Marionette

Cosmos, Chapter Ten - Shisha-sū [死者数]

For once in her life, she didn't mind the rain that poured around her.

It continued for hours, and yet it was drowned out by the tears she shed instead.

A turbulent, heartbroken state was her inner condition, the pieces broken almost to dust. The oceans sought to drown her, rising ever faster to fill every space inside of her, jagged with the broken pieces of her heart.

And yet she managed to exhaust herself of tears in the end, nudged to the smallest semblance of sleep by the gentle caress of a hand atop her head.

She had no right to wish for forgiveness, nor a reprieve from the hardships that continued to shackle her.

But she couldn't help but want for this pocket of calm to last just a little bit longer.

Maybe then, it would stop hurting so much.

The voices didn't come to haunt her, no memories surfaced to rip the reprieve from her grasp.

A slumber too light for either memory-haunted dreams or adequate rest, the sounds of voices broke through and dragged her out of peaceful unconsciousness.

She'd heard what sounded like a string of hushed curses as she'd lifted her head, her waking consciousness bringing her to notice that she was still in the surroundings she'd glimpsed last she was conscious – The wood-walled room with the cubicle curtain and the bed.

Except this time, she could actually recognize where this was, even though nothing in particular was all that different.

She was still sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed, in the infirmary room of the Class E Camus now that she could recognize her surroundings. Everything was still dark, and it was still raining outside. The dull rolling of thunder in the distance showed that the storm was still about.

However, contrary to last she remembered, there was a familiar redhead leaning over her, his posture in such a way to show that he was in the process of leaning her against the end of the bed.

From the faint mix of concern and exasperation across his face, she guessed he hadn't wanted her to wake up.

'Excellent, Amaya-san! You're awake!' A jovial Koro-sensei announced with barely-subdued energy, his tentacles waving enthusiastically in the air as he opened the door of the infirmary. 'Sensei has a lot to talk to you about!'

The Octopus then turned his attention upon Karma, his ever normal grin in place.

'Could you please excuse yourself for a short while, Karma-kun?'

Karma remained silent, oddly enough.

His sharp gaze remained fixed upon Koro-sensei, almost as if he was in the process of planning what torture to subject the bizarre teacher with.

However, he didn't ignore the octopus – He picked himself up and left the room, though not without throwing a quick glance back towards Amaya.

And then the octopus shut the door, his attention turned back upon Amaya.

'Now then, Sensei has had a thoroughly long talk with your "Guardian".' Koro-sensei began, his tentacles waving slightly as he made his way towards Amaya's motionless form. 'I believe his name is Shigure-san?'

Amaya didn't respond – In all honesty, she felt like Koro-sensei's question was rather rhetorical. That, and she wasn't even sure if Shigure would count as a so called Legal Guardian. Though he did usually make sure they had a roof over their heads at the very least.

She did wonder why Koro-sensei had gone to the point of kicking Karma out of the room to talk, though.

Eavesdropping certainly wasn't beneath him if he wanted to know something.