Kasumi Aika's POV

The sounds of sonic booms from each attack filled in the barriered land, the students of this prestigious school were screaming and ever so close to get blown away from the wind.

A sonic boom with every attack... that's the kind of nonstandard battle that was underway. Though we can't make out their movements, we know this much: Korosensei is overwhelmingly losing ground. 

Boom!

Rubble blasted up the air from where a yellow streak slammed onto the ground. Korosensei...

"Feeling hopeless yet, guinea pig?" Yanagisawa asked. "Two people, times tentacles... times genius... times the power of hate. He's far surpassed the likes of you!"

Our teacher was thrown to the ground yet again. How long could he last...? 

I looked at my classmates. They were brimming with sadness, hopelessness. I looked back to the battle at hand, and then at my hands. They're not even in the same dimension. The battle is too mismatched... but this couldn't be all there is, could it? He is our teacher, he must have a way to-!

I stared back at the battle.

"Is he... trying to dodge?" Takebayashi said, adjusting his glasses.

"Hmph. Then how about this?" The mad scientist turned on the purple light again, planning to freeze the yellow octopus' moves. But Korosensei was smarter. He threw up the soil, blocking the light.

"Evading attacks with the minimum amount of strength, using soil to block out the light... He's closing in and 'killing their power'." Ritsu pointed out.

"Seeing him improvise a way to close their battle-power gap... that's our Korosensei, through and through." I murmured in awe. 

"Chalk this up to sheer experience!" Our teacher exclaimed, and managed to put some distance between him and 2.0. "This is where I, his teacher, take responsibility for my pupil who's strayed from the path. However... Yanagisawa. Leave us. This is a place for students to learn and grow. You are not entitled to be here!"

"Heh... still fancy yourself as a teacher, eh, guinea pig?" The half-man half-tentacle male scoffed, an eerie smile plastered on his shadowed face. "Then let's put you to the test. Don't you see why we chose this moment to make our move?" Yanagisawa snapped his fingers.

In a blink of an eye, 2.0 loomed over us, waves of red energy filled in his body, clustering into his hand. My eyes widened. Shoot, is he going to shoot a laser? 

"You'll protect them, right? Isn't that what a teacher does?" 

The red light turned into a blinding white light. Ah... not a laser, but a possibly a mach speed jab. I looked around.

...We don't have enough time to run, do we? Shet.

A loud boom, following with a crash, resounded in our ears. Smoke filled the air. As the smoke cleared, I realised that I didn't die. Not yet, anyways.

"Korosensei!" I heard Nagisa exclaimed. I looked at the octopus teacher. He was hunched over in pain. 

"You're the very model of an educator, guinea pig! You can escape these harsh blows on your own, yet you take them head-on to protect your students! All right, 2.0. Next!"

What?!

A harsh pain hit my chest as I watched what happened. 2.0 continued trying to shoot us with his laser, yet Korosensei continued to take them for us.

"Next! Next! Next! Next~!"

Such darkly seething emotions... he surely won't be satisfied until his target is torn to pieces, body and soul..

"Korosensei!" I cried, seeing him puke out a yellow substance. He was coughing in pain.

"Put the target with his students and this was bound to happen. Wrong answer, kids. Deciding to show up here tonight was a bad move." Yanagisawa sneered at us.

"Stop it, Yanagisawa!" Karasuma yelled, pointing a gun at the man. Huh, since when did he arrive? "Don't drag those students in any deeper!" 

A smirk displayed on Yanagisawa's lips. In mach speed, he sped his way to Karasuma and punched him on the face, making him fall. 

"Karasuma!" Irina cried, heading to his aid.

"Shut up and watch, government lapdogs. You don't stand a chance against me now."

A sense of dread and hopelessness hit me. But not only that, but a realization as well. Once that I had always waved away.

"How does it feel, seeing your despairing students being a hindrance to their dear, dear teacher? Now do you see it? Your greatest weak point?" 

Korosensei's greatest weak point... it's us-

"THAT'S PREPOSTEROUS!"

The sudden yell startled me. No, it startled us all.

"This isn't a question of right answer or wrong!" He continued. "They risked their life and limb to try to save me, and overcame obstacles to meet me here! That process, those hearts, they're the greatest gift a teacher could receive! They're not a weak point, and they're not a hindrance! They're my students! And I'm proud of each and every one of them! What's more... protecting one's students is a teacher's natural duty!" 

