Reviews:
Midwifeceremony1 x2- Thank you, thank you :3 I'm glad your enjoying this story so far, I hope you continue to enjoy each chapter. :)
On with the show!
Akiko slouched in her chair and pouted this was not fair. With a frown on her face, the brunette gazed around the empty classroom. The silence made her ears ring she needed some noise, a distraction. Groaning she allowed her head to flop over the back of the chair, her hair dangled tickling her exposed arms. It was a lovely day outside the sun shone bathing the luscious green mountainside in a glorious warmth. However Akiko was stuck inside, her body longed for the warmth. How she wished the sun could bathe her in the same warmth, at least that way she wouldn't be bored out of her mind. Tanning sound more fun than being stuck in a classroom alone and doing homework.
A few voices caught her attention, shifting her body the brunette watched as her friends left the class. Each one chatted happily with one another, their smiles bright and full of life. They were on a mission, one that would prove to the rest of the main campus that E class was just as good as the rest of them. The bright sun bounced off their blue PE uniforms making Akiko pout once more, she should be with them. She should be helping the girl's to victory; instead, she was stuck in the classroom.
Moving a little too far to the left, Akiko winced in pain. The sharp pain raced up her leg making her let out a small whimper of pain. That's right the only reason she was stuck in the rickety old school building was because of an injury. Two days ago Akiko had been training during PE, and when she went up against Mr Karasuma she managed to sprain her ankle. The pain was unbearable, and the only thing she could remember was sulking on the stairs as she finished the rest of the class listening to Ms Bitch complaining. Turning back to her injured let, Akiko let out a long sigh. She'd prayed every night before going to bed that it would heal fast, but luck just wasn't on her side. Korosensei refused to let her participate in the Basketball game with the rest of the girls. However, being the overprotective teacher he was he didn't even allow her to watch the boys Baseball game. He was concerned that standing all the time on a busted ankle would make things worse. Akiko of course disagreed, she told him that she'd be fine, but the yellow octopus had already made his mind up.
The classroom door opened forcing Akiko to turn away from the window. Rio stood in the doorway with Yada and Kurahashi behind her; the three gave her a sympathetic look which only made Akiko pout some more.
"Hey Aki, how you doing." Kurahashi came running over and tackled her into a hug. Akiko jolted at the sudden impact, which sent a few shots of pain up her leg again. She tried her best not to show the pain on her face. "We're gonna miss you at the game." She finally spoke pulling away.
"Yeah me too, but make sure you girls win it. Show those idiot main campus students who's boss." Akiko flashed them a grin.
"We'll try, I've heard all sort of rumours about the girls' basketball team. They're all good." Yada laughed nervously. She made her way over and stood next to Kurahashi who also looked a little nervous.
"You'll do great, if you don't win then who cares, as long as you all have fun then that's a reward in itself," Akiko said.
"Whoa, when did you get so wise Aki. Having you suck in the classroom for so long has made you into a wise old woman." Rio chuckled from her spot not too far behind Yada.
Akiko shot Rio a small glare. "If it wasn't for you I'd be joining you girls today. Instead, I'm stuck in here!" Akiko complained.
"Hey, how's it my fault!?" Rio exclaimed.
"You wouldn't shut up about all the things me and him you know…" Akiko fell silent, not wanting to remember. "Anyway, I was distracted by it all and mucked up the move I was doing. So it's your fault." Akiko simply stated.
Rio smirked and gave a small shrug. "Who knew how well that word though. If it got you thinking then maybe there's something there, ya know."
"No, I don't know." Akiko scoffed. "I've told you before I don't like him."
"Still in denial I see." Rio gave a small shrug.
Akiko turned away pouting, why couldn't Rio see that she didn't like Karma any more than a friend. She wasn't going to change her mind, no matter what Rio suggested she'd try. Yada silently looked between the two friends; Rio was smirking victoriously, while Akiko pouted silently.
"We should probably go, don't wanna miss the start. See you later Aki." Yada waved at the brunette. Akiko silently waved back.
"See ya!" Kurahashi called.
Before Rio could leave, however, she turned back to Akiko. This caught the brunette's attention, who glanced over curiously. What did she need now? "If you're bored on your own Aki, I can always ask Karma to join you. I know he'd love-"
"Mention one more thing about that jerk and I'll kill you." Akiko cut her off threateningly. Her green eyes narrowed at the blonde, who silently grinned.
