IT'S TOO EARLY FOR AN UPDATE? NONSENSE-*gets shot*

Anyway, YAY! New chapter! But in all honesty this one's quite jumbled and senseless at some points - I got quite the headache getting my stuff together. But I really really wanted to post this chapter and I can't waste anymore days if I want to get this done for you guys ;w;

God. I need sleep XD But I stay up for my love for Karmanami 3

Anyway, I just finished! BUT WRITER'S BLOCK HIT ME HARD TOWARDS THE MIDDLE TT_TT I apologize now if you don't understand things or if it didn't turn out all that great.

I deeply apologize, I can't write review replies this time ;-; FORGIVE ME! It's late, I just finished and I'm really tired, my eyes can barely keep up with what I'm typing O-O (BOOO! EXCUSES!) SORRY SORRY! I'll be sure to do so with the next chapters every time possible!

YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU ALL TT_TT

Okay, a little warning, this chapter doesn't have a lot of Karmanami in it (which saddens me and you bros). Yeah that's all uwu

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu, only story and OC's. If I did then bless me

ENOUGH DRAGGING! LET'S MOVE ON TO THIS (I'm not so proud of) CHAPTER!

Chapter 4: What did you say that for? (PART I)

I've always wished my life could be as simple as these numbers…

Thought the girl that sat at the back of the classroom of 1-C. She had her usual get-up on; the braids, the glasses, the knee-level skirt – she was the typical conservative introvert you could find in most high schools. Right now, she had her attention towards a white sheet of paper that had their seatwork inscribed on it neatly with black ink from the school's printer.

Okuda Manami was in the middle of answering the math work their teacher left with them before he went to deal with something in the faculty office. Math wasn't a hard subject for the girl, so naturally she'd be done faster that everyone else. However, something's been up with her lately – she often found herself spaced out and there were times wherein she lacked focus. She's completely aware of the reason why, but she decided to continue to pay no heed to these things for it could disrupt her academic reputation—

"Okuda-san~" sing-songed a girl with walnut-colored hair styled into a ponytail as her hands were tied behind her along with the math seatwork everyone else was doing. The petite girl wasn't entirely used to being talked to by her classmates so her shoulders jerked upwards upon the sound of her name.

"U-Uh…yes, Orihara-san?" she stuttered out and fixed her glasses up which became dislocated due to her shock. The one named Orihara extended her hand with the sheet to Okuda's table and groaned "I seriously can't understand how you do this problem! It's so weird like, what are these numbers?!" the brunette rambled on about her confused state of mind which was actually getting quite annoying to everyone else who wanted to focus in the class.

Manami's hesitant hands reached for her paper "Th-Then I might be able to help you, I guess…" she offered and this made a grin reach the troubled Orihara's face. After she positioned herself to sit beside the girl with the matching braids, she started to point out all of the numbers she had trouble with (Which were a lot).

Minutes filled with 'I don't understand it!' and 'you do it like this' passed by as if each one was equivalent to an hour. Okuda had a rough time trying to get through to the tall student's head with the simplest explanation she could use in order to look for the solution; but sadly no matter how obstinately she wanted to teach her properly, it ended up with the bespectacled girl giving her answers to her loud classmate that didn't even look like she gave an ounce of effort to understand the topic. Manami decided to just give up on her attempts to teach the girl and eventually gave away her own answers just to stop her from annoying the rest of the class with her whining. But another reason was that while Orihara inquired help from her, a group of girls seated at the front row having a conversation would constantly turn to her spot and laugh amongst each other – she chose that it was best if she pretended she didn't see any of it.

After the brunette walked back to her seat with a 'Thanks!' Okuda was left all alone on her desk once more. Thinking she needed something to pass the time while the teacher hadn't arrived yet, she brought the snacks she was to give to her club members later that day. Today, she took her time in the morning to create fish croquettes mixed in with a little egg and milk for a new, creamy-like taste past the crunchiness of the breading; it was another experiment she was proud of, and she does hope they'd enjoy it later.

From the corner of her eye however, she found Orihara helping out other students with the answers she gave her. She didn't mind much, she was a little glad the ponytailed girl didn't claim those answers as her own as she would always mention the fact that Okuda had 'taught' her the answers on the worksheet she passed around the class. But she couldn't shake the bad feeling forming in the pit of her stomach.

A few more minutes later, the teacher, Akiyama-sensei, returned with the instruction to pass their papers forward so he could spend the remaining minutes correcting them. But not long after that…

"Class, this is disappointing…" the teacher's tone was soft but it was aggressive as he stood from the teacher's table with all the papers in hand. "I knew you had your own troubles with my subject, but for you to copy off each other's works?!" he slammed the papers onto a girl's desk in the front row – earning him a yelp from the owner of that seat.

1-C was quiet after that – everyone's afraid of an angry teacher, especially if it's a strict and sharp one like Akiyama-sensei. "Don't wait for me to fail all of you; if anyone has something to say, speak now before I write a permanent record of zero for your class' first final grade." This caused everyone's skin to turn cold – math was a major subject after all, and to have your average grade for the term below 75 would be disgrace to the Kimii reputation of award-winning students.

