AAHH! THE THINGS I EDITED IN THIS DOCUMENT GOT DELETED NOW I HAVE TO RESTART DO YOU KNOW HOW LAZY THAT MAKES ME? ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S LIKE 3 AM WHERE I'M PLANNING THE NEXT CHAPTER *cries*
Anyway, YAY! END OF ARC FOR REAL!
I exerted an extra effort into this end of arc for some reason. Well you'll probably see the reason why soon after you read X'3
But first and foremost, LET'S GIVE A HAND TO ISURA-SENPAI! PHEW! I'm glad you all seem to like her and her weird components! NOW LET'S GIVE HER A ROUND OF APPLAUSE!
(*Meanwhile Mai: Omo-chan! You can't just go under high school girl's skirts without asking to court them!
Sugino, Yuzuki and Rio passing by be like: YOU DON'T GO UNDER IN GENERAL!)
HAHA LOL okay let's get to the important (lol no) talk. This last one's pretty...idk but for once I am proud enough to have written it X'3 So I'd like it very much if you told me how you felt about it ^W^
But I regret to inform you that even if I say this, PLEASE FORGIVE ME ONE MORE TIME FOR I CAN'T ANSWER REVIEWS IN THIS LATE HOUR AND CRANKY STATE TTnTT
Im really sorry I couldn't, but my eyes are too tired because I've already used up an hour editing the doc plus answering reviews BUT THEN NO DELETED. So I guess just for this chapter I'll PM your replies when I get the chance to but JUST this chapter so don't worry! Again Im very sorry for heeding to my selfish needs and not answering reviews that deserve replies the same time as chapter Q3Q
OKay Imma stop making excuses now and just get on with the disclaimer: If I owned it I would've been writing all of this officially 8D
Well then, Enjoy~!
Chapter 14: If I Were To Tell You…(END OF ARC: I'll Keep it a Secret)
"Manami-chan."
"Hm?"
"You lack appeal." Stated a blond haired girl bluntly with obvious disappointment in her tone as she had her hands into a drawer next to a particular science nerd's bed – the aforementioned science nerd could only stare at her with confusion clouding her lavender eyes beneath the shine of her glasses against the white light of her bedroom.
"What's this?" the taller girl revealed what she had been looking through for the past minutes since her otaku friend had gone off to the restroom (because she wouldn't have been able to do this had she not gone away). "You expect to attract anyone with this?" her dissatisfied 'this' referred to the full clad sets of pure white under-garments both for the top and the bottom – all of which were as plain as a deserted patch of sand for they didn't even have a hint of fashion or any type of design. To Rio, they were sad pairs of womanly shame, and it was only proven by her expression as she held one pair.
Manami dropped the tray they had eaten from with horrified purple eyes as a deep crimson began to overtake the color of her pale complexion starting from the neck up – her body temperature rose massively by the millisecond while her limbs started to become stiff. But after the sound of the loud clutter of clangs by the plates and utensils (that are thankfully not broken), her hands came up to her hair in a sudden rush of adrenaline and before she knew it she slammed the drawer shut after diving to where she was; causing the larger girl to have to back away a bit by the wall.
With much agitation still present all over her form, the eyeglasses-ed girl shakily turned her head to the golden-crowned girl with eyeballs that resembled scribbles out of the rush of emotions that made her head bombard itself with a disarray of thoughts – now it was like steam started to emanate from her almost completely red form "I-I-I-It's not a-a-a-as if I wa-want some-someone to loo-look at that p-p-p-p-part of me! NAKAMURA-SAN!" she whined out her name to her in a high pitched squeak that could be compared to when a little sister would complain about being made fun of – in fact, she even looked like one with the somewhat bratty way she screeched her name and tried to grab the ones still in her hand
But even with this honestly adorable face and reaction that anyone can submit to, Rio only smirked threateningly and put the possession in her hand further away "Nakamura-san?"
Realizing what she said, and finding that look of hers a little scary, Manami amended her 'mistake' after a nervous gulp "R-Ri-Rio-chan, please put those down…" some of the adrenaline had faded away but was replaced by a look of distress that had the blond cease her antics and display the girl a pout.
"Heyy." Rio let her palms squeeze the petite girl's cheeks gently and had her look up – which was quite cute to look at as she rubbed them from time to time and let her head turn side to side. Albeit doing this friendly gesture, the pout on her face remained as she lectured her "You have to be more femininely appealing you know? If you don't at least try, how are you going to get married?"
The blond let go of her face to let her answer after the other gave out a muffled sound through closed lips as a result of being released from her hold. "U-Uhmm…er…" Manami appeared to have found this topic awkward for her, but soon that awkwardness shifted into quite the cheerless atmosphere with the lowering of the introvert's head as a glum smile graced her face – her shoulders even relaxed when she uttered in a soft yet audible voice-
"I…I've never thought of getting married before…and even if I did, I don't think anyone will be willing to…" Rio kept silent and watched her shrug and look to the side of the floor with a pessimistic expression, but the smile remained "For a person like me…it's hard to see myself that way…"
A few more quiet moments drifted by after that – and that was what left the taller girl to let those words linger about in her train of thought; she shouldn't be surprised by this coming from her, but that didn't change the fact that it was downright somber to know that that was how she saw herself even after all this time. But after thinking about it a little more, she let a smirk take over her serious expression "Yush!"
"Hm?" Manami tilted her head to the side and faced up at her friend whom abruptly got to her feet.
The smirk only grew wider as Rio put a hand to her hip and pointed down to the spectacled girl with enthusiasm "We're gonna go shopping!"
At that same moment, Yuzuki had come in just in time to see how her blond friend had some sort of pose in front of the raven-haired girl knelt on the floor with quizzicality upon her blinking lavender orbs – with a growing curiosity, the brunette tilted her head "Is something going on?" – she hopes it's something decent though.
"Oh! Yuzuki-chan! Good timing! Next time we plan an outing, we're taking Manami-chan shopping!" the ecstatic, light-haired girl proclaimed eagerly – and it somehow relieved the otaku of her suspicions of it being another maddening crisis, but in in turn, she felt her brows furrow.
"But doesn't she dislike malls and shopping?" Yuzuki stepped inside fully to properly join them in the conversation by having herself seated on the bed.
"Yes, yes. I know. But look at this." Rio reasoned out, the disappointment back on her features as she revealed the drawer's contents to the girl once more – much to Manami's dismay as panic surged through her body again "AAAHH! STOP LOOKING!" But as opposed to this wish, the brunette only did the opposite; heck she even eyed it as if it were the saddest thing in the world.
"Manami-chan…this is…" she looked near tears as she searched for words to describe this predicament.
"Please don't look so sorry for me!" the one being victimized cried out and had another whiny expression on.
"It's decided!" Rio caught the two's attention for they had shifted their heads to find her presenting them with blue orbs full of resolve and another exaggerated point of her finger to the braided girl "We're gonna woman you up for the rest of the break!"
"E-Eh?! But—"
"Sounds nice!" Yuzuki chimed in with approval, which only got her another panicked reaction from the one knelt on the floor "Bu-But I don't really need to buy any more clothes—"
"Last time I checked, that dress was the only thing in your wardrobe that actually caught my eye." Rio immediately cut her off just to scold her regarding this fact; heck her smile disappeared for a moment just to display her unamusement to the girl's taste in apparel.
"Mm…" Manami frowned at this with unease as a drop of sweat came from the side of her head – she knew that whatever retort she'd throw would be overlooked whenever these two had their minds made up.
"Alright then!" the manga-lover looked hyped for this already with that enthusiastic remark. Noticing the short girl still in a state of distraught, she pet her head lightly "C'mon, don't look so down. We're doing this for your sake." Yuzuki tried cheering her up and Rio followed suit by crouching down to her level and pinching her cheek gently with a genuine smile.
"Mhm, honing your womanly essentials shouldn't be so bad, right?"
"But…" the dark-haired girl still kept her gaze downcast and spoke in a soft voice – shoulders tensed up. The other two were accustomed to seeing how the girl always felt upset over trivial things, so it wasn't such a new occurrence to them to see this reaction from her and get the gist of her thoughts.
