Hi all! Sorry for the rather long wait. I had graded assignments and presentations to complete, and now I'm on school break for two months, so I'll probably be able to post the next chapter within the month. For those waiting for 'Falling in love with my rival', I've already begun on the new chapter and am halfway through, so I should be done soon. Anyhow, enjoy the new chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu/Assassination Classroom or its characters. Just the plot.


Chapter 7: Her New Class, Her Mission Begins

The next morning, as she got ready for school, she remembered that Korosensei had detected her scent before and quickly sprayed herself with sakura-scented cologne. She walked out and found Edward leaning against the couch, already waiting for her. Only after they were on the road did Edward speak up. "Gid-sama asked for you to call him."

Teresa raised a brow but didn't question him as she pulled out her phone and dialled Gid's number. After a couple of rings, she heard the line connect.

"Gid-sama." She greeted, to which he didn't return, much to her annoyance, and went straight to the point.

"You are officially in the E class starting today, am I right?" He immediately asked, to which she hummed in response.

"So, are you really okay with the fact that you are in the E class? I heard from Gakuhou how the school hierarchy works." She sighed, tired of his unnecessary concern.

"If I were concerned about appearances and how people thought of me, I would have stopped being an assassin a long time ago. But what I am concerned about is your relationship with Gakuhou. You say you knew him from a few parties, but you sound much closer to him than that." She countered, hearing a long pause on the other end.

"...It's nothing for you to be concerned about. I trust you're up to it?"

"If I weren't, I wouldn't have accepted this mission you assigned me in the first place."

"True. Well, best of luck. I've heard it has gotten harder. Multiple assassins have tried and failed, and some of them are pro-assassins."

"I see. I will contact you later." With this, she ended the call. Her brows furrowed as a scowl appeared on her lips, while she stared at the screen of her phone. Edward, who noticed her tense expression when he glimpsed at the rearview mirror, spoke up.

"Something on your mind?"

"...He's hiding something from me." She muttered. She knew very well, what his tone sounded like when he lied to hide something.

'I know him better than anyone else in the world. How his eyes look like when he hides something, how his voice sounds like when he lies, how his demeanour changes when he discovers something.' Gakuhou's words from the previous day echoed in her head. She let out a low chuckle.

"I said that it was disgusting, but I'm no better, or different," she muttered to herself, so softly that even Edward didn't catch it. She couldn't deny the fact that she and Gakuhou were quite similar, but the thought of it was, undoubtedly, revolting. She let out a laugh.

"I feel sick." Edward definitely heard that, which caused him to whip his head around in alarm, facing her. "Pardon?!"

"Ah, it's nothing. By the way, don't forget to drop me off at the back of the main campus. It would be more convenient," she replied, brushing it off as she turned to look out of the window.

"Understood."

Upon arriving, she got out of the limo without Edward's assistance and easily hiked up the mountain to the mini campus, immediately taking note of the lack of students. She walked towards it and entered, taking off her shoes and putting on the indoor ones provided. She proceeded to the faculty lounge, and found the two, human, teachers, typing away on their respective devices, one a laptop and the other a tablet.

Both stopped their current activities and directed their attention towards her upon hearing the door open, clearing expecting Korosensei instead of her, judging from the surprised look on their faces. Karasuma slowly rose to his feet and approached her.

"You're a lot earlier than expected." He mused.

"I always come at this time though," she replied, smiling politely. Irina then stood up and approached her. "Who's this?"

"The new student. The one from the main campus." Karasuma answered, as Irina's face scrunched up slightly, before lighting up in realisation. "Ah."

Karasuma then faced Teresa once more, before gesturing towards Irina. "This is Irina Jelavich, a pro assassin. She is the E class' English teacher."

Teresa then turned to face Irina, and, with both hands, held her bag in front of her as she politely bowed towards Irina, who widened her eyes in surprise at the display of respect.

"Pleasure to meet you. My name is Amano Teresa. Please take care of me." She said, before straightening back up and smiling sweetly at the blonde woman, who smiled satisfactorily back at her.

"What a polite brat!" Teresa resisted the twitch her eye threatened to make at the term Irina used to address her. 'Brat'? She maintained her smile before asking, "How should I address you?"

"...Could you call me 'Jelavich-sensei'?"

"Jelavich-sensei." Teresa parroted, and Irina's smile visibly brightened. She then seemingly began to stare at Teresa, from head to toe.

"You don't seem like much for this," she stated, before her eyes fell on Teresa's chest and her eyes widened, before blinking. Irina then pointed her index finger to Teresa's chest.

"What's your cup size?" This time, Teresa raised a brow. What the heck? She noted how Karasuma shut his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh upon hearing Irina's question. "F...why do you ask?"

"...No way…that's bigger than my double D…" she muttered darkly to herself, as she slowly strutted back to her seat, looking slightly dejected.

"Anyways," Karasuma finally spoke up, allowing Teresa to redirect her attention to him, "how far does your physical capabilities go?"

Teresa tilted her head to the side and placed a finger on her cheek, making a thinking face. "Because of my family, I had to take self-defense lessons, so I have a fairly good grasp of martial arts. I do a bit of archery too. Oh, and I guess I'm good at shooting, since I visit arcades to play shooting games time to time."

Karasuma thought about it for a moment, before nodding in approval. "I guess that works. How well can you handle a knife?"

"...As well as cooking would allow, I guess?" she replied with a nervous laugh, causing Irina to slap a hand over her mouth to stop a laugh from erupting while Karasuma seemingly facepalmed.

"Fair enough. Well, you will be undergoing practices for knife work and shooting during physical education with the rest of your class, so you should be fine," he stated, and Teresa stifled a scoff. 'Not that I need it.'

"You will be introduced to the class later when school begins. Till then, you're free to do as you please." He added.

