Baseball, baseball... everything was baseball this week.

There was scarcely a mention of the girls and basketball, though they were practicing comfortably well, themselves.

Whenever Koro-sensei decided to turn one of the designated classes into a practice session, Amaya would instead wander over to the faculty room and ask Karasuma or Irina for something to do, instead. Of late, Amaya honestly felt like whatever the two humans would assign her to do was a lot better than watching or just wandering off.

And the one time on Thursday afternoon when Karasuma dismissed her two hours early as a reward for finally landing a blow on him with her anti-sensei knife, Amaya wandered down the mountain to pay Shigure another visit.

She wouldn't know if anyone had been looking for her, because she was always off doing something different to everyone else in class.

Today, it was Friday morning, the day of the Ball Game Tournament.

And today, Amaya was merely a spectator required to watch. It was supposedly so she could watch her class suffer pure and utter defeat at the bands of the Elite that was the main campus, though Amaya honestly couldn't care less whether those so called Elite had an extra arm, or had the brains of a genius.

If they pissed her off, she was going to either humiliate or punch them, depending on what the situation called for at the time.

Everyone had already arrived for class today, an hour earlier than the usual time.

Amaya only found out as she arrived, and Koro-sensei had flown into a little bit of a tantrum, telling her that she was late, and everyone had already been here an hour earlier.

And yet she was here on time for normal classes.

She'd shrugged Koro-senseis tardiness tantrum off, remarking that she didn't know to come early.

The match was at 2pm for both the boys and the girls, in five hours time, though Amaya didn't know if they had to be there for the start at 11am. She hoped not, she didn't quite feel like just sitting there for four hours when she could murder a sizable portion of the main campus population before Karasuma could wade through the sea of students to drag her away.

She glanced over at the corner that Terasaka, Yoshida and Muramatsu resided within normally.

Was Koro-sensei likely to react that very same way with those three if they came back today before the match?

They'd outrightly said they weren't going to participate to become laughing stocks, after all.

Maybe it was because she hadn't made an outright decision on the matter, though she felt sure that with her spending all that time being given tasks to complete by Karasuma and Irina kind of said where she stood on the situation, anyway.

Koro-sensei decided that until 10am, everyone would do their own form of practice for their respective matches, and before he'd even dismissed everyone to get changed into their PE uniforms, Karasuma had turned up to retrieve Amaya and give her something to do.

She'd felt the curious gazes upon her as she wordlessly lifted herself from her seat and followed Karasuma over to the Faculty Room.

Even Koro-sensei was a little curious by the Government Agents sudden actions, though he shrugged it off pretty quick.

For the whole time right up until just before noon, Karasuma had her learning proper handling on the air-guns, and even introduced her to some of the larger air-rifles that were on the premises. How to load them, pull them apart for cleaning, putting them back together again, and then once she could do that well enough for the three types of guns they had on the premises, he had her go down to the shooting range with him and practiced aim and handling.

He'd informed her that he'd never once seen her use a gun through the duration of her time in Class E and it was time to remedy that, regardless of the fact that unarmed combat was obviously her strong-suit.

Irina had wandered over sometime while Amaya was down at the shooting range, watching, but not really saying anything.

Something seemed to be on her mind, though Amaya wasn't really all that bothered in thinking about it.

It was possible that since that rather eventful afternoon where Amaya'd super-glued Irina's shoes to the floor, the woman was just a little wary of getting too close to her.

Or at the very least she was avoiding the possibility of giving a reason for Amaya's rebellious side to come out and play.

Amaya would never really know, either.

Somewhere between twelve and one, Koro-sensei had everyone begin to make their way down to the Main Campus after spending a good hour before then going over little things with the boys about their plan for the Baseball match. The girls had wandered off with Irina in tow, who was obviously the supervising teacher for them while they played their match.

Amaya was lost in the middle, much like the beginning of Kyoto, though this time her separation from everyone else was mostly her own doing.

