Sanctuary (Karma Akabane x OC)

Midterm Panic

It was the day before the exams and tensions in Class 3-E were rising rapidly. Even with the help of the octopus, it was hard for the students to keep their nerves at bay not to mention with the added pressure to score in the top 50.

This was by far the hardest challenge for them to face yet.

Midterms.

The classroom was buzzing with thinking minds and the sound of pencil against paper.

Katsuna was currently working on her English, something she didn't find especially hard but not terribly easy either.

A middle ground as some would put.

Unfortunately, with this type of subject, it was easy for her mind to wander which it tended to do when she was stressing about something.

The guilt from her conversation with Principal Asano was swallowing her up, little by little. She observed how her fellow peers were working hard to achieve their best possible scores in their upcoming exams.

How much work they're putting in.

The determination in their faces.

Only she knew what laid ahead for them and it made her sick to her stomach.

There was no time now to go back and change things.

The only thing she could do now is watch.

Katsuna swallowed the lump in her throat, glancing back down at her work in dismay.

~~~~~

"Don't you dare become one of them."

~~~~~

"I guess I got too close without even thinking about it," she pondered, rhythmically bouncing her leg in frustration.

The best thing I can do now is distance myself.

As if you deserve their friendship anyway.

You coward.

~~~~~~

As the lunch bell ran, the classroom began to break up into patches of chatter.

"Hey, you wanna eat together Katsuna?" Rio chimed, pulling her chair over to the girl's desk.

"Ehh I can't sorry," Katsuna mumbled, averting her eyes away from Rio's confused ones.

Before the blonde girl could answer, Katsuna bolted out the classroom, searching for a secluded place to sit. Dismissing Rio's disappointed face, the raven-haired girl adventured out towards the cliff clearing, carrying her bag over her shoulder.

"No-one comes out this far so I should be alright," Katsuna reasoned before stopping dead in her tracks, "Crap, I forgot about the redhead."

"If I can't go the clearing, then maybe..." the girl scanned her surroundings, searching for a place to sit. Her eyes spotted a small cave in the distance, easy to miss, which was perfect.

Katsuna perched herself on rough bark below her, sighing in relief as she was finally able to get some peace with only the sounds of nature to comfort her.

"I've had enough of human contact that could last a lifetime," she muttered quietly, unpacking her makeshift lunch she had made herself this morning.

Just a couple of plain rice balls with some leftover curry from last night's dinner. She looked down at it, her mind thinking back to seeing everyone else's lunches their parents had made them.