Swirl. Swirl. And swirl.

I cannot recall the exact amount of swirls that Karma made me swirl. Though, I did recall the nausea I had during the dance. I had to sit down before my legs gave away and embarrass myself in front of the crowd.

Karma and I were considered the youngest couple present in the dinner. Even though Karma was barely 15—he has not passed his birthday yet—his mature yet handsome face did make a few young girls fawn over him. I had to fend him off of those hungry wolves.

The food there was excellent. Delicious. Not bad for a Five-Star hotel. Thank god it was a buffet. I served myself with countless servings of fresh sashimi and sushi. They tasted like heaven. The texture of the chuutoro as it melted in my mouth upon contact. The beautiful colour of the salmon sashimi. Not to forget were those scrumptious desserts. Such rich chocolatey moist chocolate cake. The soft and smooth yet delectable ice cream. I kept asking Karma to fetch me more desserts because it would look inappropriate for me to take the servings so many times I had lost count. By the end of the dinner, I believed I took home an extra 5kg in my stomach.

I should go exercise to cut down all the food I consumed last night.

Maybe.

*****

A few days later, Kaede has invited me to a café along with Nagisa, Maehara, Megu and Okajima. Karma bailed upon hearing the school bell since I ditched him for them. We arrive at the designated location after peak hour. I have never been to this exquisite café before. Upon entering, the scent of fresh bread wafts in the air and makes my stomach growl in response. I clutch my poor stomach as hunger eats away my stomach.

Maehara has already reserved a table for us. I am the last to arrive at the table, tortured by the grinding hunger in my stomach. I notice my friends are not focused on the menu. Instead, they are staring intently at a waiter who is serving a table far from us.

I realize it is Yuuma.

After serving a table, the class rep turns around and notices us. We wave at him gleefully and he seems happy to see us but he has to focus on his job.

"Isn't he an ikemen?" mutters Kaede absentmindedly. We watch Yuuma handling plates and cups without a slight hesitation. Every move he makes is perfect — just like his flawless personality.

"His only flaw would be poverty," adds Maehara.

"Hey guys," Yuuma greets us as he serves us tea, on the house. "Didn't expect to see you guys here."

I try to focus on Yuuma but my eyes cannot tore away from the menu that I am holding. God, I really hate my stomach now.

Yuuma notices my predicament, says, "Why don't you guys order something to eat?"

I nod furiously, agreeing with him.

"Go ahead," Megu sighs.

Maehara snickers evilly as his eyes dart back and forth from me and Yuuma. "Shouldn't it be on the house since well... I brought her — I mean them here to give you a super morale boost. Besides, we're going to keep your part-time job a secret anyway."

"Why?" I ask as I am torn between choosing a baked cheese macaroni or a large bowl of tomato ramen.

"Because it's illegal, duh," replies Okajima.

"Oh." I decide to try the macaroni — wait, that seafood lasagne looks delicious as well...... curse my rambunctious appetite.

Yuuma lights up a handsome smile. "Ok, ok." He winks as he pours tea for us. "The second round of tea is on me too."

I tear my eyes away of the menu and like my friends, stare at Yuuma with glittery eyes. Ikemen!

Everything Yuuma does scream perfection: from the way he handles his customers to the way he carries heaps of plates and cups. Such an ikemen. He has the good looks and the great personality and also excellent academic results.

Karma would be an ikemen as well if not for his devilish personality. But that only makes him even cuter.

"Some things only suit ikemen like Isogai-kun... and me," says a familiar voice.

Ikemen—What the hell are you doing here, Korosensei?!

Korosensei is not some party pooper who would spoil Yuuma's opportunities, even if he is illegally working. But something makes me uneasy. I hope I am just overthinking things.

"Oh look what we have here."

It is a nasty voice. A harbinger of bad luck.

It is the Five Bitches.

"This is your second serious offence of the school rules. I expected better, Isogai."

Of course, Asano Gakushuu as well.

This does not spell well for Yuuma. Not with Asano here.

Our faces pale in horror. Yuuma has the palest. He is shocked to his core, silenced by the uninvited appearance of the five harbingers of bad luck.

I need to do something before things go down the worst path.

