To all my readers: Sorry not sorry for all the feels happening! I know some of you may be hating me right now but that just means I'm doing my job as the author! I want you to feel all the feels before I reveal what happens next. And as I have said before, this story has become a journey. One that will take some scenic routes and rest area stops before we bring this thing to an end.

I've been enjoying writing this so I hope you are enjoying reading it.

Now onto the next...way lonnngeerrrr overdue chapter!

PS: I DO NOT OWN ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM.

All I wanted was a marriage that was something more...

About 2 Years Ago.

I was on my home from the convenience store,

When I looked up at the sky.

The dark clouds were threatening another storm.

It had been raining a lot recently so I was always prepared with an umbrella in hand.

But still I picked up my pace, my microwavable ramen swishing about in the plastic bag in my other hand.

It was the usual dinner for one.

One very busy college student that is.

At least it didn't taste so bad, I thought.

I looked up again at the sky and decided to take the short cut through the park, back to my apartment.

I scurried across the path,

Watching moms pack up their children for the day

And the runners stretching before they made the run back home.

Even the dog walkers seemed to be tugging their dogs quicker along as a sudden bout of thunder sounded.

Quickly we all tried to make our ways back home but not quick enough.

Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop.

Rain drops sprinkled the sidewalk all around me, foreshadowing a downpour.

I hurried over to a nearby park bench and opened my black umbrella.

And as I was about to be on my way, something red caught the corner of my eye.

Red, shaggy hair to be exact.

Belonging to a certain someone I hadn't seen in years.

A certain boy I had a crush way back in middle school.

But nothing ever came of it.

I mean I was the shy science nerd of the class.

And he was the hottest guy in our classroom and a mischievous genius one at that.

I knew better than to ever think he would look my way.

And now….here he was….I mean I recognized him almost right away,

Well…almost.

His hair was a bit longer than before,

And his legs a bit longer.

But what threw me off the most was how…out of place he looked.

Sitting in the rain, with his head hung, and his posture slumped over.

But he was still the Karma Akabane, sitting in front of me, in the flesh.

So I steadily walked over to him.

Hoping not to startled him, since he seemed so….distraught.

Right away, I noticed the tears streaming down his face.

Never would I have ever thought I would see him crying.

Something was not right.

So without another thought, I took two giants steps and stood over him.

"Karma?"

He didn't look up or acknowledge my presence.

I was used to it at this point in my life.

But still, I leaned my umbrella over to keep the rain off of him and continued to stand there.

That did the trick.

Once the rain was no longer dripping all over him, he looked up to see what the holdup was.

And the holdup was me.

His golden eyes held nothing but sadness and I noticed how red and puffy they were.

Like he had been crying for hours.

I didn't think he recognized me so I broke the silence.

"Um…I'm not sure if you remember me or not but we were both in 3-E together back in middle school. I'm…I'm the girl who tried to poison Korosensei, remember? Manami Okuda? Oh! And I also made a batch of poisonous chocolates for you, remember? While not for you, but for you to prank someone else…"

I knew I was starting to ramble but I needed something to trigger his memory of me.

Anything.

He continued to give me a blank stare as if he couldn't understand what I was saying.

Oh wait I know!

"Do you remember the time we went on a school field trip to Kyoto? First trip that year? There was me and you and Kayano and Sugino…and…oh and Nagisa! Yeah that's right! Nagisa asked you to be a part of our trip group, remember?"

That seemed to get his attention.

His eyes widened, more tears threatening to spill out.

"Na…na..gi..sa…" he whimpered and then his head was once again hung, his gaze down casted.

My gaze followed his and that's when I noticed the peculiar charm around his neck.

It was that of a silver serpent with sapphire eyes that seem to look right at me.

It looked oddly familiar to me, yet I knew he didn't wear it back in middle school.

But something about the eyes and symbol of it made me feel like I should be able to place its importance.

So I sat down next to him, still holding the umbrella and still staring at the charm.

Suddenly, Karma's long fingers were around it, as if clutching on to it for dear life as he glared at me.

Like he didn't want me to see it.

But then he did something unexpected.