"By the way, where's the target?" She questioned. She had not seen him upon coming here. Karasuma angrily replied, "He's currently in Spain for breakfast. He should be reaching soon." Hearing his response, Teresa sweatdropped slightly. Korosensei was really free-spirited for an assassination target, it would be a wonder how he was still alive if it weren't for his renowned speed.

"Well then, if you'd excuse me, I need to use the washroom," she said, leaving her bag in the faculty lounge before heading for the toilet. Karasuma then turned around to return to his seat, and noticed Irina's serious, thinking face.

"Something wrong?"

"Her name. I believe I've heard it somewhere before, but I can't seem to place it...argh, I hate it when I can't remember things!" she whined, combing her fingers through her hair and into her scalp in annoyance.

"She's also quite the mysterious entity." Irina stopped her administrations and stared at Karasuma. "How so?"

"When I was informed that she was transferring into the class, I tried to do some research on her background."

"But?"

"Nothing. There wasn't any information that could be found other than her name, age, birthdate, gender, height and weight. There is absolutely no record of her history: what schools she was in, where she was born, what she had been doing in the past few years of her life."

"A fake identity, perhaps?" Irina suggested.

"That's what I thought, but it wasn't the case. It is indeed her real identity, and there were papers on her adoption. I even asked the chairman of the school, and he says he is not familiar with her personal life." Irina raised both brows at this unfamiliar information.

"Well, that's a first. Do you think she's a threat?"

"Maybe not yet. Best we kept our guard up."

"Noted." The two then went back to work, unaware of the fact that the very subject of their conversation had been right outside, concealing her presence as she listened to every single word. As soon as the conversation ended, she quickly rushed off to the ladies washroom and locked herself in a cubicle.

She took out the pocket-sized spray she had kept in her pocket and sprayed the liquid it contained inside onto her shoes, before keeping it once more. She quickly double-checked the black garter belts around her thighs and the black wristbands she wore underneath her sleeves, and hid them underneath her clothes once more. "Alright, everything is ready."

She quickly exited the toilet and approached the faculty lounge once more, knocking on the door post to catch the two teachers' attention. "If it's alright, may I take a quick walk around the mountain? To get a feel of the area around?"

"Sure. Make sure to return before class starts," Karasuma replied, his eyes never leaving the screen of the laptop in front of him as he typed away. Teresa politely bowed and muttered a 'thanks' and went off. She began exploring the forests surrounding the mountain, memorising every single detail while keeping her presence concealed, and before she knew it, there was five minutes left before lessons began.

She quickly made her way back, and as she approached the teachers' staffroom, she noticed how every student was already here, along with their teacher, none of which had yet noticed her. As soon as she entered the staffroom, Karasuma stood up upon seeing her, and silently waited as she picked up her bag. "Shall we go introduce yourself to the class, then?"

"Yes, sir." She followed him to the classroom and patiently waited till she was summoned. When she was, she slowly entered the class, ignoring the several, not so discreet, gasps that echoed throughout the classroom. As she finally turned to face the class, her eyes swept across the students, meeting each of their eyes. All of them were surprised, excluding Karma, who simply smirked upon her appearance.

"My name is Amano Teresa. Please take care of me." She said as she politely bowed towards the class. Nagisa was the first to react, jumping out of his seat. "Teresa-san!"

"It's nice to see you too, Nagisa-"

"How come you're in the E class?! Weren't you in the A class?" Terasaka barked, cutting Teresa off. Her eye twitched slightly at that, but quickly brushed it aside.

"It seems that she didn't do too well for the recent examinations, which resulted in her transfer. Isn't that right, Amano-san?" Korosensei replied in her stead. Teresa smiled at Korosensei's response. "That's right."

"Bullshit! Didn't she get perfect scores for her entrance exams? How could it be that she suddenly does so badly in the recent exams?" Yoshida countered, siding Terasaka on this matter.

"The chairman's lesson on the new topics on the last two days before the examinations were rather spartan, and a little too hard to follow, hence I didn't do too well." Teresa patiently replied, not wanting to snap on her first day. While she understood that they were in disbelief, they were being a little too rude about it.

"Even if that's the truth, it is too suspicious! A top-rate student in the E class? What a joke." Muramatsu questioned, scowling. Teresa frowned slightly, not exactly pleased with their reactions. She had expected Terasaka and his goons to retaliate, but not like this. They weren't exactly being respectful in the slightest, something she didn't quite like.

"That's quite true. You did so well, it doesn't really make sense that you'd be here," Isogai politely stated, to which Teresa didn't take any offense from.

"Yeah, Teresa-san is really smart, I thought the test would have been a breeze for you," Nagisa added, a concerned look on his face. Hearing a laugh, she turned her head to face Karma, who had his usual devilish smirk.

"Well, what can you expect? Like she said, the chairman's lessons are spartan, and a princess like herself probably wasn't able to withstand and keep up with it!" He teased, and a light blush appeared on her cheeks as she scowled at Karma.

"What did I say about calling me a princess, Karma-san?" she complained, while Karma simply laughed at her misery. Terasaka let out a scoff at the nickname.

"'Princess', huh? Let's see how long she lasts before she goes crawling back to the main campus, begging at the feet of the chairman to let her back in," Terasaka taunted, and Teresa immediately directed a cold glare at him, any concern for discretion thrown to the wind. The intensity of her glare caused him to flinch and shrink away. "I don't beg anyone, much less at their feet. Nor do I grovel. Could you please not mock me?"

She couldn't care less about whether or not she was giving away her identity as an assassin, she wouldn't stand for Terasaka's comment. Karma openly snickered at Terasaka's frightened expression while Karasuma sighed. "That's some nice bloodlust you have, but please direct it towards the target."

