Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"It's that time of year again," Nagisa announced once Asui, who'd walked in late claiming that she 'was definitely not robbing a bank,' took her seat. "The time where we begin planning for our class trips. Usually, the trips are funded by money raised by your class last year, supplementing with some light fundraising before the trip. 

"Now, after going over this class' funds, I have discovered that our budget for the class trip is about ¥2000 [a little under $20], which is about enough for a large pizza. Just one," Nagisa frowned. 

"So I guess were getting pizza instead of a class trip!" Marihara shrugged. "We could all bring in a couple hundred yen, and maybe we could get two pizzas!" 

"Actually, I have an idea," Nagisa said, and a sly grin appeared on his face. 

"Euuhh... what is it?" asked Katsura, wondering if she'd missed something. 

"I'll have to confirm with a few people," Nagisa told his class. "It might not work out, but I'm going to start fleshing out the details as soon as I can. We'll need to do a small fundraiser, just for food, and maybe a train ride, but nothing too involved." 

"I'm confused, what's the plan?" Misono asked.  

"I think I'll keep it a surprise for now," Nagisa decided, a furtive smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. "But it'll be something to look forward to." 

"Come on! Don't we even get a hint?" demanded Hinata. 

"Hmm... alright," their teacher relented. "If everything works out, you may want to bring camping supplies." A handful of students groaned. 

"Aw man!" complained Fuyu, "I hate camping."  

His twin sister raised an eyebrow at him. "Since when?" she asked. 

"Remember what happened last time?" he attempted to clarify. 

"I thought it was fun," Natsu mumbled, and he stared at her incredulously. 

"Ok, so what happened there?" Misono asked, looking back and forth between the Ryouma twins in confusion.  

"Nothing," they responded in unison, and looked away. 

"That's not suspicious at all," Misono scoffed.  

"Anywaaaayyyy... getting back to the school trip..." Kirasaya said, reverting the subject back again. "What sort of fundraiser would this be exactly?" 

"Like I said, it doesn't have to be anything crazy," Nagisa reiterated. "As long as everyone participates, I'm sure we could make enough easily. It could be something as basic as a second-hand book sale or something." 

"You think any of us have books?" Yatoni said as if that were absurd. 

"That we're willing to part with?" Marihara added, as if that were even more absurd. 

"Alright, something else then," Nagisa relented, "any suggestions?" There were none. And then a hand raised slowly on the far side of the room. "Yes, Ken-kun?" his tone was mildly surprised; Ken almost never spoke up during class, so he was glad to see the boy get involved.

"How about a bake sale?" His voice wasn't soft, but it sounded brittle from lack of use. "I mean it's just an idea, but if we all brought something in and sold it out in front of the school we might make something."  

"That could certainly work," Nagisa agreed enthusiastically. "Anyone who can't bring in a baked good could run the table, and sell the treats. Everyone could participate." 

"Plus we could show off our baking skills," Shirota said with a smirk. 

"We could make a contest out of it!" Fuyu suggested excitedly. "Keep track of whose desserts get bought the most, winner gets bragging rights!" 

"I'm in," Natsu agreed. 

"Hell Yeah!" Shirota high-fived Fuyu. 

"Anyone opposed?" The teacher looked around the room to see shrugs and grins. "It's settled then. Does next week work? Before and after school?" With no objections, Nagisa picked up a piece of chalk and wrote on the board. 

Sale and Goods. Along with each day of the week in a table format.  

"Everyone can sign up for either bringing in goods, or staying at the booth to sell them before and after school," Nagisa explained. "Just sign up for whatever you are able to do. If a couple of people wanted to volunteer to keep track of what sells and make a contest of it like Fuyu-kun suggested, I'm okay with that. Everyone's name should be on the board at least once." 

Slowly, students started crowding up to the board to sign up for one thing or another. Katsura volunteered to keep score, and even though the prize was only bragging rights, a lot of people still wanted to participate in the contest. 

They were all surprisingly enthusiastic about the fundraiser, and Nagisa had a feeling that it would work. This trip wouldn't be so far out of their reach after all. 

Chapter Text

"Skip breakfast? Why not pick up a tasty treat?" Kurra called enthusiastically to passersby, acting as a barker for their fundraiser. "Buy a snack and support class 3-5!" 

"Any luck so far?" Saishuu asked politely as he arrived with a plate of peanut butter cookies. 

"We've sold two of Satori-san's chocolate-chip cookies, one of Kiya-san's brownies," Katsura listed, "and one of Shirota's things, although I'm pretty sure that was a dare." Katsura glanced at the sticky, slimy mounds of frosting and chocolate that Shirota insisted on calling cupcakes. 

"Kiya-san?" Saishuu lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. 

"Yeah, she left them on Nagisa-sensei's desk with a sticky-note claiming she'd done her part and should be allowed on the class trip," Katsura explained. 

"Hey, I'm sorry I'm a bit late," Ken announced as he approached the table with two wide, flat boxes. "I had to let them cool overnight and frost them this morning. I hope they're okay." 

He opened one of the boxes to reveal thirteen beautiful cupcakes. Each was perfectly frosted with its own unique design. They smelled heavenly and looked almost too good to eat. 

"Wow Ken-kun, those are amazing!" Katsura remarked. "I never took you for the type to bake." She eyed his frail and skinny figure. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ken frowned at her. 

"Uh, nothing, never mind!" she fumbled. "Oh look, more people." 

Kurra turned to see some second years eying Ken's cupcakes as they walked past. "They're for sale!" he told them cheerfully. "Buy one!" 

Ken opened the second box to reveal another baker's dozen of the treats, just as appetizing as the last. "I hope you like them, I worked very hard," Ken said, not meeting anyone's eyes. 

One of the second years walked up and chose one. It was frosted with blue and green, and had little decorative sugar-frogs on it. "I'll take one. You may be good at frosting but I bet they taste awful." Ken's shoulder's slumped as the second year walked back to his group of friends, biting into the treat. 

They couldn't quite tell what was going on from the table, but a few moments later, the whole group crowded up to try one. Ken smiled slightly and walked away, into the building. 

"Single file, please!" Kurra shouted. The small crowd attracted a larger one, and people actually bought things. They didn't make fun of them for being in class five, or steer clear of them because 'those class five kids are scary.' 

They were sold out by the end of the day, except Shirota's 'cupcakes' which they ended up throwing out, and Kurra asked Ken if he could bring in more the next day, since those sold the best.

—

Ken gladly complied, and brought in puddings as well the following day. Each day, he brought in a different treat, each one as good or better than the last. The last day of the bake sale, he brought an extra batch of frosted brownies for the class. And he even gave Nagisa one to give to Karma as a 'thank you' for everything he'd done to help out. 

"To no one's surprise," Katsura announced ostentatiously at the end of the last day, as the students munched on their brownies. "Ken-kun won the contest by an overwhelming margin. And Satori-san got second place, but the twins came pretty close." 

After everyone had congratulated Ken, and expressed their compliments, and their surprise as his cooking ability, Nagisa had an announcement as well. 

"I've finished counting up the proceeds," Nagisa told them. "We actually made a bit more than we expected. We have enough for the trip, and I got the go-ahead, so I'm collaborating with a friend to plan the trip in a couple of days. Great work everyone."

Chapter Text

"I'll get it," Nagisa called over the sound of the TV when the doorbell rang, and went to answer it. 

"Heya Nagisa-kun," he was met with a cheerful Isogai. 

"Hey, Isogai-kun." Nagisa stepped aside to let his friend enter. "Thanks for agreeing to this." 

"Well technically, you, Karma-kun, and Kayano-san own the building," Isogai pointed out with a chuckle. "I just carry the keys. You can probably get in and out without them anyway."  

"Well sure," Nagisa laughed as well, leading his guest down the hall and into the kitchen where Karma was already waiting. "But in response to recent events, we're trying to make this class trip as legal as possible."  

"I guess that makes sense." Isogai had heard about these 'recent events.' Had he not been out of town up until a few days ago, he would have helped out in a heartbeat. "Hey Karma-kun." 

"Hey. We ready to start planning this trip now?" Karma responded. 

"Let's get started," Isogai agreed.  

"Alright, then. We made almost ¥30,000 [approximately $280] at the fundraiser, which was a lot more than expected," Nagisa told them, figuring that knowing their budget would be a good place to start. "Turns out Ken-kun is really good at baking. Anyway, I think we can make it work." 

The three sat around the kitchen table putting together an itinerary for the trip, creating a grocery list that would accommodate potential food allergies or other dietary constraints, and making permission slips, even though Nagisa was fairly sure some of the signatures he received would be forged. 

