On the day of our school trip, we all stood gathered on the Shinkansen platform.
"Oh my God, Classes A through D are actually traveling first class? Is this for real?"
"And we're stuck in standard... As usual, nothing ever changes."
"These are the school rules. Weren't they explained when you enrolled? Or did you forget because you're Class E students?"
"The tuition budget always prioritizes the top achievers."
"My goodness, the stench of poverty is coming off all of you."
I ignored the mockery of the Class D teacher. My curiosity was instead fixed on a peculiar pair nearby as I observed the station.
I shifted my gaze away from "Bitch-sensei," who was dressed in an incredibly flashy outfit, and surveyed our surroundings. This station served as a starting point, a transit hub, or even the end of the road for many. You could see foreigners and people you would never encounter in your daily life.
I didn't mind the chaos of the station, filled with such a diverse crowd.
However, something deeply bothered me and kept breaking my focus: Professor Bitch. She was strutting confidently, trailing her suitcase while wearing clothes that made her look like a Hollywood movie star.
I felt a double sense of curiosity. On one hand, she was supposed to be our chaperone; could she really wander the streets of Tokyo or climb the stairs of Kiyomizu-dera in those loud clothes? On the other hand, wasn't her attire excessively conspicuous for a teacher on duty?
I glanced at Mr. Karasuma to see how he judged her appearance. His eyes were narrowed and his brow furrowed sharply. It was clear that this provocative look had no place in his professional code.
Wait, where was Koro-sensei?
He was also the type to stand out, albeit in a different way, so it was impossible to miss him. Yet, I couldn't see him anywhere on the platform. Could he actually be late?
"Good day, students."
"Bitch-sensei, what is with that flashy Hollywood star outfit?"
Kimura looked shocked as he voiced his criticism, and I completely agreed with him.
But Professor Bitch spoke with blatant pride.
"Hehe, this is standard preparation for any assassin who uses her femininity as a weapon. Often, a target will invite us on a vacation. If you show up in shabby clothes, you might disappoint him and blow a golden opportunity. A smart woman pays special attention to her travel wardrobe."
When a professional speaks, mixing practical experience with seemingly expert advice, their words carry a weight that is hard to dismiss.
However, even though this was an "assassination trip," the primary mission this time was sniping. The target wasn't someone who could be taken down by seduction. Consequently:
"Go and change your clothes. You're attracting way too much attention, and that look is entirely inappropriate for a chaperone."
Mr. Karasuma did not remain silent. He was the one under immense pressure from the government, the students, the target, and the school, and he wasn't about to tolerate this lapse in judgment.
Bitch-sensei, failing to notice the veins throbbing in his face or his terrifying expression, tried to protest.
"Don't be such a prude!"
But Mr. Karasuma gave her no ground.
"Take that nonsense off and change immediately...!"
He barked at her, his face contorting into a truly frightening mask.
Professor Bitch boarded the train with a bored sigh, heading toward the restrooms to change. As we prepared to embark, I wondered what had happened to Koro-sensei after all.
"Excuse me, Mr. Karasuma."
"What is it?"
"Where is Koro-sensei?"
"... That monster...!"
Well, it seemed he hadn't heard from him either; the veins on Mr. Karasuma's forehead only grew deeper.
He pulled out his phone, his brow knotted, and began dialing the number with hands trembling from pure rage.
"Listen to me, where are you now? The train is about to leave. Am I to understand you're skipping today?"
"Nyuyaaa?! Please, wait a moment!"
"I can't do anything about that! We're moving now. You'll have to beat us to the next station and board there!"
Even though I stood a bit away from Mr. Karasuma, Koro-sensei's panicked voice was clearly audible.
If you thought about it, a phone call to summon an assassination target was a truly surreal scene.
I really wondered what kind of conversations Koro-sensei and Mr. Karasuma had in the faculty room while Bitch-sensei gave us her lessons. I could easily imagine Mr. Karasuma maintaining total silence while Koro-sensei never stopped trying to start a chat—or perhaps Koro-sensei feeling awkward and staying silent too.
And did they communicate via text? I knew they had each other's numbers, but did they use an app like LINE?