That was when a girl with messy brown curled locks stood up from her seat. Okuda recognized her; she was one of the girls that were whispering with the group that eyed her often just a while ago. Mimura Naoki – she had thick lips that usually had lip gloss on them and an extravagant hair tie that no one could possibly miss from its size as her eyes were dull blue and narrow like Inari's. "Sensei, I'd like to defend voice out a complaint. Why risk the entire class' grade when the one who's at fault is sitting at the back row?"

Manami's eyes widened 'She's putting the blame on…me?'

That's when the other members of 1-C began to whisper among themselves as Mimura carried on with her statement "Just earlier we caught Okuda sharing answers with her other classmates, don't you think it's justifiable to say that she's the cause of everyone's answers turning out the same?" Akiyama-sensei's brows came together as he studied what his student had just proclaimed. Here and there, the students started nodding at each other.

"Yeah, I remember Orihara-san saying Okuda-san was the one that gave her those answers willingly." Said one boy that sat on the other side of the room while the ponytailed, walnut crowned girl sunk in her seat guiltily, but she said nothing to correct her classmate's sentence.

"Okuda-san, please step forward." Akiyama-sensei tried to hide the disbelief behind his voice – Okuda Manami? Of all people, she was the last one he expected to break one of his house rules, and that was to cheat in any way possible.

Manami could only look on the entire scene pathetically with her mouth agape – her heart only felt all the more heavy when the other students began to scowl at her. When her name was called, she forced her legs to collect enough strength and stand as a sign of respect to her teacher even at a time like this.

Slowly, she stepped up to approach her teacher – feeling everyone's eyes fixated on her. Before she made it to her destination by the teacher's table, she glanced at Orihara and gave her a pleading look; to tell everyone in the class that she didn't spread it, to probably have some good in her heart to take the blame with her. But unfortunately, all the girl did was avert her eyes the moment she was met with Manami's purple orbs – and Okuda's heart fell.

The chemistry-lover's eyeballs rose up for her to get a view of her teacher's face, in some silent language trying to tell him that she's innocent and it was all a misunderstanding. Akiyama-sensei looked at her pitifully – he didn't want to humiliate her like this or pass punishment on the short girl, but if no one was going to defend her, not even herself, he had no choice.

"Okuda-san…your grades in math are one of the best in this class, but you should know better than to just give away your answers like that. For now, I'll only deduct 20% from your paper and talk to you at lunchtime; if another incident similar to this happens again, it'll be doubled. " He looked down at the girl who had her head bowed to him so he couldn't see her face that was on the verge of tears.

"Y-Yes, sensei…"

And behind her, Mimura Naoki's group exchanged smirks of triumph.

The 12PM chime rang across the Kimii campus. This was the hour for all students to sit back and relax or just plain have fun with whatever they find interesting. Things became noisier by the minute, just like every other lunch hour. But the same could not be said by a lone, redheaded boy that rested himself on an isolated bench as he awaited his own 'noise' to show up – but the quiet minutes passed shorter than one would expect; and all through the time, she didn't arrive.

Karma stared at the empty spot next to him as leaves had begun to collect above it. This was a first – after all, Okuda's the punctual type; and if she had a reason for not being able to show up, she'd tell him straight away.

All of a sudden, he didn't feel like drinking his juice any more.

"We have another request?" Nakamura Rio lazily worded out as she relaxed herself by the table – her elbows were propped on the table as she slowly took more bites out of Manami's successful fish croquettes. The aftertaste was amazing and quite new to the blond's taste buds at the same time; she absolutely adored the poison-maker's experimental cooking, it seemed to be the same case for another member of Combat Club as Yuzuki had her second plate already.

"Yep, they've been piling up recently but today we're extremely free~!" exclaimed the mangaka wannabe as she took a sip from the juice she bought in the cafeteria.

Club today composed of everyone lazed about in the wooden room as they delighted themselves with the treats Okuda usually brought for them. But at least they were productive enough to have Sugino and Chiba work on installing the new refrigerator just below the sink. It took a lot of time for them to fully polish the old wall where they planned to put the fridge, but it was the only part of the room that had a plug socket attached to it. They had to thank Hayami for locating it otherwise they wouldn't really know what to do with the free appliance. Speaking of Hayami, the ginger currently had her hands full with engrossing herself into Manami's notes – that's an overachiever for you, but of course she remained kind enough to have a taste of the small-framed girl's delicious meals as she would take cute, tiny bites from the one she's had in her hand for a while now.

Karma was, as always, leaned against the stove in his lazed fashion with his hands inserted in his pockets as he would occasionally join into conversations – for a club president, he's pretty silent when club hours come along and would only really speak up when things get interesting (to him).

"Done!" Sugino stretched his arms out above him after finally installing the piece of metal; Chiba would open its door from time to time to check if the temperature had gone down and make adjustments if he found anything odd – as always, he was business-like and serious with his jobs.

"Oh! Good job!" Fuwa praised as she walked over to where they're new refrigerator was stationed. Rio's eyes lit up after the baseball player's announcement and lifted her head from her palms to see how their work had gone – even Rinka decided to stop reading to spare a glance.

"Yay~!" Rio beamed and gave the proud Sugino a thumbs up.

Karma had expected Okuda to join in the celebration, but once he looked way long enough to get the idea she was spaced out and clearly distracted by something, he felt something odd already.

