A/N: *weeps at the latest chapter of Ass Class* Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! More comments would be appreciated!

"Couldn't you sleep?" Karma asked, slipping into the seat beside me.

"That's my line," I said tightly, by way of greeting, staring down at fists so tightly clenched they had turned white. "You're up early."

It was only five fifteen in the morning. On a Saturday. And I was already fully dressed, in a perfectly pressed blouse and pleated skirt. Karma's hair was still wet from the shower, and his tawny eyes were thoughtful as they took me in. He was already dressed, in his customary black blazer and neatly pressed shirt, looking as he did every day in school – though the only thing out of place was that his schoolbag was missing.

"Bad dreams?" He asked, still staring at me.

I gritted my teeth. It wasn't often that I had nightmares, but when I did, they were terrifying. This time, hands had pushed and shoved me to the ground, pinning me in place, and a faceless man had laughed as I'd struggled. It had jolted me awake, a scream wedged painfully, noiselessly against the hollow of my throat.

I hated it.

"You could say that." Looking aside with a sigh, I tried to pretend that I wasn't all that shaken up. " . . . What about you?"

"Ah, Terasaka was snoring loud enough to wake the dead, so I came out here. More peaceful, don't you think?"

The corners of my lips twitched up into a smile, and I clapped a hand over my mouth, muffling my snickers. "How's the head?"

"It's fine. Geez, you asked me that yesterday, didn't you? Are you sure you didn't hit your head instead? Koro-Sensei made me put ice on it." Karma pulled a face, and I laughed - aloud this time.

No doubt he would have been perfectly happy letting the bump be, but it seemed as though Koro-Sensei had had other ideas. For all his faults, the octopus was a brilliant teacher who worried about the welfare of his students. Koro-Sensei hadn't even objected when I'd had pulled him aside to ask quietly if I could stay at the hotel while the students went sight-seeing. In fact, he'd seemed understanding enough, nodding without a second thought. I wouldn't forget that in a long time.

"Sorry, sorry." Smiling dryly, I bumped him playfully with my shoulder. "In order to preserve what's left of your sanity, I won't ask anymore."

"My sanity thanks you~"

His response managed to elicit another laugh from me, especially since I didn't think that Karma had had that much of it to begin with. We sat in comfortable silence, saying nothing, simply watching the sun rise up through the gloom in an effort to conquer the sky. Despite the fact that the March day promised to be warm, it was still early and there was a damp chill in the air. One good thing about Japan was that the weather was similar to Italy's – it was almost as though I was still at home.

"Hey, Aina." Karma's voice was hushed, a conspiratorial whisper breaking the silence as his eyes flicked around – an unneeded gesture, since it was still early, and no one was in the neat Japanese garden except for us two. "What say you and I crash this joint?"

I gave Karma a questioning look. "Seriously? When did you start using that word?"

"C'mon, it'll be fun! The train doesn't leave till four!" Toying aimlessly with a anti-sensei knife, Karma returned it to its rightful place up his sleeve, shooting me a lazy, cat-like grin. "And Karasuma-Sensei did say we could explore . . ."

I think he meant that we could do it in a group, I thought dryly, shaking my head in exasperation. Karma was persistent, I'd give him that much. But when he turned a pair of liquid gold eyes onto me, I caved almost instantly, like a cube of sugar dissolving in a cup of hot tea.

"Fine, fine!" I regretted the words almost as soon as they'd left my mouth. "What do you have in mind? And so help me, if I so much as hear the words 'delinquent fishing' coming out of your mouth –"

"I'm wounded that you think so lowly of me!"

Dejection and hurt marred his otherwise handsome face, but it quickly vanished in place of his usual devilish smile as he yanked a picture out of his wallet. I caught a glimpse of the hand-stitched label as it disappeared – Guy Laroche – and belatedly realized that it must have cost someone a pretty penny. I squinted at the picture in the faint light, and just managed to make out a grinning Karma, posing with a terrified schoolgirl ( in her uniform no less ) as she held out her student ID. The male on Karma's right resembled a pumpkin – his face had been beaten so badly that his lips had swollen to twice their normal size, and an array of impressive bruises decorated his skin. He was also holding out his student ID, and I cut Karma an unimpressed look.

