Tiptoeing to the large Kannazuki manor's entrance, Mitsukuni tried to hide his presence as best as possible. He was silent, swift, and maybe, had it not been for her motherly instinct, no one would have known of his whereabouts.

The moon's remains hung high, illuminating the town's streets and casting shadows through the large window. In the hall, there was Mitsukuni— too curious about Kyoya's experience and 3-E's predicament. And then, there was her— too worried about her grandson yet too doting to ever stop him.

"Don't stay out too late, Honey."

Her voice was a soft whisper. Like a layer of silk, it quickly wrapped around Mitsukuni's heart, making it squeeze in a blend of guilt and gratitude. It made him come to a halt. Honey-brown eyes flickered with a dash of incertitude as if to weigh his options as he left his hand to hover the doorknob. He breathed.

"Yeah, don't worry, Grandma!" Mitsukuni beamed as he curved his eyes in beautiful crescent to reassure the older woman. His hand grabbed the doorknob, twisted it open, and without another word, he was out of the house, leaving only her to stand in the moonlit hall.

The old Madam's eyes trailed on the door for a second as a light, almost unnoticeable sigh escaped her lips. Her smile withered.

"Grandma," she lowly echoed, her voice reverberating against the wall of the entry hall. Eyes downcast, she mutely stirred her infusion. The Madame gave a low chuckle, silently sipping her drink, she walked away from the entry and up the stairs to her room.

Mitsukuni never called her "Grandma," always "Grandmother."

Madame Kannazuki strolled back to her bedroom in silent contemplation. Early on, she knew that Mitsukuni— her Dear loveable Honey, wasn't like other children. People could call her biased for being his grandmother, but the child was bright— a small genius, and wise. He possessed a wiseness even her son didn't own.

It was unnatural, and no matter how sweet, kind, and cheerful her Honey was, she couldn't help the sadness that sometimes wheeled up in the pit of her stomach. It was almost scary.

But she loved him. She raised him. She fed him.

How could she ever bring herself to despise such an innocent child?

Mitsukuni didn't decide to be wise; the World chose for him.

She entered her room. Her husband already laid in the bed, sound asleep.

Master Kannazuki slept like a tomb. The moment his eyes closed, nothing apart from his biological alarm clock would awake him. It was both a curse and a blessing, honestly. She smiled, lightly brushing his cheek with her equally wrinkled fingers before laying a chaste kiss on his forehead— the man didn't even frown or squirm at her touch.

How uncute, she mused.

Madame Kannazuki pulled the cover of her bed, carefully slipping inside of it before she picked the tablet on her nightstand and set the teacup down as she turned the device one. Her wrinkled fingers entered the code, she went to her newsletter, and the spam immediately caught her eyes.

She had no doubts that at the moment, the World was in effervescence.

Her eyes narrowed, and the color drained from her already pale face.

SPECIAL: Kunugigaoka's Monster Teacher

She wondered. What did Gakuho, this child, think at the time?

After all, Madame Kannazuki did not doubt that a man such as Asano Gakuho would know every one of his school's happenings.

This included having a "monster" as a headteacher.

::

"So, summing up our reckon, the whole perimeter is guarded with no gaps in the security," Maehara, the pretty boy, began.

3-E's experiences since the appearance of the light beam were less than pleasant. Be it the journalists that dramatized their situation, making them out to the victims and Koro-sensei a criminal. Or the fact that the army and, per extension, the government entirely restricted their access to campus, making it impossible to contact their teacher. 3-E was in their most significant predicament since the beginning of the year.

In a way, even the God of Death situation couldn't compare. At least then, they could do something, anything.

Right now, all of the students stood under the street light of a small square. Each of them had gone for some information gathering before regrouping. They were sharing the bits of information they managed to get.

"Onlookers, the media, terrorists," Takebayashi, the class' otaku, whispered as his finger swept his tablet. "Any external contact with Koro-sensei is being cut off. This we're sure of," he stated, worry lacing his voice as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Fuwa, the class detective, gave a grim nod of agreement. She did her research with Takebayashi and could easily confirm his words.

She cleared her throat, and her voice trembled. From fear, stress, or even tiredness, they didn't know. It probably was a blend of everything. "At all the bases, there appear to be preparations to gather more reinforcement," she provided, a grim look dawning on her face. "By tomorrow, we won't be able to get inside the barrier no matter what we do," she concluded. Her throat growing tight, and voice losing in conviction with every passing word.

A tense silence settled over the class as every scrap of information sank into their mind. It was like a large puzzle, 3-E had every piece of it, yet it seemed utterly unsolvable. They never realized it before, but their teachers' reassurance and approval played a large role in their success. It was their first time alone.

Karasuma-sensei and Shimamori-sensei worked with the army and for the government. They were part of the plan to trap Koro-sensei.

Bitch-sensei and Oshiro-sensei worked for the government. They weren't entitled to help them, and chances were the higher-ups told them to be on stand by as no tot disturb the operation.

The students all shared a conflicted glance, searching for comfort and support in each other's gaze.

It seemed hopeless.

The light above flickered.

There was a shadow.

Finally, Karma spoke up. Clad in black pants and a white turtleneck shirt with a black windbreaker, he seemed the most relaxed. His hands stuffed in his coat's pockets, he slightly leaned back. His voice was calm and steady, allowing a sense of peace and security to settle down.

"We could bust in by force," he proposed, his face unreadable and devoid of its usual sardonic smirk. It was a hopeless man's plan, he knew it, but what else could they do? "Like, tonight—"

"Whoah, are you going to break into the military, Ma-chan?"

