Crossover Together ~クロスオーバ 一緒に~

Class E, and just after class was finished up for the day. Inside the main office, Korosensei was going over the class's work from the following day, each class with the most dedication for each single student. Needless to say, Korosensei went balls out on getting these students ready to go, especially during this timeframe. Getting these Class E students to amp up in grades is what he strived for, and during this time, it was vital. According to the nearby calendar by the desk, one day was circled just a week before summer vacation would begin. That day, the final exams were close coming, and as with the mid terms, these tests matter greatly for the class as a whole. Plenty of the students were up and atom with this sort of thing, and Korosensei made sure that class E was no different here. On the whole, he was feeling pretty good about things. Karasuma, who was working in the office as well on his computer, was a little less amused about it, his mind more focused on the main problem sitting in the same room with him. He'd been trying, along with the students, to kill Korosensei but all attempts so far had proven fruitless. Any bullet or knife missed him by a mile since he showed up.

"Ah, after work relaxation. I've been thinking on getting some Italian-styled smoothies. Mind having one?" Korosensei offered.

"No thanks," Karasuma simply replied. Korosensei felt bummed out as he went to the door.

"You need to learn to loosen up, Karasuma. The assassin's sharp mind dulls out too you know."

"I didn't come here for your charity, I came on order to kill you. Just remember that."

"And you just remember that you just missed out on the most delicious treats of the Europe continent."

As Korosensei said this, he went on to open the door. What Karasuma saw that Korosensei didn't was another figure right by the door. Korosensei only realized that until after accidentally bumping into the man.

"Oh, do excuse me."

"Likewise, Korosensei," the figure said, stepping in and closing the door. Strange how he knew the name right away, and the fact Karasuma tried to keep this under wraps made that a little more odd. However, it still was interesting for Korosensei to find.

"OH, Gakuho, sir. What brings you by?"

"A number of things. Firstly. I heard rumor of a giant, demon doll attacking the E class building?"

"Oh that, water under the bridge."

Gakuho simply nodded, as he continued with Karasuma looking on. Gakuho didn't stop by just to have a simple conversation, and grew more apparent after he looked at the calendar, and the date.

"Now, I'm sure you're aware of the finals coming up."

"Assuredly."

"... You are aware, though, of the system. Right?" Gakuho questioned. That's when Korosensei wondered a little bit.

"The what?"

"Pay attention. There's a specific method I do here at my school, to make sure my students remain at their league. The Ant System. The worker ants at classes D through A claim superiority over the lazy class E ants, striving hard to avoid falling into that trap. ..." This sort of method just didn't fit Korosensei, and now having a better idea of it just didn't seem to feel right. Every student deserves a proper chance, but this method doesn't offer that. Gakuho went up to Korosensei, his hand gently wrapping around Korosensei's tie.

"Unfortunately, your methods jeopardize the current one. Mine had brought this school to be the best it ever is. ... I want to keep it that way. Understood?" Gakuho cleared up, gripping the tie even more firmly. A simple task, but too the point of Gakuho's problem. The octopus wasn't too sure about the whole thing, but Korosensei made sure to just nod. It was enough to at least let Gakuho let go of him. But as Gakuho was leaving. ...

"One more thing."

Suddenly Gakuho tossed something to him. This object looked like various key chains, or locked mechanisms as apart of a metal puzzle.

"You have one minute to solve this puzzle."

"GAH! You just throw this on me out of the blue?!" Korosensei snapped, struggling like crazy, and squirming on the floor in his attempts. He was fine with plenty of puzzles, but metal puzzles like these weren't his forte. So, Gakuho left him with that, and the octopus just was stuck with the puzzle.

Oh what a joy.

~~

It was rather late, eight at night, and Inside his apartment Nagisa was on his own work for school and the upcoming final exams. While the midterms were a rough one to tackle for him, final exams take hold even more on his grades, AND taking everything he learned from before. If midterms were anything to go by, Gakuho will NOT hold back at all this year for any of them. But, as much as he wanted to keep trying, his focus was being rather distracted by other events going on, namely the demons and angels. Since day one, it had been on his mind, and as more demons were showing up, Nagisa felt worse and worse about this sort of thing. If he can assure himself one thing, Karma's encounter proved it wasn't entirely "his fault", but it doesn't just remove the issue.

