Disclaimer: I do not own Assassination Classroom.


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XXIV.

The sound of the door sliding alerted him that someone was going to be inside the room. Karma groaned internally. This was really the worst timing ever. He had been only teasing Nagisa and had taken his hair ties, so that he wouldn't be able to pull his hair into his usual pigtails. Then he had been tripping on one of the futons on the ground.

Must be karma. He groaned for real this time. Just silently, because it would be uncool if not.

Oh man, Sayo must be rubbing off on him. There was no way he could have made a pun on his name otherwise. If he would do that deliberately one day... Oh, have mercy.

He turned his head to see who had seen Nagisa and him in this... suggestive position. Hopefully not Okajima. He was just a pervert. Or Nakamura would be even worse. Sure, he enjoyed making fun off the blunet with her, but being the one who was made fun of was not so funny. He had enough of that from a certain raven.

Karma practically froze the moment he saw who was standing at the door. Then he really considered making the damn pun, because what the hell? What was this cliche situation of your best friend/crush seeing you in a compromising position with another close friend? What stupid author would write that? Then he thought for a second.

...Retract that.

Vaguely aware of Sayo's equally shocked expression, he spent a second thinking of flinging himself out of the nearest window and then some cliff. Then stopped, because he didn't want to face the wrath of his teacher, his best friend and said friend's mother. Entirely not worth it and the first time hadn't been funny. How could a second one be better?

Still, this was just embarrassing. He could practically see the thoughts that were racing in her head. If she was going to tease him his entire life for this, he didn't know how he would ever be able to live this down.

He felt even more mortified when his childhood friend started to speak.

''Ah,'' For a moment she seemed to lose her words. Then- ''Sorry for intruding. I'll be gone and you can do... whatever you were doing. Yeah, bye.'' Absentmindedly, he noted that he had never seen her move that fast. Then his thoughts caught up to him.

''Sayo!'' he yelped and leaped from his position above Nagisa. He felt a bit sorry for startling his friend, but in the moment Sayori was more important. She was often.

After running down the corridor, he found her standing in front of the girls' dorm room, her expression in a daze and her hand was rubbing her temple. After a few seconds she moved from dazed to resigned.

He watched her change of facial expressions for a few second, marveling how many emotion she could convey only with that. When she seemed to have resolved her issue, he called her out. Normally, he didn't like her brooding, but this was about him and the scene before.

''Sayo!'' He didn't quite manage to keep the slightly panicked and breathless edge out of his voice, but if she noticed it, she didn't comment. For that he was glad.

''Karma...'' she trailed off, her face flushing under his gaze. ''Sorry, I'm kinda having fantasies now.'' She looked away from his face, embarrassed.

''I did not- Never- No-'' He wasn't really able to bring out a coherent sentence. This was all just so awkward and he was feeling like some idiot, why did that have to happen to him?

He was still trying to get his brain function, but it was freaking difficult when your best friend had fantasies about you and your other friend. And they probably involved fucking, because he had seen her reading yaoi manga once.

''I know,'' was her amused response and he groaned. He definitely didn't want her to make fun of him, but it was just too difficult to actually stay calm. At least he wasn't the only one who was embarrassed, her face was still a bit red and he couldn't help but feel a bit smug about it. ''It's entirely my fault for barging in and assuming, I know that. It's just my mind running.''

''So...'' He watched her face closely. ''Everything's good? You don't think that I secretly like Nagisa and you're just a farce? No heartbroken feelings? No jealousy?''

The last bit was a bit more hopeful than he had intended, but he was a fifteen-year-old, pumped full with hormones and she was his longtime crush, so excuse him.

''No... I don't think so. I'm a bit too shocked to feel a bit more than just a bit of disbelief. And I'm horribly amused by this shoujo manga cliché, but well...'' She quirked on the same dorky smile, that he had never thought was actually possible on her face, but he loved it anyway.

Fuck, now he was being the dork.

He let out a shaky exhale. This whole situation had let him tense up like the time, when he had been falling from the cliff and wasn't that a thing? Near death experience to a misunderstanding with his best friend. In an uncharacteristic bout of fondness he wrapped his arms around the raven and hugged her. He felt her arms do the same.

Then he heard it.

