-Karma P.O.V.-
I lean back in my chair, balancing on the back two legs, as I listen to my classmates chatter mindlessly. Minutes later, Teach walks in with a new face following close behind. Bringing my chair down into its normal sitting position I look over the new kid. The new kid has short black hair and leafy-green eyes. He's pretty short for a boy and has very feminine looks. He almost reminds me of Nagisa. I can't help but think as I inspect the new student. He starts surveying the classroom before our eyes lock onto each other. I can't help but give him a small smirk as I see something flash in his eyes. I can tell exactly what he's thinking as he stares back, Keep away. His gaze moves away from mine. Why does he have a wall put up already? That's what I intend to find out.
"Alright students, to your seats," Teach calls out over the chatter. After hearing this my classmates take their seats. "This is Akari Suzuki, he is going to be joining us from now on." The octopus continues after seeing everyone take their seats.
Akari bows slightly and gives a small, awkward smile. Koro-sensei hands him a piece of chalk and Akari gives him a questioning look.
"Why don't you introduce yourself?" Teach encourages the new kid.
Without a word, Akari nods at Koro-sensei and begins writing something on the chalkboard. After a minute he reveals what he has written.
Hello, my name is Akari Suzuki. I've been an assassin for two years. I'm pleased to meet you all, I hope we can all get along.
Interesting, why hasn't he said anything yet? I ask myself narrowing my eyes at him.
"Why don't you speak, Akari?" Kurahashi asks innocently. It seems I'm not the only one wondering that.
Akari quickly scribbles something on the chalkboard.
I'm pretty insecure about how I sound, so I prefer to communicate through writing.
A knowing smile spreads across my face. Gotcha'. He's not just feminine looking like Nagisa, Akari is a girl. She doesn't talk because it would give away what she's trying to hide. Now, why is she trying to hide her gender from everyone?
"Alright, you may take an empty seat," Koro-sensei tells Akari after no more questions come up.
"There's one here teach," I call out without hesitation. With her right next sitting next to me I can keep an on her and find out what makes her tick.
"Thank you, Karma," Koro-sensei praises, not knowing my true intentions. He turns to Akari. "Go ahead and take the seat in the back next to Karma's."
She gives him a slight nod and makes her way to the empty desk next to mine. I can see annoyance written all over her face as she sits with a soft sigh. This is going to be fun.
"As you all know, midterms are coming up soon. So, it is my job as your teacher to prepare you." The octopus proclaims proudly.
"Why do the midterms matter? It's not like it's going to change anything." Terasaka questions annoyed that he will have to try to use his brain.
The rest of the class goes silent and Terasaka's comment seems to have pissed off Teach. Terasaka saying stupid things is nothing new. After a little more back and forth between the other students and Koro-sensei, he tells us to follow him outside. How annoying. I glance over at Akari and can immediately tell she tuned out the last few minutes and has been completely lost in thought. I catch up to Nagisa. I need to deploy Nagisa first, he's too nice for anyone to not like him. They'd also be able to relate to each other, even if they don't know it yet.
"Hey Nagisa, wait up," I call out. He stops and turns to face me. "I don't think the new guy was paying attention, could you go let him know we're supposed to go outside?" I ask casually. Of course, Nagisa being Nagisa, agrees without a question.
We all gather outside and in no time Koro-sensei flattens the field. He threatens to leave and destroy the school, blah, blah, blah. What an empty threat, not that anyone else realizes. We go back inside and school drags on until lunch. Once lunch rolls around, Akari is the first one out of the door with her notebook and pencil. Where's she off to. I walk over to Nagisa's desk so I can see out of the window better. I spot Akari walking across the field and then settles under a tree.
"Hey Nagisa, you still keeping notes on the octopus's weaknesses?" I ask not taking my eyes off Akari.
"Yeah, did you want to look at them again?" He inquires.
"Nah, it's just the new guy seems too shy to ask us for information," I answer. "Let's go give him some of the stuff we know," I add finally glancing at Nagisa.