"Well ok, see ya." She sniggered before leaving.
Once Akiko saw the three walk past, she let out a long sigh. Why did Rio have to tease her so much, couldn't she see that Akiko didn't like Karma. It was bad enough that Karma on a regular basis found all sorts of way to tease her, she didn't need Rio following in his footsteps, it was annoying. Frowning down at her school work, she couldn't understand where Rio was even getting these crazy ideas from, the other day, for example, she was questioning Akiko about her relationship with Karma. It was clear as day that the red-hair had fed some embarrassing lies to Rio. Then on the day, Akiko had sprained her ankle from lack of concentration, Rio had bombarded her with intimate questions. She didn't want to yell at Rio, however, so Akiko prolonged the questioning she knew Rio would eventually get bored and move on, but it never came. The questioned still swirled around in her mind haunting her, every time Akiko had thought she'd forgotten about them, they suddenly popped back up like an annoying bug. Had she kissed him, had she cuddled or touched him. Akiko's faced burned up even thinking about it now, that idiot what stupid lies had he fed Rio. He should have known she'd take it way out of proportion, so why did he do it?
Thinking about Karma over the past few days, he's been getting more and more invasive. Without fail every day Akiko would wake up he'd be there, every night after school he'd be following her home like a lost puppy. And god forbid if she shut him out, no he still had that damned key and let himself in every single time. Akiko could just chain up the door, but if she did that then he'd go on for hours and hours begging to come in. One time her neighbour inquired about their relationship. The elderly woman had asked Akiko if she was dating that red-hair she always saw coming over, of course, Akiko denied it with a massive red blush on her face. The lady proceeded to tell her that no boy would keep up doing what Karma was unless he liked her or something. That only forced Akiko to retreat to the safety of her home and spend the next few hours contemplating everything. If Karma did like her, then why couldn't that idiotic jerk just out it and tell her. Akiko scolded herself for ever thinking that, if he did like her why not tell her, not threaten to do perverted things to her or tease and make fun of her. No, he was just some stupid perverted stalker, and he enjoyed every moment toying with her sanity like he was doing.
Akiko allowed her head to fall to her desk, she slightly winced as another sharp pain went through her ankle. It's not like she could allow herself to open her heart to anyone, let alone love someone else. The last time Akiko had loved someone, they had been taken away. Then every day since it tore her apart piece by piece. She never meant for that to happen, she was so young after all, if only she could go back and change what had happened. It didn't help that her parents were so controlling to the point that if suffocated her. Not a day goes past that her parents don't control her every moment, her every breath and choice she makes. She was like a puppet on strings that would never break. They'd made her stop being friends with him before, what wasn't stopping them from doing that now, and this time it might be permanent. Something Akiko would never be able to live with. Even after all her rebelling, she still couldn't get out of their clutches, she was trapped with nowhere to go. Who cares if she lived in her own home, her parent's freaky controlling attitudes still managed to reach her there. Blinking her eyes a few times, Akiko could feel the familiar burning sensation in them. No, she wouldn't cry, not here.
Opening her eyes once again, Akiko layed motionless gazing out the nearby window. The different tweets of birds echoed in her ears like bells, every chirped calmed her over-exhausted mind. It wasn't long until her mind wandered back to that day at the arcade. She couldn't help but think about Karma calling her cute. Why had he done that? Was it another ploy to make her internally embarrassed. No one had called her such things before, not even her parents found her cute, even when she was little. So why did he think different, was she cute? Akiko knew she was nothing compared to Kanzaki, she was the definition of cute, and she had every guy in the class drooling over her. All Akiko had was a sadistic red-haired devil. Thinking more into it, Akiko groaned out in annoyance, only to be met with a mental block. Grabbing ahold of her hair, Akiko ruffled it in several directions trying to make her brain calm down. It didn't work, however.
"Hey Ritsu, has either game begun yet?" Akiko asked. The brunette had her phoned held up waiting for the purple IA to appear.
"Hey, Akiko. I do believe the girls' basketball game has begun. As for the baseball game, it's due to start in about five minutes." Ritsu reported happily.
"Thanks, I'm going to watch." Akiko decided.
A small gasp came from Ritsu, she looked concerned. "No, no Akiko you can't leave, your ankle." She practically yelled.
