Akari

Ouch.

Ouch ouch ouch.

Why am I feeling so painful?

Did something happen to me?

Why is everything around me so dark and black?

Am I supposed to be here?

Akari!

Where is everyone?

Akari!

Am I supposed to be alone?

AKARI!

......is that you, Karma?

*****

When I open my eyes again, I see red. Red as in the colour of raging fire, of fresh blood, and also of Karma's hair. I am pretty sure it is him, but his face is blurred and I find it hard to distinguish his features.

The pain finally surges in every part of my body, especially my head. It throbs so badly as if flames are burning it to crisp. It feels like thousands of needles are piercing through my skin when I try to move my limbs. I want to speak but my energy is drained.

"It's okay, it's okay," Karma's voice coaxes me. "Everything's okay."

"She's awake?" I hear another voice. It sounds like Megu. But even if her face is so close to mine, I still cannot distinguish her features either.

"Nurufufu, Akari-san's awake?" Korosensei says. I see his round yellow face but not his beady eyes.

"Aka-chan!" Rio's sharp tone draws my attention. Yet again, I can only recognize her by her blonde hair, not her face.

"Are you alright?" "We need to call the doctor." "Sensei has brought you a lot of delicious food!"

I finally mustered enough energy to say one short sentence. "I... I can't see you guys properly."

They look at each other. There is only silence until Korosensei speaks up. "Akari-chan, it's okay. The doctor says the concussion to your brain might cause some temporary sight or hearing degrading. It will come back to you a few days later." His tentacle gently touches my forehead. "No fever. Nakamura-san, can you please check if the doctor is coming?"

Rio gives him an OK sign and rushes out of the room.

"I'll go get some juice," Megu says and leaves the room.

"Sensei will go heat up the food for you." Korosensei leaves without using his Mach 20 speed.

The room becomes very silent.

I recognize Karma only by his red hair. He sits beside the bed and stares at me with his golden orbs. His hand squeezes my left hand as he lets out an exasperated sigh.

"Karma?" I mutter. I got into trouble again, making him worry for the umpteenth time. When he doesn't say anything, anxiety gnaws me from within. "Karma. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Rest, love. Food will come soon," he says as he caresses my hair.

For the next few minutes till the others return, something is wrong with the atmosphere as it turns cold and silent. It feels like there's a thick wall barrier between the both of us.

The horrible concoction of anxiety and fear mix within me as Karma suddenly becomes cold.

*****

The doctor says I have to stay in the hospital for a few more days for further inspection. I've been in a short coma for the past three days, right after Reaper was caught. Korosensei came to visit me every time he was free and told me everything that happened during my coma. My classmates have been frequenting my room as well, though not as frequent as the Mach 20 super octopus. He came with lots of food every time to replace the bland hospital food.

"Karasuma was so awesome! He has this fully built eight-pack right here!" Korosensei exclaims excitingly while poking at his abdomen. "He went through all those deadly booby traps single-handedly, saved Irina, and defeated Reaper! Though, I had given him some help by protecting his heart."

"What else did you do?" I ask, anticipating for more stories.

"I... I licked the cage."

"You... what?"

The octopus covers his pink face. "This is so embarrassing!"

"You... have a tongue?"

"Of course sensei has a tongue! What did you expect?" The octopus furiously retorts.

"But... octopuses don't have... never mind..."

Korosensei's tentacle touches my head, as if he tries to console me. "I'm sorry, Akari-san. I failed to protect you. If I came early, none of this would have happened."

"Korosensei, it's not your fault. I'm okay now." I touch his tentacle that is on my head.

"Nuyaaaaaaaaaa!" and Korosensei cries.

"There, there."

*****

Today is the fifth day I'm in the hospital. Luckily my uncle is currently overseas so there's no need to tell him and make some stupid excuses that does not involve assassination.

"Akari!" "Aka-chan~" "Akari-san, good morning."

Karma, along with Korosensei, Karasuma-sensei, Bitch-sensei and the whole class visit me on a very beautiful Saturday morning. The brilliant sun shines in from the windows as Megu pulls the curtains open.

