A Liar's Truth [UNDER FINAL REVISION]

Ch 35: Brothers?!

Third person point of view 

That morning, Karma hovered over his phone. Didn't press send. Didn't knock on her door. Neither did she.

He leaned against his chair, eyeing the girl hunched over a glowing purple liquid as if it were alive.

"Hey," he called, voice light. "Quick question."

Okuda looked up, startled, but smiled. "O-Oh! Good morning, Karma-kun. What is it?"

He kept it casual. "Did Asano-san show up yesterday for your potion testing?"

She blinked. "Mhm! She did. Why?"

"No reason," he said, too fast. "She seem... off?"

Okuda tilted her head, frowning. "Not really. She was normal, I think..."

He didn't answer right away. Just tilted his head back, eyes scanning the ceiling as if he could find the truth up there. 

He wasn't sure if he was impressed... or concerned. That she bounced back so quickly.

...Or another trauma response, probably. 

Ritsu began a quick debrief about the transfer student, her bright voice slightly at odds with the content of her report. She explained that he had actually been scheduled to arrive alongside her but due to some technical delays in his adjustments—and, as she put it, her own inadequacy as a support assassin—the plan had changed. She had been deployed earlier. 

Because she was an overwhelmingly inferior assassin compared to him. 

That last part caused a quiet ripple of tension to sweep through the class, a shared glance or two exchanged between desks.

The door creaked open, right on cue.

"Goooood morning~!" Ginka chirped, stepping in five minutes late with her usual sparkle. "I've survived the deadliest combo: curry, takoyaki, and jelly doughnut. My stomach staged a coup."

A crowd immediately formed around her. 

"Are you really okay now?!" 

"Oh totally~ Just emotionally scarred by lunch. My taste buds may never forgive me." She struck another one of her usual dramatic poses.

"Yeah! You shouldn't have just mixed food like that!" Kurahashi pouts, being the primary witness of her unknowingly deadly food combo she tried out of curiosity. Even when it had nothing do to with what really happened. 

Koro-sensei zoomed to her in a panic. "Asano-san! Have you taken medications? Should I prepare a digestive probiotic purée?"