Nagisa had promised himself that he wouldn't let anyone threaten him. Well, that was the promise, but it's easier said than done. Especially when your classmate tells you to do something you aren't really against.

"Oi, Nagisa! Come with me!"

Terasaka pulled Nagisa behind a tree.

"What is it, Terasaka-kun?"
"I want you to help us."
"Koro-sensei'll be mad if I try to blow myself up again."
"Screw that octopus, it's not about him!" then he whispered "I want you to help me revenge on that arrogant redhead."
"You mean Karma? What did he do this time?"
"What doesn't he do? He's always making fun of me! He's ruining my image!"
"Well, that's his habit."
"Don't you say he's never done the same to you!"

A few cases immediately crossed Nagisa's mind.
"Well... Sometimes..."
"That's right, he deserves something in return! So me and the guys decided to trick him a bit."

Nagisa nervously laughed:
"I don't think that's only a bit..."
"Believe me, it is!" Terasaka pointed at his chest with his thumb. "Yoshida wrote him a fake love letter where he asked for a date. And here comes your role: Karma goes there, but you'll act as the girl and all you have to do is humilate him as much as you want."

Nagisa shaked his head.
"That's evil, I don't want to take part in it."
"Then shall we ask Ritsu to hack his mobile and get to look at his private things?"
"That's even worse!"
Terasaka smirked:
"See? This is the lightest option. So join us."

Nagisa found accepting the request as the best (or rather the least bad) option.
Actually, if he did it, it would be up to him how much he would play around with Karma. He really didn't want to hurt his best friend, although a little joke wouldn't be bad just to return all that teasing...
But the problem was:
"How do you know he will come?"
"He doesn't have a choice. Takebayashi suggested to write in the letter that we know the secret of class E and if he doesn't want the whole world to know about it, he should go."
"That makes it too serious...!"

Terasaka grinned.
"Don't worry, in the end we rejected the idea. It really wouldn't be fun if he came only because he got threatened. But I'm sure he's curious."
Nagisa sighed in relief.
"At least he's eager to know who's the one messing with him..." Then he added: "But OK, I'll go with it."
_

Hiromi was more than happy to help his son dress in female clothes. First, she wanted him to wear a frilly pink skirt, then suggested a red minidress, and when Nagisa gave up all hope, she finally pulled out a black dress with lenght above the knee and thin dark blue ribbon below the chest.
His mother even insisted upon braiding his hair.

Nagisa felt miserable for bringing his mother into it, he also earned some angry yells for being so picky with the clothes.
But one thing was actually positive in it: he made his mom happy for having a "daughter", even if it was only for a few hours.

He was standing there, in front of a karaoke bar. He was afraid that Karma would recognize him in an instant. He knew very well how smart Karma was and there was no way he would fall for this poor disguise.
He cursed Terasaka for not even getting him a wig to hide his conspicious blue hair, but at least Takebayashi had lent him his old glasses (actually, it already was only a frame, but that made it more comfortable for his eyes to wear).

He stepped into the enrance hall.
Nagisa had the task to find Karma since according the letter, he knew how Karma looked like.
But he wished he hadn't come.

It took a while to find that red head in the crowd, but at least he managed it.
'Oh no, he really did come...' He was almost screaming inside.

He slowly headed towards his target - he even had the talent for staying unnoticed - while repeating the fake information of him- or in this case, herself.
'My name is Shiomura Aoi, I'm in my first year in Class B of Kunugigaoka Junior High, I saw Karma taking part at the few sport events during this year and heard about him performing so well at the exams and I wanted to get to know him...'

The red haired boy had noticed Nagisa long before he reached there.
'I'm already found out...!' he thought as he returned the friendly waving with a stiff move. 'Okay, it must've been written how I look like... Calm down!'

Now he was in front of the guy who can never be fooled.
"H-hello, K-Karma...kun...senpai" he said with an extremely uncertain voice and an embarrassed look on his face.