While they worked, the TV was on in the background, mostly just white noise, until a news story came on that attracted their attention. 

"I think for the last day, it could be fun to..." Nagisa trailed off and turned to the television in the next room.  

"After many protests, and a major petition," said the newscaster, "the state is taking another look at Japan's marriage laws. A court case has already been scheduled to advocate with the state for same-sex marriage to be legalized..."  

"Karma..." Nagisa felt happy tears prick his eyes. 

"I heard..." Karma placed his hand over Nagisa's. It wasn't a guarantee, but it was a chance. Grinning, Isogai grabbed beers out of the fridge for all three of them.  

"That's great news!" Isogai chimed in, excited for his friends, and they all let out happy laughs. "Let's celebrate!" 

"Here's hoping!" toasted Karma as they all popped open their cans and took a break from planning to watch the rest of the news story.  

After that, the evening had a hopeful vibe about it. Regardless of the subject, the three men were all in a better mood. Their work was nearly finished by ten in the evening when Isogai had to go home. All that was left was for Nagisa to edit the trip guidebook, and go to school early the next day to print it in the teacher's room. 

— 

"Uh... Nagisa-sensei?" Hinata asked as he took a seat in his place to find a neatly stapled stack of papers on his desk, as well as everyone else's. "What is this?" He flipped through the double-sided packet.  

"The trip is tomorrow," answered Nagisa, unsure what his student meant by asking the question. "So I took the liberty of writing a guidebook for the trip. I thought it would be helpful." 

"Sensei, this is a little long for a class trip guide!" Marihara pointed out incredulously. "And what the heck is '3-E Mountain?' I've never heard of it." She pronounced the dash as she read the location off the cover of the guidebook. 

"I don't see the problem," Nagisa's brows furrowed slightly. "It's only thirty-six pages."  

"Only‽" Hinata's jaw dropped slightly. "What world do you live in where you can put 'only' in front of 'thirty-six pages' for a field-trip handout‽"  

"Well I took out a lot from the original," Nagisa pulled a very thick book with a red cover out of his bag. "I used one of my old middle school guidebooks as a model, but since the location is different there was a lot of stuff that I didn't need to include." He showed them the book, the cover read: Class Trip Guidebook: 3-E by Koro-Sensei. 

"What‽"  

"You're joking, right?" 

"That's not... there's no way..." 

"It's extremely detailed, but I didn't think some of the information was necessary for high-school third years." Nagisa shrugged. "Our teacher wrote it for our class trip to Kyoto."  

"Your teacher wrote that?" Ippantekina just stared at the red book. "I didn't think any teacher cared enough to put in that kind of effort..." he glanced down at the one Nagisa had made, not quite able to process the possibility of a teacher giving a shit about their students. 

"You must not have had many good teachers then." Nagisa frowned. "I would have liked to include everything, but I'm only human, and I can't move at Mach 20." 

"What did you not include‽" Hinata demanded. 

"Well there's only one page about what to do if a group member gets kidnapped," Nagisa said thoughtfully. 

"Why is that even in there? Nobody's gonna get kidnapped on a school trip!" 

"Actually, two of our group members got kidnapped on that trip," Nagisa said, smirking slightly, "that's what brought it to mind."  

"Well!" He didn't know how to rebut that. "I guess that's... fine... then..." 

"Don't forget to bring your camping supplies tomorrow," Nagisa announced. "We'll be meeting at the train station on third street at seven thirty, and we have to be on the train there by a half-hour after. Please don't be late." He directed this last sentiment at Asui, who only shrugged. 

Chapter Text

"Is  everyone here?" Nagisa called to his students, counting heads before they boarded the train toward Kunugigaoka. "Where's Asui-san‽" 

"I'm here!" shouted Asui's high voice over the din of the station, as she attempted to push through the crowd. Fuyu wove his way around strangers to grab her hand and pull her to the rest of the group before she was carried away. 

"And Kiya?" Nagisa asked. 

"Here." They saw her neon pink hair before they saw her as she joined the group. 

"Glad you made it," Nagisa smiled, "alright everybody, come get your tickets from me and find your seat!" They crowded around their teacher, trading tickets to get seats next to their friends. 

When, finally, they all crowded onto the train and it began moving, they settled into road trip mode. The ride was smooth, so Mirikitani began to draw in his sketchbook, refusing to show anyone, of course. Marihara had her own book to read, but Sujimura kept interrupting her reading with annoying questions and gossip. 

"So what do you think this place is gonna be like?" wondered Kurra excitedly. 

"I'm guessing probably a mountain," Yatoni responded, not really seeming to care. 

"Well I know that." Kurra rolled his eyes. "But why are we taking our class trip there?" 

"Maybe we're doing a nature hike," Ushiwara suggested. "There's two and a half pages in the trip guide about all the different plants and insects there." 

"I'm thinking it's more like a training camp," Hinata argued. "If you look at the map there's a lot of info about the terrain and there's also a 'swimming hole' and a 'training ground.' Plus Nagisa-sensei always goes on about making us assassins, we need training for that." 

"Maybe this place is where Nagisa-sensei trained," Kiya suggested quietly. "Although the thing I'm most curious about is the 'Koro-sensei memorial.'" 

"Yeah, me too!" Misono agreed, practically climbing over the seat to talk to her. "Who the heck is Koro-Sensei? And how did he die? And why would he have a memorial on this mountain so far away from everything?" 

"Koro-Sensei was Nagisa-sensei's old teacher," Kirasaya said. "He's the one who inspired Nagisa-sensei to teach in the first place." 

"How the heck do you know that?" Misono asked. 

"I learned it when I did my biography project," she explained. "It was in my presentation, don't you remember?" 

"No, I can't say that I do." They all turned to Kiya, who flicked her tongue over the mischievous half-smile she wore. 

"Well maybe if you came to school, you would!" Ippantekina scoffed and turned to Kirasaya with a questioning look. "I remember you mentioning him, but you never said anything about him being dead." 

"Yeah... Nagisa-sensei told me to leave that part out." 

"Why?" Ippantekina pressed. 

"That's classified," Fumei interjected, almost like a warning, and Kirasaya hummed nervously. 

"Uh... yeah," she affirmed. 

"Classified by whom?" 

"It doesn't matter Harushit!" Fumei snapped at Ippantekina with a nickname no one else dared to use. They could all see anger boiling up in the boy's face, and most of them backed away a bit, anticipating an outburst. "Point is you're not supposed to know, and those who do know aren't allowed to fucking tell you. So stop prying assrag." 

"What the fuck Fumei!" Ippantekina snarled back. "What makes you think you can talk to me like that, huh half-pint? I'll tear you apart." 

"You can try dickwad, but you'd have to catch me first." She lifted her head slightly and her sunglasses flashed in the light from the window. 

"I'm down for a little fairy hunting." Ippantekina smirked. 

"Don't you fucking dare call me 'fairy.’" Fumei's voice was low and menacing. The air stood still and the temperature dropped ten degrees, or so it seemed. 

Even the people not involved in the conversation sensed something was wrong and silenced themselves. Nagisa-sensei eyed Fumei thoughtfully. Ippantekina was taken aback as well, and he stiffened sharply as if the slightest movement would cause the tiny girl to pounce. 

"Tch. Whatever," Ippantekina said, and sat back down on the cracking leather seat, hoping that his nerves hadn't shown through his outward indifference. 

"Uh... Fumei?" Shirota asked nervously. 

"I'm fine," she said with a sigh. 

"Oh." Shirota was not entirely convinced. "Ok then." 

No one had called Fumei 'fairy' since middle school. Ippantekina only know the nickname because he'd gone to the same middle school as her. Shirota hadn't been there, but he had heard that she was suspended for two weeks for scratching a guy who called her fairy, everyone stopped after that. Apparently the guy got some pretty nasty scars from it. 

Shirota shot Fumei one more worried look before attempting to reignite conversation, and further de-escalate the situation. "I think it's probably private property, the mountain." 

"What makes you say that?" Saishuu asked. 

"Well, camping in a public place, or at an official camp site can be expensive, right," Shirota explained. "Plus there's a warning on the very first page of the guide that says not to damage anything." 

"It doesn't have to be private property for Nagisa-sensei not to want anything damaged," Ushiwara pointed out. "Nature reserves aren't private property, but damaging them could be a huge problem. He could be concerned about the mountain's ecosystem." 

"I don't know Ushiwara-kun," Shirota disputed. "It felt more like there was an implied 'or else' to me. Anyone else think that?" 

