Chapter 2: Apple Tree
"Isn't it weird?"
She turned her head to look at Nagisa as the two of them walked through the path towards their respective home. It's already eight in the evening and Nagisa, being the caring and worrying cousin of Setsuna, offered to walk her home despite Karma looking like he wanted to do the same.
Nagisa has never seen such obvious act from the redhead but the most hilarious part is, Setsuna never noticed it. She even asked if Karma is headed in the same way as if she didn't catch up that the redhead is indeed, wanting to make this an opportunity to get closer to the girl.
"What weird?" She asked back, adjusting her soft pink colored knitted scarf as they passed on street lamps one by one, "That you like someone like Karma"
"Do you find my taste in men peculiar?"
"I find it weird, Tsuna"
"Well, anyone would find it weird if they find out how such well-mannered girl fell for a delinquent" She said, shrugging her shoulders as if it was not a big deal to say.
She wouldn't find it a big deal. However, the rest do find it a big deal how someone like Setsuna Araragi could fall for Karma Akabane. It was an unwritten rule of the society that someone like them are impossible to be together and yet, Setsuna didn't care. She always didn't care what the society is trying to impose on her. She wanted to do her own way, as always. And that made Nagisa admire her, she is a different person to what people are imaging her.
"Aren't you scared?"
She smiled gently, stopping at a large, modern-designed gate made of wood. Behind these walls are the hidden beauty of the fame Araragi Mansion that housed the Araragi Clan.
"The one thing that only scares me is death."
Death. Such an unusual thinh to came out from the mouth of a teenager, but for Nagisa and Setsuna, it was something they were used to saying. Maybe because they have been struggling at their own demons as well, but the two have seen hell. Even Setsuna, whose life has been all happiness and rainbows.
Her blue eyes, that reflected gentleness and kindness, turned sharply as if she's targeting her prey. She's tempting to bare her fangs on her prey like a snake on her food.
And despite Nagisa's own defense, he could never match the bloodlust his cousin has.
A rare talent that she honed herself in her prime years.
"Death, huh?"
"Anyways, Nagisa" She nonchantly said,the bloodlust of hers suddenly disappearing in a blink of an eye as he looked at his cousin who is now on her usual self, "Caring about the society's opinion about you isn't going to help you in your real world experiences"
"I-It's not about caring, it's worrying about how they looked at the two of you once they find out"
"Don't worry" She said, clasping the now opened gates of their house, "I'm on the rebellious side of the society, remember?"
He watched as the huge gates of the Araragi Mansion slowly drew the line between him and his cousin.
Rebellious side, huh?
It's weird to hear it coming out from his cousin's mouth. After all, Setsuna is the perfect role model at Kunigaoka. She's a consistent honor student, with numerous talent on her belt. She's the secretary of the Student Council and has a undisputable reputation.
She was out of reach, and people have come up to conclusions that no man can have her heart. Because she's Araragi Setsuna, the man who will be worthy of her heart should be someone who stands at the same level to her.
And yet, weirdly enough, she fell in love with someone like Akabane Karma.
A guy who always get in fights with delinquents, sleeps at class, usually skips classes and is, to Kunigaoka's standard, a really bad role model.
"She really has weird taste.." Nagisa whispered to himself and walked back home.
Morning came normally to Setsuna. She ate her usual breakfast, engaged in a usual conversation with her brothers and then went to school in a normal manner.
Everything was normal except when she stepped in the school.
Now, Setsuna knows that her life is surrounded by gossips. Whatever she does, even of she mean it or not, will spark controversy. People were up to date with her life, more than she was, and she even joked about being more famous than an idol.
She went straight towards the Student Council Room, welcomed by the mountain of paperowprls she needs to finish by the time Gakushui and Satsuki went back to their short trip for a conference at Kyoto.
Only she and Fumino, who is smirking at her upon seeing her arrival, were the only one in the large and spacious room.
"I heard some funny rumour, you know"
Her forehead slightly creased, as if telling Fumino she's curious about what is the funny rumour she heard.
"What rumour? I hope it's close to legitimacy.."
"That Araragi Setsuna and Akabane Karma went out together yesterday" She simply said, stacking up the papers. "It was indeed a funny rumour but I don't think it's funny"
She tilted her head towards Fumino's direction and found the girl staring at her with sharp eyes. As if she's trying to see the inner thoughts of Araragi Setsuna, her hands stopped working and just blankly looked at her. Fumino have known long enough how Setsuna is interested at the certain redhead, more than the latter is aware of.
Setsuna was never a person who was interested in boys. Not unlike her brother and sister who likes entertaining the boys and girls who likes them, Setsuna is different. Gaining her attention is hard, more harder than getting a pink diamond.