He wasn't the only one that put this into his mind for Rinka had been staring at her for a while as well, and Manami hadn't shifted her gaze to anywhere but the empty plate of snacks she brought with her.

"Okuda-san." Karma called out to her with his carefree smile, which gained him the attention the rest of the members of his club. Okuda's half-lidded eyes were suddenly snapped open at the mention of her name as she snapped out of her exhausted state to tilt her head curiously at the redhead.

"Can I have a word with you outside?" he still kept a beam on while he used his thumb to point to the other side of the door. Manami only blinked, and before she could say or do anything, he was already pulling her by the wrist to go out. "E-Eh? W-Wait!" was the last thing she said before they both disappeared from the other member's sight.

"I wonder what happened?" Fuwa was the first one to ask until Rio had a wicked grin formed on her face and sniggered "Heehee…lover's talk."

"Did you say something, Nakamura?" Sugino asked in a quizzical tone, but she only reverted back to her old position and answered half-heartedly

"Nothing~"

Karma had brought them quite a distance away from the clubroom – about 4 rooms prior to it if measured.

And though Okuda panted after being brought here at a fast pace, the redhead with her didn't really have a reaction to the run; of course, he's the strongest assassin of 3-E.

His actions left her to wonder what brought this on as he gave her time to catch her breath. Karma's been nothing but passive the entire day, so of course she'd be bewildered at the sudden request of his to leave the room so abruptly. (then again, even if it wasn't Karma, it'd still be surprising to just get pulled out of a room).

After her breaths had steadied, he spoke with his back turned "What's wrong?" it was a humorless voice that came out, one that demanded answers – and this was certainly not the first time she'd heard it

Manami let out a small sound to indicate how she was a little taken aback.

Was I that obvious?

This time, he turned around and kept his face straight – his gaze never faltered as his eyes searched hers for an indirect answer; unfortunately, they refused to show anything but a tiny amount of distress. "You're not yourself." He continued and hoped she would answer him eventually like she did last time.

But to his dismay, she displayed a disheartened smile and looked up at him innocently "I see, I guess I have been distracted lately. But Karma-kun, that's nothing you need to worry about." She reassured him – even raising a weak fist to her chest to prove her stand on this "I just got a little tangled up in something, but I'll take care of it. Relax, Karma-kun." She tried her best to sound zealous, and she thought she'd done an okay job at it as she took this chance to jog back to their clubroom to be rid of the topic.

I don't want to be spoiled

Karma can see right through it, but he wasn't sure if he should leave this to her – since that would probably be the best course of action for an introvert to grow. But still…he couldn't stop the feeling of uneasiness in his gut; and of course, Karma listens to his gut even if he wasn't aware of what caused her to be this way – but it should only be a matter of time before he finds out what's going on.

Why he was so concerned was something he wasn't entirely certain of but…

'Akabane-san…'

He clenched his teeth and couldn't stop how his brows furrowed to accompany the narrowing of his eyes to the direction she ran off to.

Manami remained even after club hours. Outside the window was a brilliant array of sunset colors as the clouds seemed to have formed a magnificent swirl similar to that of a milkshake above the town.

Right now, she was in the middle of testing a few chemicals inside the lab as per Mikagura-sensei's request. The orange-headed teacher needed some assistance with a few chemicals she wanted to demonstrate to her other classes tomorrow – of course the geek couldn't be more than happy to help out. But at the moment, her appointer was not present in the room for she ran out of the lab proclaiming she had 'something to do' Which Manami assumed involved an ex-boyfriend.

Really, that teacher should just find someone to hook up with already.

"Malonic acid and sulfuric acid should be able to…" she held up two flasks that were to hold the result of her creation later on. Carefully, she measured the contents of the formulas she wanted to put to use for the little 'magic show' Mikagura-sensei wanted to put up for her to somehow get love from her students (to make up for the lack of a man in her life).

Manami's thought process and focus was broken once she heard a small knock from the entrance. Turning her head to find out who it was, she didn't expect to see Yuzuki by the door with her school bag in hand "You're not going to go home yet?" the otaku asked politely as she took a step inside the room.

Okuda shook her head "I still have a lot to do. Fuwa-san, it's getting late, shouldn't you go home by now?" she inquired from her. Fuwa sat down on one of the tables inside the laboratory "I was, but that was until I saw you. Okuda-san, is it okay to ask why you spend your time cooped up in here?"

"Eh— I have to help Mikagura-sen—"

"That's not what I meant." Yuzuki crossed her arms and as she looked to the bespectacled girl questioningly. This appeared to have startled the short girl since the only reply she could give was a slight tilt of her head. However, once she got a grasp of what she meant, she blinked in understanding – Fuwa-san was talking about middle school; how she would spend hours in the chemistry lab alone. Truth be told, this habit never faded away for she would spend time in Kimii's Chemistry lab whenever Karma couldn't accompany her (And that's what she did before he even came to the picture).

Manami hummed in the process of contemplating her words until she finally just worded out what came at the top of her head "I enjoy doing these kinds of things, I consider chemistry my friend after all. I always think to myself that this is so much easier than dealing with people…" those last set of words brought a bittersweet smile to the braided girl.