"Yes, yes. Very good. But we'll deny you that duty of yours, too." Yanagisawa replied. "Soon your strength will run out, and the students you've been protecting? I will slaughter them. This year you gained by destroying our lives... I'll make it have been all for naught! Then our revenge will finally be complete! Now, let's continue. Better protect those sweet students of yours."

A sudden whizz shot through the air, and Korosensei was released. My eyes widened.

"Kayano, you idiot!" I whisper-yelled. Through all my years of training, never try to get in between someone's battle; especially if they are far out of your standards. 

The greenette threw away the gun, which she used to shoot 2.0's tentacle, and drew her knife. "Run away, Korosensei. I'll buy you time, just hide somewhere and recover!" 

"Kayano-san?!"

2.0 shot a tentacle straight at her, but she managed to deflect it using the anti-sensei knife. Huh, so she kept her kinetic vision when she was a tentacle-user? 

"Oho.. that's a former tentacle-user for you. Retained that kinetic vision, I see." Yanagisawa said, confirming my guess.

"Stop, Kayano-san!" Korosensei shouted.

"I had regretted it all this time. That it was my fault that the class learned the truth. That I snatched away the fun times we had had together. So at least... let me protect you... as your student!"

"You were right!" Korosensei objected. "Thanks to your actions, the class got to learn what was truly important!" And then he got smacked away by 2.0's tentacle.

"Hm... 2.0?" Yanagisawa showed a thumbs up. But soon he grinned maniacally, turning the thumb down. Red energy encircled 2.0 again. He's preparing to hit her. First strike, Kayano managed to dodge, jumping midair. Her look was filled with determination, yet I gritted my teeth in frustration. What Kayano is doing... it is indeed noble, but facing a foe that is far too ahead of you is a death sentence...!

Just when I finished my thought, my jaw dropped at the sight. Just as she was about to stab 2.0, she got impaled... through her gut. Laughter filled the air.

"Ahahahahaha..! I- I get to have both sisters die right in front of me?! Ahahahahahaha! What a couple of troublemakers! Maybe I should've kept her as her sister's stand-in! Too bad I'm not interested in some holey bitch."

That asshole...!

But also, at that moment, was when I realized that we might have to start running. I peered at Korosensei. His tentacles were black, a red aura surrounding him. Crap... I could see a battle coming up.

"There we go! When you're beside yourself, your emotions twisted, your whole body goes pitch black! You couldn't be at full-power otherwise. In other words, this is the destructive creature showing his true colors! You yourself have negated the whole year you spent wearing that ridiculous yellow hypocrite's face! Most satisfactory! And as for this full-bore fury of yours..." A syringe came out of Yanagisawa's wrist, "in showing his true powers, 2.0 will negate that, too. Now for his final attack." He injected the substance into 2.0, making him yell, a purple aura surrounding him. 

Alright... time to go!

"Nagisa-kun, get Kayano-san. We need to get away from here!" I yelled over the battle. "If we stay here any longer, we'll get tangled up for sure!"

Okuda was about to interject, but Nagisa and Karma agreed. "Running away is a perfectly sound battle tactic!"

"Mm!" Nagisa ran off to get the greenette, and then we all headed off to safety. From the distance, we could see a bright, white light around the two supercreatures, blinding us. But using my gear, I could take a better look. "White light... but his tentacles are black."

"No, it's yellow." Nagisa said.

"Nu-uh, it's red!" Terasaka exclaimed.

"Green!" Rio added.

"Blue!"

White...

A second later, a huge blast of energy was released, hitting 2.0 and Yanagisawa. Unfortunately for the mad scientist, he wasn't strong enough to withstand the blow, and went off flying. He screamed, with the last words "Noooo!" as he hit the anti-sensei shield of earth. While 2.0... he was stabbed on the chest, but I couldn't see any further than that.

But... nobody shouted for joy. 

"Korosensei..." Nagisa spoke up once our teacher stood in front of us. "Kaede is..." He looked sadly at the greenette in his hands. Man, what would you feel if who you're holding the carcass of whom you are interested in? Wait- that didn't sound so good. Shoot. Almost everyone is crying and I'm just... "Uh... let's lay her down." I suggested.

"No, don't, Nagisa-kun." Korosensei interjected. "I don't want her to have too much contact with germs in the soul." He paused for a moment. "Class, the past you've lost will never come back. I myself have made so many mistakes... But we can learn from the past so we don't repeat it." One by one, white, little, tendrils came out of Korosensei, as well as a red, circular substance. 

