[Thank you to everyone who voted for what you wanted the bonus chapter to be. The winner, by a landslide, was option three, backstory on Karma and Nagisa, with an even fifty votes (plus three after voting closed) so here she is!]
[Approximately 5 years ago]
"Hey Nagisa! Will you go out with me?"
"I'm really flattered, Yuu-kun," Nagisa sighed, turning away from his locker. He was not at all flattered. Yuu was about the sixtieth guy to ask Nagisa out that year, and the novelty had long since worn off. He just wanted to get his bento from his locker and meet up with Karma for lunch, but it seemed like half the school was set on inconveniencing him. "But I'm afraid I must decline."
"Aww... don't be like that Nagi-chan," Yuu cooed, leaning down to twirl a finger through one of Nagisa's pigtails. "It's just one date."
"Actually, it's zero dates." Nagisa batted his hand away with a frown. These damn underclassmen just wouldn't leave him alone. "Because I said no. Plus, you may not have noticed this, but I'm a guy."
"You think I'm gonna fall for a lie as obvious as that one?" Yuu chuckled deeply, his eyes darkening, his wavelength becoming dangerously erratic. "Come on Nagi-chan~"
"Don't call me that," Nagisa flashed a murderous look, and Yuu stood straight up in shock. He took a step back, right into the waiting hand of another third year student. The hand gripped Yuu's shoulder, steadying him, but also holding him in place.
"He said no," purred a voice from behind him. There was no outright threat in the words or the tone, but it still sent a shiver down Yuu's spine. "So take his answer, and beat it."
Yuu gritted his teeth. His sudden, short-lived fear of Nagisa was inexplicable, so it was easier to push down. His fear of Karma, on the other hand, was very well-founded. The red-head was the top of every class, and had a nasty reputation of getting into fights.... and never, ever losing them.
Yuu had only been dared to ask this Nagisa chick out, not actually go on a date with her. So technically, he'd won. But his damn pride spurred him into making a stupid move. "What are you‽ Her boyfriend or something‽" he snarled, using up whatever meager courage his pride had scrounged up for him, and immediately regretting it.
"I'm his best friend," Karma responded. Inwardly, he desperately wished that he could've just said 'yes, gtfo,' but he didn't know how well that would go over with Nagisa. "Which means if you keep trying to make a move on him, even though he clearly doesn't like it, I'm gonna have to make sure you regret it."
Yuu's courage reserves were as dry as his grandmother's sense of humor. He barely managed a grimace and a half-hearted "tch, whatever," before hightailing it away from the pair as fast as he could without seeming pathetic.
"Thanks Karma," Nagisa smiled gratefully, "but you didn't have to step in, I could've handled it. It's not like he's the first clueless second-year to ask me out this year."
"Don't worry about it, I don't mind saving you Blueberry." Nagisa just rolled his eyes at the nickname. He loved it, but he'd sooner stab himself in the leg than admit it. "Anyway, he was taking up your time, and I got tired of waiting for you in the cafeteria. Let's go have lunch."
"Alrighty then!" Nagisa stepped past his friend and led the way to the place he and Karma usually ate lunch. It was a stairwell behind the school where trucks dropped off the supplies and such for the cafeteria every morning. But by the time lunch break rolled around, it was always mostly abandoned. Just a few people milling around, passing by on occasion.
The two boys liked it for the quiet. When hundreds of students were all socializing, eating, shouting, playing sports, it was the only place in the school not filled with noise. Neither really minded noise, but the peace surrounded them like a blanket fort, comfortable and secure. A special place for just them, no one else allowed.
Nagisa sat a step up from Karma so they could talk face to face, and opened the bento box that his mom had put together for him. Karma just stared at Nagisa, stuck in his head, mentally preparing for what he was about to do.
This is it, Karma thought, you've chickened out too many times. It's just one little question, and if he says no... well then just... laugh it off. He won't hold it against you. Karma ran a hand through his scarlet hair with a frustrated sigh. Now or never, dude, have a little backbone.
"Hey Nagisa, you wanna go out for dinner sometime?" Karma asked, his voice casual, mercifully betraying none of his apprehension.
"Sure," Nagisa agreed, just as casually. "It's been a while since we've hung out outside of school."
"No," Karma frowned, "I meant like a date. I'm asking you to go on a date with me." He supposed he should have made it clearer to the bluenette from the get-go.
"Ha!" Nagisa forced a laugh. Heat was billowing up into his cheeks, and he didn't quite understand why. Nor did he understand why he couldn't meet his friend's eyes. He just got asked out, literally five minutes ago, and was completely unfazed. So why was it that now that Karma was doing the asking, he was getting all flustered. "That's funny Karma." It had to be a joke, right? There was no way Karma was actually interested in him like that.