I catch Asano's brief glance at me and the tiny, concealed smirk of evil on his face. It makes me guilt-ridden because I have a feeling he is doing this to be against me or revenge or something.

I bolt off of my seat, shoot a deadly glare at Asano's lackeys — which makes them shudder for a moment — and drag Asano out of the café by his collar. Who cares about physical violence against the principal's son. I might even resort to beating him up if he does not stop right here.

"Akari!" Yuuma shouts as he follows me from behind. He stops my hand that is going to punch Asano in his face and forces me to let him go. I reluctantly obey but still glares at Asano venomously.

"So it seems Akari-chan has fallen to your level, Isogai, for almost committing serious violation against school rules," says Asano. His smirk widens with interest.

"Don't act like you're close with me, Ass-sano!" I shout with rage while Megu presses me down before I can launch myself onto him.

Maehara, Okajima and Kaede try hard to stifle their laughter as I gave Asano a new nickname out of rage. Nagisa grips onto his phone, probably pondering if he should contact Karma for help.

Asano, on the other hand, has a flushed face. His smirk has faded, only to be replaced with rage. I can see that I have succeeded in irking him, though I begin to wonder if it would even benefit Yuuma's case. However, Asano takes in a deep breath to regain his composure. His face of anger transforms into a face of contempt and arrogance. I can never read his inner thoughts from his well-managed face expressions. This is probably one of the reasons why we can never be friends.

"Let's just return to the main topic here. The last time we caught you, you ended up in Class E," Asano glances away from me to Yuuma. "It seems you never learn from your mistake, Isogai."

I glance at Yuuma, whose tired face suddenly aged for 20 years. It pains me to see him so crestfallen.

"Can't you keep this quiet, Asano? I only need this month's salary to net me all the money I need," Yuuma pleads desperately. I understand how desperate he is, with the current situation of his family. It is partly my fault though, but I promised Karma and the others not to pin everything on myself.

"Well, I would like to give you a chance."

I hear an inaudible 'but' in Asano's sentence. I glare at his contemptuous look, refraining myself to punch him.

"Fine then, on one condition." Asano's glance rests on me.

If any part of his condition involves me, I will rip out his throat.

Sensing where the current situation is going, Yuuma suddenly steps out and protectively raises an arm before me, as if to cut off Asano's nasty glance on me.

With a tiny smirk, Asano retracts his glance and looks back at Yuuma. "Show me your fighting spirit and we'll pretend none of this has happened."

*****

I heard from Karasuma-sensei that pole-toppling is not a fight. It is a war — a slaughterhouse. This is one of the main reasons that Asano challenged us with that event at the sports festival: he intends to slaughter us all. The embarrassment from the last exam must have got him good to think of this revenge plan. All of us know Asano's hidden motive before he writes it all over his smug face.

The odds are against us with the number of Class A boys doubling our number. If we fail this, Yuuma will be expelled. If we succeed, Yuuma can stay but who knows what Asano has under his sleeves. Some of us could get hurt from this.

Yuuma has decided to take full responsibility and accept his fate. Such an ike—

"Such an idiot!" We shout as once, rejecting his suicidal plan. Disses, dissent, disagreement resonate in the classroom.

Finally, Yuuma agrees to fight alongside with us instead of suicide. I feel the hearts of 3E boys connect as one to fight against a foe. No matter how much sacrifice Yuuma plans to make, we will not let him do so and will fight with him. Win together, lose together.

*****

Korosensei says each person's individuality is their own weapon. His words are proven right in the sports festival. Kimura showed excellent speed in the race. Hara displayed an unusual talent of consuming bread like some drink. Kaede had no resistance against the netting. Maehara and Hinata were paired up in a three-legged race and won.

Also, not to forget the blade of Yuuma's leadership shining beautifully in this festival.

However, Karma's fluent English mesmerized me. He never failed to taunt his opponents even if they were muscly foreigners claimed to be only 15. And his superbly quick reflexes made him move like water in a stream. He was so awesome.

As discussed prior, we realized Asano's main goal was to humiliate us. Yuuma formed an almost perfect plan to counteract Asano's schemes.

In the end, we won the 'war' with glory and pride, earning a huge round of applause from the audience.

"Good job, Yuuma," I playfully slap Yuuma's arm.

