The Death of Restraint
Chapter One
There are always the assumptions that "bad things" only happen to strangers. Such things could not possibly happen to one's self or someone of a certain importance to that self. But, in all truth, those strangers felt the same way. Never believe that someone is ever completely safe, for in actuality, it is likely that "bad things" will happen.
Nagisa stared down in horror at a certain redhead that was sprawled across the floor. His eyes seemed to be pulsating, accentuating his fury. His breath came in short, quick pants. He felt his throat closing, and he felt like choking. But crying wouldn't help his friend.
Nagisa slowly raised his head so his gaze was directed at the man standing over Karma's limp form. The man who was holding a knife, with the blade stained red. The choking sensation disappeared, and his breathing stilled. Nagisa's eyes now only contained rage. Pure, horrifying anger that filled the attacker with dread. He started to back away, but it was too late for him.
In an instant, the small blunette was in his face. And the most terrifying part was not when his knife was pulled from his hand, or when it was held to his throat. It was the innocent smile plastered on the young assassin's face. A smile that would have looked precious at any other time, but then, it only held an awful lifelessness that sent shivers down the stranger's spine. Bloodlust, plain and simple. Nagisa had let go of his control. And it was not only the death of Nagisa's restraint; it was the death of Karma's assailant.
One week previously…
Nagisa had been noticing oddities in Karma's behavior. The taller boy had been making less jabs at Nagisa, had been keeping his attitude down, and hadn't even been trying to assassinate their teacher. Needless to say, Nagisa was worried about his best friend.
He decided to question him one day after class. His redheaded friend was waiting for him outside of the building, as usual, and Nagisa felt a pang of uncertainty. Would he be invading his friend's privacy? But it was just a question, all he'd do was ask Karma if anything was wrong. If Karma didn't want to answer, that was fine. He'd respect his friend's choice, and trust him to tell Nagisa if anything serious was happening.
Walking up to Karma, Nagisa noticed something was off about his expression. It was hardly noticeable, but a tint of fear was reflected from his amber eyes. Worries and doubts began to fill Nagisa's head.
"Hey, Karma-kun." Nagisa greeted his friend as normally as possible, trying to keep any hints of hesitation or worry out of his voice. Karma dipped his head in response. He started to stride away, on their normal routes home. He was stopped when his smaller friend caught his sleeve. He looked troubled.
"Karma-kun… are you okay?" Karma found himself pondering his response. Then he silently told himself to stop being stupid. He was fine. He was always fine.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" He put as much confidence in his voice as he could muster. No need for Nagisa to worry. "Don't be worried, stupid." It was hard to keep the tone of superiority.
"Good." But Nagisa had sensed the hesitation.
And that slight hesitation made Nagisa worry all the way home.
Once Nagisa was home, he checked his phone for any messages from Karma. He deeply wanted to believe that everything was fine, but there was a sensation of foreboding in the back of his mind, warning him to not let his guard down. Karma might be in trouble, and if he was, Nagisa was going to be ready to step in and help his friend. Like Karma would for him.
Nagisa wondered what could be bothering Karma. Was something going on at his home? He knew that Karma's parents weren't home often, opting to leave their son alone at the large house. They were very successful businesspeople, and their house was an obvious representation of their wealth. It was two stories and overly lavish. Nagisa had visited Karma's home before, and the inside was spared no exception to the rich decorations. But it was so empty. Everything was classy and clean, but it was like there were echoes throughout the hallways. The house didn't feel very homey. It was cold. Karma's parents hadn't been there, not walking through those spotless hallways. Karma's room had been the only exception, filled with odd trinkets and half-finished projects and piles of dirty clothes. Stacks of brightly colored notebooks were cluttered around the room in abundance.
Nagisa was a little envious of Karma's freedom. His own mother controlled every aspect of his life, and he longed to escape from her clutches. But he also realized that, beneath his cocky attitude and snide remarks, Karma was lonely.
Nagisa decided to visit his friend sometime that week, just as a reassurance. But, at the moment, his mother had been calling him down for dinner.
At school the next day, Karma wasn't present. Anxiety rooted in Nagisa's chest, and creeped into his heart. The day passed, and Nagisa couldn't keep his mind off of all the possibilities of dangerous situations the redhead could be in. Was he hurt? Was he in trouble? Did he get into a fight? Nagisa pulled his phone out for the hundredth time that day, checking for any texts from Karma. He ignored Koro-sensei's request to put his phone away, and felt the pit in his stomach grow.
Karma: Hey could you come over after school
Karma: I don't really want to be alone
Karma: Someone's been watching my house
Karma: Never mind, Nagisa. Everything is fine. I was just overreacting.
Nagisa sprang up from his seat, fear coursing through his petite body. His eyes stayed glued to his screen.
"Nagisa! Please take your seat!" His teacher demanded, while the rest of the class stared at him. Instead of following his instruction, Nagisa ran out of his classroom, blocking out calls of surprise from his classmates and shouts from Koro-sensei.
Outside of the building, he started to sprint down the mountain his classroom was perched on. On his run down, Nagisa stumbled and fell once or twice, cutting his face on a thorn when he landed on a bush. He winced, but he scrambled to his feet, concern for his friend overpowering any slight pain he might have felt.
Anyone else wouldn't have bothered about the texts, Karma had said he was okay. But Nagisa had been texting him for a while, and knew his friend's texting habits.
Never mind, Nagisa. Everything is fine. I was just overreacting.
