7

"Alright class." Koro Sensei flashed in and out at mach speed avoiding guns the class pulled to shoot him with.

Zumi quickly realized in that week, it wasn't bullets, but something else, small magenta BB's, and not just the knife handed to her in P.E., all the knives were rubber. So, the weapons they were using to quote un-quote 'kill' the yellow octopus weren't even real weapons!

She had overheard the wavy red-headed girl speaking with the blonde girl, that the 'weapons' would kill him though. Zumi thought it was peculiar.

Probably made of some sort of special material that perhaps worked on the super-creature, but not harmful to humans.

To her, it was like all her classmates then... were just 'playing' the role of assassins.

But she... she didn't come from a world of dollhouses and dream cars to put barbies in.

Zumi lived in the actual world.

The one with crime.

Idiots.

"I've decided to enlist the class in competitions this semester. Of course, summer break is over, but that doesn't mean that we can't still work on team building!"

What?!

Zumi was already up to her ears in this class!

What did Koro Sensei have up his damned witch sleeves now?!

She heard some other's depressive sighs.

Good to know she wasn't the only one.

"Aside from competing in the Culinary Competition towards the end of the year, and the Acting Competition, the major ones on the campus..." He pulled out a huge book, and slammed it down on his desk at the front of the class.

The firing stopped. It was just Terasaka and Sugino who had guns up anyway.

Zumi had fully blended into the atmosphere of the classroom now, people would randomly shoot guns at the teacher throughout the day and the rest of the class just loomed on. She was in the middle of that looming, and had found it nice and quiet.

"WHAT?" Terasaka barked. "What'd you want us to do now?!"

Zumi rolled her eyes

God. He just never shuts up!

"Nrujuhuhujuu!"

His laugh got under her skin.

"Every two weeks we're going to have an E Class competition. To keep up those competitive spirits!"

The whole room said nothing.

"While competing with the other classes at the main campus in the two other events we have this semester, I want to instill a sense of competition inside the E Class itself as well! Competitions paired with events that will bond you together more! I insist on total class participation!"

Zumi felt sick.

Barf.

She wanted to stick out her tongue, and fake choke just to make a disturbing point, but that red-head next to her, she knew would use it to attempt to bother her...

Tuesday After School

He walked up as if he had no care in the world, ignoring all the threats.

"Hi." He snuck aside her.

"What do you want?" She huffed down the mountain path, carrying an extra book that had been tacked on by Koro Sensei to study language arts. She had to get to work! As if sitting by him wasn't enough!

God damn it!

"Ohh nothing." He leisurely slid the words out, sticking his arms behind his head, walking carelessly.

He wore the same thing to school everyday too.

They all fluctuated their uniforms from time to time, and this guy, always always always... had the top two buttons unbuttoned on his crisp white shirt.

He was just straight up forcing himself in her presence.

How annoying!

"You know what?"

"Hm?" He popped an eye open.

"You annoy the shit out of me." Zumi trudged ahead of him.

She probably shouldn't of said that...

Because the 'annoyance' pressed on through the week.

Wednesday Afternoon

"Could you... just shut up?" Terasaka was not happy.

The faux salmon-head rolled in laughter.

Zumi looked pissed, and was pissed. She remained quiet, still not participating in outdoor activities to learn skills to 'kill' the professor.

"I see you got paired up with your girlfriend today!" Karma blurted.

Zumi's face got red.

She knew that quick-witted turd seen it, because the whole rest of the day he bugged her.

Wednesday After School

"So you like Terasaka right?"

She grumbled.

Not only had this idiot proven himself to be the master poker of buttons, but also sort of a bully.

Zumi wasn't surprised, right from the start she had him pegged.

What she was surprised about was how careless he was about it.

He surely must enjoy it a hell of a lot, to keep this going so long.

"I don't like anyone. Go away."

He seemed kind of taken aback for a second by her harsh tone, but then settled right back into the smooth teasing. His brow physically settling almost into a sly smile all of it's own.

"Ahh... so rough."

She grimaced, ick.

Those words came out almost too suavely. Who did he think he was? What did he think his bullying was getting at?

Again, she trudged ahead on the path, leaving the dip-shit snickering in his classy square-toed's.

Thursday Morning

"OHAYO! Sunshine!"

JESUS!

She had just got to the edge of the path to the mountain and he was already there!

"It's 7 am asshole. Better be important." She mumbled passing him by, and he turned behind her as she passed to follow.

"Oh not really." He chidded.

Zumi was beginning to realize he was just bugging the shit out of her on purpose!

Saying nothing of importance at all. Doing nothing of importance. Making zero points.

Just trying to crawl under her skin!

And for what?

He opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off...

"Could you just not?" She barked irritably.

She stopped at the delta at the bottom of the hill where two different trails split, so the students could take either left or right up the mountain, and she realized Nagisa was standing down there, and had just gotten off of his bus, and he was looking up at them from his vantage point below.

"HI NAGISAAAAA!" He bellowed extraordinarily loud.

She knew he just did it to bug her.

Nagisa waved back coyly.

"Uh...Hi... Karma." His voice barely audible from down the hill.

Zumi growled in frustration.

