A tremor, followed by a scream. Nagisa shot up from his bed where he had just been sleeping, only to find himself unable to move his legs well enough to get out of bed fully. Shaking hands slid up his arms to his shoulders, then ran through his cerulean hair. They moved down his face, slowly and lightly, until fingers found their way around his throat. He wanted to scratch at his own neck; to peal away the suffocating feeling left behind by his dream, along with the layers of sweat the made his pajamas cling to his small frame. Despite feeling as though every nerve in his body was on fire, he couldn't halt the shivers that skated down his spine with every heavy breath he took. Nagisa let his body curl up into a ball, although still not able to bring himself to lay down again, and wrapped his blankets tightly around him.

He sat this way for what must have been hours before his sudden gasps for air harmonized with the sound of the alarm clock. At this point he knew that he just needed to swallow his own nerves and force the blankets off, force his legs over the side of his mattress, and force his way to his feet. There were a few moments of wobbling, and focusing on stabilizing himself, before Nagisa was finally able to begin organizing himself before school. He thought about washing himself before school, seeing as he was covered in sweat, but after looking at the clock he realized there wasn't much time for that. Instead he just whipped himself off with one of his blankets, before peeling the pajamas off his body. He took a moment to look at himself in the mirror. His shoulders were still small and his face was still round, but he was still a guy.

He tied his hair back up into its usual twin tails, and immediately a tense sigh left Nagisa's lips. It was a breath that he hadn't even realized he was holding in, but it allowed him to relax his shoulders, and calm down further. He quickly threw on his school uniform and gathered together what he would need for that days classes.

There was a brief moment when he considered going downstairs. But he paused with his hand hovering over the doorknob. Going downstairs would mean seeing his mother. Today especially, Nagisa felt as though he wouldn't be able to face her. After making that decision, the boy went over to his window instead. It faced the side of his house, and was directly over a grassy patch. Before training in Class E, he would have never considered the ten foot drop to be a viable escape plan. But now more than ever Nagisa found himself jumping down from the window a few times a week.

Something about the old school building on top of that mountain had become more comforting than a cup of hot chocolate in front of the fireplace for Nagisa. Just the walk up itself had become a time where Nagisa could freely clear his head of frustrations and strains, and by the time he got to the top he'd be welcomed by Koro-sensei, who would always stand at the entrance. Nagisa gave his usual smile to the yellow octopus, before entering the building and greeting all of his classmates. The oddball group had become a safe zone, ironic as that was considering their circumstances.

While he still wasn't the best with academics, Nagisa had learned so much more than he ever could have hoped for from the main school building. With the increase in social interaction, came the decrease in anxiety.

"Are we going to try a new assassination some time soon?" Sugino had himself flung over his own desk, looking absolutely bored.

"It's getting really close to exams though." Kayano mentioned. As she spoke, Nagisa, with Karma not too far behind, pulled up a desk and chair so that he could join his friends for lunch. He placed a plastic bag carefully on the desktop, and emptied it of it's contents. "Is that a convenience store lunch? That's a bit unusual for you."

Nagisa's face went flush as he looked down at the disposable lunchbox, bamboo chopsticks, and vending machine drink. It was definitely different from the handmade lunches he would usually bring. "I was running a little late today." He half smiled as he spoke.

The others at the table seeme to accept this response, and continued to talk about a possible assassination attempt on Koro-sensei that they could complete without hindering their test taking abilities. As third years, especially at this point in the year, many of those in the "E" as in End class were beginning to think towards high school entrance exams.

"We could always try and shock him a bit." Sugino suggested. "Maybe a big enough surprise would stun him for a bit or something."

"Ok, yeah." The sole female at the table, Kayano, agreed. She took a big gulp from a juice box. "But what exactly is going to shock Koro-sensei that much?"

The table took a moment to think it over. There was a lot that would give the giant yellow octopod a minor surprise, he was pretty easy to trick after all. But nothing any of them could think of would be enough to actually cause a statuesque reaction. None of them were able to think of any usable ideas before lunch ended, so they parted ways for gym with an agreement to brainstorm possibilities.

Gym was a time where Koro-sensei was sent away. So, as it would happen when training for assassinations, topics of ideas and failed attempts would often come up. Nagisa and Sugino were paired together with Nakamura, so they explained their need for a big shock.

"Well," the blonde girl thought about it for a moment. She looked around at her surroundings and fellow classmates, before her eyes settles on Nagisa. There was a semi-evil smirk on her lips before she spoke her idea. "We can always try cross dressing."

A wave of panic washed over Nagisa and soon the world felt like it was spinning once more. This was supposed to be his happy place. How could something like this happen? In that split second moment, Nagisa had fallen to the ground, his anti-sensei knife was barely held by his limp hand. He felt betrayed.

"Woah! Uh, Karasuma!" Sugino crouched down by his friend, and called out across the field to where the dark man stood assisting another group. "I think something's up with Nagisa!"

Within seconds, there was a group of his fellow classmates surrounding the blue haired teen. Karasuma knelt by Nagisa's side, looking over the boy for any physical causes. After finding none, he decided to ask what had happened.

