(A bit something I made months ago [Or few weeks ago based on the original post]👆)
One peaceful afternoon in the Akabane household...
"RUKIO, GIVE ME BACK MY BOOK!!" Shouted a young girl with red hair
"HUH? WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Replied a young boy with black hair
Yep, veryyy peaceful :)
Assassination Classroom © Yuusei Matsui
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"Watch out for the table over there," said a woman with blonde hair calmly, sipping her cup of tea.
CRASH!
"Rukio is behind you," the woman said again.
Rukio froze on the spot. This moment was then used by his twin sister to take back her beloved book.
Rukio who has snapped back to reality whined, "MOOOMM!"
Her younger sister, Karuri, sticks her tongue out and head back to her room while the woman just smirks.
"Karuri! Don't forget to tidy up the rest of your book, okay?" The woman reminded.
"Yes, Mom!" The girl replied from her room.
The woman shook her head, "Now, Rukio..."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll tidy up the room," Rukio said with a pout.
Before she could give a reply, they hear the sound of a car being turned off. Not long after that, a man with red hair came into the house.
"Oh, Dad's home already?" The boy asked.
"Hmm? That's unusual," The woman said.
"What? Home already??" Karuri said, peeking from behind her door.
"Why does it sound like you people don't want me here?" The man asked with a face feigning hurt.
"Because we don't," they answered together without a second thought.
"What have you taught my children, Rio?" He asked as he ruffled his wife's hair.
"Huh? Why me? I think it's your teachings, Karma!" Rio said with a laugh.
"Whatever you say, darling," Karma replied as he walks to the living room.
"Eh? What kind of war just happened here?" Karma said and chuckled looking at the messy room.
(A/N: In the Indonesian version, the term used is "shipwreck-like" or "seperti kapal pecah." The term is referring to a very messy room. I don't know if this term is used in English so yeah)
"Oh that? Just the usual y'know. Oh and Rukio, I thought you were going to clean up everything, didn't you?" Rio asked with a bit of emphasis.
Rukio immediately froze again, "Y-yes, ma'am."
"Oya? Someone's causing trouble again I see? It's alright, I like it." Rio immediately nudged Karma.
"Yeah... But even so, you still need to tidy up again," Karma quickly adds.
"Finee..."
"It's too bad though, I wanted to give this to you." Karma showed Rukio a book. Rukio's eyes suddenly lit up.
"WOAH, ISN'T THIS LIMITED EDITION?! HOW DID YOU GET IT, DAD?" Rukio said excitedly.
"Well... There happened to be a coworker of mine who bought two copies by accident. I then decided to ask him for one of the copies. So, hurry and tidy up the room if you want to get your hands on this book right away," Karma replied with his trademark smirk.
Rukio then quickly rushed to tidy up the room he had messed up earlier. Hah, kids. They'll do anything to get what they want.
"Did you just bribe him?" Rio said.
"I didn't intend to. But hey, no harm done," Karma replied.
"Humm... By the way, you lied didn't you?"
"Lied about what?" Karma asked back.
"That book. You didn't actually 'get' it, did you? I'm guessing you pre-ordered it months before," Rio said, pointing to the book Karma is holding.
"It's not completely a lie though. I really did get this from a coworker of mine, well bought, but still, I didn't completely lie," Karma casually corrected.
"From months ago?"
"From months ago," Karma rolled his eyes.
"Aww, now look at that. A Karma Akabane loves his son so much that he pre-ordered his favorite book months before. Not to mention that book is a limited edition one. Didn't see that coming," Rio teased, poking Karma's cheek.
Karma pouts and grabs Rio's hand, kissing the back of it.
"What's this? Is my sweet wife jealous?" Karma teased back.
Rio immediately puts on a straight face mumbling a 'Yeah right,' before going to the kitchen. Karma chuckled and returned to the living room. Karma slowly sneaked into Rukio who seemed to be seriously looking at something.
"Oh ho ho, what are you doing there? Aren't you suppose to be cleaning up?" Karma suddenly spoke. Rukio was startled but quickly composed himself after realizing that it's his dad.
Rukio looks around for a moment, checking if the 'coast is clear'. He then showed Karma the book he's holding, "This book..."
Karma was surprised for a moment to see the book his son is holding. It's been quite some time since he last saw the album in hand. Karma then slowly takes the album from Rukio's hand.
"Where did you get this album?" Karma asked gently, opening the pages of the old album.
"Under that cupboard. One of my stuff rolled under there and when I tried to take it, I found that album. Is there something wrong?" Rukio asked curiously.
