He didn't know how it happened so favourably for him, but somehow, Nagisa had been accepted to learn the ways of the assassin professionally. However, as an apprentice of this delicate and bloody art, his mentor- though busty, eternally flirtatious and whiny- absolutely astounded him.

Irina is admiringly proficient in seduction. Her carefully constructed words attracts her targets towards her like a moth to a flame. She's graceful, beautiful, deadly and analytical all at once. Through the eyes of an amateur, this is what you had to strive for to thrive in this profession. But through Nagisa's eyes, she was his best bet to finally have control over his nearly uncontrollable desire to spill blood.

Ever since the final showdown with Takaoka, Nagisa found himself growing more and more susceptible to the overwhelming urge to just simply slit a random throat; either friend or foe would do. The rush of his first assassination with Takaoka made him aware of his talents- if not that, it was his classmates' and teachers' praises that brought the message home. His interest in killing stealthily and deceptively piqued the fascination of some, while others began to feel wary of it. Fortunately, his yearning to kill hasn't caused anybody's death yet, much to his (and everyone else's) relief. With the exception of the mad military man who thought himself his father, he hasn't felt bloodlust of that magnitude since this development.

It was Karasuma who noticed the signs of his struggle first. Despite the man's business-orientated mind, he knew how to take care of his own. He was more of a father than Nagisa's own pathetic excuse of an unreasonable mother. Karasama looked him in the eye whenever they spoke. He clearly regarded Nagisa as a competent adult rather than a child that he knew he was. Karasuma was frank; he had no problem telling Nagisa how unsettled he was at first when the blunet's affinity to sweet deception and python-like sneak attacks were brought to light. He was unsure whether nurturing this talent was even a good idea. But in the end, he caved in, under the condition that Nagisa learned how to control his emotions and improve his crafty speech with Irina before learning more advanced approaches to assassination.

Before he could continue considering the consequences of this training, quiet footsteps approached him.

"Whatcha doin' up there, Nagisa? I didn't know you were a tree hugger."

Nagisa shifted his eyes to see the resident genius assassin smirking at him from the base of the tree.

"At least I'm not obsessed with my own ego. " He replied casually, resuming his comfortable stance on the thick branch, his gaze idly assessing Karma's confident saunter nearing his position.

"Your words scathe me, truly." Karma sighed mawkishly, palms against his chest in a dramatic fashion. "If you could see past my killer looks, do you mind if I join you? I promise I'll behave."

Nagisa chuckled at Karama's playful tone as he gave a quiet nod. He begrudgingly made room for the sarcastic red-head, who was alarmingly swift with his climb up the tree.

"This is a nice spot." Karama commented, languidly stretching across the branch with his back against Nagisa's shoulder. "I'm sure bitch-sensei won't find me here."

Nagisa raised a single brow at him. "What did you do this time?"

The Cheshire grin that followed elicited an exasperated sigh from him. "You know what, forget I even asked. I don't think I want to know."

The menacing grin grew. "A wise choice."

Silence permeated the dense wood, interrupted occasionally by animals here and there. The rustle of leaves soothed Nagisa, calming his tumulus mind and relaxing his tense muscles. Karama remained stock-still, finding Nagisa's shoulder served a good pillow for his flaming red head.

It was strange how close their friendship was, despite their clear-as-day contrasts. Karama was arrogant, fiery in personality underneath the heavy layer of sarcasm and wit he greeted Class-E with every day. On the other hand, Nagisa was as calm as they could go, humble and, at times, timid to a fault. Although they were opposites in that regard, their mutual outlook of assassination was the same, however dissimilar their preferred methods of execution were. While Nagisa found deception to be his forte, Karma was easily thrilled by the very aspect of hand-in-hand combat; the bloodier the better. Regardless, they're common perception of killing made others cautious around them, but that was never the case with each other. They had a shared interest that wasn't socially accepted. Although Class-E were trained assassins, most of them only focused on neutralising the target, and avoided killing as best as they could. That was their game. Nagisa's game couldn't be any more different, the same could be said for the sadist currently unwinding beside him.

Speaking of said sadist…

Nagisa glanced at the red head by his shoulder, who was muttering something incomprehensible again. He smiled fondly at his friend's antics, which were just as quirky as the next. Karma's golden eyes had sharpened to accommodate his complex thought process and rapid fire speech. His hands clenched and unclenched on his lap in a random interval alternating from soft curls of his slender fingers to brutally harsh fists, nails painfully digging into his pale palms.

The blue haired assassin often wondered what Karma pondered whenever he was in this state. It was as if Karma was incapable of normal human functioning unless his rebellious mind solved an invisible and impossible problem under stress free conditions in the company of Nagisa. If Nagisa didn't know any better, he would have assumed that this was Karma's way of displaying his trust to him, despite the occurrence of a certain incident from the past. The past before they even stepped a foot into Class-E, when they were friends who had similar tastes in an obscure production that unknowingly provided Karma a reason to fear the innocent boy.

Nagisa was totally unaware of it himself when it happened. He had no idea his quiet disposition and seemingly sweet voice unnerved people under certain (or any) circumstances. His talent for catching people like Karasuma off guard was first discovered by Karma, who reluctantly recalled the event that caused their temporary termination of friendship.

Karma was uncomfortable describing the fear and snake-like grace of Nagisa's otherwise harmless gesture. It was only a poke on the back. Nothing life-threatening but to Karma, he swore it was quite the opposite.

Nagisa remembered the uncharacteristically disturbed red-head averting his eyes to a nearby bush in order to evade the azure eyes of his blue-haired friend. His sneaky presence at the time was akin to a python beginning to constrict and crush its gullible prey. The movement was slow and deliberate, yet unsuspecting and almost offhand all the same. It was a simple gesture, not a killing blow.

Even though Nagisa didn't intend to do the same thing time and time again, he couldn't help but respond to the beckoning call of a tempting entity that perpetually goaded him into a state of bloodlust. A dark and sensual voice coaxing him with a suggestive, musical note that would put Irina's glib to shame. The dangerous part; he was beginning to listen to it.

And by the crescent moon did he love it.

As Nagisa's mind whirled with possibilities coloured in crimson and black in a contemplative silence, Karma narrowed his eyes carefully at the mildly disconcerting upturn of the corners of Nagisa's suspiciously red lips.