Kyandi: We're back!
Takina: We apologize for the update being so late today.
Kyandi: I kind of got distracted when a friend of mine stopped by and left a bunch of fast food for me.
Takina: Then another friend stopped by with a bunch of crafting supplies.
Kyandi: Yeah...I got really distracted. Sorry!
Takina: This chapter is also a little shorter then the previous ones.
Kyandi: But it has a little KarmaXTakina fluff for you all. Just a little.
Takina: If that's what you want to call it.
Kyandi: I do, so hush. Also, you guys' reviews cracked me up! I spent all morning just laughing at them.
Takina: Was my kissing Akabane really that freak out worthy?
Kyandi: , everyone, enjoy and review!
Takina: Kyandi-sama does not own Assassination Classroom.
Chapter 21 Summer Festival
The rest of the trip passed with just a little teasing and badgering from her classmates who apparently "shipped" Takina and Karma. A calculated risk Takina had taken when she had decided on using the kiss to punish Karma. Takina ignored most of the comments, though she couldn't help giving Irina a confused look when the woman commented that, "Seventy-two hits on a fifteen second kiss...not bad.".
Takina had a feeling she didn't want to know.
Karma, after a brief period, was back to his normal taunting self, poking and prodding her as he normally did.
Takina was half tempted to kiss him again, just for another bout of silence.
When they got back home, everyone went their separate ways, Takina waving off Karma's attempts to tease her. She replied to his teasing by blowing him a kiss, watching as his cheeks acquired just a little bit of color in response. Feeling happy with herself, Nagisa and Takina headed home together. When they reached their apartment building, they went to go their separate ways, though, Nagisa stopped and turned to look down the hall at Takina who was pulling her keys from her pocket.
"Hey, Takina."
Takina looked up from her lock, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah?"
"You know he's going to get you back ten-fold, right?" Nagisa asked.
"Oh, I'm counting him trying." Takina replied back, face straight.
Then she gave him a wink, opening her door and disappearing inside with a call of "Good Night, Nagisa", over her shoulder. Nagisa wasn't sure how to take that. It could mean that she was hoping Karma would try to get even, so she could knock him back down, or that she was just hoping that he would try to kiss her.
Either way, Nagisa wasn't sure he wanted to dwell on it.
He knew he was never going to fully understand either Karma or Takina, so there was no point in him attempting to try to do so now.
Takina, on the other hand, was greeted by her cat the moment she walked into her apartment. Bending to pick up the feline, Takina walked into the living room, dropping her bags by the couch before she dropped to sit on it. Flopping back across the couch, she idly pet the cat, Sergio's purring vibrating through her chest.
"Hey, Sergio, I kissed Akabane while on the trip." Takina admitted, only getting a bored meow in reply. "Of course, my classmates freaked out and started talking about "ships". I'm not so sure how to feel about them pairing Akabane and I up long before this."
If truth was to be told, Takina had never been in a relationship. Her father had been highly against Takina spending more time with boys her age than was necessary. That only left the old men her father associated with and Takina had no interest in them past what information she could get out of them and what favors she could glean from them. So dating had been a strict no-no.
Of course, that had another thought crossing her mind.
"Hey, Sergio...do you think I should tell them that that was the first time I kissed a guy?" she asked.
Sergio responded with another meow that trailed off in a purr when Takina's fingers found the spot under his chin that he loved.
"Yeah, you're right. I should probably keep that to myself. They would catch onto the wording and would start plaguing me with more questions." Takina sat up, Sergio giving her a meow of complaint. "I have a feeling that this second term is going to be more hectic than the first. Especially now that Asano has made his intentions clear."
Getting to her feet, still cradling her cat to her chest, Takina glanced at her bags. Waving a dismissive hand at the bags, she headed for her room.
"I'll unpack tomorrow. After the trip I've had, it's time to decompress." Takina remarked.
Covering a yawn, Takina headed for her room. Half way down the hall, her phone rang. Fishing it out of her pocket, Takina looked down to see the letters "FTS" sprawled across her display. A frown instantly fell on Takina's face, and the girl hit the decline button. She didn't have the patience to deal with that call. Dropping her cellphone on the table in the hallway, she continued on to her room, closing her door as the phone started to ring once more.