Tiny snorts, not even trying to sound lady-like, and shaking motions wracking the shorter girl's body and he found himself joining in.

So they stood their embracing each other and near hysterical laughter resounding in the walls of the corridor. It was a miracle that no one came and put them into a mental asylum.

Still, he couldn't bring himself to care.


I fucking hated my night terrors.


Somehow I was never really awake when I woke up. That didn't make sense, did it? One minute you thought, oh I'm awake and then the next urgh, I'm awake.

In half-haze I thought about the classes I would have today. Would Sarah drag me out for a 'study session' again? It would end with some guys and alcohol, like always. What day was it anyway?

Slowly rising, I stretched my limbs to get a better feeling of them. I was still a bit sleepy.

Then I noticed something was off. My arms and legs felt distinctly... wrong. I wasn't in my dormitory room, this was... A Japanese styled inn? Did I get crashed and had to stay overnight here?

No... At least Sarah would have been responsible enough to organize somebody to bring us home.

Where the fuck was I? I looked down at my hands. And-

... Those weren't mine. They were too slim, too pale for to be mine.

My hands weren't big, but at least they were sturdy. They were only slightly calloused by training and doing artworks for fun. The hands I was looking at were long, too elegant and very used. Like for combat. How could they be elegant, when they were this calloused?

There were people in the room – I couldn't see their faces, but the stature of those people was too small to be one of the people I knew. I just had giants as friends. I was the smallest, I had to know.

Why was I here? Out of habit, I touched my head, searching for the scar tissue of my skull. But my hands didn't find anything on my forehead. Only smooth skin.

What the hell?!

I tried to find it, but came out with nothing. This couldn't be real! A skull fracture's injury couldn't disappear overnight.

I was now breathing quite hard. Discarding any other thoughts, I stumbled out of the mattress (a futon?). I ran out of the corridor to find a bathroom. There had to be one somewhere. After a full blown panic attack I found one.

I practically fled for the mirror.

Just when I stood before it, I stopped in my tracks.

Another face stared back at me and it wasn't mine. Definitely not mine. Why the hell was there another face?

My hand wandered to the picture and the reflection mirrored my action. This wasn't my face! Why did I have another face?!

Through my panic I wasn't able to think clearly. What was going on?

I was getting dizzy and hyperventilating didn't help. I needed oxygen, to calm down, but that was just fucking difficult when you suddenly had another face. Unable to stabilize myself, I began to cough and staggered out of the bathroom. I didn't want to look at that mirror any longer.

In the end I collapsed at the door to the sleeping room with the other people. I didn't know how I got their, but it seemed that I had woken them up, because several bodies were moving into my direction. In response I just panicked further and backed away.

"Lasst- *cough* lasst mich i- *cough* in Ruhe!" (Leave me alone)

I heard voices.

"Sayori-chan, calm down! It's just us."

Who was us? Who were they, I didn't know them. Something nagged me in the back of my mind. They seemed familiar... But they were speaking in Japanese and I didn't understand Japanese. But somehow I could.

I couldn't calm down enough to think clearly and just moved back.

"Lasst- *cough* mic- *cough*!" I tried to scream, but it only aggravated my lungs more.

''What is she saying? I don't understand her.''

Another voice shouted for them to leave me. It shouted out other instructions, but it was too unclear for me. After a while a few other people entered the room and moved to me.

I could see something big and yellow, and something red.

Red... red, I knew that red person. Just from where?Something was shoved into my mouth and immediately I tried to spit it out.

"Einatmen," a very familiar voice commanded. (Breathe in)

It was German. Someone who could understand me. Relieved, I followed the command to breath in the powder in the inhaler. After that, the person sat beside me and a hand rubbed my back. It helped me to calm down.

Not so hysteric anymore, I looked at the red spot from my vision.

"Karma," I breathed out his name in relieve. The memories flooded back. The movements on my back stopped. I had a horrible double vision of my friend. A more childish, cartoon-ish version of him. My head began to ache in a familiar way. I could remember something and it wasn't letting me go. I remembered. For a terrifying second I wasn't able to breathe again.

"Finally recognized me? You okay?" He sent me a worried glance and continued to move his hand. I leaned into his touch and breathed again.

