The next day, I was the first to wake up. After being away for a year, I was excited to go to Kunugigaoka Junior High and restart my school life here.

The uniform was already in my room, so I quickly got ready and sneaked downstairs to make breakfast.

Since I've heard so much about the school, and where it is and how everything works, I decided to visit the building before students started arriving.

Before long, school was about to start, so I quickly went back to the main building. Using what I learned during training to get down the mountain helped overcome lots of obstacles, and made the trip a lot easier.

When I got to the bottom, I saw Shuu and caught up to him.

"What took you so long?" I asked.

"I should be the one asking you the question. Why are you here so early?" he replied with another question, emphasizing the 'you'.

"Just wanted to walk around, see what the school was like." I answered.

As they were walking to class, I got many glares and the students started whispering to each other.

Oh no, it's happening again...

When we got to class, I chose the seat at the back next to the window as usual. The bell rang and the class began filling with students and the teacher came in.

"Class we have a new student. Please introduce yourself." he instructed.

I stood up and introduced myself energetically,"I'm Shiniko, nice to meet you all!"

With all their eyes staring at me, my insides started to shake and I could feel the butterflies all over again.

The teacher began the lesson after sitting down. I got bored halfway through the lesson.

The teacher had his back turned to us the whole time, so I grabbed my phone and headphones, and quietly opened and jumped out the window. 

No one noticed since they were too focused on copying everything down. I landed in a tree with no injuries.

I sneaked off to the E Class building to see if the rumors about the students were really true. I peeked into the classroom from a window outside the building.

The atmosphere was definitely different from the main building classes in many ways. From what I heard, I expected the class to be unteachable, but everyone seemed well behaved sitting in their seats and the teacher was really passionate about teaching.

I might know the school well, but not the staff. They're all the same, so I didn't bother meeting them, besides the teachers that are teaching A Class.

But seeing how she teaches, it was different, it was almost comforting to know that there are teachers who are passionate about teaching. It's teachers like her who makes me want to keep learning.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard her say it was time for lunch. I used the mountain terrain to parkour my way back to the main campus and climbed through the window to my class before anyone noticed I was gone.

I quietly slipped back into my seat and took off my headphones. Shuu came over and gave me my lunch.

"Cmon, let's get lunch together," he invited.

"Sure," I got up and left the classroom with him and the rest of the Big Five.

Every girl was glaring at me and whispering to each other, but I didn't care.

Well here we go again...

The two girls that pretended to be my friends from years age recognized me. Despite me being gone for almost a year.

Nice to know I left a lasting impression...

"Hey, isn't that the same girl we used to bully back in grade school?"

"Yeah it is. I can't believe she's here."

"Yeah, and she's still clinging to Asano's side."

"Ugh, I hate her. Like how desperate do you have to be to choose the same school as him?"

"Oh my gosh, right?."

The two students went around asking other students if they remembered her, most of them did and they all still had a grudge against her, mostly the girls. The guys who used to bully her were now captured by her natural beauty.

After getting lunch, I made my way up the mountain once again. I said I would get lunch with the Big Five, but I never said anything about eating with them. Maybe next time though.

I made it to the faculty lounge without any of the E Class students seeing me. There was only one person in there.

I knocked on the door, "Hello, I'm Shiniko Kurashira, a student from Class 3-A. You must be Yukimura sensei, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Yes, that would be me. Is there something you need?" she asked with a smile.

"Nothing in particular. I'm new here and I heard the rumors about E Class, so I came down here to see if it's true. But it's not like what they say at all; the atmosphere is less tense; and just the way you teach is a lot different than the teachers in the main building. May I ask why you're so passionate about teaching?"

"Hm...How do I say this... I believe that all these students can succeed, they just need some time," she answered sincerely.

I nodded, "I agree, and it's also passionate teachers like you who motivate students to actually keep learning; it's really admirable. I hope we get to know each other better."

"How about we start now!" she clasped her hands together in joy.

"If that's alright with you."

"Of course it is, come, sit," she gestured to the seat across from her.

"Thank you."

She told me about how she got into teaching; how she got into Kunugigaoka; a little bit about her younger sister; and her job at her fiancé's laboratory.

Part of me likes to believe that Uncle Asano hired her because she reminded him of when he taught at his cram school.

"I work in my fiancé's laboratory," Yukimura sensei explained while cleaning up,"Right now they're doing an experiment on trying to create antimatter without massive energy requirements."

"That's impressive..."

"Would you like to come see?" she offered.

"Most definitely, is tomorrow alright? I'm really busy today."

"Of course! You can join me anytime, just let me know when."

We opened up to each other very quickly over a short period of time, but good times have to come to an end. I went back to class unnoticed.

I slept through the rest of my classes since I knew everything already, the teacher didn't notice, and the students didn't bother waking her up. They couldn't care less if I failed or not.

After school, I sprinted to the training grounds to warm up.

"Perfect timing as usual Shiniko. Today, you will meet with Japan's Ministry of Defence." Lovro-sensei informed.

"This is new, I can't wait." I stated.

"We leave now, come along."

"Yes sir."

Instead of walking to the government facility, we got a ride there and saved time. We were granted entrance and met all the members of the military. After the meeting, the driver took the assassins back to the training grounds.

"Shiniko, I think you are ready to start assassinating. Do you think you're ready to start? There's no turning back." I thought for a while before giving him my answer, "I think I'm ready."

Why leave something I started unfinished? I might as well see it all the way through...

He nodded, "Very well, I have your first assignment for tonight."

"Already?"

He nodded again, "The list of people on the kill list is almost never ending. Soon, you'll have your own list when people start requesting you for assassinations or when other assassins are unable to take out the target. You can decide to assassinate the target or pass the job to someone else."

"One of the men that is part of Japan's black market goes by the name 'Shiplad'," Lovro-sensei informed.

"He handles all the evening ships with the cargo. Your job is to assassinate him. Try not to leave any evidence behind and do not get caught. Good luck."

I went home after choosing some weapons from the training grounds for the job. I hid them in my room and made a light dinner.

After eating, I headed back upstairs, and changed into a black, sweater and black tights. I hid the weapons throughout my outfit and headed out the window, leaving it open. It was already dark out.

I leapt through trees, hopped on rooftops and walked normally on streets, until I got to the harbor.

I hid in the shadows, waiting for Shiplad to show up. Once he was spotted, I crept around in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

The chance presented itself, he became very exhausted carrying all the cargo himself, and he went to get a bottle of water.

It's now or never...

I sneaked towards the water supply and waited for his approach. It took him a while, but he made it eventually.

As he was reaching for the water, I sneaked out of the shadows and ran up behind him.

I took out two blades, and in one swift motion, I slit his throat and stabbed him in his abdomen.

He tried to scream, but it came out as a gargle, no one was around to hear.

With the blade that slit his throat, I stabbed his abdomen again.

There was a puddle of blood at my feet and blood still spilling out of the now dead body.

I quickly sprinted back into the shadows, and headed back to the training grounds unnoticed.

Once I got back, only Lovro-sensei was there and he was quite impressed with my first try.

"Great job on your first assassination, but next time try no to get so bloody. Now go wash up."

"Understood."

I went into the bathroom and showered. After I was done, I changed into my pajamas I brought as a change of clothes.

The bloody clothes were hanging on a drying rack after being washed. I have some mixed feelings about wearing those clothes again.

When I got home, I went through my bedroom window, but unluckily for me, someone was already there waiting.