The sun was already torture to Amaya, even though she'd only been out in it for ten, fifteen minutes at most when it started to affect her - After a good forty five minutes, she was exhausted.

The PE jacket she wore was cooking her alive, though she refused to take it off.

She didn't let it show, however.

From the start of Class, Amaya had been paired up with Karma out of everyone to spar with, and needless to say she was a little bothered by it.

Well, more than a little bothered - She was agitated beyond belief.

She was trying not to show just how much Shigure's lessons were helping her - If she let something slip, it would spark Karma's curiosity all over again, and this time he probably wouldn't leave her alone on it.

There was only so much he would let her keep to herself, after all.

Of course, that didn't mean that he wasn't already prodding at her to see what she'd do, either.

It had been many months since he'd bothered to try and egg her into a fight with him, well before his suspension just five months ago.

The last time she had given in was probably a year ago.

It was no longer knife-drills and sparring for class today - Karasuma's eagle-eye into everyones progress was sharper than ever before.

He was scrutinizing everyone closely, as if he was looking for something.

'Come on, Amay~!' Karma drawled out as he grabbed her by the knife arm and pulled her off balance. 'You're not even trying.'

She bit back on her immediate response, instead letting out a breath as she tugged her arm out of his grip.

'Shut up! I heard you the first time!' She complained.

All she received in response was a smirk, showing that all her mood was doing was amusing him.

It was annoying, to say the least.

'Next! Maehara-kun, Isogai-kun!' Karasuma called out, causing the two boys to approach quickly.

Amaya was tempted to turn her head to watch, though she didn't have an opportunity.

Instead she found herself having to leap back out of fright as an anti-sensei knife slashed through the air right where her face had been just a fraction of a second earlier.

'What the hell--?!' Amaya managed to get out, though the amused look across Karma's face had her bite her tongue.

'Someones not paying attention.' He taunted.

'Oh my god, will you shut up?!'

'Will you stop arguing?' He shot back in response.

She resisted the sudden urge to punch him in the face.

'Come on, Amay!' Reiko called out from her spot on the grass next to Koro-sensei, who was reading a remarkably innocent looking magazine in comparison to normal. 'Score a point!'

Damn it all, why was the world conspiring against her like this?

She actually did want to wipe that smirk right off his face, but she didn't want the consequences of doing so.

This really wasn't fair at all.

'Next, Akabane-kun, Katsuragi-san!' Karasuma called out, snatching Amaya's attention away from the infuriating redhead.

Huh, but didn't he say one at a time?

Or maybe he meant sparring partners one at a time?

'Don't fall on your face, Amay.' Karma teased her as he walked past her to approach Karasuma, causing Amaya to gape at him.

'Wait-WHAT?!' She exclaimed indignantly, though there was no response.

'Its all good, Maya-chan!' Maehara called out in response, casting a bright grin and a thumbs up at the flabbergasted girl. 'You got this!'

Amaya blinked momentarily, before she cast him a sheepish smile in response.

'Well at least someone's on my side!' Amaya muttered as she walked over to where Karasuma and Karma were standing.

Her fingers traced along the grooves of her anti-sensei knife, her left hand burying into the pocket of her PE jacket as she watched Karma try to land a hit on Karasuma.

Of course, the redhead decided to be sneaky and pull a second anti-sensei knife on Karasuma, not that Amaya was all that surprised. He was one to do some rather underhanded stuff if he felt like it.

It didn't really make all that much difference for Karasuma, anyway. He dodged easily, though Karma's swipes did get very close to clipping Karasuma a few times.

It was as Karasuma took an additional, cautious step back from Karma that Amaya guessed the man had seen through an underhanded ploy being carried out.

The wry smirk that the redhead wore as he let out a sharp breath practically confirmed it for her.

Amaya didn't miss the glance that Karasuma had cast her.

She guessed it was her turn, now.

Deciding to make use of the distance between Karasuma and herself, Amaya threw herself forward into a dash right past Karma.

Karasuma was familiar enough with the strength Amaya had in her attacks that he tended to use judo-throws on her when she actually put an effort in rather than merely deflecting or dodging her swipes, so she reasoned that she could try one of those counters she was trying to learn to use against Shigure.