"Hm…" Yuzuki mumbled as she gave Okuda's words some thought – kind of reminded her of a pessimistic NEET character from those game genre anime.

"But…" the dark-haired girl continued as she faced her fellow club member with eyes that seemed distant – like she was dreaming "Even if that's so, sometimes I like to imagine that I'm here making something for people that are counting on me to help them. Like, I'd be able to make a chemical formula for people and they'd say 'I'm glad' or something like that instead of something that could scare people away…" Manami's gaze fell to the work left on her table as she would imagine it; because usually, when she mentions something about chemicals she made herself, they immediately deem it as something dangerous and only assassination-worthy.

Fuwa's heart softened at the introvert's words – really, a nice girl indeed. She can make more friends with that kind of thinking if only she had a little more courage to do so. Getting up from her seat, she stepped forth and walked to the space beside the science nerd. "Would you mind if you taught me a few things? I'd like to lend a hand because I find it interesting now that you've opened up to me about it, after all, there was this one really good manga I read where chemistry was its heart!"

At that moment, Manami felt herself brim with joy – this was the first time anyone's offered to learn science with her; she thought she'd only be able to see this day in her dreams.

"Mm!" she nodded enthusiastically and started to become ecstatic; finally, something to feel good about after everything that's happened today.

Okuda began to eagerly discuss what each and every material on her table did and how they could work well with one another as Yuzuki, in turn, would happily oblige with whatever her teacher would ask her to do while she would listen attentively.

Outside the rather active room, a sniper leaned her back on the door with crossed arms, a smile on her lips as she listened to the shy girl talk about her ambitions and wishes for the future – how she wanted to be of use to everyone around her even if they were the ones that rejected her in the first place. Originally, Hayami had gone here to clear her earlier suspicions but found herself eavesdropping afterwards.

She walked out of the building not too long after to leave the two alone with their 'lesson' and later ran into Chiba.

"What did you have to check out?"

"It's fine now. I'm just...worried about what's to come."

Class 1-C now had their Japanese class ongoing. This had to be everyone's most feared subject because when people say Japanese period, it means Yuma-sensei, and when people say Yuma-sensei, it literally means the opposite of his name.*

He was tall and his back was slouched in a stiff manner; he had grey hair that matched up with his age and somehow his face always had some kind of 'permanent scowl' that instills fear into the hearts of his students. To say this teacher is strict is an understatement – he is the very epitome of that word.

And right now, he's instructed his students to prepare for an impromptu Japanese recitation that would be worth a lot for the term after he distributed the playwright – of course the class was in a panic. Lucky for most, it was arranged by pair and they were allowed to hold onto the script, so their worries about being humiliated on stage alone and all other sorts of problems were somewhat eased.

However, things couldn't have been worse for the only introverted character of the class. Number one, this was her most difficult subject; number two, her partner could've been anyone else, but did it have to be Kimizuki? She found herself asking that to the universe, for the short haired girl had to be the most uncomfortable partner she could have considering how things played out between them in the beginning – and the fact that she witnessed her confess to her precious friend, which only doubled the awkward; and finally the third reason…

She can't do an on-stage act; even more so, if she had to do it in front of Mimura's group, whom have bothered her for days now, and the rest of the class – but that is what she had been doomed to do for today.

"Okay Okuda-san, I know this is your weak subject so I'll take the hard part for you, okay?" Kimizuki placed a hand on Manami's shoulder to support the tensed geek. Bless her for being one of the kind ones of this class; she spent their minutes of practice throwing her some support and giving her tips on how to say this and that and what kind of mood she should bring out in the entire scene.

"O-O-Okay, K-Kimizuki-san…! I-I'll t-try my best…" she gulped – this clearly wasn't her thing, but her grade depended on it. She constantly reminded herself that all she had to do was try her best; that was what got her her precious classmates back, right? She just has to focus and everything should be alright.

The anxiety seemed to have lessened at the thought of how she was able to get her old classmates back in her life – somehow she was actually proud of herself for being able to go that far.

More minutes of practice and undying distraught passed until it was time for each pair to present what they have prepared themselves for – albeit it being short noticed.

After the class had settled down (which didn't take too much time), Yuma-sensei stood behind the teacher's table looking like he was ready to pass judgement in Supreme Court. No one in class had the guts to look at him straight in the eye – they fear being struck with a curse as some rumors stated. Furthermore, he always calls his students randomly, which adds up to everyone else' troubles.

Badump

At the time, Manami couldn't breathe, and she was sure everyone else couldn't. Her heart gave out slow, steady beats, but its volume was strong as she could feel her fingers hardening around the grip she had on her skirt.

Badump

At last, Yuma-sensei cleared his throat and ended their suspenseful misery "First ones to go are…"

Badump

"Okuda and Kimizuki, step on to the front of the class." At that moment, the braided girl felt all hope and light shatter as a curse from her partner reached her ears.

"Don't make me wait, I'll deduct points." He growled before taking a seat to the side where he would watch the performance with his old but sharp eye.

Both girls stood up without a second thought at his warning and slowly approached their stage. Kimizuki gave one last glance at her partner and muttered "Remember, keep calm and say the climax line with conviction; it's okay, I'll lead you through" another supportive hand made its way to Manami's shoulder – and all the girl could do then was gulp, hope for the best, and gather her courage; the best way to do the last one was remind herself of what she had done to get far with her club members and former classmates.

