It was the end of first period by the time Reiko had managed to tug Amaya towards the door to head for school, still smiling brightly in spite of Amaya's withdrawn state. She insisted that since it was her last day in Class E, she wanted to go and have fun, and it wouldn't do Amaya any good to stay at home in her current state.

Amaya had managed to ascertain that Reiko's upset yesterday wasn't because of Takaoka per say, but rather his choice of words and overly excessive friendliness had dug up unwanted memories of their own father. Amaya didn't push the question much further - There was no telling what Katsuragi Toji would say or do to win over a prospective subject, so it was entirely likely that Takaoka's overly excessive need to flail around like a so called Neighborhood dad was very similar to the way Toji would go about it, as well.

Reiko had reassured her that she was okay, and she wasn't going to give Takaoka an opportunity to ruin her last day here in Class E.

So Amaya left it as that.

Second period had come to an end by the time they'd climbed the majority of the mountain, and the bell had rung for the start of third when they'd arrived at the clearing.

Third period thankfully was under Irina's control instead of Takaoka or Koro-sensei's. Irina honestly didn't care if anyone came and went in the middle of a class, she was just there to act like a teacher while she was trying to kill Koro-sensei.

She felt a couple of glances hit her as they'd crossed the grass towards the classroom building, but nothing more.

It wasn't uncommon for Amaya to turn up to class late, of course, and she had a feeling only Isogai and Maehara were aware of her current disposition.

The skies were overcast, the sun faded enough where Amaya didn't feel the uncomfortable warmth or burning against her face.

In a show of excitement for spending her last day with her new senpai, Reiko had already changed her shoes over and was dashing for the classroom while Amaya had only just begun to change her boots over.

She was so drained she couldn't function right, her brain set on dwelling mode as she set about routine things that didn't require thought any more.

Therefore, it stood to reason that she hadn't noticed a strangely silent Koro-sensei watching her from the opposite end of the corridor as she made her way to class.

Upon her arrival to class, not many looked up in response - From the sight of Reiko happily seated at her temporary desk next to Amaya's own, everyone had expected her to walk in, so there was no point in really looking up.

And they'd likely all seen her walking across the clearing.

Isogai had looked up, as well as Maehara.

Sugaya had glanced over as well, while nearly everyone else kept their attention on class as Irina lectured about something that did not have anything to do with English, for some reason.

Amaya didn't care enough to try and pick what it could be, either.

She merely sat down at her desk in between Reiko's and Karma's, leaning back in her seat.

There was no response from the redhead sitting next to her - He hadn't looked at her at all.

However she hadn't failed to notice that there was a bit of tension about him, almost as if he was lost in a small pocket of uncomfortable thought.

She'd practically forgotten about the small exchange between them just yesterday morning, and that was probably for the best.

She didn't need to dwell on absolutely everything else along with what Isogai and Reiko had given her to think about, too.

It turned out that the topic of Irina's class this time around was the pros and cons of trying to go into an assassination through disguise, infiltration amongst other things, which was quite out of the ordinary for the honey-pot assassin.

Reiko had been given a run-down on what Amaya's place in this class was, so she wasn't perturbed or horrified about what was going on.

In fact, the topic of the current class was that much of an interest to Reiko that she was practically beaming in her seat.

Well, anything creative or remotely out of the ordinary interested Reiko, so Amaya wasn't all that surprised.

She could only sit there and try not to lose herself too much to her thoughts.

Eventually, Lunch break came around, and Reiko immediately sprung to her feet at the welcoming wave of Okano and Kataoka, and everyone seemed to go about their own thing.

Irina had left, presumably to go hang off of Karasuma, and there was no sign of Koro-sensei anywhere, despite his usual habit of wandering into the classroom at lunch time to converse with students and spend time at his teachers desk eating.

So, Amaya lifted herself to her feet to leave the room, lifting her bag from the hook of her desk as she did so.

She didn't feel like hanging around with so much chatter - she needed some alone time away from everyone to try and get her thoughts in order, otherwise she'd crack.

She could hear Takaoka's approaching footsteps in the corridor, as well as his loud, excessively happy voice.

It was here as Amaya closed the door of the classroom behind her that she realized where Koro-sensei had ended up.

