SWEET [Assassination Classroom]

Drinks [Asano Gakushuu]

  After what felt like eternity, the assembly finally ended. Of course, the class was required to wait for everyone to exit while they threw looks of mockery at everyone. Just like the usual, whispers and giggles would be heard as the rest of the cohort made their way out. The class nervously stared down at the wooden surface like always, acting as if they're in shame. Once the place was cleared, the smiles quickly returned.

"Finally! Say, how should we carry out the next plan?" Mummers and talks spreaded through the class as they made their way out of the gym simultaneously. You followed behind the class, busy chatting with your close friend, Kurahashi. She waved her elegantly-designed knife case around, showing it off to you.

"And you see this sticker? I got a few days ago online! I love it so much!" She pinpointed to one of the shiny heart stickers that was festooned with glitters and shimmers. You studied the sticker and nodded your head in agreement, it certainly suits her personality. She grinned happily as she went on mumbling about Karasuma-sensei noticing her case. You too, added small pieces of decorations on your case to spice your weapon up a little. Just a few stars and a crescent moon was enough to do the job for you.

"Let's go everyone. We have to make our way back to class." Isogai interrupted the chattering with a dreading tone. This morning was filled with disasters that piled on like a domino when the class made their way down from the mountain. Ranging from broken bridges to fallen beehives, it was exhausting. And now, you would all have to repeat the same exact routine of going back to the mountain. Despite the amount of times you told yourself to hold it in, you still find that you would whine once in awhile.

Hearing Isogai instruction, a faint and weak 'okay' sounded as everyone slouched in defeat, this is going to be another long journey back.

All of the sudden, you felt an uncomfortable dry feeling in your throat and tried to swallow your saliva, hoping to rid the distressing sensation until you get back to class to get your own water bottle. Of course, you grew irritated when it refused to leave. Holding your collar awkwardly, you let a heave of sigh.

"Hinano, I'm going to get a drink first, my throat is too dry."

"Alright...Do you want me to wait for you?" She offered with a kind smile which you returned.

"It's okay, I'll catch up. See you later."

With a wave, you left her side and headed off to the nearby vending machine. On your way there, you tried to drown yourself in your thoughts rather than being bothered by the looks that the other students were giving you. Well, as long as you're in the main building, you're never going to be safe from all of the judgemental stares. It felt like dark aura was given off everywhere, eyes flooded with hatred and ridicule. You didn't feel stressed, instead you felt sorry. No matter how much 'hatred' they possessed, it was just the work of hallucination and lies, people's sugar-coated words that filled their head to the brim that they lose basic common sense to differentiate, it was truly a horrifying work.

A horrifying work done by the director, Asano Gakuhou.

You've always heard about his son, who was also the top of the school. But being in class 3-E, you've never had the chance to talk about him, let alone meet him before. The smarter bunch like Karma, Kataoka and Takebayashi, had the opportunity to go against him. However, you weren't a single bit good at studying, leaving you with zero knowledge of the elite. Not only that, your classmates seemed to know a lot about him, excluding you.

"Hey, look another failure." Those words spoken were numb to you. Surprisingly for these 'smart' people, they can't seem to come up with more creative insults.

You huffed and kept walking till the view of the vending machine was finally in your peripheral. To your dismay, there was already another student standing there. If you went up to wait, you were sure that they were going to make fun of you again and you were seriously too tired to put up with all these. Not when you have to climb another a kilometer back to your classroom. You positioned yourself slightly further away from the machine and observed the person, waiting for them to make their leave.

The male was quite tall for his age. His strawberry-blonde suited those lilac sharp eyes that he possessed, making it a nice split complementary. He gave off a mighty aura and you could immediately tell he was very different from the other 'smart' people. It was a little hard to admit, but his looks too, are completely above the level of other people. Moreover, his uniform may look similar to other people's, but his left sleeve was decorated with two red stripes rather than the normal single black stripe. Was that suppose to mean something?

'And here I thought there's no way anyone could be better looking than our class' boys...'

After a few more observation, you realised something more. Surrounding him, any students who walked past him either looked intimidated, dazed or nervous. The males looked like they were scared or impressed while the females were generally infatuated by the good looking boy. You registered the scene and came to a conclusion that this person was most likely to be an important character in this school. This means that you definitely should not approach him or you could be in deep hell.

Despite so, he didn't look like he had intention to move from his spot at all. He continued to scan the vending machine up and down, not making any moves. You glanced at him and turned back to see your classmates' retreating back for a few times. If you don't hurry up, you're never going to catch up to them. Plus, you really didn't want to be walking alone through the humid forest or be late for classes. Today can't be any worse...