"Don't worry about it. After all, it's just what friends do." Yuzuki reassured once more – but her understanding of what bothered her had been different from what the bespectacled girl really had on her mind; such was proven when she mumbled out "That's not it…"
"Hm?" Both girls said simultaneously – neither of them expected that kind of reply.
Manami fidgeted for a second before she could relay her words properly "Eh, well…I don't want to ask too much of Inari-nee." The lack of response from the two of them urged her to go on for it assured her they were more than willing to listen.
"Because…well, Inari-nee always works hard for me. She even has lots of part-tome jobs just so she could get the both of us to live comfortably. I've always been grateful for that..." a brief pause came just for her to turn her head up and face them as she brooded over her words with a bittersweet smile "Even if we aren't related, she still tries so hard. So I don't want to ask for a lot of things…it's the least I could do."
A respectful silence came as they thought about her words. Neither of them took it as a good option to let her speak about her past, but of course, that would leave them in the dark – and though they knew that the girl was most probably thinking lowly of herself again, they were in no right to tell her such for they were not knowledgeable of the full story; naturally, they couldn't say anything to her for a while. But as if having the same thoughts, the two exchanged a look and gave each other a nod before they faced their nerdy friend.
"We're still taking you shopping." Rio said cheekily before she sat back on the floor.
Manami, taken aback, was only able to respond with another "Heh?" – now she was unsure if they did listen, but then again she really didn't know what they had up their sleeve until Yuzuki said "But leave the payment to us!" with an energetic thumbs-up and a wink before she high-fived the blond girl whom laid laxly on the floor.
"But that's—" They got the exact reaction they expected from her – so with that in mind, they both sharply turned and presented her with sly grins that brought the message that their decision was a firm and solid final, thus she had been silenced.
"Yay~!" Happy with the results, Rio grinned once more and had gotten hyped all of a sudden "Oh! We should invite other girls too! Maybe Kurahashi and Akari-chan if she's not with Nagisa!" she suggested zealously – already formulating the plans they could do together when that day came.
Yuzuki succeeded this with an ecstatic beam of her own and a finger up in eureka "Ah! Maybe we can get Yada-san to come with us!"
"Oh, good call!"
As the two pushed through with their rapturous organization of this event, Manami still found herself in quite the discomfort – likely by the fact that they were going to pay for her, which was against her morals. However, she couldn't help but feel delighted by her friend's kindness; it was the first time she'd ever had friends over just to have fun, and to know that sometime in the break she was going to have an outing with them that they brought about for her sake – she had only thought such a day would come in her daydreams, now that it had become reality, a grateful beam stretched across her face as a thought came: she could never ask for better friends.
"Heck, we can invite Bitch-sensei to the party!"
"Yeah!" a moment after exclaiming this, Yuzuki had a thought.
Bitch-sensei buying clothes for Manami
Bitch-sensei buying clothes for Manami
Bitch-sensei buying clothes for Manami
"HELL NO!"
"Yo, Karma-kun." The voice of a blue-haired boy that originated from behind him did not surprise the mercury-orbed delinquent whom had not torn those said orbs from the sun that was just beginning to kiss the horizon.
It had only been a few minutes since Karma had settled himself down onto the grass after his little talk with a senior he now saw under another light; if there was anything he would be surprised about, it would be that his best friend took long enough to finally arrive.
He acknowledged the newcomer's presence by turning his head to the side "You came to check on me?"
"Well, there's obviously something bothering you." Nagisa said as he approached his best friend and stationed himself not too far from his left – just atop the edge of the grassy portion where the redhead sat in a laid-back fashion with his arms behind him for support; in no time at all, he found himself staring into the same view as him before he continued "I came to try and get you to tell me what it is."
A cool breeze passed them by as it let a pair of blue pigtails dance with it to the right side while he awaited a response. The only reverberations that came with this wind were the scratches of dry leaves upon the narrow, cobblestoned street from behind the duo and the bustling of the bushes and the trees nearby; there was no indication of other people within the vicinity as the day had begun to come to a close – the scent of summer and the added natural fragrance of the river down below them not feigning to touch their nostrils as both had come to a rather remedying silence; but not so much for the scarlet-haired boy who had been going through another thought process since his friend's last statement.
For a moment there, the shorter boy was beginning to wonder if he ever will reply to his sentence; or that he had come at a bad time to console him – but this had been a short-lived feeling once he broke the quietude, finally. "Nagisa-kun."
The boy who had been mentioned didn't answer anything in particular and let his blue eyes travel down to where he sat – knowing his silence was enough for him to know that he wanted him to continue; but he noticed how he still hadn't let his half-lidded eyes leave the orange orb in front of them.
"Why are you dating Kayano-chan?"
"A-Akari? W-Well…" Well, this certainly was unexpected from him – naturally, Nagisa felt some heat reach his cheeks because of the out-of-the-blue inquiry; before he thought about his answer to the question, he wondered what had brought it up in the first place, and seeing how his friend didn't really look to be in some teasing mode, the pigtailed boy narrowed his eyes.
"Don't tell me…is this about a girl?"
That's Class 3-E's Shiota Nagisa for you. Analytical piece of shit.
"You can say that." Karma replied with a lazy smile – so he'd been caught already. And the conversation had gone into a brief pause after that just to let the subtle sound of the river's current fill their ears for a short while.
Nagisa had not put into his expectations the fact that his behavior from earlier circled on a female – heck, he hadn't considered if his friend was all that interested in love and the whatnot; then again, he wasn't either until it just came. So after a few more seconds, he shifted his gaze back to the sky "Well? Are you gonna tell me who or do I already know?"
Karma kept a casual front and stifled an almost non-existent chuckle "Maybe. But what I could tell you is that she's shy, hopelessly accident prone, terrible with people and…" the smile faded away when he lowered his eyes to the water that kissed the moist soil right below him.
'Akabane-san…'
"…fragile."
Another pause from the both of them. The pigtailed boy kept his outward features blank, but it wasn't the same case underneath when he took notice of how he said that last word – it was low and heavy; as if it held onto so many emotions regarding that characteristic.
"…Well? What about her then?" he pursued with the topic with a somehow blasé tone – but it was laced with the will to listen to the boy as he crouched down to rest himself on the edge of the grass to his top left.
It took moments for Karma to think about his answer to the question until another smile came – this time out of how laughable he could be right now for he was at a loss "…I don't really know myself but…"
The image of her crestfallen lavender eyes came to as it were accompanied by a faint, exhausted smile – the way her braids flew with the light breeze that passed by and the view of the grove of trees that rustled behind her fatigued, and small figure…
It was the day she told him she can't promise to let him be there for her all the time.
"She keeps popping up in my mind." He started again, changing his position so that he was slouching now; his arms crossed as his hands held onto his spread knees – almost like a tuck position. "When she's around, I always think of things that could happen to her – I overthink to the point that I can't bring myself to leave her side anymore. Because the one time I did…" memories of the day she was buried under a pile of debris flashed rapidly; as if the emotions he had that day had not since been forgotten. The way a student came running to them, the way he desperately took action, the way she looked when she finally spotted light…
"I went into a really uncool mode…" Karma deadpanned. "But even though I'm almost always…well…" he had to prepare himself to use the word "scared of what could happen…" he blinked as he stared back up at the nearly half-ed sun, this time with a genuine smile as he spoke "I catch myself only awed with the things she does…I can't always expect each move she makes, and I'm found just enjoying whatever show she brings me." And she came up again – the first time she asked to have juice with him, the night she called him just to tell him she'll do her best, how she was able to stand up against her flaws outstandingly, and the scenes he had blessed him with "But in any case…" he sighed and rested his forehead with the support of his hand.
"I'm still at a loss for how I should feel about her…"
Nagisa stared at him from the side of his eye with slightly raised eyebrows – to hear all of this coming from him was a very rare occurrence. Heck, he's not even sure if he'd witnessed it occur before due to how sporadic this was. Although, after taking in how he really had his head at a boggled state just by looking at him, and after thoroughly understanding his words and the feelings held inside of them, he blinked once and faced forward again.
"Oh. So you fell in love."
Mercury eyes grew wide gradually as the owner let those words sink in ever so slowly. He froze in place; hand still upon forehead for it had refused to remove itself after how blunt that statement was as the rest of his body had somehow gotten numb to him. Another wind passed by and let his hair fly with it in his moment of cognizance – but he also had that suspicion himself. He wasn't dense; he's far from that, really – he just refused to believe it and/or pushed the feeling down with all of his might and gave himself excuses; and he was also aware they were excuses. But for him to say it out loud…
His gaze lowered and his eyebrows scrunched together as he frowned."…No."
