Akari

"Today, we'll finish our previous yearbook!" Korosensei hollers as he piles stacks of photos onto the desk. "We will record different kinds of photos so that we can keep it as our memories forever!"

He shows us a plethora of photos that he has secretly taken of everyone in every occasion, from ugly selfies to embarrassing naked photos.

"Hurry! Destroy your photos before someone else sees them!" someone shouts and the entire class gets into action to get rid of their photos.

I comb through the photos, finding a few of my embarrassing photos, most of them involved me kissing Karma. Angrily I tear them into shreds, even though I believe Korosensei has kept copies of them.

"We need more!" Korosensei shouts desperately. "There aren't enough photos! It's time for a photoshoot!" He ushers us out of the class and puts us into different kinds of costumes. Some are dressed as aliens, while some are dressed as animals.

I look forward to what Korosensei is going to dress me in. In a blink of an eye, I find myself clad in a snow-white kimono, which looks exactly like those bridal kimono I've seen on TVs.

"You have got to be kidding me," I mutter.

"Looks like we're wearing matching outfits, Akari-chan~"

I turn around. Karma is wearing the traditional groom kimono, which is mainly black and greyish in colour. The moment he sees me, he freezes like an antelope hit by car lights.

"What?"

Karma covers his mouth and averts his eyes away shyly. His cheeks are suddenly kissed pink, the blooming colour a contrast to his usual cool face.

Looking at the rosiness of his cheeks, I couldn't help but blush at how cute he looks.

"You're...... beautiful," he silently mutters.

"Why aren't you looking at me?"

He coughs. "It's just...... I err... didn't know you would look so beautiful as a bride."

My cheeks heat up. "So it's a good thing?"

He nods. "When I see you, I realised the girl I love could look so beautiful as a bride. And I thought, 'wow, if she looks so beautiful just wearing a bridal kimono, then she would be even more beautiful when I marry her someday'."

My heart pounds in my chest. Marriage is something I have never given a thought of. It feels strange, yet feels so right.

"W-what are you talking about? H-h-how presumptuous of you to think that I would marry you," I stutter nervously.

Instead of his usual playful smirk, a warm and gentle smile blooms across Karma's face. "I know you will."

Those words snipe my fragile heart. "Stop being cheesy!"

He touches my cheek. "I love you, Okumura Akari. Forever and always."

I seldom believe in those 'forever and always' empty promises. But Karma's sincerity and love make me think otherwise. I drown myself in his beautiful eyes and tip my toes to kiss him.

"You should tell him you love him too!"

I freeze. Countless pairs of eyes watch me and Karma, while the light of the camera flashes every second as Korosensei takes our photo from every possible angle.

I cover my face in my palms, wishing there would be a hole in the ground for me to hide my face. Karma chuckles, a melody to my ears. "Give us some space, will you?"

"Not when this is so juicy!" Korosensei hollers.

"Can we just change to another theme?!" I huff angrily.

Fervently Korosensei dresses us in various themes, such as cowboys, space aliens, religion etc. When he is still not satisfied with the outcome, he put us in large bag and takes us out of the country for more exotic themes.

The fruitful day ends in a blink of an eye. Korosensei stays back at the classroom to edit and compile the thousands of photos for everyone. After waving goodbye to my friends, Karma and I walk home, hand in hand. We plan to just lay back and relax for the night.

"I got accepted into Kunigigaoka High School," Karma announces gleefully.

"That's great!" I hug him. "I got accepted into mine too! Yokohama Futaba Senior High!"

"Ah crap...... I'm missing you already," he says.

I chuckle. "We still have a few weeks together. I'll visit you every other weekend."

His brows furrowed. "You know two weeks is too long. I'll visit you every weekend."

I playfully slap his arm. "Focus on your studies, mister!"

"I'll ace every subject and beat the crap out of Asano," he snickers.

I sigh. His confidence gleams like his evil personality.

