Chapter 23: Myself Time

The wind howled.

Nagisa trembled, clutching the knife with both hands. His body shook from the force of bloodlust pouring off of him. He rose to his feet. "You monster," Nagisa hissed. "I'll KILL you for what you've done!"

The man laughed. "That's the spirit, boy!" the man laughed. "Show me your kill face! Come at me with everything you've got!"

The man was going to die, no matter what actions needed to be taken to ensure it.

Karma had never seen Nagisa like that - knife clenched and facing off against an enemy. He hadn't realized just how much killing potential Nagisa truly had. The bloodlust Nagisa was giving off was immense, rolling off of his body in waves. It was enough that he could feel it from the platform he and the rest of E Class were standing on.

But there was someone else, someone closer, that was giving off just as much bloodlust. It was an oppressive feeling, pressing against him like a snake about to strike. Karma looked to the side and saw Nick doing... nothing. Just standing there. And that scared him.

See, Karma knew that Nick was... different from the rest of the E Class students. There was just something off about him, and the way he acted. He never sat still for more than a few seconds at a time; he was always shifting around or doing something small and irrelevant. If he wasn't writing or reading, he'd be squirming in his seat, or fidgeting with a pencil, or whatever.

There were also the times that anyone entered the room. No matter who it was, Nick's eyes would snap over to the door only to relax a heartbeat later as he saw who it was. Without any indication he knew he'd paused, he'd just go back to doing whatever he'd been doing.

Then there was the way that Nick would refuse to make purposeful eye contact, always sliding his eyes off to the side or just in front of the person of whoever he was talking to. It was really weird during sparring, since Nick rarely looked at his opponent. Instead, he just stared at nothing. Or everything, almost, since at times Karma thought it was like he was looking for something that wasn't even there.

Karma knew he was good at pushing people's buttons, which extended to reading people in general, and he could tell that tiny frozen smile Nick's expression defaulted to was just a lie. The others thought that Nick was just naturally easy-going, that he'd just shrug and laugh anything off - after all, that's what he told them. But when he was talking with Nagisa, or Kayano, or any member of E Class that he was comfortable around, Nick's words would speed up and start to blur together and he'd occasionally stutter like the words were coming faster than his mouth could form them, instead of the measured statements he used with the others. He'd drop the fake smile and grin genuinely, opening up a little.

But there was something else, inside Nick. Karma wasn't sure what it was. It wasn't quite the same thing that was hiding inside Nagisa, really. Sure, most of the time Nick was the classmate that sat beside him in E Class; the one that was strangely invested in meaningless details, with a wickedly sharp tongue and no intention of holding it back.

He'd seen Nick just change, though, a few times before. When those punks kidnapped Kayano and Kanzaki, it was like a switch flipped in him. That hidden something inside Nick swam a little bit closer to the surface and started showing its claws. The flashes of ruthlessness he showed while rescuing the girls had been absolutely brutal in their thoroughness.

And then again while they'd been climbing the tower, Nick's brutality was shining through in pulses. A few times when he'd snapped at the other E Class students, and when Takaoka had revealed himself to be the mastermind behind it all. Karma hadn't missed the flashes of anger in Nick's voice and expression. He might not take school seriously - or, well, have taken it seriously, because there was no way he was going to let himself be mocked like that by the octopus ever again - but he didn't miss much.

Right now, though, the beast inside Nick had come to the surface and taken over.

He was motionless. Entirely. Nick's entire body was as still as a statue. Nick's eyes were usually lazy and easy-going, just flicking from side to side as he scanned his surroundings automatically. Now, though, his eyes were hard and focused, drilling into Takaoka.

They were almost glowing a pale silver in the helipad's lights. Like the edge of a blade, right before it bit.

Karma had seen Nick angry.

But now he was seeing Nick furious.

"It's happened," Kataoka said. "Nagisa's snapped."

Target: the man. He must die for his actions.

"Alright, let's be honest here for a second," Yoshida said. "Sure, we all wanna kill him, but Nagisa might do it. Can't say I saw it comin'."

Possibility of approach: null. No access to platform from current position. How to create solution? Option one: jump gap between platform and current position. Likelihood of success: low. Rejected. Option two: retrieve metal stairs and recreate link between current position and platform. Likelihood of success: both low and high. If a member of E Class assists, likelihood of success raises by a large margin. However, all members of E Class are keeping their distance at the moment. Option tabled. Option three: wait for the man to come. Likelihood of success: contingent on Nagisa's actions.

"No!" Korosensei said. "Someone has to stop this."

A long black pole - Terasaka's stun gun - flew through the air and struck Nagisa's back. Nagisa lurched forward from the impact.

"Rythin, stop," Ritsu commanded.

I jerked in shock. "How... You shouldn't..." How she knows my name is irrelevant. I shook my head, trying to recapture the shreds of what I was calculating. I felt dizzy.

Terasaka was panting heavily. "Get over yourself!" he shouted at Nagisa. "Dumbass!"

"Earlier, you requested that I call you by that name if you seemed to be losing control," Ritsu said implacably. I licked my lips and shook my head. No. I need the clarity. The man must die. "And so I did."

"Yeah!" Terasaka shouted. "Don't think I missed the look you gave me when he blew up the antidote! Screw your pity!"

"The others are concerned for both you and Nagisa," Ritsu said. "The amount of bloodlust you're giving off is frightening." I didn't... I needed to calm... No. I needed to kill... I don't know what I needed. I blinked, trying to stave off a headache I could feel forming already.

"Quit wasting your energy worrying about what's going on with other people and focus on you!" Terasaka shouted. "Look, the virus is a lie! I'll be fine! He's playing you for an idiot!"

"I understand that you are worried about your classmates," Ritsu said. I... was? "But this will not help them in any way." I was. I was worried about what would happen to the ten infected students.

"What are you saying?" Isogai asked Terasaka. "Are you sick?"

"Murder is murder," Terasaka shouted. "Even with the piece of shit like this evil son of a bitch! He's not worth it! Give in to the bloodlust and you're no better than him!" Several students ran down towards him.

"Terasaka is right," Ritsu said. "You are better than this, I know you are, Nick. But you can't let your bloodlust rule you." It's always ruled me. It always has, ever since Aincrad. It just came in waves, like high and low tide. The madness receded but never went away.

"He's absolutely right, Nagisa," Korosensei urged. "Listen to me! Killing this man won't solve anything! Blind rage is not a moral guide! In any event, he's likely bluffing about the antidote. We need only consult the poisoner downstairs. Do not stoop to Takaoka's level. Simply render him unconscious!"

"If you give in, then he's won," Ritsu said. "Takaoka will win if you let yourself kill him." No. I refuse to let that man win anything. Never again. He won't win.

"Shut your damn mouth!" Takaoka shouted, striding towards the edge of the helipad. "You're taking all the FUN out of everything! If we're gonna get the most out of this, he's gotta come at me with intent to kill! Part of the process is bloodlust unbound! He has to feel it or I can't properly humiliate him! How the hell else am I going to patch up my self-esteem!?"