He could call her phone as many time as he wanted, but she wasn't going to answer.
That was a problem that could wait for in the morning.
-0-0-0-0-
Of course, being a world class procrastinator when it came to dealing the person on the other end of that particular call, over the rest of her summer break, Takina didn't take the call.
The last day of her break found her sitting on her balcony in her swinging chair, one leg idly dangling and book open in her hands as she lazily swung in the chair. One moment she was just listening to music play from the other side of her balcony door while she enjoyed the book, and in the next, Korosensei was sitting in one of the chairs at her balcony table.
Had it been a few months ago, Takina might have pulled her knife.
But now, she merely looked up from her book in a bored manner.
"Hello, Korosensei. What brings you here during break?" she asked.
Korosensei showed her the sign he was carrying and told her of the idea he'd had that morning. Takina tilted her head to the side as she considered it.
"A summer festival, huh?" she asked.
"I wanted the whole class to go, but so many have said they have other plans." Korosensei said, crying.
"Well, I can understand. It's the last day of break and you didn't give anyone any kind of advance notice." Takina told him.
"Would you be up to going, Takina?" Korosensei asked.
Takina thought about it for a moment, marking her place in her book as she leaned back in her seat.
"Well, I don't have any other plans, so sure. I've always been curious about Japanese festivals. When I was younger, my father tried to expose me to a few Japanese traditions. His way of trying to keep me connected to my birth mother, I suppose. Sadly, we don't have any Japanese festivals in my country." Takina replied. Korosensei was so happy, his crying only increased, Takina wrinkling her nose as he did. "You don't need to cry about it, Korosensei."
"I'm just happy! You should wear a yukata. Karma's going to be coming." Korosensei told her, his tone taking on that sly, chuckle that he got whenever juicy gossip was concerned.
"I am not going to discuss this with you. See you tonight, Korosensei." Takina said, getting out of her chair to head back into her apartment.
Before Korosensei could protest, she closed the balcony door and pulled the curtain. She was not going to play a part in the whole gossip thing. As she passed her closet, though, she came to a stop, her hands going to her hips as she thought. Turning to her closet, she pulled open the doors and turned on the light. Shifting through the clothes, she reached a garment bag hung in the very back. Staring at it, Takina twisted her mouth in thought.
Maybe...just this once.
-0-0-0-0-
That night, Karma and Nagisa were one of the first ones to arrive at the meeting point, where Korosensei was already waiting. Soon, Chiba, Hayami, Yada, Kurahashi, Kayano, Okano, Isogai, Meahara, Kataoka, Kanzaki and Okajima joined them, with a few of the girls wearing yukatas.
"Anyone else say they were coming?" Okajima asked, camera in hand.
"Takina said she would be here." Korosensei replied.
"And I am. Sorry I'm late. It took a little longer than I thought."
Everyone turned, Karma ready to make some sarcastic remark about her being late for the first time, but came to a stop when his eyes landed on Takina as she approached them. He instantly had an answer to what had taken her while.
Takina came towards them wearing a rose red yukata with sapphire blue flowers blooming up the sides from the hem, across the sleeves, and at the left shoulder. The obi matched the flowers in color, a gold charm of flowers hanging from it. The neck line was worn a little wide, exposing the long line of her throat where she wore a thick, red lace choker, probably to hide the tattoo on the nape of her neck since she had chosen to pile her hair on top of her head, gold pins glittering from among the snowy mass. To finish the look, she had hung sapphire dangling earrings from her ears.
"Takina! You look so pretty!" Kurahashi exclaimed.
"You think so?" Takina asked, pressing a hand to the front of her yukata. "I haven't worn a yukata since I was six or seven. It took me a little bit to remember how to wear it."
Takina frowned when Okajima snapped a picture of her. She gave him a pointed look, telling him that the picture better be deleted. Then her eyes landed on Karma, who was staring at her pretty hard, his expression unreadable.
"What? Why are you staring at me like that?" Takina demanded.
For a moment, Karma's eyes simple swept Takina's form, making her wonder what was going through his head. She could almost think the look in his eyes was appreciative, like he liked the way she looked in the yukata.
