While I was still wrestling with the English newspaper Koro-sensei had brought from Hawaii early that morning, two sharp gusts of wind nearly ripped the pages from my hands.
As the whistling wind died down, a crisp thwack reached my ears. I turned toward the sound to find Koro-sensei wearing a baseball glove on one of his tentacles. He had clearly just caught something.
「Good morning, Sugino-kun. Good morning, Nagisa-kun.」
「...... What?! Huh?!」
「Come now, you two—return the greeting with a clear voice!」
「G-Good morning, Koro-sensei.」
Poor Sugino. He had poured his heart and soul into that pitch, yet it hadn't even touched the supernatural being.
「The idea of embedding my weakness—the specialized anti-sensei pellets—inside the ball was brilliant. That way, you avoid the muzzle flash and noise of an airgun. However, since I grew quite bored waiting for the ball to reach me, and since touching it directly would melt my cells... I took a quick trip to the equipment room to grab a glove before coming back.」
I stood there, stunned, as Koro-sensei explained himself with such casual indifference.
Sugino, a former member of the baseball club with no small amount of confidence, looked utterly crushed. To be fair, throwing a baseball at a target moving at Mach 20 is an act of madness. I wouldn't have blamed him if he started crying right there; the situation warranted it.
By the way, I was standing right next to them, yet I hadn't perceived Koro-sensei's movement at all. All I felt were those two strong gusts of wind.
「I do hope you manage to kill me... before graduation.」
「......」
Sugino sank into total despondency.
「Come along, you three. It's time for the morning homeroom.」
Koro-sensei walked away, skillfully tossing the ball inside the glove as if nothing had happened.
Should I even keep this newspaper? I can't read it anyway.
Sugino remained devastated, while Nagisa offered words of encouragement, trying to lift his spirits. I walked behind them, following Nagisa's lead in attempting to cheer Sugino up, if only a little.
But Sugino didn't regain his spark for the rest of the day.
●○●○●
「Tell me, Nozaki, why were you with Koro-sensei this morning?」
「I just ran into him when I arrived at school. I greeted him and wanted to get to class quickly, but he stopped me and started rambling.」
Nagisa asked me this as I was packing my things to go home after classes ended. Apparently, the sight of me with Koro-sensei in the morning was rare enough to pique his curiosity.
Since I had promised the teacher not to reveal our deeper conversation, I simply told him that I ended up trying to read an English newspaper with him.
「Ah, I see. I can easily picture that.」
「Can't you?」
It seemed Nagisa also viewed Koro-sensei as a teacher who enjoyed pestering his students and meddling in their business. I nodded in agreement as he gave a wry smile.
「...」
「......」
Then, silence fell over us. For the second time today.
When a conversation ends between two people who share little in common, silence naturally follows once the final point is made.
「Well, I'm heading out.」
「Eh? Oh, right. See ya.」
I ended the dialogue to escape the awkwardness.
Unlike my encounter with Koro-sensei this morning, I succeeded this time. If he were here, he would have intruded annoyingly, saying, "Come now, interact more as classmates!" Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—he was currently in New York.
Just as Nagisa replied, I grabbed my bag and prepared to leave. At that moment, Isogai approached from the front, a smile playing on his face that sat somewhere between a sigh and a tease.
「Keiichi, you really need to break that habit—running away the moment a silence gets awkward.」
His bluntness caught me off guard.
「It's not running away, nor is it a strategic retreat. We simply ran out of things to say, so I chose to end the conversation. It's a perfectly natural thing to do.」
「It isn't natural. Not at all. If you wanted topics, Koro-sensei himself is a goldmine. Or you could have asked Nagisa about the next assassination plan. There are topics all around you.」
「... Nagisa, the weather is nice today, isn't it?」
「Eh? Oh, yeah.」
「The weather? Good grief... we aren't two nervous fiances at a matchmaking session. What's wrong with you? I feel like your social skills are deteriorating by the day.」
「You think so?」
「I do. At least in your first year, you had plenty of friends. You were brighter; you'd even start conversations about all sorts of things.」
「Well, most of those 'friends' you mentioned turned on me and started treating me with nothing but discrimination and bullying the moment I dropped into Class E.」
「...... That's true. I suppose it's no wonder you've become so cynical.」
As I countered Isogai's attempts at positivity with my own aura of negativity, Nagisa watched us with a look of surprise. He either couldn't find a gap to join the conversation or simply preferred to observe.