"Nagisa, please!" Korosensei pleaded. "Take up Terasaka's stun gun!" Nagisa didn't move. "Heed the words of a friend before you give credence to an enemy! Resist the anger! Weigh your options! Ask, 'what within myself does this man have claim on?'!"

I felt someone approach me as the bloodlust inside waxed and waned with each heartbeat. "Nick," Yada said quietly. "I know you're mad. We all are. But you can't lose it. Listen to Korosensei and Terasaka. They're right, and you know it."

A loud thud heralded Terasaka's collapse to the ground. "Terasaka!" Yoshida shouted. "What the - you're as hot as a combustion engine!"

"Dude," Kimura said, "how'd you make it so far like this?"

"Who cares," Terasaka ground out, lifting a shaking hand and slowly pointing at Nagisa and Takaoka. "Don't look at me. Look at them. The octopus is half right," he said. "You ain't gotta resist the anger. You gotta control it. Beat his ass just shy of killing him."

A heartbeat passed as Terasaka's request to Nagisa sank through me, and a shudder ran through my body. I blinked, once, then closed my eyes and slowly exhaled. As I did, the hissing viper quieted down further and further until I could feel the fury coursing through my body as controlled energy. "Well," I said softly as my bloodlust slid into the background like a knife into a sheath. "I suppose that's an option too - ghhk!"

I choked on nothing as a spike of pain lanced through my brain. "Nick!" Yada cried, reaching out to support me as I stumbled. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," I murmured, resting some of my weight against her until the blinding pain went away. "Just... headache. Always happens." Every time I lost myself in my rage like that, I always had a headache afterwards. "Used to pain."

After a few more deep breaths, the spike of my headache dulled to a tolerable level and I cracked my eyes open again. My vision swam for a second before resolving. "Thanks, Ritsu," I said, ignoring how my head felt like it was wrapped in barbed wire. Barbed wire that was being squeezed rhythmically. That was normal; it just meant moving is out of the question. "Thanks, Yada. I needed that."

She smiled. "Glad to help."

I straightened up, pulling myself to my full height, and Yada took a step away. Close enough to catch me again, should I fall, I think. It was a nice gesture, but ultimately futile - I wasn't going to drop again until Takaoka hit the ground. As long as I didn't move, that is; I carefully shook my head, and winced when the simple movement sent pain lancing through me. Yeah, that wasn't going to go away any time soon.

Terasaka was right. Korosensei was right. I knew better than to let my rage take control like that, but I'd gone ahead and let myself succumb anyway. Idiot... At least they somehow managed to drag me back, somehow.

The bloodlust I was feeling had exploded outward, flaring everywhere and stopping me from thinking. It had been vaguely aimed towards Takaoka, but it wasn't being used for anything other than raw hatred. And yeah, Terasaka was right. I had wanted to murder Takaoka for condemning my classmates to death. Part of me wondered why I'd reacted so extremely, but that wasn't important right now. The why could wait. Because my goal had shifted. Now?

Now I was going to watch Nagisa beat Takaoka. And I was going to enjoy every last second of it.

When I refocused on the helipad, I saw Nagisa just standing there, staring at the stun gun. His eyes were still giving off bloodlust, but like mine it was laser-focused towards his goal. It wasn't waves on waves of bloodthirst, like it had been before. Silently, he knelt and picked up the stun gun and held it in his hands.

Knife or electricity? Lethal or non-lethal?

He slipped the stun gun, still in its holster, through a loop of his belt.

I see. Nagisa has made his decision, then.

The boy shrugged his coat off and tossed it into the air behind him. My lips curled into a small smirk. It must be a special talent, but Nagisa seems to have an innate ability to nail the dramatic timing whenever he needs to. I've noticed Kazuto can do the same thing, when the stakes are high. I wish I could learn that. It would be useful.

"Oooh," Takaoka mocked him, taking off his own coat and letting it fall to the ground. "Don't we look vicious!" I don't know about him, but I wouldn't be taunting the assassin with a knife. Nagisa didn't reply, the look in his eyes ice-cold.

"Question, sir?" Kayano asked Korosensei. "Why did Nagisa put the stun gun away?"

Korosensei didn't reply.

"So you're opting for the knife, good on ya!" Takaoka said to Nagisa. "I knew you'd see the light. Wanna know a little secret?" he asked. "I didn't blow up every vial of the antidote!" He lifted his hand and showed off three glass vials, spread between his fingers. I exhaled slowly. "Now, either you come at me and your pals keep a respectful distance," he said, looking down. Chiba and Okano looked up in shock from the nearby pillar, surprised they'd been caught. "Or what's left of their chances for survival goes bye-bye. EVERYONE infected will die!"

He turned his hand this way and that, the liquid in the glass vials refracting the light. "HEAR THAT, Karasuma?" he roared. "IT'S JUST ME AND THE BOY!" Karasuma gritted his teeth. "This stuff takes a month to cook up under ideal conditions!" Takaoka said around one of the glass vials. I don't know why he put it in his mouth. ...We'll give that one to Terasaka. "Now, sure there's not enough for everyone, but saving some's better than saving none!"

I frowned, studying the scene in front of me. Nagisa had dropped into a fighting stance, knife in his right hand. Takaoka had done the same, drawing his fists up into a guard position. Now, Takaoka's abilities were a mystery to me, true. Still, I could assume that he was, essentially, a budget-rate Karasuma; not as fast or powerful as our gym teacher, but still highly trained in hand-to-hand combat. And I knew Nagisa's abilities - or, well, knew what he showed in class plus some predictions based on the one time I'd ever seen him really turn on his bloodlust - like the way I knew how to form words. It was instinctual knowledge that I could pull on whenever I wanted to get a greater depth.

And everything in front of me was telling me that we were in a terrible situation right now.

An assassin's role, in games and now as I've learned in real life as well, wasn't to fight. If an assassin was fighting, they'd already failed in their designed duty. Their job was to provide a single, deadly strike before the target even knew that a hitman was present. That was how our class had been trained.

To put it simply, an assassin got a crazy-high sneak attack bonus, but had poor PVP stats.

We'd gotten lucky, forcing those three hitmen into a fight on our own terms. If they'd been allowed to ply their trade the way they should have been used, we shouldn't have been able to approach them. But this is different. This is playing by Takaoka's rules. Now...

Takaoka had been grinning madly. Leering, his lips pursed a little bit.

But suddenly, it was like a switch flipped. His entire demeanor changed.

...Nagisa has no idea what he's facing. He has no idea the world he's just entered.

Nagisa stepped forward, and it was like the motions blurred together. His bloodlust had disappeared, and he -

Takaoka rushed forward, eyes intent, and slammed a nasty side kick straight into Nagisa's gut. Nagisa didn't even have a chance to dodge it; he was sent flying backwards from the force of the blow.

Nagisa crashed to the ground and rolled backwards, sliding along the ground. When he stopped he coughed, clutching at his stomach. Poor guy.

"Hah! Is that all you've got?" Takaoka sneered, walking forward. "Where's that homicidal rage now that you're on your ass, you little snot rag?"

