AN: The final chapter of OUTSiDER will be posted two days from now. There will be an epilogue after that. I will probably write some EXTRA oneshots for this fic after that, but no promises.

49. Kill

Korosensei won't die. That's what the data they found dictated.

Hearing that, the class celebrated. They took pictures, built the yearbook, and resolved to enjoy the rest of their remaining time, readily attempting to assassinate Korosensei with their ever-growing bloodlust.

And then, entrance exams for high school.

"Kuma-sensei, save usss~!" Fuwa whined, leaping into his arms as soon as she spotted him at the entrance. "I'm dying! I'm going to cry from how anxious I am!"

Mimura sighed as well, in much of the same state.

They're at the entrance of their first choice high school, lining up to register for the exams that's happening in two hours.

"It can look overwhelming, but I promise you that once you're in there, it'll be over before you know it," Nao chuckled. "No rest stops, so you just gotta trudge on."

"I don't know if that makes me feel better," Mimura said, "when does the studying end and the fun begin?"

"Studying is the fun part," Nao insisted. "Exams suck, but once it becomes work, that's when the fun ends."

"You're depressing me, Kuma-sensei, stop!"

Mimura and Fuwa were headed for communication and mass media productions, which meant they would need a good education record to give them a leg up on the field. This meant intensive preparation for the taxing high school life to come, and it was honestly a little difficult to be hyped for it.

Nao wasn't very excited about it all, either.

(It was almost time, after all. For everything to end.)

The pressure of a looming deadline began to really weigh in, and Nao admired the students, that they were able to throw themselves into their exams, if only more encouraged by the number of days going down on the blackboard.

And still, Nao made the effort.

"Alright, it's almost our turn," Mimura took a breath, straightening himself and adjusting his collar. Fuwa tidied her hair as well, fiddling with her button.

"Thanks for seeing us off, Kuma-sensei!" Fuwa said. "Korosensei dropped by just now, too. You just missed him."

"Are you headed to anyone else's?"

Nao hummed. He can't drop by everyone like the octopus can, so no sense in trying to catch him. "I'm meeting Isogai and Kataoka after this, to catch them after their paper today. We're going to a family restaurant with Isogai's siblings."

"What, that's so nice! I'm jealous!"

"If I do well here, can I have a Kuma-sensei privilege tooooo?"

"Don't push your luck," Nao sighed. "But okay, maybe tomorrow. I still need to give you back the novel you were writing, with comments. Same to you for that script you wanted me to proof, Mimura."

"Yay!" Mimura and Fuwa clapped their hands together victoriously. "Kuma-sensei, you really know how to give good celebratory gifts!"

Nao smiled. "Well, what can I do? I have students that love giving me homework."

"And you finish them so fast!"

"Agh, now I can't wait to hear what you think about it!" Fuwa said, miffed, "can't you give it to me now? The plot hole in Chapter 11's been bugging me the whole week!"

"Oh, it just came to mind—" Mimura spoke up too, "I didn't really think about it at the time, but were my lines too elaborate for a movie script? I tried to keep them casual, but then I realized movie and anime have differences for target audiences and—"

"Enough, enough," Nao reached out to lightly tap on the top of their heads, "head in the entrance exam, otaku duo! Ace the exam first, then I'll give you the prize, alright?"

"Nooo, I'm too curious now!" Fuwa whined, "pretty please, Kuma-sensei?!"

"Please, this will bug me so much!" Mimura added, "I might lose sleep thinking about it!"

"Nuh-uh, puppy eyes don't work on me," Nao said. "Go on, godspeed."

Though whining, they were grinning excitedly as they made their way in.

They entered the building side by side, backs pulle straight and heads held high with confidence. They waved at Nao one last time, and then they never looked back again.

(They've all grown up, haven't they?)

Nao stepped back, winding around the corner wall and sitting down at the first ledge that seemed reasonably comfortable. There were other guardians and parents around, too, waiting out until the kids finished their tests.

His eyes closed, not by his own will, and he tried to wrest away the spinning in his vision. The weight of his shoulders made his fingers numb, and there's a dull ringing in his ears that just didn't quite want to leave. There's a floaty, tight ache in his head, not quite as painful as it is uncomfortable.

He's so tired.

Maybe he should have driven instead of walked, but the idea of needing to pay attention on the road felt like a safety hazard right now.

It's fine.

He managed a laugh out of his throat. He's so winded, just from a twenty minute walk. He really was laughably weak, with nonexistent stamina to speak of, horribly physically unfit. His students would make fun of him if they could see him.

"Oh, what do I do," he sighed, "now that I got comfortable, I can't stand up again."

Well, he's sure Isogai and Kataoka wouldn't mind if he were a little late.

"It's fine," he sighed. "They can go on ahead, I'll catch up."

