They were walking out of school together the next day because Karma was meeting up with his parents at a cafe which was in the direction of Sakusa's inn. She still felt embarrassed from the other day, when he came to the inn.

"Do you have any siblings, Sakusa-san? I always see you alone, even at the assembly where parents were allowed to attend. Your parents busy?" Karma asked casually, trying to start up a conversation, as they walked down the busy footpath. Although the usual rush-hour had died down, there were still a healthy amount of people on the streets., having known each other for a few weeks now, had come to a certain level of friendship and openness.

"I live alone," she mumbled, "You probably won't get it, would you? You're rich, with nice parents who love you."

Karma glanced at her, "You live alone? But I thought you said your grandmother ran the inn and you lived with her?"

Sakusa's eyes widened in realisation. She shouldn't have done that; he would probably start asking more questions. "Alone? What? Did I just say that? Oh, what I meant to say is... I live alone with my parents. Like, no brother..." her voice fainted away and her eyes glazed over. Karma raised an eyebrow.

"You had a brother?" It was too easy. She was too expressive. Or I'm just too smart, he thought.

Sakusa stared at him, "A brother...? I-" She looked away, "No, I never had a brother."

There was a silence between them before Karma changed the subject. By that time, Sakusa seemed to have forgotten what just happened. Or she just pushed it away, along with her emotions.

"Schoolwork is too easy, don't you think? I mean, I would've thought Mr Principal would've been extra harsh on us high school students, what with being devoted to education and all. But right now, I've gotta say, he's being so lazy..." Karma said.

"Yeah well, of course you would think that. Some of us, are quite happy with the rate and would rather it go slower really," Sakusa said rolling her eyes. "Or just having a break from it all would be nice."

"Speaking of school, did you want to have another tutor session? I wouldn't mind doing it this Saturday again. It's getting kinda boring on the weekends."

Sakusa nodded. "Yeah, the teacher gave us some more new stuff and - yeah."

"Yeah, yeah. All that isn't too hard. I'll stuff it into your brain in one day, no problem," Karma said as his brain quickly went through all the stuff he needed to go through with Sakusa.

There was a short silence between Karma and Sakusa before the girl started talking. "Ah, Karma-kun. I need to go shopping in the city for, ah, supplies. Come with me - I don't really know the place."

Karma's eyes drifted towards her in amusement as he lifted an eyebrow. "You should ask nicely, Sakusa-san! It's not nice to force someone to come on a date with them like that!"

Sakusa narrowed her eyes at him. "Why would I ever ask you on a date? Anyways... I can always ask Asano-kun instead." Sakusa, having noticed how Karma and Asano interacted with each other, knew that she could use him as bait anytime. Karma hated losing to him especially. She gave a small sly smile which Karma spotted immediately.

"Ok, ok! I will come. Meet me at school on Sunday," he smiled. "Maybe we can go for dinner, like I wanted to before."

"I guess." Sakusa noticed that where she was. She was five minutes away from the inn. She needed to leave. "I need to go now... Bye." The pair waved as Sakusa dashed around the corner.

-3-

Sakusa sat on her futon in silence. The futon beneath her was rigid but comforting. Though she had a better, proper bed in the lab, it felt better here. It felt freer here. She felt her hands tingle and the same sting from under her skin from that night. A shiver ran down her spine.

"No, no, please no," she whispered in fear. No, she couldn't. She had finally found a home of peace, where people liked her. She'd even made a friend - maybe. She'd definitely be caught if she revealed her place now. And she just couldn't bear to destroy such a treasure. It was Tsukishima-san's treasure. And she'd looked after her so well.

But there was no stopping it. Energy surged through her like a snake and the stinging feeling grew. It didn't hurt, she was familiar with it. But trying to stop it exploding out of her would be the hard part. She screamed as she tried to contain it. The lights blew out with a spark. Heaving heavy gasps, she stood up. Her eyes seemed to emit a blue glow and although it was dark, she could see perfectly. Nothing had changed, nothing had blown up. A shiver of relief washed through her. Only the lights had blown out.

"Sakusa-san? Are you alright? I heard a scream and then the lights blew out. Were you screaming?" came a gentle voice from outside her door. How was she to explain this? She frantically tried to remain calm.

"I-uh, I'm fine. I heard the scream as well, not sure where it came from though," she lied smoothly.

Tsukishima blew a breath of relief, "I'm glad. Just be careful. The lights should come back soon."

Although she had sounded calm, her whole body was quivering and her hands couldn't stop shaking. Sakusa had contained the burst just enough but it had taken so much out of her. Even now, her breathing was shallow. But she had to do it. She couldn't cause another outburst and massacre again.

-3-

"Sakusa-san!" a voice called out from the other side of the classroom as Sakusa stood up to pack her stuff and leave. Sakusa turned in surprise to see Hana Horiki, the most popular girl in their grade, walking up to her with a bigger smile than Sakusa could ever have imagined.

"Horiki-san," Sakusa said faintly, congratulating herself for remembering her name. But she didn't particularly want attention drawn to herself. She'd done well on her own for the past weeks.

"Ok. I know you are kind new here and we've not greeted you properly. So, I just wanted to say hello. I'm Horiki Hana and you must know all the other girls," her greeting sounded fake and rushed.

"Hi," Sakusa said stiffly, trying to force herself not to run. Her animal instincts told her to escape from this snake, but she couldn't.

"Anyways, I wanted to talk to you about something," this was obviously her main goal. "I really like Akabane-kun. And you're getting too close for comfort. I want him, you understand? And I'm going to need your help to get closer to her him. Because as far as I'm concerned, you and Asano-kun are the closest to him."

Sakusa stared at her. "Akabane-kun? I've never heard of him."

Hana's eyes burner as she glowered at Sakusa. "You liar," she said raising a hand, "I-"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a flying figure came and backed Hana into a wall. His arm over her neck. The girls around him shrieked. "Now, now, normally I'm flattered when girls say things like that, but not like this. Don't take it out on someone like that. It's filthy," Karma's eyes were murderous and it glowed.

"You're Akabane-kun?!" Sakusa eyes were wide. She'd heard so much about this hot, charming Akabane-kun. Never knowing it was the one person she hung out with. Hana gritted her teeth in jealousy. Somehow, the closest person to him, in the school, didn't know his name.

"Oh, hi Sakusa-san! I didn't see you at lunch. Also, are you well now?" Karma beamed. He'd lied; Karma had seen her studying yet away again. Nothing could've penetrated her little room of focus. He'd feel bad if he'd just barged in like that - so Karma had left it. Smiling as he walked away.

"So, Horiki Hana?" The girl nodded. "Don't hold on to your jealousy. You'll never have a chance with me anyways." Hana scowled.

This is the girl I'm supposed to protect, Koro Sensei? Karma wondered in hidden disbelief. There was no way. There had to be more.