Friendship 101
Chapter One: An Awkward Beginning! It's...Not A Great Start
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Disclaimer: I do not own Assassination Classroom. If I did, karumana would officially be cannon and I wouldn't have left my peeps feeling thirsty after that last chapter.
"Please get into your pairs now class." Koro-sensei said and the students of class 3-E started moving. As most students had their partners across the classroom, Manami fidgeted in her seat as her partner was just two seats away.
Should I go to him? Or maybe he will come here? She thought as the pig-tailed twirled her fingers together. Will he think I'm rude if I wait for him? M-Maybe too straight forward if I just went up to him? Heaven knows that I have that problem. As she contemplated to herself, Manami failed to notice Itona who stood before her and was waving his hand in front of her face.
"Okuda-san?" He tried. "Okuda-san, hello? I'm right here." The short boy paused and shook his head at the strange girl. Itona watched her in slight amusement and felt little weirded out. Before him, the chemist was looking down in her lap playing with her fingers and...
Is she talking to herself?
Indeed, Manami was unaware that she was mumbling to herself. Itona sighed and walked behind her to grab the chair at the empty desk. He pulled it up to her side and decided to wait for her to notice him. How long will it take though? He wondered slightly and rested his chin in his palm.
In wonderment, Itona spent the next two and a half minutes observing his partner. Not once did she look up and her mumbling got quieter. Thinking it was best to do something, Itona brought his free hand and gently pulled on her braids.
Manami squeaked at the tug and quickly looked to her left. She felt her eyes widened at the sight of the small boy already sitting next to her. "H-Horibe-kun... Y-You're here." She stuttered. Itona nodded his head in acknowledgement.
"Yeah." He said coolly. "Have been for a while." He added. Manami blushed at the fact.
"I-I'm sorry." She stuttered shyly and was left feeling a little ashamed. The white haired boy tilted his head in a fairly cute manner at this.
"What for?" He asked. Pausing, the girl bit her lower lip.
"F-For not noticing you?" She answered as if she was asking a question or permission.
"Don't worry about it." Replied Itona, waving off her answer. "Anyways, we should get started on the project, right?" He started to gather his papers.
"R-Right!" Manami did the same and brought out her papers filled with ideas and statements about all kinds of elements. Itona peeked down at her desk and raised a brow.
He was impressed.
On all kinds of sheet paper and notepads, Itona found neatly written notes. There were hand drawn pictures of molecules and a standard edition of the periodic table folder. On the folder was scribbled handwriting filling the edges in different colored pens.
"Wow." Itona expressed with awe. "They weren't kidding when they said you loved chemistry so much." After saying this, he looked up in time to see a blush fiercely cover Manami's face. Her face was so cherry red that it traveled all the way down her neck and then some more. This made Itona feel unusually shy. He cleared his throat and asked, "Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?"
Manami just shook her head and subtly tried to hide some of her notes. "N-No..." She whispered. Itona almost had to strain his hearing in order to catch what she had said. The younger boy could feel a frown forming on his face.
"Are you lying to me?" He questioned to her and leaned in closer. Manami shuffled away.
"N-No." Was her reply as she tried to hide her face behind sheets of papers. The blush stayed on her face. Itona waited for Manami to calm down, seeing as how pushing her to answer him would only lead her to staying silent.
After a few moments, Manami slowly pulled the papers away from her face and looked cautiously at Itona. He was quiet but patient and that made her feel a bit at ease. "I-I'm sorry." She started. "It's just, when you said that... I got a little embarrassed. Ch-Chemistry used to be my only friend and s-so I-I..." Manami couldn't finish her sentence. Itona nodded his head anyways and pretended that he understood what she was saying.
"Of course." Was all he said. "Now, shall we decide which element we want to use? I think we're falling behind." Itona pointed out. As Manami looked over his shoulders, she saw that her classmates have all seemed to have chosen their element to present in a week's time.
"R-Right. Let's get started."
And so the two looked over each other's notes and talked together. It was awkward for them since they were both quiet and very straight forward at the same time. The two found themselves wanting the other to speak before they had said anything and when they did try to speak, they kept interrupting each other. Itona found it a bit annoying and Manami was growing a little frustrated as well. Although he was patient, Manami couldn't help but feel as if she was letting her partner down.
I'm the best at science and yet I can't even... With another person I just... Manami clenched her fists in frustration. I can't get the words out right!
Itona sensed Manami's self dilemma and offered a suggestion.
"How about something simple like oxyg—"
"Good thing we got oxygen."
Well, he tried to offer a suggestion. Twirling around, Itona looked for the voice that spoke and saw Ryōma high-fiving Tōka. He glared at the large boy. Only his voice could echo so loudly in the classroom. That damn ape. Itona growled. Hearing it, Manami scooted her chair afraid that Itona was mad at her and her...antisocial tendencies. The boy immediately noticed and looked back at her. He raised a brow.
"Why are you scooting away?" He asked and scooted closer.
"I-I am not!" Manami fired back, clearly lying, and scooted a bit further away. A vein suddenly appeared on Itona's forehead.
"Yes, you are. You just did it!" He accused and even pointed a finger at her.
"D-Don't point at me!" Manami snapped. Even though she stuttered out of nervousness, the sharp tone in her voice was received loud and clear to Itona. She even dared to scoot further away, almost leaving her own desk. The boy scowled.
"There!" He exclaimed through clenched teeth. His tone was loud and clear enough to catch a few students attention. Some of them cast a worried glance. Itona and Manami paid no mind to it them, too involved with each other. "You did it again!" Itona growled, this time to her. The chemist girl flinched and felt her fingers clenched the edge of her seat. Her heart pounded loudly inside her chest, her whole being trembling and Manami could feel tears forming in her eyes.