-

"Isn't that gross?"

Itona asked him, tactlessly, right in front of his ramen and two steps away from the man that made it.

"You don't have to eat it, get out," Muramatsu grumbled.

"Give your teacher something better to eat, won't you?" Yoshida sighed.

Nao laughed as they bickered. He'd come in on a whim, honestly, and the warm soup filled him with satisfaction. The taste wasn't too bad, it just had a strange aftertaste that resembled rice wine, but it wasn't too unpleasant once you got used to it.

He couldn't quite taste anything else, though.

"You three will be taking over your family businesses, right?" Nao changed the topic before Muramatsu lost it and emptied the bowl over Itona's head.

"Yeah," Yoshida said, "I'm going to study a bit of engineering first, though. Get my chances up with the basics."

"And I'm taking business," Muramatsu said. "Itona's going straight into things."

"I'll be bunkering on them if things go south. Thanks in advance," Itona declared, dryly. "Ritsu will be helping me too."

It sure was nice to already have an established connection of business friends during junior high. Nao's very envious.

"Stay connected, alright?" Nao said, unable to help himself, "it'll get busy, but make sure to treasure your connections with your old friends."

Itona hummed. "Kuma-sensei, you don't have any friends?"

Immediately, 999pts of damage.

"You don't really get along with anyone your age, huh?" Yoshida says, "I've only ever seen you with students, or maybe with Karasuma-sensei and Bitch-sensei. You don't have any friends from school?"

Stop it, my HP is in the negative.

"You guys are so rude," Nao groaned. "Things happen in the process of becoming an adult, alright?"

"You sure it's not because of your weird obsession with bears?" Muramatsu asks.

That's it.

"To begin with, the ones that started calling me Kuma-sensei were you guys!" he snapped, "it was my first day teaching! I fumbled my name in my introduction and no one ever let me live it down!"

-

"You're headed for the school?"

Asano found him on the streets, like some kind of creepy stalker. He smiled, like he was supposed to be there, and said, with all the gall of someone who wasn't acknowledging any feedback right now.

"Would you like a ride?"

Nao wondered if all the needling from the press and unwanted attention from the general public was getting to him.

"Uhm... no thanks," he said. "It's barely worth a drive, anyways."

"What a shame," Asano said. "My offer is open for another day, though."

Nao snorted. "I'll call you if I need a road trip anytime soon, then."

"I'll keep my schedule open," Asano assured.

"You are fucking embarraassing," Gakushuu, when the hell was he there, rolled down the window to scowl. "If this goes on for another second I am walking home."

Well, that's unusual, he's sitting in the same car as his father. And he's only rolling the window down to the bare minimum, as if he's trying to hide behind the tint.

"Oh dear, Gakushuu-kun," Asano said, sarcastic, "you're going to walk around in your boxers.?

To which Gakushuu screeches back, "I didn't expect to be ambushed with a fucking GLITTER BOMB today but look what I have to deal with!"

"Oh no, someone ambushed you with a glitter bomb? How unfortunate."

"For fuck's sake— I know it was— don't act dumb, I WILL FIND A WAY TO PROVE IT," Gakushuu is borderline hysterical at this point, "I KNOW IT WAS YOU, OKAY?!"

"How barbaric, conduct yourself properly, are you really a model student of my school? I don't recall raising you to shout like this."

"I DON'T RECALL YOU RAISING ME AT ALL."

Nao had to double over and die of laughter on the side of the road.

"Kunomasu-sensei, are you okay? Would you like a ride to the nearest outpost, at least?"

"DON'T. KUMA-SENSEI, RUN BEFORE HE GETS YOU TOO."

Nao wheezed.

-

"That's really pretty..."

Nao expected to get Valentine's chocolates, of course. What he didn't expect was the commissioned chocolate cake with a rather elaborate sculpture atop, of a chocolate bear holding a huge lotus in its hands. The design spun onto the cake, swirls lining the edge of the cake, crumbles coating the ganache, and edible gold and glitter encrusting a pathway to butterflies, over-the-top hearts, and a chocolate-written card.

It's just a small cake, but the decorations made it look worthy of a luxury restaurant.

Happy Valentine's, Kuma-sensei.

"We couldn't decide what to get you, so the class pitched in," Nakamura beamed, clearly proud. "I commissioned it!"

"W- was it... really expensive?" Nao asked, honestly a little mortified, "because it really looks expensive."

"It's fine," Nakamura says, "the cake artist is pretty influential, so it'll be useful for me in the future. And she's helping Hara get info on a culinary college she wants to attend in the future as well, so it's honestly only wins for us."

Nao felt like crying.

"Oh, just between you and me," Nakamura leaned in to whisper, "I commissioned one more cake! It's super over my budget, but oh well, the things I do, you know..."

