Adventures in Solitude
is an Assassination Classroom fanfiction taking place fifteen years after the original Assclass. Nagisa, now happily married to Kayano, Karma, and Gakushuu seems to finally be getting his life together after a traumatic youth. The most important (And only, for that matter) teacher at Constellate Junior High, he spends his days following in Korosensei's footsteps and teaching troubled youths. Life is good.
But everything he believes is abruptly tossed on its head when he meets a strange student who he quickly becomes convinced is the Reincarnation of Korosensei. And as he gets to know the rest of his seemingly average class, in between attempting to help them with their issues and unfurl their secrets, he may just deal with the most interesting thing he's faced since he was fourteen.
As old wounds are reopened, Nagisa's suddenly stuck not looking only towards the past, but towards the future as well. And he'll have to learn how to live up to Korosensei's impossible legacy if he ever wants to be able to get through to the prickly Fumiko Hisakawa, help out the deeply insecure Kiyoshi Karasuma, or get to the bottom of just what the hell is going on with the mysterious Makoto Himura, who may just be connected to the mentor he lost all those years ago...
Adventures In Solitude contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: And in multiple flavors! Ranging from talk of Nagisa and Gakushuu's more literal abusive parents to Karma and Kayano's more subtle sort. Of course, additionally, in true Assclass fashion, all of the new characters have complicated relationships with their parents as well. Makoto's dad is downright neglectful and verbally abusive, and Fumiko's parents are deeply narcissistic and controlling.
- Always Someone Better: A recurring theme throughout the story, namely on the topic of Korosensei. Where Nagisa fears he'll never live up to his mentor's legacy, Makoto fears he'll never live up to who he was before.
- Amnesiac Villain Joins the Heroes: Like it or not, Kiyoshi's pretty much too integrated into his friend group for any 'takebacksies' by the time he learns his true identity. (Not that he'd ever WANT said takebacksies.)
- An Arm and a Leg: After she ends up being wounded by a land mine in Ukraine, Irina loses a leg and a half.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Neither Kiyoshi or Fumiko really believe Makoto when he first comes forward to them about having been Korosensei. This quickly turns hilarious when they both later learn that they're reincarnates as well.
- Badass Teacher: DON'T mess with Nagisa's kids. He may strike you as a clumsy twink, but he WAS a professional killer during his middle school years.
- Bear Hug: Makoto is a notorious dispenser of these. Although one of the most touching by far is when Kiyoshi tells him about his past life and expects Makoto to either run away from him or... Like... Sock him in the face. Instead, Makoto gives him a massive hug, begs him to stop crying, and tells him he's there for him no matter what.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Kiyoshi starts to feel excluded, and like the third-wheel of the friend group when Fumiko confides in Makoto about the Aguri thing. In his fear of being left behind, he openly expresses to Fumiko that he wishes he had some cool secret past life like she does. He quickly regrets this.
- Birthday Episode: There are chapters dedicated to both Fumiko and Makoto's birthdays, alongside Nagisa's.
- Book Ends: Relatively early in the fic Nagisa comes forward to Kayano with his suspicions about Makoto with the phrase "Can I say something crazy?" At the very end of the fic Makoto pulls Nagisa aside with the very same phrase to let him know that he thinks Futsuki is connected to The Reaper 2.0.
- Both Sides Have a Point: During the Civil War arc. Makoto's right in that Kiyoshi's a new person who didn't ask to be born, and shouldn't necessarily have to be punished for actions performed by another version of himself. But Fumiko's also 100% reasonable in not trusting Kiyoshi and making the claim that she shouldn't be obligated to trust any version of Yanagisawa. And she's right! Because the man DID beat the shit out of her. It's a complicated situation all around
- Butt-Monkey: To quote the author: "I genuinely don't know if Kiyoshi's cosmic joke of a life is a bigger kick in the nuts to him or to the reader."
- Comic Trio: The Newtime trio. While Makoto is The Leader, Fumiko and Kiyoshi juggle being The Fool and the Only Sane Man.
- Cooldown Hug: Fumiko attempts to give Makoto one when he's having his panic attack, but he ends up tossing her away from him. This ends up triggering her memories of being Aguri and the successful cooldown hug she gave him back then.
- Dad's Off Fighting in the War: Irina disappears about 2/3rds into the fic to go overseas and investigate some stuff in Ukraine as a part of her job. It ends poorly.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Fumiko, as Makoto and Kiyoshi manage to get through to her icy exterior. Although ultimately it's not too hard a feat seeing as how deep down she's just a goofy kid who wants to have fun like everyone else.
- Dreaming of Times Gone By: Makoto has dreams of Korosensei's life. As do Fumiko and Kiyoshi about their own past lives.
- Et Tu, Brute?: After Makoto 'takes Kiyoshi's side' during the Civil War Arc, she expresses that while she's not that surprised Yanagisawa was willing to hurt her, she feels genuinely betrayed and hurt that KOROSENSEI of all people would be willing to hurt her like this.
- Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: Inverted. Fumiko isn't willing to forgive Kiyoshi for what he did to her, but also doesn't want Yanagisawa to take anything more from her than he already has. And as such, even if she's not willing to forgive him, she doesn't want to lose Kiyoshi's friendship. They stay friends and vow to move on, but that doesn't mean she owes him any sort of forgiveness, because he can never undo that.
- I Am Who?: While Makoto already has sort of an inkling of who he is, the revelation of their past lives takes both Fumiko and Kiyoshi by complete surprise
- Locked Out of the Loop: Makoto and Kiyoshi deliberately hide the information from Fumiko when they learn about Kiyoshi's past life. This ends up catching up to them.
- Meaningful Rename: Fumiko taking the last name Yukimura later in life, both as a deceleration that she doesn't want to be a Hisakawa and won't stand for the abuse her parents put her through, and as a reclamation of her past identity.
- Nature vs. Nurture: One of the big themes tackled in the fic, both in regards to characters parented by terrible people trying to break free of the 'shackles' of their genes, and characters with horrible past lives trying to break away from the 'influence' of said lives due to what they learned growing up this time around.
- Nervous Wreck: Kiyoshi is pretty much constantly on edge. He gets better, though.
- Noodle Incident: The Moonlight Quartet has a lot of these.
- Papa Wolf: Although Karasuma isn't exactly the ideal father, when he sees Kiyoshi with a black eye it sets off every protective instinct inside of him as he instantly demands Kiyoshi tell him who did this to him. After the incident he tries harder to be a more proactive parent.
- Parents as People: Karasuma and Irina. They're wonderful people, but lackluster or even downright bad parents to Kiyoshi. They love him and try their hardest... buttttt... they're occupied with their jobs and their own respective traumas more often than not.
- Parental Neglect: Makoto's father. This fosters his reckless behavior and "I need to fight for myself" attitude at the start of the story.
- Past-Life Memories: Makoto having these is a large part of his story. They're the reason he comes to the conclusion that he's Korosensei, and a source of him having information he'd have no other way of knowing. They come to him both in dreams and while he's awake, although sometimes more subtly than others. Later in the story Fumiko and Kiyoshi begin to suffer from these as well.
- Rage Against the Reflection: Kiyoshi punches a mirror and injures his left hand pretty badly in the middle of his Heroic BSoD
- Reformed, but Rejected: Fumiko's reaction to Kiyoshi's identity, as opposed to Makoto's Easily Forgiven.
- Reincarnation: This one is a given. It's the driving force of the plot, with Makoto being the reincarnation of Korosensei, and Fumiko and Kiyoshi being the reincarnations of Aguri and Yanagisawa respectively
- Reincarnation Romance: Played with. The fact that Fumiko and Makoto were in love in their past lives is brought up and consistently reflected on, to the point where they partially believe the reason they found each other again was because they cared so much. But they don't let it color their platonic relationship in this life, and when they get together as teenagers it has nothing to do with their past lives. To the point where Makoto is legitimately afraid of entering a relationship out of fear of being
Strangled by the Red String or not living up to Fumiko's expectations. - Reincarnation-Identifying Trait: Makoto's familiar Cheshire Cat Grin is brought up a lot. And by a lot we mean a LOT. Additionally, Kiyoshi's mismatched eyes are a bit of a hint as to his true identity.
- Shipper on Deck: Makoto towards Nagisa and all of his spouses. To the point where it can get a little embarrassing.
- Stepford Smiler: Makoto has massive issues letting himself be perceived as anything except cheerful and fully capable.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Fumiko, who can be both extremely cold or extremely sweet depending on the people she's around.
- Talking to the Dead: Makoto has one of these at Aguri's grave. It ends up being ironic because Aguri's not as gone as he thinks.
- Tears of Remorse: Kiyoshi has pretty much an entire arc full of these!
- The Atoner: Kiyoshi, once he learns what he's done.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: Literally no-one could have seen the sweet Kiyoshi being the ultimate evil responsible for all his friends' suffering coming. Not even Kiyoshi.
- The Reveal: Fumiko is WHAT? Kiyoshi is WHO!?
- These Hands Have Killed: Makoto is haunted by the lives The Reaper ended, even though he pretends to be relatively unbothered. This culminates in several massive panic attacks.
- Tragic Keepsake: Nagisa now has and wears Korosensei's tie (Which in an of itself was a Tragic Keepsake for Korosensei himself) as a reminder of what he lost and what he fights for.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: What first lets Nagisa know Makoto is a kid in need of some serious help.
- So Proud of You: After Nagisa slaps some sense into Karasuma and Kiyoshi admits he thinks Karasuma resents him Karasuma resolves to tell Kiyoshi something he's proud of him for every single day.
- Wham Episode: Chapter 30: Inheritance Time. It starts off as a fun goofy romp through Fumiko and Makoto running for class representatives, and ends with the reveal that Kiyoshi is the reincarnate of Yanagisawa, the worst character in the series and their mutual abuser.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Just when Nagisa's starting to think he's not good enough in comparison to Korosensei, Makoto: Who may as well be Korosensei in the flesh, pulls him aside and tells him that not only does he think he's doing an amazing job, but that he thinks NAGISA is the best teacher a boy could ask for. Not Korosensei.
