Asano x Reader x Karma

Chapter 2

Class 3E didn't have the privilege of studying at the main campus. Instead, they occupied the old campus which was surrounded by dense forests. The worst thing was, no one told me how to go there! Not even a freaking map or signboard! Hmph! 😡

I got up 2 hours earlier just so I could independently make my way to the old campus. Luckily, I reached there half an hour before class started, so I decided to make some friends (or enemies) while waiting.

When I walked in, the whole class shushed and looked at me as if I was a foreign species. Was being in 3A before so special?

I introduced myself, but even after that, no one uttered a word. Until...

"What a rare sight! An A class student dropping to 3E overnight? That's new."

I turned to the sound and spotted...Asano?! What was he doing there? I rushed over and bent down to have a closer look at his face.

"Asano? What are you doing here? And what's with the red hair and eye colour?" I said, excited to have a face I recognized.

Asano's lookalike swatted my face.

"I'm not Asano. I'm Akabane Karma. Neee~, does Mio-chan suck at facial recognition now that she's in 3E?" he teased.

I folded my arms. Come on, they're almost a splitting image!

"Shut up! Karma, was it? Weren't you one of the top 10 last year? Quite a showing for an E class student. Akabane Karma... More like Bakabane!" I retorted.

Just then, Karasuma Sensei entered the class.

"Mio, I need to have a word with you."

I gulped, unsure whether Karasuma Sensei had heard me calling Karma 'Bakabane'. Still, I didn't think twice about following him to the staff room. After all, I should take responsibility for my actions.

However, he proceeded to explain to me about my teacher (whom I was supposed to assassinate, which is pretty absurd though), and that 3E had been tasked with the mission to kill him with special BBs thingies. Apparently, no student thought it was a priority to inform me that I was supposed to kill our teacher, who was just a dumb, yellow octopus being. Sounds weird, right? Surprisingly not to me.

After speaking with Karasuma Sensei, I headed back to class. My eyes instantly widened in bewilderment. Standing behind the teachers' desk was this yellow, octopus... Being! He's the monster I'm supposed to kill? He has a freaking cheesy grin on that's permanent! What kind of monster looks that friendly?!

"Ah! Good morning Mio-chan. I'm your new form teacher, Koro Sensei. Nurufufufu..."

I already found him annoying.

"I see you've introduced yourself already, so please find a seat!" he chirped.

"Mio-chan! I saved a seat for you!" Karma waved at me. Just great.

I sat next to Karma and decided to go into 'work mode'. If I was gonna pull up my grades, I needed to focus!

While I was working on some Chemistry equations, I felt a jab in my side. I turned to face Karma, and in my most angelic and sarcastic voice, I said, "Karma-kun, what can I help you with?"

"Question 2." He replied.

Question 2?! I was at question 15!

"Question 2 is elementary school level! You can't even answer that?! I guess Bakabane does suit you then!" Oops, I guess I said that too loudly.

Koro Sensei's face turned purple, and there was a cross streaked on it too.

"Mio-chan, just because you were in A class doesn't mean you can expect the same from everyone. Why not you help Karma? & please refrain from insulting my student's intelligence!"

"Sorry..." I lowered my head. I really didn't mean to be so rude.

The bell eventually rang for recess. As I was wandering around the school, exploring the sights around me, Karma came up to me and wrapped one arm around my shoulder.

"Mio-chan, you really hurt my feelings in class just now. Don't you think you should make up for it? I'm sure I could forget about SOMEBODY'S insult if that SOMEBODY went for recess with me this week. I'm a very lonely person, y'know?" He said teasingly.

I wanted to stomp on his foot and walk away. Instead, I just obliged. No point trying to escape when Bakabane's hand was already so close to strangling me.

We spent our lunch break walking around the school and letting me familiarize myself with some of the students. Most of the 3E people were friendly, although I wouldn't picture myself hanging around Terasaka and his group.

Kayano and Okuda pulled me aside and began giving me all the juicy gossip so I could catch up on the class's latest news and such 😈 But they were good company, and made me smile and laugh so hard, something I haven't done in a long time.

About 15 minutes before recess ended, 3E headed for the main school campus. Usually it'd take half an hour to reach there, but Isogai found a shortcut. Every Monday, school assemblies were held which required the E class's presence. A lot of the assemblies included harsh insults thrown at the E class, and they always hung their heads in shame. Joining them, I was worried about how I would handle the off-hand remarks.

The assembly began with Principal Gakuho giving a 'welcome back to a new term' speech. Of course, he didn't forget to hurt 3E's self-esteem.

"You don't want to end up as trash and outcasts of society, namely, like 3E..."

The hall was filled with snickers and we could do nothing but try to brush it off. I understood why Karma didn't want to attend.

After the principal concluded his speech, Asano walked up to the stage to say his piece (he being the student council president, after all).

"I'd like to remind all of you not to lose your heads in the clouds. You may have gotten into your desired classes, but the strong and weak could swap places anytime. Do not get complacent, or you might fall from the top & go to 3E."

At that, everyone turned their heads to face me and started gossiping. I could feel my face turning red from embarrassment.

That was the last straw.

After we were dismissed, I walked up to Asano and grabbed his collar.

"Was that necessary to make me an example of a failure? And me being in 3E isn't even because I am not doing academically well!" I said as Asano just looked away calmly. What a jerk.

"I don't even think an E class student can do such a thing to the principal's student," Asano signaled to my hand. I released it and crossed my arms, waiting for my much needed apology.

"Steer clear of my path from now on. We might've been friends before, but I guess it wasn't meant to last." Asano shrugged. Leaving me momentarily shocked and speechless, he casually walked off to meet his friends. That little--!

"Don't treat me like an idiot just because I'm in a class notorious for being losers! You'll regret you ever looked down on us!" I yelled after him.

Any feelings of sadness and longing to return to 3A were instantly overcome with rage and fury. He's right. We might've been friends before.

But not anymore.

This was war.