Chapter 55

The world was hard on them, but if softness could be given form, it would be their relationship, their feelings.

Maybe it was odd, because neither Karma nor Gakushuu were the sort of people defined by the word 'soft'. But that was their relationship.

It held their teasings and the pushes that sometimes went too far, but it was also filled by the affection they both lacked in their lives.

Karma was sharp with others- brilliant, bright and bold. Gakushuu was strong- reliable, efficient and kind.

But it was only together that Gakushuu would ease up, allowing the part of himself that yearned for affection, to appear. Karma's sharpness would ease, showing an easy affection that appeared with the lack of judgement and complete acceptance.

Their schedules didn't always line up, they didn't always have time for each other, but they put effort into reaching out, and a hand waiting to hold theirs wouldn't be too far.

They trusted each other even more so for it. They trusted their feelings and they trusted the other's skills. They trusted themselves in knowing just how far was too far.

But even then, Gakushuu couldn't stop the alarm that zinged through both him and Karma when the mountain behind Kunugigaoka Middle School lit up bright, forming a shield the likes of which the world had never seen.

It was big, surrounding the whole hill, including the classroom of 3-E, where Koro-sensei was last seen.

"Koro-sensei," Karma said, but it wasn't with the sinking feeling that Gakushuu was starting to feel. Karma's voice was determined instead.

Gakushuu didn't have to wait long before both his and Karma's phones started ringing. He grasped his.

Karma looked away from the view, turning, instead, to look at Gakushuu.

"It's-" him, Karma started.

"Yeah," Gakushuu said.

"Will you-" be okay without me, he started again, and Gakushuu's eyes softened.

"Yeah," he said.

Karma smiled.

Then he picked up his phone.

Gakushuu didn't have to look to know Karma was gone barely a minute after. He held his phone tighter.

Because this-

This felt like bad news.

-

The world was in chaos.

Or maybe it was just Karma feeling that way.

Well, he was pretty sure his class was also feeling the same.

They had spent almost the last half of the week in police custody, only able to escape when Bitch-sensei and Karasuma managed to lighten up their security in light of Koro-sensei's imaginary last minute escape attempt.

They wouldn't have nearly enough time with their teacher. Well, even the whole year they did have with Koro-sensei suddenly fell far too short a time.

Koro-sensei spent so much time on each and every one of them, but even then, it felt too short. Was this how people normally felt when they were about to graduate?

Koro-sensei was warm and gentle with his headpats and appreciation. He was trying to ease them into the inevitable.

The inevitability of his death.

It wasn't like this exact moment wasn't what their whole past year had been about. They had known that they were about to murder their kind teacher.

But faced with the inevitable death of their teacher in front of them and the government and a timeline at their back, it was choking the assassins-in-training.

They didn't want their sensei to die.

But of course, life was rarely kind to them. They should have guessed it with Kunugigaoka, with the direction their life had been heading in. But even then, they couldn't guess at the future up mess that was going on in their own backyard.

Where could they even run, when the ones fighting over their life and death fought at Mach speed?

It felt like a joke that life was making at them.

Because they thought they could bring themselves a little bit of closure, a little more time, but instead, they had enemies hell bent on killing them and their teacher, that they were supposed to kill, saving them from death even if it meant his own.

They didn't want him to die.

But with every blow, every moment that passed, they could feel it inching ever closer to his death.

It felt like a visible, looming cloud; and they could see the time ticking away on the clock of his life.

And all they could do was run away, away from their teacher, from his kindness and safety and run farther.

But they weren't people who ran.

They were the idiots who stayed in E class even when there was a world destroying monster posing as their teacher.

Kayano jumped in.

Maybe it was because of her sister, the truth they had learnt just recently about how she tried to reach out to their sensei even when he was a monster.

When he actually had been one.

She had shown him kindness even when he had been the best assassin in the world, when he killed in cold blood for a living and showed him more still when she came back for him after the facility was destroyed.

Her last acts, her last words, every action she had taken had been for their beloved sensei.

And just like she had devoted her life to him, Kayano bet her life to find a way out for their sensei.

And maybe it was because he cared so deeply for them all, maybe because the last of his mercy died, just like they thought Kayano was, but Koro-sensei went ballistic.

He pulled out every move he could, used things that the class hadn't even imagined he could. Koro-sensei had so much more in store, but he would have happily let the class decide their life and death.

And Kayano was dying with the class. Her sister was dead, her almost brother-in-law was responsible for it, and her actual wished-for brother-in-law was fighting for their lives.

And the class was watching her bleed out, as they frantically used their first aid knowledge to keep her from dying.

