ON THE WAY BACK

Mairia

Her footsteps echoed on the hard pavement as she savored the silence on her way home, beside her, she felt the sudden shifting of her classmate. Kayano felt his eyes boring at her side, she can only guess that he was building up some kind of courage to ask her some questions, not that she really minded.

And to her surprise, he suddenly stopped walking. With a feigned confused gaze, she craned her neck to look back at Nagisa with her head slightly tilted to the side as she followed his actions and halt her movements. "What's wrong, Nagisa?"

It was only a few seconds that passed before she realized that he was staring at her intently, as if gauging some kind of reaction to her. She doesn't know how to deal with this sudden behavior, so she ignored it, trying hard not to let him know that she had sensed that something is wrong.

"Say, Kayano." His voice was soft, as if unsure whether to tell her anything and she was sure that he would back out at a moment's notice if she cut him off but luckily, she held back her lips instead she turned around to face the road before them once more. "When's your real birthday?"

With a jerk of her head, she almost gaped at the question, her gaze immediately returning to him. Did he just ask her when was her birthday? Kayano can't believe the words that sprang out of him, they never had this conversation before. Not when they visited her in the hospital and not ever since though it seemed he was remedying it by asking her right now.

And Kayano can do nothing but shift on her feet, suddenly overcome with the urge to run away but she held herself back and let out a small sigh of resignation. It was better late than never, she guessed.

Kayano resumed her walk and a second later, she felt Nagisa started following her until they were walking side by side again, his gaze never leaving hers, it seemed he was determined. As they walk, she peered at him through her bangs, her head slightly bowed down to hide any emotion she might felt right now. "Why do you assume that I'd change my birthday?"

Beside her, Nagisa shrugged. "It felt like it, you need to forge a birth certificate after all." And now, she was decidedly sure that he was pondering this for a long time, if the hint of curiosity in his tone was anything to go by.

"Oh," She blinked and let her thoughts ran for a moment longer, she never did tell him anything about Yukimura Akari and now she was entertaining the thought of the pros and cons of telling him about her but decided at the last minute that there's no harm done.

She shifted back her gaze towards the road ahead of them, staring at the pavement in contemplation. "November 9th," And then she proceeded to take a glance at Nagisa's reaction from the corner of her eyes, she wanted to see what he would do with this little tid bit of information.

Though to her surprise, his gaze was fixated on the sky, as if what he just heard is something worth thinking about instead of just some birth date that she actually couldn't careless now that she was the only one who even remembered her real date of birth, she had no one to celebrate with, after all.

"I see." She heard him whisper in thought as his gaze suddenly trailed towards her, lips pursed in thought.

And their eyes once again met, as she stared at him, she felt the sudden urge to turn around and flee, something about his stare is making her feel uncomfortable all of a sudden and before she knew it, she looked back towards the road, intently. Finding that the pebbles were more interesting than his eyes.

She felt the incessant fast beating of her heart, eyes almost wide as she tried not to let him know that she was starting to feel something for him, a dangerous thought to entertain because their focus should be on Korosensei, and she wouldn't let some feelings jeopardize their friendship.

'He has more things to worry about than dealing with her emotions.'

They fell into a quiet comfortable silence as she tried to regain her bearings, not wanting to confront him with a flustered look on her face, a few moments passed before she took a huge intake of breath and then break the silence. "You know, I really suck at Math before and I still do," She had the sudden urge to confess and she felt his questioning gaze directed at her though she ignored it. "Just not much since I decided to try understanding it more than before."

She then proceeded to scratch the back of her neck and tried to laugh it off, this was crazy. Why is she feeding him useless information about her life before she transferred to their school? But somehow, she can't stop spilling info about her life. "I never did tell you that." She managed to catch herself from saying anything anymore.

She noticed his gaze still fixated on her and when her eyes met his, she saw the small corners of his mouth quirked upwards before a smile slowly started to form, Kayano stared at him, at his eyes, at his smile. And then she tried hard not to squirm at the sudden thought that entered her, he has a nice smile, she wanted to see him give it to her more.

