A Darker Path

TheReaperCometh

A/N: Hey, I know the last couple chapters might have been a little… uneventful, in terms of battling for some of you, so here's one with a bit more action :p. Enjoy


Chapter 8:

"Motley Crew"

POV Karma

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I couldn't sleep. So here I am, running around the streets in an attempt to exhaust myself to a point that sleep is inevitable.

You would think I'd be sick of running tonight. But I'm not. Running is the only thing I can do right now.

What little sleep I managed to get was restless. I was tossing and turning, startling awake every time I accidentally bumped into Nagisa. I would then just watch Nagisa's peaceful face under the light of the moon in envious satisfaction, taking note of the minute fluttering of his eyelids during REM. Watching him sleep brought my mind at ease, lulling me to sleep.

But it wouldn't take long until the nightmares drove my eyelids open again.

Images of Nagisa's mother.

Of Kayano.

And every time I awoke to see Nagisa's quiet form, untroubled and unburdened, I became more and more frustrated with the blue haired boy next to me. How can he still be sleeping so soundly? How can he be so unperturbed, while I'm left to my own devices to wallow in guilt and restlessness? I found myself sometimes childishly shaking and prodding him, a part of me wishing he would awake so I could impart some of my suffering upon him.

But he never woke, which only served to fuel my melancholy.

I feel torturously guilty about Kayano's death. Not so much because I couldn't save her: but because I hadn't even considered saving her. I didn't even given her a second glance or thought as I scooped Nagisa into my arms and started to run away. The truth is, now that I have time to process it, I feel like a horrible person. It wouldn't have mattered if I could've saved a hundred, no, a thousand Kayanos - I still would've saved Nagisa in a heartbeat over all of them.

So here I am. I've been running up and down Karasuma's street since 4 a.m, thinking I would become so tired that my brain would no longer be able to trouble itself with any thought other than sleep.

So I had crept downstairs and out the door, hoping to leave my mental burdens behind under the covers.

It's past 5am now. My legs have been moving on autopilot, and I don't feel even the slightest bit tired: perhaps because my mind is inundated with so many thoughts and emotions, it can't even register how exhausted I should be.

I turn around as I reach the end of Karasuma's street for the 54th time, and start heading back towards his house. The streets have been completely empty, seldom for one single car which drove by a half hour ago. Finally, my brain ceases its masochistic train of thought, and I feel a burning sensation in my legs at last. I may be able to get some sleep after all.

Suddenly, Karasuma's front door opens, which sends a spark of alertness down my spine and nullifies the bit of exhaustion that was starting to manifest.

It's fine, I didn't want to sleep anyway, I think to myself sarcastically.

My eyes widen even more as I see Nagisa race out the door.

What is he doing at this hour?

I stop running and watch him with curiosity. He looks around, left and right, I assume to try and figure out where he is. Then he starts jogging down the driveway with a… I squint through the darkness. A smile on his face?

The fuck?

Anger swells inside of me. How can he be smiling at a time like this? Did he forget everything that transpired last night? Did he wipe it from his memory? What could he possibly find joy in at a time like this?

He reaches the end of the driveway, turns left, and starts jogging.

I cock my head to the side. Where is he going? I start thinking about places in that direction he could be going to at a time like this on foot.

And then it hits me, and my anger quickly turns to panic.

Oh no.

His house is that way.

Shit. He's going to his house isn't he?! He doesn't know his mother's fate, so he probably wants to see her.

I force my legs to start moving again. I have to intercept him and stop him before he gets to his house. If he sees his mother…

I don't even want to consider the toll that would take on his mind. It might very well break him.

But now I'm exhausted. Now that I had stopped moving for a few moments, my body protests against the idea of running again. But I have no choice. I have to get to him in time. I force my legs to cooperate, and reconjure the tormenting thoughts in my mind so that I'm no longer focused on how tired I am.

I sure have found myself to be in quite the vicious cycle. After about 5 minutes of jogging I still haven't caught up with him.

"Nagisa!" I call out through laboured breaths, the only response being the quiet humming of cars in neighbouring streets.

