- near the end -

It was Nagisa versus Takaoka, and all the other children - and Mr. Karasuma - could only watch.
Takaoka had every advantage - size, experience, insanity. Nagisa was just a small boy (and not even a very boyish boy at that) who had simply happened to stumble onto the assassination scene almost incidentally due to the sudden appearance of Koro-sensei. Nagisa was nothing special...

So it was made obvious as Takaoka proceeded to begin beating the crap out of Nagisa. The other students watched in horror as Nagisa fell yet again. Terasaka gritted his teeth, trying to hold his consciousness, and Karma clenched his hands to stop them from shaking. For the first time in his life, Karma Akabane was actually worried about someone else.

As Nagisa stood up with a killer look in his eyes, Terasaka gasped, immediately noticing Nagisa's use of the technique Lovro had taught him that involved the use of two weapons, one to distract and one to use. However, at the moment where Nagisa should have prevailed, he began coughing heavily and fell to his knees, dropping both weapons, eyes widened in shock. When he pulled his hand back, it was covered in blood.

Takaoka began laughing maniacally. "Looks like you're beginning to show symptoms of the disease," he said, and Nagisa, too dazed to argue or protest, fell over and laid sprawled across the ground, unable to move. "Your immune system may have held you this long, but clearly, you're in no shape to recover."

Nagisa lay gasping at Takaoka's feet, and Takaoka took the moment to kick Nagisa in the side so he moaned, coughing up more blood as he flinched. "But...when...I never...drank..."

Takaoka smiled at him. "When you were in the club downstairs. You think that I didn't know what you guys were doing? Of course I knew. But I wanted to meet you, Nagisa. I wanted to fight you, just like we're doing right now. And just in case something...unexpected happened, or in case things got out of hand..." Takaoka smiled, reflecting the state of his mind to be a void of chaos and confusion. "I wanted a little security measure. No matter what happens here, I win, boy. Remember that."

Mr. Karasuma's eyes went wide. No! How could this happen? It was his job - his job - to protect these kids! And now another one was sick?

"The thing is, Nagisa, the strain of the disease that you're currently a host for is slightly different than what your friends have," Takaoka said, laughing. "Don't get me wrong. Your friends will still die, but slowly. You only have..." He consulted his watch. "About a minute."

Karma, hearing all of this, paled and began running towards them. "Nagisa!" he shouted, vaulting the railing despite his classmates' cries of warning. With his incredible agility, he managed to land on the platform and make his way to Nagisa's side. "Nagisa! Are you okay?"

Nagisa coughed up more blood but attempted a small smile. "Just...fine, Karma." He sent Karma a pointed glare. "But...don't make me...put on a dress...again, okay?"

Karma's expression was, for once, not self-centered or arrogantly nonchalant. For the first time since coming to the E class, he looked...worried. His eyes were wide as he checked Nagisa's forehead temperature. "You're running a high fever...What do I do?" Karma muttered, panicked, and Nagisa's eyelids fluttered as he drifted in and out of consciousness.

"Tell...Koro-sensei...and the others...that it was fun," he murmured, each breath labored. "That they made...E class...somewhere I...enjoyed being." Nagisa opened his eyes for the last time and smiled at Karma. "And...I made a lot of...great friends, like...you, Karma. So...thanks."

He closed his eyes only a few seconds before Karma began crying, a sight that Nagisa would never see.

"Damn it...damn it, damn it, damn it," Karma muttered, taking Nagisa's pulse and cursing more and more as it grew slower and slower, and finally stopped.

The only thing that drew him out of his state of shock was the sound of Takaoka's laughter. "See? I win in the end. The last laugh belongs to me."

Karma slowly got to his feet and faced Takaoka, his eyes narrowed and hollow-looking. "The last laugh belongs to you?" he repeated emptily before a scarily calm smile made its way onto his face. "I don't think so." In a deliberately slow motion, his hands went to his pockets.

Mr. Karasuma immediately picked up on Karma's intentions and tried to stop him. "Karma! Don't do it!"

Karma turned his empty gaze to Mr. Karasuma. "This bastard just killed my classmate...my friend...in front of me, and you're telling me to be calm and take it easy?" He blinked, eyes narrowing once more and returning to Takaoka, who looked thrilled at the new challenge presented before him. "Yeah, right."

Before anyone could stop him, Karma armed himself with three knives in each hand and, tilting his head, smiled at Takaoka. "It was a game you wanted, right? Looks like there's been a player change." His eyes glittered darkly with malicious intent. "Let's see who'll be the last one laughing."