Karma

Karma walks down a street after school. Training is canceled because Akari wanted to join the study group. He has no interests in it because he believes he can fare well without it.

"Now... what should I have for lunch?" Karma wonders aloud. "Ramen?"

As he walks on, he catches something in the edge of his vision. He spins his head to the left. It is a gift store. His reflection stares back at him in the well-polished showcase glass. Large colourful teddy bears align horizontally on the opposite of the glass; their beady black eyes remind him of Korosensei's.

An idea pops up in his mind. I should buy something for her.

He takes out his phone and summons Ritsu, who is always available whenever anyone needs her. "Ritsu, do girls like teddy bears?"

Ritsu immediately searches the web and creates a detailed statistic within minutes. "According to the statistics, over 80% of girls like teddy bears. The next preference is flowers. Then chocolates. "

Karma taps his chin. Teddy bears huh? But they don't suit her.

As he glances from outside of the shop, he spots something blue snuggled within the corners of the tiny premise.

That's it.

"Are you buying one for Akari-chan?" Ritsu asks with her chirpy voice.

"How'd you know?"

Ritsu immediately changes her wardrobe into a Sherlock Holmes outfit, accompanied with a magnifying glass. "I've been noticing that you and Akari-chan have been very close."

"You're lucky because you're animated or else I'll force wasabi down your throat like the other three stalkers," Karma replies nonchalantly.

Ritsu flinches. "By the way... Akari-chan's birthday is in Summer, in case you're wondering for an excuse to gift her a present."

"That's very thoughtful of you. Thank you."

"You're welcome!"

Her birthday huh? I can save up enough money for it.

Karma pushes the door to enter but stops when his phone rings. He picks it up. It is Isogai.

"What's up?" Karma asks. It is rare to have Isogai call him. Even though they're love rivals, he respects the male class rep and admires his leadership, something Karma can never cultivate because he prefers manipulation. However, he doesn't get used to Isogai treating him nice and helping him by solving conflicts around him. Karma appreciates it but he couldn't accustom to kindness. After all, people stay away from him because he is a devil. Isogai approaches him despite his notorious fame.

"Have you seen Akari?"

Karma doesn't like the sound of it. "I thought she was with you."

"She's... missing..."

Karma snaps. "What do you mean she's missing?!"

"She... she ran off... just meet us at the ramen shop near her apartment!"

Karma immediately summons Ritsu. His fingers are quaking badly that he almost dropped the phone. "Ritsu, track down Akari's phone!" he shouts as he runs down the street, straight to the appointed destination.

"I tracked. Apparently she left her phone at Isogai's home. She didn't take it when she left," Ritsu reports. "I'll hack into the street surveillance cameras for the search."

"Thank you."

Karma keeps on running. He doesn't stop. He is scared. Completely unpredictable, idiotic, dense girl always makes him worried sick of her!

Of all things, why the hell did you run off, Akari!

DAMN IT!

If I find you, you are dead! I'm gonna put a chain on you and keep you from running away forever!

You...

Karma grits his teeth.

You better be alright, Akari.

When Karma arrives at the ramen shop, he is breathing heavily. His heart threatens to jump out from its ribcage. Everyone else is there-Isogai, Nagisa, Kaede, Maehara and Hinata. Their faces are grim. Karma doesn't like it.

"Where is she?" Karma shouts the moment he arrives. "What the hell happened?"

"We don't know..." Maehara replies.

Karma grabs his collar and shouts at him. "What do you mean you don't know?!"

"Karma-kun..." Nagisa mutters.

Isogai steps forward and intervenes. "Calm down, Karma. It isn't his fault."

Karma glares at Isogai. "You were supposed to protect her! And you let her run off like that?"

Kaede steps up. "We didn't anticipate her to run off..."

"Why don't we just spread out again and search for her again?" Hinata suggests. "She stays here so she wouldn't be far. We checked her apartment. She wasn't there."

"Nakamura and Kataoka checked the classroom. She wasn't there either," Nagisa adds. "They are on the way here."

Karma lowers his head. Frustration. Fear. Both emotions taste bad in a concoction. He bites his fingers. "Damn it." He mutters. Karma begins to reminisce his time with her, to look for any red lights he failed to notice. His mind couldn't think clear. Fear clouds his brain-the fear of losing her.

"Guys!"

The gang turns to find Kataoka and Nakamura running towards them. Following them is a large man with greying hair.

"Who's that?" Kaede asks Nagisa in hushed whispers. Nagisa shakes his head.

The man stands next to the girls when they stop. Both of them breathe heavily. "This... this is Akari's uncle... Himura-san..." Kataoka pants. "We called him and brought him here."

"Nice meeting you, Akari's classmates," Himura politely nods at everyone else. Karma can see despite concealed by clothing, Himura has strong muscles. His complexion doesn't look very old in contrast with his hair.