Nagisa looked up, glaring, and got to his feet. He rushed forward and stabbed at Takaoka, but the man just brushed his attack to the side and stepped out of the way, sending the knife wide. Another slash was dodged, and when Nagisa over-extended to attack a third time Takaoka just grabbed his arm. Lifting my classmate off the ground with one hand, Takaoka reared back and slammed his forehead against Nagisa's.

Takaoka may be insane, but he was still an expert military-trained fighter. I could attest to it myself; sufficient training will cut through any amount of madness. Even when I was at my worst, I was a capable fighter in Alfheim. Takaoka was in battle mode, and his defenses were airtight as far as I could see.

There was no way Nagisa was going to get a hit in, not when Takaoka wasn't going to let him have a chance. As much as I hated, despised, loathed Takaoka, I had to admit his fighting ability. If I were up there, even with my training from Karasuma, I probably wouldn't stand a chance.

Nagisa stumbled back from the impact of the headbutt, clutching at his head. He looked up but didn't have a chance to react before Takaoka's fist lashed out and caught him on the cheek. Nagisa stumbled, crying out, and Takaoka stepped to the side before lashing out with a right hook. Nagisa twisted with the blow, trying to stay upright, and Takaoka had no problems stepping forward and planting a snap-kick into the small of Nagisa's back.

I don't know what made that worse, the whimpers and cries of pain Nagisa was letting out or the mad, insanely pleased with himself laugh that Takaoka kept letting out.

I used to think I just loved anyone's pain, barring my family of course. Whether it was mine or someone else's, it would fill me with a warm feeling inside and I would grin uncontrollably, excited and energized.

But Nagisa's pain just left a sour feeling in the back of my throat.

Weird.

Takaoka was enjoying every second of this, just brutalizing Nagisa at will. An elbow slam to the back that somehow didn't wrench Nagisa's arm out of its socket, a backhand that whipped Nagisa across the ground. Grabbing his arm and rocketing a knee straight into Nagisa's gut.

Nagisa was taking so much punishment. He was battered and bruised, and I could see blood from here. Gasping for breath as Takaoka backed up a few steps and loomed over him, Nagisa collapsed to his knees, clutching at his stomach.

This was a life-or-death struggle for survival. And I was the only student who'd ever faced something like that before. The worst Nagisa's ever faced is trying to score high on the finals. Gods damn it all, I should be up there fighting him, not Nagisa.

I wanted to go up there. I wanted to fight Takaoka, and destroy him totally and utterly. But the instant I took a step, I wobbled, and would have collapsed again had Yada not caught my arm quickly. Growling under my breath, I let her keep me upright.

Damn it.

"Ugh," Hayami groaned. "So not a fair match."

"Yeah, no kidding, right?" Sugaya said. "He doesn't have a prayer."

Nagisa was sitting, barely keeping himself from collapsing on the ground by propping himself up with his arms. "Oh, hey now," Takaoka sneered, eyes wide and insane, "don't peter out. We're just getting started." Nagisa remained silent. My mind was racing, but I couldn't think of any single way to slip up to the helipad and attack. "That's right," Takaoka said, turning around to leer at Nagisa. "We haven't incorporated this old girl into the mix," he said, brandishing a knife. It matched the one Nagisa was holding.

It matched the one Nagisa had held to Takaoka's throat.

The man stepped forward, twirling the knife in his hand as he did tricks. His eyes were twitching. I bet that knife featured heavily in those nightmares he told us about. That and Nagisa's strange, genuine smile.

Nagisa pushed himself to his feet, swaying. With a wince, he rubbed at the dried blood that had trickled from his nose. "I'll split you from groin to grin and savor the screams!" Takaoka announced, pointing the knife's point at Nagisa. "I'll sever your hands and feet and mount them above my mantle like trophies!"

I couldn't... I needed to do something, but there was nothing I could do, no matter how powerful my bloodlust was or how tightly it was aimed towards Takaoka. That knowledge alone was enough to gnaw at me, and I bit down on my thumbnail. "Shoot him, Mr. K!" Kayano pleaded. "Please, Nagisa will die! That man means every word of what he says!"

"Stop." I looked over at Terasaka, surprised he of all people would say that. "Let Nagisa handle it."

"Dude." Karma turned to him. For once, he wasn't grinning. "You see the shape he's in. At least, if I were in there, Takaoka wouldn't have it so easy."

Terasaka looked up and grinned. His face was flushed and he was wincing in pain, but he grinned. "You think so? Shows what you know. If you didn't ditch training so much, you'd have a clue. This fight ain't over yet, pal. Just watch. He's about to pull out the big guns."

I blinked. That's right, Karma wasn't there for that...

...

Nagisa fell back on his ass, surprised, and I uncoiled from the defensive flinch that I'd frozen in. As my mind rebooted, I forced myself to relax and lower my guard; Lovro was giving me a strange look, like he was surprised I'd reacted the way I had. After a second, though, he was back to his normal inscrutable stare.

"This technique," Nagisa said. "It never fails?"

"Don't be fool," Lovro scolded him. "It only looks easy." Uh... yeah. Yeah, it does. "Therein lies the beauty. I've used it many a time in field. Nothing compares, for getting out of pinch."

A Teleport Crystal would beg to differ. "The technique only works under certain conditions, however," Lovro told us. "The three criteria must be met."

...

'First,' Lovro's voice echoed in my memories, 'have at least two weapons ready hand.'

I smiled as Takaoka frowned. Nagisa was standing up, ready for round two.

'Second. You must be pitted against an expert.'

My smile widened as Nagisa closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths.

'Third, and most important. Your opponent must already know what it is means to face death.'

My smile turned positively feral. All three conditions were present in the battle at hand. Oh. Oh, yes. This was going to be fun, boys. This was going to be fun.

Nagisa smiled peacefully, opening his eyes. They were the eyes of an assassin.

Takaoka flinched back, staring. His eyes were twitching and I could see him visibly unnerved by Nagisa's smile.

Congratulations, sir. You're going to be the guinea pig for the new skill. I hope you choke on the honor.

Nagisa started walking towards Takaoka steadily, never once taking his eyes off of his opponent or losing the peaceful smile.

Takaoka was visibly losing his shit, trembling as he tried to figure out what in the hells Nagisa was doing.

...

"You must understand the nature of this move," Lovro said as he helped Nagisa to his feet. "Something of a paradox, you see. Conditions aren't often favorable." I had a brief flashback to facing off against ten monsters at once in Aincrad, and nodded solemnly. "And while I call it an instant-kill technique, in all honesty that is a misnomer." Aww... I wanted an instant-kill technique. "Employing it doesn't mean your opponent will die instantly."

I wanted to ask what good an instant-kill move was if it didn't instantly kill, but held my tongue. See, I can learn. Occasionally. After it's been beaten into me.

"Particularly when their defenses are impregnable. If an assassin is detected, he will be dragged from assassination to battle. When that happens, you must kill as quickly as possible before reinforcements come." I nodded. "That said," Lovro continued, "if you find yourself painted into a corner, and at some point you will, do this correctly, and it sets the stage for an instant kill."

"That sounds pretty useful," Nagisa said thoughtfully.

