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darley1101 · 6 years

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Halloween Trick

A/N I love writing the creepy, spooky, and angst-riddled, which makes October and Halloween an exciting time for me. I had several prompts come in that sort of melded together into this one shot. It started with a request from @endlessly-searching-for-you “What God awful demon possessed you to wear that?” “There will be a lot of screaming tonight.” and “The legend said it only goes after virgins...so sucks to be you I guess.” Right after her request came in I got one from @choicesfan44 for a heated argument between Chris x Aria/MC, followed by an anonymous one for them to go to a haunted house. How could I not combine those three requests together? Especially since Braidwood Manor is nearby.

Characters: Aria/MC, Abbie, Kaitlyn, Zack, Tyler, Chris and Becca (Please note that Chris is technically with Becca but very much has feelings for Aria)

Setting: This is set during The Freshmen. I am taking some liberty with the time frame, so Chris is still bumbling through his so called 'relationship' with Becca.

Rating/Warning: Mature readers only. Strong language

Halloween Tricks

“The moon has awoken with the sleep of the sun, the light has been broken; the spell has begun.” -Midgard Morningstar

Uncertainty flickered across eighteen year old Aria Forbes pretty features as she studied her reflection in the full length mirror that was fixed to the back of her closet door. She barely recognized the creature staring back; which was the point she supposed since it was Halloween. “You need to let your hair down Ari,” her best friend Kaitlyn had told her. “Like, literally let your hair down. And it won't kill you to let Abbie do your make up. You've moped over Chris long enough.” It had been futile to protest because deep down Aria knew Kaitlyn was right, she had spent the last two months either crying or moping around over some guy that had ditched her for a sorority girl who put out. Silently acknowledging that Kaitlyn was right didn't keep Aria from wanting to just spend the evening curled up with a feel good romance novel that made her forget her bruised ego and cracked heart. In the end, she had caved under pressure and quietly sat on a stool while Kaitlyn did something with her long brown hair and Abbie, like the artist she was, transformed her face from fresh faced to sultry. She'd even submitted to putting on the over sized orange sweatshirt with a jack-o-lantern face printed on the front that Kaitlyn insisted counted as a costume. Now, as she stood before the mirror, staring at the end result, she doesn't know if she can go through with whatever plans Kaitlyn cooked up. She wanted to wipe the make up off, exchange the Halloween sweatshirt for the old flannel shirt she'd stolen from her dad, and hide under the covers.

“Don't even think about it,” Abbie warned from the doorway, her arms crossed over chest and her eyes steely with determination. “I am not going to be stuck partaking in whatever Halloween hi-jinx Kaitlyn has planned without some back up.”

“I don't like Halloween,” Aria sighed. She turned away from the mirror and strode across the room to plop down on her bed. “Do you know how many times bigger kids stole my candy? Or how many parties I was intentionally excluded from in high school?” Her nose wrinkled up at the unpleasant memories. In grade school she had been the smallest and the slowest, which made her an easy target for the bigger, meaner kids out to steal as much candy as possible. In junior high and school she had been persona non grata thanks to her mom being the high school principal; nobody wanted to date, befriend, or invite Mrs. Forbes precious daughter. To say her formative years had been lonely was an understatement. It was probably why she latched on to her suite mates as quickly as she had. Especially Chris Powell. Her cheeks flushed, thinking of the fool she'd mad of herself over him. Their first night in the suite she had let Kaitlyn talk her into a drinking game that had led to her inviting Chris back to her room. She'd been just drunk enough to make a complete fool of herself by rambling about her pathetic high school experience and how she was probably the only virgin in her graduating class. The V word had been like throwing ice water on Chris. He'd gone form hot and heavy to Mr. Cuddly.

“Girl, you're preaching to the choir. The last time I went out on Halloween I ended up covered in what I pray was fake blood and not something those assholes picked up from the butcher shop.” A visible shudder rippled through Abbie's slender body. “My parents used to try to make me take my younger sister...childhood experiences and memories...” she paused to roll her eyes, “but we usually found some church having a fall festival and then hit up Wal-mart for a bag of mixed candy so mom wouldn't question us.”

