Tuesday had gone by in a much similar fashion to Monday's events; Okuda, after receiving a supervised lesson from Koro-sensei on mixing poisons Monday afternoon came to class in her own meek form of excitement, clutching a spherical vial in her hands. She chattered excitedly with Kayano and Nagisa, and for once didn't seem to shrink away at Amaya's arrival.

The meek girl had promptly handed the supposed poison to Koro-sensei the very moment he'd entered the classroom, to which he downed it immediately.

Needless to say, the so called poison had ended up being ineffective in killing him, and in truth, a tonic to loosen his molecular structure, allowing him to become liquid at will.

It had been turned into some kind of lesson for the meek girl who handed her poisons over so openly, one that had Amaya a little skeptical, though understanding in the way that the yellow creature had turned it around.

To Amaya though, it felt more like he'd turned it around to conveniently cover all bases, however that was probably that cynical part of her that didn't necessarily like adults too much talking, instead of the rational, level headed side of her that she preferred to listen to.

She'd noticed Karasuma standing somewhere outside while this was all going on, a strained look across his face as he spoke on his phone. He seemed to glance over at the classroom every now and then, like he was at odds with a discussion. Amaya had wondered if it was something to do with their assignment of killing Koro-sensei, but decided against thinking on it too long - He'd tell them if it was something to do with the assignment, so anything else was kind of his business, really.

Apart from the rather peculiar day-to-day details and tasks that were becoming rather common now that Amaya wasn't in a scorn-filled classroom, there wasn't really anything worth mentioning.

At least for the most part.

Maehara had approached her Tuesday afternoon at the end of class to invite her to hang with him and Isogai that Saturday around lunch, and a couple of the other girls from class were coming, too. Supposedly it was a kind of study session down at one of the diners nearby where the boys lived. She didn't give a definite answer, since with her lifestyle there was no telling whether she'd suddenly be in the middle of taking out the delinquent trash or not, so she told him to ask her a bit closer to the day.

While Maehara didn't quite get why she had requested that, Isogai immediately smiled in understanding, and said that they'll give her a call Saturday morning to check with her.

While she still didn't grasp what he supposedly knew, she had at least gotten used to it enough where she could just shrug it off until later.

Ever since her little fit of hysterical laughter over Koro-sensei's transforming face, it appeared that many of the students were getting used to her much quicker now - The silver-haired boy in particular had come over to introduce himself as Sugaya Sousuke Tuesday morning, and the boy called Sugino had actually greeted her when Nagisa came over to say hi, as well.

So far, it appeared that Amaya got along better with the boys of Class E than the girls, really. Kayano and Kataoka were the only two girls that had introduced themselves to her, and in fact made a point of acknowledging her with a polite greeting.

Right now, it was Wednesday morning, and Amaya was in the process of pulling her indoor shoes on in the foyer of the Class E campus. She hadn't seen much of Karma since Tuesday afternoon, where he seemed to wander off to talk to Nagisa about something. Of course, that didn't stop the evil boy from annoying her in other means.

In particular, annoying little emails here and there that taunted her over her little laughing fit on Monday.

She was still a little mad about that.

'Katsuragi-san, good morning.' Spoke up a voice all of a sudden, startling Amaya out of her little daydream.

Still balancing on one foot, she turned her head to look over at the entrance to the Class E building, to see one of the girls she'd never spoken to before. She was the girl that sat at the desk one row in front and to the left side of the room, facing the blackboard, her build a cute rounded in comparison to the rest of the girls.

What was her name ...?

'U-uh, good morning.' Amaya responded, albeit a little uncertainly.

The girl smiled in response and approached the shoe-shelves to swap her outside shoes over.

'Are you settling in alright?' The girl asked after a couple of seconds silence, causing Amaya to look at her once again.

'More or less ...?'

Amaya cursed the way she had returned to that uncertain meekness, and inwardly she wanted to smack herself in the face.