"Thanks, Akari. I wouldn't have done it without everyone's hel — wait, are those leftover buns from the previous race?! Can I have all of them?!" Yuuma's concentration has been distracted by the trolley of buns pushed out by the festival's staff. The boy's eyes gleam in pure happiness. I sigh.

I catch Asano passing by; his face a sour grape. Purple eyes glare at Yuuma, to the rest of the class and then it rests on me. We maintain eye contact for about one second and he looks away. I still wonder what his issue is.

"Hey, Akari."

I turn around. Karma and Itona approach me. "What's up?"

"Do you mind if I bring Itona along?" Karma asks. "He wants to have a place to hang out."

"Along? Along where?" I ask, clearly puzzled.

"Your house, duh."

I stare at him for a few seconds. "What?"

"Well, I stay there. So your house."

Hold up. Let me clarify a few things here. I kicked Karma back to his house 5 days ago, right after the dinner gala. He only came to my house for dinner sometimes.

He never mentioned anything about coming to my house for another long stay.

Itona's eyes dart from Karma to me, back and forth. Confusion never rests on his face. He is always impassive, only showing passion on his electronic gadgets. "So you stay at Akari's house now? What kind of relationship do you even have?"

Sorry, Itona. I cannot reply to that in public.

I try to form words before an unknown anger clouds my thinking. "Why are you stay—but why... I don't understand—"

I stare at Karma intently. Then it hits me like a train.

Karma's parents must not be around again.

He must feel lonely. Neglected. Abandoned.

He has no siblings.

He has only...... me.

He wants accompaniment.

Which means me. His girlfriend.

Though he does not say it directly, I can decipher his thoughts and motives by 95% accuracy. Thanks to our love relationship.

I could be wrong, but I believe my sixth sense.

"Are your parents not around again?" I ask.

Karma shrugs. "Well, yeah. They came back a few days ago and left this morning."

I can almost spot a pout forming on his lips.

I want to reach out to his hand and tell him I am here for him.

"You know, I think I'll just end up as a third wheel for coming to your hous —" Itona suddenly speaks up.

I immediately shake my head. "What third wheel? I have no idea what you're talking about. We don't stay with each other because we're dating. Karma's just some lonely stray neighbour's kid that I have to babysit."

Itona raises his eyebrows quizzically while Karma tries to refrain from laughing.

"Just come to my place. Karma would love to have a boy friend to play with."

Itona blinks.

Karma's smirk spreads widely on his face as he tries not to laugh.

"Fine," replies Itona. "Lead the way."

*****

I wonder of the weird relationship between Karma and Itona. I wonder of if Karma needs more male company than just his girlfriend.

Itona is more like a sidekick to Karma, judging from first appearance of their heights. But I believe the spark of friendship between them is more than that.

And now I wonder of why Karma did not invite Nagisa just like he did to Itona. Maybe Nagisa is too much of a stalker?

"Video games? Hmm..." Karma begins to ponder as Itona has asked him for a choice of good video games. "Play station or Xbox?"

"Anything will do."

"RPG?"

"Magic. Fantasy. But I prefer horror ones. Zombies. Aliens. Those that try to kill you," Itona replies with a solemn face. I wonder if this is the origin of their tendency of violence. I silently listen to them, unable to blend in into their games topic.

After a few minutes, we arrive at my apartment. Karma leisurely steps in and places his bag on the floor nonchalantly. His shoes are removed at the doorstep without hesitation, as if he actually lives here. Well, he does. Sometimes.

I know Itona's wittiness is not something to be underestimated as a bewildered look appears on his face when he watches Karma's actions. "It looks like you do live here permanently," he comments snidely.

I roll my eyes, finding any excuses weak against Itona's smartness.

Karma smirks as he walks to the kitchen, opening a cupboard to obtain food. "Pasta sounds nice, ok?" His natural actions only convinces Itona about our relationship.

"Hmm. Definitely dating."

I refrain from slamming my head into the wall. I give up. "Ok," I reply to Karma's hanging question. "There's bacon in the fridge. Help yourself."

Itona moves to my couch and plops onto it. "You don't mind if I watch TV, right?"

"Make yourself at home." I say as I walk to my room to gather my clothes. I am taking a bath while waiting for my lunch.