The only problem Nagisa had with the text was the breaking of Karma's habit of not punctuating. He never used periods. Nagisa increased his speed. He prayed his friend was alright and that he was just overthinking it, but the sense of foreboding had returned, settling in his gut and yanking at it, pleading for Nagisa to check on his scarlet-haired friend.
When he reached the bottom, he bolted for the train. His foot tapped impatiently while waiting for it to come to the stop. When it finally arrived, Nagisa dashed onto it. His gut twisted further with every passing minute, filling him up with complete dread. His breathing was becoming heavier.
He had sent Karma a series of messages.
Nagisa: Are you okay?
Nagisa: Karma, answer me.
Nagisa: I'm getting worried, tell me you're alright. Please.
But he didn't dare send that he was coming over. If someone had taken Karma's phone to send the other message to him, it would be better if they didn't know he was heading for them. If Karma was really in danger, Nagisa vowed to save him.
The train stopped. Nagisa ran out of it, and sprinted to Karma's street. He continued at full speed until he reached Karma's house. Relief flooded through him. Everything looked fine. Until his gaze settled on the doormat laid out in front of the door. It was where Karma kept his key. Nagisa had suggested he keep it with him, but Karma had refused, saying that he'd lose it.
Nagisa's eyebrows sunk down ever so slightly in confusion.
The right corner was not aligned with the left. It could have just been nudged when Karma stepped inside of his home, but Nagisa had to make sure.
He cautiously crept to the mat and hesitantly reached for it. He lifted the corner and pulled it off of the ground.
Black dread filled him, shock filling and chilling him. He was frozen.
The key was missing.
For the next few seconds, Nagisa stood perfectly still, heart pounding. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
Apprehensively, he wrapped his pale hand around the door knob. He turned it. The door clicked and swung open.
His heart beat faster. He knew something was wrong for sure. Quickly but quietly, he stepped inside of the house. Silently, he shut the door behind him, enveloping him in the orange semi-darkness of later afternoon. It hit him how long it had taken his to get to Karma's house. Class would have been over by this time.
Nagisa shook his thoughts away. His brain was trying to calm him down by making him think of normal things. But normal ended when he heard a muffled shout, a whimper, and the sound of a fist hitting a body.
Nagisa rushed to the stairs, climbing them two at a time, his head pounding, and adrenaline keeping him going. He was exhausted, but he cared for his friend too much to let fatigue wear him down. The sounds were coming from Karma's room.
Suddenly, all of the colors in the hall blurred, and the only thing he could see was the door. All sound was gone except for the dreadful noise of a whimper.
Nagisa charged for the door, and opened the door to the most horrifying thing he had ever witnessed.
A man had backed Karma onto the wall, and had his back towards Nagisa. His head whipped around when the creaking of the door opening gave away Nagisa's entrance. He shifted to face the small boy. And that when Karma was exposed to Nagisa's vision. A knife was stuck in his chest. Slowly, the stranger pulled it out, and Karma screamed. He pushed the man away, and made a mad dash for Nagisa, but he tripped and fell at Nagisa's feet.
He looked terrible. His eye was rimmed with a sickly purple color, and his lip was split. The blood had dried around his mouth. His hair was even more mussed than usual, and a bruise appeared to be forming on his cheek.
And, worst of all, Nagisa could see faint tear tracks on his face. It felt so wrong to him, his strong friend had been overpowered? What had happened to him that had made him lose, and even cry? Nagisa had never seen his courageous friend cry before.
"Help… me." Karma pleaded before his head lolled to the side, and he stilled.
A rushing sound filled Nagisa's ears as he stared at his best friend's form in front of him. Then his gaze was directed at the man with the knife. The knife was still dripping with blood that was too bright to be real. The expression on the man's face was calculating. And maybe a little maniacal.
But that expression changed real fast.
Nagisa felt bloodlust build up inside of him, and his breathing staggered. His eyes narrowed, and subconsciously he realized he could beat this man.
His glare morphed into a smile, so sweet and so childlike. And his feet moved on their own, and in a flash, he was right in front on Karma's attacker. He slipped the knife out of the terrified man's hand.
Smile never leaving his face, he slit the man's throat. He choked, hands flying for his neck. He collapsed as he drowned on his own blood. Nagisa's subconscious faintly registered how weak this man was, but he pushed the idea away.
Nagisa turned to face his best friend's body. He dropped to his knees and felt Karma's pulse. He was still alive.
But he was so pale.
Nagisa pulled out his phone and dialed for an ambulance.
"H-hi. My friend was st-stabbed. Please, help me." All his previous bravery was gone.
"Where are you?" He gave the address, and dropped his phone, the lump in his throat grew too large, and ugly sobs were torn from his throat. Tears rolled down his face, and splashed onto Karma's torso, which he was hovering over.
Still crying, he pulled Karma's head onto his lap and stroked his hair.
He told himself that Karma would be alright, that help was on the way. But that didn't stop him from praying for his friend's life. He rocked him in his lap.
When the ambulance arrived, the medics found a small blue-haired boy sobbing over his friend that was bleeding out.
"Karma-kun!" Nagisa's cries filled the air, adding a desperate tone to the already negative air in the ambulance.
Karma was taken in for immediate surgery. Nagisa was not allowed to stay with him. He was, unwillingly, guided to a waiting room, in which he finally fell silent. His tears stopped flowing.
His friend was injured, and he didn't know what had happened.
And Nagisa had killed a man.
A/N: Hey guys. Did you like it? Should I continue it? (Sorry if characters seem OOC, especially Karma, if I post again I'll explain). Oh, and sorry if I got anything wrong, I've only read part of the manga.