COLLISION, assassination classroom

CHAPTER #015. TIME FOR A SCHOOL TRIP: PART ONE!

     The announcement of their school trip to Kyoto was revealed a few days after midterms, sending a wave of contagious excitement amongst the students of Class 3-E at the thought of doing something fun. The fact that their ongoing assassination would be included in the itinerary only added to their high spirits. Apparently, the Ministry of Defense had contracted a third-party hitman to raise their chances in succeeding during the trip. Hajime grew particularly interested in the topic when it was disclosed to the class that the government hired a professional sniper. The location was ideal for long-ranged assassinations and raised opportunities for them to attack Korosensei on unfamiliar grounds.

Which meant the time left for grouping up and planning was crucial if they actually wanted to get something done.

Hajime tapped his fingers against the surface of the desk and stared down at the four group activities, or pre-determined assassinations routes, listed down on the sheet. He had once again taken the seat behind Chiba with Akabane seemingly allowing it, though not without an eerie smile that left Hajime on edge. One of these days, the redhead was going to pull some mischievous act on him. That was the sole reason Akabane was being so lenient, Hajime just knew it. He could feel it in his bones.

Chiba turned around in his seat, not even questioning Hajime and his frequent seat displacement. "Takano-san, have you joined a group yet?"

"No," Hajime said, "How about you?"

"I think the Movie Land Samurai Show looks interesting." The black haired male admitted, "The performance should be distracting enough that Korosensei would notice anything suspicious in the background. Okajima-kun and Hayami-san offered to form a group." There was an invitation there that remained unspoken and Hajime couldn't help the quirk of his lip at the notice of it.

The brown haired male hummed, nodding in acknowledgement. He looked at the time allotted for the aforementioned route and grimaced. It was scheduled to happen right before noon. The thought of standing underneath the high-rise sun for an extended period of time, and in a crowded area no less, had Hajime frowning. Honestly, that sounded like the last thing he wanted to do during the trip, assassination or not.

"I think I'll join another route. The heat and I don't get along well."

It was more about the crowded area that bothered Hajime, but he didn't want to explain that outright. Chiba must have understood to some level from the silence that followed his unconvincing excuse, not that Hajime could tell by the long bangs that hid his eyes. The brown haired male sighed and leaned his head against an open palm, lightening his tone, "I'll join another group. Don't mind me, Chiba-san."

"Are you sure. . ?" The male muttered.

Hajime gave a closed-eye smile. "Yeah, I'm certain one of the afternoon route groups still needs members. You can just tell me what happens during the show instead, or maybe record it for me." Chiba hesitated, but in the end nodded and turned around. Hajime watched as the black haired male entered a conversation with Hayami and Okajima, who both sat in front of Chiba. It was just like the quiet male to favor classmates that were familiar to him.

Hajime lightly traced his finger on the page. Honestly, his mind had been elsewhere since the end of the exams. There was something weird in the air, a residual paranoia that had him double checking his belongings and peeking over his shoulder at random intervals on the way home. Hajime wasn't certain what kickstarted this sudden apprehension, but it was derailing him from his usual routine. Normally, Hajime would have already researched the details behind the location they'd be heading to. He was quite behind on the preparations needed for the field trip as Hajime couldn't get over the sense that something was about to happen.