"I'll be fine Ritsu I'll have you with me. I'm quite capable of walking down a mountain. It's not going to kill me, might take me a while, but I won't die." Akiko rolled her eyes. The AI was trying every possible way to stop her from leaving. Since she had no physical way of making Akiko stop, her words were her only weapon.
Akiko was stubborn however and grabbed ahold of the crutches nearby before casually moving out of the room. Once outside the stuffy classroom building Akiko took a deep breath in, the warm air filled her lungs reliving her. Any longer inside and she would have gone stir crazy. Slowly she began making her way towards the main campus, it was a struggle at first since going down a mountainside on unstable ankles proved more difficult than Akiko had first imagined, but after a while, she soon got the hang of it. Ritsu was panicking as Akiko made each step towards her destination, it didn't help that the AI was in her pocket and had a front-row seat seeing Akiko struggle.
Panting slightly, Akiko hadn't realised how warm it had been. Small beads of sweat rolled down the sides of her face and dripped onto her white blouse. The small breeze offered her some cool air, and Akiko was thankful. Looking down, she still had a while to go, but Akiko was determined to do this. Her phoned suddenly buzzed in her pocket.
"You have a message." Ritsu chirped from her pocket.
"Read it out Ritsu, there's no way I'm stopping now." Akiko huffed.
Ritsu let out a little hum having heard Akiko's request. After a second or two Ritsu voice once again filled the quiet atmosphere. "It's from Karma." Akiko let out an annoyed huff, what did he want now. "Aki-Chan the match is about to begin, and we'll win for sure. I also expect a reward for winning later. Don't miss me too much!" Ritsu read aloud.
Akiko internally screamed how dare he request something from her if they won, her praise would be good enough. What did that idiot have in mind now? Maybe she should ask Korosensei to take her home early, that way she could prepare for his arrived and not allow him in. Akiko silently plotted, she didn't want to reply she'd see him soon enough anyway, and she was sure he'd kill her for coming down.
"I wonder what he wants." Ritsu wondered. Akiko found herself frowning she knew he wouldn't be getting anything. "I wonder if he wants a kiss for winning, it happens in all the manga's." Ritsu was gushing.
Akiko felt her face heat up, and it wasn't from the hot sun. She pictured what Ritsu said and found herself getting all embarrassed. "No way don't compare us to a manga" Akiko whined.
"But you and Karma are cute together, Rio says so all the time," Ritsu said before letting out a small gasp.
Ritsu's words made Akiko freeze, so she was in league with Rio. Why did that not surprise Akiko, no wonder Rio seemed to know all about her time spent with Karma, the devil AI was spying on them. Akiko took her phone out only to see it void of Ritsu's presence.
"Ritsu you better get out here now." Akiko threatened. Ritsu once again appeared on Akiko's phone, she was hiding behind some kind of IA tree. A guilty expression was on her face. Akiko found herself glaring at her phone, her face soon softened, she didn't want to scare the poor thing. Likely chance was Rio dragged her into this mess anyway.
"Ritsu, what does Rio want?" Akiko asked. She hoped no one passed by the two otherwise they'd think she was a crazy person talking to her phone.
"No-nothing Akiko. I just overheard the things Rio was talking about." She tried playing innocent, but Akiko knew better. She raised both brows; she didn't believe her one bit and Ritsu knew.
"Your lying." Akiko simply said.
"I-I, you got me, Aki. Rio asked me to spy on you. I know it was wrong, but she wanted to know about your relationship with Karma. I was sent to spy on the two of you when you were at home. She was simply curious I swear we didn't mean any harm. So please don't kill us." Ritsu begged. She was on her knees pleading with Akiko.
"Whoa, chill Ritsu. I'm not gonna kill you. Rio, on the other hand, I'll be sending her to an early grave." Akiko chuckled darkly. She silently planned what she was going to do to the blonde. "Ritsu is anyone else working with her?" Akiko innocently asked.
Ritsu knew she couldn't lie and nodded. "She's got Nagisa and Yada working with her too."
Nagisa, that sneaky little snake! Akiko frowned and tried to think if he'd been acting weird recently. She continued her way to the baseball grounds in silence. Realisation dawned up her, Nagisa has been glued to that notebook of his. He's hardly ever away from it, and anytime Akiko had noticed him or tried to look he'd hidden it. He was like Korosensei and his stupid notebook he refused to share with anyone. As for Yada, she hadn't noticed anything unusual the girl's behaviour had been like normal. Of course, Akiko did confide in her a lot and told her everything, hopefully, she hadn't snitched to Rio.