And laid his head on my shoulder, his red damp strands slightly tickling my neck.

The faint of spices causing my heartbeat to quicken.

I could feel my school skirt becoming wet from the bench but still I sat, not daring to move.

And then… I waited.

Waited for him to say something else. To recognize me. To say my name. To tell me what was wrong.

Had something happened to Nagisa?

Were they still even close friends?

Why was he crying in the park in the rain?

I think he was just as surprised as I was that I was still sitting there in the rain with him because he suddenly peeked up at me.

So I gave him a small reassuring smile.

And he averted his eyes back down.

But I didn't move.

Because for once in my life, I felt the sudden urge to stand my ground.

To be a rock for someone else.

Or in this particular moment, a shoulder to cry on.

Whether he said anything or not, I just needed to be there for him.

That much I knew.

Because it pained me to see someone I knew hurting.

Especially when that someone was him.

We sat like that for what seemed like hours.

The rain had slowly stopped but I still kept the umbrella above our heads, leaning it on the park bench.

The evening sky was growing darker and the street lights were starting to come on,

When he finally lifted his head off of me and looked at me.

Like really looked at me this time.

His eyes were still puffy and red but I could tell he recognized me before he even said it.

"Thank you…Okuda-san"

I simply smiled at him.

He stood up, stretching his long limbs as he did and then turned to me.

"Here, let's get you home before you catch a cold. Do you live far?"

He held his hand out for me.

Was this guy serious?

Just moments ago he was crying and now I'm the one he's worried about.

I almost wanted to laugh.

But instead, I looked at his outstretched hand, my face becoming quite warm.

I never held a guy's hand before.

But something about his face told me I should probably just take it and not speak of this night to anyone.

I swallowed nervously and put my smaller hand into his.

His hand was cold but comforting as it covered mine.

Pulling me up from the bench, he brought me to a standing positon right in front of him.

I swallowed again realizing how close we were.

I was right though he had grown taller, my height ending at his chest.

Which a wet black shirt clung to, revealing his muscles underneath.

I could feel myself blushing harder as I caught myself admiring his body.

"Uh…Okuda?"

Golden eyes met my purple ones as I looked up at him.

His wet hair now clung to his face and the nape of his neck giving him that 'just got out of the shower' look.

"Ye-yes?" I croaked out.

"Do you usually hold a guy's hand this long right after trying to pick them up from the park?"

I looked down to find my hand was still in his.

"Eh? Uh…No!"

I regrettable took my hand out of his, the comforting feeling washed away.

"So-sorry about that. I guess I kind of zoned out there for a second," I explained.

He laughed that deep dark laugh of his and I knew he was going to be okay.

I laughed too at how ridiculous I probably looked to him.

But I didn't really care.

Because all that matter in that moment was that he had finally cracked a smile as he proceeded to walk me home.

We took the long way to my apartment, so that we could talk.

We talked about what we had been up to since middle school.

About our high school years and our current college lives.

And then he ended up coming inside my apartment for a cup of tea so we could talk some more.

He talked about his civic exams coming up.

And I talked about my internship in a nearby science lab where I would be testing cell growth and stimulation.

Then after an hour, he realized how late it was and got up to leave.

But not before giving me his number.

So that we could meet up for real this time and not by mistake.

And so he could thank me properly by taking me out to dinner.

He was like a completely different person from the one I had found crying in the park by the time he had left my place.

But when we did meet again, that rainy night was never brought up.

Nor was the reason why he was crying in the first place.

The necklace around his neck disappeared eventually after a month of us hanging out.

And even after a month, I still didn't know what truly went wrong that night I found him.

I wouldn't really find out until months later when I would find him drunk and alone in his apartment.

Sobbing uncontrollably on his couch, his hand clutching that same serpent necklace.

It would take me staying and drinking myself to a stupor since he wouldn't tell me if I was sober.

So down the hatch the beers went til I was flush in the face and slurring my words.

And then he finally spilled the beans.

Every single one of them.

Until there was nothing left but a cried out Karma and very heartbroken drunk version of me.

Heartbroken for him.