After another busy day at the embassy, Rio sure was glad when she finally hit her bed that day. Work this week was exceptionally more as they were preparing for the newly elected prime minister's first visit to the US. Rio smiled at the thought. She may finally see one of her old friend again. She turned her head to her right. There on the floor just beside her bed sat the advice book Koro-sensei made for her. 'Those were the happy old times,' she thought. Her mind wandered for a little while to the time when the class were trained to be skilled assasins before a beep from her phone attracted her back to reality. Gingerly, she reached for the phone and read a text from Kayano. '1 day to Karma's visit!' it said. She smiled. The actress (now may also be director) had made it her personal duty to do a countdown for Rio on Karma's arrival to the country she now call home. Suddenly, a thought hit her. It had been more than ten years since she last saw him at their graduation. Heck, it had been exactly ten years since her family decided to permanently move to America and she hadn't step foot on Japanese soil since. Did he even remember her?

xxxxx

Meanwhile, across the globe, a certain red-haired Prime Minister was going through his own book of advices. It made him smile (and a bit touched, though he would never admit that) to think that Koro-sensei had thought that he may one day be the Prime Minister. The book (and his natural amazingness) were what made it possible for him to climb the politic ladder with unbelievable speed. He had morphed from only an officer in the ministry to the Prime Minister in only 3 years time! Sure, senior ministers doubted his capabilities all the time, but he had proven them wrong again and again. Honestly, everyone was surprised at the speed he was in, even former 3-E students. They knew Karma is something else, but to be the Prime Minister in just 3 years? That's plain crazy. Yet he did it.

After going through a few pages, Karma closed the very thick book and began to prepare for his long flight. He would be going for his first diplomatic visit! He was going to America. His thoughts went to his once partner-in-crime. He remembered the blonde well. He actually followed her progress over the years since graduation through Kayano, who was more than happy to provide the news. He did it casually though so as to not want her to question his curiosity. She never did and he was glad for it. Plus, if she ever did as little as give him a weird look, he would redirect the conversation to be about her relationship with Nagisa. That always shut her up as she would be too busy blushing. Deep down, he hoped Rio at least remembered him, if not as a friend, as a classmate. Karma checked the last of his things before heading to the awaiting car that would bring him to the airport for a quick press conference before he departed for the US.

Even in the plane, Karma could not afford to rest. Work was piling in front him in the form of documents in his tablet and paper stacks. He was glad for the private room in the private jet as no one could see what he was doing. He hated it when people saw him working hard as he had a reputation to withhold. People had always thought of him as a very laid-back person who somehow got everything done perfectly, but what they didn't know was, behind closed doors, he worked hard to achieve the perfection level. Then, he heard a ding. It came from his personal phone. He fished it out of the pocket of his briefcase. An unknown number. Now how did this person get his number? He opened the text. 'Don't forget to look for Rio!' it said. He immediately knew who was it from. Kayano. As far as he knew, she was the only one who was close enough to Rio that they were on first name basis. He texted back, 'You should ask HER to look for ME, Kayano'. No immediate reply. She must be on the set. He placed the phone down beside the papers and picked up his tablet. Time for work!

xxxxx

Rio loved parties. But political one, not so much. After all, she would rather spend time alone on her couch rather than mingling with pervert old rich guys. Unfortunately, her job required her to attend those 'social' parties. She was almost to her goal. A diplomat. She was going to be an ambasador soon. Like Karma, her stride up the career goal was swift. She will be the Japanese ambasador in America before she reached 30! She did her best in proving herself and making sure all the important people actually like her, even of it meant she had to pretend to be interested in whatever they were talking about and refrained herself from killing old geezers who flirted with her nonstop. Like she would sleep with them. Never. She had high taste, y'know.

Tonight was a party to celebrate the arrival of Japan's Prime Minister, Akabane Karma. Rio donned herself a long dark blue dress that looked elegant yet still profesional. As she walked through the crowd and stopped by here and there to talk to people, she noticed some guys eyeing her. The looks of disapoinment on their face because she wasn't showing much skin caused her to smirk a little. She glanced to the clock on her phone. It was 9pm. Karma had arrived at the party an hour ago, but she hadn't seen him, not even a glimpse. 'Who am i kidding? For all i know, he changed his looks and i won't recognize him,' she thought. Now she regretted volunteering to go check on the kitchen and meeting room before she herself joined the party. But she did volunteer, anyway and as a result, she missed Karma's grand entrance. Whatever, not that he remembered her anyway. An hour later, it was 10 pm, finally deciding to take a rest from donning fake smile, she decided its time. Time to sneak out and ditch party!

xxxxx

Jetlag from the long flight? Check. Exhausted from all the paperworks? Check. Deep and strong desire to sleep? Check. But no. No rest for him, not yet anyway. As soon as the plane touched down (it was already night), he was ushered to the Japan Embassy for a welcome party. It was exactly 8 pm when he entered the ballroom. And it was two hours later when he first spotted her. Her eyes seemed to survey the entrance and he immediately knew her plan. She was going to sneak out. From where he stood with a few diplomats, he could see her moves clearly. She maneuvered her way through the crowd, stopping a few times on her way to greet some people, and in no time, she made it out the door. He whistled under his breath, slow enough that only he heard it. After all this time, guess she was still a snake. And he was one too. He excused himself from the diplomats and the converaation they were having before tracing her steps. And just like hers, no one noticed his absence.

Out in the hallway, he wondered where did she went. If Kayano's information was genuine, Rio told her that sometimes she would go into the office to take a break from a party. He took the stairs to maintain his stealth. He walked along the hallway and tried to look for something that signalled her whereabouts. An office had its lights on. He smirked. Found her. He pushed open the glass door to found no one was in there. He sighed. Guess he was mistaken. As he began to close the door, he heard a faint breath. Slowly, hs stepped inside the office to make sure no footstep was heard. He then closed the door to make it seemed like he left. Thank goodness he practiced to be lighter on his feet. And the carpeted floor helped too. He took a seat on the sofa across the office table, waiting for someone to come out from under the table. And as he guessed, the person showed herself.

Honestly, Rio was quite proud of herself when the other person seemed to have no idea that she was in the room. She waited a while after he closed the door before jumping out. She stretched her back. Thats when she felt like someone was watching her. Turning back, she couldn't hide her shock upon seeing a guy sitting casually on the sofa. And it was not just a random guy. It was the prime minister!

Haiioo.. This is the rewrited version i told ya about in the old version. I wrote this one after rewatching the anime and reviewing the timeline. I tried to make it more sense. I wrote this on my phone, so i had a trouble estimating its length so sorry if its short. Anyway, thanks for reading! Reviews and comments are welcomed and deeply appreciated!