"It must had been hard… you know… acting naturally while experiencing the effects of the antimatter cells." His next words though are enough to make her pause, her eyes narrowing a little bit slightly as her stance became guarded. She hadn't really thought that he would had the confidence to inquire about her tentacles, it seemed he had been building up the courage though, his tone was clouded with hesitation after all.

"I don't mind—" Her nape felt strangely empty as if it was devoid of life and she knew a year with the pain had made her somewhat immune to it yet now that it was gone, she doesn't know which one she wanted to experience. It was hard like that, she had become somewhat used to the pain fueling her the desire to kill him and now that it was gone, she was not used to walk around and not feel a single pierce of it driving her mad.

"Back then, all I was focused on is to avenge the life of my sister but now…" She trailed off, her gaze settling to meet his once more as she offered a small smile. "How ironic isn't it?" It really was, Kayano had been thinking about that since the day she decided to not kill Korosensei.

To her relief, Nagisa averted his gaze to look at the nearest lamp post and she was glad and disappointed at the same time, for some reason. It was weird like that.

Kayano continued to stare at him, openly. Her mouth pressed together as she decided to ask him something that she was sure would only left her feeling sad afterward. "You met her before, right? My sister?" And then she saw it, the reluctance in his voice, as if not sure whether it was alright to bring up the topic of her deceased sister.

"Yeah," He finally answered after a few seconds in which she continued to stare at him, there was something about him that she can't keep her gaze off, maybe it was just her feelings acting up. "I was always surprised when she said she'll visit Karma, it's quite noting how dedicated she was on her job to help him."

She hummed when she heard his response, eyes shifting back towards the sky. She felt uncomfortable bringing her sister up because usually whenever she thought of Aguri—the tentacles would double more in letting her experience pain. Though right now, she felt nothing. It's something she doesn't quite know how to react.

She was still walking beside him when another thought entered her, one that had made her back straight, gaze shifting every now and then to every possible route in their surroundings. "Say, Nagisa, do you think Korosensei's following us? It might not be true but I heard from Hayami that he has been following Chiba and her on their way back home."

As if on cue, they both looked behind their back and Nagisa even went so far as walked a few paces to see if their teacher was anywhere near the vicinity. He eventually spoke when he did not sense the nosy teacher. "I don't think so—last time I saw him, he was trailing Maehara and Okano on their way home."

The moment Nagisa said that, Kayano started laughing nervously, not knowing how to explain to him as she suddenly remembered what event would take place tomorrow, remembering the chocolate box inside her fridge back at her apartment. He then added, as if remembering too what tomorrow would be. "It's probably something to do with Valentine's day."

"Ye—yeah." She suddenly stuttered and immediately covered her mouth with both of her hands, face flushing in embarrassment at her actions. Kayano never stuttered before, not when she was acting and definitely not when she dropped the act but tomorrow is February 14th and she doesn't know how to give him the chocolate that she had baked herself.

Her mood suddenly dropped ten times the lower, he doesn't feel the same way, does he? Kayano doesn't know and she was afraid to find out what he really felt for her.

"What's wrong?" She heard Nagisa's voice drifted towards her and she immediately took a peek at him with her hands still covering her face before Kayano tried to compose herself, dropping her hands to the side and acting nonchalant yet she felt the bag on her shoulder feeling heavier. "Nothing, I just remembered that Okano was going to give him something—I hope Maehara doesn't screw it up."

Nagisa chuckled at her words, "I don't think so but we can never be too sure." Their eyes met amidst the laughter and she swore that he was better this way, carefree and not worrying about everything but sadly that isn't how the universe works.

The silence that followed after their laughter was immediately broken.

"Sooooo, did you ever have trouble with your co-actors before?" Nagisa suddenly asked, startling her as he broke their gaze and instead stared ahead at the road, she blinked twice at the question he had imposed on her before she narrowed her eyes, trying to remember if she had any incident that can lighten up their mood.