"I gotta go back today. My parents are back," Karma says, pouting.

"YES!" I cheer. "Finally some alone time!"

"Really?" He sighs. "I'll see you in the morning then." With last look at me, Karma leaves for his home.

I lay on my bed after warm bath, thinking of how blessed my life currently. I'm still with Karma, Korosensei is not going to die, the planet is safe, the class has grown better......

There is a saying: when everything is going too well, at a certain point it is bound to fall apart.

That is what happened on the night of March 6. It appears in the form of a red light that descended from the heavens and hit right where my classroom is.

I can see it from my apartment. An ominous foreboding strikes me and I fear the worst has happened.

The fear that Class 3-E had failed to anticipate: the final assassination of Korosensei.

I grab my coat and head out to my school. I run as fast as I can, while glancing at the hundreds of messages that popped up on my phone screen. People are gathering in the streets, drawn by their curiosity to the glowing yellow globe that encased my classroom and the hill it rested upon.

On the way, a few of my classmates join me in the run to the school. Karma appeared very late, and he quickly finds a spot beside me as the whole of Class 3-E gathers in front of the school entrance. It is barred by armed military, who refused to let us in.

Blinding camera lights flashed as hungry media people nosily clamour over us. They spew questions that are already framed to a certain angle for sensational news: the horrifying monster named Korosensei who had kidnapped the students for his own benefits and the students are scarred for life.

Karma pulls my hoodie over my head and blocks any incoming microphones that nearly jabbed me in the face. I know the media is just doing their job, but now they are just persistent, irksome flies who only focused on one angle of the fake 'truth' the government had spoon-fed them and decided not to investigate deeper like real journalists should.

"If only those idiots could stop pestering us and investigate the real truth, Korosensei would never be blamed for anything!" I huff angrily. If I see another of those hungry journalists with no integrity, I will punch them.

Karma pats my head. "Easy, tiger. The government controls them. They don't believe in children's words but the officials. Even if we showed them the results we got from space, they wouldn't believe it. They would think we're mind-controlled. Stockholm Syndrome, see?"

I feel betrayed by the government who said they would let us handle the assassination. Blinded, idiotic adults who could no longer see the wider picture but only focused on the smaller and faster benefit before them.

Even Karasuma-sensei betrays us by saying he was only following orders from above. But Nagisa interpreted it otherwise. He believes that Karasuma-sensei has placed his full trust in us to handle this.

Among such gloomy darkness, Nagisa's words seemed to be a tiny flicker of hope. Even if it might not be 100% truthful, I decide to grab onto it. We have no choice but to do so anyway.

There are only five days left till the deadline where Korosensei would be killed by the next attack from the heavens. We take the time to discuss and plan our entry into the campus.

The wait seemed so long yet so close. I need to see him again. If I don't see him again, nothing could really end.

"I'm gonna take command when we enter the mountains," Karma says as he informs Yuuma online. "We'll kick their asses."

I squeeze his hand. His forehead leans down to touch mine.

"We'll get our teacher back," I whisper cajolingly.

"Yes," he mutters back with a small smile.

When the time comes, 29 brave students of Class 3-E soar in the quiet night sky, jumping from roof to roof to reach the destination. Upon arrival at the mountains, Karma takes command and he split us up into teams according to our compatibility.

"What's that?" A soldier asks as he approaches me.

I am lying down on the ground, pretending to be dead with fake blood all over my face.

"We have one casualty!" the soldier calls to his team.

"Help......" I weakly cry.

"She's alive! Get the medical team—"

But before he can continue, two dark shadows swoop down from the trees and tackle the soldiers. While one of the soldiers is distracted, I kick him in his vulnerable spot and proceed to headlock him. He struggles for air until he loses unconsciousness.

"GYAAAAAA!" One of the soldiers shriek painfully as Karma tortures him with his tricks. Nagisa shakes his head and sighs.