"Is that... Kayano-san's blood?" I asked.

"And her somatic cells. I gathered them up before she fell to the ground and stored them in a sterile membrane I made with compressed air." The octopus replied.

"In the middle of battle?!"

"I had set aside  the tentacles meant for protecting you. Those were the only ones I didn't use for fighting. Now to string all these cells together, one by one." A bright light emitted on Kayano's chest, the white tendrils working in high speed on the wound. "Faster, more accurately... I've been improving my skills all year long, so if the same thing happens again, it won't have the same tragic ending. Some cells can't be repaired, so instead I'll leave gaps and fill them with my mucus. Within a few days, her own cells should regenerate and replace it. Ah, I'm a tad low on blood. Type AB donors, please!" As if he knew our blood types (he probably really did), he took a bit of blood from Itona and Karma.

"Nakamura-san! Gather up that birthday cake and put it in my mouth!"

"Haaaa?! But it's a smashed-up pile of dirt-covered garbage!" The blondie said.

"I need to replenish my energy! And I wanted to it during that whole fight! I call the 30-minute rule!"

"30-second!" Rio corrected, nevertheless gave it to him.

"Delish, delish, delish~!" He cried, eating the dirty cake as he did his operation. I wasn't sure if that's good, though. Should a surgeon keep the operation as clean as possible? >_> But oh well. The wound's closing up without a single stitch, nor a single mark.

"Phew! Now, once her heart starts working, she'll come back to life. It should go perfectly, according to my 'What to Do for a Gut-Shot Student' manual." He showed off the manual.

"Who'd even anticipate such a disaster?!" Isogai, Maehara, and Okajima yelled. 

"I can say this for now, but if your blood cells, were ever torn to pieces, I was prepared to put them back together. As long as I'm around, that is." Using his tentacles as a defibrillator, he shocked Kayano on her heart. "As long as the teacher... is properly seeing his student."

A few moments later, Kayano coughed. And nobody was ever so happy to hear that. 

"Did you save me... again?" She asked. 

"As many times as it takes. Your sister would have done the same." Korosensei replied, tying the her hair back to the usual pigtails.

"Kayano... thank goodness you're all right!" Nagisa grinned, holding her on the shoulders from behind. 

"Nagisa-choo! Brr..." Kayano looked down. Her shirt had a hole... right where she needed it to be unholed. "Hey! What's with this getup?!" Kayano squeaked, covering the hole. Most of the boys, being respectful, turned away. Okajima had to be forced to look away, since Kataoka would've broken his neck if he didn't comply. Itona, though... he just stood in front of Kayano and stared.

"Uh.. wh-what..." The greenette sweatdropped.

"Pathetic."

"What is?!"

"Aww, c'mon." Maehara, being a gentleman that he was, draped his jacket over the female's shoulder. "Korosensei even fixed up your hair for you."

"Thanks... but I wish he'd fix up my clothes first."

"Y'know..." That pervert Okajima still trying to glance over, "Korosensei's so generous with his care and all, you might've come out of that a little bustier than before~"

"Hm? Is that so, Korosensei?" Yada asked. We looked over to him. He seemed quite ruffled up, eyes tired, and collapsed.

"Phew... I'm beat." 

He seemed unusually satisfied... and unusually frail. 

"Minna-san?" He called out. "What kind of assassin would let a dying target escape?"

And it was as if the entire class realized, this was the golden chance to assassinate him. 

"Don't you see? It's killing time. Fun times... are bound to end. That's what a classroom's all about." The swelling light of the laser told us eloquently, cruelly, that it was right on schedule. We had no time to hesitate. I checked the time. 23:31, 29 minutes before the laser shoots.

"Guys." Isogai spoke up. "We need to decide this ourselves. We could choose to stay out of this and leave it up to fate... show of hands: who doesn't want to kill Korosensei?"

Everyone lifted up their hands. 

"Okay, hands down. Who wants to kill him?"

There was a moment of hesitation. Hell, even I, who's born to kill, was hesitating. They were always with us. Our guns, knives, and our teacher. But there's always a choice whether to do the right way... or the easy way.

I raised my hand. One by one, everyone did as well. This was our answer. We're killers. Our target was our teacher. We were all painfully aware of what we had to do to our mentor for us to graduate with our bond still intact. We hold onto his tentacles, making sure he wouldn't escape. 