"I'm not kidding." Karma shifted, attempting to meet Nagisa's eyes.
"Well in that case I have to decline," the smaller boy said. It had to be a joke. Karma was always making dumb jokes.
Karma looked down at the cold, concrete step, Nagisa still refusing to meet his eyes. Far from dejected, however, Karma was more determined. He had seen his friend turn away dozens of guys, without the slightest reaction, but the bluenette's blush had not gone unnoticed. That blush was potential, and Karma was going to make something of it.
—
"Hey Nagisa, lets go on a date after school!" suggested Karma casually while they were studying, resting an elbow on his desk. "I found a nice little coffee shop down the street."
Nagisa's heart fluttered. Why was it doing that‽ "Hilarious, but we have a test tomorrow. I have to study, and get to sleep at a reasonable hour, so caffeine isn't such a good idea."
"Alright, fine." Karma sighed.
—
"Hey Nagisa, will you go to the movies with me this Saturday?" Karma asked as they walked to the train station. "I'll buy the popcorn."
"Is this still part of your 'let's go on a date' joke?" Nagisa asked, rolling his eyes. "It's not really all that funny."
Karma stopped them both him their tracks. He placed a hand on Nagisa's shoulder and forced the other boy to meet his eyes. Nagisa's shoulder tingled where his friend's hand touched it, and seemed to exponentially increase in temperature. When their eyes met, Nagisa's heart beat wildly, his ability to control his own wavelength failed him. He couldn't even read Karma's.
"Nagisa, this isn't a joke." Karma searched his friend's eyes for a sign that he had made a mistake, that Nagisa really didn't want him like that. "I'm asking you, seriously, genuinely, please go on a date with me."
"Oh... okay." Nagisa's swallowed hard. This was the first time he'd been able to look into Karma's eyes when he asked for a date. And now that he had, he saw the longing, and affection, but not a hint of humor. Why he agreed, he wasn't entirely sure at first, but he liked being around Karma. And maybe that frantic beating of his heart was its way of telling him to say yes.
"Really‽" Karma's face lit up, and he looked like he might just fly. "Great! A movie then? I'll meet you at your place and we can go to the theater together."
"Alright." Nagisa smiled at his friend's—boyfriend's? Was it too soon to say that?—excitement, feeling happy, but also like he might throw up the butterflies in his stomach.
"Can't wait!" Karma grinned, and slipped his hand off Nagisa's shoulder and down his arm to hold Nagisa's hand in his. Nagisa didn't try to pull away as they continued toward the train station.
Nagisa half expected to regret his decision when he got home and was thinking clearly, but he didn't. He had never really thought of himself as someone that people could feel romantically towards. He didn't think he was all that exceptional. When guys started asking him out a couple weeks into that year, he had been extremely confused by it.
And now he was going to go on a date with Karma, who was easily one of the coolest people he'd ever met! He still couldn't quite wrap his head around it. And why the hell was he smiling so much all the sudden‽
—
"Hello beautiful." It was another underclass boy, this time a first-year whose name Nagisa didn't even know. "How's about you and me go out sometime."
"How's about no," Karma interrupted, snaking his arm around Nagisa's shoulder as soon as he approached, a self-satisfied smirk plastered on his face.
"Sorry, I'm taken," Nagisa bowed his head ever so slightly in apology.
"Oh... uh.. that's cool then," the first-year said, eyeing Karma warily. "I didn't know, sorry." He gave a shallow bow of his own and walked away.
"Damn, I'm gonna have to tell the rest of our year to call off their damn betting pool and add up the results already," Karma said, and clicked his tongue.
"Betting pool?" Nagisa's eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "What're you..." Karma cringed.
"Whoops. Guess I let the cat outta the bag, my bad." Karma chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.
"What betting pool, Karma?" Nagisa asked, frowning up at his now-boyfriend.
"The third-years may or may not have a pool going on who can get the most underclass boys to ask you out," Karma said quickly. "I had absolutely nothing to do with it, I swear." He did have a little bit to do with it.
"I swear to god I will rip them to pieces." Nagisa grumbled and stalked off to his classroom where some of his classmates were eating lunch, and some were adding a mark by their names in the betting pool. Karma followed; he wasn't about to miss his little badass Blueberry scaring the crap out of his classmates. Hopefully said badass Blueberry's wrath wouldn't turn on him.
—
"Hey, uh, Karma?" Nagisa was staring down at his half-finished plate of sushi. They were having dinner at Karma's house to celebrate their graduation, but Karma's parents were out of town again. Come to think of it, Nagisa had never actually met Mr. and Mrs. Akabane, even though he'd been to Karma's house several times.
"What is it Nagisa?" asked Karma, noticing the worried look on his boyfriend's face. "Something wrong?"
