(Name),
Currently as you're reading this, I'm probably still at Shinjuku, doing business. I know you're curious about it, so let me enlighten you a little.
The End Gang isn't just any gang. We're not heartless like people tell that we are. The gang offers to give protection to people in some areas, mostly for properties or families. In exchange for the protection, we accept payments. Though, that's not why I went out of town.
There's another gang that does the same. Just a common gang, nothing big. However, they aren't as kind as we are. In order to get their payment, they forcefully take it from those indebted to them. Koro-sensei told me to check on them and if they don't correct their doings then things will pretty much go ugly.
While I'm at it, I'll be going and ask around for any gangs where your stepsister might be associated with. I figure she won't talk, so I'll have to investigate myself.
Oh, and by the way. Before this thought even cross your mind--no, we don't use the money we earn to buy things from the black market or such. As a matter of fact, 70% of the money goes to a preschool we watch over. We got in trouble with their principal a couple years back and to make up for the damage, we helped around at the place, did some renovations and such. Nagisa even tutors a kid there every now and then. I'll introduce you to the youngsters one day. I hope you like kids.
I mean, it'd be a problem if you don't. Who'll take care of mini Karmas and (Name)s then? ;)
Anyway~ I hope the gang is watching over you like I ordered them to.
I'll be back as soon as possible.
- Karma ♡
"(Name)!"
You quickly shoved the letter under your pillow and looked at your mother innocently. "Yes, mom?"
"You're going to be late." She deadpanned. "You should've went downstairs already. I can't afford to waste time today."
You sighed. "Is there a special occasion?" You asked, eyeing the apron she wore and the rubber spatula she held.
"It's Koushi's birthday." She answered, checking the time on the wristwatch she wore. "Megumi wanted to skip school today and I let her. Do you want to skip today as well?"
What.
You literally fell off your bed due to being ultimately shocked with what your mother asked.
Mom.. She's asking if I want to skip school!? Koushi-san is a more powerful angel than I thought he was!
Wait! I haven't answered her yet!
You instantly regained your composure, and stood up and picked up your bag from your swivel chair. "A-Actually, mom.. We'll be dismissed early later. Finals for the first semester is tomorrow and the principal decided to give us time to relax before the examination..so I'll probably be home maybe after lunch hour?"
"Then go straight home and help us prepare. Bring home your red-haired boyfriend if you must."
"Karma-kun is out of town.." You replied, but she was already making her way downstairs.
As you were about to follow suit, your alarm clock suddenly blared its annoying buzzing sound, and you were only reminded of the time when you picked it up and turned off the alarm.
"I'm this late!?"
- ❀ -
"I can't believe I let time fly by like that!" You muttered vexedly to yourself as you ran past one bystander to another, all the while chewing on the poorly-made French Toast you held in your hand. "What is this?! A shoujo manga!? Next thing I know I'll bump into--AHH!"
"H-Hey!"
You rolled on the pavement, face down on the ground as you stopped. Fortunately, your sorry excuse of a breakfast was still clutched by your hand, though your morning meal should be the least thing you should be concerned with at the moment.
You groaned and sluggishly rolled to your side. You held the crown of your head, massaging it as you sat up.
"Miss, are you alright?" A hand was presented before you, and you looked up to see..
A handsome young man with strawberry-blonde hair and purple eyes.
Though none of those were the ones that caught your attention, because you swore he looked like..
"Karma-kun?" You said absentmindedly, with your head tilted and your eyebrows furrowed together.
The male looked shocked with the name, and looked at you in disbelief. But his startled countenance was quickly replaced by a neutral expression, then his lips curved up to a smile, that didn't even reach his eyes. "Ah, you must have mistaken me for someone else."
"Huh? O-Oh, right!" You clasped your hand around his and let him pull you up. As you were about to thank him, his arm locked around your waist all of a sudden, and you soon found yourself cowering under his scowling glare.
"Do be careful next time." He said monotonously before he let go of you and continued his walk to wherever he was venturing to.