Karma smiled.
"Oh, you must be the girl who wrote that letter, nice to meet you."
"Erm... Same here...!"
Nagisa wondered if Karma really didn't know his identity.

"Shiomura-san, right? Do you want to rent a room?" asked Karma.
"You can just call me Aoi. And ye-" Nagisa then suddenly remembered what Terasaka had ordered. He wanted to watch the whole action to see Karma's face in the end. "Yeah, that would be great, but I'm not really good at singing so I'd prefer if we stayed here..." lied Nagisa nervously.
He'd rather have chosen the two of them to be alone, he didn't want others to see him dressed like that.
He was still feeling uncomfortable wearing female clothes, even though it had been confirmed several times that they fit him. Not that he was happy about it.

"Come on, it'll be fun! I'm not a professional either."
'Karma must have noticed Terasaka-kun's presence,' Nagisa thought, 'if my appearance hasn't exposed me, this will!'
He shaked his head while trying to make up an excuse.
"Ah, I'm really sorry, but my mum's so strict she doesn't even allow me to be alone with a guy." He forced an embarrassed smile.

It surprised Karma.
"And you aren't in the rebellious age to go against her, are you?" He shrugged his shoulder. "Well, then we'll have our two-person-karaoke next time."

Nagisa nodded happily.
"Could we sit there?" he asked, pointing at a pair of seats on the opposite sides of a small round table, hidden by a pillar.
To hide from that urging stare.
To save what wasn't beyond recovery yet.

"Seems like a good idea." said Karma smiling.

As they were moving, Nagisa could actually feel a dark aura coming from Terasaka. He wanted to make it fast and apologize for the joke while they weren't being watched.

But Karma had slightly different plans.
When they sat down, he asked:
"Nee, Aoi-chan, how did you know my name?"
Nagisa jumped. He had practised what to answer, but he hadn't expected it now.
"Oh, that's..." He waited a bit to think it over. "I often hear how well you perform at the exams, despite been transferred to Class E... I figured from your name that you must have red hair, and when I saw your class, I asked someone if that red haired guy was you."
"So that's how... Interesting!" Karma smiled cheerfully, his teeth showing.

A faint blush appeared on Nagisa's face.
Then he turned back to reality and started cursing himself for thinking that his best friend actually looked cute.
'And why am I still playing my role instead of telling the truth?' he wondered. 'It must be because I still think he deserves a little trick.'
So he decided to continue it for a while, hoping that his 'spies' would get bored and leave.

"Aren't you disgusted because I'm in the End class?" Karma put his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand.
Nagisa shaked his head.
"It doesn't matter." He was trying to consider every slobber-y lines a girl could say in this kind of situation. "I've heard you were transferred there because of your behaviour and not your grades. So I'm sure you're not only smart, you're also good at fighting!"
He could've vomitted from hearing his own words, but it really wasn't something Nagisa would say and it made Karma laugh.
"Haha, my best friend also said something like that!"
Nagisa's eyes widened.
"Your best friend?"
"Yeah. He looks similar to you, you might have seen him." Noticing Nagisa's shocked expression, Karma continued: "Oh, sorry for comparing you to a guy, but he could make an as beautiful girl as you." An evil grin. "And believe me, one day I'll make him cut it off."

It made Nagisa so annoyed he almost forgot that he needed to act like a girl.
"Hey, what a rude thing it is to say about your friend...!"
He managed to calm down a bit, then the first thing he thought was 'Oh my god, I tought that line was girly, but I had actually said it before! Wait, then I actually helped him realize I'm Nagisa!'

Karma must've seen his troubled expression and grabbed his trembling hand.
"Aoi-chan, is there something wrong?"

Nagisa's heart skipped a beat.
Heat flushed to his cheek as he was sitting frozen, without moving an inch. Then the gentle circling strokes on his hand slowly calmed him down.