I'll say. I knew this move, and I'd even tried it once. It didn't work back then, but… "How does it work?" I asked instead. Maybe I did it wrong.

"In battle, one does not make unnecessary actions lest they find life in danger," Lovro said, gazing at us. "But if an assassin does so, it changes the battle back to assassination. That is what this 'instant-kill' technique means." I understand the concept. Taking an action that isn't one of the expected outcomes will throw the enemy into disarray as they try to comprehend what just happened. Like making a queen sacrifice in chess, the enemy might fall victim to a trap because they don't know what to do.

"From a stand-still position," Lovro said, gazing at us, "move quickly. As far as you can. As loudly as you can. Both of you."

I glanced at Nagisa, and shrugged. He exhaled once.

...

I realized I was laughing under my breath, but I didn't stop. Takaoka was absolutely terrified of Nagisa, staring at him as he approached without hesitating. "C-come on!" he blustered, stepping and bringing his guard up, knife in his front hand. Tellingly, he stepped back to do this. "Do it!" he shouted.

Nagisa was simply walking forward. I could relate from experience; the closer the enemy got without attacking, the more points of attack Takaoka had to focus on. By necessity, his focus was being drawn entirely to Nagisa to the exclusion of everything else. And because Nagisa was armed with a knife, Takaoka's attention would be drawn to that most of all.

I knew this move. I'd used it once, myself, a long time ago, in a room filled with paralyzed players. My sister had just died, and my brother had lost the will to live. I had surrendered to the bloodlust back then, but it hadn't been enough.

Maybe this time it would be.

Time seemed to slow as the adrenaline kicked in.

Nagisa started lifting the knife into the air. Takaoka's attention was dragged toward it.

Nagisa let go of the knife.

The knife started to fall to the side.

Takaoka's eyes followed it.

Both the knife and his attention were locked in midair, caught, for a fraction of a second.

My heart pounded, accelerating.

Nagisa lifted his hands up.

Nagisa slammed his palms together in a clap.

I had a front-row seat to watching Takaoka's psyche shatter with the force of an explosion. His entire mindset was caught in the blast, and he reeled backwards.

He was open.

Nagisa didn't let the chance slip by him. As Takaoka was stunned, he crouched and grabbed at the handle of the stun gun Terasaka had given him. Nagisa was an assassin, and Takaoka's defenses had cracked. In that crucial moment...

Nagisa whipped the stun gun out, striking at Takaoka's vulnerable side.

...out comes the second blade.

It struck home, sending crackles of electricity coursing through Takaoka's body. Takaoka gurgled out a choked scream, his vocal cords paralyzed by the current running through his body.

As he fell to his knees, my chuckles broke into full laughter and I let my mirth run its course. My emotions would be running hot, especially after giving into the bloodthirst like I had earlier, and the more I burned out of my system now the sooner it would crash back to normal.

And so time resumes.

"Woah," Korosensei mumbled.

The rest of the class gasped in shock at Nagisa's sudden turning of the tables. Karma in particular seemed shocked. Well, maybe he shouldn't have skipped training so much. "Way to go," Terasaka panted. "That's how it's done. One good jolt and he'll be out like a lightbulb. Tase the psychotic rat bastard!"

Takaoka, shuddering and frothing at the mouth, was unable to resist as Nagisa lifted his chin with the stun gun, pressing the business end to Takaoka's neck. For a long moment, framed by the helipad lights, Nagisa stood there, not doing or saying anything. Takaoka was trembling, whimpering.

Do it, Nagisa. This man forced bloodlust to the surface. Whatever you're thinking, this man doesn't deserve any mercy. If it were me, he'd be unconscious right now. Not dead, though, no matter how much I'd want to do it.

But you? You're a kind soul, aren't you, Nagisa?

You'd probably think that he taught you important lessons. He taught you bloodlust, that sometimes anger is good and sometimes not. He taught you the importance of having people that can drag you out of your head. He taught you what it was like to be hit, and what a real fight was like.

You'd think, 'He's done some awful things. There's no denying that. But in a weird way, he does deserve my respect.'

Takaoka whimpered louder, trying to flinch away from the stun gun pressed to his neck. He didn't make it very far.

'He's a teacher,' you'd think, Nagisa.

Do it. Make him remember this night for the rest of his days.

'I've learned something about myself from all this.'

I learned the same lesson when I dealt with Sugou.

'If I'm going to properly show my gratitude for his lessons, I should make that face.'

Ensure that he'll never get that face out of his nightmares.

Nagisa's lips curved as he smiled peacefully at Takaoka. The same exact smile he wore when he destroyed Takaoka the first time.

The smile that haunted Takaoka's nightmares.

"Mr. Takaoka," Nagisa said, "thank you for everything."

The stun gun discharged with a crackle of electricity, and Takaoka collapsed to the ground bonelessly, face first.

The class was silent for a moment as they all took in the scene in front of them. I'd finally managed to stop laughing at Takaoka's defeat, and so I watched with a cruelly satisfied smirk. The members of the class stared in stunned silence; I noticed Hayami pressed her hands to her mouth in shock.

Sugaya was the first to start celebrating as he doubled over before jumping up and shouting, both fists in the air. The others all started shouting in excitement, cheering. "We beat the final boss!" Isogai shouted. The others were all celebrating with each other, hugging - though, that was mainly the girls - and cheering for Nagisa's victory.

I just grinned. You did good, Nagisa. Good job.

We were able to grab the destroyed flight of steps from where it fell and prop it up against the helipad, turning the stairs into a ladder of sorts. Tied securely to the top, it was stable enough for us to climb up to where Nagisa was.

The class as a whole climbed up one at a time to greet Nagisa; Yada helped me move for the first few steps, but after I got a second wind I was able to move under my own power.

Karma was the first one up, which didn't surprise me. He was probably Nagisa's closest friend in E Class. "Nice work," he said casually, like he'd just watched Nagisa win a game of baseball rather than defeat an opponent in a life or death match. Which, come to think of it, is typical Karma.

"Are you okay, Nagisa?" Isogai asked, hurrying over.

"Sure," Nagisa said. His voice was weak, but that made sense.

I stepped over to study Takaoka's prone form. He was lying face down on the ground in a puddle of his own drool. Not very impressive now, are you? I glanced at the angles, ran a few simple calculations in my head, simulated the action, nodded once, and took a step back. I drew back -

"Nick, stop," Karasuma sighed.

"You can't deny he deserves it," I protested.

"No."

I gave him my best pleading look. "C'mon, please? He's right there."

Karasuma folded his arms.

"Just once, that's all I'm asking," I begged. "He threatened Kayano, and beat up Nagisa." I don't do well with feeling restricted, and being entombed alive? Just thinking about it puts me on edge. "Just let me kick him once in the crown jewels, please?"

Karasuma raised a single eyebrow.

I sighed heavily. "Yes, sir," I mumbled despondently, stepping away from Takaoka's body.

"You have problems," Kataoka told me.