'Well if you need any help, you're more than welcome to talk to anyone in class.' The girl remarked, straightening up once she'd swapped her shoes over - Amaya was still unlacing her second boot. 'We're all friendly enough, even Terasaka, Yoshida and Muramatsu - They just look like your general run of the mill bullies.'

Amaya refrained from letting her brow furrow at those words.

'I'll keep that in mind.'

And with that, the nameless girl left to head into class.

Amaya blinked silently, before she returned to her task of swapping shoes.

Back in the main building, Amaya just wore her lace-ups throughout the whole building, but here she had more respect, therefore she did the right thing and wore indoor shoes instead, but she was beginning to get frustrated with the lacings.

She decided she should buy a less awkward pair of knee-high boots to wear after school - Something she could just yank off like a pair of joggers.

There were voices belonging to a few of the students echoing form inside the classroom, and Amaya frowned ever so slightly as she finally swapped her shoes over and began to approach.

It didn't seem like Koro-sensei or Karasuma were around at all.

Though the Octopus had said something about buying a whole heap of snacks in the morning sometime yesterday afternoon.

Something along the lines of it being pay-day.

Oh well, it didn't really matter, anyway.

Amaya decided that today was the day she was going to hang out with Nagisa for lunch, and ask him why he seemed hesitant and edging with his remark that Karma had been the first to harm Koro-sensei.

She got the feeling that a lot had happened during that point in time, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't the least bit curious.

Amaya opened the door of the classroom, finding herself a little surprised to find that most of the class was already here. Maehara, Isogai, Kataoka, hell, even Terasaka was here.

The only ones that weren't were the other orangish-haired boy, and Karma.

Amaya wasn't surprised at Karma not being here, for some reason.

The green-haired girl called Kayano cast Amaya a smile and a small wave, which she returned as she shut the door behind her.

There was a kind of weird air about the classroom, but she decided to disregard it.

No point in worrying about it unless a reason came up.

So with a small sigh, Amaya dropped herself into her chair and slumped forward over her desk.

'Mornin', Katsuragi-san.' Spoke up a new, but vaguely familiar voice all of a sudden, causing Amaya to blink in surprise.

Sugaya, who was sitting at his desk to her immediate front-left had turned his head towards her at her arrival, a polite smile across his rather sharp features.

'Good morning, Sugaya-kun.' Amaya greeted the silver-haired boy, though she didn't lift herself from her desk. 'Is there something going on, today?'

Surprised, Sugaya blinked for just a second before he spoke.

'Dunno, haven't heard anything. Though Karasuma-sensei looked kinda bothered about something, so maybe it's that?'

Amaya thought on that for a second before she shrugged.

'Huh. Guess that makes sense...' She responded, slowly straightening up to prop her chin on an upturned hand. That made sense to her, but at the same time, she didn't quite get why they seemed to buzz with concern.

Surely after the revelation that their teacher destroyed the moon and is a giant octopus, there should be little to concern everyone, right?

'You shouldn't think so hard, Amay.' A familiar voice spoke up all of a sudden, amusement dancing in his tone of voice. 'You're going to cook your brain, otherwise.'

'Shut up, Karma.' Amaya grumbled instinctively, earning a chuckle from the red-head in mention. She saw him sit at his desk, and lean back on his chair with his hands linked behind his head in that lazy manner of his.

Amaya huffed ever so slightly and leaned back in her chair.

She began to try and figure out what classes there were today - It was a Wednesday, but given her first week as a Student of Class E, it was kinda hard for her to recall what classes were which. If anything, Amaya was willing to bet it was either Geography or History.

Both of which were subjects that would put her straight to sleep.

But they were better than Maths and Chemistry, any day.

The sudden sliding of the front door of the classroom echoed all of a sudden, startling Amaya out of her little internal complaints and bringing her to look over in response.

However she saw something that just didn't make any sense to her at all.

Koro-sensei stepped through the door, bobbing his head beneath the door-frame as he moved, however his appearance was not only different, but he appeared to have a living accessory attached to his side.