She followed Karasuma down the mountain, looking around the woods as she thought quietly to herself.

Since she wasn't participating in anything, she didn't bother to get dressed in PE uniform - Her black shorts and button-up shirt were fine, despite the fact that she might get told off by one of the main campus faculty if spotted.

She made a mental note to go buy those pairs of pants after everything was finished up, today.

'You are free to do as you wish, Katsuragi-san. However, I would like to remind you to not get involved in any unnecessary fights.' Karasuma informed her as they walked through the gate that lead into the main campus premises, the both of them a few meters behind Mimura and Okajima in the back of the group. 'The Target is likely to cause enough of a commotion as it is.'

Wow, Karasuma must really have a really hard time having to keep dealing with Koro-sensei and how he just loved to get noticed by people.

Amaya let out a breath, though she nodded her understanding all the same.

She made no plans to - If she picked fights, she'd get noticed by students, which would draw even more attention.

She'd probably get noticed by Asano, who seemed to be keeping an eye on her, and anything to do with 3-E.

But that did remind her about something.

She really should tell Karasuma that Asano seemed to know something - That he mentioned 'Sightings' when he was talking to her, asking about anything peculiar about 3-E that seemed overly bizarre.

Amaya was seriously thinking about it, but she didn't want to open that door and invite another problem on Karasuma right this second.

So she decided it could wait until after the match, when Koro-sensei had finished casting his dice and playing games with the Baseball Club.

They'd arrived at the baseball field just as Class A and Class D had taken the grounds, A on batting and D on fielding.

Amaya let out a breath as she looked around the baseball field, up at the surrounding buildings for a place to hide out where she couldn't be antagonised.

She liked the look of the scoreboard, which doubled as the announcers box, but that would be way too far away, and she really would get spotted and hassled that way. So she decided to climb up one of the tall trees that were just outside of the baseball field near the stand-alone classroom used for PE students to change in, as well as study theory sometimes.

Coincidentally it was also just a stones-throw away from the team shed that 3-E was likely to use during the match, so it wasn't all that far away.

She decided that when the changeover occurred and the boys were playing the Baseball Club, she'd just climb up there next.

The game that was in play between classes A and D was clear in its outcome, even though it had only just started.

Class A was neat and well organized, while Class D was more erratic, and they had a petty glint in their eye, far different to the supremely confident glint in Class A. It was already clear to Amaya who the victor of this game was going to be.

As she sat in the high branches of her temporary residence, she found herself recognizing a couple of students here or there.

A girl with black hair that seemed vaguely familiar from her three days attending Pseudo-Senseis classes, who used to sit directly next to her out there at the front of the pack of Main Campus students, a hand-towel neatly folded up in her hands.

A boy over at the back of the same pack of students, who had turned up three hours late just because he'd slept in.

Two lamebrain jokers out on the field, who she vaguely recalled to have seen hassling Nagisa once or twice before she'd been transferred into Class E. Two forms she made a mental note to screw with if she ever saw them causing problems for the soft-spoken boy again.

And a shocking pair of lavender eyes were looking right at her in the tree, despite the fact that their owner was out on the field along with the rest of his 'Elitest Class'.

God damn it, she hadn't even done anything except for climb a tree, and that snake had noticed her!

She might have to change trees soon, when he disappeared from sight - His eyesight was just way too sharp.

The obnoxious voice belonging to who Amaya guessed to be an Elitest Student echoed over the loudspeakers that were distributed throughout the field, commentating on the match in progress.

Amaya had heard that voice once or twice, though she couldn't care to recall where from.

Probably somewhere in amongst the rabble while she was still a main campus student.

She watched the male portion of her class instead of the field, since she already knew how that was going to go down, taking note of the fact that despite the absence of Terasaka, Yoshida and Muramatsu, the three of them were off at the back of the students.

She guessed they wanted to see what the students that were trying ended up suffering at the hands of Koro-senseis leadership in this instance.

