CHAPTER 1 - Assassination April (2)

[THE BEST MARKSMEN]

Upon his request to the school's chairman, Karasuma became the P.E. teacher of Class 3-E so that he could supervise and train the students in their assassination.

For the past two weeks, he taught them knife combat and firearms shooting. And today, they were having a target practice shooting outside. The students were in two lines, each of them facing a target placed at a distance across them.

Some were using rifle guns while the rest were using pistols. Hayami preferred to use a pistol, its lighter weight giving her mobility when aiming. Right beside her was Chiba with a rifle.

"Whoa! I envy you, Hayami. Your shots are so accurate," Touka Yada blurted out as her brown ponytail swung behind. "All of your bullets hit the target and the bullseye. Mine, on the other hand..." She looked at her paper target in dismay. Two holes have pierced the outer circle almost to the edge while more BB pellets were sprawled across the ground.

'More misses than hits, huh,' she thought.

Overhearing Yada's praise, Chiba averted his gaze from his line of sight towards Hayami's target. Not only she was well-adept in using a knife in close combat, but she was also skilled in firearms shooting. He couldn't help but admire the orange-haired girl who was wearing a confident smile.

"Damn you, Chiba! You got all of your hits to the center. Just like a professional sniper," Okajima exclaimed as he gave Chiba a slap on his back.

Kotarou Takebayashi fixed his glasses and stared at Chiba's target, its center dot now ridden with bullet holes. "With this, we'll have a higher chance of killing our teacher," he said.

"Right?" Okajima placed his hand under his chin with a pondering expression. "Maybe your sniping skills can be used for another relevant purpose. Like peeking in the girl's restroom."

One hand up with the other still holding his gun, Chiba said, "I only want my skill to be used for the assassination."

It was Hayami's turn to look his way when Okajima and Takebayashi had left the raven hair, at last, completely engrossed in their discussion on how Chiba's sniping skill could be used for erotic stuff. With this, Chiba was now free to meet her gaze.

"Good job," said Hayami.

"Thanks. You too," Chiba replied with a nod.

Then both of them went back to shooting their targets.

***

After dismissal, Hayami went to the shooting grounds for more practice. With her newfound skill, she needed to make sure that it became refined enough to be utilized well in the assassination.

She brought with her a container of ammo and target papers from the storage shed. Upon heading to the shooting grounds, she saw a raven-haired figure, with one knee on the ground, flawlessly taking down a line of tin cans.

She approached him, placing one hand on her waist. "That's amazing. Even from different angles, you can perfectly hit the targets."

Chiba's finger flinched at the sound of her voice. He lowered his gun as he lifted his head towards her. "Hayami-san," he muttered, surprised at her appearance here in this hour.

She took out her pistol and said, "Let's practice together."

Beside each other, they simultaneously fired at their targets when they heard a familiar peculiar laugh.

"Nurufufufufu... I can see that there are those who are diligent enough to take extra hours to practice. How admirable."

Their yellow octopus teacher flashed before them out-of-nowhere. He has been named 'Korosensei' by one of their classmates, Kaede Kayano.

His two tentacles that seemed like his arms rubbed together as he stated further, "But please do not forget to do your homework when you get home."

Then Korosensei zoomed across the grounds with floating yellow balloons that have his smiling face appearing after his silhouette. The balloons, which replaced the tin cans they had been targeting earlier, were tied to a wooden beam.

"Since you two have clearly no problems shooting still objects, it will be better if you also practice on moving objects. After all, I, your target, can move at a speed of Mach 20," he explained.

The two stoic students shared a glance, a look of approval on their faces, before readying their weapons. Korosensei did his iconic laugh, amused to see their determination in facing this challenge.

After that, he blasted off to the sky and started calculating the distance and time it will take for him to arrive in the Philippines to buy its famous 'ube' jam.

Thirty minutes have passed when he returned with the said delicacy inside a paper bag. He tallied their successful shots – Hayami got seven balloons out of ten, while Chiba got nine.

Then they started shooting the tin cans being thrown into mid-air. Hayami shot nine out of ten and Chiba eight.

While Chiba had remained crouched down from a far distance, Hayami had made use of the space as she shot the targets down. With a fast-moving target, it would be efficient if one could move around while aiming.

"Chiba-san, your accuracy is definitely better than mine. No wonder you can shoot perfectly in a long-distance," Hayami said. "Respect."

"Your dynamic visual is also great. Respect to you for being able to hit moving targets precisely."

There was no doubt that their marksmanship was remarkable especially the 'work chemistry' between the two. Korosensei could not wait to see how they were going to apply this in their assassination.

"I suggest that you find more ways to challenge yourselves in shooting," he told his students, his one tentacle up. "It is also important to be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses, so when the time comes, you will be able to support each other well."

"Yes," they chorused and Korosensei let out a hearty laugh before taking off in a blink of an eye.