In what Amaya guessed to be a disguise, Koro-sensei's colour was a pinkish tan, and not only did he have a black wig on his head beneath his tasseled cap, but he seemed to have an obviously fake nose attached to his face. He also wore long-sleeves and gloves to disguise his fingered tentacles. All in all, his disguise made him look uncomfortably creepy.

The living accessory that was attached to his left side was that of an obviously foreign woman in her twenties, with pale, ivory skin, long, wavy white-blonde hair and a remarkably curved form, which was further accentuated by the white mini-skirt and cardigan outfit she was wearing. She appeared to be smiling adorably, smitten even, however it stuck out to Amaya like a sore thumb.

That smile was too adorable to be real.

Amaya's distrust for strangers made the realization far more profound and obvious.

And yet there was something about the woman that bothered her in a different way.

She couldn't put her finger on it, no matter how hard she tried, and it began to frustrate her. It was almost familiar, in an uncomfortable, unlikeable way. It almost felt like she'd seen this nameless woman before, but she knew that was impossible. It had to be impossible.

Her head told her that there was no way in hell that she'd met this woman before, and her stomach agreed, but with hesitation.

The woman's general appearance was nostalgic, and the only part of her life that could count towards nostalgia was when she lived in Okinawa.

But there was no way in hell that she could have met this woman on that island. She was never away from her mother and father long enough to actually meet strangers. She was too firmly attached to her mother, and her father had very particular rules for her when she was with him.

So who the hell was this woman?!

'Everyone, please take your seats.' Karasuma's voice called out all of a sudden, bringing Amaya out of her frustrated train of thought.

The ever-serious man was standing off to the side at the front of the classroom, his arms crossed over his chest as Koro-sensei and the foreign woman came to a stop behind the teacher's desk. Amaya immediately recognized the same strained look across his sharp features that he wore when he was on the phone yesterday.

Amaya guessed that the two instances were directly connected with this woman.

Which guaranteed to her that this woman was absolutely fake right now.

Once everyone had taken their seats, Karasuma seemed to let out a breath.

'Now, allow me to introduce your brand-new temporary foreign-language teacher.' Karasuma began, that strained look still written across his face.

It was here that the smitten woman piped up in a high-toned, chirpy voice.

'Irina Jelavic. Nice to meet you all!' She announced, though none of the students even reacted to her words.

Amaya herself just stared, her brain picking apart every little hint and detail this woman gave.

Just her name was enough to tell Amaya that this woman was apparently European, from her family name. Amaya only knew this through her father ... or rather, her step-mother as it was, had a family name that ended in much the same way. Bosconavic, if Amaya recalled correctly.

Of course, whether or not the woman clinging to Koro-sensei was European wasn't guaranteed by her name.

In all honesty, it was probably an alias of some kind.

'Who'd have thought you were a teacher here?' Irina prattled to Koro-sensei, completely ignoring everything else in a very convenient manner. Koro-sensei responded enthusiastically as he pulled his wig off and removed his fake nose while his complexion returned to normal.

Amaya didn't fail to notice that the woman didn't even bat an eye at his sudden change in appearances.

She glanced over at Karasuma, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else but in the classroom right at that second.

She couldn't blame him - She didn't like sitting here having to watch this, either.

However, he chose to speak up, almost as if he was trying to push the situation further along to just get past all of the prattling between Koro-sensei and Irina.

'This school intends to give you authentic experience in foreign languages.' He began straight to the point, causing Koro-sensei to look at him. 'I trust there are no complaints about her taking over half your English lessons?'

'If we must...' Koro-sensei responded without too much deliberation.

It was here that some of the students began to break their silence, quietly muttering amongst themselves while Irina continued to gush over Koro-sensei.

However Amaya just felt more and more disgusted, her frustration slowly beginning to rise to agitation.

'Hey, Amay?' Karma drawled out in that familiar manner. 'You're kinda scary looking.'

'Shut up. I'm not scary.' She responded frigidly.

'Really? You could've fooled me.'

Frustrated, Amaya turned her head to fix her glaring gaze upon Karma.