A high-pitched squeal suddenly erupted from behind her, causing her, along with everyone else, to jump. She whipped around to face Korosensei, who looked rather...fangirl-ish.

"A princess?! Sensei is so honoured to be in your presence!" He gushed, and her eye twitched in annoyance. This is all so infuriating. Nonetheless, she kept her anger from surging out and smiled sweetly at the teacher.

"I'm not a princess, but it is an honour to finally meet you, Korosensei," she replied, raising her hand to shake his, as her gaze met his. He then raised his tentacle-like hand and firmly grasped hers. She gripped his hand as tightly as she could. "Likewise, Amano-sa-NYUYA!"

The class was once again taken by surprise as they watched Korosensei's arm, which was completely sliced off, fall to the ground into a wriggling heap of slime. Korosensei paled as he watched the girl before him. She had drawn out a knife from inside her sleeve and swung it across, but he didn't notice as his attention was fixed onto her eyes rather than the rest of her body. A shadow loomed over her right eye, which gleamed slightly with bloodlust, as she leapt forward to continue her attack.

He rapidly slithered backwards as Teresa advanced, swinging her blade in an inconsistently random pattern, which appeared amateurish to Karasuma, as she had hoped it would.

When she had him backed up against the windows that were opposite the door of the classroom, she swung her right foot up into a high kick. Seeing this, Korosensei got full of himself, as he raised a tentacle, at Mach 20, in advance to stop her kick. "Sorry to say, but physical attacks don't have much effect on m-"

He was cut off a second time as he watched the cells of his tentacles get disintegrated upon contact with her shoe, resulting in another tentacle getting lopped off. Satisfied with his silence and the results of her attacks, she set her foot back down onto the ground, before smiling sweetly towards her target. The rest of the class was just as taken aback, as they had watched the scene unravel. Both the guys and girls were in awe, with the exception of a certain trio.

"That was my way of a greeting. Hope you liked it!" she exclaimed cheerily. Korosensei, seemingly having regained himself, chuckled in response as he regenerated both tentacles. "That was a wonderful surprise assassination. It's a shame it wasn't successful."

"That's because it wasn't supposed to be."

"Pardon?"

"Judging from your speed, I predicted that it would have been a failed attempt on your life." Teresa replied as she bent down to pick up her schoolbag before straightening back up. She noticed how Korosensei remained silent as he seemingly processed her words. "So, where am I sitting?"

"The desk on Karma-kun's left." Korosensei replied, and she nodded in understanding before making her way towards the said desk.

"What, that's it? That's all you got?" Terasaka mocked, and both Kataoka and Isogai sent him warning glares. Teresa simply smirked in response.

"It would be pointless to claim continue attacking now because I've already lost the element of surprise, so he would predict and be prepared for whatever I would do. There would be absolutely no point in increasing his ego any further at this point. And besides, I'm pretty sure I did far better than you. At least I could remove a couple of tentacles, but not only could you not inflict the slightest damage on him, you almost got your classmate killed," she countered, her tone turning icy at the end as her smile, despite looking sweet, now seemed deadly.

Truth be told, she had called Karma the night before and told him about her transfer without telling him the reason, and asked him about any assassination attempts. She was eventually made known of Nagisa's suicide bomb attack, Sugino's lethal baseball attack, Karma's prank-filled attacks, Irina's seduction-based attack, and Manami's poisoning attempt.

She watched as fear flitted past Terasaka's eyes, while he did a slack job at hiding it. This time, Okajima joined Karma to snigger at Terasaka.

"Wow, you are one savage queen!" Maehara laughed, lightly patting Teresa's back. At his words, Okajima lit up.

"That's it! We'll call you 'Queen'!"

"...What?" Teresa questioned, getting a strong sense of déjà vu.

"True. The name 'princess' doesn't really suit you, after such a magnificent display. You should be called 'Queen'!" Maehara exclaimed in agreement, high-fiving Okajima. Teresa watched them with a bewildered look on her face. "Eh…"

"Indeed. Teresa-san is really strong, and makes a really powerful impression after all," Nagisa commented in agreement, causing to whip her head around and stare at him in disbelief.

"You too, Nagisa-san? Please, enough with the nicknames already…" she groaned in exasperation. She's had enough of name-calling in the main campus after all.

"Eh~ Don't you like it, Joou-sama (Queen)?" Karma teased, and Teresa flushed pink once more as she glared at him. "Shut it, why don't you!"

"Hey, that's enough from you boys. Can't you see you're making our new classmate uncomfortable?" Kataoka lectured, hands on her hips as she frowned at the growing group of boys teasing Teresa.

"Yeah! Just 'cause she's got big boobs doesn't mean she deserves to be teased like that!" Kayano exclaimed, while Teresa sweatdropped at her words. 'That's her concern?!'

"Yep, yep! That's sexual harassment, guys!" Nakamura added, both hands cupping her mouth, while wearing a teasing smirk on her lips. Teresa turned her head, her eyes meeting Nakamura's, as she wore a blank expression on her face. "It is?"

"...Isn't it?" Nakamura replied, her face now mirroring Teresa's.

"I don't...think so."

"...Oops?"

"Then it's fine, isn't it? It's not like we're harassing her in any way." Mimura said. Kataoka frowned and stepped in front of Teresa. "It doesn't change the fact that you guys are making her uncomfortable!"

Teresa placed a hand on Kataoka's shoulder, causing her to turn around, allowing Teresa to give her a gentle smile.

"It's fine, Kataoka-san. They aren't making me feel uncomfortable. I just really can't stand nicknames," she then turned to face the group of boys, "but if you guys want to call me 'Queen', then it's fine with me."

"Are you sure it's fine? If you don't like it, you should just say so." Yada spoke up, concern evident in her face. Teresa gave her a reassuring smile.