''Yeah, I'm fine. Just... A relapse?" He would know what I mean. ''Thanks.''

In response he nodded and we sat there in silence. How horrible. First our weird misunderstanding and now this. Karma was going to get gray hair by the time we were graduating. The thought somehow placated me.

When my breathing finally calmed down, I looked up.

Our classmates had vacated the room and where now waiting outside. I didn't want to get bombarded with questions, so I tried to find an excuse but I didn't find one.

''Hey, Karma. Can we get some juice? I'm thirsty.'' I felt him nod at my shoulder and stood up – my limps just feeling off and shaky.

Outside happened exactly that, what I had predicted.

''Sayori-san, are you alright?''

''You gave us a real scare. You alright?''

''Did something happen?''

I was touched by their concern, but I couldn't summon up anything but only a tired smile and began to get annoyed by the constant chatter. The whole close proximity and the large number of people only served to put me more on edge.

Surprisingly it was Koro-sensei, who came to my rescue. Or maybe it wasn't that surprising, but it made me feel better nonetheless.

''Ah, Sayori-kun!'' *flop* Suddenly dozens of photos were lying on the ground. I saw one of me and Karma dozing. Oh, that looked nice, I noted absentmindedly. ''Ah, my pictures! I just wanted to get couple shots, but now I have to collect them all again.''

There were several more embarrassing pictures, that probably shouldn't get into public. Funnily, the mood shifted. It was clear that they wanted to know how I felt, but apparently the threat of our teacher putting the picture somewhere, where he would be able to mortify them even further, was greater, and thus they were getting ready to take those photos back. Forcefully, if needed.

Maybe they felt my reluctance and readily changed the subject.

Nonetheless, I felt really grateful for the distraction.

Unnoticed, the picture that I had been ogling before was now in my hands with a note.

'Don't worry. Sensei understands.'

It was almost morning anyway and no one would go to sleep now, but still they probably could have gotten at least one more hour of sleep without me. I felt a little guilty when I finally got a drink. It was milk, but well I probably needed some for my growth.

I watched the others chasing our teacher around. My own legs were to wobbly to run around and I fucking hated that. Being helpless was damn annoying. I spent most of the time actually trying to get the feeling of my leg back, since somehow, somehow I felt as if I was back again. In my old body and I remembered more about it than ever before.

That scared me. I thought that I was done with my old life. Maybe not the memories, but I hoped that I could move on, not dwell on ghosts in the past.

My hands had clenched so hard that my knuckles were white. I only noticed because Karma was trying to get me relax them.

''Sayo,'' he murmured softly, taking them into his own hands. ''Relax.''

Trying to follow his words, I let out a deep breath and let go. It couldn't be helped and I would rather try to eat a insect than let that affect my life. Really, this was going to be a long day.


I already explained the thing we would do on the trip, didn't I? Well, in short our assigned groups would go to a place, we selected, and a professional sniper would try to kill Koro-sensei there.

I was just in the middle of a yawn, already standing ready in the middle of the inn's lounge, when Karasuma-sensei began to speak. The last ones had trickled in barely a few seconds ago and we were just waiting for the OK to go.

''Listen, everyone,'' the tall man shouted. ''Today is the second day of your field trip and also the first day out of two for a chance to get your target on this trip. You know what you all have to do, so make this worthwhile.''

And with a nod he dismissed us.

''Way to go, Karasuma-sensei. So encouraging the dearest,'' Sugino complained amiably. I had to crack a grin at that. Endearing was probably the last thing that I would call Karasuma-sensei, but he had his own charm.

''He's only trying to get us into the right mindset, Sugino-kun.'' Nagisa shrugged, apparently more interested in reading the fat guide book in his hands. Pah, he should have done that before. That thing was damn interesting.

Or maybe he had and searched for something.

''Let's get some food first,'' I suggested. We had eaten something in the inn before, but it hadn't been that much and I was still hungry. I still wanted to explore the food shops in Kyoto, but Gion was our goal for later and there were a few famous tourists spots for food too. ''We're going to Gion later on anyway, aren't we? Let's go to some sweet shop.''

''Eh, you're already hungry? We-'' Karma was interrupted by an excited Kayano.

