"Mmm? 'Something on my face, Mitsukuni?" Karma asked with a tilt of his head as his mercury-colored eyes flicked to look at the said strawberry blond teen. His fingers flew across his cellphone as he typed a text while walking.

Mitsukuni shook his head negatively. He squeezed Sweets tighter, bringing her closer to his chest and inhaling her fragrance that lingered in the air. "Mhm, nothing," he dismissed with a childish grin. The redhead raised a questioning eyebrow, he shrugged and looked back at his phone.

The pair of honey-brown eyes didn't leave him. They minutely sharpened before Mitsukuni sighed in defeat. He felt like he saw something he shouldn't have, and couldn't bring himself to ask Karma. He couldn't involve Gakushu as it had to do with E-class, and it unnerved him.

The two were walking toward Kunugigaoka, the hot season was back, and the chauffeur wouldn't drive Mitsukuni to school anymore. Supposedly, it was a good opportunity to practice some sport and work on his stamina. Not that Mitsukuni felt the need to work on it, but his grandmother's words were law, and he couldn't go against them. Even his skill as a Host fell short in front of the woman.

Karma could feel the shorter's gaze on him, but since Mitsukuni decided not to tell him what bothered him, he would ignore it. Their relationship was built like that, on a system of mutual trust where they wouldn't go further than what the other told them.

For example, if Mitsukuni got cancer but never told him, even with all the symptoms and hints that pointed toward the sickness, Karma would ignore it and act as if it was nothing. It was the same for Mitsukuni. If he decided to hide that his parents' disowned him, if he didn't bring it up, Mitsukuni wouldn't.

Well, that's how Karma saw their relationship either way. Take their first meeting, for example.

Mmm, yes, that was quite some time ago. How old were they already? Probably no older than five. They were childishly cute an innocent— well, Karma thought of it that way.

It was a sunny day, similar to this one. The sky was blue, clear, and devoid of any cloud. The heat wasn't scorching yet, but the sun rays were enough to give the more sensitive people a sunburn in a matter of seconds. In Karma's memory, there was a light breeze that kept the overall air fresh and not stuffy. There was some lingering humidity from the rain of the previous day— strange really when the sky appeared spotless in his mind.

At the time, his parents hadn't divorced, but they weren't far from it. Karma remembers well, his parents' divorce is something embedded in his mind, he couldn't possibly forget. This day— did he got out alone? No. He was with his nanny. Clad in a simple white dress shirt and brown shorts with some shoulder straps, he appeared as angelic as he was a troublemaker.

His small backpack was in his nanny's arms as she followed him down the familiar streets to the nearby park. Karma was childish, somewhat naive, and with his parents' strained relationship and incoming divorce, he fell into a rebellious phase quite easily. It was his way of showing off his existence, of asking for his parents' attention and care. After all, every time he threw a tantrum or caused problems, his parents would come to him and stop arguing with one another.

It was a stupid endeavor, it didn't change a thing, and only angered and aggravated the situation, but child Karma was unaware. No matter how smart he was, he was only a child, he couldn't know how adults thought, nor could he envision it.

As a matter of fact, he wasn't even aware of the fact that his parents were on the brink of divorcing— wrong, maybe his childish intuition knew but decided to ignore it in favor of blissful ignorance.

"Uhm, ne, Ma-chan," Mitsukuni's muffled voice brought Karma out of his musings. The redhead blinked his mercury-colored eyes a few times before sliding his gaze to rest on the shorter strawberry blond by his side. The teen had his head almost completely hidden by his plush, which explained why his voice seemed inaudible.

He shifted on his feet, readjusted his grip on Reiko and tentatively glanced at Karma as if searching for a way to word his question, or a signal to go on.

The E-class' student's lips loosened into a genuine simper. He slowed his steps to walk beside Mitsukuni, and gently ruffled his curly locks in encouragement, successfully disheveling his hair. "What's the matter, Mitsukuni? Cat got your tongue, mmm?" he teased with a lopsided grin. "Go ahead, ask, I can't guess if you don't tell me."

