"Ran-chan," Koro drawled as he looked at his brother through lidded eyes. He leaned over the table of their open kitchen, watching as his brother cooked some pasta for them.

The whitehead hummed, adding cream to the onions in his frying pan before mixing it and covering the sauce with a lid.

"Did you threaten some of my students?"

Byakuran did not turn around. Taking the cooking water out of the saucepan and putting the pasta in another bowl, he went to retrieve some herbs and spices.

Koro frowned, knowing the answer already. "Ugh, Ran-chan, you can't go around threatening my students like that. Karasuma was breathing on my neck the whole day because of it," he whined, though Koro obviously faked it.

Byakuran pulled the lid from the sauce, added some seasoning, and took a spoon to have a taste. "Your students are sooo boring, Yucca-nii-chan," the male pouted as if to justify himself. "He didn't even fight back when those 3-D mutts barked at him. What was I supposed to do?" he said with dismay as he shook his head in resignation.

Koro's eyes narrowed as he dug into his memory for such an event until he remembered that Nagisa should have been threatened but gotten out of his predicament by himself. 

His and Ran's presence was already creating changes.

::

As Koro promised, during the whole week, from Monday to Friday for each of his classes on the history of assassination, he gave five new students an assignment for the following week. The last batch was of six students as there were twenty-six of them, and by Monday, last week before midterms, Koro had all of his material for his torture-based class ready.

With the class sat in front of him, ready for a two-hour-long lecture first thing in the morning, Koro grinned. "Bonjour class~" he sang, as usual, too much energy oozing out of him so early in the morning. "As promised, this week we will work on the use and history of torture," he chirped, going to write the title on the blackboard. "We will go back to the history of assassination another time! Torture is quite interesting, and as I can add some practical activities to it, I'm sure you'll love it!" he told them with a grin.

His green eyes swept the class, and he noted that there was no absence today. His smile grew more prominent.

"Torture, from the French torture, originating from the Late Latin tortura and derivating from the past participate of torquere: to twist, is the act of inflicting severe physical and or psychological suffering to another individual," he defined, writing the word's Latin origin down as the orthography might be tricky. "There are two main reasons as to why you would torture someone else," he told the students, his eyes incredibly eery as he looked into each of their orbs. "It can be done to extract information, of course. But torture can also be used to fulfill the torturer's desires."

A shiver coursed through 3-E's spines at the smile on their teacher's face. It wasn't the broad cheery grin he usually wore. It was some twisted sort of smirk that seemed to drip with danger, ill intent rolling off of it in waves.

"Since today is the first lesson, we will broach on physical torture, which I am sure you know more than psychological! Although I do not doubt that you have been subject to psychological torture more as members of class 3-E~" he reminded. His green eyes observed the look on his students' faces. He refrained his lips from pursing at their lack of protest, watching as resignation settled in their gaze at the mere mention of their status before he clapped his hands.

"See? This is but a glimpse of psychological torture!" he said, bringing them back to reality. "Know, not only will I educate you on the history of torture and its forms, but we will also work on your resistance to it~" he explained. "Nothing too destructive, of course, don't worry," he laughed.

Had 3-E not been so disturbed, they would have perhaps noticed how similar the blond's laugh was to their homeroom teacher's.

"We will delve into the role of torture during Antiquity— but first, homework~" he sang, his eyes going over the five first students of the class roster.

Koro was not surprised when he saw that apart from Isogai, Okano, and Okuda, the other two students hadn't done their homework. He felt disappointed but didn't let his feelings show as he flashed the two remaining male students, Karma and Okajima, a bright smile.

Let's just say that when Koro told them they'd be his assistants, he wasn't joking.

Leading them to the open field, where the grass was not as high, Koro began to explain the use of torture during antiquity, how slaves could not testify without being tortured beforehand and the difference in treatment depending on your caste.

Throughout, while the class was 'enjoying' themselves under the shade of the trees, some refreshments and snacks around them, courtesy to Koro, both Karma and Okajima stood under the sun, members attached to a wooden cross in a mock crucifixion. Fortunately for them, it was only Mai, the sun was not too high, and apart from the position and possible rope laceration, dehydration or insolation, they wouldn't have any problem.

When Koro-sensei came up to the class in a frenzy because of the two male students, Koro somehow managed to wave him off by explaining his class's rules and how he got the green light from the headmaster to do as he wished.

If Koro's means of teaching were somewhat reminding of Takaoka, the male brushed the similitude off. He cared for his students, he would never hurt them.

The two male students were left under the sun, listening to the torture lesson as their classmates sat under the shade, snacks, and refreshments at their disposition.

By the end of the lesson, Koro added: "Unlike popular beliefs, people did not die from dehydration when going through crucifixion," he explained, untying Okajima and feeding him a drug. The pill was actually Sun flames concentrated. It was a medicine used by most of the Varia, especially those who didn't possess Sun flames. It would help ensure that none of his students suffered after-effects from the class. He handed Okajima over to Isogai next to him and went to Karma. "In fact, they usually died from asphyxiation," he untied Karma, gave him a pill, and handed him to Maehara.

As he led the way back inside, Koro continued. "This is because the crucified individual uses their shoulder, pectoral, and intercostal muscles to aid their breathing. They can use their leg muscles to help themselves up as well, but once those give out, it becomes harder, cramps appear, and the victim simply cannot breathe anymore," he told them, the cheery grin not fading as they entered the classroom again.

Koro grabbed the eraser, wiping off the blackboard of his writing before setting it down. "For this reason, to quicken the death of the condemned, Romans would break their legs with a metallic bar, a crurifragium, preventing the victim from propelling themselves with their legs which in turn tired them out quicker."

Silence.