Aladdin was playing around with his golden flute, actually playing a little tune on it. Pretty soothing for Nagisa during his own studies. Normally a distraction for most, it did sooth Nagisa's nerves for the most part. On the table in front of him, Nagisa worked out note after note, just finishing up his last bit of information over some history. Upon completing his studies, Nagisa sighed in relief, and laid down on the couch, his head hung back on the backrest. Aladdin was quick to see that Nagisa was done, opening one eye to see him just before he stopped playing.

"I think I'll be good tomorrow," Nagisa figured.

"Is your school having midterms again?" Aladdin asked, placing the flute down on the table.

"Not midterms, finals. They're a bit more important than midterms are," Nagisa stated.

"Oh. Well, hope you do well," Aladdin said with a smile. Nagisa smiled back to him, but his mind began to reflect a bit on what had been going on. He basically had his answers sitting right next to him, Aladdin being the only true Magi Angel in the room.

"Yeah. ... Hey, Aladdin? Mind if I ask you something?" Nagisa asked, lifting his head up to look at him.

"Is it about me, or about those demons?" Aladdin asked. Whatever question asked to him by Nagisa would usually result in one or the other, as Nagisa hunched over, thinking over what things might happen.

"Well, yes and no. ... I ..."

Before Nagisa could finish, Aladdin decided to help Nagisa get a little more comfprtable. He placed his legs together, and patted his lap. When Nagisa saw this, he was a little bit unsure, but went along anyway. Soon, Nagisa was laying down on the couch, his head resting on Aladdin's lap.

"... Well ... I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and ... I don't know."

"Don't know what?"

Nagisa looked away from Aladdin, and both of them saw the Halo Blade sitting on the kitchen counter.

"This involvement me and my friends have. So much had happened in these past few months. I'm starting to wonder just how much more is going to happen to us. ... Will my life ever be the same again? ..." It was hard to deny that things had been different since that day Nagisa got his Halo Blade, and nothing really had been the same as last year. Nagisa was just your typical highschooler before, but now, this same kid has a magi for a roommate, killed a Jizo on his own, and a pack of Houndour with his friends.

"You know, Nagisa, there's always a point where things are going to change. Sometimes big, sometimes small. To tell you the truth, I didn't think I'd end up in your world ... well, ever. But, here I am, and I even made new friends too. ... I really should thank you for that."

"For letting you stay here with me?" Nagisa asked. Aladdin smiled down to Nagisa, and nodded his head. Nagisa looked back to the ceiling.

"Guess it's too late to ask if I can change back then, huh?"

"I think so."

"... How much do you think is going to happen to everyone?"

"I don't know. ... But that's part of the fun. I mean, if we knew everything, we won't have any reason to explore anything. Right?"

Nagisa chuckled a little bit.

"Yeah, you got a point there," Nagisa concluded. The talk did help Nagisa out a lot, even if it was just a simple conversation between two roomies. Nagisa sat up, and looked to the clock. Nagisa's deep studying made him lose track of time, and Nagisa got right up.

"Getting late. Well, goodnight, Aladdin," Nagisa said, as he walked on to his room. Aladdin was very happy to help his friend out.

"Goodnight. And good luck tomorrow," Aladdin replied.

.......

The Orora high school, despite no student being there, was a bit busy with some overtime work for the teachers and working on the finals, writing them out off their computers left and right. During their working, Gakuho himself was watching them do their own sort of magic on these final exams. Gakuho stopped at one of them for a brief moment, leaning in from the side to see the teacher typing away like mad, an almost crazed grin on his face.

"And how're you coming along?" Gakuho asked.

"Oh I'm on a roll here. This monster's going to tear those students limb from limb - these questions high-grade college students are only lucky to answer," the teacher said, his tone much like if he really was making a monster. A metaphorical monster, but still one that Gakuho was hoping to see. A satisfied grin began to form on Gakuho's face upon reading through what the questions were, especially for a selected few. This was a rather threatening monster indeed.

"Keep it up," Gakuho simply replied, as he began to leave them to their work, and exit the room. He didn't need to fully watch them now. It'd been a long day, and Gakuho had it all handled for the finals tomorrow. Gakuho began to head off down the halls, unaware of anything wrong.

Or any figure watching him.