I shrugged. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Well done, Nagisa," Korosensei said to Nagisa, and I drifted over to join that circle of conversation now that my cunning plan had been foiled by the disapproving father-figure of E Class. "I'm proud of you. For the first time in a while, I had no idea how things would end." Implying he's known every step of the way what we were doing. Jerk.

"Thanks," Nagisa said. "But what are we going to do now?" He wiped at his chin to get the last smear of blood off. "Everybody else is still infected with the virus." I frowned, staring at the shattered glass littering the helipad where the case had detonated. "The antidote Takaoka didn't blow up isn't enough."

I sighed. That's the problem, isn't it? We made it through the stealth mission under the time limit and beat the boss, but we still failed the quest objective.

"We'll figure something out," Karasuma said. He was hanging up his cellphone, so I guess he was calling in his people? "But first, let's get off this roof. Wait here for the chopper. I'll go collect Smog."

"Hah! Please."

I turned, my face falling impassive again. Three figures stood at the edge of the helipad, their shadows looming in front of them and stretching towards us. "The antidote won't do you any good," Gun said, his words slurred thanks to the gun in his mouth. "Look at you brats," he snarled. "You really figured on getting out of this situation with their lives?"

They didn't look so good; Gun was rubbing at his neck, where the lights had struck, Smog still had an indentation on his cheek from Karasuma's Falcon Knee, and Grip's lips were puffy and swollen. Karma's torture had left some effect. Still, though, they were all up and ready to kill us.

I lowered my chin, stepping forward and bringing my guard up; the others did the same, hefting fists, pistols, stun guns, or tubes of mustard and wasabi depending on their weapon of choice.

...Wait, what was that last one? Damn it, Karma.

"The man who hired you's been defeated," Karasuma said. "Let it go." If I were in their shoes, as a mercenary, I'd do just that. Once my boss is down, unless my contract specifies otherwise I'm out of there. "You no longer have a dog in this fight."

Gun just leered. Around the gun in his mouth.

I wonder what would happen if I could get close enough to pull the trigger.

"I'm almost fully recovered from the gas," Karasuma warned them. "And these kids are strong, believe me" he said, gesturing to us over his shoulder. "I suggest we be reasonable and stop this before anyone else gets hurt."

Gun reached up to scratch at his head. "Yeah, alright."

Huh. That was easy.

I let my guard fall and slouched a little bit, getting comfortable - hey, I'd been standing around for several hours without pause and my back felt like it was gonna start with the whole killing people thing. Yoshida, on the other hand, exploded, "I'll make you wish you hadn't - wait, come again?"

Idiot.

"No worries," Gun said as he spread his arms wide. "You don't have to bother with us, our contract don't cover avenging our employer. Anyway, as I was saying, the antidote would only be useful to you if you'd actually been poisoned."

Wait, come again?

Smog lifted a small bottle of some clear liquid. "Well, technically you were, but not that bad," he admitted. "You know that bug you can get eating oysters on a half-shell? I gave you a perfected version of that old warhorse. It oughta flush out of your systems in about three hours or so."

I stared, eyes wide. "You gave them super food poisoning? You monster."

"That's right, kid. Unpleasant, but not fatal," he said. Then he hefted a smaller vial of liquid. "Now, this sucker is what our boss wanted us to use. If I actually had..." He trailed off and chuckled. "Different story altogether."

"After we got the job," Grip said, "the three of us talked it over and hatched a plan. The boss's idea, y'know, seemed too harsh. We figured the hand-off would play out just as well if you only thought you were in danger."

So... We scaled a cliff, beat up three different pro assassins, and then dealt with the concentrated stupidity that was Takaoka... for exactly zero reason.

Man, fuck these guys.

"And a bout of food poisoning certainly makes you feel like death warmed over, so win-win!" Smog laughed.

Okano frowned. "Since when does a hired killer have scruples? Isn't going against your client bad for the bottom line?"

"Sweetheart," Gun sighed, "we take pride in what we do. But money isn't the be all end all. A client's needs are always considered carefully, and we do aim to please. But the boss revealed that he was planning to blow the antidote up in front of you regardless of whether you followed through with the trade or not. When we realized he never intended on giving you the antidote, it was either we try to live with ourselves after having offed a bunch of innocent junior high kids," Gun said, lifting one hand, "or we take the hit on our reputation," he said, lifting the other. "Seemed like a fairly straightforward ethical decision to us. And there's always a way to bounce back, if you're clever."

"So," Smog said, "guess this job was a wash. But at least none of you are going to die because we don't have scruples. Here," he said, tossing a pill bottle towards us. Nagisa caught it. "Give that supplement to your buddies. And make sure they get plenty of rest. They'll probably wind up feeling better than they did before this all started."

Wow, he's remarkably thorough with his poisoning.

A wind kicked up around us, and I looked up to see helicopters beginning their descent. "Thank you, gentlemen," Karasuma said over the noise of the chopper blades, "but I'll believe that when I see the full recovery. In the meantime, I'm afraid it's protocol to detain you for questioning."

"Ugh," Gun groaned. "Yeah, okay. If you wouldn't mind making it quick, so we can move on to the next job, that'd be great."

The boys in the helicopter landed and placed Takaoka on a stretched. He didn't even move an inch, still unconscious, but they put him in a straightjacket and restraints anyway.

"Um, excuse me, Mr. Smog?" I called out as he passed.

The poisoner and his government watchdog stopped. "What's up, kid?" he asked. Still a little boisterous, given we beat him, but whatever.

"Just a quick question." Hey, I'm a poison user myself. I want some professional tips. "That gas you used, the one that paralyzed Mr. Karasuma. Does your shirt...mask...thing have an antidote to it built in, or does it only work if you inhale? Because I noticed you didn't seem to have an antidote to it on you when we fought in the hotel, and I was just wondering..."

He shook his head. "Nope, no antidote. It breaks down fast enough once exposed to the air that I can just hold my breath."

"Oh, okay. Thanks for answering."

Smog just shrugged and kept walking towards the plane.

"You disappoint me!" Karma called out towards Grip. Grip stopped with another 'hn'. "I thought you'd at least want a grudge match between the two of us!" He grinned devilishly, raising more tubes of torture. "You're a samurai. Isn't your honor threatened by hot sauce?"

Grip looked down, not rising to Karma's taunts. "Part of the samurai code is not to kill people out of spite." Before anyone could react, he'd closed the distance between him and Karma and patted the boy lightly on the head. Karma's face was priceless. "I'm content to wait for the day someone a price on your head, hn. Because it'll happen. Guarantee it."

Hells, I might do it myself if he pisses me off enough.

"Let this be a lesson to you!" Gun shouted. "You want a rematch, make it to the big time! Become a worthy target! Then we'll come back! And give you all the assassination grand tour!"

Bullets rained down from the open door of the helicopter; he must have been dropping them from the air. Nagisa leaned down and picked one up, and I did the same. Hey, it might not have been my life that was threatened, but I think a souvenir from Johnny Black's attack is in order. This is just the first time I've had a chance to get one, is all.

The helicopter disappeared over the horizon, and just like that the assassins were gone. They left us with a warning and a compliment rolled into one, and I shook my head. "I'm tired," I sighed. "Can we go to the rooms, now?" There was a murmur of agreement from the others.

