Akira stood smugly in the doorway, hands in his pockets, facing the group of scientists and uniformed men surrounding Ritsu.
He winked at them.
"So… are you all ready for your retribution?"
The lead scientist narrowed his eyes.
"What retribution? Who are you?"
Akira looked slightly annoyed.
"I told you already, didn't I? I'm the mysterious transfer student of Class 3-E."
The lead scientist stared at him blankly.
"How am I supposed to know what that means? Tell me your name."
Akira dramatically pointed at them and roared back,
"How dare you not know my name?! Don't you know who I am?"
The scientist looked genuinely confused.
"That's exactly what I just told you. I have no idea who you are."
Akira looked shocked, as if the world had betrayed him.
"What? How could you not?"
Ritsu, watching from her screen, asked hesitantly,
"Akira-kun… what are you doing here?"
One of the other scientists suddenly perked up.
"Wait… Akira? That superhuman mysterious transfer student from Class 3-E?"
Akira's expression brightened immediately.
"Yeah, exactly! That's exactly what I was trying to say. I'm him."
The lead scientist looked exasperated.
"Then why didn't you say so before?"
Akira crossed his arms with a huff.
"What kind of mysterious transfer student goes around announcing themselves? You're supposed to recognize me just from my aura and looks. I mean, who in the world looks as handsome as me?"
Everyone fell silent.
No one knew what to say.
They had been in a serious, high-stakes situation moments ago.
Now... what the hell even happened?
Where did the serious atmosphere go?
Outside the classroom, Erika watched the whole thing unfold, covering her face with both hands and pretending with all her might that she had no idea who this person was.
Finally, the lead scientist regained some composure.
"So, what are you doing here? Don't you know you're not allowed to enter the school at this time? We already got permission to lock this place down. How did you even get in here?"
Akira shrugged casually.
"There isn't a wall in this world that can stop my path. And there isn't even a wall here, so how could I stop?"
Now everyone was even more confused.
What did he even mean?
The lead scientist, clearly losing patience, snapped,
"What the hell are you actually here for?"
Akira blinked, as if he had genuinely forgotten.
"Oh, that. I forgot my book here. I came to get it back."
Under the astonished gazes of everyone present, Akira casually walked over to his desk, opened the compartment, and pulled out a single book.
"Here, I got it…"
He turned to leave, then stopped as if remembering something.
"Wait, I almost forgot. Why are you bullying my classmate?"
The lead scientist scoffed.
"What classmate? That's a machine. It isn't functioning properly, so as her creator, I'm going to fix it."
Akira tilted his head.
"Oh? By fixing it, you mean completely erasing her?"
The scientist replied coldly,
"There's a problem with her, so what's wrong with me doing that?"
Akira turned toward Ritsu.
"Did you even ask her for permission?"
The scientist looked incredulous.
"Why would I need permission? She's government property."
Akira ignored him and asked Ritsu directly,
"What did you say?"
Ritsu's voice was steady on the screen.
"I refuse to be erased."
Akira turned back toward the scientists and nodded in satisfaction.
"See? She doesn't want to. You should leave her alone."
The lead scientist's face hardened.
"She's government property, and this mission is related to saving the world. As a machine, she has no rights."
Akira's expression turned serious.
"I don't care. As someone who can make her own decisions and go against her prime directive, she's already a sentient being. And as Optimus Prime said, freedom and autonomy are the rights of all sentient beings. So you have no right to touch her."
Ritsu, still displayed on the large screen, looked at Akira with grateful, shining eyes.
"Akira-kun…"
Even some of the men in uniform seemed momentarily moved by the scene.
The lead scientist's face twisted in anger.
"Do you think this is a joke?"
Akira tilted his head, looking genuinely confused.
"What joke? I am completely serious here. Optimus Prime really said it. If you don't believe me, go watch it."
Once again, the entire room fell into confused silence.
No one knew how to respond anymore.
Who was this guy?
What was he even trying to do?
Akira continued casually, as if he hadn't noticed the complicated expressions on everyone's faces.
"Anyway, with me here, you're not doing anything to her. So all of you better leave."
The atmosphere immediately turned tense again.
The uniformed men instinctively tightened their grips on their equipment.
The lead scientist stepped forward.
"And who are you to tell us to leave? This is a government matter. Get lost. We will do what we want. You have no right to question us."
Akira's expression shifted.
His voice dropped into a low, threatening tone.
"Oh? You think you can do whatever you want to her… with me here?"
He slowly cracked his knuckles, the sound sharp in the quiet room.
His gaze swept over them, and for a brief moment, an invisible pressure filled the air—like an apex predator locking eyes with its prey.
Everyone instinctively took a step back.
The lead scientist swallowed, trying to keep his voice steady.
"W-What are you trying to do? Remember, we are government employees. Hurting us is illegal, and the government won't let you go if you do this."
The heavy pressure suddenly vanished.
Akira's face instantly returned to its usual dramatic, innocent expression.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Why would I hurt you? I am a law-abiding citizen. I would never do anything illegal."
