(Author's Note: I realize that I have messed up the timeline. I wanted Zumi to enter E Class after Summer Break, about 2.5 - 3 months after the 2nd semester already started. In the series, after Summer Break, there remained only 1 semester until Koro Sensei was to blow up the Earth, however in my AU here, Zumi has stated within the 1st few chapters, that within 9 months, Koro Sensei would end the Earth. One semester of school is much less than 9 months. So, just bear with me... I'm pushing the date that Koro Sensei plans to destroy the Earth back on purpose. (It wouldn't be until June.) I have reasons for this. (So that there is time for these once every 2 week E Class competitions to play their roles in the story, amongst other things)... and this is also an Altered Universe story so... just read and imagine, and have fun.)

9

"Dad. I'm leaving." He didn't know why he even cared letting him know anymore.

No response.

He knew full well, he was asleep with his girlfriend in the other room anyway.

The one that he let move in with them.

The other 'girlfriends' he had to stop seeing because of it.

Karma stood there at the door, not allowing himself to look inside.

Not out of a fear of what he might 'see', because he already knew what his dad and his girlfriend had been doing in that room last night, but more so because he was just giving up.

His dad.

If you'd call him that.

Never did he mention anything about his home life to anyone.

The E Class knew he caused issues, obviously, he was in E Class, he was violent and uncaring, unafraid of conflict, and more than a tad manipulative, but he'd never shared what was going on in his home, he wasn't entirely secure in the idea of being friends with anyone too closely in the class enough for that, except Nagisa, sort of.

They had a history, not a long one, but one. They'd been friends, known each other before E Class.

But not even Nagisa knew...

Knew that his dad was slowly falling away... into a realm that Karma was growing to utterly dislike, possibly even hate.

It was bad when his mom left.

It was bad when his dad was sleeping around.

It was bad when his dad met his new girlfriend.

And... it continues to be bad.

At first, Karma had grown used to the 'badness' of it all, his home life was off the wire, not stable, but he had at least gotten used to it.

It was the devil he knew.

But his dad... letting someone move in?

This familiar dislike. It was growing to hate.

Karma didn't mind hate. Didn't mind it at all. He attributed hate as a natural human feeling, but in accordance with a parent?

Never had he thought that he'd entertain it.

Even after the infidelity of his father.

He disliked him then, disliked the empty environment, disliked the void that was left after his mom left, the void of her sadness when Karma told her instead, he wished to stay in Japan, to continue in school there.

But hate?

It's creeping in.

In the form of black hair, black eyes, and a pale form.

The woman, his dad chose to be with. 100% Japanese (not that that was the problem), the problem was just her.

Karma knew...

It was because of this that his dad... dad. He was changing.

Karma turned his back from the door, lifting himself away from the darker area of the house, and turning to the morning rays of light coming from the living room window.

His home. The house he had lived his whole life. Was it that still?

Time to go to school.

Time to escape this mess for awhile.

She dug around in her backpack. Cleaning it out before she took off, it had quite an accumulation of papers, old notes, and there was a broken mechanical pencil in the bottom of it.

Zumi took out the important things, the books, syllabuses, spiral notebooks, folders, and that dumb paper that Koro Sensei had handed out.

The octopus.

She had yet to openly call it sensei. Or him. Call him that. By now she had realized it was a 'he', and that he was male. She recognized him as a killer, a threat to her life, still more so than the educator.

The 'Koro Sensei'.

She examined the paper.

She smirked as she heard her mom singing in the shower upstairs, fed and happy.

Happy that she had gotten to see her daughter.

Singing.

They were so similar.

Except her mom had a horrible voice.

But every time her voice cracked, even though it was awful, it was distinctly 'her voice', and Zumi would never ever wish that voice, maybe not as beautiful to others as it was to her, to stop singing.

"Alright, let's see what you have planned." She spoke to herself, throwing away the garbage in the small plastic trash bag in the kitchen.

It was planned up all through summer... up til June.

The octopus had it's hopes high, that it wouldn't be killed by that time.

She shivered. She knew what that meant.

A possible end.

To everything.

Still, she'd leave it to the others. This was not her forte, it was not her wish.

She would not have blood on her hands.

"November 10th. November 24th. December 8th. December 22nd. January 5th. January 19th. February 2nd. February 16th. March 2nd. March 16th. March 30th. April 13th. April 27th. May 11th. May 25th. June 8th." She sighed. "Oh... my... god..."

It was... so much.

She had taken a glance over it, only to end the rant that the yellow freak was having, because it bugged the shit out of her, just as much, if not more so than that salmon-head did, but she hadn't taken the time to 'fully' inspect it all.

"On top of tests, homework, school-wide testing, and 2 school competitions, he expects us to do all of this shit?" Zumi was so frustrated. She mumbled. "At least I don't have to try to be killing him also."

That was the only bright side.

"Guidelines and instructions for each 2 week competition will be passed out after the completion of the previous. Winner of competition gets to pick 'the choice' on The Event, and wins immunity from the next 2 week competition, but will be put back into the pot for the next one after." She sighed again, sarcastic. "Fantastic."

She turned the paper to the back, where everything was listed.