She had a lot of tumbles during training with the kimono-clad man to work out a few basics - She just had to implement them right, otherwise she was going to land flat on her face, just like Karma had oh so eloquently put it.

As she'd expected, Karasuma had predicted the sliding foot-sweep she'd just attempted on him, throwing himself back a few feet in a leap to avoid her attack. Though he'd lost that tiny hint of a smile across his face as Amaya threw herself forward into a rising elbow towards his face, a greatly different move to what she would normally choose.

Amaya inwardly cursed as she realized her change in tactics had made Karasuma wary, hoping that he would not take to overly cautious movements in contrast to normal - He was actually aware that she was taking extra lessons for fighting, but of course nothing else other than that.

So he'd likely know she hadn't been trying in class of late - Curbing her moves, as he'd mentioned on her first day in class.

After missing kick after kick with such painfully close proximity to her intended mark, Amaya bit the bullet and went for an attempted slash with the knife instead.

And finally, Amaya got what she'd been hoping for.

Deciding to end the little sparring match at last, Karasuma grabbed her by the wrist, stepping backwards as he tugged her forward and kicked her feet out from beneath her, the momentum sending her forwards in exactly the same way that Shigure liked to use on her.

Thankfully, she had grown familiar enough with hitting the dirt like this that she moved almost instinctively to correct herself.

With the tiniest bit of control she had left of the way she was going to land on the ground, Amaya managed to turn so that she'd roll straight back onto her feet with the throw.

As Amaya's back hit the ground and she immediately rebounded straight back onto her feet, Amaya propelled herself in a half-turn to throw her knife as hard as she could.

Much to Amaya's surprise, her knife had hit Karasuma right in the side, causing the ever-serious man to look at her in surprise.

Though the look quickly melted from his face as soon as he'd realized what she'd actually done, and the tiniest hints of a smile of approval touched his eyes.

Luck had finally blessed her with the ability to grin whole-heartedly at a victory she normally wouldn't have a hope of managing, and it was made even better by the fact that she could feel a rather shocked gaze upon her from where Karma was standing.

'Oh my god, finally!' Amaya gasped out, a breathless grin spreading across her face.

'That was well done, Katsuragi-san.' Karasuma told her, before he turned to approach one of the other pairs over with the rest of the class still sparring away with each other.

A soundless chuckle escaped Amaya as she picked her knife up off the ground and made her way back to Karma.

'What's the matter with you?' Amaya questioned the silent redhead, still smiling as he fixed her with a strangely serious look. 'Are you disappointed that I didn't land on my face, or something?'

He was silent at first, however his favorite innocent smile soon appeared across his face - Unfortunately, that told Amaya that he wasn't happy with something.

'Ne, Amay?'

'Yeah?' She responded, her smile slowly disappearing as she realized she wasn't going to like where this was going.

He'd ignored her little jab, after all, which was something he didn't often do.

'What exactly are these lessons you've been taking?' He questioned her.

Dammit ... He noticed, huh?

Stupid over-observant redhead - Why did he have to notice these things so easily!?

'Just normal kenpo, I guess.' Amaya sighed, pocketing her knife as she tried to play her discomfort off as exasperation.

Not very well, she guessed, because he still kept that same look written across his face.

'Then you won't mind if I come with you, then.' He remarked.

Unfortunately, Amaya couldn't stop that flinch from escaping her at those words.

'U-umm, I'm not su--'

'I'm not taking no for an answer, Amaya.' He cut in over her, much like that was the final word on the matter.

Oh hell no!

This is worse than him just being curious!

How the hell was she going to explain this to Shigure?!

'Can I at least ask befo--' Amaya had begun to speak in defiance, however all of a sudden there was a loud crack that echoed through the air much like the cracking of a whip, and Nagisa went crashing to the hard ground like he'd just been struck.

Everyone snapped their gazes to the sight of Nagisa sprawled on the ground behind a rather rattled looking Karasuma.

The ever-serious man had his right arm raised much like he'd just swung his elbow back.

Amaya felt her nerves frizzle uncomfortably as she found herself recalling the same loud crashing that echoed every time Shigure would hurl her across the tatami room.

For now, it appeared that her little disagreement with Karma was gone from their minds.

'O-owww...' Nagisa groaned out as he propped himself upright, his right hand immediately going to the side of his head where Amaya realized he really had been struck.

