Summer vacation had finally begun.
While most students were out enjoying the sunshine or spending time with friends, Akira was sprawled across the living room couch, lazily watching anime with half-lidded eyes. The house was cool and quiet—a perfect escape from the scorching summer heat outside.
Erika walked in carrying two cold drinks. Sitting down beside him, she handed him one.
"Aren't you going to work on that secret project with Koro-sensei and Ritsu today?"
Without taking his eyes off the TV, Akira rested his head against her shoulder.
"I wanted to... but Koro-sensei said it's summer vacation. He told me to go home and get some rest. Besides, we're almost finished anyway. There are only a few finishing touches left."
Erika took a sip of her drink and sighed.
"I wonder when you'll finally show me what you've been working on."
A faint smile appeared on Akira's face.
"…Maybe soon."
Just then, his phone vibrated on the table.
He picked it up and read the message. Almost instantly, his expression twisted into one of pure disgust as he furiously began typing a reply.
Erika glanced at him.
"What happened?"
Akira showed her the screen.
"Nagisa invited me to go beetle hunting."
He shuddered.
"I told him I'd rather die."
Erika sighed.
"It's beetles, not bugs."
"Beetles are bugs," Akira grumbled.
She tilted her head.
"But I thought there were some you didn't mind."
Akira turned to her with a completely serious expression.
"The problem is that forests have way more than just beetles. If you deliberately go looking for them, you'll end up attracting the really creepy ones too."
He looked traumatized.
"Remember what happened when we were kids?"
Erika paused before smiling nostalgically.
"You mean when we explored the forest looking for rare beetles... and you almost burned the whole place down because of a few centipedes?"
Akira nodded immediately.
"Exactly. We were attacked by creepy bugs."
Erika sighed.
"They weren't attacking you. They were running away from your fireballs."
She laughed softly.
"Besides, we found a lot of rare beetles that day."
Akira muttered,
"Yeah... and we also found an albino centipede."
He shivered.
"And a white cockroach. Ugh."
Erika smiled.
"Okay, those were pretty creepy... but it was still fun, wasn't it?"
Akira hesitated.
"Well... maybe a little, but—"
Before he could finish, Erika's phone lit up.
She glanced at the message and immediately started typing a reply.
Akira looked at her suspiciously.
"What now?"
Erika answered casually.
"Kurahashi invited us to go beetle hunting."
She finished typing.
"I told her we'd come."
Akira's eyes widened in horror.
"What?! Why?!"
He stared at her in disbelief.
"And since when are you so close with Kurahashi?"
Erika smiled.
"I'm friends with all the girls."
Akira looked ready to cry.
"Fine... but why beetle hunting?!"
Erika stood up and stretched.
"Because it's fun."
She smiled warmly.
"I wanted to do it again, just like when we were little. So I accepted."
Akira looked at her as though she'd betrayed him.
"But... bugs..."
Erika grabbed his hand and effortlessly pulled him to his feet with her superhuman strength.
"Don't worry about them."
She smiled teasingly.
"You're basically a walking shiny charm. We'll find lots of cool beetles."
Akira dramatically resisted.
"Nooooooo—!"
It was completely futile.
Erika simply dragged him out of the house while he continued protesting the entire way.
---
Deep within the mountain forest behind the old school building, Akira and Erika searched for rare beetles.
Or rather...
Erika searched for rare beetles while giving Akira a piggyback ride.
She let out an exasperated sigh.
"Do you really have to ride on my back the whole time?"
Akira clung to her even tighter.
"But... bugs. There are too many bugs."
Erika sighed again, though she couldn't help smiling.
"That part is true."
She lightly shook the collecting bag hanging from her shoulder. Inside were several glass jars already filled with rare beetles—specimens valuable enough to make veteran collectors cry if they found even one.
"We've already come across quite a few. A lot of rare ones too."
She glanced back at him.
"Normally, it's supposed to be the boyfriend carrying his girlfriend around."
She smiled teasingly.
"It's meant to be romantic."
Akira answered without hesitation.
"Think of it this way."
He pointed dramatically into the distance.
"You're saving me from the evil bugs. That's romantic too, right?"
Erika replied flatly,
"No. It isn't."
Akira gently shook her shoulders.
