Hiya! Just wanted to say a massive thanks to everyone who had either followed, liked or reviewed this story so far. You guys are amazing!
The month of July, warm weather was now upon them and set to say for the next few months. It wasn't long now until the summer holidays, which meant they were one step closer to the end of term exams. For E class, it was another chance to prove to everyone on the main campus that they were getting better, that their grades were no laughing matter. They'll soon see who gets the last laugh when E class beats them out of the top spots. The month of July also meant it was one month closer to the assassination deadline. There were eight months left to be exact, and they were still nowhere near assassinating Korosensei. Everything they tried always failed.
For Akiko though, she didn't let that tiny detail ruin her day, she was enjoying the warm sunny weather. Finally, she was able to ditch both the cardigan and blazer and get away with just wearing her blouse and skirt; it was heaven. The warm sun kissed her pale skin, causing her body warm in the heat. The cool morning breeze steadily drifted past offering a coolness which Akiko knew she wouldn't be able to get later. It was going to be hell, the only downside to being part of class E during the hottest months of the year, was no air conditioning. Unfortunately, the old school building didn't come with the AC that the main school had. The warmer the day got, the more everyone in the class simply melted, even Korosensei wasn't particularly good with the heat. How Mr Karasuma just dealt with it, Akiko would never understand.
Akiko hummed as she walked down the street, she was alone with her thoughts today. Karma hadn't shown up at her house this morning making it a great start to the day. Akiko was grateful for the silence, she rarely got it now since that devil had infiltrated her home. If she had to be honest, however, it was a little lonely. The silence only ebbed away at her mind, forcing her to remember things she didn't want to again. Karma had become some kind of scapegoat for her, someone she could trust and feel safe around. Not that Akiko would ever admit that to the red-hair.
Akiko silently waited for the green symbol that allowed her to walk across the road. She absentmindedly gazed about not paying attention, only when the crowed began walking, did she. Somewhere behind her name was loudly called. "Yo Akiko!"
Once safely on the other side, Akiko paused to wait for whoever it was calling. After the crowd had scattered, she spotted none other than Hayato waving like a mad man at her. Akiko wondered what he could want they hadn't exactly spoken since that rainy day where Minako had dragged him away after slapping her. The memory made her teeth grit, even now she still couldn't believe what had happened. Minako once a sweet girl, had turned savage and feral. Akiko hardly recognised her anymore. Taking a second to glance around, she was glad to see no signs of her former friend. Hayato was alone.
The tall brunet boy grinned happily down at Akiko; his uniform was neat unlike her own. Somehow he was tolerating the heat in his blazer. Akiko was glad she didn't have to be so perfect like everyone else, she could wear her uniform however she wanted and wouldn't get scolded for it. "How are you Akiko."
Akiko had almost missed what he said. Looking away for a brief second, she turned back and gave him a small smile. "I'm fine, nothing too interesting has happened in my life. How have you been, we haven't spoken for a while." She admitted her voice a little sad. Akiko did miss the two, it felt weird hardly seeing them.
Hayato gave her a guilty look as the two began walking. "Sorry, things have been crazy since exams are coming up. Plus I didn't know if you wanted to see me after what happened a few months back."
Akiko frowned she couldn't be annoyed at him, Hayato was never the one who directly harmed her. "It's fine. We've been studying hard too, definitely going to beat you all during the exams, you can count on that." Akiko proudly declared.
A light chuckle drifted from Hayato's mouth. "I don't doubt that." Surprised Akiko glanced up at the boy. He was facing head on his brown eyes sparkling in the sun and a happy smile spread across his face. "There's something about you guys, I can't quite put my finger on it, but I know there's something special."
"Thanks, that means a lot. At least someone believes we can do it." Akiko giggled. She could feel a smile appearing on her lips, Hayato always knew what to say. No matter when she was feeling down he'd always find a way to cheer her up.
