Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

March 30th, 2013

A strike. 

“Nice job,” he said, dodging, “but you’re gonna havta do a bit better than that, Emi.” 

Emi took a step back, kicking dust into the air. “Where even are we?” She watched him take a similar step back. Classic. 

“We’re at that class’s building, the one I was telling you about.” 

“Oh, 3-E or whatever?” 

“Yeah, the one involved in the scandal.”

“You took me to train here, dad?” 

He smiled at her. “I thought you’d wanna take it in , especially if you’re going to this school soon.” 

Emi nodded, then blocked a punch from her father. “Woah, geez.” She took his arm, rushing past him. 

He caught her. 

Next thing Emi knew, she was on the ground. 

“Good run,” she said, panting. “Is this really where the scandal happened?” 

“You wouldn’t believe it, would you?” Her dad smiled. “Makes me even more proud of those kids.” 

Emi chuckled. “Same time next week?” 

He nodded. “You already know it, Emi.” 

________

April 5th

      Emi sat at the table. She was at Kunugi-kaze (the place where Isogai worked, unaware that it was Isogai who was serving her). 

      A man came in dressed in a formal suit. Isogai greeted him, and the man walked to where Emi was sitting and tapped her. “Hey, Em, sorry I’m late. Got caught up with work and—“ 

      Emi grinned, jumped up, and hugged him. “It’s okay, dad. I know your work gets weird sometimes.” She sat across from him. “What’d you do today?” 

      “Had another meeting then did some paperwork then another meeting. That’s really what took so long.” 

      “What meetings?” 

      “About those kids again.” He shook his head. “I mean, what kind of monster wants to kill twenty-eight kids? Or even keep them at a boarding school of some type?” 

      Emi nodded. “Yeah, I dunno why.” She shrugged. “It’s crazy. How are you gonna stop it?” 

      He smiled. “With a bit of luck and common sense. Thankfully not a lot of people think like them so we’ll be okay.” 

      Emi smiled back. “Yeah, that makes sense.” She chuckled a bit. “So, how have you been?” She asked that question to get her dad to say everything he’d been doing. His work life was always so interesting even though half of it was about killing people. 

      Afterwards, her dad asked her about her life. She talked for a minute before they got their food. 

      After eating, her dad said, “hey, let’s take a walk after this.” 

      “That sounds fun,” Emi replied. “Which park?” 

      “The one we used to go to all the time. I can teach you some more stuff there.” 

      Emi eyes widened. “Finally. You never teach me stuff anymore.” 

      “It’s hard to, Em.” He looked her in the eyes. “But I’ll still be here always if you need me. I’ll make time for you.” 

      Emi nodded. “Yeah.” She took a breath. “I’m kinda done here. Are you done?” 

      He checked his watch. “Yeah, I’m good to go.” 

      Emi’s brows furrowed when he looked at his watch so carefully. What did he need to check the time for? Did he have another meeting after doing stuff with her? Why would he offer to walk with and teach her then? 

      Whatever. Emi figured she’d find out eventually. 

      The two walked to the park, Emi asking a question here and there. She had bright eyes full of wonder and a bounciness in her step. And her dad knew she had energy enough to train even in warmer weather. 

      Unfortunately while walking, they paused by an alleyway while her dad checked his bag.

      Emi’s gut told her to keep moving, but her dad insisted on staying. 

      “Don’t worry about it,” he said. 

      Emi shook her head. “Why isn’t your instinct telling you the same thing?” 

       He looked her in the eyes. “There’s nothing to worry about, Em. We’re just by an alleyway.” 

      She looked behind him. “There’s a few thugs.” She locked eyes with him again. “I hate to say I told you.” 

      He sighed. “I’ve trained you almost too well.” 

      Emi’s brows furrowed. That wasn’t training. It was just trusting your gut. If anyone, she’d been taught to do that by her mother who had taught her how to be shrewd. 

      They fought off each thug one or two at a time. Some of them had knives or bats, but Emi and her father knew how to deal with them. 

      Emi heard her father gasp and a faint gunshot. 

      The thugs all ran off, one of them holding a gun. 

      Emi watched her father fall as they ran, attempting to catch him but not being able to. She stared at him. Laying there. Silent. 

       She started panting. She couldn’t be seen there. 

       It wasn’t even that late or dark. It was only 6:30/7:00. And there was absolutely no way someone made that good of a shot in all that chaos. 

      Emi took her father’s knife which he’d been conceal carrying. It had his name engraved in it so it was definitely an extra special knife. 

      After that, Emi could only remember running. 

      After sleeping, Emi saw her father’s death on the news broadcast. The police had caught a majority of the thugs except for two. 

      Emi gasped when she saw pictures of the group they’d fought somehow caught on camera in the alleyway. She recognized one of them. And he remained free from jail or anything like that. 

      Her mom stared and just went to her room after. 

      Emi frowned. He was really… gone. 

Chapter Text

2032

      Ryuka stared at her dad’s old yearbook, coming to a page with a picture of her dad and another girl on it. The headline said, “Aoki and Sakakibara: Why Did Aoki Leave?” 

      Ren walked to couch to sit by her. “What are you reading?” 

      “Your yearbook,” Ryuka answered without looking at her dad once, reading the paragraph under the headline. “I found it under your bed while I was tryna pet the cat.” 

      Ren couldn’t help but laugh at her. “Alright then, what’s this page about?” He looked, and his eyes widened. 

      “Dad, who is this?” Ryuka pointed to the girl in the picture. 

      Ren stared for a minute, then smiled gently. “That was Aoki Emi. She was my best friend aside from Asano.” 

      “Why’d she leave then? This paragraph gives me nothing.” 

      Ren smiled. “Yeah, well… things just weren’t right for her in the whole of Japan. Have you guys learned about what happened at Kunugigaoka in 2013?” 

      Ryuka nodded. “The scandal?” 

      “Yeah, that. Now have you guys learned about why Kunugigaoka has to have security at every festival?” 

      “Um… no? What does this have to do with your friend?” 

      “I’m trying to find a way to explain it. I’ll just say that things were dangerous for her in Japan.”

      Ryuka’s brows furrowed. “Dangerous?”

      “Yeah—“ Ren stared off— “dangerous.” 

      Ryuka closed the yearbook and turned more towards her father. “What was she like?” 

      Ren took a second, then scoffed and smiled. “She was…” he sighed— “everything. Everything you could want in a best friend.” 

      “What do you mean?” 

      “Just… she was crazy and daring and so risky. But she was also calm and relaxed and knew when to take a step back and listen. She was just everything you could ever think of.” 

      “Was she just your friend?” 

      Ren shrugged. “Well, we dated for a bit but decided to split cuz we were better as friends anyways.” 

      Ryuka nodded, looking at the couch for a moment, tapping her fingers on the felt. Then she lifted her head and asked, “where is she now? Is she okay?” 

      Ren shook his head. “Ryuka, she’s… not here anymore.” 

      Ryuka didn’t respond verbally, just held a little frown and tilted her head in curiosity. 

      “She passed, Ryuka. I never bring her up cuz I don’t like talking about her.” 

      Ryuka nodded as before. 

      “Anyways.“ Ren took a deep breath and sat up a bit.

      Ryuka tugged on her dad’s sleeve. “What do you miss about her?” 

      Ren hummed, a small smile forming on his face. “Guess I haven’t thought about that one.” He paused. “Just… everything. But I guess… I do miss when she let her hair down. When we were dating she… used to do that all the time.” 

      “What do you mean ‘used to?’” 

      “Well, when things got too dangerous for her, she started putting her hair up in case she got in a fight. And she cut it a bit shorter.” 

      Ryuka gasped slightly, trying to comprehend how things could get that dangerous for a first year in high school. 

      Ren smiled. “But she was always good. Always.” 

      Ryuka nodded. “Do you have anything left of her?”

      Ren shook his head. “Nothing you can touch.” 

      “What do you mean?” 

      “She left an ability. An ability to read people.” 

      “What?” 

      Ren chuckled. “She was always so good at pointing out when I was feeling some way. I got kinda mad about it sometimes.” 

      Ryuka smiled. “Ohh, is that how you can always tell how I’m feeling?” 

      “Yep, always.” He side-hugged her, squeezing her tight. “Now get ready for dinner. We’re going somewhere special.” 

      Ryuka laughed and slid off the couch, running to the bathroom. 

      Ren opened the yearbook again, flipping to that picture of him and Emi. 

      Time to let go. 

Chapter Text

May 8th, 2013

      After Kunugigaoka was done with the whole scandal with Korosensei (now known as the scandal of 2013), everyone moved on, knowing that high school would be better … hopefully. 

      Problem was: they needed a new principal. 

      They got a new principal, a woman shrewd but polite.

      May eighth was the day that principal’s daughter was supposed to become a student and finally join class. Since everyone had heard how bad she was, nobody dared talk to her. 

      Well… nobody except Karma. Karma couldn’t care less about someone’s reputation. Didn’t care about his own anyways. And he could tell she wasn’t as bad as everyone thought. 

      So when she entered the classroom on the first day, he saw that she sat right in front of him and tapped her.

      “Hey, you’re the new kid, right?”

      She looked behind herself with big eyes. “Yeah.” She smiled. “I’m Aoki, but just call me Emi. What’s your name?” 

      “Akabane, you can call me Karma.” 

      “Karma… I like that name.” Emi grinned. “Perhaps you could tell me why everyone’s being so weirdly tip-toe-y around me?” 

      “Just a rumor.” Karma smirked. “They say you’re just as bad as your mom, if not worse.” 

      “Oh, awesome,” Emi said half-sarcastically. “That’s totally true except for the fact that it’s not.” 

      Karma smiled. “Yeah, screw reputations.” He shrugged. “Whatever. You wanna know a secret?” 

      “Sure.” Emi leaned in. 

      “Asano, the strawberry kid up there.” 

      Emi chuckled. “Yeah? Isn’t he like, an overachiever or something? Everyone here spreads the weirdest rumors.” 

      “Sure. But I wouldn’t call this a rumor. Just an observation. I think Junior’s afraid of you.” 

      Emi shook her head. “I don’t understand why that would be.” 

      “You know how he was the former principal’s son?” 

      Emi’s brows furrowed, then her jaw dropped. “No way.” She did a double take. “Whaaat?”

      “He’s scared you’ll outsmart him or something. Don’t worry about it though.” Karma smiled. “I’ll handle that.” 

      “I’m sure you will. And I literally never get perfect scores on like. Anything. He can be number one. Or you can for all I care.” 

      “Whatever happens.” Karma leaned back in his chair. 

      Emi took that as an opportunity to turn back towards the front of the classroom where a few girls were suddenly in front of her, asking her questions. 

      Asano had watched the whole interaction with his voodoo magic of having eyes in the back of his head or something. He could tell two things. One: Akabane was still a threat. Two: something was off about Aoki. He couldn’t put his finger exactly on it, but he knew it was there.

      The school day was too normal for its own good.  

      When lunch came, Emi picked up her bag and sprinted out of the classroom. She made her way to the cafeteria, not knowing exactly where to sit. She didn’t want to sit alone for fear of those girls again. Or if anyone who tried to talk to her. 

      She decided to head back to the classroom and opened the door. 

      Oh thank goodness. Only Karma was there. The only person not asking her ten million questions every five seconds. 

      Emi made eye contact with him and asked, “mind if I sit in here? I just don’t like how crowded the cafeteria is.” 

      “You have free will.” Karma shrugged, then leaned forward in his chair. 

      Emi smiled and sat, turning her body sideways so she could also talk to Karma. “You been going here awhile? You seem to know this place like the back of your hand.” 

      Karma nodded. “Since junior high.” 

      “What was that like?” 

      Karma took a second. “Just regular stuff. You know how there was the E class?”

      Emi nodded. 

      “Yeah, I got sent down there in third year.” Karma smirked. 

      “What, why? If you don’t mind me asking.” 

      “Nah, it’s all good. I’ve learned that coming to terms with your past is better than letting it eat you up.” 

      “I like that.” 

      “Anyways, I beat up an A class student for messing with some E class kid. Didn’t even know who they were, just felt it wrong not to stand up for that kid.” 

      Emi scoffed. “And they put you in E class for that?” 

      Karma looked out the window of the classroom. “Pretty much.” 

      Emi could tell there was more to the story. But she got her answer, she guessed. “Well, that’s sad. But if I were in your shoes, I prolly would’ve done the same.” 

      “What about you?” 

      “Hm?” 

      “How’s Kunugigaoka?” 

      “A lot more… immature, let’s say. I don’t know. There’s like a handful of us that have brains and the rest are just kinda suck-y up-y.”  Emi shook her head. “It’s just that I can tell that not everyone here is genuine.” 

      “No, I get it.” Karma looked from the window to Emi. “It’s always been like that here. It was worse last year.” 

      Emi frowned. “I’m sorry it was like that. Being in E class must’ve been hard too.” 

      Karma smirked again. “Yeah, we have a gag order on our heads about that whole scandal. I know you’d like to know the drama, but it’s really not worth it.” 

      “Sure.” Emi smiled. “I understand.” She ate the rest of her food relatively quickly, then stared at the clock. There was still a full forty minutes left of lunch. 

      Karma didn’t move from his seat but kept looking out the window with a blank expression. Emi just got out an English book to read since she figured it’d be awhile before they’d have another conversation. 

      She peeked at Karma for a moment, then followed his eyes all the way to the window to what he was staring at. 

      The mountain next to the school. 

      Oh. Emi hadn’t really thought about that. That was the old E class building, wasn’t it? 

      She peeked at his bag which was slightly open. A large book sat in it, maybe fifteen or twenty centimeters thick. The title: “3-E Yearbook.” 

      Why would he carry that with him? Especially since it seemed to be such a big book. Just for keepsies?

      She wondered how many pages they were about to add to it that year.

Chapter Text

May 8th

      Yes, Asano was sitting with the five virtuosos again. But he couldn’t think. He’d stared at his food for a bit then decided to put it away. It wasn’t worth it to try to force himself to eat. 

      No one would have guessed it first try. But he was scared. Scared that his father would somehow weasel his way back into the school. Asano couldn’t deal with another year of that. Of his father. 

      Everything branched from that. His fear of failure was the biggest branch though.

      And finally, his father was gone from the school. All the pressure was only from his home now.

      But he was the shining star. So he had to be that example still. Even if Aoki was off, she didn’t particularly seem to care about being number one. She was just a regular student in A class. 

      All Asano had to worry about was Karma. Thankfully, he now knew what made that kid tick. And he was going to use it to his advantage. 

________

      Ren had been friends with Asano for almost… seven years??? It was hard to count at that point. All Ren remembered was that they met in third year, elementary school. 

      He made friends quickly. It was a natural thing for him. Turns out, when you’re good at something, everyone is always vying for your benefits or approval. Especially if you’re good at school, and rich. And it wasn't only the kids. The parents did it too, but they were so big compared to him that at some point, he stopped trying to figure it out.  

      Asano was one of the first people who didn’t treat him like that, who didn’t look at him and first think “give me attention please.” They clicked instantly and began hanging out more. 

      What surprised him the most was the fact that, for once, he was the one admiring someone. 

      But there was always this weight over his friend’s head, like something was directing the scenes of Asano’s show. It took Ren six years to figure out it was Asano’s dad. And he really should’ve seen it coming… he guessed.  

      Anyways, Ren was always able to hold his head high next to Asano. Even when walking school hallways. 

      Happy Monday, and another school day began. 

      Asano sat with a tight expression. Though he was always unreadable (which was such a disadvantage as his friend), Ren knew he was worried about something. 

      So when Ren walked in, he asked Asano, “hey. How are you doing?” 

      Asano slowly turned his blank face towards his friend. “I’m alright. How about yourself?” 

      Ren smiled. “I’m all good. Do you know anything about the new kid we’re getting today?” 

      “All I’ve heard is that she’s the daughter of our new principal.” 

      Ren nodded, then turned his head and saw someone he sort of recognized. “That her?” 

      “Yes.” 

      “Know her?” 

      “No.” 

      “It’s Aoki. Emiko. Remember her?”

      Asano paused. 

      Oh. Yeah, he remembered that time in Ren’s life. When they were still second years, innocent of everything that would happen third year. 

      "How touching," Asano said with his smirk, "another one of your exes."

      Ren nodded, chuckling lightly. All he remembered about Emi was that they ended on good terms. But they’d gone to different schools anyway, so they didn’t get to hang out much. They’d stayed in touch though and set the boundary that they were definitely just friends. Well. More like best friends. 

      And yeah. 

      They’d see how the year would turn out with their combined bundles of chaos in the room. 

      Ren zoned out for a minute, then snapped his head toward Araki, who was asking him how his weekend was. Meanwhile, Koyama and Seo talked with Asano about something. 

      The five virtuosos all reunited. Maybe this year would be a bit better for them than last year.

      He missed one detail Asano hadn’t though, and that was Akabane in the back of the class. Yeah, the five virtuosos. Plus Akabane. Six virtuosos? Five virtuosos and the nuisance? Five virtuosos and their sixth wheel?

      Whatever. Asano just hoped that Akabane wouldn’t disturb that bond the five virtuosos had with each other and the power they held over the class.

      They’d just have to hope for a good year. Hope that there wasn’t a ticking time bomb hiding somewhere, waiting to be unleashed. 

Chapter Text

May 9th

      “How was your first day, dear?” Principal Aoki asked as she and her daughter held their teacups. 

      Emi pursed her lips, a tired look on her face. “It was fine. Just regular school stuff.” 

      “Is it adequate?” 

      Emi nodded, looking at her tea as she sipped it. “Super.”  

      “And what do you want, my dear Emiko?” Aoki stood and began pacing around the couches. 

      “To succeed.” 

      “Specifically?” 

      “Top ten.” 

      “Yes, top ten, my dear. And you know you can do it, so I encourage you to work hard.” 

      Yes, Emi knew when her mother wanted prestige and good repute. 

      She set her tea on the coffee table in her mom's office. “Mhm.” 

      “Alright, well.” Aoki sat next to her daughter and rubbed her shoulder. “You are learning quickly as always, Emiko. I do love you.” 

      “Mhm.” Emi nodded again. “I should um… head to class. I’ll see you after school.” 

      “Good luck, my dear.” 

      Emi gave a half smile, quickly left the principal’s office, and took a deep breath. “Alright.” She chuckled a bit to herself. 

      When the class settled down, the teacher announced, “alright. Since midterms are right around the corner, we are going to prepare for those.” 

      Then class was pretty much normal after that. Quick. Inefficient. Stupid. 

      Emi decided that she was gonna havta deal with Asano at some point in the year, since all the class seemed to worship him. Maybe it would come in handy someday.

      So when lunch came, she got up and took the route Asano and his friends usually took to the lunch room. She could see that he walked almost as the head of them. But he was shrinking back into their company a bit, actually paying attention to the words they said. 

      Eh, who asked?

      Emi headed back to the classroom where Karma wasn’t. 