"That's not like you to be so helpful," He points out.
I let out a short laugh. "You got me. There are some things about him I'm curious about and he seems to not trust me," I reply truthfully. While he's not especially vocal, not much gets by Nagisa either. He probably can already tell that I plan to use him to get Akira to open up a bit.
"I see," He says slightly annoyed but not surprised by my motives.
Of course, he doesn't deny my request and we venture outside. As we walk closer I take a moment to take a good look at Akari. She is quite small, even sitting down I can tell she's shorter than me, she's about Nagisa's height. She has a somewhat rounded face and her male school uniform fits oddly on her body. I can tell she's lost in her own thoughts again when she lets out an annoyed sigh and leans her head back against the tree.
"What is it that you're thinking so hard about?" I question, bringing her back to reality.
She lets out a frustrated groan and it takes everything in me not to laugh at her reaction. She brings her head down to look at the two of us. She flips to a new page in her notebook and scribbles down a reply
Just thinking about how I'm going to go about killing that creature.
Of course she is, that much is obvious.
"I have a list of-" Nagisa starts before I interrupt his train of thought.
There is no way I'm going to just let him hand over information freely. I am curious about a few things, but I have to approach cautiously.
"How about an exchange of information?" I offer, giving a devious smile.
She narrows her eyes out of suspicion, distrust clear in her eyes.
What kind of information are you looking for?
She won't be receptive to probing questions. So, I will get an in with her and gauge her fighting abilities.
"What's the quickest way to take down someone bigger than you?" I ask innocently.
This is information I already know, but I want to see her approach. She gives me a puzzled look for a couple seconds before rising to her feet, dropping her notebook and pencil on the ground. Without an ounce of apprehension, she strides up to me, determination clear on her face. Before I can have a chance to react, my body is hitting the ground and I'm looking up at Akari. She places a firm knee on my chest so I'll have a harder time getting up. She smiles at my inability to hide my shock and she gives me a couple of light slaps on my cheek.
She stands up, turning her attention to Nagisa. I get up, wiping away my initial reaction.
I see, that wasn't just a teaching moment, it was a warning as well. It was a straightforward approach and she wasted no time in getting the job done.
She takes down some information from Nagisa's notebook and tosses it back to him. She gives a small nod to Nagisa as thanks and then gives me a glare as she walks by us. She gets a few steps away from us before turning back around. She asks for Nagisa's name, once confirming his name, she thanks him then sets off back to the school house. She gives a small wave in parting as she returns to the building.
The rest of the school day progresses normally, though Akari seems lost in thought the rest of the day. The day comes to an end and we all leave the building to start heading home. I can tell that Akari is making sure to keep her distance from me. Breaking down the walls she's built against me is going to take longer than I thought. I think idly as we journey home. Soon Akari breaks off onto a street, a street I also happen to live on. I follow behind her, still keeping the distance between us. She seems lost in thought because she doesn't notice my footsteps behind her right away. Once she does, she stops and stands there for a moment, unmoving. Then, she begins to walk again I trail behind her. She stops, she whips around pulling out the small blade strapped to her hip, clearly ready for a fight.
She stares at me for a few seconds, clearly baffled by seeing me there. She doesn't dare leave her protective stance, prepared to take me out if need be.
"So you won't speak even if it's just the two of us, huh?" I ask, breaking the silence.
She shakes her head, a silent but firm no. She doesn't budge, making it clear she wasn't going to let her guard down. I let out a short laugh to ease her tension.
"My house is this way too, if I were following you I would have been way more discreet," I offer to help ease her mind further.
She stays in place, distrust clear in her eyes, for a couple more seconds before letting her arm with the knife come to rest at her side. She waves her hand, motioning me towards her. She probably wants me to walk in front of her so she can keep an eye on me. I'm not going to make it easy for her.
"I don't think I will," I respond, making my defiance to her demands clear.