"Honestly, kinda," Kirasaya admitted. 

A voice came over the train's PA system announcing the next stop, and Nagisa-sensei informed them that they would be disembarking there. With that announcement, the whole car hummed with anticipation.

Chapter Text

"Alright, class!" announced Nagisa, rising from his seat as the train pulled to a halt. "This is our stop! Collect you things and let's get going."

Class 3-5 disembarked onto the concrete platform. Nagisa led them out onto the sidewalk where he did another quick headcount to make sure no one was stuck in the crowd of the station. 

It was a short walk, just a handful of blocks, to what looked like a school campus. There was a padlocked chainlink fence around it, and beyond that it looked to be in a state of mild disrepair. A few windows were broken, some had been boarded up, and it looked like it could use a new coat of paint, but it wasn't decrepit or falling apart or anything. It looked like it could've been a brand new facility ten years ago. 

Standing in front of the chain link fence were two guys just chatting. One of them was Karma, the other was a guy a few centimeters shorter than him, with shaggy black hair and a pleasant smile. They were talking amiably. 

"Hey Karma, hey Isogai-kun!" Nagisa greeted cheerfully. "Will you bee coming with us too?" He directed this question at Isogai. 

"No, I'd love to, but I just came to drop off the keys," Isogai explained. "You guys have fun, I should probably get going." 

"See ya later Isogai-kun!" Nagisa said with a wave. "Karma, you have the keys then?" Karma nodded. "Alright class, let's get started, shall we!" 

Upon seeing Karma, the teens were almost immediately more excited about the trip. As far as they were concerned, he was practically a superhero. He had been kidnapped and escaped on his own. He'd helped rescue them when they were all kidnapped, then he led them in a second rescue attempt when the first didn't quite succeed. He was awesome. 

"Karma-san?" Misono was the first to ask a question as the group started up the slope, trying their best to avoid tripping over tree roots or stumbling across poison ivy. "Are you gonna be with us the whole trip?" 

"Basically," Karma said offhandedly. "Depending on when you leave the last day, I might have to go early. I only took so many vacation days." 

"Why did you take time off work to chaperone a bunch of high-schoolers?" Fuyu asked, as he helped his sister up a particularly steep section where some of the soil must have eroded away. 

"Nagisa needed a second chaperone, and he was too stubborn to just ask me, so I volunteered." Karma shrugged. "I kinda like you kids." 

"I feel more flattered than I think I should be," Kirasaya said, then swatted at some unseen insect. 

"Same," Kiya admitted, and Karma laughed a bit. 

Until they were about halfway up the hill, the students all chattered, asking Karma questions like, 'so how did you escape that one time anyway?' and 'where did you learn to lead a rescue?' 

By the time they'd reached about the halfway point, some of the students had forgone talking and were instead panting. Though they were used to Nagisa-sensei's sometimes rigorous PE classes, hiking wasn't something they did often. It's was a completely different beast than the usual exertions. 

By the time they'd made their way past snakes and suspiciously unstable-looking bridges, among other things, and reached the very top, several students looked ready to collapse. Ken was holding his knees, white hair falling into his face as he panted and gasped for breath. Asui and Katsura has planted themselves on nearby boulders, and were in about the same condition. 

Fukara was leaned up against a tree, trying to get the wind back into his burning chest. And Marihara had opted to just lay down on the ground instead of trying to remain upright, and announced her intention of never moving from that spot again. 

"Drama queen," Hinata muttered, then reminded Marihara, "you're getting dirt in your hair!" 

Marihara immediately shot up, unraveled her bun, and brushed as much dust out of her cranberry-auburn hair as she could with her fingers. She glared harshly at Hinata, before she redid her hairstyle. He just snickered in response. 

While catching their breath, the students all looked around the mountain top. There was a wide clearing, and a small school building that looked to be even older than the one at the bottom of the hill, but in much better condition. 

Unlike the modern, but neglected and corroding building from before, this looked like it was very well-kept, tidy, and maintained. The flower bed outside had only a few tiny weeds; the sandy clearing wasn't overgrown, or pitted.  

The building's paint wasn't peeling, the windows weren't cracked or broken, and the whole place looked like it had been given a thorough cleaning sometime in the last few months. No longer perfect, but clearly cared for. 

"What is this place?" Misono asked. 

"Welcome to the classroom and property of Kunugigaoka junior-high's class 3-E," Nagisa announced proudly, a smile spread across his face. "Feel free to look around, but I would like to warn you again against damaging anything. If you so much as scratch a desk, it could spell serious trouble for you." 

"Yeah," Karma added, "imagine having twenty-eight assassins, all with a personal vendetta against you, then you might have an idea of the consequences." 

Nagisa attempted to elbow Karma in the ribs, but the closest he could get was the red-head's waist. "Karma!" he scolded, frowning disapprovingly. 

Karma gave him a signature smirk, amber eyes twinkling with mischief, and Nagisa knew immediately that he was going to regret letting his boyfriend come along. As long as he didn't leave Karma alone with his students, his reputation, which was already hanging by a thread, might survive. He let out a long-suffering sigh, before addressing his students. 

"First thing's first, however," Nagisa announced. "Let's pitch the tents." 

There were two large tents, and one much smaller one. The girls were in one of the large tents, and the boys in the other. Nagisa and Karma would share the smaller tent. It was undoubtedly going to be cramped for everyone, but they hadn't expected anything less.

Chapter Text

"Now that the tents are set up, go ahead and explore," Nagisa told his students. "We'll meet back here no later than six-thirty pm!" 

With that, the students dispersed, eager to take a look around. Ushiwara was excited to see what sorts of flora and fauna were on the mountain, Kiya went to scope out the lay of the land, one group opted to look around the little school building once Nagisa unlocked it, and some of the others decided to test their tree-climbing skills. 

"Maybe Hinata-kun could do it, but you're like a twig, Kurra-kun," Yatoni said, laughing. 

"So's Nagisa-sensei, but I bet he could do it!" Kurra shot back indignantly. 

"I could do what?" Nagisa asked, overhearing his name in their conversation. 

"Climb this tree," Yatoni answered, ponting to a particularly tall black pine tree with a wide trunk. It wasn't the easiest tree in the woods to climb, but it wasn't the hardest either. The lowest branch was about two and a half meters up, but the base of the trunk was angled enough for decent footing. 

"Probably." Nagisa shrugged, and started to go back to sorting through the supplies. 

"Wait, show us!" Yatoni insisted. 

"Yeah, do it!" Hinata agreed. 

Soon enough there was a chant going, and with a sigh, Nagisa returned to the group and relented. After a brief cheer from his students, and a resigned sigh, Nagisa approached the tree. He sized it up for a few seconds, then backed up to get a running start. 

He jumped onto the trunk, and launched himself up to grab the first branch. Once he had a grip on it, he heaved himself up, until he was seated comfortably on the bough. 

"Happy now?" he demanded, rolling his eyes. The assembled group applauded, and he laughed, jumping down. "I'm gonna go back to setting up camp, you kids have fun."

—

When the clock on the side of the school building showed half-past six, the students gathered back in the clearing. Nagisa and Karma, with a little help from the Ryouma twins, had set up all the materials needed to cook dinner. Ken helped as well as they unpacked all the ingredients for a barbecue. 

"Anyone who wants to help with cooking is welcome to," announced their teacher. 

"Anyone except for Shirota-kun!" amended Kirasaya, much to the relief of anyone familiar with Shirota's reputation. 

"That's fair," Shirota admitted. Even he knew that he couldn't cook to save his life. 

By the time the sun was setting, the group was stuffing themselves with a delicious barbecue dinner. Ushiwara and Saishuu had started a fire, and everyone was sprawled out around it, telling stories and laughing. 

Nagisa was determined not to fall asleep before Karma. He just knew that if he was left unsupervised, Karma would wreak havoc in some way or another. The bluenette did his best, he really tried, but it was around nine o'clock when he started to nod off. 

Days of late nights working to put this trip into action were finally taking their toll, and at 9:28 PM, Nagisa was out like a light. His heavy head slipped down onto the lap of the person he was seated beside, who was, of course, Karma. The tall man absently brushed Nagisa's azure locks out of his face. He was so used to his boyfriend falling asleep on him, that he didn't pay it any mind until someone pointed it out. 

"You and Nagisa-sensei are pretty close, huh?" Misono inferred cautiously. 

Karma furrowed his brows at the question before he noticed the other man on his lap, then he just shrugged. "We've been friends for about ten years," he said nonchalantly. "We share a rent. I suppose we're pretty close." 