"Well, I can't really say I like it, but it makes me happy since it shows me that they are accepting me as one of them." She replied. The class stared at her, wide-eyed, causing her to raise a brow in confusion. "What?"

"Oh god, you are so kind, it's impossible! Are you real?!" Nakamura exclaimed, hugging Teresa tightly from the side, eliciting a chuckle from Teresa. "I assure you, I'm very real. But I wouldn't say I'm very kind. I mean, you saw how I was with Terasaka-san."

"That big oaf had it coming."

"Nakamura! You-" Terasaka howled, only to get cut of by Fuwa.

"She's exactly right. He had it coming, but I've got to admit, you are like one of those anime characters that are sweet all the time, but turns are cold and dangerous when you're angry, like Mirajane of Fairy Tail. It's kinda cool!" Teresa shot her a confused smile. "Thanks?"

"Alright, that's enough. Please return to your seats and let us start homeroom." Korosensei said, finality in his tone, resulting in the students walking back to their seats. As Teresa settled down, Korosensei spoke up once more, "Anyhow, I look forward to the rest of the year with you, Amano-san."

"Likewise. And please, just call me 'Teresa'." She replied, smiling brightly. Korosensei nodded in understanding and smiled widely. "Sure, Teresa-san."

When break came about, Korosensei had blasted off to Italy, to eat some authentic pappardelle, and immediately soon after she found herself being dragged into the forest by Karma and Nagisa. When they were quite a distance away, Karma finally let go of her wrist, and turned around to face her, a serious look on his face.

"I know you told me about your transfer the night before, and that I trust you enough to know that I have no reason to doubt you, but, as much as I hate to admit, I have to agree with Terasaka. You suddenly dropping into the E class is far too suspicious. Why are you here?" He questioned, humourless and unsmiling. Teresa remained silent, her eyes downcast as she weighed her options. To lie and lose their trust, or to tell the truth and make Gakushuu a bigger enemy than he already is.

If she lied now, both boys would definitely know, and she would ultimately lose the class' trust in her. If she told the truth, the class may forgive her, and assist her in handling Gakushuu, someone who must be dealt with very delicately. She definitely preferred to handle this problem alone, after it is a personal issue, but her current situation didn't allow it. And she needed to think about what course of action she should take.

"Teresa-san," Nagisa spoke up, snapping her out of her thoughts and causing her to look up to see Nagisa's face in front of hers. Insecurity and sadness were evident in his sky-blue orbs. "Do you not trust us?"

Teresa widened her eyes. She knew, they trusted her when they first met her, because she had treated them differently as compared to any other student from the main campus, and she was always honest with them.

Well, except for the fact that she was an assassin.

But that didn't necessarily show that she trusted them. And it didn't help she's never really trusted anybody. After all, she only allowed a select few to be made known her identity, and she didn't necessarily trust them either. Ren was one of the few because he was tight-lipped about people's confidential information.

There was no way she could actually trust anyone ever again, not after what happened twelve years ago. She gave Nagisa and Karma a weak smile.

"It's not that I don't trust you. But, I don't want my decisions to harm any of you," she replied honestly, causing both boys to widen their eyes upon hearing her earnest reply. Karma stepped forward and stood in front of her.

"Who's involved?" he asked, ill-intent laced in his tone. She could already see the gears turning in his head, plotting the most devious scheme to make his victim regret for the rest of his life.

"It's...Asano-kun." She finally said, and Nagisa's expression turned alarmed, while Karma simply widened his eyes.

"But...why? What does he have against you?" Nagisa questioned, clearly concerned about her.

"Almost nothing. It's his father he has something against. He suspects that the chairman is hiding something about the E class from the rest of the school," she stated, and she saw realisation visibly appear on their faces, aware she was talking about Korosensei. "And he wanted me to find out what."

"And you agreed because?" Karma asked, his question hanging in the air. Teresa bit her lip nervously, still unsure about whether she should tell him, of all people. But it didn't seem that she had a choice, having said this much.

"He got some blackmail on me...it's embarrassing," Teresa answered, cheeks flushing pink as she buried her face in her hands. No matter how many times she thought about it, it was still as humiliating.

Noticing the flushed expression, Karma visibly perked up and closed the distance between them, a little too close for comfort. With none the wiser, he ended up backing her up against a tree, as he leaned forward.

"Heh~ What kind of blackmail?" he asked, rather excitedly, if that cheeky, toothy smirk and mischievous glint in his eyes were anything to go by…

Nagisa, who obviously noticed the sudden interest, sighed in resignation. This was Karma's nature after all, it couldn't be helped. He placed a hand on Karma's shoulder, and said warningly, "Karma-kun...not now."

"No, it's fine. You should-no, you deserve to know. Could you...meet me after school? I'll send you the venue and time later."

"Why not tell us now?" Karma asked, his breath fanning her face, considering the fact that he was practically pressed against her in his excitement to know what the blackmail was.

"...Because we're being watched." She replied, pointing her index finger in front of her. Following the direction she was pointing, their eyes widened at the sight of the mini audience they had behind some of the trees surrounding them.

An audience that included Kayano, Kanzaki, Kataoka, Nakamura, Okuda, Sugino, Isogai, Maehara, and Okajima, amongst which the girls were watching with keen interest, while the boys were seemingly bewildered.

Karma, finally realising the position he had put Teresa and himself in, smirked and moved forward, pushing himself against Teresa more than before, causing her to blush and shift uncomfortably at the further increased contact.

It didn't help that she was more and more conscious of the fact that his rock-hard chest being pressed against her own, and that she didn't hate it.

Upon seeing this, the girls' eyes began sparkling with pink hues on their cheeks, while Isogai, Sugino and Kataoka watched nervously, and Okajima and Maehara were boiling with jealousy.