Bending slightly at the waist, Aria tugged on the black above the knee socks Kaitlyn had given to her when she'd forced the sweatshirt. Apparently they, too, were part of the so called costume. The only thing Aria could figure out was she was supposed to be some sort of sexy pumpkin. Didn't Kaitlyn realize pumpkins weren't sexy? “Think we can get away with talking Kaitlyn into something similar?”

“Yeah right.” Abbie rolled her soft brown eyes before moving to stand in front of the mirror. She leaned forward, patting her middle finger next to her eye where a clump of glitter had settled. “She's not in it for the candy, she's in for the scare. I overheard Zack telling Tyler that she was bragging about knowing how to get into Braidwood Manor.”

“Braidwood Manor?” A chill rippled down Aria's spine. Why did that name sound so familiar?

“Yeah. It's this abandoned estate about fifteen minutes from here. Supposedly its haunted.” Abbie continued to pat at the glitter, spreading it up into her hairline. If Aria was a sexy pumpkin, then Abbie was a sweet ghost with a fetish for glitter. “And supposedly that's where we're all going tonight.”

“We?” Aria's heart lurched and a familiar panic started tightening in her chest. Please don't let Chris or Becca be part of that we. For about five seconds Aria had thought Chris liked her, that maybe just maybe a boy was looking at her and actually seeing her. Ha. What an idiot she had been. The same night she worked up her courage to tell him that she liked him, he hooked up with the blonde bitch that had dumped iced coffee on her the first day of the semester. Becca Davenport, president of some stupid sorority that wore too much pink and so beautiful it hurt. Chris had wasted no time in sliding in Becca's designer silk sheets, leaving Aria confused, heart broken, and a pathetic mess that cried at night when she thought her suite mates were sleeping. College was turning out to be another round of high school.

“Yeah. And before you ask...I don't know who all that entails. I think half of Hartfeld goes. Its sort of a right of passage. Seeing which students last the longest.” Abbie turned from the mirror, a sympathetic look on her face. “If they do show up, maybe we can push her down a set of stairs and blame it on a ghost.”

Aria let out a small laugh. “We can't do that Abbie.”

“Uh, yeah, we can. Bitch has it coming. She's a heinous troll.”

“Whose a heinous troll?” Kaitlyn demanded. She breezed into the room in a cloud of colored hair spray and Victoria Secret's Love Spell. “Ohh. Wait. Let me guess.” She cocked her head to the side, chewing black lip stick off her lower lip. “You wouldn't happen to be talking about Becca would you?”

“What gave it away? Heinous, troll, or bitch?” There was no ignoring the sarcasm in Abbie's voice or the tension that was crunching up her features. “Seriously, Kait, if that bitch is there...”

Kaitlyn chewed off the remainder of her lipstick, her gaze dropping to the floor before darting up to meet Aria's. “Look, I didn't invite either of them but I can't guarantee that they won't show. Darren knows, plus going to Braidwood Manor on Halloween is a Hartfeld tradition.”

Swallowing the lump of dismay that was threatening to form in her throat, Aria forced a wobbly smile. “Who cares about Chris and Becca? They deserve each other.” The words tasted sour on her tongue, a lie she told herself to ease the pain of rejection. It seldom worked and now was no exception. Despite his unholy attraction to Becca 'Queen Bitch' Davenport, Chris was a nice guy. He deserved better than the blonde viper he was currently sleeping with.

“That's the spirit!” Kaitlyn exclaimed clapping her hands together in excitement. “Okay, let me put on some more lipstick and we can blow this joint.” An excited squeal followed her out the door.

“You're getting better,” Abbie murmured. “I almost believed you this time.” Aria opened her mouth to deny the accusation but let her lip fall into a sad smile. What was the point in arguing against a truth she had just acknowledged herself? “And my offer to be the friendly ghost that does the world a favor by pushing her down a staircase still stands.”