The second helicopter was for us, fortunately, so we all just filed in and collapsed into the nearest empty seat. That's it. We're done. Infiltration mission is over, antidote wasn't necessary, and everyone is gonna survive. I'm pretty sure that we managed to sneak through this whole hotel without a single person unrelated to the task at hand suspecting a thing.

I leaned against the crash webbing in the back, sighing. "Hey, Yada?" I mumbled, my voice coming out as an exhausted croak. She made a similarly tired-sounding noise. I cracked an eye open and looked at her; she was sitting to my right, Nagisa to my left. "Thanks. For earlier. What you said, back there."

She smiled. "No -" She yawned in the middle of her sentence, and I cracked a tired grin. Same. "No problem," she said with a light flush of embarrassment. "I'm just glad everyone's safe."

"Me too." I made a mental note to thank Ritsu tomorrow, after I wasn't so exhausted.

"Hey, Terasaka?" Nagisa said.

"Hm?"

"I owe you big time," he said. "I was on the verge of a bad choice. So thanks for yelling at me."

Terasaka grinned. "Heh. It's hard enough to kill the octopus without one of us being taken out of the equation." Karma was laughing about that, and I don't really know why.

Nagisa just smiled. "Yeah. Guess so."

After a flight that didn't nearly feel long enough to my poor feet, we landed on the beach. As we disembarked, Okuda and Takebayashi, the two students that stayed behind to tend to our poisoned classmates, rushed out to greet us. We handed off the pills with an explanation of what was going on, and the truth behind the poison; Katakoa went and gave the good news to the poisoned students still conscious.

To tell the truth, I was crashing pretty hard around this point, so I wasn't really paying that much attention to what anyone was saying. Honestly, my recollection of what was happening was mostly just snapshots of moments in time; I saw Nakamura patting Okano on the back as Maehara gulped a few of the supplements, the acrobatic girl sighing in relief. I also remember Okajima trying to hug Yada in relief, Ponytail not having any of that. Kayano hugging Kanzaki in relief, Sugino playfully smacking Nagisa on the back.

I'm exhausted. I'm glad everyone won't die, and all, but I just want to put today behind me and move on.

I think everyone felt the same way, because when I woke up, rubbing my eyes groggily, it was already late the next evening and the rest of the guys seemed to be dead to the world. We'd lost an entire day thanks to Takaoka's bullshit. At least my head didn't hurt as much anymore.

Yawning, I stumbled my way through my 'morning' routine. After taking a quick shower - because I hadn't bothered last night - and going to the bathroom, I dug through my bag and got dressed in the first thing I found; that, of course, being my gym clothes. The jersey and pants were loose and comfortable, after all, so I didn't mind putting them on.

While in search of sustenance, I ran across Kanzaki, sitting in the hotel veranda and reading a book. "Oh, good evening, Nick," she said. "Did you sleep well?"

I yawned and grunted. Normally, only men could understand and communicate in the noble language of grunts, but Kanzaki had been around E Class long enough to understand the basics, and she played games online besides. She'd had plenty of experience with the language. "Well enough," I said after a second, just in case.

"That's good."

"How're you?"

"I'm feeling fine," she said with a smile. "The supplements did wonders, and there's no lingering effects from the virus."

I nodded once. "Is there anything to eat?"

"I think there's some coffee in the back," she offered. I made a face. Ech. Coffee. Kazuto might have developed a taste for the stuff, but I've never liked it.

"I said food."

Kanzaki shook her head with a small smile. "Then I think you're out of luck until dinner is served," she told me. "I'm sorry."

I shrugged. Wasn't her fault. "Thanks anyway," I sighed. My stomach chose that moment to loudly protest the lack of food being shoved into it at the moment, and Kanzaki giggled when I sighed. Maybe I had some snacks stashed away in my bag for this exact sort of situation. I'll go check.

A second look through my bag didn't turn up anything new, despite a few plaintive pawings at it, and eventually I gave up. With another yawn, I made my way down to the beach where I'd seen some things happening, and gracelessly flopped down into a cross-legged position in the sand next to Nagisa. "Evening," I said to her.

"Hey, Nick," she said.

I paused. Wait. Nagisa is a guy. I knew that. That is a thing I know.

I'm still sleepy.

Out in the ocean, helicopters were flying around carrying gigantic slabs of some sort of grey material. I'm assuming it's concrete. They're probably trying to seal Korosensei in with Anti-Sensei material, in the hopes that somehow he'll die when he pops out of his Absolute Defense Form. It has been about twenty-four hours, hasn't it?

Footsteps behind the two of us made me turn and I saw Kayano approaching us. "Oh, man," she sighed. "That was one crazy day, huh?"

Nagisa looked up. "I'm just glad we got through it okay," he said with a grin.

"And I'm just glad you knew how to handle yourself," she frowned, leaning toward him and planting her hands on her hips.

Nagisa grinned sheepishly with a small laugh. "Me too," he said.

"You're such a trouble magnet, Nagisa," she sighed. "You know we worry about you," she added.

I grinned. "He's not so bad," I said. "He's only been through one near-death experience so far, after all."

Kayano looked at me. "I'm afraid to ask," she said drily.

"Probably for the best."

By this point, the rest of the students had woken up, and I watched as everyone trooped onto the beach, curious about the noise and racket. I couldn't help but grin as I noticed everyone else was wearing their gym jerseys, just like me, Nagisa, and Kayano. Come to think of it, Kanzaki was wearing hers too and gods damn it I missed the perfect time to make the 'one of us will have to go home and change' joke.

"Morning!" Okano said cheerfully to Kanzaki and Okuda as they walked down the beach. "Well, evening, really. So, how are you guys feeling?"

"Great, thanks!" Kanzaki smiled. I grinned to myself. She must be getting that from everyone.

"School jerseys," Hara said to Kataoka and Yada with a small laugh. "You too, huh?"

"We're the only ones on the resort now," Kimura said as he and Sugino walked over to us. "Might as well be comfy."

"And describing a whole group of new outfits for just one scene is too much of a pain anyway," Fuwa said cheerfully.

I feel like I should be insulted, for some reason. I think that might just be a thing whenever Fuwa says something bizarre.

"Who are you talking to?" Nagisa asked her, expression resigned.

"So, is Korosensei really in there?" Fuwa asked, staring at the concrete bunker in the ocean.

"She dodged the question!" I exclaimed. Nobody seemed to mind, so I let it go.

Nagisa shrugged. "Won't work. But at least he's under strict supervision until he reverts back to normal. Then back to the drawing board." He looked down by the edge of the beach, where I could see Karasuma giving orders to all the little government stooges without pause. "Mr. Karasuma's been orchestrating the whole thing."

"I swear, does Mr. K ever sleep?" Kimura asked.

I frowned. "I asked him that, once. His answer was... less than enlightening." 'Enough' sleep my ass, Karasuma.

"He's awesome," Sugino said. "What's his secret? Because if I can be like that ten years from now, I'll be set."

"Something to shoot for," Mimura said.