The blood drained from her body, drenching their hands with the wet warm blood, and they wished they could unsee the image, that they could unfeel the warmth of her blood and they wished harder than ever for a solution, because they didn't have any.

They were isolated, up in a mountain and too far away from any hospital, and a fight was happening in Mach speed not too far away. Their only solution wasn't to leave the barrier, but to wait and hope that Koro-sensei had a solution.

Even as his death drew nearer, they depended on him even more for it.

How ironic.

But Koro-sensei was a genius, and thought much more farther ahead than any of them mere mortals, so he did in fact, have a solution for them.

He managed to save Kayano.

In fact, maybe a little too perfectly, because the class almost slumped over with their relief. The tears that had gathered in their eyes, finally fell with their laughter.

They gathered joyously around Kayano.

But.

There was one more tragedy that remained to be fulfilled.

Koro-sensei fell over with a soft 'thump' and it caught their attention almost instantly.

He looked tired for the first time since they had seen him.

It was his truest expression of his emotions, as he looked at his killers, his students, with relief and affection in his eyes.

"Class, what kind of assassin would let a dying target escape?" He asked them.

He seemed far too relieved with the prospect of dying. Like, he had been yearning for it all along.

And maybe he had.

Maybe that was all that Koro-sensei's last year of living was about. Finding an acceptable way to die.

And suddenly, the feelings of relief, from Kayano's sudden revival, was gone.

Koro-sensei's voice was kind.

"Don't you see? It's killing time," he told them, encouraging them. "Fun times are bound to end."

He sounded hopeful, softly encouraging them with a voice that promised them growth, and happiness, and told them that good times would be ahead.

They just needed to get through the bad ones as well.

"That's what our classroom's all about," he affirmed.

Karma let himself take one shaky breath.

For him, it had never just been a classroom. For him, Koro-sensei had never just been a sensei.

He had never wished for a way to turn the situation around, more. At least when the class was poisoned, they had an enemy they could fight.

But now…

Koro-sensei was smiling at them, while laying on the ground with an exhausted but happy expression on his face.

He wanted death.

He wanted them to give it to him.

"Everyone," Isogai said. "We have to decide this ourselves."

The class shifted to look at him.

They all wanted a way out.

They all wanted a path laid out for them.

"We could stay out of this and leave it up to fate," Isogai said, like it was actually an option. But they all knew that it wasn't.

That wouldn't do that.

They couldn't let Koro-sensei die like that.

And they knew that he would die.

They were just choosing his method of death.

Maybe, in the end, it was only Koro-sensei who was winning and not them.

Or maybe it was the rest of the world, who would get to live on without having to live through the decision they were having to make.

"Show of hands-" Isogai started before something interrupted them.

A loud, rough panting.

"Shit, this was crazy hard," a woman said.

The class, Irina, Karasuma and even Koro-sensei looked up, startled.

There was barely half an hour before the laser would fall down onto them. They really didn't have time for another fight.

Asano Gakushuu appeared at the edge of the clearing, panting and sweating, while carrying a familiar woman in his back.

She got off, and Gakushuu collapsed on the ground almost immediately.

"Phew," she said, wiping a hand through her slightly messy hair. "Glad we arrived before we were too late," she said pointedly.

"Fuck- off-" Gakushuu choked out, crudely.

Everyone started at the two confused.

"What are you two doing here? This is a government sanctioned ongoing mission area, civilians aren't allowed to be here," Karasuma interrupted. Coming in front of the woman who had taken a step towards the group after flipping off Gakushuu.

Gakushuu struggled to his feet.

"She needs to- explain something- no time-" he said, and she gave Karasuma a once over.

"I think it's best if I speak instead, Asano," she said, her lips curling into a cold clinical smile. "Your pet monster is about to die, and we have a solution."

She patted the small bag that hung from her waist. She pulled out a small metallic box from within it.

Gakushuu came forward, pushing the box down. He looked over the class standing shock still as they stared at the two.

"There's just one condition," he interrupted the shocked silence. "You'll have to decide for yourself this time," and then a name fell from his lips that shocked the class yet again, "Korogane Ryushi."

"What-" Hinano choked out, but a hand fell on her shoulder, tightening almost painfully. She looked up to see Karma staring at Gakushuu with a clenched jaw.

As they looked at Karma, they realised he was as clueless as they were. They had no idea what Gakushuu was doing, but it was even worse because Karma hadn't either.

Gakushuu hadn't even looked at their direction since the moment he entered their line of sight.

He had been looking at their teacher.

They all looked at Koro-sensei in unison.