Suddenly an image of Karma popped into her mind. Akiko found herself growling in annoyance, how could she think of him at a time like this. Honestly, that jerk had been invading her mind too much recently, the smile that had once appeared slowly faded away. Of course, Hayato noticed straight away; he rushed forwards before turning back around and walking backwards. This gave him a great view of Akiko; the brunette, however, gave him a weird look.
"What's wrong? Are you thinking about Minako?" He asked worry flashing in his eyes. Akiko shook her head, Minako was the last person on her mind right now, and she didn't want to bother Hayato about her problems. "You know Akiko, I'm sorry for what she did and how she acted. Minako's just been going through a lot, of course I know that's no way for her to act. I'm a hundred percent sure that you'll both figure things out if you talk." He said.
"Honestly, I'm fine, and I don't think Minako wants to talk." Akiko glanced away then back a small smirk flashing across her face. "You know you should probably turn around-" it was too late Hayato had smacked straight into a lamp post.
Snorting in amusement Akiko carried on walking, leaving Hayato behind loudly complaining. It took a while before he managed to catch her back up, and when he did he was rubbing the back of his head vigorously. "Who put that lamp post there?!"
"It's been there for years, dummy. You should just watch where you're going." Akiko said with a roll of her eyes. Hayato scoffed and shot a final glare at the lamp post before walking through the school gates with Akiko.
Whispers started drifting into Akiko's ears. Students were talking about her, especially since she was walking to school with an A class student. Hayato didn't seem to mind all the glares and whispers about him and continued to walk by her side.
"I should go." Akiko quickly said. She was done with all the looks and whispers. After shooting one final glare at a group of students, she turned back. "See you around."
"Hey Akiko," Hayato paused for a second making the brunette look back. "Will you meet me in the park after school tonight. To catch up, I don't want us to be strangers anymore." He flashed her a kind smile.
Akiko thought about it for a second, was it really a good idea. What if A class had set him up to this, or he wanted sensitive information about the super human teaching them. Hayato drew out the word please, his hands pressed together like he was praying. Against Akiko's will, her mouth opened and spoke. "Sure." Hayato cheered before walking away. Closing her eyes, Akiko knew if this was a trap she had fallen straight into it.
The class hadn't even started yet, and Akiko could already feel the small beads of sweat appearing amongst her hairline. The brunette girl was chatting to both Yada and Kurahashi before class started. She wanted their option on her small dilemma; she still didn't know if she should meet with Hayato. Yada thought it was a great idea, and Kurahashi agreed before telling Akiko that there wasn't anything wrong with meeting with him.
Akiko leaned back on the desk she was sitting on, her head tipped back as she thought about what to do. Her thoughts had been cut short when Sugaya walked through the door. The class had fallen silent before breaking out into loud gasps and chatter. Sitting up Akiko eyed Sugaya, well mostly his exposed arm. From his fingertip to under the sleeve of his shirt was all covered in a tattoo. Akiko found herself amazed, had he done this himself? Or had he got someone else to give him a tattoo?
For a Mach 20 superhuman, it took Korosensei a while to process what he was seeing. After a while he began freaking out, Akiko found herself rolling her eyes as Korosensei zipped away only to return with tentacles full off books. Those books were mostly about delinquents, counselling from starch and behaviour.
"Whoa, is that a tattoo?" Kurahashi stepped closer to Sugaya who was proudly showing his arm off to Mimura and Okajima.
"It's called mehndi art. Once the pigment takes to the skin, it won't come off for about a week." Sugaya explained.
"Did you hear that Korosensei, it will come off," Akiko called over to their teacher who was still reading the books he had. Korosensei glanced up relieved.
"That's Indian henna stuff, right? Whenever my parents go to India, they always get one of those." Karma's voice suddenly sounded behind Akiko making her jump slightly.