"So this is your insurance policy, huh?"

"Hey, if it works . . ." Dusting off his jacket, Karma's eyes sparkled with mischief as he took me in, perched neatly on the stone bench. " . . . You coming, or not?"

He was already heading for the hotel's main door, and I followed behind without another word. Someone had to keep Karma out of trouble after all, and I couldn't very well let him wander around without an escort. The temperature hovered just above freezing, but with the sun, it seemed as though spring was truly on its way. It might have been early, but the streets were already choked with streams of people making their way to work. Some people were dressed in formal suits, while others were dressed more causally in jeans, but none of them were in uniform like us. The diversity of the crowd was almost too much to take in. Karma turned left and strolled to the corner, where we stopped waiting for the lights of the pedestrian crossing to change. I crossed my arms over my chest, weaving in and out of the sea of people, resisting the urge to grab the hem of Karma's blazer so that I wouldn't get left behind.

As if on cue, he turned around to shoot me a taunting smile, "Don't get lost, Aina. It'll be hard to find you in the crowd."

He laughed when I scowled and flipped him off. Low blow, Karma – especially considering the fact that he towered about two heads above me. Before I'd entered the class, Kayano had been the shortest girl there – but her position had been taken by me, who quite frankly, resembled a pixie or an elf. Or a third grader with boobs.

"Non mi rompere i coglioni," I muttered under my breath, but Karma's only reply was another light-hearted laugh.

The green man appeared, and we were off again, walking aimlessly with no destination in mind. I cleared my throat, speaking up in order to be heard over the bustling crowd.

"Where are we going?"

"Oh, just . . . Around."

"So you're completely clueless huh," I spoke, more to myself than to Karma, and rolled my eyes. "Then would you be open to heading for breakfast? There's that café I mentioned yesterday, and you could get your Kyoto coffee . . ."

To which he answered cheerfully, "I'm in!"

He would've continued walking down the street, but I steered him back the way we'd come, careful to keep close to Karma. He was certainly handy to have around – the tall red-head acted as a shield of sorts, blocking me from all the giants that clogged up the sidewalk. Not to mention his awfully convenient 'insurance policy', which I was sure would come in handy if we were stopped by some delinquents.

"Stop. We're here."

Purely on reflex, I reached out to grab Karma's hand, forcing him to jolt to a halt. A battered sign proclaiming the shop's name beckoned us to come inside Paddle and Whisk. The shop sat back from the road and up a set of lopsided concrete steps. The red-bricked walls, with glossy white trim, were accented with wind chimes and floral and holiday flags. Karma gave it a dubious once over, eyes flickering to meet mine.

"You sure this is the right place?"

"Yes." I pointed to the calligraphed sign in the shop window. "Hey, they're hiring. I think you'd make a cute waiter."

Karma snorted and held the door open for me. "Yeah? I think you'd look better in a maid costume, and Okajima would agree."

"Puh-lease." It was my turn to scoff. "That guy has a crap ton of fetishes that are gonna make me lose my appetite if we talk about them now."

Bells of all sizes, from tiny jingle to massive cow, chimed our entrance from hooks on the back of the door. The first thing that enveloped me was the combination of scents: vanilla and cinnamon and warm chocolate with hints of lemon and cherry. As we moved from the front door to the cashier's station, I walked through pockets of aroma, each one a comforting embrace of all that was good in this upside down world.

"Welcome to Paddle and Whisk!" A bubbly sixty-something not much taller than me smiled warmly. She had deep grooves beside her eyes that acted as exclamation points to her welcome. Her face was tan, as if she spent more time outside than in, and her raven colored tresses curled under at the chin. She didn't falter at seeing Karma tower over us, but her tanned complexion blanched when she saw me.

"You – Ah. Voi siete la famiglia del più giovane figlia,sì?" She spoke in a low undertone, lapsing back into Italian as she led us through the brightly lit café.