"So... I won't know what I'm being made to do entirely until I get that paper every 2 weeks?" She irritably grumbled. "Not only does that idiot push it, but so does my teacher. This goes all the way up through graduation!"

June 8th... The day of graduation.

Zumi began to read silently in her head.

November 10th. Competition: Literature / Event: 'Best-Seller's of All Time' Costume Dinner

The Winner's Choices:

1.) The Branchville Manor, Berkshire, England. A traditional English meal, in period costume, similar to Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice.

2.) The Black Flute, New York, New York. A historic 1920's American meal, in period costume similar to F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

3.) Italiano Teatre, Medina, Rome. A renaissance meal, in period costume similar to Dante's Divine Comedy.

"Hmm, all out of Japan." She wondered how in the world the octopus was going to get them all to the location. She betted it would be expensive travel-wise, where would he come up with the money? Had he come up with the money already?

They'd be getting the competition rules and instructions today. It was 2 weeks before November 10th.

Today was October 27th, Friday.

"Four more days and it's Halloween in the US." She found herself muttering as she started shoving the paper back in her bag.

And then work on the weekend at Blue Mark.

She scrambled to stuff her books back in, the backpack was emptied out of trash finally.

Except for one piece of paper.

It was crumbled up.

"Damn missed one."

Zumi pinched it out of the bottom. It had gotten a bit bruised up from having heavy materials smashing it down, for weeks, probably months.

The paper made her question.

It wasn't her paper.

It was from a spiral notebook, but one with black lines, not light blue ones.

Her gray eyes in curiosity, un-crumbled the ugly wad of paper, which at one point, seemed like it had been kind of folded.

Oh.

Upon flattening it out, un-rumpling it, she knew.

Salmon.

It was that damn wadded up piece of paper he threw at her. It had touched her drawing hand. When he had caught her staring at the others. Sizing them up. The same way in which she sized him up, and then realized he was just a boy, and grew tired of it and looked away...

But not without realizing first... that he was in shape, a nice-dresser, and kind of a slacker.

However, they'd already had one test since she'd been there, and perhaps he wasn't as dumb as what she thought. He got a 100%, she knew only because their scores had been announced.

How it had pissed her off! She had only got an 80!

That day was another day she turned to face the window most of the day instead of facing that bully's smirk.

He probably would of used it as fuel against her, had he known it'd made her mad. If... she gave him the time of day... which she doesn't. Which she won't.

Zumi noticed a swell within her growing, her fury towards him, how it made her think of him so.

Everything that infuriated her, she grew to understand that she had to hide it from the turd.

He already knew it made her mad when he used Terasaka in a way... referring to him as her 'boyfriend'.

Of course, it was all mockery, to get a rise out of her, and she knew it...

But that was enough.

All week she'd been nothing but cold to him, if not colder than before.

She'd let slip her little dumb nickname she called him.

That... he hadn't brought back up though.

He still only continued to rile up Terasaka, and secretly rile her up by using the oaf.

Zumi sighed and looked at the words on the crinkled paper.

Somehow, it must of gotten swept up into her bag that day.

As she began to read...

Her eyes began widening.

She figured it'd be some stupid gibberish like "What are you drawing?" or "Hello new girl, so you like to draw? That seems cool." or "I see you got frightened by Koro Sensei!" blah blah blah... barf puke.

Because at first, he seemed kind of 'nice', that of course, that was just a quick thought, and that was before he started forcing himself around her, bullying, and being pushy, if not mildly stalk-ish, asking her if she was taking the bus.

Before he was being a dumb-ass and making fake 'insinuating' scenes out in front of Nagisa down by the bus stop.

But this, she hadn't expected.

Clearly, it confused her, because it didn't make sense.

The sense of the world is short,
Long and various the report,
To love and be beloved;
Men and gods have not outlearned it,
And how oft soe'er they've turned it,
'Tis not to be improved.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

What was the meaning of that?

Why had Salmon wrote that?

Zumi shook her head.

It was a beautifully formatted poem, and she knew who Ralph Emerson was, what was surprising... is that for such a dick-hole, he had poetry memorized.

That day, during that time, they had been in math... Literature was over for the day, and he had nothing except for that black-lined notebook out.

At least, from what she recalled. Recollected.

Why would he write something so eloquent, then treat her so unjust, uncouth?

She sighed again, the whole morning had been full of nothing but sighs so far.

His handwriting, it was plain, just like she remembered from their short notebook conversation, cut even shorter by her.

Unmistakably, it was penned by that fish.

That day she had also followed up by her slamming her hand down on his desk with the bat portrait.

It had been an attempt to convince him to stay back, which obviously hadn't worked.

Rolling her eyes, she stuffed the poetry inside of her journal left on the counter in the kitchen.

She had no idea in hell why.

It's because I like Emerson.

She found her internal resolve convincing enough.

Time to head to school.

"Bye mom!" She had heard the shower shut off.

A muffled 'Bye! I love you!' came from upstairs.

Zumi heard it just before she shut the door, locking it.

She waited outside.

In two minutes she heard the other latches lock from inside. Foot bolt snap.

Good.

She seen the blind pull down just a bit, and saw three fingers wiggle.

Zumi smirked.

Mom.

The best mom. My mom.