So when the Araragi Setsuna, who rarely looks at boys, finally noticed someone like Karma Akabane. Instead of telling Setsuna not to like any other people at the main building, she encourage and supported her.
"How's your date?"
"I-It's not a date.."
How cute.. Fumino thought, feeling the surging warmness in her chest seeing the always calm and elegang Araragi Setsuna become a blushing mess right in front of her.
"Then? What's your outing all about?"
"Nagisa just reeled him in our little gala since both he and Karma wanted to buy the game they were talking about."
My, my.. Nagisa is just too much of a third wheel.
Fumino contemplated. She knew that if someone didn't give Setsuna a push towards love, nothing would happen. Like how Shouko and Gakushuu's relationship is right now. She doesn't want that to happen, and she swears it won't happen as long as she's by her side.
"Do you really like him? So much? Maybe it's just a crush.." Fumino said.
She smiled gently yet brightly to Fumino and without a word, the girl know all too well what her smile meant.
"You've got it bad for Akabane Karma.." She snickered.
"I-It's not like that.."
"Oh? Becoming a dere? How cute.."
"Really! Fumino!"
"I'm joking, I'm joking.."
Setsuna vividly remembers the time that she, for the first time, knew that she fell for someone like Akabane Karma.
She was, unusually, lazily leaning at the apple tree that is hidden from the eyes of the students. There's no one around, probably because classes are going and she made up a petty excuse of being quite sick.
Her lips slightly parted as her crystalline blue eyes stared at the scenery in front of her. The warm spring wind blew softly at her skin and she feels, not unlike inside her classroom where winter arrived early than expected, quite comfortable.
The quiteness of the place didn't stay for long as few shakings of the metal fence behind her caught her attention. She looked up and found a boy the same as her age, sitting at the top of the fence, not even breaking a sweat as he relaxed and sipped the strawberry milk carton drink he probably bought outside.
He looked down, his calm red orange eyes questioning her as he jumped down the fence.
"Why is Miss Number Three in whole Kunigaoka skipping classes" He asked, using his teasing tone.
She didn't answer, and it was evident in her eyes that she won't answer his question. In Setsuna's mind, once she answered his question, she will probably be reported to her adviser about her skipping classes. Her father and her older brother would surely be not happy when they heard about her skipping.
"Anyways.." She said, diverting the topic, "Going outside is prohibited, why did you go outside and moreover, skip class?"
He took a seat centimeters away from her, placing down the foods he bought at the convenience store.
"Probably the same reason as you do, Miss Number Three."
"I don't know what are you talking about.."
"Tired." He simply said, looking intensely at her with his eyes thay are like raging fire when the sun hits them. "At one point, you wanted to gain someone's attention because when you gain them, they praise you. But as you grow up, you realize that you are just following the footsteps that they wanted you to have, not what you wanted to have."
"There's nothing wrong gaining someone's praises, it's a proof you worked hard.."
"But what if the certain people you wanted to gain attention and praises are the same people who set expectations for you?" He asked.
She momentarily stilled at his question. He reached out to grab her hand and placed a chocolate milk drink from his plastic bag.
"There's nothing wrong being the best. Everyone wanted to be the best. Even me, even those people at Class E. It's just the adults who makes the children think that there is wrong when you did not do you best."
He stood up and left her alone, disappearing like a passing wind. She looked at the chocolate milk drink that he gave her and smiled softly.
Indeed, no one told her those words like 'it's not bad doing your best or not'. She always received praises from her teachers, from the adults and from her own family of how great she is but never did they ask her if she's doing it for her own self.
She's always doing it for someone else. She knew it.
Nobody even noticed it but the boy who just arrived of how tired she is or how pressured she is in doing her best.
'Ah.. I didn't get his name..' She thought.
Only the red hue of his unkept hair and his blazing red orange eyes is the only thing she remembered about their small talk under the hidden apple tree at the backyard of Kunigaoka Academy.
Hey yo! It's been a long time since I updated this story. School is such a bitch that I don't even have time to update this.
So yeah, I managed to give you a little background of how Setsuna and Karma met during their middle school years and yeah, you could say Setsuna's a bit of pressured at staying best because she's used to it.
On why they didn't got closer, well, I explain it later on but a huge spoiler is coming up at Chapter Three because it will focus on Karma.
Original timeline of the Assassination Classroom will start at Chapter 6, I'm just giving some itsy bitsy background of the two before we kick off at the original plot so I'll apologize in advance if the story doesn't connect. You could say that the first five chapters are just 'extras' of the story.
And I must say, welcome back myself. Writing is really a stress reliever for me.