Amaya didn't have a problem with them, but she had no recourse but to admit that there was a part of her that wanted their class to mop the floor with the Elitests just to prod Terasaka a little.

She disliked the way he'd just sit there and grumble to himself, like he was the most miserable person in the world, and that clearly everything in the world hated him. Whatever his homelife was like, she didn't know. But his misery in Class E was entirely his own doing, really.

He had a chip on his shoulder, and he'd continuously cut his nose to spite his face almost obsessively, like he did it to try and hide that chip from himself.

She wondered if maybe, there was something there - Something she should watch for, in case something came of it.

But at the same time, it might just be a chip, nothing more.

Time passed, Class D falling farther and farther behind Class A in terms of scores, until finally, in the third inning, their batter hit a high-flying ball, which was caught with great ease by a Class A Centre-fielder, ending the game in their favor.

'Game Set! Class A wins the Tournament!' The announcing student called out through the speakers.

The girl with the hand-towel ran onto the field as Classes A and D began to leave, approaching one of the boys in particular, which then started an argument between her and another of the boys from Class A a mere few seconds later.

What's that all about?

Amaya would have stopped to wonder about it, if not for one thing.

During the whole time the game went on, she hadn't once had a damn opportunity to flee her tree.

To make matters worse, Class A was exiting the field at the gate right in front of her, and Asano was waving off his classmates, seeming as if he had something needed to do before socializing.

Something that he wanted to do before watching Class 3-E being pit against the Baseball Club.

Damn it, she had a feeling that she was going to find out what it was, too.

Amaya let out a breath as she quickly scrambled higher up into the tree, trying to put as much distance between her and the ground as she could, because maybe that way Asano wouldn't decide to talk to her.

At this same point in time, everyone from the Baseball Club and the Boys from class all entered the field, Sugino in the front for Class E.

Amaya glanced over for a second, before she resumed her upwards climb to the top.

Or rather, she'd tried to.

'Well, this is a pleasant surprise.' Echoed the voice belonging to her newly arrived pest, causing the girl to wince. 'It appears quite dangerous to be up so high in the tree. Why don't you come down where it's safer, Katsuragi-san?'

God damn her cursed luck.

She was too late ...

Amaya cast a glance downwards to where Asano Gakushuus voice had echoed from, to see him standing at the base of the tree looking right at her.

There was nobody else there. it appeared that the rest of Class A was caught up with their celebrations, and everyone else was massing around the field boundaries to gaze droolingly, slack-mouthed at what they believed to be Class E's inevitable humiliation.

The snake was smiling kindly at her in much the same manner that Isogai would, an edge of amusement dancing in his piercing gaze.

Except Amaya knew in a heartbeat that there was nothing kind behind that smile right now.

Grudgingly, and with no other recourse, Amaya dropped herself back down in three well-judged leaps, catching the lowest branch with her hands before she dropped herself to land gently on the ground a few paces away from Asano.

Despite the tiniest edge of surprise at her choice of descent, he made no attempt at all of moving, nor did he seem the least intent doing anything but watch her fall.

She'd expected it, though.

'Is there something you wanted, Asano-san?' Amaya asked, trying her very best to curb her agitation.

She half wondered if all those sensations of being stared at when she got back from Hongu was because of this bastard standing right here?

He seemed intent on speaking with her, despite the fact that she was in Class E.

And the worst of her luck was the fact that nobody was going to bail her out of dealing with him this time - Everyone was so focused on the situation on the field that she had no hope in hell of being saved.

This bastard knew that when he decided to annoy her, didn't he?!

'Indeed there is.' Asano spoke, still smiling kindly away as he gazed down at Amayas current attire. 'But first, are you not participating in the Exhibition Match in the Gymnasium with the female half of the End Class?'

The Female Half of the End Class?

Why the hell is he talking like she didn't count?!

'N-no ... Sports aren't my strong-suit.' Amaya hedged.