For a moment there, she felt a little lighter – like this won't turn out as bad as she originally expected it to be. The stiffness of her fingers slowly began to loosen and her knees which shook uncontrollably just moments ago felt more flexible. Now, she actually thinks she has a chance at this.

"You may start." And Yuma-sensei initiated his judgmental eye and high standards with that never-faltering frown of his. Kimizuki mumbled her one last 'good luck' before she proceeded with the act.

"Food for thought! Over what has been lost. Days of long ago…" Kimizuki started it out perfectly – even the gestures and facial expressions were spot on, and Manami can only look at her in awe. Thinking quickly however, she snapped out of her amazement and forced herself to focus. 'You can do this…I have to give my best like Kimizuki-san!'

The shy girl had her eyes trained on the paper as she awaited her first line – the last thing she'd want is to get them both a bad grade while she's the only one with the problem.

Suddenly, a small spark of confidence boosted within her – she was ready now. All she had to do was give her all in this one short poetry recital, and she could end this phase without regrets.

The class representative was almost done with her part; Okuda now had herself under control…

Until she locked gazes with Mimura.

The world stopped for a moment as Manami felt her eyeballs shrink under her now glint-less glasses.

But Mimura Naoki wasn't doing anything – in fact, she was smiling casually at Okuda with her knuckles pressed to her cheek as she watched her with an amused smile. But it was her eyes that gave a grim message and took away any ounce of courage she was able to collect that time. The shaking in her knees came back as well as the slow rhythm of her heart that now boomed even louder beneath her chest.

You can't do it

"…uda-san…!"

Manami's shoulders jerked up when she realized Kimizuki's part was done seconds ago; everything was returning to reality, and the small girl couldn't act and follow the same pace the world was going – she felt as if she'd been left behind because the world moved too fast for her.

Her eyes moved frantically around the room as her breath hitched in her state of confusion.

What was going on again?

Then her purple orbs travelled to where her teacher carefully watched them and everything came back to her once she gave her desperate-looking partner a small glance.

"Okuda, speak." Demanded Yuma-sensei with eyes displaying ultimate displeasure – she's tongue tied again.

"T-T-T-Time…! E-erases all t-t-t-that once… was! I-I-It no lo-lo—Ah!" because of all the shaking and uncertainty that pulsed throughout her body, she had inevitably dropped her copy of the poem to the floor.

"O-Oh my…u-uhh…" Manami crouched down and hastily attempted to pick up the set of papers until she was stopped by the disappointed voice of her elderly teacher.

"I've seen enough, sit down."

Then the girl's body felt like it had just been paralyzed. All of that preparation, all of the things she'd been able to accomplish this week felt like it had been useless – it was like everything went back to square one, where she was nothing but a dust in the wind passing by the world full of busy people with lives to attend to, and all she did was get caught in someone's eye to irritate them.

But that wasn't the only issue.

Slowly, Okuda turned her head to have a look at her partner's reaction, only to find her view blocked by the dark bangs that hung over her blue orbs. After all Kimizuki had done to get her to perform well, she just had to play a stunt like that.

The guilt she felt at the time overwhelmed her so much, Manami wasn't able to stand as she merely stared at her partner with a greatly appalled expression. How could she? It's all been for naught now.

"K-….Kimizuk—"

"Enough." Her tone was bilious – like all the radiance that revolved around her character had been swept away. The short haired girl finally made eye contact with her partner, but the emotion her blue eyes had nothing in it but pure distaste and despondency.

"It's not like I ever expected anything from you anyway."

The amount of hurt Manami felt at the time was immeasurable as she felt herself drown in the deep abyss that swirled about in her mind and ate away whatever good she felt about herself and – almost – the world itself.

Ouch.

"Omo-chaaaaan!" a rather short girl with a green bow tied behind her long, pale, brown hair called out with her hands by the sides of her mouth each time she would cry out the name of her strange pet.

It was now lunch time, and Isura Mai currently spent it in the school's garden right beside the cafeteria as she repeated the name of her baby pig-bear hybrid over and over. Everyone else had themselves scattered around the school doing who knows what with the hour they were given.

"Omo-chaaan! Just because I said you had to take your medicine doesn't mean you're allowed to run away and hide!" Mai took out a tiny bottle from her blazer pocket to try and lure her pet out – but it only did the opposite. In a nearby bush hid away the frightened Omo-chan as he tremored under the words 'medicine' from his not so official owner.

"Omo-chan! If you want to get better you have to drink this you know." She continued to pursue the brown furball as she looked around for any sign of him around the bushes – until she heard some really nasty words just from a group of girls right in front of her.

They were…laughing, and it didn't seem like anything was all that funny to the vice president as she listened in to their conversation – rude it may be, but she couldn't let this slip by especially when she heard the words 'braided nerd'; and of course, she had a hunch on who it was.

"Hey your partner earlier was really annoying, you know that?" said one of them as she placed a hand on her hip egotistically. The other girl she talked to was the only one Isura could see clearly from her place of hiding – she was shorter than the rest and harbored dark hair that caressed her neck due to its short length; another characteristic to be pointed out was the mole under her sea blue eyes.