"No, there's nothing wrong, really. This album should've been on top of the cupboard. Maybe it fell down and got kicked by one of you. I was wondering where this album went. I tried to find it but couldn't find it. Pffft, I forgot this picture exists!" Karma laughed.
"Karma! Me and Karuri are going out to the store to buy some groceries. Where did you put the car key?" Rio asked from the front door.
"It's in the drawer by the door!" Karma said while walking to Rio.
"Alright, got it! We're heading out now, and Karma stop laughing out loud. Go help Rukio if you got nothing to do. See you later."
"Fine, fine. Be careful, dear," Karma replied. Rio nods and closes the door.
After making sure that Rio have left already, Karma head back to the living room. Suddenly, he got a 'brilliant' idea.
'While Rio's not around...'
"Hey Rukio, wanna know what your mom was like when she was in high school?" Karma said with a grin.
Rukio's eyes went wide and nods enthusiastically.
"WOAH LIKE WHAT? LIKE WHAT? I WANNA KNOW!" Rukio said impatiently.
"Hey, hey. Calm down, buddy. Why don't you tidy this place up first, you know, so your mom won't be mad, and then I'll talk? While you're at it, I'm going to take a bath," Karma said.
Rukio agrees and quickly continues his mission to tidy up the mess he made earlier.
'Hmm, what story would be interesting to tell?' Karma ponders as he walks to the bathroom.
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Seriously, the room that previously was a total mess has become clean again. There was no more dirt on the table and the sofa has been positioned as it was before. Karma's impressed looking at Rukio's hard work. It's true that a messy room because of 'sibling wars' is common in this house, but still, Karma is always amazed by the results of his children's work whenever they are told to clean up.
Between all of that, Karma found the kid sitting quietly at the sofa while reading the book that Karma gave before. Karma took two boxes of milk from the fridge and approached Rukio. He drops himself to the soft sofa, making Rukio who was focused on reading flinch.
"So... Do you want to read that or listen to my story first?" Karma said as he offers one of the milk box.
"Of course I'll listen to your story first, dad. You know, 'cause mom isn't here," Rukio grins.
"Smart," Karma replied while ruffling Rukio's hair.
Both of them proceed to open the album again. One picture caught Rukio's eyes.
"Wait, isn't this Uncle Nagisa?" Rukio asked, pointing to the picture he meant.
Karma suddenly burst into laughter, making Rukio surprised.
"Ahh, it's been a long time, huh? Nagisa and Kayano were really easy to target. We would play pranks on them a lot of time. But even so, without our help, I don't think they'll ever end up together," Karma shrugged.
"We? As in you and mom?"
"Yep."
"I see... No wonder. By the way, Kayano? Who's that?" Rukio asked, confused by the name.
"Oh, that's the name Aunt Akari used back then. At that time, she had a mission and had to go undercover," Karma explained.
"EH? THIS IS AUNT AKARI?" Rukio gasped.
"Mhm. Different, right? Well it was a disguise after all.
After that, Karma would explain every picture inside that old album. It would be a lie if Karma said he didn't miss his octopus teacher and his interesting high school years. This nostalgia route really made Karma emotional. Ever since the death of his teacher, somehow Karma finally can 'open' his feelings again.
"Umm so... What was Mom like back then? I could see she is an outgoing prankster like you, but what was she like in your view, Dad?" Rukio asked.
Karma pondered for a moment, making Rukio even more curious.
"Back then, your mom was crazy," Karma answered surely. Rukio gave his dad a straight face.
"But Dad, aren't you crazy too?" Rukio replied with a matter-of-fact tone.
"Who's side are you on actually?" Karma asked, a little insinuated.
After a few moments of silence, the father-son duo laughed. After their laughter died down, Karma continued his talk.
"That's true, but that isn't exactly what I meant. She isn't just your usual 'crazy' type. To me, she is really crazy and daring to throw away all her potential to get out of the restraints of your grandparents, or at least that's what she thought," continued Karma.
"Restraints... huh?" Rukio mumbled as he looks at a happy picture of Rio and her friends back in Class 3-E.
"That's why your mom won't force you to do things you don't want to. The restraint made her do stupid things. Hah, what a shame. But I guess there's a good side in everything. If it wasn't for that we probably wouldn't have met, be friends, and..." Karma turned his gaze to the family photo that was clearly displayed in the room.
"...have all this."
Not hearing any replies from his noisy son, Karma look at Rukio. Rukio was silent for a moment before opening his mouth.