For a moment, I imagined Koro-sensei in Mr. Karasuma's friend list and what their chat would look like. I almost burst out laughing at the sheer contrast, but I forced myself into a state of focus, counting prime numbers in my head to maintain my composure.
Afterward, we boarded the train and kept ourselves busy with our hobbies until it was time to switch lines. Some played cards, some brought folding boards for Go, and others were preoccupied with their cameras.
As for us in Group One, we were doing something else.
"No... Nozaki..."
"You are pathetic at cards..."
"Damn it... This is strange. Why is this happening?"
We were playing "Old Maid." For a reason I couldn't grasp, I kept losing, ending up in last place every single time.
It was baffling; I started to think some cosmic force was intervening just to humiliate me.
"Nozaki-kun, do you wear your heart on your sleeve that much?"
"M-maybe Kurahashi-san is just freakishly strong?"
Kurahashi, sitting beside me, started teasing me.
In the fifth round, she gave me a choice between the Joker and the last card. She pulled the safe card without a second thought, making me swallow the bitterness of a fifth consecutive defeat.
If I kept losing like this, I'd end up with a reputation for being a total failure at cards.
"O... One more time..."
"Again? This will be the sixth round!"
"Please, just one last time."
"And what exactly do you mean by 'just once'?!"
"Keiichi, you use suspicious phrasing sometimes, whether it's about tentacles or these requests."
"It's fine. This really will be the last time."
"And Kurahashi doesn't even mind..."
Thanks to Kurahashi, I got a shot at revenge.
Kimura suggested that the loser of this round would have to buy drinks for the entire group.
And why am I narrating this in such detail?
"Keiichi..."
"Don't look at me like that, Isogai."
As expected, I lost again.
As if destiny had been written in advance, it came down to Isogai and me. I gave him two choices, and of course, he pulled the right card, leaving me with the loss.
For the record, in this specific round, I had the Joker from the very beginning. It seemed that after six rounds, the card had developed a sense of loyalty to me; it refused to pass to any other player and remained my faithful companion until the end.
Halfway through, my emotions were apparently so obvious that the other members felt sorry for me. They tried to shuffle the cards in a way that would help, yet everyone dodged the Joker with uncanny precision.
This was insane! Was my face really such an open book? Statistically, shouldn't I have won at least once without even seeing the Joker?
After the sixth defeat, I was convinced: I was the "King of Failures" in card games.
"Nozaki, I'll help you carry the drinks."
"It's okay, Maehara. I'll go as the world's worst card player. Don't worry about it."
I politely declined Maehara's kind offer. As I got up to buy the drinks, the train pulled into the next station, and Koro-sensei boarded.
"Goodness, I am truly exhausted. Traveling without drawing attention is such hard work."
He claimed to be trying to stay low-profile while his face radiated fatigue, but he was carrying a backpack the size of two students. His joints looked bizarre, and his disguise couldn't hide the fact that he wasn't human to anyone looking closely. Honestly, I wanted to ask him: "What 'low profile' are you talking about?"
"Don't bring a bag that ridiculously large."
"Koro-sensei, you draw attention just by existing."
"Isn't it dangerous for a government secret to be this exposed?"
"Nyuyaaa?!"
Koro-sensei overreacted to the students' blunt criticism. In his dramatic display, the prosthetic nose he was wearing in the middle of his face fell off.
"That disguise also gives away that you're not human if we look closely. Can't you do something better?"
"Nyooo..."
While Koro-sensei pondered seriously, Sugaya picked up the fallen nose and began adjusting it with quick, expert hands. After a few minutes, he tossed the now-streamlined nose back to Koro-sensei.
"Koro-sensei, take this. Let's start by changing this nose that falls off so easily."
"... Oh! It fits perfectly!"
"I carved it to match the contours of your face and the atmosphere of the station. I'm quite good at making things like this."
As soon as he put the nose on, the sense of uncanniness vanished. He now looked like an "ordinary person you might pass on the street."
While Koro-sensei admired himself in a hand mirror, beaming at his students' gift, Sugaya returned to his seat with practiced indifference as the others looked on in admiration.
"You're amazing, Sugaya!"
"Well, it was just a drop in the ocean."
I was truly impressed; everyone had unexpected talents.
Or perhaps they only seem unexpected to us, while they are perfectly natural to the person—a side of their personality we simply hadn't known yet.