"Yeah, well, saying that won't get me back my grade. It was already frustrating enough to be partners with her in the first place – and here I thought I could save myself from this by letting her get the bad grade. Yuma-sensei's a tough nut to crack after all." She gave an exasperated sigh as her brows furrowed in annoyance.

Another one of them spoke, this time Mai noticed something – it was a way too extravagant hairtie that kept her brown locks styled in a…the vice president will just assume that's a ponytail.

"Well, at the very least, she crashed down hard earlier!" and a laugh broke out between the group – more snide remarks that agreed with her statement followed through.

"Yeah! Did you see her face?! It was priceless!"

"To think someone like her hangs out with that Akabane-kun? I'm pretty sure he's fed up with her already! How could he even think of rejecting you Kimizuki?!"

"I'd rather you not talk about that." Said the girl named Kimizuki as her eyes rolled at the memory "But I have to admit, she's pretty useless unless you get her to answer your science and math problems for you. Other than that, I'm still confused why Akabane-kun doesn't just ditch her. He must be pretty tired to deal with someone so troublesome"

It had to be that same moment for Manami to come out of the cafeteria just to hear her last set of words. A smirk formed on some of the girl's face – they wanted her to hear that.

The group of obnoxious women just stared back at the frail girl who slowed her steps after she registered what they just said. Once she spotted Kimizuki give her a hateful glare and avert it away from her, all the poor girl could do was face the floor guiltily, doing her utmost to ignore the taunting stares that followed after her as she quickened her pace to the other building.

They broke into a fit of laughter again "Did you see that?!"

"It looked like a small mouse lost and confused running away from cats!"

Not wasting another second, Isura jumped from her spot behind the bushes and ran after the girl as she bit on her lower lip – she couldn't stand anymore of the terrible scene. To hear all of that coming from freshmen this early into the year was unheard of, but before she does anything, she had to make things clear first. Even the small Omo-chan looked a bit worried after witnessing his caretaker take off just like that after she watched a tiny set of girls.

The sudden reaction Mai had brought out triggered a silence from the bullies – of course, she's the vice president so it's a given to be known by many by this time. Right now, she was happy about the power she had over students

At least she was able to shut them up.

Omo-chan could sense his owner's agitation from where he was stationed and animal instinct took over. He leapt from under the bushes and charged at the females.

"What is tha—OW!"

"Okuda-san!"

Manami's eyes widened after she heard the familiar voice carried out with concern. Turning around, she spots her senior panting to her direction as her light but urgent footsteps would fill the empty corridor with sound.

"Isura-senpai?"

Mai took a few moments to catch her breath but didn't want to wait any longer for some answers "Okuda-san, what was that just now?" her eyes showed affliction as they demanded to know what Okuda had been going through for the past week. The girl in question stared at her in bewilderment 'When did she…?'

"How long has this been happening?" her face and tone spelled out that she absolutely needed to know; as the vice president and caring person she is, she can't let slip by what she just saw before her eyes – more importantly, the victim was one of her closest juniors.

Manami remained silent as she turned a small look of agony to the floor and pursed her lips. Her shoulders tensed up as the grip she had on her bento had tightened in an attempt to hold in all the pain she's collected (and tried throwing away), so she couldn't answer and refused to look at her schoolmate's perturbed eyes.

Isura frowned at this. She got the message "Why won't you tell anyone?"

The bespectacled female raised her head to reveal a bleak smile to somehow hide away whatever she felt at the moment. The vice president, being able to read people well, found this heartbreaking.

"Senpai, I appreciate your concern over me, but…I want to deal with my own problems by myself…" her eyes fell downcast once more in reminiscence of a memory that a certain brunette once triggered in the beginning of the year. "I can't afford to let other people get sucked in and get hurt with me…so it's better for both myself and the people around me."

Isura was speechless. How can she tell the girl in front of her what she wants to say without having to pry into her fixed mind? She knew that to try convincing her of what she believes would end up being futile – she knows Manami and how much she wants to grow out of her shell by herself for herself and those she considers important to her, which is a good thing but…

"So please, Isura-senpai. Don't tell anyone and…

Forget about it."

The following day…

"So teacher's deliberations are being held today?" a dark-haired boy questioned the girl that travelled alongside him

"Yeah, so that means no teachers for the rest of the afternoon~!" the blond stretched her arms up and placed them behind her head in an indifferent fashion.

Classes were over that day, and halls were noisy as ever as Nakamura and Sugino walked out of the cafeteria on their way to club – they just happened to run into each other.

"If there are no teachers then that means no one's gonna be supervising the club hours, not that it's a problem for us, but other clubs probably need them." Sugino said as he munched on his chicken sandwich – Manami told them she wasn't able to get so much sleep that night, hence no treats from her today.

"Like you said, that's not our problem~" Rio sing songed in a delightful manner as her steps seemed to go with some beat. Sugino sighed at this 'Well, at least one other staff member is available' his mind drifted off to a maroon-haired woman in a white nurse' coat; truth be told he found her a little scary with that intimidating look in her narrow eyes. His brain apparently portrayed her to resemble some chibi mad scientist with that 'I'm an adult so I'm better than you' vibe.

Just as the pair was about to make their turn to the next hall, Rio halted before they were seen by a pair of boys having a suspicious conversation.