"Hm?" the bluenette stared at his back quizzically as he too felt his brows furrow in confusion.
"I don't want to just accept it that way." His tone was serious now, and could be somewhat aggressive if you squint hard enough – this only added up to his best friend's bewilderment.
"Why not? It's normal."
"But…" he trailed off, unable to find anything to say out loud for his reason for the inability of acceptance of the probable fact he just said.
"But…?" after taking a good look at how conflicted the redhead was, Nagisa stifled a sigh and stared back up to the darkening clouds as he continued "For starters, why do you care so much about her in the first place?"
At this, Karma blinked and turned his head a little to his side which prodded the other to elaborate "It's not like you to be worked up this bad over a person. What has this girl done to you, and why is it so hard for you to just accept that that's the way you feel about her?" Nagisa had now leaned back on his arms and raised an eyebrow with the tilt of his head.
Once more, pale-gold orbs averted themselves to the opposite side of where his friend had stationed himself. But knowing all too well he can't run away from this question, could only let out a sigh and take a moment to gather his words and relay them honestly – he had learned to be able to do so in front of this particular fellow; after years of friendship, he'd come to trust his advice and count on him to keep some of his secrets.
"I've never had someone like her."
And yet again, the pigtailed boy had been told something he did not list in his expectations which had him unconsciously express his piqued interest by the sound of surprise he had created – it only increased when he took notice of the face he made while he talked about this person; in all honesty, he could've sworn that was the only time he saw him look that way from the time he'd known him. A mix of dozens of feelings all gathered into those inscrutable eyes and a smile whose emotion he could not comprehend.
"Someone that listened to me and stayed with me no matter what I did…made me feel so important in their life that I get urged to do things that can make a really…pleasant face." And then his expression faltered when he looked back to the time she poured out her feelings in front of him in the silence of a forest at night – despairing and pained eyes glinting under the moon from tears that blurred her glasses.
His lids lowered as a cynical smile came "And someone so nice…I'm afraid of hurting…She always thanks me for 'giving' her things, but she doesn't realize what she's given me." after another exhale from the weight of this conversation, he leaned back to try and relax himself – rubbing the back of his head with an indifferent front so as to make up for that rather unbecoming set of sentences from him due to his aloof character.
Nagisa didn't need to think too hard on this, but he had to take a moment for all of this to register completely and sink in. Karma, of all people, talking about a person in this manner – and now it was clear "I don't know what you think that is, but from a general perspective, and from how much I know you – basically, that's love."
A fist clenched itself upon a tiny patch of grass "But…I don't want to jump into conclusions."
"Oh well." Was all the blue-haired boy said back with a blank expression even with the obvious hint of self-conflict he had with that tone.
"That doesn't exactly help, Nagisa-kun."
"You're a pain in the neck when you're in love." He sounded smug for a while – to which Karma responded to with an irked grunt and just turned away like some immature child would when outwitted.
Honestly speaking, seeing him this way was a little funny – finally, he was the one getting a little entertainment out of his struggles. Not to mention, this was Kunugigaoka's finest here – smart, tactical and just plain talented; seeing him worked up over something common like this, one can only be so amused. But since he was not as callous as the redhead, and he knew well that this topic had had a weight on his friend for quite some time now judging from how he talked about it, he couldn't deny the concern he had for his friend.
"But…Like I said, what's keeping you from believing that?"
"I…" he trailed off for a bit and decided that instead of running his mouth, he'd allot some more time to put his mind around it.
Sure, he may have been important to her life, as she would always put it. He knew that she saw him as someone she couldn't ever repay and was always thankful for his deeds – however, there were many things he had done for her that were just to appease himself. There were many times where he only focused on his own feelings and his own wants when it came to her; and of course he knew all too well that he had a tendency to act on his own desires without paying much heed to others – and he was well aware of how bad it could get if he lost control of himself. And for her to endure all that…
"…Don't know if I'm the best for her. I mean, I don't want such a person…to suffer under my flaws." He let his head lower to the point where his red locks blocked whatever access anyone had to seeing whatever his expression was at the moment. He couldn't get his mind off that for a while – she didn't deserve that. He wouldn't forgive it if someone were to break her spirits – and that included himself since the day he had oh so selfishly avoided her and had caused her pain all because of his stubbornness.
His head came back up when Nagisa scoffed with a sly expression "What? Just because you're in love with someone you're immediately gonna get into a relationship?"
Karma had come to a small realization on how that thought had not crossed his mind as he felt his eyes widen out of how straightforward that had just been (and because of how humiliating it was for him to have only thought of that one option and did not let this idea come across) – no filter here in the 'Let's watch Karma go through emotional stress' boat; for Nagisa exclusively.
Soon enough, he recovered from his slightly startled state and averted his gaze – this topic was already disconcerting, especially for someone like him who wasn't at all into these problematic emotional talks.
"You know, I think I got it." The sudden change in his tone of voice didn't fail to get Karma's attention and had him look over his shoulder to find the other boy staring at him blankly, but with seriousness in his eyes; he wants him to listen to his next words – and the taller one obliged.
"You're scared of opening your heart to her. You're probably thinking 'what if it ends up breaking apart or let down if it goes free?' or something." Nagisa didn't let his stare stray away from the other's while he said this.
"You don't want… to feel that again." Blue eyes had gone half-lidded out of sympathy as he moved them back to the now more calm waters.
Meanwhile, those words had brought back a few memories to the redheaded delinquent – feelings of disappointment, of being crushed, of having trust played with; even until now he hadn't let go of those nasty sensations, but that was what made things clear to him now as he looked towards the now half-circle in the distance you would call the sunset with momentousness, but a sense of relaxation that had unexpectedly washed him over. If his best friend had not said it, then it would've taken longer for him to realize that fear of his – the main reason he hesitated all the time; it was another answer to why he couldn't accept that he had succumbed to such feelings.
Slowly, he could feel some of his troubles that day beginning to diminish – and just as he was starting to get his thoughts arranged, Nagisa spoke up again; but this time, there laced a sort of bitterness in his tone as if in reminiscence of a not so heartwarming memory.
"Do you feel…empty too?"
Karma perked up inconspicuously and yet again exerted enough effort to look back at his now glum smile as he had his knee atop his crossed arms upon his tucked knees. Blue eyes brimmed with heart-wrenching pain that held back feelings that weren't supposed to be fresh anymore, but it appears they still were to the feminine-like boy.
"So empty…it's been so hard to keep yourself going?" It was as if there were bags under his eyes that expressed the emotional torture he had gone through from the time it had all ended; and just remembering their times last year and all of the experiences he had gained there... Kunugigaoka, 3-E, assassination…
Korosensei…
"…Yeah." mercury orbs void of passion led themselves to the darkish sky as they took in blue-ish hues mixed in with gray clouds in his lean backwards.
"It felt like nothing out there…seemed worth it anymore." This statement had been worded out monotonously, but one could not deny the despondency in it that highlighted whatever devastation he felt on the day he lost what gave his life color.
Nagisa took a few moments to relieve how his nerves wracked about nearly uncontrollably just so he could continue to speak properly after a deep breath "You know, sometimes I'd ask myself…what was life before assassination classroom again? How did I spend my days as a student before I had to focus on saving the world?" his next statement sounded even more pained as his eyes narrowed to the last spots of sunshine he'd laid eyes upon since he'd woken up; watching as they leave forever for the rest of this day "What did I do…before it all began…and how am I supposed to get back to doing that?"
It was Karma's same feelings right off the bat as he felt his eyelids lower to almost the point where they were about to shut themselves "…Uh-huh."
"I'm sure we all had that same feeling since we've moved on." – what the bluenette didn't know is that not all had entirely left it behind and took their futures head on (i.e. the one next to him) "Even I…had a hard time taking it all in and just accepting the fact that it was all…over."
