Ever since coming to the E-class, Nagisa had been learning. A lot. Their teacher hid meaningful knowledge behind confusing acts and sometimes put his own life in danger to teach them a lesson. The lesson, this morning with Okuda, proved this. He might've lied to Okuda through his teeth with a large grin on his face but that was to teach her a lesson which would last a lifetime.
But, no matter how much their bizarre teacher had taught them about assassination knowledge and the charms of different subjects, they'd never be able to find a stable way to fend off against the main building students- especially when they had to attend the assembly all the way down to the main campus, which was what they were doing.
"So glad you could make it," Nagisa would recognize the voice from anywhere, "Tough trip coming down the mountain I bet!"
Along with the other main-building students stood Tanaka and Takada, two acquaintances Nagisa had made during his time at D class. While Nagisa couldn't say he cherished them like close friends, he'd always appreciate new people who were willing to talk to a nobody like him. That's why, now, hearing them taunt him like that was...humiliating.
Rather than expressing his distaste at the jab, he stood in line with his head drooping down. It was fine. He'd gotten used to it. People like that didn't matter at all, he reminded himself to reduce the tension wrung in his shoulder. As he previously mentioned, they might've been his friends before but now they were showing their true colors.
After all the students had assembled, the Dean stood on the stage, his speech started already, "....essentially you are the cream of the crop- this nation's chosen elite. I, your school Dean, can vouch for that!" " He spoke with a broad grin which turned a tad bit mocking as he glanced at the E-class, "But if you're not careful..you couldf end up like certain other good for nothings."
The hall roared with laughter and the E-class continued looking down.
"Now, now. We mustn't laugh at their expense." The hypocrite chuckled himself.
"Hey, Nagisa-kun." Sugaya called from behind. "Where's Karma?"
Ah, right. Now that the devil was mentioned out loud, he could vividly picture the guy laying on his back somewhere. He was probably playing traunt and not giving a damn about the school rules even though misconduct resulted in severe punishment.
"He's ditching." Nagisa said, a faint smile almost forming on its own.
"What?" Sugaya looked alarmed at the so casually put statement, "Just him?"
Nagisa nodded, "He knows that he'll get punished for blowing off the assembly," he sighed, "But he doesn't care."
Nagisa had always looked up to Karma's easygoing personality and carefree attitude, hell even idolized him if he was being honest with himself. Above everything else, he liked how Karma could be so lackadaisical regarding to rules that normally bound normal people like him. It seemed like the part of him that idolized Karma hadn't vanished with time as he lightly remarked, "It's times like this I wish I was an honour student bad boy."
"I hear ya'" Sugaya said.
The Dean had already made an exit and now a female announcer recited, "Next is an address by the Student council," she peered over the stage, "Please start your preparations, Student council."
"Hey, who's that teacher?"
Nagisa knew either Karasuma-sensei or Bitch-sensei had entered the assembly hall when the students began to whisper about this 'new stylish teacher.' He looked behind to see Karasuma trying to block both Rio and Hinano's newly decorated knife sheaths from the students vision.
"Who's that super hot foreign lady?"
A couple of minutes in and Bitch-sensei entered the hall as well, looking fresh and new as if she hadn't fallen to her knees after reaching the plain ground. The wisps of her golden hair shone under the light coming from above and Nagisa was surprised that the hall hadn't started flooding with nosebleeds.
"Hey, Bitch-sensei was ready to drop just a few minutes ago, too." Sugino said from the back of the line.
"Quick recovery." After all, she was an assassin, so one ought not to be surprised.
As Karasuma-sensei and Bitch-sensei exchanged few words within themselves, ignoring the eyes of the students who were blatantly gawking at them. Whilst conversing, Bitch-sensei turned to the spot where Nagisa was standing and that couldn't be a good sign.
She sauntered over, "Oh yeah, Nagisa-kun." Uh oh.
"Hmm?" He tried imitating Karma's natural nonchalance and failed miserably.
"Now's my chance, now that octopus isn't around." The concept of personal space melted away like the last of snow did when spring arrived. Just a minor change that the spring was Bitch-sensei here, and that she was being a bit too casual about breaching someone's personal bubble unlike the gentle spring.
Instead of backing off and speaking like a normal human, she went on, "You've been keeping track of all of his weaknesses, right?" Putting her hands out like an entitled child, she demanded, "Let me borrow your notebook."
Eh, it was about his notebook on Koro-sensei's weaknesses, huh? "Huh?" Although, he was sure that she'd inspected every nook and cranny of his poor notebook and that nothing notable had transpired till then. So, why does she...? "But I already told you all of his useful weaknesses."
"Oh c'mon," her voice turned firmer, "give it to me already."