He didn't think about the role he had to play or the possibility of Terasaka or anyone else from his gang still watching them, he just wanted to stay like that for a while.

"Are you okay now?" asked Karma, hands resting on the other boy's.
Nagisa nodded. He was so calm he could even make an excuse.
"I just mistook someone for a person I don't want to meet. It's alright." he smiled.

Karma leaned a bit forward.
"Oh, you're really cute."
He made Nagisa blush again.

Then they continued talking about various things, switching from the boring everyday life to discussing how drunk the current performer was or how badly they dressed.

Karma sometimes stared at Nagisa who always got anxious by it.
Then out of the blue, Karma reached for Nagisa's glasses and took them off.
"You look much better without them."

Nagisa started to panic now that there was nothing to hide his eyes.
The he literally froze when Karma reached for the back of his neck to unbraid his hair.
"Oh, now it's perfect!" said Karma after he finished. "No offense, I just feel it suits you better."

Nagisa was speechless. Was he found out? Hopefully not. Karma didn't say it.
So he managed to calm down. For now, he didn't want to think about how to put an end to this whole embarrassing situation.

The gazes got more frequent. Nagisa really wanted to read those calm, admiring irises.
'His eyes are like a mix of elements. I can't decide if they resemble gold, mercury or copper... Okuda-san must like them.' Then a faint blush appeared on his face, noone knows how many times it was. 'I think I like them, too.'
He shaked his head. 'What, I'm not only acting like a girl, now I'm even thinking like one?' He sighed. 'He's not even looking at me with those eyes. That look's for Shiomura Aoi, not for Shiota Nagisa.'

"Ne Aoi-chan, isn't it a bit late?" asked Karma suddenly.

Nagisa noticed the time. It was almost 8, although he had planned to end the whole thing in a few minutes.
He couldn't see anyone familiar, which means Terasaka and the others must have left. What a good news.

"Oh, that's right, time surely flies...!" he nervously laughed.
'Which means it's time to go. What do I say?'
He was standing up as he felt those calming hands on his again.

"How about next time as we agreed?" asked Karma as he winked.
"Well, that's a bit..."
"Come on, you said yes!" He leaned closer. "Or am I not like what you expected and you actually don't like me?"
"That's wrong, I DO like you... I really like you...!" replied Nagisa without thinking.
Then he put a hand on his mouth, realizing he just confessed.

"Is that so?" Karma left his seat and took a step towards Nagisa. "I'm glad to hear it, but then why are you refusing a next date?" He put his hands on Nagisa's waist.
Something switched inside the blue haired boy's mind.
He could've panicked again over what to say, but the feeling of those hands made him want to play around a bit.

He stood on tiptoe and put his arms around Karma's neck, whispering in his ear "I'm not sure you aren't doing this only for teasing."

"Hah, I'm not sure either." Karma's hands wandered under Nagisa's shoulder blades and embraced him thightly. After a short while, he said: "But hey, you don't believe I'm serious?" He let Nagisa go and caressed his cheek.
Nagisa poked Karma's forehead and smiled.
"I don't."
"Then I'll make you believe me." He grabbed Nagisa's chin. "Push me away if you don't want it."
Since there was no reaction, he pressed his lips to Nagisa's.
The blue haired boy literally screamed inside. He wanted to retreat, but he should've done it sooner.
The kiss was so gentle he didn't feel uncomfortable. Actually, it felt quite good.
He clung to Karma's neck and kissed back.

When they separated, Nagisa got back to reality. He had kissed his best friend while being dressed as a girl in order to trick him, in addition, he even enjoyed the kiss!
With this, it became more than an innocent joke. It was more like humilation now, as Terasaka had intended.
He didn't want it.
'I must end it now. It might not be too late. Now or never!'

He took a deep breath.
"Karma, I need to tell you something...!"

Karma grinned.
Whit his reply, he made all the explanation unnecessary.
"What, do you want more, Nagisa?"