He had been smirking at her, however at the proper look at Amaya's face, he seemed to adopt a somewhat perplexed expression as he glanced over at Koro-sensei and Irina.

Karma didn't say anything however.

All the while this little exchange occurred, it appeared that Irina had spoken, and a remarkably pink shade had taken over Koro-sensei's face.

Or rather, his face had changed colour from yellow to a pale pink, and the students throughout the room seemed to have a rather disgusted air about them.

What exactly did that woman say?

It didn't appear that it was anything particularly important - Aside from Irina all but fusing with Koro-sensei's arm, Karasuma had left the room and Koro-sensei was still just standing there accepting all the attention he was getting.

It was odd however that the yellow creature was enjoying the attention so much - Very human, in fact.

It was a small tidbit for Amaya's ongoing observations, another small, subtle indication that this teacher has human tendencies.

Another small, prodding indication that he might be more human than his appearances let on.

And yet right now Amaya didn't really care.

She wanted this disgusting smitten act to end right now, otherwise she might actually gag from the nauseating sight.

She actually had to refrain from pulling out her Anti-sensei knife and throwing it - She didn't want to draw attention to herself right now.

Class began after that long, disturbing revelation of an additional teacher, and unfortunately it appeared that she wasn't going away. Not only was Irina seeming to try and fuse with Koro-sensei chest first, but she just wouldn't shut up!

That high-toned bubbly tone she was using had given Amaya a headache by the end of first period, which just so happened to be History after all.

Thankfully they didn't have to deal with Irina throughout second period, as she seemed to have decided to disappear with a twittering remark that she was going to familiarize herself with the facilities. Though the fact that she went to do that all on her own was especially suspicious to Amaya.

Third period was PE with Karasuma, guaranteeing another class without Irina.

And yet the question of the woman's familiarity was a thorn in Amaya's side; It infuriated her to the point where she wasn't controlling her strength properly, and she accidentally jabbed Maehara a bit too hard with the Anti-Sensei knife. Thankfully she'd just winded the guy, however after that, she opted to bow out of the rest of PE just in case she managed to deal more harm to either him or Isogai. Karasuma didn't even question her on that, almost as if he had noticed her agitation back in the classroom.

At the moment, she wasn't interested in figuring out if he had.

Right now, Amaya just wanted to skip the rest of school for the day, however she decided she'd better not.

She was actually hoping something embarrassing would happen to Irina, and she didn't want to miss it if it did.

After getting changed back into her regular uniform, Amaya had sat down at the base of one of the trees at the edge of the clearing, her headphones on as she tried to drown her agitation. She didn't like the feeling of agitation - it felt like hot, thick sludge slowly running through her insides.

In truth, she preferred the cold, familiar waters that she was usually subjected to.

But of late it seemed that the hot, uncomfortable waters of the other extreme were her main companion.

Uncomfortable, and nauseating.

She'd rather freeze to death in the pit of despair than boil to death in hot sludge.

Now more than ever, Amaya was beginning to understand what her mother had said in that dream.

As her thoughts began to drag her deeper into the recesses of a daze, movement came to her immediate notice - It cut her off from the depths of thoughts in a startling manner.

What she immediately recognized to be a hand tugged her headphones off her head in a sudden jerking motion, causing Amaya to jump as she instinctively threw her hands atop her head in an attempt at thwarting the evil that had disturbed her.

She found that she was too late, of course - the person who she instinctively knew to be her best friend had already pulled the headphones clean off her head, and the cable had been yanked out of her phone with the one sharp tug.

'Give them back, Karma.' Amaya spoke quietly, forcing herself to maintain an even tone as she looked up at the red-head standing right in front of her.

Of course he just smirked as he waved them at her just out of her reach.

'I don't know - Should I?' He drawled out, continuing to dangle the headphones in front of Amaya.

'You should, or I'll give you a black eye.' Amaya told him seriously.

Not the least bit perturbed by her response, Karma just smiled at her mischievously.