      She ate her lunch silently, looking at the desk in front of herself, zoning out, remembering her mother’s words that morning. 

      Her mother had values that centered around grades, and as long as Emi kept that up, she could basically do whatever she wanted. Which was good. 

      Overall, she was thankful that the year had started calmly. Before the storm. 

Chapter Text

May 10th

      Karma stared at the mountain. It brought painful memories and a lot of good ones too. He crossed the caution tape and hopped the fence that now stood in front of the path. He decided to walk and take it easy for a bit, slower than the stupid pace of the classroom. A whole hour. Of just this. 

      A warm breeze blew past him as the sun beat down on the mountain. Everything he missed in life, the mountain held it. The freedom to be himself and to speak his mind. 

      But still. He liked the competition on the main campus and seeing Asano all uptight about him being back.

      He laughed.

      What was also funny was the nostalgic feeling he got every time he went up. Sitting in his old seat only made it worse, because he remembered every mistake and every lesson and every good memory from that seat. The way the wooden chair felt. The way certain floorboards creaked, and some felt like they could break at any second. The lack of air conditioning. The chalkboard with Korosensei's name on it. 

      Whatever. 

      After lunch, he went back to the classroom with the passing period to spare. When he entered the classroom, Emi didn’t ask anything. 

      Thank goodness. At least there was one person at Kunugigaoka High who minded their business. 

      But when the next passing period came, Emi asked him, “hey, what’s your favorite color? I usually ask everyone new I meet.” 

      “That’s interesting.” Karma looked at her blankly, still leaning back in his chair. “I dunno. What do you think it is?” 

      Emi chuckled. “Okay then. Um. Maybe red? Or black.” 

      Karma nodded. “Yeah. It’s pretty basic, but I’m fine with that.” 

      Emi smiled. “No, I think it’s cool.” There was a small pause but Emi had another question. “Hey, are you and Asano ever gonna talk about midterms?” 

      Karma shrugged. “Prolly not. I mean, I’m not gonna initiate anything, if that’s what you’re asking.” 

      “Yeah—” Emi nodded— “I guess we’ll see if he does anything. He was definitely annoyed at something this morning.” 

      Karma smiled. “Yeah, sounds like him.” 

      Emi saw disinterest in the conversation, so she nodded and turned back around. 

      When the end of school finally came, Emi headed to the courtyard to get a drink for the train home. 

      She happened to see Araki and Ren talking about something and coming to the vending machine too. Hahah. Oh no. That was great. And not. 

      It wasn’t that she and Ren were on bad terms. They were on great terms and still talked a lot. She just didn’t know how trustworthy Araki was with this knowledge. 

      But whatever. Time to be nice. 

      “Hey, Ren,” she greeted with a small smile. 

      Ren paused. “Hey, Em. How’s Kunugigaoka treating you?”

      Emi grinned. She liked that he was never embarrassed to talk to her. 

      “It’s pretty good," she replied. "I’m excited for midterms.” 

      “When did you two know each other?” Araki interjected politely. 

      “Ex,” Ren answered. 

      “Yeah,” Emi chuckled. “Anyways, you think you’re ready for midterms?” 

      A look of annoyance flashed across Ren's face, but he just smiled. “Yeah, I think I’m about as ready as anyone. Are you looking for one of our spots?” 

      Emi shook her head. “Not at all. I could never reach any of you guys.” 

      Araki hummed, “hm. Are you sure?” 

      “Trust me on that.” Emi nodded then looked at her wrist which didn’t have a watch on it. “Well, I do wanna get home. Nice talking to you guys.” 

      “Bye, Em,” Ren replied. 

      Araki didn’t say anything about the nicknames and first-name basis, but just observed. He liked tea when he could get it. 

________

      Karma saw Asano just leaving the school while talking with some junior high kids. He thought he’d just pass by. 

      Asano caught him by the shoulder though. “Akabane. I’ve been excited for your return.” 

      “Why? So I can beat you again?” Karma smirked but not a delinquent’s smirk. It felt more real. 

      Asano matched his smirk. “If you do, we’ll see at midterms, won’t we?” 

      “Of course. But just know that I’m gonna take your number one spot again this year.” 

      “Try. I’ll beat you every time.” 

      “Hm.” 

      There was a little pause. 

      Then Karma asked, “say, Junior. Are you up for a real fight this time?” 

      Asano narrowed his eyes a bit. 

      Karma just chuckled and walked away. 

      Asano watched him walk off. Would Akabane really fight this year?

      Whatever. Asano decided not to think too much about it. Midterms would be upon them soon. So if Akabane fought, he’d get just as much in return. 

Chapter Text

Emi's Second Year

      Emi was only thirteen. Almost fourteen. She was just a kid like everyone else. 

      It wasn’t Emi’s happiest year. Well… it was happy but also… maybe scary? 

      Emi hated when her mind drifted back to the story, because when it happened, it was real. It happened. And she felt it every time. 

      She walked out of school with her best friend, at the time, Takashi. They drifted at the end of... all this, but to Emi, he was as real as anyone got at her junior high. 

      The two talked, after clubs just got out, about a certain breakup that had happened the night before. 

      Emi was relaxed about it though. “Yeah, Ren was nice, but he was kinda holding me back, I guess.” 

      Takashi nodded. “That’s one way to think about it. You doing okay other than that?” 

      Emi smiled. “Mhm, yeah. Just got finals, and we’re done with exams for the year.” 

      “Nothing about those boys?” 

      “No. I mean, like you said. They’re just teasing me so I shouldn’t lose sleep over it.” 

      Takashi smiled. “Nice, Emi.” 

      “Thanks, Taka. I just hope those boys find a better way to live.” 

      Takashi laughed. “Well, yeah, they’ll figure it out. It’ll work out somehow.” 

      Emi nodded. “Yep, it’ll work out.” 

      The two paused for a moment. Takashi found a way to bring up spring break and if they could hang out. 

      When the two split ways, Emi to take the train and Taka to keep walking, Emi thought everything would be normal. 

      But she had a bad feeling in her stomach, and she knew. Her gut was always right. 

      Every day, she had to walk past an alley. Not in it, thank goodness. But she had to walk past it to get to the train station. It wasn’t a big deal, never was, since it was daytime and she knew how to defend herself. 

      Or so she thought. 

      A few hands pushed her into it, and she fell, catching herself and rolling before she could get too badly hurt. Her eyes moved quickly along the alley to see what she could use as a weapon. Then her head turned, and her eyes met a few above herself. 

      Her leg bled from getting scraped. Even so, she had to do something. 

      She took the top half of a broken, glass bottle and threw it at the “leader.” He tried to catch it but failed and cut his own hand instead. 

      Emi used that little second of pain to get up and run. She’d never been good at running. She barely knew these alleys.

      But she just ran. Dust scattered. 

      Her heart pumped in her throat. She had to get away. That was the only thing she had to do. Get away from those boys. 

      She finally saw a street and ran out. 

      “There she is!” One of those boys yelled. 

      Emi groaned and saw the crosswalk counting down. Only ten seconds. Hahah, she could escape. She panted, throat dry, but just ran. 

      The light turned red, and the boys were stuck on the other side of the street. 

      Emi looked around herself. She had to get home before it got dark. 

      She saw a few shops and restaurants that she recognized. Somewhat. Then she saw the boys still waiting across the street.  

      Her feet pivoted, and she began walking away from the crosswalk towards her home. Meanwhile, maybe the crowds could hide her figure while she escaped. 

      Emi took a deep breath, wiping her sweat. Her knee shot stinging pain up her leg as she dusted off her scraped hands. Anything was better than letting those boys do whatever. 

      Those boys got lost in the crowds, trying to tag basically any brunette girl they could find. They eventually got distracted by something and quit. 

      Emi was so close to home, but it was getting dark. 

      She got to her street, her breathing calm.  

      She got to her block finally. That was her house. She could see it. 

      “Hey, can we talk?” Someone said. 

      Emi put her head down and kept walking, but saw that the nameplate on her house had been scorched at the bottom.  

      Screw it. Just keep walking. 

      Whoever spoke grabbed her shoulder. 

      She immediately turned to face him, pushing his hand off. “Stop it, Yoru! Why are you even here?” She yelled. 

      Yoru backed her into the block that held her house’s nameplate. “Don’t talk to me that way—“ 

      Emi pushed him off and ran to the door to her house. Tears filled her eyes as she shoved the key in and unlocked the door. “Mom!” She called immediately, and Yoru walked away. 

      Her mother yelled from the kitchen, “what do you need, honey?” 

      Emi wiped her tears, her face still red. She managed to focus enough to lock the door behind herself. “Oh, I just got sidetracked on the way home today, in case you were wondering.” 

      “I figured you had. That’s alright. As long as you’re not late for dinner,” her mother tried a tease. 

      Emi half-smiled and just gave a little, “mhm.” —and went to the bathroom to wash her face so she didn’t look like she’d just been crying. 

      Luckily, her mother didn’t question her scabbed knee and scratched-up hands. 

      Or the fact that she’d shouted so urgently. 

      Her mother washed off some dishes, then came to the dining table and sat.

      Emi looked at her food, sighing. “Mama—” she paused, wringing her hands— “Yoru’s doing it again.” 

      Emi’s mother looked at her. “Since when has that stopped you?” 

      Emi bit the inside of her lip. “Never, mother.”

      Her mother tilted her head, looking at her with this blank yet condescending expression. “Remember, Emiko, you are greater than your demons. You should be able to focus on exams and get within the top five next week.” 

      Emi nodded. “Yes, mother.” 

      And her mother was ultimately right. The boys didn’t bother her until after the list was posted. 

      Takashi smiled. “Hey, we both got in the top ten.”

      Emi nodded. “Yeah, it’s great.” She gave a weak smile. Why was she so… unhappy? 

      Takashi looked at her with concerned eyes but didn’t say anything. He knew if he asked, she’d just say, “I’m fine—” or something like that. 

      Emi knew she had to tell someone about what happened in the alley. But she didn’t want to, and she didn’t want to have to deal with the awkwardness. 

      Takashi didn’t know what to do except be next to her while walking home. He asked about choir, and she was positive about it. He was also positive about English.

      When splitting ways where they normally did, Emi said, “oh, um. I was actually gonna go this way today.” 

      Takashi nodded. “Bet, go for it.” 

      They kept walking, and Emi knew she had to tell someone. Someone. 

      The words kept repeating in her head. But nothing happened. 

      Until she got home.

Chapter Text

May 11th

      Unlike last year's exams, the students didn't fight like gladiators to answer questions in an expansive arena. It didn’t feel that way. Instead, it felt like a race with an obstacle course. 

      The answers weren’t being pummeled, cut open, or shot like before. It felt more like a speed test to see who could finish a hundred questions in two hours without getting caught up or distracted. 

      It bothered Asano though. He kept using his voodoo magic of having eyes in the back of his head to peek in the back row. He hated how hard Akabane was working. 

      He also hated how Aoki finished every test first. That was principal Aoki’s goal: to brag about the fact that her daughter was fast and could still place in the top fifty. 

      He finished each exam right as Akabane did. He hated that too. 

      Karma smirked once he finished, that real smirk of determination. He loved the race. He knew Asano Jr. was using voodoo magic to watch him silently, and he could tell. Junior was angry. 

      As both looked at each other, they knew. They had to run and run fast to beat the other in this race. Dodge every obstacle. Stay on the path. Finally, both saw the white and black of the finish line. Both reached their hands out to it, touching the white ribbon. 

________

May 15th

      The top fifty had been posted. 

      Everyone stared at it with worried faces and confused looks. All of A class was in the top fifty, and many of them were celebrating with little cheers and pats on the back.

      Emi sighed. Thank God she was in the top ten.

      She sat on the couch in her mother’s office. “I’m fifth, mother.” 

      “My Emiko, you always know how to get on top. You‘ve been at this school only a week and you’ve managed to get within the top five.” Her mother was across from her. “Maybe you don’t need full scores to stay at the top.”

      Emiko nodded. “I will always do my best, mom.” 

      “Alright, my dear. Stay safe. I know you have lots of competition.” 

      Emi walked out of that office, then down the hall to the 1-A classroom. 

      She almost laughed when she saw Asano’s angry face, then made eye contact with Ren. 

      They both couldn’t help but crack little smiles at what they'd discovered that morning. 

      Emi walked to the back of the classroom, saying, "congrats on first," to Asano. She sat in her seat, then turned to Karma. “So…” 

      “So…” he caught on to the vibes immediately. 

      “Congrats on first.”

      Karma smirked. “He had it coming.“

      Emi smiled. “I didn’t expect any less from you.” She turned to look at Asano talking with his four friends, then back towards Karma. “How pissed is he?”

      “Very. He probably never imagined he’d tie with someone from E-class.” 

      Emi laughed. “Yeah, it’s pretty funny.” 

      “How ‘bout you? You’re high enough to be one of the big five.” 

      Emi shook her head. “I don’t need those five up my butt every day.” 

      Karma shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’d be in it for the thrill.” 

      “Yeeeaah, honestly, they freak me out.” Emi said, leaning forward, “and the whole school worships them. That's just weird.”

      Karma chuckled. “Yeah, I heard Junior talking about you the other day with Ren.“

      Emi’s jaw dropped. “No, he wasn’t.” She laughed a bit. “What was he saying?” 

      “Ren mentioned something about you. Then Asano said something about how he’s worried you’ll beat one of them out for the top five. He was already worried about me, so I guess it makes sense.” 

      “Well, he wasn’t wrong.” 

      Karma shrugged. 

      Emi nodded, knowing he didn’t want to talk about it anymore. 

      One of those girls approached her. “Aoki, congrats on getting fifth place.” She grinned. “Do you wanna sit with me and my friends at lunch?” 

      Emi smiled a business-polite smile. “Thank you but um, no. I actually have other plans today.” 

      “Aww, alright.” The girl then walked away. 

      Emi just told a total lie. But she told lies all the time… to lots of people’s faces. 

      When lunch came, Emi disappeared from the classroom. She found herself in the hallways, trying to become just another one of the crowd. She knew Asano would probably try to talk to her, and she kind of didn’t wanna talk to him. 

      But she also knew that Asano would probably find her anyway, which is what happened. 

      She found herself in a relatively empty junior high hallway. She walked down one flight of stairs until she saw Asano climbing up the same flight. Bruh.

      He made sure to make eye contact with her. "Congratulations on midterms. I was looking to talk with you about your placement.” 

      A business-politeness rang in his voice that put Emi off. 

      But she just responded normally. “Thanks, you too. It’s impressive, seriously.” She smiled. “What do you wanna talk with me about?” 

      “Since it is school tradition to recognize those who place within the top five, I’d like to invite you to be part of our group.” 

      Excuse me, what. 

      “Oh, thank you, Asano. But I’m not looking to join anything right now. Thank you for recognizing me though. That means a lot, actually.” 

      “I’m glad to know you think highly of me.” He gave a small smile, a business-polite one. “And what’s this about not joining anything? Surely you’re part of a club, right?” 

      Didn’t need to say it like that, Asano. 

      “I'm in light music right now. But maybe I’ll join another one since it lowkey gives me so much free time.” 

      “I see. Well, I wish you luck on your endeavors. My offer still stands if you change your mind at anytime.” He then brushed past Emi and walked up the stairs. 

      She stared at him with a frown on her face. He definitely had interesting intentions with that conversation. 

      Emi shook her head and kept walking down the flight of stairs. She found herself back in the 1-A classroom, eating lunch, alone. For an hour. 

      Karma had taken to eating when he got to the top of the mountain, so he could walk around after. Or just sit. Maybe look at that cliff he’d jumped off of. Or that place where he'd fought Nagisa. 

      Sometimes he’d look at the main campus. But that day, he only remembered one thing: he and Asano were gonna have a tricky year hahah.

Chapter Text

Emi's Second Year

      Yoru was standing at her block again. Not at her house this time. 

      Emi saw him and kept walking like the day before. It was almost dark. 

      When he grabbed her shoulder with his scabbed palm, she punched his arm off it, but he just returned by pushing her into a wall. 

      Emi began panting, eyes wide. “Please.” She looked at him. “Why are you doing this? Why do you always have to hurt me?” 

      He smirked. “Cuz you’re so easy to tease.” 

      Emi pushed him off, but he only backed up a step. When she tried to run, he grabbed her arm. 

      Emi opened her mouth, but Yoru spoke before her. “I’ve got a knife in my back pocket. You scream or cry or anything, you won’t be hearing from anybody again.” 

      When Emi didn’t respond in any way, Yoru chuckled. “Good. I like it when a pup knows how to shut up. Now come with me.” He dragged her along. 

      She had to stay calm. Calm. Calm. If she freaked, he would only be on higher ground. Calm. Calm. 

      Calm. 

      Emi took a deep breath. 

      “Got something to say?” 

      No. 

      They were walking towards the alleyway they were in yesterday. 

      No. She should’ve just told Takashi. She should’ve just told her mom. Someone. 

      No. Calm. Calm. Stay calm. 

      Whose house was she near? She took a quick look at her surroundings. 

      Hers was four blocks down. Had they really been walking that long?

      But about a hundred feet away was someone’s house she knew. 

      That was Ren’s place. She recognized the street she’d ran to so many times. The street that held so many memories. 

      And yet she didn’t know jack about these alleys. 

      Why was it already twilight? Why did the sun have to set? 

      Yoru didn’t loosen his grip once either. Of course he wouldn’t. He finally had her under his thumb, and he was about to do something horrible. 

      He and his friends. Those boys. 

      Emi looked down the alley for anything that could be used as a weapon. Anything at all. Maybe that half-bottle was still there. 

      This one was a bit different from yesterday though. It only had a dumpster and a small, metal can on the ground. Emi couldn’t do anything. 

      Five boys were waiting there. With Yoru as their leader, who knew what they’d do? 

      The next few minutes were a blur. They shoved her into the wall, forced her to take off her backpack and suit. Forced her to take off her tie.  

      Emi began crying, but she sucked up the tears and bit her tongue. 

      They reached for her skirt. One of the boys had already taken about five pictures. She knew she had to make her move soon. Soon.

      She stomped on the boy's camera, fully breaking it. 

      A strike.

      One hit to Yoru’s face with her backpack. She began running. She left her suit and tie in that alley. She left those boys in that alley. Only one gave a short chase after her: Yoru. 

      She had to get home. 

      She opened the front door and yelled, “mom! Where are you?” 

      A faint, “Emiko!” But she hit the floor before that. 

      Emi woke up still on the floor, the front door closed and locked. Her mother was sitting by her with a bottle of water. 

      “Emiko, drink some water and come eat. Tell me everything.” Her mother helped her to her feet. 

      Dinner felt like a blur. The food was so good, but she had to talk about those boys, and… her appetite eventually lost itself, and she just began staring at the food.

      Her mother only understood. Thankfully, she didn’t ask about Emi’s tests, but both knew it would be a discussion the next day. The weekend. Finally. 

