That day, as promised, Akira treated the entire class to an expensive all-you-can-eat buffet that was actually better than many high-end restaurants.
Even Koro-sensei and Irina attended. Unfortunately, Karasuma couldn't make it—he stayed behind to help coordinate with the government on repairing the classroom.
By the next day, when Akira and Erika entered the classroom, most of the damage from yesterday's fight had already been repaired. It looked almost as if nothing had happened. Some students were still arranging the desks back into their proper positions.
At the podium, Koro-sensei stood with both tentacles covering his face.
"Embarrassing… so embarrassing…"
Kataoka asked,
"What's with Koro-sensei?"
Okano shrugged.
"Dunno. He's been like that for a while now."
Koro-sensei wailed, still hiding his face.
"I'm ashamed to have been involved in such a serious development. If anything, I'm more about comic relief!"
Hazama chimed in with a smirk.
"So you know! You sure got mad going, 'Where did you get those… those tentacles?!'"
Koro-sensei screamed dramatically.
"Ehhhaaa! Please don't say that, Hazama-san! Just hearing those words again makes me want to run for the hills! I'm the evasive airhead type! That's my selling point! Showing my serious side will just ruin my character type! How mortifying!!"
Akira, who was already seated, commented casually,
"Actually, Koro-sensei, your character has been all over the place from the beginning. You were never really the evasive airhead type."
Koro-sensei protested,
"No, that's not true, Akira-kun! I am—"
Irina cut in.
"Still, that was quite a surprise. Who would've thought that Itona boy had tentacles?"
Isogai leaned forward.
"C'mon, Koro-sensei, tell us! How are you connected to those two?"
Nakamura added,
"You've always dodged questions about your past…"
Sugino nodded.
"But seeing that really gets us thinking."
Kataoka crossed her arms.
"Yeah. We're your students, aren't we? Don't we have the right to know our teacher better?"
Koro-sensei lowered his tentacles slightly.
"Then I suppose I'll have to tell you the truth. And the truth is…"
He pointed at himself dramatically.
"I'm an artificial life form!"
The class barely reacted.
"Well, yeah."
"And?"
Koro-sensei looked devastated.
"Way to underreact! Don't you find that a shocking confession?!"
Okajima shrugged.
"Well, like, no natural-born octopus can move at Mach 20!"
Hara added,
"And if you're not an alien, that's about the only explanation left."
Kataoka continued,
"And if Itona-kun said he was your younger brother, then he must have been created after you, right?"
Koro-sensei sighed.
"Too sharp for me! What formidable kids…"
Nagisa spoke up seriously.
"We want to know what happened after that, Koro-sensei. Why did you get so angry when you saw Itona's tentacles? Why were you created, and what were your thoughts in coming here?"
Koro-sensei's expression turned solemn.
"Unfortunately, it'd be pointless to tell you about that now. If I destroy the Earth, everything you want to know will be like so much dust in the wind."
The class looked a bit spooked.
Akira, who had been quietly listening, commented,
"See? I told you he isn't the evasive airhead type."
Koro-sensei pointed at him.
"Akira-kun, I am in serious mode now. No disturbing."
Akira took out his phone with a grin.
"Sure, go on, Sensei. I'll record this for the future. Hehe, it would be interesting to see your reaction then."
Koro-sensei looked flustered.
"You… Akira-kun, that's not fair…"
He hurriedly turned back to the students.
"Students, if you want to know more, there is only one thing to do: kill me. Assassin and target—that's what connects us. If you want to know more, then ask me through assassination."
And with that, he bolted out of the classroom at Mach 20 speed.
Akira called after him.
"Sensei! School hasn't even started yet! Sensei…!"
But Koro-sensei was already long gone.
In the end, most of the students decided to ask Karasuma to teach them more assassination techniques. Not only to get answers, but because they felt pressure from all these superhuman transfer students—and because they wanted to kill Koro-sensei with their own hands.
---
A few days passed just like that, and soon ball game day arrived. As in the anime, the boys of Class 3-E had an exhibition match against the baseball club, and the girls had the same with basketball.
Erika went with the girls to play basketball. As for Akira, he skipped the entire event and sat on a tree branch, sipping a milkshake and writing something in his notebook. Even though he could have done it with his phone or a computer, he liked using a normal notebook from time to time—though he always backed them up on his computer later.
Just as Akira was drawing something, his phone suddenly lit up. Ritsu appeared on the screen.
"Akira-kun? Can I ask you something?"
