6. Apples (1/2)

apples

"nagisa!"

hiromi, the middle schooler's mother, called out to her son from the other side of the door worriedly. she had woken up early that morning because her work had demanded that she do, and she had even cooked

eakfast for the middle-schooler despite his promise to do so instead. but ordinarily, nagisa would be up at this point in time to have started cooking

eakfast and he was a diligent boy, so it was a bit odd that he hadn't done so already.

that, of course, worried his mother to no end. she knocked on the door of her son's room again, and this time a bit more loudly in the hopes that if the first attempt had not caught his attention, the second one would. when no response came through the wooden door, his mother only grew more worried and clenched her fists again, and this time harder. she rapped the door with her knuckles, and this time the knock was so loud that it would have worried anyone that the door may be

oken into fragments.

but still no response.

now with paranoia seeping into her mind, hiromi shiota reached for the doorknob hoping that it wasn't locked. relief quickly flooded her being when the doorknob turned all the way, and the mother quickly opened the door and peered inside.

to her dismay, her son was on the floor. he was still in his sleepwear, which happened to be a light-green striped pajama shirt and bottoms. he was lying down face-down, his limbs splayed out limply in a disorganized fashion implicative that he had passed out. his hair hadn't even been tied up in the ponytails that his mother hadn't approved of initially but had come to bear with.

"nagisa!" she cried out, rushing to his side and getting onto her knees while trying to fight back the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. she turned his body over to look at his face, and she tried not to let out another yelp when she saw that he was

eathing irregular, shallow

eaths and his face was clearly flushed.

hearing her voice seemed to get a reaction out of him, as the boy's eyes widened slightly and he craned his neck to face his mother. but the way his eyes opened looked like he was trying to force them open with an invisible crowbar instead. "…mom…" nagisa glanced around the room, his eyes focusing on his closet. she glanced in the direction of the closet as well, noticing that the door was slightly ajar to reveal his uniform inside. "…i have to get ready…i didn't even take a shower…yet…"

"nagisa, stay in bed!" hiromi said, quickly throwing her son's arm around her shoulder and shifting him into a standing position. she quickly half-walked half-carried her son to the bed he'd been lying down on seemingly moments earlier that was still left messy and untidy. the pillows were strewn about the mattress, the blanket was still unfolded and cluttered around like a rag on the bed and the bed sheet was wrinkled to high heaven, a clear indicator that he hadn't had a pleasant sleep either.

she laid him down onto the bed, adjusted his position on it and began walking for the door. "nagisa, rest. you're in no condition to go to school today. i'm going to call the teacher with the wig and tell him that you'll rest today."

nagisa was barely conscious and fully aware of the world around him due to the haze around his mind, but he was able to register what his mom had said. the…teacher with the…wig?

hiromi had already left the room before nagisa started coughing because he couldn't hold back his laughter.

how odd. kayano thought as she observed the empty seat that was only a few inches away from hers. she rested her left cheek onto her palm as the class around her slowly got into their seats and hushed as their homeroom teacher and assassination target opened the sliding door with a loud sound. without warning, he vanished for what seemed like a quarter of a second before he reappeared at the front of the class, in front of the blackboard, with what looked like a large amount of fine, shining wire curled up in his tentacles. for some reason that kayano couldn't identify, koro-sensei was not holding the wires directly but with a pink cooking mitten.

everyone in class couldn't help but wonder simultaneously: why does he have a pink cooking mitten?

"well done, karma. if you had placed this trap for anyone aside from me or maybe professor karasuma or irina, it would have definitely worked." koro-sensei said with a chuckle as he waved the wires around like he was holding a bundle of christmas lights. "but still! you cannot afford to get sloppy! piano wire is still visible in the light if not correctly camouflaged!" he then held up what looked to be a piece of wood. "this was a nice addition, though, and i applaud you for making use of an old idea!"

"what is that?" terasaka asked from the back, squinting to see the object more clearly that was in koro-sensei's tentacle. "you're saying karma tried to kill you with a piece of wood?"