"Nakamura—"

"Sh!" she sharply placed a finger in front of her mouth to shut him up as they eavesdropped on them. The spiky-haired boy was unsure of what brought this up with his companion, but he soon figured out what it was after he registered some words.

"Hey, that girl Okuda, do you know her?"

"Oh yeah, classmate of mine, I got her to do my science homework for me once, what about her?"

"What do you think of her?"

"Really plain, conservative and kind of boring. But she looks innocent and I actually find her cute." This sentence caused Rio's brow to twitch unnervingly.

"Rumor has it she's faking."

"Faking? It kind of looks real to me. Like the way she fidgets around when she's nervous is just hilarious! Everyone in the class thinks so too, so it's fun to watch!"

"She's only acting that way to get people to move to her side. It's the oldest trick in the book, they say, to act weak so that you can have others fight for you when you're picked on. That's what I heard from Mimura Naoki."

"Mimura Naoki? Hm, she's usually accurate with her rumors so it could be true. But so long as she can still do my homework for me I'm good."

"You're probably right; hey, maybe we can get her to play with us sometime!"

That tears it.

Fists were clenched, teeth were grit and eyes gave out murderous intent. Nakamura Rio fumed with rage before she charged at them – even Sugino, who was usually not as impulsive, felt the urge to give those two a nice beating.

But that was until they felt a pair of hands clutch the back of their shirts. Rio was the first one to turn around to see who the hell stopped her from bringing those two down to hell and back but calmed down a bit due to the surprise of realizing who it was.

"Isura-senpai?!" Sugino exclaimed - . The girl in question had her face hid behind her hair as she shook her head vigorously to prevent them from creating a ruckus in the middle of school, and for another reason…

Rio clicked her tongue once her targets had disappeared into the next hall without having received proper punishment; naturally, some of her anger shifted to their club's council support "Senpai! Why did you stop us?!"

The shorter girl's mouth quivered – never lifting her head as she just shook it. Truth be told, she didn't want to stop them; but for Okuda's sake, she can't allow her precious club members to get involved in the mess the shy girl tried so hard to keep to herself for a week and a half.

"…You know something, don't you, Isura-senpai?" the blond peered at her with a demand and right to know just what was up. Rio, sharp as she was, left the senior speechless and unmoving – which only confirmed her earlier statement.

"Senpai, tell us what's going on, now" It was rare for Sugino to be so pressing, but this was a matter that looked to be too big for itself and the ones involved. Not to mention, that conversation between those two students was far from anything pleasant – now the problem's under their noses and it couldn't smell worse.

Mai's shoulders shuddered – she couldn't bear it anymore.

'I'm sorry, Okuda-san'

"Okuda-san!"

Just as Manami was about to leave for her daily club meeting, one of her classmates, Tomo Fujimura, environmental chairman, called her out with an expression of mild urgency – which had her taken aback for this boy never really talked with her. He had blond hair, but its shade was much darker compared with Nakamura's as it was styled with the coconut-style haircut.

He panted toward her, resting his hands on his knees in the process "Phew, I made it."

"Y-yes? W-What do you need Fujimura-kun?" the braided girl stammered as her body tensed up. The one named Fujimura beamed at her embarrassingly "Sorry to drag you out like this but I'd like to ask for some of your assistance with something."

"P-Project?"

"Yep. The other class officers were discussing about how we could make our school a little greener and more 'colorful' as you might say it."

They were outside of the building by now, heading towards a very old-looking tool shed just in the middle of the school's field. It looked so old, the building itself could fall apart all on its own. Manami started to feel anxious about what she's gotten herself into.

"S-So there are chem-chemicals in there you want me to test?

"Not exactly test; I'd kinda want you to tell me what they do too. Since Mikagura-sensei's busy with deliberations, you're the next best person for the job." Fujimura pried the door open with his foot to reveal a very dusty wooden storage room with rusted tools that don't look to be of much use now. In the center of a room was a flat, wooden storm cellar that led to another storage room.

Just by the sight of it Okuda felt a shill go up her spine "Th-The chemicals a-a-are in t-there?" the splutters became worse each step she made that brought her closer to the cellar.

"Sure are." He turned a heel to look at her clearly frightened form and smiled, amused "Don't worry, I'll follow after you and keep the door open." He smiled again, this time reassuringly.

Manami gulped, she'd lost the ability to oppose.

Fujimura grabbed the cellar's handle and pulled – it was one heck of a struggle if you considered how long it's never been touched.

Minutes passed, and finally it gave in – a bog of dust came out with it which led to the blond boy sneezing. "After you." He wiped his nose and gestured for her to make her entrance.

With another deep breath, the introverted girl stepped inside. Each time her foot would make contact with the wooden stairs it would give out a loud creak that was similar to that of a crow's cry. It didn't look like anyone cared enough to install a lamp here for it was dark – the only light she had was that which came from the opened doors.

"Fuji-Fujimura-kun which way are they?" her eyesight was bad enough, and the lack of light didn't help at all.

"It's there, just up front." 'This'll be priceless.' Just then, a twisted smile formed on his face as he brought his phone out from the back pocket.

"I d-d-don't se-see anything here Fujimura-ku…-" she trailed off with a dumbfounded expression gracing her features.