Turning, she frowned at the red-hair. He simply ignored her though as he spoke to Sugaya and Fuwa. Akiko turned away thinking, it had been really weird this morning. When she got here Karma was already seated at his desk talking to both Nagisa and Okuda. Had he ditched her for them or something? Akiko could still remember the weird feeling which had arisen inside of her stomach when she saw him talking to the science obsessed girl. She made sure to push those feelings aside before greeting them, but even now it was still nagging at her mind.
"Hey, Korosensei do you want me to draw one on you?"
Akiko glanced back at her teacher who was now happily waiting for Sugaya to demonstrate his creative skill. Korosensei giggled like a girl while Sugaya set to work, suddenly his yellow face exploded into a gloppy mess. Akiko found herself surprised, Sugaya managed to spring a sneak attack on Korosensei. Of course, within a second Korosensei's face was fully recovered and he was mocking Sugaya by calling his plan child's play.
Korosensei's mocks quickly faded, and for some reason, he was sulking in the corner like a toddler who's toys had been taken away. Akiko found herself wondering why he was their teacher; he was more of a child than any of them combined. "Umm, Korosensei are you ok?" Akiko found herself asking.
"No." He meekly replied. "I wanted one of those cool patterns on me!"
Akiko shook her head while Sugaya dug in his bag for something. "Sorry, I'll draw something else with ordinary paint." He quickly said.
Korosensei quickly cheered back up and was stood next to Sugaya within milliseconds. Roughly ten minutes had passed by the time the grey-haired boy was finished, and Korosensei was supporting a very snazzy looking tattoo on both his cheeks and under his academic hat. Pulling out a mirror Korosensei marvelled at himself.
"Awww I want one too." Kurahashi pouted after seeing their teacher. A few of Akiko's classmates agreed, and Akiko couldn't help but want one too.
"Gather around then I have plenty of paint for everyone!" Sugaya declared holding up some more paint tubes.
Not too long after Akiko had received her henna, Ms Bitch had strutted into the classroom. Akiko glanced up from comparing hennas with Yada and Kurahashi only to see the blonde looking both horrified and disgusted. Akiko watched as she backed up towards the door only to freeze when Korosensei appeared next to her. Startled Ms Bitch whipped out an anti-sensei knife. "Get away from me!"
Korosensei back off while Ms Bitch gazed around the whole class. Deciding she found Ms Bitch's reaction amusing, Akiko walked over to the blonde and gave her a good view of her newly painted henna. "Sugaya drew these, aren't they cool!" She said.
Ms Bitch gave them another disgusted look. "No, why the hell do you all have tattoos! your far too young!" She screeched.
Yada explained to Ms Bitch what they were with the odd input of Kurahashi. Akiko's attention was suddenly diverted from the blonde and back to her teacher who was now chatting with Sugaya, well more like plotting with him. It seemed that Korosensei wanted to give drawing a go, but they'd run out of blank arms and legs. Unfortunately, the only one still left bare was Ms Bitch.
It took only a second for Ms Bitch to realise that the two were hungrily eyeing her up. "Hey, don't you look at me!" She yelled, covering her exposed arms. "There's no way you're drawing those things on me!" Once again Ms Bitch was backing up and towards the door. However, a conveniently placed banana peel was one step between her and freedom. Before anyone could warn her, the blonde had trod on the peel and slipped. She let out a surprised cry before crashing into the wall and knocking herself out. Akiko wondered if Ms Bitch was ok but before she could check on her two vultures known as Korosensei and Sugaya had swooped In and began dividing her body up.
By the time Ms Bitch had woken up both her arms and legs were covered in henna art. It was easily notable which side Sugaya had chosen as she had pretty floral patterns. However, on the other side were silly bits of artwork. Ms Bitch looked over her body before getting up and leaving the class in total silence. Akiko wondered if she had changed her mind and thought they looked cool, but she was proven wrong when Ms Bitch came back with two massive guns. They were so dead.