The place was crowded with people, but all of them were ordering muffins and coffees to go – just the usual morning rush hour in Kyoto. Cozy wooden booths nestled up against each other, each one lined with brightly colored cushions. The walls had been decorated with artwork: prints and canvases, gilt-framed photographs, raffia bows and candle sconces. Piles of skillfully arranged candlesticks with tapers, lacy guest-bathroom fingertip towels, metallic gift bags and fussy wrap were organized by color or occasion. Strangely overgrown, and overfull, the place looked like a dessert buffet of rich delights. For the first time since the incident, I felt myself relaxing into a state of charmed joy.

Deliberately, I matched my pace with hers, hand brushing over my knives just in case. "Sì, come avete . . . ?"

"Un amico. Io sono Alda." She cleared her throat, seemingly nervous, toying with a stray thread on the cuff of her uniform. "Un messaggio. Dal mio capo."

"Posso . . . ?"I held my hand out, expecting a scrap of paper to be pressed into it.

Alda shook her head vigorously, eyes flickering around. "Non qui. Più tardi."

"Capito."I nodded, taking a seat at the booth – Alda had shown us to a quiet part of the café, and the surrounding booths were all void of people. It would ensure that Karma and I wouldn't need to raise our voices while we talked, and that suited me fine.

Relaxing, Alda changed the subject, a mischievous twinkle in her clear brown eyes. Some of the color had also returned to her cheeks. "È lui il tuo ragazzo?"

"No, no! Un compagno di classe!" Not for the first time, I wished I were an ostrich, so that I could bury my head in the sand and just avoid the question entirely. "Non abbiamo più alcun tipo di rapporto!"

"Lui è molto bello."She stifled a laugh, instead choosing to hand us each a menu. "Non credi?"

Alda, thankfully, dropped the subject when I shook my head, cheeks glowing pink as the blood rushed to my face. I let my hair fall over my right shoulder, making an auburn curtain between us, and kept my gaze locked on the menus' glossy pictures, as though they were the most interesting things in the world. All so I wouldn't have to meet Karma's eyes.

"I'll give you two a minute to decide," Winking playfully at me, Alda moved away to help out at the counter, effortlessly lapsing back into Japanese for the sake of my 'boyfriend'.

"What was that all about?" Karma asked, sounding amused, even to my ears.

My voice was rough when I answered, like glass shards being tossed around in a blender. "You're the one learning Italian. You tell me."

"Fair enough," Karma's answering smile was as glittering as his eyes. "Something about a message . . . ?"

I grimaced, returning my attention to the menu. The green tea and chocolate cakes and the strawberry shortcake were listed as specials, and there was a whole page dedicated to a variety of waffles and toasts. Honey toast, waffles with maple syrup . . . "Close enough."

"And something about me being handsome?" This time, Karma's smile was wolfish, flashing pearly white teeth, and he propped his chin up on his hand, practically preening.

I groaned, and Alda took that as her cue to return, this time, bearing a notebook and a pencil. She smiled. "Know what you're having?"

After a moment's hesitation, I asked for a cup of honey milk tea and a slice of the green tea and chocolate cake. Karma ordered coconut pancakes and the Kyoto coffee that he'd been dying to drink. Alda moved towards the swinging kitchen doors, scribbling madly on her notepad.

"So, what were you up to last night? Aside from trying to assassinate the octopus, of course."

"Uh . . . Well . . ."

"Ew, who wants to talk about boys?" Kataoka demanded, wrinkling her nose distastefully.

"Aw, c'mon! That's what girls talk about on trips like these! Don't be a party pooper!" Rio crossed her arms over her chest with a smile, lowering her voice conspiratorially.

"I'll start!" Hinano waved her arms in the air enthusiastically, nearly giving Okuda, who was sitting behind her, a black eye. "I have a huge crush on Mr Karasuma!"

"Honey, there's no one here that doesn't have a thing for that man." Impatient, Rio shook her head, a frown creasing her pretty face. "I'm talking about boys in our class that we think are hotties."

"Aww . . ."

One could practically hear the pout in Hinano's voice, and I stifled a laugh, burying my face in my book, hoping that I wouldn't be singled out. I'd never been on a school trip before, having been home-schooled in Italy, and it was baffling to know that girls actually could spend a whole night talking about the boys ( or men, in Hinano's case ) that they fancied. I just hoped that they wouldn't stay up talking all night – I wanted to catch at least eight hours of sleep.