Mitsukuni's honey-brown eyes flickered to meet Karma's mercury irises. He hummed, feeling torn. To ask or not to ask? That was the question. But how would Karma answer if he came clean and asked if the E-class was linked to some shady deal with the army?

Mitsukuni's brows creased in a frown. He wasn't stupid. If he asked Karma straight, the male wouldn't answer, and most probably take his distance. He didn't want that. He squeezed Sweets tighter.

The redhead, who more or less saw his discomfort, frowned. He licked his upper lip and carded a hand through his red locks before sighing. "I'm no mind reader, and I can't speak for you, Mitsukuni," he sighed while shaking his head in dismay. He felt his phone vibrate, glanced at it, and saw a text from his classmates.

Another assassination plan.

The notion brought a sly smirk to his lips. He chuckled under his breath, swiftly typing a reply on the group chat before re-reading some previous messages and switching his phone off. He stuffed the device in his pants' pocket and glance at Mitsukuni.

The blond was silent and hadn't uttered a word, leaving Karma blind to his worries. He heaved another sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose in mild annoyance. Unlike Gakushu, Karma didn't indulge in every one of Mitsukuni's whims. He also didn't have as much patience as the blond when it came to dealing with the Martial Artist.

His mercury eyes swept their surrounding as the sound of chatters grew louder. Kunugigaoka Junio High wasn't far anymore, and they would soon part to go to their respective building and class. "Listen up, Mitsukuni," he called out, his voice sharper than usual when he spoke to the blond. "I'll be going on ahead if you have nothing to ask me," he warned before giving the blond a look. "Are you sure that you've got nothing to say to me?"

Mitsukuni squeezed Sweets and nuzzled her neck. He knew Karma was getting impatient. His eyes flickered about for a second before he refocused on the redhead. "I— uhm, ne, Ma-chan—" his eyes flew across the crowd and met a military patterned keychain. It made him think of Takaoka, and for once, he didn't hate it. "How did it go with your P.E. teacher?"

Karma raised a probing eyebrow. He felt like that wasn't quite what the blond wanted to ask. Nonetheless, since Mitsukuni asked, he would try to answer. He hadn't been there during the Takaoka ordeal, too busy skipping, but Nakamura had briefed him on the matter already.

"With Takaoka, you mean?" he rhetorically asked before humming to himself in contemplation. He wouldn't tell the blond everything for sure, but he could smooth the reality. "He got fired, I wasn't there, but apparently he didn't get along with the staff," he explained before looking down to meet Mitsukuni's honey-brown eyes.

"Oh."

Karma observed the blond's despondent answer, his eyes minutely narrowed before he grinned at the teen. "Don't sweat these things, they've got nothing to do with you," he reminded with a smirk as he ruffled Mitsukuni's hair. His phone buzzed. "Welp, I suppose we'll separate now?" he bade with a wave before he began to walk towards the E-class' infamous slope.

Out of the blond's sight, Karma heaved a sigh. He felt Mitsukuni's reaction was off, and he was hiding something. Not that the boy always came clean, but when he had something to hide, he usually didn't show it. Obviously, what disturbed him was enough for the boy to slip out of his carefully crafted mask of childish innocence.

He brought his thumb to his lips, lightly biting on his nail before he pulled the rubber dagger from his bag. His mercury eyes glinted, he wondered. Did Mitsukuni find out about something? Did he stumble upon his assassination material while he stopped by his house?

He felt slightly alarmed by the notion. After all, Koro-sensei was confidential information, he didn't know what would happen to Mitsukuni in the worst-case scenario. Did he need to distance himself from the blond until they killed the octopus?

He frowned. He didn't like the idea. Mitsukuni was his childhood friend, and as much as he was confident in his skills and the class, he didn't believe that they could kill Koro-sensei as they were now. Not without a foolproof plan of sort and a better cohesive spirit within the class.