Akiko skipped down the mountainside, beside her was Karam who casually walked with his arms and bag behind his head. It had been a good day, and lucky for all of them they'd survived. They had been a little late getting out but, that was fine, Akiko was looking forward to getting home and sleeping the rest of the day away or watching anime. However, she couldn't shrug off that there was something she needed to do. Once they entered the main campus it dawned upon her, Akiko had promised to meet Hayato. Glancing behind her, she spotted Karma watching her with interest there was no way she'd be able to shake him off. Maybe she should meet Hayato another time.
After thinking about it for a while, Akiko decided that she was meeting her friend. Spinning on her foot and placing her arms behind her back she flashed an apologetic grin at Karma. "Hey, I promised to meet someone outside of school tonight, so I won't be going straight home."
"That's fine." Karma shrugged. Akiko was about to celebrate; he was letting her go so easily. "I'll come with you." Her happy thoughts were crushed. She shot a small frown at him.
"You don't have to; I'm not sure how long I'll be, so just go home without me." She said. Turning back around, she fell into step with him.
"It's fine by me, I don't care how long you take. I'll wait." He shrugged once again.
Akiko found herself sigh in annoyance there was no way he was coming with her. He'd probably scare poor Hayato half to death, he was well known for that after all. "Seriously you don't have too." Akiko huffed.
Karma glanced over a small frown on his face. "But Aki-Chan, what if you get jumped? I can't have you getting kidnapped again." He said.
"You don't need to come with me, I can take care of myself." Akiko suddenly snapped and shot him a warning glare. Karma didn't say anything, which forced Akiko to roll her eyes. "I'll see you later." She added before rushing off past him.
Once Akiko was free of the devil, and near the park, she slowed down her running legs. Taking a few deep breaths in and out, she made her way into the euphoria. Glancing around she quickly spotted Hayato sat under some trees, the leaves offered a nice shady spot. Walking over she greeted Hayato who looked happy seeing her actually turn up.
"You came Akiko I didn't think you would." He sheepishly admitted.
Akiko pouted had he no faith in her? "I hope you weren't waiting for long my class got out late." She chuckled and plonked herself on the ground next to him.
"Nah only twenty minutes." He sniggered. Akiko shot him a small glare and punched him lightly in his arm. She could punch way harder but didn't want to hurt him. "Hey!" He protested and rubbed his poor arm.
"Oh come on don't be so dramatic it wasn't even hard." She sniggered.
"I'm not dramatic!" He protested again. Suddenly he fell silent, Akiko glanced over at him wondering if there was something wrong. His brown eyes were wide and looking at her arm. "Where did you get that? It's so cool." He suddenly grinned, he grabbed ahold of her arm, inspecting it closer.
"Oh that, one of my friends from E class done it. Cool isn't it. Sugaya is great when it comes to anything artsy. He drew one on everyone in the class, so we're all matching." She grinned. Akiko couldn't help but praise her friends while she was in his presence.
"You bet if we got anything like that on the main campus, the chairman would probably kill us." He said.
Akiko nodded in understanding, the students on the main campus hardly had any free will. They were all controlled by one person, and that was the chairman himself. Once Hayato had finished looking at her arm, she pulled it away and used it to lean back and gazed out across the park. It wasn't that busy, a few parents observed as their children played in the park. While a few couples were out walking with one another. Some ducks congregated in the middle of a small lake. It was rather peaceful, something Akiko hadn't had in a while; her life was so crazy and hectic now she didn't have any time to come here and just relax.
Turning back to Hayato he too was watching the scenery in front of them, it had been ages since they'd done this together. Herself, Minako and Hayato would always come to the park after school and relax, sometimes they'd complain about school or life at home; how she missed those days.
"So why did you want to meet Hayato?" Akiko asked.
"Oh you know, I just want to catch up. How's E class, I saw the guys beat the baseball team the other day. That was pretty cool." He grinned.
"Yeah, I missed most of the game. Unfortunately for me, I sprained my ankle." Akiko chuckled remembering the day Korosensei told her she couldn't even go and watch, but she disobeyed him anyway.
"Seriously, how?"