Then he opened his mouth.
"So you can clean up nice, huh?" he asked smirking at her.
One side of Takina's mouth twisted up before she leaned around him to look at her classmates.
"You see this, this right here," Takina pointed at Karma. "Is why your "ship" is never going to sail."
With that, Takina moved past Karma, the boy grinning as they decided to go on to the main part of the festival. As they walked through the brightly lit booths, the smells of cooking food and the sounds of laughter reaching them, some of the others broke away, some to grab food and others to play games. Takina walked along side Kayano and Nagisa, her eyes constantly roving from one thing to the next.
"My, I'm so glad that more people gathered than I was expecting. Sensei was thinking of committing suicide if no one came." Korosensei said.
"Then, maybe it would've been better not to come." Kayano said.
"Yeah, it would have saved us trouble, but then no one would get the reward. Kind of a waste, don't you think?" Takina added, the others agreeing.
Hayami and Chiba rejoined them then, the two looking gloomy as they stood off to the side, their arms full of prizes. Both heaved a sigh, making the others look at them.
"Chiba, Hayami, why do you guys look so down?" Nagisa asked.
"We were banned from the shooting booth." Chiba replied.
"It was too easy and we got carried away." Hayami added.
The price to pay for being assassin sharp shooters, Takina supposed.
Of course, Chiba and Hayami weren't the only ones using their skill honed in class to their full advantage. Takina raised an eyebrow as she peered over at a booth that Karma currently stood in front of. Nagisa joined her, the two watching as Karma gave the man running the booth, a smile.
"I just spent five thousand yen, and all of them have been fifth place prizes or lower. From the number of string and remaining prizes, if I calculate the probability of not a single fourth place prize or better coming out...oh my, it's 0.05%. Is a winning string really in there? Should I call over the police officer to check it out?" Karma demanded, his devilish grin on his face.
"O-okay, fine. I'll give you your money back, so keep quiet, kid." the man replied.
"No, no. I didn't invest five thousand yen just for a refund. I want a game system." Karma replied.
"Karma is pretty persistent, isn't he." Okano remarked.
"He knew from the beginning that the grand prize winner wasn't in there." Okajima agreed.
"I'll give him one thing," Takina remarked, folding her hands into the sleeves of her yukata. "Whatever family he has in the future, won't ever have to worry about being ripped off. I actually fear for anyone who tries to take advantage of his future wife and kids."
The others could only agree with her.
Takina moved on, soon coming across Meahara and Isogai playing a goldfish game. While Meahara had already lost, Isogai was scooping up goldfish, left and right.
"You got this down pat as usual, huh, Isogai." Meahara remarked.
"There's a trick to it. It's almost the same feeling as cutting something with a knife." Isogai replied, finally catching enough goldfish to pack full two bags. "That should do it. Our house is poor, so it's great that a whole day's worth of food came floating up for just a hundred yen."
Even Takina had to come to a stop when Isogai basically said that the goldfish were going to be his dinner.
"One of these days, I'm going to have to take that boy grocery shopping and foot the whole bill." Takina remarked to herself.
Giving her head a shake, Takina moved on to where Kayano and Nagisa were playing another game, their trained reflexes were helping them to win prize after prize.
"Everyone's making a killing, huh." Kayano remarked.
"Yeah. The finer points of our assassination techniques are really being put to use, huh?" Nagisa agreed.
"Even Bitch-sensei is getting all the free alcohol she could want in the Commerce tent." Takina added, glancing off towards said tent where Irina was flirting up two older men who kept supplying her with more beer.
"Do you want to play, Takina?" Kayano offered.
"No, thank you. It just seems a little unfair to me." Takina remarked.
Kayano merely shrugged her shoulders and went back to what she was doing.
"Where's Korosensei?" Nagisa asked.
"Over there. Because Korosensei's always broke at the end of the month." Kayano pointed towards the food booths where Korosensei had taken over ones that had already been shut down and was selling things in order to make some money. "He's slowly branching his stands out. He's taking over the spaces of the stands that closed early because of Class E taking everything from them."
"I see...without our knowing, he was using us to earn some allowance." Nagisa remarked.