"Hey," Kataoka said, "Professor Bitch is pretty awesome too. If you look hard enough," she added after half of the class looked at her askance.

Isogai nodded. "Same thing with the assassins at the hotel. I mean, you gotta admire the discipline it takes to be that highly skilled." He grinned. "And the philosophy, not to mention their work ethic."

"True that," Sugaya agreed. "As long as I don't grow up to be like Takaoka, I'll be happy."

Isogai looked a little thoughtful. "In a way," he said, "I suppose that's what growing up is." Oh, here we go, time for kids to pretend to be insightful. Then again, I do the same thing near constantly, so nyeh. "Knowing who to look up to, and who to ignore. Sometimes the difference is night and day. Sometimes, not so much."

I glanced out over the ocean towards the setting sun. Did he do that on purpose?

We all grinned, sitting back and enjoying the sunset.

Until the concrete bunker detonated, that is.

I pushed myself to my feet automatically, rising from the sand without thinking about it. My focus was riveted on the giant pile of smoke and dust coming from the concrete bunker. "Huh," I mused. "Guess that plan didn't work." But then again, what more could you expect from the Ministry of Defense?

"Korosensei exploded!" Maehara shouted.

"Did we get him?" Sugino asked.

Oh, please. Everybody on this beach knows the answer to that question.

On the beach, Karasuma looked our way, and then sighed.

"Nue-heh-heh-heh-heh!" Korosensei laughed. I shook my head and turned to see him standing there, sand swirling around his feet from the wind of his landing. "You've suffered in the shadow of my cowardice and I'm sorry," he said, tentacles waving gently in the breeze. He was wearing a really, really gaudy shirt. "But consider! Not only have you faced an array of fearsome foes, you did so with un-question-able style."

Absolutely fabulous. That's me.

"Oh, there you are, sir," Nagisa grinned. "Good to have you back."

"Good morning!" Kurahashi chirped.

"With all due respect," Nagisa continued, "we like this form better."

Korosensei seemed to smile a little bit wider. "Indeed. And a good morning to you! Now," he said, little spots of pink appearing on his cheek, "what d'ya say we get this vacation back on track?"

Nagisa grinned. "Sure!"

"Yeah, I think it's a little late for that," Sugino said. "We go back tomorrow morning."

"Are you kidding me?" Korosensei exclaimed, leaning in a little bit too close for Sugino's comfort. He reared back, carrying all sorts of objects in his tentacles. An ocean float, some fireworks, a watermelon and a stick... "But there's so much fun in the sun to be had now that I'm fully mobile again!"

Sugino sighed. "Naturally."

Up and down the beach the speed clones went, each performing some different beach activity. One row was splitting watermelons blindfolded, while another group was building a massive sandcastle at lightning speed. I leaned in, close, and snickered when I realized he was building the Tokyo Tower. In the sky, another clone wrote out 'We love summer!'

"There's not a second to waste, children!" Korosensei announced. "Summer vacation with your Korosensei is a once in a lifetime experience!" One speed clone appeared, holding half a watermelon. I want some. "We must milk it for all it's worth!"

Suddenly he screwed his head out of the way of a bullet that whizzed by. "What are you doing, Karma!" he ranted.

"Taking your advice, Teach!" the boy said, holding a pistol. "Gotta strike while the iron's hot!"

"Nue-heh-heh-heh-heh!" Korosensei laughed. "Well played, my boy. Wait for the target to let his guaraaAGH!"

His appearance was obscured by the bullets making their way towards his face, from a few students firing at him. "Now it's summer vacation!" Terasaka shouted over Korosensei's yips and shrieks of terror.

"No time like the present, right?" Karma said calmly as he approached us. We were just watching, resigned to the carnage that was our day-to-day lives in this class. "What do you say, Nagisa? Feel like emptying a few rounds?"

"Well then, girls," Kataoka said with a smile, "who would we be if we didn't make the most of things?"

"Yay!" Kurahashi cheered. "Let's have fun!"

Pretty much every guy in the class snapped their heads over as all the girls stripped off their jerseys, revealing swimsuits underneath. I just sighed as the aim of those firing at Korosensei started drifting to the left. "Gods," I muttered. "Every last one of you. Hopeless."

"You know," Kanzaki said, "I'm finally feeling up to a little dip!" Oh hey, I recognize that swimsuit. That's the one she bought back at the beginning of summer.

"Was that under your uniform?" Nagisa asked.

Kayano's face was blank with shock. "No one told me!" she shouted.

I just watched as all the girls started splashing around in the water, having fun as they splashed each other. Some were running on the beach, some were building something in the sand.

"Splash attack!" Kataoka called out as she and Hayami splashed water at Kurahashi and Okano.

"You can run, but you can't hide!" Nakamura shouted, hot on the heels of a fleeing Yada. Judging by Yada's protective posture, Nakamura was probably trying to grope her.

The whole time, I couldn't help but feel grateful that Kazuto wasn't here. If he was, I have zero doubt he'd end up dogpiled by at least three of the girls, maybe more. Those pheromones of his, I swear.

Oh, look, here comes an uninvited guest. "Yay, splash attack!" Korosensei exclaimed, bright pink. "Me too! Me too!"

"Okay!" Kurahashi called, splashing water towards Korosensei with the aid of Kataoka.

Is he an idiot?

As water landed on him, he shrieked. "Actually, never mind!" he babbled, squirming around on the beach a safe distance from the water. "Terrible idea! Thank you, though!"

Yeah, he's an idiot.

"Well, there goes that," Kataoka muttered as Kurahashi let out a sigh of disappointment.

"Yes! This is what I'm talking about!" Okajima shouted, clenching fists in ecstasy. Pervert warning in three, two, one... "This is how it should be! Here I come, ladies!"

When he tore off his clothes, I glanced up. Hey, weren't those his...

I looked at Okajima. Yep. Those were his swim trunks in the air.

"Pervert!" every girl in the class shrieked.

Except Nakamura, who giggled mischievously. "Woah, shrinkage," she muttered.

As they all started beating on Okajima - who, let's face it, kinda deserved it at this point - Korosensei called out, "Don't forget! There's a fireworks display after this! We don't wanna miss it! We have to keep to the itinerary!"

"I think Okajima might be in traction when they start launching the fireworks," I said, observing the brutality with admiration. All of them were doing remarkably well.

Off to the side, Karasuma was glaring at our class in irritation, while a few of his Ministry underlings looked on in shock and a little bit of dismay. Yes, underlings, this is the class that's going to save the planet. "Of course that didn't work!" Karasuma glared. Oh, no, wait, he's irritated about the concrete bunker thing.

"Is that it, sir?" Underling Alpha said. "Should we pack in our demolition equipment and go?"

"Yeah, might as well," Karasuma sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly. The two underlings saluted and moved off.

"So, that's how it is, huh?" Professor Bitch asked, wandering over. Holy shit! It had only been about twenty-four hours, give or take, but I'd already forgotten that was her chosen swimsuit for this trip. Just… have some shame, woman. "You're suddenly too good to include me on your day at the beach? A girl's got feelings, you know! I thought we were friends."