I can see obvious anger and annoyance written all over her face. Her expression seems to darken for a brief moment before she returns to staring me down. We stand there in a silent staring contest for a moment before her face returns to that darkened expression. She turns, finally giving in, and continues back to her house. Once she reaches her house, she climbs up the steps, sheaths her knife, and enters. She didn't even check to see if I was still following her not. Her behavior is strange. I walk the rest of the way home, vowing that'll I wait for her outside her house tomorrow morning.
The next morning, after getting ready for the day, I make my way to the front of her house, waiting for her to exit. I only have to wait a few minutes before I see her leave the safety of her home. As soon as her eyes land on me, I can't help but give her a confident half-smile. She has a brief look of annoyance before she brushes past me, clearly trying to ignore my existence.
"Aw, not even a greeting?" I ask fake pouting at her, reasonably, cold behavior.
I lazily throw my arm around her shoulders. She freezes up almost immediately and then proceeds to shove me backward, sending me stumbling back as I try to regain my balance. Once I steady myself, I notice she has thrown her blazer onto the ground and is now crouched down, her head buried in her legs. What a strange reaction to someone touching her. I ponder as to the reason for her rash reaction a moment longer before coming to a conclusion. She's being forced to hide her gender, someone is probably using force to ensure she doesn't reveal it. She seems to recollect herself and returns to a standing position. She picks her blazer up and hits it a few times, shaking off the dust, and puts it back on. She pulls out her whiteboard and marker and holds up a message for me to read.
Don't ever touch me again unless you want to meet an early demise
She flashes a fake, fleeting smile. Without giving a chance to respond, she turns and walks away, no doubt heading to school. I can't help but laugh at her sternness and stubbornness along with her overall strange behavior. I speed up to catch up with her, but still trailing right behind her.
"Man, you really lost your shit there for a moment, didn't you?" I say cheerfully, trying to get on her nerves even further.
She just keeps ignoring me and continues walking dutifully. I can't help from letting out a sigh. She really is well trained, how long has she been doing this?
"So, you really intend on never speaking? How boring," I mutter, annoyed by her diligence.
Again, no response, she just trudges on. It stays this way for a bit until we hear a familiar voice call out to us.
"Hey, Karma! Hey, Akari!"
We both look in Nagisa's direction as he approaches us. She smiles happily at the blue-haired boy. I guess it was a good choice to use Nagisa as a way to lower her guard, she's taken a liking to him. Even though I planned to use Nagisa to get closer to her, for some reason I feel some level of irritation seeing her smile at him like that. Why won't she smile at me like that? It's just a passing thought, but it brings me confusion. I know the reason why she keeps me at arm's length, but now it's making me annoyed.
"When did you guys decide to walk to school together?" Nagisa asks not trying to mask his slight confusion and curiosity.
She writes him a response that elicits a nervous laugh from Nagisa before quickly erasing it. She holds up something else for Nagisa to read.
"Yeah, sounds good," he replies to the unspoken question.
She probably asked him to walk together. I trail behind them as we make our way to school, the two of them making conversation the rest of the way. We eventually make it to our destination and the day proceeds normally. Lunch rolls around and Akari is the first to exit the classroom once again. I stroll over to Nagisa's desk, watching through the window as Akari retreats into the tree line.
"Hey Nagisa, let's hang out with Akari," I purpose, not breaking my gaze from where she disappeared.
"It's not like you to take this much interest in someone, Karma," Nagisa responds, clearly probing for an answer.
I finally turn my gaze to him as he looks up at me.
"I think he's hiding something, I want to find out what it is," I reply somewhat truthfully.
He seems satisfied by my answer, knowing I won't elaborate any further. He rises from his seat and follows me outside. We venture to the treeline where Akari disappeared.
"Stay here for a minute, I think I saw him go this way," I order before making my way into the woods.
I get a little way in before finally spotting Akari. She drops her, now, dirty blazer into the small creek. The blazer quickly absorbs as much water as it can, making it soaked.