Akira replied, still focused on his notebook.
"Ritsu, what is it?"
Ritsu asked curiously,
"Why did you skip the class baseball game? I'm sure if you joined, our class would easily win."
Akira shrugged.
"I'm not really interested in sports… well, most of them. And besides, our class would win even without me."
Ritsu tilted her head.
"How can you be so sure?"
Akira answered casually,
"They're strong. They didn't train this long to kill Koro-sensei for nothing. And besides, they have Koro-sensei with them. They'll be fine."
Ritsu pressed gently,
"But… if you don't like to play, couldn't you at least go watch and support them?"
Akira sighed.
"I don't watch sports. Back when I was a kid, my father used to watch live sports on TV. I tried watching with him, but I got bored and fell asleep within a few minutes… sigh."
He looked slightly traumatized.
"Ever since then, my mother has forced me to watch sports whenever I stay up late to make me sleep. So let's just say I'm not a huge fan of them."
Ritsu said softly,
"That sounds… bad."
Then she thought of something and asked,
"What about Erika and the girls' basketball match?"
Akira smiled slightly.
"Erika is strong. She likes playing sports and she's really good at them too. Even without using her super strength, she'll win."
Ritsu nodded.
"I know she will win, but don't you want to go cheer her on?"
Akira sighed again.
"I wanted to, but Erika said boys aren't allowed and kicked me out. So I decided to use the free time to finish my work."
Ritsu's eyes shifted to the notebook.
"Is that the moon—"
Akira quickly hid the notebook.
"That's a secret."
Ritsu said innocently,
"Oh come on. I already know from your computer. You're building a space shuttle to go to the moon, right? But I do want to know why."
Akira shook his head.
"That's a secret I won't tell you."
Ritsu guessed,
"Is it something related to Erika?"
Akira paused.
"…How did you know?"
Ritsu smiled.
"You've been hiding it especially from Erika-san, and last time you refused to tell her what it was, so I guessed."
Akira looked a bit irritated that his secret had been found out.
"You guessed correctly, but next time stop guessing. This is important to me."
Ritsu offered,
"How about I join this project? You can't hide it from Erika-san by yourself, right? I can help as support. It could also help me grow."
Akira looked conflicted for a few seconds, then nodded slowly.
"That's… fine. But it has to remain a secret from Erika, alright?"
Ritsu saluted on the screen.
"Yes, Captain! This will remain a complete secret from now on."
Akira smiled.
"Alright."
He started showing her his plans in the notebook.
---
Outside the gymnasium, Erika and the rest of girls of Class 3-E, along with Irina, walked out after winning the basketball match against the basketball club. Everyone was buzzing with excitement.
Kataoka pumped her fist.
"Yeah! That felt good!"
Nakamura grinned.
"Yeah, thanks to Erika. You really came in clutch!"
Okano nodded.
"Yeah, it was a close match."
Kayano looked a bit down.
"I'm sorry, everyone. I almost dragged everyone down…"
Kataoka shook her head.
"That's not true."
Nakamura patted her back.
"Yeah, don't worry about it."
Kayano sighed.
"When I saw the bobbing boobs on those basketball players, the rage and bloodlust just made me see nothing but red and I…"
Okano stared at her.
"What's with your animosity toward big boobs?!"
Kayano mumbled,
"But I mean…"
The group burst into laughter.
Kurahashi turned to Erika.
"But Erika-san is really skilled at basketball. Did you play before?"
Kataoka nodded.
"Yeah, even without your super strength, you're amazing. Were you in a basketball club before?"
Erika smiled modestly.
"No, I was never really in any sports club. I just learned to play some sports in my free time."
Okano looked impressed.
"Oh really? Do you like sports?"
Erika thought for a moment.
"Well… you could say I like moving around, so in a way, I guess."
Nakamura whistled.
"You're ridiculously good at this for someone who just learned it like that."
Just then, they heard cheers coming from the baseball field in the distance.
Hayami looked toward the field.
"Now then… I wonder how the boys are doing."
Kayano turned to Erika.
"Oh, speaking of boys… Akira-kun didn't participate, right, Erika-san?"
Erika nodded.
"He's not a fan of sports. Knowing him, he's probably sitting somewhere working on his new invention or something."
The girls sighed in unison.
Nakamura grinned.
"Anyway, we're going to cheer on the boys after this. What are you going to do, Erika? Are you coming with us or…?"
Erika smiled apologetically.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go find Akira. I have a feeling he's up to something, so I feel restless leaving him alone."