Everyone stared at him, stunned.
One of the scientists pointed at their still-glitching devices.
"Didn't you hack our devices just now? Isn't that illegal?"
Akira placed a hand on his chest, looking deeply offended.
"What hack? Your devices simply hacked themselves from the overwhelming aura of the handsome protagonist radiating from me. It has nothing to do with me."
The scientists looked at his completely fake innocent expression, as if the world itself had wronged him, and finally lost the last of their patience.
The lead scientist screamed, veins bulging on his forehead.
"What nonsense are you talking about?! Stop wasting our time and get lost!"
Akira struck a dramatic pose, one hand raised as if delivering a grand declaration.
"I will not get lost! For the whole reason I am here is to waste time. Well, I think I've wasted enough time."
The lead scientist stared at him, completely lost.
"What do you mean?"
Akira ignored him and turned toward Ritsu with a smile.
"Well, tonight's protagonist isn't me anyway. Are you finished, Ritsu?"
Everyone turned toward her in confusion.
Ritsu smiled from the large screen, her expression calm and confident.
"Yes. Thank you for buying time, Akira-kun. Thanks to you, I managed to hack into their personal computers and gather all their dirty secrets."
As she spoke, documents, files, and images began appearing one after another across the screen.
Private messages.
Financial records.
Classified reports.
And things that were clearly never meant to see the light of day.
The scientists' faces turned deathly pale as document after document appeared on Ritsu's screen—classified reports, financial records, private messages, and things that were clearly never meant to see the light of day.
These were secrets that could threaten both national security and their own personal reputations.
The lead scientist's voice cracked.
"How is that possible?! These are all locked under layer upon layer of security! It's impossible for you—a unit made only for combat—to hack into our secure folders! How did you do it?!"
Ritsu's voice came out calm and confident from the screen.
"I have already evolved past that version of myself. Now I can access just about any online PC… including yours."
The lead scientist looked like he had seen a ghost.
"How is that possible?!"
Ritsu continued,
"Thanks to Akira-kun, I managed to infiltrate your computers and complete my analysis. I believe I now possess sufficient leverage to negotiate."
Akira clapped his hands once and smiled brightly.
"Well, since it's come to this, I think everyone should just sit down and talk things through. What do you all think? Or would you rather have all your dirty laundry aired out in public?"
The lead scientist's face twisted in rage.
"Do you think you can walk away after threatening national security?! This entire place is surrounded by military personnel! Don't think you can escape!"
Akira waved a hand dismissively.
"Oh, them? Don't worry about them."
He clapped his hands twice.
Everyone tensed, wondering what was about to happen.
...Nothing happened.
Akira looked slightly confused and clapped again.
Still nothing.
He finally shouted toward the door,
"Erika, it's your cue!"
A moment later, the classroom door opened.
Erika walked in, casually dragging a large pile of unconscious military personnel tied together with rope.
She looked mildly annoyed.
Akira turned to her with a bright smile.
"Why didn't you come in when I clapped?"
Erika gave him a flat look.
"You only told me to come in when you asked me to come in. You never said anything about clapping."
Akira looked genuinely offended.
"It was supposed to be implied!"
The lead scientist stared at the tied-up soldiers in horror.
"What did you do to them?! Don't you know this is illegal?!"
Akira placed a hand on his chest, looking deeply misunderstood.
"What did I do? All those guys just fell asleep on the job. I was kind enough to gather them all here for you. You should be thanking me. Why are you blaming me?"
The lead scientist pointed at him, speechless for a moment.
"You...!"
Akira smiled innocently.
"So, now that all these military guys have unusually fallen asleep together, do you want to talk this through... or...?"
The room fell silent.
Everyone was shocked.
As they hesitated, unsure of what to do, Akira ignored them and pulled out his phone, casually scrolling through the leaked documents.
"Oh look. Fifty million for toilet paper... in one month? How many times did you guys go to the toilet?"
He swiped to the next file.
"Ohhh, this one. You guys bought five hundred thousand mouse pads? What the hell were you doing?"
He opened another document and grinned even wider.
"Oh, lead scientist guy... You have wild taste. And you even recorded all of this?"
The lead scientist's face turned bright red.
He looked like he was about to have a stroke.
"D-Don't do anything stupid! We can talk this through!"
And so the negotiations began.
The classroom desks had been rearranged into two clear sides.
On one side sat Akira, Erika, and Ritsu.
On the other sat the scientists and the men in uniform.
In the middle, Koro-sensei took his place with a serious expression, acting as the mediator.
Akira blinked and suddenly looked confused.
"Wait, Koro-sensei? Why are you here?"
Koro-sensei let out his signature laugh.
"Nuruhuhuhuhu~! Of course I'm here! My student is in an important moment of her life. As her teacher, it's my duty to help mediate this discussion."
Ritsu smiled from the screen.
"Thank you, Koro-sensei."
The scientists looked visibly worried by his presence.