Takaoka had another giant hoard of sweets in paper-bags with him, and Koro-sensei was walking excessively close, drool practically flooding the corridor as he walked.

From the back door of the classroom, Amaya watched silently as Takaoka slid the other door open, greeting everyone inside enthusiastically. She stood at the ready to make a move if she had to, her sharp gaze shifting from Takaoka, to Reiko, and back again.

Reiko hadn't made any moves towards the shower of sweets Takaoka had set on Koro-sensei's desk at the front of the classroom, though she didn't look like she was too uncomfortable, either.

She politely waved off the offer of sweets and continued to eat her lunch with Kataoka and Okano, and at this point, Isogai and Maehara had come to join her, as well.

With Isogai and Maehara right there, Amaya was content enough to leave the situation alone.

They'd make sure nothing happened to Reiko, for her.

There was a particular tree along the cliffs off to the far side of the Class E mountain that Amaya liked to go sometimes when she was skipping on her own, even when she was still at the main campus. It stood quite tall in comparison to the others in the immediate vicinity, high enough where it could overlook the city around the mountain if Amaya climbed high enough. It wasn't right on the edge of the cliff however, but a good five, maybe ten meters away from the edge.

It was still possible to fall completely off the cliff if you jumped from the very top in an outwards direction.

It was close enough where Amaya could return to class without having to climb half-way up the mountain again, but not close enough for anyone to really stumble upon her.

So, that's where she went.

She discarded her bag at the foot of the tree with little concern for her books, her attention immediately going to the many grooves that adorned the huge trees bulk.

With nimble, well practiced motions, Amaya scaled the entire height of the tree, easier than those rope-ladders that Karasuma had put in place in those trees by the classroom.

Before long, she was sitting up in the top-most branches, seated on a thick, horizontal-stretching branch with her arms slumped over another branch just the smallest bit higher, much like a support rail for a safety barricade atop accessible rooftops, like the one back in Hawaii.

She rest her head atop her arms folded over the branch in front of her, her eyes slowly drooping shut as she sat there unmoving.

The breeze was cool up here, reminiscent of spring if Amaya had to pick a word to describe it.

It was gentle against her fair skin, reminding her a little of the very few good memories of Okinawa she had left.

They were all of the same point in time, though.

It all spun around inside her head, just like her mother liked to spend her time on the beaches dancing in the shallows.

But then, nothing else good came to her memories.

She couldn't recall anything else.

It was all overshadowed by everything else, and inwardly she wondered if she'd allowed herself to forget so it wouldn't hurt so much anymore.

The only thing she knew for certain though, was that she wanted to stay up in this tree for a while.

She could honestly fall asleep up here if things weren't going wrong in her life every time she turned a corner.

She wondered what she could possibly do to try and fix the situation, or worse, what she could possibly do to help the situation ease down.

Yuta couldn't keep staying at Isogai's house, and if Reiko's talk with Yuta didn't yield the results either of them wanted, then ... maybe she had to find someone who would be happy to take Yuta in?

But there were so many things going on that Amaya didn't know one way or another what she was supposed to do.

Even through all of this chaos, all she wanted was the best for her siblings.

She just didn't know what was best anymore.

'Heh? Did you decide to accept your inner cat after all, Amay?' Karma suddenly spoke up from right in front of Amaya, causing her to jump in fright.

The fright that had overcome her caused her to lose balance, and for her to begin to slip backwards with a small gasp.

However she hadn't gotten very far - A hand suddenly snatched up Amaya's right wrist, pulling her back onto the branch with relative ease.

It was in this moment through the racing of her screaming heart that Amaya realized where the redhead actually was.

He was standing on the branch a few feet in a downwards angle in front of the one she was sitting on, standing to an almost even height in the tree to where Amaya was.

He must have spotted her and decided to climb up - He wasn't here when she wandered over.

'Careful - you're too clumsy to land on your feet like you're supposed to.' Karma remarked, smirk in place as he released Amaya's wrist.

She ignored the obvious cat-reference in preference for an exasperated sigh.

'You're the one that startled me, idiot ...' She muttered in response.

'Wow, that's cold.' He responded with little hesitation.