"How are you?" Kanzaki asks. Her sweet smile brings me joy.

"I'm fine, thanks," I reply her with a smile.

"I brought you some delicious bento. I made it myself." Hara puts the 2-tier box on the table by my bed. "You can eat it for lunch."

"For dinner," Hinata adds in. "Korosensei will buy you anything you want as compensation."

Korosensei gasps in a tiny voice. "Nu... nuya?"

"No fair. He should treat all of us as well," Maehara complains with a smirk.

That causes a riot among the rest of the students.

"NUYA?!"

"Here you go," says Karma as he throws a brown coin bag to Rio. "Enjoy yourselves."

"NUYA! THAT'S MI-"

Rio tosses Korosensei's purse to me. I catch it and throws it to Yuuma, who throws it to Okajima. Korosensei's panicked look makes us laugh heartily.

"Well then," Bitch-sensei speaks up. "Here." She shoves a few money notes into Nagisa's hands. "These are US dollars. Use wisely."

"WOOHOO WE'RE RICH!" "Let's get something nice to eat!" "Pizza pizza!"

Karasuma-sensei fishes out his wallet from his pocket. Following the trend, he takes out a few notes as well. "I only Japanese Yen, but do enjoy yourselves." His face is still serious, but I can spot a small smile forming on his lips.

The class cheers and hollers with joy. With Yuuma taking the lead, they hurry off to buy their food. The ruckus quiets down as someone shushes them from outside. Karasuma-sensei and Korosensei are dragged along with the drift. Karma gives me a smile as he follows last. See you later, the message he sent to my phone wrote.

Irina Jelavic is the only one left in the room. She leans on the wall silently, staring at me. Her face is blank and void of emotions.

"Bitch-sensei, you didn't join them?" I ask.

She shakes her head. Her beautiful gold hair shimmers. She sits on the chair beside my bed. Her hands grab mine and squeeze them tight. I'm taken aback by her sudden actions.

"Bitch-sensei?"

"I am... I am so sorry, Akari." Her body trembles as she speaks softly, unlike her usual boisterous attitude. Tears flow down her cheeks, washing away her makeup.

She says nothing after that.

She didn't need to explain much. I know what she meant.

"If I have not joined forces with Reaper and set up the trap, you wouldn't have come. You wouldn't have got hurt.

I regret my choices. I'm so sorry."

Rio told me that Bitch-sensei was horrified when she saw me unconscious with a bloodied head. She became utterly confused, especially when Karasuma-sensei went on a rage, almost killing Bitch-sensei in the process.

I touch Bitch-sensei's head and caress her soft hair. "The others forgave you, so I forgive you too." I smile brightly. She looks at me with her huge eyes that are wet from crying.

Irina Jelavic is a professional assassin. She kills a lot of people. But she is only 20. And she's also our teacher.

"Everyone makes mistakes. As long as they learn from their mistakes, they will continue to grow into a better person," I say. "We're humans after all. We are always flawed." I squeeze her hand as she cries by my bedside.

"I'm so sorry."

"There, there." I caress her smooth and silky hair. "I understand how you feel now. It wasn't completely your faul-"

She cries even louder, undaunted by the fact that someone else might hear her and tarnish her image. Her face looks hideous with her makeup smudged by tears. This is the first time I see her putting her dignity and pride aside, tarnishing her image of 'cold, merciless assassin beauty'. I pull out a few pieces of tissue and wipe the smudges off her face. Under the heavy layer of makeup, her natural beauty would make other women jealous.

This 20 year old woman is just like other normal women in the world-kind and tsundere despite the number of lives she took.

"Bitch-sensei, you should clean yourself up before the others come back," I gently tell her.

She nods and leaves the room but stops at the door, staring back at me with pleading eyes.

I put my finger over my lips as a sign that I will keep quiet about this.

Irina Jelavic smiles back her most heartfelt smile I have ever seen.

*****

Day 6.