"No I just... I was wondering..." Nagisa looked up to meet the red-head's eyes. "Why do you like me? Like, when did it even start?" Karma's eyes softened and he smirked. Was that all?
"I think I realized that I really liked you when I watched your second fight with Takaoka on the roof," Karma disclosed. "But thinking back it probably started earlier, it just didn't happen all at once." Nagisa's eyes widened and he shot forward slightly in his seat.
"That long‽" he sputtered. "But why‽"
"Why do I like you?" Karma asked. "Or why didn't I say anything sooner?"
"Um... bo... both?"
"I like you because you're brilliant, and kind, and strong, and talented, and brave, and stunning, and—"
"That's enough Karma, stop it!" Nagisa blushed profusely, and he brought his hands up to his face in a vain attempt to hide it. "If you... um... why... why didn't you say?" Their relationship was new, and Nagisa just wasn't used to Karma, or anyone, showering him with compliments. Yet.
"Because I wasn't the only one." Nagisa peeked between his fingers in surprise. "You had plenty of admirers by the time middle school ended, and you didn't even notice. You couldn't seem to comprehend that anyone could like you that way, though, and you inadvertently turned away anyone who tried. I had no reason to think that I had any chance."
"Oh... I'm sorry Karma, I can't believe I never..." Nagisa simply groaned in exasperation.
"Yeah, you were pretty oblivious." Karma laughed.
"But wait!" Nagisa pulled his hands away from his face. "What do you mean I had 'plenty of admirers,' who else was there?"
"I'm not gonna tell you that, you might decide you like one of them more." Karma crossed his arms and scowled as if Nagisa had already decided, and he was quite displeased about it.
"Karmaaa!" Nagisa complained, but he wouldn't budge on the matter. "Fine, whatever. I guess it doesn't matter now anyway." Karma caught the subtle double meaning in Nagisa's statement: 'because now I have you' and he grinned, and leaned over to place a kiss on Nagisa's cheek.
"That's absolutely right Blueberry."
—
"What are you doing?" Karma asked as Nagisa pulled out his hairbands, releasing his pigtails so his azure locks fell around his shoulders.
"My mom likes it when I wear my hair down," Nagisa explained, "and I just really want this to go well." Karma nodded in understanding, and took Nagisa's small hand in his own.
"It'll be alright, Nagisa," Karma assured, pressing a kiss on his forehead. "Nothing two assassins can't take on together, right?" This was his chance. Say it Karma. "I love you, Nagisa." Nagisa's breath hitched, and he leaned forward and buried his face in Karma's chest.
"I l—love you, too," he mumbled into Karma's shirt, voice catching slightly with emotion. Nagisa took a deep breath, and pulled away. As ready as he'd ever be, Nagisa opened the door to his home.
"Hello Nagisa, Karma-kun," Nagisa's mother greeted cheerfully. "Nagi, sweetie, your father will be home in just a few minutes, would you mind setting the table?"
"Sure thing, Mom," Nagisa agreed with a smile, and released Karma's hand to get dishes out of the cupboards.
"Need any help, Ms. Shiota?" Karma offered.
"Oh no, you're a guest, you can't be expected to help with dinner," Hiromi said, waving him away.
"Nonsense," Karma insisted. "I'll just help Nagisa then." Hiromi chuckled as Karma opened the silverware drawer and pulled out sets for four. They had finished setting the table, and were pouring tea when Nagisa's father walked in.
"Welcome back honey." Hiromi smiled at him. They hadn't yet remarried, but they were together again, so Nagisa didn't really care about the details. "Dinner's almost ready, so hang up your coat and take a seat."
Nagisa's father nodded and did as he was told. "Ah, hello Karma-kun, I'd forgotten you were coming." He chuckled and reached for his tea, as the two boys also took their seats. "Oh Nagisa, you let your hair down," he remarked, a bit surprised.
"Isn't it lovely?" Hiromi placed the food on the table, with a smile, and took a seat herself. Nagisa released an inaudible sigh of relief. His mother seemed to be in an excellent mood; so far, so good.
"So, Karma-kun," Nagisa's father began, serving up portions, "do you have any plans for college?"
"Yes, I've applied to several places," Karma answered. "I'm going to major in political science, and probably minor in law. I'm hoping to do an accelerated degree program as well."
"Wow, you're certainly aiming high then aren't you," Hiromi commended. "Have you gotten any acceptance letters yet?"
"Yeah, two," Karma said, "But most of the colleges haven't sent them out yet, so I'm waiting until I get all the responses to choose which one I'll actually go to." Nagisa's parents nodded in approval of his decision.
"Anyway, Nagisa," Hiromi addressed her son. "What was the reason you wanted Karma-kun to come have dinner with us? Not that we mind at all, but when you asked it seemed like there was something important about it."