After a soothing shower, the fragrance of pasta wafts in the air. My stomach growls as if a monster resides in it.

"Lunch is done," says Karma as he places three plates of pasta onto the kitchen island. He removes his apron and sits by the island, preparing to eat. Itona hurries himself as well.

"Itadakimasu!"

And in just a few moments later...

"Gochisosamadeshita!"

"That is actually better than Muramatsu's ramen," Itona praises with a tiny smile on his face. He scoops up the last tiny bit of carbonara sauce on the plate.

"Of course. I'm multi-talented," says Karma proudly. "I'm gonna bathe now."

"......and I'll wash the dishes, obviously," I sigh reluctantly.

Itona's suspicious eyes darts from me to Karma but he remains silent. He returns to the couch for more TV. I never expect my guest to do the chores so I have to do them myself. After doing the dishes, I slump onto my comfy couch.

Itona's eyes remain fixed on the TV. It now shows a documentary of war machines. I watch it as well, but my eyes are droopy.

"Judging from your interactions, I can safely assume that your relationship is not as simple as friendship. You're probably engaged as well."

Itona's words are like a lightning strike, jolting me awake. I feel a surge of electricity coursing through my veins, shocking me to me core. I can only stare at Itona, gaping. As a good debater, I find myself silenced by a worthy opponent other than Karma.

"So I'll accept your silence as a 'yes'?"

"No!" I shout. "We are not engaged!"

Itona blinks.

I slap my forehead, realizing I can never convince him. "Can we not talk about me?"

Itona shrugs. "Whatever."

"So you're good friends with Karma now?"

"We're gaming buddies, more precisely. He comes to my place for video games sometimes. And he shows me some good skipping class spots too."

I silently listen. When he stops talking, there is an air of awkwardness hanging in the atmosphere. I do not know Itona well, so I could not find a good topic to start a conversation.

"Akari."

I turn to stare at Itona. His facial features seem to soften now. AS if he is plagued by remorse.

"Sorry that I tried to kill you before."

My eyes widen in surprise. That is rather unexpected.

"The tentacles controlled me back then. I wasn't thinking properly."

I remember the first time Itona challenged Korosensei to a death match and I rushed out to defend Korosensei from Itona's attacks. If not for Korosensei, I could be seriously injured or dead. Though, Karma's unexpected outburst was what I remembered more prominently. It was the first time I saw him worried, angry and scared. It was the first time Karma became vulnerable.

"That was ancient. You don't have to be sorry about it," I say.

Itona relaxes a little. "Well, at least I feel better after I apologized."

I smile. This soft side of Itona is quite a rare scene to witness.

"What are you guys talking about?" Karma asks as he walks to us with a towel draped over his wet hair. He sits down on the floor before my legs and rests his head on my knee.

"Nothing, really," I reply. My hands automatically help him dry his hair with his towel. He probably did not dry his hair on purpose just to make me serve him.

"You two are definitely a real couple," Itona comments nonchalantly as he watches us.

I have completely given up.

"Akari-chan just has an extremely huge crush on me. She is willing to do anything for me— Ouch ouch!" Karma yelps because I pulled his hair.

"One more word I'll turn you bald."

"You wouldn't."

"Can you guys take your lovey-dovey scene into the bedroom? Or anywhere without me in it," Itona suggests while rolling his eyes.

*****

"There's just two more weeks till the mid-term exams! Let's keep up the good work and surpass Class A this time!" Korosensei says as he moves around with his multiple duplicates. He is in such high speed that his duplicates are blurring. A few duplicates tend to each students respectively.

"Akari-san, your maths is lacking." "Akari-san, you need to read this chapter of Social Science." "Akari-san, you have a mistake here in English."

My head spins as it cannot tend to so many Korosensei duplicates at once. I am afraid it will explode.

"Juice box delivery," Karma calls as he passes a juice box onto my desk while eyes focused on the Math question Korosensei handed him.

"Karma-kun! Do not disturb Akari-sa — NUYA!" Korosensei dodges a flying dagger thrown at him by me.

Since our previous survival at the sports festival, the class has been able to focus on the midterms. But somehow, we are feeling restless and uneasy.

Because there are only five months to the deadline.