      Emi wouldn’t have to see Yoru’s face for a whole two days. It would just be her, her homework, and her mother. Not too bad. 

      Saturday and Sunday were restful. Monday, nothing happened. Tuesday, nothing happened. Wednesday, her mother was supposed to go to the school for a meeting to discuss what Yoru and his friends were doing. It was successful. On Thursday, they found out Yoru wouldn’t return to this junior high and his friends got suspended. After spring break, third year would be good. 

      Or so Emi thought (her gut told her otherwise beforehand). 

      Takashi stopped talking to her Friday, ignored every attempt of her trying to talk to him and every call and text. 

      “I just wanna know what I did wrong.” Emi stared at her food as before. She was eating, just half her normal portions. 

      “Sometimes people drift because of reasons that they did not make,” her mother said. “His family does have a history of cutting connections with others if the connections are getting too deep. It may be just tradition.” 

      “Why? I don’t know if that’s completely right.” 

      “It may not be, my dear. But there is a bit of truth in the tradition.” 

      “What do you mean?” 

      Her mother put another shrimp on her plate. “Relationships that are too deep may become burdens. It may not be true in every circumstance, but it has meaning in some. Eat more, my dear. Your food is getting cold.” 

      Relationships that are too deep may become burdens. There was a bit of truth to that. 

      Relationships that are too deep may become burdens. 

      Was that why she was thankful when she moved to Kunugigaoka?

Chapter Text

May 15th

      Asano had nearly snapped at Ren maybe five times since the day started. Ren hated that his friend was emotionally repressed… and unavailable. 

      Who cared? He’d dealt with it for a long time now but last year was an eye-opening experience. 

      He walked home after some student council meeting as always, with his name at second place. Seo was third, Koyama fourth. And wow, Araki had his place taken by a certain someone. 

      Ren smiled to himself. Yeah… today was funny. Not just because Asano and Karma tied, but also because Emi stole Araki’s place. Araki would probably kill him for saying that (he knew from experience). 

      He liked that Emi still saw him as a friend. They were always more like best friends in their relationship—he guessed he preferred that to the sappy stuff some girls wanted from him (like romantic Hallmark movie type stuff). He was glad she still knew him. 

      He was walking home past the small strip mall that was next to his house and saw a familiar face standing on a wall, smoking. 

      Maybe familiar wasn’t the right word. The face was more… punchable. 

      Ren just gave him a little smile. But not a nice one.  

      Yoru didn’t know how to respond to that. 

      Ren chuckled to himself. Yoru was so easy to tease. 

________

      Ren got home soon enough. His mother would be home in about two hours, and his dad was already home but on some business call. 

      He went to his room, not having anything else to do. Maybe he could date another girl (his parents weren’t around enough to notice anyways). Or maybe something interesting would happen at Kunugigaoka that didn’t have to do with grades. 

      There was a certain window in his room that he never really locked. His house had a pretty good security system, and he trusted it. 

      He went to his desk to work on homework. It only took him about an hour anyways everyday. 

      Someone knocked on his window and opened it. 

      “Sorry, is this a bad time?” Emi smiled softly, with her backpack on her shoulders. 

      Ren stared at her for a second then said, “no. It’s not. Come in, Emi.” He helped her through the window. 

      “Sorry, I didn’t know where else to go,” Emi said once the two were face to face. She’d slipped her backpack off and placed it under the window. 

      “I thought so. … What’s going on?”

      Emi frowned, taking a moment. “Yeah, um… that.” She took a breath. “Just school stuff.” 

      Ren sat her down on his bed, seeing how she was swaying, probably from running. “Explain that to me.” 

      Emi blinked slowly. “What’s the…” —she stopped herself with a scoff— “why did Asano want me to join the big five?” 

      Ren stared at her with a confused look. “He asked you to do that?” 

      Emi did a double take. “He didn’t tell you?” 

      Ren smiled. “Asano sometimes does things without telling us first. When it happens, he’ll say why, but that’s all we get.” 

      Emi inhaled deeply. “Oh,” she commented, “I’m sorry he does that.” 

      Ren kept that small smile on his face. “It’s alright. He’s done it since before I knew him.” 

      “I see.” Emi looked at her feet then back at Ren. “Are you okay?” 

      “Yeah, of course.” Ren had a love-hate relationship with Emi’s ability to read people. “You wanna know who I saw today?” 

      “I think I saw him too on the way here.” 

      “Yoru?” 

      “Yes. Wait, what’d you do when you did?” 

      “When I saw him?”

      “Yeah.” 

      “I gave him a little smile.” 

      “No way, me too.” Emi held up her hand. 

      The two high-fived. 

      Emi laughed. “He does not know how to respond to it either.” 

      “Yeah, I’m liking it.” Ren chuckled. 

      Emi rested into a grin. “Oh wait, real talk. Are you excited for our school trip?” 

      “Yeah, for sure. Don’t know how it’s gonna work this year though.” 

      “Do you want spoilers?” 

      Ren stared at her for a good second before saying, “yes.” 

      “We are going to Osaka.” 

      “Just the first years?” 

      Emi nodded. “And we get to be in groups of six. So maybe I’ll get to hang out with you guys a bit more.” 

      “What about Karma?” 

      “He’s gonna ditch anyways. He told me earlier.” 

      “How many people have you given spoilers to?” 

      “Only you two, don’t worry.” 

      Ren smiled. “Alright.” 

      They just looked at each other for a bit as the air became quiet. Emi turned a bit more towards Ren, and he did the same back. 

      Her grin slowly became a frown. “Ren?” 

      “Yes, Em?”

      “How do you survive?” 

      “Survive?” 

      “Here. Survive here. I mean, how do you keep thriving? Cuz I’ve done it my whole life but it’s just… harder now.” 

      Ren took one of her hands in his, trying to just relax her. “I don’t know. Just do it.”

      Emi only stared at him, not responding, squeezing his hand a bit and clenching her free one. 

      He continued. “Think about it like this.” His grip on her hand also tightened. “Let’s say life is an ocean.”

      Emi smiled a small smile, loosening her hand from his. She loved his metaphors. 

      “You’re swimming in it.”

      Emi nodded. 

      “Let’s say that there’s a shore on the other side where you’re happy. What are you thinking?” 

      “I just keep fighting?” 

      “It’s all you can do.” Ren frowned, looking into her eyes with a solid look. 

      Emi broke eye contact first to stare at their gripped hands. She squeezed a few times. “Alright, I’ll do that.” 

      “But tell me if things get tough. I’ll always be here to help you.”

      “Yeah, of course.” Emi nodded. 

      Ren looked at the window, then back at her. “Do you wanna stay here for a bit?” 

      Emi shook her head. “I don’t wanna keep you waiting on me.” 

      “Don’t worry about it. You’ve got maybe two hours till my mom’s home. You know my dad likes you.” 

      Emi smiled. “Yeah, you’re right.” She slid off the bed and grabbed her backpack. 

      It wasn’t like it hadn’t happened before with Emi laying her shoes by the window and doing homework on Ren’s bed or floor while he worked at his desk. Just hadn’t happened in awhile. 

      “Will your mom be worried?” Ren asked after they’d gotten settled. 

      “No, she knows I’m out doing something school-related.” Emi shrugged. “She can’t care less as long as my grades stay up.” 

      “Right.” 

      Both continued working. Ren finished first since he wasn’t as methodical as Emi. She always took too long on her homework. 

      She was getting better at it though because she finished only half an hour after Ren.

      Emi turned towards him, dropping papers on the floor. “I’m done now. What do you wanna do?” 

      “Good question.” Ren turned in his chair towards her. “Wanna eat?” 

      “Yes, sir.” Emi hopped off the bed and grabbed her wristlet. “Will your mom be worried?” 

      “You know the answer to that.”

      Emi chuckled. “Okay, fair.” 

      They exited out the front door of the house and walked to somewhere. They only talked a lot more. Emi had Ren read one of her new poems and edit it, saying that he was the only person she’d trust to do that. Then Ren ranted about how he couldn’t figure out what this new sonnet he read meant. They discussed it (as nerds do). Then they got caught up on life. Ren hadn’t seen Emi since the beginning of the school year. 

      Everything was nice. Emi felt like she was standing on the shore of her ocean. But another tidal wave would come soon. And we can only hold on for so long until we drown.

Chapter Text

May 16th

      Karma liked it when trips were coming up. Everything slowed down for even just a few days, and teachers prepped for the new quarter, but they weren’t waiting for any tests. 

      He liked to hang out with people on days like this. Mostly Rio or Nagisa. He still felt weird calling her Rio, but she’d insisted before. 

      He was walking to the train station when he saw a few other people from Kunugigaoka. He always hated all those stupid people who used to make fun of E class. It was just a bit goofy. 

      Eh. They also made everything ten times more funny because they were so stupid. 

      He kept thinking about principal Aoki, trying to decipher her philosophy and how she worked, about whether or not that woman was a good person, a good mom, a good principal. She seemed to be a little more straightforward (and stable) than principal Asano. 

      Eh. Whatever. He’d figure it out. 

      He met up with Rio at a cafe. They often did homework together there while catching up on life. Life was always so busy for both of them, so the time off was relaxing. 

      “You doing okay?” Karma asked. 

      Rio smiled. “Yeah, it’s all great. How ‘bout you?” 

      “Things are off to an interesting start.” Karma smiled back. 

      “What’d you place?” 

      “First.” 

      “What’d Asano place?” Rio grinned slyly. 

      Karma matched it. “First.” 

      Rio snickered. “Seriously? Full scores on everything?” 

      “Yep.” 

      Rio took a sip of her coffee. She figured she’d get used to the taste of it at least… if she was gonna be a diplomat. 

      “How about yourself?” Karma asked. 

      “Oh, you know—” Rio held up a picture on her phone— “first place above these prep school jerks. Who’s laughing now?” 

      “Hey, that’s awesome. Seriously.” Karma sipped his strawberry milk. He leaned back in his chair, staring out the window they sat by. “Nothing’s changed, has it?” 

      It took a second but Rio understood what he meant. She shook her head. “It really hasn’t.” She mindlessly stirred her coffee even though it’d been stirred enough. “Guess that’s a good thing for us.” 

      “What’s that mean?”

      “We’re still beating people who never thought an E-class kid would get them.” 

      Karma laughed. “Yeah, I was at a dead end before that.” 

      Rio smiled. “Hey, where’s your school trip to?” 

      “Us? Osaka, apparently.” 

      “Us too!” 

      “So I shouldn’t ditch?” 

      “Yeah, go on the trip. Then let’s ditch our groups, and do something else.” 

      Karma smirked. “Alright, what are you thinking?” 

      Rio matched his expression. “You’re thinking about something specific.” 

      “Not really.” Karma crushed his strawberry milk carton. “Let’s just have some fun. If trouble happens, then trouble happens.” 

      They were about a few inches from each other’s faces. They had this little eye-contact-blinking thing they did to signal that they still shared one braincell. And with that, they confirmed their plan to ditch their groups and do whatever they wanted for the day when they got to Osaka. 

      Then Karma asked how her clubs were, and she talked about how English club was so fun, and she might be able to do an exchange thing or something… next year. 

      Karma talked about his stupid student council position and how he wasn’t really interested. “But you know how Asano is. Won’t stop til he gets his way.” 

      Rio shrugged. “Yeah, but he’s still pissed about you being in A-class, right?” 

      “Pretty much.” 

      Rio smiled. She still loved all the drama at Kunugigaoka. That was why Karma had told her about Emi first thing after the day Emi had joined A-class. 

      After a bit, the two teens did their homework for a bit.

      They decided it was good to split from the cafe and leave in the evening. 

      Karma walked the rest of the way home. He didn't really feel like taking the train during such a busy time. 

      And walks home were always nice during the last day or two before the trip. When everything was so slow, less busy. Everything moved by casually (at least to Karma). 

      Once he got home, he decided he should eat something. Korosensei had always pushed him to eat three meals a day and take care of himself; so, out of respect (and totally not out of the fact that he actually started taking care of himself), he ate three meals a day. 

      After dinner came the best part of the day: laying down and doing nothing. The highlight of his day. Seriously, it was so relieving to just lie down and do nothing. 

      Nagisa texted him. 

Nagisa: Hey, u wanna hang out over the weekend after our trips?

Karma: Sure, where? 

Nagisa: Anywhere :)

Karma: Alr just tell me a place and I’ll figure it out 

Nagisa: Sure cool! 

      Karma smiled. Yeah, he was excited for the trip. Especially because of that plan he made with Rio. 

      Ahhh trips were always so so fun. Who knew what would happen in Osaka?

________

      As anyone would’ve guessed, Asano didn’t really have much of a social life… or any close friends for that matter. Really, did Ren even count? Asano was fully aware of that though… fully. 

      And his dad… that’s another story. 

      The dinner table was always quiet unless his dad asked about something. He didn’t even like his dad so he didn’t mind sitting silently for thirty minutes… eating. Gross. 

      “How is principal Aoki doing? Just as well as I expected?” Asano Sr. asked. 

      “She’s everything we thought of her,” Asano Jr. replied. “She is a shrewd woman, but she doesn’t seem to have a philosophy that is akin to yours.” 

      “Well, I expected her aptitude to not reach mine.” Asano Sr. smiled. “She focuses on top marks as do I. But she wishes only to win. As you know, son, I wish to destroy.” 

      “And here I thought you were giving up on your philosophy.” 

      “Son, you must know that I never give up or give in. I will return to my position somehow.” 

      Asano Jr. hated the fact that that was 100% possible. “We’ll see. Won’t we?” 

      “Yes, son, we will see.” Asano Sr. got up, left his seat, cold as always. 

      Asano Jr. would kill that man somehow. Not literally. Just that man’s reputation. He wanted to see his father’s face of defeat, something he’d never seen. 

      Karma could sense Asano Jr.’s unhappiness. He could sense something growing hahah, something that would affect the school. So maybe not a hahah but still a funny thing that Asano Jr. was pissed about something again. 

      The sun was setting at that hour, twilight coming upon the city. The moon had risen. Well. The crescent. And there were always two stars somewhere above the crescent. 

      Since Karma had a balcony (because why not), he would always look at the crescent moon for at least five minutes before sleeping. 

      Whenever he did that though, he knew he was doing it to pay a debt he couldn’t pay. 

      Was that why he climbed the mountain everyday? Was it because he felt like he owed a debt to it?

Chapter Text

May 17th

      Oh picture day aka the worst day ever.  

      Emi and Ren always found a way to ditch right after taking all their photos. They used to do it when they went to different schools but could plan better now since they went to the same school. It had been two years. This was the third. 

      And it was always the day right before the trips too, so that the students wouldn’t “miss anything.” 

      Because Heaven forbid they miss one day of school. 

      Anyways. 

      Since they weren’t gonna miss anything, they’d ditch. They knew their parents would know. Their parents always knew but never really cared. 

      Emi’s mom was only strict on grades, so she didn’t care if Emi ditched the day before a trip if Emi got in the top ten of the class. 

      Ren’s parents just didn’t pay much attention to anything related to him (except for the thing with his mother hating Emi). 

      Anyways, they’d decided to ditch to Ren’s house for an hour then Kunugi-kaze (the cafe Isogai worked at). (Of course, Emi didn’t know this.) 

      Before this, everyone was being ushered in line, and there were too many lights and whatnots. Too many people. 

      Karma also ditched to somewhere after because he also hated the day for yearbook photos. His parents were always out of town anyways, so they didn’t do anything about it. 

      Asano didn’t ditch. He couldn’t. Even though he absolutely despised it, he stood there with everyone else who didn’t have the means to ditch. Because why would he ditch in the first place? He LOVED this school (lies).

      Anyways. 

      Emi and Ren sat across from each other at the cafe, talking as much as the last time they were with each other. 

      Emi smiled. “I always look the worst in the yearbook.” 

      “No, you don’t. I always look bad,” Ren replied. 

      “Shut. Up. You are lying.” 

      Ren shook his head and showed her a picture on his phone. “I look really bad.” 

      Emi’s eyes widened. “No, that’s fake.” 

      “Last year.” 

      “Gross.” 

      The two laughed. 

      “The camera people are always awful at taking pictures,” Emi said. 

      Ren smiled. “It’s just not my day.” 

      The server came by and asked for their order. 

      Emi looked at him a certain way. Uh oh. Ren knew those eyes. Those were eyes of interest, the same eyes she’d looked at him with two years ago. 

      Ren’s eyebrows furrowed. 

      “What?” Emi teased. “You jealous or something?” 

      Ren shook his head. “That guy just has a bad history with our school… and Araki.” 

      “What do you mean?” 

      “He was part of E class.” 

      Emi put two fingers on each temple. “What is happening? I’m learning so much today.” 

      Ren frowned. 

      Emi pursed her lips. 

      Ren wanted to find something else to think about, so he pulled out his phone. 

      “Wait,” Emi spoke up, “what’s the history?” 

      Ren looked annoyed but answered anyways. “He was in E class and fought Araki for the top spot in social studies.” 

      “Oh, why’s that such a big deal?” 

      “There’s too much to explain. But basically, we made a stupid bet with E class cuz they claimed they could get more top spots than us in each subject.” 

      “Were they wrong?” 

      “No.” 

      “Oh…” Emi paused, changing her tone. “Was that really a bad thing?” 

      Ren thought about it. “Not exactly.” 

      Emi knew something else happened but didn’t ask about it. She wanted to know everything since she was always too curious for her own good.

      “I mean, there was something else that happened.” 

      Emi laughed internally. “What?”

      “We challenged them again.” 

      “Again?” 

      “To pole toppling.” 

      “What.” 

      “And they won.” 

      “What.” 

      “Yeah.” 

      “How did that happen?” 

      Ren opened his mouth to say something but ended up shutting it. He thought about it. 

      “They defeated you even though they were a smaller class?” 

      Ren shook his head. “I don’t know what happened.” 

      Emi nodded. 

      The waiter came by with their drinks. 

      Once he left, Emi asked, “why does he have to work here?” 

      “Why are you asking?” 

      “Just wondering.” 

      Right. Ren knew Emi was super curious about everything. “Apparently he needed the money or something.” 

      “Oh.” Emi frowned. “That sucks. You’d think Kunugigaoka would be more forgiving to a student like that.” 

      Ren cringed to himself internally. “Yeah, he studied well.” 

      “Like Karma well or like me well?” 

      “You well.” 

      “Why’d he get sent to E class then?” Emi tracked him with her eyes. 

      Ren saw her tracking him. “I was not a very good person. So wasn’t Asano. Or any of the big five.” 

      “I find that hard to believe.” 

      Ren opened his mouth to speak again until another group of kids walked in, all in various uniforms. 

      Karma was with them, and there was one brunette and one blonde girl, a blue haired guy, and an orange haired guy. 

      The history guy saw them, and the six of them immediately got lost in a conversation. Then the five got seated, and the history guy went to do something else. 

      Emi put a smile on her face. “So… how’s student council?” 