"Karma, really?" I say.

"What? I thought pros could handle this better," Karma says and sticks out his tongue playfully.

The mountain is our playground; we could maneuver around easily, attacking and ambushing the soldiers. It is a simple game of cat and mouse: we're cats and they are our prey.

It doesn't take long for us to reach Korosensei. The bubbly, yellow octopus had been waiting for our arrival. I thought at last we could plan his escape together, but he refuses our suggestion, saying that his death has long been planned and cannot be evaded.

The joy of seeing Korosensei again is immediately replaced by sadness. He must die. We cannot save him anymore.

"Your efforts aren't wasted," says Korosensei. "You flew into space and discovered the possibility of my self-explosion is below 1%. Thanks to that, the gloomy class became cheerful again. The month after may be short, but it was worthwhile. The importance of this lesson is heart. You used all the knowledge you have learned from this class to find me. This means so much to me."

"In your future lives, you will definitely be hindered by the strong waves of society and fail to obtain the results you desired. But you must not blame society. You must not reject it. That's just a waste of time. Until then, think and dissolve that dissatisfaction of yours. Think of the ways you could adapt into the society. I believe you have learned that from this class. You don't have to face it head on. It's okay to hide. It's also okay to do a sneak attack without breaking the rules. Be motivated, don't give up. If you try and try again, one day, you will get the results you wanted......after all, you all are first-rated 'assassins' who could achieve anything."

A small smile crept onto my face. No matter how much I don't want him to die, this is probably the best ending for all of us.

"Actually...... I had been smelling something sweet......" Korosensei says.

Rio sighs. "You and your nose of a dog." She takes out a piece of cake from her bag. "Yukimura-sensei set today as your birthday, right?"

Korosensei's face flushes pink and his beady eyes glint with joy. His drool nearly foiled the cake. "I haven't eaten sweets for a week!"

"At least wait for us to sing the song!" Rio retorts. "Ready, one, two, three!"

We sing the birthday song to Korosensei, celebrating his first birthday as our teacher. Korosensei listens silently, eyes staring intently at the cake and avoiding our gazes. I bet he is going to cry rivers of tears any moment now.

Korosensei meticulously blows the candle...... and an attack from nowhere smashes the cake into smithereens.

Two sketchy figures appear from the dark forest: Shiro and a man covered completely in a black suit. Something hideous writhes under the suit, like large worms eager to break free.

"Let me introduce him. He is the faux God of Death, and from now on, he shall be the new 'Korosensei'."

The man removes his black suit and out emerges a large, black hideous creature, donned with tentacles and a lust for blood.

"He has undergone the same transformation like that octopus, only he is fastest, stronger, and more lethal."

The monster launches himself onto Korosensei. The impact blows the students around him away, deafening our ears.

"He can reach up to 40 Mach, twice of that octopus could achieve."

The monster's relentless tentacles slash at Korosensei, who is failing to defend himself from the lethal onslaught.

"Let me punch him in the face!" I hiss at Shiro, but Karma holds me back.

Then, Shiro injects a seed of the tentacles into himself, claiming he has no longer value his life anymore, as long as he could kill Korosensei here for good. He releases a beam of light at Korosensei, which distracts him and he takes a strong blow from the monster.

However, facing two formidable foes does not stop Korosensei. He vows to use all his might to stop them and protect his students.

Helplessness fills me as I watch Korosensei continues his battle against his foes. Even if he is no match for them, even if he is on the brink of death, he is not giving up.

Why? Because his students are right there.

There is nothing we can do....... Nothing I can do to help him. Nothing. I am just a pitiful, useless student who has nothing.

Korosensei is going to die a painful death before our eyes.

I can't watch this anymore. But my eyes remain glued to the one-sided onslaught, still praying for a gleam of hope amidst the darkness.

As though my prayers are answered, Korosensei begins to neutralise the monster's attacks. His tentacles grew accustomed to the attack pattern and manages to parry all the attacks that are launched at him.

