6

She popped a smoke.

Scratching a match, lighting it then gingerly tossing it to the side.

Taking an off-the-path route to the school building, one through cheap-side, poor town, to avoid vigilant eyes, she took in that first big inhale of smoke with ease.

Ahh.

The first one always felt so good. A head rush of sleekness from the air escaping her from being pushed in the corners, inside her lungs, by the devilish tar. She had been having some anxiety that morning.

Zumi knew exactly why.

It was Monday.

"Oui!"

"Hm?" She slowed, not stopping of course, as someone hollered. She'd never stop. It wasn't smart. If she did, she knew she'd better ready her mind for a fight, being involved in something that she might not like entirely. Her head instantly snapped to the right over her black leather jacket's motorcycle collar.

Alert.

It was October and it was beginning to get cold, the other ones in her class had just began to bring jackets too, and this happened to be the only one she owned.

Her mom had gave it to her. It used to be her cousins.

"You gotta smoke?"

He had came up on her, not fast, but quick enough that she snapped a cig out and was able to toss it his direction.

The man caught it in a rather slouch-slack posture, for a second, almost looking like he was going to lose it and drop it in the puddle by his feet.

He pulled a black lighter out of his pocket and lit it, taking in that first suck as well, then catching up to her.

"So."

Younger, but older than her, probably twenties, having a similar cut like Isogai's.

She betted she knew exactly what he looked like without clothes on.

Covered in tattoos.

"Yeh." She stated. Taking the cigarette out of her mouth perching it between her right fingers, flicking off the ash.

"You already know." Dressed in all black.

Just leave me alone douche bag.

She nodded.

At her displeasure, she was forced to speak with him.

"Damn." He looked her up and down. "Goin' somewhere nice?" His smile was sweet as sugar. The way he smoked made her fingers curl and twitch, it had that sort of irritably 'too cool'-ness to it that seemed fake. The niceness was not real. Just like so many other assholes in her life, that she wished would just go away permanently.

"I'm in school?" Her answer snarky.

"Ahhh. That you are."

"Seriously?" She rebuked his attempt.

He just laughed.

"We'll have the money by this Friday."

"Well. No need to get snappy girl." The man waved his finger childishly.

She finished the cigarette off, sucking on that last hint of tobacco before the filter, tossing the butt on the ground, and stamping it out. She stopped at the end of the alley, and turned.

He stopped also.

"Friday."

He nodded, and stepped back. She took a step backward and onto the main sidewalk, a newer one from the grimy alley, and began to walk away.

The man just watched from the dim, roof covered area she came out from, leaning on the wall, smoking.

No more Yakuza territory.

"Couldn't come soon enough."

That was the quickest smoke she'd ever had.

It was lunch time at in 3-E.

While some of the class apted to heading into town to grab a quick noodle at some of the shops closest to the mountain, some hung in the classroom and paired their desks up, unpacking plastic tubs from their portable lunch packs.

She never had lunch.

She always ate leftovers from work, whatever Boss Man let her have.

It was usually only one meal a day. It sustained her, so she considered it fine, but she did hate the fact that her meals were on someone else's bill, but when you don't have money to even feed yourself, you've gotta do what you gotta do.

Her mom didn't have a fridge.

Nor any of the other major appliances... how would she store a lunch? Keep it from spoiling?

Terasaka sat on the other side of the room.

Zumi sighed, standing, feeling uneasiness inside her whole body. The last time she apologized was to her father, and she had made sure that that was the last time.

Terasaka had been eyeing her all day.

Probably because I knocked his nose in.

He obviously was upset about it. He seemed kind of like a macho man. Maybe his mind also wandered in what she was going to do next?

Currently he was jamming a pork bun in his face, carefully avoiding bumping anything too painful, sitting inside a group of other boys from the class.

As she approached them, she could feel some of the class' eyes on her.

Salmon.

God her prejudiced bias against him flared!

Did he have to be here?

They also all in unison stopped mid chew to halt their food intake rate down to a slow calculated munch, on watch like hawks.

Zumi, when close enough, then realized whatever doctor Terasaka had seen, did a fine job of plastering up his nose; clean white bandages spread across his face made him look so alien.

"Hey. Terasaka."

His eyes widened.

She didn't have to look to know Isogai was staring at her back from the other side of the room... watching.

Probably smiling.