「What is it, Nagisa? Why are you so quiet?」 I asked.
「Nothing, I'm just surprised. You two talk a lot. Are you and Isogai-kun close friends?」
「We aren't.」
「There you go saying that again... You could call it a long-standing acquaintance. By his definition, we aren't 'close,' but we aren't on bad terms either.」
「Is that right?」
「Yeah, that's the reality of it.」
「Well, I'll take your word for it, then.」
「Suit yourself.」
「You two really are friends, after all.」
I decided to ignore Nagisa's comment because the argument was becoming exhausting. The truth was, Isogai was the person I felt most comfortable talking to.
「Moving on, what's up with Sugino? He seems unusually drained.」
「Impressive, Isogai. How did you notice?」
「Anyone watching him would notice. We're friends and classmates, after all.」
「Is that how it works?」
Isogai is a good person. His belief that "classmates = comrades, comrades = friends" is truly commendable.
At the very least, those are values I don't possess.
「Actually, he failed an assassination attempt this morning. He's been depressed ever since.」
「Even so, I think he's overreacting. If killing him were easy, they wouldn't have asked middle schoolers like us to do it. So far, none of us has managed to destroy even a single tentacle.」
「Ah, I get it now. I remembered Sugino was in the baseball club. No doubt his failure made him lose confidence in his skill.」
Isogai seemed to grasp the situation. Meanwhile, Sugino finished packing his things and left the classroom.
Even if he were still here, it was better to leave him alone. Being easily defeated in the one field you love and excel at can lead to a complete identity crisis.
As I stared blankly at the classroom exit where Sugino had vanished, a broad-shouldered man in a familiar black suit entered, followed by several assistants.
「Good afternoon, Mr. Karasuma.」
Isogai, the class representative and top student, took the initiative to greet him. The man returned the gesture.
Honestly, Mr. Karasuma is an impressive man. He carries an aura of calm and strength that shows no weakness, even in his gait. Even though he's the one who tasked us with the assassination, he treats us middle schoolers with full respect and professionalism.
「How is it going? Have you found any lead on how to kill him?」
「It's impossible, Mr. Karasuma... he's just too fast.」
Isogai voiced his grievance, with Nagisa nodding vigorously in agreement. That octopus really was unbelievably fast.
Thinking about it, Isogai and Nagisa are among the most enthusiastic about the assassination in this class. They likely grasp Koro-sensei's speed better than someone as uncommitted as I am.
「Mr. Karasuma, do you know his after-school schedule? He went to New York just to watch a ball game! How are we supposed to kill someone who flies at Mach 20?」
Maehara, one of the class's most handsome students and a rival to Isogai in looks, spoke with a tone of sheer exhaustion. He was also active in the assassination attempts.
「That is true. No army in the world can shoot him down. However, you... specifically the students of Class 3-E at Kunugigaoka, are the only ones with a chance. For some reason, this being insists on fulfilling his duty as your teacher.」
He emphasized this while looking each of us in the eye. He was telling us the opportunity was in our hands.
Mr. Karasuma is very sincere. For those who lost their self-worth after falling into this class, his steady, honest gaze would surely spark motivation. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the girls had already fallen for him.
「If left alone, he will undoubtedly destroy the Earth next March. One look at the crescent moon is enough to know that not a single human will survive.」
── Next March.
Linking Mr. Karasuma's words with what Koro-sensei told me, it was clear our target would die naturally in March. At that moment, the Earth might be dragged down with him and perish.
「He is too dangerous to be left alive! Right now, this classroom is the only place where he can be killed!」
Karasuma spoke with sweat beading on his forehead, emphasizing Koro-sensei's danger just as he had in our first meeting.
It's natural for him to panic; there's less than a year left before the world ends. To make matters worse, this monster is in Japan. The responsibility on a single nation's Ministry of Defense must be crushing.
Mr. Karasuma seems to be suffering quite a bit...
Failed students like us were given a chance to become heroes who save the world. Someone tried to seize that chance using the skill he loved, only to fail.
Thinking about it that way, I felt I could understand the depth of Sugino's frustration.