"Oh yeah, well—" he glanced at Karma who flashed him a reassuring smile— "Karma and I... are actually dating... now... so... I thought you should know..." he trailed off before he could ramble anymore. His father looked surprised at first, but after a moment his expression softened into a smile.
"As long as you're happy, I'm happy for you," he told his son. Nagisa swelled with joy. His father's approval meant so much. Unfortunately, it was hardly a moment later when he sensed his mother's wavelength becoming erratic. All that joy evaporated into fear.
He remembered his mother's torture. Whether it was dress-up, or verbal abuse, or smacking him around, it always happened when her wavelength became erratic like that. He turned apprehensively to look at his mother. She was smiling, brightly, genuinely, but her eyes... they had that same insane light behind them that was there when she'd asked him to burn down the 3-E campus.
Nothing like this had happened since the end of middle school. She had been kind, and loving, and had finally accepted that he wasn't a girl like she wanted, even if she wouldn't let him cut his hair yet. She was back with her ex-husband and things were going so well. Things had been going so well.
"Aww! My little girl finally has a boyfriend!" she enthused. After over three years, Shiota Hiromi had relapsed. "And quite a handsome one too!" The other three looked at her with worry.
"Hiromi, dear," Nagisa's father placed his hand on hers in an attempt to bring her out of her episode. "Our Nagisa is a boy."
"Oh don't be silly, honey," Hiromi laughed, more coldly than anyone would have liked. "She has a boyfriend!" Nagisa and his father exchanged nervous looks. How far were they willing to push this?
"Yes Mom," Nagisa said gently, "but I'm not a girl." She stood up abruptly, pushing her chair back and almost knocking it over.
"Don't talk back to me child!" It was too late. They had lost her.
"Karma, I think it's best if you go," Nagisa muttered, not taking his eyes off his mother.
"What? No!" Karma refused as Nagisa tried to push him out of his seat and towards the door. "I'm not leaving you with—"
"Go!" Nagisa and his father both insisted at the same time.
"We'll take care of this," Nagisa assured him. "But I don't want you getting caught in the crossfire." Karma still didn't leave until Nagisa said, "trust me." Karma nodded, then reluctantly grabbed his jacket and shot out the door.
As soon as he got outside he heard Hiromi yelling incoherently. He wanted to go back in, but he had a feeling he'd only make it worse. He had no idea how to deal with Hiromi's psychotic episodes, but they did. Karma never did find out what exactly happened after he left. No one would tell him. All he knew was that for two weeks afterwards, Nagisa wouldn't wear short sleeves.
—
"I still can't believe that after knowing each other for six years, I've never met your parents," Nagisa chuckled as they stood on Karma's front porch.
"Well, they haven't exactly been around for you to meet, have they?" Karma responded, somewhat bitterly, but he smiled at Nagisa when he caught his eye. Nagisa slipped his hand into his boyfriend's and gave it a reassuring squeeze, smiling back at him.
Karma's mother was waiting to greet them as soon as they walked in. "Hello you two!" She enthused. "You must be Nagisa, oh you're so pretty!"
"Oh uh... thank you Mrs. Akabane," Nagisa said, though her word choice did strike him as odd.
"I must say though, I'm a bit surprised you opted not to wear a dress, but your sense of fashion is quite good nonetheless," she continued, only adding to Nagisa's confusion, beckoning them to follow her to the dining room as if this was perfectly normal conversation, and for all Nagisa knew, it was. As weird as Karma was, perhaps his parents were too.
"Well you see... I don't really like wearing dresses," he said instead of voicing his concerns, not really sure how to do the latter. Even if Karma had told his parents that Nagisa's Mom used to make him wear dresses, why would Mrs. Akabane expect him to do so for something like this?
"Well they can be rather impractical at times, I'll give you that, but personally I find them quite freeing." She lifted the hem of her own dress and twirled gracefully. Nagisa and Karma side-eyed each other in confusion as she did so, but still decided not to say anything just yet.
"I don't know, they make me kind of uncomfortable, and the ones my mom makes me wear are always too short, or else in some awful fabric," Nagisa responded. Professor Bitch had always said to let the conversation flow; Nagisa guessed that applied even if the conversation was hella weird.
"Oh well that's just dreadful!" Mrs. Akabane empathized. "If you'd like, you can try on some of my dresses sometime. I pride myself on my excellent taste in such matters."
"Uhh... thanks for the offer, Mrs. Akabane..." he didn't want to outright refuse, but at the same time he was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the current topic.
"I'm sure Nagisa has better things to do than try on dresses, Mother," Karma came to his boyfriend's rescue. "Studying, for example."
"Oh of course!" she responded. "Karma says you want to be a teacher, is that right?" Nagisa nodded. "I think that's just wonderful! It's always good to see someone taking an interest in children. They are the future, after all." Karma scowled at this, he found it hypocritical coming from the woman who'd been veritably neglecting him most of his life.
