Hours passed and the sky began to darken. The pair hadn't stopped from that morning.
"Nuh uh - no. Stop, that's not how you do it. Just be patient. There aren't any shortcuts. First, move this, then you can have this formula..." Karma said as he scribbled on her notebook. But he was patient. Sakusa admired that about him. She never would've thought someone like him, would teach her.
By night-time, they had revised up to grade five. Packing up, Sakusa stole a glance at him. There'd been no reason for him to be nice to her at all. In fact, she still hadn't repaid him that lunch. So why? "Hey, uh - thanks for today."
"Yeah. No problem. It's sad to see someone like you be so bad at so many things. Of course I had to help!"
Sakusa scowled and looked away. Karma's eyes followed her. Maybe he should stop riling her up so much.
They were soon outside as the library's great doors closed with a thump. The librarians scattered away, attending to their late night business, whether it was with family, friends, or just themselves. Even though the school was still filled with students wandering around dorms and the cafeteria for boarding students, the place felt silent. Solemn.
Sakusa started to walk away and Karma followed her to the exit gates. Not long after, just as they'd reached the gates, Sakusa stopped. Her dark eyes darted around the area, in mild panic.
"You good?" Karma asked casually as he began to walk into one direction.
Sakusa gritted her teeth. "Yeah, I'm fine." She could do it. Sakusa had navigated through rubble and ruins of her old city before. It had always been covered in dust and smoke, fire and ashes. It was never the same. If she could navigate that, she could get home - somehow. But the thing was, she'd known her home like the back of her hand. She didn't know this place.
"You don't seem fine," Karma said, stopping a bit away.
"Well, I am. See you tomorrow," seething with frustration and embarrassment, Sakusa stomped away. Karma blinked as he watched her go further away. She really didn't like admitting weakness. Maybe it was just her nature.
Fortunately, she was able to get home. Karma didn't worry a bit. He had a feeling she would, and since there was no missing cases on TV, it confirmed it.
-3-
That night, Karma was in bed with his laptop. His mansion-like house was silent as his house-keeper and cook got ready for bed. They were a couple who had been working for the Akabane household for years, and they were more like family. Karma had been raised more by Sachuro-san than his own mother, who oftener travelled to East-Asia.
His fingers flew like lightning across the keyboard as his eyes were glued to the screen. The light illuminated on the walls of his dark room. He knew that it was probably bad for his eyes, but he didn't care much.
"Voila!" He whispered to himself as he clicked into the system.
There'd only been one way to find out the correct person Koro Sensei was talking about. A girl called Hana in the school. Karma had been able to hack into the school's motherboard system as easily as eating was to him. Plus, help from Takebayashi had proven useful too.
He typed in the name Hana and clicked Enter. There was nothing to scroll through. There were only two names.
One was a teacher who taught specialist maths for first-years. That wouldn't be too hard for Karma to get into. The other was a student in class 1-E. Horiki Hana. Karma raised an eyebrow.
"Sakusa-san must be in that class too..." He muttered to himself. There was no other class she could be in - she was as dumb as anyone could get. The thought of Sakusa brought a lightbulb to his mind. He replaced the name 'Hana' with 'Sakusa Kimi' and clicked Enter.
Clicking into her name, his suspicions were confirmed. Not only was she in the same class as Hana, she hadn't passed the entrance exam at all. There was no doubt she had payed her way in. She would've needed at least ten million yen. Where did she get that money? Sakusa didn't even seem rich. The richer people of the town lived on the other side town, in his neighbourhood. But he'd seen her walking home to the opposite direction.
Just as he was about to close the program his eyes caught something below. It was the 'Previous Schools' box. And there was nothing in it.
-3-
A slight zephyr was in the air and Sakusa's long luscious hair swayed in the wind. Her dark hair glinted a slight blue in the sun and passers stared at her hair in awe, before rubbing their eyes and looking away, sure that their eyes were playing tricks on them.
It was a nice day, but it wouldn't be for much longer. It would rain in the afternoon, though the sun was out and there didn't seem to be a cloud in the sky.
Sakusa walked into the classroom quietly and sat down at her usual spot near the back. No one noticed her, no one ever did. The students had been quick to create their own friend groups from the start of the year. There weren't many students from the same school so everyone had started clean and made new friends. The only person left out was Sakusa.
On the other side of the room, Horiki Hana was glancing at Sakusa from the corner of her eye. Her friends kept talking over each other as she stayed silent. Sakusa was weird. That was all she was. The girl just sat silently by herself, with no attempt of making any friends. No boys liked her either. Her expression was too hard and seemed too impenetrable.
She's so weird. But honestly, if she TRIED to make an effort, she could be really popular and pretty too. But she's as dumb as a bag of rocks, Hana thought to herself. Hana, herself, had always been the centre of attention, the light in a dark classroom, the head of the pack. She was pretty, smart, and funny. But she could be cold when she wanted something.
"Horiki-san! Are you even listening?" A girl's voice perked up with a hint of hurt. Everyone seemed to want a piece of Hana's time.
The girl blushed. "Ah, sorry. Repeat that?"