Once Akiko had arrived at the baseball grounds, she could see the main class students cheering. The baseball team must be doing well, but Akiko believed in her friends they'd come out victorious in the end. Speaking of friends, she spotted the girls not too far away; they were watching as the guys failed miserably as another baseball member hit the ball to the other side of the pitch.
"Hey everyone, how's it going?" Akiko called. Her question caught a few by surprise, they were not expecting to see Akiko stood behind them.
"Aki, you came." Kurahashi cheered. She then proceed to tell her how they lost but had fun like she told them all too. Akiko gave her a kind smile, Kurahashi was super cute.
"Akiko you were told to stay back at class, jeez can't you listen to orders." Kataoka scolded her.
Akiko shook her head, "nope." She walked over to the fence grinning, as she passed by Rio she shot the blonde a hard look. "You and I are gonna have a little chat later on." She growled. Akiko faintly heard Ritsu apologising for spilling the beans. She heard Rio laughing in the background.
The game between E class and the baseball team had come to an end, and of course, E class had won. It didn't matter that the girls lost, the boys had come out victorious, nothing was better than seeing the main campus students walking away, defeated, and annoyed. In that respect, Akiko was glad she disobeyed Korosensei and came to watch the match. Of course, the moment the yellow teacher saw her celebrating with the class he had scolded her. Akiko pouted and told him that she was lonely in class, Korosensei had profoundly apologised for leaving her alone. He bowed and apologised at mach speed which made her chuckle.
The class had spent the remainder of the day celebrating in the old school building. Korosensei had smuggled in cake and treats for the students and himself. Somehow Mr Karasuma hadn't noticed and allowed it to slide this one time. He even celebrated with them which made Kurahashi extremely happy, Akiko could still picture the massive smile on her face as she chatted happily to him. Ms Bitch was there too, granted she had no idea what was going on during the game and had a small booklet which aided her with knowledge.
Akiko was now home, and for once, her house was silent. There was no Karma thank goodness. Akiko had hoped that he'd forgotten all about the little prize he wanted off her, of course, her bad luck ended when he casually strolled through the door without knocking. Akiko growled in annoyance seeing him round the corner a brown bag of food in hand.
"Can't you go one day without invading my home?" Akiko sighed. She was already cooking for herself and she didn't need him coming in and ruining everything she'd prepared.
"Huh, I was gonna cook dinner for us, but I guess you beat me to it." He gave a small frown before putting the food away in its respective places.
"There is no us, I'm cooking dinner for myself," Akiko growled. She was chopping some vegetables while glaring at Karma.
Suddenly she let out a small yup and dropped the knife startling herself. Looking back she'd managed to cut her finger; blood began oozing out of the small gash which stung like hell. Tears sprung to her eyes as pain exploded in her finger. Before she could more or do anything, her hand had been pulled out of her grasp. Akiko's eyes widened as Karma stuck her poor bleeding finger into his mouth, his action made a rather large blush appear on her cheeks. The room was silent the only thing Akiko could hear was the sound of her heartbeat pounding from her chest. Akiko could feel his tongue draw over her exposed cut, his saliva clung to her finger and she could feel the heat of his breath. Akiko ducked her head away, her face becoming even redder, her knees felt like they were about to give way, and her injured ankle didn't help one bit.
Once her finger was removed from his mouth, the cool air clung to it, Akiko felt frozen. Karma, however, dragged her over to the sink and stuck her violated finger under the tap. The cool water washed any remaining blood away, while she was stood, frozen at the sink, he disappeared only to return with a bandage. He took her hand away and dabbed it dry before applying some antiseptic onto it, it stung like hell, but Akiko ignored it as she carefully watched him place a bandage on it.
"You should be more careful Aki." He said pulling her finger to his mouth again. Instead of what he did before he gave the sore spot a quick kiss. "I'll cook dinner, go and sit down."
Akiko obediently obliged and shuffled towards the sofa. Her mind was still frozen and repeating what happened. She didn't know what to make of it and before she knew it dinner was ready. A whole hour had passed which Akiko didn't even acknowledge.
"Aki-Chan come eat dinner," Karma called from the kitchen.