''Yes, let's go! I know a really good one!'' And off she was. I blinked after her. Well, nice to see that someone was sharing my opinion. Though, I would love to try the tofu here in Kyoto. It was very famous.

''See, Karma?'' I nudged my friends side in front of the stand. ''I'm eating. So I'm not too skinny in any way.'' Jokingly, I patted my stomach to show the not quite existent fat.

''Just because you eat snacks doesn't mean it's getting you more fat. Not like it's healthy anyway,'' he pointed out.

''Spoilsport,'' I snorted. ''You're the one who's always buying snacks for lunch. Don't be a hypocrite, dear.''

''Sure, darling. Be so kind and take your elbow out of my rips. I can't breathe.''

''Man up, it feels quite comfortable there.'' I was rewarded with a shove and almost fell over. Shit, my legs still felt too weak. Karma frowned at me.

''Are you okay? Normally you wouldn't have fallen that easily.''

''I'm fine. I just fell in love with the sight of my food and forgot you.'' Damn, that wasn't even a bit funny. Karma's unimpressed look only verified that. ''Okay, I still feel a bit weak. Don't worry too much.''

''Tell me when you feel like you can't walk anymore.'' And with that our conversation was done. Karma knew me well enough to know that I didn't enjoy being babied. Just lately I had been a bit prone to accidents.

Eating while walking was actually not proper in Japan, but most of the teenagers didn't care. It mainly mattered to the elderly, so best not do that in front of them. Well Japan was more about how it would affect people around you, so sometimes the culture seemed a bit strange.

We picked up our snacks anyway and were off for more sightseeing. Around noon we arrived in Gion. My focus had been mostly on the food, because it was rooted with a lot of history. Maybe not always famous ones but it was interesting enough. Call me a glutton if you want.

Gion was nice. Full of tourists in the main street and just as polluted as the rest of Japan's big cities and districts, but it was nice.

I knew, I probably should be writing down those memories of that old manga from another lifetime down instead of watching Sugino embarrass himself in front of Kanzaki, but no one could tell me to do so.

So I didn't. Not yet anyway.

''Let's go to the Yasaka shrine,'' proposed Kayano this time. Our objective was some street in Gion, where the sniper could kill Koro-sensei, but apparently we would continue sightseeing for a bit.

While looking at the many lanterns at the entrance, I remembered something important. At least important for me.

I had really forgotten to plan for a trip to the International Manga Museum. Urgh... I hid my face behind my hands in shame.

''Uh... Sayori-san? Are you alright?'' The bewilderment in Okuda's voice would have been funny, had I not just discovered that I had neglected my love for anime and all the kind. Because fuck, maybe I could blame it on being sleep deprived and shit, but somehow I had totally forgotten that. Hadn't there been an extra chapter on the MM in the guide book?

''Just peachy,'' I answered and spent the rest of the time in the shrine sulking and then some, because I liked it more thinking about that than the other thing. Maybe I could propose going there tomorrow if we didn't have a plan too far from the place.

Once we were outside, Kanzaki wasted no time leading us to the street where sensei was going to get sniped at. It was an eerie feeling that I had when we got there. Sure, it was a good place for the sniping, since there was nobody to stand in the way. But... there was nobody. Some killer could come and murder us in the bloodiest way possible and no one would take notice. This place sent a chill down my spine and all instincts from gang fights with Karma were screaming at me to get the fuck out of here.

I was fidgeting, but the faster we got this done, the faster we would be somewhere else. The clock on my phone told me we still had about half an hour until the sniper would come. It was sensible to scout out the place before we would be trying for an assassination, but for middle school students to stay in a dark and deserted alley wasn't exactly ideal. No matter how many we were.

The others looked at ease and maybe I would have been too on a normal day, but I was way too aware of the wrong feeling of my body and my difficulties to hold my balance. Somehow, my mind was still set on being 170 cm tall and 25. That really clashed horribly with my current self.

I was too distracted to listen to Kanzaki's explanation, why she chose this alley, but I wasn't so far gone not to notice the high school students entering from both sides of the street. Really annoyed by this cliché, I pressed my lips into a thin line.

I could really use a drink now.

''Not here for sightseeing, I guess?'' Karma was in the progress of seizing the boys on his side up, while I watched the ones on the other side.