      She knew Ren could rant about how much that sucked for at least seven minutes. She also knew she could sympathize with at least most of it. He then asked her about choir, and she was all positive. She did genuinely think Kunugigaoka had a lovely choir. 

      Emi also knew school hours were over by that time after checking her phone. Some of those girls were texting her. 

      She wondered how the history guy got to the cafe so early to work. Did he also ditch, or did he have a shorter day, or…?

      Emi stopped thinking after Ren started talking about literature or something. 

      Emi’s phone buzzed. 

Today 4:07 PM 

Karma: Fancy seeing you here

Emi: Hahah, yeah, watcha doing here?

Karma: Just w friends

Emi: Same

      Emi chuckled. “Sorry, Karma texted.” 

      “Figured,” Ren replied. “Are you doing okay right now?” 

      “Yeah,” Emi answered. “You?” 

      Ren nodded. “Nothing’s different.” 

      Emi frowned. “It seems like a lot of it is.” 

      “How?” 

      “I’m here now.” 

      Ren smiled. “Yeah, it’s better this way.” 

      “I beat Araki.” 

      “That was funny.” 

      Emi smiled. The two held eye contact for a second before getting sidetracked with something. They then decided they’d leave soon since nothing was really happening and they had places to be. 

      When they got up to leave though, they passed Karma’s table. 

      He made eye contact with Emi. “Hey, Emi, you should say hi.” 

      He knew he’d made it the most awkward it could be. And Emi didn’t like it but stopped to be polite. 

      “I’ll wait for you outside,” Ren muttered to her then left. 

      Emi just tried to smile. “Yeah, uh, hey, Karma. Need something?”

      “No, my friends were just wondering who you were. That’s all.” 

      “Oh, that’s fine.” She looked at the group. “Hi, guys, I’m Emi. I sit in front of Karma in class.” 

      “I’m Kataoka. Pleased to meet you,” the brunette said. She talked and sat so diplomatically. 

      “‘Sup, I’m Nakamura. But I don’t mind if you call me Rio. You seem nice,” the blonde said. 

      “Oh,” Emi stated. “Thanks.” 

      “I’m Shiota Nagisa, but I’d prefer if you’d call me Nagisa,” the blue haired one said. 

      “Wassup, I’m Maehara,” the orange guy said. 

      Emi chuckled to herself. Typical flirt. Exactly like Ren when they first met. 

      “So, where’d you guys all meet?” She asked. 

      “E class,” Karma replied. “Thought my friends should know who you are.” 

      “Oh, yeah, that makes sense.” Emi nodded. “I just have to go. Ren and I are going to a little thing tonight.” 

      “Ren?” Rio asked. “You guys dating?” 

      Emi should’ve known Rio had no filter. “Used to.”

      “Rad,” Rio replied. 

      “I’ll see you guys?” 

      “See ya.” Karma smiled. 

      Emi walked outside, smiling at Ren. They left soon enough back to Ren’s house. 

      Kataoka made eye contact with Karma. “That’s Emi?” 

      “What?” Karma said. 

      “You didn’t tell us she was a nice A class person,” Maehara said. 

      “Did she and Ren ditch to get here early?” Nagisa asked. 

      “Yeah, we share the same hate for picture day.” Karma shrugged. 

      “Yeah, but you’re lying when you say that’s the principal’s daughter.” Maehara was staring at the entrance to the cafe. 

      Isogai came around to refill drinks and whatnot. “What was that about?” 

      “Just thought Emi should meet my friends,” Karma said like before. 

      Isogai didn’t question it and asked what drinks everyone needed refills of. He rubbed Kataoka’s shoulder before leaving. 

      Nagisa noticed Karma’s satchel with the big, Korosensei yearbook in it. His eyes were always too sharp. “Hey, why do you still carry that thing?” 

      Karma looked at it then smiled. “That? Just for keep-sees.”

      Nagisa nodded. “Should we look at it?” 

      Before Karma could answer, Rio had already lugged it out of the satchel and placed it on the table. “Yes, just to make fun of all of Maehara’s pictures.” 

      “But. Why me?” Maehara asked, dejected in his seat. 

      “Cuz,” Rio answered and opened the yearbook to a random page. “Hah, see?” She set it in the middle of the table (which shook). 

      Maehara covered the picture with his hand. “You suck!” He and Rio made eye contact, then started laughing. 

      They were still five years old mentally. 

      Kataoka slid the yearbook closer to herself and flipped through the pages. She found a page where it talked about her and Isogai being class representatives. 

      She smiled.

      “Come on, drop the tea,” Rio teased. 

      Kataoka just shook her head with a smile. “Oh, come on. If I do, you have to also.” 

      “Yes, ma’am.” Rio saluted her.

      Kataoka laughed and turned the yearbook towards the group. “Well, see, Isogai and I, we both went to the same school. Since we only knew each other, we spent a lot of downtime together. Eventually, it just led to a confession and some feelings.” She smiled, looking at the page. 

      “Is he doing better now in terms of money?” Nagisa asked. 

      “That’s one way to describe it.” Kataoka frowned. 

      “He’s still having a hard time, but he’s been better,” Maehara mentioned. 

      “His mother’s doing better too,” Kataoka added. “When I last heard from her, she was able to help with simple chores around the house. We’re not completely out of the woods, but we’re halfway there.” 

      “Luckily, we’ve been weighing in. Since the two of us can have jobs now, we’re using the extra money to help Isogai.” 

      Nagisa nodded. “Wow, you guys have set up a great support system for him.” 

      Kataoka nodded back. “I’m glad it’s there.” She turned her head to Rio and made eye contact. “Now that that’s clear, I want to talk about Rio. It’s always something new with her.” 

      Rio’s smirk became a little smile. “I’m actually not seeing anyone right now. And I know I’m not as interesting as Maehara, whose list of exes is longer than the dictionary.” 

      “You know what—“ Maehara pushed her playfully. She nudged him, and, eventually, they found themselves giggling again. Like five year olds. 

      When Rio finished laughing, she had that little smirk she always had. “Yeah, did you and Okano work out?” 

      Maehara shook his head. “As much as I liked her, she kinda didn’t treat me like an actual guy. She was always calling me names and stuff which were half-warranted, I guess.” 

      Nagisa and Kataoka nodded. 

      “Yeah, I did notice that in her behavior,” Kataoka replied. “Sorry it had to go that way.” 

      Maehara shrugged. “No, it’s okay, honestly. It was back in April, and we agreed to stay friends. Plus I’m already talking with another girl.” 

      “Of course you are,” Karma said a bit slyly. 

      “Who?” Rio asked, leaning in with eager eyes. 

      “Kurahashi,” Maehara answered, smiling to himself. His phone pinged, and he immediately picked it up. “Guys, she texted me.” His voice was all childish and giddy. “She wants to hang out.” 

      Isogai came around again. “Who?” 

      “He has a thing for the one and only Kurahashi.” Rio nudged Maehara. 

      Isogai just paused, before nodding slowly. “I guess I should’ve seen that one coming.” 

      Kataoka made eye contact with him and smiled. “Aside from that, I talked to them about us, just like you asked.” 

      Isogai smiled back. “Thanks. I thought it’d be better if you guys all knew anyhow.” 

      Then silence happened at the table. Nothing else happened until Rio just started chuckling because of the silence. 

      She ended up striking another conversation, which included possibly ambushing Ren and Emi at the thing they were going to. 

      Yeah, life was great. Karma’d missed most of simple stuff like this. Now that they were all at different schools with different things going on, they couldn’t really hang out like before. But there were moments. And times. 

      They ate and eventually left to go do something else, aka go to the arcade. Maehara was texting Kurahashi the whole time while everyone else played games. 

      That was one of the moments. One of the times. That huge, Korosensei yearbook was a collection of lots of moments and times. If only they could add more and show their teacher. If only they could travel to the half-broken moon and find him there and show him everything they’d been doing. 

      They slept peacefully that night. All at Karma’s apartment. 

Chapter Text

May 17th

      Emi and Ren were going to a concert. Together. Cuz they obviously have the same taste in music (duh). 

      Both of them were kinda obsessed with this one band. It was a dream come true for Emi, and for Ren, he just was thankful to actually have someone fun to go with. 

      Anyways, they had to walk to and from, so they took every precaution possible. Pepper spray. Emergency contacts (Karma can count as an emergency contact, right?). The works. 

      The concert itself went really well, and Emi and Ren just kept making eye contact. They mouthed things like “I love this—” or— (with a dropped jaw) “that was amazing.” Emi cried at some point, a few tears of joy or whatever happens when you listen to your favorite band. 

      At the end of the concert, Emi and Ren were slaphappy but managed to make a coherent plan. 

      They walked out to the small parking lot of the venue, just talking. They stopped for a second outside just to get some fresh air and let the leaving crowd die down a bit. 

      “Right? It was so good. Thank you so much for taking me,” Emi said, a grin on her face. “That was literally the best night of my life.” 

      “Of course, Em,” Ren replied. “Do you mind staying here while I go to the bathroom?” 

      Emi shook her head. “Have fun in there, Ren.” 

      Ren chuckled. “Sure.” 

      Emi nodded, standing alone for a bit as most of the crowd had died down, back against a wall as she waited. 

      Three minutes passed, and a man stepped in front of her.

      “Figured I’d find you here,” Yoru said. 

      “Are you serious?” Emi asked in a dry tone, immediately frowning. “Why…” —was all Emi could get out. It was all her brain wanted to know. Really. Why?

      “I’ve just got something to settle with you.” 

      “What? What could you possibly need to settle?!” 

      Yoru was about to say something when Ren came out of the bathroom. Yoru smirked. “You still hanging out with this slut?” 

      Emi’s jaw dropped. “Do not ever call him a slut again, you hear me?!” She pushed him. “Call him that again, and-and I’ll… um…” 

      Yoru just kept a smile on his face. 

      Emi’s mouth hung open for a second before she shut it. 

      Ren walked over finally. “Emi, what’s going—“

      “She’s all mad cuz I called you a slut,” Yoru interrupted. 

      “I’m gonna—“ Emi started. 

      “You’re gonna what, doll? Punch me? Push me again? Slice my hand with a glass bottle, hit me with your backpack and run, go crying to your mommy for help?” 

      “I-I,” Emi stuttered, shaking her head. 

      Ren pulled her back towards himself. “Emi, lemme handle this. He’s got something over you. But he’s got nothing with me.” 

      Emi nodded and backed herself into the wall, panting lightly. 

      Ren’s brows furrowed. “What do you want, Yoru?” 

      “This is between me and her,” Yoru replied.

      “Why now? Why, after a whole year of not doing anything?” 

      “This isn’t your fight, Saki,” Yoru mocked. 

      “Ren, please, he’s right,” Emi protested. 

      “Emi, I don’t want him to hurt you,” Ren responded, locking eyes with her. 

      Emi shook her head. “It’s not that.” 

      “Has Emi ever told you who her father is?” Yoru grinned. 

      Ren looked confused. “No? What’s that got to do with this?” 

      Emi stepped forward. “Ren, please, you don’t need to know about this.” 

      Ren looked back at her. "What's happening, Emi?" 

      Emi stepped a few more steps so she matched with Ren. “Something you don’t need to know about.” 

      “I don’t wanna leave you.” 

      “Then just step back.” 

      “Emi—“ 

      “Ren, trust me.” Emi glared at him then at Yoru. “I’ve gotta deal with this.” 

      Ren did as he was told, backing into the wall Emi was originally at. Whatever was happening, he hated how Emi was reacting to it. Her bones shook, and her muscles tensed up. Ren could see that she didn’t want to do what she was doing. But she was doing it. And that was the scary part. 

      Emi handed him her things before facing Yoru. “What do you want?” She asked calmly. 

      “For you to come with me,” Yoru answered. “Your dad wants to see you again.” 

      “My dad’s gone. Tell your boss I said no,” Emi replied. “But you have trouble understanding that word, ‘no.’”

      “Don’t bring it back to that—“ 

      “No, I’m going to because you obviously are still mad that I was able to escape. I hurt your poor ego cuz you couldn’t control your tiny d*ck. That’s your problem, not mine.” 

      Ren cracked a smile. 

      “You wanna know why I did that?!” Yoru shouted. 

      Emi couldn’t describe the feeling in her stomach. “Why? Did your sugar daddy tell you to—“ 

      “No, I had business with a certain family that wanted you out of the picture.” 

      Emi went quiet for a minute. 

      Yoru scoffed. “Yeah, the Takashis? You heard of them?” 

      Emi felt her mouth get drier and drier as it stayed open. Her lips kept trying to form words as she scoffed. “You and… Takashi?” 

      Yoru nodded with a smirk on his stupid face. 

      “No, you’re lying.” 

      “Emi, if I was lying, you would’ve known by now.” 

      Emi shook her head. “I can’t… what? What’s? I’m… uh… what does my dad have to do with this?” 

      “Oh, they also wanted your dad out of the picture.” Yoru shrugged. “They figured he’d go after me if I killed you. It was just the easy option.” 

      Emi clenched her fists. She shouted something and yelled, “are you kidding me?!” 

      Yoru chuckled. “No, but you wish I was.” 

      Emi grunted and punched his arm. “To hell with this bs! To hell with the Takashis! To hell with YOU!” 

      Yoru grinned. “Finally, you’re bringing out your true power. You’ve been holding ba—“ 

      Emi punched his face. “Shut up and fight if you’re so good.” 

      “Fine!” Yoru went for her throat. He was always a straight to the point guy when it came to combat. Too bad his d*ck stopped him from being like that during any assassination. 

      Emi was good. Good at fighting. 

      Ren watched, frozen in his place. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, what he was hearing. Was that Emi? Was that really Emi? Was that the same person he was with an hour ago crying over a stupid song about love? Was that her? 

      A flash. Some loud noise. And it was over. 

      Emi ended back by Ren again. She made eye contact with a confused look on her face. 

      After a second, Emi found golden eyes making eye contact with her. “Hahah, you should’ve told us you have daddy issues. I sure would’ve related.” 

      “Karma?” Emi exclaimed. “What? How did you—“ 

      “Just had a bad feeling. And everyone was sleeping over, so we came and did some recon.” He motioned for everyone to step up. 

      “This might be a bad time to talk about that.” Emi glanced up at Ren. 

      “I gotta go anyways,” Ren replied. “Call me if you need anything, Em.”

      “Thank you, Ren.” Emi hugged him before he could leave. 

      He rubbed her arm and handed her her things. “Bye.” 

      Emi waved. 

      Once he walked away, Rio asked, “are you sure you’re not dating?”

      Emi chuckled. “Yeah.” 

      Maehara hauled Yoru onto his shoulder. “What’s this guys deal?” 

      Emi’s face fell. “Oh. That.” She paused. “I think I should ask you guys where you got the skills to do recon like that.” 

      “Gag order,” Karma replied. 

      “I know.” 

      “I doubt that,” Kataoka said. 

      Emi shook her head. “We can trade pasts in more detail some other time.” 

      “Uh, what do you mean?” Nagisa asked. 

      Emi scowled. “Catch on, geez. You guys learned about reading people, right?” 

      The group of six exchanged glances. What. Why was she asking about that? 

      “Where’d you learn to fight like that?” Karma asked, smirking. 

      “Where’d you learn to conceal carry a shock stick really badly?” Emi asked, making eye contact with Maehara. 

      Isogai sighed. “To answer your question: we did learn about reading people, but some people in our class were better at it than others.” 

      “Isn’t the prized pupil here?” Emi glared. “Ask him what I mean when I say my dad knew your teacher.” She began walking off towards the sidewalk. 

      “Wait,” Nagisa exclaimed. “We had Ritsu do some research on you. I hope you know who Ritsu is.”

      “Of course I know her.”

      “Well, we didn’t believe her when she said you had something to do with Korosensei. I also hope you know who that is.” 

      “Of course I do. My dad got groomed by him.” 

      Rio and Karma started snickering to themselves.

      Emi side-eyed them. They were so smart yet so… stupid. 

      Nagisa decided to continue. “Well, uh, I’m guessing that was caused by your dad trying to kill Korosensei.” 

      Emi saw something, then pulled everyone away from the building. “Let’s not talk about this near any cameras.” 

      “What should I do with this guy?” Maehara asked, poking Yoru’s butt. 

      Emi laughed. “Just set him here. He’ll wake up at some point.” 

      Maehara exchanged glances with Isogai who shrugged. He set Yoru down in the parking lot. 

      Everyone walked towards the sidewalk. 

      “So how do you know what happened in our classroom? You’ve been playing dumb for awhile,” Karma commented. 

      “Yeah, I played dumb and weak so no one would catch onto me being the daughter of an assassin. You would’ve caught on in two seconds.” Emi put her hands in her skirt’s waistband. 

      “Cold?” Nagisa asked. 

      “Just my hands.” Emi smiled. “Anyways, yeah, I didn’t want Karma knowing that I knew about what happened at the mountain. And that I had reason to. I wanted to feel normal to him. I’d played up the sweet girl back in junior high around Yoru, just to keep him from seeing me as a threat.” 

      “Did your dad ever tell you about the mountain?” Isogai asked. 

      “Well, uh…” Emi swiped a hand down her face. “How do I say this without you guys freaking out? My mom and dad were inner workers of the whole… reaper… operation. My dad knew Karasuma—love that man, by the way.” 

      “Seconded,” Kataoka said. 

      “But yeah, my dad knew about Korosensei because of Yanagisawa—hate that man, by the way. And through Karasuma and all the meetings the government had behind your backs.” 

      “What about your mom?” Nagisa asked. 

      “Oh, she was also a government worker. She was a secretary. My dad’s secretary.” 

      Rio and Maehara chuckled. 

      “I’m gonna strangle you guys.” 

      They tried to hold back their chuckles as best they could. 

      Emi continued. “My dad was part of the special forces. But then he discovered Lovro and started getting bookings from that man a few years ago.” 

      “Lovro? Miss Bitch’s handler?” Isogai said. 

      Emi nodded. “Right? My dad knew your hot, English teacher. And he worked with her on a mission once.”

      “Huh?” The group of six said. 

      “Anyways, he just got into that life. My mom decided to live separately from him cuz he was focusing too much on his assassin work. My dad taught me stuff up until like a month ago.” 

      The other six nodded, making weird eye contact with each other. They had to wrap their minds around the whole story they’d just gotten. Emi was the daughter of an assassin who 1: knew Lovro. 2: worked with Miss Bitch on a mission. 3: also knew Yanagisawa, Karasuma, and Korosensei—even before he was an octopus. And 4: worked with the government. 

      “Oh yeah, my dad still got to visit me every month. Those were the times when he’d gush about his new missions. So he used to tell me top secret info. Like Korosensei. And he’d give me regular updates on how you guys were doing. And you guys all sounded really talented.” Emi stared into space. 

      Everyone had to wrap their minds around that too. Emi’s dad gave regular updates about them?

      “Were the updates about us good?” Kataoka asked in a genuine tone. 

