Chapter Text
"Okay? You will obey your father, right?"
Kaede gets goosebumps listening to Takaoka, she has a bad feeling.
"Well I…" she looks up, smiling politely. "I don't want to. I'd rather have classes with Karasuma-sensei."
Takaoka raises his arm, intending to slap Kanzaki.
Kaede can see the action in slow motion and tells herself not to interfere, but a small voice begs her to intervene, reminding her of how Kanzaki had let her guard down slightly with her telling her about her parents, Kanzaki will obviously get in trouble if his parents notice the blow. His head starts to ache and he feels a strong anger surge as the tentacles warn him that his identity could be exposed.
In the end the little voice wins, her body moving before her mind thinks of the consequences.
He steps between them, pushing Kanzaki aside.
And the hand falls on her, untying her hair.
Kaede subconsciously grinds her teeth, to keep from biting her tongue.
Duck your head when you hit the ground hard and tuck your arms in to avoid putting too much pressure on your back and damaging your spine.
His jaw throbs in pain, but compared to his father Takaoka's punch is nothing special.
She wanted to destroy Takaoka's method of education, she feels how anger turns that desire into a need, the tentacles try to stop her, but the only thing they do is make her angrier, and if the blow had already intervened, then why not return it?
At the thought, he giggles a couple of times, feeling the thrill of humiliating Takaoka.
He stands up, smiling slightly showing his teeth.
"Is that the best you've got, sensei?~" She sneers, as Class E rushes towards her in concern. "Try hitting me harder next time, maybe it might hurt~." She says as she tilts her head to the side, her short hair slightly covering one of her eyes, the tentacles trying to stop the bloodlust, but a little leaks out scaring Takaoka, as Kaede never let her out.
Takaoka seems shocked by Kaede's smile. He clearly did not expect her to take Kanzaki's blow instead. On the other hand, she had already found out what Takaoka's philosophy was, it revolved around the fact that the students were afraid of him, but seeing a student receive a blow from another of her own free will makes the others realize that they can reveal themselves and take care of each other.
Takaoka then raises his hand, intending to beat up Kaede, but Isogai and Maehara won't let him, grabbing his arms and twisting them behind him. While he's stuck, Kanzaki, Nagisa, and Sugino go to Kaede, while Okuda goes to the classroom to see if he can find Koro-sensei and the medicine cabinet.
"Stop, Takaoka!" Karasuma runs towards him, seeing Isogai and Maehara let go.
"Are you ok?" Karasuma-sensei inspected his wound, "Is there any pain in your neck?"
"No, I'm fine Karasuma-sensei." Kaede forces a natural smile, despite the pain.
"Thank you, Kaede." Kanzaki smiled softly, placing the ice pack on her cheek that Okuda had brought just then.
Seeing that smile, Kaede feels her breath catch in her throat, her heart races and she feels that a blush will come to light if she doesn't stay calm. However, at the last moment he manages to calm down.
"It was nothing, what kind of friend would I be if I let you get hit in front of my eyes?" He says while shrugging.
"Wow, remind me never to make you mad Kayano" Sugino says.
"Yes, I could never imagine you like this" Nagisa says astonished and Okuda nods at what he said.
Kaede just smiled nervously realizing that the weak girl facade had gone down the drain. The tentacles hissed in anger, and Kaede winced mentally, imagining how unbearable the tentacles would be for at least a week.