Finally, just as my lungs are about to give out, I round a corner and see Nagisa walking along the sidewalk about 20 metres ahead. Lucky for me, he's slowed to a walk.

"Nagisa… wait up, you bastard…" I wheeze. He seems to hear me this time and he whirls around on his heels with a bright look on his face.

"Karma-kun! You're okay! I was wondering where you went!"

My spirits rise as I hear his voice - so full of relief and hope - call out my name. In a way, it lifts a burden off my mind as well: at least I know he doesn't blame me for Kayano's death. I catch up to him, and we begin walking side by side down the street in silence. We're about a 5 minute walk away from Nagisa's house now, and I have no idea how I'll be able to convince him that he can't go inside. There's a stifling air between us, and we both know that the only thing we could possibly talk about right now is our despair. Of course, neither of us want to talk about that yet, so we've come to a silent mutual understanding that it would be best to not say anything at all.

Or at least I thought we had.

"Um, Karma…" Nagisa whispers, coming to a stop. "About earlier…" His bottom lip starts to quiver a bit, and he bites down on it to stop its trembling.

Uh oh. Is he angry at me? Will he berate me for not saving Kayano? Does he think I'm a heartless bastard after all?

"T-thanks… f-for saving me…"

My eyes widen in surprise. If he just wanted to thank me, why does he seem so uncomfortable and anxious? guilty, even. He can't look me in the eyes.

He probably feels like a horrible person for saying that, because it implies he's glad I saved him instead of Kayano.

"Dumbass, don't feel so guilty about being saved over Kayano. And you're welcome". I turn around and start walking away, back towards Karasuma's, hoping to lure him back, I catch a glimpse of Nagisa's dumbfounded face as I turn.

"Eh? How did you know-"

I smile and wave him off.

"Please, you're easier to read than an open book when your guard is down" I snort, still walking away.

"Wait Karma!" He cries out after me.

Why couldn't you just follow me back and make things easy for once?

"I-I'm going to see my mother right now, I can't wait any longer... could you, maybe come with me?" He asks quietly, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot.

I shoot him a glare, which he must misinterpret as a sign of unwillingness to see his mother, because his eyes widen in panic: when really, I'm just desperately trying to think of a way to convince him to come back to Karasuma's.

"P-please! It's just... I'd feel a lot more comfortable with you there when I see her..." he mumbles, a faint blush gracing his pale complexion.

Unable to think of anything persuasive, I sigh in resignation.

"Fine, let's go" I grumble.

He smiles meekly and turns around. I jog up to his side, and then we continue to walk side by side in silence as Nagisa undoubtedly mulls over what to say to his mother.

I've got a bad feeling about this.

POV Nagisa

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there are so many things I want to ask Karma right now. 'What did you dream about tonight? does your heart feel like it's on the verge of exploding every other second? Are you plagued with an unrelenting guilt that makes you want to rip your hair out and scream until your vocal cords break?

I would ask him now, but from the look on his face he's in deep thought right now, and I'd hate to interrupt him. I'll ask him later. I'm just glad he agreed to come with me, now that I'm almost home, a pit has begun growing in my stomach and I don't think I would've been able to face my mother alone.

We round the corner and see the sign marking my street. Looking down the slightly curved road I can see my house, partly illuminated by a nearby streetlight. I don't see any sign of light coming from my dark house, however, which is peculiar because I think I can see my mother's vehicle in the driveway. For some reason, I notice, Karma's face is looking more and more distraught as we make our way down the road.

"Karma, what is the matter with you, you look as though-"

Suddenly, he stops and places a hand on my shoulder. A chill runs through my body, originating from the point of contact between us.

"Nagisa, we can't go in your house right now".

"Huh?" I ask in bewilderment. "Look, I know my mom can be a little... overbearing, but in the end she's still-"

"No that's not it" Karma shakes his head, much to my confusion.

"Then... why not?" I ask.

Because… because…" he stammers. I become impatient and shrug his hand off. I turn to walk away, but he quickly seizes my arm.