"Hey, Dad..."
"Yeah?"
"Since when can you say such wise words?" said Rukio in amazement. Karma knocked Rukio's head lightly.
"You disobedient son. You just ruined my moment," Karma joked.
Karma sighs, "But still, I do think your mom is crazy. She did lots of dangerous things. She was even involved in an incident that caused our class to go and help out at an orphanage."
Unbeknownst to them, someone was standing behind them with a sarcastic smile.
"Imagine if I never met her, she could've-"
"I could've what?" asked a familiar voice.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Karma mumbles. Rukio froze beside him.
"Oh so the both of you were talking about me while I was gone, huh?" Wow, I'm soo flattered," Rio said with a sweet tone. Karuri who was behind her tried to hold back a laugh.
"Don't worry, Mom, it was all good things... yeah good things..." Rukio replied with a bit of hesitation.
"Ooh what's that? I wanna hear too!" Karuri giggled.
"It's something," Karma replied calmly who was actually scared too. This is Rio Akabane, you know. Who knows what sort of revenge he would get.
Rio shook her head at her husband and son's behavior. Putting down the groceries, something caught Rio's attention. "Huh? This album..."
"I found it when I was cleaning up. It's a really thick book. I thought it was a document. Turns out it's a high school album," Rio explained.
"Woah." Rio's gloomy aura was immediately replaced with a happy aura.
"Hah, suddenly I want to go back in time again." Rio laughed looking at the cute photos taken by Koro-sensei, their 'unique' homeroom teacher. (A/N: I also miss Koro-sensei :'))
Rio hummed a little, reminiscing about her high school days. Curious, Karuri leaned in closer to take a look as well.
Karma and Rukio quietly sighed in relief. Nice save
"Aww, I wanna have a reunion again with them now! But before that... Don't you two have something to say first?" Rio asked again with a sweet ̶s̶a̶r̶c̶a̶s̶t̶i̶c̶ smile.
We thought too soon.
"Nothing at all!" The father-son duo said together.
"Really??" Rio asked skeptically. Truth is, Rio had known what's up, but wouldn't it be fun if this duo admits it themselves?
"Well... I only said that I was the best in our class," Karma said with pride.
"Tsk. I wanna disagree but sadly it's the reality we're living in. Reality sure is disappointing." Rio puts on a disappointed face and sighed.
"What do you mean 'sadly'—" Karma cuts.
"But, that isn't what I wanted to hear," Rio said ignoring Karma.
No answer.
"Wow, Dad doesn't seem to wanna tell the truth. Can Dad still be trusted?" a voice said.
"Uwaa, Dad's a liar!" Karuri continued her teasing.
Not wanting to miss the chance to tease his father, Rukio also joins in, "Dad, could it be that everything you said before was a lie?!" Rukio said, putting on a surprise facade.
Rio didn't expect Rukio to switch teams. Rio tries to hold back her laughter. Maybe Rukio wants to see his father being cornered once in a while. It's pretty rare to see Karma in this position after all.
'Tsk, I'm cornered,' Karma thought.
"Whatever," Karma raised his hand in surrender. Karma walks out of the room and opens up the grocery bags on the kitchen counter.
The three who was still inside the room only watched Karma as he left. Rio then sat the spot Karma left while opening a can of drink, Karuri following after. Karuri, Rio, and Rukio who was sitting on the sofa still watched Karma's movements.
"Huahh! That's so refreshing~" Rio said after drinking the can of cold latte.
Karma who was on the other side looks at Rio with a look that says, 'You took my children from me'. Rio who felt his gaze, replied with a triumphant smile.
"Is Dad mad?" asked Karuri who was getting worried. Rukio on the other hand stayed quiet.
Yes, even though they are annoying and often pick sides, they still have feelings of guilt to the other. But, for Rio who has known Karma for years, she knows well whether Karma is really pissed or pretending to be pissed.
Rio shrugged, "Calm down, your Dad wouldn't be mad for such a small thing. Besides, he does it often too."
"True..." Rukio and Karuri looked at each other.
'You both are so sweett." Rio thought.
"I'm guessing your Dad just went out of the room to take some food, and besides," Rio patted the thick album, "We haven't finish talking about this."
Rukio and Karuri's eyes lit up again. Rio chuckled at their reaction. Although their behavior and way of thinking is said to be more critical and careful than other children their age, they are still children.
In fact, Rio likes it more if they enjoy their childhood like other kids their age, not like her who had to focus on studying 24/7.
