Crystal plants bloom and withered with each step he took within this ethereal void but Yuma had seen this sight enough times that his curiosity faded. Running aimlessly through the vibrant and lifeless realm, Yuma searches for any hint of blue.

Through the sea of crystal branches, he spotted him. A floating being of light turned to face him and warmth bloomed within Yuma's chest.

"Astral." The name escaped Yuma's lips.

So close, he was so close.

Then the world crumbled around him. As gravity pulled him down toward the darkness below, Yuma refused its order, and against all odds, he soared. Reaching upward while his partner flew down to meet him halfway.

For a second their hand touched and their world was gold.


'Bring it on Korosensei' Karma thought as the teacher walked closer to him with the dead octopus. He played with the rubber-like knife behind his back. 'No worried I don't plan on killing you physically yet. It's more fun t-'

"Sorry for being late!"

His thought was cut short when the wall behind him broke. Karma flinched at the sound of wood scattering across the floor and turned back to see Yuma Tsukumo skidded to a halt leaving a gaping hole on the wall behind him. A quick look around the room told Karma that this was a normal occurrence.

In front of him, Okajima handed Chiba soma money while Terasaka scoffed. " You would think that by now the Shrimp would learn to use the actual door."

Hazama laughed. " What did you expect? That boy is a walking ball of chaos."

" Yuma Tsukumo!" The octopus teacher screamed, momentarily forgetting about Karma's prank. "What have I told you about the back wall?"

The boy in question bowed his head. "That even if I'm late I shouldn't bust a hole in it."

" Exactly." For a second Korosensei disappeared before returning with a fresh batch of takoyaki. " No treat for you, young man. Now go to your seat and think about what you have done."

"Yes, sir."

"And don't think I've forgotten about you, Karma. That complexion comes from not having eaten breakfast, doesn't it?"

Karma immediately spits out the steaming hot takoyaki that had suddenly appeared in his mouth. Whipping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt he glared up at the octopus.

"If you think I'm gonna let the new kid get away with murder, think again."


After his attempts at disrupting class in the first period failed before it could start. Karma stayed low until the fourth period where he hatched a new one. He didn't particularly care when the octopus grouped him with Fuwa Yuzuki, what caught his attention was the reaction to Yuma's choice of partner.

"Hey Okuda, wanna work with-"

"No!" Both Sugaya and Fuwa yelled, causing the poor girl to squeak.

"No more Dango Revolution, no!" Fuwa shrieked, pointing a finger at a sweating Yuma while Sugaya nodded behind her.

"Dango whatnow?" Korosensei, just as confused as Karma, asked.

"L-last year, we did a Home Ec. Class outside but w-we forgot to check the temperature so nearly the whole class got heat stroke." Peeking from behind the octopus, Okuda explained. " Sugaya and F-Fuwa hallucinated that the dango Yuma and I made came to life and s-started a revolution."

"Yeah, it was just a hallucination. The Dango Revolution isn't real." Yuma protested as Fuwa dragged him to her station. Sugaya on the other hand directed Okuda to Chiba's group.

That was interesting, Karma thought to himself, for a second he wondered if that hallucination ever gave Sugaya and Fuwa some phobia toward Dango. Then he remembered his original objective and decided to take up a spot in the corner to watch Korosensei.


By lunch, Karma was once again distracted by Yuma. Not entirely his choice, he had planned to rough up Korosensei at lunch, but that was very hard to do when the octopus was speeding off every second to hand Yuma wooden planks. Yuma for his part was doing a pretty good job of alternating between eating his lunch and hammering.

Through a mouthful of food, Yuma chatted on and on to the teacher about Duel Monster. He occasionally touched on other subjects like the recent shooting star sighting but the talk mostly revolved around the game.

Karma had heard about the game but had never found it in him the interest to try it. After hearing Yuma talk about it, Karma was tempted to try it out. Hard not to really, Yuma just made it all sound so...fun. From archetypes to strategies and combos, Yuma's enthusiasm radiated through all of it. Karma got so into it he nearly forgot about killing Korosensei.

Nearly.

Karma scattered anti-sensei BBs all over the floor once the octopus left.


He supposed, at the end of the day, that Korosensei wasn't so bad. Karma had meant what he said, Teach was still dead meat, but Karma had taken a liking to him. For now, though, he would take some small enjoyment from using Korosensei's small donation. Making his way down the mountain Karma stopped once he spotted a strange sight.

"Who's that?" He asked, pointing at the people from down the hill.

Korosensei who had been nagging him to give back his wallet stopped and followed Karma's finger down onto Yuma talking to an unfamiliar teen.

It was Nagisa who answered their question. " Oh, that's Yuma's brother Jaden."

"But isn't the mountain off limits to visitors because, you know, Teach." Karma pointed out.

" Yeah, I don't think Yuma's brothers care about that rule." Nagisa told him. " Jaden and his other brother visited E class plenty of times before, especially after the incident with Mr. Takaki."

Karma frowned. " Takaki? Didn't he get booted last year because he was caught sexually harassing some students?"

Korosensei's wiggling tentacles still.

" Mostly B class kids and some of the previous E. He was demanding hugs from Yukio and Yuma everytime we went down for assembly. Luckily, Principal Asano got involved," Nagisa winced at the words that just came out of his mouth. " And well, you know the rest."

"Excuse me children, it appears there are some things I need to look into." Korosensei said before marching off. By now Yuma and his brother were gone, leaving behind only Nagisa and Karma.


[Mirror Mail When a face-up monser you control is targeted for an attack: its ATK become equal to that of the attacking monster.] - based on the fact that Korosensei is matching Karma attacks with his own (strange) love and care that Karma can't overcome