"I... I think I just lost my footing." Nagisa avoided making eye contact with any of his classmates as he lied straight through his teeth. His eyes betrayed him though and forced him to look up at his instructor. "Maybe, I was feeling a little dizzy."

"I'll take him to go sit down." Without Nagisa even noticing, Karma had somehow emerged right next to him. Without even waiting for a verbal reply, he began to help Nagisa back to his feet.

Karma had Nagisa sitting in the shade provided by the storage shed and school building. They faced away from the athletics field where the rest of their classmates continued their training. Nagisa felt a pang of guilt for being the reason why Karma was going over to the vending machine to get a cold drink rather than enjoying one of his favorite classes. "God. What just happened?" He couldn't help but question it himself. While he knew very well that he was quite off that day, he hadn't actually believed that the mental strain from his dream would have affected his physical state. Yet, here he was. There was a slight cold sweat caked onto the back of his neck, and he felt like he hadn't slept in days.

Nagisa looked at the anti-sensei knife that we miraculously still in his hands. He spent a moment or two bending the material with his fingers, as though to test if the blade was real or not. After all this time, it was still surprising that a material that could harm a monstrous teacher could never harm a human. But Nagisa had seen these little knives cut through tentacles time and time again. The blue haired boy stared at the blade for a fraction of a second more, before lifting it to his neck, and drawing a line over his throat.

"That better be some kind of sick joke." Karma stood just a few feet away, a drink in each hand, and a strange look across his face. When he walked over to join his friend on the ground, Nagisa just looked right back to the dirt and rocks that gathered around his sneakers. He felt the cold of a sports drink bottle against his forearm, and only nodded his thanks as he accepted it into his own two hands. There was a silence between the boys. "I don't mean to sound pushy, but are you sure you're ok Nagisa? You're just acting so weird today."

Nagisa flinched at the concern that was in his best friend's voice. "I'm sorry." The blue haired teen whispered, still not lifting his gaze from the ground.

"There's nothing to be sorry about if you haven't done anything wrong." Karma's expression held a tint of confusion. Like he had said though, he wasn't pushing for details.

After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Nagisa finally lifted his head to take a sip from the bottle Karma had gotten him. The sip turned into gulps as he realized just how thirsty he was, and soon he had downed half the bottle. Then he let his sky blue eyes trail off to stare towards the school building. He could feel his heart still pounding in his chest. "It's been a hard day." Then, Nagisa began to open up. He felt some sort of invisible force slam into him, and his eyes started to water up. He did his best to while the tears away as they formed so that they wouldn't be able to roll down his cheeks, only one or two actually avoiding the palms of his hands. Nagisa could feel Karma shift uncomfortably next to him. His friend didn't try to say any meaningless words to calm him down, or distract him from all that was wrong. Instead, Karma just sat, and let Nagisa sob.

There was no reason to make Nagisa stop or calm down. If anything, now was the perfect time to the teen to let go of the emotions that had been causing him so much stress all day. His classmates were all preoccupied with physical training, and the teachers were intently watching the larger group. No one was paying any attention to the boys, who were supposed to be sitting out anyways. Nagisa did end his crying with a deep sigh, followed by a few sips of his drink.

"Good?" Karma asked, finally taking the moment to examine the state his friend was in.

"Better." Nagisa nodded and drew on a weak smile. "Thanks."

"Like I said before," The redhead returned a larger smile. "If you need to talk to someone about it, I'm all ears. If you want to keep it to yourself, just let me know when you think you need some space, and I'll do my best to help with that."

That in it's own meant so much more to Nagisa than Karma could ever know. Being surrounded by friends during the day was great, and a relief in its own right, but having one truly good friend who was actually there to support him was everything Nagisa needed at this point.

Eventually Koro-sensei came and found the two boys, and urged them to rejoin the class once the gym period was over. Needless to say, the middle schoolers agreed with their instructor, and followed him back into the school building, veering off to change out of their gym clothes before rejoining their classmates. A few concerned voices came up and asked Nagisa if he was feeling alright, and he simply smiled and continued his story of having felt dizzy. It was believable, and Nagisa didn't seem to have a reason to lie, so no one questioned him.

Later that day, Nagisa walked to the train station with Karma like he normally did. The two parted as per usual, and Nagisa began to walk back home alone. Still, nothing abnormal. The assassin in training returned to his home, and quickly took note of the signs that meant his mother had not yet returned home. He took those as a blessing. The moment he got inside, he started making preparations for when his mother would come back. Part of this including hiding food and drinks in his bedroom, and making sure had enough money set aside as well for if he needed to buy another lunch. Nagisa then retreated to doing his homework.

The front door of the house opened with a force large enough to make a sound that echoed through the structure of the building. There was yelling.

Karma sat on the carpeted floor of his bedroom, a set of headphones over his ears and a comic book in his lap. It was getting close to midnight, and he had finished his homework hours ago. So, the teen took this chance to just relax after another fun day of attempting to kill his teacher. He noticed his phone vibrating on the floor next to him, and when he saw the caller I.D he turned off his music and answered the phone.

"Hey there Nagisa. What's up?" He asked, still flipping through the pages of his book.

"Karma?" Nagisa's voice sounded almost broken on the other end. "Help me."