Koro-sensei looked shocked still, taken off guard in a way that was far too human. He took a solid minute to answer back, a time that stretched out painfully, especially when there was a Mach 20 creature called to question.

"How?" He asked, his voice thin and wavering.

The woman smirked, pulling away from Gakushuu's restraining presence. She approached Koro-sensei.

"There's only one way to escape this," she said seriously. She pointed at the laser, powering up right above them. "You have to be a human again."

Then she opened her box and took out a small bottle filled with a pale, shimmery substance.

"The only one who can fix you, is you," Gakushuu spoke, approaching the two, but staying far from the coalition of students or teachers.

"This needs to penetrate every cell in your body simultaneously," the woman said, "or well, as close as you can get. You need wither the world's best research facility or…you," she shrugged.

"You'll be in pain, but you'll return to being human…" then, she trailed off, looking away before whispering under her breath, "...probably."

Gakushuu rolled his eyes up, in exasperation.

The class stayed still, watching their sensei as he looked at the delicate glass bottle with a serious expression.

He didn't look at the class, gathered together nervously, as they watched their teacher make a difficult choice he had never thought he would have to make.

"...I suppose, sometimes your sensei needs someone to save him from himself too," Koro-sensei said softly, his tentacle reaching forward to grab the glass bottle from the woman's hand.

She groped at one of his other tentacles.

"It really is the same, huh," she said, punching the tentacle. "How odd," she said.

"Iriya," Gakushuu hissed, pulling her away with an odd expression.

"Might I remind you that you're not really the one who did all the research for this," he glared at her. She pouted.

"But I was so curious!" She said, "Plus, I never said I didn't! I dabbled. Sort of."

Gakushuu gave her a look of disbelief that she easily shrugged off. They naturally stepped away, letting the class and their sensei gather together again.

Whatever the result was, the two of them were bystanders, even more so than the two government hired teachers.

Until the very end, it was class 3-E that would graduate, whatever Koro-sensei's choice.

The class sat around Koro-sensei forming a circle around their teacher and even Irina and Karasuma took a few steps closer, huddling together, like it would protect them from whatever happened next.

Karma lingered back, looking at Gakushuu for a moment longer as the other boy moved away from them all casually. He walked back to join his class.

"We'll support your choice, no matter what, sensei," Hinano said, her voice wavering.

"Yeah," Maehara said, his voice saying exactly how much he didn't want to lose Koro-sensei.

Koro-sensei laughed.

"Don't worry, my students. Akari can wait a little longer," he looked at them all once more, meeting each eye. "Whatever happens to me, this is your graduation from class E," he affirmed.

"You have become students that I am proud to call my own," he patted them all once more. "Thank you for all your efforts, Karasuma-sensei, Irina-sensei," he added.

"And thank you for working so hard for your assassination," he told the students.

They looked at him, hope in their eyes even as Koro-sensei gave what seemed like a goodbye.

"We'll see you on the other side, sensei," Nagisa said softly.

Koro-sensei smiled.

Then his tentacles split up, just like when he was fixing up Kayano, but this time, they could see the pale, shimmery liquid in the bottle decrease in a matter of seconds.

Koro-sensei's face was scrunched up with concentration, as he used his fastest and most precise speed possible for him.

Everyone watched in anticipation, even Gakushuu and Iriya fell silent from their soft bickering to watch.

His body started to glow, and bits and pieces of yellow light seemed to almost peel away from his skin.

It felt like time was crawling by incredibly slowly. They watched silently in anticipation.

Truthfully, Gakushuu hadn't wanted to reveal the possibility where Koro-sensei didn't succeed with the transition.

The fact that he was managing to not scream as his skin- no matter how monster-like- peeled off, was a big feat. Even Iriya raised an eyebrow.

But the other possibility was his death. The liquid would let his cells die and similar to this, it would peel away slowly, until nothing remained.

Until there was only dust, maybe not even that.

They couldn't even give a solid percentage for how likely it was, because they hadn't managed to test it more than to tell that it was less than 15%.

It could even be stretched to 20%.

But well, he didn't want to make the class sad.

He had hoped to give Koro-sensei a chance to see his students grow up. He wanted Karma to continue making his sensei proud, and not just the memory of him.

Maybe it was selfish to only consider one person out of all the people involved, but Gakushuu really hoped Koro-sensei survived, if only so Karma would have someone to call his family.

Maybe it was taking away the classes' decision to kill Koro-sensei themselves, but all he could see was the despondent expression on Karma's face as he considered Koro-sensei's imminent death.

He had been so incredibly happy, the happiest Gakushuu had seen him in the last three years he had known Karma, in fact, when he had come back from space.