Karma skipped the class after lunch to accompany me, though I ordered him to go back but he refused to listen. I stare at him as he peels the skin of an orange. He plucks off one petal of the orange and feeds it to my mouth.

He has been silent and cold ever since the day I woke up. His replies only appear when I nag on him for too long. These few days, I thought he was still in shock but now I thought otherwise.

He's angry at me.

I need to break the cold wall between us. I fiddle my fingers as I try to form the perfect sentence. "Umm... Karma, are you mad that I almost killed myself aga-"

A loud thud cuts me off abruptly. I jump. A huge bottle of wasabi stands by the table next to my bed.

I immediately turn to apologetic mode and show Karma a very sorry face. "I'm sorryyyyyyy."

He glares at me with his very serious face.

I tug on his cardigan. My lips form a pout. "Karrrrrrrrmaaaa...."

"Goddamn it Akari. The hospital is not your home. Stop being an idiotic and get hurt. Are you sadistic?"

"I'm sorry."

He refuses eye contact with me.

"Karma, I... I won't do something like this again. I promise."

"You... If you don't act according to the situation, I can't protect you. You might... you might die! Damn it! Damn it Akari! Stop being reckless! No one will blame you if you surrender or give up or run. Everyone else would prefer you to be safe and sound instead of risking your life against someone you cannot never hope to triumph over!" He shouts angrily.

"I can't... I can't keep up to you because you always head forward without looking back. Without me." Karma rises from his seat. His lowered head makes me hard to see his face properly. "It's late. I should go back. Rest, Akari." He takes his bag and leaves the room, without turning back to look at me.

I stare at the door where he was before he left. My entire body trembles. I finally realize the moisture on my cheeks are tears.

He's disappointed with me.

"I'm sorry, Karma. I'm sorry."

I didn't blame him for venting his frustrations at me. As the matter of fact, I know he held back in the end. He didn't release all his anger at me. He should have because it's better this way. I didn't want to have any harsh feelings between us.

I cover my face in pillow and let tears drench it.

"I'm sorry, everyone."

I cry and sob and sniff for who knows how long. I just can't stop crying. The snorts and coughs only made my crying worsen. I probably look horrible now, with the mixture of snot and tears all over my face.

"Akari-san! Nurufufufufu, look what I got for yo-NUYA!" Korosensei flies in from the window, carrying bags of unknown objects.

I look at my teacher, whose bright smile is eternally plastered on his face; a sharp contrast between the both of us. Why does he always carry that smile wherever he goes? Even after I almost killed myself again, he didn't even reprimand me.

I cry louder this time, making him fluster.

"NUYA! Akari-san!"

"I'm sowwyyyy!!!" The crying sores my throat. It makes my voice sounds weird like I have phlegm in my mouth. "I'm sowwwyyy senseeeeei!"

"Akari-san..." His yellow tentacle reaches out and wraps around my waist to give me a hug. I grab its end and sneeze on it. He shivers but another tentacle caresses my head.

Korosensei's gentle voice coaxes me. "Akari-san, whatever happened to you, I'm all ears. Cry everything out and relieve your stress. Sensei is here for you."

*****

Korosensei unwraps the dinner he brought for me. They are Chinese porridge, steamed veggies and fruits.

"These food is better than hospital food. The fruits are fresh and nutritious," Korosensei says as he pours porridge into a bowl. Steam rises from the porridge. He poured another for himself and blows the spoonful of porridge for over 1 minute. His other tentacles busy themselves by peeling the fruits.

I pick up one of the steamed vegetables and ready to put it in my mouth.

"Akari-san, have you seen Karma-kun?"

My hand stops before my mouth. The vegetable dangles from the chopsticks.

"He hasn't been in class today. At least, for the afternoon session."

Unconsciously, the vegetable lands on the porridge. I put down my chopsticks as i realize my energy is drained abruptly.

"He..." I stutter. "He came and left." I try to feign the sadness in my tone, but Korosensei is too smart to not notice that my mood has gone down.