'Now that's not very nice, Amay.' He taunted her as he crouched down just out of arms reach, but not out of kicking range. 'I think your trust issues are getting out of hand.'

Amaya's gaze narrowed at the wording he had used.

'My trust issues are in check, thank you very much.'

'Really?' Karma drawled out, holding her headphones loosely in his right hand as his left arm rest over a knee. 'I must have imagined you almost accidentally kill Maehara-kun with a rubber knife, then.'

Amaya stared at the smiling, taunting red-head for just a second, before she kicked her right foot straight up towards his face.

Like always, Karma avoided the move like he knew it was coming, however her foot had caught the band of her headphones and knocked them out of his rather loose grip to send them flying.

'O-oh--?' A new voice spoke up all of a sudden.

Both Amaya and Karma turned their heads to the presence of the new voice, to find that Nagisa was standing just a couple of meters away, and he had managed to catch Amaya's headphones.

Standing in the right place and the right time, maybe?

'Shiota-kun, can I have those, please?' Amaya asked with a sigh.

Seeming to understand what was going on, Nagisa nodded his head and tossed them towards her.

Of course Karma being the evil bastard he was at times just lunged forward to snatch them right out of her grip as she caught them.

Amaya turned her head to fix him with a glare silently, much to the amusement of the red-head.

'Ne, Katsuragi-san? You can call me Nagisa, if you'd like.' Nagisa began, causing Amaya to turn her head to look at him. 'Everyone else calls me Nagisa, too.'

'I wouldn't bother!' Karma announced with a chuckle, tossing Amaya's headphones back to her now that she wasn't looking at him. 'It took Amay a whole year to actually call me by my name.'

'You're a special case, though.' Amaya seethed at the red-head.

'That's kinda harsh, you know?'

'Only if you want it to be, Karma.' Amaya responded as she tossed her headphones back into her bag.

Amaya turned her head back towards Nagisa, to see that he was smiling sheepishly at the small exchange.

'So, Nagisa-kun, then?' Amaya clarified.

Nagisa seemed the tiniest bit surprised, however he smiled and nodded his head.

'Eh? Just like that?' Karma spoke up in that drawling manner he was fond of, though there was no real emphasis to his words.

'In my defense, you were still calling me rather unpleasant names, idiot.' Amaya responded as she looked back at Karma, to see him fix her with a whimsical look. 'Don't you think that might have a lot to do with it?'

'What's so bad about being called Rat-kun?' He questioned her in mock confusion.

'Karma-kun, I don't think anyone would like being called Rat-kun.' Nagisa spoke up.

Amaya of course remained silent and fixed Karma with a glare.

He of course knew why she didn't like being called Rat-kun, so she didn't think it was worth acknowledging his question.

It appeared that Karma found her reaction rather amusing - he snickered to himself as he stood up from his crouching position.

'You always take that so seriously, Amay.' Karma responded with a smirk, stepping around Amaya to set himself on the ground just next to her.

'And yet you're the one that gets upset when you lose respect points.' Amaya responded easily.

Karma fixed Amaya with a rather suspicious look all of a sudden, while Nagisa seemed to wander over to sit on Karma's other side, the three of them in a kind of semi-circle.

'That's because it's next to impossible to build them up if you're in a bad mood.' Karma remarked.

'That's not my problem.'

'What do you mean by Respect Points?' Nagisa asked curiously, seeming to pause in his motions of opening up his obento.

Amaya hadn't even realized it was lunch time, nor had she noticed that the boy had approached with his obento in hand.

'Just that.' Karma spoke as he turned his head towards Nagisa.

Of course Amaya sighed in response.

'It's just some stupid way he has of keeping track of how mad I am at him, back in elementary school.' Amaya explained to Nagisa as she leaned back against the tree.

'It's not stupid - It's the only way to get you to talk, half the time.' Karma responded with a smirk, though Amaya just turned her head to stare at him.

'Only because you have yet to master the knack of sourcing information without turning it into some big joke of yours.'