Maybe on this school trip, we would discover hidden facets of ourselves or our classmates that we never realized existed.
Just as I discovered I was the "King of Failures" at card games.
I put my hands in my pockets and headed toward the car with the vending machines.
I had the money, and everyone's requests were burned into my memory; I even knew what to buy for those who couldn't find their favorite choice.
As I was on my way, some uninvited guests appeared.
"Oh, your hair is quite a striking color."
They reeked of trouble—delinquents with strange haircuts and messy uniforms from a school I didn't recognize.
Meeting them on the Shinkansen meant they were the type to stir up trouble at travel destinations.
"Excuse me, could you move? My friends are waiting for me."
"Oh? Feeling confident, are we? What year are you? Wait, are you a middle schooler?"
These high schoolers started harassing me. One of them threw an arm around my shoulder, leaning his face close to mine.
Why does this always happen?
I was just carrying out a card game penalty; why did I have to get tangled up with these idiots?
Was I the type to attract trouble like Mr. Karasuma? I hadn't thought about it before, but it seemed I was a trouble magnet.
Still, I felt a twinge of nostalgia. It had been a long time since fools like these had bothered me, so curiosity outweighed my annoyance.
But honestly, they were in my way.
I could have used Karma's style and settled it with a preemptive strike, but since I was being trained by a professional like Mr. Karasuma, I wasn't supposed to attack without a good reason.
As I hesitated, they mistook it for fear and lightly pushed me into the corner of the car.
We were in the vestibule between cars, where the other passengers couldn't see us. It seemed they were used to doing this.
"Listen, can you lend us some money?"
"Good grief..."
It was a classic, cliché threat. A sigh escaped me at the repetitive situation.
Fine. If they tried to touch me again, I'd pay them back twofold.
"What's with that reaction? Are you looking down on us?"
The one with his hand on my shoulder pulled back and shoved my right shoulder hard. In response, I stepped on his right foot and, with lightning speed, delivered a light punch to his solar plexus. He collapsed onto his back, coughing violently.
He even took two of his friends down with him.
Although the damage was greater than I intended, I decided to threaten them now so they wouldn't wait for me on the way back; I was carrying carbonated drinks and didn't want to risk any shaking or impact.
There was one who seemed to be their leader, with a sharp gaze and a scar near his eye. He stood stunned, watching his companions sprawled on the floor. I grabbed his face firmly and slammed him against the wall to bring him back to reality.
"I don't care who you are, but what do you think? You're on a school trip too, right? Would you like to spend it in a hospital bed?"
After a month and a half of training with Mr. Karasuma, the physical strength I had forged on the streets was far greater than it used to be. I squeezed his face with all my might as if I were going to crush it.
I began to feel a slight crunching sensation under my hand; if I kept pressing, I would surely shatter his cheekbones.
"I... I get it. We won't do anything. Please, let go."
He seemed to realize his face would be permanently disfigured if this continued, so he surrendered. I let him go and continued on my way.
I had wasted unnecessary time.
After a few steps, I felt movement behind me. I turned to find the "leader" swinging his fist at me.
I entered my focus state, easily dodging the path of the punch, and caught his fist with one hand.
"What?!"
"Didn't you say you wouldn't do anything?"
I yanked his fist to throw him off balance, then drove my knee hard into his stomach before turning away.
"That uniform... Kunugigaoka Middle School...?"
Damn it, I'd been made.
"You're a middle schooler... Are you the Silver──"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
The Silver Reaper isn't me—that's how I decided it would be. I cut him off before he could finish and walked quickly toward the vending machine.
Just how far had that ridiculous nickname spread? And who came up with it in the first place?
This was annoying; why did I have to feel this embarrassment even on my school trip?
As I grumbled and fed coins into the machine, Kayano, Okuda, and Kanzaki arrived.
"Oh? Nozaki, what are you doing here? Why are you buying so many drinks?"
"Penalty. I lost six times at cards."
"Six times?!"
"Ah, hahaha! It seems you're quite weak at cards, Nozaki? That's surprising."
"I'm shocked too. Apparently, I'm the type who shows his feelings too clearly, and Kurahashi-san wouldn't stop making fun of me."