Akari's uncle?

Himura's gaze rests on Isogai. As if Himura is asking Isogai to introduce himself with his steady gaze, the male class rep steps up. "It's a pleasure knowing you, Himura-san. I'm Isogai Yuuma."

Himura continues to stare at him. Isogai remains unperturbed but Karma can tell the boy is feeling uneasy. Karma expects his gaze is chiding him without words for losing track of Akari's whereabouts. Instead, the redhead senses something contradictory. Like a mixture of pity and apologies and guilt.

Himura's gaze softens. "Isogai-san's son, is it? You look just like him."

Nagisa mutters. "Isogai-san's..."

"...son?" Maehara continues.

Isogai's eyes widen in surprise. "You... knew my father?"

Himura lowers his head as guilt clouds his face. "It's a long story. I know it is an inappropriate time to tell you. But before you see Akari, you need to know about what has happened. Then it will be your choice to decide whether if you are able to face her, just as she has decided she couldn't face you."

Karma doesn't like the look on Himura and Isogai's face; Himura's unbearable guilt, Isogai's paralyzed fear.

"What are... you talking about..." Isogai mutters. His confidence wavering as if it is on a pinnacle.

"I'm going to tell you the story behind your father's death because Akari was in that same accident. She was in the same car with him and her parents."

Isogai looks like his entire world crashed down. "My father's death?"

"Your father and my sister and her husband-Akari's parents, were good friends. They went to a place that day. They brought along Akari. But an unfortunate accident-a drunk driver crashed a truck into the car. No one lived, except Akari. However, that was only the beginning of the nightmare for Akari. She constantly blamed herself for their deaths. She believed if she hadn't requested for Disneyland, the accident wouldn't have happened. No one would have died."

Karma can imagine-a younger version of Akari, devoid of any chirpiness or exuberance, sitting by a dark corner, cheeks tears-streaked, eyes bloodshot. Her mouth a voice recorder, repeating the words: it is my fault. It is my fault. It is my fault.

He can feel her pain, guilt that was never hers stuck in her throat. He can feel her sadness, her helplessness, the mental torments she inflicted on herself. Sins that she believed she had committed in the cost of her parents' lives. Everything was taken from her in that split second, mercilessly, ruthlessly. There was no more happiness for her.

I didn't want to live in this world anymore.

It was my fault they died.

Karma can hear her voice resonating in his mind. When she told him about her parents' death, Karma didn't thought it was that grim. He didn't detect the red light. He didn't think twice of the truth behind it.

He should have found out. He should have!

The redhead doesn't wait for the story to end. Time wasn't his luxury. He run towards the most possible place Akari would be-a place where she would go when she is pestered by troubles.

And also the easiest place to end them by jumping off and land forty-floors to the ground into a splattered mass of blood and bones.

*****

Karma curses the elevator for taking too long to reach the top. If the building isn't that tall, he would have sprinted across fleets of stairs in the speed of light. He knows if he is late by just a millisecond, Akari could take a step off the ledge and fly.

Just wait for me, Akari!

The romantic scene he enacted at that spot sounds so ironic now. 'You jump I jump'.

If she really jumps, I'll... I'll...

The elevator doors open slowly and Karma slips through the tiny gap before it opens completely. It takes him a while but he finally finds her leaning against the wall where they sat that day, hugging her knees as she sat silently on the ground. Her eyes blank and languid, a sad hue of blue.

I'll jump with her.

"Akari..." Karma mutters as his legs automatically takes him forward. He kneels before her. She is not startled by his presence but looks at him, tears brim in her beautiful eyes. "Hey."

"Karma... I..." Akari's voice cracks. "I did something horrible again..." she sobs.

It hurts him so much to see her in pain-pain that was never her fault in the beginning.

His arms wrap around her into his embrace. "Shhhhh..." he shushes. "It's not your fault. It was never your fault. Don't blame yourself."

"B-but.. but I... I asked for Disneyland and... and I got them killed... I... I... got Isogai's father killed..."

Karma presses his lips on her temple and mutters. "Don't cry. It's not your fault."

"It's punishment... I was alive to punish me... I was the only one left... it's punishment... why didn't God take me with them... why leave me alone to suffer in the guilt for causing their deaths... why take Isogai's father away instead of me? Then Isogai's family wouldn't ended up like this..."

Words fail to form when Karma's mouth opens. He couldn't find any words to console her. All he could do is hold her and let her tears drench his shirt.

Think of something!

"It's not... punishment," Karma mutters. "It's a gift."

"W-what?"

