CHAPTER 5 - August Affections (2)

[TRUTH SERUM OR DARE]

The next day, the government made an attempt to kill Korosensei before he could revert from his defense form. With everything they had gone through, the students spent the whole day sleeping from fatigue. And when they had come to before sunset, they watched the assassination unfold, which was another failure. As they quite expected.

Following that was the Test of Courage that the octopus has proposed as a way to incite romance among his students.

Although he had good intentions since the students were all about the assassination mission despite being middle-school students, the students still berated their teacher for being meddlesome. That was until they caught their other two teachers exiting the cave together, causing them to realize that Irina liked the straight-laced civil servant.

Hence, they set up an outdoor dinner date for the two, which ended with Irina landing a kiss on Karasuma's napkin before dabbing it to his mouth – an indirect kiss. For the students, they barely called that a 'success'.

They all began to return inside to resume their dinner when Okajima decided to ask Hayami to eat with him at the same table.

Sadly, he was beaten to it by Chiba. The said girl accepted the invitation and walked beside her raven-haired partner to a table good for two.

When Kurahashi had seen Okajima's dejected expression, she felt sympathy towards him, having fully known how it felt to be heartbroken. Just a moment ago, she just watched her crush, Karasuma, eat with another woman of high caliber. And yet, she was still inwardly glad that the two snipers were having a moment together.

"Oka-chin, you can eat with me," she told him.

He broke into a beam, which was soon wiped out upon discovering that they would be sitting with Sugaya, Mimura, Kimura, and Yada.

After his meal, Sugaya was coming back from the bathroom when he passed by Maehara alone on the table. His companions – Isogai, Kataoka, and Hinata – went to get desserts on the buffet table.

Maehara, then, pulled Sugaya into the seat next to him for them to check out Chiba and Hayami eating together silently at another table.

"I really think that something is going on between them," said Maehara as his suspicious gaze remained on the 'rumored' sniper couple.

"I don't even know anymore," Sugaya said with a shrug. Since he found it difficult to understand what the male sniper was thinking, he did not have it in him to ask Chiba about his relationship with his sniping companion.

Without warning, the prodigy duo slid on the vacant seats beside the two gossiping boys – Karma on Maehara's left and Nakamura on Sugaya's right.

"If you are curious, why don't you help us?" Nakamura asked as her eyebrows wiggled up and down.

"You see, we want to test this truth serum that Okuda-san has created for Korosensei to know all of his secrets," Karma explained after showing a small vial containing a transparent liquid, which had been tested on Korosensei with no success.

Sugaya arched his brow skeptically. "And Chiba and Hayami are your perfect lab rats?" he interjected. "That's too risky, man. What if it's harmful?"

"Don't worry. Okuda-san assured that it is safe."

'If Karma and Nakamura are involved, there is no such thing as safe,' the silver-haired boy thought. 'I'm sure Maehara will not agree to this. He –'

"Come on, Maehara-kun. I'll introduce you to a girl I know after this," Nakamura offered impishly.

The gigolo's face lit up. "Deal."

'Oh boy.' Sugaya could only facepalm himself and hope for Chiba and Hayami's safety. "I'll come with you to make sure that this doesn't get out of control."

***

With Ritsu listening in their conversation on Chiba's phone, they overheard Chiba ordering an orange juice after finishing their food. Both Karma and Maehara hastened on their feet as soon as the waiter stepped out of the kitchen with Chiba's drink on a tray.

"Excuse me." Maehara approached the waiter while Karma sneaked behind effortlessly. "Can you please tell me where the theater is?"

Whilst the waiter was busy answering a student's inquiry, Karma trickled a few drops of the serum into the juice.

"This is not going to end well," Sugaya muttered.

The blonde prankster snickered. "Well, not on Chiba-kun's part. For us, this is entertainment," she said.

Later on, Chiba has finished his 'spiked' orange juice. With this, Nakamura placed both hands on her hips as she called out everyone's attention.

"I think this is a good time to play truth or dare before we go back."

"I'll pass," Terasaka proclaimed. "I know that this is going to be another one of your antics."

With a mocking grin, Karma edged closer to the muscle-head. "Small brain and no guts – a perfect combo for a chicken." He snickered.

"Shut up, you red-head devil!" Terasaka bellowed before scratching the back of his head in annoyance. "Fine. I'll play your stupid game."