"Look! You're my hero now, rescuing your incredibly handsome boyfriend from the evil creepy crawlies."
He nodded to himself.
"The roles might be reversed, but it's definitely romantic. I promise."
Erika laughed quietly.
"Fine, fine. Whatever you say."
Akira suddenly pointed ahead.
"Anyway, let's find Kurahashi soon. Let's go!"
Erika suddenly dropped him on the ground.
"What 'let's go'?"
She folded her arms.
"There aren't any bugs here."
She started walking away.
"You can walk by yourself."
Akira immediately hurried after her.
"Wait! Don't leave meee..."
Erika picked up her pace.
"No."
She glanced back with a smile.
"You're perfectly fine. Walk."
Akira broke into a run.
"But there are bugs everywhere!"
Erika called over her shoulder,
"Then either fight them... or run!"
Akira whined dramatically.
"But the ground is contaminated!"
He reached toward her.
"Help me, Erika! Carry me again!"
Erika didn't even slow down.
"I won't."
And so the two of them ended up running around the forest until they finally stumbled upon Koro-sensei.
For some reason...
He was dressed in a full beetle costume and standing triumphantly on top of a pile of adult magazines.
Around him stood Nagisa, Kurahashi, Sugino, Maehara, and Okajima.
Seeing the two of them arrive, Koro-sensei turned around cheerfully.
"Nuruhuhuhuhu! If it isn't Akira-kun and Erika-san! You're here too?"
Kurahashi waved excitedly.
"Erika-san!"
Nagisa smiled.
"Akira-kun came too."
Erika stopped to catch her breath.
"Yeah... we came... to hunt beetles."
Still clinging to her side, Akira muttered,
"I am not here voluntarily."
Maehara pointed excitedly toward Koro-sensei.
"Well, since you're here... Koro-sensei just caught a rare white-eyed Miyama stag beetle! Apparently it's worth hundreds of thousands of yen!"
Erika casually opened their collecting bag.
"Oh?"
She looked inside.
"We found three of those on the way here."
Everyone froze.
"WHAT?!"
Erika showed them the contents of the bag.
It was packed with rare beetles of all kinds, including unusual color variants and rare mutations.
Koro-sensei's eyes nearly popped out.
"My goodness!"
He stared into the bag.
"How did you find this many?! There are giant stag beetles, rare color morphs, mutations... How did you collect all of these?"
Maehara's eyes sparkled.
"How much money would we get if we sold all that?"
Kurahashi rushed over excitedly.
"Erika-san! How did you do it?"
Erika smiled and casually pointed at Akira.
"It's because of him."
She patted his head.
"Akira attracts rare beetles just by standing around."
Everyone shouted at once.
"WHAAAT?!"
Kurahashi immediately reached toward him.
"Is that true, Akira-kun?!"
Akira nervously leaned away.
"No..."
At that exact moment...
A white centipede crawled near his foot.
"AHHHHHHH!"
Akira instantly leaped into Erika's arms.
"Kill it! Burn it with fire!"
Kurahashi, meanwhile, happily picked the centipede up.
"Wow! An albino centipede!"
Her eyes sparkled.
"It really is true!"
She looked hopefully at Erika.
"Can I borrow Akira-kun for a little while?"
Erika immediately hugged him protectively.
"No."
She smiled.
"He's mine."
Kurahashi clasped her hands together.
"Please! Just for a little while! I want to find more rare beetles!"
Erika immediately turned and ran.
"Sorry! My lucky charm isn't for loan!"
Kurahashi and the others immediately chased after them.
"Just a little!"
"We'll make a fortune!"
"For science!"
Watching the chaos unfold, Nagisa quietly wrote another note in his notebook.
"He attracts rare beetles... yet is absolutely terrified of bugs."
---
The summer vacation continued. While the rest of the students were playing around, going on camps, or even doing homework, Class 3-E had other things to do. With only one week until the assassination vacation to the southern island, they gathered to train and put a plan in order.
The school yard had been turned into a shooting range. The students were training their shooting skills while Karasuma did his best to train them and the government-sent assassin Lovro helped them plan the assassination.
Akira stood in the center of the group.
"So the plan is: first we destroy the seven promised tentacles, and then we all jump him while he's distracted by the psychic attacks."
Nagisa nodded.