~~

The next morning came around a little dulled down due to the clouds, but the others were ready to go all the same. This time, Karma, Twilight, Nagisa, and Pinkie Pie were all walking to the school together, meeting up on the way. The finals were upon them, and they all were ready to get rolling. Nagisa took the walk in mind, taking the moment to reflect on what his friends had been going through. For Twilight, she had just got herself back to Tokyo after seven years, just to end up in possession of a book of true, REAL alchemy with her actually doing the types for herself. Albeit incorrectly, but working on it. Karma meanwhile had the basic time during these last few months, though being put down to E class deliberately, and taking down a Banette mega-demon, according to what he told them. Out of everyone, Pinkie Pie was the only one who didn't end up in any magical encounter on her own just yet, but she seemed to be flowing with everything coming at her. What other person would cute-talk a pack of Houndour?

"Hope all of you are ready for the finals," Twilight said, as they were walking.

"Yeah. If midterms mean anything, the finals are gonna be a living hell," Karma figured. Pinkie hopped up to Twilight's side.

"Hey, Yugi? How's the magic goodies? Did you find any booby grow spells yet?" Pinkie asked.

"Why are you worried about that? You don't need it," Twilight questioned. She couldn't help but see Pinkie's own melons in her shirt as she said that.

"I mean for you," Pinkie pointed out. Pinkie didn't mean to say anything insulting, but Twilight turned away from Pinkie, looking more annoyed now. She knew her chest was flat, after all. Compared to Pinkie anyway ...

"Ok." Twilight simply said. It was then that Pinkie glanced back to Nagisa, who had been observing it all.

"You look happy, mr. Smiley," Pinkie said, beaming her own smile to him. Twilight and Karma turned back to Nagisa, beginning to near the school in question at this point.

"I guess I'm feeling a bit better," Nagisa admitted.

"About time," commented Karma. The group managed to reach the school at this point, and at proper time too. While the group got to the front door, Karma stopped himself after a bit.

"Whelp, this is where we part. Catch ya later," Karma said. The others said goodbye to him, and soon they were off to their respected buildings. They'll meet up with Karma later on, but for now, it's time to get on those finals.

.......

School started off soon enough, and here is when Nagisa began to head off for his class, and when the tests began to get into submission. Twilight, Pinkie, Karma, and Nagisa all were in their respected classrooms, starting their final exams. Unlike the last test, which was a test per person, this one was a bit more specified. This case, it was one classroom, half the day, working on the finals put together through the main subject test. And just as well, this test mixes the subjects into one main assignment, rather than in separate papers as before. The test itself, at least the one Nagisa had gotten, was a good seven pages long, all put together. A rather fair size for a final exam, but it's really more on what questions filled in these pages that made these things rather monstrous. Nagisa started to go through these questions, already seeing himself getting stumped more than once on just page one of the seven. A rough sign of things to come, by the looks of it.

"The midterms must've put Gakuho on edge if he's assigning these kinds of questions to us," Nagisa thought, as he was going through these. Considering he was put on spying duty just AFTER midterms, why wouldn't Gakuho try to put E class in their place by slamming them with such things? The other students kept getting stumped, and even the E students, who did so well on midterms it was scary, were pausing time and time again when they got to the difficult questions. Nagisa will have to try his hardest just to get through this part with decent colors. Nagisa figured that Karma was the only one who actually had nothing to worry about. Being at the very bottom, where's there left to go? Drop out? Yeah, as if.

"Wait. ... He didn't ..."

Nagisa found a moment when practically almost every student had to stop and think, including him. And it was this point that got him the most shocked all day. The other questions were difficult as hell, sure, but these ... these were almost non-sensible! The way the questions were read off just didn't seem like they had any right answer to it. Nagisa saw student after student halt, dead in their tracks, Class B through E. The teacher keeping an eye on things was rather pleased in his grin, which just told Nagisa that this was completely intentional. ...

"No. I'm not falling for it," Nagisa finally thought. He struggled enough. Amongst the crowd, Nagisa was the first to get back to the questions, and back to trying to complete, something some students were surprised about. Nagisa spent his time on questions with ACTUAL answers, and for those non-sensible ones he wrote in either "Trick Question" or "N/A" or something along those lines. It's not exactly proper for a student, but then again these aren't proper questions, so it comes out about even. Much to the rest of the classes surprise, Nagisa had finished up his finals first. It even surprised Nagisa that he stayed in front of everyone because of his little method to handle the trick questions. And just in time. ...