Holding your pride and anxiety, you pushed them to the back of your mind and made your way slowly just to make sure he sees you approaching. Your face was twisting with anxiousness and tenseness as you bit on your bottom lips nervously. You clenched your fist to suppress the shakiness. Of course, a few people started noticing soon enough and so did he. His iris shifted to the right slightly, peeking at your smaller stature while his lips parted a little in curiousity. You flinched at his gaze, it looked intimidating but...charming? The more you pondered, the more you realised he resemble your classmate, Akabane Karma.

You held your breath, he didn't seem like he had anything to say. So you better take the first step.

"Sorry." You spoke, praying your voice wasn't cracking. It's always important to treat someone 'better' with utmost respect. "Are you going to buy anything?"

You pointed to the vending machine. He followed your finger and looked at the vending machine for a bit. Just then, he shot a quick glance at the spectators who have stopped to see the commotion. They jumped at his threatening glare and immediately scrambled like mouses running for their lives. The action brought confusion to you, why did he chase the students away? Usually, people would have taken this opportunity to insult you for their superiority. Not only that, the students obeyed without a single annoyed face.

Who on earth is he?

You weren't sure if he really did that for you or for himself, so you decided to keep quiet until he answers your inquiry. To your shock, a gentle smile suddenly formed on his face. At that moment, you were quickly blown away by how gorgeous he looked. Those aggressive eyes that forms into innocent smiles whenever this boy wants, he held so much power in his hands, further confirming your suspicion of him not being ordinary. You clearly felt the heat on your cheeks, you were embarrassed and ashamed that you were gradually getting captivated by a person that was so-called more 'excellent' than you were, someone that you aren't allow to oppose. If you fall for someone like him now, you'd just turn into a dumb puppet played by his hands.

"Buying, huh...?" He rubbed his chin, "I'm not very sure, do you want to recommend me anything?"

You were instantly stunned by his words, seriously? Asking a mere-class being like you for something as small as a...drink? Somehow, this only made you more excited. His facade of being polite and kind might be alluring but you made sure you kept yourself in place. After all, you have experienced way too much of this back in your own class to fall for something like this. In spite so, you really feel that you may lose to him.

"Hm..." You thought you should use your preference of beverage to play along. "Green tea sounds good."

He let out a small 'ah' at your reply before inserting some coins into the machine. Pressing the drink number, the both of you waited till you heard the 'thump', signalling the 'arrival' of the drink. He bent down and fished out the cold drink from the compartment and stood up again. You sighed in relief under your breath, glad that he's finally going to leave now. Hurry up and buy your drink, then catch up to your classmate before you suffer anymore down here.

However, things didn't go as well as you planned when strawberry-blondette took a step towards you. Your feet froze to the ground in bewilderment as the smile is still plastered on his face. His presence started to grow stronger as the two of you finally came face to face, only a feet length away. You braced for incoming attack as he lifted up his hand.

"Here. For you." You shakily glimpsed down as your mouth was wide agape. In his hand held the green tea that you recommended seconds ago, still cold and chilled. You shifted your gaze up to him, extremely overwhelmed and stunned. When he suddenly reach out his other hand to take yours, you instantly learnt that you were already defeated from the start. Pulling your hand out, he placed the cold drink on your palm. You shivered at the touch of the beverage before taking it in your hand, the warmth on your cheeks hasn't ceased yet despite the low temperature on your hand.

"Why...?" You mumbled softly. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"You wanted this, right?" He smirked.

"I mean...you do know where I'm from, don't you?" You glared at him, afraid that you were falling playing into his hand. "If you're trying to trick me, I'm not falling for it."

His smirk spread wider, as if you hit the bullseye. Suddenly, he leaned over and held your chin, you could feel his breath down your neck as your legs turned soft and jello.

"How mean. Perish the thought, but I want to know...

Your class is hiding something...aren't you?"

Your eyes widened in shock at the words rolling off his tongue, how did he...? You bit down on your lips to keep your composure, trying to ignore your flared-up face.

"Who are you?" You grunted lowly. "What do you want?"

"Heh," The mocking tone escaped his mouth, "I would say I want to know your secrets, but you're more interesting."

"...." Your heart loud thumping filled your ear drums, blocking out the sound of the whispers of other students.

"I'll make sure they shut up about this incident." His sweet smile returned to his face as he took a glimpse of the other students. His hand slide to your redden cheeks and held it with a tint of aggressiveness. Leaning in close to your ears, he whispered words that instantly sent chills down your spine.

"Let's see each other again next month."

With that, he quickly let go of you, nearly causing you to fall over from the light-headedness. You panted, trying to catch your breath after that intense moment. Another fabricated smile was formed as he turned on his heel, ready to leave the scene. You stared at his retreating back with a completely dumbfounded face, which is still burning with red hues.

Was that....Asano Gakushuu?