In the forest behind the school, an intense game of cops and robbers was underway as part of their training.
Karasuma acted as the hunter, Koro-sensei served as the warden, and Irina and the rest of the students were the robbers, while Ritsu handled the scorekeeping.
The students split up the moment the game began, scattering through the trees.
In one group, Okajima glanced over his shoulder as they ran.
"Even if it's Karasuma-sensei chasing us, this is one big mountainside!"
Fuwa nodded, slightly out of breath.
"Given the time limit, he'll only be able to tag…"
"Two or three of us, max," Hayami finished.
Chiba adjusted his grip on a low branch.
"That's right."
Before any of them could react further, a blur of movement passed through their formation. One after another, they felt a firm tap on their shoulders or backs.
Karasuma stood in front of them, his expression calm.
"You're under arrest."
Only then did the four of them realize what had happened.
"Huh?"
"What?"
Ritsu appeared on the students' phones, dressed in a small police costume, and declared clearly,
"Okajima-san, Hayami-san, Chiba-san, Fuwa-san — out!"
Further away, Nagisa listened to the announcement and sighed.
"…Karasuma-sensei is too good."
Karma smirked.
"But now we know where he is. Let's move away from that area for now."
Kayano glanced around the group.
"By the way… does anyone know where Akira-kun is? We haven't heard much from him."
Karma shrugged.
"Knowing him, it's probably nothing normal. Let's try contacting him."
Nagisa nodded and raised his hand to his earpiece.
"Akira-kun, where are you?"
Akira's voice came through a moment later, calm and slightly distant.
"I am hiding in a secure location. Over."
Nagisa looked bewildered.
"What do you mean 'hiding'? Akira-kun, this game is—"
"Alright," Akira interrupted. "For the sake of reducing sound, I am cutting off further connection. Over."
The line went dead.
Everyone who had been listening let out a collective sigh, already wondering what he was up to this time.
---
Meanwhile, high in a sturdy tree deeper in the forest, Akira sat comfortably on a thick branch with a notebook open on his knee. His pencil moved steadily across the page as he refined another design sketch.
Ritsu's face appeared on his phone, still wearing the tiny police uniform.
"Akira-kun, are you not playing?"
Akira didn't look up from his drawing.
"I am playing. In cops and robbers, as long as the robbers stay hidden until the end, we win. So I'm hiding here. It's a perfect strategy."
"Akira-kun, this is PE class," Ritsu replied. "This training is for parkour. If you just hide the whole time, it completely defeats the purpose."
"I'm already better at parkour than everyone in class," Akira answered. "I was trained in that a long time ago. Besides, I have more important things to do."
Ritsu leaned closer to the camera, examining the sketch.
"Are you still designing my body during class…? Wait. Is that a rocket fist? Why did you add a rocket fist to my model?"
Akira finally glanced up, his expression completely serious.
"Because they're good. They work as a long-range weapon and for close range. You could even remotely control them like drones or use them as homing punches. They're cool."
"I could just use a regular weapon for all of that," Ritsu pointed out. "And… what if I lose my arms after an attack?"
Akira went quiet for a few seconds, considering the problem.
"…Should I add a self-destruct function to those fists too?"
Ritsu looked shocked.
"What? That's not what I was talking about—"
A familiar voice suddenly spoke from directly behind him.
"Found you."
Both Akira and Ritsu screamed.
"Ahhhh— Erika?!"
Erika stood on a nearby branch with her hands on her hips, looking down at him.
"Why are you always so careless?"
Akira leaned back against the trunk.
"Just so you know, not many people can sneak up on me. But whenever you're near me… I lose some of my survival instincts."
Erika frowned.
"What does that even mean?"
Akira shrugged.
"…I don't know either."
She turned her gaze to the phone.
"And Ritsu, you're literally in my phone too. Why did you also scream?"
Ritsu looked mildly defensive.
"I was just going with the flow, okay?"
Akira shot the screen a look.
"At least tell me before she arrives next time."
Ritsu looked away guiltily.
"That would be too boring, though."
Akira considered it for a second, then nodded.
"…Understandable."
Erika crossed her arms.
"Anyway, Akira. You can't just hide from PE class."
"I was playing," he insisted. "I was hiding in a secure—" He suddenly paused. "Wait. How did you find me?"
Erika's expression softened into a small smile.
"Did you forget? I always know where you are. Your heart belongs to me, remember?"
For a moment, the two of them simply looked at each other.
Ritsu's voice cut in, curious.
