𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, ᴋᴀʀᴍᴀ ᴀ.

25 | summer time

───── ❝ red looks good on her❞ ─────

[karma akabane]

Sunlight left kiss trails across the floor of my not-so-clean bedroom, disturbing the darkness that I settled in. Since my parents were always out, no one bossed me to tidy up, so I never did.

Ah...That is until now, as I dust out my blinds and singled out the socks from beneath my bed.

I rarely find myself in a rush or panic to finish things, homework, chores, etc.. So this was a new emotion for me.

If you haven't guessed yet, someone was coming over...

After what seemed like an eternity, the doorbell rang. The clock's hour hand stroke five and I heaved a deep breath, doubting if I'd mentally prepared myself for the storm.

Emei stood on my porch wearing baggy denim overalls with an off-white graphic t-shirt. A bright red baseball cap adorned her head.

"Hey, you." I leaned against the door frame, hands in my pockets, and eyed her outfit. I felt a grin hang on my face as I focused on the hat of my special guest. 

Red looks good on her.

"Mm. Hi." Emei's hands grasped her backpack straps as she bounced on her feet. "Your knuckles are scraped."

I knitted my brows, glancing at my knuckles which were in fact scraped.

"I didn't notice," I said. It was probably from cleaning underneath things. 

"May I come in?" Emei asked to which I stepped aside the door. "I'll tend to it."

"A few scratches won't kill me, sweetheart."

I showed her upstairs to my room. Emei spun around while she hopped up the steps eyeing the paintings hung on the wall. 

"Those look antique. So cool..." She commented. 

"Yeah, my parents like to collect these kinds of things," I sneered while she ran to the top. 

"They aren't home?"

"No. My parents are always out and rarely come home," I proceeded to show her my room, opening the door. 

"Wow! Your room is so big!" Emei pranced around the floor, dropped her bag beside my bed, and looked around. 

It dawned on me that Emei and I have been close friends for quite some time. Yet we barely opened up about our personal lives. Sure, I get curious about her lifestyle but held myself back from asking. 

The effect of my involvement in her life might ruin the comfortable line I drew between us. I want it to stay this way. 

Then again...I still want some answers. 

Finally, we were attending to the original purpose of today's playdate. The biggest, badest, and most feared boss to ever exist on earth. 

Summer mathematics homework.

It was honestly impressive how Koro-sensei creates each individual test accustomed to how we learn. Emei got assigned math sprints because it was her poorest score on the semester midterms. 

I lay on my bed playing with my DS while Emei lay on the floor scribbling away at her worksheet.

"Done." I heard her call, stopping the timer next to her. The girl huffed triumphantly and presented her paper to me with both hands like it was Simba. 

The words "Game over" popped up on my screen and I clicked my tongue. 

"Pull me up." I gave her the palm of my hand to take. Emei did so and the contact made my insides churn annoyingly. 

Soft...

"Eh...I got half of it wrong!?" I stared at Emei's disappointed face at the paper in front of her. Taking the paper from her, I crumpled it and threw it at her face.

Emei grabbed the ball mid-air and ripped it into shreds, tossing it behind her and the scraps fell like confetti. 

"This is such a pain." She grumbled, falling to the floor on her back while covering her eyes with her forearm. 

"C'mon, you can't give up that easily." I teasingly chuckled, lightly punching her stomach, making the girl curl up to protect herself. 

"Why? Some fucker added letters into math and I can't even kill him 'cause he's dead," Emei muttered in annoyance. 

"Hey. Don't sleep," I reached down from my bed to pinch her cheeks. 

The girl responded with a low groan when I let go, slowly sitting up and scooting right in front of me. 

She sat with her knees folded beside her with her hands placed on the floor. Emei started glaring at me, a dark purple aura oozing out of her head. I had a feeling she was cursing me out for naturally being good at math. 

"Hey," I leaned down again, getting close enough to her scrunched-up face. Emei huffed out a breath, and I felt it. "Tell me the truth. How'd you get in E-class?"

"Why are you so interested? You never cared before."

"Can't blame me for being curious, can you? Consider this payment for tutoring you."

"I-I guess that's fair..." the black haired cleared her throat.

♡