DAMN FOOL!

She bustled off. The last thing she wanted was somehow people in class associating her with that Salmon!

Thursday After School

She had made it through the rest of the day soundlessly and speechlessly.

Zumi had received a few odd glances from the class, just enough for her to capture in her mind that that little shit, Nagisa, spread it around that she was speaking with that dummy.

So, he's friends with a snitch.

She shouldn't of expected anything less of her peers, honestly, she knew how it was in school. Any news of anything 'juicy' made it around the whole school like flies to a hot-buttered pancakes.

And 3-E was very secluded, news that she was talking to anyone, since she was the new 'hot article' in class, was sure to make the headline.

She needed to scramble off to work anyway, then tomorrow a re-start.

Zumi had no faith in people.

Hopeless.

But at least the remaining threat from Monday was still enough to build upon a wall.

She seen a flash of red.

Instantly she grumbled.

If only she could get this idiot to go away!

By some supernatural force at the delta where the paths crossed, they met.

"So..." He yawned.

"So?" She mimicked but in a mocking tone. She sped up to get ahead, a childish attempt she knew, but she had to get to work!

He picked up his pace too, sucking soda out of a can.

"Ah, not one for words today? You see, I know you seem tough, but I can tell you're just a trapped kitten."

She grumbled. Running down the hill and hopping straight on the bus.

Again... that laughter.

Friday

As Koro Sensei started heading down the rows to hand out the flyers, that contained all the titles and details about the bi-weekly E Class competitions and follow-up events, Zumi just stared out the window.

It had started to rain.

She turned her head from facing anyone.

More work was exactly what she didn't need.

That boy. Giving her glances, scheming up what to rile her up with next, she didn't need.

She chose to ignore all of it.

Karma. So that's your name.

How dumb.

And... he had no idea what her life had been like, all week he hadn't made any comments... until yesterday.

As sensei slowly passed out flyers, making sure to take time to speak with each student about their thoughts...

Karma took the time to glance at the back of her head.

Light brown hair, same as before, like he had watched trail up the stairs when she had beat the snot out of Terasaka.

Ignoring everything.

He wanted her to give him something.

Anything.

Really.

He had no idea what her life had been like.

How pissed she got when she had been compared to a 'kitten', being naive, acting young, had been out of her life, out of her personal motto for a long time.

She wished she could go back to being softer, wished she could somehow reverse and do-over simpler times, but that wasn't the case.

How it had actually kind of hurt her. That comment.

A trapped kitten.

His voice repeated in her head.

She wouldn't look at him. She wouldn't let him have pleasure in her frustration.

That was all in all what fueled him.

He had tried his normal go-to: Tip-toeing around the bush, being annoying on purpose.

Usually that was what would make some spill.

It was his quickest go to solution.

Most get too angry, so that eventually they'd just break, and he'd practically, after a sheer number of bothersome disturbances, little chats, have them begging him to leave them alone.

They'd give him whatever he wanted.

In this case?

Go away.

Her sentence on Wednesday.

It pissed him off.

The way she could just brush it off... him off.

She had kept her silence, other than busting out a few times to just tell him to shut up, be quiet, cuss at him a bit.

You won't find out shit.

He was fishing entirely in the wrong waters.

Salmon's name might be Karma, but she knew truly, as the fish that he was, he was beginning to swim too far upstream.

She shook her head in thought.

He would put himself in danger if he wasn't careful.

If he'd just leave me alone.

If he just wouldn't dig.

All he had gained from her was...

1.) that she was rough around the edges

2.) that she took the 56-F bus downtown most of the week.

3.) somehow she knew Isogai, at least enough that she speaks with him, that they 'understand' each other somehow.

4.) she knows martial arts.

5.) she keeps her private life... private.

He felt silly for resorting to writing bullet points on plain white paper and folding it inside of his English textbook.

Karma knew that this 'project' was going to last a little bit longer than he anticipated.

"Zumi-kun, here's a list for you." Koro Sensei said, placing it on her desk.

He had gone through the class slowly so he could gather information on the student's individual thoughts about the project line-up.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"Whatever."

Karma actually snickered because Koro Sensei started having a mini-freak out, turning green and flipping out over her response.

"But I've put so much work into this!"

She knew fully well, and already experienced a few of his tantrums, and outbursts.

The sensei's attitude, aside from being a monster, was so off.

It bugged her.

"I picked out so many special things, I've made so many calls! I've done so much to try to make this happen! Tireless hours! I was so exhausted! Without sweets, I also didn't make it!"

"FINE!" Zumi snapped, grabbing up the paper.

Karma, her neighbor, as she turned around, looked away.

Koro Sensei stopped fake crying and throwing himself on the floor like a whiny 2 year old.

"This one is cool."

Karma raised his eyebrow.

He couldn't see it. He couldn't face her either or she'd know he was spying at her this whole time.

Which one was it?

"Very good!" Koro Sensei instantly brightened.

"They're all artistic orientated."

Karma was intrigued, by Koro Sensei's request she actually said something worth some meaning, other than blandly, dryly responding to him to answer a math equation or something.

"What else?"

She looked back at the paper sighing.