"I didn't mean that your parents' death is a gift. I mean your survival is a gift. If you hadn't survived, you wouldn't be in 3E. You wouldn't have met Korosensei or everyone else. You wouldn't have met... me." Karma pauses. "Because you were still alive, I met you. We became friends. We became bickering rivals. My life grows much brighter with you. You turn my dull monotone life into one filled with beautiful colours. I... I couldn't imagine a life without you. So please... please stop blaming your existence a sin, a punishment bestowed by God. I believe you are still living for a reason. And that reason... is to light up my world with that beautiful smile of yours."

Akari stops sobbing. He wipes off the tears on her cheeks and smiles. "It might sound cheesy but... it's kinda the truth."

"Karma..." Akari mutters. She rests her forehead against his; their noses almost touching. "Thank you."

He blushes and smiles. "So don't cry okay? You look cuter when you smile."

She nods. "I'm sorry... I..."

"AKARI!"

They turn around and see the others pouring out of the elevator, stumbling upon each other as Maehara, the one in the front, trips. Kataoka is the only one to regain her balance. As soon as her sharp eyes catch Akari, she rushes to her and squeezes her tight. Then she begins her stern lecturing.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! RUNNING OFF LIKE THAT! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED WE WERE?!" Kataoka chides.

"AKA-CHAN!" shouts Nakamura. "You idiot! You gave me a heart attack!" she gives her a big hug.

"Akari you're alright~~" Kaede cries. "No pudding for you!"

"We're so worried of you..." Nagisa adds.

"Don't ever run off like that!" Hinata chides.

"You owe us food for making us worry!" Maehara demands.

"I'm sorry..." Akari mutters apologetically. "I didn't know what I should do..."

"Akari."

Akari looks up to Isogai, who hasn't spoken a word. Everyone else is silenced.

"Isogai... I..." words fail to form as Akari's mouth hangs in the air.

"I'm not going to blame you for an accident that was never your fault in the beginning," he says. Karma thinks he wants to break down and cry like Akari did but he holds his tears back. "I'm... sorry for what happened to your parents."

"But... I... if I didn't want to go there, your father wouldn't have died and you wouldn't have lived in poverty... and..."

"I understand how you feel. I lost my father but you lost both of your parents... so technically... you suffered more than I did. Even if you were the one who brought them there, it's not like you would predict the accident. You wouldn't know. So it's not your fault at all," he pauses. "I'm sad that my father died. His passing brought me and my family grief and poverty. But sometimes I wondered, if I didn't end up in poverty, I wouldn't take up part-time jobs and I wouldn't end up in 3E. I wouldn't have so many classmates and Korosensei and the chance to save Earth. I wouldn't have known you."

Karma wonders if Isogai is sincere about his words. But soon he is certain that Isogai means every word of it. After all, Isogai likes her as much as I do. Probably even more than I do because he is able to overlook the fact that somehow Akari was a tiny part in the cause of his father's death.

"I've see things though now. I look at the positive things that my father's death has brought to me. I thank him for everything. I am grateful to him. Even after he died, he still managed to bring me happiness. It is him who brought me to 3E. I still love him so much. His death was not in vain... because he... he showed me even after his death there are still so many great things-3E , Korosensei..." Isogai steps forward and hugs her. "Don't blame yourself for being the only survivor. Don't take it as some sort of punishment for you to carry the guilt that never was yours for the rest of your life. After all... I'm grateful that you're alive. Thank you for letting me know you, Akari."

"Thank you for staying alive so that we can meet you, Akari," says everyone else unanimously. Their voices ring in Karma's ears; a melody to bring the sad girl happiness.

Tears stream down her flushed cheeks. She wails loudly. For Karma, it is the cry of happiness even if some sadness and grief mixed in.

You've found people who love you just as much as your parents did, Akari. They are around you-they are angels under the name of class 3E.

*****

Akari

The crimson sun sets against the horizon. It casts an orange hue over the living room in my apartment, where everyone is sprawled on the carpet and the couch, confortable in their sleeps. Megu and Rio lean against each other on one side of the sofa while Hinata and Kaede on the other. Maehara, Nagisa and Isogai sleep on the soft and comfy carpet where Maehara snores loudly. It is a tiring day for them to run around searching for me after my irresponsible escape. I apologized for being reckless but they have forgiven me the moment they saw me safe. Though I still feel guilty and offered them for dinner at the ramen shop. Then they crashed at my place for the night.

I want to sleep too. The crying has made my eyes sting. My mind is mentally exhausted from all the commotion. However, I couldn't sleep because someone has occupied my bed as his own.

The redhead lies on my bed, hugging my bolster. I want to kick him off but I was the fault for making him worried so I decided to make up for him by letting him sleep on my bed. He probably did it blatantly to get on my nerves as usual.

I sigh at the sight of watching him sleep. I open the cupboard and pull out the supply of blankets my uncle bought for me in case I couldn't handle the cold. Thankfully they are enough as I gently place one on each of my friends.