Physically they were in advantage and had at least five guys, who looked like they could take a punch. All in all we were pretty much fucked and I couldn't help but curse my luck. Out of all days it had to be this one?

Yes, we were trained assassins, but our hand-to-hand combat was mostly knife work and self-defense was secondary. Two month of training didn't exactly make us skilled fighters. Even my in my taekwondo lessons could not help me, when there were too many to fight.

But running away was no option when there was no exit.

A dull thud against the lantern post nearby and a ''Look, Nagisa-kun.'' from Karma informed me that the redhead had already started attacking. A short flare of panic shot through me, but I tried to take a deep breath.

Might as well start kicking and screaming, while hoping we were getting out of here with minimal loss. I could feel the adrenaline burning in my veins. Without any hesitation I aimed for one guy's crotch with a kick and tried to turn around and-

One guy was slipping through my defense, while I was trying to stop him with arm length that wasn't there, passing me and aiming for Karma.

He hit Karma with a metal pipe.

I was stunned for a few seconds. Karma had been hit and was now lying on the floor with probably a concussion if he was unlucky.

Realizing, I hadn't been able to prevent it because I had been too careless, I abandoned all previous plans and simply focused on the guy nearby Karma. My body was still in a mid-spin and just too annoyed to care, I tried to charge after the pipe guy.

A rather big mistake. Really, I should have known better.

Next thing was that Kayano and Kanzaki were caught in some guy's grip and Sugino and Nagisa were down on the ground. By some kind of miracle I was still standing, surrounded by enemies, but still standing.

I didn't see Okuda anywhere. Maybe she had taken the more reasonable thing and had hid herself or run away. And hopefully she would be still calm enough to contact one of our teachers. I really couldn't think of anything else right now, that wouldn't expose our secret.

So... I had the choice. Those delinquents still looked like they would love to take me with them, Karma was down, as well as Nagisa and Sugino and they had two of us in their grip. Kayano was closer to me than and if I was careful, I would be able to step on her attacker's foot and she could free herself and run.

A pity that our regular shoes didn't have heels.

Either I could try and get the boys on their feet again or I would follow that patchwork plan.

Well, I thought dryly. Both of them are shitty options. So in a split-second decision I went for Kayano. Sorry Karma.

Trying to hit the occupied guy in the head, then faint to the left, but go right. Then stomp on his foot, during the shock phase and voila, he let go of the green haired girl. For a good measure I kicked him sharply in the knee cap and he was half stumbling.

''Kayano, run and get someone!'' I shouted out in half haze. My mind was a bit too adrenaline fueled to really come up with anything else than hit those bastards. The dear was lucky that on her side were less goons than on the other.

''Oh, you bitch. You're on!'' After that I only had the memory of more than one attacker and rather painful blow on my sternum and then some kind of black-out. I remembered somewhere stumbling and the feel that I had been trying to hit things out of my reach.

There had been the pipe guy again, and oh how much I wished to take that damn thing and give that asshole a taste of his own medicine.

Mind focused again when Kanzaki and I were thrown into a van, tied up and being leered at from behind.

''Put that shitty face of yours somewhere else, before I do it for you!'' I snapped at a guy's face, who was coming too close to be comfortable.

''Oho? You're sure a feisty one, girly,'' He turned to one guy behind me. ''Show her what we do with girls like her, Hayashi.''

Not so surprising, I was struck with a blow on the shoulder. Gritting my teeth, I didn't give them the satisfaction of crying out and only glared at the guy in front of me.

''...Sayori-san.'' A timid voice reached my ears. Kanzaki looked worried, not for herself but for me, and was watching my form intently. I followed her gaze and my eyes landed on a bleeding scratch on my biceps. Ah, this uniform was ruined. Blood never got out easily.

''Don't worry, Kanzaki,'' I tried to assure her. My lips were pulled into an awkward lopsided smile, which probably didn't look as convincing as I liked. ''It's nothing that I haven't felt before.''

I paused.

''Do you know if Kayano got away?'' The dark haired girl thought about it a minute, then shook her head.

''I don't know, but she isn't here with us,'' she told me quietly. ''I think she made it.''

''Good.'' I let out a relieved sigh. ''Now we only have to figure out an escape plan,'' I muttered under my breath. Kanzaki's told me exactly what I thought. There was no way this was going to be easy.