      “Oh yeah, he loved you guys. He was so proud by the end. He advocated for you guys alongside Karasuma after you killed your teacher. Cuz you know? People were pissed that you broke into a government-operated, military camp.” Emi had a little, content smile on her face. 

      The other six were silent. That was nice to know. It was nice to know Karasuma did have a good support system within the government. It was also nice to know that people were helping E class even if those people got nothing in return. 

      “How is that guy that I picked up related to any of this?” Maehara said. 

      Emi inhaled deeply. “Yeah, Yoru. The people he's working for... I'm pretty sure they're part of the other side of the reaper operation, aka the side that was super averse to you guys. The side that wanted you all contained or dead.” 

      “They wanted us dead?” Isogai exclaimed. 

      “There were only a few people in that group. But it existed. And Yoru’s boss was one of those few, who now has a personal grudge again you all, some high schoolers.” 

      “Yeah, but he mentioned something that happened before all that,” Karma said. “Why’d he try to mess with you then?”

      “I think I figured out why today…” Emi replied. “His boss, who I think I know… maybe. That guy had something against my dad. No idea what that was, but it was there.” She shrugged. “Yoru followed orders. I escaped both of his attempts though cuz he’s just awful at being any kind of assassin.” 

      “Yeah, Maehara and I had trouble keeping it down from your jokes,” Rio said. 

      “Of course you did.” 

      Rio and Maehara chuckled a bit. Once they finished, it was silent. A bit of wind blew by, but it wasn’t very cold since it was nearing summer. 

      Karma nudged Emi. “Wanna sleepover?” 

      Emi shook her head. “I think I owe Ren a bit of an apology and explanation. See you guys.” 

      “You’ll be safe, right?” Nagisa asked. 

      Emi nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got it. Thanks, all of you. Goodnight.” 

      “Goodnight,” they all said, walking away. 

      Once they were gone, Emi frowned. For being so long, that night felt so short. She felt like a different person. But she knew that it was a better thing that Karma knew so her mind could rest easy. 

      She looked at the moon. Goodnight, Korosensei. Goodnight, father. 

Chapter Text

May 17th

      Despite the tiredness in his eyes, Ren decided he could at least read something. Or try to write. He couldn’t even fathom that night. He needed to get it out somewhere. 

      He grabbed a book of American poems. He was trying to get better at English because Seo always made fun of him. So he just read some stuff, trying to piece out the English, until he heard knocking on his window. 

      He saw Emi, and she looked… okay. She had a light bruise forming on one arm, but nothing other than that. 

      She stared, making eye contact for a second. After Ren didn’t move, she started to walk away. 

      Ren put his stuff down and ran to the window. “Wait, Emi?” 

      She turned around. “Yeah?” 

      “You know you can just come in, right?” 

      Emi smiled. “I just wasn’t sure if you wanted to see me after tonight.” 

      “No, of course I wanna see you.” Ren helped her through the window. “You wanna talk?” 

      Emi took a breath. “Yeah, I just can’t give every detail. A lot of it has to do with stuff that you can’t know.” 

      “How do you know about it?” 

      “I really shouldn’t know.” 

      “Can you at least tell me why and how?” 

      Emi paused. “I think so.” 

      Ren took her gently by the shoulder and led her to the bed. He moved his book over so she could sit. “Tell me then.” 

      Emi nodded. “Did you ever meet my dad?” 

      “I don’t think so.”

      “Yeah, he’s kinda important. Nothing bad except for the fact that he worked for the government. And later as an assassin.” 

      “What?” 

      “Don’t worry too much about it. You remember the scandal this year?” 

      “Yeah.” 

      “He was one of the guys who helped with that. Anyways—“

      “So he became an assassin after?” 

      “No, he was kinda half-half-ing it before that. But after like the beginning of this year, yeah, I guess he did transition fully.” 

      Ren nodded, pausing. After the pause, he asked, “but what does Yoru have to do with this?” 

      “Family rivalries.” 

      “Oh.” Ren nodded again. He thought about it for a minute while Emi sat there shaking her leg. “Emi.” 

      She snapped her head towards him. “Hm?” 

      “Is Yoru trying to kill you?” Ren asked with a genuine look. 

      Emi bit the inside of her lip for a second then spoke. “Yeah, that. I dunno. The thing is: he’s awful at doing anything related to killing.” 

      “Is he also an assassin?” 

      Emi stopped herself from answering, but the secret was already out. 

      Ren held her shoulder, squeezing it a bit. “Emi, can you tell me this? Please?” 

      “Ren, I can’t. I can’t say anymore than I have. I’ve said too much, and… I’m sorry I can’t tell you more.” Emi shook her head. “I would tell you if it didn’t mean I’d be putting you in danger.” 

      “Wouldn’t you take a bullet for me too?” 

      “Yes.” 

      Ren paused for a moment then sighed. He scoffed quietly. “Alright, I’m not gonna force you to tell me anything. But I worry about you. I don’t want you getting hurt.” 

      “You saw how good I am tonight. And I wish I wasn’t. I really do.” 

      “But?” 

      “But it’s the reality we have to deal with right now. So I’m sorry. But I can’t do anything about it and… if Yoru tries anything again, I promise I’ll tell you.”

      Ren took a deep breath. “Yeah, that… that sounds good.” 

      Emi put a hand on Ren's shoulder, giving a light squeeze, then got up and headed towards the window, reaching to open it. 

      Ren stood behind her. “Stay safe.” 

      Emi smiled. She faced him and hugged him. 

      Ren smiled, surprised for a second, holding her tight. He didn’t know why, but he wanted her to let go and also stay so badly. 

      They stayed like that for a good moment, then Emi let go and pushed herself off a bit. “Thank you, Ren. I promise this’ll all be over soon.” 

      Ren nodded. “When it is, you can tell me everything, right?” 

      “Yeah, everything.” Then Emi turned and slid out the window. “Bye.” 

      “Bye.” He waved, then closed the window. He took another deep breath. Yep. It would all be over soon. He had to trust that that would be true and have some faith that it would all work out. That was the only thing he could do. Trust Emi. 

Chapter Text

May 18th

      An empty hallway. Dreamy, yet dark and narrow, whispering thoughts upon thoughts. 

      Asano stared. The empty hallway of his house. He walked, steps crushing whispers, to where his father and mother’s bedroom was. Well. Mostly his father. He couldn’t count the number of times his mother had stayed in a hotel. Or at a friend’s house. 

      “Father?” He asked, voice echoing as he knocked on the bedroom door. It creaked open. Slowly. 

      An empty bedroom, clearer. Less dreamy, dim lighting, and awards stacked on shelves. Then the whispers disappeared as Asano stepped into it.

      And no one. No one was in the bedroom. He didn’t feel any warmth from it as always, but the cold felt different. He couldn’t explain why. It just did. 

      Asano shook his head and walked down the stairs into the living room, steps echoing once more. As cold air blew through the house, silence. Dead silence. But Asano had half-expected that. It was always dead unless his father had guests over or something, to put on a show for all those who never stepped behind the curtain. 

      Screw that. Whatever. 

      Asano decided he’d keep moving to the kitchen and the breakfast table. The place where he’d eaten so many lonely breakfasts. He saw his father’s condescending image flash in his father’s usual chair, glitching, then disappearing. 

      He turned his head to a flash of his mother leaning over the sink with a cup of water in her hands, an exhausted expression on her face, glitching, and again disappearing. He was glad it did. He hated seeing his mother that way. 

      The front door thudded open. That same cold air flowed through that chilled Asano’s spine. 

      A man stood at the door whom he didn’t recognize. The man had a gun definitely, a shock stick, and a knife, all concealed from sight. But Asano knew better. He could see right through the man. 

      He quickly scanned the area for any weapons and found a knife left on the counter. He grabbed it, not thinking about the man’s heavy, whisper-crushing footsteps. 

      Both swung their knives. 

      Asano’s conscience snapped him awake. Luckily, he was able to keep his eyes closed as was habit. But he could feel the sweat on his head. He threw off a part of his blanket. 

      He panted. What was that dream? Was that supposed to mean something? 

      He doubted it. After all, he was used to having nightmares. Some of them had become just quick scares instead of full nightmares, like the one he’d just had. He hated his brain. 

      He told himself just to go back to sleep. It wasn’t a big deal anyway. 

________

      They were boarding the subway to Osaka. The whole first year class. 

      Who were their groups? 

      Well, Asano was having just a grand time in his group of six. Aoki and Ren could not stop talking for anything. Their conversations were never-ending. There would be pockets of silence filled with Araki, Koyama, and Seo talking about something stupid. At least, Asano thought it was stupid. He just wanted to sleep, and he thought he could finally do that because his father wasn’t on the train. 

      Apparently not cuz it was so noisy. 

      Whatever. 

      He’d find a way to deal with it and—

      “Asano,” Emi said, “do you want us to shut up so you can sleep?” 

      Asano stared at her for a good ten seconds. She wasn’t being business polite, or at least she didn’t sound like it. 

      “Sorry?” —was the only thing that came out of Asano’s mouth. 

      “You keep dozing off every ten seconds,” Emi explained. “Do you want us not to talk? I mean, I’m sure we all can find something else to do.” She flared her eyes at the others in her group. 

      Ren smiled. 

      Asano paused for another ten seconds. “I can manage just fine.” 

      “Okay, well, you tell us if we should.” Emi shrugged and turned back towards Ren. “What?” 

      Ren got out his phone to text her. 

Today 8:27 AM

Ren: You’re so polite 

Emi: Yes I’m so polite💀

Emi: He’s so bad at putting on concealer

Emi: I can see his dark circles

      Ren chuckled quietly. “Seriously?” 

      Emi gasped. “You’re doubting me?”  

      “Yeah.” 

      “You're just jealous that I can tell and you can't.” 

      Ren side-eyed her. “Nnno.” 

      Emi blinked slowly. 

Emi: Are you sure about that?

Ren: I-

      Emi looked up at him and smirked. 

Ren: You don’t even wear concealer 

Emi: I guess Asano is js that bad at it

      Emi looked up with her smirk again. 

      Ren laughed to himself. “That's so stupid.” 

      “That's just how it is.” 

      Ren thought about that for a second. 

      Emi put her hands up and sat still in her seat. 

Ren: 🫵ew🫵

Emi: HEY U STOLE THAT FROM ME LIKE A WEEK AGO

Ren: HAH

Ren: At least everyone laughs when I say your joke louder

Emi: I hate you for this

Emi: And who is “everyone”

Emi: Your dad????

Ren: Yeah he thinks I’m funny

Emi: Who else does? 

Ren: … 

Ren: Shut up

Emi: HAHAH 

Emi: (Loser)

Ren: HEY ONLY I GET TO BULLY MYSELF

Emi: Oh oops

Emi: My bad 💀

Ren: 🫵bully🫵

Emi: NOO

Emi: Don’t bully meeeee 😭

Emi: 🫵monkey🫵

Ren: DO NOT

Emi: Heehee

      She looked at him. He elbowed her playfully, and both laughed quietly. 

      Emi and Ren didn't talk much for the rest of the train ride. Koyama, Seo, and Araki didn’t seem to notice at first but must’ve at some point because they also spoke quieter. 

      Asano smiled to himself and closed his eyes to rest finally. Aoki was a bit off still, but maybe he was a little thankful that she was at Kunugigaoka now. 

      And no. Asano wasn’t one of those people that was scared of sleeping because of his nightmares and scares. He didn’t really go a night or nap without one. Well. Until he wasn’t in his house… or near his dad. 

      He slept better on that train than he had in awhile. He didn’t dream about anything (which he thought was way better than having a nightmare). 

      When he woke up, they were at Osaka. It was around 2:00PM. Were they really on the train for that long? Had he slept for that long? 

      They got off the train after getting their bags and whatnot and walked to a bus that would supposedly take them to their hotel. 

      “Aoki, can I ask you a question?” Asano asked once the bus started moving. There were pods of two and four; and Asano, Emi, and Ren happened to be in one pod of four. 

      “Sure,” Emi replied. “Also, you can call me Emi or Emiko.” 

      “Alright, Emiko—” Asano paused— “where’s Akabane?” 

      “Oh, he told me he was gonna ditch and just take his own trip to Osaka. But he ended up coming.” 

      Asano nodded. “What group is he in?” 

      “He’s with those girls that keep tryna talk to me. But he’s prolly gonna ditch halfway through.” Emi smiled. 

      “How’d he end up in that group?” Ren asked. 

      Emi chuckled. “He’s just teasing the girls. He knows they all like him, but he also knows that he can ditch them easily.” 

      Asano turned his head to her. "I don't understand why." 

      "Well, he just kinda wants them off his back. It's kinda weird to have people obsessing over you all the time.” 

      “Weren’t they obsessing over you?” Ren asked. 

      “Yeah, for a bit. But they mostly did that to get Karma to notice them.” Emi cringed slightly. 

      There was a bit of noise in the back as all those girls piled into one pod of four, whispering and pointing to Karma. 

      Emi sighed. “And now they’re fighting over who gets to sit by him. Hold on, I better go save him from his misery.” She stood and walked to sit next to Karma who was in a pod of two. 

      He side-eyed her. “Hey, you’re not gonna be like one of those stupid girls, are you?” 

      Emi shook her head. “The real question is: would you rather be next to me or one of them?” 

      Karma smiled. “Point taken.” 

      Emi looked at him for a second then looked over to Ren and made eye contact with him, shrugging. She decided to just plug in her earphones and relax. She ended up falling asleep at one point, but that’s besides the point. 

      Ren smiled from next to Asano. “You interested in something over there?” 

      Asano shook his head. “I don't know if I'd call it interest as much as getting sick of something.” 

      "What is it?" 

      "I don't know if I'd like to say." 

      "You can tell me. Trust your best friend of seven years." 

      Asano blinked slowly. “Fine, I'll explain. But no talk of this outside of this train car, alright?” 

      "Sounds good." 

      "I'm almost... sick of the rivalry and competing at such a high academic level. I still set high expectations and plan to get first, but it sometimes stops me from... everything." 

      Ren nodded. "You mean you're sick of academics always getting in the way of your social life?" 

      Asano's gaze fell on Ren, then back to Karma, then to his lap. "That sounds right." 

      "Who do you wish you were closer to?" 

      "I'd hate to say it." 

      Ren laughed lightly. "Yeah? You mean Karma, and maybe me, us, the five virtuosos, and Emi maybe?” 

      "I don't know how you keep guessing these things, Ren."

      "It makes sense, Asano." 

      Asano sighed. “In any case, think about what happened last year.” 

      “Why?” 

      “Remember what happened?” 

      “You’re mad about that?” 

      “Just answer the question.” 

      A look of annoyance flashed across Ren’s face, but he kept smiling. “Yeah, I remember. What about it?” 

      Asano took a breath. “It's hard enough to imagine leading the rest of A class to top scores in a way that isn't... detrimental, but especially those closer to me...” 

      Ren nodded slowly. "I get it. So you don't wanna be the ‘shining star around which the whole school circles?’” 

      “Not that I don't want to. It feels that way often, but it's nice when it... sometimes doesn't. Because of Akabane and all that happened last year.” 

      Ren's eyes looked toward Emi, and the two made eye contact again. 

      He smiled. “Well, aren’t you kinda grateful?” 

      Asano stayed quiet for a second, then nodded. “Grateful. Perhaps that was the word I was looking for. Grateful.” 

      "And about leading A class to top scores. Don't forget you have me and the rest of our friends, and you have Emi and Karma. I'll speak for the group in saying that we'll help you in whatever ways you need, Asano." 

      "Thank you, Ren."

      The bus finally stopped in front of a hotel. Everyone filed out and got their bags, waiting to get their room assignments.

      There were two people in each room, so it would be such an adventure finding out who everyone’s roommates were. (Even though they’d submitted a request form for their roommates, who knew what would happen?) 

      Emi ended up with Ren (thank goodness). And Asano ended up with Karma. 

      Once everyone got their room assignments, Emi looked at Ren and said, “I’m surprised they let us share a room.” 

      Ren snickered. “Oh, I’m just thinking about the fact that Asano and Karma are roommates.” 

      “Let’s see how it goes.” Emi snickered. “I hope they don't start fighting.” 

      Ren nodded. “I hope they become friends. We’ll see.” 

      Then everyone walked to their rooms. Asano and Karma walked silently for a bit because... well... what was there to talk about? 

      Karma plopped onto his back on one of the futons. “Hey, chief, you gonna finally talk now?” 

      Asano froze for a second then continued to the other futon in the room. “What should I talk about?” 

      “You can stop being so tense, dude,” Karma teased. “I won’t bite unless you piss me off or something.” 

      Asano nodded. “Alright.” He just stared at Karma for a moment, then sat on the soft cushion. 

      Karma smiled. “You waiting for me to say something?” 

      “I don’t know. Should we talk about midterms?” 

      “What’s there to say? We tied, and that’s that. I don’t know why everyone was so hung up on it.” 

      “Because it’s never happened.” 

      “What? You’ve never tied with someone? I thought there’d be someone who'd try to beat you.” 

      “No, I always had to be the best.” 

      “Who told you that?” Karma sat up. 

      Asano paused, shook his head, and didn’t talk for a few seconds. Who told him he had to be the best? Why did Akabane always say really hard things at weird times?

      “Was it your dad?” Karma asked, breaking the silence. “Well, hate to tell you. But it doesn’t look like your dad’s coming back to Kunugigaoka anytime soon.” 

      “He’s still there.” Asano crossed his arms. 

      “And you’re afraid of him? For what?” 

      Asano looked at his feet. “How would you know?” 

      Karma shrugged. “Hey, that’s a fair question. I mean, my dad and mom are always gone. Which was why I got involved in some bad stuff.”

      “Bad stuff?” 

      “Like fighting or whatever, but you know that. I'd like to hear something about your story.” 

      Asano stared at him with bewildered eyes then looked off to the side. “Fine, ask me a question. Don’t expect me to answer it if it’s personal.”

      “Alright. What’s wrong with your dad?” Karma smiled as if knowing that would bother Asano. 

      Asano glared at him. “I don’t know if I’d like to answer that at this moment.” 

      “Sure, but I think you will at some point. Your problems with your dad are a fundamental part of you.” Karma laughed a bit. “I mean it’s the same for me but geez. They practically define who you are.” 

      Asano shook his head, brows furrowing. “What are you implying?” 

      “That now that those daddy issues aren’t a main part of your life, you don’t know what to do with yourself. Same thing with grades.” 

      “I know who I am whether I tie with you in first place or I get fifth.” 

      Karma smirked. “Oh, really?” He paused, looking into Asano’s eyes. “But I just asked who told you to be the best, and you couldn’t answer that. Do you really have an identity outside of your grades and daddy issues? Or should we get you a personality?” 

      It was quiet for a minute. Asano’s eyes drifted to the side while Karma's stayed locked on him. 

      Asano looked back at Karma. “I suppose I should try getting a personality.” 