A real smile spread across Aria's lips as she hooked her arm through Abbie's and motioned for her other best friend to lead the way. “Shall we see if that opportunity arises?”

“We shall,” Abbie laughed. Her laugh faltered when they entered the living area of their suite and found Chris chatting with Tyler while Becca stood nearby with a scowl fixed on her face. “Great,” she muttered. Aria started to pull back, to retreat to her room and lock the door. “Oh hell no,” Abbie whispered, “I'm not going to let you give that bitch the satisfaction of you running and hiding.”

“I don't think I can deal with her tonight,” Aria pleaded. She tugged her arm, trying to free herself from Abbie's grip but it was pointless. The other girl had an iron grip.

“There will be a lot of screaming tonight,” Zack squealed, his eyes shining bright with a feverish sort of excitement. “A guy in my lit class said you can practically hear the ghosts of the children crying out for help. Can you imagine...being murdered by your own mother because she wanted to protect you?” Chris responded with something Aria couldn't hear over the buzzing in her ears. Why did he have to look so good? His tall, athletic form was garbed in the traditional Grease T Bird uniform of dark washed jeans, white t shirt, and black leather jacket. Of course Becca was dressed to perfection as a Pink Lady. It was enough to make Aria gag.

“Ew.” Becca let out a sneer, her full lips twisting into a ugly grimace that made her look a lot like the heinous troll Abbie insisted she was. “What god awful demon possessed you to wear that?” It took Aria a moment to realize that she was the one Becca was talking to. “Would their name happen to be Abbie?”

“Actually,” Kaitlyn cleared her throat, “I'm the one who picked it out and I happen to think she looks amazing.” The smaller, petite girl strode over and wrapped an arm around Aria's waist. A defiant look crossed her face. “Don't you agree Chris? Doesn't Aria look amazing?”

“Yeah,” Chris answered softly, his blue eyes colliding with Aria's. For a moment the connection Aria had felt that first night sparked to life, holding them hostage.

“Whatever. It's not like she's going to last long at Braidwood Manor.” Becca rolled her eyes. A wicked grin stretched across her pink lips. “The house, specifically the mother, loves girls like Aria.”

“What's that supposed to mean,”Abbie demanded.

“Oh. Haven't you heard. One of the things the mother was trying to protect her precious daughters from was the wicked, delights of the flesh. She couldn't stand the idea of her innocent daughters succumbing to lust. So... she protected them by killing them. So now that's what the house craves.” Her grin spread even further as she leaned forward, her gaze fixed on Aria. “The legend says it only goes after virgins...so sucks to be you I guess.”

It felt as though ice cold water had been thrown on Aria. Everything in her froze. How the hell did Becca know that she was a virgin? And then it hit her. Chris. Chris had told Becca about that first night and how Aria had chickened out on having sex because she wanted her first time to be special. “You're such a fucking asshole,” she screamed, blood rushing to her pale cheeks. “I can't believe I ever thought you were...” Her lower lip started to tremble and the room started to blur. She could hear Becca laughing. Abbie threatening to punch someone's lights out. And Kaitlyn...Kaitlyn was rubbing small circles on her back, telling her it was going to be alright. Aria jerked away. “It's not going to be alright,” she sobbed. “I'm sick to death of not feeling good enough, of people acting like there's something wrong with me because I don't...I'm not...I'm not Becca.” She spun around to glare at Chris. “I trusted you. I thought you were at least my friend. Turns out you're just like her!” She jabbed a finger at Becca.

“And what would that be Aria? Beautiful? Popular?”

It took every ounce of her will power not to walk across the living room and smack Becca across the face. “No, an empty shell of a human being who makes up for her own short comings by trying to make others feel bad about themselves.”

“I'm not...that isn't me,” Chris protested.