'So, how does it work?' Nagisa asked, seeming quite intrigued by the topic.

Amaya guessed it might be something he'd never heard of before.

'Pretty self-explanatory.' Karma responded, still smirking at Amaya's frowning face, though he tore his gaze away to look at Nagisa after a few seconds. 'Everyone starts at zero points, and the more respect she has for you, the more points you get. If she hates you, it'll go into negative points. A hundred points either way is the furtherest extreme.'

Furtherest extreme, huh? No, there was another set of a hundred points beyond the first hundred respect.

Though she wasn't going to tell him that.

'You make it sound like some kinda game.' Nagisa responded.

'That's because it is a game to him.' Amaya interjected as she began to forage through her bag for the onigiri she'd bought from the store on the way to school.

'Oh ...'

'So!' Karma announced all of a sudden, turning his head to look back at Amaya. 'Might as well ask, how many points am I on right now?'

Amaya was silent at first, unwrapping her onigiri as she thought on that carefully.

She didn't miss the mischievous grin that he was wearing, and Nagisa was listening with great interest.

'Seventy-one.' Amaya answered after a few seconds.

For some reason Karma was silent at first, the mischievous look wiped clean from his face.

She couldn't really blame him for being surprised, though - He usually preferred to sit at about ninety points, since it meant he'd be on par with Yuta and Reiko.

'Have I actually managed to regain any this year?' He eventually spoke.

'Sure you have.' Amaya responded with a shrug, taking a bite of her Onigiri. 'You regained five on Friday.'

That was a random number she picked off the top of her head, but it was about that in value, she guessed.

The respect points was something he came up with, after all.

Karma seemed to wear a thoughtful look as he stared at Amaya, almost as if he was mulling over the meaning of those words very carefully.

'So ... how many points would I have, Katsuragi-san?' Nagisa asked her curiously.

She silently chewed on her Onigiri as she thought on that, though she did notice Karma glance at Nagisa for just a second.

In approximate addition, Amaya guessed she'd give him ten points just for being close to Karma, another ten for approaching her back at the start of term, a further twelve because her siblings had mentioned that he'd been very kind to them when he took them downtown that night, and five points just because he had agreed that Rat-kun was not a nice thing to be called.

That gave Nagisa thirty-seven points, and just for good measure, Amaya rounded it up by three.

Just because she knew it would annoy Karma.

'Forty.' Amaya answered, before she took another bite of her onigiri.

In response to her decision, Nagisa looked thoroughly surprised, while Karma stared at her suspiciously.

'What about Maehara-kun and Isogai-kun?' Karma asked.

That didn't take as long for Amaya to calculate.

'Twenty-four and twenty-three, respectively.' Amaya answered.

It was a few seconds later when the suspicious look vanished from Karma's face, and he seemed to smirk at Amaya.

'You always give the most points when it's to do with Yuta-kun and Reiko-chan, don't you, Amay?' He asked her.

Amaya fixed him with a rather lazy stare.

'If I didn't know any better, I'd say you got offended that Nagisa-kun has so many points.'

'Good thing you do, huh?' He responded easily.

However for some reason she got the tiniest thought that there was a glimmer of relief hidden in his eyes.

She decided to wave it off to imagination, however, and returned to eating her lunch.

She was probably just hoping for something that wasn't really there to begin with.

---=[Authors Note]=---

Mwahahaha, I bring you Chapter Twenty-One of Marionette! I hope y'all enjoyed this installment, and look forward to the next xD

Soooo we have Irina's appearances. Betcha didn't expect the woman to piss Amaya off so bad, huh? ^_^ This chapter is Dedicated to Seyo-chan, just because I want to thank her for reading my story and voting every chapter :D Means a lot, hun. Hope you're enjoying the updates :)

Now then, Discussion question of the Chapter! What's your favorite subject in school?

Translation for words in Chapter Twenty-One of Marionette :D

Yokkyū Fuman - Our Chapter Title translates as Frustration, written as 欲求不満 in Japanese