"In case you couldn't tell already, we're a little busy. Mind giving us some privacy?" He inquired, while Nagisa sighed in exasperation, knowing that Karma was just messing around, despite how suggestive he sounded.

"Shut up, Karma! You don't get to tell us what to do, you lucky bastard!" Maehara howled, while Okajima, who was seething in jealousy, nodded in agreement. "Yeah! You're getting push against some fine mounds right now, I'm so envious!"

"That's not important!" Kataoka yelled in response, smacking the two silly, causing Sugino to laugh nervously and inch away from Kataoka, not wanting to risk getting hurt as well.

"Karma, you should probably back off a bit, she looks really uncomfortable with you so close to her," Isogai suggested, eyeing at Teresa's discomfort, which was evident on her face.

"Heh~? You say that, but aren't you just jealous, Isogai?" Karma teased, which only got him a sigh. "Of course not. I'm only saying this because I am concerned about our new classmate, who looks like she could really use some space."

Hearing this, Karma redirected his attention onto the raven-haired girl, who bit her lower lip in an abashed fashion while she lowered her head. Her gaze was averted towards the ground, not daring to make eye contact with anyone while in her current position.

In complete honesty, while she didn't hate the contact, she despised the fact that she was being forced in such a position, but she kept that within for the sake of the mission.

"Um, Karma-san, could you please back off now?" She pleaded, and Karma stilled for a moment, before, rather reluctantly, pulling himself away from her. He then put his hands behind his head and smirked towards Maehara's and Okajima's direction, once more receiving angry scowls, much to his satisfaction.

"I'm going to get myself a drink from the main campus, so if you would excuse me," she quickly added, making her way away from the group, before getting stopped by Isogai. "Are you sure you would be okay by yourself?"

She flashed a sweet smile. "Don't worry about me, Isogai-kun, I'll be fine. Besides, despite how I may appear, I'm not so weak as to succumb to anyone's words, emotionally or mentally." With that, she made her way past the group and down the mountain.

Upon reaching the bottom, she quickly walked to the vending machine and bought her drink. As soon as she did, she opened it and took a sip as she turned around, only to find herself face to face with the Five Virtuosos. With the exception of their leader.

"My, my, what is a student from the E class doing down here?" Araki questioned. He sounded polite, but Teresa knew better, he was taunting her. And to think he was one of the many to have confessed to her when she was in the main campus.

"Buying a drink, as you can see." She simply replied, taking another sip as she discreetly eyed Ren, who seemed nervous and uncertain about approaching her with the rest of his 'friends', clearly because he knew they were only talking to her to provoke her.

"And why would you need to buy a drink?"

"Because human bodily functions deplete water and salt from within the body, hence humans get thirsty and require intake of water. Don't you know that much, or should I have to spell it out further?" Teresa replied sarcastically, her tone all merry, but she displayed no emotions on her face. Which served to surprise them all, except for Ren. Taking a moment to regain himself, Koyama retorted in an irritated fashion.

"D-don't get so cocky with us! You're in the E class now, so you don't get to talk back to us!" He definitely intended to scare her, but after hearing him stutter, she could easily confirm that he was the one afraid. Moreover…

q"Talking back, you say? You're the ones who confronted me with a question, and I was simply answering you. Would you have preferred if I ignored you and walked away?" She questioned sweetly, this time while smiling, but they could see that she was mocking them with her eyes. At this, Seo snapped. "You little-!"

"What's going on?" The four of them froze and turned around to face the source, Asano Gakushuu. Teresa smile dimmed slightly upon seeing him, remembering the conversation she had with Karma and Nagisa mere moments ago, before quickly keeping her emotions in check once more. Scanning the group gathered in front of him, Gakushuu finally noticed Teresa's presence, and smirked slightly before covering it up with his usual charismatic smile.

"Amano-san, it's nice to see you again." She narrowed her eyes while her smile remained as she looked straight into Gakushuu's eyes, creating a rather thick tension, which Ren immediately noticed and stiffened slightly in response.

"The pleasure is all mine, Asano-kun. But it seems I'm not welcome here." She answered, gesturing towards the rather hostile group of boys before them. Gakushuu ignored the side comment and watched as Teresa continued to drink from the can of drink she bought.

"How are you doing in your new class? I hope you aren't too brought down by the transfer," Gakushuu asked, and Teresa let out a low, inaudible scoff. For some reason, she's been losing her cool a little too easily recently, and is struggling to keep up her farce. She then directed her gaze at Gakushuu once more.

"Why the fuck do you care, asshole? You're the one who forced me there in the first place!"

...Was what she wanted to say, but she couldn't afford to, not here and not now. She resorted to flashing him an innocently sweet smile, which seemingly caught him off guard for a moment, before she gave him her reply.

"Not at all! I quite enjoy being up there as compared to down here. It's much more enjoyable, and calming too. In fact, I might wanna stay in the E class for a while!" Hearing this, Gakushuu raised a brow before the side of his lips twitched upwards, thinking she was talking about the E class' secret, when in reality, she was simply being honest with no underlying meaning. Naturally, the rest of the Five Virtuosos thought differently.

"Huh? Who would want to stay up there with those losers?"

"Well, apparently, I do, and they aren't losers. They are a much more welcoming bunch as compared to the students down here," she countered, frowning as she puffed up her cheek in annoyance. Unknowingly, she made herself appear cute in front of them, causing them to blush slightly at the sight. Suddenly, an arm was slung over her shoulders and she felt someone rest their chin on her left shoulder, before hearing them let out a chuckle.