"Shiota, Kagayaki, Pie, Akabane, please report to the principal's office. Shiota, Kagayaki, Pie, Akabane, please come to the office."

"... You can't be serious," Nagisa thought. He honestly couldn't believe his own ears when hearing that, and once more, this gave him the immediate suspicion that something wasn't right. The first time was odd enough during the midterms, but now it's him and his friends, and during the finals no less! This is NOT something that should be missed, or could actually be credited and or made up for like midterms. What else, is that it was only half day today, so being called into the office was a huge risk on the students.

.......

Soon, Nagisa was off out of the classroom, but before he would go to the office, he needed to find the others first. As before, the halls were a bit open, and rather quiet, feeling all too familiar to Nagisa personally. Lucky for him, He caught sight of Twilight, Karma, and Pinkie after a while just in front of the office door. Good thing they didn't arrive at the office just yet. Karma though had a large satchel hanging off of him, full of some sort of objects.

"You all ready for him?" Nagisa asked.

"Much as we'll ever be. And look what I got here," Karma said, saving the items in the bag until they all showed up. It turned out, it was Nagisa's Halo Blade, and Twilight's Alchemy book. He tossed both items to each respected owner, as he just managed to slip his sword out of the satchel as well, surprising them quite a bit.

"OK! How'd you get these in here?" Twilight asked, surprised.

"Korosensei was generous enough to pick them up," Karma casually said, putting his sword back in the satchel. If it was just Gakuho in there, they shouldn't waltz in with weapons all out. So, Nagisa hid the knife just in his belt, hidden by the shirt, and Twilight just kept the book at her side like a normal book. With nothing left to wait for, the whole group began to head through the doors towards, and readied for the office.

"You wanted to see us, chief?" Karma asked, looking in with his group into the office. Looking in, the place seemed alright, desk at the end and all that. Gakuho sat down at the end, as usual, ready to see them all.

"Nice of you to make it," Gakuho said. The others kept their items hidden away best they could, but as they began to venture into the room, Nagisa began to think more deeply on the situation. Here they are, in the principal's office, at such a rough time to cope as well. Gakuho did this before, that was for sure, but this ...

And then the door closed behind them. Immediately, the pieces fell together, and Gakuho stood up, going around the desk, and was face to face with them. Nagisa just needed to nod to them in order to get the message across, and Karma was quick to get out his sword, ready to fight. There's a demon in this room, and there's only one other person standing here with them!

"Who'd of guessed our principal would be a demon?" Karma joked, smirk on his face. It was then Karma rushed forward, sword at the ready. However, the figure simply grabbed the sword with one hand, and in a good pull, got it out of Karma's hands. Strange thing though, this sword wasn't affecting his body like it had been with the other demons so far. Not even blood! ...

"Might I suggest you to not go in your murderous rampages. You wouldn't dare kill your dearest principal. ..." The figured said, the voice suddenly changing into a far more demonic one, in a sort of low-tone growl, or hiss.

"You make it too easy."

"Am I? ... Just so we're all clear, I'm not Gakuho Asano. ... This body isn't even my own. ... Or would you rather sent in for murder? Seitenshi and her men would love to have you."

Well, the demon got them there. This demon had Gakuho's body possessed now! One strike at him, and Gakuho would die along with him. As much as they dislike Gakuho, he's still the principal, and that would diffidently go noticed by everyone in school. Not a good way to keep something quiet and between them if they kill him. As for whoever was possessing Gakuho, it knew it had them quiet now. Nagisa still kept his blade up, just in case, as this Gakuho look-alike moved in on them. The grin it had on Gakuho's face just made it even more threatening to them. And the fact it wasn't getting hurt the same way as other demons just made it a bit more troubling for them.

"Then who are you?" Pinkie asked, curious more than scared.

"That, I shall remain concealed. Unlike those other demons, I don't show myself to everything I meet. ... Though, I am aware that you had quite a fair experience. ..." The word stuck onto them, as it loomed around them all, eyeing them all like a hungry predator. As it was observing, it caught notice that while most of them were calm and collective, Twilight was the more humbled one here. ...

"Lucky guess. Did that little mutt we released tell you?" Karma asked. At least he seemed the most talkative, even in this kind of situation.