And then she remembered one, unconsciously pouting as she recalled that moment. "Yeah, there's this drama where I need to kiss the main lead but then I was too nervous back since first kiss and all, the director had to lecture us about this part but the actor remained impassive and said to me that I should rate his kiss after the scene is done." With a snort, she rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, he wasn't that good at all, it was all dry and ugh." Kayano resisted the urge to shudder when she remembered how much she started disliking the actor but then realized that her companion became strangely silent, she cocked her head to the side and stared in confusion when she saw that his cheeks were turning red, she raised a brow before realization dawned onto her.

Kayano wasted no time in averting her gaze to the side, trying to say something or anything at all yet she couldn't. Her tongue was all tied up and all she can produce is "I—uhhh-ummm…" It was no help at all as she shook her head and grasped her glowing cheeks, trying to pinch them. From the corner of her eyes, she saw him completely flushed and was trying to say something by opening his mouth but then closing it again.

The silence is least to say, awkward.

"S—so, ummm… if you're gonna rate—" His words were enough to make her jaw to start dropping, her heartrate started beating faster than before at his opening sentence. He couldn't be asking what she thought he was asking! Kayano felt her heart is starting to burst from all of this and she just wanted it to stop. "Err, noth—nothing, ummm… do you find the weather odd today?"

'The weather, really, Nagisa?' If possible, the awkward atmosphere increased tenfold and she doesn't know how to quite react at his abandoned question, her mind is inches from exploding as she swore the only thing she can hear is the fast beating of her heart. "Na—Nagisa," She started and then closed her mouth shut.

Kayano glanced at him and saw he was looking at anywhere but her as she felt her cheeks continued to remain warm, taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on remaining calm. This can't do—one of them had to dispel this kind of choking air.

"The sun felt a bit out of it but otherwise I don't think it's going to rain anytime soon." This is one of those times where she was thanking the gods that she has the knack for acting. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Nagisa slowly calmed down as his flushed cheeks started fading before he gave a small nod. "Yeah, it's still a bit cold after all." And then his eyes met hers.

They stared at each other, each lost to their own thoughts and Kayano contemplated, their friendship had been added a mine field. There are many things they have yet to discuss yet neither one is willing to say anything, to ask and inquire. She ignored that for now, they still have a month to clear this issue and she was willing to wait.

As they walked once more, something caught her interest as she stopped walking and it made him mimicked her action as she gazed at him and simply said. "Nagisa, I never told you anything about me beside the basics, right?" She asked because she wanted to be sure.

He blinked at her question before he tilted his head to the side and gave a reluctant nod, not knowing where this was going as she smiled at him and let out a chuckle, she grinned at his response. "Well, we need to change that soon! I wanted to make an effort to become closed to all of you guys, now that we're only a month away from graduating."

"Sure." And then he gave her a heartwarming smile, the corners of his lips were stretching to the side as he stared at her, she briefly felt her heart leapt a little at his action. Trying to remain calm, she returned the nod and swiftly turned her back to him. "Well, this is my way, see you tomorrow, Nagisa."

He said his farewell before the sound of retreating footsteps were heard leaving her alone. With her eyes closed, she tried to recall their conversation today with alarming clarity and then she stopped when her memory remembered something as her eyes snapped open, cheeks beginning to flush once more. "If I were to rate his kiss?" She silently asked to herself. "11/10?"

And then she promptly slapped her hands over her heated face.

A strange laugh can be heard just a few ways away from them, a disguised monster let out another annoying laugh as he clutched his notebook with one tentacle while another is holding his pen. 'Some good material, indeed.'

Author's Note: This chapter is a few minutes after the Okano-Maehara Karaoke Incident in Chapter 158 and Korosensei had accidentally sensed them on his way back to the Class-E building.

And to those that reviewed, favorited and followed, thank you for enjoying this little tid bit.

Revised at 10/10/17.