"What the hell, Karma! Let me go."

"Nagisa, you can't".

I'm filled with rage. Who the hell does he think he his, saying I can't go home to my mom? She's probably worried sick and I need to let her know I'm okay. He knew this walk's destination was my house the entire time, why wait until now to tell me I can't? And Why?

"Stop messing around, I need to see my mother right now and tell her-"

"No. You don't. You really don't need to."

He says it with such certainty, looking directly into my eyes. All my anger drains away, replaced with a foreboding curiosity. His scarlet eyes have a fiery glint in them, that tells me he won't let me go to my house right now no matter what I say or do.

"Why? Karma, why can't I go back to my own damn house?"

He looks away. There's something he's not telling me. I'm dying to know.

"Just trust me. Please, Nagisa. Let's just go back to Karasuma's for now. We have a lot to discuss. I'll explain everything later. Please" He implores.

I can see a distinct shimmer of desperation in his eyes. The word 'please' is not apart of Karma's common vernacular. Using it twice in one sentence, now that's just unheard of. The hair on the back of my neck raises and I feel a strange obligation to listen to him. I shoot a glance over my shoulder at my house, its darkness now seems more ominous and uninviting than it did 30 seconds ago.

"Um… okay, Karma, if you say so".

I see a wave of relief wash over his entire visage and his grip on my shoulder lessens. He owes me a really good explanation for this later.

"Thank you, Nagisa-chan" Before I can complain about his teasing, he reaches over and undoes the band holding my hair up, causing it to cascade over my shoulders. He starts jogging away with a broad smirk on his face. I blush in embarrassment.

"H-hey! Not funny, Karma-kun" I start chasing after him, fumbling clumsily with my hair. Apparently my agreement to go back was enough to raise his mood back to his typical childish demeanor in an instant. Well, he said he'd explain everything later. Besides, maybe it wouldn't be best to barge into my mom's room at 5 in the morning... I can see her at a more reasonable time tomorrow morning.

It's not like she's going anywhere anyway.

Karma's so tired that I catch up to him quickly.

We look at each other, side by side, running down the sidewalk.

We notice the bags under each other's eyes at the same time, and we both burst out laughing. I wonder how much sleep he got tonight?

That was the first time either of us had laughed in quite a while. We begin to cross an intersection, just one street away from Karasuma's.

Suddenly, I'm blinded by a powerful white light.

Before I can even turn my head to the source, Karma tackles me to the ground and we land on the sidewalk harshly.

I can register the sound of screeching car tires.

If not for Karma's quick reaction, we'd have both been roadkill right now.

Karma grunts from on top of me.

"You okay, Nagisa?'

"Y-yeah"

My elbows, on the other hand, are not okay. They feel like they're on fire, undoubtedly scraped.

Karma pushes off of me, and angrily starts walking over to the car now parked in the middle of the intersection.

I get up and slowly and examine my elbows. The movement of the joints brings a dull pain through the raw lacerations. The tender wounds aren't bleeding too much, but I can see bits of gravel lodged fairly deep in my flesh. I lower my arms to my side and look up at the car which almost killed us. Karma's almost reached the driver side's window. I almost feel bad for whoever is in that vehicle. If you think Karma is harsh and antagonistic normally, then you can't even begin to imagine what he's like when he's in a bad mood, overtired, AND you almost killed him. I watch anxiously. My muscles tense as I get ready for the inevitable; I'm gonna have to restrain him from killing whoever is in that vehicle.

But then I take a closer look at the vehicle itself.

It's eerily similar to Karasuma's, which I remember him saying was a specific model that only a field agent or military officer like him could acquire. They aren't sold on the public market.

I watch the vehicle warily.

Karma raises his hand and pounds on the driver's window with an annoyed look on his face.

The windows are tinted, and thus impossible to see through from the outside.

"Hey, asshole, open up! You almost killed us! Either roll down your window or I'll rip this goddamn door off its hinges!"

Suddenly I sense an unmistakeable bloodlust swell from within the vehicle.

"Karma, wait-"

Too late.