A silence came from the two whom shared the same sentiments and were probably about to wallow in their loss until the pigtailed one's voice came again "But then after thinking about it hard enough, and when I focused on the other things around me, I realized something." there was resolve laced in his tone albeit it being seemingly reserved as it had been stated with a hint of maturity from him, especially when he finished it up with-
"That…we've got our lives ahead of us"
Karma didn't even try stopping himself from shooting him with inquisitiveness that one way or another implored him to go on – where was the boy going to go with this new subject? What is it that he would like to relay by bringing this up all of a sudden? He'll have those curiosities answered soon enough as he straightened up from his lazed position; he didn't fail to notice how his expression changed into something he couldn't really put his finger around – but with the way those blue eyes happened to have some sort of resolve in them amidst all of the other bitter emotions, eventually, he found himself listening attentively. If he had something to say and Nagisa listened, it would only be right for him to lend an ear back – but it's not as if this talk had not caught his attention.
"We've got…the rest of our lives ahead of us." The feminine boy lifted himself from the grass and looked off to the distance as he let his clothes under the mercy of the pre-evening winds. "I just started thinking real hard. Maybe we have gone through a lot and we may never find something as amazing as that again. But…we have our lives ahead of us." He repeated, as if to let it sink down hard and burn into both of their minds before he went on with sharing his philosophies with the red-haired boy.
"As we grow older, things get harder. What we've done in middle school, I'm sure it's no match for the everyday struggle of an adult who's gone past our level; like those who have it really hard because they worry about so many things and sacrifice time for themselves just to work and even take away the number of hours they sleep for the sake of themselves…but mostly for the sake of others." He stopped there for a while just to soften his expression as more of his bittersweet emotions piled up, especially with his next words as all the memories of the best time of his life would resurface.
"What middle school was, it was a stepping stone to our lives – we can't expect things to go our way all the time, we'll fall down, we'll fail, we'll reach a point with a knife by our necks and only given a few seconds to think of your way out, we'll be given targets to struggle with and take down. Sure, your problems might not involve professional assassins or weird scientific experiments you'd usually witness from dangerous adventuring, but it goes the same way." Another breath before he lifted his head slightly to observe how the clouds drifted by – it had for some reason reminded him of time itself and how it would glide by without remorse even if you feel yourself getting left behind; and it had also reminded him of the fact that he was forever a slave to it and forever will be under its mercy.
"Soon enough, we'll be adults that'll deal with things that are too big for us – no matter how normal they may be, no matter how clichéd or melodramatic it would come about to most people, the problem still remains unless you figure out a way to get through it; it's how you deal with it and how you choose to do it for people around you. If I continued thinking that there was nothing left for me, then I'm sure it would've stayed that way." Nagisa closed his eyes for a second to somehow let the tranquility of the scenery ease his heavy heart even while he spouted all of these ideals out.
"I like to think that there's something more for me even if it's not as extreme as assassination and Kunugigaoka was. Maybe…that's what Korosensei wished for most." Saying the name brought a throbbing pain to his heart, but even still, he endured that amount of hurt and went on "That year was a stepping stone to the real world, and we were provided with the best teachers there were...the ones that knew its dark corners far too well... He wanted us to know how much it hurt to be an adult with big responsibilities and sacrifices to be made – and with assassination he'd been training us how to do deal with them. Even if I'd dreamed of becoming an assassin, I'm pretty sure that wasn't what he was going for."
Now that he had gotten that out of his chest, he managed to create a small smile as he watched the orange circle of light that was now well on its way to hiding itself from their side of the world "It wasn't just about danger or assassination, that year…It took me time to let it all sink in myself. No matter what…we have to keep ourselves going and go with change. Class E had hope because of that. No matter what…we have to keep an eye at what's in front of us…otherwise…we might end up getting taken out." He spoke from his own experience back in that strange classroom – he had well taken in the things he had learned from the things he had gone through and was successfully able to apply it to his new morals and views on the world.
"No matter how skilled we are, or how amazing the things we've gone through were, there will be things that reality will bring that will be too much for you…And that's what we have waiting for us ahead. Or…I'd like to look at it that way. After all, I'm still a minor with limited experience – I can't always say for sure." Nagisa's smile spread a little more at the thought of him still being young enough to experience even more things – in fact, he looked forward to learning the things his life was ready to give him so much that he found himself reaching for the evening sky that had begun to harbor tiny, faint twinkles of light with his right hand; quite similar to that of a child who can only be left to wonder what sort of mysteries there were in the world. And as he did this, a sense of yearning had become evident in his voice as the last bits of orange reflected against his distant, azure orbs.
"I…kind of want to grow up soon…"
Karma knew that he had concluded this with that last sentence. And surely enough, he had let those words linger about in his pool of thoughts; in fact they were the only things in his mind as of late as he too had come to change his views on the world – he could slowly feel that hilarious dilemma he had always brought with him since the day he graduated Kunugigaoka dissipate and be replaced with a new emotion; a new urge that took away whatever immature outlooks he had for the most part of the year. And with that, his head cleared – he found something that changed inside of him; he couldn't really pinpoint what it was, for all he was aware of was that he was no longer going to return to thinking of the world that way and had things he may be able to look forward to now. He blinked slowly as a stifle smile crept up to his features; really, that boy really knew how to set him straight when he needed it. Unconsciously, he thought back to his talk with a certain brunette and how it had somehow come to connect itself with what Nagisa had his head around.
'I want to be prepared for whatever life throws at me, after all.'
"Growing up, huh…"
Just as the two of them had somehow concluded their heartfelt talk, right on cue, a very familiar, jolly voice came from behind them – and just by hearing it they could practically feel themselves getting snapped back to the present reality they existed in.
"Nagisa! Karma-kun!"
"I wonder if this is okay…"
It wasn't so dark out yet – the sky was yet to take on a darkish hue and had not let its secret lights reveal their full glory as of the current time, but there's no mistaking that it will happen; however, since it wasn't such a late hour, two snipers had come to an agreement that they would pay a visit to their club's introverted character after they had come from a summer festival and departed from it with nearly every prize in hand again – and yes, they got kicked out again.
Being that they hadn't seen her in a while due to her constant refusal of their offers to hang out during the break, Rinka had suggested for them to stop by even if it's just brief for she had taken the time to win the girl a stuffed toy from one of the shooting stalls; which she currently held in her arms and eyed it with worry – it wasn't such an extravagant gift; it was just a Domo-kun plushie with a nerdy theme for it had a pair of dorky glasses and a lab coat which she thought befitted the receiver's personality and so she had won it. However, the closer she got to the apartment complex, the more an unnecessary anxiety had grown at the pit of her stomach.
Chiba on the other hand had been quite relaxed for the most time – most probably because he was able to spend a day with her and that there wasn't anything to be so agitated about, as opposed to the girl next to him whose emerald eyes were clouded in uncertainty. He sighed "I doubt she'll mind if you got her anything at all."
"But I never got to thank her properly for helping me…" there was sincerity in her voice, one that had brought a small smile to her usually stoic features as the pigtailed girl thought back on the time she had got into an emotional mess. But almost as immediately as that simper came to view, a look of worry had replaced it as she sharply turned to the taller boy "Do I look desperate that way? I'm not being really clingy of creepy or anything, am I?" something about how she said that in such a fast tone and how blue lines appeared to have come down her left eye told him that the cause of her distraught was her fear of turning out to be like a particular light-haired girl she had recently gotten herself befriended with. She must have been so afraid of that that it bugged her to no end judging by that amount of fear.
He had to stop himself from sighing again at how she was being so needlessly problematic on this matter "No, stop worrying about it. She'll cherish it either way, you know that much, right?"
Rinka didn't take too long to respond to this with a smile before she nodded – knowing all too well why she got her a prize in the first place. "Mhm…"
Chiba returned a small grin of his own "Then calm down. Just act like yourself and give it to her like you mean it…" his genuine smile had turned into one of tease when he said his next sentence "But not too much like yourself."
"Hah? What's that supposed to mean?" the orange-head somewhat glared at him after he had most probably indirectly insulted her.
"Nothing." He mused just to see her irked expression when she said "Eh?" with some threat in her eyes.
He let out a barely audible chortle before placing a hand into one of the pockets of his long, brown shorts "In any case, how'd you get her address?"
She was back to being quite the monotonous character as she didn't waste a second in replying "Nakamura told me."
