Paradise of Infinity: 328

Title: Naughty Picture

—During the hours, Nik, Revy, and Sofia slept peacefully.—

Nagisa, like others, watches in amazement as a pair of twins grin at the group. The twins possess sleek grey hair and intriguing grey irides. The one in the female uniform wears a black ribbon on her head, letting her long locks cascade onto her back, while the boy wears his grey hair in a short, neat cut. Their new nurse, Ray-Sensei, stands beside the twins.

“I’m Hansel,” the boy cheerily introduces himself, and the girl promptly hugs her brother’s arm, “And I’m Gretel~!”

Their Japanese speech is lacking in several areas. Still, the classroom doesn’t hold it against the twins since their features signal their foreign origins.

Two teachers and two students.

Nagisa unconsciously glances at Korosensei, noticing how quiet he is. Observant as ever, or he wouldn’t have a journal to note their Homeroom Teacher’s weaknesses, Nagisa glances at their mediator from the Government.

He wonders why Tadaomi looks so somber as he stares at the twins. Is there something about the twins Nagisa and others cannot notice at a glance?

“Karasuma-San,” one of the boys raises his hand. “Are transfer students not a problem since Korosensei is confidential?”

The boy, Hansel, grins.

“It won’t be a problem. My Sister and I never got to attend school in the past decade, but we learned many things! See?” He unzips the pitch-black package placed on the floor, revealing an assortment of rifles and weapons! Yet, the students in the first row gasped in surprise when they noticed something peculiar.

“Are those nails and hammer?”

Sweat starts streaming down Koro’s round head as Gretel glances in his direction, beaming, “Yes! It will be funny to make a pin cushion out of his head~!” She crouches beside Hansel, rummaging through the weapons, hammers, pliers, and many other items until she trills, “There it is~! See?”

The girl retrieves a picture with a proud grin, only for Tadaomi to yell, “Stop!”

However, quicker than that, the picture disappears from Gretel’s hand—

*Splat*

The class gasps as they see one of Korosensei’s fingers blowing up! Still, he holds a picture between a folded paper.

What happened?

Nagisa couldn’t understand why Tadaomi shouted, Ray paled, and Korosensei risked his finger to snatch the picture. What is that picture?

“You two!” Korosensei snaps under the student’s curious gazes, fuming with puffs of smoke blowing out of his head as his skin turns red. “You cannot bring naughty pictures in the classroom! It’s against the rules! Don’t make me punish you on your first day.”

“Eh!” Hansel pouts before sticking his tongue out. “Fine! However, we don’t want to participate in P.E.!”

“Yes, and no mathematics!” Gretel hastily adds.

“Listen here!” Korosensei places the picture on the table, something Tadaomi swiftly picks up while glaring at the sweating Ray. His yellow finger regenerates as he ‘crawls’ over to the twins, poking their foreheads, “P.E. is important to refresh your minds, and don’t you want to make friends? I’m sure the kids will love learning from professional Assassins.”

Professional— What?

Nagisa and others stare at the twins speechlessly.

“What about Mathematics?” Gretel voices with expectations in her round, expressive eyes.

“You have to study it.”

“But we already know basics—addition and subtraction. What else is there?” Gretel glances at Ray with unconcealed worry.

“Multiplication and Division,” Ray replies flatly. “Now go to your seats.”

“Yes~!” The duo replies in a sing-song voice.

“Sensei,” Kaede questions. “How did your finger explode?”

“They melted the anti-sensei material and lathered the back of the photograph with it,” Korosensei snickers. “Nyufufufu! However, the same trick won’t work on Sensei thrice!”

“What was in that photograph?” A boy with a laidback appearance questions. “Something perverted?”

“We skinned a werewolf!” Gretel grins toothily as Tadaomi quietly appears behind Ray and drags her away.

Ray’s loud apologies distract the classroom as Nagisa notices something strange—Korosensei never answered what was in that picture. Instead, he begins the class as usual. Other students soon find the twins annoying since they have a question about EVERYTHING!

—Recess—

While annoying at first, the twins’ intrigue for the class’ flowerbed beside the wooden structure wins them the group of girls’ affection as they inquire if they can join the girls to take care of the flowers from now on. Nagisa watches them from a distance until a hand on his shoulder makes him almost jump out of his skin.

