facepalming inwardly.
Meanwhile, the yellow man was monitoring the situation from the distance. Haruno and Kirara met without his interference. And now, he could initiate another surprise scare for bonding. 'Nurufufufufu… Let's see how this goes.'
The octopus man approached the larger group, preparing to spook them. He was ready, but one girl was more ready. A girl scarier than him without even trying. Kirara took out a flashlight, illuminating her face from a low angle.
That face proved to be above the teacher's fear tolerance. Scared far more than he managed to scare other pupils that night, he proved how easily frightened he was. "KYAAA! IT'S A GHOST!"
Korosensei took off like a rocket, flying out of the cave. On his way out, he clumsily fell in his own set traps.
Like that, the nuisance, especially to Haruno, was gone. He couldn't be more grateful about this. "Hahaha! He always struck me as the easily scared kind. Thanks for taking care of him, Kirara-san." the delinquent thanked.
"But you have to admit, you can get too damn creepy at times." Yuzuki said to the goth girl. The yellow man wasn't the only one who got scared.
"I've been scaring people I meet on the road since I was a kid." Kirara told, taking pride in that. "I was given the nickname 'Miss Test of Courage, Japanese representative'."
"Well, that's a unique achievement." Haruno remarked, smiling narrowly. "Never heard of that one before."
"They gave me the position because I scared off all the other candidates." the goth girl explained. "Sometimes I get the feeling there's no person I can't scare."
"Yeah, that's for sure." Terasaka half-joked, half-agreed.
This gave Kirara an idea, something that made her grin mischievously. "I wonder… if I can frighten Haruno-kun in some way."
"Hmmm." the delinquent hummed in a friendly manner. "I'd rather not be frightened by you, but you're welcome to try." Due to a certain neglectful parent, he was forced to conquer his fears at a young age. Haruno wasn't arrogant, but he could confidently say that not many things could scare him.
Ryouma and his male friends began whispering to each other about whether she could do it or not. Just then, without a word or warning, the goth girl grabbed the lead figure of the four, dragged him in front of Haruno in a way he would obstruct the delinquent's view of her. Except for her head clearly closing in on his.
Haruno's eyes bulged out, reacting to Kirara 'kissing' Terasaka. He almost choked on his own breath. It was too sudden. "O-Oi! Kirara-san?! Wh- what's the meaning of this?!"
Similar to him, Ryouma's friends also reacted with wide eyes, blushing. Itona's eyes were especially intense, Yoshida dropped his jaw. "W- what the…?"
Though the male lead of this deception was rather disappointed. The goth girl only kissed his cheek, not his lips. It wasn't a shock to him, but a sad reminder that he wouldn't get into a romantic relationship with this female friend.
A few seconds later, following explicit lip sounds, Kirara pulled back her head, appearing as if she just kissed Terasaka on the lips. She cockily smirked at the shocked delinquent. "Ha! What was that reaction just now, Haruno-kun?" The goth girl knew exactly what she was talking about. "Just now, were you… jealous? I'll let you know that jealousy is a type of fear."
No taking-back, no rewind. Haruno couldn't talk his way out of this. Yes, in a certain way, he had been scared. Caught red-handedly at that. "Kirara-san, you…"
"Just kidding~" Kirara said in a sweet tone the next moment, making Ryouma turn around. A kiss mark was visible, but only on his cheek. "No worries, Haruno-kun. I'll save my real first kiss for you. Once that time comes, you won't have to be scared anymore."
He'd been outwitted, he'd been tricked. He'd just been bamboozled. All the delinquent was left was with an awkward deadpan of defeat. Haruno lost the bet. Though on the bright side, he got a clear realization. Deep inside, he did care about the relationships to his closest female friends. Now, those matters weren't so deep inside anymore.
Still, just startling him like that… the delinquent felt the need to complain. "Okay, I did get scared, well done… However, please don't do something like that anymore."
"Well, if the man who's gonna be my first kiss insists…" Very fitting. The most frightening girl was also the most fearless in terms of advance. Haruno himself thought he'd come full circle, seen it all now. About girls and him.
But sadly, that exactly was not the case yet. He was yet to witness more open competitiveness among the girls. And with Yuzuki still there, that was about to start.
"Hold on there, Hazama-san…" the brunette warned, speaking in a dangerous manner but maintaining a bright smile. "Who said you were gonna be his first kiss?"
"Hm? Didn't I just make myself clear?" Figurative lightnings appeared between the heads of these two girls fighting for love. "I came first, he's mine."
"Ho Ho~! How foolish! Do you think I'm going to hold back now? You've opened the gates, set the wheels in motion. Don't expect me to not compete with you." She had a point, and it was regrettable for Haruno. Couldn't everyone just get along?
"Fuwa-san, no offense, but I'm more concerned about Nakamura-san and Kanzaki-san than you."
Yuzuki's eyes twitched, but she was still grinning competitively. "You just wait and see how dangerous I'm gonna become for you."
Haruno utterly hated this situation. This is why he wanted to avoid open romance. The delinquent tried to seek refuge with the Terasaka group. "Ehehe, girls are on a whole other level, eh?"
"Don't talk to us, harem bastard." They made their feelings about him clear. Even Itona stuck to his jealous friends.
"…" Not having a choice, the delinquent made a discontent expression with low, even brows and an even mouth line. And whose fault was that?
'Korosensei, start worrying less about Shiro…'
With that, he made his way out of the cave, mentally detached from those around him. Difficult times, at least with girls, were awaiting him from now on.
XXXXXXXXXX
Exiting the cave, Haruno's eyes fell on a wooden sign hastily crafted together. The reason were the large red letters written on them: 'To Haruno'
Ignoring his classmates, he approached that sign. A letter was stuck on the backside. With curiosity, the delinquent opened the letter.
Meet me behind the hotel building at 30 past midnight.
The letter's writer was anonymous. This could mean many things, even a threat. But the delinquent, tired of romance, didn't care. He just wanted a distraction. 'Let's see what this is about.'
Oh. My. Gosh. I hate this phrase but it needs to be said. Not only is this the new longest chapter AFTER the last chapter, which was the new longest, but this was also the hardest chapter to write, by far. Now I understand why most girls in most harem series, both real and fanfiction, have standard personalities and tropes. When it comes down to it, writing relationship development with different personalities is hard as hell. I had to adjust Giorno's interactions with every girl to be different and according to their character. I could've gone with the same approach everytime, but that would've been boring, lazy writing and simply not satisfying. Anyways, tell me in the comment which girl you like best with Giorno and why.
Feel free to leave a review if you like to