Besides him, Kurahashi, Okajima, Yada, Kimura, and of course, Maehara, Sugaya, and the prodigy duo were also playing. Terasaka's male friends also volunteered to accompany him.

Nakamura walked over to the class snipers' table. "You two should also join," she told them.

"No, thanks," said Hayami.

Chiba has the same answer.

Nakamura was not disheartened by this. "It will be more fun if you join since there are only eleven of us. This is also a chance for us to bond."

The sniper duo looked at each other,

CHIBA: Shall we?

HAYAMI: I'm not sleepy yet anyway.

CHIBA: Me too.

Hayami turned back at the blonde prankster and said, "We'll play."

Watching them talk to each other with only eye contact has weirded out even Nakamura. Well, at least she got what she wanted.

***

They settled inside Nakamura and Hayami's room to play the game. "We're actually in a girls' room!" Okajima proclaimed eagerly as he stepped inside, his eyes wandering. "I wonder if there are undies scattered around here."

Behind the semi-bald pervert was Chiba, who just spotted a familiar item – the keychain that he gave Hayami for her birthday – hanging from the duffel bag on a wooden chair. This made him feel flattered.

Then they formed into a circle on the floor with the glass bottle in the center. Nakamura was the first one to spin the bottle, which pointed towards Okajima.

"What's it going to be, Okajima-kun?" she asked. "Truth or dare?"

Being shameless and all, whichever was fine for him. "Dare," he said.

"Then –" her blue eyes darted towards the bed. She stood up and unfolded a white sheet in her hands "– wear a gown using this."

Only in his boxers, Okajima stood still while Yada and Kurahashi dressed him into an improvised gown made out of the bedsheet. After that, Nakamura wrapped his head with a towel that was provided by the hotel.

"Gorgeous!" Yada exclaimed, referring to their creation, which looked stylish.

"So, when is the Oscars going to start, Okajima?" Maehara teased.

While Nakamura was taking photos of him, Okajima acted out a few poses as if he was having a shoot. The rest shared some laughs and jokes at his hilarious look.

The next victim was Terasaka, who also chose 'dare' like the first. With this, he was tasked to do a headstand for one minute straight.

Terasaka scoffed. "Easy! I can do that." Then he hoisted his legs into the air with his palms pressing the floor to support his weight.

"See –" He was interrupted when Karma tickled his nose with a small feather. "Screw you, Karma! This is not part of the dare," he growled amidst the strain on his muscles and blood rushing down his head.

The red-head chuckled. "But I'm lending you a hand."

"Lending a hand, my ass!"

Terasaka's suffering from Karma's variety of torture continued for the rest of the minute. When he had swiveled the bottle, it ended up in Maehara's direction.

"Truth."

Since he was not good at coming up with a gossip-worthy question, Terasaka could only come up with this: "How many girls have you dated?"

Maehara glanced up at the ceiling as he counted the number inside his head. They knew then that it was indeed a lot given as to how he was taking his time.

"Thirty-two."

All of them stared at him repulsively as the girls pitied the short-haired gymnast named Okano.

"You are the worst," Kimura stated.

"Scumbag." Even Hayami couldn't help but speak up on behalf of the female population.

Then, finally, it was Chiba's turn. He picked the same as Maehara. He would rather give an honest answer than do ridiculous dares like the ones that Okajima and Terasaka had done.

A look of mischief glided across Maehara's features. Per the prodigy pranksters' instructions, he knew what to ask.

"Chiba, what do you think of Hayami right now?"

Chiba briefly glanced at Hayami, who was sitting beside Nakamura across the circle. He had already anticipated this kind of question. "She has my respect and she is a dependable partner. I also think that she looked good in her swimsuit yesterday..." His hand flew to his mouth.

'Shit. I did not intend to say that aloud.'

As always, Nakamura had recorded that moment on her phone. She and Karma were grinning wickedly while the others were wearing goofy smiles aimed at Hayami.

The attention she was getting made it difficult for her to hide her blush.

Normally, Okajima would be cheering right now at Chiba, but not even a hint of amusement crossed his face. Sugaya, on his right, noticed this.

"Do you like being with her?" asked Nakamura.

Chiba was about to protest at the follow-up question, which was against the rules. Instead, he nodded. For some reason, his body was reacting against his will.

"Do you think that she is beautiful?" Kurahashi joined, oblivious to the fact that Chiba's honesty at the moment was all because of the drug that he had ingested earlier.

"Yes. Very." He had removed his hand and, then, quickly covered his mouth again after replying.