"Was your crying related to him?" He asks gently.

I nod slightly. Without holding back, I tell him everything. It feels like the huge rock that rests on my chest has left. I hold back the traitorous tears in my eyes. Fragility is not something I'd like to display right now.

Korosensei remains his yellow smiley face throughout listening to me. After I stop, a tentacle pats my head soothingly, as if he is telling me that he is always there for me.

"I... don't know what to do. Does Karma hate me now?"

"Nurufufu. I don't think so," Korosensei replies. "I believe he just need some time to think alone. He's a smart guy; he'll figure it out."

"Figure... what out?"

"Figure out his next move. Should he continue, or give up? That's probably what he is thinking about."

My heart jumps. C-continue or give me up?

"Nurufufufu. I can see from your face that you're flustering. Sensei has not much relationship experience, but I can tell you that in a relationship, both people have to tolerate each other, be it his goodness or weaknesses." A tentacle touches my forehead. "Your weakness is recklessness. You go headstrong in critical situations and almost got yourself killed. In those times, no matter how strong Karma is, he couldn't catch up to you to protect you."

"Then... what should I do?"

"You need to apologize, admit your mistakes. And also, never try to hurt yourself again because if you're hurt, you'll end up hurting your loved ones. Do you understand now, Akari-san?"

I nod and sob as tears flow down my cheeks one more. God, how come there're still so many tears in my eyes?! I blink my watery eyes.

I need to apologize even more to Karma. I need to reassure him I won't kill myself. I don't want to see Karma in such internal conflict-in such pain and anxiety because of me. I don't want him to give me up. I want him back to me. So, I have to do whatever I can to make him happy again.

"Korosensei."

"Nyu?" he raises his head from eating the porridge.

"Thank you." I smile brightly.

"Nurufufufu. As long as I can help you Akari-san. If there's anything else, you can ask me for help."

I give him a big hug. "Thank you, sensei."

*****

Korosensei left to give me some rest.

I lay on my bed and stare at the ceiling, wondering since tomorrow's Saturday, will he come and pick me up from the hospital? I'm being released tomorrow. Or will he remain angry at me and don't show up at all?

I reach out for my phone. The screen shows 12.04 A.M. Without hesitation I press an icon of Karma's face for a speed dial. My heart beats stronger along with the ringing of the call. After a few rings, I give up hope of him picking up.

Suddenly, the ringing stop.

He picked up!

"Hello? Kar-"

"Hello, this is Akabane Karma's voice message. Sorry I couldn't pick up right now because I'm beating someone up or pranking people or just playing video games. Leave a message."

It's not him.

My hope crashes like a sandcastle after a wave hit.

But at least, I heard his voice.

My hands tremble. My whole body shivers.

He hates me. He hates me.

...

...

...

Don't give up just yet.

More courage is mustered as I open Messenger to message him. My fingers stop at the virtual keyboard, hesitating on the words I should type. I'm afraid that he might get angry and hate me if I typed wrongly.

Be brave, Akari.

I pour all my feelings in one seating and press the send button without turning back. I don't hope for any reply; I just want him to hear me out and understand. I just want to apologize before it's too late to fix anything.

'Karma, I'm sorry. I know a thousand times of telling you that won't fix anything, but I thought it's the best words to tell you now. You probably didn't want to pick up my phone anyway. I don't know if you're still angry or not, or even hate me. I don't have the right to tell you to calm down. Maybe you didn't want to see me again. I understand. So,

I think we should not see each other for a while until you figure out what you want to do next. I know what I want: I want to be with you. But,

What about you?'

Then I shut my phone and cut myself from the world with my pillow.

*****

Saturday.

The redhead is not here.

He hasn't seen or reply my messages.

I feel heartbroken.

So this is it? We won't see each other again? Even if we do, like in class, you'll just pretend I don't exist?

...

...

...

...

...

What happened to the promise that you told me---that you'll never leave me?