"I do see... a lot of the events probably did take you quite some time to prepare."

"Ah! Yes! Any input?"

"Uh." She meekly said. She didn't want to contribute, but she did have a question. "You sure you have a venue for that?"

Koro Sensei began scratching his head, and the entire classroom saw.

Karma was still mildly displeased that he couldn't see which one in particular she engaged him on, which one she was pointing at.

The first actual conversation he'd heard her have...

And he couldn't entirely understand it.

He scanned his paper that sensei had already given him slowly, giving off no alarm that he was doing so because he wanted more insight.

It could be any of them.

"Ah yes! How thoughtful Zumi!" He exclaimed. "It's a surprise."

"Great." She responded lifelessly.

Back to the dry, plain emptiness that she always showed.

Apparently, that was good enough for Koro Sensei, as he turned around and whisked back up front.

"Class dismissed!"

She was one of the first ones out the door today.

Karma didn't even have time to throw on his jacket!

He wanted to enlist a little more precarious measures than before.

Koro Sensei saw him whip out the door too.

A little quicker than normal.

Ahh... Narujuhgugh.

"Hey there."

Zumi rolled her eyes and just kept walked.

One afternoon of peace this week.

One.

That's all she was asking for.

"What do you want?" She sounded put-off, and she really was. She had to go to work again, and she was going Blue, Boss Man needed her badly there instead of dish washing, and she didn't have time for this dude.

She had yet to get changed into her uniform of the night!

And it was sprinkling. No umbrella meant wet hair, sloppy shoes, and mud. She would have to clean herself up.

"Getting on then bus today?"

She turned her head at that. Watching him looking everywhere except at her.

Did he actually just ask her a question? A logical one?

This... Karma.

Will always be a fish. A smelly fish.

He'll be dead fish if he keeps it up.

"None of your damn business." She realized that he had seen her boarding the bus, the only answer.

"Ahh? Just asking."

Casanova-ish. Smarmy and gross. Were her thoughts.

Her perversion towards someone her age, towards him, unparalleled, except by only one other in her life.

And... no one could ever match that person. Yet another that she wished would just... melt away, like hot caramel on a sundae.

To the bottom of the dish.

"What's your deal?"

She actually worked up the gumption to ask!

That surprised him.

Nagisa was again at the bottom of the hill, getting ready to board a bus.

He seen, looking surprised that she, the dreaded nose-breaker, was even entertaining conversation with another human being.

Shit!

The wall she wanted to build!

She knew full-well this was the 2nd time that Nagisa caught her and Salmon talking!

No!

Her brain exploded.

It's not talking!

She went through a convincing internally. Her head overloading with anger. Wanting to run over there and shake that blue-haired nut into a frenzy, to scream to him, 'He's just annoying the shit out of me! We aren't talking! That's all! I just hate him! And he drives me nuts!'.

She gritted her teeth as she her thoughts had her locked in a death stare with Nagisa... who looked... confused.

Her path partner noticed.

"Don't worry about Nagisa... I won't tell him anything." He smiled slyly.

She snapped.

"What the hell are you even talking about? There's nothing going on! And there never will be! So just walk the fuck out of my life..." She balled a fist at him. "And we won't have a problem Salmon!"

Suddenly a look crossed his face that stopped her ranting.

Had?

Zumi's eyes instantly widened.

She meeped her mouth closed.

Aww!

Karma was pleased.

She'd given him a title.

Albeit an unflattering one.

By revealing to her just a tad of information, per sey, some information that he 'might of' seen her transportation...

Then using Nagisa to his advantage... classic bait and switch.

He riled her up, baited, then switched to the dreaded acknowledgement of being shown to of been 'talking' with him... again.

Oh! How embarrassing for you.

It wasn't embarrassment for her.

It down-right made her mad.

She was supposed to build a wall! A strong, fortified one that would ensure that nobody from the class could take a look inside, could pitch a look at her dreaded life. Spray-painted on the wall would be 'keep out!' in large letters.

He smiled almost heavenly at this, at his thoughts, the scene.

It was all too perfect.

His eyes began to narrow the way a wolf looks at prey.

She got on guard. Throwing down her backpack. Unsure what was to happen.

Zumi knew she couldn't ready stance herself with a heavy ass pack. She had to get rid of it.

Unexpectedly, he stepped in close. But not that close.

He had wanted the ball in his court, and on accident she had given it to him.

He whispered from about the length away that they sat next to each other in class. "My name... is Karma."

That was enough!

She ripped her pack up off the ground and took off.

He just watched her back, brown hair floating in the breeze, fluttering down the road like a flustered little bug.

So... she wasn't taking the bus today.

Nagisa obviously seen him staring at her.

He had picked up on it.

Karma walked over.

"What are you planning Karma?" He just couldn't keep it to himself.

"Ohhh? Nothing."

Nagisa didn't take that as an answer as he stepped on the bus.

"You missed your bus." Karma pointed out.

Nagisa shook his head. "Watching you."

Karma shot him a glance as the door closed and their eyes narrowed at each other, for different reasons.

The one left standing at the bus stop just smiled.

He wondered what he'd find out tomorrow.