"Well, whatever, I'll get the ball rolling." With a flip of her long blonde hair, Rio went on, without even a hint of hesitation. "Isogai and Maehara are half decent, I guess."

"Gross. You don't seriously like them, do you?" Kataoka eyed Rio, looking at the blonde as though she'd grown a third leg.

"Why not? Maehara plays the field though, so I'd never actually go out with him or anything. Isogai's class monitor, so he's, like, on the top of the list."

"Oh, I don't know, Karma's the cutest of the bunch if you ask me." At that, Yada, chipped in, and a large number of girls murmured their agreement. "Too bad he's such a psycho!"

And the same bunch of them chorused, "True."

"Aw, I don't think he's that bad when you get to know him." It was pretty valiant of Okuda to ( try and ) defend Karma, considering the fact that the girl practically blended in with the furniture.

Kayano had been playing a game of 'scissors paper stone' with Kanzaki, but now she spoke up. "Hey, at least he's quiet most of the time."

"Yeah, but so are wild animals." Hayami stated tartly, and Okuda laughed nervously.

Rio smiled at me, and in that moment, I realized that she looked an awful lot like Karma when she did that. "Who'd you pick for a boyfriend, Aina?"

"Er . . . " I blushed, and everyone leaned in closer. " . . . Karma, I guess."

"Huh . . ." Rio blinked. I'd apparently caught her off guard. "I'm not judging you or anything, but why?"

"He's . . ." I hesitated, biting my bottom lip. I remembered how warm his hand had felt on my cheek, how he'd helped me to button up his blazer, and how comforting his mere presence had been. But I voiced none of that, and shrugged as I flipped a page. " . . . Good to have around, you know? If someone pisses you off, you can just sic Karma on them."

"I think the world will end if you two hook up . . ."

" . . . Just about psychos and wild animals. How 'bout you?" I coughed, trying to hide an embarrassed smile and yet another of my red-hot blushes.

But then Alda strode back with our food. I realized we'd been unconsciously leaning toward each other across the table, because we both straightened up as she approached. She distributed the plates and left without another word. I regarded my cake consideringly. It looked fantastic: A rich confection, with warm chocolate sauce drizzled all over the top and sliced strawberries ringing the porcelain plate. I took a bite. It was delicious.

"Oh, just some male to male bonding time." The first thing Karma tried was his beloved coffee – the top of the milky tan liquid had a heart shape in the foam – and he licked his lips. "We were having fun too, but Koro-Sensei crashed the party."

I was tempted to ask what exactly their version of 'male to male bonding time' consisted of – did they compare dick sizes? Did they brag about all the girls they'd kissed? Did they talk about their crushes? I would've asked, but Alda's soft voice floated into earshot as she tottered by on her heels, bearing a silver tray with a teapot balanced precariously.

"Here." Alda's smile was rather strained, and her face was pale and pinched once more. "Share this with your friends."

She pressed a packet of almond biscotti into my hands. It had been wrapped in pink cellophane paper, and tied with a pearly ribbon. I turned to thank Alda, but before I could, her hand gripped mine in a vise-like grip. Her lips were moving, but I couldn't catch what she said, so I leaned in closer, just in time to make out her harsh whisper. "Masterizzare la nota una volta che lo avete letto."

I tore the packet open when she left, and saw a crumpled piece of paper sitting atop the pile of cookies.

20 8 5 25 11 14 15 23.

And my heart sank.

TRANSLATION

Non mi rompere i coglioni = Don't f**k with me

Voi siete la famiglia del più giovane figlia,sì? = You are the family's youngest daughter, yes?

Un amico. Io sono Alda. = A friend. I am Alda.

Un messaggio. Dal mio capo. = A message. From my boss.

Posso = Can I

Non qui. Più tardi. = Not here. Later.

Capito = Understood.

È lui il tuo ragazzo = Is he your boyfriend?

No, no! Un compagno di classe! Non abbiamo più alcun tipo di rapporto! = No, no! He is my classmate! We don't have that kind of relationship!

Lui è molto bello. Non credi? = He is very handsome. Don't you think?

Masterizzare la nota una volta che lo avete letto = Burn the message when you have read it.