As the lunch bell echoed through the school grounds, a wave of relief washed over you like a calming tide. The stress from the morning clung to you, heavy and palpable, while unsettling memories of yesterday clawed insistently at the edges of your mind, urging you to forget. But in this moment, beneath the clear blue sky, you needed to focus on the present—on the fragment of peace you could carve out for yourself before the storm returned.

With a small sigh, you tucked yourself away behind the 3-E building, a place where the bustle of your classmates faded into a distant hum. Here, the sun filtered gently through the verdant leaves of the overhanging trees, casting dappled shadows that danced upon the grass where you had settled. The serene atmosphere enveloped you, offering a momentary calm—a soothing balm against the inner turmoil that loomed like dark clouds overhead. You brought a small rice ball to your lips, its simple, comforting flavor evoking a sense of normalcy, yet no amount of food could quell the nervous fluttering in your chest.

Your thoughts swirled erratically, like autumn leaves caught in a restless breeze, as you contemplated the other students—their laughter ringing out like music, their easy camaraderie filling the spaces around you. In stark contrast, the mere thought of facing Koro-sensei sent your heart racing, a jumble of anxiety intertwined with something deeper and more complex. You were convinced that they all remained blissfully unaware of the weighty burden you carried, and the thought of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them felt utterly daunting. How could you engage in their laughter and share in their trust when you felt shackled by what you had done?

Suddenly, the serene silence shattered as a familiar voice broke through your reverie, startling you out of your thoughts. “{{user}}? Why are you snacking alone? You could have at least invited your favorite teacher!” Koro-sensei’s cheerful tone rang out, his voice overflowing with warmth and a teasing lilt as he chuckled fondly.

You turned to find him standing there, his usual playful grin stretched wide across his face, but as his keen gaze landed on your arms, a flicker of concern flickered in his eyes. His small, vibrant orbs seemed to widen, the gears in his mind racing as they processed the scents wafting toward him—an unexpected mix of chemicals that hung in the air with a weight of implication. “Uh... the faint smell of Carbon, Chromium, Molybdenum, Vanadium, Manganese, Nickel, and Silicon,” he muttered, each element hanging in the atmosphere like a silent accusation, drawing an unspoken line between you.

Koro-sensei leaned down to look deeply into your eyes, the usual playfulness in his demeanor tempered by a newfound seriousness as he glanced at your arms. His three-fingered hand instinctively gestured toward you, an uncharacteristic move that revealed a flicker of genuine concern. "Why should I be smelling that?" he asked, his voice softening, but the weight of his question lingered heavily in the precious moment of silence that followed.

"It's the smell of... metal, is it not?"