It started with the sound of creaking wood, and at the same time whatever light she had in that room disappeared each time it would get louder, and it ended with the sound of metal as the doors were slammed shut with a loud bang.

And she was left alone in the pitch black darkness of a dusty basement.

Outside of it, the jeering Fujimura Tomo cackled after getting a good catch of Okuda's face when the doors suddenly closed on video. "Hah! Hilarity! Next is—eh?"

Since the furniture within this small shed was already on the verge of demolishing themselves, it would be wise to be careful with how you handle them.

Fujimura Tomo was not wise enough.

Because he had slammed the door on her with too much force (he wanted her to pee her pants if ever), a wooden shelf that already had too much to carry became unstill due to the impact of the action he just made – it swayed from side to side for seconds as the environmental chairman looked on with shock clouding his eyes and freezing his limbs.

But upon instinct, he jumped out of the way once the big shelf chose where it was supposed to land.

And if his eyes could grow any wider than they already were, they did.

"O-…Okuda-…san…?"

To say Karma saw this coming is a little of an understatement. True, he's not completely aware of what started this and why it did in the first place, but observant as he was, the whispers he hears in the hallways about Okuda-san being a fake don't just come out of the other ear. But as for the other things the older girl in front of him mentioned, this was the first time he had heard of such– so currently, he was a tad bit peeved at his chemistry loving friend for not even mentioning this even if they hang out daily (and himself for being ignorant). He knew she had no proper reason to be obligated to tell him, but lately he'd been getting ahead of himself when it came to the bespectacled girl. He'll have a talk with her later.

Isura Mai had ended her explanation and she earned was silence from everyone within the clubroom. They expressed their disgust to the subject by presenting scowls on their faces – specifically from Nakamura, Sugino and Fuwa.

"…she thinks that if you help her, she can't grow up and she'll only be a bother to you." Mai's grave blue eyes shifted to where Karma lazily seated himself by the window of the clubroom. He's another reason for all this, but she can't just bring herself to say that and create an awkward situation.

That'll be for Okuda to explain to him.

Rio finally broke the silence when she got up from her seat and proceeded to walk out the door.

"And where are you going?" Karma asked nonchalantly as his eyes had travelled to where she halted.

"It's obvious, isn't it? I'm going to look for her." She kept her back turned to him, her tone just as nonchalant.

"And then what?" well, they're both pissed at her it seems – she was giving off the same vibe he was.

"…Talk some sense into her." Rio put her hand on the door, and before Fuwa volunteered to do so with her, the entire room had been interrupted by the sound of a student's muffled yells in the corridor that became louder and louder until it was clear enough that it was a boy's humorless shrieks heading for their room.

"ISURA-SAN! ISURA-SAN! WE'VE GOT TROUBLE!" the blond backed away from the door and gave way to whatever this schoolmate – who most likely is a second year student – of theirs had to say for it didn't look like it was any matter to laugh at.

"W-What's wrong?!" Mai said this in a panicked tone as she could feel herself get nervous – she had a feeling she greatly didn't want to know what this was.

"I-IN THE SCHOOL SHED! A GIRL FROM 1ST YEAR CLASS C'S BEEN…!"

Individual gasps and cries broke out from everyone in the entire room as each of their eyeballs shrunk at how inconceivable it all sounded. The gloss in each one's eyes went away in a snap after the words registered.

And on Karma's side, all he could do the second he listened to such unbelievable words was turn his body sharply to the window with a haunted expression over his face. His breath became uneasy after he let out his own shocked sound along with the unsteady beat of his heart.

Mercury eyes were wide with horror as they traveled to the old school shed just within their window's view, where his Okuda-san was.

The shrill cries of a helpless girl filled the empty, pitch black basement of an old school shed; and above its doors laid a wreck of heavy materials similar to that of a house' debris after an earthquake.

No matter how much of her strength she used to push it off, the doors wouldn't budge even the slightest; they were blocked by the metals and pieces of wood that would probably crush her if the wooden doors couldn't handle any more of it.

This then left the poor girl alone

On her own

In the dark.

' K

TT_TT

I know have a feeling there are lots of errors and for that I'm very sorry ;-;

Okay well I guess that's it for today!

By the way what I mean by Karma gets ahead of himself lately is because of that one night she called him just to tell him her feelings and what she'll do. So from then on Karma probably thought she'd tell him anything. But he was WROONG

I don't know just thought I'd tell you ;D (is not in her right mind at the moment)

*Yuma: masculine or feminine name which means for feminine "beautiful or graceful dancer."

I GOT THE POEM FROM HERE~: poems/long/japanese

yeaaahhh...I'm pretty sure I've pissed some of you off huh XD Well everything's been just peachy for the past few chapters so might as well O3O

ANYWAY! I MUST DEPART AND GATHER MORE IDEAS THROUGH DREAMING AND SLUMBER!

OHH! QUESTION: Who do you guys ship with Sugino? Or do you ship him with anyone at all? TELL ME~! ^W^

PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW SO I CAN BE INSPIRED TO WRITE MORE ^_^ (And I will answer them next time ;-;) Also I'd like to encourage you to write what you found notable this time ^w^ 3

With lots of love, TheFlowerWeSawThatDay