●○●○●
The following afternoon, while I was tending to the flower beds, I ran into Sugino. He still looked affected by yesterday's failed assassination.
He was sitting on the stone steps leading to the schoolyard, head bowed, sighing audibly—a truly pitiful sight.
「...」
I could have left him alone, but we are classmates after all. I decided to at least listen to his grievance.
「...... Do you mind if I sit?」
「Nozaki...? Sit wherever you like.」
I placed the watering can at the base of the steps and sat beside Sugino.
「...」
「......」
We fell into a sudden bout of silence.
Strange. In manga, the person who wants to complain usually starts talking on their own as soon as you sit next to them, even without being asked.
Does this mean I have to take the lead? But how? What should I say? I'm not proud of it, but my communication skills are severely lacking.
「... Sigh.」
Sugino let out another breath. Was it because of the awkward silence with me, or because of the failed assassination? Either way, I should say something, shouldn't I?
Yet, every time I tried to speak, the words wouldn't come.
Just as I decided to give up and stand to leave, a helping hand—or rather, a helping tentacle—extended toward us.
「I've polished the ball for you, Sugino-kun.」
Koro-sensei held out the ball that had been embedded with pellets yesterday, now wrapped in a handkerchief, between Sugino and me.
While I was marvelling at his perfect timing, a sudden sound of cracking wood came from behind us!
「Koro-sensei, what are you eating now?」 asked Sugino, who had turned faster than I did.
「It's a coconut I bought when I went to Hawaii yesterday. Would you like some?」
「... You're supposed to drink the water, not eat the meat.」
「He's right. I agree with Nozaki.」
When I muttered that, Sugino immediately backed me up.
Wait, isn't this the first time Sugino and I have exchanged more than two sentences in a normal conversation?
「Yesterday's assassination attempt was a very good pitch.」
Koro-sensei sat beside Sugino, leaving me on the outer edge.
The moment he sat down, he spoke words that might have sounded mocking to a depressed person whose lethal pitch had failed.
「You say that as if you didn't dodge it with ease. But thinking about it, it was impossible to hit a Mach 20 target with that ball's speed.」
「Were you in the baseball club?」
「Formerly.」
「Formerly?」
Ah, the conversation is flowing.
Was I worrying too much? Was my anxiety unnecessary? Perhaps it isn't necessary to be so guarded with him.
As I mused to myself, the dialogue between Sugino and the teacher continued. Since Sugino had started talking, I decided to play the listener and blend into the background.
「Class E is forbidden from participating in school activities. Since our grades are bad and we were dropped into this special remedial class, we were told to focus only on our studies.」
「That is blatant discrimination.」
「... But it's fine. Logically, the teachers are right. You saw it yesterday, didn't you? My pitch is slow.」
「......」
Sugino's pitch, huh? Is it really slow? I can't judge because I didn't see it yesterday.
「Because it's slow, everyone was hitting it easily—opponents and teammates alike. That's why I was dropped from the regular lineup. I lost my motivation for school, too, and ended up here in Class E, the 'End Class.'」
Sugino said this with a bitter, self-deprecating smile.
As he began to sink back into his funk, my eyes met Koro-sensei's.
「Nozaki-kun.」
「Yes?」
「After hearing Sugino-kun's story, did anything come to mind?」
You've asked the wrong person. I don't even know all my classmates' names. How could I perform a miracle like offering constructive advice based on someone else's life story?
Besides, I've never even seen Sugino play baseball. I have no desire to spout platitudes like "You can do it, don't give up," though I fully understand the feeling of losing the will to try after a failure.
However, what did come to mind after hearing his story was...
「Sugino, is your usual pitch a 'four-seam fastball'?」
「Eh? Yeah. There's a Major League player who made it to the big leagues thanks to his fastball, and I aim to be just like him.」
「I see. Look, I'm no baseball expert and I don't care about the Major Leagues, but if your fastball is slow, why don't you use other types of pitches? There are curveballs or splitters, right? Unless there's a baseball rule that limits how many different pitches you're allowed to use in a game.」
「No, there's no rule like that.」
「Then there's no need to stick only to the fastball, is there? You love baseball, and because you love it, you aimed for the Major Leagues. If you started out just by imitating someone, that's one thing. But if you want to become strong because you love the game, it would be better to try various pitches. That's just what I thought while listening to you.」
I explained my perspective to Sugino, who was looking at me in surprise, as if I were ignorant of the game's basics.