She led them through the doorway to an immaculate dining room with a high ceiling, and a table big enough for a dozen people, though there were only place settings for four. A butler came in from a separate door that led to the kitchen. He carried a pitcher of water, which he used to fill the water goblets on the table.
"Oh, Tanaka, be a dear and fetch my husband?" she requested. He bowed and left the room, presumably to retrieve Karma's father.
When the man arrived, they all took their seats, and more servants brought in course after course of delicious food. To say Mr. and Mrs. Akabane were high-class was an understatement. It was hard to believe that violent, sadistic, devil-may-care, Karma was even related to them.
They talked about things like school, and interests, and Karma and Nagisa's relationship, and for some reason Mrs. Akabane engaged Nagisa in quite a few, shall we say, more feminine topics, like hair-care, and fabrics, and shoes, but it seemed to be going very well. That is, until the end of the night. It was getting late, and Nagisa stood in the entryway, about to leave.
"Well goodnight Nagisa-san," Mrs. Akabane said smiling. "It was absolutely lovely to finally meet Karma's girlfriend."
Then, all at once it clicked. Why she had expected Nagisa to be wearing a dress. Why the topic of their son dating a guy never came up. Why she assumed Nagisa would know about hair-care, or fabrics, or shoes (of course he did, but that was just a coincidence). Somehow, miraculously, Nagisa's gender hadn't come up all night.
"Um, actually Mrs. Akabane... I'm Karma's boyfriend, not his girlfriend..." Nagisa revealed to the woman, whose entire demeanor seemed to drop slightly.
"I'm sorry... what?" she asked, her smile looking more shell-shocked now.
"Nagisa's a guy, Mother," Karma reiterated crassly.
"I'm. Sorry. What!" she demanded again, and her whole personality did a one-eighty.
"I'm gay Mother," Karma said. When it came to his parents, he was complacent about a lot of things, but he was determined not to back down on this.
"Not in my house you delinquent brat!" she screamed. "Get out!"
"What?" Nagisa and Karma said at the same time.
"GET OUT!" she repeated, louder and more harshly than before. "You have let me down far too many times! This is the last straw Karma! You are no son of mine!"
"But!" Nagisa argued urgently. "What would your husband say about this‽"
"My husband would—will back me up one-hundred percent!" Mrs. Akabane assured.
"You're... you've gotta be... kidding..." Nagisa's voice faltered.
"No, she's right," Karma said, his expression stony, his voice level, but brimming with barely contained rage. "Father is quite vocally homophobic." He spoke directly to his mother now. "For some reason I thought you would be better. But I guess fools seldom differ."
"How dare you speak to me that way!" his enraged mother demanded as he turned toward the door and ushered Nagisa to do the same. "I had better never see your disgusting face again you absolute gargoyle! You hellish abomination!" She continued to spew insults and profanities at her son, even as the door shut behind him and his love.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," Karma apologized.
"Don't apologize to me!" Nagisa argued. "I'm sorry you have to be related to that!"
"I guess we both come from fucked-up families, if in very different ways," Karma joked, even though inside he was heartbroken at his mother's reaction, and utterly enraged.
"Yeah, I guess so." Nagisa chuckled. It was sad, really, but better to laugh about it than cry. "Would you be alright with staying at my dad's tonight?" he offered. After his mother's relapse, Nagisa figured it would be prudent not to bring Karma home to her anymore.
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble," Karma said. Nagisa smiled and pulled out his phone.
To: Dad
Can Karma stay at your place for a while?
The answer came a few moments later.
From: Dad
I guess, why?
From: Dad
Did something happen tonight with his parents?
To: Dad
It was fine until his mom found out I'm a guy. Then she kicked him out.
From: Dad
That's terrible! Of course he can stay with me
From: Dad
At least until he finds something more permanent.
To: Dad
Thanks, we really appreciate it.
"Dad says you're welcome to stay with him until you find someplace else," Nagisa relayed, slipping his phone into his pocket, and taking Karma's hand.
"Find someplace else, huh?" echoed Karma, a thought striking him. "What if we found someplace else together?"
"You mean..." it slowly dawned on Nagisa what his boyfriend was saying. "Are you asking me to move in with you‽" he translated, eyes wide as he looked excitedly up at the red-head.
"That I am," Karma confirmed. "What do you think?" Nagisa leapt up to throw his arms around the other's neck.
"I would absolutely love that Karma!"
—
"Wait, so even after all that, you're still living at your parents house?" Nagisa asked in confusion as they walked to the hairdresser.
"More like squatting at my parents house," Karma amended. "I'm not technically welcome there anymore, but they're not in town, and they didn't even change the locks, or the security system, or anything. And most of the staff have no problem with it, I mean they knew long before my parents did, so what're they gonna do about it?"