It was a journey that Karma hadn't taken lightly. It just showed the lengths the class would go to, for even a shred of hope.

He had known they would grasp for the lifeline, and Koro-sensei wouldn't be able to deny them.

Koro-sensei probably needed therapy though, so Gakushuu didn't give a fuck.

He just needed them to be happy, so Gakushuu could go back to planning his world domination through Karma and money, and maybe even his father now.

As long as Koro-sensei wasn't activity suicidal though, he wasn't going to spare attention to the man's mental health that needed a severe looking after.

But of course, that would only come after.

The glow dimmed away to show them a sight none of them had ever hoped to see- a thin, young man with dark hair, dark eyes, laying on the ground wearing an oversized teacher's robe hanging from his frame.

He opened his eyes to look at everyone, surprised. Then he looked down at his own hands, staring at them like it wasn't his own.

Kayano's shoulders shook, before she threw herself towards the man, shaking and sobbing.

And suddenly it was open season, and the man had 20+ students just joining into one of the biggest group hugs.

Gakushuu lit up, smiling brightly at the class laughing and crying around the now very-human man.

The laser shot down barely a moment after bathing the students, and teachers alike under the light.

A few students shrieked, surprised and worried, before sighing in relief when the laser fell away, and nothing in their view had changed.

They looked at their sensei with relieved gazes, but the man looked out, over the students, to where Gakushuu and Iriya were standing.

They stepped forward.

"Looks like I have much thanks to offer, Asano-kun, miss," the man, Koro-sensei, said to Gakushuu and Iriya.

Iriya waved it away.

"You'll have to hide away for a while too, right? Just allow us to do a few tests, and I'll consider us even," she said. The man pulled up a practised forced smile.

"Of course," he told her easily. Gakushuu sighed, already exhausted.

"He was experimented on, not long ago, Iriya," he said. "Let him have some time to recover and readjust."

"There's no need," Koro-sensei said, standing up, slightly wobbly.

Then he took a shaky step forward. Gakushuu and half the class twitched forward when his leg almost collapsed, but his second step was smooth and third step smoother still.

"He says it's fine, and we need to check for any remnants," Iriya told Gakushuu excitedly. Gakushuu glared.

"You're not leading the research team, what are you so excited for?" He pointed out. "Plus, it probably took care of anything we missed," Gakushuu pointed at the laser.

"That's true," she admitted, frowning up at the dead laser.

"Any way we can convince the government that Koro-sensei is really dead?" One of the students interrupted the two, by asking Karasuma the question.

"That's unlikely," Karasuma said, frowning. "The government can see the barrier and some inside it as well. The barrier is only up because they don't have a kill confirmation yet, then this place will be swarming with people. We have no idea the number of personnel standing outside right now."

"We sneaked past," Gakushuu shrugged. "We can probably do it again."

"That might be a little beyond me at the moment," Koro-sensei admitted reluctantly.

"It's okay, sensei," Kayano stepped forward, looking at him with a determined expression. "We'll carry you."

Gakushuu's lips twitched up.

"Well, there we have it," he said.

Karasuma sighed.

"All right," he gave in easily. Irina smiled at them all from behind him, her eyes twinkling with suppressed laughter.

"Nagisa, and Karma need to stay. Kayano needs to be rechecked in case the parts that were filled have disappeared or not, and if there is still any damage. Itona will need to-"

"Terasaka," Gakushuu said, interrupting Karasuma. "We don't have time, plus I heard he follows instructions well," he had a smirk on his lips, that was almost eerily similar to Karma's.

"You shithead!" Terasaka yelled at Karma, looking a moment away from throwing himself at the other boy. Karma raised his hands up, looking at Gakushuu, silently sighing in relief when he finally met his gaze.

Karma smirked at Terasaka.

"Was it something I said?" He teased the other boy.

"All right, children," Irina clapped her hands. "It's bedtime now. Pretend to be sad while they escape out again," she pointed towards the classroom. "Shoo."

Hinano giggled.

"That's terrible acting," Irina lightly scolded, herding the students away from the silent Koro-sensei.

Gakushuu stepped closer, looking at the dark haired man staring at his students and fellow teachers silently.

"Let's go," he told the man softly.

Terasaka tactfully didn't say anything, bending in front of their sensei, and letting the man rest on his back, before picking him up. Gakushuu did the same with Iriya, who went far more agreeably.

"Keep up," he told Terasaka seriously, his eyes darting around before he set his eyes forward and started running.

They passed through the barrier without a single hitch.

-

Class E was under observation and under a gag order, all the while, rumours and theories went spreading around the media.