Aria snorted. “Right.” She pushed past Abbie and yanked open the door to the stairs that led up to the roof. Her feet thundered against the wood, her eyes burning as her tears liquefied her mascara and eyeliner. She let out a gasp as the cool autumn air hit her, a strong gust of wind pushing her hair off her face. Wrapping her arms around her middle she ignored her chattering teeth and stood staring out across campus. Students of all ages were running around in various forms of costumes, laughing and having a good time. If not for Becca, she would have been one of them. It was pathetic that she was letting one person ruin her night but that was her middle name: Aria “Pathetic” Forbes. She let out a sound of disgust. Was this really the person she wanted to continue to be?

“Can we talk?”

Her body stiffened at the sound of Chris's voice. She should have known that he would follow her outside. It seemed to be a pattern. Becca would make her feel like crap, she would run off and Chris would follow. In the past she had used it as an opportunity to beg him to pick her, to choose her. He never did. His loyalty to Becca was baffling. “You're the last person I want to talk to,” she bit out, tightening her arms around her middle. Her fingers twisted into the soft fabric of Kaitlyn's sweatshirt. “Why don't you go run your mouth to Becca some more. You seem to be good at that.”

“That's fair,” Chris sighed. “But I'm not going anywhere until we talk. Not until you let me apologize.”

“What is there to talk about?” Her fingers twisted tighter into the fabric, pulling at it. “Every chance she gets, Becca makes my life a living hell. A lot of times right in front of you. And you're either too blind to see it or you just don't care. Either way, don't you dare stand there apologizing for sharing personal information with someone who openly hates me.” Untangling her right hand, Aria reached up and wiped at her cheeks, grimacing at the smears of black that were left on her fingertips. She could only imagine the mess her face was. All of Abbie's hard work down the drain. “You know,” she whispered, “I am sick to death of being made to feel bad for being nice or wanting to wait for the right person.”

“There's nothing wrong with being nice or waiting Ari.” His voice was closer, so close she could feel the heat radiating off his body. “I need you to know I didn't tell Becca. Not directly. Darren and I were talking about why I pulled back from you. I told him I didn't want to hurt you, that I'm not in a good place for a serious relationship and that's what you deserve. I didn't want to be that guy who took advantage or for you to look back and regret your first time because you threw it away on a guy who doesn't know what he wants.”

His words cut to the quick. It would have hurt less if he had told her that he had intentionally told Becca. “You need to leave,” she whispered. “You say you don't want to hurt me but you being here, telling me these things, knowing that you're going to walk out the door with Becca...that hurts. It hurts more than you will ever know. So please, if you care about my feelings as much as you claim...just go.”

There was a pregnant pause, silence hanging heavy between them, before the weight of his jacket settled on her shoulders and the soft sound of the door clicking shut echoed in her ears. Aria bit back a sob, burying her face in the still warm leather. No matter how many times they did this song and dance, she couldn't bring herself to let him go. It wasn't an obsession, she'd considered that. It was more like this awareness that there was something between them that could be magical if he would just give it half a shot. Instead, they both spent their nights miserable. Her crying alone in her bed while he lay next to someone who was mean for sport.

Tagging people I think might enjoy: @mysteli @brightpinkpeppercorn @theroyalweisme @kinkykingliam @fullbeaumonty @cocomaxley @annekebbphotography @bobasheebaby @brightpinkpeppercorn @captain-kingliamsqueen @ehkw1989 @fluffy-marshmallow-heart @innerpostmentality @kennaxval @katurrade @kawairinrin

Chris x MC tag: @maxattack-powell @starstruckpixelberryhistoryvoid @syltti78 @jellybean-marshmellow @flowerpowell

Perma tag: @debramcg1106 @josieschoices @speedyoperarascalparty @zackzilberg @christopher-powell @tmarie82 @mfackenthal @hamulau @endlessly-searching-for-you @damienazariostan @drakelover78 @penguininapinktuxedo @stopforamoment @writtenbycandy @lizeboredom @alicars @leelee10898 @choicesfannatalie @liamxs-world @katurrade @jadedpixiescribbles @indiacater @gardeningourmet @boneandfur @blackcatkita @umccall71 @eileendannie @choiceslife @hopefulmoonobject @hellospunkiebrewster

