Manami's POV
It's 2am. I can't sleep. Maybe because it's not my bed. Maybe because I feel bad for taking Karma's bed. It could also be that I am sick and have a fever.
Whatever it is, it's annoying.
Having nothing else to do, I begin thinking of how weird Karma has been acting. I mean, sure, he's always been kind to me, but lately it's just been a little too much. He's also been wanting me to come over a lot lately. I know we are close friends but I don't think close friends hang out together twenty four seven.
He seems to be troubled by something, but I can't figure it out.
I told my friends about his odd behavior, but all they ever say is, "well, isn't it obvious?! He has feelings for you Okuda!"
Especially Nakamura. She is certain that both Karma and I have feelings for each other but don't know it.
Kanzaki thinks that we'd be a cute couple, and Kayano believes that Karma has been in love with me for a long time.
I tell her she's delusional but in return she's says I'm oblivious.
The thing is that if Karma does happen to have feelings for me, it wouldn't be so hard to actually fall for him.
He's always there, making sure I am okay, making me laugh, taking care of me.
There might not be a lot of things we have in common, but that doesn't seem to matter. We can talk for hours and there's more to say.
"Can't sleep?" I look up and find Karma looking at me from the doorway.
I smile, "Nope. Too busy thinking."
Karma enters the room and sits on the chair beside the bed. "Oh yeah? About what?"
I can't lie to him. Besides, I really want to know what's up with him. Are my friends right? Does he have feelings for me?
"You." I reply.
Karma's cheeks redden a bit and that's when I realize how cheesy my response sounded.
"I mean, thinking about how you've been acting lately." I clarify while shifting my body to face him.
"Oh?" He responds, cheeks still red.
I nod. "Yeah."
It remains quiet for five whole minutes. Karma is looking down at his feet and I'm looking straight at him, determined to figure out how he feels about me. Could my friends actually be right?
Now that I think about it, he didn't deny the fact that he's been acting weird. All he said was Oh? and then proceeded to look at his feet. Does that mean he admits it?
For some unknown reason, I really want to know if he actually has feelings for me. Maybe then I can figure out why he's been acting weird. Maybe if I find out how he feels, I can figure out how I feel.
I can't just ask him though. What if he doesn't actually like me? I'll be completely embarrassed and it might ruin our friendship.
Suddenly, I have an idea.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Karma's POV
She said she was thinking about how I've been acting lately. Am I finally getting through to her? Are my feelings reaching her?
"Karma?" Manami breaks the silence.
I look up fast and try to calm down the redness on my cheeks. "Yeah?"
"This is going to be completely off topic but, can I tell you something?"
"Sure, anything!" I reply.
Manami shifts her body to face the ceiling and sighs. "Okay, so, there's this guy that has always been nice and sweet to me. He's always making sure I feel good about myself and is always telling me that I am beautiful. I told Kayano and she says that it's because he probably has feelings for me."
Huh? Just when I thought I was reaching her, she comes up with this? More importantly, why does she want to tell me about this guy? Am I competing with someone?
"The thing is," she continues, "that I'd have no trouble falling for him if the situation called for it."
My heart sunk to my stomach. What? When did this happen? When did she get out of my reach? Why is she telling me this now.
I wanted to ask who this guy was. I wanted to tell her that he's probably just being nice or something. I want to speak but the knot on my throat prevents me from doing so. Is this how it feels to be rejected? Heartbroken?
"Karma? Are you okay?" Manami sits up on the bed and tilts her head in confusion. "You haven't said anything and you're looking down at the floor again."
I want to speak, but she beats me to it.
"If he actually has feelings for me, then I want to have feelings for him too. Who knows? Maybe I already do. He always makes me feel special – "
"OKAY!" I cut her off.
Manami jumps at my sudden outburst and looks at me a little scared.
"No. I'm... I'm sorry Manami. I didn't mean to scare you."
She smiles timidly and shakes her head. "It's fine, don't worry about it."
I'm not going to let some bastard take her away from me. I've been having feelings for this girl since our first year in high school. We were assassins together. We've been through a lot together. I won't give up that easily.