"Oh ya, how about I tell you guys my version of this album's story. A VERSION THAT IS MORE HONEST!" Rio purposely raised her voice on the last sentence so Karma can hear her.
Karma suddenly came back to the room with all kinds of snacks that Rio and Karuri bought and left again.
"See, I told you so," Rio said as she went out, following Karma.
Rukio and Karuri stayed in the room and ate the snacks that was neatly placed on the plate.
"What did you say to them again?" Karma said, pretending to be mad.
"I said that you're not mad and that you left to take some snacks for them," Rio replied with a genuine smile. Rio proceeds to open the cabinet and took some other snacks for them to eat together.
Karma understands why Rio said that to those two. It's to remind them that both Karma and Rio would never leave them for something so small or actually, anything at all.
After making sure that the two kids weren't paying attention to them, Karma hugged Rio from the back and buried his head on Rio's shoulder. Rio stopped what she was doing because of Karma's sudden actions, but she quickly relaxed and let out a sigh.
"Don't repeat the past, that's what you said back then, right?," Rio said started.
'She remembers?'
"Hmm, I still hold on to those words. They're still kids, wait no, even until they're way older, I'll always be there for them," Karma replied.
"Even if they don't want it?"
"Even if they don't want it."
Rio flicked Karma's forehead, "You're saying that as if you're a grandpa already."
"Tsh, you just destroyed my moment," Karma tightened his embrace on Rio.
Not long after, the sound of Rukio and Karuri fighting, again, was heard from the other room. Both Karma and Rio lets out a sigh.
"For now, lets stop them from trying to killing each other, yeah?"
"Yeah, you're right," Karma replied.
Karma and Rio shared a glance and laughs.
Here we go again.
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Omake
"What's with the long face, Nakamura?" asked Karma who had just came in to the classroom.
"Nothing. I'm just tired," Rio said tiredly.
"Did you fight with them again?" Karma said while placing his bag on his desk.
"Yeah, the usual," Rio chuckled.
"Hmm," Karma nods in understanding and sat on a chair in front of Rio while reading a book he brought.
Karma and Rio came earlier than usual. They didn't plan anything, no. It was purely coincidence. The class was still empty and Koro-sensei seems to have went outside. It's only the both of them right now.
"I don't get it. Why are they being so pushy? Shouldn't they have understand why I'm like this? I wonder, do they actually care about me or their image? Did 'that' incident not hit them or something? Can't they see I'm trying my best?" Rio said in an annoyed tone.
"It must be nice to be you, Karma. Your parents gave you freedom to do whatever you want. Maybe it's better if I live by myself and not always disappoint them. Tch, I wonder what's so good about pressuring a child like that. Is that the best way to educate a child? Yeah, I wonder," Rio laughed dryly.
No reply was heard from Karma. Karma only looked at Rio then looks outside.
Looking at Karma's expression, Rio suddenly felt guilty for saying those things. "Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to say all this to you really."
'You're really not sensitive, Rio!' Rio cursed herself for that.
Seen from his eyes, Karma was quite surprised. Yes, he knew about the discord between Rio and her family, but he didn't expect that Rio would think about leaving her house.
Karma lets out a sigh, "It's fine. You don't have to feel bad. I'm used to it."
"But still—"
"Nakamura." Karma said in a serious tone.
Rio flinched. 'I'm doomed'
"Humans are hard to understand. We'll never understand exactly what's in their heart. We may see something with a point of view that is different from them, and that's normal. Maybe for them, that's the right way to educate you, but for you? It feels like prison doesn't it?" Karma said calmly.
"I don't care about my parents anymore since a long time ago. They left me since I was a kid. I don't give a care at all for whatever they do. But, from all that I learned something." Karma closed his book.
"And that is?" Rio raised a brow.
"That if I have a kid, I shouldn't do the same thing to them," Karma continued with an expression that Rio have never seen before.
'Hah, did he just smiled?! A genuine smile?! Ah, I'm probably hallucinating,' Rio rubbed her eyes.
"Eh, you good, Nakamura?" Karma asked.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Rio replied while discreetly fanning herself.
'Why is it suddenly warm here?'
"Anyways, my point is, you can not like your parents' ways, but don't repeat the past. If you know it's painful, then don't do it. If you do that, then what's the difference between you and them?"
It would be a lie if Rio said she wasn't amazed by his words. Karma's words made Rio feel so stupid. What has she been doing this whole time? Rio cursed herself again.
It's quiet again. Still around half hour before class starts. Around 15 minutes before the rest of the Class 3-E students come.