“Fufufu~ Are you checking my girls out, Nagisa-kun?” Ray smirks, eyeing the boy as he hurriedly shakes his head, blushing. “I- I was just curious, Ray-Sensei.”

“Were you now?” Ray smiles. “Those two might come across as a little weird, but they have good, well, sincere hearts. Of course, unless you’re going to bully them. Like those three.”

Ray and Nagisa watch as Ryoma, alongside two other boys, surround Hansel and Gretel.

Ryoma is known to bully others. Ray narrows her eyes, recalling how Ryoma managed through the education system by making physically feeble and academically inclined students do his bidding. However, Kunugigaoka High presents all the known power to its most brilliant students, no matter how physically unfit they are. In a system where the only thing that matters is one’s grades, Ryoma Terasaka never achieved his peak. The youth is the classic example of peaking in High School, with the only difference being Ryoma peaked before being admitted into his Junior High, eventually crashlanding into Class 3-E.

‘There’s also her,’ Ray glances at the green-haired Kaede beside her twins. Things were good before Koro scared her wits out. However, Ray can no longer ignore the threat Kaede Kayano represents. ‘It’s a good thing her only target is Korosensei.’

Before Nagisa can say anything, Ray tightens her grasp on his shoulder, whispering, “Let Hansel and Gretel deal with those boys. Don’t you want to assassinate Korosensei? You will have to be more aware of your surroundings.”

Nagisa blinks, realizing that Tadaomi is watching the situation unfold from the Staff Room’s window. Meanwhile, Korosensei is watching from a distance on a tree with a bowl of ice cream in his padded, tentacle paws.

“What now?” Meg Kataoka frowns. She is a slim and tall brunette with light brown hair worn in a ponytail and straight bangs covering her forehead. She glares at Ryoma and his lackeys. One is a teen with short, muddy-blond hair and small black eyes—Takuya Muramatsu. The other wears a light-yellow cardigan instead of the usual grey blazer, his dark-brown hair flowing down in short dreadlocks—Taisei Yoshida.

All three reveal less-than-stellar intentions as Ryoma barks, “Shut up!” His pointed glare rests on Hansel and Gretel. “These two newbies are stupider than our class combined. All their babbling and questioning about the basic stuff is annoying.” The slightly taller youth narrows his eyes. “That meatball said these two are Pros? There’s no way I’m letting two goofballs earn that bounty!”

Clearly not intimidated, Meg stands with an angry look. “First!” she clears her throat. “He’s not a meatball. He is Korosensei! Second!” she steps forward with righteous fury. “Screw around near the class garden, and you won’t have a head to feel superior about your intelligence!”

“What did you say?” Ryoma scoffs, grabbing Meg’s collars.

“Y-You two shouldn’t interfere!” Manami Okuda is a timid girl with dark hair in twintails and thick glasses on her face. Her gasp and Kaede’s insistence make the other four glance at the twins.

“It’s alright,” Gretel begins with a polite smile. “Big Sister taught us that we shouldn’t get angry at bullies but pity them.”

“Yes,” Hensel nods. “They are a product of their environment.”

Ray almost sheds tears of happiness. She never thought her moderate teachings these few days would help the twins so much! Ray would have decided to teach the twins herself had she known that!

“So,” Gretel skips forward with a cute look as a subtle fragrance makes Ryoma gulp.

“We’ll just break that arm holding Meg-Chan’s collars~!” Hansel grips Ryoma’s wrist before coiling around the latter’s body like a snake and twisting his arm back!

“That’s enough!”

Ray didn’t just follow the twins for no reason. She moves unimaginably quickly, which leaves Nagisa in shock! Her petite form appears beside Ryoma, quickly prying Hansel from the former and gulping when she finds Korosensei not far from their group, staring at the commotion with an unreadable look.

Cold sweat breaks on the trio’s body that wants to find issues with the twins as they finally realize what happened. Meanwhile, caution and modest fear laces Meg, Manami, and Kaede’s glances at the twins.

Others playing in the field or eating food on the slope quickly know what happened.

Only now did the class understand the severity of the Twins’ earlier words—not having prior academic experience through school and living a life of Pro-Assassins!