In the end I watched the window, trying to recognize parts of the area and coming up with some kind of plan or at least something that resembled a plan. Frankly, I didn't know what to do and situation had probably not quite sunken in.

I was aware that we, two young girls, were in the hands of quite a few violent delinquents and in danger of physical abuse. Going mentally through my equipment, I suppressed a grimace. I still had my phone in the spandex shorts under my skirt, but everything else was in my bag, which had been left there, where those goons had assaulted us.

Our chance were... not so good.

I ignored pointedly the part of my mind that told me I was the damsel in distress and more or less played with my restrictions, which were made out of tape.

My memories oh so helpfully supplied me with a vision of our teacher in anime version, wearing a veil. That didn't help me. But there had been a chapter about kidnapping in the guidebook...

The oppressive silence seemed to last forever. I would have been really content simply to steer in my thoughts the whole time, since I had a bit to sort through and Kanzaki seemed to have no intention of talking.

Then they began talking. And they had probably picked the worst possible subject. Really the worst, since apparently pipe guy had a few contacts and couldn't stand it to shut his trap for a few minutes.

''Hey you.'' He looked at Kanzaki, his twisted into a grin ''Yes, you with the long hair. Look at this.''

The scarred teen shoved his phone in front of her nose. From the side I could see my classmate's eyes widen, before I looked at the picture. I let out a curse at the sight.

It was one of the photos where Kanzaki and I had gone out to a gaming hall, disguised with a wig and different clothes. That time, our trips had been a distraction from school and the events concerning it. She had needed a break from her father and I had needed one from the whole class A shit.

''Where...'' Kanzaki swallowed once, before continuing. ''Where did you get this?''

I looked at her face once and winced. For once there wasn't the serene expression with which she always confronted things. No, now her face expressed shock, fear, regret and maybe sorrow. I did really not want to become the idiot, who was going to confront her about all of those pent up feelings, but maybe I should.

''Ah, I've some friends, who like to send me a few interestin' pictures. Don't ya agree, girly?'' The phone was taken away and he leaned over his seat. The guy was so close that I could the details of his scar. It looked like a knife wound. ''Well, I wanted to get to know ya, but ya were gone. Maybe I'll rectify that. Could teach you Kunugigaoka bitch somethin' 'bout the life out there. I'm sure-''

I headbutted him.

''AAAH! You bitch!'' he screamed out. My forehead stung from the hard contact. He recovered faster than me and soon I was pulled up by my hair.

''Oh? Don't ya like that I don't pay attention to ya? Hey! Speed on, I want to be at the hideout in five minutes!'' he barked to the driver. ''I'm gonna teach you a lesson myself.''

My teeth bit my lips so hard I could feel little droplets of blood. But it had been worth it, as long as Kanzaki didn't look like that. I probably sounded like a broken recorder, but I felt so damn guilty about everything.

I didn't know how long it took for us too arrive. It didn't feel very long and it probably wasn't. We were rudely picked up and carried to a rumpled couch, where they unceremoniously dumped us on.

''You can wait here, girls, until our buddies come. I'm sure we're going to have lots of fun.'' How cliché.

After that, there was nothing but awkward silence.

My thoughts stirred about a way how I could approach the issue. Maybe I would have been more direct with anyone else, but even I recognized that I couldn't just bulldoze through this matter. But... a direct confrontation might not be wrong.

''Hey, Kanzaki...'' I fumbled clumsily for words, my hands wringing nervously behind my back. ''You- I-'' I let out a frustrated noise. ''I'm sorry.''

I would have bowed to her, had I not been tied up, but I attempted anyway. The result was me flopping to the side and lying – face first – on the couch. That thing really was dusty.

There was a stunned pause. As if the girl beside me still had so comprehend what had just happened. Curious, I lifted my face to see what she was thinking.

''Kanzaki...?'' I asked her cautiously.

''Okay,'' she murmured. I blinked.

''What?''

''I said, okay,'' she repeated, but didn't elaborate. I frowned. She didn't look like she had forgiven me and the okay was probably just acknowledging I had said it. Her face was far cry from someone who wasn't angry anymore.

