Chapter Text
Up the hill next to Kunugigaoka Junior High School, Class 3-E looked exactly as lively as ever: chatter and laughter filled their classroom.
The first period bell had already rung, which, for Akabane Karma, was a miracle in itself.
“Good morning, Karma,” Nagisa greeted him.
“Morning Nagisa,” Karma replied lazily, already walking toward his seat, strawberry milk in hand.
“It’s unusual for you to arrive for the first period,” Nagisa said jokingly.
“Yeah, I woke up early.”
At the front of the room, Koro-sensei clapped two tentacles together, though it could hardly make a sound.
“Good morning, everyone! Before we begin today's lesson, I have a small announcement.”
The class immediately settled down, waiting for their teacher to continue.
Well... mostly. Karma was still drinking his dear strawberry milk, making obvious slurping noises to annoy his classmates.
“Koro-sensei,” Isogai said, “is this about the dormitories?”
“Indeed!” Koro-sensei beamed with unusual joy.
A few weeks earlier, the school board had proposed building student dormitories near the campus for students with long commutes. After a school-wide vote, the proposal had passed by a comfortable margin.
Applications had opened shortly afterward and today was the deadline.
“Those of you who wish to stay in the dormitories, please hand in your registration forms.”
One by one, students walked to the front of the classroom with their paper in hand.
“So many?” Maehara blinked.
“My commute's almost an hour and a half,” Sugino sighed.
“Mine too,” Nagisa admitted.
“It'll save a lot of time,” Okuda added softly.
Maehara scratched his cheek.
“...Honestly, I just thought it'd be fun.”
Isogai sighed in exasperation at Maehara’s answer.
Karma finally stood, registration form tucked lazily into his pocket.
“You applied too?” Nagisa asked.
“Mhm.”
“I thought you wouldn't.”
Karma shrugged, eyes looking out the window, distracted.
“More time to sleep.”
He placed the paper on Koro-sensei's desk.
“A perfectly reasonable motivation!” Koro-sensei declared with a suspiciously mischievous tone that pulled Karma back to reality, “Although I expected something more dramatic from you Karma.”
“I can make something up if you want,” Karma looked at him, eyebrows raised with a playful smirk forming.
“I'll pass!”
“Hm, too bad.”
Within a few minutes, a neat stack of registration forms rested on the teacher's desk that Koro-sensei carefully gathered.
“Wonderful! The administration will process the applications over the next few weeks. Room assignments will be announced once construction is complete.”
He then looked over to Karma, who responded with a raised eyebrow.
“May fate smile upon your future roommates...”
Karma tilted his head, suspicious of Koro-sensei’s unusual behavior. But Koro-sensei quickly returned to normal.
“Until then…” Koro-sensei put the papers away, “back to work!”
The class collectively groaned as everything returned back to normal.
As soon as the bell rang, announcing the lunch break, Class 3-E didn’t waste any second. The chairs scraped against the wooden floor, making some horrible noises that were fortunately covered by the immediate chatter between classmates.
“What do y’all think about the dorm system?” Sugino asked as he sat down near Karma’s desk, like the rest of the friend group, because Karma was too lazy to move.
“I think it’s a good idea!” Kayano replied enthusiastically while taking out her meal.
“I think so too,” Nagisa started, “I mean, most of us live pretty far away and take a lot of transports, so it’ll save much more time in the morning.”
“Right? And that way, we can have more time for our club activities!” Sugino acknowledged, “Although we might have to share them with people from other classes…”
There was a slight moment of silence, thinking about how uncomfortable it would be if they were put with a stranger. Would the discrimination follow them even inside the dorms?
However, none of them had time to let their thoughts escalate thanks to Karma’s intervention.
“Mhm, it doesn’t really matter who I end up with, but if they dare mess with me…” He started, a devilish smirk appearing on his face, “I’ll just make them suffer and regret messing with me. And besides…” Karma grinned, “living with someone 24 hours a day? Think of all the blackmail material!”