They car door swings open, knocking Karma back. The driver steps out of the vehicle, without saying a word and looks down at Karma. He's a big guy, a veritable giant in fact. The way his gut jiggled as he climbed out of the vehicle, however, tells me right away that most of his mass is fat, not muscle. He's wearing a black suit and dark shades. His head is bald, brightly reflecting the light from the street lights around us.

"What the fuck is your problem, do you have a death wish, asshole?" Karma snarls from the ground. He gets up quickly and rolls up his sleeves.

"Nothing to say, huh? So not only are you obese and ugly, you're also a mute?"

Something is off about this guy. I slow my breathing and close my eyes and focus on him. His heart rate is extremely slow. He's too calm, all his muscles are very loose. Suddenly I sense a quick spike in his heart rate before it returns to normal, and his left arm becomes much stiffer than the rest of body: much like an old western cowboy's drawing arm right before he draws his gun.

"Karma, look out!"

He looks at me puzzlingly, and as soon as his eyes meet mine, the man reaches behind him and draws a sharp dagger.

My heart stops beating for a second.

As if in slow motion, I see a flash of metal as a blade is thrusted at karma's throat.

Karma's gaze shifts back to the man and his eyes widen in surprise, as he twists his body to the left and narrowly dodges the blade. He grabs the man's extended arm, and with a swift and merciless motion, snaps it back. An audible crack echoes through the streets, and the previously mute attacker wails in agony and drops his knife. Before it even hits the ground, Karma snatches it out of midair and drives it back into the man's shoulder. He falls to his knees, clutching the shoulder of his now fractured, and stabbed arm. Karma clutches the attacker's face, pressing both his thumbs into the man's eyes, eliciting another howl of pain. I wince in sympathy, and make my way over to Karma. At this point Karma's going to kill him!

"Who sent you, you fat fuck! Do you know anything about the tentacle creature?!"

I put my hand on Karma's shoulder.

"Karma, that's enough-"

Surprisingly, he shrugs my hand off with a quick roll of his shoulder, not even looking back or removing his vice grip from the man's eyes. Another second passes, and Karma, already impatient from not getting an immediate answer, presses his thumbs with even more force into the guy's eyeballs. A sickening squish is heard, followed by the trickle of blood from the man's eye sockets. That's… disgusting. Karma lets go of his victim, and watches him keel over on the road, clutching at his eyes with his hand.

"Well, who sent you!? WHO?!"

Karma rips the knife from the man's shoulder, and raises it high in the air.

My heart starts pounding, and the furious glint in his eyes tell me he's actually going to execute the crippled man before us.

The downward motion of his arm begins, metal edge plunging towards the man's neck.

"Karma, No!"

I reach for his wrist to stop him, but I know I won't catch it in time. My eyes fall to the helpless fellow before us, and I brace myself for the flash of blood that will soon mark his death.

But then a gunshot is heard, and the knife flies from Karma's hand, clattering to the pavement a few metres away.

"Whoa, settle down there, ya little firecracker" says a voice in a foreign accent from the backseat of the car.

3 doors open up at the same time, and 3 equally eccentric men step out into the light from the car. The first one I notice is really short. Can't be more than 5 feet tall. He's wearing a bright yellow tuxedo with an equally appalling bowler hat. Tufts of greasy hair poke out from under the brim of his hat. He has an unusually bulbous nose. A scruffy unkempt beard that's longer in some spots than others, as if he had gotten lazy in the middle of his last shave, covers the bottom half of his face. Under different circumstances, I would've found his appearance humorous.

"Damn, you really messed up our chauffeur nice and good!" The yellow man says with a laugh, interrupted with intermittent snorts. How obnoxious can a laugh be?

The second newcomer resembles a gorilla. He regards us with eyes that are a bit too far apart, connected by a unibrow bridge, and a goofy gold toothed grin. The first thing I notice is the large brass knuckle covering his left fist.

"Play time?" The large ape-man asks, looking at us with hungry eyes as he cracks his neck with a quick jerk of his head. I gulp, but I notice Karma staring defiantly right back at him.