The government had been forced to reveal Koro-sensei's existence, but it had painted the students in a pitiful light as hostages, throwing even Gakuhou into a bad light for letting him teach.

Gakuhou, had, in fact, taken a lot of money from the government to keep quiet. But after growing irritated at the constant attention, Gakushuu broke into his father's office and told him to make sure class E received their money for killing Koro-sensei.

With Koro-sensei's robe (which had a hole over his heart, apparently) as evidence, class E got away with taking 30 billion yen from the government, legally.

But they returned most of it, in good faith. They made it into a grand gesture, and in return, the government eased up their observation, looking at them favourably.

It was an interesting exchange, a deal taking place out of the sight of the public as they donated the money back.

Gakushuu had been thinking that the government would keep them under observation, keep their future prospects low, but maybe, he had been thinking the opposite way this whole time.

Class E weren't people he needed to take care of anymore.

Just like he was graduating, so too were they.

And he didn't need to look after them anymore.

In the middle of the crowds of parents, Nagisa's eyes caught a pair of warm dark ones.

They were unfamiliar, but the affection and warmth it held was the same.

They flicked away, and Nagisa followed the gaze until he reached an even more shocking sight. His parents.

His parents were attending his graduation together.

Nagisa looked back again for his sensei, teary eyed, and grateful, but he was already gone.

Korogane Ryushi wasn't a person who was meant to survive past the year.

He had held the thought close to his heart, like a prayer, like a belief. He had allowed his students to search for a way out, struggle with all their might, for a hope, he hadn't intended to search for in the first place.

The closer he got to his inevitable death date, the more he accepted it.

Then, in a matter of less than half an hour, he had to reevaluate his entire thought process for the past year into a completely new one.

He would live.

He would live and see his students. He would live past being a teacher. And he would live long enough to be a person again.

It felt incredibly painful to think like that again.

Last time he had defined himself as a person, he had broken his own student. He had done incredibly well as just a teacher, existing solely for his students.

But living again meant he had to find himself a life.

Gakushuu had given him this look of understanding, before letting him go free. He was welcome back, but he wouldn't be forced to stay, if he didn't want to.

Class E graduated, and they were going to work hard in their high school of choice that he had personally seen them through to.

Class E didn't need a full time teacher anymore, but Korogane Ryushi was far too attached to his title as 'Koro-sensei' and his students who he cared for like his own children.

But he was left floundering.

Because he had never intended to have a life further than 13 March. But he had.

But he realized that it didn't mean, he had to choose. He was both Koro-sensei and Korogane Ryushi.

He opened a flower store.

His student had been incredibly talented with flower arrangements, and even though Koro-sensei had failed his first attempt at being a teacher, with the silent guidance from Asano Gakuhou, he hadn't failed a second time.

Koro-sensei wasn't always good with the flowers, his arrangements weren't as beautiful as his student's, but he found that he liked the peaceful mornings, the teas he got to make with his own flowers, and the pain in his heart soothed just a little as his arrangements came to look like his students with his own personality splattered on it.

He sent anonymous flowers to the people who helped him, and most of them smiled as they received, somehow managing to guess his identity.

Asano Gakuhou laid his own flowers on his desk, drying them out so he could keep them for later. He smiled, letting a finger brush over the flower.

Iriya glanced at hers before scoffing, a smile reluctantly drawing up her lips.

Irina kept hers aside, promising to visit the man before the day ended to show her thanks.

Karasuma placed his in a vase, glad to see the teacher finally living his own life.

Gakushuu picked up a flower, placing it being Karma's ear. He looked up at Gakushuu, confused, before raising his hand to caress the flower.

His expressed eased with understanding.

"How cliche, sensei," Karma shook his head.

Gakushuu smiled, kissing Karma's cheek.

"They do look beautiful on you," Gakushuu to him, caressing the petals of the yellow lily. It did look beautiful against Karma's red hair.

Karma picked it from his ear, placing it on Gakushuu's.

"They look even better on you," he murmured in Gakushuu's ear, turning to face him against a mirror. Gakushuu blushed, tilting his head to look at the flower contrasting against his hair.

The colours gently blended far better than the splash of colours on Karma had. Karma placed a kiss on Gakushuu's cheek, grinning.

"It looks good," he admitted.

"I know," Karma smiled. "It's from Koro-sensei, after all."

Gakushuu rolled his eyes at the pride and happiness that rolled off his words. But he couldn't help his smile either.

He let his head rest against Karma, looking at the flower symbolizing Koro-sensei's gratitude.

"Let's go visit him today," he suggested, smiling softly.

Karma smiled back.

"I thought you'd never ask."