"Wow Karma, just wow." Nagisa shook his head, giggling softly as he stepped over the threshold of the hair salon.
Now that he and Karma would both be starting college soon, he had decided it was finally time to get his hair cut. They were going to the same school, but they would be in completely different programs, on opposite sides of the campus, so they most likely wouldn't end up seeing each other much during the day. That was fine though, because they were also looking into apartments in that area. Karma and Nagisa we're going to move in together as soon as they found a good place.
Even though his parents had alienated him, and cut him off from the family funds, Karma still had quite a bit tucked away in his savings account, which he was using to pay for college. As for Nagisa, he also had plenty of savings from the bounty on Koro-sensei, plus he made money tutoring, and his parents were still helping out some, though he knew that would probably expire once he'd gotten his degree. Not that he'd need it after that, hopefully.
"Hello welcome to Classy Cuts, do you have an appointment?" asked a kind young woman with shiny black hair twisted up in a neat bun, a few stray hairs framing her face attractively. Her name tag read Kisa.
"Yes, I have an appointment for two-thirty," Nagisa responded.
"Name?" she inquired, fingers poised over her keyboard.
"Shiota Nagisa," came the reply. Her long, red fingernails clacked on the keys as she typed in the name.
"Ah, here you are," she said, reading off her screen. "Just a haircut today? Would you like to add anything else?"
"No, thank you." Nagisa smiled back at her as she finished whatever it was she had to do, and told him he could find a seat in the waiting room, and a stylist would see him shortly.
Getting his long hair cut off was a thrilling experience. It was something Nagisa had wanted for so long, and at the same time it seemed almost like some horrible offense. Like something he shouldn't get to have, no matter how much he'd been wishing for it. It was really something.
When Nagisa went to pay at the front desk, his head felt lighter; his neck felt cooler. His new short hair felt freeing in so many ways, and he loved it. Not that long hair didn't have its advantages, or he didn't like pigtails, but this was a real dream come true for him. Even if, to some, getting a haircut might seem like a really lame dream.
"What do you think Karma?" Nagisa asked, beaming at his boyfriend.
"Not gonna lie, it'll take some getting used to," Karma admitted, "and I'm definitely gonna miss your cute pigtails, but if you're happy, then how can I not be?"
"Karmaaa!" Nagisa blushed, and hugged the redhead, burying his face in Karma's chest. He'd made a habit of doing that since they'd gotten together. He felt the rumble of Karma's laughter, heard the beat of his heart.
He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to the way Karma talked about him, like he was the whole goddamn world. Like he was actually worth a damn. It had taken a long while for Nagisa to realize his own worth, but it was different when Karma said it, more meaningful somehow, filling Nagisa with an inexplicable, intoxicating warmth.
—
"So, what do you think?" the real estate agent, a man called Sugoroku, asked them after he'd shown them around the flat.
"I quite liked the place, actually," Karma mused. "Cozy, but not cramped, nice view, courtyard, good price... what do you think, Nagisa?"
"I agree," Nagisa said, "and we can turn the spare bedroom into an office." This statement got them an eyebrow raise from Sugoroku as there were only two bedrooms, but he didn't think it was his place to say anything, so he didn't. "It'll be nice to have a place set aside for studying." Karma nodded.
"I guess we're in agreement then," Karma stated to the realtor. "We'll take it."
After signing a bunch of papers, and setting up their first payment, they transported their things into their new place. School started about the same time, and with classes, and assignments, and work, it was several months before they unpacked everything, but they didn't mind. This place was theirs now, and they would make it a home.
—
Nagisa was tutoring in his living room. Normally he tutored at the library, but it was closed that day, and they hadn't yet turned the spare room into a study, so Nagisa was sitting on the couch with a classmate, Momoko, her homework spread out across the coffee table, as he tried once again to explain comma use.
They heard the front door open and close, and Karma walked down the entryway with a weary sigh. "Oh, hey Nagisa," he greeted. "Hey Nagisa's student. Library burn down or something?"
"It was closed today... why was your first assumption conflagrant demolition?" Nagisa questioned.
"It's more interesting than the truth?" Karma shrugged and ambled toward the hallway, ruffling Nagisa's hair as he passed behind the couch, glancing briefly at the pages scattered about. "If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna take a shower, have fun studying grammar." With that he gave a short wave and disappeared down the hall.
"Who was that?" Momoko asked once Karma seemed safely out of earshot.
"My boyfriend," Nagisa responded at first, but the look of revulsion that spread across her face put him instantly on alert, he quickly hardened his heart, getting all of his mannerisms in line, leaving nothing to his subconscious.
"Your what?" Momoko said.