      “You serious?” Karma said. 

      “Well, my father isn’t coming back to Kunugigaoka anytime soon, and I’d like to actually be a human being this year instead of a robot. But don't expect me not to fight on exams.” 

      Karma smiled. “Hey, that’s a great idea. And the exams, you already know where I stand.” 

      Asano took a moment. “How should I go about this, 'getting a personality' as you described?” 

      “Just ask Emi for ideas. She’s willing to try anything if you pay for it.” 

      “She’s not a cheapskate, is she?” 

      “No, she just doesn’t like the idea of spending her own money.” Karma shrugged. “No idea why but whatever.” 

      Asano didn’t know what to say in response to that, so he just stared at the ceiling. He sighed. “What’s first on your itinerary?” 

      “Some cafe. These girls are kinda basic. What’s first on yours?” 

      “Osaka Castle.” 

      “That’s awesome.” 

      “I’d ask what your next item on your schedule is, but I’m assuming you’ll ditch before then?” 

      “Hey, who told you that? That was supposed to be a secret.” 

      “Emi did.” 

      “Nice, Emi,” Karma said to himself. 

      “Where will you ditch to?”

      “Hm… wherever my friend wants to go.” 

      “Which friend?” 

      “You remember Rio Nakamura?” 

      “Oh, that makes sense.” Asano turned his body more towards Karma’s. 

      Karma tilted his head. “You wanna come with?” 

      “You really want me to come with you?” 

      “Why not, Asano?” 

      Asano furrowed his brows and zoned out for about two seconds. He then answered, “how would I even ditch my group?” 

      “Just get quiet and slip out.” 

      “How will you slip out with those girls following your every move?” 

      Karma shrugged. “They’re easily distracted.” 

      Asano nodded. “How do I ‘get quiet and slip out?’” 

      “There’s not much of a method, but if you need help, ask Emi. You can trust her a little bit.”

      “Alright.” 

      Karma chuckled and stood slowly. “Bye, Junior.” 

      Asano smiled, nicely, as Karma left the room to go do something else. Asano just stared and laid down, not really wanting to move, then sat up. Why did Karma leave the room?

Chapter Text

May 18th

      Emi and Ren decided to go on a (not allowed) walk. Everyone was supposed to be in their hotel rooms getting ready for the next day because of whatever reason. (Wooh…)

      They eventually stopped at a little ice cream shop just to rest. 

      Emi smiled. “How do you like Osaka so far?”

      Ren shrugged. “It’s good. I’m excited for our plans tomorrow.” 

      “Me too. I’m literally so excited so see Osaka Castle.” 

      “Yeah, I’m excited to just walk and hang out with you guys more.” 

      “Really?” 

      “Yeah,” Ren teased, “what? You don’t like taking walks with me?” 

      “Actually, no, because your friends are annoying. With just you, yes.” Emi grinned. 

      Ren laughed. “Yeah, my friends are annoying. Seo always makes fun of me for my English.” 

      “Really? Cuz his English sucks.” 

      “Ouch.” 

      “He deserves it.” 

      Ren sighed. “Yeah.” 

      “What does everyone else make fun of you for?” 

      “Oh, let’s see. Araki makes fun of me for not knowing American history when I don’t even live there. And Koyama is just Koyama.” 

      “Yeah, Koyama is special.” Emi chuckled. “He’s like ‘you don’t know chemistry?’ Yeah, not all of us are boring.” 

      “Exactly.” Ren crossed his arms. 

      They were then quiet for a minute. 

      Emi tapped her spoon against her nose, thinking for a minute. “You know what, Ren?” 

      “What?” Ren asked. 

      “I’m gonna make it my goal to beat Koyama next exam.” 

       Ren paused. “Okay, I see. And I think you can do it. He’s kind of stupid about stuff that isn’t science related.” 

      “I can see that. He smells like that too.” Emi giggled. 

      Ren laughed also. “Geez, Emi, you’re insulting everyone tonight.” 

      Emi smiled proudly. “Yeah, and I’m right about it all too.” 

      “That’s the sad part. Sucks to be Koyama.” 

      Emi shrugged. “What about Asano? Does he ever make fun of you for anything?” 

      “Nothing, honestly. He just sometimes takes his anger out on me.” 

      “I’ve seen that happen. It’s really immature of him.”

      Ren just smiled. “Yeah, but he’s been doing it less and less now. And he kinda admitted that he'd been treating us like crap these past couple years.” 

      “That’s good. I hope he keeps maturing.” 

      “Yeah.” 

      “How long’ve you been dealing with that?” 

      Ren scoffed. “Too long. And I know I should say something, I just haven’t.” 

      Emi nodded. “Yeah, that happens though.” The two exited the shop, ice cream in hand. “Do you feel like you owe him something?”

      Ren thought about it for a minute. “Maybe. I don’t know what that would be, but you’re usually right about these things.” 

      “Thanks, Ren. You’re one of the only people who’s ever said that.” 

      “People don’t notice that that’s your thing?” 

      “That what’s my thing?” 

      “I guess reading people.” 

      “Hm, is that what it’s called?” 

      “Yeah.” 

      They threw away their trash before entering the hotel. 

      “Well that makes sense,” Emi said. 

      Ren chuckled. “I’m just wondering how you do it so easily.”

      “It comes with practice,” Emi replied as they got in the elevator. “Like how sometimes you look at two people talking and you can tell that one of them likes the other.” 

      “You can do that?” 

      “I dunno. Maybe it’s just a me and Karma thing.” 

      “Ohhhh—“ Ren opened the door to their room— “yeah, you two keep Asano on edge.” 

      “Really?” Emi smiled. “No wonder why he’s always so tense.” She suddenly stopped moving, her brows furrowing. 

      “What’s wrong, Em?” Ren asked, standing in front of her.

      She made eye contact with him. “Hold on.” She walked to the closet, opened it, and held a device in her hand. “I thought I smelled something weird.” She pulled one wire out from it.

      “What’s that?” Ren approached her slowly. 

      “A gas bomb with some deadly thing in it,” Emi showed him it. “We can’t open it, but they’re so detailed that pulling one wire turns it off.” 

      “Why would someone put a gas bomb in here?” 

      “Why else? To kidnap us.” Emi put the bomb down and walked to the bathroom. “I’ve gotta check the whole room now.” 

      “How are you not freaking out?” 

      “How else? I’ve done this before.” 

      At that, Ren started wondering what she could possibly mean. He knew she was involved with some sort of assassin thing, but he never knew to what extent. 

      Emi checked the toilet, shower, and sink. “Nothing. Now to where we sleep cuz that’s always the most vulnerable.”

      Ren watched her check the sheets, blankets, and pillows. “Are you sure…” he started then rethought. 

      Emi nodded. “Good job. You’re learning not to question the assassin in the room.” She stood. “I need to go tell Karma about this. He could also be a target since he was part of that class.” 

      Ren held her shoulder. “Emi…” he paused, thinking about how to word his thoughts. “Just… be safe, okay?”

      “I will, Ren.” She side-hugged him before leaving. 

      Ren closed the door and took a deep breath. 

      Emi walked down the hall and knocked on Asano and Karma’s door. She’d peeked at their room number before just in case. “Karma?” 

      Asano opened the door, a judgmental look in his eyes. “What do you need?” 

      “Where’s Karma?” Emi asked blankly. 

      Asano tilted his head. “I’m not sure. He left a minute ago.” 

      “Okay, can I come into your room for a minute?” 

      Asano furrowed his brows. “Why do you need to—“ 

      “Asano, please, don’t ask right now. Just let me in and trust me.” 

      Asano stared at her for a minute. “Alright…” he said slowly. He opened the door a bit wider so she could enter. 

      Emi sniffed. “It’s that same smell.” She did the same as before. “Another one.” 

      “What is that?” Asano asked. 

      “A gas bomb.” 

      “Who put that there?” 

      “Who else, Asano?” Emi turned her head towards him. “Someone who wants to kidnap you or Karma. Or both. Who knows?” 

      Asano tilted his head again. “Who would want to do that to us?” 

      Emi made eye contact with him. “Listen, peaches, there’s a lot of stuff I can’t explain so—“ 

      “Did you just call me peaches?” 

      “Is that really what you care about right now?” 

      Asano paused then shook his head slightly. He was always so minimal with his actions. 

      Emi took a breath. “Okay, I need to find Karma. Do you know where he is?” 

      “What were you saying before?” 

      “What, with not being able to tell you stuff? I meant it. Now, back to my question.” Emi took a second before responding to keep herself calm. “Do you have any ideas about where Karma is?” 

      Asano stared at her. “No, he walked out before I had a chance to ask him.” 

      Emi hummed. “Okay, that’s fine. I’ll find him.” She walked out of the room as Asano stared at her, the same judgmental look in his eyes. 

      Emi walked to the lobby, pulled out her phone, and started a text to Karma. 

      “What’s up, Emi?” Karma said coldly. 

      Emi quickly deleted her text and put away her phone. “Oh, hey, good, you’re here.” The two sat, Emi more tensely than Karma. “Why’d you leave your room?” 

      “I smelled that gas bomb and came here to text Rio about it. Didn’t expect to find you so worried.” 

      Emi shook her head. “I’m not as worried about you. I’m worried that I’m getting you involved in something that you shouldn’t be apart of.” 

      “It’s nothing new for us. If you need, you can meet with my friends you told your story to the other day. Might as well tell them to check their rooms and be alert and whatever.” 

      “That’s a good idea. Can you text them vaguely tonight?” 

      Karma nodded. “Yeah, we made up a few codes last year. Figured they’d come in handy even after we were done being assassins.” 

      Emi smiled. “Thank goodness.” She stood. “Does that mean I won’t have to worry about you guys?” 

      “I’ll tell you if anything happens. For now, tell me what was in our rooms and how to take care of it.” 

      “Sure—” she lowered her voice— “they were gas bombs. You can basically disarm them by pulling a wire out wherever.” 

      Karma smiled. “Thanks, Emi. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

      Emi nodded. “Goodnight.” She walked back to her room. 

Chapter Text

May 19th

      The first few hours of the day went by quickly. Karma had distracted the girls by sending them into a clothing store. 

      Now he and Rio were at an arcade, playing games and whatnot. They were neck and neck in every game, but it didn’t matter since they got about five million tickets to get prizes with. 

      “So is this whole assassin thing real?” Rio asked after a bit. 

      “What else would it be?” Karma responded. “Even though you should be safer now.”

      “Yeah, I found one of those bombs under my pillow.” 

      Karma tilted his head. “How fun.” 

      Rio smiled. “Yeah, can’t believe someone’s after us. Even though we’ve stayed so quiet about the ‘scandal.’” She chuckled with Karma. 

      “Well, you heard Emi the other night.” 

      Rio smirked. “Are we gonna let that ruin our fun?” 

      “Of course not. After all, I heard Asano Jr. is supposed to come in a bit.” 

      Rio exclaimed. “No way! I thought you were kidding, hahahhh!” She put an arm around Karma for a split second then looked him directly in the eyes. “Isn't that kinda insane?” 

      “What?” 

      “You told me last night that you think he wants to make up for last year.”

      "I think my words were different from that." 

      "Oh, whatever." Rio grinned slyly. "I just can't believe that narcissistic Gakushuu Asano finally admitted that he did something wrong." 

      Karma smiled. "First time having power over him, huh?" 

      Rio snickered. “Yep, and you can hold that over his head this whole day.” 

      “You know, you're right."

      "Always am." 

      They looked at each other with that same look of confirmation they always did. They couldn’t help but exchange glances and smirk when Asano walked into the arcade. 

      Rio went to greet him with Karma at her tail. “Wow, he actually came. How’d you sneak out?” 

      “I took Karma’s advice,” Asano replied. 

      “You did? That’s awesome.” Karma's smirk changed to a smile. “I distracted my group with some money and a shopping spree.” 

      Asano tilted his head. “Interesting.” 

      Rio took both of their arms. “Are you guys ready for a day of fun? Let’s hurry up and go!” 

      They first stayed at the arcade. Asano added to Karma and Rio’s collection of fifty thousand or something tickets. They had so many tickets that they almost bought out the prize booth. 

      They then went to any sight they wanted because the three of them could really easily agree on where to go. Their common interests led them. 

      They got back to their groups after they’d had dinner with each other. 

      During dinner though, Rio left them alone for a second while she "went to the bathroom" (collected tea). 

      Karma sighed. That was what she meant, huh? 

      “So,” Asano said, “do you think the girls have noticed you’re missing at all?” 

      Karma laughed. “They’ve been texting me nonstop since we got here.” 

      Asano smiled. “I’m glad to know that you care more about us than them.” 

      “What about your group?” 

      “I’m not sure. Emi texted me that she has kept them at bay for sometime, as has Ren.” 

      “Sounds like you owe them a thank you.” 

      “I owe you one too.” 

      Karma grinned. “What for? The great Asano Jr. is thanking me for something?” 

      Asano nodded. “I suppose I could say that you helped me not be bored all day. So thank you.” 

      Karma stirred his drink. “Hey, it’s what friends are for. Though I’m not sure if you’ve had many true friends.” 

      Asano clasped his hands together. “The one I have… let’s say that I have taken him for granted.” 

      “Who? Ren?” 

      Asano nodded.

      Karma smiled. “You might as well start treating him like a friend now while there’s still time left in high school. You’ve only got so much time really.” 

      Asano nodded again and stared off for a minute. 

      Karma leaned forward. “You wanna talk about last year?” 

      Asano hummed. “I’m not sure. You wouldn't tell me even if I asked, would you?” 

      Karma laughed. “Yeah, and even if I wanted to, I couldn't."

      "I see."

      "Even so, I know you made a promise to help A class this year, so they'd be guaranteed to take the top spots. For what it's worth, I think stepping back during our first midterms worked well for you." 

      Asano looked down at his drink. "I thought I was being neglectful." 

      Karma laughed. "Wow, you actually cared about somebody else for once?"

      Asano's brows furrowed. 

      "That's great, Asano. Maybe we got off on the wrong foot because of last year." 

      Asano's expression lightened. "I'm glad you think the same as me." 

      "Oh, don't get too comfortable now. I plan to be a thorn in your side for the rest of high school, and the occasional friend when you need."

      Asano smiled. "And I will return the same." 

      Karma chuckled and looked off to the side. 

      Rio finally came back and sat down. “Did I miss anything?” 

      Karma shook his head. “Nothing too important.” 

      Rio stared at him suspiciously. Karma ignored her gaze until they finished lunch and dropped Asano off. When Asano and his group left, Rio spoke quietly with Karma. 

      “What happened while I was gone?” She asked. 

      “Oh, you know—“ Karma shrugged— "I think we made our friendship and rivalry clear, all in the same conversation.” 

      Rio sighed. 

      Karma smiled. “Hey, I just hope it’s all worth it in the end.” 

      “Me too.” 

      They did their little confirmation-eye-contact-thing-y and said their goodbyes before splitting to their different groups. 

      Rio went back to her group. All of the people in it were in the arcade doing whatever they wanted. But they weren’t just playing games like regular human beings. They were trying to be all cute about it. All four girls were sucking up too… ugh. Yoru. 

      Rio furrowed her brows at him. She’d joined this group specifically so she could keep an eye on him. And he somehow managed to slip out from under her nose and drop gas bombs in Emi and Karma’s rooms? It was almost unbelievable. 

      Luckily, Yoru had just come out of the restroom. Rio snatched his arm and took him to the stairwell where they could talk in private. 

      “What’s the big idea, Rio? You wanna have fun in here?” He grinned slyly. 

      “Dude, don’t call me Rio.” She crossed her arms. “To you, my name is Nakamura. You wanna know why I dragged you in here?” 

      “Of course I do.” 

      Rio stared at him without shifting. She took a deep breath, smiling and putting on an innocent expression. She softened her tone. “Can we meet tonight, just you and me? At the front of the hotel. Eight PM sharp.” 

      Yoru chuckled. “Yeah, sure, doll. Whatever you say.” 

      There was a hissing sound. 

      Then Rio knew she was in trouble. She tried to run past Yoru who had already put a gas mask on. 

      “Sleep tight. You’ll just pass out for a bit. No big deal.” 

      Rio inhaled, holding her breath. “Screw you!” She punched his neck. He backed up a bit before having to block more of Rio’s fierce attacks. She was so quick he could barely block her. 

      Then she stumbled. Shoot. 

      She held onto the railing as she willed herself to hold it in just a little longer. 

      Yoru smiled. “Hey, don’t be mad. Doll. I’m just gonna use you in my plan.” 

      Rio finally let herself breathe. She looked up at him as she panted. “Yeah, you can take me.” She kicked his crotch. “But say bye to childbirth first.” 

      He doubled over onto himself. 

      Rio saluted him as she laid by him. “Goodnight, jerk.” 

Chapter Text

May 19th

      Thud thud thud.

      Emi’s head snapped towards the door to the hotel room. She quickly got up to open it. 

      Ren stared at her with concerned eyes but didn’t say anything. 

      Emi looked through the peep hole and gasped quietly. She opened the door without a second thought. “Did something happen?” She asked immediately. 

      Karma was panting, prolly from running all the way down the hall to Emi. 

      Asano was right behind him. Less panting, more sweating. 

      Karma had unusually wide eyes. “He got Rio.” 

      “What? Who?” Emi tried to form words with her mouth, but she couldn’t. 

      “Can we talk about this inside?” 

      Emi nodded and let them in. “Yeah, what’s happening?” 

      Karma took a breath. He calmed himself and showed her texts from Rio. 

Rio: if I don’t txt back in ten, then yoru has me

      Emi scowled. “Seriously?” 

      “I dunno. She sent that twenty minutes ago.” Karma looked Emi directly in the eyes. “Are we gonna do something?” 

      Emi paused, then nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.” She turned towards Asano and Ren who were standing next to each other. “Guys, if anyone comes your way, beat them the hell up.” 

      “What if that doesn’t work?” Ren asked. 

      “It better,” Emi replied. “If it really doesn’t, call me.” 

      Ren nodded. “Be safe.” 

      Asano stared with a frown on his face. 

      “You too.” Emi smiled before rushing out of the room with Karma. 

      “Where are we going?” Karma asked as they speed walked. 

      “To Rio’s last location.” 

      “Where?” 

      “The arcade down the street.” 

      “How’d you know?” 

      “I asked her to let me track her.” 

      Karma hummed then shrugged. “As long as it gets the job done I guess.” 

      Emi didn’t respond, just kept walking. They got out of the hotel with ease because the teachers who did curfew checks were actual idiots. 

      The two got to the arcade after a ten minute speed walk. Adrenaline really gets you going sometimes. 

      Emi smelled the air and followed her nose to the stairwell. She kicked a small piece of plastic. “Shoot, that means she was just here.” 

      Karma scowled. “What does Yoru usually do in these situations?” 

      “He sets a trap.” Emi closed her eyes, trying to tune into her other senses. She took a breath and opened her eyes. 