'Excellent, in that case I'd like to continue the discussion we were having earlier in the week before your acquaintance rudely interrupted us.' Asano explained, hand-sewn smile securely in place, his eyes closing with the force of his smile. 'Shall we go? I trust the School Cafeteria is more suitable to talk than out here.'

Amaya was silent at first, putting a lot of effort into keeping her tongue still despite what she really wanted to say.

Karma? An acquaintance?!

The first time she bumped into Asano, she was referred to as Karma's lackey, his minion.

And now he's calling Karma her acquaintance?!

Just what kind of history did these two boys have?

And why was Asano so hell-bent on talking to her like this?!

'A-actually ... I'd rather--' Amaya began to speak up in response to Asanos question, however she was cut off.

'Wouldn't you rather not have to witness the End Class fail abysmally, Katsuragi-san?' Asano asked her, still smiling away.

She was stunned to silence, his words greatly similar to a resounding, open handed slap across the face.

Did he just insult her class? Her friends?!

She hoped to god that he hadn't and she'd just imagined it, because if he did, it wouldn't be good.

Because the shock was starting to fade now.

'... Care to repeat that, Asano-san?' Amaya repeated, her tone soft as she stared up at the tall male.

She was practically begging for him to repeat those very same words now.

Hell! He could even put them far worse, it would still amount to the same thing!

She was dying for a reason to walk away, and she hoped he would give it to her.

'My apologies, that may have come across as a little blunt.' Asano apologized, though much like the last time he'd stunned her with his words, he didn't look or sound sorry at all. 'But the End Class are just that - talentless fools who only seek to humiliate themselves further, present company non-inclusive of course.'

That way he kept on talking about her as if she was completely different, there purely by mistake.

She loathed it.

Because if not with the people who have opened their arms to her without question, then where the hell did she belong?!

'So you mean that about my friends? Every word?' Amaya questioned, her expression blank.

In response, Asano tilted his head to the side and cast her a curious, questioning look.

'Whatever do you mean? Surely you do not seek to lower yourself to their level, do you?' Asano questioned her with sharp words that almost felt like they were oozing venom, his sharp gaze prodding her mercilessly. 'Its such a shame. I would have thought you smarter than to refer to worthless filth like them as friends.'

A burning anger, hot like a fire poker overcame her in an instance, coiling inside of her before exploding outwards with violent effect. All racket of voices, chaos and booming announcing vanished from Amayas ears as if she was suddenly deaf, and all she could hear was her own pulse thudding against her eardrums.

Before she'd even knew what she was doing, before she even realized she'd lost control of her body, her right hand lifted from her side.

A resounding crack like a whip shot through the air as she'd struck Asano, a solid right-hook directly into the left side of his face, drawing blood and inflicting damage enough to form a fist-sized bruise later.

Just as Amayas control had left her, his hold of his intricately sewn smile had left in the very same instance.

Shock, undiluted and incomprehending overcame the sharp calculating stare in his eyes for a second, just long enough to show that he did not fully understand what he had just instilled within the trembling girl before him.

'Don't you dare sully my friends with disgusting words like that!'' Amaya seethed, a spitting fural showing in her eyes as Asano stared wordlessly at the livid girl. 'I would rather spill my own blood for those beautiful, selfless people than to join the likes of shallow, spineless sheep indulging in self-serving destruction! So don't take me for a selfish monster like the rest of you!'

Silence - Either Asano was still trying to comprehend what had happened, or he was making a point of not antagonizing her further, now that he had a taste of what her anger was like.

Amaya said nothing more - She managed to tear her seething gaze from Asanos motionless form, and with every fibre in her being, she forced herself to turn and walk away, towards the safety of numbers that was the sea of students surrounding the baseball field.

Fuming, hands trembling from the need to hit him again, Amaya could feel the curiously amused gaze of the Snake upon her, watching her disappear into the crowd.

She was angry, and more than just a little.