#pixelberrychoices #choices fics #choices the freshmen #choices chris x mc #darley1101 writes

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ankyouweek · 7 years

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Second Time Around

5 - Bonds

In another change, Nagisa went straight for the kill. Terasaka wasn’t able to give him the stun gun (“my hands feel like lead…”), so the knife was all he had. Takaoka wasn’t able to land a hit. It was earlier than he expected, but the Nagisa from their civil war had awakened.

Takaoka had been felled by the knife. A seasoned warrior against one weapon. He wasn’t dead, but Nagisa had bluffed, going for the eyes before flipping it, smacking the man on the temple. As far as Karma was aware, the man was still unconscious when he made it to a Tokyo hospital.

Karma thought Nagisa should have just stabbed the fucker. Terasaka was in hospital for over month, having had a bad reaction to the chemical - instead of food poisoning, it was a variation of the flu, faster acting and more destructive, but lasting for a shorter amount of time than it’s regular counterpart. Karma never wanted to see an ICU ward again.

Smog and the others had gone against Takaoka’s plans as expected, but since the bug was flu like, getting everyone recovered took much longer. They skipped on their free day in Okinawa and headed home as soon as possible.

(“Do we get a refund?”

“We didn’t pay anything…”

“Okay but our ‘study time’ was ruined.”

“The Principal knows you wouldn’t have studied anyway…”

Okajima had nothing to say to that.)

On the other hand, Karma had been wrong. His knee was broken. He lay in his room while the others attempted to hook up Irina and Karasuma.

He hoped he’d done enough, because he was tired, and he just wanted a very, very long nap.

—

Karma stayed away from making the pudding, too. He was still kind of bitter toward Kayano, for playing dumb when she didn’t need to. (He wasn’t bitter in his own time, but now that he knew what he did, and had to hide it, he was more irritated than he imagined. He wondered why he and Karasuma hadn’t counted for his ego when they discussed his ‘emotional stability’.)

To be fair, Kayano was being careful as anyone with half a brain would, but Sensei hadn’t figured out her game and she could have been acting like she’d gotten stronger due to being in this class. He’d prodded at her more since they returned from Okinawa.

“Bet you girls would have walked right on in that club if one of you had tentacles, huh?”

“That’s a weird thing to say!” She laughed, but her tone had been full of ice. He was getting closer to make her burst, though Karasuma was warning him against it. Karma was finding it hard to care. He was tired and didn’t know the game as well as he thought he did. Time he should have spent working towards a good future were spent in rehab, getting his knee to heal right. Time he should have spent encouraging others in class was spent being driven around or helped out because “this must be really hard for you, right?”.

If only they knew just what was really hard.

He hated being useless, hated not knowing things. He hated that he and his Karasuma had been found out and didn’t know what was happening in his world. He hated having so many choices, chances, and having no answers, no idea of where to go. He felt like he was going mad and he just wanted things to stop.

Do I need to keep changing things? Without being able to talk to the Karasuma of my time, I can’t know if I’ve changed too much or too little. Can’t I just live this again? The future is bad, but I know what’s coming. Karasuma knows. We can tell Sensei. We can still avoid the bad with all that, right?

What if, no matter what I do, we can’t avoid our fate?

—

Apparently Itona had been having second thoughts about Yanagisawa. Or maybe Yanagisawa was just that much of an asshat to use Itona as bait, Karma didn’t know. (He was just glad that no underwear was stolen this time around.)

Sensei had been lured into the same trap. Itona still lost control and Yanagisawa still ditched him.

The operation to retrieve the recaptured Itona and Sensei went much smoother than last time (Karasuma had agreed earlier on to teach them about escape manoeuvres thanks to Karma’s insistence, even though escape wasn’t normally an assassin’s top priority). Itona’s motive was the same as last time and Karma again wondered who just ditched their kid like that.