"To think you thought of us that way and would even go so far as to defend us from the Five Virtuosos, I am sincerely touched, Teresa-chan~! You have my thanks!" Karma exclaimed, as she turned her head to the side slightly and looked at Karma in surprise. She had heard his footsteps approaching their direction, but she didn't know it was him. Turning her head further to look behind, and she saw, as she had expected, Nagisa standing behind them and laughing nervously.

"Your welcome, Karma-san… but for how long do you intend to keep your arm on me? And haven't I told you not to add '-chan' to my name?" She inquired politely with a small smile, not a hint of the earlier spite in her tone. Karma returned the gesture and raised his head from her shoulder and directed his attention on Gakushuu, who seemed a little unnerved by Karma's presence, and narrowed his eyes. Gakushuu returned the gesture, clearly not pleased by his appearance. Silence hung in the air as the two stared at each other for a few moments, which felt like hours to everyone else. Finally, Karma flashed his usual laid-back smirk and spoke up.

"Might I ask what business you all have with my classmate here?" He asked, now looking at all of the students in the Five Virtuosos. Gakushuu remained neutral while the others were visibly terrified by the red-haired devil's presence.

"Nothing much. Just concerned for her as an ex-classmate and student council president. Why does it matter?" Gakushuu smoothly replied, to which Karma naturally found the perfect counter for. "Heh...why now? Tons of students have fallen from the main campus to the E class, but you've never even bat an eye about it till now. Why the sudden change, Asano-kun?"

Gakushuu's serious face morphed into a slightly shocked one, before directing his gaze to Teresa, who was currently facing away from him and towards Nagisa, who was explaining that Karma was concerned about her and decided to stalk her on the way down. 'Did she tell them already?'

"S-Stalk?"

"Yeah, not follow. Stalk. That's exactly what he had said earlier." Nagisa replied with a straight face, in all seriousness. Teresa sweatdropped slightly before turning to face Karma, who sensed her gaze on him and pulled his attention away from Gakushuu and onto her, in disbelief. "Seriously? You stalked me all the way here?"

Karma stared at her for a few moments with a blank look on his face, before smirking and replying, "Yep!" Teresa gaped at him openly before making her comeback.

"That is not something you should be proud of!"

"Eh, are you mad-"

"What if you were spotted by someone else and reported to the police? Please don't do something so risky! You make me worry about you more than I should..." All the boys stared at her in surprise of her outburst, before Karma grinned.

"Heh~ You were worried about me? Thank you, Teresa-chan, and sorry for making you worry."

"Don't add '-chan'...nevermind. Anyways, if you're so sorry," she said, before plucking Karma's hand off her right shoulder, "could you remove your arm already? You're causing me to strain my shoulders, and it kinda hurts."

"Ah, sorry, sorry," Karma replied, finally removing his arm from her. Aside from Gakushuu, the rest of the Five Virtuosos eyed the duo wearily. They couldn't comprehend how she was able to so calmly, even jokingly, communicate with him, despite knowing the kind of personality he has. Gakushuu watched the exchange between the two in silence, observing them. 'Had she already told them? No, it can't be...she wouldn't risk embarrassing herself.'

Feeling his gaze on her, Teresa discreetly glanced his way and smirked to herself, knowing exactly what he was thinking. If he thought she wouldn't risk that much for their trust and ensure she doesn't blow her cover, he had another thing coming.

"My, my, I was wondering what this ruckus about." Hearing a new voice, everyone turned to face the chairman. The Five Virtuosos seemed to calm down upon noticing his presence, while Nagisa seemingly wilted in fear and inferiority, Karma completely lost his laid-backness and had a blank expression on his face, and Teresa had a dull look on her face before facing away to finish her drink. Gakuhou's eyes swept across the group, before landing on Teresa, who was still drinking. He then smiled and greeted her, "It's nice to see you again, Amano-san."

Only after she was finished with her drink did she return the greeting with a bright smile and even brighter eyes. "Likewise. I hope you didn't show up just to give another display of your biasness against us students of the E class." Her tone was so sweet and innocent, it literally took everyone a few seconds to process her words, and when they did, they all turned to stare at her in shock and bewilderment. Despite their obvious display of shock, she continued staring straight at Gakuhou, who had a mildly surprised look on his face.

"Amano-san, you are a student of this school, no different from anyone else. I won't tolerate this kind of behaviour, I may end up having to discipline you."

"What kind? I'm simply asking based on what I've witnessed so far. And it's not like I'm breaking any school rules, so you can't really 'discipline' me, even if you wanted to." She replied, still smiling sweetly. The rest simply watched in the exchange in slight awe and horror. Gakuhou narrowed his eyes slightly.

"If you continue to keep us with this, I am going to report it to your father." Hearing him threaten her, a shadow loomed over her closed eye and a vein at her temple popped, while she maintained her smile. Did he really think bringing Gid into the conversation would change anything or have the situation in his favour, because his underestimating her was seriously starting to get on her nerves.

"Go ahead and tell him, then. He's not going to do anything about it. Moreover, did you really think using the 'I'm going to tell your parents' tactic is going to work on me, because if you did, I'd appreciate it if you stopped looking down on me. You're going to make me angry." She spoke, keeping her tone in check, while the boys surrounding her stared at her warily, especially Karma, Gakushuu and Nagisa. Gakuhou simply raised a brow before staring down at her, an eerie gleam in his eyes.

"Are you suggesting that I would fear you? A mere student?" He asked, his tone dangerous as he stared at her. Her smile dipped into a frown as she instantaneously crushed the now empty can in her hand, opening her eyes to reveal a cold stare as she looked up into Gakuhou's eyes, causing his confidence to waver. Although it was barely visible, Gakushuu immediately noticed it, and widened his eyes slightly at the sight at the slightly unnerved gaze in his father's eyes. "I'm saying that incurring my wrath is something even you should be wary of, riji-chō sensei (Mr. Chairman)."