Shifting nervously and now concerned, he started, "But that's the-"
Ignoring his words, the blonde's smile only widened to a pleasant curve as she grabbed him by his back and shoved him right into her plentiful bosom. "Oh you!" She continued as if she wasn't suffocating him with her chest, "you're just trying to hide the really big stuffs."
"Or I'll smother you."
Whatever heavenly experience Okajima and Maehara were talking about while they were in the changing rooms turned out to be as shameful as he was expecting it to be. Maybe if it were some of the more perverted boys of the class, they would've enjoyed it but Nagisa was a slightly different case, he had never liked any sort of physical interaction before and this totally counted too.
After what felt like an eternity, Karasuma-sensei took pity on him and pulled the teacher off the younger boy. Thank goodness, Nagisa thought, regaining his breath and trying to wash out the fruity perfume Bitch-sensei had on her out of his nostrils by exhaling. That wasn't certainly a good experience at all.
As Bitch-sensei was being admonished by Karasuma-sensei, the assembly progressed on to a more important point. "All right!" Araki's voice blasted through the mic, "The student council events are explained in the handouts you've just been given."
Confusion rung through the whole of E-class. Okajima whispered to Fuwa, "Huh, what? Where are ours?"
To point the error in their speech, Isogai spoke up, "Excuse me sir! E-class didn't get any."
"Oh?" The ignorance in his voice was near patronizing, "You didn't get any? Now that's strange.." Speaking as if this were a joke to him (it probably was), a nasty smile formed on his face, "I'm sorry! It seems we forgot to make some for E-class. I guess you'll just have to memorize it before you leave."
"Here you go, Isogai."
"What are you-"
With a huge gush of air, papers floated and dropped onto unexpecting students who grabbed them. There was no mistaking that smug voice. "That should take care of it, I think." There he was, in all his disguised glory, and Karasuma-sensei was probably exploding a vein somewhere.
"I trust all of you have a copy of the handout now, correct?" Koro-sensei twirled his pen, readjusting his faux nose and donning a satisfied smile.
"Yes sir."
Isogai waved his hand to draw the emcee's attention towards him. "Oh, we got our handouts! Please continue, sir!"
"What?" It was kinda funny to see the ever-so-formal guy sputter in front of everyone. "No way, how? Hey now, who killed our fun?!" Realizing what he spoke, a little too late, he recomposed himself, "um, er..ahem! Let's continue! The student council schedules.."
Everyone's attention drifted to the exchange with the teachers rather than the more important meeting schedules that Araki was reciting. Karasuma-sensei, as Nagisa had expected, looked like he was about to burst a vein, barely holding himself back from screaming at the octopus.
Then, Bitch-sensei entered the view, making a bigger mess out of the situation and trying to kill Koro-sensei at a time like this one. It was times like these Nagisa felt sorry for Karasuma-sensei. But couldn't help laughing along when everyone from his class were laughing at the ridiculousness of the scene.
Hiroto grinned, "That's Bitch-sensei for you!"
The assembly soon ended and the students dispersed, heading to their own classes.
"We're going on ahead, Nagisa!" Sugino shouted from the other side of the yard.
Classes weren't going to start straightaway and he was feeling somewhat thirsty.."Okay! I'll catch up after I buy something to drink!" Saying that, Sugino turned back and started scaling the mountain.
Today, however awful it might've started out, was a decent day compared to the other times they descended for the monthly assembly. Talking about which, Nagisa remembered his mother's fit this morning and he winced. Not a good thing remembering that now.
"Hey Nagisa!" A voice snapped and Nagisa almost didn't hear him over the volume of his own thoughts. "Huh?"
"Don't you think you guys are getting a little carried away?" Takada said meanly.
"What?" What were they even talking about?
"Laughing during assembly and stuff." Takada spoke again, "You should learn some respect!"
"E-class should just keep their head down and shut up."
"You've got crappy lives weighin' ya' down after all."
If this were a typical situation, Nagisa would've probably walked away with his tail tucked between his legs and take their jabs head on, but this wasn't the normal case. His gaze sharpened as a shadow formed beneath his bangs. The morning incident was still fresh in his mind, both the domestic and of the classroom.
"Hey, what's with that dirty look?" Takada grabbed him by the collar. "You want us to kill your ass?"
Kill. He'd said it. The magic word that suddenly gave Nagisa enough confidence to chuckle coldly. Let's put lessons into practice now.. His eyes glowed a sinister shade of blue as he finally looked at them in the eyes and said, "Kill me? You're kidding right?"
The normal Nagisa wouldn't have done this but he wasn't just a normal student anymore. He was an assassin too.