The tension eased at his remark, both laughing at the thought and sighing at his mischievous scheming.
“I… don’t mind sharing the dorm with someone else, as long as we get along.” Okuda added gently, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I agree with Okuda-san.” Kanzaki nodded confidently, “And besides, even if it’s random, the post said that they will be assigned by an algorithm that balances study habits, schedules and year level, so it’s more likely that we end up with someone from our class.”
“Really? I didn’t see that part!” Sugino exclaimed.
“Did you even read the post?” Karma snickered.
“Well, hum, partly…” Sugino admitted shamefully.
“I think we should be optimistic!” Nagisa suggested, in an attempt to cheer up Sugino.
“Yeah! I’d be alright with anyone from our class! But I’d love to be with either Okuda or Kanzaki!” Kayano joyfully expressed.
The two said-girls smiled shyly at the comment.
Once again, the atmosphere warmed up as they continued their conversation over their meal.
Later that afternoon, the last bell rang.
Students stretched, packed their bags and prepared to leave.
But, before anyone could escape, Koro-sensei blocked the classroom door.
“Nurufufufu.”
Every student immediately recognized that laugh.
“What now?” Karma asked.
“I have another announcement.”
Koro-sensei produced a thick folder.
“You are all third-years, which means…” he said as he dramatically opened it, “you have to do your final interdisciplinary project, like every graduating class at Kunugigaoka!”
There was a defeated silence.
“How much is it worth?” Isogai asked carefully.
Koro-sensei smiled.
“40% of your final grade.”
The classroom exploded in protest.
“40?!”
“That's almost half!”
“You're kidding!”
“You can’t do that to us, Koro-sensei!”
Karma raised an eyebrow because 40% was no joke, even for him.
Koro-sensei waited for the panic to die down before continuing.
“This project will combine every subject you've studied this year. You'll conduct research in order to solve a real-world problem, produce a complete proposal and present it before the school.”
Groans echoed around the room.
“So, we’re basically doomed…” Maehara muttered.
“Nonsense!” Koro-sensei replied cheerfully, “I have complete faith in all of your capabilities. And we, teachers, will be there to answer all of your questions!”
Karma leaned back in his chair.
“A project like this…”
“Hm?”
“I don’t suppose we’ll be working alone?”
Several students nodded, naturally, they'd work in groups for a project like this.
Koro-sensei, however, simply smiled.
“As for how the groups will be formed…” he closed the folder with a snap, “We'll discuss that tomorrow.”
A chorus of protests filled the classroom.
“You're leaving us hanging?!”
“Seriously?!”
“Koro-sensei!”
“Nurufufufu! Anticipation is good for the soul!”
With one final laugh, he zipped out of the classroom before anyone could complain further.
The students stared after him.
“He's doing that on purpose, isn’t he?” Karma said with a hint of annoyance behind his tone.
“Definitely,” Nagisa sighed.
The classroom slowly emptied with everybody cursing the octopus in their mind for leaving them hanging in pure confusion and curiosity.
“What do you think the groups will be?” Yada asked.
“I’m not sure…” Isogai answered.
“I bet he’ll let us choose!” Maehara said very confidently.
“No way! He’ll make them random, for sure!” Okajima contested.
“Huh! I hope not! I don’t wanna end up with you!” Kurahashi exclaimed.
“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!” Okajima protested.
“I think he’ll make some strategic groups based on our strengths.” Nakamura added.
Further back, Karma listened to their conversation, or rather, debate. He took out his phone while walking, typing some things on it.
Nagisa, who was walking next to him, glanced over his phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Mhm? Nothing much, just searching some info up,” Karma answered lazily without even looking up from his phone, “Ah, there it is.”
Karma cleared his throat, still looking at his phone.
“Looks like we can choose our partner,” Karma announced.
Those at the front turned their backs to look at him.
“Really? Where’d that come from?” Mimura asked, curious.
“The school forum,” Karma showed them his phone, revealing the discussion about the final project on the forum.