"no, no. wrong answer, terasaka." karma replied, his usual grin plastered on his face and exuding an air of mild amusement. he pointed to the object with his finger once before withdrawing his hand and placing it back in his pocket. "i asked sugaya to paint some camouflage on that plastic explosive packed with anti-koro-sensei pellets designed by itona. it was supposed to go off above his head the minute that he triggered any vi

ation in the piano wire." karma then pointed to the spot above the sliding door, a spot that all the students had walked past. "i even made sure to camouflage the scent of the plastic explosive with a wooden scent i'd asked okuda to replicate."

scary. that was the thought that passed through the mind of every student except for the ones involved.

"valiant attempt, karma! you get full points from me!" koro-sensei affirmed the effort with a raised tentacle and his face turning red in approval. he then disappeared in another of a second and reappeared, the wires, explosive and mitten gone. "now, as you can see, we're not all present today."

"so you know why nagisa's absent." sugino replied, leaning a bit more forward in his chair. "is it serious?"

"nothing too bad. his mother called in this morning. he passed out on the floor of his bedroom sick, it seems."

the entire class stiffened in alarm, but koro-sensei waved a dismissive tentacle in reply. "i know it sounds worrying, but fear not. his life is not in danger. however," koro-sensei raised a finger to attract attention to what he was saying, and the gesture garnered the attention he intended to get. "i will not permit anyone to visit him today, even if you're very worried."

"why?!" kayano, finding that shocker of a statement unacceptable, got to her feet without thinking. "what if-?!"

"fear not, kayano. i know you're worried for him, but i care about all of you as well. please settle down into your seat." realizing what she had done in a heat, kayano felt the temperature of her cheeks rise. she shrank back down into her chair, trying to ignore the teasing stare that she could feel her friend rio nakamura shooting at her. koro-sensei carried on, either unaware of what kayano was feeling or simply letting it happen. "now, i have yet to know the details of his sickness, and so i don't know if nagisa has fallen ill with a virus that can be easily caught by others. i will not permit my students to fall sick so easily."

upon hearing this, class e couldn't help but acknowledge the validity of his point, and no one chose to refute it because he was right. kayano alone seemed to remain a bit indignant but she otherwise settled down, looking both disappointed and worried. everyone could see it, and the rest of the people within nagisa's circle of friends also shared varying degrees of the same sentiment.

"don't let this get to you, my students!" koro-sensei attempted to cheer them up, waving his tentacles around in a pretty ridiculous manner that made him look quite a bit like a dying squid. he disappeared and reappeared in the span of half a second, holding three coolers with his tentacles up. he placed them onto the ground and opened them, and mist immediately began to flow out of the top of the cooler like liquid nitrogen had been introduced into the room. "here, have some of the gelato i managed to buy from italy!"

he reached inside and pulled out a strawberry-flavored popsicle, and he extended the tentacle over to kayano. "here, kayano! i know this one's your favorite."

"…thanks, koro-sensei."

weakness.

nagisa felt consciousness slowly returning to his mind as his eyes opened ever so slowly, as slowly as the hangar bay doors open for a bomber plane. they felt just as heavy as steel, and it took so much strength to open his eyes all the way that nagisa was tempted to just fall back asleep.

weakness. he felt weak.

…what time is it? nagisa wondered, his mind still muddled from a mixture of weakness and drowsiness. fighting off the urge to fall asleep as much as he could, the middle schooler turned his neck to face the clock that was situated on the wall to his left. with the situation as it was right now, nagisa's mood had spiraled a bit downwards and the only thing that kept him from cursing was his lack of strength and motivation to do so.

his eyes, after adjusting to the light of the sun that was pouring through his window, managed to make out the hands of the faraway clock.

…it's already 4…?

once that thought occurred to him, nagisa was then besieged by the sudden realization of how hungry he actually was. seemingly repressed until now, his stomach had begun to make its emptiness quite known to him. it rumbled and groaned like an iron catwalk being stepped on, and nagisa couldn't help but let out a whimper of pain as a twisting pain wrenched his gut hard.