"Nakamura did?" he tilted his head a tad as they had reached the elevator of the building. He spared a few moments of silence wondering how the blond girl had gotten her address in the first place until he suddenly got a feeling in his stomach telling him he didn't need to know – they were talking about class E's Gal English here, after all.
Just as he brushed away the concern, another thought regarding the golden-crowned trickster and his companion had come to mind "Speaking of Nakamura, why don't you call her by her first name like she does?"
"I will only ever call her Nakamura and that's that." Was all Rinka said – she didn't even spare him a glance. Albeit knowing that they still had quite the rocky relationship, it bemused him to see how the orange-haired girl talked about her for he couldn't quite grasp exactly how she saw her. Did she consider her as a friend or as someone too unbelievable to even call it that? Either way, he still didn't know what kind of relationship those two shared.
"Why?"
"Don't ask me stupid questions."
If anyone could see his eyes then he would have rolled them after she said this. But instead of biting back for he knew her all too well, he just smiled knowingly at his tsundere girlfriend-but-not as they approached the white door by the balcony with the three numbers 560 inscribed upon it.
"This it?" Chiba inquired for confirmation and had been answered with a nod.
"That's what it said in the address…" Rinka studied the place for a while – it wasn't what one would deem notable, it was just another apartment in the gigantic city of Tokyo; but somehow the female sniper had started to grasp an understanding of the bespectacled girl's living environment and how it was not surprising that the results were what she saw everyday in school.
"So Manami lives in a place like this..." she muttered, gaze not straying away from the white door as she pushed through with her observations and internal comments on it. So this is where the probable angel she thought she was back then resided…
After hearing that come out of her mouth, something had unintentionally come to mind 'Oh so you call her by her first name but not Nakamura.' – he still couldn't let go of how confusing she found the two's affiliation was.
"Chiba…knock." The command had been so out-of-the-blue he had to turn to her direction and see if he caught that right.
"Hah?"
"Knock." Her shoulders were shuddering from pointless nervousness that had also been manifested by the way her face looked at the moment – her mouth quivered and her eyes were wide as a blue-purplish shade had taken over the upper part of her endlessly sweating face. If anything, she resembled a notorious ghost right now for her complexion had become as pale as the guilty souls that trudge through the fields of punishment.
After this, Chiba heaved an exhausted sigh – even with all that reassurance just from earlier she's still fidgety; but he couldn't blame her, it was her first time doing something (society-wise) generally friendly knowing she was anti-social to the point where she'd have times where she didn't care about how others felt and/or times wherein she overthought about how they felt too much she became a hopeless mess – right now it was the latter (which was a big pain in the neck).
Just as he was about to let his knuckles come in contact with the door, a few other, lively and muffled voices came from the other side – he didn't even have time to react to this for by the time he actually took into account this observation, the door had been pulled ajar by two people he did not expect to see that day waving their farewells to the shorter girl (whom he caught surprisingly wearing a dress).
"E-Eh?!"
"Heh?!"
"Uh—!"
And right when the other two had realized whom they had just run into, the three girl's pairs of different colored eyes went wide with utter shock as they each reacted accordingly to their expressions and simultaneously exclaimed "Eh?!" at each other – although Rinka's had been delivered quite chokingly as for more than she was shocked to see that they weren't the only ones that came to visit, it had to be Rio who she ran into. Why? For one thing she came here to give a thank you gift; that equals to a ton of teases from the cheeky blond if she were to find out about that, and lastly is because she was generally here, that the blue-orbed girl had many reasons to start jeering at her.
As this happened, Chiba remained calm and only moved his attention from the three girls that froze in place, then to the other, much shorter one who had also been at quite the bewilderment from their sudden visit, and then towards another character that looked to be shocked by something else entirely.
Head turning to directly stare at the braided girl with his usual stoic demeanor, he bluntly asked "You live with Inari-sensei?"
Two seconds later, Inari slapped a hand to her face.
The night came with a relatively cool temperature.
Upon a narrow street that stretched by an almost infinite river, a fairly tall boy let his relaxed feet tap upon the rather smooth material as a dark sky that brimmed with twinkling lights of different shapes, sizes and glows enveloped the town in a remedying type of darkness and hovered above the lazed form of a boy with scarlet locks. Occasional winds would drift by and have Goosebumps take over his skin, but it did not affect how he had stretched his arms and rested them on the top of his red head in the carefree fashion he was well known by his friends and enemies for. Mercury eyes locked with the uncountable number of natural sparks that had the dark-blue dome far above his reach look quite appalling – clouds were swirled in a fantastical manner that harmonized with how nature decided to let that eternally crescent moon take all of the sky's glory by how its light reflected on the same body of water he had gotten an eyeful of not too long ago.
Although he had taken the time to finally look at such trivial things with something other than bore on his features, his memories of the events today remained incessant in his whirlpool of thoughts that swam around in his head – albeit such being incessant, they did not trouble his mind, for they were quite the pleasant recollections. Today he had started with despondency and uncertainty; feelings that were made so since the day his eyes had showered the world with distaste, but such had disappeared with the last warm light of the day. He was beginning to rethink about things as the words of two blue-orbed people would repeat themselves over and over in his silent walk back to his ever-vacant home.
No matter what…we have to keep an eye at what's in front of us…
By the corner of his eye, something green could be spotted flowing elegantly with the gentle river winds. With the slow turn of his head ever so slightly, he caught sight of a pair of braids tied with white flying off to the side just as gracefully as did the spearmint dress – the thin ribbon that gave a little design to the simplicity of this plain set of clothing danced with the breeze freely, held back by nothing as cool air entered through the spacious parts of the girl's outfit.
He didn't need to guess who it was even if he could only see her back side from quite a distance. She was just standing there, to the upper right, below him just by the river with her head turned upwards – where the crescent light had plastered itself upon the heavens and reflected upon her spectacles. Once he had taken all of these observations in, he stopped walking and rested his arms to his sides.
We all look for something to hold dear. When we realize it, that's when we take a step forward.
"What are you doing out here?" his feet crunched on the grass as he approached her casually – a polite smile gracing his face when she turned around to find him positioned about a meter and a half directly behind her with his hands hidden by his pockets.
Manami beamed back at him and entangled her fingers behind her in the process of her properly facing him "Oh, Karma-kun. Did you enjoy your day?"
Karma shrugged and made his way to her side while he replied blithely "Well, I guess so."
"That's good to hear…" her expression softened before she reverted her focus to the moon that appeared to be a lot closer to them tonight with the big size they could see it from even with it directly above the faint, city lights of the other side of the town. Admiration brimmed in those ebullient purple orbs as she took in the serene sight with pleasure before she sprung up a conversation.
"You know…a lot of people came over today." There was a gentleness and kindhearted tone in her voice that didn't fail to grab the redhead's attention – especially when he glanced to his right where she had on a tender expression and slowly blinked; as if she was breathing in the scenery and letting it fill her chest with a warm feeling. Manami took his lack of a response as an opportunity to continue "I...I had lots of fun. By the end of the day…I found myself feeling really…" her small hands came up to her chest "Really happy. I started thinking about how I could never ask for better friends, or anything at all because of how content I felt. 'This is what happiness feels like?' or so I would ask myself. Everyone in class E is…really amazing huh…" The shine in her eyes quivered with emotion as she kept them trained on the moon that bathed the two teen's faces in a bright, white light.
Karma smiled at this expression – finding it pleasant before he too faced the view "So? What is it that brought you here this time?" he stated this in almost the same way his senior did when she asked him almost the exact same question as his countenance became soft.
The dark-haired girl's smile stretched a little more before she lowered her gaze down to the water that nearly touched her slippers "I was looking for some fish."
"Hm? For what?" he let his eyeballs move to the side to display her with a bit of curiosity.
Manami's eyelids lowered at the tender memory of the short time she spent today with her beloved friends, and all of the things she felt along with it be they embarrassment, uncertainty or bliss "After today…I had a thought." She paused just to somehow emphasize her next words "That I wanted Manaka to have a friend."