They were all too stunned to speak, at least until Maehara broke the silence.
“WHAT?! You have access to the school forum?! I thought Class E was banned from using it!”
“That’s what I thought too!” Fuwa protested.
“We are!… I just hacked my way in!” Karma replied with a devilish smile.
“Wh-what? Karma, you…” Kataoka uttered, before sighing in defeat, “So… what does it say?”
“Why should I tell you?” Karma sneered jokingly, suddenly hiding his phone away.
“Y-you little!” Nakamura chased after him, absolutely determined to get the information out of his mouth.
The sound of their laughter as they ran down the hill in a pursuit resonated loudly, making the others sigh at their childish act.
“These two never stop, do they?” Sugino asked.
“I’m afraid not…” Kanzaki answered.
“That’s just the usual Karma and Nakamura.” Nagisa stated with a gentle ‘used to it’ smile.
By the time the big group joined the two at the bottom of the hill, Nakamura was exhausted, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath while Karma walked around her, teasing and taunting her by sticking his tongue out.
“Fine! I’ll tell you since I pity you,” Karma began, earning an enraged glare from Nakamura, “It’s groups of two. You’re supposed to be able to choose your partner from any class, but we never know with Koro-sensei.”
Everyone agreed, while carefully listening to Karma’s information.
“So! I suggest you start thinking about who you’ll choose as your partner instead of worrying about what Koro-sensei will do.”
On that note, everyone started parting ways, talking in small groups on the way home, thinking about their potential partners.
Meanwhile, Karma and Nagisa headed home together.
“Do you already have someone in mind, Karma-kun?” Nagisa asked out of curiosity.
Karma shrugged, looking up at the sky.
“Maybe, maybe not!” Karma flashed him with a beautiful yet malicious smile.
Nagisa hummed at his answer, assuming he’s talking about someone from Class E. Still curious about who it could be though.
Karma looked at Nagisa, who was lost in thoughts. He smiled, already knowing what Nagisa was thinking about.
However, contrary to what he was thinking, Karma planned to choose someone from Class A.
Earlier in the day, at lunch time, Karma secretly went to the teachers’ lounge to steal Koro-sensei’s ice cream, and happened to stumble across Koro-sensei’s plans for the project…
So, he’ll convince them by whatever means is necessary, most likely from blackmail.
But, Karma had a particular person in mind. One that no one would expect because if there was one thing Karma enjoyed more than winning…
It was making sure nobody saw it coming.
A slow grin spread across his face.
Convincing that person… would be the fun part.
The next morning arrived faster than Karma would have thought.
His sleepiness still hadn’t faded away and unfortunately for him, he was already on his way to school.
Soon enough, the school gate appeared in front of him. It was quite an unpleasant sight to witness in the early morning.
Karma looked over to the Class E hill, and then to the sky. His usual thought came to him like always: Should I just skip?
He sighed, looking down at his feet, quietly gathering his motivation before walking again.
Nah, let’s just go. Today promises to be interesting.
A few minutes later, Karma found himself in front of his classroom’s door, quietly sipping on his strawberry milk. Without any second thought, he opened the door and entered the classroom.
“Ah, Karma! I'm delighted to see you actually come to first period!” Koro-sensei cheered at Karma’s appearance, turning green with approbation.
“Don’t get used to it,” Karma shrugged with a light smile.
“However Karma!” Koro-sensei’s voice was low, as if preparing himself to scold Karma while returning to his usual yellow color, “The bell has already rung and I was just about to mark you absent!”
“Is that so?” Karma looked up at the ceiling, feigning reflecting on his actions, “Well that means I’m still early then!”
The class collectively sighed at his remark, already used to his delinquent behavior.
“Don’t mind me Koro-sensei!” Karma laughed while walking toward his seat at the back of the classroom.
Koro-sensei exhaled loudly. He then picked up the chalk, ready to explain in detail how the project will go.