She was about that close to turning into full assassin mode, thanks to this jerk, and also partly due to her being on her period. Curse the existence of women's problems messing with her hormones at a time like this. Not that she could actually help herself right now. She really wanted Gakuhou to stay out of the picture for awhile, at least till she had taken care of her deal with Gakushuu. The rest of the Five Virtuosos, who were silently watching, and unsure of how to react, seemed to snap out of whatever trance they were in and Seo finally spoke up.

"D-Don't be so full of yourself! How dare you speak to the chairman that wa-!" The rest of his protest died in his throat when he saw her icy glare directed towards him. In that instant, he lost his resolve to fight back and the strength to even speak up. And for a moment, he felt a chill went down his spine, as if...he was going to be killed. She then smiled sweetly at him, which served to cause him to tense up further. "I don't care much for the school system or how it works, so could the outsiders please be quiet and stay out of it?"

Seo wilted in response and turned away, unable to meet her eyes any longer. The other three stared at her warily, including Ren, who was more concerned about her than Seo in all honesty. Gakushuu was, admittedly unnerved by her current behaviour, but at the same time, deeply intrigued. Karma, too, seemed deeply amused by her display, while Nagisa was taken aback. He wasn't afraid, but still, he couldn't help but be surprised. As for Gakuhou, his facial expression remained neutral, but his eyes appeared...deeply entertained.

"Anyways," Teresa began once more, finally turning away from Seo and closing her eyes in a nonchalant fashion, "all I came down here for was a drink, it was you guys who bothered speaking to me. Now that we're done, may we be excused? Seeing as we have no reason to stay any longer."

"Very well. This time I'll let you go, but next time I won't let you off the hook so easily," said Gakuhou, putting on his usual smile on. Teresa returned his smile with her own and replied, "If there's a next time. Now if you would excuse us. Shall we go, Karma-san? Nagisa-san?"

She turned away from the group, and as she walked past Gakushuu, their shoulders brushing against each other, she felt him slip a piece of paper into her hand. She briefly glanced his way, before clenching that hand into a fist, keeping the slip of paper out of Gakuhou's sight. She then walked towards the mountain, with Karma and Nagisa leisurely trailing behind her, before she tossed the crushed can over her shoulder without looking back.

Koyama opened his mouth, about to lecture her about littering, but eventually shut it as he watched it fall into the trash can that was a few meters behind her. Ren's eyes followed Teresa's disappearing form as he silently stood behind the rest, something Gakushuu noticed. And it wasn't a gaze of interest, but of concern.


On the way up, Nagisa finally spoke up after a long, awkward silence. "Teresa-san? Are you alright?" Teresa stilled, causing the two to halt behind her. She then finally turned around, giving them a sad, closed-eye smile. "Sorry that you had to see that. I was a little upset with this school for quite some time already, and I really didn't like how the E class was being treated just because of your results or whatever reasons you are here."

"I see, but it seemed to me that you were rather riled up over a small comment, and you even went against the chairman." Nagisa replied, and Teresa tensed up before averting her gaze, a pink hue on her cheeks as she laughed nervously. "Ah, well, t-the thing is...I...well, I-"

"Could it be that...it is your that time of the month?" Karma asked teasingly. It was meant to be a joke, but when he saw her whip her head towards him to stare at him, bewildered, with her cheeks flushed scarlet, he realised he hit a bullseye. "Wait, seriously?"

'H-How did you know?!"

"Wild guess, but I didn't think it would actually be the case. So...really?" Karma asked, and Teresa scowled openly before turning away and marching off towards the mini campus on the top of the mountain. "Don't know!"

"C'mon! Tell me!"

"Hell no!" Nagisa sighed and laughed dryly as he watched the two go back and forth at each other while Karma chased Teresa up the mountain. While he was glad nothing happened earlier below, he really hoped Karma would stop teasing Teresa like that. If Karma were to go on, he was afraid that the terrifying display Teresa had showed the chairman and the class A students would be directed at Karma.


Later during classes, Teresa discreetly opened up the piece of paper, that was now crumpled, and briefly made out the destination, which happened to be the same cafe he brought her to the last time, and time that had been indicated on it. She raised a brow at this. 'My first day in the E class, and he already wants to meet? Talk about desperate…'

As soon as school ended, she left ahead of Karma and Nagisa, quickly sending them texts on the place and a time a little later than the time Gakushuu had given her. She quickly sent another text to Edward that she would be returning home by herself. She then made her way to that cafe.

Upon reaching the cafe, she noticed there was no one there. Translation: Gakushuu had yet to arrive. She directed her gaze on a female staff, the same one from last time, who instantly recognised her and went up to her.

"Are you Asano-sama's guest for his current reservation?"

"...I guess that's one way to put it." She hesitantly replied, since she considered herself more of his captive than his guest. Considering the way he treated her, that is. The waitress then smiled sweetly and showed her to a booth, which had a table for two.

"Is there anything you would like? A drink, perhaps?"

"I guess I could use a mocha frappe. And some company," Teresa replied, and the waitress widened her eyes in surprise for a brief moment, before regaining her composure and putting on a professional front. "Of course. I'll be back in a moment."

Soon, the waitress returned with her drink. Settling the glass cup onto the table, she then directed her gaze on Teresa, who gladly sipped the frappe through a straw, and watched anxiously. After this teenage girl's last visit, in all honesty, she was a little afraid to even approach her. Noticing the waitress cowering in fear, she smiled politely towards her direction.

"Sorry about what happened the last time I was here. I was a little upset about several things and I lost my control. Please don't worry, I won't do anything to hurt you." She reassured the waitress, who visibly relaxed and returned her smile.

"Alright."

"So, let's introduce ourselves, starting with our names. I'm Amano Teresa, what's yours?"