"You must know a lot about him then..." Misono hesitated before continuing. "Do you... do you know where he learned all that a—" he lowered his voice— "assassin stuff?" 

"Oh yeah! He's pretty sharp with that isn't he," Karma remarked, unperturbed. "He's got a real talent there, always has, as long as I've known him. He's got this one particularly nifty little trick: he can do just about anything once he sees it demonstrated. So I'd say he learns 'all that assassin stuff' from anywhere he can." 

Karma smirked at the looks on all the teenagers' faces. Some were horrified, others disbelieving, some looked intrigued, even hungry for more information. If Nagisa was awake he'd have Karma hog-tied or something, probably. 

"I'd say it really started, though, in our third year of middle school," Karma explained with mock thoughtfulness. "Our teachers were Bitch-Barbie, Batman sans-silly-costume, and a giant yellow octopus."

"Come on Karma-san, be serious!"

"I'm completely serious!" Karma defended, putting on his best serious face, though it looked very fake. He couldn't maintain it however, and broke into a grin. "But you don't have to believe me I guess. In fact, it's probably better that way. Would you like me to tell you some stories anyway? Even though there's a fifty-fifty chance they're complete bullshit?" 

There were lots of nods, uncertain and fervent, and varying in between amounts of enthusiasm. There were several eye-rolls too, and a few students just looked away, but none refused. With a signature self-satisfied smirk, Karma began to tell them stories. 

He told them about when he first joined class 3-E, met Koro-sensei, and destroyed his tentacle. And how every attempt to kill him those first few days resulted in some sort of unwanted grooming or another. He didn't blame them for not believing him. It was a bit far fetched. 

He told them the story of Professor Bitch joining the class. A seductress foreign assassin, teaching a bunch of middle schoolers. How she'd taught Nagisa her 'kiss-of-death' technique on her first day by using it on him to get his notes on Koro-sensei's weaknesses. He doubted they believed that either. 

He told them about their trip to Kyoto, and the trip guidebook that was so complete that it included every possible scenario when two of their group members were kidnapped. As well as serving as a heavy, blunt object to knock out the attackers. That bit they believed, they had seen that guidebook themselves, but they weren't so sure about the part where the octopus beat up the attackers at Mach 20, wearing a veil because he was embarrassed for his students to see him causing violence. 

All in all, it came down to what they wanted to believe. And when they went to their tents at nearly midnight, Karma having to carry their teacher, they sifted through the information the tall man had given them. They were trying to separate fact from fiction, but it was more difficult than they'd anticipated.

Chapter Text

"Up and at 'em everybody!" Karma shouted to anyone who wasn't already out of their tents. "We've got pancakes ready, come and get it!" 

"Ugh, what time is it?" Marihara groaned, pushing herself up. Her long, cranberry hair was a gnarled mess, and it stuck to her face where she had slept on it until she ran her fingers through it absently. She poked her head out of the tent to check the clock on the side of the schoolhouse, but without her glasses on, she couldn't read it. "Too fudgin' early, that's what time it is." 

"It's almost nine," Hinata teased as he walked past the girls' tent, still in his pajamas. "And did you just say 'fudging'? What are you a mild-mannered grandmother?" 

"Oh eat me," Marihara said grouchily as she withdrew back into the tent and buried her face once more in her pillow. 

"Kinky. I'm gonna have to pass this time, though," Hinata responded without missing a beat, and Marihara stuck her hand out of the tent to flip him off in kind. 

"Get a room you two," Sujimura said, rolling her eyes as she left the tent herself, hair and makeup already immaculate, as she'd woken up nearly two hours before to start her beauty routine, much to the annoyance of many of the other girls. 

"I will literally murder you in your sleep for that insolent suggestion," Marihara drawled, her voice muffled slightly with lethargy. 

"Entertaining as this is, I think that's enough kiddos," Karma said with a smirk. "If you want breakfast you have to get up and get it now because otherwise you're SOL." 

"What's SOL?" inquired Misono. 

"Shit outta luck," Karma and Fumei answered immediately, both being familiar with the American phrase. 

"Hey Karma, can you not cuss out my students please?" Nagisa said sweetly, though it was clearly an order, not a request. 

"It's only nine am, and they're already threatening murder, making lewd comments, and cussing each other out just fine," Karma pointed out, expression decidedly skeptical. "I don't think I'm making much of a difference at all." 

"You can't really argue with that, Nagisa-sensei," agreed Saishuu with a shrug. 

"See!" Karma grinned, patting Saishuu on the shoulder. "This kid knows what I'm talking about!" Nagisa merely sighed and shook his head. 

"Alright class eat up," Nagisa said above the noise of sleepy teenagers. "We've got a plan today, so once you've eaten get ready. We'll be doing a lot more physical and active stuff, so keep that in mind, and don't wear jeans." A few of the less athletic students groaned, but others were thrilled by the news. 

After a hearty breakfast, and a few extra minutes of ablutions and preparations, the students were gathered in the sandy clearing outside of the school building in loose fitting clothes and tennis shoes. Karma and Nagisa stood before them looking pleased. 

"I trust you all brought your knives," Nagisa said, at which many students drew the fake weapons from various places on their person. "Good, because this morning, you'll all be doing some sparring. Pair up everyone!" The students all found partners pretty quickly, except Kiya, who stood back and watched the others with a blank face. 

"You're not going to find a partner Kiya-san?" Nagisa asked her when he noticed this. 

"We have an odd number, we can't split into pairs evenly," Kiya explained, not making eye contact. "Besides, I don't really know anyone that well." 

"I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that you've come to class a grand total of three times so far this year. Four if you count the day you showed up only until you got your tests back and then left." 

"Touché," Kiya admitted. 

"Would you like me to assign you to a group?" Nagisa offered. "It won't kill you to make a friend or two, you know." 

"You mean in a classroom full of assassins, making a friend won't kill me?" she said pointedly. "I do have one friend." 

"You mean whoever gives you the homework every day?" the teacher guessed. "Who is it anyway?" She didn't answer. 

"I really don't understand why no one will tell me," Nagisa groused. "I mean it's not like I'm going to get them in trouble for helping their classmate not fail." Kiya remained silent. "I'll put you with Asui-san and Satori-san, does that work?" 

"Okay..." Kiya scanned the group of her classmates, who had already started sparring. "Which ones are they?" 

"Asui-san is the girl with the pale pink hair and the all safety pins on her sweatshirt," Nagisa said with a sigh, pointing her out. "Satori-san is the one with bright green hair and yellow dress." 

"The one who looks a bit like a squash?" Kiya asked. 

"That's not very nice, Kiya-san," Nagisa scolded seriously. "You should learn to recognize your classmates. Solitude isn't always necessarily an advantage." Kiya huffed slightly, and flicked her tongue across her lips briefly before making her way to the two girls Nagisa had assigned her to. 

"Hello, I'm Kiya-san," she introduced herself to them stoically, and the two girls stopped sparring to look at her quizzically. 

"Yeah, we know who you are," Asui said, half laughing at the absurdity. "Do you know who we are?" 

"Not until moments ago," Kiya said, then continued before embarrassment could overtake her. "Nagisa-sensei assigned me to your group for sparring." 

"So that's why you would deign to associate with us lowly peasants," Asui inferred sarcastically. "We're honored, I'm sure." 

"I'm sorry if you feel that way," Kiya said, still not meeting anyone's eyes. "I'm not very good around people." 

"Whatever." Asui shrugged. "I've kinda been waiting for a chance to fight you, so this works out." She turned to the other girl. "Mind if I take first crack at her, Satori-chan?" 

"Go ahead," Satori consented softly, speaking for the first time since Kiya arrived. 

Asui had no trouble matching Kiya's speed, or vice-versa, but she didn't really have the strength to do much damage to Kiya. When it was Satori's turn, she had the opposite problem. She was strong enough to return Kiya's attacks, and even bock a few, but not quite fast enough to keep up for long. Even so, Kiya was actually a bit surprised at how well the other girls worked her over, and she was definitely feeling it by the time Nagisa-sensei called a break. 

"Alright, now that you're all warmed up, each group is going to take a crack at Karma!" Nagisa announced, and his friend looked at him, eyes wide. 

"Sorry, what?" Karma asked. "I didn't agree to this." 

"Oh Please," Nagisa rolled his eyes. "You've been wanting to fight them since we started. You're not doing a very good job of hiding it. Try not to break any bones." 

"Alright, fair enough," Karma admitted. 