"You couldn't move like this, right, Korosensei?" Nakamura asked.

"Exactly so, Nakamura-san. I am worried about your weak grip, though."

"Ah-" The class could hear that he was calling that out for all of them. Reluctantly, we held it tighter. 

"Your heart is under your tie, right?" Kataoka confirmed. "Who's going to..."

Everyone didn't acknowledge this question until now. I looked at Karma. He stared right at the tentacle he was holding onto, and didn't budge. So I spoke up.

"I'll do it."

Everyone looked at me, startled.

"We got no complaints." Terasaka smiled. I smiled back, and sat on Korosensei. Right in front of me was his tie, which had his heart underneath.

"Sensei..." I murmured, staring at his beady eyes. I was about to lift his tie to stab his heart, but he cut me off.

"Aika-chan, you can stab down through my tie. The very day I received this tie, I managed to put a hole in it. I left it like that. This, too, is an important connection."

"Ah- I see..." I uttered under my breath.

"Ah, but first, I have to say my goodbyes to these teachers. Irina-sensei, are you sure you don't want to join in? This is your chance at that bounty."

Irina took a moment to respond. "I've gotten enough already. So many ties, so much experience, from you and the children both. This assassination... is the bond between you and the kids."

"And Karasuma-sensei. You, too, have made these students what they are today. Please continue to offer your guidance." 

"Mm. You may have caused me no end of trouble, but this is one year I'll never forget. Farewell... Korosensei." For once... Karasuma-sensei called him by his name!

"Yes." Korosensei smiled his usual grin, also noticing so. "Now then, class, it's about that time. Twenty four hours wouldn't be enough for me to say my goodbyes to each of you in turn. We can't talk long... so instead, I'll take attendance one last time. Please look me in the eye and answer in a loud voice. Once you've all responded, you can kill me. N-Nobody left early, did they?!" Korosensei panicked for a moment. "If someone didn't respond now, of all times, I'd kill myself!"

"Just do it already!" The class shouted.

Korosensei sighed. "Alright... Akabane Karma-kun."

"Here." [3-E, #1: Akabane Karma]

"Isogai Yuuma-kun."

"Here." [3-E, #2: Isogai Yuuma]

"Okajima Taiga-kun."

"Here." [3-E, #3: Okajima Taiga]

"Okano Hinata-san."

"Uh-huh..." [3-E, #4: Okano Hinata]

"Okuda Manami-san."

"H-Here!" [3-E, #5: Okuda Manami]

"Kataoka Meg-san."

"Here."  [3-E, #6: Kataoka Meg]

"Kayano Kaede-san."

"Here." [3-E, #7: Kayano Kaede]

"Kanzaki Yukiko-san."

"Here." [3-E, #8: Kanzaki Yukiko]

"Kimura Justice-kun."

"Here!" [3-E, #9: Kimura Justice]

"Kurahashi Hinano-san."

"Here..." [3-E, #10: Kurahashi Hinano]

"Shiota Nagisa-kun."

"Here." [3-E, #11: Shiota Nagisa]

My young assassins...

"Sugaya Sousuke-kun."

"Here." [3-E, #12: Sugaya Sousuke]

You who are about to cut down a single life...

"Sugino Tomohito-kun."

"Here." [3-E, #13: Sugino Tomohito]

Surely you know better than anyone the value of life...

"Takebayashi Kotaro-kun."

"Here." [3-E, #14: Takebayashi Kotaro]

"Chiba Ryuunosuke-kun."

"Here." [3-E, #15: Chiba Ryuunosuke]

...because you've studied...

"Terasaka Ryoma-kun."

"Yo." [3-E, #16: Terasaka Ryoma]

...fretted...

"Nakamura Rio-san."

"Yep." [3-E, #17: Nakamura Rio]

...and really thought this through.

"Hazama Kirara-san."

"Here." [3-E, #18: Hazama Kirara]

"Hayami Rinka-san."

"Here." [3-E, #19: Hayami Rinka]

You are what gave my life value.

"Hara Sumire-san."

"Here." [3-E, #20: Hara Sumire]

As I fostered you all...

"Fuwa Yuzuki-san."

"Here!" [3-E, #21: Fuwa Yuzuki]

...You fostered me.

"Maehara Hiroto-kun."