This time, however, Terasaka and his crew weren’t alone in trying to help Itona. Kayano was soothing him, getting him to calm down so Sensei could remove the tentacles. Karma was a bit disappointed about losing Itona’s tentacles, but he was more curious about Kayano and Itona. Kayano kept mostly to the girls or Nagisa - she wasn’t rude or cold to anyone else, but those were clearly the people she felt most comfortable with, so going for someone outside of her comfort zone was strange. Everyone will put it down to her being nice though.

He wondered what her motive was, why she was being so kind with someone who was disowned by a crazy scientist and tentacle-less.

—

“Sergent”

He wasn’t sure if it was a better nickname than his last one or not. He felt more attached to the last one, since he was more attached to the last, but this new one suited him well.

He was the only one with a name change.

If I go back home, will they remember everything? Will they remember our world and the new world? Will they laugh about my new name and whoever gave it to me? Or will they only remember this world and this me, forgetting everything else?

Spending time by himself was fine. He wasn’t incredibly extroverted, but he wouldn’t class himself as an introvert either. But being the only one in the group to remember all these events, these life changing moments… That type of loneliness scared him.

—

Karma had had a lot of fun at the last sports festival, but this time his knee kept him from participating. Isogai got his screen time and E Class managed to win, but Asano had pulled out the stops. The redhead was pretty sure it was against some type of rule that the entire team bar Asano was made of foreign wrestlers and martial arts specialists who had never set foot on the school grounds before, but the principal certainly wasn’t going to say anything. They were all a bit beaten and bruised afterwards (Yoshida sported an ugly bruise that was judged to be from when he fell, but had clearly been from a punch) but Isogai wasn’t going to be expelled, so that was the main point. Unfortunately the staff had found ways for them to stay later after school (“jumping into the crowd like that shows you have no respect for your classmates! You can take over their cleaning duties for a month!”) but you couldn’t have everything in life.

E Class needed all the time they could get, for assassination planning and for studying, so the detentions were a blow. Of course, they chose not to listen to Karma and ended up injuring Matsukata. Karma groaned, but at least he wasn’t guilty of being an idiot.

Karasuma was irritated as well. “Told you so.”

“Just shut up, Akabane.”

Sensei didn’t care to scold Karasuma for being rude to a student (though Irina did it all the time without reproach - guess boobs really did make a difference). He was furious. Karma always wondered why. Sure, he understood they needed to learn respect and they’d disobeyed his teachings and were being arrogant, but he always thought that making them not study had just overkill. If there’s an underlying reason, what could it be?

If he had time to spare, he’d look into it, but he was busy being gnawed on by the little goobers they were looking after. He much preferred acting with Okuda, but he was reduced to reading books. Considering half of these kids couldn’t read, he was just making things up by looking at the pictures (at least until Megu decided his stories were inappropriate).

—

“You know how my knee was. Of course I couldn’t practice sports or participate! I had nothing to do but study. I’m sure you understand my results, Asano-kun~”

Asano was furious, having being beaten twice in a row. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t the only one. Karma had given Takebayashi and Okuda his science notes and had messaged Rio about English almost daily. A Class had taken another hit. Even Okajima had risen up through the ranks, thanks to Karma’s study notes. Seeing Okajima of all people do well made everyone else want to study (well, they really just wanted his notes, but Karma had forced Okajima into tutoring sessions and the like to prevent it from being easy).

“Next time we really could beat A Class!”

The class was cheerful and determined. It felt like what Karma remembered.

Sensei and Karasuma lectured them on using their strength for themselves, versus using it for others. Karma wondered still wondered why Sensei had been so mad, considering he had lived his life for himself, his power to snuff out others. Sure, in the end he hadn’t saved Aguri, so maybe it was bitterness being reflected outwards on his part?

