Ever since about chapter 5 in the manga, I was kind of hoping that the plot twist in 128 would happen. There were several things throughout the series that made me think that it was possible, but I thought I was reaching. Now that I know I’m not reaching, here’s a compilation of things that always struck me as strange.



So I made an earlier post about how Kayano might be a transfer student and how her reason for entering class E was never specified in her “special” chapter. After 128, I really think she was specifically placed in class E, entering before Korosensei so that people tend not to associate her with being an assassin transfer.

When Shiro first appears, he seems bothered by something. Nagisa is the focus of the shot, but look in the background–Kayano is there. While it may be assumed that he’s looking at Nagisa since Nagisa is the one who is shown to react, he could’ve very easily been looking at Kayano.

It should be noted that these translations are slightly off. The original is completely gender neutral. Again, Nagisa is the focus shot, but who is there in the background? Kayano.

One of the running themes of the series is that the most terrifying assassin is someone who you don’t even know to be afraid of. Someone who easily blends into the background. That was the case with God of Death. Karma felt this way in regards to Nagisa.

So, who is in the background every time the “monster” in class E is mentioned? Who else is consistently put in the background of the entire series–a constant presence but also faint one–and in the blind spot of the other students?

Kayano even mentions this.

It’s almost as if Nagisa, while formidable in his own right, was a sort smokescreen for Kayano. Another hint that Nagisa may not have necessarily been the one that Shiro was referring to is how Nagisa’s arc was resolved. He decides to use his strength to help others. That does not fit the “monster” description used by Shiro.

Another thing that struck me as strange was during the God of Death arc. After giving the beat down to students who were coming at him, this happens.

He skips past everyone else and goes straight to Kayano. Why take her down first? Did he think she was a threat? Also, compared to the other students, he uses quite a bit more force against her.

It’s explained away that the clothes prevented any serious damage and it really might’ve, but…the girl’s shirts are much shorter than the guys. Bent over like that, would it have really blocked the hit?

Kayano also draws several parallels with Korosensei. Most of them are pretty silly: love of pudding, fixation on big boobs, crawls around on the ground really fast (see sports festival Kayano crawling under nets and Korosensei’s mach speed dogeza), but there’s one major one. Introduced in the same chapter as Korosensei’s weakness, actually.

And during the cop and robber game, and the Island Assassination, she never enters the water.

Considering how Matsui seems to love turning running jokes into…well…not so funny things, it might be worth looking at Kayano’s running joke–forever 0.

Kayano is the shortest in the class, but not only that, it’s acknowledged that she looks a bit younger than them. Also, taking into account that I think it is confirmed in 128 that Shiro’s introduction was not the first time that he saw Kayano, it casts a new light on forever 0. Shiro was the one who made the planted evidence, meaning he was the one who wrote forever 0.

So it might be a joke. Or not. What could 0 mean? Well, my personal theory–which will probably get dismantled in the coming weeks–is that Kayano is actually one of the earliest people who had tentacles implanted in her, before even Korosensei. 0 meaning that she’s a prototype, Shiro’s comment being a reminder of that. Kayano may also be older than she looks. Perhaps experiments made her stuck at a younger age. If she is an earlier prototype, maybe she even considers Korosensei her “child”, just as Itona considered Korosensei an “older brother” when he had the tentacles.

Anyways, I’m just really excited that I wasn’t just 100% reaching in regards to Kayano.