"You'll be attacking him in your groups," Nagisa explained to his students. "You can keep practicing until I tell your group to go if you'd like, or you can rest for a bit. Any questions?" Hinata raised a hand. "Yes, Hinata-kun?" 

"What exactly is our goal when we attack him?" Hinata asked. 

"If you can land a hit on him," Nagisa and Karma side-eyed each other and smirked conspiratorially. "You get an 'A' for the rest of the trip. Pro tip: try to surprise him. Anything else?" Nothing. "Then plan your assassination strategies, let's get started, shall we?" Karma tossed his jacket to the side and cracked his knuckles in anticipation, amber eyes agleam. 

"Hey guys, I think I have a plan," Kiya said to her teammates. "It's pretty simple, but I think it has the greatest chance of success." 

"Ok, what is it?" Asui prompted. 

"Asui-san, you and I will keep his attention," Kiya explained. "Mostly we just dodge. All the other groups have only two people, which means he probably won't be expecting a third. So, Satori-san, you sneak up behind him, as quietly as possible, and take a stab at him." 

"Fake him out and take advantage of our extra number, huh?" Asui nodded approvingly "I like it. But what do you think, Satori-chan? You up for it?" Satori gave a determined nod. 

"It's settled then," Kiya said. "What should we do until it's our turn? Spar some more?" 

"I'm more inclined toward the 'rest up a bit' idea," Asui contradicted, shifting her weight uncomfortably. "I'm not all that great with endurance, so I'm already kinda tired out. It would be best, for me at least, to pool all my strength together for the main event if you catch my drift." 

"Alright, let's watch the others then," Kiya suggested. So that's what they did. The first group was Hinata and Ippantekina, and to no one's surprise, they tried to attack Karma head on, and were deftly knocked on their asses as a result. 

Next up was Ken and Katsura, who really didn't stand a chance at all against the much more powerful man. Kirasaya and Shirota went next, attacking Karma from both sides at once with all their combined strength, Karma blocked and dodged, and after a few moments managed to knock Shirota off balance and into Kirasaya. 

After that came Fukara and Marihara, neither of whom were all that athletic, but both were quite smart, and perceptive. They went for even the slightest chinks in Karma's defense, but were still soundly defeated. Then, finally, it was time for Kiya's group to shine. 

The first part of their plan went flawlessly. Kiya and Asui approached alone, and dodged Karma's attacks as best they could, though there were a few close calls. They kept their eyes on the more experienced fighter as Satori approached from behind, to keep his attention away from her. 

Before Satori could deliver the blow, however, nerves got the better of her, and she tripped over seemingly nothing at all. Karma heard her, and took advantage of her poor footing to kick her feet out from under her and make her fall to the ground, her teammates following not long after, distracted trying to see if she was okay. 

The Ryouma twins went afterwards, and held their own for much longer than any of the other groups, but didn't even come close to landing a hit on the scarlet-haired assassin. 

Misono and Ushiwara tried a similar tactic to Kiya's team, with Misono drawing attention away like a champ, even taking a couple of hits, but refusing to go down while Ushiwara snuck up from behind with near-impossible silence. Karma was on guard against a second attacker, though, and so when Ushiwara made his move, Karma was able to divert the boy's momentum into his teammate, taking them both down at once. 

Sujimura and Mirikitani hardly seemed to try at all. It was like they had given up after the failures of everyone before them. Mirikitani threw a weak punch, and Sujimura tried in vain to distract Karma with flirtation, and they were both pushed back with almost no effort at all on Karma's part. 

True to his name, as he often was, Saishuu went last with Fumei. There was an audible cry of "fuck it," from both students, right before they ran in, metaphorical guns blazing. Fumei reached Karma first, and had surprisingly little trouble dodging his first blow, but she had to back away from him. By that time, Saishuu had gotten there, and Karma deflected him, tossing him to the ground, then turned to Fumei who was coming in for her second attempt. 

When next Karma blocked Fumei's attack, she grabbed as tightly as she could to Karma's arm, but she was very short, scarcely up to the man's chest, and extremely lightweight as well, so Karma simply lifted her off the ground with one arm and started shaking her like a rag doll as she clung uselessly to his arm. 

Suddenly, Karma felt a sinister presence at his back that made him gasp and swung blindly with his free hand, catching Saishuu in the jaw, who was apparently the source of that eldritch aura. He recognized it as bloodlust, somewhat similar to Nagisa's, but as he looked at the boy now, he didn't notice even a trace of it on him. Of course, the assassin's most precious tool is best when carried concealed. 

Karma peeled Fumei off of him like a barcode off a book, and flung her aside as gently as one can fling anything. That was it. None of the students had succeeded on landing a single hit, though a few had come fairly close. 

This must've been how Mr. Karasuma felt. Impressed, but also smug and superior.  Actually, probably not, Karma thought. Mr. Karasuma isn't exactly the smug and superior type.

Chapter Text

"Alright class, now that you've all worked up a sweat," Nagisa announced, clasping his hands together, pleased with the effort his students had given. "How about we do something fun, and relaxing. I hope you all brought your bathing suits like I told you to in the guidebook, because we're going to the mountain's natural swimming hole." 

"There's a swimming hole?" Fuyu asked no one in particular. 

"Bro, did you even look at the guidebook?" Natsu chided her twin. 

"I skimmed it..." he responded. 

"Alright, you've got twenty minutes. Dress down, grab your towels and meet back here." Nagisa directed. "Go." 

Class five dispersed, going to their tents to dig through their bags for bathing suits they may or may not have remembered to bring. After a few moments, Kurra heard an argument from Nagisa and Karma's tent. 

"Hey Karma?" Nagisa inquired. "Did you take my swim trunks out of my bag?" 

"Don't worry," Karma replied. "I put a replacement in there for you." 

"You mean this?" Nagisa asked, and Kurra had to wonder what 'this' could possibly be, but judging from Nagisa's tone, 'this' was not a good thing. 

"Yeah," Karma affirmed. "See, you found it just fine." 

"Hey Kurra-kun, what—" Misono started to ask. 

"Shhh!" Kurra hissed, cutting him off. 

"I can't wear this!" Nagisa shouted indignantly, only adding Misono to the list of students curious about what 'this' was. 

"Why not?" Karma questioned. 

"It's a bikini!" Nagisa pointed out, uselessly. "It's a tiny, ruffly, white bikini!" Ah. So that was what 'this' was. Well, no one in the slowly amassing crowd of students were disappointed by the revelation, to be sure. 

"I don't see the problem," Karma said. By this point even those who weren't standing nearby the adults' tent were listening to the argument. 

"You wouldn't," scoffed Nagisa. "I'm not wearing this." 

"Why not?" complained Karma. 

"What do you mean, 'why not?'" demanded, Nagisa, bordering on enraged. "I'm not wearing the world's skimpiest bikini! Especially not to go swimming with my students!" 

"I wouldn't say it was the world's skimpiest," Karma argued. "I think you're exaggerating." 

"That's not the point!" Nagisa took a deep breath. "You know what, I jut won't swim. That's fine. Problem solved." 

"Oh come on, don't be like that!" Karma whined in a very undistinguished manner. 

"Nope! Not happening." Nagisa began unzipping their tent, apparently having made an executive decision that the discussion was over. Karma scrambled out behind the bluenette, realizing too late that his bikini stunt had just lost him an opportunity to see his boyfriend shirtless. Not that those were particularly rare, but still. 

"Hey wait!" the taller man urged. He had already changed into his trunks, and several of the girls found themselves either staring, or unable to look. "You don't have to not swim! We can check the shed, maybe there'll be spare swim trunks in there. That's where all the gym stuff got kept, and I don't think we ever got rid of any of it." 

Nagisa frowned up at his boyfriend. He had to admit that that wasn't a half-bad idea, not out loud though. With a reluctant nod, Nagisa went to a shed behind the building. He was followed by a handful of students, curious to see what was kept in this mysterious shed. 

He pulled out the keys Isogai had given him, and slipped it into the rusty lock of the wide wooden door. Kirasaya, already clothed in a black, tie-back, one-piece suit, peered over her teacher's shoulder as the door swung open, not bothering to hide her curiosity. When at last the door was open, there was a collective disappointment among the gathered students. 

The contents of the shed were just so, undeniably ordinary. An assortment of baseball equipment leaned in one corner. A cart full of footballs and volleyballs and basketballs stood nearby, gathering dust. Cardboard boxes were stacked high against the left-hand wall. The only thing of note that the students saw at first, were targets, faded with age and covered in cobwebs. 