Finally, there is hope.

With neither side able to defeat each other, the battle comes to a standstill.

"Leave, Yanagisawa. This is a place of education. It is no place for you. I'll amend my mistakes and bring my student to the right path," Korosensei demands.

But Shiro snickers derisively. "Still trying to act like a teacher, huh? Well then, as a teacher, protect them, will you?"

The monster appears behind us in a flash. He releases a concentrated ray of energy at us, but Korosensei manages to protect us by using his body as a shield. That full-frontal attack exhausts his remaining energy and he nearly topples to the ground.

I watch in horror as my beloved teacher sacrifices himself to protect us, no matter the cost.

"Continue on!" Shiro roars delightedly.

The monster obeys his command and launches the energy ray at us again and again; Korosensei protects us with his body again and again. It is a never-ending process of pain and suffering.

We're his burden. His forever weakness, his greatest vulnerability.

The despair, knowing as long as we live, we will always be Korosensei's greatest weakness...... and we will be the cause of his death.

"YOU'RE WRONG!" Korosensei refutes angrily. "They risk their lives to come and see me. Their efforts are the best present I could ever receive. They are not my weakness or my burden. They are students that I'm so proud of. Besides... protecting students... is a teacher's obligation!"

Suddenly, someone shot a bullet at the monster, but it is easily evaded.

Kayano Kaede holds to her ground. She isn't planning to run or hide. She wants to help Korosensei, and so here she is now.

"Idiot!" I shout. "Run!"

The monster's tentacles are slow when he attacks Kaede. She manages to parry the attacks easily, but it is not over.

"It's my fault that Korosensei's secret was exposed. I need to amend my mistake, right here, right now," she says, gazing intently at her opponent who looms over her with ease.

One split second is all it takes for a tentacle to penetrate Kaede's abdomen.

Soundless screams. It is obvious how horrified the rest of us are, watching our classmate impaled to death before us.

My grip on Karma's arm tightens.

She's dead. Our friend is dead.

Kaede's situation brings out the worst in Korosensei. A menacing red glow envelops him as he bathes in intense anger, his skin colour blackens like charcoal and all of a sudden, he becomes the real 'monster' the world has feared of.

"We need to leave! When the attention is no longer on us!" Nagisa shouts over the commotion. Kaede's limbs dangle lifelessly as he carries her.

"But......" I mutter.

"Running is also a tactic," Karma says. He takes my hand and pulls me along. Even though I want to be by Korosensei's side, I still follow my boyfriend to safety. His warm hand grips tight to mine, as though he fears I would be lost if he lets go. When we're far enough from the epicenter of the battle, Karma hides me behind him as we watch the heated battle continue.

Korosensei's battle aura changes into the colour of a rainbow: they are once the colours he often donned according to his emotions. Then, the colours combine into one pure white energy beam, and it hits the monster directly on its path. The long, tiring battle ends as the monster slowly disintegrates in Korosensei's arms.

Dead silence befalls upon the classroom of Class 3-E.

Nagisa holds Kaede's lifeless body dearly in his arms. We surround her, tears flowing like rivers.

"Don't put her down yet. The ground is filled with bacteria," Korosensei orders as he approaches us after the battle. His yellow skin is battered with multiple scars, but he is still lively like before.

"The past that is lost cannot return. I made several mistakes myself too. But we can use these mistakes as a lesson so that we will never repeat them again," he says and a ball of unknown red liquid descends into our peripheral vision. "This is Kayano's blood and body cells. I have gathered them before they reach the ground."

He... did this during the battle? Wow. Just wow.

Thin, hair-like tentacles start to patch the large gash on Kaede's abdomen. Korosensei meticulously patches up her body cells with such intricacy and precision that it put doctors to shame. He explains he has been preparing for situations like this. As long as he is there, he can revive any dead student of his.