"Is that one of those cheesy romantic lines I heard about?"
"Noooo!" both of them shouted at the exact same time.
Ritsu stared at them through the screen.
"…That was suspiciously synchronized."
Erika coughed and quickly regained her composure.
"Anyway. As I said, Akira, you can't just hide from a class activity."
Akira waved a hand.
"I participate in every event. Like that giant pudding trap Kayano planned."
Erika gave him a flat look.
"Sure, you helped make it. But you ate almost half of it before Koro-sensei even got there. After he disabled the bomb and ate the rest, the class only got a tiny portion."
"I couldn't help it," Akira said. "I was hungry. You drank a lot from me before that, so I couldn't help it."
Erika's eye twitched.
"Hey. It wasn't that much. Only a little bit more than normal. Not that much."
Ritsu's voice suddenly became sharper.
"Drank what from him, exactly?"
Both Akira and Erika froze.
They had completely forgotten she was still listening.
Akira recovered first, speaking a little too quickly.
"It's water. Sparkling water. Nothing else."
Erika nodded rapidly.
"Yeah. It was just water… yeah. Water."
On the screen, Ritsu's police costume had somehow changed into a detective outfit. She narrowed her eyes.
"Hmmm. Suspicious."
Before either of them could dig the hole any deeper, a calm voice spoke near them.
"You're both under arrest."
Karasuma stood on a nearby branch. In the time it took them to look at him, he had already tagged both of them on the shoulder.
Akira recovered from the surprise and stared at him.
"Wait—how did you find us? This place is deeper than usual."
Karasuma landed lightly on the forest floor again.
"You two were too loud."
Akira let out a long sigh.
In the end, even though Akira and Erika had been caught, the robbers still won the game.
Koro-sensei, as it turned out, was extremely easy to bribe.
Akira and Erika returned home after school, both looking really tired.
Akira dropped onto the sofa with a long sigh.
"Man… today was exhausting."
Erika sat down beside him and gave him a flat look.
"You literally did nothing but draw the whole time."
Akira stretched his arms over his head.
"I don't know why, but school is exhausting. Maybe it's psychological."
Erika, who had been attending school far longer than he had, only shrugged.
"Well, that's one of the things about going to school. You'll get used to it."
Akira smiled faintly.
"I see. I'll get used to it eventually."
Erika stood up.
"You rest. I'll get something cold for you."
"I'll rest in the lab," Akira replied, already pushing himself up. "I still need to finish the basic framework for Ritsu's body."
Erika sighed as she headed toward the kitchen.
"Who rests in a lab…? Well, whatever you like."
Akira went straight to the lab, connected his notebook, and uploaded the day's sketches to the main computer. A moment later, Ritsu's face appeared on the monitor.
"Are you going to use your arc reactor to power my body?" she asked.
"That's the plan," Akira said. "If you have another idea, you can say so."
"No. That's the most powerful and stable power source we have right now, so I'm okay with it." She paused. "But… is it alright to use it on me? It's valuable technology, right?"
Akira didn't even look up from the screen.
"It's just you, though."
Ritsu was quiet for a second.
"…Thank you."
Then she asked another question, more carefully.
"About the Quantum Soul Matrix you gave me before… will you transfer it into this new body, or will it stay in my original one?"
Akira stopped typing and thought for a moment.
"That's something you have to decide yourself. What do you think?"
Ritsu's expression turned slightly uncertain.
"…I need more time to decide that."
Akira smiled.
"Okay. Take your time. We can figure out the body itself first."
Ritsu smiled back.
"Sure."
Then her eyes drifted across the latest schematic, and she pointed at one section.
"Why does my hand transform into a drill?"
Akira answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Because drills are important. They're something that can pierce the heavens."
Ritsu stared at him.
"…Is that from Gurren Lagann?"
Akira stared at her.
"Yes."
She scrolled further down the design.
"Then what about this portable pile driver attachment?"
Akira opened his mouth.
"That's—"
The lab door slid open. Erika walked in carrying two cold drinks and held up her phone.
"Guys, did you check the class group chat?"
Both Akira and Ritsu paused.
"What?"
Erika turned the screen toward them. Nagisa had sent a photo of a magazine cover. The headline was impossible to miss:
A Quiet Neighborhood Shaken
A Yellow Menace Targets F-Cups and Above
Late-Night Terror in Kunugigaoka
Akira and Ritsu looked at the image for a long second.
Then, in perfect unison:
"…Oh."