Mitsukuni's melodious and overly sugary voice broke through the night, cutting Karma off and bringing about a new type of tension. The entirety of the class snapped their neck to look in the newcomer's direction, something akin to bloodlust permeating the air.

The child— because from his attitude, what else could he be, a psycho maybe? The child merely giggled at their guarded appearance.

Karma was the quickest to regain his wits. Although he didn't know how long Mitsukuni listened in or how he managed to get near without any of them noticing, he shrugged these matters off at the moment.

They had more important things to deal with.

"Mitsukuni?" he called out, caution permeating his voice. He took a step toward the teen's figure, hands spread out to calm his classmates.

The boy gave a childish hum. He carelessly swung his legs from his seat on the lamppost before jumping down and entirely landing on his feet. "Yes?"

Karma gave a wry smile; he didn't know what to make of his childhood friend's appearance. He couldn't say it was a good thing, for sure. But he wasn't sure if it was a bad thing either. The redhead hummed; for a moment, he wondered if Gakushu would also suddenly come out of nowhere.

"What are you doing here?" Karma asked, trying to pacify his guarded classmates and understand the strawberry blond's presence. "Did you come alone?" he added. He swept his mercury-colored eyes to look around in search of another person— another strawberry blond with purple eyes to be precise.

"Mhm," the blond shook his head as he balanced his weight from feet to feet. Unlike Karma and friends, Mitsukuni sported a pair of cargo pants with a military pattern and a sleeveless turtleneck blacktop. Over his shoulder was a military-style jacket. "I came alone," he reassured.

This elicited a relieved sigh from the 3-E students, but they didn't let their guard down. In fact, the fact that Mitsukuni sneaked up on them made them all the warier.

Nakamura carefully narrowed her eyes at Mitsukuni. She remembered when they went to Okinawa, and Karma mentioned him. A foreboding feeling grew in the pit of her stomach.

"I saw the light," had it not been for the circumstances, Karma would have laughed. "And after turning the news, I thought of Ma-chan," Mitsukuni explained. The childish smile never leaving his face as his innocent tinted voice slipped past his lips. "I didn't plan on coming out at first," he said, and Karma narrowed his eyes.

'At first.'

'Didn't plan.'

This kind of wording—

"What do you mean?" Karma tackled.

Mitsukuni paused, the smile didn't fade, but the blinking of his doe eyes slowed down a beat. His honey-brown eyes had an eery light under the artificial lightings. There was a pearl of unnerving wisdom hidden in the darkness of his pupils.

Karma pursed his lips. He refrained the shiver from running down his spine as he maintained his composure. This side of Mitsukuni, he didn't know how to deal with it.

It was sad.

He didn't understand him.

He'd probably never understand, not as he was right now.

"Well, Takashi said he'd be busy," Mitsukuni began as he took out his pointer finger to list the facts. At the mention of his assistant teacher, Karma bit on his lower lips.

"Shimamori-sensei," he whispered, allowing his classmates to know who they were talking about.

Mitsukuni hummed and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Takashi," he echoed, asserting his familiarity with the man. "And then, I remembered Kyo-chan and I's last call," he murmured.

"Kyo-chan?" Kayano voiced.

The blond nodded. "Kyoya."

"Oshiro-sensei," Karma explained. He saw the surprised and wary look that fell over his classmates' faces, and he couldn't reproach them for it.

After all, one was a member of the Ministery of Defense, probably someone who was part of the special forces and secret services. The other was an infamous underground surgeon and hitman. Not being wary would have been stranger.

Mostly for them who were now fully aware of the ins and outs of this industry.

Although Karma was aware that Mitsukuni knew, he felt like the depth of Mitsukuni's knowledge and the nature of his relationship with both his teachers was far from clear. The more he heard, the more he learned about it, the more unsure he became.

"You know, Kyo-chan is sooo good," Mitsukuni praised with a helpless shake of his head. "It's been soo long since we met, but his innate character never changed," he recognized with some lingering admiration. His honey-brown eyes glazed over, leaving him a slightly dazed look.

Karma frowned. Why did it sound like Mitsukuni knew Oshiro-sensei longer than he knew anyone else?

Longer than he knew him and Gakushu?

"He said his latest experiment would see the day when Light fell; otherwise, the vial would be buried with its target," he explained.

There was a strange silence in the group.

Mitsukuni giggled as he inched closer to Karma. He looked up at his childhood friend with upturned eyes. "Kyo-chan's experiments like Tama-chan's have always been the most interesting," he whispered. "I really want to see it," he gloated as he twirled on himself.

He was about to add something, his lips were stretched in a broad grin, and his eyes twinkled with excitement.

But then: pause.

He paused.

He blinked.

Once, twice.

Slowly.

His line of sight shifted to the side, where the road was the darkest and the night the scariest. The smile on his face turned to something plastic.

Karma had a bad feeling, and the entirety of 3-E felt their spine tingle. They felt the vast need to follow the bond's gaze and see what he was looking at— what he was seeing.

"Oh?" Mitsukuni vocalized, disregarding the group's discomfort as he skipped closer to the road, 3-E's eyes glued to his back as they somewhat inched closer to him. He grinned. "Are we getting kidnapped?"

3-E didn't have the time nor the wits to react. In a flash, they were all taken inside a van, tied and blindfolded. Only their senses of touch, smell, and hearing remained, leaving panic to invade them.

Mitsukuni, probably because he was with them then, also sat in the van.

His round face twitched as he forced down the maniacal smile that threatened to break on his lips.

Oh my, a kidnapping! When was the last time something so exciting happened?

He sighed.

Such a shame he didn't invite Shu-chan to take part in the fun!

Happy Halloween!