One more cake...

(Ah, that's right. March was already upon them. The final cake for Korosensei...)

"I'm sure he'll love it," Nao said. "Thanks, Nakamura. I almost don't want to eat this cake, it's so adorable."

"Awh, but it's be such a waste!" Nakamura pouted. "Can I take a picture at least. I promised to send her your reaction."

"You're really pulling ahead on the social connections, huh?" Nao chuckled, raising a V sign as she systematically took a picture. "Gonna be a repeat customer? Your savings are gonna run dry!"

"Customer loyalty benefits! I'm sure she'll give me a discount one day," Nakamura beamed. "Even if she doesn't, keeping contact is good. I'm thinking I can side as an influencer for some extra income, so this is a good launching point."

"Wow, you think far."

She smiled sheepishly. "I probably won't show my face much though. Not a fan of my small eyes. But one of the charms of the internet is that I can stay faceless, right?"

They're all thinking deeply about their futures, from the big issues to the small details, to the ins and outs of fun endeavours and new hobbies they want to dip their feet into.

Nao couldn't help but feel a little envious.

"Oh! I gotta go," Nakamura said, when her phone chimed with a message. The grin gracing her face as she left is mischievous. "We're going to bully Kayano today, so see ya tomorrow, Kuma-sensei! Enjoy the cake!"

"Will do," Nao assured.

The door closed, and the staffroom settled into silence.

Nao watched the cake for a long, comforting moment, unable to bring himself to eat it. It's a treasure, no doubt, but he knew that it was made to be eaten, and its fleeting nature was the charm of the art form to begin with.

He's not really hungry, and he's never been too much a fan of chocolate. He hasn't been able to work up an appetite for a few days now, so he's rather sure he wouldn't be able to finish it either.

But he took up a fork and made sure to savour every bite.

It's bitter. It's probably not supposed to be. But he enjoys it anyway.

-

"You're still here," Karasuma said, passing by the staffroom. "Come on, I'll drive you."

Nao's coffee was still warm in his hands.

"...no, I think I'll stay," he said. "I don't think I'll be able to make a secret climb back up in one week. Won't it be easier if I just stayed here?"

Karasuma paused.

"You're nonsensical," he huffed. "What don't you know? I haven't even mentioned this to Irina, and yet..."

Nao chuckled, placing down the mug to peruse the photos on the desk. Karasuma had confiscated the one of him and Irina in bridal wear, but they're all rather sure the octopus had copies.

"You've got plans for this in the future?" Nao teased. "Ah, and ask Sakurai Florists' for flower arrangements. Ms Sakurai would be delighted with the business."

"Don't make me knock you out and drag you down the mountain," Karasuma grumbled. "And like hell I will. I'm not signing up for all the teasing you're preparing."

Nao's smile wrinkled.

Alas, nothing misses Karasuma's mark. "And don't change the subject. You're not supposed to know this, so you'd better come with me," Karasuma said. "You could do with an infusion at the hospital, anyways. You haven't been eating."

Nao sighed. "I escape the house only to get nagged at school..."

"Oh, so you do know it's a problem!" Karasuma snapped. "For fuck's sake, come on."

Nao's gotten accustomed to being grabbed and thrown over a shoulder over the past year, but it's still rather jarring. Karasuma's strong enough to do it with one arm and make sure he's comfortable, even.

"I already said I wanted to stay," Nao groaned in frustration, crossing his arms on Karasuma's back.

"I'll carry you back up," Karasuma said. "Anytime you want, just give me a call. I'll be your private courier service, for all it'd mean. So could you just be cooperative for one day and let me carry you down the damn mountain?"

He's serious.

He's speaking as if he's trying to joke around, but his voice is low and impatient, and he just wasn't meeting Nao in the eyes at the moment.

Nao mulled. How's he supposed to say no to that?

"Alright, fine," Nao said, sighing in defeat.

Karasuma then put him back on his feet, and Nao reached for his coat, leaving behind all his papers on the desk, the coffee half-touched.

"But in exchange... hmm," Nao followed him out, shutting off the lights. "Ah, right. Name your firstborn after me!"

"I don't even know where to begin retorting to that..." Karasuma cuffed Nao on the head lightly. "What makes you think I'll have children, anyways?"

Nao grinned.

"I've actually got superpowered future sight abilities!" he boasted. "I'm all-knowing. But I'm super weak in exchange."

Karasuma levelled him with a stupendously impressive disappointed dad look.

Nao burst out laughing immediately.

-

When the spear of heaven struck down on the mountain, Nao didn't do anything. He was in no rush, even though the students were in a frenzy and Karasuma was busy under orders of the government to do damage control. He stays home, even when Irina calls him with news that the students were under protective custody by the military. He simply waited.