"Hey Karma, If you have a child later, how would you treat them?" Rio asked out of the blue.
"Huh? What's with the sudden question?"
"What do you mean sudden? You said that you won't repeat the bad things your parents' did to you. So, what kind of parent do you want to be?" Rio asked again with curiosity.
Karma blushed a bit at the question. Yes, just a bit.
"Well... For sure I want to stay with them and keep on giving them the attention and affection they need. I don't want them to feel lonely and hate me because of that," Karma replied with a little hesitation.
"Ohh I see... Turns out you're really a caring person huh, Karma?" Rio teased.
"Shut up," Karma hits Rio's head with his book.
"How 'bout you?" Karma asked back.
"For me..." Rio looks outside.
"I want them to be free. Let them like what they want, do what they want, but of course I would still scold them if what they're doing is obviously wrong, like stealing and such, y'know?" Rio answered with a smile.
"That's nice," Karma nods in agreement.
"By the way, thanks for the talk, Karma! I'll treat you for a drink after school, what do you say?" Rio said excitedly.
"Okay."
"Just 'okay'? Weren't you being talkative just a moment ago?"
"What did you expect me to say?"
"Oh I guess you're right, teehee~" Rio stuck out her tongue.
"This kid—" Karma said, annoyed.
"But hey, listen, in my opinion, genuinely, your kid won't hate you. I bet they'll love to have a father like you," Rio said with a sweet, soft smile.
If earlier Karma's face was a bit red, it's wayyy redder now. Karma quickly faced the other way and flicked Rio's forehead. She really doesn't know how bad her actions affected him.
"Hey, what was that for?!" Rio shouted.
"Nothing. I'm heading back to my seat. The others are are coming." Karma pointed to their group of friends who is just outside the school building. (A/N: Just say you wanna run away, Karma~)
Rio took a glance, "Ah, you're right. It's almost time, huh?"
"Oh one more thing. In my opinion, your kid too, would be glad to have a mother like you. Bye-bye. Thanks for the small chat," Karma waved to Rio as he walk to his seat.
"E-eh?" Now it's Rio's turn to have a tomato face.
Don't repeat the past. Those words will always be remembered by Rio.
But who would have thought, 'he/she' would turn into 'them'
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Author's Note
If you're wondering → For the last sentence, in the original translation, I used singular pronoun, 'dia', and it's gender-neutral (and it should've been applied during Karma and Rio's conversation about kids in the 'Omake'). But since English doesn't have a gender-neutral singular pronoun, I type 'he/she' instead.
QUICK QUESTION BEFORE WE CONTINUE: Would you prefer the kids calling Karma and Rio as Papa/Mama or Dad/Mom?
I thought Papa/Mama was cute but idk if people usually call their parents like that in English. I'm willing to change it to Papa/Mama if it doesn't sound weird sdakjdhka
Anywayss
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KARMA!!
Sadly I have just arrived home today so I didn't manage to make anything for this occasion. I even speed run translating nearly half of this and haven't reread it yet (Glad I'm on time though). I tried my best to make the vibe as similar as the Indonesian one.
P.S: The writing may still be a bit messy because I speed run it, but I polished the story a bit in this version :D
Oh and yes, I made them high schoolers here. It just fits more, idk why :>
A small note for all of you
First of all,
Time will always move forward. We live in the real world, not a fictional one where we can suddenly time travel to the past. Maybe you ever felt wanting to go back in time, either to fix a bad past or just wanting to relive it.
If you think about changing a bad past, remember that those bad memories are also apart of you life's journey. You may not be the you now if it weren't for those experience. Butterfly effect would happen if you were to change the past.
The present will also be 'the past' in the future. So, don't waste the time you have now only to cry about the past. I'm not saying you can't. Just don't waste your whole time thinking about it and look forward.
Secondly,
Parents wants what's best for their child. But sometimes, what they want isn't the best for the child, but for them. Maybe some of you feel like your parents are 'bad' or maybe they really are bad (We don't know what their real intentions are after all).
Even so, don't take that past frustration out on your child and feel that they should go through the same thing. Instead, treat your children better than what your parents did to you.
Sincerely, me few months ago who was having a conflict with my parents.
//Oop I ended up making a speech ToT
Mentioning Grayluaff who suggested a "Marriage life" theme and akane_lily who requested it to be translated :)
Hope yall enjoy, and once again Merry Christmas ^^
(Sorry if this is bad but this is just in case it gets ya know.. sToLen)