I look at Isogai. The handsome male class rep continues to sleep peacefully despite my gaze on him. I am not sure if he didn't blame me because he has thought it through or because he likes me too much to oversee my mistakes. But he was right. I should stop blaming myself.

I hear Karma yawning. I turn around and see him waking, stretching his limbs. "Aren't you asleep?" he asks me.

I shake my head. "You took my bed."

He chuckles softly, knowing he would wake the others up. "You can sleep on it now. I'm done."

I sigh. I sit on the bed next to him. He doesn't leave but stares at me with intrigue. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I reply. "You guys are right. I should be grateful that I'm still alive. After all, it was my mom's life the cost for mine. But I still... well, I was 12. I didn't know what to think. So I thought everything happened was my fault. My sin. My punishment. I completely forgot about the fact that if I was dead, I wouldn't have met you guys. I was obsessed with the thought that the accident was my fault, even though I was no clairvoyant to predict Grim Reaper's lurking. Now I've think through. So maybe a tiny bit that it was my fault. But logically speaking, it was that drunk driver's fault."

He nods, urging me to go on. I look at him apologetically. "Sorry for making you worry, Karma."

"Well..." Karma says. "You are traumatized. It definitely left a scar within you. So I don't blame you. But do anything like that again, I will put a collar on you and you'll have to stick to me for the rest of your miserable life." He taps his chin. "Maybe I can put a maid dress on you..."

I glare at him as his devilish horns emerge. Sighing, I continue. "After seeing that photo, it triggered the memories I sealed within my mind. Because of my self-degrading tendencies, my uncle brought me to a psychologist and had me hypnotized so that I will not remember part of the truth-where I blame myself for the accident. It's probably something like that." My memories are still foggy and I can only recall some vague details.

"Yeah, well, your uncle told us about it. Though I didn't wait to hear the rest of it."

Uncle? So he helped me to overcome my nightmare?

"Why didn't you wait?" I ask. As if I stepped onto a mine, Karma glares at me, seething internally.

"An idiot ran off. She said she always go to the top of a 40-storey building whenever she had troubles. And conveniently it was also the place she can easily jump off and end her troubles forever. Why wouldn't that make me worry? Why wouldn't I run off, considering that is the most likely place she would go? If I was late by a second, who knows what that idiot would do? Maybe she suddenly decided to fly?" He grabs me by my arms. "Do you know how worried I was, you idiot?! I thought you might die! I thought you might be dumb enough to commit suicide and leave me behind!"

His hands tremble in fear. I now know how scared he was. The thought of me dying is something he can never accept-a nightmare. His deepest fear is losing me forever.

He lowers his head as he trembles. I caress his soft hair. "I'm sorry."

"Just... promise me, if you are troubled, you are scared, look for me. Okay?" he mutters. "I can't promise to fix all your problems but I can promise you won't face them alone."

I cup his cheeks and force him to lift his head. He looks at me, eyes widen, a pink hue on his cheeks. "I promise."

He smiles. "You better keep it."

"Don't worry. I will. I won't end up as your personal maid."

He smirks. His eyes dart to my hands that are still cupping his face. "You know... you can kiss me if you want. Considering you are already prepared for it."

I finally realize what I am doing and release his face. My blush returns once more to humiliate me. "S-shut up!"

He chuckles. "Too bad." Then he pushes me onto my bed as he stands. "Sleep, you idiot." And he leaves my room.

I couldn't sleep just yet. My mind has become evil, extremely active to prevent drowsiness. I think of how idiotic I was. I think of Isogai who never blames me. But most of all, I think of Karma.

I think of how scared he was-a rare emotion he never shows or has suppressed it with his mischievous personality. I think of how worried he was when he thought I might commit suicide.

I think of how much he likes me because he was worried of me more than anyone could.

I think of Karma's personality. His mischievous, arrogant character never fails to intimidate any enemy. His words, like mine, are his arsenal. He knows how to annoy and tease people and coerce them into his demands. He is one of the top students in school even if he is in the End Class. He stands out not just with his red hair, but his physical ability to fight any battle. He is by far one of the most excellent students I've ever met despite his prankish shortcomings. But he never does mischief that violates any morality. He does them with a good purpose, though most of the time he did it for self-entertainment. He isn't scary like anyone else has said. Instead, I find him a sweet and nice boy. And not to mention he is acknowledged by the girls in class as the most handsome boy. Plus, sometimes he is sort of cute and adorable especially when he sleeps or blushes.

Thus, I admit, I am sometimes charmed by his flirts which I take them as annoying teases and his cuteness. I wonder if my blushing means I like him. Or is it just some reflex action?

Do... do I like Karma?

...

...

...

Yes you do.

*****

I am bundling Chapter 15 with Interlude 1!!! So two chapters as one!!!

Enjoy!!!

Karma: Yes. Spam all you want. Or else I'll stuff you with wasabi~~