      “He set a trap this time?” Karma tilted his head. 

      Emi shook her head. “Not for us. We needa get back to the hotel now.” 

      Ren had been staring at the door since Emi left. 

      Asano tried not to stare too much at the door and chose the window instead. He thought he heard something thud, but he wasn’t sure. 

      Ren’s eyes snapped to the bathroom. “Did you hear that?” 

      Asano did a double take and shook his head. “Hear what?” 

      Thud. 

      Ren stared at the bathroom with wide eyes. 

      Asano stood stiffly. “That’s only a distraction from the window.”

      Ren stood and backed up until he was next to Asano. “What’s at the window?”

      Asano’s eyes didn’t move. “Someone.” He lowered himself into a fighting stance. “Hold up your fists. Spread your feet so you have balance. And fight.” 

      “What?” 

      “Don’t question me.” 

      Right, Ren forgot. Trust the one who’s gonna get you out of the situation. 

      He got himself into a fighting stance best he could, trying to just copy Asano. 

      They waited for a second before the window broke as a ball of metal with a bunch of wires came through it. 

      Asano recognized it. But before he could pick it up, it began spouting gas all over. 

      “Hold your breath and run,” Asano said. 

      Ren nodded and followed Asano out the door of the room to the lobby of the hotel, slowing down as they got around people. 

      Emi and Karma came through the front doors of the hotel. 

      Emi gasped when she saw Ren and Asano there. “What happened?” 

      “Gas bomb,” Asano answered. “Does this have to do with your friend who was captured?” 

      Emi nodded. 

      Karma furrowed his brows. “How do we know the two are even correlated?” 

      “Who else uses gas bombs but isn’t sneaky about it at all?” Emi retaliated. 

      Karma tilted his head. “How do we know someone isn’t tricking us?” 

      “Because Yoru is on his way right now. I can guarantee he’s gonna use Rio for something. He tried to get Ren and Asano so he could have leverage over us.” 

      Karma nodded. “Alright, Emi, then should we beat him to the punch or just stand here?” 

      Emi smiled. “Exactly, let’s go.”

      “Where?” Asano asked. 

      “To where Yoru hides,” Emi replied tiredly. “You two get to come with us and be our lookouts.” 

      “I’m gonna be a look—“ Ren started until Emi glared at him. 

      “Come on,” Karma urged. 

      Emi nodded once and began speed walking. The others followed her into a sort of backstreet that was definitely not safe for four teens at night, but three of the four knew how to fight so Ren guessed that he should just keep walking. 

      They got to a warehouse type building. Emi’s eyes moved to the lock on the door, then the two guards standing in front of it. 

      She looked at Karma. 

      He smirked, cracking his knuckles. 

      They took them out discreetly as Asano and Ren watched. 

      Emi knelt and took out two bobby pins, shoving them into the lock on the door. The lock was designed so that the handle couldn’t be pushed down unless you removed the lock first. 

      Karma smiled. “You know how to pick locks? What can you not do in an assassination?” 

      “Not find Yoru disgusting,” Emi said half-jokingly, slipping the lock off. 

      “I guess that’s fair.” 

      Meanwhile, Ren tried to exchange glances with Asano who was staring straight ahead. 

      “Is this where we’ll be looking out from?” Asano asked. 

      “Yep.” Emi searched the belts and pants of the two former guards, pulling out a shock stick from each. “You each get one of these.” She pulled out their knives as well. “And one of these.” 

      She set them at her friends’ feet in sets of a knife and shock stick. 

      “Won’t you guys need these?” Ren asked. 

      Emi chuckled. “No, I saved the big stuff for us.” She pulled out a gun from each guard’s tool belt, handing one to Karma. “I also always keep two knives handy.” She pulled a knife from a thigh holster that somehow fit under her teeny weeny skirt and offered it to Karma. 

      Karma shook his head with a smirk. “Always under the pants.” He patted his calves. 

      Emi smiled. “That’s amazing. Why’d you bring them?” 

      “Bad feeling. Rio told me Yoru was in her group. Why’d you bring yours?” 

      “Same.” Emi nodded. “Okay, time to go.” She put her knife away and held her gun at the ready, just in case. 

      Ren took a deep breath, staring as he saw one of his closest friends run off into a place where she could potentially get killed. 

      His hands were sweaty as he grabbed the knife and shock stick off the ground, clipping the shock stick to his belt. Asano saw this and did the opposite, turning on his shock stick. 

      Ren began breathing unsteadily, trying to calm himself. 

      Asano shook his head. “Don’t worry too much about them. They’ve been trained their whole lives to be like this.” 

      “What do you mean ‘to be like this’?” Ren asked. 

      “To be alert,” Asano replied without moving his gaze from in front of himself. “Haven’t you noticed that both are almost too natural at being assassins?” 

      “I guess I never thought about it that way.” 

      Asano sighed. “It’s the reality they have had to deal with. Right now, I guarantee that they are making decisions we would never even dream of making. Such as which path will lead to their friend. And what to shoot when.” 

      Ren nodded. “That is crazy to think about. One question: if all the danger’s in there, why are we here?” 

      “The same reason those guards were there: to prevent anyone from entering that we don’t know.” 

      Ren didn’t respond verbally, just thought about it. The way Asano described their job and what Emi and Karma had to do… he made it all sound terrifying. It definitely did not help that they were out in the alleyways and backstreets of Osaka at night as teens. 

      Meanwhile, Emi and Karma had walked into a hallway which led to the right then into a nearly empty room. 

      There weren’t any doors in the hallway or vents, just a few dim lights. 

      When they came to the nearly empty room, the only light was from a single lightbulb shining above a couch. 

      They heard a groan from the couch and looked at it, keeping their backs to the hallway, barely stepping out of it. 

      Emi and Karma gasped. 

      There Rio was, with her hands tied back, a blindfold on her eyes and gag in her mouth. 

      She was breathing abnormally, moving her knees closer and closer to her chest. There were two or three wet spots on her blindfold, prolly from crying as she sniffled. 

      Emi and Karma made eye contact. Emi nodded. 

      Karma ran to his friend, squatting and speaking just above a whisper. “Rio, Rio, can you hear me? It’s Karma.” He untied the gag from her mouth and slipped the blindfold down. 

      Rio gasped. “Karma,” she whispered. “You’ve gotta get out. He’ll be back in one minute.” 

      “Not without you.” Karma reached for her hands. “I’m gonna untie you so we can run.” 

      Rio sighed but nodded. “Hurry.” 

      He untied her. They stood together and jogged back towards Emi. 

      “Your five minutes are up, Rio.” That was Yoru’s voice. 

      Rio gasped. “Let’s run.” 

      But Yoru had already seen them. 

      “You’re not getting away this time, Emi,” he said, making eye contact with both women. “I have some friends with me.” 

      “Come on.” Karma grabbed both his friends arms. The three ran out of the door they’d come in from. 

      “Oh, are you limping?” Emi asked Rio, kneeling to put the lock back on the door. 

      Rio shook her head. “It’s prolly just my knee. It’ll heal.” 

      Emi nodded, getting the lock secure. “That’ll buy us some time. For now, drop your weapons. Let’s run.” 

      Asano and Ren followed as they ran back the way they came. Once they came to the front of the hotel though, Yoru and his friends had caught up. They were in a clearing where no one would see. 

      “Ren, run inside and wait in the lobby,” Emi said. 

      Ren didn’t question anything and ran. 

      After that, the two groups stood face to face so everyone could see that Yoru’s group had two more members than theirs. 

      “We fight now,” Yoru said nonchalantly. 

      Karma tilted his head. “Sure, but it’ll cost ya.” 

      “Are you sure—“ Asano got glares from everyone. Right. No questions. 

      Emi took a breath. “I’m not gonna punch first.” 

      “Fine.” Yoru swung. 

      His friends followed his lead. 

      Everyone fought hard like this fight would define the rest of their lives. Punching. Kicking. Pushing and shoving. Emi didn't know what Yoru paid to get his friends to fight like that. 

      But they were all street fighters, not assassins. Some were better than others, but they definitely couldn’t defeat Karma, Asano, and Rio. 

      The main show centered around Emi and Yoru. When most of Yoru’s friends were defeated, Emi passed Yoru to Karma. She panted. 

      Asano and Rio finally incapacitated the last of Yoru’s friends for the time being. They went to stand by Emi who had her hands on her knees. Shoot. She stood straight.

      “All yours.” Karma kicked Yoru towards her. She went fast. Hard. Going full offensive. 

      Until she got kicked into Karma. He caught her.

      “Emi, I trained you better than this,” a man said. 

      Emi gasped. 

      “Who’s that?” Rio asked, crossing her arms. 

      Emi stared. 

      “Emi—“ the man moved towards her. 

      She drew a knife, holding it at the man’s chin. “Take one more step. I dare you.” 

      “Emi, you wouldn’t kill your father, would you?” The man held his arms out, open. 

      Emi could feel her stomach drop as she huffed. “You’re not real.” 

      The man grinned. “Then stab me to see if I am. That's my knife you're holding, isn't it?” 

      Emi backed up a step. She shook her head, breathing heavily, eyes darting up and down the man. “You’re not real. You died!” She yelled. 

      “Did I die, Emiko? Or was it all fake?” He chuckled. “Don’t try to fight me. You know you can’t defeat me, and neither can your friends.” 

      Emi scoffed. “I thought you loved me. I thought you cared more about me than your missions. And don’t say it for me, cuz I know.” She put her knife in its holster. “I know that the man who used to rave about 3-E to me. Who laughed whenever he talked about Korosensei. I know that man is not here.” 

      The man kept his crooked smile on his face. “Of course, Emi. Right. You were always too good at reading people, something I couldn’t have taught you.” 

      Emi sighed, shaking her head. 

      “Wow.” The man laughed. “Were you really expecting me to say you were wrong?" He took a step forward. “You’re never wrong about these things, and that’s something you deeply hate about yourself.” 

      Emi bit the inside of her lip. 

      The man held Yoru’s shoulder. “Allow me to tell you a secret, Emi. On April fifth, your father did die. Because he became his new self, his real self, and began training a protégé.” 

      “Why,” Emi practically breathed out. 

      “Why else? To finally feel a fresh start. To finally be the bad guy and not have to worry about my family stopping me.” 

      “You‘re an arrogant dick.” 

      “Maybe so. But you know I work with the Takashis, and you don’t know what’ll happen to you once I capture you and your friends.” 

      “What do you mean?” 

      “You know.” The man smiled. “I wasn’t actually on the side of wanting the 3-E kids to live. Why do you think I was always telling you things? So you could keep them a secret?” 

      “You’re sick. Both of you, all of you!! You all deserve to die and pourrir en Enfer!” 

      The man just smiled wider. “Puis j’en pourrirai.” 

      Emi took a breath, just trying to stand firm. 

      The man laughed, taking Yoru by the shoulder and walking away, saying, “au revoir.”

      Emi tried to just breathe. 

      “You good, Em—“ Karma started. 

      “I’ve gotta go.” She walked inside the hotel and saw Ren sitting in the lobby. 

      The two made eye contact. 

      Ren stood. “What happened?” 

      Emi just shook her head. “Come up with me.” 

      The stairs up were a bit awkward as Ren didn’t know what to say, and Emi was still trying to process silently. 

      Ren knew he was in for a long talk. He’d seen Emi’s lows, but he’d definitely never seen her this confused. 

      When the two got into their room, they sat on their futons. 

      Emi stared at Ren with a still confused gaze, trying to find how to say everything that had happened that night. It had all gone so fast to her. 

      “My father… you know how he died?” 

      Ren sighed, nodding slowly. “Yeah.” 

      Emi swallowed. Her lips became a thin line as she tried to hold back tears. “Ren, he’s alive.” Tears filled her eyes. She couldn’t hold them back, couldn’t escape the reality she was in or deny it anymore. 

      She sniffled. “Ren, he looked me straight in the eyes and told me. He told me I was right. I read him right. He’s not the man I thought he was. He’s not… he’s not even supposed to be here.” She breathed shakily. “Ren, I don’t know what to say or do or just… I don’t know. He’s gonna hurt all those kids that were in 3-E, and who knows what he’s gonna do to me?” 

      Ren walked to sit by her on her bed, rubbing her shoulder and back. “Geez, Emi.” He side-hugged her. 

      She buried her face in his shoulder, sighing and taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself. “Sorry.” She pushed herself out of the hug, making eye contact with Ren. 

      He shook his head. “It’s fine.” He gave a little smile. “Don’t worry about me. Worry about the people in 3-E and making sure your dad doesn’t get to you.” 

      Emi nodded. “How are you so calm?” 

      Ren paused for a minute before shrugging gently. “I dunno. But again, don’t worry about me. Worry about defeating your dad.” 

      Emi took a breath and nodded again. “You’re right.” She stared at the wall. “Do you think it’s safe to sleep?” 

      “Who’s stopping us?” Ren smirked and walked to the light switch. “Goodnight.” 

      “Goodnight.” Emi laid so she could sleep. It wasn’t all good because she woke up a few times, but it was probably just her instinct telling her to keep alert.

      Nothing happened that night. 

      Goodnight, moon. Goodnight, Korosensei. 

      Not goodnight, father anymore. He was alive. 

Chapter Text

May 20th-21st

      The rest of the trip was filled with nothing interesting except for some of the sights each group saw. Emi and Karma kept tabs on each other as well as on Rio. 

      Rio looked at Yoru in a different light now. She didn’t see him as this idiot who knew no one except his idiot friends. Oh how wrong she’d been before the previous night. 

      She almost wished she hadn’t seen everything the night before… or heard it. It was almost stuck in head, especially since Yoru was right in front of her. 

      She still knew one thing though: Yoru was a major perv. Emi had every right to be disgusted with him. 

      Meanwhile, Emi could keep track of Asano and Ren within her group. She almost felt comforted a bit since she could see where they were, especially Ren since he didn’t know how to fight. 

      She was like Rio in some way though. The whole fight from the night before kept replaying in her head. She couldn’t forget the day her dad died ever. She couldn’t ever forget the look on her mother’s face or realizing Yoru was part of it. The feeling in her chest, the way the world spun and stopped at the same time. It was all too real. 

      Now her dad shows up out of the blue, a changed man. A worse man. 

      Emi managed to push it to the back of her mind as did the others… except for maybe Ren. 

      Ren couldn’t even fathom the world he was in, as if he’d stepped through a portal. Emi had told him of her father’s death the day after it happened, so he’d known about it for a bit. But he never knew a person could change so much in just a month. 

      But he figured he’d find out everything eventually. Just like how Emi tried to not get him involved with her whole assassin life and failed. 

      At every meal, Emi, Asano, and Ren would speak little. But Asano always did that, and Ren always outwardly showed that he didn’t really like his friends anyways. 

      Emi and Ren didn’t really talk with each other that day, just kinda stood next to each other awkwardly. 

      The train ride home for everyone involved was sooo fun. 

      Rio wished she didn’t have to look at Yoru’s face all day, let alone sit next to him for a long time. She wished she was with her friends, but screw that. She sucked it up and took it because it was good for her and the others; aka Emi, Karma, and maybe those A-Class kids who bullied her.

      Emi looked at Karma since she’d sat by him again, fearing those girls. 

      She half-smiled. 

      He nodded with his earphones in, prolly not even processing that Emi wanted to say something. 

      Emi just turned back to her phone. She saw a few texts from Ren asking her if she was good in the back of the train. 

      She stared at the texts then put her phone away, not caring to respond. She tried to hold her head up to read but ended up falling asleep. She couldn’t explain the exhaustion. 

      Some of those girls who were obsessed with her and Karma started pointing and whispering at some point, because Emi woke up leaning on Karma’s arm. He’d fallen asleep on the train window, not noticing the drama that was about to ensue. 

      Emi sighed and texted Ren. 

Emi: Get Asano over here. Tell him I wanna switch so I can talk w/ u

Ren: But there’s already an extra seat here 

Emi: How can u be second in the grade and this stupid at the same time

Ren: hUh

Ren: OHHHHHHHHhhhh

Ren: My bad

      Emi looked over to where they were sitting and made eye contact with him. 

      He scoffed, chuckling, then spoke with Asano. 

      Asano went to Emi’s seat. “What?” 

      “Thanks.” She got up, nudging him towards the seat. “That’s all yours. Bye.” She walked to where Ren was sitting. 

      Ren stared at her incredulously. “Seriously?” 

      “Yeah, what’s the problem?” Emi smiled lightly. “Those girls keep looking over and pointing. They're so annoying." She sat. "Anyways, what’ve you all been up to?” 

      The other three (Koyama, Seo, and Araki) exchanged quick glances. 

      “/She thinks she’s one of us,/“ Seo said, in English. 

      “/Are you sure I’m not one of you?/“ Emi frowned, her eyes settling into a subtle glare. 

      “/Your English sucks,/“ Seo grumbled.

      “/And yours is better?/“ 

      Ren and Araki started laughing. Araki tried to cover it up by putting his hand over his mouth and clearing his throat multiple times. 

      “Huh?” Koyama exclaimed, grabbing Seo’s arm and begging him to translate. 

      Emi locked eyes with Ren for one split second and burst out laughing. It didn’t help that Ren’s laugh was basically a series of wheezes and therefore made everything funnier. 

      Seo rolled his eyes. 

      Emi held back her laughter to say, “/what are you talents besides being annoying?/“ 

      Ren put his hand on her shoulder. “Geez, Emi, take it easy.” He laughed through his words. 

      Emi tried to calm herself, taking a few breaths. “Okay, okay, seriously. What’s been going on besides bad English?” 

      Ren kept a small smile on his face. 

      “We’ve been trying to plan what to do for the school festival since it is only a few months away,” Araki replied. "I know we may seem like we have a lot of time, but we really don't." 

      “Oh, what do you guys usually do?” Emi asked. “Since you all have been at this school for a bit.” 

      “We usually do something entertainment-like. But since the scandal, I’m not sure how much leverage we have over larger companies this time.” 

      Emi nodded. “Sucks to suck. Maybe I can get my mom to pull something.” 

      The four guys all looked at her weird. 

      “What?” 

      “That’s just different from how Asano did things,” Araki replied. 

      “/Imagine not knowing./“ Seo rolled his eyes. 

      “/Roll your eyes again and I’ll give you something else to think about,/“ Emi responded. 

      Ren chuckled. Araki tried to cover his chuckles by clearing his throat again. 

      “/Like what?/“ Seo mocked. 

      Emi texted Ren. 

Emi: You don’t know how hard it is to not j punch him rn

Ren: Oh I know

Ren: It’s just funny 

      The two made eye contact, laughing. 

      Koyama had fallen asleep amidst the English. 

      “Anyways.” Emi finished laughing. “My mom’s pretty chill with anything as long as I get in the top ten after every exam. So I can ask her.”

      “Thanks, Em,” Ren said. 

      “What did Asano do that was different?” She asked, looking at Ren and Araki. 