Nagisa grabbed a stool from where it was tucked behind a box, and stood on it, stretching up to pull a cardboard box from the top rather than risk others falling on him. He managed to get the box down, and took it outside to examine the contents where there was light, pushing past students to do so. 

"If any of you would like to help me look through these boxes for bathing suits I'd be grateful," Nagisa told them. "If we find some, anyone who forgot a suit is welcome to use one." 

Kirasaya went into the shed and grabbed a box without hesitation. Hinata and Yatoni shrugged at each other before doing the same. Saishuu, Satori, and Katsura followed suit shortly after. As it turned out, it was as they dug through these boxes that the students found the truly interesting things. 

"Holy crap! Are these real guns‽" exclaimed Hinata, pulling a rifle out of the cardboard box he was searching. 

"Yes," answered his teacher, as though it were perfectly normal to have real firearms in a school shed. "But they've been modified to shoot special BBs, not just bullets. It'll still hurt if you get shot, though, so be careful. I don't know if they're still loaded or not; some of them could very well be." 

"Awesome." Hinata lifted the gun in his hands, leveling it at a tree on the edge of the clearing. "Damn, I wish I knew how to use one of these things." 

"Here, I'll show you." Nagisa stopped rifling through his box, which was full of ropes and climbing equipment. He stood and walked over to Hinata, taking the gun out of his hands. "The first thing you do whenever you pick up a gun is check to see if it's loaded, and if the safety's on." Nagisa demonstrated the action, unloading the magazine to show the pink BBs inside, and then clipping it back in, then pointing out the safety switch.

Karma, noticing this impromptu firing lesson, had begun dragging one of the old targets out of the shed, and putting a new paper on it so they'd be able to see where the shots landed. He lined the target up about fifteen meters away from where Nagisa was standing, then got out of the way quickly; his lover was still probably mad at him after all, and those BBs stung. 

"Alright, this gun has a scope, to help you aim," Nagisa explained. He held the rifle up, looking through the scope at the target, and flicking the safety off. "Aim, and push down on the trigger." Nagisa did so, and it was followed by a loud shot, and a hole right in the center of the target. "It's important that you don't pull or yank on the trigger, because it'll mess with your aim. Also, beware of the kick back. On a rifle like this, it could bruise your shoulder if you're not careful." With that, he handed the rifle back to Hinata. "You try it." 

Hinata looked surprised, but he repeated the steps Nagisa showed him. He tried to copy his teacher's stance, but his feet got nudged a bit to fix it. Hinata aimed, and fired, and missed. But only by a few centimeters. He looked at his teacher with a frown, but Nagisa only nodded for him to try again. He did so, adjusting his aim and his grip, preparing for the kick back, and this time he hit the target. Not a bullseye, but a solid hit at least. 

"Can I try the handgun too?" Hinata asked excitedly. Nagisa smiled, and demonstrated its use. 

"For this one, you have to brace your elbows for the kick back as well," Nagisa mentioned as he handed the weapon to Hinata. "And it's more difficult to aim, especially from a distance. Go ahead and give it a shot." This time, it was five shots before Hinata got a solid hit on the target, but once he'd got it, he only missed twice afterward. 

"Awesome," Hinata said. 

"I wanna try!" Kirasaya enthused, and grabbed a handgun out of the box. She copied all the steps Hinata had, as she'd been watching closely. After her first shot, she had to roll her wrists a bit, before trying again. On her seventh shot she managed to hit the target, but only just. On her tenth she managed to get a solid hit, and she jumped with and excited giggle. 

After that, all the students wanted to try. Every one of them managed to hit the target within fifteen shots. Katsura managed on her fourth, as did Fukara. Yatoni and Fumei hit on their third. Saishuu missed his first try, but got a bullseye on his second, that was probably the most impressive, especially since he'd claimed to never have fired a gun before. Shirota hit near the center of the target every single time, but he only muttered something about already having learned this stuff in explanation. 

Both assassins were fairly impressed with the results. Nagisa couldn't help but wish he could give them more practice at this though. Unfortunately, he seriously doubted that the school would allow target practice on campus, even with BBs. Unlike his assassination classroom in middle-school, the one he was teaching was not on a secluded mountain. 

"Hey, what's going on up here‽" called a voice from the trees, while some students were continuing to practice their newfound skills. Everyone turned in surprise, but only a few noticed the slight, short-haired young woman crouched on a tree branch. 

"Oh, hey Okano-san," Nagisa greeted. The woman nimbly dropped to the ground with a graceful forward tumble, landing on bent knees and straitening up easily. She was even shorter than Nagisa, though only by a centimeter or two, and wearing workout clothes. 

"Hi Nagisa-kun," Okano smiled. "My acrobatics troupe just finished for the day, when I heard gunshots. Isogai-kun told me you'd be up here with your students, but I guess I forgot. Didn't think you'd be teaching them to shoot, though, I'll admit." 

"I didn't think I would be either, to be honest," admitted Nagisa sheepishly. "We were just looking for spare bathing suits." He let out a soft laugh, then turned to his students. "Class, this is Okano-san, she's a friend of mine. Her acrobatics troupe uses this mountain for practice." 

"Nice to meet you Okano-san," greeted some of the students, though others were either too surprised or suspicious to do so. Okano walked casually to the group and plucked a rifle out of the box. 

"Wow, I haven't seen one of these since middle-school," she remarked, checking that it was loaded out of habit. "Do you mind?" she asked Nagisa, gesturing to the target. 

"Go right ahead," Nagisa said. She slid to the ground, sitting cross-legged before taking aim. She fired eight times. Four of the shots missed the target entirely, and none were perfect, but she was out of practice, plus marksmanship was never her specialty. 

"Wow, guess I'm pretty rusty." She chuckled, resting the weapon in her lap. "You kids having fun?" The general consensus seemed to be a resounding yes. "That's good. You said you were going swimming, right? Mind if I join you?" No one did. 

She helped them find the box which held extra gym uniforms. She'd had to borrow some once or twice when members of her acrobatics troupe forgot their gear. Swimsuits were handed out to those who'd forgotten theirs. A few students were curious about a camouflage, stealth uniform at the bottom of the box, but any questions went unasked and unanswered. 

The three adults led the way to the swimming hole, where they spent a couple hours just playing around in the water, grateful for the coolness and relaxation after the long, hard day of training they'd had, as fun as it had been. Okano showed off some of her gymnastics skills, to the amazement of the students. 

Ippantekina entertained himself by pushing his unsuspecting classmates into the water, to the annoyance and/or amusement of his peers. It was fun until Kurra grabbed him by the ankle and gave him a taste of his own medicine. 

Yatoni and Misono questioned Shirota on why he wore a shirt swimming, and Shirota just shrugged and said he was body conscious. Not buying his excuse, or perhaps not caring, they attempted to get him to take it off, with much encouragement from some of the girls, but ultimately they failed, and got dunked several times as well. 

Marihara camped herself on a towel with a book and no intention of getting in the water until Hinata scooped her up, kicking and screaming, and tossed her in. Luckily she'd dropped her book on her towel beforehand, but she certainly gave him an earful for making her lose her place, and for getting her glasses all wet. 

By the time they went back to their tents, they were more than ready for a good night's sleep. This was their last day on the mountain, and they would be going home the next morning. But this wasn't a place any of them seemed likely to forget.

Chapter Text

"Alright ladies," Sujimura announced toweling off her hair. "It's the last night of the trip, which means it's time for girl-talk. I put up with conversations about books and brine-shrimp, but tonight our topic of conversation will be boys." 

"But why?" Kiya asked, her face a mask of disinterest. 

"Because that's what girls talk about at sleepovers!" insisted Sujimura. "I'm done with you prudes, who do you ladies have crushes on?" 

"Well..." Marihara began before she was stopped by a finger in front of her lips. 

"Fictional characters don't count Marihara-chan," Sujimura said with a pointed look. 

"I guess I'm out then." Marihara threw up a hand in exasperation. "Anyone else wanna give it a go?" 

—

"Ok, so we're all pretty much agreed that Sujimura-san is the hottest girl in the class, objectively speaking," Fuyu stated to the rest of the boys. "But the fact that she's such a bitch decreases her desirability. I think the most all-around attractive girl in our class is either Kirasaya-san or Asui-chan, what about you guys?" 

"I think we should add Natsu-chan to that list," Hinata suggested. "I've kinda had a thing for her since—" Fuyu almost instantly had a blade drawn and held against Hinata's throat. 

"What makes you think you can be so familiar with my sister?" Fuyu said in a low, threatening voice. "You stay away from her if you value your limbs." 