*****

Korosensei, Megu, Nagisa, Hinata, Rinka, Maehara and Yuuma picked me up from the hospital a few hours ago. The rest of the class, including Rio, gave me a surprise when I stepped into my apartment. My entire living room was occupied with all my beloved classmates. They sat by the sofa and sprawled on the floor while a few were busying themselves at the open kitchen. Hara seemed to have cooked some bento with Kanzaki and Fuwa helping out. The pudding desserts were made by Kaede, with help from Manami and Hinano. The boys were squabbling about what pizza they should order or what movie they should watch. Bitch-sensei treated them pizza with more US dollars.

But, that redhead, was nowhere to be seen.

For an hour I sat among the boys, listening to their squabbles. I wasn't paying much attention since my focus was, and still is on Karma.

"Here you go." Rio passes me a plate of fresh pudding. "Desert."

I stare at the pudding wriggling itself. No matter how tasty it looks, I don't feel like I have the appetite to stomach it.

Rio slams her butt next to me on the floor. Her curious eyes dart to and fro every corner of the room. "Oh," she lets out an understanding sigh. "What? You and Karma got in a fight?"

Disbelief gleams in my eyes as I look at her. "How did you-"

"I'm your best friend and I know you so damn well I'm like the worm in your stomach." She smirks.

I roll my eyes at her. "That is utterly disgusting."

"You know her. She wouldn't be Nakamura Rio if she doesn't act like that," Megu says as she sits on my right. She stuffs Rio's mouth with pizza then mine. Rio swallows it fast and winks at Megu.

I chew the pizza slowly.

"So, wanna talk about you and that redhead?" Megu asks, treading carefully.

I nod. Then change my mind and shake my head.

Megu sighs. "Then let's find somewhere private?"

I shake my head. I take a notebook from my study desk and scribble down everything I want to tell them.

It takes them about 10 seconds to read the long 'essay' I wrote. Rio squeezes my shoulders while Megu pats my head. "There, there," they both say simlutaneusly. Rio takes the notebook and writes down her reply.

'I don't have experience in love but well... it's so damn obvious Karma loves you. He's probably playing video games right now.'

So video games are more important than me?

Megu glares at Rio for making me sad. Rio shudders and scribbles, 'sorry'.

This time it's Megu's turn to write. 'What she means is, maybe Karma needs some time alone to think about something. If he really cares about you, he'll come back to you.'

Rio's turn. 'In short, he loves you, he comes back. He doesn't, then find another one.' She stares at Isogai Yuuma, who is looking through the pile of DVDs Korosensei bought. Maehara keeps disrupting him by choosing the scary ones but Hinata hammers his head to stop him.

Megu rolls her eyes and scribbles her reply. 'She... does have a point. I am neutral against Karma, but I also know he does care about you. Like when we're at that island, he stayed with the unconscious you and carried you back.'

I stare at the notebook without scribbling a reply.

'Whatever happens, we're here for you.' Megu writes.

'You have us. We support you, no matter what happen to you. Friends for life, Aka-chan.' Rio writes too.

I feel tears stinging my eyes. My hands stretch out to hug both of them.

'Thank you.'

*****

The following Monday, I resume going back to school.

Korosensei delayed the Career Interview for me so it is held today. Each student was given a form to fill in their desired school and future career.

My mind has not been focusing on this since, well, the subject of my dilemma sits next to me, nonchalantly looking at the paper. He didn't look at me when he came in, didn't look at me when he sat down, and damn well won't look at me now.

In next five minutes, the first student going in would be Karma.

My desperate hope of him notice me is like, 'Please notice me, senpai'.

Rio suddenly pops up next to me and snatches me paper. With a smirk, she says loudly-at least loud enough for Karma to hear. "You haven't fill in your form yet?"

I shrug, sighing at her deliberate action.

"Is something in your mind?"

I shrug.

Rio continues her monologue. "Oh really?"

"Well, uncle did suggest me to go to England."

Silence replies me. Rio gapes at me.

"What?" her jaw opens widely.