If Sugino had the kind of pride that made him say "I'll throw nothing but fastballs!", my words would have been hasty or flawed.
「Nurufufufu. An excellent perspective, Nozaki-kun.」
Koro-sensei was smiling with satisfaction, his tentacles moving in a slimy, suspicious manner.
「Sugino-kun. Allow your teacher to give you some advice.」
「... Eh?」
In the next moment, I was forced to witness a scene I wished I had seen with a girl instead.
●○●○●
While I was wandering through the school building looking for Koro-sensei to hand in my assignments, I saw a strange sight from the window.
Sugino and Koro-sensei were sitting on the stone steps leading to the yard. That sight wasn't strange in itself; I figured he was teasing him about yesterday's assassination. The strange part was the third person with them—the "problem child" of our class.
Nozaki Keiichi. The boy who openly and indifferently admits he dropped into Class E due to bad behavior and failing grades. He was the first student in our year to fall into this class, and it's said his test scores are always dead last.
His grades kept plummeting, and I don't know the real reason, but the straw that broke the camel's back and brought him here was his punching his former homeroom teacher—a famous story.
For that reason, almost everyone, boys and girls alike, avoids him, even if not explicitly.
Why was he with them?
Nozaki has no close friends. He seems to be on good terms with Isogai-kun, and they appear together sometimes, but he doesn't seem like the type to seek out others by choice.
Curiosity drove me to find out what Koro-sensei was doing with Sugino and why Nozaki was there. I changed my shoes and headed toward them, only to find the situation even weirder than it looked from the window.
「N-N-H-H-Ohhh—! H-H—!!」
「Nurufufufu...」
「I wish I were seeing this with girls.」
Tentacles were raised high; Sugino was trapped by them, letting out incomprehensible cries under the force of their movement. And then there was Nozaki, showing a side of his strange tendencies that didn't fit his usual indifferent persona.
「What is this situation...?」
I muttered in shock, and Nozaki noticed me.
「... Even Nagisa isn't bad.」
「What are you talking about!!?」
I felt a threat to my safety from Nozaki's gaze, so I ran past him toward Koro-sensei.
「What are you doing, Koro-sensei?! Aren't you forbidden from harming students?!」
「Harming? What a misunderstanding.」
「No, even from my perspective—having watched this from the start—this looks like nothing but harm. We were listening to Sugino's past, and suddenly this tentacle display started. I'm quite confused.」
「Nozaki-kun? It isn't good for a middle schooler to aim for such deviant practices; it leads to boredom in the future.」
「No, moving past the boredom, I don't have a partner to begin with nor do I want one. Furthermore, I don't want to hear this from someone currently engaged in 'tentacle play'!」
Ah, Nozaki raised his voice to criticize the teacher.
That's a rare sight.
「Now, Sugino-kun, back to my advice. That unique form you showed in yesterday's pitch was an imitation of the Major League player Arita, wasn't it?」
「!!」
Sugino's eyes widened; he had been trying to bite the tentacles.
The teacher had hit the mark, and I felt Sugino's body relax after his attempts to resist.
「However, tentacles do not lie. Compared to that player's shoulder muscles, your muscle arrangement is poor. Even if you imitate him, you won't be able to throw fastballs like his.」
「......」
「You're remarkably blunt and harsh, Teacher.」
「Yes, because it's the truth.」
Koro-sensei and Nozaki spoke coldly, while Sugino couldn't hide his shock after such a definitive statement.
I felt a surge of anger. Was it because my friend was hurt? Perhaps. but what angered me most were the teacher's words, which seemed to place limits on our abilities. I snapped at him instinctively.
「How can you be so sure, Teacher?! Is it because we're in Class E?!」
「......」
Sugino bowed his head at the mention of "Class E."
To us, the label "Class E" is a badge of shame, a symbol of failure, and proof of being low-tier. It is the title of the absolute weak in the world of Kunugigaoka Junior High.
Even though the teacher hadn't mentioned "Class E" in his words, I read between the lines unconsciously; I thought this teacher, too, saw us as nothing but failing trash.