"Simmer down Fuyu-kun," Saishuu said, gently placing a hand on the ginger's shoulder. "Your sister's off-limits, he understands, we all do." Reluctantly, Fuyu stowed his switchblade, still glaring at Hinata. "Anybody else want to share?" 

"Well... I've been crushing on Fumei pretty much since we met," Shirota admitted. "But she's totally oblivious, and if I told her she'd probably hit me." 

"Fumei? But why?" Ippantekina asked incredulously. 

"Because she's awesome!" Shirota responded. "But it also sucks because it's completely one-sided, and she doesn't really know how to deal with people caring about her, so whenever I drop the slightest hint she shuts down, or just says something really sarcastic." 

"Damn dude," Yatoni remarked. "Looks like you've been friend-zoned bad." 

"The fuck do you mean by 'friend-zoned'?" Shirota demanded indignantly. "There's no 'friend-zone.' We're friends, I'm sorry you can't handle that idea. I'm not gonna force her into anything, I'm glad she even lets me exist in her general vicinity. Doesn't mean I don't wish there was more, but it's not like she owes me anything." 

"You're just diggin' yourself deeper man," Yatoni pointed out. "That don't make any sense at all." Shirota just sighed. 

—

"What about you Fumei?" Sujimura asked, smirking. She sidled up to the girl, who was currently typing on her phone, mildly surprised that they even had service. It was almost dark out now, but she still wore those dumb sunglasses. Irritated at being ignored, Sujimura reached out to grab the sunglasses, but Fumei grabbed her wrist harshly and shoved it away. 

"I don't do crushes, or romance, or relationships, or any-damn-thing of the sort," Fumei said, "it's a waste of time better spent on more important shit." Then she went back to typing. 

"Fine." Sujimura rubbed her wrist gently. It wasn't that Fumei was particularly strong, but she was fast, and her action had really surprised Sujimura. "What about you, Satori-chan?" 

"Me‽" Satori jumped at the mention of her name. "Oh... well... well I... may—maybe..."

"Quit stuttering!" Sujimura snapped, and Satori winced. 

"Leave her alone!" Asui defended. "She can't help it. You asked her a question, you've gotta give her time to answer it." 

Satori smiled gratefully, then turned to Sujimura and shook her head. "I don't... I don't have a crush on any of the boys at... at the moment," she said. 

"Gah! You're all so boooorrriiiinnnnnggg!" Sujimura complained. 

"Well, to be fair," Marihara pointed out. "We've known you long enough that even if we did like anybody there's no way in hell we'd tell you." The rest of the girls either shrugged, or nodded in agreement. "I mean look what happened to Fuyōna. She told you her crush, and you told pretty much the whole school, and she was bullied and ridiculed until she had to switch schools. Do you really think we'd trust you with information like this after that fiasco?" 

"She liked Ms. Hanji!" Sujimura bristled in indignation, as if that were a suitable defense. "I couldn't not tell anyone!" 

"Of course you could have," Kiya said, grimacing with disgust. "She trusted you with something personal, private, and you ruined her. She might still be in our class, might even still be your friend, if you'd just kept your mouth shut." 

Sujimura glared intensely at her. "Like I could be friends with someone like that!" she said so harshly that Satori winced. 

"Woah!" Fumei said, almost as harshly. "I mean we all knew you were an unbearable asshole, but after a bigoted comment like that, we might just have to make you camp your ass outside the tent, mother superior." 

"I'm with Fumei," Asui chimed in. "I'm voting you off the island." 

"Fine, whatever," Sujimura relented, rolling her eyes. "End of discussion I guess." 

"No, we're serious," Kirasaya insisted, unwilling to budge on the matter, much to the surprise of some of her fellow classmates. "Maybe a night in the dirt will teach you that your actions have consequences. Being a decent human being is not optional in this house." 

Sujimura's eyes widened, and she looked around at the faces of the other girls. Kirasaya's outburst seemed to have given them some resolve. They were nodding and giving Sujimura stern looks. Katsura, who generally kept her mouth shut and stayed out of arguments gave a stony faced nod of agreement. Kiya's face showed no sympathy at all. Satori wouldn't meet Sujimura's eyes. 

Even Asui, who despite her pessimism tried to be kind even to people who didn't deserve it glowered at the girl. "Normally, I would defend someone when everyone turned against them," Asui said stoically. "But in this case I'm in full agreement with the masses." 

"Looks like it's settled then," Fumei said, smugly. "Grab your sleeping bag and get out." 

"You can't be serious!" Sujimura raged, but they clearly were. Under the full force of their obvious disdain, Sujimura felt she had no other choice. She snatched her purple sleeping bag, and dragged it out of the tent, pillow tucked under her arm. 

She placed herself on the softest patch of dirt by the tent, shivering now at the loss of the other girls' body heat and the veritable mountain of blankets that the group had been buried under. She listened as they talked about their favorite songs, and brands of nail polish, and what they did on the weekends, and how hard their parents were being on them. They seemed happier now that she was gone, conversation was less strained. They laughed. 

It was perhaps the first time in Sujimura's life that she started to consider the possibility that the world didn't revolve around her. That sometimes, it's important to consider the opinions of others. If she had done so, she might not be outside, getting leaves in her hair, and dirt on her pillow. What was it Kirasaya said? 'Your actions have consequences'? Did they? Had they always? 

—

"What about Satori-chan?" asked Fukara, looking at the list they were compiling. 

"Nah." Ushiwara waved a hand dismissively and leaned back on the mound he'd made out of his sleeping bag. "I mean she's nice and all, but I think she has a crush on Asui-chan." 

"Really?" Shirota nodded as he processed that. "Actually, that explains a lot." 

"True," agreed Fuyu, then he turned to Ushiwara. "But I kinda thought you liked her." 

"Not in that way," Ushiwara said. "If anyone, I think Katsura-san's more my type." 

"Alright, okay," Fuyu seemed to think that made sense. "What about you, Mirikitani-kun?" 

Mirikitani seemed surprised that Fuyu even knew he was there, let alone wanted to talk to him. But he elected to answer the other boy's question. "Say what you will about her personality, but I still like Sujimura-san. She has and artistic eye, and aside from that she's absolutely radiant." 

"Yeah, but she's also a major gossip," Yatoni pointed out. 

"And an intolerant thot," Fukara added. 

"This is true," Mirikitani admitted with a rueful sigh. "But she's so aesthetic!" 

"What about you, Kurra-kun?" Fuyu asked, targeting another who hadn't spoken much. 

"Well... promise you won't laugh?" Kurra glanced around at the other boys, nerves crawling up in his chest as they all nodded, filled with curiosity. "I kinda... have a crush... on... on Nagisa-sensei." 

For a few moments, the only sounds were the crickets and the rustling of wind in the trees from outside the tent as the class five boys stared at Kurra in shock. Then, finally, Hinata spoke. 

"You know he's a guy right?" Hinata reminded, as if Kurra had simply forgotten. "As feminine as he may seem—"

"Yes, I know that!" Kurra snapped harshly. "What does that have to do with anything?" 

"Dude, he's our teacher!" Ippantekina's lips curled in repulsion. "That's gross!" 

"Are you serious?" Misono was still in shock from Kurra's announcement. "Nagisa-sensei?" 

"Yes I'm serious." Kurra was getting tired of repeating it, and his anxiety was growing more and more prominent inside him, like a monster, slowly stretching up to pull him out of the clouds and bring him crashing painfully back to earth. 

"He's in a relationship," Saishuu said meaningfully. "Remember? He said so weeks ago. Five years they've been together." 

"Yeah," Yatoni agreed, "and I think that relationship might be with Karma-san. Even I wouldn't want to mess with that." 

"What makes you think he's dating Karma-san?" Hinata asked, and Yatoni just gave him a look that said 'how can you not think that?' They were all quiet for a long while. Kurra's admission had done a good job putting a heavy damper on the conversation. 

"Well..." Fuyu said, breaking the awkward silence. "I think we should call it a night. Yeah?" There were some murmured agreements as the boys tucked themselves into their sleeping bags, and finally, Misono turned off the lamp, and they slowly drifted to sleep. 

Chapter Text

"Alright everybody!" Karma's voice rang throughout the mountaintop. "Wake up and smell the waffles! We're leaving today!" 

Asui opened her eyes groggily. She felt something wrapped around her, and when her vision came into focus she realized that it was the arms of a still sleeping Kiya. 

"Hey, Kiya-chan!" Asui called, voice still hoarse with tiredness. "Wake up! Let go of me!" 