"it seems you have a problem, nagisa."

the sound of his teacher's voice, accompanied by the sight of a super-octopus dressed in a gigantic pink apron with the words kill the cook printed on the front, threw nagisa's already tired mind for a loop. deciding not to ask any further questions since he was too fatigued to bother anyway, nagisa just greeted him with a weak smile. "…good afternoon…koro-sensei…"

"tsk tsk." koro-sensei wagged his finger from side to side in disapproval, his face turning purple for a moment before reverting back to his usual yellow color. "no forcing yourself right now, nagisa. i won't forgive it if you don't get well soon."

"…to think…that my target would visit me…when i'm sick…" nagisa laughed in spite of himself, earning himself a coughing fit when he did. he bent downwards, the pain of his chest contracting and clenching only augmenting the pain he was already feeling from the lack of something in his stomach.

"i'm also your teacher, remember?" koro-sensei appeared next to the bed in a flash and ever-so-slowly-and-carefully lifted nagisa by the abdomen and shoulders into a sitting position, leaning his back onto the wall caringly and cautiously. with his smile only widening, koro-sensei then presented a bowl of still-steaming rice porridge to the sick boy. "now, eat up! no one gets better on an empty stomach."

"thanks, koro-sensei." nagisa said with a smile, and he lifted the spoon with some effort to his lips. nagisa noticed that the porridge was just warm enough to be eaten pleasantly instead of being too hot for his mouth of lips. reflecting on not checking sooner, the blue-haired boy then placed the contents of the spoon into his mouth. his entire mouth lit up in a parade of deliciousness when his taste buds had the honor and pleasure of being caressed with his teacher's dish. nagisa could almost feel revitalized in an instant, and he turned to his teacher with an expression of gratitude and awe. "wow, koro-sensei! this tastes incredible! i almost feel like i was never sick to begin with!"

"thank you, nagisa. it makes me glad to know that you're feeling better." koro-sensei said with a comforted smile, patting his student gently on the top of his head with his tentacles. "by the way, nagisa, did your mother identify what you've fallen ill with? your friends wanted so dearly to visit you and see if you were doing well, but i did not want to risk the possibility that you may pass your illness onto them."

nagisa just shook his head disappointedly. "unfortunately, my mom doesn't know what i'm sick with. she was describing the symptoms to a doctor over the phone, but they kept telling her that i just had a bad cold or something like that. i don't remember what she said because i think i was half-asleep when she mentioned it."

"hmm…" koro-sensei sniffed the air around and then observed it, using his vast knowledge to discern its traits. after a few seconds of silence, koro-sensei nodded approvingly. "thankfully, it seems that there is no possibility to transmit your illness to anyone in your vicinity."

"that's good." nagisa said, relieved. he slowly shifted his sitting position so that he could face his teacher, his arms propping him up and his hands on his shins. "i don't want anyone getting sick on my account."

but… koro-sensei said nothing as he nodded in reply to nagisa's statement, but his mind was still in analysis mode. even if he can't transmit his sickness, that doesn't tell me what he has. koro-sensei patted his student on the head again, but this time it was not just a pat out of affection or concern but this time one of analysis. his super-sensitive tentacles were capable of sensing irregularities in nagisa's body such as heartbeat,

eathing and temperature at a touch, but determining more detailed information would require koro-sensei to examine nagisa from head to toe using his tentacles.

"well, i think i would like for you to rest more so that you can come to school tomorrow." koro-sensei said as he turned his head to face the window, which nagisa realized was now wide open for anyone to look through or pass through. "i'll be taking my leave now, nagisa. call me if you need anything, but i will forbid you trying to assassinate me in that state."

"i'll remember that." nagisa returned his teacher's remark with a laugh and a grateful bow of the head. "thanks, koro-sensei. i'll try my best to get well and start killing you again by tomorrow."