Five months are not that long because time flies as we continue to study and play in this classroom. We should be concentrating on more strategies to kill Korosensei instead of cramming.

After two hours of intense cramming, I slump onto the desk exhaustingly. My hands reach out for the third juice box and sips its contents empty. Like magic, Karma pops up juice boxes for me occasionally, and in different flavours too. I should have bought some snacks for him as well.

I close all the books on the desk and stack them up to serve as my makeshift pillow. It is hard, but it is all I can get for now. I try to make myself comfortable for a nap and bury my face into my arms.

Korosensei has gone to the staff room to replenish his energy with sweets and porn magazines. The rest of the class are buzzing around; complaints resonate in the air about the intensive cramming. Most of them decide to head home for now, while not forgetting to bring home more homework.

"Do you want to leave?" Karma asks as he pokes my exposed part of the face.

I groggily rise, shake my head and falls back into the comfy area of my arms.

"Ok then. I'll do some homework here while I wait."

"You don't have to wait for me..." I mumble.

"We'll be leaving for home. Bye Akarma!" Rio shouts from the other end of the classroom. I fling an empty juice box at the direction of her voice. The box hits the wall instead.

"Don't do anything inappropriate," warns Megu. I can feel her glare as my spine becomes tingly.

I close my eyes and sleep for who knows how long without any disturbance. What wakes me up is my empty stomach growling like a tiger. I rub my eyes and stretch my limbs. I turn to Karma, who is preoccupied with his homework.

"What time is it..." I mutter.

"4pm. You slept for an hour," replies Karma without looking up. "Want some food?"

I nod and my stomach growls simultaneously.

"Nurufufufufu what do we have here!!!"

I sigh as Korosensei appears from nowhere.

"So are you two really dating each other now?! Nurufufufufufufu! Sensei wants more gossip!" Korosensei smirks snidely — or grins evilly. It is hard to tell since his grin is same the whole time.

I ignore his question. "What food you have, Karma?"

"Hmm... snacks only, I think."

"Nuya! You two are ignoring me!"

"Sensei do you have food? I'm hungry..." I plead, showing my puppy eyes at Korosensei.

"Sensei has three bentos in the fridge! Sensei will go get them. But don't tell Karasuma. They belong to him." Three seconds later, Korosensei returns with steaming bentos heated up with a microwave. He hands us each one bento, cooled down with his super speed fanning.

I open the bento. Its fragrance is alluring. "Itadakimasu!"

Korosensei is still blowing his first spoon when a quarter of the bento is already in my stomach. Abruptly, Karma puts some shitake mushrooms in my bento. In exchange, I give him some egg.

"Say, Korosensei," I call right before he puts his first spoonful of food into his mouth. "Since you have Mach 20 speed, have you been around the world before? Like stopping at every country available? Have you tried... all the food?"

Korosensei seems to have widen his grin. "Nurufufufu... you can say so. I've tasted the delectable French desserts, the mouth-watering Italian cuisine, spicy Korean kimchi, Chinese food, American steaks, Mexican tacos, Norwegian salmon, Thai mango rice, Malaysian nasi lemak, German sausages......"

I swallow the saliva pooling in my mouth before it overflows.

Karma chuckles. "Korosensei, you're making her even hungrier."

"Can you... can you bring me to those places one day? Please please please please... it would be nice to have a free ride," I beg.

"Of course! After your midterms."

"Promise?"

"Sensei never breaks a promise, nurufufu."

"YEEEEES!" I shout joyfully.

"You're just too simple-minded to be pleased," Karma teases.

I spit my tongue at him.

"Don't forget to bring me as well, Korosensei," Karma says.

"Nurufufufufu. An around-the-world date? This is definitely an exclusive scoop!"

There is no point in stopping this snoop-nosed octopus. "Sensei, do you perhaps have a girlfriend?"

Korosensei is once more interrupted from his meal. "Sensei can't tell you that."

"I believe he doesn't have one because he's a perverted chicken octopus," Karma adds.

"NUYA! Sensei is absolutely charming and handsome. A lot of women fawn over me!"

"Bitch-sensei doesn't," retorts Karma.

"She likes Karasuma-sensei because he is so cool," I add. Karma instinctively glares at me for a short while. Definitely jealous.

