CHAPTER 12 - Melancholy March (1)

[THIS IS NOT GOODBYE, IT'S GRADUATION TIME]

Little did the students in Class 3-E know that behind their backs the government has been developing a wide-scale plan, in coordination with multiple countries, on the assassination of Korosensei. One week before the scheduled explosion, they launched the operation by firing Heaven's Lance, a laser satellite created to kill any tentacle creature.

When Korosensei had survived that attack, they set off the anti-sensei laser barrier called Earth's Shield to trap him within the mountain, which attracted the attention of everyone in town.

All of the students hurried there to meet their teacher only to find the place barricaded by armored vehicles and the military. Because of the pushy reporters drilling them with outrageous questions, they were left with no choice but to retreat until they were abducted by foreign mercenaries.

One thing led to another up to the moment when Korosensei faced against the second-generation Grim Reaper and Shiro, Yukimura's fiancé and the scientist who led the project on anti-matter. After the ferocious battle, he collapsed to the ground looking frail yet gratified.

It was then the Class 3-E was reminded that the time has come for them to make their choice. And at this point, they reached a consensus to take matters into their own hands.

As everyone else grabbed their precious teacher's tentacles down, Nagisa presented himself to make the kill. Before doing so, Korosensei requested to have a roll call for the final time.

One by one he called out the names of his students, their faces sullen and heavy. Each of them answered, and as he went nearer to the last student, their chests became tighter.

.

.

.

"Chiba Ryuunosuke."

"Here."

.

.

.

"Hayami Rinka."

"Here."

.

.

.

"Itona Horibe."

"Here."

Saddled on top of Korosensei, knife tight in his grasp, Nagisa let out a distressed cry as he raised his arms in the air when Korosensei sedated his nerves with a touch of his tentacle.

"Remain calm... and smile."

The blue-haired followed his teacher's words as his mouth curved into his gentle smile. "Goodbye, Korosensei," he uttered.

"Indeed, this is goodbye."

As soon as the blade pierced through Korosensei's necktie – his 'heart' – his body started to disintegrate into tiny beads of light. Hayami's arms stretched up, trying to catch hold of the floating particles as her mind screamed repeatedly,

'Don't go, Korosensei!'

'Please, don't leave us!'

Chiba stared down at the lights flowing on his hands. He swallowed when his fingers had begun to quiver, taking it in that Korosensei was gone.

When all the glowing particles had vanished and the darkness had returned, the instilling silence was interrupted by the sudden outburst of wails and sobs. Even the stoic snipers, known to be masters of hiding their emotions, were bawling their eyes out with everyone.

Hayami subconsciously tugged at Chiba's jacket as her shoulders continued to shake vigorously. Although he already has his bangs, he still covered his eyes with his arm in an attempt to stop his non-stop tears from pouring out.

They should be celebrating right now since their target has been finally killed, but in contrast, anguish and longing surrounded everyone. Even their other two teachers, who have grown attached to the class and have learned a lot for the past year, were dewy-eyed.

Letting go of the hem of his jacket, Hayami sluggishly followed her classmates inside the worn-out building. Upon arriving at their classroom, she saw a graduation certificate, graduation album, and a personalized consultation book on top of each of their desks.

Without a single word, they pored over the graduation album. She choked back on her tears as she got an eyeful of the class's bizarre and fun moments. How she wished that they could go back in time to relive them once again.

With Korosensei.

Just the mere thought of his name brought a pang of pain in her chest.

When she had proceeded to the consultation book, her head was sent into spirals at their teacher's detailed and frivolous pieces of advice. The tears that she has been holding back spilled out on her cheeks once again till the fatigue consumed her into slumber.

/Korosensei, our beloved teacher, you will surely be missed./

Her eyes fluttered open at the rays of sunlight. Slowly, she lifted her head as her gaze clapped on the budding cherry blossoms through the window. Then she turned over her shoulder to see Chiba staring outside.

With the abundance of memories flowing in his mind right now, it felt as if they have been together forever. For a year, he devoted himself to studying and training, making sure that he became worthy as an assassin. At the present moment, he realized that their time spent together has been short-lived but special and incomparable.

He, then, thought of his words back then at the civil war about their bond formed in assassination and objective to kill. How shallow his approach was to the matter.

It was more than just the assassination. It was more than killing the target. It was about facing hurdles, growing, and overcoming them together. It was about gaining, but not at the expense of others, and using your wits to win challenges fair and square.

That's not all. In his experience for this year, he also made a lot of acquaintances, friends, and a partner he could rely on.

After that, Karasuma walked into the room and embarked on his forewarning on what was to come for the students – harsh criticisms, media interference, and so on. For all of those, he apologized in advance to them.

With this, it's time to end the class officially.

"Stand!" Isogai enunciated.

The entire class rose on their feet and bowed down before Karasuma and Irina. "Karasuma-sensei and Bitch-sensei, you have our most humble gratitude for your instruction and guidance for this past year," they chorused.

***

"Time flies so fast," moaned Sugaya as they exited the city hall where the Kunugigaoka Junior High's graduation ceremony was held.

"It feels like yesterday when Karasuma-sensei first came into our class," Nakamura said with a reminiscing look.

Followed by an exasperated sigh, the aspiring artist said, "I just wish that my parents were here. My mother is still not okay with me pursuing my art career and my father is furious that the school has let a monster become our teacher."

The blonde prankster gave him a sympathetic look. "Damn, that must've been hard. I hope you'd get through with your parents. As for me and Chiba –" Her aqua blue eyes darted towards the taciturn boy "– our parents were here during the ceremony but they went ahead back home."

Chiba nodded to affirm her statement. Tapping the diploma on his shoulder, he scanned the crowd for her. He caught orange-brown hair intermingling with Yada and Kurahashi. He remained his eyes on her up until she met his gaze and returned his smile.

All their hard work and attempts in both assassination and studies definitely paid off. Even with Korosensei not being physically here, they both knew that he would always remain within them as they treaded on further in their lives, onto their future, carrying with them the lessons he taught them and the blades they polished this year.

In their minds, they told each other at the same time – 'We did it'.