"Now I gotta say, I don't think I've ever seen someone purposely throw their clothes into water," I comment somewhat thoughtfully.
She doesn't even bother turning around to look at me. She lets out a soft sigh and bends over to pick up her wet article of clothing. Without a second thought, I give her a firm push, causing her to fall face-first into the creek. She quickly gets up and turns to face me. She glares at me, anger written all over her face. My eyes can't help but be drawn to the large, red mark on half of her face. There is no mistaking it, it's a large handprint. I feel my face drop after laying my eyes on the angry red mark on her face. So, she really is being forced to keep the fact that she's a girl hidden. This is why she's so adamant about making sure she keeps it a secret.
"Hey Karma, did you find him yet?" Nagisa calls from a short distance away.
I won't let Nagisa see Akari like this. I'll keep her secret to myself, for now at least.
"Nah, I guess he didn't come this way after all," I shout in response, making my way back to Nagisa.
This should be enough to allow her to get away without getting caught. I exit the cover of the woods and meet back up with Nagisa.
"He must have ventured off somewhere," I say once I finally approach Nagisa.
"Oh, okay," He says, sounding somewhat disappointed at my lack of findings.
The bell rings, signaling the end of the lunch period and we walk back into the building. Once we get settled into class Koro-sensei inquires the class about Akari's whereabouts, but everyone stays silent, everyone else unaware of where she went. Glancing over at her desk, I notice she had to leave her things behind. Oh well, I'll just give them to her tomorrow.
After the day comes to an end I collect her things and head home. The next morning I wait outside of her house once again, waiting for her to come to the safety outside. She exits her house and approaches me, and I can tell she is no longer guarding herself against me. She gives a small bow in greeting. When she stands straight again I hold out her whiteboard and marker for her to grab. We lock eyes and she's unmistakably trying to find out my intentions. Keep trying, you aren't going to figure it out. She takes her possessions and scribbles something down before holding it up for me to view.
Thanks for covering me yesterday, I owe you one
A mischievous smile makes its way onto my face. She fell for it. She seems to recognize her mistake almost immediately.
"Cool, in that case, then you have to actually speak when we're alone," I reply without a moment of apprehension.
Her gaze instantly drops to the sidewalk. Her expression darkens, and I can see sadness and pain on her face for the first time. She shakes her head fervently at my suggestion. I let out a sigh of frustration. Of course, I didn't really think this would work, but why do I feel so annoyed anyways?
"Fine, I'll let it go today, but I'm not giving up until I hear you speak," I offer casually, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
This seems to put her more at ease, so I turn and lead the way to school. We meet up with Nagisa and the three of us walk the rest of the way together. The rest of the week progresses normally, with Koro-sensei preparing everyone for the upcoming exams. Before long, the day of the midterms rolls around.
We head into the main campus building and start making our way to the testing room.
"This is going to be a piece of cake," I toss out cooly, placing my hands behind my head as we walk.
"That's easy for you to say Karma, you've got the best grades in the class," Nagisa responds sounding dispirited.
Akari scribbles something down and shows it to Nagisa. Knowing her, she probably told him to not worry or do his best.
"Thanks for the encouragement," He answers back with a sincere smile.
I'm not sure why, but I feel irritated by him smiling so innocently at her. Why do I care if they get close? They're in a similar situation, even if they don't know it yet. When did I become so irrational? She nods back at him as we enter the exam room. We take our seats and soon the exam is underway. I notice immediately something is off with the test. I take a glance at Akari who is in the seat next to mine. She looks annoyed and confused for a moment before her expression changes into a focused one. I get through the exams with relative ease. After the tests, we all file outside. We loiter around to talk to each other about the exams.
The rest of our classmates grumble and complain about how hard the tests were. I can't help but notice Akari deep in thought once again. Her eyebrows furrowing together as if she were trying to find out a solution to a difficult question.
"What are you over here thinking so hard about?" I question, breaking her from her thoughts.
