𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, ᴋᴀʀᴍᴀ ᴀ.

09 | alone time

───── ❝ how sweet of you ❞ ─────

[karma akabane]

I've never seen someone make sleeping look so pleasant. In the middle of my stroll through the woods, after I ignored the octopus mouthing my ear off about skipping an assembly, I found a pebble to kick as I walked.

It wasn't long until I almost kicked it into a sleeping Emei, comfortably nestled in the crook of a large tree.

As I blinked a few times in confusion, I picked up my pebble and smiled. I tossed the small rock up and caught it; the second time I tossed it, I aimed it at her head.

The pebble bounced off her head with an odd 'boink' sound.

"Mmrr..." She stirs for a second, then lifted her eyelids. After registering the impact of the object on her head, she held the spot it hit and made herself small. Small grumbling noises could be heard from the girl; then she glared in my direction.

"It's my way of saying 'hello'." I teased, peering into her green eyes which returned to their usual bored and tired appearance.

"How sweet of you..." Emei smiled sweetly. Which annoyed me because she acted immune to my jokes. It encouraged me to keep teasing her to get a reaction.

I planned to ditch her after a short encounter but she followed me quietly without saying a word. I even tried to lose her by hopping over the river, but she followed me by using the small rocks as stepping stools.

I gave up and let her follow me, ignoring her endless attempts to make small talk. Soon, the green-eyed girl gave up and ought to stay a few feet behind me.

Every few minutes I glanced back to check if she was still following me. Then I'd get disappointed because she still was.

The thrid time I looked back, Emei was nowhere in sight; I felt a sense of victory that I finally lost her in the trees. But when I turned around she was in front of me, eyes following a butterfly that flew passed her face.

A tick mark appeared above my head. And because her focus was on the colorful insect, she tripped over a branch.

"Ptff..." I let out a chortle at her clumsiness. "You're a total joke."

Emei stumbled but regained her balance quickly, her face clouded in pink from embarrassment. "That's not very nice. But it's okay!" The girl beamed and perused me again, stopping just a few feet behind.

I clicked my tongue, seeing as I'd made no progress to break through her dense personality.

"Hey, Akabane?"

"What?"

"Are all of our classmates as mean as you?" She asked innocently.

I shrugged casually and put my hands on the back of my head. Killua walk.

"I dunno. Why don't you go befriend them to find out," I stuck my tongue out, then pointed at her, "and leave me alone while you're at it!"

Emei's eyes widened ever so slightly, then they drooped and she shook her head from side to side the same listless expression on her face. "No, I like you," She pointed at me.

"We're friends remember?"

Not really.

I rolled my eyes and went back to ignoring her completely. The rest of our nature walk was accompanied by the crunches of leaves and her soft humming close behind.

♡