"very good!" koro-sensei's face turned light red out of approval, and he offered a thumbs up to his student. "take care of yourself, nagisa! i saved some italian gelato for you, so come to eat it tomorrow, okay?" with that, the 3-meter tall teacher disappeared in a flash with an audible burst of wind to signal his departure.

nagisa closed his eyes and felt the cool wind streak past his cheeks lightly like an electric fan had been put on its highest power setting for one second and turned off after three. he opened his eyes to see the curtains of his window still dancing around gently in the aftermath of the wind, but the doors of his window had been closed.

just like always. nagisa said with a smile as he looked around his room, belatedly realizing that his teacher had set the bowl of rice porridge he had just been eating onto his table neatly without spilling a single drop of it. although he didn't spend a lot of time here, did he?

nagisa got to his feet and walked to his table, picking up the bowl of porridge and shoveling a large spoonful into his mouth. he felt the energy coming back to him as the sticky, thick porridge slid down his throat and his appetite being appeased. with an energetic, ready smile on his face, nagisa looked at the time on the clock.

5:30.

i need to make dinner soon. nagisa thought, remembering that his mother would probably come home from work early to check up on him. she must be hungry, and i should thank her anyway. nagisa clapped his hands together as if trying to psyching himself up and then ran for the door. time to hit the kitchen and cook mom's favorite!

one hour later…

hiromi got off of the train at her train station in such a rushed manner that most passersby stopped and gave her a second look. those who got a good enough look at her face would have definitely stopped to check if she was alright because the middle-aged mother definitely looked like she had a crazed look in her eye. those suspicious of that gaze may have trailed her to see if she was up to no good or called the police or other authorities to keep an eye on her but there were none of that type of suspicious person at the station.

hiromi was not one to simply run home, as she was wearing heels and was still aware that there was a chance that she would trip and fall over herself. as such, she had called a taxi with an app on her phone and then directed the driver to her home hastily. she had even paid more money up front in order to get home more quickly. the driver happily did this and got her to a destination that would have ordinarily taken ten to fifteen minutes in a measly five, barely scraping the upper speed limit and angering more than a few people on the street with what could amount in the courtroom to reckless endangerment.

nonetheless, hiromi got to the front door in a haze and, upon reaching the door, realized exactly what she had done.

calm down, hiromi. she closed her eyes, released the doorknob in her hand and took a step back from the door. the woman took a deep

eath and then other, trying to ensure her relaxation. what do you think you're doing? you're overreacting, hiromi. your son is probably fine.

she opened her eyes, took another

eath and then walked towards the door. trying to regather the calm demeanor that she so normally kept about her, she reached for the doorknob and twisted it open. pushing the door open as calmly as she thought that she normally did, hiromi was immediately hit with a wave of scents that clearly indicated that there was food in the kitchen.

this spurred her forth, and hiromi walked to the kitchen doorway and peered inside, practically dropping her handbag on the floor when she saw what was happening in the kitchen.

her son was cooking.

"nagisa? wh-wh-what are you doing?" still trying to process what she was seeing in front of her, hiromi was left stuttering in shock and awe. she could tell that the smell of hamburger steak was wafting about the kitchen, and she could see her son cooking it like nothing had ever happened.

it just didn't make sense to her, though, that she had left her son this morning in a weakened state that was barely able to stand and had come back to see him frying hamburger steak like a chef at a restaurant. she was already holding onto the doorway to support herself as she had ever-so-slightly gone weak at the knees.

"oh, welcome back, mom." nagisa turned around, offering a smile of welcome home that made him look like the perfect stay-at-home husband. "come on and sit down! dinner's almost ready, and it's your favorite!"

left at a loss for word, hiromi did as her son did and sat down on a chair. she eyed her son as he moved about the kitchen, which nagisa either ignored or was not aware of. it only took half a minute for nagisa to skillfully and quickly prepare two plates of the dish and close the stove before walking around and placing the plate in front of his mom.

"…nagisa, i don't think you should be moving around too much." hiromi offered her son this suggestion worriedly, ignoring that the food she had placed into her mouth tasted way too good for comfort. "you were bedridden just this morning."

"it's okay, mom. i feel fine!" nagisa said in an effort to reassure his mother, patting his chest as if he were demonstrating its durability. "besides, i don't wanna worry you anymore."

…he's such a good child. hiromi thought to herself as she decided to say nothing more against her son's good intentions and put another spoonful of hamburger steak in her mouth instead of saying anything. as concerned as she was for her son's well-being, it just looked to her like her concern was completely unnecessary.