A few of his tentacles suck AB blood from the students. Rio is requested to feed Korosensei with the melted remains of the cake to replenish his energy.

It doesn't take long for Kaede's wound to heal without leaving any scars behind. Then, Korosensei revives the dead girl with a touch of his electrical tentacles......

Kayano Kaede's eyes snap open as she breathes in a large gulp of air.

"KAYANO!" The whole class pounces onto the revived girl, joyful tears flowing down their cheeks.

"D-don't! Don't throw me into the air!" Kaede shrieks.

"Idiot!" I pinch her cheeks; they are warm and alive. I immediately break into tears, knowing she is not some hallucination.

"Ow! Hey! Stop hitting me you guys! OW!"

Korosensei topples to the ground, a satisfied grin plastered on his face. After such tremendous work, he deserves a good long rest......

The class exchanges dark looks. Yuuma steps up as the leader, asking to know who doesn't want to kill their beloved teachers. All raise their hands willingly.

"Those in favour of killing him?"

I clench my fists. Memories of the past year flashes in my mind. They are so enjoyable, so fun, so precious...... yet the time we spent together doesn't seem enough. I want to spend more time with Korosensei, to let him see me graduating from high school, from university......

The red star high above continues its ominous gleam, waiting for the deadline so it could unleash its might upon Korosensei.

If Korosensei has to die, it must be by our hands. This is the main purpose of our class, and this is definitely what he wants. He has always been our target, and it is time for us to graduate by fulfilling our goal.

I stop hesitating and raise my arm.

The joy of winning the battle and Kaede's revival vanish in thin air. Korosensei lets out a relieved sigh, satisfied with the scene he is watching.

My legs are heavy like lead. My breathing hitches. I walk to the vulnerable Korosensei like the rest of the class and grab onto one of his tentacles. It is warm and squishy, like it has always been. Imagining this comforting warmth would disappear bring tears to my eyes.

Nagisa volunteers to go in for the kill. He sits onto Korosensei's chest, right before the heart under the crescent-marked tie.

Korosensei bids farewell to his colleagues, Karasuma-sensei and Irina-sensei. Then, he recites the names of everyone in class as a final roll call. When their names are called, my classmates answer him one last time while trying to hide the sadness in their tone.

"Okumura Akari," Korosensei calls my name the final time with a gentle, coaxing tone. The calmness in his voice causes the tears to brim in my eyes.

"Here," I reply, my voice slightly cracking.

When the roll call ends, Nagisa's tiny body trembles. He points the knife directly at Korosensei's heart and lets out an anguished scream......

But Korosensei's tentacle gently touches Nagisa's neck, calming him down. "Don't wield that emotion to kill me. Calm down, and kill me with a smile."

Tears flow down Nagisa's cheeks. With a gentle smile on his face, Nagisa says, "Goodbye, Korosensei," and plunges the knife down at the heart.

Korosensei's everlasting grin seems to have widened a little as he bathes in tiny spheres of glowing yellow light that resembled fireflies.

Congratulations on graduating! He seems to be saying that to us.

The spheres of light are warm, like the tentacles he used to touch us with, like the smile he had plastered on his face, like the advices he gave us all the time......

The warm and squishy tentacle I hold in my hand grow cold and slowly, it dissipates along with the floating lights.

The last floating light leaves for the heavens, and all that's left are his black uniform...... and the students he loved so much.

Tears flow like rivers; anguished cries resonate the silent dead night.

That was it. That was the last time we would ever see him again.

Class 3-E has finally graduated.

***

Author's notes: 

I sincerely apologise for the goddamn long delay. I was preoccupied by the other story for a whole year so finally now i had the time to finish this story for good. This is the second last chapter of a long story, and i will post the final chapter within these few days. 

To all the loyal readers who still waited for this story, thank you :) Your love for Akarma and this story means a lot to me. 

I'll leave a longer note in the final chapter. Good bye :')