Marionette

Skies, Chapter Twenty Five - Nisemono [偽物]

It was the end of first period by the time Reiko had managed to tug Amaya towards the door to head for school, still smiling brightly in spite of Amaya's withdrawn state. She insisted that since it was her last day in Class E, she wanted to go and have fun, and it wouldn't do Amaya any good to stay at home in her current state.

Amaya had managed to ascertain that Reiko's upset yesterday wasn't because of Takaoka per say, but rather his choice of words and overly excessive friendliness had dug up unwanted memories of their own father. Amaya didn't push the question much further - There was no telling what Katsuragi Toji would say or do to win over a prospective subject, so it was entirely likely that Takaoka's overly excessive need to flail around like a so called Neighborhood dad was very similar to the way Toji would go about it, as well.

Reiko had reassured her that she was okay, and she wasn't going to give Takaoka an opportunity to ruin her last day here in Class E.

So Amaya left it as that.

Second period had come to an end by the time they'd climbed the majority of the mountain, and the bell had rung for the start of third when they'd arrived at the clearing.

Third period thankfully was under Irina's control instead of Takaoka or Koro-sensei's. Irina honestly didn't care if anyone came and went in the middle of a class, she was just there to act like a teacher while she was trying to kill Koro-sensei.

She felt a couple of glances hit her as they'd crossed the grass towards the classroom building, but nothing more.

It wasn't uncommon for Amaya to turn up to class late, of course, and she had a feeling only Isogai and Maehara were aware of her current disposition.

The skies were overcast, the sun faded enough where Amaya didn't feel the uncomfortable warmth or burning against her face.

In a show of excitement for spending her last day with her new senpai, Reiko had already changed her shoes over and was dashing for the classroom while Amaya had only just begun to change her boots over.

She was so drained she couldn't function right, her brain set on dwelling mode as she set about routine things that didn't require thought any more.

Therefore, it stood to reason that she hadn't noticed a strangely silent Koro-sensei watching her from the opposite end of the corridor as she made her way to class.

Upon her arrival to class, not many looked up in response - From the sight of Reiko happily seated at her temporary desk next to Amaya's own, everyone had expected her to walk in, so there was no point in really looking up.

And they'd likely all seen her walking across the clearing.

Isogai had looked up, as well as Maehara.

Sugaya had glanced over as well, while nearly everyone else kept their attention on class as Irina lectured about something that did not have anything to do with English, for some reason.

Amaya didn't care enough to try and pick what it could be, either.

She merely sat down at her desk in between Reiko's and Karma's, leaning back in her seat.

There was no response from the redhead sitting next to her - He hadn't looked at her at all.

However she hadn't failed to notice that there was a bit of tension about him, almost as if he was lost in a small pocket of uncomfortable thought.

She'd practically forgotten about the small exchange between them just yesterday morning, and that was probably for the best.

She didn't need to dwell on absolutely everything else along with what Isogai and Reiko had given her to think about, too.