"It was a joke, geez!" he defended quickly. "That's just my roommate, Karma. He is taken though, so I wouldn't try anything if I were you." Was it simply bad luck, or were there actually that many homophobes. First Karma's parents, now this? Nagisa was getting real tired of this shit.
"That doesn't matter, I've got a few tricks that are guaranteed to make that hot piece of ass mine." She smirked, and actually, literally licked her lips as she gazed hungrily down the hallway, like some predatory animal. "His current side bitch doesn't stand a chance, whoever she is."
Nagisa was already stacking up the papers in front of him. "Get out," he ordered calmly, holding out the pages for her to take.
"What why?" she demanded.
"Because it's me; I'm his quote-unquote 'side bitch.'" He glared at Momoko, startling her with the intensity of his gaze. "It wasn't a joke, Karma's my boyfriend, and I will not sit here and listen to you rant about how you plan on taking him from me. Take your papers and leave before I make you."
"No! I paid you to teach me grammar," she growled, slamming a hand on the coffee table with a sneer, "and I don't give a crap if he is your boyfriend, I'll make him mine anyway."
With a swift movement, Nagisa had pulled a lighter from the box on the coffee table, which they usually used for lighting candles, and held it under the stack of papers he was holding.
"You can take your papers and leave now," he stated coldly, "or I can burn them, and kick your ass out onto the street." He flicked on the lighter, and a flame hovered under the pages as she gasped and snatched them away. "Don't forget your bag, and good riddance little-miss-home-wrecker." She gave a scandalized huff, and stormed out with her school bag thrown haphazardly over her shoulder.
Well damn. She was almost guaranteed to spread word of this around school, which meant that Nagisa would have a lot more trouble finding people interested in his tutelage. He sighed heavily, almost regretting his actions. Almost... but not quite.
Karma returned to the living room several minutes later in grey sweatpants that hung low on his hips, and nothing on the upper half of his body but a towel draped around his neck, leaving his sleek, well muscled torso on full display. Nagisa's face reddened involuntarily.
"Hey Blueberry." He took a seat next to Nagisa and placed a chaste kiss on his blushing cheek. "Where'd that girl go?"
"Oh, were you expecting her to still be here?" Nagisa grumbled. "Is that why you walked out half-naked?"
"What?" Karma's eyebrows pulled together in confusion, and he turned to more fully face the bluenette. "I always sleep like this, you know that Nagisa... what's going on?"
"I kicked her out..." Nagisa mumbled.
"What? Why?"
"Because she was homophobic, and she wanted to steal you away from me..." Nagisa pulled his knees up to his chest. "I'm sorry, I know I overreacted... but I just couldn't take that look on her face anymore. The bitterness, and disdain, and the horrible way she looked at you... like you were piece of meat she wanted to sink her teeth into..."
Karma offered a half-smile and wrapped his arms around his tiny boyfriend, who seemed to be trying to collapse in on himself. "So what did you do? I get the feeling you didn't just ask politely and she left."
"I glared at her, and when that didn't work, I threatened to set her work on fire and make her leave by force," Nagisa confessed after a few moments of embarrassed silence.
"Man, I woulda done way worse in your position!" he assured through hearty laughter after hearing that. "If some chick threatened to steal you away from me, I'd kick her ass so hard she couldn't sit down for a month! You don't have to worry about losing me Nagisa, I wouldn't leave you, even if an octopus threatened to blow up the planet earth unless I did. Some homophobic bimbo, who can't even grasp how commas work, doesn't stand a chance."
Nagisa released his knees and hugged Karma tightly, and the two cuddled on the couch for a good long while before Nagisa fell asleep, and Karma carried him to bed.
—
Nagisa and Karma walked hand-in-hand up the hill towards the old campus for the fourth annual class reunion where every former E-class student, or at least everyone who could, met to help clean the classroom and the campus. It was the first one that they were going to as a couple, and in all honesty, they were just a little bit nervous. The fiasco with Karma's parents had made them wary, but these were their friends, right? What could go wrong?
There were a few people already there when the couple arrived at the top of the mountain. Kayano was between movie shoots at the moment, so she had shown up early. The front of her hair was still dyed violet from her last role, the lead in a superhero film. Hayami and Chiba were already there as well, the only other pair from E-class who had actually become a couple aside from Karma and Nagisa. Maehara was there too, and Isogai, who always showed up on the early side, since he had the keys.
Lastly, there was Nakamura. And Nakamura immediately noticed, and saw fit to comment on, their joined hands. Sharp as a tack that one.
"My my, what's this?" she mused as the pair approached. Her face twisted into a smirk and she put her hands on her hips. "Did Mr. Fraidy-cat finally sack up and ask out Oblivious-kun? When did this happen?"
"Last year," Karma answered while Nagisa just blushed, both refusing to make eye-contact. "Just a few months after the last campus cleanup day, actually."