"You mean the Houndour? ... He did mention something about it to another one of my demons, but only now that I see the creature was not lying. ... May I ask how'd you come to know of us this way? To possess the weapons of God?"

"Sorry, trade secret."

"... You are a bold human, aren't you? ... Even when facing hell itself, you have time to make a joke."

Suddenly, the figured lunged forward, and Karma was grabbed by the throat! Almost instinctively, Nagisa swung his Halo blade at him. It didn't damage him, but it did strike him close to the eyes, the surprise enough to make him drop Karma, who coughed after the vicegrip.

"Leave them alone!" Nagisa managed to get out.

"... I didn't take time out of my existence, just to wipe you out ... yet. ... This is your only warning. Mere humans. ... The more demons you involve in your lives. The closer you'll all come to face me. ... Or is that what you're all expected to figure out?"

"It's becoming a habit for us," Karma said.

"Really?" Pinkie questioned. Before they could answer, the possessed Gakuho was right in front of Nagisa. His demon sense was the wildest it's ever been, making him terrified behind his face. As if dealing with Gakuho was bad enough, now knowing there's a powerful demon controlling him just made it even more scary. Pinkie and Karma were chill, and Twilight may be humbled, but Nagisa knew more on what they were dealing with.

"Well. It is clear that there is something about you that would give Heaven a reason to give you these weapons. ... How about we see if you're worthy of those weapons of yours? A sort of game, perhaps? ..."

"A game?" Nagisa asked.

"Ooo, What game? Tick-tack-toe, jeopardy, tag, wrestling, spin the bottle? I'm a master at party games!" Pinkie said, kinda forgetting the seriousness of the situation. Leave it to Pinkie to lighten THIS kind of mood to a more tolerable one. The figure was quiet for a minute, but then resumed talking after he picked up the sword for investigation, running his hands on the surface of the blade.

"... You have your plans. I have mine. I'll continue mine. You have to keep up. Not that it would matter, but maybe you'll last long enough to see the end. ... If not? I suppose you'll all have a seat down in hell with me. ... Fair enough?"

That made them all shiver. Obviously this demon wouldn't lie about this sort of thing, and it was dead serious about the risk factor. Whatever "end" it had in mind couldn't be any good for anyone of them.

"... The end. ... What end? ..." Twilight finally said.

"You need me to tell you?" The demon hissed. Twilight gulped on hearing that, the demon simply smiling at their fear. Karma slipped by as the demon was busy with the other three. He was just inches away from getting his sword off of the desk, but the demon slapped Karma's hand away.

"Ah ah ah. Let's not end the game before it begins, Karma," the demon insisted.

"We don't have much of a choice here." Twilight concluded. Everyone else has to agree on it as well. ...

"Good. ... May I give you a word of advice? Hide those weapons when I take my leave. ... Gakuho won't appreciate a death threat. Oh, and one thing. ... Not a word about our little meeting. I'll cut the game short for all of you if you do."

Again, like they had a choice there. Once that was all handled, suddenly Gakuho's body started to twitch, and shutter. His eyes rolled back into his skull, and soon Gakuho was left passed out on the floor, collapsed in nothing more than a weakened heap. For Nagisa and Karma (Two students who'd been in Orora high for years now), seeing such a powerful person collapsed on the ground was unnerving at the least. As the demon had warned, the principal began to stir again, groaning, and slowly getting up to his feet. Worried, Nagisa hid his blade away, and quickly grabbed the sword on the desk, giving it to Karma to hide it in the bag. Just as Karma zipped up the satchel, Gakuho came to his senses, hand to forehead as if getting a headache. After a bit, he soon saw the group of kids standing there.

"What're you doing here?" Gakuho asked, slightly strained but otherwise fine. The others weren't sure if they should say or not, the demon literally JUST saying they should keep quiet about it. And who's to say if the demon was still looming nearby or not? It was clear though that Gakuho had no idea what happened, down to the call.

"Nobody wants to say it. But ..." Nagisa thought, worried. Twilight was a bit quiet, but ...

"You tell me, you called us here." Pinkie suddenly blabbered on.

"No I didn't," Gakuho said, a hand on the side of head as he got up to his feet.

"Yes you did chief. The whole school heard ya," Karma agreed. They knew about the demon, but they weren't going to say that exactly, if it meant anything.

"... What did I say then?" Gakuho tested. Pinkie cleared her throat before she spoke up.

