Loneliness settled in weeks after he left. She really thought that maybe, just maybe he'd really come back for her. That he cared more about her. But then again, he gave her a choice. Leave with him, start a new life and take revenge on the world, or stay here and rot to keep her integrity. She hated it; having to choose. Her life had been surrounded by blood, death, war, for as long as she could remember. He had been her life support, the only person keeping her sane. But she chose to stay. Then he just up and left.

She screamed yet again. She thought maybe today she'd do better; keep the pain in. Every day she suffered the agony and torture of physical pain, and emotional pain. She'd thought that maybe giving her life away would be better than staying in the hell-like war. But it was just as excruciating. The teenage girl began to wonder, would it have been better if she really did follow in his steps?

"That will be all for today," the man said as he began to pack up his things. His apprentice began to do the same, muttering to himself as he flipped through his thick folder. The thick steel doors slowly opened and people raced to wheel Hana's metal bed, in which she was locked to, out of the room and to usual white prison. It sucked - all of this. It was a daily cycle, a trap that she would never get out of.

The usual person came in to take her vitals and slipped out, all in one go. The girl barely noticed him. Something was different. It wasn't the staff or the place. It was her. She could feel it. There was a weird tingling feeling that both caused a sting underneath her skin, but it was familiar. Somehow. The usual faint glow that emitted from her body began glowing stronger.

Before she knew it, there was a huge explosion. The building collapsed, leaving the site with nothing but rubble, rock, exploded machines. The only person left standing was the girl herself. Her heart thudded against her chest with an empty feeling. Her eyes widened as her eyes landed on her hands. Something crackled on her fingers and her heart skipped a beat. The building that had been her home for the past years, had collapsed under the impact and power of the electricity coming from her. The machines and electronics, exploded with the overcharge. Humans, collapsed and probably dead under all the rubble.

The girl could already hear the sirens and people clamouring in to see what had happened. There was no denying it; she had just been behind a massacre. Scrambling across the rubble, she found herself wandering through the tall towers of collapsed brick and steel. It was nothing like the place she had known. If it was a maze before, it was even worse now.

The bloody bodies littered on the ground gave her flashes of her past and it scared her, it sent shivers down her spine. To think that it happened again. Maybe, it was her.

Suddenly, she tripped over a steel case. Hana scraped her knee on the ground and sticky blood bubbled down her leg. But it didn't hurt much. Not compared to what she had been enduring for the past year. She quickly unlocked the case, hoping that it may contain some money. Sure enough, there were a number of money bundles tied in thin string. The girl locked the case and grabbed it in a hurry. She would need it later.

-3-

Karma yawned. His house-keeper, Sachuro-san, had grounded him once again. It wasn't like he usually obeyed her when she forced him to stay in his room. But today was different. He was just so bored. Middle school had officially finished and no matter how he forced himself to not mourn over the fact that Koro Sensei was dead, it still got to him. Once in a while, it crept up to him, reminded him of the days when he was in Class 3-E with everyone. It had been the only class he didn't feel bored in, he actually felt like he had belonged. And now with summer break, it had gotten so dull.

He flopped himself on to his bed and stared at the big oak bookshelf by his wall. There were his usual Shonen-Jump mangas, then the other books on combat and fighting techniques which he found intriguing on some level, the other detective and crime novels, the school yearbooks, the dictionaries... Karma's eyes drifted to the two thick books which were neatly placed in the corner of his bookshelf. He gazed at it for a moment before standing up with a sigh.

He'd nearly finished reading it. To anyone, it would seem like some huge summer reading homework that some lame teacher gave. But it really wasn't. Maybe Koro Sensei did intend for it to be their summer reading, but it wasn't as much of a chore now. The easy-to-read mangas were funny and engaging. It sometimes felt like Koro Sensei was still there, right by his side.

As he flipped to the last page and his eyes widened slightly. Look after Hana for me.

It took him by surprise. The characters were definitely in Koro Sensei's famous handwriting but it looked like it had been done in a hurry. There was no octopus at the end of the sentence like Karma would have expected. And it didn't seem like a joke either. Who or what was this thing he had to look after, and why? Questions whirled inside his head as he closed the book with a thud.

"Oi, Nagisa. It's me," Karma said as he waited for Nagisa to respond from the other end of the phone.

"Oh, Karma. It's you. What happened?" came the immediate reply.

"Why do you always expect that I've done something?" Karma teased before continuing seriously, "It's nothing. Just that... Did you finish reading that yellow book he gave us?"

There was a pause as Nagisa tried to remember. "Ahh, yes. Yes, I did. Why? You seem weird too, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, no. Everything's good. But, was it weird? I mean, the end of the book?" It felt strange, trying to ask him if he did, indeed, see the message, without giving away that Karma himself, did. What if it was only meant for him? If so, why?

"No... It was normal - a blank page, if you want to be specific about it," Nagisa said uncertainly.

Karma tapped his chin briefly before sighing and ending the call with a short 'goodbye'. So this was his last assignment given by Koro Sensei.

-3-

There was a storm roaring outside and the weather was cold. The girl creeped into the small wooden inn and quickly exchanged some money for a night in. She was careful not to show the huge steel case that was being shielded by her small frame of a body. The keeper showed her into a small room filled with stale air. It reminded her of the ruined buildings she used to roam around as a kid. They all had the same smell. But this one was warmer, and nicer. The yellow walls that created the small room, gave a welcoming feeling which cancelled out the uncomfortable air at once. The furniture, although cheap, felt like something out of a doll house she used to long for. She smiled.

"Arigato," she said with a nod as the keeper smiled. The keeper was a short elderly woman, only shorter than the teenage girl by about a neck. Her white hair was healthy, and her eyes, although weak, gave a shine of happiness. The younger girl wondered for a moment what it would be like to live for so long in such a wonderful world as hers.

"Have a good night, sweetheart," the lady smiled before closing the door, leaving her in the room by herself. Soon, she was fast asleep, exhausted by the day's work.