Amaya didn't give a response to that, instead shifting on her branch that little bit so she wasn't sitting right in front of him like she had been.

If he noticed, he didn't let it show.

'What brings you all the way up here, anyway?' Amaya questioned as she placed her gaze upon the forest at the bottom of the cliff, her chin resting back on her arms folded upon the branch in front of her. 'I can't imagine you'd bother coming all this way without a reason.'

'Ouch.' Was his immediate response, though he didn't sound all that offended by her words. 'If I didn't know any better, I'd say you don't like me very much.'

It was a prod, much like he was trying to bait a reaction out of her.

Though unlike normal where she would retort, she maintained her silence.

He didn't say anything else, though she did hear him let out a breath, though she couldn't tell if it was from exasperation or something else.

The branch she was sitting upon shifted slightly, and within a few seconds, he was sitting on the branch beside her, leaning backwards against the branch in front of her.

She didn't understand how that was remotely comfortable, though she wasn't going to bother asking.

The silence continued between them for what felt like minutes, longer and longer to the point where Amaya had closed her eyes again.

It wasn't exactly awkward, but it did tug at her heart a little.

His presence had reminded her of their little disagreement yesterday, after all.

'You haven't slept very much, have you?' He eventually asked, breaking the silence that Amaya had just begun to get used to.

About the most she did was let out a breath as she chose her words.

'Is it that obvious...?'

'Not really.' He responded, no hint of a smirk or a taunting edge to his words, oddly enough. 'I just know your bad habits.'

She felt like there was probably a double-meaning to that remark, though she didn't have it in her to really think about it.

It was probably a sharp jab at something she didn't want prodded right now.

So she decided she may as well bring up something that's been bothering her, though whether he'd even answer her at all didn't really matter one way or the other.

She already knew the answer, but she wanted to see if he would tell her, himself.

'How is Yuta...?' She questioned after a few seconds, opening her eyes to stare down at the forest at the foot of the cliffs. '... Is he doing okay?'

Silence - There was no response, however Amaya had heard the tiniest shift in movement, as if her question had actually caught him off guard.

'He's still acting like a spoiled brat.' He spoke in response, turning his gaze away from Amaya's motionless form. 'You should stop worrying about him, for once.'

That was easier said than done ...

All she could do was worry.

'Not being told anything makes me worry...' She responded, shifting slightly on the branch. 'It feels like you're deliberately keeping it from me...'

No response at first - In fact, it almost seemed like he hadn't even heard her.

She'd believe it too, if he wasn't sitting that close to her.

'There's nothing to tell.' He responded, seeming to shift slightly on the branch. 'He's still acting the same.'

She almost remarked upon Isogai's words that morning, though she chose to bite back on it before the words escaped.

She didn't want to get Isogai in trouble for actually telling her what was going on.

'...Okay.' She gave in.

She hated it though - She hated the fact that she couldn't do anything.

She honestly didn't have it in her to argue anymore.

And she guessed he probably knew that.

He seemed to let out a breath after what felt like hours, dropping himself down to the branch he had been standing on before - She hadn't spared him a glance, though she could see his movements from the corner of her eye.

'You'd better leave it alone, Amay.' He remarked as he stepped across the branch to stand right in front of her, fixing her with a rather stern look, much to her confusion. 'I've got some new things I've been wanting an excuse to test on you, so don't go looking for trouble.'

She didn't know if that was a threat or not - It honestly sounded like it.

She offhandedly wondered what he meant by trouble, but that was a passing thought.

'Okay ...' She agreed without really needing to think about it, turning her head away a little more.

It was always hard to tell what he would define as trouble and what wasn't, even on a good day, so there honestly wasn't any point in thinking about it.

It wasn't like she'd be able to tell before she went and found trouble anyway, just for minding her own business.

She heard an exasperated breath leave the redhead after a few seconds, and before she knew it, he'd grabbed her by the sides of the face.

However, unlike normal, it wasn't in the familiar manner where it lead to the rather harsh pinching of her face until he felt satisfied she'd suffered enough.

He forced her to look back at him as he fixed her with one of the most serious looks she'd ever seen him wear.

'I mean it, Amaya.' He spoke, his gaze narrowing at the lack of change across Amaya's face. 'I don't want to get back from ditching class and find you've somehow managed to get caught in the middle of anything.'