Kayano nodded knowingly.
"Yeah, what if he blows something up again?"
Nakamura teased,
"Yeah, go find him before he decides to take over the world or something."
Fuwa added with a laugh,
"Yeah, for the sake of world peace, go find him quickly."
Erika chuckled.
"It's not that serious… probably."
She smiled at the girls.
"See you later."
Then, after closing her eyes for a moment, she immediately turned toward the forest.
"Found him."
And without another word, she headed in that direction.
---
Meanwhile, Akira and Ritsu were in the middle of a serious discussion while sitting in the tree.
Ritsu tilted her head on the phone screen.
"Just so you know, Akira-kun, the moon has been heavily monitored by many nations ever since seventy percent of it got erased. Getting there and remaining there will be difficult."
Akira kept writing in his notebook.
"We have to get there fast and stealthy."
He quickly sketched something.
"We need some cloaking devices — retro-reflective panels or something else. We need to decide."
Ritsu asked,
"Then what about speed?"
Akira drew another diagram.
"If we use this engine, maybe we can reach 0.7c maximum cruising speed."
Ritsu sounded doubtful.
"Is it even possible?"
Akira replied confidently,
"According to my calculations, it is."
Ritsu pressed further.
"But what about the fuel source? Even your arc reactors can't power something like this."
Akira answered,
"As for the fuel source, I have some ideas. It's a bit dangerous, but it's worth a try. Oh, by the way, don't tell Erika about this, okay?"
Erika's voice came from right behind him.
"Not tell me what?"
"AHHHH—!"
Akira nearly fell off the branch in shock. He barely caught himself and spun around.
"Erika?! How long have you been here?! Wait, how did you even get up on the branch without me noticing?!"
Erika crossed her arms, looking both amused and annoyed.
"Just now. As for how I got up… you were too busy with something, so you didn't notice me."
Akira turned to his phone in betrayal.
"Ritsu, why didn't you notify me?!"
Ritsu's voice came through sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, Akira-kun, but she didn't have her phone with her."
Erika nodded.
"Yeah, I left my phone in the classroom."
Akira stared at her.
"Who leaves without their phone?!"
Erika placed a hand on his shoulder, her expression turning serious.
"Anyway… what did you want to hide from me? Spit it out."
Akira quickly gathered himself.
"Ritsu, it's time to activate Plan E."
Ritsu saluted on the screen.
"Yes, Captain! Executing emergency secret preservation protocol."
Erika blinked.
"…There was a Plan E?"
Akira suddenly broke into a run, jumping from tree branch to tree branch at high speed.
Erika called out after him.
"Stop right there!"
She gave chase without hesitation.
Akira used all his speed to try and escape, but Erika stayed right on his tail. As a dhampir, she had far greater physical strength and stamina than him. He knew he couldn't run forever — especially since he still had to go home that afternoon.
Erika called out while running,
"You know you can't run forever."
Akira shouted back,
"I know, but… I'm not alone!"
Just then, Ritsu arrived in her drone body.
"Here, Ritsu!"
Akira threw his notebook into the air. Ritsu caught it midair with the drone.
Akira declared dramatically,
"Take it to the safe place, Ritsu!"
Ritsu asked worriedly,
"But Akira-kun, what about you?!"
Akira put on a tragic hero expression, as if he were about to sacrifice himself.
"You go on without me… I will hold her back."
He deliberately slowed down, allowing Erika to catch up to him.
Ritsu wiped away a tear on the drone screen, her expression equally tragic.
"Akira-kun… don't worry. I will complete my mission."
Erika finally caught him, grabbing him tightly.
"Caught you…!"
Akira said triumphantly,
"It doesn't matter. Ritsu already took the notebook."
Erika gave him a flat look.
"Are you an idiot? Even if I got the notebook, I still wouldn't understand what's in there. All your notes are too complicated."
Akira froze.
He hadn't thought about that.
Erika tightened her grip.
"Now then… how should I punish you for running away and hiding something from me…?"
---
In the end, when the rest of Class 3-E, who had just won the baseball game, along with Koro-sensei, Irina, and Karasuma, entered the classroom, they found Akira tied up with rope while Erika pinched his cheeks.
"Tell me what you're planning."
Akira stubbornly refused to say anything.
Nagisa blinked.
"What happened now?"
Nakamura grinned.
"Is he really trying to take over the world or something?"
In the end, Akira still refused to speak. Erika punished him a little more, but eventually let it go after a while.