"Who the fuck are you freaks?" Karma hisses.

I focus my attention on the third man.

The third one, seemingly the leader and the one responsible for shooting the knife out of Karma's hand laughs. He's got a pristine silver-grey suit on, matching the shade of his hair and mustache. He has piercing blue eyes like mine, and a bushy grey mustache monopolizing the entire centre of his face. He looks quite old, but his eyes reflect a youthful shimmer. He has a fancy looking cane in his left hand with an engraved motif of an ivory snake travelling down its entire length, mouth agape and fangs bared at the end, as if with the intention of devouring the ground beneath it. Most interestingly enough, it has glistening purple amethysts for eyes. But he doesn't seem to use it for support. He maintains a rigid and upright posture, shoulders and back straight - certainly not the way an enfeebled old man carries himself. He didn't use it to help him out of the car either, which leads me to believe he either carries it around as a purely fashionable feature, or it has a more sinister purpose, as promised by the ivory snake.

"Yeah Curtis, it's time to have some fun. Just remember, the boss wants these boys ALIVE, ya hear? And I don't want to take any chances, so no beating them within an inch of their life either. If they up and die on us, we don't get paid!"

"You got it, boss" says the short greasy one, who draws a pair of tonfas and sneers at us. I've never seen a hitman fight with stick weapons before.

The big one looks down glumly. Then his face lights up as he if he just had the most incredible revelation.

"Hey boss, is beatin' 'em within TWO inches of their lives okay?"

The mustachioed man smiles, deep wrinkles forming around the corner of his eyes as he does.

"Ho ho, yes Curtis, two inches will be just dandy. But no closer than that!"

The gorilla smiles and cracks his knuckles

"Gotcha!"

They take a step towards us.

"You like my cane?" The old man says with a gracious tone as he notices my eyes scanning its entirety.

I decide to play along and nod. Maybe if I get him talking about it, it'll give me enough time to think of a plan for this predicament.

"I'm glad ya like it! I made it myself!" He exclaims while running his hand along the engraved snake, admiring his own craftsmanship: "I crafted it many years ago, and it's been my weapon of choice ever since!"

He concludes his statement with the press of a button along the handle, and a ridiculously sharp blade juts out of snake's mouth. I notice a strange purple fluid dripping from the snake's new fang and it doesn't take a genius to deduce what it is. As if reading my mind, he continues:

"Yep, that right there is some nifty stuff. A single drop in the bloodstream can kill a grown man in just 10 seconds! But don't worry, I've diluted it just for tonight - just enough to knock ya out for a few hours and maybe make your tummy a bit upset!"

The small yellow man tosses the old man a dirty look.

"Boss…" He warns while drawing two baton-like weapons from his side - tonfas. Odd choice of weaponry for a hitman.

"Ho ho! Sorry about that Harold! I suppose I let my mind wander again. Anything you youngsters wanna say before we wallop ya?" The old man says in a playful tone. Karma smirks back.

"Hoh? I don't know who your boss is, but if he thinks a motley crew of degenerates like you can fight us then he's sadly mistaken. So why don't you just tell us who put you up to this, and you can be on your way. I don't want to have to force you into retirement gramps"

The big one frowns.

"I don't like that one boss. Can I hurt him extra good?"

"I don't much care for him either, Curtis. Him, you can beat within an inch of his life, 'kay?"

The old man turns back to face us.

"Sorry boys, it ain't nothin' personal. It's just business!"

I watch a drop of the ghastly fluid drip from his cane. My head starts to spin just thinking about it coursing through my body.

Karma tosses me a cocky glance, somehow undeterred by the unfavorable odds we face.

"Oi, Nagisa. Calm down. We just gotta work together on this one."

I nod grimly and take a deep breath, bringing my heart rate down to normal.

The larger one, Curtis, is unsurprisingly the first to attack. He makes a crude swing at my head and I easily avoid it by ducking. My heart flutters as I hear it collide with something. There's no way Karma let that hit him!