'I get it, already...' She muttered, making an attempt at swatting his hands away, though he grabbed her wrist to stop her attempt. 'I'll stop causing trouble, so just stop--'

'You don't get it.' He cut in over her with a frustrated huff. 'Its not the trouble that bothers me.'

Amaya fell motionless in her attempts at swatting his hands from her, confusion taking complete hold of her as his words sunk in on her.

It wasn't the trouble she caused him?

If that was the case, then what the hell was it?!

'I don't ... what?'

It was in this moment that Karma actually sighed, much like her words were actually rather painful.

'I don't understand how you can be so dense, Amaya.' He muttered under his breath.

There it was.

That moment where he talked about something that should have been obvious, but she couldn't figure it out.

Maybe if there wasn't anything going on, she'd realize what he was talking about.

There was just so much going on inside of her head that she could barely function, so it actually hurt to hear him say that now of all times.

Her head lowered as she looked away from him, the pain inside her chest growing once again as she tried to ignore it.

'I'm sorry ...' She whispered in spite of herself.

There was no response, though the grip still around her wrist had tightened noticeably.

She'd have almost thought he'd actually left from how quiet it was, if he still didn't have hold of her wrist.

There was a tension about him that had her wonder if he had something else he wanted to say, but he didn't make a move to break his silence.

It was almost like her response had bothered him, and she didn't know what to make of it.

Eventually however, she heard him let out a breath as he released her in preference for stepping away.

The next she heard was the sound of branches lower down creaking as he decided to leave her up there in the tree and disappear to wherever it was that he was going, much like he'd stalked off yesterday.

It was that which convinced her that she must have managed to make him mad, though she couldn't figure out why.

He always just walked away when things didn't suit him, or when a response she gave just rubbed him the wrong way.

It always made trying to pick his reactions rather tedious because she'd never really know whether he was walking away because he was mad, or because of something else.

And his words up in the tree with her had just put more confusion in her, making it even harder for her thoughts to work properly.

She watched him from up in her tree as he stalked off into the forest rather than towards the classroom without a glance at his surroundings.

He was always so hard to read.

Eventually, as the overcast clouds began to darken a little, Amaya felt her phone in her pocket begin to ring out, a familiar tune that she couldn't recall the name of right at that second.

She contemplated ignoring it, but decided against it - It could very well be that something happened back at the classroom and Isogai or Maehara were trying to get in contact with her.

Her luck was already pretty hommicidal, so she couldn't push the thought aisde.

She pulled her phone from her pocket, casting a quick glance down at the screen to find that instead, it was Kataoka calling her.

She felt her brow furrow ever so slightly as she pressed accept and placed the phone to her ear.

'Hello?'

'Katsuragi-san, where are you now?' Kataoka spoke from the other end of the line.

Amaya was silent at first, rubbing her face with her free hand gently as she picked no sign of distress or apprehension in the Class Representatives tone of voice.

'Out near the cliffs.' She responded, turning on her branch to look over towards the classroom. 'Is there something wrong?'

'No, there's nothing wrong.' She responded, though she sounded rather thoughtful. 'Isogai-kun asked me to let you know that class is about to start - He said you've got some things on your mind, so you'd probably lost track of time.'

Ah, Isogai.

He really does think of everything, doesn't he?

'Ah, I see.' Amaya eventually responded, glancing down at the bottom of the tree for a second. 'What subject is it?'

'Phys Ed.' Kataoka responded.

Great ... she didn't really want to have to listen to Takaoka right now.

'Okay, I'm coming.' Amaya sighed, shuffling slightly on her branch. 'Thanks for letting me know ... umm ...'

'Thats okay - See you soon, Katsuragi-san.'

It was a couple of seconds later, when the disconnected tone rung through the speaker.

Amaya let out a breath as she locked her phone and pocketed it, making her quick descent down the tree in several well-mannaged leaps down to one of the lower branches.

She'd like to skip PE this time if it was Takaoka teaching it, but Reiko wouldn't want to bow out of being there since it was her last day.

So, Amaya had no real recourse but to participate just this one time.

Any other day, and Amaya could skip.

