As the evening rolled by, you ate a proper dinner with your family around the dining table. Fortunately for you, your favorite meal was served in commemoration of your first day of school, while the rest of your family was rather supportive in wishing for your utmost success.

There was minor chitchat circulating about where you had gone earlier that day prior to returning home, in which you proudly mentioned your hangout with newly acquired friends-- this thought applied to Nagisa and Kaede without hesitation, though it was always Karma that required more thinking about whether he actually qualified as a 'friend' in your eyes, as a frightful one who loved to tease others.

Dinnertime felt just as ordinary as any other day. Food accompanied by small conversations, and nothing more. After finishing with the highly enjoyable meal, you thanked your mother for preparing the blissfully blessed food, before ascending the stairs to your room to isolate yourself for the night.

You promptly hibernated inside your cozy bedroom, stationed at your homework table to busily crunch through the assignments given. Half of the desk was rather neat and organized, while the other was an utter mess with papers scattered about everywhere-- you simply didn't have the motivation to tidy both sides. The faint buzzing from your rowdy, worn out table lamp and the sounds of your lead pencil tapping was all you could discern. The duration of rough toiling was long, as you suffered from the average burden of not attaining the best memory and understanding for several subjects.

As Kaede mentioned prior to the meeting of sweet delights, there truly was enough time leftover after homework. With the spare time, you briefly wondered how your peers were tackling their evenings-- had they been just as studious as you were, if not more? Were they slacking off? Procrastinating? Having fun? There were many different approaches to assignments, after all.

Up until this point, they were all valid responses, as long as the job was completed. Apart from homework habits, there were other things you spent analyzing, for no reason in particular other than to pass the time.

"See you tomorrow, then-- if I bother showing up, that is."

The sentence repeated itself as you pondered, features remaining neutral as you thought. That, on the other hand, may not have been as desirable of an answer in terms of education and for the faculty. Karma Akabane was a genius-- that was true. But, his misbehaved persona appeared troublesome at times, having the capability to skip class. You inferred that Koro-sensei would become displeased from the action, and perhaps the redhead was brave enough to withstand consequences from a preeminent, bipedal octopus.

Karma Akabane was difficult to figure out. If anything, you went against his advice, your cycle of overthinking commencing for the billionth time. It was a terrible habit of yours, but it was hopelessly inevitable. Your argument? You were looking out for a colleague, as he did for you. Minus the oddly soft head-patting.

The same colleague that Kaho advised you against befriending.

Worrying about your classmates aside, you ultimately decided to drown your concerns with an entertaining night of indulging yourself in your favorite series: a superhero franchise of the name Sonic Ninja. In reality, you sported a slice of superhero geek, being a fan of the genre since you were a kid, among others.

The franchise harbored a variety of mediums, including several movies, television broadcasts, graphic novels, and light novels. You had copies of the novels safely stored in a bookshelf, being an avid fan, though you weren't necessarily in the mood for reading that night. Eventually, you decided to settle on a few episodes of the TV show from an app on your smartphone, liking the visual and audio pleasure that it came with.

Making yourself comfortable, you rested on your bed with your stomach flat, holding the precious screen in your hands as the opening theme blasted through the tiny speakers. You knew the both the opening and ending songs well, enough to mirthfully hum along,and perhaps even sing it if you were confident, as the vocals harmoniously soothed your ears.

Halfway through, however, a notification buzzed on your phone, causing the episode to pause and mute itself as a new tab prompted to be pressed on. You weren't particularly pleased, especially when the episode was reaching its climax, though you reluctantly checked the new notification.

You received a text from Kaho Tsuchiya.

➢

Kaho Tsuchiya: [Name]! It's been forever.

[Name] [Last Name]: Oh, yeah... ^^ What's up?

Kaho Tsuchiya: The same old. Tomoya and I are just perfect together~ ♥

[Name] [Last Name]: Mhm... How's C Class?

Kaho Tsuchiya: Fine. If anything, things have gotten easier around here.

➢

The last time Kaho contacted you was during the beginning of break, around the time you found out you were relegated to Class 3-E. By now, it was prominent that she must have known about your downgrade, but you felt a little relieved that she didn't seem bothered by it-- not over text, anyway.

As much as you would have loved the company of an old friend, you wanted to finish the episode of Sonic Ninja. In fact, you even considered inviting her over to watch the series with you, as you lifted your phone and recommenced typing.

You discarded the invitation before hitting the send button, however. You knew that Kaho would most-likely decline, as it was obvious that she disliked superhero series from her persona.

It felt a little lonely at times, watching your favorite shows all by yourself. You preferred to believe in that sliver of hope that perhaps some of your new peers would share the same interests as you did. Nagisa, Kaede, Karma-- would they have willed to partake in such activities?

Regardless, you quickly sought out for what Kaho wanted to say, before wrapping up the online colloquy.

➢

[Name] [Last Name]: Anything else?

Kaho Tsuchiya: Uh huh. Can you head over to Kunugigaoka a little early tomorrow? I would like see you before class starts.

[Name] [Last Name]: Sure?

Kaho Tsuchiya: Thanks, [Name]! You're the best. I'll be waiting for you at the main campus. See you there. Don't worry, I just wanted to... hang out~ :P

[Name] [Last Name]: Okay...

➢

Dismissing the chat service, you intently watched the rest of Sonic Ninja, before concluding that you were to sleep early that night. There was a part of you that was excited for your first reunion with your arguably closest ally from previous Junior High years, though at the same time, there was a creeping sensation of fear as to what might have come afterwards.

The following morning proved to be a horrendous nightmare, while the mischievous Karma Akabane was nowhere to be found.