"So, what's this about you being held hostage by an alien terrorist?"

Ms Sakurai fixed him with a very concerned stare.

"I honestly don't know, Ms Sakurai, I thought it'd be super impolite to ask why the guy had tentacles," Nao said, completely stone-faced, monotonous, "you know, like you don't exactly ask why some customers have vitiligo or missing fingers sometimes. I thought it was none of my business yeah?"

Ms Sakurai gave a longsuffering sigh.

"I understand now. You don't want to tell me anything," she said. "But how long will you stay home?"

"You're chasing me out?"

"Of course not, I wish you'd be this quiet on a normal day," she corrected, arms crossed, eyes set in a frown. "But I know you. You want to go out, don't you? Then hurry up and tell me, I need to know how much dinner to make."

Nao couldn't help but feel like a child again.

It's a very nice feeling.

"Can we have dinner together tonight?" he asked. "I'll go out tomorrow. Won't be back for a while after that, so..."

He trailed off.

He didn't know how to say it. He didn't know how to tell her he wanted to spend a long time away, instead of staying by her side like a filial son would.

(He's never been a filial son, so, nothing's really changed.)

Ms Sakurai took a long, understanding moment to prepare her response. She carefully set down her gardening scissors, tidying the leaves on the carnations before untying her apron.

"I see, that's alright. Of course, I know your habits," she said. "Would you help me close up the shop? I want to start cooking earlier tonight. Anything you want to eat?"

Nao didn't trust himself to look her in the eye right now.

He didn't trust his voice not to shatter when he produced a response.

But he spoke anyway, hand reaching over his face in a vain attempt to hide the sob that escaped in time with his first syllable.

"I don't know... there's a lot on my mind, and everything you make is good," he forced the words out of himself, as many as he could. "But it's too late now for something complicated, so... that's right. Let's have Oyakodon!"

Ms Sakurai bubbled into laughter. "You're rambling, Nao-kun," she managed. "I'll make Miso Soup to go with it, then."

Nao preferred not to interpret anything in the way she gently dabbed at her eyes, one after another, before giving in and turning away to hide.

Nao did not say anything. And she said nothing, too.

Systematically, as if this were just another night after a long day of work— they sat together around the dinner table, and simply chatted about their day.

-

And the next morning, Nao left, as if he were simply headed for work.

Ms Sakurai had left a message for him on the counter— a single yellow daffodil.

(He'd received a yellow rose on his first day at Class E, too. And it made him reminisce— What did yellow mean again?)

"A promise of new beginnings?" he wondered. It's a daffodil, flowers for the New Year, flowers of springtime. It's a flower of hope in this cold winter.

(Ah, right. For something to begin, something must end. Daffodils are a symbol of rebirth, of better things to come. Of the vain hope Ms Sakurai held, that she knew from the very start was not for her.)

He needed to prepare a response.

The flowers weren't prepared for the morning yet, so Nao reached into the storage, looking for the flowers he knew lay in the furthest back of the house.

He simply set it upon the counter before leaving. He left his house keys as well, straightening the bear keychain upon it so it sat upright as well.

Nao adjusted the blue scarf around his neck, perusing the edge, where a cruddy bear stitch stared back at him with its unemotional expression. He smiled.

"Thank you."

Neither the bear nor the single blue rose on the counter responded.

-

It's the day before D-day, and Nao found himself at the military outpost where Irina and Karasuma were stationed.

The kids raided the mountain, and now the teachers were being assigned to stop them. Not that they would, but Nao followed them up to the mountain, to the distant hums of the tail end of a birthday song.

Nao turned toward the roof before the attack came.

And the bare second before the tentacle struck the birthday cake, Nao's eyes met Yanagisawa's. His eyes widened at the large, tentacled monstrosity he'd become.

Perhaps, since the Ran, Second Reaper, was not here to be utilized as the final weapon, Yanagisawa had resorted to himself as his greatest asset.

It made sense.

What didn't make sense was that one glance toward him made Yanagisawa change the trajectory of his attack.

The first hit was not supposed to kill anyone. Yanagisawa had aimed for the cake last time, only to announce his presence, startling and trampling over the momentous occasion. He had wanted to draw out the final confrontation, to make the losing battle as agonizing as it could be for Korosensei.

So he did not aim to instantly kill this time, either.

Perhaps, that was a small mercy.

Instead, Nao felt the impact the second it struck his ribs and his body caved in, and once his feet lost hold of the ground— he was sent flying.

No one could react as he plunged right over the crowd of students, across their vision— and his body hit the ground in a painful, rough drag across the field, rolling past the soil and failing to grind to a stop until he was near the other end of the field, coughing up everything in his stomach.

He couldn't get up, he couldn't open his eyes.

Something yelled for him.

Nao claimed to be omniscient, but he's only human.