"Sensei can be cool too you know!"

"Snooping around others' privacy is not cool," Karma replies.

Korosensei pouts as he is disheartened.

"And you're not as handsome as Karasuma-sensei too." I stab Korosensei's fragile heart with another knife.

"Oh, is it?"

I hear a venomous tone in Karma's voice. Boy, he does get jealous easy.

Korosensei immediately covers his face with his tentacles. "I'm so embarrassed."

I finish the last bite of my bento. "Sensei, if you don't mind, I like to ask you some questions regarding homework."

Korosensei immediately lightens up upon hearing that. "Ok then. Show me the areas you aren't familiar with."

"You know, I can teach you too," Karma says. He glares at me spitefully. Jealousy-o-meter is rising.

"Nurufufufufu... then sensei shouldn't be a third wheel here —" Korosensei is interrupted by his own voice that comes from another source. It sounds like a recording.

As I closely listen, I can make out a few words.

"Korosensei you are the Prince of the Fateful Eternal Wind! Korosensei you are the Prince of the Fateful Eternal Wind! Korosensei you are the Prince of the Fateful Eternal Wind!"

I stare at Korosensei blankly. His face turns white with tiny beady eyes and void of his signature grin.

Karma laughs. "Pfft! Is that your ringtone?"

"NUYAAAAAAAAA!" Korosensei shouts, mortified.

"I think you better pick it up," I suggest, keeping a straight face. "Honestly, it irritates me."

"How mortifying! Who dared to call me at this hour!" Korosensei vents his anger at the unknown caller. "Hello, this is Korosensei. How dare you -- Oh, K-K-Karasuma!"

I highly doubt he can do anything to Karasuma-sensei.

"Yes, Karasuma. HAH?!"

His gasp catches me off guard.

"Then... I'll come right away." Korosensei's tone suddenly becomes solemn. His head is lowered that I cannot read his emotions. "Sorry, but I have to leave right away. There has been an emergency. I'll tell you the details later. Don't stay too late." And off he flies off like DC's Superman.

I stare at the spot where Korosensei use to stand, quizzically. "I wonder what kind of emergency..."

Karma shrugs. "Let's just go home."

"You mean to our respective houses, right?"

"Aww but Akari-chan I want to teach you on the areas you aren't familiar with," Karma echoes Korosensei's words.

"Fine."

"You get to spend more time with me, how fun!"

Not fun when you're too clingy.

*****

Last night, it was horrible.

No matter how patient Karma is to teach me, I still could not quite get the idea of algebra into my thick-skulled head. My eyes were all droopy and my neck was sore. My hands ached from writing too many numbers. Karma kept drilling me with questions that he did not have time to do his own revision.

"Sorry for being too slow in Math," I mutter.

Karma smiles as he grips my hand tight. "That's why I'm here. To complement you." His soft smile suddenly transform into an evil smirk. "We'll do more practices tonight till you get the hang of it."

Curse the man who invented algebra.

I yawn. I did not get enough sleep last night. I remembered the clock was 3 am when I slept.

It is a chain effect when Karma yawns as well. He accompanied me throughout the night so he could not get some sleep too.

As we reach the classroom, Karma lets go of my hand, though I want to hold him longer.

Oddly, there is barely people in the classroom. I thought we are late because we only woke up 7am just now. Only a few are present in the classroom: Manami, Kanzaki, Kaede, Hara and a few others. Early birds like Yuuma or Megu are not even around.

"Manami-chan, where is everyone?" I ask the braided-haired girl.

Manami shrugs as she pushes up her glasses. "I have no idea too."

"Kanzaki?"

Kanzaki shakes her head. "I have no idea either."

"Maybe they all went out for breakfast?" Hara says between bites as she munches on a load of bread.

"Or they have been dragged to hell by a demon," says Hazama in a gloomy tone and a spooky grin. I am pretty sure she made that up. Maybe.

"Ritsu, any news from them?" Karma turns the Moe Box, Ritsu, who comes online punctually everyday.

"Hmm..." Ritsu hums. "I'm checking their GPS. That's strange. They're all here at this location, but it's not in school."

"That's weird..." I mumble.

Our classroom teacher steps in to the classroom. Korosensei with his usual grin, might be able to solve the mystery.