“Listen up everyone! So, like I said yesterday, for your final project you will make a proposition of a detailed plan in order to resolve a problem in the world. You can choose anyone, from any class, to be your partner for this project.”
The room fell silent.
“Any class?” Sugino repeated.
“Even Class A?” Maehara blurted out.
“Indeed!” Koro-sensei beamed, “The entire third year is fair game!”
“Seems like Karma was right.” Nagisa mumbled.
“The presentation will be held right after the December Term-end exam, which leaves you 8 months to work on it.” Koro-sensei continued his explanation.
There was a choir of groans from the students who could already imagine how exhausting the next months would be.
“But!” Koro-sensei started joyfully, which earned many curious stares from his students, “To spice things up, I’ve decided to make a game!”
Karma looked up with a playful smirk, already knowing what was coming.
“Huh? What kind of game?” Yada raised her hand.
“Nurufufufu!” Koro-sensei giggled, “I called it the Double Agent Challenge!”
Murmurs spread throughout the classroom.
“...That's the name?” Sugaya muttered.
“Sounds horrible!” Okajima spoke out.
“I bet even a child could do better…” Maehara whispered.
“Right?!” Nakamura agreed.
Koro-sensei deflated on the spot due to the response of his students, suddenly dangling around in shame as tears spilled from his tiny eyes. He even turned his back to his dear students, tentacles covering his embarrassed face while sweat dripped from his bald head.
“Five out of ten sensei!” Karma mocked out loud, making his seatmates giggle. He really went out of his way to ridicule his teacher, by raising his hand, “Can’t we rename it?”
A roar of chuckles erupted inside the classroom. Some even started to feel bad for Koro-sensei.
Suddenly, their teacher turned around while dramatically regaining his posture.
“Fine! The name isn't important! The rules are!” He blurted out.
The room quieted, putting the joke aside.
“So, what are the rules, sensei?” Isogai asked.
“Thank you for asking Isogai,” Koro-sensei replied, “Well! You will choose your partner and submit the confirmation paper. Once you hand in your paper, I will assign you a target!”
The students exchanged confused glances.
“Your objective is to finish your project and keep your partner a secret until the presentation, while also discovering who your target’s partner is. Of course, your target is also a secret to the others so try to not get caught spying on them!”
“So we have to spy on each other?!” Muramatsu uttered.
The students immediately erupted into excited chatter, already starting to imagine their plan to win the game.
Karma couldn't help smiling because the game was finally getting interesting, and it was perfect for him.
“If you correctly expose them,” Koro-sensei resumed, delighted that his students finally developed interest in his carefully arranged game, “You get bonus points and your target has to run twenty laps while dodging your classmates' throws. Likewise, if someone exposes your partnership, you lose points and have to run twenty laps while dodging the knives and bullets.”
“Can we use any tricks to dupe others?” Nagisa asked.
“Why of course Nagisa! Everything is allowed as long as nobody gets hurt. Fake alliances, false leads, disguises, misleading conversations… Whatever you want!”
Karma’s eyes sparkled at his answer. He chuckled in anticipation, ready to put his mischievous scheme to work.
The students sitting nearby instinctively scooted their desks a few centimeters away.
Nobody wanted to become the first victim of whatever Karma was already planning.
Later that afternoon, the atmosphere inside Class 3-E’s classroom had already changed.
Students who normally chatted freely now lowered their voices. A few kept glancing over their shoulders before whispering to one another. Others quickly hid their notebooks whenever someone walked past.
The Double Agent Challenge had already begun and they were all thinking about who to choose as their partner and avoiding getting caught by others.
They were given two days to choose their partner before everyone had to submit it to Koro-sensei.
But it was better to choose early and have plenty of options than being last and getting stuck with fewer choices.
Karma was comfortably sitting on his chair, sipping on his delicious strawberry milk that he bought earlier at the campus’s vending machine, when Nagisa approached him.
“Hey Karma, ready to go home?”
Karma silently got up, lazily took his bag, and joined Nagisa.