''Look, Kanzaki. I am really sorry. I know I shouldn't-''

''So what?!'' her voice suddenly exploded. I flinched from the noise. ''Shouldn't have encouraged me on doing that? Should have talked to me and stopped me? Or maybe shouldn't have ignored me? I-'' She drew a ragged breath. ''It's all your fault. Just because-'' And she stopped talking. A frown settled on my face. What was my fault?

''You blame me for being put into class E,'' I said, stunned. I knew that she was angry at me and I had assumed it was because partly because of me ignoring her, but her focus was on the 'being a bad student'-part. Kanzaki had wanted me to be her voice of reason and tell her stop, but I had done the opposite. My feelings were quite mixed.

''No! Yes, I mean-'' She looked frustrated. In front of me all of her hidden feelings were mashed together and bottled up. She wasn't just angry at me, but I was an easy direction to point her anger at.

''It's just so stupid! I know it's not just your fault. I could have stopped before and I don't hate class E. Everyone is so nice and-'' Her voice shook for a moment, but she seemed intent on letting it all out. ''I'm just so angry. I don't even know why. My dad is being so much more intolerable than before and I don't know where I stand. And then you, who's supposed to be my friend, just dumps me for some guy I don't even know beside rumors about him. I don't know anymore, I just know that I'm angry and part of it is because of you.''

Teenage crisis, I realized. As stupid as that sounded and a whole lot of pent up anger. She hadn't come in terms with her current situation yet and didn't know what to do now. I was part of the problem and consequently a daily reminder of it. Which was probably the only thing she could pour her feelings in and not come up with more issues.

Grimacing internally, I considered my options. I was shit at emotions. No denying. I just sucked at being a decent, sensitive person. So I just went with that what I would normally – wing it.

''...Sorry,'' I apologized once again. ''When this is over you can shout a me all you want and even punch me. I know... I haven't been a good friend. Really shitty to be honest. Just- Don't leave all those feelings pent up. You can tell me – or shout at me if that's more to your liking. I just want you to know I am sorry and even if I can't promise you never to do that again or undo everything, I'll try.''

I didn't get a chance to hear her response. We were quite rudely interrupted by the pipe guy.

''Aww, are you two done with your cheesy soap opera?'' My glare was withering; it could have probably wilted a flower. ''You know? People like you, who think that the world's theirs. We love to knock 'em down from their throne. How about we teach you, ladies?''

''You are disgusting. Knock people down? You sure you aren't just justifying your damn actions?'' I looked him resolutely in the eye. There was no better way to intimate guys like them than letting their comments not affect you. If you looked them into their eyes, their doubt would only grow.

It would only buy us time and scar-face would become violent soon.

Ah, speaking of violence. Strong hands seized my collar and lifted me up from the ground.

''Oh, I'm so done with you,'' he sneered into my face. ''I thought, maybe you would cool down, but apparently you can't get off from your high horse.''

I let out a harsh laugh. Really, my temper and mouth would really get me into trouble one day. This was already trouble, but I didn't care. I still felt so disconnected and letting it all out on this guy felt good.

''What high horse? I've probably beat just as many heads as you have done. Don't think just because we're from some prestigious school we're just some clueless kids. Isn't it just conceited of you to judge us like that?'' I let a mirthless smile grace my lips. ''Let me down, boy. If you want a show, fine, I'll give you one.''

He hesitated for a moment, looking indignant and confused, before throwing me down.

''Sayori-san!'' Coughing, I sat up after he had thrown me down again. Well, that went nowhere.

''Man, I'm really pissed.'' He held his hand in a dramatic fashion before his face. ''Now, since it's your fault, take responsibility. I'm sure I can come up with something for you to do.''

My eye twitched in annoyance. Man, that guy was bipolar! But I was going to play along. I could kinda strip. Meaning, taking off my blazer, the blouse underneath and my skirt.

Since that one time I had flashed some delinquents during fighting, I wore spandex shorts. That had been an experience I was not eager to repeat and the shorts had a pocket for my phone. Simply an advantage, even if it wasn't allowed. Also, I was wearing a top. Sometimes I got cold, so I wore extra layers.