I look back and see that it did. Only, Karma allowed it toconnect intentionally. I sigh. I guess Karma felt the need to block it to display his own physical strength. Damn him. Albeit, he used both arms and he came dangerously close to hitting himself in the head from the knockback. Luckily, the haymaker had come from his naked fist, with no brass knuckle. No doubt, this Curtis is a monster of brute strength.

The grey haired man smiles and chuckles heartily: "Ho ho! You took that hit impressively! Shucks, here I thought you were just a couple of whippersnappers! Curtis, looks like you've got a playmate that won't break after one hit! This might be fun after all!"

Curtis laughs hysterically.

"Hooray! New friend!" He shouts happily, then begins a brutal barrage of fists directed at Karma, completely ignoring me. Not that I mind. I watch helplessly as Karma drifts further and further away from my position, forced to dodge and weave around the behemoth's swings.

I start to turn to help him but the old man lunges at me in an instant with a surprising swiftness that catches me off guard. The snake's glistening eye is inches away from my face, and I have no doubt that if he had wanted to, the old man could've pierced me right there.

"Tsk. Now now, your fight is with us! Don't worry, Curtis treats his friends nicely, so there's no need to interrupt them!" He draws his cane back and I jump back, creating some breathing room between me and the two men. Sorry Karma, I've got my hands full.

With a sudden outcry, the yellow man, Harold, tosses his bowler hat to the side and lunges. I try to block the first few strikes, but the impact that the hard wooden weapons have on my arms is too hard, so I quickly resort to my typical defense method - dodging. But it's proving to be really difficult. I can't adjust to this guy's rhythm because I'm completely unfamiliar with the weapon he's using. He's definitely an expert of the tools, and I've already been jabbed and struck a couple times. I duck under his next swing, and twist my body to build up momentum and deliver a kick to his ribs. He deflects my leg with one of his sticks and delivers a quick strike to my kneecap with the other before I can retract it. I didn't hear a crack so I don't think it's broken. I nimbly backflip away from him.

Harold closes the distance in an instant, swinging his tonfa at my face. I lean back to dodge it, but at the last second, he extends the length of the tonfa with a flick of his wrist. I barely manage to react in time, transforming my lean into a duck and weave. My knee throbs in protest as I leaned against it to dodge, causing me to wince. This is bad.

I shoot a sideways glance to the old man, who's watching our battle intently with keen eyes. I can hear shouting and the rustle of footsteps on pavement behind me. Seems Karma's struggling a bit himself. I can't risk looking back though. We're very lucky that they aren't taking things seriously so far. If all three of them had attacked in earnest, Karma and I would've lost by now.

Harold repositions his grip on the tonfas, now holding them by the part he had just been using to strike me with - the previously used handles now jut horizontally out from the vertical shaft, like the head of hammers. I frown. Just as I was starting to get a feel for things, he switches his style. He begins swinging his 'hammers' in a quick and methodical motion, which lucky for me, allows me to at least find a rhythm.

"Hoh? You're pretty good at dodging, but is that all you're good at?" Harold quips in between swings. From his tone, however, I can tell he's frustrated his attacks aren't landing.

"Maybe if you had a bit longer reach, you'd have more luck" I retort back. I see his eyebrow arch in annoyance, and he begins swinging more wildly. Short people will always react strongly to short jokes.

I weave through and around his strikes very easily. He goes for a heavy upward swing at my chin, which will surely break my jaw if it connects. It was a telegraphed swing though, and I easily jump to the side to avoid it.

Right into his trap.

As I dodge to the right, I see his other arm extend out towards me. He anticipated this..!

With no time for me to react, he successfully hooks his tonfa handle into my shirt collar, and wrenches me to the side, putting me off balance. At the same time, he swings his other tonfa from overhead down towards my face.

I grab his wrist holding the tonfa hooked into my collar and dig my thumb into a pressure point I remember Karasuma teaching us about. Surprised by this, Harold jerks his hand back instinctively and releases the tonfa. Because of his surprise, his overhead swing also became sloppy and weak: now free from his grip, I raise both hands and deflect the attack, launching his arm to the side from the knockback.