<<<>>>

“I’m sorry,” Ray lowers her head, offering sincere apologies as a fuming Tadaomi and a calm Korosensei preside over her and the twins within the nurse’s office. The office is a far cry from its previous state as clean white curtains divide the two beds for the children, the smashed window is replaced by a new one, a human’s skeletal frame with another wooden one tagging different bones in the body stands beside a wall, and Ray’s desk seems imported and well-put together even if Korosensei BUILT and polished it in front of Ray in realtime!

The twins bristle behind Ray once they see her lower her head.

“Hansel and Gretel spoke the truth. They didn’t receive proper education. I hoped for you to catch them upto to everyone’s level. It seems impossible—”

“But you know I can achieve the impossible as long as these two beautiful students cooperate and invest themselves in their studies,” Korosensei completes Ray’s sentence as she fidgets slightly and nods.

“May I have a word alone with these three, Karasuma-San?” Korosensei politely questions as Tadaomi narrows his eyes before grunting. “Fine. But bringing these two is a massive risk to other students, and I WILL have to report it to my superiors.”

“I understand,” Ray nods as Tadaomi leaves without squeezing any drama out of his stoic self. The office falls silent as Korosensei’s round head and beady eyes take in the sight. The trio look slightly similar, each possessing white to light-greyish hair color, beautiful faces, and sincere guilty expressions.

“Nufufufu,” he suddenly chuckles, questioning, “It’s my job as a teacher to help all my students. Never expect me to treat you any differently, Hansel and Gretel. As a punishment for physically attacking your classmates, you must complete these assignments!”

“What assignment?” squeaks Gretel as a thin stack of paper is already in Korosensei’s slimy tentacles.

“Ugh!” Hansel groans aloud, accepting the papers as they notice Ray’s discomfort once she mentions, “Right. You two should wait outside.”

The twins hesitate before nodding, tossing Korosensei a pleading look. “It isn’t Big Sister’s fault. She warned us to go easy, but…”

“It’s alright,” Ray smiles at the duo, rolling her eyes. “Just wait for a few minutes.”

As the twins close the door behind them, Korosensei stares at Ray with his perpetual toothy grin reminiscent of a crescent moon.

“You and Nik are quite confusing,” Korosensei admits.

“Excuse me?” Ray blinks.

“Nyufufu,” Koro snickers. “You acted like everything was under control but lost your initiative at the first sign of my aggression as if you didn’t expect it. Meanwhile, Nik was always cautious of me until I threatened him. It seems like one of you is afraid of death while the other isn’t. Curious, right?”

Ray’s expression dims slightly.

“However, you seem to KNOW me a lot. Did your ‘employer’ know who I am?” Koro questions as Ray grows quiet until whispering, “Being afraid of death isn’t a bad thing.”

“I will always teach my students to conquer their fears,” a soft, padded tentacle finger taps Ray’s head, causing her to look at the warm creature. “Caution and fear are two different things. Fear limits you, Nurse-San.”

“You aren’t afraid of it?” Ray questions. “If I told you how you will die— no,” she smirks. “You wouldn’t care one bit, would you?”

“Nope! Nufufufufufu!”

“I want to kill you,” Ray exhales. “Or rather, Nik or I NEED to kill you.”

“You should try harder,” Koro shrugs. “Everyone wants me dead.”

“So,” Ray questions with a conflicted expression. “How can you help me teach the twins knowing that? I understand your position as a teacher. However—”

“You want to understand if any help will be meaningful,” Korosensei’s smile broadens. “Unfortunately, I’m struggling to find that very answer, Ray-San. The future is unknown. Everything can end up being pointless. Should that stop us?”

“Ugh,” Ray lowers her head. “I saved those two, thinking I wanted them to live happily. But I didn’t consider how horrifying things were. I’m ill-prepared to help them. I’m barely a few years older than them yet…”

She grows silent as her body scrunches inwardly. “How pathetic is that? If anything, they let me help them, or I would have no way!”

“I know Nik would know what to do, too. He could empathize with them. However, he’s involved in different things. I know he would help me. It doesn’t take long to realize the kind of guy he is. But I don’t want to burden him,” she shakes her head before exhaling. “Well, thank you for listening to me rant, Sensei.”

Korosensei gently pats Ray’s shoulder before opening his mouth.

“So… about the tuition fees for privately tutoring Hansel and Gretel will cost you a small fortune, Nurse-San.”