She was getting just as much training from Shigure as she was Karasuma, and she could as the ever-serious man if he could give her some pointers every now and then.

Though, she hadn't really seen all that much of Karasuma at all - It was like he was secluded entirely in the Faculty Room.

In a strange way, Amaya found herself wondering if Karasuma wasn't as accepting of the situation as his Professional Mannerisms to work made him out to be.

Scooping up her bag, Amaya made her way back to the classroom in what felt like no more than a few minutes, finding that Takaoka was carrying a bag outside with him, and several of her classmates were beginning to follow him outside.

The overcast skies seemed to darken, as if reflecting the foreboding feeling that had overcome Amaya at the sight of the man.

So, she made a dash for the classroom, ducking past Terasaka and his group to quickly change into her PE uniform, minus the jacket since it was so cloudy today.

There was an almost tense sounding murmur from inside the faculty room as Amaya walked past again, drawing her attention briefly.

It sounded like Irina, and as she thought about it, she guessed she was talking to Karasuma.

She didn't know what to really make of it though, so she shrugged it off and headed outside.

She'd rather wear her jacket to hide the bandages up her left arm, but that was back at home with the sleeve torn open, so it wasn't really worth wearing it when the tears would draw attention, anyway. She decided she's still wear her steel-caps.

She didn't like the feeling she was getting, and she just felt more comfortable in familiar footwear.

By the time Amaya had arrived out onto the field, Takaoka had set down the large bag he had and everyone was beginning to line up in front of him, including Reiko by the looks of things.

She was happily standing right in between Okano and Nakamura, seeming quite comfortable with the situation.

Amaya grit her teeth and fought back a curse.

She'd hoped Reiko would sit out like she had yesterday - The sense of foreboding got worse the more more she thought of Reiko actually participating in a class even she had her reservations about.

She still hadn't forgotten the way that Takaoka had been overly friendly, as if he was trying to buy everyones favor.

And if Karma was skipping like he said he was - which was true, since he wasn't anywhere to be seen - then she wasn't the only one that had reservations about this guy.

Maehara noticed Amaya's approach as she reached the bottom of the steps, waving her over quickly.

She let out a breath as she jogged the rest of the way, a brow lifting in question as Okuda actually cast her a smile and shuffled backwards so that Amaya could stand next to Maehara.

She didn't think too much of it, though.

Everyone's been much friendlier towards her after they'd met Reiko, so she guessed that Okuda suddenly smiling at her was probably a part of that, too.

'Great - The gangs all here!' Takaoka announced as Amaya stood silently next to Maehara. 'Now, things could start to get a little tough, but I'll have more delicious treats for you all when it's all over.'

That did not sound good at all - In fact, those words made Amaya fidget slightly in her spot.

'And you're not just saying that because you want to eat them?' Nakamura spoke up, a smirk in her tone of voice.

'Well, gotta keep my figure!' Takaoka responded, making a sickeningly cute face as he tapped his stomach with a hand.

And all of a sudden, everyone started laughing.

Amaya grit her teeth, maintaining her silence and straight face as she listened with her arms crossed.

She didn't fail to notice that Reiko hadn't joined in with the laughter, either.

'Now, everyone sit down, we've got some things to go over before we actually start training today.' Takaoka remarked.

Everyone did as they were told without complaint, causing Amaya to let out a small breath as she did so as well. She felt Isogai glance at her for a second as she set her arm in her lap, her legs crossed neatly as she leaned back on her right hand.

She didn't quite pay too much attention to what Takaoka began to talk about - In truth, it was the same dribble about working together like a family, same kinda bullshit that sounded good on paper, but in real life sounded so forced it was amazing anyone bought it.

Although Amaya knew she was a cynic so she was likely just pulling it to pieces inside of her head.

There was a remark about how with Takaoka's help, he was going to lead everyone to victory against Koro-sensei, how they needed to do exactly as told, and they'd get there no problem.

He even punctuated the word victory with a dramatic fist-pump, which did nothing more than to cause Amaya to roll her eyes and turn her gaze away to stare off at the main building.

There was no sign of Koro-sensei anywhere, and Amaya could see Irina standing against the wall inside the faculty room, her arms crossed under her excessive bust as she observed them.