"Shiota, Kagayaki, Pie, Akabane, please report to the principal's office. Shiota, Kagayaki, Pie, Akabane, please come to the office," Pinkie recited, remembering exactly, precisely, word-for-word. Gakuho tried to recall it, but he just couldn't get a grip on the situation. When did he himself call for a student to come in? Looking outside, and from what memory he can work with, it should be the middle of finals right now! Gakuho tried to think of something to say - anything to say. It would just be embarrassing to say it was for no reason, even if he doesn't remember doing so in the first place. In the end, he finally got his own answer. It was a bit off beat, but it was the best he could come up with to fit in the situation a little. Rather than say it, he wrote it down on a piece of paper, and gave it to the others. Nagisa got it first, and it turned out it was a sort of slip. A task for them all to handle some maintenance at the E building. ...

"Head there after school, and start the process. I expect good results. Now go," Gakuho simply said. Not the best idea ever, but in his state of mind, it was good enough. The kids all knew what really happened, but they decided to roll with that punch anyway. Besides, most of them still had the finals to complete, and this time was just setting them back on time. Nagisa may not have the trouble, but he still needed to head back to class either way, so with that they all began to go, leaving Gakuho alone in his office to try and contemplate. ...

"What did happen last night? ..."

~~

The days had come and gone since the finals were completed. For the longest time, no matter which student there was, they were a bit antsy about what scores the finals would have for them. With the group, it was no different, but now they had another stressful time with this mystery demon possessing Gakuho. The obvious questions went through their minds: who was the one controlling Gakuho? and what exactly was it talking about? Nagisa never told his buddy Aladdin about it, in fear that his life would also be put in danger by this demon, even if Aladdin was a Magi angel. Twilight, Pinkie, and Karma didn't tell anyone about the situation either as the days went by. At the least, the days didn't give them anymore trouble with this demon, so they had that going for them. The excuse Gakuho came up with for them was easy enough to handle, and lucky for them (and possibly Gakuho), no one else was up to exactly questioning them. Aside from this, things had basically went on normally for them one way or another: Nagisa, Twilight, and Pinkie with their usual classes, and Karma with his mix of school and attempted murder on Korosensei.

It took quite a while, but eventually the school day had come to an end. This day, it was the day the finals were given back to everyone, and Nagisa, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie all met up by the front of the school. As they exited, they all walked out with their own grades in folders, each one none of them actually looked in yet. They've agreed to save that for everyone else.

"Oh, I'm so excited! So, who wants to show theirs first?" Pinkie asked, very excited to see what the others can get. Nagisa wasn't too sure though. He may have got it done first out of his class, but accuracy was not a strong suite with his method.

"I don't know. Yugure, you can show yours first," Nagisa offered. Twilight then got her own idea.

"I know. Here, on three, ok?"

"I gotcha!" Pinkie said. Soon, Nagisa, Twilight, and Pinkie were standing off in a circle, facing eachother, with their folders opened up. They didn't look just yet at their own grades, ready to present them.

"One. Two. Three!" They all said, swinging their arm forward, their scores now all showing for them all to see. When they all looked, the reactions were mixed, but nothing too bad. Pinkie was smiling wide, and squealing in glee, while Twilight was very pleased with the results. Nagisa was more surprised than happy on his results. For the grades themselves:

Pinkie: 69%
Twilight: 87%
Nagisa: 77%

... Seventy seven percent? For Nagisa, this was a unique little surprise to see. Usually his scores would just land him at about average, but this was basically in the B+ range - very good for final exams on his regard.

"WOO! C plus for me!" Pinkie beamed, hopping up and down in joy. It wasn't a B or A, but it was passable and good enough for the giddy girl. Twilight smiled on her score, but was rather impressed to see Nagisa's score.

"A B plus? Congratulations, Nagisa!" Twilight complimented. Nagisa began to feel pretty good with himself, though he couldn't help but sigh in relief, even with his easy method. He'd never would've guessed himself to end up on the B range of scores, and with what had happened before, this was a nice surprise. In his folder though, Nagisa then noticed a small note attached to it, with a simple message in just two words.

Clever catch.

"I knew it," Nagisa commented. He didn't realize he said it aloud until Pinkie popped up behind him, looking over his shoulder to see the note.

"Know what, buddy?"