Ray’s expression visibly stiffens as Koro continues with a cool cackle. “And a location for me to teach them since conducting private tutoring on school grounds can get me fired!”

“Oh!” Ray brightens as she looks around her office. A scheme births in her mind.

‘I have a desert and a lake joined together and don’t have men like Nik building the economy. But I bet this guy will know what to do with such an open space!’

Her pink pupils glimmer as she suddenly stands and gently holds Koro’s hand, cooing, “I have a location in mind, Sensei. But it’s my private residence.” She bats her eyelashes. “And I’m a very messy girl. You won’t mind if my undergarments are all around, right?”

Korosensei replies without any hesitation.

“Of course! I think of you, Nik, and Revy as more troubled kids in my class than my peers! Besides, I like women with big boobs!”

That pissed Ray more than she ever let on!

<<<>>>

Ever curious, Nagisa and Kaede plan to enter the staff room, knowing that Tadaomi and Koro will be busy handling Ray and the twins. Nagisa wanted to know what was in that picture. It’s bound to be drastic and unimaginable, but he would take his chances. He saw Tadaomi put the photo into his blazer’s pocket this morning. They glance at Hansel and Gretel standing outside the nurse’s office not far from the Staff Room down the wooden hall before quietly slipping in.

“Hmm? Do you two need something?” Tadaomi glances up from his table. His expression eases as he identifies Nagisa and Kaede.

“Uh,” Kaede stammers while Nagisa quickly makes an excuse, “We wanted Korosensei’s assistance in planning some assassination events.”

Such an excuse would be outrageous…

But it works! After all, almost 1/3rd of the class actively tries to assassinate Korosensei without hiding their intentions as if it’s a game.

“He’s lecturing Ray,” Tadaomi mutters. “I will send him your way once he returns.”

The two nod and leave, making Tadaomi snort.

‘As if I can’t understand why you two sneaked into the room,’ Tadaomi Karasuma shakes his head. Initial observations reveal that Nagisa is a meticulous student who noted Koro’s weaknesses as he slowly unraveled his skills in the classroom. The Agent effortlessly saw through Nagisa because he might be the only student who would plan everything without informing Koro to have the highest chance of a successful assassination.

“Those two probably wanted to see this,” Tadaomi fishes an unsettling photo from his pockets. The flash in the photo illuminates the crude wooden room, focusing on a corpse tied into a chair with Hansel and Gretel standing beside him with a V-pose. However, the unusually hairy man’s face is skinned, revealing his bled-out muscles with hundreds of nails struck into his skull like a pin-cushion.

The Agent grits his teeth. Unfortunately, in his long career and several historical documents he reviewed, this instance doesn’t come close to being the most disturbing thing in his life.

‘I turned to being a Trainer for other agents just to avoid this!’ He sighs, crumbling the hardened picture due to the solid anti-sensei material on its back. ‘Just what did those two suffer to turn out like this?’

His slightly more human side cannot help but wonder, ‘Those bastards who abused those two should have finished the job. It would have saved the twins some pain.’

Tadaomi doesn’t need any verbal recount of their history to guess the horror they must have endured as he sharply exhales.

It’s in times like these that Tadaomi finds himself indifferent to the world’s fate. If one explosion of a giant yellow octopus can end it all, it is almost a god-send opportunity!

‘Ah,’ he suddenly remembers. ‘Another student will join us tomorrow. He was suspended. Let’s see how he reacts to these changes.’

***

Alternative Title: Twin Students; Cute Arrival; A Torture Bag; Pin Cushion; Korosensei Goes Splat Again; Pro; Curious Twins; Loving Flowers; They Hate P.E. and Maths!; The Bullies Choose Wrong; Standing Grounds; Femboys! Assemble!; Traps Everywhere; Almost Broken; A Proud Ray; Fatal Tomfoolery; Admittance of Weakness; Korosensei Helps Them All; Ray’s Version of Iroh Advice Moment; Every Verse Do Be Having Various Versions of Iroh Intellect!; Iroh Would Love Korosensei’s Collection; The Loving Twin; Horrors; Tadaomi’s Thoughts; May Chaos Take the World?

***

Manami Okuda

Meg Kataoka

Taisei Yoshida

Takuya Muramatsu