"oh, i need to go to the bathroom first. give me a moment, mom." nagisa said as he swiftly and easily removed his apron and hung in onto the backrest of the chair that was in front of his plate. nagisa jogged out of the room looking quite healthy, apart from the clear urge to use the toilet that was apparent in his eyes.

i think i need to trust my son a bit more. hiromi thought to herself as she watched her son leave the room in a nonchalant, almost casual manner. the disappointment she felt in herself was only welling up, the only distraction she had being the excellent taste of the hamburger steak in her mouth. i don't know how he's feeling anyway. he's the one who knows how his body's feeling.

and so she decided to relish in her son's home-cooking, and her thoughts slowly deviated from their previous train of thought to pursue one of more culinary thoughts. impressed and almost staggered by the quality of what she was eating, hiromi let her taste buds bask in the juicy, warm and soft hamburger meat accompanied by a small omelet and rice.

so engaged she was in her meal that she hadn't realized how she'd savored her time. minutes had passed until a fourth of an hour had passed and she had finished the meal wishing there was a little bit more.

so absorbed was she that it took her that long to remember the plate across from her.

"nagisa, your food's gonna get cold!" hiromi called out to her son, silently wishing to herself that she could sneak a bite of the food. but as silence nodded on instead of her son's reply, hiromi's repressed concern reemerged albeit much more inhibited. "nagisa?" the mother got to her feet, placing her plate at the kitchen sink and turning on her heel to seek out her son.

turning the corner only got her to stifle a scream.

the bathroom was at the end of the corridor, so it wasn't difficult to get to and it certainly wasn't difficult to see.

the door was ajar with the lights still on, and the sound of the bathroom sink's water running free was audible from where she stood, and it went on at full blast.

her son was on the floor.

"nagisa!"

the next day…

class that day, to kayano, was long, dragging and just not as fun as it normally was.

it was more of a new experience for her.

koro-sensei had announced at homeroom that nagisa had been hospitalized the night prior for his illness, which had seemed to worsen for reasons undiscernible at the time of the announcement. this had only served to worry his classmates all the more, and his closer friends had asked koro-sensei if they were allowed to visit him after school.

"yes, you may." koro-sensei had said when they asked him. "i checked up on him yesterday and i confirmed the lack of possibility that he may transmit a virus or something else of the sort to anyone nearby. i made the arrangements so that you guys can visit him later today. all you have to do is to say that you're with kayano kaede."

"my name?" kayano asked inquisitively, tilting her head. "why mine? wouldn't it make sense to have an adult go along with us, like professor karasuma?"

at that, koro-sensei merely chuckled and patted her on the head in a kindly way. "you all may be in middle school, but you're no ordinary middle school students: you're the students destined to assassinate the world's strongest superbeing! a hospital visit is no match for the likes of my trained students!" koro-sensei's face then turned pinkish as he laughed again, although this laugh contained a tone of mischief to it. "besides, kayano! you seemed so concerned about your beloved nagisa, so i thought it would be best if you were the one in charge of the visit!"

the green-haired girl who was simply staring outside the window felt her face heating up at the memory, and her lips tightened in a pouting fashion. it's not like that, koro-sensei! damn you! i'm gonna sneak some of okuda's latest batch of poisons into your pudding next time!

the day passed with thoughts like that passing through her mind until the end of the last period with kayano's face already warm from frustration, irritation and embarrassment. but she ignored the looks that koro-sensei was giving her, shooting a few bbs of anti-sensei material at him when he had persisted with them, as she gathered the rest of their class clique to go and visit him. this consisted of more people than she had initially planned, though, as many were quite concerned about him.

the final group consisted of kayano, karma, sugino, nakamura, kanzaki, okuda, isogai and maehara. the group set out with ritsu offering them directions to the hospital that nagisa was staying at, providing a level of detail that was absolutely unnecessary; the perks of having a powerful, anti-koro-sensei a.i as their friend and assistant were a bit overwhelming every now and then despite their already strong tolerance for over-the-top and unusual situations and events.

their walk and trip by bus took them a mere fifteen minutes, as the hospital turned out to be conveniently located minutes away from the kunugigaoka campus. it was later discovered that the hospital was actually built by politicians working with gakuhou asano in order to ensure that the students of the campus could receive first-rate health care at a moment's notice. and indeed, the exterior of the hospital reflected such status; the building sat at a titanic ten stories high and even had facilities like the famous coffee company and

and starbox and the strangely-out-of-place mcmickey's fast food chain at the ground floor directly in view of the front door.

