This was the last day of our day here in Malaysia. Friday. Today is the deadline of the projects—for Karma and I, that is.

And by the way, I’ve never felt so nervous before. Karma and I are gonna go back to Japan together in the plane. We’re gonna sit beside each other. I had no clue as to why nervousness filled me up, but one thing was for sure: wish it would never happen.

We spent a normal day at school as usual. He didn’t bug me today like a few times which was a reliever. By that, I mean he didn’t communicate or prank me in any way—verbal or nonverbal.

When I got home from school, I didn’t bother changing my clothes and dragged my mallet outside the dorm to where the driver that would bring me to the airport was. Oh, and did I mention Karma was there too? No, I bet I didn’t.

Usually, I—admittedly—would start the fight. Today, I was in no mood to bicker with a guy like him. Figured it’d be better to just stay behaved and nothing could go wrong.

Only a few of our classmates knew that today was our last day of being here in Malaysia. Those “classmates” were actually the friends we’ve made in school. We asked them to not follow us to the airport whatever happens because it’d be harder to leave.

Karma pushed the glass door and let it slam on my face. On my f*cking face. I suppressed the urge to strangle him as people gave me curious looks while giggling.

“I don’t know if I should feel glad or gloomy because we’re leaving.” I blurted out all of a sudden. To my utter surprise, Karma pretended that he heard nothing and didn’t reply. He was quieter; it feels odd, not to mention creepy. He walked ahead of me when the announcer said that our airplane is ready to leave in ten minutes.

I felt stupid for everything this afternoon. Karma, surely, is deliberately ignoring my presence. He’s not mad. . . is he?

For the next five minutes, I continued to blab about random things and he kept his mouth shut. In the end I just surrendered, knowing fully well he won’t utter even a single syllable. It’d be a waste of time if I leave myself contemplating on whatever I did that made him act like that.

We climbed up the plane as the announcer said that the plane is leaving after ten minutes. He was up ahead. Three big women served as a barrier between him and me.

I saw him making a turn to the left. Maybe that was our place.

He's sitting by the window and gazing at the surroundings with a faraway look on his face. If anything, it made him seem angelic even though he's a demon in real life. Probably not today, but still.

Cautiously, I took a seat beside him. Can we have like, a seat between us? Why were we assigned at the two-seated part anyway?

Karma brought out his red headphones. He put it over his head, crossed his arms, then leaned on his backpack.

An hour into the ride, I didn't feel any sign of exhaustion or sleepiness. My brain was really active. In times like these, I had to talk to someone so I could tone down the hyped up feeling. On the other hand, my seatmate was fast asleep, maybe because of the melodramatic music blasting in his headphones. And yeah, I can hear it. No surprise. He maximized the volume, perhaps wanting to drown out everything.

We still have a long way to go, and I hoped I was resting.

°·•~

"Passengers, unfasten your belt." The irritating woman repeatedly reminded, forcing me out of my peaceful slumber. My eyes had a hard time adjusting to the brightness brought about by the morning sun. Karma's seat is already unoccupied. How did he move out? He's the one by the window!

He must've leaped over you, idiot.

"Ma'am, your student is out already." A flight attendant told me as nice as she could. I looked down on the outfit I wore. I didn't wanna blame her for mistaking me as a teacher. With this polo and navy blue pencil skirt, I would tell myself the same thing.

"Uh, thanks." I said instead then tried to get up in my seat. Keyword tried as I forgot to unbuckle the belt holding me down. The woman stifled a laugh. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

In the lobby was Karma's figure. When I neared him, he seemed to be impatient, irk mark visible. "What took you so long?" He asked calmly, though I sensed annoyance. "If it weren't for Koro-sensei, I would've left you here." He grumbled, not really meaning to let me hear it but thanks to my excellent hearing I did. And the reaction he got from me was as unpleasant as his mood.

"Well, you should've done it." I shot back.

"Tsk."

We rode a taxi, our destination the school. Of course, we had to hike up the mountains first before reaching it. I was still tired from the journey. However, I had no choice but to go and see Koro-sensei.

Okay, I had a choice. There's a reason why I want to go to school.

Hiking up didn't become a hard task for us since we were used to it. It looks like my companion needed to experience some difficulty though. His face was almost the color of the intermediate pad, and he sweated like crazy. Earlier on the plane, he wasn't heating up. I knew because he slept beside me, and our arms touched occasionally.

"Go ahead," He said not so glibly, panting. "I'll follow." I stared, not really knowing what to do. It'd be harsh if I leave him here, after all. Sighing, I wrapped his arms around my shoulder. "Wha—"

"Shush."

It was his turn to stare. His golden orbs pierced through me in a not so comfortable way that I fidgeted while helping him.

"(y/n)?"

I didn't answer just like what he did earlier, but I think he knew that I heard him and that I will just keep quiet and listen.

"Thanks."

It wasn't the first time I heard him showing nor saying his gratitude, yet here I was, starstruck and speechless for some reason. The reaction I kept from him is bothering truthfully speaking. Questions ran around in my head as to why I'm like this right now.
"Why give me the silent treatment?"

"What, you expect me to say "you're welcome" or "anytime"? You must be dreaming." I retorted, and I gave myself a hi-five in my head.

"Whatever, popcorn. U kicw tiy."

Huh?