"Everyone, I have an announcement to make."

The only ones present in the room become attentive.

"As of yesterday, most of my students have caused a huge trouble. They have misused parkour outside of the school compound and injured an old man on his bicycle. The nation's secret, me, has been exposed."

Parkour? Injured? Exposed?

"So, for these two weeks, there will be no class and no cramming. You are all to be assigned to the old man's working place to help him out until he is admitted out of hospital."

NO CRAMMING?!

Holy crap. I am going to fail Maths. For sure.

"But it's not our fault," says Hazama. "We're not the ones who caused such a fuss."

"I am terribly sorry. I wish to see all of you as an equal so all of you need to accept the same punishment." Korosensei's tentacles fumble.

Hazama sighs. "Whatever."

"And err... I also slapped the others in the face so I need to do the same to you guys as well..."

Slap in the face?

I turn to Karma, who shrugs.

"Fine, Korosensei," I reply when the rest are reluctant to.

A soft, squishy tentacle presses my cheek. It did not sting, only a little uncomfortable.

"Sorry." "Sorry." "Sorry." Korosensei echoes the word every time he slaps one of us.

*****

I hear the full story from Yuuma when we arrived at the day care centre. In a way, we are at fault for causing such trouble. So this punishment is justified. At least, no one will ever try parkour without supervision again.

I feel the disappointment in Korosensei's tone and Karasuma-sensei's stare as they watch us from afar. I understand how they feel.

"You guys better be here to work off the oxygen you cut off!" a girl with pink hair and vicious eyes hisses at us.

Troublesome kid, eh?

Somehow, Karma is pretty amused by her. Probably he found another counterpart of his.

After the girl accidently stepped into rotting wooden floor, we realize the place is quite decrepit. Everything here is old and rotting. It would be too dangerous for children running around.

"I think 29 people can do a lot of things in 2 weeks," Yuuma suggests. I agree with him totally. Since we have two weeks here, why don't we make the best out of it?

*****

Kaede decided to set a play for the kids. She made a short script about princesses and knights. And she found some good prop from who knows where.

Karma is to play as a knight in shining armour. Terasaka is the mean monster. Kaede is the maiden in distress. Manami is the chemistry mage. According to the script, Karma is not supposed to punch Terasaka for real, but he still did. And judging from his smirk, he seems to enjoy it thoroughly. He looks good in a shiny armour, though.

After the play, my group is up next to sing a song. It consists of me, Hinata, Rinka who is temporarily dispatched from her blueprints duty and Mimura. Hinata is the pianist, Rinka as guitarist no.1 and Mimura as guitarist no.2. They voted for me to be the lead vocal. It's quite embarrassing to sing in front of children, but Karma gave me a kiss of courage—secretly in somewhere unseen, of course.

"We're going to sing for you the song, Azayaka na Tabiji by Mori Megumi!"

https://youtu.be/Jj32ddeRwrA

"Kawaita kaze ni yume azukete aruita

Omoi nimotsu hanbun de

Unmei wa sō kirihiraku tame ni aru koto

Sono egao de sono senaka de oshiete kureta

Mata aeru yo wasurenai de

Tomo ni sugoshita kizu darake demo azayaka na tabiji wo

Tatoe ima wa namida ni oborete mo

Kono takai kabe wo norikoe rareru hazu anata ga ita kara"

"Entrusting my dreams to the dry wind, I walked

Splitting in half my heavy package

So, fate will be responsible to carve it out

It was taught to me in that smile, in that backs

And also, our unforgettable meeting

Even full of scratches, we spend through a clear journey

Even now, drowning in tears

You should had overcome these high walls."

Upon the end of the song, the children give us a good round of applause. After the brief performance, we hurriedly leave the stage for Kaede to continue entertain the children. Satisfaction fills up my chest as I hear their applause. Luckily we bear it through without much mistakes because we only started to practice for the song yesterday.

Rinka suddenly grasps my sleeves, trembling like a leaf. "T-t-that was horrifying......"

I pat her head. "There, there. Would you like to try again next time?"

Rinka averts her eyes and bites her lips. "Hmm."

Considering her tsundere character, I say, "Then I'll take that as a yes."