Akiko gave a small shrug. "Tipped on a tree root while walking up to class." She easily came up with the lie, it's not like she could tell him the truth. Mr Karasuma would kill her.
"No kidding, that trek up the mountain must be painful." He chuckled. Akiko laughed along with him; he had no idea.
Turning away she set to watching the park again. "So what's the teacher like? Are they any good? Do you have many friends, what about a boyfriend." He asked.
Akiko frowned, why was he questioning her about boys it was a little out of the blue. "Yeah, our teacher is amazing." Akiko couldn't help but picture the clumsy Korosensei if Hayato ever saw him he'd probably panic. "As for friends, I'm close to everyone. Our teacher says that teamwork is the best things for kids our age, especially getting through junior high. As for boyfriends, I don't have one of those." Akiko laughed nervously as she spoke about boys. Another stupid image of Karma had popped into her mind again, she cursed herself for even thinking about him.
"That's good." Hayato sighed.
Akiko glanced around and gave him a weird look. Had she heard him right? Hayato chuckled nervously, and when Akiko made eye contact with him he quickly looked away. He was sure acting weird today. "So, are you and Minako a thing yet? I have to know." Akiko asked. She could feel a smug grin falling into place.
It was Hayato's turn to give her a weird look. "No, I like someone else." He told her. Akiko was shocked she thought the two were together since she'd always see them with each other.
"Seriously, damn. Proves how long we haven't spoken for. So who's the lucky girl?" She teased and flashed him a grin which only makes Hayato turn red.
"Oh, you know some girl. The question is do you like someone?" He tried turning the tables.
Akiko pouted, if he didn't want to talk about it then she wouldn't force him. As for his question, however, Akiko didn't know. She didn't see any of the guys in her class in a romantic light, well there was Karma, but she had no idea what she felt for him. She was still trying to figure those feeling out. "I don't know." She shrugged.
Hayato looked confused, Akiko could see him watching her and her face probably mirrored his own. Akiko had been thinking about her feelings for a while now, she still didn't know what she felt.
"It's that Akabane guy isn't it?" He asked. Akiko whipped her head around; she could feel her cheeks heating up at the mention of his name. She wanted to deny whatever it was he was going to say, but Akiko found herself unable to speak. "I've seen you guys together a lot recently. Minako told me about your history together, and quite frankly I'm surprised there's nothing already there."
Akiko felt lost for words; she couldn't even agree nor deny anything he was saying because she simply didn't know. Her feelings were a massive jumble, and it was frustrating. The only thing she could even closely admit was that he made her blush a lot, even if it was over the slightest thing. Without a doubt, Akiko would always find herself blushing because of him.
As the evening grew later, the two friends bided each other a fair well. It was safe to say that they'd rekindled their friendship once again. For Akiko, it felt like a tiny weight had been lifted off her chest, and now if only Minako would talk to her, then she could have her closest friend back once again. Once Akiko had arrived home she hadn't realised how late it was, it was nearing nine at night.
Gazing around her apartment Akiko was half expecting to see Karma lounging on the sofa with his stupid game, but all she was met with was darkness and the odd sound of a car as it screeched passed. Akiko grinned, finally, Karma had learned his lesson not to invade her house when he wasn't invited she could have a peaceful evening without him for once. Grabbing some leftover food, Akiko heated it up and once it was done she set it on the table. She ate in silence, and after a while, it was starting to bug her.
Akiko hadn't realised it but having Karma around her house made it less lonely and livelier, she was starting to miss him right now. Finishing up her dinner, she looked at her phone to see if the red-haired boy had messaged her. There were a few messages there, but nothing from him. Frowning Akiko decided to clean up and get ready for bed there was no point in worrying too much about it Karma was probably asleep.
So Chapter 19 done! More of a filler chapter really, and some more Hayato! Anyway I wanna thank everyone who's read this far, if you enjoyed
this chapter feel free to leave a like it means a lot. Thank you again
Winter out!