      “He was always striving to be better than his dad in some way,” Araki replied. 

      “I seeeeee.” Emi nodded, not bothering to ask much more even though it sounded a bit strange.  

      Meanwhile, Asano and Karma sat by each other. Asano tensed up, not saying anything in the first minute or two. 

      Karma smirked. “You can loosen up, Junior. You know I don’t bite.” 

      “I suppose I just don’t understand why Emi wanted to switch with me,” Asano said, hands in his lap, very proper-like. 

      Karma scoffed out a laugh. “Cuz these girls were tryna figure out if she and I were dating. Figured she’d ask you cuz I don’t like your other friends.” 

      “Not even Ren?” 

      “He’s fine. Just don’t hang out with him much so I don’t really know him.” 

      Asano nodded. “I see.”

      Karma shrugged and put his earbud back in so he could continue to listen to music and look out the window. 

      Asano tried to distract himself by staring at the seat in front of himself and thinking. He ended up drifting into sleep at some point. No nightmares on the train meant the best sleep sometimes. 

      Finally, they were maybe an hour out. 

      Emi watched the time tick on her phone. Really, it was just to give herself something to do since Ren had fallen asleep. 

      “So, Emi,” Araki said, “I heard you were out past curfew last night.” 

      “Were you doing some stuff with Ren?” Koyama asked, laughing and pointing. “And here I thought you were exes.” 

      Emi shook her head. “I was handling something.” 

      Seo scoffed. “You think we’re stupid, 'handling something'?” 

      “No, seriously,” Emi replied. “I’m not trying to be rude, but I don't wanna say what I was doing because it's kinda my business and not yours.” 

      The boys didn’t know what to say, just exchanged many glances. Emi looked at her phone again. 

      Rio had texted her. 

Rio: hey so yk how we're on the same train?

Rio: yoru’s doing smth shady with these tiny spray bottles

Rio: what’s gonna happen

Emi: Erm

Emi: He’s tryna make an explosive, prolly so he can hijack us

Rio: oh so I needa get them from him?

Rio: alr, here goes nothing 

      Emi half-smiled, then frowned again. It was ridiculous that Yoru was trying to outsmart Emi. She knew she’d win every time. 

      A faint thud sounded. 

      Oh no. Nice job, Rio. 

      Emi sighed, leaning into the seat for a second before getting up. She walked to the next cart over. 

      A bit of smoke and a weird smell filled the air, so Emi just waved her hand in front of her nose and kept walking. 

      She scanned the area, walking toward where the smoke was coming from. 

      Yoru held a gun to Rio’s head. “You made a mistake doubting me this time, Emi.” 

      Emi gasped. That meant exactly what she thought. 

      A few other people stood with knives. A few of Yoru’s friends from yesterday. Five people in total. Plus Yoru, Rio, and Emi. 

      Not here. Not in a train cart. 

      Emi was about two feet from the door she came from. She turned and ran, grabbing the knife from her thigh holster under her shorts. 

      “What’s—“ Ren started. 

      The five from the other cart came through the door. 

      “That’s what,” Emi replied. 

      Karma stood. “How did we not see this coming?” He took his knife from under his pants, handing a second to Asano. 

      “What’s happening?” Koyama exclaimed. “Who are these men? What—“ he started hyperventilating. 

      “I dunno,” Seo said. “Let’s get up and fight them.” 

      “Stay in your seat and shut up, Seo,” Emi commanded. “You’re just gonna screw this up for us.” 

      Seo leaned back in his seat, muttering something. 

      “Who’s gonna swing first?” Karma asked, glaring. 

      Emi changed her grip on her knife and swung. The narrow aisle wasn’t convenient for everyone, but Karma and Asano took advantage of empty seats to push their way forward. 

      “No killing, guys,” Emi yelled. “We don’t need a lawsuit after this.” 

      Karma and Asano nodded. 

      They fought weapon to weapon, defeating each person at a time, until the five were on the ground. 

      Emi panted, high-fiving Karma and Asano. 

      “Emi—“ Karma tapped her— “you okay with the whole school knowing about this?” 

      She pursed her lips. “Honestly, no. But it was gonna happen anyway, like your stupid gag order.” She put her knife back in her thigh holster. “Let’s go to the other cart. Karma, you stay here.” 

      He smirked. “Yes, ma’am.” 

      Emi made eye contact with Asano. “Alright, let’s go.” 

      Asano took a breath, following her. 

      “Keep an eye on our backs,” Emi told him. “I know you have eyes in the back of your head.” 

      Asano couldn’t really argue with that one. 

      Emi got to where Rio and Yoru were originally sitting. They were gone. 

      She shook her head. “They couldn’t have gone far.” She walked back to her seat. 

      Asano walked back to explain to Karma what happened. 

      Karma only understood and sat, a slightly annoyed look on his face. 

      Emi tried to just calm herself, sitting back down next to Ren. He rubbed her shoulder but didn’t say anything. He knew better now. 

      Seo looked at her with a judgmental look, looking at his friends to do the same. But Koyama had fallen asleep, and Araki had been on his laptop for the past hour doing excel spreadsheets or whatever. Ren didn’t care. It wasn’t that he didn’t notice. He just didn’t care about Seo’s opinion on anything. 

      Emi took a breath, getting on her phone and opening her texts. She tapped on Rio’s name. 

Emi: Hey, what happened? Are u okay? 

      Emi stared at her phone for a minute. 

      The door to their car slid open, closed. In ran Rio. 

      She sat next to Emi in their pod of six. Her eyes darted to the door. To Emi. Back and forth. 

      Emi gasped. “Hey, are you okay?” 

      Rio sighed, keeping her eyes on the car door. “Finally, I escaped that d*ckwad. Does he have a thing for kidnapping or something?” She turned her head towards Emi, sinking into her seat. Her gaze then shifted to the other four in the pod. 

      “Yeah, I don’t know—“

      “Eugh, Emi, why are you sitting with these weirdos?” 

      Emi and Ren chuckled, making eye contact. 

      “Ya know,” Emi said, turning back to Rio, “can’t tell ya why. Karma’s over there though—“ she pointed— “sitting with Junior. I think he’s actually really worried. You should go talk to him.” 

      Rio snickered. “Yeah, I should.” She stood, dusted herself off, and walked to Karma’s seat. “Hey.” She smiled. 

      “Took you long enough,” Karma teased, standing. 

      “Oh, come on, I know you were worried. Emi said so.” Rio leaned on the seats in front of them. “That being said though, I’m glad you and Asano can rest easy that I’m back.” 

      Karma and Rio shared a small laugh. 

      “What did Yoru do?” Asano asked. 

      “He tried to use these bottles he had to make explosives. I don’t exactly know how, and I don’t think he did either. Then he tried to kidnap me again. I mean, seriously, when is he gonna learn that he can’t beat us?” 

      Karma chuckled. “He won’t.” 

____________

      They got back to Kunugigaoka, all keeping tabs on each other. Quick glances. Questions. Anything to keep them safe and in the same place. 

      When Emi started to walk home, Ren caught her by the shoulder. “Emi, are you gonna be okay by yourself?” 

      Emi nodded. “If anything happens, you’ll find out.” 

      Karma approached them with Asano and Rio at his tail. “So how are we dealing with the whole school knowing about this?” 

      “My mom will prolly end up taking care of that,” Emi replied. “She has her ways. She’s for sure not as bad as your dad—“ she gestured to Asano— “but she’s not stupid.” 

      Karma nodded. 

      “What will happen if you get captured?” Asano asked Emi. 

      “Should anything happen to me—“ she looked at Karma— “everything’s gonna fall to you, Karma. I was already planning on trusting you to follow my plan. But if I’m gone, I trust you to make a new one.” 

      “I’ve got you, Emi.” Karma smirked. “Should anything happen.” 

      Emi sighed. “Good. Okay, I’m gonna go.”

      “You don’t suppose I could tag along?” Rio asked, putting a hand around Emi’s shoulder. 

      “Oh, yeah, you should.” Emi smiled. “Bye, guys. It was a fun trip.” Rio said something similar. 

      Emi hugged Ren, then Karma, then Asano. Once Emi was done hugging Asano, she felt his shoulders a bit. “Gosh, you’re so tense. Loosen up.” She smiled. “I know it’s scary right now with all the assassin stuff, but don’t lose sleep over it.” 

      Asano just nodded, not knowing what to say. 

      “Okay, bye.” The two girls waved and walked away. 

      Karma looked at the two. “Well, I’m going.”

      “Shouldn’t we keep you safe most of all?” Asano asked. 

      Karma tilted his head and hummed. “You’ve seen me fight.” 

      “Right,” Asano stated. 

      “Bye, Junior. Bye, Ren.” Karma walked off. 

      Ren chuckled. “Just ask to walk with him at that point.”

      “Shut up, Ren,” Asano said, crossing his arms.

      “Fine, so I’m assuming you don’t wanna walk with me?” Ren asked, a little smile on his face. 

      Asano shook his head. “No, let’s walk.”

      Ren kept his smile on his face, nudging Asano. “Alright, your house first.” 

      Asano nodded. 

Chapter Text

June 7th-16th

      Karma, Nagisa, and all the rest who knew Emi’s story met with her that Wednesday. Plus Kanzaki and Sugino. 

      “I’m sorry,” Nagisa said, “is it okay if they know?” 

      Emi nodded. “I’m pretty sure all of E-class will know by the end of this.” She made eye contact with the two of them. “Hi, guys, my name is Aoki. But you can call me Emi.” 

      Sugino and Kanzaki introduced themselves before the group sat at the table in Karma’s apartment. 

      “This apartment is so cute,” Emi commented. 

      “Yeah, I love the designs on the walls,” Kanzaki said. 

      “Thanks,” Karma replied. “So, what’s the scoop, Emi?” 

      “Well…” she took a rolled-up paper out of her bag. “I’ve been trying to figure out what’s been happening and where my dad’s been hiding.” 

      “Your dad?” Isogai said. 

      “Oh, shoot, update.” Emi looked at her paper, pointing to names with arrows. “I was friends with this guy named Takashi. He and his family started working with Yoru to… get me out of the picture. It didn’t work.” 

      “When did this happen?” Nagisa asked.

      “Almost two years ago,” Emi replied, “our second year.” 

      The others nodded. 

      “Anyways…” Emi continued. “Takashi cut ties with me, and Yoru stopped bothering me. A month or two later, you guys were in 3-E, yeah? And all that stuff happened.” 

      “So Yoru and Takashi left you alone that entire time,” Meg stated. 

      Emi nodded. 

      “How close were you and Takashi?” Karma asked. 

      “We’d been friends since… oh my gosh.” Emi’s brows furrowed as she grabbed a pencil and scribbled down something. “We got really close second year. That means they must’ve been planning this for awhile.” 

      “You’re right,” Nagisa said. “What about your dad?” 

      “My dad… let’s call him Mugen since, yeah.” Emi pointed on her paper again. “He and my mom were involved in the reaper operation. He became an assassin. She didn’t. My mom isn’t involved in this at all, at least from what I know.” 

      “So he must’ve been training Yoru all that time,” Karma said. 

      Emi took a breath. “Oh, yeah, that seems right, doesn’t it?” She took her pencil and scribbled down an arrow and something else on her paper. “Can I say, I’m so glad we’re doing this at a place my dad doesn’t know.” 

      Karma smiled. “Anything to defeat the guy who nearly kidnapped Rio.” 

      “You got kidnapped?” Maehara exclaimed. 

      Rio matched Karma’s expression. “Yep, and I got out just fine. But once we’re over this problem, can we put the assassination stuff away?” 

      That got a few chuckles. 

      “That reminds me,” Sugino said, “I’m meeting Mr. Karasuma next week. Anything you guys want info on?” 

      “You are?” Meg exclaimed.

      “This could help,” Nagisa said, “like actually help a lot.”

      “Could you ask if he knows Mugen Hanzo?” Emi asked. “It might explain some things. I wanna what Mugen thought after you guys assassinated the octopus.” 

      “So you’re okay with Mr. Karasuma knowing about this?” Karma said, making eye contact with Emi. 

      Emi’s eyes moved to Sugino. “Yes.” 

________

      Everyone had discussed the whereabouts of Mugen and Yoru at Karma’s apartment. No conclusion. 

      So when Sugino met Karasuma at Kunugi-kaze, Sugino came prepped with questions. 

      “Good morning, Mr. Karasuma.” Sugino bowed. 

      “Good morning, Sugino.” Mr. Karasuma did the same. 

      “How’s life been treating you?” Sugino asked, once they were seated. 

      “It’s been good,” Karasuma replied, stirring his tea. “Irina and I have some important assignments to get done once July hits. We’re taking our liberties now to catch up with you all.” 

      “Wow, working in the ministry of defense must be insane.” 

      “It comes with its risks.” Karasuma took a sip. “How about you? How’s high school?” 

      “It’s been kinda tough, honestly. Playing baseball full time and keeping up with homework has got me pretty busy.” Sugino put a hand on his neck, smiling. 

      “Sounds like you’re up to the challenge though. How has the rest of your school year been? Taking time for this meeting must be important if you’re busy.” 

      “This week has been interesting, to say the least. I honestly just wanted to see you and learn about how you and Miss Vitch are doing. But, I got some new info this week that’s kinda important.” 

      “Oh.” Karasuma saw the way Sugino’s expression changed. 

      Sugino frowned, looking at the table. “Some new assassination stuff has been happening. I dunno why but it is. Some of us have been planning in the shadows, and it’s kinda hard. I only found out about it last week.” 

      “What happened?” 

      Sugino paused, opening his mouth, then closing it and staring at the table. 

      “That bad, huh?” 

      “Mr. Karasuma, did you know a guy named Mugen Hanzo?” Sugino asked. 

      Karasuma’s eyes widened. “I did. He was originally supposed to come teach for 3-E, like Irina and I, but he disappeared before we could ask.”

      “Did you see him again after that?” 

      Karasuma took a beat, looking to the side. “Not to cut our talk short, but I think we should move somewhere else. I’ll explain outside.” 

      Sugino followed his eyes to a booth where two men were sitting, eyes down. He nodded, and he and Mr. Karasuma walked out. 

      “You saw it too, huh?” Karasuma said. 

      “Yeah, glad we got outta there before they did anything.” Sugino gave a light laugh. 

      They walked in the sunlight, soaking in the morning breeze before it got hot. 

      A gust came and went. Karasuma’s eyes darted behind him and Sugino, who followed. 

      “Karasuma,” one of the men said, “it’s been awhile, but I thought you’d at least recognize me.” 

      Karasuma gasped. “Mugen Hanzo.” 

      “Finally, it took you a minute there.” 

      Sugino inhaled sharply, shifting his feet into a defensive stance. 

      “Is this one of your prized pupils?” Mugen took a few steps, knife in hand. 

      Karasuma swept infront of Mugen, grabbing his wrist.

“You don’t think I’m dumb, do you?” 

      Mugen smiled, laughing. “No, of course not. I know your pupil is though.”

      The other man reached toward Sugino. 

      Sugino blocked. “Damn, I guess we’re playing it that way.” He fought the other man hand to hand. 

      Mugen cocked his wrist. Dropped his knife. What.

      Karasuma backed off. Then he went for Mugen. 

      They fought for a second. Dodging. Kicking. Punching. But for some reason, it didn’t seem as if the two men were fighting their hardest. 

      Sugino stepped back. “Who are you, dude? What do you want from us?” 

      “That’s Yoru Shio, this man’s pupil,” Karasuma said, backing up to match Sugino. 

      “I have to give you credit,” Mugen commented. “You remember more than I thought you would.” He scoffed, looking to Yoru. “We’ve revealed our tracks to those kids and their teacher. Let’s go.” 

      They pushed Sugino and Karasuma. Then ran. 

      “Hey, they’re getting away!” Sugino yelled. 

      Karasuma picked up Mugen’s knife. “That’s okay. You just met the two people who probably have it out for you the most.” 

      “Huh, I thought you said Mugen disappeared.” 

      “He did.” Karasuma sighed. “But he came back after the government began its final assassination attempt. I remember seeing Yoru training with him at some points.”

      “Which means he’s been planning this all along.” Sugino balled his fists. 

      The two stood in silence for a moment. 

      “Karasuma,” Sugino said. 

      “Hm?”

      “What did Mugen think of us? I mean, after we assassinated… Korosensei, did he—“  Sugino looked down— “think we deserved to die?” 

      Karasuma sighed. “Guess it was only a matter of time before you found out. You all deserve to know.” 

      Sugino tilted his head toward Karasuma. “Did he?” 

      “No, it’s more complicated than that, something not even you guys could come up with.” 

Chapter Text

June 16th

3E

Today 3:52 AM

Sugino: I can’t sleep till I say something about this

Sugino: Karasuma gave some new info about everything

Private chat - Emi and Karma

Today 7:12 AM

Karma: Hey, is it alright if we tell the rest of the class what’s happening

Emi: I mean yeah they deserve to know

Emi: Js make sure to emphasize that this is a secret that needs to be kept between u all

Karma: No problem, I got it

3E

Today 7:15 AM

Nagisa: What happened

Sugino: Mugen Hanzo wants us contained

Terasaka: Who is this Mugen Hanzo guy 

Kayano: why are we always in some sort of trouble??

Okuda: I hope everyone’s ok :(

Isogai: Maybe we should explain the entire situation first

Nagisa: I agree

Nagisa: Karma, explain it

Nagisa: Ik you’re stalking this chat

Karma: Fine, ya caught me

      Karma explained everything to the rest of class E, from the beginning of the year all the way till the day they’d met at his apartment. 

Karma: Didn’t think it’d come to this tho

Karma: It’s fine if we know, but keep this between us

Okuda: You got it!

Hazama: another top government secret, u say?

Yada: This is scary!

Kurahashi: yeah it’s awful, is nakamura okay?

Rio: yeah, i’m back and better than ever

Rio: also yoru is the most pervy person i’ve ever known

Kataoka: More than Okajima???

Okajima: HEYYY

Fuwa: The author would continue this chat if it weren’t for the plot

Nagisa: Not even gonna question that

Nagisa: What abt Mugen Hanzo wanting us contained?

Sugino: Oh yeah

Sugino: This is serious

Isogai: We’re all ears, Sugino

      Sugino stared at his phone, hands shaking. 

Sugino: After the big assassination, the gov wanted to do something w/ us. We’d invaded their lines and basically defeated some of their most powerful guys

Sugino: But Mr. Karasuma and his team worked to stop that from happening

Sugino: We almost got put into a camp, where they would’ve made us real assassins

Sugino: The people rooting for that idea lost out, not only on us, but on a lot of money. Now they’re pissed off and want revenge

Sugino: Not sure what that means

Kayano: why did it come to that…

Karma: Something tells me there’s a lot more to it than Mr. Karasuma is saying

Isogai: I bet he hid the real truth

Nagisa: Idk if we could’ve handled that

Kataoka: At least we can start forming a plan now

Karma: Yeahhh, ur right