He really is angry at me. She thought with sudden fright and unease. Chewing her lower lip, Manami mustered as much courage as she could and choked out, "S-Stop. Don't shout at me." Her eyes squeezed shut.
"What was that?" Itona stubbornly asked as he folded his hands against his chest. His tone was unfriendly and uncaring. Manami felt her heart squeeze at just hearing it.
"Y-You're b-being really scary." She mumbled, unable to keep her feelings in her body. Even though she was quiet, Itona felt himself relax and guilt started to eat away at him. As he looked closer at her, he finally saw how her eyes were shut tight and how her bottom lip was pressed against her teeth. Her glasses seemed to fog and her cheeks had wet trails going downwards.
Oh for fuck's sak—
"What's going on here?" Karma's voice.
OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE. With a heavy sigh, Itona turned to look up at Karma who was standing before them. The redhead's gaze was stern and steady on Itona, as if accusing him for making Manami feel scared. Which... Probably Isn't too far fetched to be honest. The small boy added to himself with pursed lips. Irritation slowly started to build itself in Itona as Karma continued to stare down at him. He didn't like the look in those mercury orbs. They were hateful eyes.
The class had turned eerily quiet by this point. The sound of pin dropping could be heard.
Sitting up straighter, the shorter boy tsk'd and folded his arms along his chest. With a sneer, Itona said in a nasty voice, "It's none of your business, Karma."
Straight to the point.
That was Itona.
Karma's eyes narrowed. "It have better be nothing." He said slowly and dangerously before looking to Manami. His expression softened. "Are you okay?" He asked her. Manami went stiff and her face was flushed with embarrassment. Did Karma really have to step in?
Shame washed over her and a sense of helplessness tightened around her throat. With hesitant eyes, she looked over to a concerned Karma and then to Itona. Her partner.
He wasn't looking at her.
This really sucks. Manami thought to herself sadly. Am I no good? How come I can't stand up for myself? She faintly wondered, patting her cheeks to dry them. Taking her glasses off, Manami rubbed her eyes a bit and only nodded to Karma, not trusting her voice enough to speak. Sniffling, she hurriedly placed her glasses back on her face and placed her head in her arms.
Karma frowned and knew that position of hers very well.
She was really upset.
Before he could say anything over to her, laughter echoed behind them.
"Nurufufufu~!" Koro-sensei appeared behind them with small burst of wind following after. "I'll handle this, Karma-kun." He stated happily. Karma, hesitant, simply nodded and quietly left Manami's desk. He looked back once to check on her and then turned to leave a glare in Itona's direction.
It lingered on in the shorter boy's conscience and Itona tried to brush the look off. He didn't want Karma affecting him. Huffing slightly, Itona looked to Koro-sensei with a blank look. "I didn't do anything." He deadpanned. Koro-sensei nodded his head and laughed.
"I believe you, Itona-kun." He chirped. "Come, let us go outside the classroom and away from prying eyes, neh?" At this statement, Itona hastily turned around to look at his classmates who immediately went back to what they were doing. Narrowing his eyes, Itona stood up first and walked out of the classroom. Koro-sensei then turned his attention to the small, trembling girl in her seat.
If his smile could get any bigger, it did.
"Come, Okuda-san." Koro-sensei spoke with such a gentleness that forced Manami to look up. A tentacle wrapped around her shoulders lightly, urging her out of her seat. "Let's go outside, mm?" Manami wiped at her eyes and nodded once. She let Koro-sensei's tentacle help her out of her seat and quickly walked out the door of class 3-E.
Koro-sensei followed after her shortly. Before stepping out, he turned to the class. "No eavesdropping you guys. Nurufufufu~!" He laughed and had almost of a gleeful smile on his face. "It will all be okay." With that said, Koro-sensei softly shut the door to the classroom.
Everyone looked at the door and then to each other. In a flash, the class found themselves pressed against the door. Students such at Hiroto and Rio had cups pressed against the wall, eagerly wanting to know what was going on.
"Hey, can you make room?" Tōka asked and nudged Ryōma with her foot. The large boy rolled his eyes but made room anyways.
"Ow! That was my leg!" Hinano scowled to Taiga and slapped his arm.
"Sorry." The pervert apologized and tried to press his cup against the wall too.
"Shh!" Rio hissed. "I can't hear what's going on!" She nudged Tomohito's hand off her elbow.
"What she said!" Hiroto added in. Yūma tried to pull his best friend away from the door.
"This is a really bad habit!" He exclaimed to no avail.
"I can't believe Itona would treat my Okuda-chan that way!" Kaede scowled and started tapping her foot.
"You said it!" Rio chirped in, agreeing completely.
"Did you guys even hear how Okuda-san reacted to Itona though?" Taisei asked, wanting to defend his friend.
"Yeah, she was pretty fierce." Takuya added.
"Are you trying to say that my Okuda-chan is at fault?" Kaede suddenly leered. Yukiko gave a sharp look to the two boys. Nagisa tried to hold the girls back.
"Yes." Was all Sōsuke answered. That was the topping to the cake.
Soon enough, majority of the classroom was in a full out argument about who started the disagreement between the two straight forward kids and whose fault it was in the end. They were all extremely opinionated and completely forgot their original task of eavesdropping.
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Manami and Itona stood in the hallway a ways from each other. They, including Koro-sensei, could hear every word that was being said in the classroom. Embarrassment crept up in both of them. Manami shuffled her feet and twirled her fingers together while Itona folded his arms and closed his eyes.
This is just great. He thought. What a way to start the week.
This is the worst day ever. They both thought.
(A/N: Here is chapter one! I'm almost done with the next chapter but won't be posting until next week. As you can see, our favorite quiet, blunt and science-y advanced students really don't get along. I kind of like this, kind of not. It was pretty hard to write. I hope it's enough though.)