“Yep, I just have to stop by the main campus.”
“Did you get in trouble again?” Nagisa laughed sarcastically.
“How’d you know?” Karma acted surprised.
Nagisa exhaled with a smile. He didn't know whether he should cry or laugh at the amount of times it happened.
Karma held back a smirk because it was the perfect excuse that nobody even questioned anymore since it happened too often.
Karma spared himself a glance toward the student council that would give away any hint of dubious activity.
“Ne Karma, why did Koro-sensei call you over at lunch?” Nagisa questioned, curious about their discussion.
“Ah that?” Karma looked up to the sky as if recalling a memory, “He scolded me for stealing his ice cream that was in the teachers’ lounge.”
Karma grinned proudly at his answer while Nagisa just laughed, pitying their poor teacher for always being the victim of Karma’s schemes.
When he looked in front of him again, the two students were already in front of the main building of their school. Wow, guess time really does fly.
Karma chuckled at his own thoughts while waving Nagisa goodbye and entering the building.
The place felt oddly silent and empty after classes. Probably because it’s usually buzzing with energy during the day.
Karma could hear the sound of his footsteps resonate in the staircase as he climbed the steps, one he was used to hearing in his own empty home.
The only people left in the building should be the janitors, student council students and perhaps the principal. That way, Karma should have much less trouble finding the one he was looking for.
He slowly headed toward the student council’s room, where light and indistinct chatter emerged from, making his footsteps as silent as a feather falling on the ground.
He then proceeded to hide in the classroom next to it and on the way to the exit. He also deliberately kept the door open in order to easily have access to the people passing by, allowing him to effortlessly snatch people away.
His plan was perfect, and now, he just needed to wait for his target to come and fall into his trap.
A few minutes later, the lights in the room next to his turned off. Four students walked out of the room while a fifth one closed the door behind them.
Karma grinned as they walked toward him, just like he wanted.
“-since we all already partnered together.” Koyama’s voice got clearer as they all got closer to Karma’s hideout.
“Well, yeah but he always does that, doesn’t he?” Sakakibara replied.
“I guess.” Araki muttered.
The group was finally within Karma’s reach. The last student passed the doorway.
Now.
Karma shot forward, grabbed him by the arm and pulled him inside the room, earning a small yelp from the victim.
However, Karma had not expected his target to fight back. Karma let out a muffled grunt as his back hit the wall, his wrists held together above his head inside the mysterious person’s hand.
Karma grinned at the intense reaction. There was only one person in this school who could do this, and that is exactly why Karma knew he’d gotten the right person.
Karma slowly raised his eyes, meeting his captor’s gaze, their faces close enough for them to feel each other’s breathing.
But before the other could let out a word, Karma shushed him, his vicious grin still apparent on his face, as the sunlight slowly hit the other’s face, his features now clearly visible to Karma.
Outside the room, the four other friends were still walking, unaware that their dear friend had just been kidnapped.
“What do you think, Asano?” Seo turned around to look at the person the question was destined to. But that person had miraculously disappeared.
“Huh? Where did he go?” Araki wondered.
“Asano?” Koyama looked around in confusion.
There was obviously no answer.
“Seriously?” Sakakibara was incredulous.
“Did he just disappear..?” Seo peeked behind him, still looking for someone that wasn’t there.
“Maybe he went to the principal’s office and forgot to tell us?” Koyama supposed.
“Yeah, probably,” Sakakibara agreed as the other three also nodded and continued walking forward.
The room remained quiet as footsteps faded into silence. Neither of them moved, waiting for the other to completely vanish from their sight.
Finally, Karma refocused his captivating gaze on the person in front of him with a challenging grin.
“Well…”
“What was this for, Akabane?” Asano calmly cut him off, tightening his grip on Karma's wrists.
Karma’s grin widened as he winced in pain.
“Fancy meeting you here, Mr. Student Council President,” Karma simply replied with the most defiant look Asano had ever received.