"Hey, do you have a sister or something?"

I sit in class, flicking a black mechanical pencil occasionally as Korosensei goes on about a subject I haven't been paying enough attention to to name. My mind wonders to what happened on Saturday and I find myself glancing at Rio from the corner of my eye. I immediately look back to the front of the classroom when I find her staring intently at me, seemingly paying absolutely no attention to the yellow octopus's lesson (though I shouldn't be talking).

Quickly, I pull a notebook out of my desk to make it look like I'm doing something. Though still feeling her scorching gaze from behind, I try my best to ignore it and attempt to follow Korosensei's lesson.

"…and you'll be choosing your groups, rather than me choosing for you! And remember that each group needs to have five people; any extras should join separate groups."

I stare open-mouthed as he zooms out of the classroom as soon as he finishes the statement, most likely headed out to collect a sweet treat from one foreign country or another. I rack my brain, trying to no avail to recall any one detail from what he was saying earlier. I glance a Rio and, based on her absolutely blank expression, I know she's just as lost me. This fact also gives me reason to believe that she's been staring at me for more than a few seconds.

Scanning the classroom, I see other students getting out their lunch boxes and moving their desks to sit by their friends, all of them perfectly content since they actually listened during the class.

Even as everyone starts shifting into their friend circles for lunch, I stay at my seat. I know I should probably get my lunch out too, but I also know I'm too distracted at the moment to eat. Not even focusing on what I'm doodling in the margins of my science notebook, my mind dwells on the situation with my mother over the weekend. Less centered on the subjective fact that my mother was being "difficult" (a term she has used several times to describe me) at the mall and afterward, my mind again comes to a more important matter at the moment.

I had been seen. Someone I know saw me. And this person is suspicious of me. I've never, ever been seen or caught by someone I know (either that or they've never had the gall to tell me they'd seen me). I've always been on guard, constantly watching to make sure a situation like this wouldn't arise. But, it seems that I just got unlucky this time. For the third time, I glance across the room to Rio's desk from the corner of my eye. She's not there.

"Nagisa. Nagisa." A familiar voice startles me out of my thoughts. I turn towards its source. Rio.

She leans on my desk, her lunchbox in her hand. Dyed blonde hair frames her neutral face.

After closing my notebook, I turn fully in my chair to face her, "Yes?" It takes all of my courage to get the question out, and even despite that I still manage to let my voice crack in that single syllable.

I start feeling even more nervous when she doesn't answer me, instead opting to stare at me. When she seems to have gotten enough of my appearance, she speaks. "Hey, do you have a sister or something?"

I deflate slightly at the question, knowing where this is headed. This type of situation being a part of the endless list of reasons why I hate my mother's "hobby". I look at her, cock my head to the side and ask in an inquiring tone, "No, why do you ask?"

She studies me a bit longer and shakes her head slightly, "Eh, it's nothing important, just something I saw this weekend."

I sigh softly as my eyes shamefully drift to the ground, knowing exactly of the incident that's on her mind. I look back up, slightly surprised to see that she's still there. "Oh, is there anything else you wanted?"

"Yeah," she lifts her lunch box by the cloth and smiles, "You want to eat lunch with us?" She haphazardly gestures to the classroom door where Sugino's head bobs animatedly as he discusses something with Kayano-probably baseball-related based on the way my green-haired friend nods absentmindedly, not verbally contributing as she knows nothing on the subject.

I send the fake blonde a forcefully cheerful smile and nod, happy to be off the former subject.

Her own real smile grows a little broader as she takes in my response.

Kayano, Sugino, Rio, and me sit in a circle on the grass beside the school.

"I tried out a new pudding recipe yesterday." Kayano says cheerfully, putting down her water bottle after taking a gulp. I nod in acknowledgment of her comment, not knowing how she manages to find the time to try out pudding recipes all the time.

I'm about to respond with something when Sugino speaks up, "Hey, do you guys want to form a group for the project?"

