The Princess and The Devil - Karma Akabane x OC

F I F T Y - F I V E : With or Against?

As soon as the fight ends with two strong boys crying after learning about Hime's death, the virtuosos brought Asano back to the main building. Ren stayed behind 5 steps away to apologise to Class 3E for Asano's behaviour, the boys went to retrieve Karma.

"I apologise for what Asano has done. He's usually very composed but Hime's death brings out the worst in all of us, right?" Ren said, his tone shaking as his memories with Hime began crashing upon him.

"I understand." Isogai said, rubbing tears away. "She must have a lot of memories with you as much as she has with us, right?" Isogai said before Ren gives him a curt nod, not trusting his voice enough to properly bid them goodbye. The boy then takes off after his friends. As his silhouette begins to disappear behind the thick forest, Isogai rushes over to his friends as they carried the red-haired boy with care.

***

"How is Karma-kun, sensei?" Nagisa asks as soon as Koro-sensei walks out the infirmary. The octopus' everlasting smile seems grim as he sighs dejectedly.

"Karma-kun is fine, Nagisa-kun. I didn't find anything that could pose a danger on his life. Although he's having difficulties in breathing and walking after this.. But sensei is positive that Karma-kun will be fine." Koro-sensei said, placing a tentacle on Nagisa's head. "Come, now Nagisa-kun. Let's go back to your class." As Koro-sensei brought Nagisa back to the class, class 3E was uncharacteristically gloomy and sad. Everyone was quiet and only occasional sniffles and sobs were heard.

"Everyone, sensei knows you're all sad but Hime-san wouldn't want-"

"A dead body would be able to tell if Hime is really dead or not." Fuwa voices out quietly but because of the dead air, even the flow of blood in your vessels could be heard. Fuwa looks around, trying to find anyone who would meet her eyes as a subtle sign of hope. There was none. "You can't possibly believe that Hime is really dead without a dead body." tried to reason out, choking back tears. Slowly, her classmates' eyes begin to meet hers. Rio, Kanzaki, Kaede, Nagisa, Maehara, Isogai and Terasaka.

"So, all we need to do is find a body?" Terasaka asks voice thick with tears as he wipes his tears away. The big delinquent couldn't bring himself to care that he's actually crying and showing his vulnerable side to everyone right now. All he wants is to hope that Hime isn't dead. He fights a shiver as an image of the platinum blonde haired girl lying lifeless right before his eyes, her eyes steel blue eyes cold and dead as fire begins to engulf her figure.

"Yes," Fuwa said, softly. "We can even test out if the body is really hers or not. Ritsu has everyone's DNA and could help out with the test. But if the government has taken it, Karasuma-sensei would help us, wouldn't he?" Fuwa asks, looking at Koro-sensei. It touched the octopus' heart to see how much Hime's classmates love her. The octopus couldn't help but nod as a sign of agreement although he was sure that the strong man would be hard to bend even if he tried reasoning out. But even if Karasuma wouldn't give them his permission, Koro-sensei has decided that he will help them personally.

"What do you think, Ritsu-chan?" Rio asks, her tone full of desperation. If someone could just help them and give them a little bit of hope that Hime may be alive, still, she would take it. At the very least, even if her best friend is confirmed dead, she wouldn't have much regrets that she didn't do anything but grieve. If this is truly the fragile thread-like hope that she has to cling onto for the sake of her sanity, she would hold onto it with all her life. The pink haired AI couldn't help but feel the sadness of her friends as she sniffles a little in memory of Hime. Despite the platinum blonde haired girl's absence during her presence, Ritsu thinks that they managed to bond over the time they spent in the hospital. Although it was strictly one sided and it was all on the AI's part. Ritsu downloaded all the facts about Hime that she permitted Ritsu to have and ever since then, Ritsu secretly gained access into Hime's phone.