Now that he's wide open, I go in for the kill.

I take a step forward and raise my hands right in front of his face. He looks surprised and moves to step back but it's too late.

I clap my hands together, and I can almost see the synapses in his brain shut down. He stops moving. His arms go slack and he drops his second tonfa. I then remember a great technique Karasuma sensei showed us briefly in one of our self defense lessons.

I reach my arm over Harold's shoulder and loop it back through under his armpit, then lock it against my other wrist. This forces him to bend over, with his arm bent in an awkward L shape. Just then, Harold snaps back to reality and I can feel him start to struggle against my hold. For a little guy, he's pretty strong. But it's no use now that he doesn't have his tonfas and I've seized his arm in a Kimura armlock. Without a moment's hesitation, I twist my body, turning into Harold. As I do, I violently jerk his arm up and behind his back until I hear a loud pop and an audible tear.

Harold wails in agony. His shoulder is now severely dislocated, with nearly every ligament brutally torn. But I don't stop there. I keep lifting to further exacerbate the damage incurred on his shoulder, until he teeters so far forward and off balance, I sweep his legs out with an effortless kick and he slams into the ground, gasping and clutching his destroyed shoulder.

I waste no time grabbing a tonfa that had rolled just a few feet away, before jumping on the man again. Instinct takes over and all sanity escapes me, as I slam the end of the tonfa into his face twice, breaking his nose with the first and knocking him out with the second. I'm about to slam it down one final time when I suddenly feel a sharp prick against my neck.

I look down and see a snake's purple eye stare back at me.

My visions starts to blur and I start to feel light headed. I drop the tonfa and roll off of Harold's unconscious body, toppling onto my back on the pavement. I feel my heart rate start to slow at an alarming rate.

I shoot a glance Karma's way, and see him pinned against the ground being choked by the giant. Both their faces are bruised and pulverized, But Karma's face is a swollen mess.

From the poison's effect, my heart rate begins to slow. It spikes briefly for a moment, however, as I realize there's no way Karma's getting out of that hold. His face is turning bright red. I weakly outstretch my hand towards him in a futile effort.

"Karma..kun…"

My breathing slows more and it becomes even more difficult to keep my eyes open. It feels like there's molasses coursing through my veins.

I hear the old man's voice as he begins to speak to me in a gleeful tone.

"Bravo, young man! Jolly good show! Really! I didn't bother intervening earlier because I thought Harold had you for sure: but you sure showed him! You have my respect! And then that strange thing you did with your hands! I was so mesmerized by it that by the time I snapped back to reality you had utterly defeated him!"

He laughs, and my vision blurs even more.

"Hmm, it seems that by diluting the poison also means it takes much longer to knock you out. It's been around 30 seconds!"

He continues rambling, but I can barely focus on his words. My eyes are still glued to Karma, hoping to see his victorious escape before I go to sleep.

"I feel awful having to end it like this, Nagisa… that is your name right? Or is your hotheaded friend Nagisa? Does that mean you're the one named… uh… what was it? Carl? Caramel? Harold help me out here, my memory is failing me" He gazes expectantly to his comrade.

No response from Harold.

The old man laughs: "Oh, no matter. Whoever you are, I wish you good luck! Not that it'll help, as our employer is pretty hellbent on killing you... but should you somehow survive after we deliver you, perhaps fate will be kind enough to have us cross paths again!".

I feel two arms grab me as he starts to drag me to their car.

"I had a jolly good time tonight. Sleep well"

Just as my eyes start to close, still glued on Karma who's resisting with less and less effort, I see a flash of movement, and suddenly Curtis is sent flying through the air off of Karma, who begins gagging and desperately taking in lungfuls of air. The newcomer helps Karma to his feet and then steps into the light.

I smile weakly.

"Karasuma...sensei…"

I can no longer keep my eyes open. With a final slow and shaky exhale, I slip into darkness.

Next Chapter: Karasuma's wrath! The conclusion of this late night bout. And Nagisa learns the truth...