"Look." Her voice lowered, instead of being brash like she had yelled out on the field, she softened it down so that he could express her words in a more digestible form. "I..."

Karma turned from sitting with a few of the girls and Nagisa.

He wasn't the only one, the others in his lunch group had too.

"What's going on?" Nagisa hushed.

Karma shrugged.

Isogai's eyes widened.

"Look, you see..." She fummed. "I uh..." She flashed Isogai a quick glare.

Terasaka was frozen.

The redhead saw it.

Then he knew.

He couldn't help but smirk.

"Uh. Well."

He looked uncomfortable.

"I'm... I just." She breathed in and out a little to heavy. "I realize that it was unfair of me to use you like that, and..."

Karma watched Isogai's eyes widen.

Oh I see.

In that moment, something was going on.

Isogai was too animated.

Something had been discussed.

His hazel eyes slowly floated back... she was fumbling over words.

"I'M SORRY!"

It came out as a loud shout.

Terasaka jerked his head as if the the actual words held gravity that had pushed him back abruptly.

She started to sniffle.

Nagisa quirked an eyebrow, and as his eyes moved to Karma's face, Karma actually seemed stunned.

The scream was most unexpected!

It should of been the apology itself, but instead, it was the delivery that caused everyone left in that lunch room to turn their attention.

Especially him.

Why?

Horrible memories flooded into her head, specifically the first time she stood up to her father.

She, a young girl of only 12, had told him to stop it with her mom.

'Back up, or I'll!'

'Or you'll what Zumi?'

He reached for the gun.

'It's not loaded.'

A dumb childish mistake.

All she knew at the age was that guns can 'protect' people, she didn't know you had to load the bullets in it to get it to work!

He wrenched the gun out of her hand.

Smacking her over the side of the head.

She had been so stupid! Thinking that a gun would 'just shoot' on it's own!

But how'd she know?

She just stood there... everyone in the class silent as they watched her cry.

She'd taken a vow that night to learn martial arts for her and her mom's protection, not for killing. One that didn't involve weapons that'd kill a man.

But when she meant it, hurting someone in protection, she swore to herself it was for a good cause and she wouldn't say...

Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry daddy!

Sometimes his brain worked in overtime, and now was one of those moments.

So fast that he would spend a majority of the class caught in a net, a train of thought that on the outside, made him look like he was staring off into space.

It was why he looked so lax in class, his mind was working and moving so intensely to a level that others could only dream of facilitating.

Absorbing surroundings, sounds, the lessons themselves, Koro Sensei and his breathing and movements (for assassin purposes), his classmates reactions to the lessons, a favorite was watching Terasaka moan softly during science, it was just so obvious, that was what was hilarious.

Terasaka hated biology.

But now, that girl.

Zumi.

She kind of 'threw' him through this loop, not an actual one, but yet one all the same.

How fitting it was that she was here.

Yet another student that was admitted to E Class that just as weird as the others.

But weird how?

If that crack of emotional outburst and her crying across the room right now wasn't enough to make him question, then the looks she once again gave Isogai certainly were interest spiking.

"Uh, well." Terasaka fought for words. Zumi looked so disheveled, and he never seen someone feel so bad. "It's okay."

His 'boyz' stared at him. And he then shifted his mood once noticing, to chuckling nervously in embarrassment. "I mean! HAHA! You uh..."

She looked up finally. Her face a mess, still crying.

"You didn't really hurt me that bad anyway!"

He admitted he discovered something new about his classmates not necessarily daily, but at least every few weeks.

But projects. He liked.

Being quite the people watcher, he knew body language, and this girl, everything about what she was actually saying and what her body was doing, were somehow, two different things.

It was all so closed, she turned to face no one, her feet towards no person.

Disinterested.

He watched her.

But now, even though closed, arms crossed across her chest, folded, she was shuttering in tears?

Something didn't make Karma quite believe that all of it was in true sorry-ness, in true flavor of feeling remorse.

Had she somehow forgotten that she'd done it all to prove a point?

How odd.

She knew he was lying to save face in front of his friends, even though their stunned looks they knew that he was bluffing.

"Well never... nevertheless." She squeaked. "It's, not... okay."

Zumi began to shuffle out slowly, out the side door, needing some air.

Just before, she rounded to say over her shoulder but just loud enough for the rest of the on-lookers to hear.

"Just because I feel bad, doesn't mean I'm any of you's friend..."