Akiko didn't budge; however, she absentmindedly watched the wall lost in thought. By now her face had stopped burning the familiar crimson colour had faded and her cheeks had regained their natural pale complexion.
"Aki-Chan don't make come over there and get you," Karma spoke once again.
This time Akiko heard him and glanced around; her stomach gurgled in hunger as she spotted the food ready on the table. Getting up, she shuffled over to the table and plopped herself down in the seat. Karma sat opposite and watched her for a while. Akiko gazed blankly at the food, the food made by him and once again she was reliving what happened.
"I don't want it." She mumbled out, after being quiet for so long.
Karma frowned, "don't be stupid, I know you're hungry. Now eat." He commanded. Akiko shook her head stubbornly, which only made him sigh. Suddenly a mischievous grin soon fell onto his face. "Aki-Chan if you don't eat, I'll feed you myself."
Akiko's eyes widened she didn't want that to happen, so quickly she grabbed the fork and shoved some food into her mouth. Like everything made by him, the food was amazing. Akiko marvelled at the taste which made her stomach gurgled with happiness. After Akiko finished eating, she volunteered to wash up, but Karma refused her help, something about her being too clumsy. So she was sent back to the sofa like a dog.
Akiko was lead on the sofa her sprained ankle resting. She watched the ceiling with great fondness while Karma finished up in the kitchen. Once Karma was done, he returned to the living area and collapsed in the chair. Akiko paid no attention to him, once again in thought about the whole day and every other day which kept popping up in her mind.
"What's wrong Aki-Chan? Don't you feel well?" For once Karma sounded genuinely concerned. He crouched down next to the sofa Akiko was lead on and rested a single hand on her forehead.
"I'm fine." She batted his hand away.
Turning their eyes locked for a second, her green eyes stared into his mercury ones. Suddenly feeling her cheeks turning red, Akiko moved her head away. However, before she could his hands had clamped it into place stopping her from moving. Having no other choice, she looked back into those eyes once again.
"Aki-Chan I do believe you owe me a prize for winning." He smugly said.
Akiko had hoped he'd forgotten, but no this was Karma she was talking about there was no way he'd forget something he'd want. She bet that he only cooked her dinner and was nice to her because he wanted this prize as he called it, what could he possibly want.
"What do you want?"
After a moment of silence he finally spoke, "you." He smirked.
It took Akiko a second to comprehend what he'd just said, and when she finally understood her face bloomed into a much darker blush. She scolded her body for reacting the way it did, and before she knew it, Akiko had managed to free herself from his grasp and look away.
"No way you pervert. Go home!" She yelled. The brunette scrambled to her feet and pointed towards the door.
Karma stood as well only to tower above her, making Akiko feel weak to his powers. Backing up he followed her. "But Aki-Chan it's dark and some weirdos could jump me on the way home."
"I don't care, get out." She fumed this time.
"What about a kiss then? I know you want too." He chuckled.
Akiko furiously shook her head, no way he wasn't getting that either. Hobbling behind him Akiko shoved Karma towards her front door. He seemed willing to go for once. Finally she managed to open the door and he simply stood there, a wave of relief washed over her, he would soon be gone.
Karma turned one last time and before Akiko could stop him he had given her a quick peck on her cheek. "See ya Aki-Chan." He waved before disappearing out of sight.
Akiko has frozen to the spot once again she just about managed to close the door before slipping down the wall and cupping her hot cheek. He'd kissed her, that dammed pervert. She had to admit, it did feel nice though, and even though it was quick, his lips were soft. Damit Akiko, what are you thinking! She silently seethed. Silently she contemplated why she was feeling all weird and fuzzy, was she sick, had he poisoned her food. She didn't know, all these feeling were new, and she didn't know how to deal with them. Heck, she didn't even know what she was feeling, was it love? She didn't have a clue.
So yeah Chapter 18 done, this chapter was meant to be completely different to how it turned out, I just had an idea and had to put pen to
paper as they say. So our poor Akiko is going through some things at the moment, and a bit more development on her backstory with her parents. There's more to come, and I'm sure we'll get to see them soon.
Anyway I do hope you all enjoy this chapter, it was fun writing it! remember please feel free to leave a review or a like, constructive criticism
welcome as well. Again thank you all for reading this and I'll see you all in the next chapter.
Winter out.