Lesson Learned

You let the world get a little bigger

A/N: The next chapter is the final one and then this story is over! 

Thanks for everyone who liked and commented, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it.

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When all the fighting was over it was like the air had been sucked out, a whole year of training and nearly dying as collateral. All lead to them holding their teacher down as Nagisa plunged the knife into his heart.

Mitsuko's face was buried in the ground of their deceased teacher's robes, the tears dried up after spending a good hour crying with her classmates in the dark.

None of them had moved and honestly, she didn't know if she could. Her legs felt like lead, weighing down on her and keeping her place.

She could do nothing but stay still and cling onto the torn remanents of the robes, their teacher having long disappeared once his heart had been struck.

"...Kids," Bitch-sensei' voice was the most gentle and soft she'd ever heard it. "I'm sorry but..." She placed a hand on Mitsuko's shoulder. "The soldiers will be here soon to confirm the..." She couldn't finish. "You can't stay here."

There was a broken sob from Terasaka. "Fuck them!" His voice was mumbled and hoarse. "W-we...we're not..."

"It's alright," Karasuma said calmly, and when Mitsuko shakily lifted her gaze she saw he had a hand on Terasaka's shoulder. "It's getting cold—"

"Don't make us leave!" Kurahashi cried out. "P-please!"

"I won't," he said quickly, standing up.

"Can...can..." Nagisa slowly lifted his head. "Can we stay up here or a while...inside the classroom."

"Please..." Karma muttered, staring at the grass as his nails dug into the ground. "Just give us time."

"Of course." Mr Karasuma's face was solemn. "I'll make sure no one bothers you."

Bitch-sensei nodded as well. "Yes, we'll make sure."

Mitsuko sighed shakily in relief, forcing herself to sit up. "Thank you."

Both Bitch-sensei and Mr Karasuma nodded apprehensively before moving back and giving them more space.

Mitsuko swallowed, wiping her eyes as she crawled closer to Rio and wrapped her arms around her. Her girlfriend held her tight and buried her face in her next while the rest of their classmates slowly started to stand up.

"I want to go inside," Kayano said quietly, looking at the Old Campus building.

"Me too," Kanzaki whispered as they all looked at the classroom which had felt like a safe haven from the rest of the world.

Mitsuko wiped her eyes and held Rio's hand as they walked to the 3-E Classroom.

When they arrived inside, they all froze when they saw two giant books on each of their desks, one labelled 'Assassination memories' and the other a 'personalised consultation guidebook'. There were certificate tubes as well, one for each of them on their desks.

"What is this?" Rio muttered as they all apprehensively walked to their desks.

"H-he did say he was putting together an album," Sugino said, giving a weak laugh. "And you know how..." His voice broke as more tears brimmed in his eyes. "How he liked to go overboard."

Mitsuko's legs felt wobbly as she sat down at her desk, and froze when she saw the scarf she'd made him was neatly folded in-between the two books with a note.