It's now or never.
"Manami," I begin, "I'm sorry. I know this may ruin your chance at a relationship, but I can't keep quiet any longer."
She looks at me and waits for what I have to say.
"I have feelings for you Manami. Ever since our first year in high school. I know I may not compare to this guy you are telling me about, and maybe you only see me as a friend, but I think it's fair if I also tell you how I feel."
I look at Manami and wait for her reaction. Part of me feels great about finally coming clean, and part of me regrets telling her; my confession could ruin our friendship after all.
"Well that's awesome." Manami lays back down on the bed and covers her shoulders with the blanket.
Huh? Is she being sarcastic?
"W-What do you mean?" I ask, utterly confused.
Manami turns to face me and gives me one of her signature smiles. "The guy I was talking about is you."
"Huh?.."
She begins laughing at my confusion and reaches out to ruffle my hair. "The guy who I know I can fall for is you. C'mon, here I was thinking I made it too obvious. You know I don't talk to many guys and my friends have been trying to get us together since Kunugigaoka! I'm sorry for the confusion. I just had to put it in a scenario like that so that our friendship wouldn't suffer just in case you didn't have feelings for me."
I feel humiliated.
"You... Are very clever Manami."
Manami continued to laugh and all I could do was look down and laugh at my own mistake as well.
How did I not see through this? She's right. Her friends are always teasing us. Why would they ever begin to try and set her up with someone else?
Whatever. That doesn't matter. What matters is that Manami wants to fall for me. She wants to have feelings for me.
I reached her. My feelings reached her.
I climb into the bed which causes her to sit up.
"Manami," I begin while holding one of her hands, "I promise I'll do whatever it takes to make you fall for me. I'll make you so happy you won't even have a choice! Thank you."
She puts her other hand on top of mine and tightens her grip. "I should be the one thanking you. Everything that I said, I mean it. You always make me feel special. You always take care of me. How could I not fall for someone that is that good to me? Like I said, maybe I already have feelings for you. I'm not sure. But I know that with time, I'll be able to respond to your feelings more clearly. Then we can both be happy, together."
"No matter where life takes us." I add.
She nods her head. "Mhm!"
I pull her in for a hug and hold her tight. I can't believe this is actually happening. How long has she felt that way? Did she just realize it now? Whatever happened, I'm glad it did.
She wants to be happy with me.
"Karma?" I feel her tap my back.
I loosen the hug a bit. "Yeah?"
"I'm sick," she replies, "and I don't want to get you sick, so maybe it's not a good idea to be hugging me."
"Hmm, that's true. But I don't care!" I say while pulling her in as tight as before.
She pushes me away and I let go, afraid I might've done something wrong.
"You might not care, but I do. And also, you have to go to school tomorrow so you should go back to sleep now."
I laugh and roll my eyes playfully. "Yes ma'am."
Manami giggles and lays down on the bed once again; I proceed to doing so as well.
"Uhm, Karma, what are you doing?" She asks while I get myself under the blanket and lay down next to her.
"You said I needed to go to sleep, so that's what I am doing!"
"Yes but not here! I'm sick and you're going to get sick!"
I make a snoring noise and pretend to have already fallen asleep.
"Ugh fine! Just don't blame me when your nose is all stuffy!"
She turns the opposite side of me and covers herself with the blanket.
Being slick as I am, I turn around and wrap my arm around her waist and bring her closer to me.
"K-Karma!"
I make a snoring sound again and she pouts.
This is great. What am I saying? This is amazing!
I can't wait to tell Nagisa tomorrow.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yay!! They finally got together! Well, kinda lol. Anyway, how was the chapter? Once again, sorry for the OOC-ness, but like I've mentioned before, it's for the sake of progressing with the story. I know it might throw some of you guys off a bit but please give the story a chance!
Anyway, don't get too comfortable. There's so many events that are about to happen. Who knows if it might affect their friendship/relationship.
Uffufufufu until next time!
Please comment! I really want to know what you guys think!