Rio looks up from her lunchbox and seems to think about the question for a few short seconds before answering curtly. "Yeah. Okay."

I nod, hoping that he or Kayano would reiterate the point of the project. Kayano studies her water bottle for a bit before answering. "Don't we need another person to become a group, though?"

Sugino looks down at the grass for a moment and nods, "Yeah, you're right. We should probably get a fifth person before lunch is done, else everybody except the three extras will already be in their groups."

I, in fact, would like to invite Karma to join the group but I choose to keep my mouth shut, knowing that Sugino tends to be uncomfortable around the smart delinquent known as Karma Akabane. So, when Sugino asks this question, I find the scuff marks on my boots very interesting. Kayano's silently debating something beside me, probably wondering if she should invite someone. Sugino continues to stare at us, waiting for us to come up with a person's name.

Rio speaks up first, "How about we ask Karma?" I silently forgive her for the innocent yet nerve-wracking questions she asked earlier. Sugino pales considerably but does not voice his discomfort with the suggestion, not so outspoken that he would risk offending Rio or me by objecting. I smile from behind my hand at his reaction. Kayano also notices Sugino's change in demeanor but doesn't seem to place the source of it as she asks him if there's something wrong.

The black-haired teen glances at her and smiles rather bitterly, "Nothing, really."

She takes the answer at face value, probably deciding the issue isn't all that important. Of course Kayano, not particularly having anything against any single person in the class does not show any significant reaction to Rio's suggestion. So, she turns to Rio and tells her that she's fine with the fifth person being Karma.

Rio turns to me and raises her eyebrows as if to ask "You're fine with it, right?", only needing clarification since it would not make much sense for me to object seeing as me and Karma are good friends.

"I'm good with it.", I say aloud, ignoring Sugino's barely noticeable shutter in response to my answer.

Kayano claps her hands together, a satisfied grin on her face, "Well, I guess that settles it. As long as Karma says yes we'll have a full group."

Sugino smiles a nonsmile in response but cooperates nonetheless. He turns toward Rio, "Could you ask him now?"

Rio looked at him with a lopsided grin. "I would but I don't know where he goes during lunch," she looks at me, "I'm pretty sure Nagisa does though."

"Assuming you know where he is, could you go ask him, Nagisa-kun?" Kayano caps her bottle, the question in her eyes as she speaks to me.

I uncross my legs and stand, "I can go ask him now." She nods as I pick up my finished lunch and head to the woods, where-if my memory serves me well-I'm sure Karma spends time sitting in trees thinking about stuff I've never asked him about.

As predicted, I do find Karma atop a tree. He notices me before I notice him. In fact, the only reason I do notice him is because he makes the mistake of studying me from his perch. I don't know why-maybe it's just my general insecurity-, but I've always been able to sense when someone's staring at me. So, the moment Karma starts staring, I turn to the side and look up, immediately spotting him.

As soon as our eyes meet a Cheshire grin stretches across his face and he drops from his branch, landing in a crouch beside me. "Something you need, Nagisa?"

He says it lightheartedly but his eyes carry a dim worry since I rarely ever seek him out during lunch with good news, "It's nothing bad, Karma, I just wanted to see if you want to join our group for the project."

"Our?"

"Kayano, Sugino, Rio, and I." I clarify and wince slightly when Karma's smirk widens once he hears Sugino's name, well aware of the baseball lover's fear of him.

"I'll join." I sigh, relieved that he's agreed. Something's still bugging me, though.

Karma picks up on it, "Something else wrong, Nagisa?"

I cough into my fisted hand before answering, "Eh, Karma, what's the project on?"

Hey guys! If you thought I abandoned this, I don't blame you cause I'm sorry for updating so sporadically but, disappointedly so, I can't promise to update regularly. That aside, thank you for all the kind Reviews and the 200+ Follows and 100+ Favorites!

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