She sniffled.

"So, make sure and leave me alone."

She ran out.

Karma's jaw kind of loosened.

Even if she did apologize, she still made a point to state that she doesn't want to have anything to do with anyone!

He looked at the blank space she had just exited, while returning to the group, but not before making a quick, calculated glare at Isogai... Jaw-dropped. Visibly upset.

"I feel so bad for her!" Kaede squeaked out.

"An apology. I actually feel horrible for her too." Nagisa's eyes looked sad. "She took hitting him really harshly. I just wanted to go over and give her a hug."

"Yeh. I mean... she couldn't of hurt Terasaka that bad... right?" She looked over and watched him again lightly poke another pork bun around his nose rather sheeplishly.

"What d'you think?" Nagisa Asked Karma.

"Ahh. She's just a girl." The question brushed off with ease.

"What's that supposed to mean!" Nakamura spoke up from her lunch pail, her blonde hair thrown angrily behind an ear.

"I'm jus' saying..." Karma slyly fizzled, to get under her collar. "Girls... who knows." He slouched down rolling his eyes, his normal posture. That really wasn't the thoughts in his head, but he blew them off to the others by masking them with ignorantly toned statements.

He heard Nakamura growl. "You! Every time. I swear, you've always got something smart to say!"

"Ahh?" Karma sat up.

He spied Zumi walking down the path almost to the edge where the mountain cut off.

Going home early.

"Hmm?" Nakamura grumbled, looking too when she realized Karma had stopped talking, seeing her. "Obviously she's sorry." She crossed her arms.

Karma jolted up, throwing Nakamura off balance a bit.

"LOOK TERASAKA! THERE GOES YOUR NEW GIRLFRIEND!" Karma shouted suddenly, jesting, pointing outside to her.

Terasaka shot up instantly, throwing the uneaten half of his pork bun back into his lunch bag.

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND! I'LL KILL YOU KARMAAAAA!" He balled a fist. "Son of a, OW!" He hands jolted to hold his bandaged nose.

Karma started laughing hysterically.

"You can't even yell without it hurting!"

"SHUT UP!" Teraska grumbled out to him.

Karma just couldn't resist the urge to agitate the brute... especially when now he had an object he could tease him with.

"Of course, how'd I know?" Nakamura mumbled, taking a bite out of an apple. "Taking up the perfect opportunity to make fun of a gimp."

"Shut up Nakamura! I'm not a gimp!"

She growled, throwing her apple back into her pack. "Okay! So maybe that wasn't the right choice of words!"

"NO! IT wasn't! Gimp means I don't have ARMS. I have arms!"

"You're taking this..."

The two fought.

Perfect.

It was what Karma wanted.

"NO I'M NOT!" Terasaka balled a fist.

"You... I can't stand..."

All the yelling around him became just noise.

Once again everyone had their eyes fixated on something else. The yelling match.

Karma used the opportunity to put the joint of his index finger to his lip in thought, resting it there while he watched the back of her head disappear over the end of the path.

She showed up and went into shock the first time she seen Koro Sensei, an innocent response. Then days later, knocks Terasaka in good. Then apologizes, not entirely all in good faith, or so he thought.

He brushed back his red hair from his eyes.

Multi-dimensional.

He sat back down in his chair. His train of thought so strong it only let bits and pieces of the yelling float in.

"You.. I...!"

"Terasaka! You're such.."

"With that sm..."

"Go on... !"

Underneath the skin... there were reasons why even after the apology after she shouted and proclaimed so loudly to leave her alone.

Finding people out wasn't just fun for him, it was more less a game.

He was just... so good at it.

"You're an idiot!"

"Wha..!"

"Just bec..."

Karma began watching the two fight, thoughts still elsewhere.

I'll have you figured out in two weeks.

He yawned.

Just like all the rest.

"Big mou.."

"Jus zip.."

All the rest.

He smirked.

"SERIOUSLY!" Karasuma yelled suddenly coming inside. "ARE YOU TWO DONE ALREADY?!"

"YEH! We could hear you all the way down to the teacher's lounge!" Bitch Sensei piped, arms crossed.

"KARMA STARTED IT!" They both yelled in unison pointing at him.

Karasuma and Bitch glared.

"Whaa? Me?" Karma shied.

"YES YOU!" They both yelled in unison again.

Uh oh. Looks like a write up for me.