"As if you guys have the balls to do that."
Tanaka and Takada both flinched as if Nagisa had just stabbed them physically. Their haughty faces suddenly became fearful as if they were seeing something that they never had seen, something frightening, and the grip on his collar loosened enough to let him free himself.
"What..just..happened?"
"Bloodlust?"
They stared at Nagisa's back still too shocked to say anything else.
*
"H-huh?" Was Nagisa hearing it right or were his friends kidding?
Sugino excitedly waved his book as he said, "We can tell her that we came to study. She wouldn't mind that way, right?"
Karma nodded too, to his despair as he smirked, sliding out his Nintendo DS from an advanced maths book, "Mm..hmm..what kind of friend would you be if you don't even invite us to your home?"
After being pressured and cornered by both the boys, Nagisa finally conceded. He really didn't not want to have friends over. In fact, he loved his friends and would like to spend as much time as he could with them but the only problem here was his mom.
While he had told her that they'd be coming for study through text, her curt reply of okay wasn't enough to put his heart at ease. He could only hope that she'd at least pretend to be a normal mom like she always did with their neighbors.
"Mom, I'm home." Nagisa removed his shoes and placed it on the shoe rack before placing a few slippers for the two boys as well. He knew well that Sugino came from a traditional family so he knew how to behave while coming to other's home and place his school shoes near the doormat neatly.
Karma however..
"Ha.." Of course. What did he expect? For Karma to suddenly be well-behaved and polite when coming to his...friend's house? No way.
"...I still don't know why you guys are friends." Sugino said, looking at Karma's back as he went to the living room. As if it were his home.
If I'd known an answer to that..Nagisa thought while placing Karma's shoes next to Sugino's own properly.
"Nagisa," He immediately stiffened at the voice as his mom smiled disarmingly, "why don't you be a dearie and take your friends to your room? And keep the door open, alright?"
"Yes, mom." He could practically hear the upcoming sermon from the way she was smiling, her lips twitching oddly when the two boys exited the living room. Her flawless smile returned back again when Sugino backtracked and went near her.
He bowed lowly, "Thank you for having us here, Shiota-san"
Her dark eyes glinted, a bit pleased at his politeness. She only nodded as an acknowledgement before Sugino took Nagisa along with him.
"Wow," Karma threw his bag on the floor and sat next to it, "your room's pretty small."
Nagisa made sure to keep the door open because if he wouldn't his mom would murder him with the way she had said it. He rubbed his nose sheepishly, "Yeah, it's kinda hard to get a good place to live in a popular city like this one."
Sugino leaned on forward, "You sound as if you're not from this place." He took out his gameboy from his bag.
Ah. A common mistake people'd make when he talked about how hard it was to find an apartment flat. It was his mom's place that she shifted to after they had divorced, the house they were living in was bought from both of their money combined together but after they'd split up, the money for the house was splitted up as well and both shifted to different places in the same region.
"No, no, it's not that. I can assure you." Avoid being too personal with information. He couldn't let a single soul know deeper about his family's condition.
"Hmm.." Karma's eyes narrowed but he kept quiet.
"Well," Sugino stood up, "could you tell me where the washroom is, please?"
Nagisa jumped at the opportunity of shifting the talk about his family to something else. "Sure. Just head left from this room until you see a white door with a silver knob."
"Okay, white door, silver knob." The baseball geek left for the bathroom quickly.
The silence between them was awkward. What was Nagisa supposed to say? How did one talk with a friend who avoided them for almost two years? He felt like he could die from the intense atmosphere that carried on in the room before Karma's attention shifted to something else.
"Nagisa-kun? What is this?" What was what? Don't tell him he found the Sonic Ninja magazines he'd hid under his bed. Nagisa turned over and flushed immediately when he saw what was in his hands.
"You still kept it?" That haughty smirk. Nagisa wanted to die, Sugino and Karma could share his favorite magazines among themselves. Why wasn't Sugino here yet?
"That's..uh.." Nagisa couldn't talk without squeaking, more so when Karma brought it near his face to..oh-
"It kinda smells nice for something so old." This was it. Nagisa was going to die because of aneurysm or something. The blazer that Karma had once given because of his impromptu heat breakout during their younger years was the something that Karma was holding and like hell if it wasn't embarrassing.
Nagisa flushed further when he realized that the blazer was washed after his heat was over- because who would want a cloth stinking of omegan distress- and the scent Karma was talking about had to be Nagisa's own.
"You can take it back if you want to." Somehow, he still had the sense to speak. Thank god.
Karma's brow ascended with question, "Why should I? It's too small for me already." He brought the article near him with a quirk of his lips, "Rather, wouldn't you like me to scent the blazer again? The natural one's disappeared." How Karma managed to say it so nonchalantly Nagisa would never understand.