"Yes, that's it."
Erika tilted her head.
"But what are these 'psychic attacks'?"
Maehara grinned.
"Remember back then when he was scavenging for dirty magazines in the mountains? We're going to use that against him."
Nagisa added,
"Yeah, there's more blackmail material too. We even made a short film out of it."
Akira nodded.
"Yeah, I'm sure they'll be super effective against him."
Erika looked doubtful.
"But will it even work?"
Nagisa sighed.
"We hope it does. I mean, we can't exactly do a test run on Koro-sensei, can we?"
Karma's grin widened.
"Yeah, we can't test it on Koro-sensei… and we don't have anyone near his speed. Or do we?"
All the students slowly turned to look at Akira.
Akira blinked.
"Wait… you want to test it on me?"
Karma shrugged.
"We were hoping to. You're faster than Karasuma-sensei anyway. So what do you say?"
Akira thought for a moment, then smirked.
"Well… sure. It seems fun."
Erika looked at him worriedly.
"You sure?"
Akira nodded.
"Yeah. It could be good training for me too. But I do want one rule added."
Karma asked,
"Which is?"
Akira reloaded his BB pistol with a click.
"Unlike Koro-sensei… I will fight back."
The setup was made. All the students surrounded Akira in a circle.
Nagisa asked,
"Ready?"
Akira replied confidently,
"I was born ready."
Nagisa raised his hand.
"Then… fire!"
Everyone opened fire at once with their anti-sensei weapons. BBs filled the air like a storm.
Akira took everything in. He dodged some shots, but there were too many. He jumped high into the air.
Karma shouted,
"You can't escape like that!"
He fired at Akira mid-air.
Akira couldn't dodge normally, so he fired back. His BB bullet hit another bullet mid-air, ricocheted, and hit another, and another — using his old technique. All the bullets fired at him were deflected away.
Everyone paused in shock.
Akira landed safely and said,
"See? That didn't work."
Just then, he tilted his head and dodged two sniper shots from Chiba and Hayami.
Akira called out,
"You guys should probably fire before these guys stop. In fact… guys, don't stop!"
Everyone looked frustrated at the failure.
Maehara muttered,
"We can't even hit him… How are we going to hit Koro-sensei?"
Isogai said,
"Maybe we need to know his weakness."
Maehara's eyes lit up.
"Wait — he does have one! Kurahashi, that thing!"
Kurahashi nodded excitedly.
"Yes, yes!"
Akira narrowed his eyes.
"What are you planning?"
Maehara smirked.
"You'll see. Now… round two?"
Akira stood in the center again.
"Guys, if you don't change your tactics, it won't work."
Karma said,
"Don't worry. We have a new plan. Open fire!"
The firing started again.
Just as Akira was about to dodge and ricochet like before, something was thrown near his feet.
Akira looked down.
A white cockroach crawled out — one Kurahashi had caught a few days earlier with his help.
…
…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
He screamed and immediately bolted at a speed no one had seen before.
Ritsu, watching from her drone, said in awe,
"Wow… that's a new record."
Akira rushed straight to Erika, who was standing near the school building, and latched onto her back like a koala.
"Erika… cockroach… white cockroach…!"
Before he could say anything else, Nagisa — who had been hiding nearby — stepped out and held a knife to his neck.
"It's over."
For a moment, no one said anything.
Then the yard exploded into cheers.
"Yeah! We won!"
"We beat the supercomputer!"
"He really is afraid of bugs!"
"That was cool!"
Akira, still latched onto Erika's back, muttered,
"So… you used the bug to trigger my instinct to latch onto Erika and laid a trap there? Not bad."
Nagisa smiled.
"Yeah. It was a team effort."
Akira sighed.
"But you can't use it on Koro-sensei, you know."
Karma grinned.
"We know. But we still beat you for now."
Akira said confidently,
"Just once. You can't beat me with this method again."
Erika, still carrying him, said flatly,
"First, get off me."
Akira grumbled,
"Fine."
He climbed down and coughed.
"Fine. Let's do it again. The training continues."
Everyone groaned.
"Wait, we need a break!"
Akira shook his head.
"No. I need to win first."
Everyone sighed.
And so the training continued.
But just as Akira had predicted — they couldn't beat him again.
---