Out of nowhere, Chiba's head pops up from a window. "Rinka, I need you at the blueprints there."

I smile — or rather, smirk evilly. "He needs you."

I cannot see his puzzled look from his long bangs, but I believe Chiba is confused by my words. Rinka is probably the only one who understands me as her face glows a bright red colour.

"I-I'll come right away..." Rinka says, pulling out her mask of impassiveness. She glares at me, which is completely unthreatening with the prominent blush on her face. "You are just as annoying as your boyfriend."

"I do not have a boyfriend," I correct her.

Rinka continues her detested glare at me. I shrug.

"Rinka!" Chiba shouts from faraway.

"On the way." I watch Rinka leaves to help Chiba.

"What was that all about?" Hinata comes after she keeps away the portable piano.

"Just a tsundere girl." I turn to my next 'prey' with an evil smirk on my face. "Say, Hinata... how is your relationship with..." I turn to a certain blond boy having trouble teaching a kid homework.

Without waiting for my sentence to finish, Hinata is shocked by my sudden question. She blushes red just like Rinka. "W-w-w-w-w-what are you talking about?!"

"You know damn well what – more specifically, 'who' I'm talking about."

Hinata grits her teeth, holding back the urge to kick me.

"Oh hey, there you are." Kaede's voice startles us. "Karma has trouble removing his armour. He needs your help."

Hinata stares at me and a smirk appears on her face. This is definitely karma. No pun intended.

I sigh. "Can't other boys help him?"

"He specifically asked me to look for you." A smirk resembling Hinata's appears on Kaede's face too.

I sigh again. "Where is he?"

Kaede points at the direction of a door. "He's in that room."

I leave the giggling girls and knock the door. "Karma, you in there?"

"Come in."

I turn the doorknob and the door opens easily. Karma is in the room, struggling with his armour.

"Are you purposely trying not to remove your armour?" I ask, eyeing him suspiciously but still helps him out.

"No. Of course not."

I glare.

"Maybe 50% is out of the desire to be alone with you."

I sigh for the umpteenth time. "Uh-huh."

"Ok, 70%. But seriously, this armour is too hot."

"You could have asked Nagisa to help you. Or Terasaka."

"Please. Terasaka would rather let me die of heat."

I shake my head. "Raise your arms." I unlatch the latches on the sides of his armour. "Geez. Kaede sure got her hands on some good prop."

Karma shrugs. "At least we made the kids happy."

I lift the armour off of his body. It falls to the floor with a loud clang. Karma is wearing a black shirt that plastered against his body, revealing the features of his frame. Somehow, I blush slightly.

"You should be teaching those kids with your intelligence," I say, trying to distract myself from looking at Karma's body.

"Really? You're putting innocent kids under my care? I'd probably end up teach them to be evil or feed them wasabi."

I roll my eyes. "I pity your future child."

"You mean, our future child."

I blush furiously. A future with Karma?! I have never thought of that before.

"......I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ohohohohoho... really?"

Karma's face is a few inches away from mine. His breath tickles my face as he breathes. I try to push him away but his hands clasp mine and presses them against his chest. His heartbeat pulses against my palm.

"Karma!" I hiss. "There are kids here!"

"Hmm?"

"Akari-chan! Where are you?" Kaede's voice comes from the other side of the door.

"I need to go!" I struggle to free my hands.

"OK..." He pouts, clearly disappointed but plants a kiss on my forehead. "See ya."

*****

It's been a long time since a new chapter update!!! Coming weeks will be busy so I'll be on a temporary hiatus. I'll post if possible!!

Thanks for all your love and your patience~~

The cover is Akane from Divine Gate, a new anime from this winter season. Guess what? He has the same seiyuu as Natsu Dragneel, Tetsuya Kakihara!!! Both are fire users, both have similar red hair (Natsu's more to salmon pink), both have a fire temper!!! Kyaaa so cute~~

Akari: but not as cute as my Karma. His red is the best. 

whiteraven95: :3

More Itona featured in this story (FioreKuberick your waifu)!!   I'll put in more Hinata and Maehara, Itona, maybe some Nagisa and maybe some ChibaRinka as well!!!

Please remember to express your love to Akarma through likes, comments and reviews if you want to!!