''Sure thing, asshole. I had an suggestion, but go on. I'm waiting.'' Either some knight in shining armor would come and save us or Kanzaki and I would have to deal with some unlucky consequences in the future. While I was sure it would be the latter, I hoped for the former.

''Sayori-san! Egging on him, is not going to help us!'' Kanzaki whispered, now somewhat furious. Yes, it wasn't exactly helping, but that diverted their attention to me and from her. I could deal with the consequences better than Kanzaki.

(You have such a hero complex)

I did not have one, no matter what my mind said.

The door swung open.

So, let's see what fate had stored for us, because either scar-face had gotten reinforcements, since he looked like he had expected someone or by some miracle (or by reading a certain guidebook) Karma and the others had found us. Which hopefully would include sensei. I did not want to deal with the mess of a fight on my class trip.

I might have been referencing on certain memories that popped up in between, but I still refused to acknowledge them. That could wait. Because I didn't need another breakdown and it would only give me a headache.

So when just about everybody in the room looked at the door it revealed-

Someone very beat-up, vaguely coherent, and a ticked off childhood friend.

Well, my knight in shining armor. I felt relieved that they were here, but I didn't really know what to do now. Karma's eyes served through the room, very intent on finding us. When he saw us his expression went from 'furious' just to 'pissed off'.

Though he couldn't reach us, since a few goons were standing in the way. I would have to deal with a rather overprotective Karma after this, I realized and promptly hid my grimace.

As much as I loved my childhood friend, I wasn't weak, even if my current position proved otherwise.

It wasn't really worth it to listen to Nagisa quote from the guidebook in his hands, so I played with my restraints only to find out, that my hands had gone numb from the tape cutting off my blood circulation.

This whole thing sucked so much. I was never again going to let myself become helpless like this again. Letting yourself getting manhandled was not nice and had been just for the fun of rising that guys hackles. I could live with a few bruises.

I could only watch as our teacher appeared, nerdified those thugs and gave us a pep talk.

Sure there wasn't much that I could have done, but sitting there tied up, was frustrating. I hated not being able to do something.

In the mid of the whole thing Karma had walked towards us and swiftly removed our bonds. Before I could even flex my hands, I was pulled into a hug. A very crushing hug. I wasn't left with very much oxygen after he had released me and I had to hit him before he had even done that.

Realistically speaking, I would probably have done the same had I been in his position, but he was getting stronger and stronger from our training and could almost crush me with that strength.

Haha, death by hug. Lovely ending.

I was quickly pulled out of my thoughts by Karma. Suppressing a hiss, I flinched when cool fingers began to trail lines on my throat. Bruises were already forming from the rough treatment from before.

''Sayo, who did that?'' Karma growled lowly, giving the coloring skin a dark look.

''Does that matter?'' I asked him in a quiet voice.

''Yes, it does!''

''Go and bash that guy, who hit you with a pipe. Use the guidebook once. Don't do anything unnecessary. Please.'' I sent him an earnest gaze, that conveyed my tiredness from all of this. Grudgingly, he relented and backed down.

''Thanks.''

''Yeah, are you hurt anywhere else?'' His eyes searched for any visible injuries.

''Nothing bad, only my shoulder. It's a bit bruised.'' I could feel it slightly aching when I moved and my arms were still stiff, but that would pass.

Karma sent me a long look before turning around – just in time – to give scar-face a concussion for the next days.

''So, Sayo,'' he addressed me cheerily. ''Do you want to get some ice cream?''

My lips twitched.

''Sure, I'd love to.''


Omake (for the 300 favs)

Another thing, that Koro-sensei could have written on the note.

My eyes trailed the message beside the photo.

I ship you two!

''I'm going to kill him,'' I said, fuming.

Karma only looked bemusedly at the photo.

''When did he take that?''


Yeah... A month's waiting time for a long chapter? Acceptable? Haha...

Apparently Isogai is considered more handsome. Understandable when he's a ikemen.

This is not proofread and Shiki has given up being my beta long ago, for RL reasons. So when you spot mistakes, you know what to do.

School's starting again next week and it's test time. You won't get another chapter for a longer time tha usual. Sorry!

Wish you a nice day

-Yuki

Question: What do you think is the weirdest ice cream flavor ever? Japan has many... (The weirdest one is going to be eaten by someone next chapter *wink*)