Nagisa squirmed under his stare. Something told him that he should go with a yes but wasn't this too intimate?! Asking an alpha friend of his to re-scent their own cloth, it even sent a suggestive connotation.
Neither could he understand why Karma had asked him for permission for such a thing like that nor could he comprehend the buzzing excitement that grew in his chest when the blazer was lifted up near Karma's nose and scent glands. But he was glad that he'd said yes and that Karma had ever asked to scent his clothing.
A year ago, if you would've asked Nagisa if he still liked Karma anymore, he would've definitely have said no knowing that Karma and him weren't just meant to be. He was way too intimidated by the prospect of being friends with someone like Karma who'd grew up with both talents and looks on his side.
But now, if you'd asked him again, he'd probably turn pink before shrugging because he couldn't be clear of his own intentions as well. What were they anyway? Former friends? Childhood besties? The previously best of friends that now don't know what to name their bond? Probably.
Watching Karma rub his wrists, Nagisa tilted his head in confusion before realizing that yes, they indeed had scent glands on the wrists as well. It was more of a less personal place than any of the scent glands located on their bodies.
It's kinda like a scent gift, Nagisa thought before backtracking that thought immediately.
"Ahaha, the washroom was definitely harder to find than you told me, Nagisa." Sugino entered the room, chuckling sheepishly and sitting between Nagisa and Karma. Thank god, it wasn't his mom. Thank god, Sugino was a beta and he couldn't recognize the change of smell in the room.
"You should've came back to ask." He said that but he was somehow glad that Sugino hadn't disturbed the scenting process.
"I know, I'm just too hardheaded, aren't I?" Nagisa handed Sugino his gameboy and the baseball geek started playing.
Maybe Nagisa could've focused on both his game and play sentry if Karma wasn't being so distracting- subtly scenting the blazer like that before slipping it right under the bed- one hand still on his DS.
"Man, your mom sure is strict." Sugino said.
"Makes me wonder how strict she is when it's only you." Oh, only if you knew. Chuckling, Nagisa denied the accusations that Sugino and Karma made of his mother.
Later, after the two left his home, his mom called for him to speak, "Nagisa," she spoke, her tone lighthearted and cheerful like it always was when she was pretending. The sound of the door closing made him feel hopeless. For what, he didn't knew.
"You know, little omega girls like you shouldn't hang around such a brash alpha like Akabane." So lightly she spoke that he almost missed what she was trying to convey. "Maybe the beta guy is alright, Tomohito, was it? He's a polite boy."
"But mom-"
"Nagisa." She called firmly, the smile still on her face but together then before, "don't make me increase your punishment now. You should be thankful enough that I'm not being harsh with you for doing such dangerous things like making friends with him."
"You won't talk with him anymore, right?" Dark eyes locked him into place and Nagisa felt his head nod helplessly to the haze that was preventing him from doing otherwise. Such was the power of a grown alpha.
"Okay, mom." Even his voice turned several pitches higher than it originally was.
Would he be able to?
*
"Nagisa-kun," he stiffened at the voice, "good morning."
"Ah, good...morning." He found himself replying to Karma, talking pleasantries wasn't the same as hanging out with him, right?
"I found a couple of new Sonic Ninja articles off the net yesterday. And you'd be surprised at what I found." His barely hidden grin told him that it was a very big news but he really didn't want to risk triggering his mom's command.
So he just nodded.
"You know Nazonni right? The director of Sonic Ninja? He made an announcement that his latest work will be released soon." Karma pretended to be rather neutral but Nagisa knew better than that.
Unable to help himself, Nagisa found himself grinning at the news, "When's the premiere?"
Karma threw a lax smile back at him, "It's a surprise~ You need to work your way to the website, lazy."
The haze of chains that strangled him broke almost immediately after he started chatting with Karma like normal. For the first time in his life, he strayed away from the path his mom told him to take and it was..exhilarating actually. Maybe this was how sweet liberty felt like.
Qotc: Reaccount the most terrifying moment you had today.
I had a panic attack. At an assembly full of people and I was trembling like a leaf in the storm. No one even realized it until I went to my class and one of my friends saw me and asked me why I looked so constipated.
Hi! I'm back and onto the storyline. I've been sneakily writing some parts of this chapter when I was supposed to be studying, I'm sorry. But I managed to complete it, that's all that matters right now.
The next chapter's gonna take a loooong time (you know it's long when author-chan adds the 'o's) so please be patient. Until that I'll be working on Sapphire eyes.
Words: 3745 words
Bye~! (/^▽^)/