"T-that's also surprising. Do you really show your feelings on your face, Nozaki-kun?"
"It seems so. What about you three?"
"We're accompanying Kanzaki-san; we wanted to buy some drinks too!"
It seemed their goal was the same as mine.
After we finished, I began stuffing cans into every available pocket in my clothes, then looked back the way they had come.
"By the way, I saw some high schoolers with pale faces loitering over there. Did you see them, Nozaki? Kanzaki-san bumped into them."
"I don't know. Keiichi, no fighting."
"Why are you suddenly talking like a foreigner?"
Were those idiots still there? I wanted to head back quickly, but since they had bothered Kanzaki-san, it was better not to leave the girls alone.
That kind of rabble might use a simple bump as an excuse to escalate their harassment.
I could at least provide that much consideration.
I waited until they finished their purchases and then followed them. I thought about walking in front, but cowards like that attack from behind, just as they had tried with me earlier.
But they didn't do anything this time, and we returned safely to our car.
"Oh, you're late, Nozaki!"
"Sorry, buying seven cans made me think about how to carry them all."
I used that excuse as a lie while distributing the drinks to everyone and sat in my seat. I felt exhausted, as if I had performed hard labor instead of just buying drinks.
"Nozaki-kun, shall we play the seventh round?"
"Ah, no thanks. I'll save it for the return trip. I'm going to sleep for a bit; wake me up when we arrive."
"Alright."
I declined Kurahashi's tempting offer and chose to sleep. I had woken up very early today, and the fatigue had only grown after that scuffle, so drowsiness overtook me.
So, this isn't sleep caused by sadness over repeated defeats. I am not sleeping because I'm frustrated. This is important, so I repeated it twice.
I am not frustrated. I am not frustrated at all.
●○●○●
"Oh! There are no windows; the view is incredible!"
"Indeed, and since the speed is 25 km/h, the air just flows right in. It feels refreshing and wonderful."
"Hahaha, Nozaki-kun says such refreshing things."
We had jumped ahead to the second day of the trip. We were aboard the Sagano Romantic Train. There were two reasons for this.
First: it was part of our free tour plan. And second...
"With this much openness, I won't feel motion sickness! Even so, 25 km/h is quite fast!"
Koro-sensei was admiring the scenery outside while eating traditional Yatsuhashi sweets.
The second reason was his assassination. We in Group One had identified the Hozukyo area—one of the most beautiful spots this train passes through. The train pauses for a few moments over the iron bridge, and that was our golden opportunity.
── The train will pause briefly over the iron bridge. You can enjoy a breathtaking panoramic view of Hozukyo Gorge, so please enjoy the sight.
The awaited moment arrived. Time for the assassination.
Our plan would begin here.
"Oh, look, Koro-sensei! There are boats going down the river!"
"Where...? Oh!!"
As we had anticipated in our site study, the train's pause coincided with boats passing in the river below.
At this moment, Kurahashi drew the teacher's attention toward the boats.
"Look! They're waving! Over there!"
"That's quite true."
The moment to snipe was the exact second Koro-sensei leaned his body out to see the boats Kurahashi was pointing at ──!
From the sheer tension, I entered my focus state. I saw a bullet streak toward the teacher at immense speed.
The timing was perfect; Koro-sensei's attention was completely diverted downward thanks to Kurahashi's precise guidance.
Did we succeed? The moment that thought crossed my mind, Koro-sensei sensed the bullet with supernatural speed. He looked at us with a mocking grin and, with a swift motion, caught the spinning bullet using a soft, chewy piece of Yatsuhashi.
"Oh, it seems there's a hard piece in the Yatsuhashi. That's very dangerous."
The teacher showed us the bullet he had stopped, smiling smugly. He had stopped it with utter ease, but how much incredible speed did that require? You damn octopus.
He must have used a speed exceeding the bullet's rotation in the opposite direction to catch it with a piece of candy without tearing it. It seemed Koro-sensei's power truly knew no bounds.
── The train will now begin to move.
It seemed our assassination attempt had failed.
As the train swayed again with the start of its movement, I began thinking of another loophole to kill the teacher. But after seeing what had just happened, I couldn't find any immediate plan that might actually succeed in killing him.
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