Fates Intertwined (Karmagisa)

29

Karma had always been sharp and smart, but the way he gazed at a distance, eyes glazing over, made Nagisa feel like he was looking at a totally different person. A kind of poignant feeling rippled in his heart, almost like nostalgia, he really hoped that he'd be able to tell Karma about the spectacular journey of falling in love with him before the deadline. If he couldn't then it would probably add to the long list of barren regrets he harvested in his life.

The road they walked through was almost unapologetically urban except for the few speckle of yellowing trees and some evergreen plants. Above the dull and morose grey tone, the sky was almost hilariously colorful- fading blue and growing glowing orange.

"Aren't we going by train?" Karma questioned.

Oh right, Nagisa hadn't told Karma about his little deal with Sakura. Sakura was one problematic kid, but Nagisa had handled enough to know how to navigate that kind of mindset. If he couldn't, he would learn. Practical experience was more valuable and legitimate than theoretical knowledge anyway. After explaining Karma about his situation, they parted ways and Nagisa headed to Young Leaf Park.

Now that Sakura was back to elementary school, she had a couple of questions she needed to ask and a reasonable pile of homework. Though even with her grades, she didn't seem keen on leaving the daycare so soon. Amidst the little kids, Sakura looked like the leader among them all and she had probably grown attached to the place.

The questions she asked him were all things he could easily answer, but to dumb things he already knew down to help information parse easier? It was a lot harder than he ever expected teaching to be, but he soon realized that he didn't hate the difficulty. It was a challenge he was willing to face.

At least the other children were having fun messing around with him.

"How does English make sense anyway?" Sakura fiddled with her pencil, resting her cheek on a hand, "Learning language is hard,"

Nagisa thought about it, "It is, but don't you think being able to speak a universal language's cool?"

"Of course, I would be happy if they made it a little easier on my native Japanese brain," she mumbled while begrudgingly writing her English homework.

There was an unwonted and foreign burst of pride in his chest whenever Sakura mentioned how his tutoring was really helping her out. He was so very glad and so proud of her. This teaching thing was something he could probably get a hang of with enough practice. Teaching was really tough, but then he'd seen a smile so bright that it was definitely worth it.

He wasn't much concerned with being paid for tutoring. Sure he had to take time out of his daily schedule and had to explain mom why he was later than usual, but it gave him experience and taught him things, so why the necessity of money? But of course, Sakura's parent had somehow caught the news that the cause of their daughter's recent grades was a student from the prestigious Kunugigaoko, and they'd immediately met him after, insisting that he take some money as fee.

They wouldn't be so delighted if they knew he came from the dilapidated E-class, but he thanked them regardless and took the least he could without offending them. He didn't want them to spend too much on someone who was being tutored by a teen barely academically capable himself.

Regardless, he could say the extra money would surely be useful for him to fill his frilly pink closet with some more boyish clothes.

*

Nagisa thought that he at least understood what power was because of the Takaoka incident. Oh how wrong was he to assume so soon. That kind of power felt like a nudge compared to the aura Reaper had, it was pure unadulterated chaos stirring up, no question.