Danny Stein, the American (Assassination Classroom X OHSHC)

Chapter 14

We were all just walking the streets of Kyoto, and Nagisa was consistently pointing out different places that any and all notorious assassinations occurred in the past.  Considering the curriculum of E-class, it was fairly simple to understand why assassinations were a focus of fascination.

I had my hearing aids comfortably resting in my ears, as per the instructions of my new tutor.  It made it a lot simpler to understand people, and I had Nagisa and Karma to translate, if needed.

The sound of Nagisa's voice buzzed through the hearing aids.  I had previously been only half listening to Nagisa's mini History of Assassination lecture.  But something he said peaked my interest.

"And that's what happened at the Kyoto Prefectural Library."  He was about to keep walking when I grabbed the back of his vest.

"Nagisa-kun..."  My voice trailed off, uncertain of how to communicate my curiosity and desire.

"Yeah?"  My eyes flickered from him back to the library, and his eyes widened in understanding.  He turned to the rest of our group.

"Hey guys, let's go in and check out the library!"  

Everyone gave us a slightly confused stare, before shrugging, and following us up to the door.

The doors opened, and once I walked in, I let my spirit soar.  The sheer number of books on the shelves made my heart sing.

I heard Nagisa chuckle next to me.  "Go ahead, Danny.  We have some time for you to go explore."

Without even responding, I took off into the depths of Kyoto's library.

Practically sprinting down the isles, I searched for any symbols that could have been remotely familiar to any titles that I knew.

Japanese...Japanese...Don Quixote...Japanese...English words...Japanese...I skidded to a halt.  English words?

I back pedaled a few feet and saw multiple titles that I could understand.  I pulled about 12 of them off of the shelf, and sat down right in the isle to examine them.  It was obvious by how much dust was collected by the books that these weren't often taken off the shelf, much less checked out.  I blew the dust off, and got a better look at the 12 titles in front of me.

The Things She's Seen.  Deafening Silence.  That Nerd.  Hating the Player.  The Boy in the Attic.  The Yellow Note.  As Snow.  The Great Medic. Enslaved by the King.  When Did I Lose You?  Zoe and the Beast.  The Bad Boy Stole My Bra.

Some of the titles seemed interesting, but a few of them, like that last one, I felt like I should probably put back.  I'm not saying that they wouldn't be good, but I am a guy, and I have my standards.

"What do you got there, Danny-kun?"  I glanced over my shoulder at the sadistic red-head.

I lifted one of the books.  "Books that I can actually understand."

Karma smirked as he strode over, and plopped down in front of me.  He grabbed one of the books with his right hand, and reclined back, resting his weight on his left hand behind him.  Turning the book over in his hand, he skimmed over the summary on the back.

"Didn't take you to be the romance type."

"i'm not normally.  But if it's well written with a good plot idea and execution, I'll normally give the book a chance.  None of these are titles that I recognize, but since they're in English, I am thinking about giving them a chance..."

The boy nodded, and his eyes flicked to something behind me.  The movement of those metallic eyes was the only warning that I got before a hand rested on my shoulder.  I flinched and made a slight move to grab the offending hand, but a shake of Karma's head made me pause.