She stepped to the side and let her hands tie themselves behind her back as she let herself face the taller boy properly – eyes holding immense benevolence as they locked with his pale-gold ones for he had also turned to her properly; with the gentle waves of the water that let the bright light dance about to their side, and the memorable moon that hung above their heads in the background, she spoke with utmost earnest-
"I'm sure Manaka…doesn't really like the idea of being alone." With the way her tone sounded, he knew deep down that she was referring to both of them as well – once he had realized this, he kept his features unfazed, yet inscrutable as he only gazed back at her for the following moments while his thoughts took over his actions again. So even in a day where he was absent for the most time, she still thought about him. And Nagisa's words resounded-
I don't know what you think that is, but from a general perspective, and from how much I know you – basically,
That's love.
"Oh! I think I found one!" he had been cut from his trance by her cheery voice – by the time he regained his senses, his eyes laid upon her crouched form as her bright eyes searched the waters from a little farther away than where she had been.
Before he went over to approach her, another smile came to his face – this time it held an emotion he knew he didn't display to just anyone as the look in his eyes had no ounce of anything other than genuineness "Really?" he answered as he crouched down by the water, just right next to her.
"Hm…" she put her palms to her cheeks as studious eyes traveled through the water in search for the little creature, taking into account that it's dark and she couldn't really see well what's in the water, a small pout came to her features "I don't think it'll come back though…" the pout quickly disappeared for it had been replaced with a sheepish beam when she faced him "I must be an idiot for trying to look for one at night, I guess." a lighthearted giggle came out after that.
Karma's eyes didn't tear away from her expression as she continued to smile up at him – however, his own had shifted into one of blankness and mystique while he remained silent for seconds.
Manami was not prepared for the tone she suddenly got from him when he finally made a sound – his voice was low, and it had absolutely no spec of a joke; she'd only seen him this serious for less than the number of fingers she had on one hand, resultantly, her full attention was offered to him.
"Hey…I have something to tell you…will you listen?" his hair draped over his eyes even with its movement created by the wind – preventing himself from looking at the girl in the eye or displaying his face to her.
Lavender eyes didn't falter as they kept themselves locked on his form and had a hunch that he yearned for an answer from her – almost desperately even, as if he'd come to her for aid so that he may ease whatever troubles he had. Feeling a little pained seeing him this way, and so she answered with a slightly serious tone of her own "Karma-kun is precious to me…"
Once those words had registered, a choked sound of surprise emanated from him as mercury eyes went wide and sharply came back up to meet with her sincere pair of purple – he even failed to notice the proximity between their faces when he did so for her statement had given him quite the surge of electricity that pulsated through his body; nearly having it turn numb.
"Karma-kun is precious to me…of course I'll listen to him." Not even Manami minded the fact that they were practically inches away from each other as she only focused on reassuring him with comforting, resolved eyes that glossed against the lights both from the moon and the other smaller radiances provided to them by the city as her glasses reflected against the starlit sky – it was almost as if her eyes had their own type of sparkle to them for a moment. Karma was left at a tongue-tie when he let this image burn itself to his mind unconsciously – his expression of shock had yet to waver as a rush of thoughts slammed against the walls of his mind; but with the thankful support of what was left of his self-awareness, he managed to freeze in place before he let such thoughts take his entire person over.
She displayed him another beam after the reaction "You're my dearest friend. You can tell me anything."
If a girl calls you a friend and you don't like it, it's the first sign of love!
"Hah. Guess that bastard's right." Karma felt a grin grace his face before he lifted himself from his crouched position and had prepared to leave the area as he walked away with his hands back into his pockets casually – such an action had left Manami to a frantic state of confusion however as he heard her shuffle to her feet and try to follow him after a startled "Eh?"
Her light yet fast-paced footsteps crunched against the moist soil in his pursuit "Karma-kun? What did you want to say?"
The abrupt halt in his steps had obliged her to do the same as there was now about a two meter distance between them directly. Karma stepped to the side to have a look at her and presented her with yet another sincere smile that held a deeper emotion to it that Manami couldn't quite comprehend, especially when he responded to her with his usual, calm tone "No need."
"Hm?"
"If I were to tell you, we'd become distant." He rose a finger to the side of his mouth "So instead of doing that, I'll keep it a secret until I feel like telling you…" he cherished another moment of gazing at her quizzical eyes as they blinked in question – he made it a point to take in how her braids floated with notable grace, and he didn't forget to eye those white bands he was all too familiar of now. The sight he let his mercury orbs linger upon for a longer while only seemed to have become lovelier to him now that he took full notice of how much the spearmint cloth that waved itself with the wind befitted her perfectly. Unknowingly, he found his memories piling up one by one.
'You don't exactly have a reason to be with me so wouldn't you rather spend time with someone else or doing something much more enjoyable?'
'I—Tomorrow I'm going to do my best.'
'…I…never got to thank him...'
'Aaah! I can't understand it no matter how many times I think it through!'
Her crying face, her embarrassed face, her face when she's uncertain, the face she makes when she cares too much about others, and finally-
'Pretty…'
And with a warm smile and an affectionate look in his eye, he finished his sentence
"…Manami."
…
Badump
With a warm and throbbing sensation spreading across her chest both painfully and blissfully, Manami's eyes steadily grew wide – and as they did so, the shine in her orbs polished around in a circular motion as several emotions inside of her seemed to had burst and had her body stiffen in place; limbs numb and immobile. And as an effect of the sound of her given name coming from his lips, she sensed heat rise to her cheeks and was left to stare back at him – absolutely dumbstruck.
Karma – feeling a little pleased with the reaction – had another tender, genuine smile reach his lips; though this time it had been out of his control, it just came out of instinct of some sorts. Without another word, he bid her good night and departed from the area as nonchalantly as he came.
The bespectacled girl's dress just went with the wind as she only stayed there, still frozen from that as her heart raced with new feelings she didn't understand one bit.
Summer break has reached its end…
"So, is everyone ready?" A blond haired girl cleared her throat as she stood by a small wooden table with individual drinks atop it – that was frankly spacious enough for six students to have themselves seated around in whatever position they found comfortable as they had their full attention to their so-called spokesperson for this significant day (since she insisted) they had planned for the proposals regarding the salvation of their club. The sun outside had taken on a bright color that let itself inside the small area and bathed it in an energetic yet somehow cozy atmosphere that was apparently befitting for this fine afternoon – as Rio put it.
"Yeah, but first…" a spiky-haired boy did not even try to hide his discomfort from the sweatdrop he made when he looked over to the maroon-haired middle aged woman he had always seen as intimidating that leaned upon the nearby refrigerator with her arms crossed and a soda can in hand. He moved his head to the petite girl positioned right beside him "I didn't know you lived with her of all people, Okuda…"
Manami only laughed lightly out of the awkwardness that had been brought with her friends deciding to hold this event in her home (she lost a coin toss against Chiba). Rinka, whom only looked stoic outwardly, was apparently hooked on this secret judging from the way her eyes glistened with some sort of rainbow color for a second – much to the dark-haired boy sitting next to her's discomfort for he was still in the process of getting the reason for that reaction through his head.
"Leave me alone." Inari had finally reached the point where she didn't care about getting found out anymore by anyone her co-resident was affiliated with as she gulped down her can of fizzy carbonated drink, clearly unamused. I mean, do they really have to say 'of all people'?
Suddenly sensing a disturbance, and a gut feeling that she was about to be made an object of derision of, the older woman stomped her foot and aggressively pointed to the other redheaded character in the room whom sat back in his chair like he owned the place sharply – a smug look was present on his (to Inari) stupid face as she warned him angrily "YOU DON'T SAY ANYTHING!"
Once more, Manami gave the two a look saying 'these two are hopeless' as they threw a brief glare-fest. Eventually Inari performed the 'mature decision' and left the area for them to attend to their official business like a respectful person – as she put it before she completely departed the room.
Rio had to clear her throat once more to grab the full club's focus back on her – a hand rested on her hip as she stood with her feet apart in some kind of superior fashion as she stood above everyone else (They're all sitting down). "Okay so I'll get this out of the way before we begin..." the blond abruptly pointed to the side of the table where a lazy delinquent and an introverted chemist sat beside each other with a displeased frown – similar to how a teacher would passively scold her students "You're both on penalty roll." She said with a 'hmph' afterwards that only had the taller boy raise an eyebrow and the girl become quite agitated for she was not exactly familiar with the term and found it quite frightening.
"P-Penalty Roll?"