It was a couple of seconds later when comprehension overcame Karasuma, and he seemed to shake himself out of his stupor.

'Sorry!' He apologized as he quickly made his way over to check on Nagisa, and a few others also began to make their way over to check as well. 'I put a little too much force into my block, there.'

Nagisa seemed to blink momentarily, before he cast the rattled man a sheepish smile. 'Oh, I-I'm fine.'

'Dummy! You gotta keep an eye on him!' Sugino remarked brightly, a smile written across his face, now that they'd ascertained that Nagisa was fine.

The boy in mention let out a rather embarrassed chuckle as the students around him began to talk with him.

And yet Karasuma still looked rather unnerved, as if he'd honestly been spooked by Nagisa.

Amaya turned her head to look up at Karma to ask him something, however she found herself stunned to silence before she'd managed to get the first word out.

There was an odd look written across Karma's face as he watched the blue-featured boy, one that Amaya couldn't really identify.

No matter how hard she tried she couldn't figure it out.

It felt like there was something wrong, though she didn't know why.

Was something bothering him?

'Karma...?' She spoke after a few seconds, her brow furrowing in concern as she received silence in response.

She didn't like the looks of this - Not at all.

'Hey, Karma!' Amaya spoke up, a bit louder this time as she lifted a hand to tap him on the shoulder.

Immediately, he blinked in what appeared to be surprise, turning his head to look at her in response.

The odd look had disappeared all of a sudden, confusing Amaya all the more.

'What's wrong?' She couldn't help but ask, crossing her arms over her chest as he seemed to stare at her. 'You weren't saying anything.'

Unfortunately, it was as soon as a familiar smirk appeared across his face that she found herself regretting the fact that she'd even said anything.

'Heh? Is Amay actually worried?' He asked, mock surprise echoing in his tone of voice. 'And here I thought you hated me all this time~!'

Yep, she regretted even opening her mouth, now.

Amaya huffed in agitation as she turned her head away from him.

'Fine, whatever you say...' Amaya muttered as she began to walk over to the line of trees that made up the edge of the clearing.

There was no response to her muttered words, though she didn't doubt that he'd heard her.

As she heard the end of Class bell ring, Amaya cast a small glance over at Karasuma, who was beginning to make his way towards the classroom. Most of the class were watching the man as he walked, while Kurahashi began to follow him much like she wanted to ask him something.

Of course, it honestly didn't matter to Amaya - It wasn't like she could even hear what was being said to begin with.

She merely took to unzipping her PE jacket as she let herself lean back against the trunk of one of the trees.

She felt like death walking right at that moment - If she sat down now, she probably wasn't going to get back to her feet any time soon.

Now that she wasn't required to have to run around trying to score hits against Karma of all people in a knife match, her body was starting to let its complaints be heard.

And of course, her exasperation with the redhead at that second was draining her brain.

Though as she lifted her head at the sound of running footsteps, she found her eyes zeroing in on something that made no sense to her at all.

An unfamiliar form stood at the top of the steps up to the classroom, a large man built with thick limbs and a tall stature.

From where Amaya was she couldn't quite make out any of the strangers features, however she could see that he seemed to be carrying many items that looked oddly like paper bags ... all different colours.

Karasuma had come to a stop all of a sudden, almost as if he'd just noticed the strangers presence.

In that very second, Amaya felt something slam hard into her left side, knocking her off balance with an almighty squeak.

Thankfully however, Amaya had managed to catch her balance in time, saving herself and who turned out to be Reiko from crashing to the hard ground in a heap.

'Wh-what the--Reiko?!' Amaya gasped out as she managed to right herself, blinking down at the strangely clingy girl.

Her breath hitched in the back of her throat as Reiko actually squished herself into the space between Amaya's back and the tree-trunk, maneuvering herself so that she was hidden entirely behind Amaya with just her eyes peeking through beneath her arm.

An uncomfortable sense of deja vu overcame Amaya as she stared down at what she could see of Reiko, gnawing on her bottom lip as she felt the girls hands to her back shaking ever so slightly.

She had seen this before, but not for a very long time.

Long before they'd come to Tokyo, perhaps?