"amazing." isogai had remarked upon seeing the extremely unhealthy fast food chain being filled with people wearing hospital gowns and doctor's coats. "how hypocritical does this look to you?" nobody dared to comment on isogai's words.

indeed, kayano's name was known to the front desk and she didn't want to believe it, and she did a good job of hiding her embarrassment. but the ever-so-slight reddening of her cheeks upon mentioning her name to the lady at the front desk for a visit to a nagisa shiota was visible to karma and nakamura, and they nudged her with their elbows in grins of silence.

that embarrassment was only turned up to 11 when the lady said these exact words: "wow, what a cute girlfriend he has! and in middle school too! you guys look like you would go so well together! take good care of your boyfriend, okay?"

it took a strong arm, or rather it took two pairs of strong arms lent by isogai and maehara, to drag an extremely frustrated and embarrassed kayano away from the front desk and to the elevator. the silence on the way up to the fifth floor, filled only by the instrumental jingle of dynamite by taio cruz only served to make the atmosphere all the thicker.

but all that disappeared when they knocked on the door to nagisa's room, a sign on the side of the door with his name on it to indicate that it was so.

"come in!" his voice resonated from within the door, and his friends wasted no time in filing in after opening the door gently but quickly.

kayano was at the front of this procession and was thusly the first to see nagisa and greet him in return, as well as the first one to see what state he was in. she was relieved to see that nagisa was sitting upright with his hands crossed over one another with a t.v remote in one of them. there were a few bandages wrapped around his head which made it seem like he had received a concussion or some sort of head wound, but he otherwise looked pretty normal and well.

"thanks for coming to visit me, guys." nagisa said gratefully once everyone had taken their respective positions around the room. kayano had taken the chair that was positioned right next to nagisa, okuda and sugino had sat down in chairs that were a bit behind kayano, karma had taken the liberty to stand next to the door and lean on the wall with his hands in his pockets like he normally does, isogai and maehara standing next to okuda and sugino with their arms either crossed or leaning on something and nakamura sitting on the second bed that was laid out nearby.

"what are you talking about? of course we'd visit you, dumbo." sugino replied, grinning. "how are you doing, man? we've been worried about you."

nagisa smiled and shrugged. "i've been okay so far. right now, i'm okay, but the big thing is that i usually feel pretty weak." he looked down at the remote and held it up, and everyone noticed that he was straining a bit to lift it. "i overexerted myself yesterday when i thought i was feeling better and pushed my body farther than i thought i could."

"i b-

ought something for you, nagisa!" okuda suddenly said awkwardly, standing up and holding out her get-well gift: the stereotypical basket of fruits. "i didn't know what to get you, so i just followed karma's suggestion!"

nagisa smiled and reached out for it, struggling a bit to keep it in his arms as he

ought it to sit down in his lap. "really? this is a normal suggestion for something karma would-" he immediately stopped his mouth from moving when he saw that inside, alongside the stereotypical fruits, was a pink headband with cat ears attached to it that had a note that said get well soon, nagisa-chan~

never mind. it definitely has the karma flavor in it. nagisa thought to himself exasperatedly, glancing at karma who smirked back at nagisa when their eyes met. nagisa just sighed, rolled his eyes and then smiled. "sorry, guys. i can't really entertain you or anything like that."

"i've got the cure for that, don't worry!" nakamura said with a smile, and she

ought a wealth of books right out of her backpack. she stood up and dumped it in her friend's arms with a carefree grin, much to nagisa's amusement mixed with very mild irritation. closer inspection of the trove of books revealed a ton of manga such as one kick man and food battles, as well as a few magazines such as astropolitan.

"…why did you give me women's magazines, nakamura?"

"it didn't feel complete without them! besides, i bookmarked a few pages for you to look at! see?"