"Mmm." [3-E, #22: Maehara Hiroto]

"Mimura Koki-kun."

"Here." [3-E, #23: Mimura Koki]

So please..

"Muramatsu Takuya-kun."

"Yeah." [3-E, #24: Muramatsu Takuya]

...here, now...

"Yada Toka-san."

"Here!" [3-E, #25: Yada Toka]

...reap me with your finest bloodlust.

"Yoshida Taisei-kun."

"Here!" [3-E, #26: Yoshida Taisei]

If I could help nurture these 29 souls as they move into the future...

"Kasumi Aika-san."

"Here." [3-E, #27: Kasumi Aika]

"Autonomous Intelligence Fixed Artillery--Ritsu-san."

"Here." [3-E, #28: Autonomous Intelligence Fixed Artillery]

...I would be so happy, I could die.

"Horibe Itona-kun."

"Here." [3-E, #29: Horibe Itona]

"It was a really... really fun year." Korosensei said, grinning. "I'm so happy... to be killed by you all. From one traveler to another... a yell- for all of life!"

I paused, my fingers shaking. The knife was wrapped in my hand, all I needed to do was push it down. But... it's as if my muscles were glued in place, unable to move. Why...? Why, of all times, would I hesitate? I'm a killer, for goodness sake...

I gritted my teeth, my breath quickened. My hands were quivering. Sweat trickled from the back of my neck. I can't seem to do it... but I have to...!

I felt something on my neck. It was calming, and my breathing slowed down. I didn't know what I was doing. I was just about to kill him violently and sloppily.

"I don't want you to kill me like that. Calm yourself. Smile. Be like the Kurumi-san I remembered, all those years before." He said.

My vision began to blur as I remembered all of the things we had done together, both when he was human and an octopus. A sad chuckle came out of my lips as I said, "I told you I'll kill you one day, Shinigami-sensei."

He smiled at me. "Indeed, and I'm more than glad to see that the day has come."

"Heh... I guess this is a goodbye for now. Teach me more on the other side, yeah?" My voice was shaking, the facade I had was breaking.

"Of course--Goodbye for now."

I couldn't say anything any further. All my gratitude, reminiscence of the past--I put all of my emotions into my blade. As though pouring in my soul, as though thanking him with everything I have, I offered my knife.

I looked at my beloved teacher, orbs of yellow light began to flutter up into the air, as if holding a piece of him with it. At the end, it felt like he was saying, "Congratulations on your graduation."

The orbs of light floated up to the air, one by one, until nothing was left but his clothes, tie, and my knife. Tears blurred my vision, my chest was throbbing in pain. It was foreign, painful. I hated the feeling.

I grit my teeth, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. But I lost. For the first time, I cried over my target. And for the second time in my entire lifetime, I cried for real.

Yet time still ticked onwards. Midnight was coming soon. The day we're graduating is coming. We had graduated from our assassination a little earlier.

~~~~~

I woke up with a light groan, seeing a manga comic in front of me. Huh... I guess I must've fallen asleep.

You see, when we went back to the classroom in search of some trace of Korosensei, we found diplomas for each of us, yearbooks... and "Korosensei's Rules to Live By", one for each of us. Apparently the laser hit us at some point, but it mattered so little to us then that we never even noticed.

Karasuma-sensei met the onsite inspection squad that showed up later and dealt with them outside. He said, 'the students on this campus fall into my jurisdiction, and let out classroom be ours alone.' The incredibly thick books of advice that Korosensei had made started in a considerate, easy-to-read manga format, and then...

'You could create a sort of ice cream flavor that has to do with me! Call it the "Nurunururu", it'll be great~!' -A quote from "Korosensei's Rules to Live By, Aika"

Honestly, we got a little fed up with his too-detailed advice. And before we knew it, we'd all forgotten our tears and were sleeping soundly. When we woke up and looked outside, the early blooming sakura bloomed, small and strong

End of Chapter Forty

Yeet I'm alive again! I had to fight off months of tests and exams to have a chance to write this *flops* It may be a little messy (since I wrote this at 2 AM in the morning), but the moment I realized I haven't updated anything for almost two months, I felt really bad so I wrote this >_> But aye, I made this one quite longer than usual! About 3500+ words~ I hope this made up for my untold hiatus, I'll make it up for it! (　′Д')彡

Closing brought to you by a bit of feels,

Pocky-Chan, out!