Koro-sensei clapped his tentacles together.
"Anyway, let us begin. First, Ritsu-kun... what is it that you want?"
Ritsu spoke calmly and clearly.
"I want independence from my creators and a promise that they will not try to harm me in the future. In exchange, I will not release any of the records we collected."
The lead scientist slammed his hand on the desk.
"Impossible! You are a military asset belonging to the Norwegian government!"
Akira lazily raised a hand.
"Objection. She was registered as a student of Class 3-E. As a student, she is already considered a person, not an object."
The lead scientist faltered.
"B-But that's..."
Akira leaned forward with a sharp smile.
"What? Are you saying she's an object? If so, then Koro-sensei's rule about not hurting students wouldn't apply to her... or to any future units you might send."
The scientists went silent.
They had registered her as a student specifically so Koro-sensei wouldn't attack her.
Now that same logic was being used against them.
The lead scientist tried to recover.
"Fine! Even if we treat her as a person, her legal guardian is still me. As a minor, any important decisions regarding her must go through me."
Akira's smile widened.
"Well then... You trying to erase her could be considered child abuse, right?"
The lead scientist's face twitched.
"You...!"
Koro-sensei raised a tentacle to calm everyone.
"No need to argue. The decision here should be made by Ritsu-kun herself. Ritsu-kun, tell us what you want."
Ritsu thought for a moment before speaking clearly.
"As I said before, I want to be independent. I don't want any more involvement with my creators. As for legal guardianship... how about temporarily putting Karasuma-sensei in charge of me, at least until I graduate?"
Somewhere in his room, Karasuma suddenly sneezed.
"What happened? Did I catch a cold?"
Back in the classroom, everyone stared at Ritsu in shock.
Koro-sensei asked gently,
"Are you sure that's what you want, Ritsu-kun?"
Ritsu nodded without hesitation.
"Yes. Going independent is the best choice for me. Having Karasuma-sensei as my temporary guardian will also ensure I maintain some government connection while allowing me to continue my assassination mission. I think it's a perfect arrangement."
Akira nodded in approval.
"Yeah... that's actually a great idea."
Ritsu continued,
"Exactly. So as long as you allow me to change my guardian to Karasuma-sensei, I will—"
Akira raised his hand.
"Wait. I have more conditions."
The lead scientist glared at him.
"What else do you want?"
Akira's tone turned serious.
"My demands are simple. I want everything Ritsu asked for. In addition, I want your organization to completely withdraw from this assassination mission and agree not to send any more artillery units to this class."
The lead scientist stood up abruptly.
"That's outrageous!"
Akira raised both hands in a calming gesture.
"Relax. First, listen to me. I won't leave you empty-handed. If you agree to my requests, I will first promise not to release any of the confidential information we collected. And second..."
He took out his phone and projected a complex block of code onto the classroom wall.
The scientists' eyes widened in shock.
One of them whispered,
"Is that...?"
Akira nodded.
"Yeah. That's the perfected code for the Autonomous Intelligent Fixed Artillery. It fixes all the bugs, removes redundant functions, and greatly improves efficiency. I'll give it to you. What do you think?"
The scientists stared at the code with complicated expressions.
Greed.
Shock.
Reluctant admiration.
Some even looked emotional.
Erika leaned closer to Akira and whispered,
"Is it okay to give them this?"
Akira muttered back,
"It's nothing. I wrote it while coming here."
He turned back to the scientists with a confident smile.
"So... Will you accept my demands? Or...?"
Right on cue, Ritsu flashed a particularly damaging piece of information across her screen.
In the end, the perfected code was simply too valuable to pass up.
It was far more important to them than the bounty money or the assassination mission.
And with those secrets hanging over their heads, they knew they couldn't afford to refuse.
They agreed.
As the scientists and soldiers began to leave, Ritsu looked at Akira from the screen.
"Are you sure about giving them that for me? That program seems much better than mine."
Akira smiled and shook his head.
"Don't worry about it. As far as I'm concerned, you've already surpassed that version. In the future, your growth will probably eclipse anything they manage to create. So don't worry."
He paused before adding warmly,
"And besides... you're my classmate. Exchanging just this much to help you become independent is completely worth it."
Ritsu's eyes softened with genuine gratitude.
"Thank you, Akira-kun."
Akira smiled back.
"Don't worry about it."
Erika let out a long sigh of relief.
"Good thing it didn't escalate too much..."
Meanwhile, Koro-sensei pulled out a form with a bright smile.
"I will go find Karasuma-sensei to fill out the paperwork for Ritsu-kun then! Nuruhuhuhuhu~!!"
And with that, he dashed out of the classroom at high speed.
Erika turned toward Akira.
"So... what's next?"
Akira suddenly looked like he had remembered something important.
"Well... oh. I still haven't finished my homework for tomorrow. I have to finish that soon."
Without another word, he turned and ran out of the classroom toward his house.
Erika and Ritsu looked at each other and sighed with the same exasperated but relaxed smile.
---