-3-
The usual lunchtime crowd had a way of pushing those who didn't move, to the very front. That was the trick - to travel the current. And Sakusa was the one 'not' moving at the moment, she was too tired. After she had gotten lunch, she'd gotten straight to studying, while eating. Her eyes were focused, her lips pale with concentration. She had yet another test to pass soon.
"Ah, Sakusa-san! Did you find your way home yesterday? It was raining buckets afterwards so it would've been quite a pity if you got caught in the rain," Karma commented as he sat down. Then he felt guilty for interrupting her. Never had he seen someone so focused on something. Even when he was tutoring her.
Sakusa sneezed. "Ah yes, the rain," she said bitterly, "It got me."
Karma bit back his laughter, "I told you so - you don't really know the neighbourhood do you? You act like you just moved here."
"Well, ye-" she sneezed again, making everyone around her, look at Sakusa in disgust. She could feel herself shivering and something told her that she should've stayed home, but she couldn't miss a day of school. It was too valuable. Sakusa bit down hard, trying to make herself feel better. She was fine, she wasn't sick, she was fine.
Out of nowhere, the student representative held out a tissue to Sakusa. "You shouldn't have com to school if you were sick. We can't risk a whole community of students," Asano said sternly before adding with a more gentle tone, "Go home."
"I was about to say that myself. Stop being so selfish, Sakusa-san! Other people can get infected! " Karma sneered teasingly. Sakusa scowled at Karma, as well as trying to hide her moody expression from Asano. It would be a bad impression to the student representative.
"Fine," she relented with a sigh.
Karma took her by the shoulders and guided her to the nurses' office, "I'll take her!"
By the time Sakusa had signed out of school, lunch was over and Karma was walking beside her. 'Making sure she actually got home,' was his excuse for skipping school this time.
"I can walk home by myself," Sakusa muttered. She was worried that Karma may force her to show him where she lived - Exactly.
"Walking you home is better than doing physics that I did last year," Karma replied with a bored face.
"But I thought you were in the advanced physics class...?" Sakusa asked.
"We had a good teacher," was all he said. There was something distant in his voice - something close to grief. Although she tried to not let it get to her, but somehow, the fact made her feel more stupid.
"What was he like?" Sakusa asked in curiosity. The only teacher she'd ever considered good, had left her a long time ago.
"Is this where you live then, Sakusa-san?" Karma asked, changing the topic on purpose as he gazed at the tall wooden shack of an inn. "An inn?" Unfortunately for Sakusa, without paying attention to where she was going, she had led them right to where she lived.
"Ah, no!" she said frantically as she tried to come up with a lie, "No, My grandmother. Yes, she lives here and she, uh, runs the place. I just live in one of the rooms." Karma caught her at the corner of his eye but left it.
"Then let's go greet your grandma," Karma said as he pushed her in, "I'm sure she'll be glad to see you."
"OH no, no, no. She.. She gets really annoyed when you disturb her when it's working time. So we will just... We will go to my room without making a sound. Got it?" She stared at Karma, forcing him to agree. But the only thing that worked was her pitiful self and shivering body. Sakusa sneezed again.
Karma nodded, "Sure."
The pair walked into the inn silently. Thankfully, Tsukishima-san was still having her lunch and Sakusa had NO intention of seeing her when she was eating. Sakusa hurriedly pushed Karma up the stairs and into her room, the last room on the second level. The boards creaked under their feet, but no one seemed to notice.
They were finally in their room. Sakusa shut the door forcefully before sighing with relief, but her blocked nose made it hard. "Thank goodness," she muttered.
"Wow, you really don't have much stuff," Karma said as he inspected the room. It was mostly vacant, with the bare furniture that came with the room. There were a few things on her table and several clothes hanging in her half-open closet, but that was all. Even her futon only consisted on a pillow and a thin blanket.
Sakusa couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. In comparison, this would probably look dirt cheap compared to Karma's golden household. "Do you want a drink or anything? I can-" Before she could finish her sentence, Karma flipped her over his head and forced her on to the futon in one fluid movement. Sakusa breathed at the force of his strength, but the grace of it all struck her.
Karma's hair dangled in her face and his amber eyes glowed. His face was so close to her; too close for comfort. "I'll take care of everything. Just rest." Sakusa gave in. The redhead boy grinned at her obedience and walked away to pour a cup of hot water from the kettle. As the water boiled, he looked at the girl. Her eyes were half opened and her cheeks were pink. Karma didn't exactly know what to do. He'd never gotten sick, or had to look after a sick person before. By the time the kettle had finished boiling the water, he'd gotten a damp towel to put on her head and wrapped her up in warmer clothing. He put the hot cup of water next to her, but she'd already gone to sleep.
As he walked out of the door, there was a voice calling out to him from the inn. He turned his head to see the grandmother Sakusa had talked about. "Excuse me, can I help you?" the elderly woman called to him. Her smile was welcoming, like everything else in this small, cheap place. But right now, it didn't feel so cheap anymore.
"No, everything is fine. I was just sending Sakusa-san home," he replied. "She's sick."
"Oh, Sakusa-san? I will have her treated immediately then. Thank you," the woman said. Karma nodded and headed out. The wheels were spinning in his head. Sakusa-san lied? From what he heard, that woman didn't sound like Sakusa's grandmother at all.