With a slow breath, Amaya shifted her posture so she could rest her arm over Reiko's shoulders and turned her gaze to the front.

The large man had just come to a stop in front of the bulk of the class at this moment, a bright grin across his face.

'Hey! I'm Akira Takaoka, and I'll be assisting Karasuma as of today!' The man announced in a rather friendly manner, his introduction coming across far neater than Irina's had when she arrived. 'Nice to meet you, E Class!'

Suspicious - Completely and utterly suspicious.

In spite of his friendly introduction and bright smile, Amaya found herself immediately disliking this man much more than she had Irina at first.

She didn't trust this man at all, though she didn't let her negativity show across her face.

Unfortunately, the immediate actions of the man called Takaoka Akira did nothing more than convince Amaya that he was not to be trusted at all.

As soon as he'd reached the centre of the schoolyard where everyone else was massed, he ripped out a picnic blanket from one of his bags, spread it out on the ground and started emptying the contents of all the other bags onto the picnic blanket.

'Whats all this?!' One of the boys gasped out in shock, drawing Amaya's attention from a momentary glance at Reiko.

'Cake!' Kayano exclaimed joyfully, much like her birthday, white-day and Christmas had come for her all at once.

Amaya felt her nose wrinkle in disgust as the sugary sweet smell of the cakes and pastries reached her.

And yet Reiko didn't make a single move towards the cakes, in spite of Amaya's expectations.

In fact, her grip of Amaya's side tightened as she clung even more.

Why was that?

Reiko didn't react this way at all when she'd first got here - Reiko was the one out the twins and Amaya who could get along with anyone if she put her mind to it.

She'd spent a good fifteen minutes during the start of PE talking amiably with Hazama for crying out loud!

With Hazama, damnit!!

A giant assortment of the most expensive and decorative cakes and sweets were what Takaoka set out on mass upon the picnic blanket, hideously expensive sweets that Amaya certainly would not touch, even if her life depended on it.

Amaya felt Reiko's hands clutching at her back actually twitch at the sight, however all she did was hide even more behind her sister.

'Come on everyone! Gather round!' Takaoka called out, beckoning everyone closer as he sat cross-legged upon the picnic blanket. 'There's plenty here for everyone!'

It was in this moment that Amaya realized that Karma had disappeared - She had no clue when that could have been, since she'd been so preoccupied with Reiko's sudden change in disposition.

She wasn't entirely surprised though.

'Are you sure this is okay, Takaoka-sensei?' Isogai gasped out, a rather shocked form of disbelief written across his face. 'They all look so pricey...'

Ah, that made sense - Such expensive sweets would feel very wrong to Isogai.

'Of course I am!' Takaoka announced, lifting his arms to beckon everyone forward as he spoke. 'I emptied out my wallet for this, so don't hold back!'

Thats just so disgusting - It was obvious he was trying to buy everyones favor.

'You sure know your brand-name sweets.' Yada remarked as everyone began to lean in to take their picks of the sweets.

'Honestly, when it comes to me and sugar, it's love!' Takaoka said in response.

Amaya actually felt a shudder tear down her spine at those words.

'So cute for such a big guy ...' Maehara muttered, almost as if he didn't know whether to be a little creeped out or amused.

'Reiko-chan!' Kayano called out brightly, earning Amaya's attention. 'You like sweets, right? Why don't you come join us?'

Amaya felt Reiko fidgit uncomfortably in response, though she didn't say anything.

'It's okay.' Amaya spoke down to Reiko, her arm tightening around Reiko's form. 'Do you want to try some of the sweets with Kayano-san?'

Reiko was motionless for a few seconds, before she lightly nodded against Amaya's side.

'Right, come on.' Amaya shifted to nudge the silent girl forward gently, her gaze flicking to everyone else for just a second. 'Everyone else will eat them if you wait too long.'

'O-okay ...' Reiko mumbled softly in response.

'So will you be taking over Phys Ed tomorrow, Takaoka-sensei?' Nagisa questioned the large man as she walked Reiko towards Kayano's corner of the picnic blanket.

The green-haired girl cast Reiko a bright smile as she shuffled over ever so slightly so that she could lean over and look at the sweets.