After about half an hour's worth of idle chatter, Gakushuu finally showed up, all serious with a dignified air around him. The waitress who had been talking to Teresa, who happened to be called Minami, blushed slightly upon the sight of Gakushuu. Seeing her slightly flushed expression, Teresa discreetly gagged. Great, another fangirl of this control-obsessed demon. Other than his looks, academic brilliance and abundance of knowledge on society, she saw absolutely nothing good about him, especially his personality.

"Welcome, Asano-sama! May I get you anything?" Minami in a sickly sweet tone, asked Gakushuu, who settled in the seat opposite Teresa, and returned the gesture with his usual, charismatic smile. "I would like to have my usual espresso."

Minami bowed politely and quickly rushed off to get his coffee. As soon as she disappeared around the corner, he turned to face Teresa, who was staring at him with a dull, bored look while sipping on her drink, but her eyes glistened with amusement.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just surprised that you would bother putting up a front in front of people who aren't in school." Gakushuu scoffed lightly and settled his school bag next to him, before hearing the next part. "Plus it seems that you really don't like her."

He turned slowly to stare back at her, seeing her smirk slightly at his mildly shocked appearance. "What are you talking about?"

"Please. We may not be the best of terms, or on any terms for that matter, but I can read you like an open book. She was so openly gushing over you, and I saw that disgusted look in your eyes that always appears when a fangirling student in school squeals over you. Not to mention, just like in front of those fangirls, you let yourself appear more charming than usual and actually give her your attention." She deadpanned, and he simply stared back at her incredulously. They've only known each other for a couple of months and she already knew him at the back of her hand, while he still couldn't read her. Seeing the frustrated and confused look in his eyes, she smirked slightly. She could tell what was going through his mind.

"There's no need to feel frustrated about not being able to read me. It impressive enough that you got blackmail material on me without my knowledge," she reassured him teasingly, sticking out her tongue at the end of her sentence. Seeing this, a tick mark appeared on Gakushuu's forehead as he gave a strained smile.

"I'll take that as a compliment, but I'm starting to think Akabane is a bad influence on you. You taunt just like him," Gakushuu countered, as Minami returned with his espresso. Teresa frowned slightly at that, before declaring proudly, "Hey, I take offense to that. I taunt better than him."

Gakushuu snorted at that, before smiling lightly as he watched her sip on her drink again. He then froze and mentally slapped himself. Why was he feeling content being with her and chatting with her like this, like they were close friends or something.

"Are you usually like this when you aren't acting?" He asked, and Teresa nodded in response.

"Pretty much." Teresa then licked her lips and looked back up at Gakushuu. "By the way, why did you call me here?"

Gakushuu then became all serious as he remembered his purpose for calling her here. "Obviously, for your weekly report. Found out anything?"

"Oh yeah. Since it is my first day of being in the E class, I would definitely already know their secret. Of course I don't know anything yet," Teresa exclaimed sarcastically. A lie which he bought.

"I see…" He muttered to himself, clearly not pleased by this piece of information.

"I really don't think they have any secrets. Besides, even if they did, it's not like that they trust me enough to tell me. Terasaka-san and his gang were rather upright and blunt about their disbelief and suspicions on my sudden drop in grades and transfer." Teresa added. Hearing this, he looked at her, and in all seriousness, simply replied, "Then win their trust, no matter what it takes."

Teresa frowned and let out an irritated sigh. Just how desperate was he? She propped her elbow on the table to rest her head on her hand, looking away from him and to the side, and widened her eyes as they met Nakamura's. Nakamura blinked twice, before gapping and patting Kataoka's shoulder, who happened to be sitting next to her. Kataoka turned to face Nakamura and saw Teresa in the process. Soon, everyone else at that table, which included Kanzaki, Kayano, Sugino, and Isogai, were facing her direction. She quickly turned back to face Gakushuu to make sure he didn't notice them.

"Anyways, I wanted to confirm one thing. You didn't tell anyone in the E class about this," he asked, gesturing between Teresa and himself, "did you?"

"Of course not." She smoothly lied, ignoring the heated stares of the group that was gathered at a table a few meters away from theirs. Feeling reassured, he finished his cup of espresso before settling his cup down on the table and stretching his hand across the table. She raised a brow at his administrations. "You phone, if you would please."

"What for?" she asked, but took out her phone and unlocked it before handing it to him anyways. He took it from her and went to her contacts list, adding his contact number, before returning the phone to her. "To make it easier for me to inform you where and when we meet. Today was simply a coincidence that you came down to the main campus when I wanted to tell you, but it won't happen every time."

"I'm perfectly fine with not having to meet you at all, though," she muttered to herself, causing Gakushuu to raise a brow in her direction as she took her phone back from him. He slowly got up and stepped out of the booth, grabbing his bag in the process. "I'll contact you the next time we need to meet. Make sure to keep your schedule open to meet me."

"Yes, yes, whatever you say," she replied dismissively, shooing him away. He rolled his eyes and made his way out, and seconds later, Karma and Nagisa entered.

"Teresa-chan! We're here!" Karma called out to Teresa in a laidback tone, right before the small group marched over.

"Teresa-chan, what was that? Why were you with Asano-kun?" Kataoka questioned, confusion and disappointment evident in her tone. The rest of the group appeared to have to same sentiments about what they saw.

"Actually, that's what Teresa-san called us here for. She was going to tell us everything," Nagisa explained for Teresa, and Nakamura frowned.

"Well then, I guess you don't mind us joining in the conversation?" She not so much asked as stated, as she gestured to the rest of the group. Teresa silently nodded and sighed to herself as a single thought appeared in her mind.

'What a fucking pain in the ass...'


Yeah, that's it. So, we can already tell what's going to happen next chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one! Please do review!

XOXO, anime4life2112