Karma had always been confused as to how Sensei had turned from a murderer without regret to the goofy teacher he knew. Aguri had her influence and he’d never doubt that, but he would always doubt that it was her and her alone to bring the world’s most renowned assassin to do a complete change. The redhead doubted that he’d ever know the answer.

Well, everyone has their secrets.

—

Karma had refused to get involved with the ‘hook up Karasuma and Irina Sensei, part 2!’ plan. He’d left her a small, unsigned card, which she’d displayed on her desk, probably in equal parts happiness and bitterness in trying to get Karasuma to notice.

He certainly noticed when she left campus in a fit of rage, and Karma couldn’t blame her. Rejection never put people in the best mood, and despite his growth over the last few months, Karasuma was still about as tactful as a raging bull.

After a day, Karma told Karasuma where Irina really was.

He wasn’t expecting the “I know” that followed. How much did the future Karasuma reveal in that letter?

“Why the hell aren’t we going after her then?”

“Even though things in your world and this world have changed, we should follow the steps that led to your world as close as possible unless we know a better way. This has no better way-”

“Are you kidding me? She’s only there because she feels like she’s been forgotten! She feels like you don’t care, when at the very least, you should have said ‘happy birthday’ or let her down gently! Rescuing her early may not change the outcome, but it will change her outlook and isn’t that worth it?”

“We need to-“

“Fuck you and fuck your plan! 3-E is going to get her and you can damn well join or stay the hell out!”

“Akabane, your mission is to save your world! Don’t get so hot headed about one person!”

“Don’t know if you noticed, she is a part of my world! She’s family! And in my time, so are you! But if you don’t want to be involved with that, that’s your choice, but don’t you dare interfere with mine.”

Karma let Isogai in on the details. Isogai was better at organising people, and Karma was too riled up to do a good job of it now.

“How did you figure all this out? I get you’re smart Karma, but-“

“Now isn’t the time. It really isn’t.”

“Will you explain later? It’s important, isn’t it?”

“Yeah yeah, let’s just get to it, can we?”

Karma had hoped this round would be a little different, since he was able to warn everyone of what they were up against, but he hadn’t guessed that when they all fell, only Kayano would be standing on the Reaper’s side.

“I guess I got stronger, huh Karma-kun?”

—

When Karasuma came to rescue them, Isogai mentioned Kayano’s defection. Sugino it was declared it was due to Karma’s bullying, though Sensei shouted over the enraged agreements that they’d discuss things later.

“Getting out of here safe, as a whole class, is our priority right now. I’m sure both Karma and Kayano have many things they’d like to discuss later, right?”

Karma nodded, biting his tongue. This was a big change and not a good one. Not talking to people had gotten him into shit. Now it was time to pay the price.

The explosions set by the Reaper were shaking their cell, causing dust to float from the ceiling in waves and the walls to groan. The class encouraged Karasuma to protect Irina, and while he did save her, he didn’t bother listening to her any more than usual. She wasn’t dead, time to move on to getting Kayano back on their side and getting the Reaper the heck away from them.

The cell was cold. Karma’s head hurt from getting his ass handed to him by the Reaper. Some of the class kept sending him dirty looks, since it was clearly his fault Kayano ditched them. Itona and Terasaka were on his side though.

“Why would someone as strong as that dude want someone as weak as her? She’s hiding something! It ain’t got nothing to do with Karma!”

Isogai stood up for him. “Terasaka is right. Karma may have been a bit harsh on occasion, but how would the Reaper know that? He probably knows of Irina Sensei since she’s an assassin. How would Kayano know of him? This is much deeper than classroom bickering, guys. Let’s do as Sensei says and wait it out. We’ll talk as a class later on.”

Thankfully, Isogai’s word was as good as law and the matter was dropped.

After knocking out the Reaper (Karma definitely heard more gunshots than last time) and returning with both missing class members, Karasuma glared at him.

“I know you’re all tired, but we’re going back to class. We need to talk.”

#Fic #Main #submission #Kaede Kayano #Terasaka Ryoma #Isogai Yuuma

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