Kiya's eyes shot open abruptly and she jerked back, legs fumbling in her sleeping bag, ears bright red. "I uh—sorry..." she apologized, sliding awkwardly out of her sleeping bag. 

"No worries," Asui assured her, not exactly sure what to make of the situation, but willing to ignore it seeing as she didn't really mind anyway, and she was never one to worsen uncomfortable situations. Stretching, she pulled herself out of her sleeping bag as well and pulled her pink plastic comb from the top of her bag running it through her hair quickly.  She then styled her baby pink locks into a sloppy ponytail and fastened it with the hair-tie on her wrist. 

The rest of the girls pried themselves off their pillows gradually, with Marihara and Fumei being the last to force themselves up. Sujimura, as per usual the girls had unfortunately realized, had woken up an hour before to do her beauty routine, though having slept outside the tent, she hadn't disturbed their slumber this time. 

After a short breakfast, of almost frustratingly good ham and eggs courtesy of Nagisa and Ken, the students went to collect their things. Filled with disappointment at having to leave so soon, they all rolled up their sleeping bags and packed their clothes and things into their various backpacks and suitcases. 

This was their last day on the mountain. Though their visit had been terribly brief, they already had many good memories of the place. They'd learned a lot in the barely two days they'd spent there, and bonded more as a class too. It's funny how much you get to know people when you travel together. 

But now, unfortunately, the trip was over. Tents were packed up by teams of students working flawlessly together for once. The whole mountaintop was double checked for anything that may have been left behind. Then, finally, after a quick cleanup, and a headcount, Nagisa led the way down the mountain, with Karma bringing up the rear. 

The redhead parted ways with the group of high schoolers when they reached the neglected campus at the base of the hill. Fumei was brave enough to give him a fist-bump as he left, but the rest just waved, hoping they'd get to see him again. Nagisa-sensei sure had cool friends. 

—

On the train ride back home, the students hummed with conversation, reflecting on their favorite parts of the trip. Hinata gushed about how he wanted to find a firing range in town and get more practice with a gun. Marihara sat next to him, squished up against the window, even though no one was anywhere close to touching her, seemingly ignoring everything as she scrolled though her phone, glasses pushed up onto her head. 

Without any prompting, she smiled and decided to speak. "They've announced a court date for the same-sex marriage trial!" Marihara announced as though that were very important. 

"Really?" Hinata turned to look at the article she was reading over her shoulder. "That's great!" 

"Why do you guys even care?" Ippantekina asked, scoffing at them. 

"Her sister—" Hinata started to say, before Marihara cut him off. 

"My sister and her girlfriend have been dating for like a billion years," Marihara explained. "Plus, Kowa-neesan has been planning her wedding since she was like five. Basically, I'm happy that my sister might finally get what she's wanted her whole life." 

"Oh, I see," Yatoni leaned back in his seat. "So your sister's the lesbian. That makes sense, 'cause I was pretty sure you weren't." 

"Nah," Marihara said with a lopsided grin and a laugh. 

Nobody noticed the smile forming on Nagisa's face as he listened in on their conversation. He quickly checked his phone to verify the information, and the date had indeed been set during their trip. In just five short days, there'd be a verdict. He was not only hopeful, but optimistic as well. He had a good feeling. 

—

Kurra stared out the window, lost in his head. His thoughts mostly centered around Nagisa-sensei, and his unrequited crush on the man. Kurra didn't want to believe it was hopeless. He didn't really know why he wanted so badly to pursue his teacher. It was just a crush. But it didn't feel like just a crush. 

Nagisa was the most amazing person he'd ever met. Kurra couldn't think of anyone that compared. The bluenette was talented, and brilliant, and strong, and kind, and gentle, and absolutely adorable. He had a smile that could light up a room, and a glare that could make seasoned warriors bow their heads in shame. Nagisa was perfect, and after glimpsing perfection, Kurra felt he could no longer settle for less. 

But there were a couple of problems, the first of which was Karma. The second was that Nagisa had never looked at Kurra that way, and didn't seem like he would any time soon. He needed Nagisa-sensei to seem him as more than a student. He needed advice. He needed an expert. Who did he know that actually knew anything about getting someone to like you. 

His first thought was Shirota. That guy went on dates with all manner of girls, and had a reputation as a player. Kurra quickly shot that idea down, however, when he remembered that Shirota had actually failed to get his crush to notice him for almost three years. 

His next thought was Sujimura. She wasn't all that nice when you got to know her, but she was really good at getting guys to notice her. She could get a date with pretty much whoever she wanted, whenever she wanted, despite her abrasive personality. It was actually kind of impressive. If anyone he knew was an expert, it was her. 

As the train pulled to a halt at their station, class five clambered off with all their luggage. As soon as he'd disembarked from the train car, he made a beeline for Sujimura, who had gotten off before him. He managed to catch her just outside the station, and pulled her aside as throngs of people spilled from the platform. 

"Hey! Let go of me!" Sujimura demanded, wrenching her wrist out of Kurra's hand. "What do you want?" Kurra withdrew his hand, and brushed a lock of his shiny black hair behind his ear, a little nervous. 

"I need your advice, Sujimura-san... about a crush of mine..." Kurra told her, hoping that would be enough to at least get her to listen. Luckily, it was. Behind thick, false eyelashes, her eyes sparked with interest. 

"Oh?" She smirked, intrigued. "Tell me, who is this crush of yours?" 

"Well, it's... Nagisa-sensei." Kurra said this quickly, despite his slight hesitation, like ripping off a bandaid. 

Sujimura's first reflex was to grimace with disgust, but then she remembered being forced to sleep out in the cold with the bugs and she stopped. Pursing her glossy lips, she considered the possibility that maybe she was in the wrong, just on this one matter. With a resolve unfamiliar to her, she decided to take this seriously, instead of mocking the boy in front of her. 

"Nagisa-sensei, huh?" She took a seat on a stone bench by the wall of the train station. After a few awkward moments, Kurra joined her. She stared pensively at the her fingernails, noticing the chipping, wine-red polish, and in the back of her mind made a note that she'd need to manicure them again when she got home. Two days in the woods really did a number on them, on was even cracked. 

"I think..." she began. Kurra looked at her intensely, but she continued studying her nails, and wouldn't meet his eyes. "I think you should give up." 

"What‽" He stood abruptly and turned to stare down at her in shock. "Why‽" 

"Well, he's our teacher..." she began to explain. "The age gap—"

"Is only four years, tops!" Kurra argued. "That's not that much!" 

"No, but the maturity gap is," she pointed out. "Not to mention, Nagisa-sensei is already in a relationship. A serious, committed, long-term relationship. He's not gonna give that up for a hormonal teenager, let alone his student. My advice to you is get over it. At risk of sounding like an old lady: you're young, you've got your whole life ahead of you, don't let an unrealistic hope for and unrealistic love hold you back from finding someone else." 

"But I don't want anyone else!" he insisted. "Nagisa-sensei is perfect! Why the hell would I settle for anyone else." 

"Because perfect is unattainable!" Sujimura snapped, then calmed herself with a breath before speaking again. "Listen, clinging to this childish crush on your teacher is only going to hurt you. You've put him on such a high pedestal, even if you did, somehow, miraculously manage to start a relationship with him, you'd only end up realizing he's not who you thought he was. 

"There's always more to a person than what they present to the world. And in Nagisa-sensei's case, I think that's doubly true. I get the feeling he's hiding something dark that I, for one, wouldn't want to be anywhere near. So I really hope you take my advice seriously. This is what you asked for, after all." 

"This isn't what I asked for!" Kurra huffed, like a child who'd been handed a blueberry lollipop when they wanted blue-raspberry. "I wanted you to tell me how to get his attention, not that I should just give up!" 

"You asked for my advice about your crush," she corrected. "I'm not going to tell you how to carry out a bad idea. I'm going home now. I'll see you in school, Kurra-kun." And then she left, high-heels clacking on the pavement, rolling her mauve suitcase behind her. 

Kurra scowled at her back as she walked away, but she couldn't be bothered to care. He'd asked for her advice, and she'd given it. It wasn't her fault he didn't like it. Besides, she had other things on her mind. She decided to put this strange resolve she'd discovered to use. She decided that once she got home, she was going to call an old friend. 

She hadn't spoken to Fuyōna in nearly two years, and she hadn't apologized for anything in even longer than that. She supposed she'd just have to kill two birds with one stone, and hopefully get back the only person she'd ever truly considered a friend. Though maybe that was hoping too much.