I found myself in english, sitting in my own desk. The teacher hadn't asked us to move to our partners yet, but I had gained a little confidence since lunch. On his paper, I could only write one or two things referring to how his paper was similar to mine, even on the separate opinion questions. Though I had confirmed that Kizumi was a smart kid, it still felt weird to believe it. The teacher suddenly clapped her hands, pulling me away from my thoughts.

"Alright. Get with your partners. I have a-" She was interrupted by another teacher, who pulled her outside to discuss something important. Everyone, including me, just did what she said and went to sit by their partners and talk until she came back in. Kizumi didn't seem to notice me at first, but I was quickly corrected when he suddenly turned to me and said,

"Just because I didn't beat the shit out of you today doesn't mean I won't do it." He paused, but only for a moment. "Now where's my paper?" I pulled it out, keeping completely silent as he took it from my hands. My worries, though I thought had mostly receded, came crawling back. It quickly, and unusually, turned to irritation. Suddenly, I couldn't control what came out of my mouth.

"Go ahead and beat me up. That's just like you..." I was shocked something like that could even come out of my mouth. I was normally such a quiet, nice person. It wasn't that I was being confident or brave suddenly...I was angry. Even so, I didn't expect to blurt something so rude and provocative. I never did that type of thing. He grabbed me by the shirt and yanked me closer to his face.

"What?" He spat. I bit my lip, refusing to feed the fire from my first slip up. Why wasn't the teacher noticing by now? "What did you just say?" He yanked on my shirt again. I turned my head slightly, and remembered that the teacher was outside the classroom. I looked back at the other students briefly, only to find them staring. None of them left to go get the teacher, probably in fear of Kizumi coming after them later. I looked back at him. He didn't look nearly as angry as I thought he would.

"Let go." I said, though I didn't struggle.

"You just insulted me, didn't you?" He raised his voice slightly. "You said It's just like me to kick people's asses, right? Let me tell you something. You won't be able to move after I kick yours." He tightened his grip and began to raise his fist when I said,

"Why?" I didn't think anything I said would stop his fist from coming down on my face, but it actually worked.

"Why?" He repeated my question mockingly through gritted teeth.

"Why are you beating me up?" I was desperate to stall until the teacher came back in and was begging for a miracle to happen.

"Do I need a reason to? You pissed me off, that's why." He gave me the meanest glare I had ever gotten from someone. It made my stomach surge.

"Why would beat me up for no real reason, Kizumi? What did I ever really do to you?" As I said those words, for a split second, pure confusion coated his face. I was staring at his expression when I was suddenly released. I fell to the floor, and looked up. That's when I realized the teacher was standing in front of us. She didn't get the chance to say anything to Kizumi, because he already had his things and was leaving. The other students stared at him while he furiously, but silently, left the classroom. 

The teacher didn't bother to chase after him. Instead, she turned to me and told me she was going to have to speak to me after class. I told her I would stay and sat back down, receiving stares from the students around me for a moment. Eventually, things went back to normal and I did my work like I was supposed to. During partner work, I just joined with the group closest to me. Everything was back to how it was before Kizumi flipped out.

Yet, uneasiness plagued me.