Specimen T-04

Part 30~Itona and Shiro

Itona launched forward, standing on the wall as he looked at Koro-sensei. "I am strong with these tentacles. I became stronger than anybody."

Nagisa wanted to scream out, but Keiji stopped him. The connection was formed a mental link.

"Itona! Listen to me. There is a better way. You don't have to do this. You're stronger than needing those."

Keiji relayed the message, but they didn't know if he heard him or even understood who was talking. He didn't have time to understand. Shiro shot him. "I'm sorry, Koro-sensei. It looks like he wasn't prepared for school yet. I know this is his first day here, but he'll have to take some time off." Shiro picked Itona up, about to leave, when Koro-sensei glared at him.

"Hold it. I will not abandon that student. I'm his teacher. Now that he's entered Class E, it's my responsibility to take care of him until he graduates. Besides, I still have a lot of questions for you, Shiro."

"No. We're leaving. Stop me if you can." Shiro walked towards the hole of Koro-sensei and reached out to stop him, his hand touching Shiro's shoulder before bursting. "Anti-sensei fabric. You can't lay a tentacle on me. There's no need for concern. I'll send him back to school soon, Koro-sensei. We don't have much time until March. In the meantime, I'll take full responsibility for tutoring him."

And so Shiro left. Keiji watched him go, a nervous feeling in his stomach. Nagisa was not happy. Not one bit.

~~~

Koro-sensei bent over himself, covering his face.

"What's up with Koro-sense?" Meg frowned as she put the desk back to where it should be.

"Dunno. He's been like that since the battle," Fuwa answered as Koro-sensei screamed into his hands.

"I'm not supposed to do dramatic scenes. I'm the comic relief!"

The class gave him a weird look as Hazama rolled her eyes. "You were pretty melodramatic. 'Where did you get those tentacles?!'"

"Please don't rub it in, Hazama. I could just curl up and die. I've been cultivating a mysterious, naturally amusing persona, revealing a serious side that shatters my image!"

"I can't believe you're so calculating about your image," Kimura muttered as he watched Koro-sensei struggle. "That certainly was a surprise."

"That boy named Itona, who would've thought he had tentacles too," Jelavich muttered as the class turned to Koro-sensei.

"Hey, Koro-sensei. Tell us. Who were those two? You always evade our questions about you, but after what we've just seen, we think you owe us some answers. Students have to trust their teachers, right?"

Koro-sensei paused before he stood up. "Very well. I guess the time has come to tell you the truth. The whole truth, which is that I am an artificially created life-form!"

The class was not amused. "Yeah, and?"

"And? What do you mean 'and'? You're not shocked and amazed?!"

Keiji chuckled at that idea. Why would he be shocked and amazed when he was the same.

The class has already guessed most of what Koro-sensei was willing to divulge. Keiji knew he was hiding something, and Koro-sensei's attempt to distract the class from answers only proved that more.

"You have to kill me. Assassin and target. That is the bond that binds us together. You can have your answers when you pry them from my cold, dead tentacles. Now then, if you don't have any more questions, I'd like to call it a day. See you tomorrow." Koro-sensei got to the door before he became too embarrassed and had to hide his face again.

Karma sighed. "So dramatic." He grinned as he shared a look with Keiji. "So, where did Nagi run off to?"

Keiji smiled. "He said he needed some air. Plus, he had a prior arrangement he had to make, so he couldn't stay long. I'm surprised he stayed for this fight, to be honest." Keiji hummed as Karma nodded.

He wasn't sure what Nagisa was doing, but he had the feeling that it had something to do with Itona, despite Keiji's attempt to state otherwise.

~~~

On the other side of the city, Shiro walked with Itona still on his shoulder. He stopped as he heard the branch snap. "I was wondering if that was you. It's been so long since we've met, T-04."

Nagisa jumped down from the tree, his eyes looking over Shiro coldly.

"But why are you here? You can't do anything."

Nagisa gave the man, and in a flash, the tentacles came out, and one stabbed right through his heart.

"No... That's... that's not possible. Your tentacles, they can't harm me."

"I guess you don't know everything." Nagisa walked closer as Shiro fell to his knees. "I made a promise. No one else would die because of you. I'm breaking that because it's you. This is for my friends. You should have never put that thing in her neck." Nagisa pulled his ice-covered tentacle out, staring at Shiro until he drew his last breath.

Turning, Nagisa picked up Itona.

"Don't worry, he can't hurt you now." And he left into the night.

~~~

Koko didn't have many expectations for the day. She woke up, flirted with her girlfriend, tried to cheer up the depressed people and then sat down to work on the files.

What she wasn't expecting was Nagisa to crash through the door, splattered in blood and carrying a body. "What the fuck?!"

Koko's shout gathered the attention of the others. Esumi ran forward, taking Itona from Nagisa as Erika hesitantly walked closer and held up the handkerchief. "Thank you," Nagisa whispered, roughling her hair before he turned to Koko. "You said you could remove the tentacles, right?"

"Is that the girl?" Koko was confused. From what Nagisa had said, the tentacle girl had green hair, little muscle and a female body. That could not be her.

"No. It's someone different. I believe he was created after the lab collapse, so we should still be able to take the tentacles out. His name is Itona."

Koko hesitated as she walked closer. She could do this. This was what she was good at.

Esumi smiled, placing her fingers on the boy's head. "He's distressed, I'll calm him down."

Koko grinned. She had an amazing girlfriend.

"The tentacles are in his hair," Nagisa told her as she nodded. The thin metal blades stretched out of her fingers. They almost acted as molten metal, a still unique to her. She walked closer, the metal melting through his hair as it began to remove each cell, one by one.

Nagisa watched worriedly, noticing as Itona shed a tear. Esumi was keeping him calm, but Nagisa could only guess the memories she was bringing to the surface.

When it was over, Koko stepped away, letting out a sigh of relief before giving the others a thumbs up.

Erika and Jin stepped closer. Erika poked his cheek, but he did not rise.

"He's probably tired," Esumi announced, making Erika nod. Jin slid an arm under Itona's form, picking him up as easily as a blade of grass and carrying him upstairs. "That kid has problems."

"Don't we all?" Nagisa smiled sadly before he turned away. "I'm going to wash the blood off."

Erika frowned, taking Esumi's hand and tugging twice. It was her way of asking Esumi to read her mind. "I thought Nagisa-kun didn't kill."

"I guess this target was different."

Erika continued to frown. "How bad does a target have to be to break his vow?"

Esumi could guess from the memories she saw. "A man worse than anyone else. He was the reason Nagisa was alone."

Erika's eyes widened. "Kotaro."

"Yes. The man who killed Asaji and the first clan. The man who made Nagisa the last Lost Kid."