"Yep." Rio nodded with a stoic expression as her arms had crossed over her chest "Neither of you contributed much to this so we all had a vote – Penalty Roll. You basically can't refuse anything we tell you to do for a week or so." She shrugged at her last sentence as if she hadn't just announced something that would probably doom them, especially Manami – seeing as it was Nakamura Rio that issued this, to 'basically can't refuse anything we tell you to do', would mean she's got her fill of entertainment for the following week.
'Ehhhh?' they seemed to have thought at the same time as the two who had been penalized could only watch on with slight befuddlement as everyone nodded in sync like some council of the board meeting in a real gigantic company. How against them were they that they would agree to have Rio bring about their torment? Then again, Karma didn't really mind since he could just play with her in his own game eventually and let a smirk grace his face.
The light-haired girl had all of a sudden become enthusiastic after she presented a satisfied smirk – she could already imagine what she could do given her right over them for the first week (unless Karma outwits her which she fears the most) "Okay! Now we get to real business! Rinka~" with a smile that stretched from ear to ear, the English veteran held her hand out to where the pigtailed sniper stationed herself now with a folder in hand that everyone else in the room eyed with curiosity and anticipation.
After Rinka had placed the folder on the table for everyone to have a glimpse of their general plan, the other members immediately got to their feet just to gather around it and study it with eagerness.
Yuzuki put a hand to her chin as she criticized the suggestion with furrowed brows and pinkish orbs brimming with critique "Hm…Combat Club's Hide & Seek Shrine…? Horror labyrinth…? With…" she had a few looks of doubt until she appeared to have read the rest that had her expression light up with immense wonder after gasp "Rio-chan!"
"Ohh, good work Hayami." Karma was the next to react to this with an impressed smile – which was hard to get out of him most of the time so that was a plus for the two girls who took the time to put it together.
Sugino, Manami and Chiba followed by exchanging grins of astonishment with each other as the three had a powerful feeling that this was going to turn out outstanding with their skills and experiences as Kunugigaoka's former Class E
Observing their positive reactions, Rio and Rinka snickered proudly before the former kept a smirk on as she said "Of course that's still the general idea, so we can make it even better with everyone's individual suggestions – and I'm sure we can do that without fail."
"I'm already hyped! The set-up's gonna be a big challenge, but that's what I love about it!" Yuzuki, whom thoroughly studied the single piece of paper, had a glint in her eyes that expressed all possible ecstasy she was capable of giving out in her lifetime as she already formed lots of plans in her noggin.
"Thank you very much, Yuzuki-chan~ But that's not the most important part." Rio's statement had everyone rest themselves back on their seats but kept their gazes etched to where the two light-haired girls were with quizzicality. After the aforementioned girls exchanged a nod, Rinka took the initiative to relay the idea to them with a tiny yet genuine smile you'd only rarely see from her.
"Your suggestions will be taken into account of course, but what we wouldn't want to change is the one who's going to star in it." Emerald eyes traveled over to one side of the table; and soon enough, everyone gathered at the table followed the direction of her stare.
Once she had realized six pairs of eyes were on her, Manami had immediately become flustered as her hands started to wave about in front of her vigorously after the jerk of her shoulders "E-E-E-E-EH?! M-M-M-ME?! F-For something a-as important as thi—"
She was silenced by the blond who had swiped a hand in front of her as if to tell her to zip it before she crossed her arms "You're on penalty roll. You can't refuse. And besides," a grin came to her face as she prodded Rinka to continue her sentence with the wink of her eye.
"If we knew you couldn't do it, we wouldn't have given it to you." She attempted to assure the tense girl knowing that this was the response she'd get from her once they were to say this out loud.
"B-But—" Manami tried to reason out, but to her dismay, she had not been heeded for her otaku friend had not given her the chance to.
"No complaints here~!" Yuzuki swayed her hand to the side swiftly as a gesture to just prove her remark.
"Yu-Yuzuki-chan I don't think I—"
"Let's do it then!" She was cut off again, this time by Sugino whom lifted himself from his chair in a lively fashion as he now truly looked pumped for the cultural festival with the resolute fist he curled in front of him.
"But what if I—"
"I'm game for it." Chiba's ever-stoic voice rang louder – it appears he was also in on keeping her from arguing with them; but it would be a big lie to say he didn't trust Okuda could do it with flying colors.
But even with the number of times she had been hushed by their keen exclamations, Manami found herself not being able to allow for such a thing to be put upon her as she got up from her seat in a desperate attempt for them to hear her out; but even as she spoke, all they returned to her were sly smirks "P-Please wait a moment! Th-This is a really really important thing to everyone! If I end up failing I'll—"
"Then," the overfamiliar, carefree voice of the red-haired boy still seated laxly next to her caught the attention of the impish members and the petite-framed girl in a distraught state whom now stared at him with mild surprise for he had been quite silent for a while now.
"All you have to do is make sure you don't."
The other five kept their smirks on as a sign of agreement to everything their president relayed to their (unofficial title) 'club mother' for it was their exact same thoughts and it was what each of them wanted her to be aware of.
Seeing as they were all listening to him now, he let that trademark smile of his come to view as he eyed the girl sagaciously "Everyone here's up for it because they're aware of what you can do, so instead of worrying about not being able to do it and letting everyone here down, just gladly take it and make sure you don't let everyone's effort go to waste." He spared her a reassuring grin as he propped his elbow onto the table and rested his cheek on his palm – all the while having a confidence present in his sharp eyes "And I'm sure you can do at least that much, Manami."
Purple eyes only blinked as their owner let those words sink in and register in her train of thought – and after glancing at each and every one of their determined faces one more time, Manami presented them with her own expression of resolute as both of her fists came to her chest as she managed a strong-willed tone and faced them all with conviction.
"Th-Then! I'll do my best!"
Brimming with contentment, the club members responded to this dauntlessness with the relaxation of their shoulders from the tense energy they had just come from as more smiles were exchanged – they were up and about for their cultural fest plans and they counted on each other to keep it from failing; and they were certain that they'd be able to create something extravagant if they worked with the same resolve.
Now that the golden-haired girl's wish had seemed to come true, a toothy grin came to her bright and peppy face "Yay~"
…
Three girls appeared to have come to the same realization for each of them had abruptly reacted violently with eyeballs shrunk out of pure and utter shock at what just entered their ears – starting with Rio who stepped backwards to Rinka who nearly choked on her drink to Yuzuki who nearly fell off her chair.
"MA-?!"
"NA-?!"
"MI?!"
Karma found himself taking delight in seeing their absolutely disturbed reactions and decided to tease them even more by leaning back on the dining chair and showing them a wry grin as he raised an eyebrow – which they took as a threat for the trio had almost the same expressions when they narrowed their eyes at him suspiciously with dark intent evident with the aura they gave out.
Pleased that he had made himself a threat to them and their friendship with the spectacled girl now seated beside him (no one was able to take notice of the small tints of red on her face when the topic had come to that though), he eased his sadistic pleasures by keeping them hanging and changing the subject "Well then, shouldn't we carry on? It's Fuwa-san and Sugino's turn right?"
Apparently, even Sugino had to snap back to his senses because the sudden change of his friend's acknowledgement to the raven-haired girl had brought him into a state of his own "O-Oh right! Fuwa-san!" he had to wait for her to regain some of her composure before he signaled her with a nod.
"R-R-Roger…" she seized a few more seconds to narrow her eyes at the red-haired delinquent one more time – although she needed more time to recover and get some of her thoughts straight after that surprising event, she had to reluctantly brush the topic away and reached for her bag.
When she had a touch of the plastic bag she had used to wrap around the poster she and her art partner were able to devise with as much creativity as they can (not to mention endurance). The artists had to admit that they may have been looking forward to this day too much – heck, it was hard to not just splat it on their faces the moment they were finished with it. So right after she unwrapped the door-sized poster from its containment, she and Sugino stationed themselves in the space where Rio had once been as it was their time to shine them with their idea.
Yuzuki cleared her throat (to which Rio responded to with a subtle 'copycat') before she put her palms around the round material with a little bit of anxiousness but mostly excitement for her fingers nearly stiffened even with the remains of hot weather still present. "Well, our club's about specialty, right? So…we did a little something that can express that we have our differences but still capture our 'identity' as a club – or so Isura-senpai said so." Pinkish orbs faced her partner's blue ones again with steadfastness before a nod was exchanged.