"Well, not to brag, but I totally saw this coming," Nakamura claimed. "Okajima owes me 2,000 yen!"
"You betted on us‽" Nagisa complained indignantly, letting go of Karma's hand to clench his fists, embarrassed.
"Ryu-kun! Rinka-san!" she called over to the sharpshooters, who turned toward her at the sound of their names, as did everyone else. "Looks like you two aren't the only couple anymore!"
"What do you mean?" Maehara asked, before realizing the flustered duo Nakamura was gesturing to, a shit-eating grin plastered on her face. "No way... Nagisa and Karma‽"
"Congrats you two!" Isogai offered with a smile, glancing briefly at Maehara.
"Congrats to who?" Sugino wondered as he appeared from the tree line, not having heard the rest of the conversation.
"Nagisa and Karma!" Kayano squealed. Was she jealous of Karma, absolutely, but they were her friends, so she was also happy for them. She would get over it. "They're dating!" She rushed up and hugged the both of them.
"Really? Good for you guys then," he congratulated as well, offering them a smile. "Can't say I was expecting it, but hey, whatever floats your boat."
After that, every single time a classmate crested the mountain, one or another of the people already there would announce Nagisa and Karma's relationship. That announcement was met with "oh, okay," or, "good for them," or, "not surprising really," or, "great, why should I care?" or, in Okajima's case, "dammit! Now I owe Nakamura 2,000 yen!"
All in all, it went really well. Their friends were all supportive. Karma was actually a bit surprised since he knew several of them had had crushes on either him or Nagisa at some point: Kayano, Nakamura, Okuda, Terasaka probably... just to name a few.
—
"You ready, Nagisa?" Karma asked with a smirk.
"Yup," Nagisa responded, an equally cocky expression on his own face. "Let's do it."
Karma made the first move, as he usually did during their sparring sessions, rushing Nagisa with a series of quick jabs, Nagisa managed to block or dodge most of them, but one did hit his stomach, pushing him back a bit, forcing him to crouch. Nagisa recovered quickly, taking advantage of Karma's height to dart between his legs and get behind his opponent, landing a blow with his elbow before turning to jump on Karma's back and get him in a choke hold.
Before he could take the leap, however, Karma knocked the bluenette's legs out from under him with a sweep-kick, knocking him to the ground. He quickly pinned Nagisa's hands and legs, hovering over his small lover with a self-satisfied smirk. It had been a much shorter fight than usual, but he hadn't won yet. Nagisa had one more finishing move.
The bluenette's head darted up, meeting Karma's lips with his own. This was no ordinary kiss, however, this was his perfected version of Professor Bitch's signature kiss of death technique. He felt Karma's grip slacken as their lips moved together, tongues dancing as Nagisa racked up the hits. 29 hit. 30 hit. 31 hit. 33 hit. 34 hit. 37 hit. 38 hit. 39 hit. 40 hit. 43 hit. 44 hit. 45 hit. 50 hit!
And suddenly, Karma was the one pinned the the ground, dazed by the power of Nagisa's kiss. No doubt about it. This stunningly brief round went to Nagisa. "I win," the bluenette whispered in his lover's ear.
"Damn, you've been practicing..." Karma breathed back. "But I'll... be on guard against it... next time so don't count on... it working for you... again."
"Right, whatever you say Karma."
—
[Approximately 5 months ago]
"Alright, first day of work," Nagisa said nervously.
"Good luck, Blueberry," Karma encouraged with a reassuring smile. "You're gonna be great."
"What if they don't like me?" Nagisa worried, fiddling with his fingers. "What if I can't get through to them?"
"You will. You'll find a way," Karma sounded so certain that Nagisa felt confidence vicariously. "I know you can. Teaching is a blade, just like any other skill. Polish it, sharpen it, and use it. You're the best assassin I know Nagisa, surely you won't let a bunch of high-school kids get the better of you."
"Thank you Karma. I love you," Nagisa said.
"I love you too," Karma gave him a gentle goodbye kiss on his forehead, and Nagisa left the apartment, ready to start his new job as a teacher-in-training. Or at least, as ready as he'd ever be.
[Good lord this is so goddamn loooong! It's over 7,000 words! So yeah, that's why it took so much longer than anticipated for me to actually post it, sorry guys. But hopefully this is what y'all wanted, I even added a little sparring scene, by popular request.
Also, I hope the long bonus chapter makes up for the fact that I might, maybe, possibly have to extend the hiatus another week. Maybe.
Since school started it's been really cutting into my writing time, so I only have two chapters in the next arc, instead of the five that I like to have before a start publishing again, and I've hardly done any editing. I'll still try to keep to my original September 14th deadline, but fair warning that I might not be able to.
Thank you all so much for being patient with me, and for being so so wonderful! Love y'all!
<3 Raaor!]