She didn't look all that pleased with the situation.

'Now then!' Takaoka spoke up all of a sudden, as if he was finished with his previous show of flamboyant happy-talk, lifting a wad of papers from his side to the air. 'Along with your new training regimen comes a new schedule!'

The peculiarity of those words drew Amaya's attention from the Classroom back to Takaoka, her eyes immediately zeroing in on the papers in the large man's hands.

She could immediately see the stupidity of that piece of paper, and exactly what this man was doing.

She didn't need to be able to read the actual page to know that there was a lot that had changed.

Alarm-bells were going off inside her head as everyone around her started to react in shock and surprise to the new schedules being handed out at that very second - Maehara in particular was disbelieved.

Ten periods a day right up until 9pm, 6 days a week, and all their original subjects were consolidated to one a week and shoved right to the mornings. Everything else wasn't even PE, but something titled 'Training', and Amaya felt thoroughly sick to the stomach.

With that kind of class-schedule, there was no way Amaya could continue her work with Shigure, which was something she felt very strongly about attending.

She needed those hours with Shigure, and she had Reiko and Yuta to take care of.

She couldn't afford to lose six hours every day to this man.

If things came down to it, she'd rather quit school to continue Shigure's lessons than stay here for a possibility at killing Koro-sensei.

Money didn't matter when she was facing the possibility of ending up like her mother.

She couldn't afford to end up that way when her siblings were still dependents.

'Wait-- Training until 9 at night?!' Maehara exclaimed in shock.

'But of course!' Takaoka responded, lifting a hand up as he smiled knowingly. 'Following this curriculum will boost your abilities by leaps and bounds.'

Amaya wasn't the least bit fooled.

However she still kept her mouth shut - She was liable to say more than was warranted, and she didn't need that right now.

'Now then! Let's get to--' Takaoka had begun, however he was cut off rather abruptly.

'-Hey wait a minute! This is impossible!' Maehara exclaimed, drawing everyones attention to him - Takaoka in particular fixed him with a rather blank look.

The playboy had picked himself up to walk up to stand in front of Takaoka the moment Amaya had managed to look at him, new schedule in hand.

'With so little time for learning, our grades'll plummet!' He complained, frowning up at Takaoka as he seemed to step away with a sheepish look across his face. 'And no free time, either? We can't do this!'

It was the very instance that Takaoka seemed to grin brightly and place his left hand atop Maehara's head that Amaya felt that foreboding feeling become so strong she felt nauseas, and a second later, horror overcame her.

Takaoka immediately dragged Maehara forward by the hair, grabbing him by the back of the shirt as he slammed his knee straight into Maehara's stomach, so hard that if he had of gone for the chest, he would have broken bones.

'"We can't," nothing, you will.' Takaoka remarked, that same smile still plastered clear across his face as he casually let Maehara drop to the ground.

'Maehara!' Isogai yelled out in horror, everyone else was frozen in terror, and Reiko had let out a terrified scream.

Amaya sat, her heart racing so fast she couldn't hear properly.

She couldn't think straight.

'It's like I said: we're a family, and I'm the dad.' Takaoka remarked, a rather unhinged, sadistic look appearing across his face, continuing as if nothing had even happened. 'Show me a family that doesn't do as the dad says.'

That remark was all it took to trigger Amaya's anger, though she did her best to keep it in check.

'If you want to sit out, sit out. I'll use my authority to bring in new students to replace you.' Takaoka continued, lifting his arms at his sides to emphasise his words to the whole of the class. 'But I don't want to have to do that. After all, you're my precious family. A father doesn't want to lose a single one of his children.'

Amaya felt her anger begin to swell at those words, her glare placed firmly upon Takaoka's face as he walked over to the left side of the class.

Another disgusting man who prattles on about stuff he knows nothing about.

She didn't want to just humiliate this man, she wanted to rip his disgusting face off of his skull.

'Lets save the world together, kids-as a family!' He remarked, crouching down to sling his arms around both Mimura and Kanzaki, as he had yesterday with Nakamura and the orange-haired boy in mention.

Kanzaki looked frightened, as did Mimura.

They were as scared as the rest of her class, just like the crying Reiko as she, Isogai and Okano tried to help the fallen Maehara.