"Sounds about right." Takina replied before moving on.
So far, she had yet to come across anything that didn't seem either childish or too easy to bother with. As she walked, she came across another shooting booth. Apparently Chiba and Hayami had not found this one, for all of it's top prizes were still there. Takina, who hated guns, would have walked right past it, if it wasn't for the top prize.
Spying the little display case, she came to a stop. There, sitting in the top prize spot, was a sterling silver necklace from which hung a silver charm shaped like a poppy flower. In the center of the poppy was a red gem, the whole thing shined until it gleamed. Even from that distance, Takina could tell that, even though the silver was real, the gem was fake. That being said, it was beautifully made and the poppy caught and held her attention.
"Whatcha looking at?"
Takina blinked, caught by surprise. She pulled her eyes away from the necklace, turning them to look up at the person standing next to her. Standing there, grinning down at her, was Karma. She hadn't even heard him approach, she had been so fixated on the necklace. When she just blinked up at him, not answering, his grin grew.
"See something you like?" he asked.
"Huh? No, not really." Takina replied instantly, without stopping to give it much thought. "Even if I did, I don't like guns."
Takina's eyes returned to the necklace just long enough for Karma to follow her eyes to the necklace. Then she was turning to walk away, leaving Karma to stare after her, wondering why she did that. If she wanted something, she should just get it instead of denying herself. Karma's eyes turned back to the necklace, a thought looking falling on his face.
Takina, on the other hand, continued through the booths, only stopping long enough to buy herself some Green Tea shave ice. She checked her phone for the time, making sure she had enough time to continue looking around before she met up with the others for the fireworks show. Sure that she had some more time, she continued through the stalls. Spying a stall selling a variety of masks, Takina was drawn in by two of the mask set dead center in the display.
Approaching the stall, Takina stared at the masks as a woman running the booth, stepped up to her.
"Can I get you something?" she asked.
"Yeah. I would like those two masks, please." Takina replied.
Takina pulled out the money for the masks as the woman removed them from the display. Grinning slightly to herself, Takina took the masks and went to meet up with her classmates for the fireworks display. The others were already gathered when Takina, the masks hidden up her sleeves, arrived. Karma was fiddling with his new gaming system when Takina came up to them, the girls instantly gathering around her to show her what they had won off of games.
When the fireworks started, they all directed their attention to the sky, Takina's eyes going wide at the display of bright colors that exploded across the sky in pretty patterns. When her friends glanced at her, they had to laugh a little at the wide-eyed look of wonder on her face.
"Have you never seen fireworks before, Takina?" Kayano asked.
"No...I mean, I have, it's just...I've never really stopped to enjoy them." Takina replied, still staring at the sky. "I've always been too busy, running about doing one thing or another. I never really saw them. It's...nice."
"Yeah, it is." Kayano agreed, returning her eyes to the sky. "It was pretty crazy, though, right...our summer vacation."
"Yeah." Nagisa agreed.
"The craziest one I've had yet." Takina added. "But, I have a feeling that it's just the start, and that our second semester's going to get even crazier."
In Takina's opinion, it wasn't a bad way to end her summer break. She stood back and watched as her classmates gathered together on the grass to share takiyaki and other treats, talking while they watched the rest of the fireworks.
"You look like you're enjoying yourself." Karma said, stepping up to her side.
"I was...until you opened your mouth." she teased, putting a grin on his face.
"Hey...close your eyes." he requested suddenly.
"Oh god, you're going to kill me now."
"Just do it."
Takina didn't know what it was, but something in Karma's tone, something about the almost serious look on his face, had her heaving a sigh as she did as he asked.
"Fine, but if I feel one stray finger, I'm kicking you where the sun doesn't shine." she told him.
"Oh come on. Just one stray finger never hurt anyone." he joked.
Takina scoffed as she felt him move to stand behind her. She tried to remain relaxed, but having someone standing that close to her, and behind her no less, had her back stiffening slightly. Then she felt his hands move around her neck and she drew deathly still, waiting to see what he was going to do. She was ready to react to any kind of prank he decided to try to pull on her.
Then she felt it.