You stayed still and watched his back before he disappeared into the crowd. You were a little confused with his sudden change in demeanor. The way he asked as he offered you a hand, and the tone he used before you and him parted ways, they were different.
"But he's a stranger, and it's not like I'll see him again, so why waste time wondering about that unfathomable guy.." You shook your head and turned around, but bumped into another person yet again.
"Owie.." The person fell on their rear, but you stayed upright.
"Oh, gosh! I'm sorry!" You quickly helped them--her up. She had green-hair tied up to ponytails like a certain blue-haired male's, and when you looked into her eyes, they were a bright yellow.
"Oh!" She exclaimed in surprise. "You're Karma-kun's girlfriend!"
You blinked, "You know him?"
"Of course!" She said with a close-eyed smile. "I'm part of the End Gang after all!"
- ❀ -
It turns out, she was indeed part of your boyfriend's gang. The younger sister of their teacher's girlfriend, and the famous young actress Akari Yukimura, who disguised herself as Kaede Kayano. Almost immediately after knowing, you whipped out one of your sketchpads and asked for an autograph.
"You didn't even realize you were going the wrong way!?" She asked, gobsmacked.
"I have this disease called 'I get lost because the world hates me'."
"Why didn't you call a taxi then?" Kayano sweatdropped. You shrugged, laughing sheepishly. She didn't have anything to do for the day so she volunteered to walk you to school, but she said it's only because Karma, like he said in his most written letter, told the gang to watch over you.
"I don't normally get lost.. I mean back then I can go places just fine..and whenever I get lost I bump into Karma-kun.. Like that one night, and another night..and another.. Oh!" You gasped and held up your index finger. "But earlier, I bumped into someone, who is obviously not Karma-kun since he's out of town, but he looks like him!"
Kayano stopped walking and looked at you in concern. "Looks like Karma-kun? Does he have purple eyes?"
"Yeah.." You furrowed your brows. "How do you know how he looks like?"
"Well, he's...like Karma-kun's rival.. I don't really know. We often see him when we go to Karma-kun's school." Kayano hummed in thought,"But he always look at Karma-kun with a menacing glare."
"He looked at me that way as well.."
"Well!" Kayano chuckled,"You must have offended him by calling him using his rival's name!"
"Oh, no! I did!?" You smacked your palm on your forehead, shaking your head, "I'm such an idiot."
"No, you weren't aware so you're fine." She said, patting your shoulder. "Oh, wait. You're not. You're like, 45 minutes late already. Don't you have a personal driver or something?"
"It's his day-off today." You sighed and checked the time on your phone.
You're more than 45 minutes late.
"Maybe I should just return home and--"
You were interrupted by the sudden blaring of someone's ringtone. Kayano took out her phone and held it up to you, showing you who called her.
'Red Devil' was calling.
You figured she wanted you to be the one who should answer it, so you tapped the green Answer button and put the call on speakerphone.
"Yo, Forever Flat."
"I may be eighteen but I'm still growing!" Kayano furiously replied, gripping on the ends of her ponytails. "And for the record, there's been a remarkable improvement since junior high!"
You giggled in amusement, deciding to stay silent for a while longer.
"Yeah, right~ So if I tell Nagisa to grope you, he'd feel something?"
"Shut up, pervy redhead!" Kayano pouted and crossed her arms. "And to think, I'm going to be kind and generous to let you speak with (Name)-chan."
"She's with you?" Karma asked, sounding surprised.
"Yep. Hey, Karma-kun!" You waved, but instantly facepalmed.
He obviously couldn't have been able to see you.
"Oh, my~ Little miss law-abider finally decides to skip school?"
"I went out on my own and got lost." You deadpanned.
Karma went silent for a while, though when he did speak up again, his tone was filled with worry and aggravation.
"How many times do I have to tell you to not go out on your own, (Name)?"
Oh, boy. He's mad.
"I-I was in a hurry!" You stuttered a reply.