'Well?' Takaoka spoke up, turning his head towards Kanzaki with that disgusting smile still in place. 'You're coming along with your dad, aren't you?'

'W-well ...' Kanzaki stammered, managing to pull herself free from Takaoka's grip by rising to her feet. 'I umm ...'

She turned to face Takaoka as he rose to his feet.

Oh no, please don't say it - Don't!

'I don't want to.' She responded, barely managing to cast Takaoka a smile.

No! DON'T!

'I prefer Karasuma-sensei's class.' She finished, conviction evident in her tone of voice.

Amaya had barely managed to make her move before Takaoka had reacted.

He licked his lips sadistically as he lifted his hand back, throwing a great deal of force into a slap that would have struck Kanzaki clean across the face had Amaya not gotten in the way.

Her body had moved of its own accord, in a way that her anger would not have normally channeled.

Kanzaki barely managed to stumble backwards against the sudden force of Amaya slamming into her, and the slap struck hard against Amaya's face, hard enough for her to know immediately that it was going to leave quite a bruise.

However she was much more used to being knocked around by fist-happy people than Kanzaki would be, so she managed to catch her footing before she would have hit the ground.

'Oh?' Takaoka seemed legitimately surprised by the sudden interruption of his so called discipline, seeming to take notice of Amaya for the first time since he'd arrived here. 'This won't do at all, you can't take someone elses punishment like that - They'll never learn to obey their dad.'

Wordlessly, Amaya straightened up on her feet, coming to stand between the startled Kanzaki and Takaoka.

At Amaya'a silence, Takaoka seemed to glare down at her, his patience wearing thin.

'Stand aside. Your dad has some dicipline to issue.' He instructed, leering down at Amaya's smaller form.

'You're not touching her -- I refuse.' She spoke in response.

The unhinged look she received was the only warning she had.

A fist suddenly slammed hard into her stomach, hard enough to wind her. There was that much force behind the punch that Amaya almost felt like she was about to black out, however she managed to fight against it and remain standing on her feet, even if rather unstable.

'I will only repeat myself this once.' Takaoka spoke, a sickly kind smile across his face as he lifted his fists in a show of what was to come. 'Stand aside so your father can disciplin a disobedient child.'

She prayed that either Koro-sensei or Karasuma would come to stop the disgusting display of cruel torture this man wanted to inflict upon everyone.

She could take a few hits if they just needed time to get here.

Amaya let out a pained, cynical laugh as she straightened up on her feet, ignoring the screaming of her insides as she fixed Takaoka with a disgusted sneer.

'You can repeat yourself as many times as you want, you overweight son of a bitch.' She responded, her anger showing through the spitting tone in her words.

'K-Katsuragi-san-'

'I'm not standing aside just so you can harm Kanzaki-san.' Amaya reaffirmed.

It was that moment that Takaoka let out a rather sickening chuckle.

She was grabbed by the hair in much the same fashion as Maehara had been, and blinding pain flared to life as she was struck with a rising punch to the chest.

A sudden explosion of sound and shouting voices came to life, shouting and yelling, and the agonizing crunch of her ribs as she was struck a second and third time.

There was no way for her to know what had happened - everything happened so fast.

She hit the ground hard as other voices suddenly shouted over the chorus of others already yelling, her whole body wracked with blinding pain.

She could feel hands suddenly grab her, turning her onto her back as her grasp on consciousness began to slip.

Someone spoke to her, calling out her name, but she couldn't tell who through the sea of voices.

A flash of bright, furious red tentacles lashed through the air as a black-clad form rushed towards her.

That sight alone was enough for Amaya to let herself slip to the darkness.

She'd managed to buy their teachers enough time to arrive.

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

You guys are lucky this week :) I've been off work basically sitting around waiting for the internet technicians to come around and fix the internet that got messed up the other week, so I had ample time to get another chapter written up.

Translation notes for Chapter 70 of Marionette :)

Nisemono - Translates as fake / false, which is written as 偽物 in Japanese. I bet I don't even need to give you guys three guesses to tell me who this is in reference to ;) *cough* Takaoka *cough*

All the best, guys <3

Loki-Roki