'Yep! Orders from headquarters.' Takaoka agreed with Nagisa's inquiry, smiling brightly even at the simple question. 'Gotta lessen Karasuma's load, so--'

'Caaaaaaaake ...' A suddenly present Koro-sensei cooed as he stared down at the pastry in Nakamura's hands, pink faced as he drooled excessively.

'Oh, you must be Koro-sensei! Eat, eat!' Takaoka announced as he cast Koro-sensei a grin as well, causing the pink-faced octopus to suddenly start showering Nakamura with drool, much to the blond girls disgust. 'We'll still end up killing you.'

'Here, try this, Reiko-chan!' Kayano spoke up with a grin, lifting one of the eclaire from the picnic rug and passing it to Reiko.

'For colleagues, you and Karasuma-sensei are like night and day.' Kimura spoke up from Kayano's other side, earning Takaoka's immediate attention. 'You're both so different, its kind of strange.'

'You're kind of like a neighborhood dad!' Hara agreed with a bright grin.

Immediately, Amaya felt her breath hitch in her throat, though she bit her tongue to maintain her silence.

'A Dad, huh? I like that!' Takaoka suddenly remarked with a chuckle, grinning enthusiastically as he slung an arm each around Mimura and Nakamura's necks.

He then proceeded to drag them close in what looked to be an one-armed embrace.

'We're all in the same classroom, so that makes us family, right?' He announced brightly, though Amaya's attention was snatched away from the disgusting man as she saw the eclaire in Reiko's hands suddenly slip from her grip.

Terror had overcome Reiko at Takaoka's words, and in the very second that Amaya had managed to save the eclaire from hitting the ground, she scrambled desperately to her feet and ran.

'Wha-- Dammit!!' Amaya gasped out in shock, however she tossed a startled Kayano the eclaire as she took off after Reiko as fast as she could.

There were exclamations in response to the sudden shock of Reiko and Amaya's movements, though they were the least of Amaya's concerns as she chased after the panicked girl.

'Reiko stop!' Amaya yelled after the girl, ignoring the complaints of her body as she desperately forced herself to give chase. 'REIKO! STOP ALREADY!'

No response - She was far from able to respond or even listen.

Amaya grit her teeth as she leapt over rocks and logs, leaves and branches lashing at her face as she ran and ran, and before she knew it, the deeper parts of the mountain stream came to her notice up ahead.

She realized that Reiko wouldn't have enough time to stop before the edge of the stream, not when she was so distraught and terrified.

So she threw herself forward into a slide feet first, managing to catch Reiko's elbow as rocks and blades of grass tore at her legs.

She managed to pull Reiko against her chest as the momentum of her frantic run had the two of them slip over the edge of the stream, her free arm barely managing to catch the lip of the grounds sudden drop.

Pain flared to life in both Amaya's right leg and her arm supporting both their weight from the top of the stream wall, and an uncomfortable cold feeling had engulfed Amaya's body from the waist down - She hadn't heard the splash from hitting the water at all.

A voice Amaya should have instinctively recognized yelled out through the expanse of forests that made up the surface of Class E mountain, but she couldn't hear what they were saying.

And yet Amaya found herself completely forgetting about that completely as trembling arms wrapped desperately around her neck.

She found herself lost for words as a choking sob broke from Reiko's lips as she buried her face in Amaya's shoulder, her whole form trembling against Amaya's pained form, lost in the throws of a sobbing fit as Amaya found herself at a loss of what she could do.

'R-Reiko--?!'

'P-please! No m-more! I don't want to go back there!' Reiko gasped out, her voice broken from tears. 'Don't let them take me away again! I want to go home! Please?!'

As Reiko's words sunk in on Amaya, her breathing stopped completely.

'Amaya! Reiko!' That familiar voice called out, though no words escaped Amaya as she stared unseeing at the wall of the stream right in front of her.

The full impact of what Reiko had said not only terrified Amaya, but it broke her heart into pieces inside her chest.

---=[Authors Notes]=---

Next chapter, a bit early than I'd implied, because I'm on a roll today :) Next update will be within the next few days.

For those of you who've speculated on what is going to happen while Takaoka's around, I think you've forgotten all about the extra variable that is Reiko.

All the best guys, and here's our title translation:

Naikan - Translates roughly as introspection (Self-reflection), which is written as 内観 in Japanese.

<3 Loki-Roki