Koro grinned. "I hope that tomorrow's group will also have their essay done. I am impatient to see your analyses of Jing Ke's assassination skills and why he failed his mission!"

Silence, again.

Undeterred, the blond's persona continued to smile. He picked his briefcase and waved. "Have a nice break~" and the bell announcing recess rang.

In this fashion, the week went on. Cramming sessions were held at the end of each day, given by their homeroom teacher, and in the morning, they would follow Koro's torture classes.

On Tuesday, Kataoka, Kayano, Kanzaki, Kimura and Kurahashi, all gave their paper back. The essays were of varying length, each depicting a different view of Jing Ke's assassination mission on the Quin King, Quin Shi Huang. Koro was quite satisfied.

Wednesday was also quite satisfying. Nagisa, Sugaya, Sugina, Takebayashi, and Chiba all gave their redaction on Holofernes' assassination. He noted that some of them had even gone to Irina to ask her questions as the assassination was conducted by the equivalent of a honey-trap at the time. Koro had thought that perhaps Sugaya would skip. He didn't, which was a pleasant surprise. He also acknowledged that after missing Tuesday's class, Karma was back and glaring at him the whole time, unlike Okajima, who seemed deathly pale every time their eyes met.

Sadly, on Thursday, Terasaka skipped. He was part of the fourth batch: Terasaka, Nakamura, Hazama, Hayami and Hara. They had a paper on the assassination of a Roman Emperor to give back, whichever they wanted, really. The only parameter was that they couldn't write on the same one. Although there were so many assassinated emperors during Antiquity, Koro was not worried.

Perhaps because Karma had skipped on Tuesday or because Terasaka believed Koro wouldn't come to look after him, the class' truant was absent. Koro had shaken his head, dismayed before picking his phone up under the class's watchful stares. They were probably using Terasaka's action to test his limits.

"Yes," his voice hadn't been cheery. It was cold and detached, clinical even. The smile on his lips had adopted a much more plastic edge, and there was a cold and careless glint hidden behind his colored lenses. "One of my students is missing," they did not miss the stress of his tone. "Seat number sixteen, I want him back before the second hour of my class," he had ordered before hanging up the phone and turning back to the class, the cheery and cheerful mask back as if the dangerous appearance from before was a mere mirage.

At this moment, 3-E realized that this man in front of them. The one who so joyously spoke of torture and assassination as if it were his second skin was a hitman. They saw that beneath the smile he wore every day, there was an insurmountable amount of darkness, and they wondered if this darkness would swallow them all before the end of the school year.

Later, Terasaka was brought back by a petite woman with short straight black hair. She wore a pastel purple hoodie and short jean skirt, a black and white cap over her head, and a pink piece of chewing gum in her mouth. She didn't look any older than them, appearing like just another student skipping classes.

They exchanged words in Italian, reminding the class that the man belonged to a Famiglia, an Italian Mafia.

They didn't really know which torture they subjected Terasaka to, their teacher had him sit on a chair with the petite female behind, and after knocking him out cold and the woman leaning over him, a hand on his forehead, they did not hear anything.

What they knew was that Terasaka woke up in cold sweat, shivering all over and eyes swimming with exhaustion. When the blond teacher asked him to do an essay on Medieval torture technique for the next day, they were surprised to see the male obediently turn his paper in.

Finally, Friday came, the last day before the weekend and their last day of class before the first term's midterms on Monday.

Perhaps because of the Terasaka affair the previous day, all of the students turned their paper in, and the thickness of the essay could be felt. Fuwa, Maehara, Mimura, Muramatsu, Yada, and Yoshida had an article on an assassination organization to hand in. The group was the Jewish Sicarii, one of the earliest accounts of assassination organization to be recorded during Israel's Roman occupation.

Koro thumbed through his papers, exceedingly satisfied by the results.

He felt somewhat guilty inside, inflicting torture upon his dear students but shook the feeling off as quickly as it came. The Varia was ruthless, as was the Underworld. Sorrel Aarden was a ruthless assassin that hid behind over-the-top cheeriness and soft feelings. He was Sorrel Aarden; he reminded himself.

The weekend passed by, announcing the soon to begin midterms on Tuesday, and here was 3-E, baffled and standing in front of their homeroom teacher as the man leveled the top of the hill and stared at them with his beady eyes, Fury and Indignation swimming in his gaze.

"All of you, please score within the top 50 on tomorrow's midterms," the yellow being suggested with a raised tentacle as the said number appeared on what should be his forehead. "A second weapon is just as important as the first one. I'm sure even Aarden-sensei agrees, right?" he called out, suddenly turning toward the blond who was watching them with an unreadable gaze.

Koro blinked his green eyes. A bright grin crept up his lips as he pushed his spectacles up the bridge of his nose.

"Why, of course," he acknowledged with a smile, a slight nod of his head following his words. "When I operate, I like to have a few dozens of backup plans, just in case," he told them. "The target could be a mistake or get canceled last minute, and I could even have to turn against my employer if the Boss told me to. It's better to be ready for any scenario," he elaborated. "I even have a scenario where we manage to stop you without killing you," he laughed.

"Nyurufufufu, how kind of you~" Koro-sensei agreed, his eyes narrowing a fraction as if to decipher the meaning behind those words before he went back to his students, pushing the matter to the back of his mind. He continued by telling the students that they did not lack anything and that the teaching they followed was something the main building could only envy.

"—Wield that weapon with confidence. Successfully complete this mission. Smile without embarrassment, and hold your heads high," the homeroom teacher told them, a dangerous grin on his yellow face. One that oozed confidence and trust in the teenagers he was looking at.

"As assassins and members of class 3-E!"

Σ(ノ°▽°)ノ

Writing this chapter was both informative and disturbing. The state of my search history is appalling now, lmao