"Is that a bikini?" Isogai asked carefully.

Maehara grinned. "Or a cry for help?"

Yeah, those two have been friends for a while. It shows.

"Ugh!" Professor Bitch shrieked. "Shut your pieholes!" Instantly, she switched targets back to Karasuma. "Hey, let's ditch the brats, yeah?" she said, batting her eyes at him. "Just us. I saw this adorable little spot up the way that's nice and -"

"I'd... rather not," Karasuma said as he turned and walked away.

Professor Bitch gasped, staring after him blankly. A few guys in the class just grinned at her failure. "Just when we started thinking," Takebayashi said, adjusting his glasses, "you're not a bitch."

"Don't even go there!" Professor Bitch shouted before screaming in frustration. "AAGH! You want bitch, I'll show you bitch!" Instantly, the guys turned and bolted, racing up and down the beach with Professor Bitch thundering along right behind. "I've had it up to here with you arrogant little pain in the asses!"

I was distracted from my schadenfreude by a gentle tentacle being placed on my head. "Hello, sir," I said, craning my head back to see Korosensei's face. "What's the occasion?" He usually doesn't pat me on the head.

"Your attempt on my life didn't quite succeed," Korosensei told me. I stiffened, tightening my jaw as anger flooded through me. "But that doesn't mean you failed. So long as you learn something, no attempt is really a failure. You've done well, Nick."

My initial instinct was to play it off, refuse the compliment and dismiss it entirely. After all, all I did was get angry a bunch and force people to calm me down. But... something in the way he looked at me, when I turned to look at him face-to-face, made me swallow those words. Like he'd see straight through them. "Thank you," I said instead, ducking my head a little bit. I don't... I don't do compliments well. I never know how to thank someone appropriately. But somehow, I think this worked.

He was gone a heartbeat later, off to praise Nagisa. But I wasn't too shaken by the speed at which things were happening.

Kunugigaoka Junior High, Class 3-E.

Yep. We're assassins. And our target? Our teacher.

That's just how we roll, here in our assassination classroom.

Well! That's Nightblade IV, Book One. Yes, there will be a Book Two, so don't bother asking about it.

Alright, let's see. Chapter as a whole – I'm pretty satisfied with it. The brief switch to Karma's 3rd-person limited at the beginning was something I felt needed to be included as a necessary insight to how other people perceive Nick. Or, at least, Karma's perspective on him. It wasn't as thorough as I'd like; I might make a little extra snippet in Book Two showing off a more class-wide view. It also increased the feeling of disconnect from Nick, at least to me, so that's why I ultimately left it in. The state Nick was in, we shouldn't be seeing what he's thinking, and that did that.

Remember, Nick went through Aincrad. We don't notice it much, since we're inside Nick's head, but that did scar him, quite deeply; the other thing is, among his circle of friends and family, he probably came out of Aincrad the least affected, barring perhaps Kana, and she has her own insecurities regarding being alone and the consequences of her inaction in Aincrad. Kirito killed and was affected by the murders; Asuna had to be the vice-commander of the KOB, dealing with all that stuff AND any deaths in the KOB; Rika (probably) lost whoever mentored her in the ways of the blacksmith (see the picture hanging in her forge in her Aincrad episode. Pretty sure those people were her teachers and probably died because TRAUMA); Keiko was TWELVE. And even the ones that didn't go through SAO aren't altogether whole; Shino's got PTSD and probably some other issues, and Sugu's going through her own shit. On the surface, Nick is one of the more stable members of their group – stoic, relatively easy-going, even-keeled, supportive when he can be – and as long as you don't look below the surface, he's pretty well-adjusted.

But then, you come here and compare him to the E Class kids, and holy SHIT he's neurotic. Even more so than he realizes; like, seriously, he doesn't even realize he twitches to look at the door every time it opens or someone steps through. The twitching/constantly moving thing is completely subconscious, to the point that he automatically keeps the doors in line of sight whenever possible. And he eats like a starved animal. I just wanted to show how E Class sees someone from Aincrad, and show that yeah, Nick's been affected by it too.

The Nagisa kill move I tried to make as visceral as possible. Problem is, there's only so much I can do with A) a written medium, not visual, and B) a perspective on the sidelines of the fight. Were Nick the one pulling it off, it'd be a lot better, I think, but que sera sera, I guess. As for how Nick's guessing what Nagisa's thinking, remember that he's been forced to speed up his acquisition of classmate thoughts because of the assassination. I'd say at this point he's on par with Year 1 of knowing Kirito in Aincrad; they can fight together and Switch, though Nick doesn't fully trust them yet. Still, Nick is most powerful when reading people's thoughts, remember. It's a coping mechanism he's developed to deal with paranoia.

The clap move, honestly, I forgot I had Nick do that during the Kayaba fight until I recently reread Nightblade. I had to change things a bit, where Nick was learning it here for the first time to him remembering that he didn't pull it off successfully and learning it again to see if he did it wrong. Remember, the first time he did it he was untrained and taught himself. (The other reasons it didn't work was he didn't really know how to read the state of mind, and Kayaba didn't know what it was like to be killed.)

Yada being the one to pull Nick back from the brink (in addition to Ritsu, natch) wasn't exactly something I'd 100% planned on. She just started pushing in on Nick more than I expected her to, and so she was the only one that felt comfortable enough approaching him when his bloodlust was pulsating in and out of control. (Don't worry about thinking she has a crush on him, by the way. She's got a crush on Kataoka; Nick is pretty firmly aimed towards Kana, obviously, and so he won't even consider the thought someone else might like him.)

Just something I thought of, but remember back in Nightblade II, when Nick had Sugou at his mercy? Obviously, the situations are different - if that guy had actually harmed Kazuto or Asuna Nick would have slit his throat - but the similarities are there; it's interesting to see how Nick's starting to relax some of his rules on how he lives his life as he starts to grow a little bit. He doesn't need the rules anymore.

As for anyone wondering why Nick reacted so violently: Yes, this isn't the real world, but at the same time Nick's kinda using the Aincrad coping mechanism - treat it as if it was, because you don't know when you'll get back to the real world. (also he's gotten a little attached to e class)

Alright! We made it through Season One of Assassination Classroom, without hopefully too many problems. I'd like to think this went well, on my end at least.

Let's see, talking points, talking points…

Aside from a friendly reminder that yes, I'm covering Season Two of the show/the rest of the manga in Book Two (so don't bug me about it), I don't think there's much I need to talk about yet.

And many thanks to everyone that favorited, followed, or left a review. It's been a wild ride ever since I started writing Nightblade, and we're slowly coming up on the end of Nick's saga. To give you an idea of where we are plot-wise, think of Nightblade IV as the last three books of the Wheel of Time series; one big, interconnected story, split up into three books for readability's sake. (Or, more topically, Volumes 9 through whatever of the SAO light novels.) Thanks to everyone that's stuck around since the beginning.

(also super huge thank you to Hammiam, who's single-handedly updating the tvtropes page for this story. help him out, you jerks, it only takes a few seconds to sign up and there's enough people on the site that you can't screw up too badly)