"I forgot to told you guys. I might go to England." It's not a lie. Uncle did suggest me to go to England, though. I had some time thinking about it but Karma filled my mind lately so I didn't tell my two best friends.

Rio slaps her forehead. She looks genuinely shocked. "Oh for god's sake."

The sound of something dropping to the floor draws our attention. Karma's pencil box opens its wide jaw; its contents scattered over the floor. As he picks his stationery up, I manage to catch his gaze, just for 1 second.

There is anxiety in his eyes.

He might have or might not heard me.

I hope he does.

Because if I really do go to England, I might not see him again.

"I am telling Megu." Rio stomps off, looking pissed. I continue staring at my paper. It's just a paper anyway, writing 'England' down doesn't mean I'm really going.

So, I write down the hazardous word onto the paper. With blue pen. Not erasable. Permanent. It feels like I'm determined with this decision.

England is nice. And far. It has so many beautiful places there. Far. I might meet new people and expand beyond my limits. Far.

The universities would be nice. Like Oxford, Cambridge. Those old ones really feel different if I get to go there.

Far.

And... and those ancient libraries and those old books and..

Far.

And I get to travel to Europe since it's so near. Or I can choose to study in Finland too since it also has good educati--

Far.

Far from Megu, Rio, Yuuma, Nagisa, Rinka, Hinata, Kaede, Sugino, Manami......

Far from Karma.

"I must be completely out of my mind for contradicting myself like this," I mutter silently. "It'll just be goddamn 2 years and I can come back to Japan for univers-- "

"You're... going to England?"

I turn to my right. Surprisingly, it's Karma who's talking.

Silence.

"Maybe," I reply after a painful silence. "You stopped pretending I'm invisible?"

His golden orbs stare at me firmly. I'm not stepping back from my sarcastic reply.

"Maybe," he replies.

"Can we just have a talk before you give me the cold shoulde-- "

"Karma-kun, your turn. Come see me." Korosensei pops his head through the door. The buzzling class hasn't silent down yet.

Karma rises from his seat, taking his paper with him. "Maybe, after this."

Weirdly, I'm not holding much hope in his words.

*****

Even though Karma came back, he didn't speak to me. Like I said, I didn't put much hope in it. Maybe he did want to speak to me but what happened to Irina-sensei probably shocked him.

I wasn't surprised to see Nagisa display his assassination skills on Irina-sensei when he took the price tag off her clothes without her noticing. Considering how experienced Irina-sensei is as an assassin, this was quite the surprise. I know Nagisa is talented in this field, but I didn't know he is like a prodigy.

Karma seemed to be more surprised than me. He said nothing about it. I kind of understand him. He's more into fighting directly with his strength while Nagisa is more like a stealthy assassin. Both have opposite qualities yet they excel in their own field.

Plus, I saw something in his eyes.

Fear.

It was so minute that I thought I was hallucinating. But when he did not talk to me like he promised, it confirmed my suspicions. The only fear I know of him is losing me. I didn't know he is afraid of Nagisa. I want to know more about it-know more about him.

Well, if he talks to me.

Now he sleeps on the table, ignoring me.

If I want him to talk to me, I need to reassure him that he can depend on me, and be open at me at all times. After all, I'm still his girlfriend. I think.

I copy him and go to sleep as well.

*****

Because Karma didn't talk to me again, I became stressed. I kept thinking of him as I lied on the sofa. Megu told me to relax myself by getting myself busy.

Thus, I'm here now, on stage, with my electric guitar, doing a gig.

The lead vocal this time-not me-is the girl who did my red hairdo last time. She asked me for my help because the guitarist fell sick. Since I'm in need of diversions, I took the job.

I stare at the crowd and focus on the song. The redhead is pushed aside to the corners of my mind-

I glimpse red hair dancing in the crowd.

I blink my eyes, wondering if it is someone else and not him. But I see no one with that flaming red hair. It somehow vanished in thin air.

Hallucination. Yeah. Must be that.

I lie to myself but I know how much I really miss him. I want to see him.

Focus on the job!