If Earth had to burst before the end of the school year, then he would like to spend time with those close to him one last time. His mind in a disarray, he failed to notice the stone on the pathway and tripped.

The hand that grabbed his uniform's collar prevented him from falling and kissing the ground. He felt himself get lifted up before his feet made contact with the dirt pathway.

"Careful."

It was one word, with a deep cold voice. Karma looked up, needing to strain his neck to correctly meet the man's eyes. There was more than a fifteen-centimeter difference in their height, and Karma despite his personality found himself slightly impressed by the silent giant.

"Ah, Shimamori-sensei," he greeted with some surprise coating his voice. "Good morning," it probably was his first time standing face to face with the male, and having a proper conversation— if you could call it so.

Shimamori returned the greeting with a low good morning before his blue eyes flicked to look at the stone that previously obstructed Karma's route. With ease, he casually swept the rock aside so that it wouldn't trouble anyone else in the future.

Karma blinked. He looked at the male some more, waiting for the adult to give him his attention. "Thanks for before," he reminded with a grin as he resumed his walk up the slope.

The raven hummed. "It's okay," he mildly answered as he followed the redhead up the hill in a religious silence.

The teen didn't know if it was his misconception, but he felt like the raven who precisely walked two feet behind him, adapted his pace to his. He felt his theory was too improbable but nonetheless tested it out. He climbed quicker, abruptly slowed down, all along keeping an eye on the man's pace.

There was no doubt about it, Shimamori-sensei adapted his speed to his and always kept a practical distance between them. The realization somewhat unnerved Karma— why was he being watched so closely by the teacher, was it because they didn't want him to skip?

As narcissistic as Karma was, he knew that wouldn't be the case. He could hardly believe that they would send someone to specifically wait for him and watch over his move until he reached class. Then what?

His eyes glanced back a few times to gauge the male's face, searching for some hints on his always stone face. When their eyes met, and the adult gave him a simple nod of acknowledgment, Karma couldn't help but stiffly smile in return. There was some invisible pressure when the man looked at him, he couldn't bear to think of pranks and jokes. As if some energy pushed him to act properly and not cause trouble for others.

How frightening. That was like asking him to stop breathing. He couldn't go against his nature, could he?

He cleared his throat, finding in him the courage the go forward. "Uhm, Shimamori-sensei," the said male tilted his head to look at him, their eyes squarely met, and Karma found himself under a kind of invisible pressure to act kindly once again.

"Akabane."

Yes, right, that was him. He nodded his head. "I was wondering, shouldn't you already be up there?" he asked, trying to be discreet about his inquiry.

Shimamori blinked his light blue eyes, his face apathetic as he stared at the redhead. He flicked his gaze upward, seemed to think for a second, and nodded. "If I was alone, I would be," that was the longest Karma heard him speak outside of lessons.

His smile twitched. "Alone? Does it mean that because I'm here you can't go up?" he paused. "Do you want me to let you pass? I'm in no hurry so," his voice trailed off, unsure of how to go on.

Shimamori paused, his gaze looked at the path as if to search for something before he gazed up at Karma. "It's okay," he denied, halting his steps when he noticed Karma stop his ascension.

The Devil of 3-E could only swallow his complaints as he resumed his walk. His pace went up, he wanted this to end as soon as possible.

Shimamori watched as the redhead almost dashed up the hill in silence. He wondered if he scared the teen off— did he lack of words unnerve him? He shook his head. Either way, he was used to people getting scared of him.

His gaze went to the path as he looked out for some stones. He didn't want the student to trip again and fall.

BONUS CHAPTER

Woohoo! Congratulations, last bonus chapter! For a moment, I thought you wouldn't get Tamaki's position, but well, I shouldn't underestimate you guys.

Tamaki is an elementary school student, yes. But, the most important, he's penniless! For some reason, I couldn't think of anything else when I elaborated his new identity...

That's the end of the Game, who knows, maybe I'll come up with another one next time ¯\_(ツ)_/¯