Strawberry Season [Karushuu]

Chapter 13

(P.O.V : Gakushū)

A few days passed and the first important exams were near now. It has been a rather usual day so far and nothing extraordinary happened - Just Karma being himself.
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I grabbed my sports back and left the gym, catching up with Karma who decided not to change back to his normal clothings. He was leaning against the building and caught the light of the setting sun on his hair. I must admit that this was a view that made me smile.
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"Let's get going."
I said and started walking towards the gates.
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Karma was dragging himself along, yawning. His footsteps were heavy and he wouldn't stop complaining about the teacher who wouldn't allow him to drink strawberry milk during PE class. After I reasoned with him that it is indeed /not/ a good refreshment, he gave me a disappointed glare.
"I thought you would be on my side, Shu-Shu..."
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The way he addressed me made me want to throw up.
"It's Asa-... Gakushū for you."
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He chuckled.
"It's kinda funny - Your name means 'learning' - As if your father knew that you'd grow up to be a nerd."
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I chose to ignore this comment. One reason for it being my unpleasant feelings towards my father, the other being the way he was mocking me. I took out my notes and focused on them while crossing the bridge.
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"Hey, Gakushū - Don't ignore me."
Karma placed his head on my shoulder from behind with a huff.
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"You're heavy-"
I pushed his head back and sighed, not lifting my eyes from the papers in my hand.
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After I made my way to the crossroad, I began to notice that there were no heavy footsteps behind me. I turned around, only to see nothing but the sidewalk. A frown appeared on my face.
'Did he really leave?'
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Then I heard a loud noise from around the corner and decided to take a look. Karma was kicking a vending machine - several times before I could interfere.
"What are you doing?"
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"Well, isn't that obvious? This damn thing stole ¥500 from me and none of the tricks I tried worked!"
He proceeded to kick it before I dragged him away, trying not to make a scene. He yelped in defeat - glaring at the vending machine from afar.
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"They better fix it - It was one of my favorite ones." Karma mumbled. He sure was upset about this.
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"Listen - I'll make u a deal. I'll make sure that this vending machine gets repaired and you'll stop to annoy me for today."
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He opened his mouth, only to close it again. I thought this would be a deal he couldn't decline.
'How important is this to him?'
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"For 10 minutes."
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"Forget it."
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"15 Minutes."
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"Karma-"
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"20 minutes."
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When the traffic lights of the crossroad turned green, I made my way across it without bothering to answer. As expected Karma did the same.

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As I left the principal's office, the sun has already set. The school floors were covered in a light blue shade that would soon darken as the time passed by. While walking downstairs I kept thinking about how to handle Akabane, how to make him fit in. It was bad enough that I had to pay for his mistakes as well. The principal hold a long speech about how it was /my/ duty to keep all students under control. Yet it seemed very unlikely that Akabane would ever obey if I wouldn't use a different strategy. One that would outsmart all of his morals.
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This matter wouldn't leave me alone but I couldn't let him notice my doubts. Akabane was in fact a highly intelligent individual, so in order to understand him I had to get to know him better. I already read all of his reports the principal provided but of course, the one of last year was missing. Class 3-E remained a secret. No evidence for me to discover. My only source would have been Akabane himself. Another reason for me to get close to him.
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Within the next few weeks I always kept an eye on him, inviting him for lunch occasionally until it became an habit and walking home with him. I noticed that he was always being wary, it was within his nature to be suspicious but he never rejected any of my invitation. I assumed that he was as interested in how this would play out as I was.

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Karma suddenly tapped my shoulder and pulled me out of this trance.
"...What is it?"
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"I just asked when you would be free to come over again?"
He asked calmly with a small smile on his lips.
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"You know that we-"
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"Yes, I do know that the first exams of this quarter are soon but-... maybe we could study together?"
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I looked at him for a few seconds, keeping a unreadable expression on my face. The last time someone asked me to study with them was more of me being the tutor and helping them improve their grades but...
'What did Karma hope to archive with this?'
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"...if you don't want to, it's alr-"
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"No, it's fine. Count me in."
I shook my head with a smile. Whatever the reason was, I thought, would reveal itself eventually.
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His face brightened. He seemed so happy, and also kind of relieved.
"Do you have a date in mind?"
I proceeded to ask.
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"Ah-... Well, I'm usually always free but I already have plans for today."
He admitted. His body language told me that he was looking forward to it.
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"I see, whatever it is I hope that you'll enjoy yourself."
Somehow it made me curious but it didn't feel right for me to ask what exactly his plans for today were.
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"I will, I haven't seen her in so long!"
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'Her?'
I was confused for a second but then it hit me. It was probably the girl he was texting with when we were at that hotel. I didn't really know her, I was just aware of the fact that she ranked 3rd overall in the final semester exams with a score of 469 and used to be a pretty decent student before she was sent to class 3-E.
'Not a bad match for someone like him.'
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When we arrived at his front door, Karma hesitated a bit. I was about to say something before he went to the doorsteps. He turned around again and flashed me a smile.
"Cya tomorrow-"
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I gave him a polite nod before he vanished behind the door. When he was out of sight, I lifted my glance to the sky that was now turning dark but there were still traces of the colorful sunset from before.