The Assassin Within

Part 8~Poisoned Veins

"And that's how you get the artificial colour out of snacks. I'll take these thank you..." Koro-sensei finished his demonstration and took the food.

"He just doesn't want to wait till payday to get snacks," one of the students shouted.

"Wait... Why is he drawing a salary if he's planning to destroy the world...?"

Nagisa rolled his eyes at what was going on around him. Turning his head slightly when someone stood up.

Okuda walked forward, speaking in her usual quiet voice. "Um... Yeah... Um... Koro-sensei... It's poison! Please drink it!" Okuda held out multiple vials of strange coloured liquids towards the octopus as most the class cringed at her straight forward attempt.

Well, if you're going to do something wrong may as well do it wrong from the start.

"Okuda... that was honest," Koro-sensei commented, his own mind confused by her approach.

"I'm not good at surprise attacks like everyone else... But... I love chemistry! And I really put my heart and soul into this..."

Nagisa couldn't help but cringe. No one in their right minds would drink something they were just told was poisonous.

"Is that so? Lemme try it!"

Then again, Koro-sensei was definitely not in his right mind.

Koro-sensei downed the first tube without hesitation. "Wow! This... This is..." Koro-sensei's head changed, sonic the hedgehog-like spikes appeared in the back of his head and two spikes popped out of the front of his head.

He grew horns.

"Sodium Hydroxide. Harmful to humans but not to me," Koro-sensei explained as Okuda deflated a little. "You've got two more. I'll give them a try too." Koro-sensei downed the next test tube down. This time a set of wings sprouted from the side of his head. "Thallium Acetate. And the last one..."

Koro-sensei groaned as his skin erupted and he changed yet again, a white stoic face replacing the one that had been there before. "Aqua Regia... That's all they did to me, hum?"

"You look like an emoticon!"

"He does!"

"'Don't hate me because I'm beautiful,'" Koro-sensei responded, calmly.

"What's he talking about?!"

"Now, Okuda... You know I can't allow a student to concoct dangerous poisons without supervision," Koro-sensei scolded, his usual face returning.

"Right... I apologise," Okuda muttered disheartened.

"Do you have time after school today? We can research a poison that can kill me together!"

"Okay!"

"She's going to... make poison with the poison's target," Kayano asked wearly.

"Yeah... I don't see that ending well," Nagisa muttered himself, shaking his head. She was being played.

"Now add the ethanol to it. And be careful not to breathe in the fumes."

"Okay!"

"Your grades in chemistry are excellent but..."

"Yeah I know... I get terrible grades in everything else. It's no wonder I was transferred to class E. Especially in writing," Okuda said, a shy smile on her face. "I just can't find the right words to say what I feel! I ever know what the right answer is! But... with math and science there is a right answer. So I don't need beautiful words or to think about complicated emotions..."

"Right... But I have a little homework for you."

"This is... is the poison he asked you to make," Kayano asked, looking at the round test tube with a long neck.

"It is! He said this poison would be most effective!" Okuda held up the bottle proudly, almost like a prized possession.

"He even drew a manga about how to store it properly," Nagisa commented while holding the instructions. "That's our Koro-sensei always trying to help."

"I think he really gets me," Okuda praised. "It's easier to understand and as a manga I can focus on my strengths."

"Oh. There he is. Why don't you give it to him?"

"Koro-sensei! Here!"

"Well done... I'll take it right away," Koro-sensei said before pouring the liquid into his mouth. Creepily, Koro-sensei let out a loud laugh, reminding Nagisa a little of Bone saw. "Okuda... Thanks to your potion... I can move on to the next level."

"What do you mean...?"

A bright light encased Koro-sensei, power radiating out from him. Suddenly, all the power stopped and Koro-sensei relaxed. He had melted.

"What I actually had you make was a concoction that would turn me into a liquid- obviously. And now that I'm a liquid, I can leak through the smallest of spaces," Koro-sensei cheered, hiding under Kataoka's desk. "To top it off, I'm still as fast as before! Let's see if you can kill me now!" Koro-sensei bounced around the room, hopping from space to space like a ping pong ball.

"Hey! It was hard enough before! There's no way we can hit you when you keep hiding in the ceiling and underneath the floorboards," Maehara screamed loudly.

"I never killed a liquid metal slime in that game either..."

"Okuda... Koro-sensei told you that was poison," Kayano laughed, trying to not let the situation affect her.

"So you lied to me, Koro-sensei?!"

"Okuda... You need good communication skills to deceive people if you're to have any hope of assassinating them," Koro-sensei explained.

"What...?"

"No matter how good you are at creating potions, if you just hand them over your target is only going to use them against you. Nagisa, how would you poison me?"

"I'd mix the poison into your juice. Offer it to you as a gift, saying that it was something special I made at home. Though it probably would be more effective to have a friend from outside the school tempt you in instead as that way you wouldn't know it was an assassination," Nagisa said without thinking.

A small pause fell over the group as Karma burst out laughing.

Koro-sensei gave a suspicious glance to Nagisa- or as suspicious of a glance a liquid can give- before continuing the lecture. "Exactly. In order to deceive someone you need to interpret, communicate. The skills you develop through reading and writing are necessarily good for poisoning. Your chemistry skills will come in handy in the future. But you'll need to work on your communication skill, because one way or another, you're going to have to explain your work so that others can understand it."

"I understand."

"Heh heh, this isn't just about assassination," Karma said as the day started.

"Hey, Nagisa!"

Spinning around, Nagisa spotted a familiar boy walking towards him, an unfamiliar man standing strangely close behind.

"Okabe...? What are you doing here?"

"Nagisa!" Okabe pulled the blue haired boy into a tight hug, confusion spreading across Nagisa's face. "I'm sorry."

"Okabe?!" Before Nagisa could do anything else, a different arm wrapped around his shoulder. He could feel a gun pressing into his side.

"Come now Viper. I think it's time for a walk."