She felt something come to drape around her neck. Karma fiddled with something against the back of her neck before he let go, the thing coming to rest fully around her neck.
Was it what she thought it was?
"Alright, open your eyes." he told her.
Takina's eyes popped open as she reached up to touch the object hanging around her neck. Touching it, she picked it up to look at it. Sure enough, it was the very thing she had thought it was.
The poppy necklace she had been eyeing at the shooting game booth.
Turning, Takina's eyes swung up to meet Karma's. A grin spread across Karma's face when he was confronted with the sheer look of surprise on her face. Her eyes had shifted to a deep blue color, a shade he hadn't seen before and that he was sure meant he had managed to shock her completely.
"Wait...did you steal this?" she demanded.
Karma couldn't help the laugh that left him as she instantly gave him a suspicious look.
"Not in the way you mean. Seeing how easy it was to shoot it down, I might as well have." he retorted.
"But...why?" Takina asked, confused.
"You know, if you want something, you don't always have to deny yourself. It's okay to want things now and then, and to let yourself have them. You really wanted that thing, right?"
"Yeah, I suppose."
Takina looked back down at the necklace now around her neck, turning the little charm to peer at it. In the light of the nearby street lamp, Karma could make out the slight, but fond smile on her face.
"Why did you want it? It's just a cheap little trinket. You could probably afford something made with a real ruby or something, if you wanted." he remarked.
"Maybe, but...it's a poppy." Takina replied. "Poppies were my mother's favorite flower. My father even use to call her his Hinageshi, since red poppies are suppose to mean "fun-loving" and he said that was one way to describe my mother."
So, the necklace had reminded her of her mother. Karma knew he could make fun of that, if he really wanted to, but he figured he could give Takina one moment without his teasing. Just one, though.
"Oh, that reminds me. I got something for you, too." Takina said suddenly, digging into one of her sleeves.
Without letting him see what it was that she pulled out of her sleeve, she reached up and tied something around his head. When she pulled back, she tilted her head as she studied the mask she had just attached to him.
"What is it?" Karma asked, reaching up to touch the mask.
"An oni mask. You know...since you're such a demon child." Karma looked down at Takina, both of them starting to grin as she said this. "I got one for me, too, but I went with something else for me."
Takina reached into her other sleeve, pulling out another mask. This one was a kitsune mask, the face painted with red flower patterns. Reaching up, she tied it around her own head, setting it so that it rested just above her left temple.
"A fox, huh. Fitting." Karma admitted. Given how clever Takina was, the fox fit her perfectly. "I'll wear this the first day back to class, if you'll wear the necklace."
It was more of a joke than anything. He watched as with a playful narrowing of her eyes, Takina reached up and moved her mask so that it hid her face from him, leaving him unable to read her mood from her expression or her eyes.
"Hmmm...I don't know. It is just a "cheap trinket" after all." she told him. Takina danced backwards, out of his reach as he lunged forward, reaching for her. "Still too slow, Akabane."
With that, Takina spun on her heel and hurried off to join her female classmates as she moved the mask back to it's spot just above her left temple. Karma watched her go with a grin on his face. While part of him was glad there seemed to be no awkwardness between them after her sudden kiss during their trip, another part of him couldn't help but feel a little slighted.
Had he had his wits about him during that kiss, she definitely would have been more aware of him afterward.
There was always his payback.
He just had to plan it perfectly where he could get payback on Takina and show Asano that he was out of his league.
The thought put a grin on his face.
He was really looking forward to the second semester.
END
Takina: What evil plan do you have cooking up for Akabane?
Kyandi: Oh, you'll have to wait and see.
Takina: I don't like the sounds of this.
Kyandi: Yeah...you're not going to like it.
Takina: ...
Kyandi: And you can't run away either.
Takina: Excuse me while I find a bunker to hide in.
Kyandi: Yeah, that won't work either. Anyway, I have a lot of plans still left, so I want to get started on the next chapter.
Takina: You and you're plans.
Kyandi: Remember, that's where your plans come from.
Takina: ...Damn it!
Kyandi: Ha! Everyone, please enjoy and review!
Takina: We'll return as soon as possible.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!
Takina: I hate you.
Kyandi: I know, sweetie, I know.