It felt like he'd made an attack on everything she held dear, like a delinquent had just threatened to harm Yuta and Reiko again.

But just as fast as the wave of anger had engulfed her, fear began to take hold instead as the situation sunk in on her.

She'd just struck Asano Gakushuu.

She, a student of Class 3-E, had just assulted the number 1 student in the whole of Kunugigaoka Middle-School. She'd not only assaulted him, but she'd spat words at him like he was filth.

She knew she'd just stepped over that line she had promised herself she would never do.

She'd promised Karasuma that she wouldn't get involved in any fights, and here she was picking the worst person of all to attack.

Desperately, fearing that she might do something even more dangerous and stupid if she was left to stand in the sea of students in such a state, she knocked on the door that opened up into the team stands that her classmates were inside. Kimura had just batted, catching the baseball club off guard and succeeding in a speedy dash to the first base.

It looked like they'd just started...

It was about ten seconds later when the latch inside was slid aside, and the door opened to reveal Maehara on the other side.

'M-Maya-chan?!' Maehara gasped in surprise, his eyes widening in fright at the distress written as clear as day across Amaya's face. 'What's wrong?! Did something happen?!'

Sugaya and Chiba glanced over in surprise, though everyone else seemed to have their attention on other things.

'N-no, I umm ... can I hide out in here? Please?' Amaya pleaded, trying to stop herself from crumbling into a nervous wreck as her brain continued to reel over what she'd just done.

Maehara's brow furrowed, clearly not accepting her attempt at avoiding the point.

'What happened?' He questioned her, his tone far more stern than she had ever heard.

She quivered uncomfortably in her boots as her gaze fell to the ground at her feet.

'I-I'm sorry ... I screwed up ...' She spoke with a shaking breath, her hands clenching tightly at her sides. 'I didn't mean to, I just ...'

Maehara's form turned rigid at her words, and the concerned across his face immediately turned to foreboding, bringing him to pull Amaya into the shed and shut the door behind her.

'What did you do?' He questioned her.

He honestly sounded freaked out right now, and if she wasn't on the verge of tears right now she might have noticed.

She wouldn't be able to blame him at all.

'I-I lost my temper ...'

'Okay, I get that, but--'

'I hit Asano ...' She spoke, so softly that she couldn't hear her own words.

However, it was immedaitely clear that Maehara had heard her.

He was silent, frozen, staring at her with wide eyes.

And once her words had sunk in on him, he looked just as horrified as she felt.

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

This is a Celebratory Chapter, submitted to celebrate a very awesome milestone.

*Takes a deep breath*

MARIONETTE HAS REACHED 2,000 VOTES, 31,000 VIEWS AND 2,600 COMMENTS!!! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR VOTES, VIEWS, COMMENTS AND TOTAL AWESOMENESS!

I don't know if you guys really know how happy this makes me, and if you do, I'm gonna go ahead and say it anyway. I am so, so, soooo freaking happy that you're all reading and that you like this story so much! It puts a hell of a lot of happiness in me to know that people like what I love to do. So happy, so very much that I can't help but grin like a spastic moron as I'm writing this very sentence. I love you all for so much as even looking at this story, even moreso for all of the kind words, the beautiful thoughts and just everything else! It all means so much to me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Anyways, enough with the sappyness, because I'm liable to start tearing up here, hehe.

This chapter is dedicated to Tsuzemi, one of the many lovelies that have made me smile countless times over the six months that I've been fully active here on Wattpad, despite the fact that we haven't spoken as much as I'd love to. Haha, thank you very much for brightening up my world, sweetheart.

And with that, I end my announcements and gushing like a moron xD

Translation notes for Chapter 56 of Marionette ;)

Shiai - In this instance, it roughly translates as Match, as in game, which is written as 試合in Japanese.

All the best in the world for you beautiful souls reading this story of mine. I look forward to hearing from you in the future :)

Loki-Roki out~!