"Well then, hope you guys like it!" and with that last exclamation, the poster had been rolled down with a fwop – and it only took a moment for each of them to react as their faces lit up.
Karma on the other hand, felt his smile fade away and eyes widen when they came in contact with the all-too-familiar smiling face of a yellow octopus he once knew far too well – the one that truly died on him and left him in a rut when his tentacles no longer crawled upon the same floor he did. All else within the room had come to a bittersweet atmosphere as they had their gazes etched onto the big smile they missed so dearly in awe and in reminiscence – some of which had to hold back their tears, like Rio
"Yu-Yuzuki-chan…" she had to stop her voice from sounding brittle as she let a hand travel to her mouth just by how touched she was.
"This is…" Rinka simply couldn't find words to describe how much this poster had to be perfect for them – that, and because she too had been struck with several emotions she just couldn't let go of.
The helmet-headed girl had a mirthful smile stretch across her features as she too had to prevent herself from getting shiny-eyed at this for she was the one who presented it in the first place "We used hologram paper and a few more tricks up our sleeves so we can get the faces to change when under a different light or where you're standing since it depends on the angle you look at it which face he makes."
The poster was simple at first glance – it was basically her best teacher's face on a shiny paper that had the Kanji of Combat Club on the bottom But the main magic of this design came from the touch they had put with the hologram paper and whatnot for whenever you tilted it or shifted the angle, a new face of the best guy they've ever known would show; it was all so nostalgic to the members that they were all caught with their stares glued to it, and Yuzuki didn't mind holding it for them longer either.
Sugino crossed his arms and showed them a smile before his eyes went off to a distance "…It took a lot of time trying to get this together – we weren't sure how many times we had to experiment just to get all nine of them to show. We were sure there were more he would've made but…"
"It's okay, Sugino." Chiba had finally made his presence known, a clear joy in his voice which was a rare occurrence as he continued and spoke in behalf of everyone else who couldn't bring themselves to tear away from the picture.
"I'm sure we all know...you guys did an amazing job."
A moment was shared by these seven students as they relished in the fun memories they could now only look back to as they drowned themselves into the bittersweetness of it all once more – albeit the heart-wrenching pain, the six of them kept a smile on.
"Very much appreciated." Sugino ended it with a nod of gratitude for his clubmates and former classmates as they all shared another few seconds just to keep this feeling in their hearts for a while since it had been so long – even if it has only been less than a year, just being reminded of that part of their lives brought them into quite the emotional ride.
Karma appeared to be the only one that locked his stare at it with a blank expression that could almost be dismissed as a frown or an evidently bitter countenance. Since he'd laid eyes on the poster, his memories from the year he never let go of came just like everyone else – only, it reminded him of how his life now was; how it lacked anything interesting from the way he saw it. For a second there, his mood was about to die and it was almost as if he was going to revert back to that miserable dilemma of his until a gentle, yet fervent voice came from next to him.
"It's Koro-sensei…"
Manami had her hands clasped together as a sad beam graced her pale face – unable to take her shiny, purple eyes that were on the verge of collapsing into a tearful mess away from the source of everyone's happiest memories with each other. And had he not looked at her, he would not have recalled the resolution he had cleared up on that night.
…that was the start of my clear road. We all look for something to hold dear. When we realize it, that's when we take a step forward.
We have...the rest of our lives ahead of us.
If he just went back to viewing the world the way he did, that would mean he'd learned nothing at all and remained an immature child that couldn't jump to the next stone on the river because he simply couldn't let go of the one he was on. He wasn't about to just take for granted what he had found to keep himself going; the very thing that finally gave him a clear enough path to start with – so with that, he also tried a smile of his own as he faced the poster with the new bravery to tell himself that it's all in the past now; that he'd moved on from that stage of his life and it was on to the next one.
Starting with his feelings for the frail girl sitting beside him.
"Yeah. It is."
And they were lively again after they had unusually have become silent all of a sudden.
Inari, satisfied with the happiness in this house, went over to one of the hallways of her home after making sure the kids were busy. It wasn't dim, the window just on the right side gave the wooden floor small patches of golden light that were bright enough to reveal to her a cabinet that waited for her at the end of the corridor in this particular hallway where a cabinet had itself waiting for her at the end of it – it was the one that her daughter-like figure had grown too scared of touching due to an experience from back then that she would rather not have resurface at the moment as she sauntered toward it.
With a barely audible creek, she gently pulled one door open and found the briefcase she had assigned Manami to get for her – just looking at it brought distasteful memories, but she kept a stoic demeanor and gently grabbed in anyway just to find the things she needed for some governmental requirements and whatnot. It was such a trouble to have to get it from all the way there when she was sure she wouldn't have needed any of it anymore since they were eyesores to her, but had she not been pestered by insolent social workers and custody blahblahs and had not sent for it, she wouldn't have been aware of the passing of someone important to her.
"Ah, so he died already, huh…" the image of the old man Miho she had once known resurfaced for a brief moment although she had not looked back on that part of her life for the longest time – she'd almost forgotten how he looked like due to the fact she practically abandoned those memories. But even when knowing this, she still remained composed as she looked through the briefcase and only took what she needed – she wouldn't want to keep being reminded of her life eleven years ago and how everything went downhill back then. Just to endure looking through all of this again was a drag but…
Inari heaved a sigh "…You saw it?"
He didn't expect her to be able to sense his presence there leaned on the wall with hands casually inserted in his pockets, but this woman had her surprising points too. Karma didn't really think he could get away without being caught so his surprise to him being found out was short-lived – that, and there was a bigger matter on his mind right now.
"…Are you going to tell me about it?"
She kept her back as the only thing facing him as she shut the case closed - extra careful not to let a certain other in this house come to where they were "If I were to tell you…
It wouldn't make a difference."
YAY~! NOW THAT WE HAVE THAT OUT OF THE WAY, I'LL JUST GIVE A BIG HAND TO MYSELF FOR SURPRISINGLY EXERTING MORE EFFORT FOR THIS! You don't necessarily have to clap for me for this chapter though X'3
Well anyway, I'd like to just say that since this chapter's pretty packed with events, It'd be VERY much appreciated if you were to leave some detailed reviews! I mean, it's really motivating and it gets me to review my writing skills often. And because I love detailed reviews, it makes me feel very grateful to you guys for reading and kind of proud of my writing since I work so hard at it X'3 Just you know if it's not too much trouble, you can leave however long a review you want for this chapter so that's fine! It's just very much appreciated if you do so though!
OH AND WITH SUMMER ENDING WE MOVE TO ONE OF MY FAVORITE ARCS: Cultural Festival!
Oh before I get to the preview, I'd like to ask a question that you can answer only if you want ^3^: Who do you think is the most potential Kouhai of Mai-senpai amongst all of the combat club members? Just Curious! Owo I may have thought of something so I'm just wondering who you think can be Isura's closest Junior ^w^
OKAY! THIS CHAPTER'S LONG ENOUGH LET'S GET TO THE PREVIEW!
NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW: What You Are To Me (Kimii Annual School Grand Fiesta)
WELCOME TO THE KIMII ANNUAL MERRY HIGH SCHOOL FESTIVAL! With clubs getting ready with their gears and specialties, we're in for one hell of a blast! Especially with the new addition of a special club with quite the SPECIAL members! Oh so this Combat Club's holding a horror booth? There are plenty of those out there so this shouldn't be all that special! - was what most said before they came out nearly soulless. WOOPS! I said too much! Kind of like how certain someones said too much and caused another brouhaha even in the midst of a happy event. With the wondrous events brought about by a lively school fest, it's only natural for darkness to lurk about in the corner, silently waiting for you to just come across it accidentally - with the relationships between the members of the combat club starting to grow, with the secrets of the school nurse finally being revealed, someone fragile is about to break into a million pieces; who's going to be there to mend that person back together? Probably someone with red hair...probably. And when you realize that reality has you as its target next...
The School Festival isn't so merry anymore.
OKAY! NOW I HAVE TO CUT THIS SHORT 4 AM ON THE CLOCK AND GOLLY ME I SEE THE SUN!
PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU FEEL ABOUT THE THINGS IN THIS CHAPTER!
With love, support and Karmana, I wish you a good day~!
~TheFlowerWeSawThatDay