"The trick questions. Here, look." Nagisa then went onto his exam, and showed the trick questions, which can be found easily from the answers Nagisa wrote down. Pinkie took a minute, reading through the question fast and quickly got the idea.

"OOOHHHH. Okie-dokie," Pinkie said.

"So they didn't have a straight answer! no wonder so many students kept stopping at those," Twilight noted, now understanding why that is.

"I bet Karma went through just fine. He's a smart cookie," Pinkie added.

"Speaking of which, where is Karma? Aladdin said he was going to get him when he was done," Nagisa wondered.

.......

Far away, over near the E building, Karma Akabane had taken his own stop over nearby a tree with his sword leaning on the same tree at his sidde, resting his back to it as he was thinking. He had gotten the finals done, same as everyone else. In fact, he had the test gripped in his head, had taken out of his folder a long time ago since he got the thing. His original idea was to look at the test, and then brag on it once he showed the others. It turned out, though, that score was the reason why he wouldn't go to see them after all. He gripped the score paper to the point of making it almost a crumbling ball, his eyes staring off down to the ground, as a grit filled his teeth. He was a smart kid, yet his score was not one to brag about.

Karma: 65%

Not a good showing, and not what he expected from his efforts. He could just feel the idea of higher students laughing at him, and the sense of utter failure hit him rather roughly. Sure, sixty five wasn't the worst score given - it was about an average C grade - but Karma needed a higher one to get out of E class, and for Gakuho to take him back in. An average score was not going to do that for him. ...

"Never underestimate your target. These finals were nothing to just sneeze at, you know. Many of your fellow students had done fairly well overall, the highest students tied for seventh place. I'm not surprised - they studied hard, and so did your opponents at the main building. One's only chance, was to study."

"... What're you trying to say, teach?" Karma questioned.

"Someone thought they could coast by on a devil-may-care attitude. And proceeded to royally screw it up."

Karma blushed. His teacher was the one giving him the lecture, and he hammered in every point to the student. Bad enough he didn't do good, but Korosensei was rubbing it in rather roughly. Times like this Karma wished he killed him long ago. Karma Akabane stayed quiet, looked angry, as Korosensei moved out to his side.

"Your class had to face up against an entire school in terms of grades, and while the highest ranking students put in their high grades to impress, you on the other hand have, nothing. Only fair: for that's what your non-profited, devil-care attitude has contributed towards your class, and to your cause. See where I'm going with this?"

Karma was getting more upset with this demon now, but he couldn't think up what to say. Suddenly, Korosensei was poking at his face, his own head having the green stripes.

"Anyone who refuses to apply themselves, and let the chips fall where they may, are destined for disappointment! So is the blade of the lazy assassin. In fact, I wouldn't dare call him an assassin at all! A bragger, maybe, but an assassin? I think not!"

Karma had enough: He grabbed his sword, and tried to slice at Korosensei, but each swipe of the sword met with nothing but air, until he ended up striking the tree instead. Once he did that, he got back to his senses, but he really didn't feel any better. He got out his sword, and without another word, just stormed away. When this was done

"Isn't that rather harsh?" Asked Aladdin, who watched the whole thing from nearby.

"Of course. It had to be. I tore him down so he could spring back up," Korosensei began to explain, "He's enormously talented, there's no denying that. But he's a novice: He's still not learned to be worthy of that talent. When it comes to challenges, be it either on a teacher's assignment, or when facing a demon out on the battlefield, he refuses to face them unless it's on his own terms. Therefore, he's not yet learned the value of competition. For a young child, who everything comes easy, the pain of defeat can be a much needed wake-up call."

Korosensei began to walk pass Aladdin, who was hooked onto every word Korosensei was saying. for a demon king, the creature was a sympathetic one towards his students.

"One can argue that the concept of exams may seem arbitrary, but in the end it's not about what scores you receive, it's about rising to the occasion. It's about tasting the triumphant rapture, and disgraceful failure. Both sides go hand and hand, you see. One cannot exist without the other. Both rely on each other to have meaning. To win, one has to lose!"

Korosensei stopped a bit, spreading out his arms as the breeze swept over him, gently brushing against him. Aladdin stayed quiet, and took a moment to look back to Karma, seeing the situation a bit differently. It may seem harsh, but maybe some good will come out of this after all. ...

"The difference between the novice and the master, is that the master has failed more times, than the novice has tried."