I'll tell you later, I need to speak with that teacher about it first
She holds up her whiteboard for me to see. I look at her face, her determination clear in her eyes. Something about her expression makes my chest feel tight. The feeling mixes with the feeling of slight annoyance that she still won't ask me for help. Those feelings quickly vanish and I give her a nod of understanding. After school ends, I notice Akari sticking around the classroom. I leave the classroom as well but stay right next to the closed door.
"Are you coming, Karma?" Nagisa asks, noticing that I stayed behind.
"Nah, I'm gonna wait for Akari so we can walk home together. Go on ahead," I answer, leaning against the wall.
"Alright, see you tomorrow," He responds before taking his leave as well.
I put my ear against the door, straining to hear inside. It's silent inside the classroom for a minute before someone speaks.
"Did you need something, Akari?" It's the teach asking Akari about her reason for staying behind.
"I need to know what's going on. While I think you're a vile creature, I cannot deny that you're an excellent teacher," a feminine voice answers back.
It's gentle and soothing like a lullaby. So that's her voice? No wonder she doesn't talk, it would give her secret away immediately. I step away from the door, satisfied by getting to hear her voice for the first time. I make my way outside to wait for her. After a few minutes, she strides outside and sees me. When she sees I haven't left, a surprised look crosses her face briefly before disappearing. She quickly makes her way to my side and we begin our trek down the mountain.
"So what was it that was bothering you earlier?" I ask, making it clear in my voice that I won't let her get away without answering this time.
The difficulty of the exams was bothering me. Those questions were much higher in level than what our peers were prepared for. The octopus said he was taking care of it, so I'll leave it to him
I take a moment to process the words written across her whiteboard. So that's what she was concerned about? She is a strange one, not wanting to get closer to people but still concerned about her classmates. The rest of the way to her house I fill in the silence with random chatter and she just listens contently.
Over the next few days, I can see her attitude toward our classmates change. She seems much less guarded and more willing to get closer to our peers. The day of the midterm results finally comes. The whole class is silent as Koro-sensei hands out the tests. Finally, he gets to Akari and I.
"Good job you two," Koro-sensei praises as he hands us our tests.
99/100 on three tests, a 98/100, and a 100/100 in math. Just as I thought, those tests weren't so bad. I glance over at Akari, she's already putting her tests away. I quickly stand up and snatch the tests from her hand. I look over the scores, 98/100 on everything except English, which she had perfect scores for. Not bad Akari. I think to myself as I toss the papers back on her desk, causing them to scatter everywhere.
"I failed you all. I underestimated the lengths that the principal would go to keep E class down. I truly don't deserve to be called a teacher," Teach says dejectedly.
I feel a light tug on my sleeve and I turn to look at Akari. She pulls her green knife from her bag before nodding her head towards the teacher. I can't hold back a devious smile, knowing exactly what she was insinuating. I grab my tests from my desk and stroll up to the octopus. I slam my papers onto his desk, grabbing his attention.
"Your teaching wasn't a complete waste, you should be more worried about not getting killed," I announce, giving him a cocky smile.
As if I had given her a signal, Akari's knife goes flying through the air, missing Koro-sensei and hitting the blackboard as he dodges her attack. I use that as my chance to swing at him with my own knife a couple of times, missing him of course.
"Hey, knock it off you two, I'm trying to have a serious moment!" Teach shouts desperately, dodging all of my attacks.
A laugh echos through the classroom. I stop my attack on Koro-sensei and turn to see the culprit, Akari. Her laughter is so genuine and carefree. As if possessed, a grin forms on my face and I rush over to Akari. I trap her head with one arm and use my other hand to ruffle the fake hair of her wig.
"Awe, look who's all grown up and showing emotions," I coo light-heartedly, secretly pleased by the fact she's laughing.
I don't know much about Akari, but I do know that I want to keep seeing her like this from now on. With that thought solidified in my mind, I decided to stick by her side.