When the song ends, I return to the dressing room and plop my butt onto the chair. My head spins after that stupid hallucination.

"This looks pretty!" "OMG, who's the lucky girl?"

The voices from other performers buzz in the room. I rub my temples, wishing that they'd be quiet.

"Look at the card!" "Whose name is written on it?"

My hands reach out for the bottle in my bag. My throat's quite thirsty. I take a refreshing sip of water.

"Who's Okumura Akari?"

......and choke when my name is heard.

I turn to the group of three girls. The one with dirty blonde hair holds a small bunch of red roses.

Red.

"Akari's my guitarist. You can give it to me," says the vocal singer as she walks in to the room. Her sapphire blue eyes look at me and a small smile lights on her face. Her black hair dances as she takes the small bouquet from them. She places it on the dresser in front of me. "Congrats, Akari, you got an admirer. Or is it your boyfriend?"

No words form on my lips. I remove the card from the bouquet. There's nothing on it except my name. No name of the sender. I hug the bouquet to my chest and smell its wonderful fragrance.

But the red of the roses reminds me of him and him only.

I begin to wonder if it's really him. Why did he bother to send me flowers when I thought he hate me?

*****

The next day, Nagisa's mother came and wanted to transfer Nagisa to the main campus. She was fierce. Nagisa was so timid when she was around. Although Korosensei (pretending to be Karasuma-sensei) tried to talk some sense into her, she went on a rage and took Nagisa away. It seemed hard to resolve this problem but Nagisa saved his mother from an assassin when she wanted Nagisa to burn down the classroom. He managed to voice out his opinions and changed his mother's opinion. She let him stay, only if his grades keep improving.

Nagisa also told us about how he had long hair because his mother didn't let him to cut to pretend him as a girl. I pitied him but at least now he had his mother's understanding.

Karma didn't look for me or reply me or anything. But thank god I'm busy to even think about him. If I'm left alone with no devices of diversion to keep my mind busy, I'll be nonstop thinking about that idiot.

But this busy period will end as quick as the school festival ends.

Korosensei suggested us to use the natural resources around us to make good food. Thus, an idea of a café is created. Muramatsu will develop a new recipe for noodles. Mimura will create menus and posters for advertising. Okajima's photography skills enables him to take delicious pictures of our food for Mimura. And our dark mistress, Hazama will write descriptions for the food. Only a few of my classmates have been assigned to help Muramatsu. The rest, including me, are given the duty of gathering food sources such as fish, acorns, vegetables and fruits.

Everyone is free to go anywhere they want in the hill to gather food. But I wonder...

...why am I paired with Karma?!

KOROSENSEI! This is not nice!

I steel myself and pretend that there are no problems between me and Karma. I point to my 2 o'clock direction. "I think we should start there."

No matter how urgent I urge to discuss with him our current problem, I focus on my duty instead. Lying to myself, pretending that we're both fine, keeping my mind busy of what kind of food I can find......

......makes my heart to realize everything I do is pointless because all I can think about is him. Him. Him. Him.

I'm about to jump over a stream when Karma pulls my arm to hold me from moving away. "Wait."

Even standing this close to him somehow aches my heart, yet alone him touching me pierces my fragile heart through.

"What? Wrong direction?" I divert the subject even though I know he isn't talking about that.

"No. We need to tal-"

Run away. "I don't think we're free to talk. We have a job to d-"

"I said, we need to talk. Now." Karma lets go of my arm even though he knows I might run. His eyes stare at me firmly. "I know I've been avoiding you. but I won't do that anymore. So please don't avoid me."

"Took you long enough to know that," I reply sarcastically because it's either a sarcastic reply or screaming and shouting angrily at him, venting all my frustrations at him, losing my cool, forgetting my job, making myself look bad. I don't want the latter.

I stare at him. "Let's talk then, Karma."

*****

Dear all, sorry for the delay. Here's the new chapter with some twists and turns around. So tell me how you feel about this chapter :D

Bye guys! Love you!

(P.S. the cover picture is Re Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu. It's sooooo nice~)