「The reason I can be so sure... is as follows, Nagisa-kun.」
Koro-sensei toyed with his tentacles inside his clothes boastfully, then pulled out his favorite English newspaper and displayed it before us.
「Because I went yesterday and confirmed it with the player himself.」
(((Since you confirmed it with him personally, there's no room for argument!!)))
I think the hearts of all three of us—Sugino, Nozaki, and myself—aligned in that moment as never before.
「By the way, I got his autograph too...」
From behind the newspaper, a signed paper appeared, with shaky, unstable writing that read: 『Get away from me, you octopus!!!』.
「Did you ask him for an autograph while he was that angry?!」
「Of course he'd be angry!!?」
My anger toward the teacher vanished, replaced by bewilderment at his actions. I joined Nozaki in criticizing him on behalf of Sugino, who was too depressed to even comment.
It seems Nozaki isn't as bad as they say.
「I see. So talent really is different...」
Sugino muttered in despair, but the teacher's tentacle wrapped gently around his wrist.
「Yes, there is a gap and a difference between your talent and Arita's. However, every human has what suits them and what doesn't. Your shoulder muscles might be weaker than his, but the flexibility of your elbow and wrist far exceeds his. If you train, you will surpass him by leaps and bounds.」
「... My elbow and wrist... better than his?」
「Talent isn't just one type. Each of you possesses a unique talent that differs from the others. It might be an aesthetic sense, muscular flexibility, muscle quality, sustained effort, exceptional focus, or a broad vision and keen observation. Find the assassination style that fits your talents.」
Koro-sensei looked into the eyes of each of us, then gently patted Sugino's shoulder with a tentacle as if pushing him forward, and headed toward the classroom.
「My own talent...」
Sugino's face became incomparably brighter than it had been moments ago.
In contrast, Nozaki directed his words to Koro-sensei's departing back.
「Tell me, Koro-sensei. You told us to come kill you with the talents that suit us. But to you, who is the most talented assassin?」
Nozaki's question was interesting to us.
Wondering who the most talented assassin is isn't strange for us; the reward for the target in front of us is ten billion yen. The possibility of an elite assassin being hired is not zero.
Koro-sensei turned around, resting a tentacle on his chin as if thinking.
「Hmm, let's see. There are multiple answers to that. An assassin who understands their strengths well and hones a single field they excel in is very troublesome; their level in that field becomes so high no one can match it.」
「You mean the person who mastered the 'assassination suited to their talent,' as you just told us.」
「Exactly. However, the teacher also believes a great assassin is one who is a master of all arts.」
「So the person who can do everything is the best in the end?」
「That is a tricky point. Attempting to master everything with half-effort might make one a 'Jack of all trades, master of none.' Compared to a specialist, they might be inferior in any single field. But the weapon of an all-around assassin lies in their abundance of options. Why do you think that is?」
I realized Koro-sensei's question wasn't just for Nozaki, but for all of us.
I tried to answer immediately, but the words failed me. Suddenly, Nozaki, the class rebel, answered.
「Because when they fail an assassination attempt, they have many cards left to play. An assassin who only knows how to kill with their bare hands, and one who knows various ways to kill—if both fail to strangle the target and the target is faster than them, the first one will inevitably lose their mark.」
「Go on, I'm listening.」
「But the assassin who has acquired broad skills has more choices they can make in the moment. And since those are real skills and not just superficial ones, their success rate will be high. If they have a gun, they'll shoot. If they find a stone, they'll throw it. If they have good communication skills, they might place comrades along the target's expected escape routes or control the movement of people around them.」
I was stunned by Nozaki's answer. He rattled it off as if it were common sense, even though we had stumbled.
Koro-sensei nodded with satisfaction, his face turning red with a blush. Then, a "correct" mark appeared on his face, and he drew a large circle with his tentacles in an exaggerated fashion.
「Exactly! Keen insight, Nozaki-kun.」
「I've thought about it a lot.」
I thought he was being modest, as he had answered immediately without thinking. But Koro-sensei paid no mind to his modesty and continued.
「As a teacher, I hope you all aim for that realm. I want you to possess a 'Second Blade'—the weapon you use immediately when your primary one fails.」
The teacher finished with, 「I look forward to your results,」 and then truly departed this time.
I left Nozaki and Sugino and caught up with him. I had things to say, and I had been looking for him to hand in my work anyway.