Hayami got on her feet and called his name before pacing to the door. He followed behind.

MURAMATSU: Enjoy, you two!

NAKAMURA: Make sure to keep it Rated-PG!

When they had left the room, Hayami spun around and folded her arms. "What is going on with you?" she queried.

She found it odd for him to say that stuff. Usually, he would respond to the teasing and questions of others in a way that would not add fuel to the fire.

He gulped. "I'm not sure. I have been feeling funny ever since I drank my juice."

Her arms limped to her sides as it registered to her – seeing Maehara talking to the waiter, and Nakamura convincing them to join the game even after receiving their direct answer back at the restaurant.

Chiba gave her a questioning look, stepping aside when she passed by him to the door. She went back inside and marched towards her blonde roommate.

Their 'truth serum-matchmaking plan' was busted.

***

It turned out that the truth serum has side effects. In the morning, Chiba slept like a log despite being woken up by almost all of the boys in their absurd ways.

And so, they have to carry his weight to the cruise ship back to Tokyo.

The matchmaking scheme executed by Karma's group was eventually found out by Karasuma, who gave them an earful on board. Korosensei also lectured them although he covertly praised them afterward when Karasuma was not looking. Upon seeing the footage of last night's game, the octopus teacher was enthralled to witness a bit of romance material from his stoic students.

When the group involved had started to disperse, Maehara stepped in front of Nakamura instantly. "Hey, Nakamura. You haven't forgotten the deal we made, right?" he asked with his arms crossed.

"Of course not." She gave him a grin. "I can introduce you to her right now. Follow me." She sauntered her way to the pool area and that took him by surprise.

'The girl she knows is on this ship too?!'

He trailed behind her when his eyes caught sight of Kataoka and Okano having a chat. Nakamura stopped beside Okano and faced Maehara.

"Maehara-kun, this is Okano Hinata. She is from Class E like you," she said as her smile widened.

"W-WHAT?!" He still could not comprehend what was going on. Wide-eyed, he glanced at Nakamura then at the confused brunette. Even their female class rep was giving them a puzzled look.

"I said that I'm going to introduce you to a girl I know." The blonde prodigy swiftly moved behind Maehara. "Here she is," she added as she pushed his back towards Okano. "Now enjoy."

Before Kataoka could object, she was towed away by Nakamura. Maehara stood before Okano's petite frame whose arms were across her chest and her light purple eyes staring at him.

"What is going on?" she queried.

When he had explained what happened last night, Okano jabbed his arm. "So that's why Karasuma looked furious when I saw him earlier. You guys should really stop causing headaches," she said.

"But –" Maehara's face dropped "– I kind of wanted to help them since they usually keep their troubles to themselves."

Although a bit touched at his motive, her eyebrows furrowed when she heard him say with a sigh, "I should have known that Nakamura was messing with me when she made that deal with me."

"You just want to flirt with another girl!" she exclaimed as she swung her leg at him.

Casually dodging her middle kick, he said, "I don't know why she picked you out of all the girls in Class E. I already know you quite well."

Her gaze flickered to the floor with a huff. "You are so dense," she muttered under her breath.

"What did you say?"

She gave him a sharp look and said, "Nothing" before marching away with a foul mood.

***

While Hayami was heading to the balcony to enjoy the breeze, she came across Chiba in the hallway. "You are finally up," she said.

"Where are you on to?" he asked as he walked beside her.

"Up."

"Can I come?"

Looking at the front, she said, "Sure."

Even though she had thought of spending some time alone, she did not mind having him as her company.

When they had reached the top, the wind blew on their faces as the heat from the sun radiated on their skin. They situated themselves on the edge, hands on the railing.

"What happened last night?" Chiba asked. All he could recall was the events up to dinner. After that, everything was black. The next he knew was he woke up on the bed and he was already on this ship.

Another one of the truth serum's side effects – selective memory loss. Particularly during the time while you were under its effects.

Hayami darted a wary look at him. "You don't remember the game we played?"

He turned his head to her, all the more lost. "We played a game?"

'Is this one of the side effects that Karma has mentioned?' she thought. This meant he couldn't remember the things he had said last night. Somehow, this amused her.

"Nothing," she quickly said as she looked away.

He wanted to probe further since it was beyond normal for him to suddenly have amnesia, but seeing her wear that serene smile as she admired the sea made him shake the matter off.

'It was probably nothing like she said.'