"Ah, nevermind. I was going to your place later anyway. I bought you a gift!"
"A gift?" You and Kayano asked simultaneously.
"A very useful one at that. I thought about giving you this particular tool because you're stubborn as heck. And as I predicted, once again you decided to go against what I told you not to do."
"Color me curious. I wonder what that is?"
"You'll see~ I have to drop the call now. Some goons are coming my way and I don't think they're a cheerful bunch. If I finish early, I might just return home today. I'll see you later, my queen~" From the other side of the call, shouts and gunshots sounded.
"Karma-kun!? What's going on!?" You even get to hear him answer because he already ended the call.
"Don't worry. What he's going through now is nothing compared to gang wars." Kayano said, taking her phone back. "If you don't plan on going to school, I'll just walk you home! Mind if I stay for a while?"
"Gang wars?" You looked at her, bewildered. "Gangs have wars?"
"Yeah.. They pretty much happen at random. The cause of such are mostly about taking over territories, or just plain revenge."
"Has the End Gang already taken part in one?"
Kayano smiled. "No gang has the guts to declare an actual war on us."
"But.. What if you were caught in such fray?"
Kayano blinked rapidly and stopped walking. "Karma-kun didn't tell you?"
You stopped walking as well. "About what?"
"Everyone in the gang are skilled fighters." Kayano said proudly. "We were taught martial arts by a friend of Koro-sensei!"
"Really?! That's awesome!" You said in astonishment.
"It all happened when we were in our last year of junior high. You've heard about my sister, correct?"
"Yeah."
"I wasn't classmates with them back then.. I just came to their school because.."
"Because?"
Kayano scratched her cheek sheepishly. "The truth is.. I only came to their school because I planned to kill Koro-sensei."
"What!?" Your jaw dropped in shock. "Why would you want to kill Koro-sensei?"
"Ah, well.. You see.. Something happened with him and my sister, which caused her to go in a comatose state." Kayano said with a sigh. "My sister is the homeroom teacher of Nagisa-kun's class. To repent for what he did, he decided to take my sister's place as their teacher and taught their class for a year, fortunately my sister recovered just after graduation."
"That's good then.." You said in relief. "What about his friend that taught you guys martial arts?"
"Koro-sensei is an assassin and when he came to teach our class, he took a leave from his work and didn't even tell his employer."
"He's employed?"
"Err.. Sort of. I mean, they pay him to assassinate people so, I guess..? Anyway! Karasuma-sensei, an official from the Ministry of Defense, came to our school to check on him, and to watch over him, in case he goes against his word. He pledged to not do any harm to us, and he never went against his word."
"This Karasuma-sensei guy.." You two stopped before walking, waiting for the light across the street to go green. "Was he the one who taught you martial arts?"
"Yep! He said its to defend ourselves in case things go wrong. Another reason is that Koro-sensei somewhat doesn't know how to properly teach Physical Education." Kayano said with a chuckle. The light on the other side turned green and you hurried to cross the street. "Oh! And shortly after his arrival came his wife! Bitch-sensei--"
"Did you just say Bitch-sensei?"
"Karma-kun was the one who started that.. Her name is Irina Jelavic, and back then her name was difficult to pronounce, so we settled with calling her 'Bitch-sensei'."
You rolled your eyes and laughed. "And? Since you call her 'sensei', did she teach a subject?"
"She thought us Foreign Languages." Kayano shuddered, "And we have this system going by rewards and punishments. If we get an answer correct, we get a french kiss. If we got it wrong, we get a french kiss. Honestly, there is no in between." She said, shaking her head.
"All of you!?" You shouted in shock. "Including Karma-kun!?"
"Karma-kun somehow evades her attacks. That, or he just skips her classes." Kayano said, giggling when you sighed in relief. "Karasuma-sensei and Bitch-sensei sometimes visits us at our little lair. You should meet them one day."
"Mhmm." You nodded, smiling. "Actually, I want to know about you guys more.. Without Karma-kun's help."