「Koro-sensei!」
I stopped him, and he turned slowly.
I saw his crescent-moon mouth and his yellow body. Until now, I didn't know what went on in his mind or what he was thinking.
But after hearing his advice to Sugino, I felt this person was completely different from the teachers in the main building. Hope began to grow in my chest.
「Did you go to New York just to give Sugino that advice?」
「Yes, of course. Because I am your teacher.」
He answered as if it were a trivial matter not worth mentioning.
「Why do you do all this for us? Usually, no teacher does this much, let alone Koro-sensei, who is about to end the Earth's existence.」
At my question, Koro-sensei looked away for a moment. After a short silence, he briefly revealed the reason he was a teacher.
「I became a teacher, Nagisa-kun, to fulfill a promise I made to someone.」
Someone? That piqued my curiosity, but I realized he wouldn't answer now. I stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.
「It is true that I will destroy the Earth. But before that, I am your teacher. Facing my students with sincerity... is more important to me than the end of the world.」
As soon as he finished speaking, I found the homework notebooks he had finished grading in a flash between his tentacles.
I took the notebook he held out and opened it to find a strange question had been added.
A drawing of an octopus or squid's tentacles emerging from what looked like the water's surface, with a decorative ribbon on one of them. The question was: 『Explain in English why these tentacles do not look attractive enough?』.
「Koro-sensei. I understand your desire to show off your grading speed, but could you stop adding weird questions?」
「Nyuaaaah?! I thought it would be a fun addition and make you happy...!」
「It's more like a punishment for me.」
At my words, he was visibly dejected, but he soon regained his energy. He skillfully twirled a fountain pen with his tentacles, then put it in his mouth and began to bite it hard.
「(Cough). Anyway. I hope you enjoy being students and take the assassination seriously. Though... assassination is quite impossible for you.」
He said it with a challenging smile as he chewed and crushed the pen.
As I looked at him, I felt that I didn't truly feel capable of killing this teacher who possessed supernatural speed and tentacles for every purpose.
I didn't feel I could kill him, but I felt this person was looking at us with sincerity, and that he was ready to accept even our desire to kill him with an open heart.
●○●○●
The day after witnessing the "tentacle display" between Koro-sensei and Sugino, I found myself invited by Sugino to play baseball. I stood in the schoolyard, gripping the bat.
「Take this, Nozaki!」
Sugino shouted enthusiastically from the pitcher's mound he'd traced in the dirt. Behind me, Nagisa sat with a glove, calling out, 「I'm ready anytime!」.
「Here it comes!」
With a spirited cry, Sugino's arm moved powerfully, and the ball flew toward me in a straight line.
But the ball, which was heading straight, suddenly changed course and tried to pass under the bat I was holding.
However, I had seen its path. I swung the bat and sent the ball back with force.
「A-Amazing! They're both incredible...! Sugino's ball changed as if it disappeared, and Nozaki managed to hit it back brilliantly!」
「Haha! Even if the fastball is slow, mixing it with different pitches hides its true speed! I'm currently mastering pitches that rely on the elbow and wrist! Of course, for that octopus, it would be a yawn-worthy pitch. Since a human like you hit it back, I still have a long way to go.」
Sugino laughed heartily.
「You're amazing. You were so depressed yesterday.」
I said what was on my mind instinctively.
Only two days ago, he was unbearably downcast. Now, with a single piece of advice from the teacher, he had regained all this energy and passion. Really, what made him get over it so quickly?
「Well, I'm obsessed with baseball. And I figured that practicing to become better feels more like me than staying depressed!」
Sugino was laughing brightly as he threw the ball he'd caught in his glove. He looked so radiant to me—perhaps because I couldn't get over my own depression when I faced a similar failure.
「Thank you, Nozaki. You were trying to listen to my problems yesterday, weren't you?」
「Eh? Oh, yeah.」
「You're a good guy, despite what they say. Practice with me again. Don't you know the rules of baseball? I'll teach you!」
It seemed my attempt to care for him yesterday had reached him. If that was the case, maybe there was some benefit in doing something so unlike myself.
「Koro-sensei! I want to kill you! Will you come over here?」
「Nurufufufufu. You never give up.」
In that moment, I realized that something inside me had started to pin its hopes on Koro-sensei.