"Why don't you drop by the hideout then?"
You sweatdropped and huffed. "The first time I get to go there, Karma-kun blindfolded me to prevent me from ever knowing the location. Not that it mattered anyway. My sense of direction is nonexistent."
"Don't be too hard on yourself!" Kayano said, nudging your arm with her elbow.
You laughed and shook your head, "Thanks.. Oh, we're getting near!"
You turned to a corner and found the road that leads to the mansion. When you arrived, Kayano's mouth hung agape in absolute amazement.
"Are you sure this is not a palace!?"
"No.. It's just a house."
"This is a mansion! Not just a house!"
"P-Please calm yourself, Kaede-chan."
"Well, if I were a stranger, I'd be surprised as well." A third voice joined in. Alarmed, Kayano whipped out a pocket knife and jumped in front of you, but hostility wasn't needed at all since the one intruding your conversation wasn't an enemy.
"Karma-kun!" You beamed and ran up to him, crashing against his chest as he enveloped you in an embrace. Kayano sighed in relief and pocketed her knife, then she took out her phone, as she felt it vibrate earlier.
"Aww. And I was hoping to have a girl time." Kayano pouted.
"You can still join us, if you want." Karma said, rolling his eyes.
"Actually, Nagisa just texted me and asked if I could bring to the school the props and costumes he asked a friend to make." The green-haired female said as she put her phone back. "Well, I guess we can hang out some other time! See ya~!" She waved at you before jogging off, away from your home.
"(Name)? Akabane?" You two turned around and found Megumi at the gates. "The heck are you two doing here? I thought you went to school?" She asked, raising a brow at you.
"I was on my way to school and got lost." You deadpanned.
"Can't really go anywhere without another's aid, I see." Karma remarked.
"Shut it."
"Well, since you two are here. You better help with preparing." Megumi said, walking back to the mansion.
"Preparing? What for?"
"You'll see."
- ❀ -
"Ah, it's Koushi-san's birthday? He was the one I should have bought a present for instead." Karma muttered, tossing random toppings on the pizza that you and him were currently making.
"Speaking of which, what did you buy me anyway?" You asked, slapping his hand when he tried to put add another handful of jalapenos on the pizza.
"I bought you a flashlight." He said, shrugging.
"Why would you even buy a flashlight for her?" Your mother asked as she entered the kitchen, holding two paperbags full of groceries. Karma rushed to her and carried the bags for her and brought it to a counter top.
"See for yourselves~" Karma took out from his pocket a black, small, cylinder object, no bigger than his hand. He pushed a blue button located near the flashlight head and the light turned on. There was another button, colored white, just below the blue one. Karma twisted the cap off the end of the flashlight. You expected to see batteries, but there were two rods sticking out of it instead. Karma pressed his finger on the white button and the flashlight suddenly produced crackling, electrical sounds.
"A taser?" Your mother asked. "Well.. I guess it's something reasonable after all."
"To defend herself with." Karma released the button and put the cap back on, twisting it close.
"It's good to see you actually care for my daughter's well-being." Your mother said, narrowing her eyes on Karma. "Unless you're just feigning concern for (Name)."
"Here we go again..." You groaned, facepalming.
"I assure you I am not." Karma flashed her a smirk, slinging his arm on your shoulders, pushing you flush against him. "I genuinely care about (Name), okā-san." Your mother's left eye twitched, and sighed, deciding to ignore you and Karma's existence for a while as she prepared the ingredients she needed for the next dish she was going to make.
The moment she turned her back to you, you felt Karma press his lips on your forehead. You smiled fondly at the gesture, reaching for his free hand and intertwined your fingers with his.
"Aw, did you miss me?"
"Oh, please.. Why would I miss you if I can just look at your pictures in my gallery?"
"Karma-kun." You giggled and nuzzled the tip of your nose with his. "You just practically confessed that you indeed missed me."
"Ah, well. What matters is that I'm here with you now."