"It's about what we expected," Karasuma nodded, after Nagisa finished recounting what happened. "Your cellmate is still asleep in our medical facility, but once he wakes up we're hoping to start a series of tests, so we can figure out exactly what he's been drugged with."

Karma waved his hand. "I've seen it from my own eyes, Karasuma san. I know it works."

He couldn't help but look over at Karma in alarm. They really hadn't had a chance to talk yet, after getting out. Nagisa had slept practically the entire journey back, and then they'd been shuffled into Karasuma's office right away. He was barely even sure if he was stringing the details of their mission together correctly, though he tried to get as much information out at once.

Karasuma looked at Karma directly. "What did you see?"

He shrugged. "It was sure aggressive in there, every now and then. But something about it wasn't right, unless you saw it… I can't explain. Two guys started fighting, but it wasn't human. They weren't angry, but they were trying to kill each other. They weren't just a couple of crazies, either."

"Very well," he nodded. "You've both done a lot for this investigation. Now you should get some rest, try and regain the strength in your bodies."

Karma nodded, and made to leave, but Nagisa didn't want to waste the opportunity. Sure, he was aware that they'd been away for a significant amount of time already, but he got the sense that actually talking to Karasuma during this investigation was more rare than he'd have liked. So Nagisa had to ask.

"Karasuma san," he said, "c-can I go see Yuu, when he wakes up?"

His face remained neutral. "I have no problem with it. Okuda san and Takebayashi san have already volunteered to help with the research. Maybe you can get some more information out of him."

They both left, then, headed for their return to the facility with everyone else. It would be nice, to see so many familiar faces again. Nagisa wanted to know, considering how long it had actually been, what they'd been doing. It couldn't have been just he and Karma on a mission… and now Nagisa felt a desperation to get to the bottom of the information.

"Hey," Karma side stepped a little, nudging Nagisa in the shoulder.

"Hey," Nagisa did it back, as they entered the lift, and the doors shut on them.

It wasn't like he was as touch starved anymore. They'd spent pretty much the whole time in the care back somewhat cuddling. It didn't really feel like enough though, after weeks. If Nagisa was like this now, then when this was all over he probably wouldn't even be able to let Daichi go. Perhaps that's why he felt such a deep urge to be attached to Karma, like he knew something really big was missing, but he couldn't actually fill it.

"What happened to your hands?" Nagisa eventually asked, looking down.

Karma looked at them too, where they were definitely rough and scuffed. "I guess weeks of mind numbing work does that to you. I stopped feeling it after a few days."

The thing was, once Karma mostly left the constant fighting behind, his hands were actually pretty soft. Maybe if Nagisa had actually brought it up a long time ago, Karma would have just blamed his constant handling of baby products, but really it was because he didn't really lift much a finger in his day to day life. Nagisa didn't mind, though. His recent discovery was that they were really nice to hold, after all.

"Seems more interesting that staring at a wall."

Karma tilted his head. "Yeah? No prison fights?"

"…Maybe one."

The door opened, then, and they naturally drifted just a little apart, as though they were trying to figure out a distance that was appropriate to greet their friends with. Though, unfortunately for him, they didn't quite get a dramatic reunion. In fact, everyone seemed very much engaged with their own thing, and they weren't even noticed.

"I don't know what we should do," Nagisa said.

Karma shrugged. "I'd go take a nap, but from memory these beds were less comfy than the ones in prison."

"Right," Nagisa nodded. "I guess we should… get ourselves filled in, on everything that happened."

"It feels like I lost sense of time."

Nagisa understood that, at the very least. He knew of course that had been three weeks, but every day blurred itself into one, so much so that it honestly felt like it hadn't been as long as that. Perhaps that was a good thing, from an actual prisoner's perspective. He might have actually turned crazy, if he'd retained a normal sense of time in there.

"Maybe we should keep a little bit of distance from each other," Nagisa said, without really thinking about it.

"Oh," Karma went a little quiet for a moment. "Yeah, if you want."

Right then he realised maybe Karma had taken that the wrong way. Nagisa hadn't meant anything bad by it… yet he seemed at least a little bothered. He kind of wished he hadn't said anything at all, if it was going to make him annoyed. This talking thing… it was hard. Especially after spending a few weeks apart, it was like Nagisa needed to recalibrate.

"Wait," he grabbed him by the wrist, "I just mean, you're distracting."

"I'm distracting-"

"It's embarrassing," he looked down, "all I want right now it to wrap myself up in your lap and not let go, but I think it'll freak our friends out too much, especially if we're meant to be getting updates… It'll be hard to stop myself."

"Okay," Karma said, much lighter that time as his cheeks flushed before his eyes. "But I'll see you later."

Nagisa thought about letting him go, just about then, but he couldn't bring himself to. Instead, he pulled Karma in, right into a deep hug. Nagisa hadn't felt this needy in a very long time, but Karma had no complaints, holding him close for however many minutes it was before Nagisa finally pulled away with a nod, and turned on his heel, lest they stay like that all day.

It seemed like most people were in the middle of various training, though with a quick headcount some of his friends were absent. Perhaps on some kind of mission themselves. Nagisa sighed, realising he actually had a lot to catch up on. Karasuma was right, though, it would be best to focus on gaining as much of his strength as soon as possible. Luckily, he managed to spot Kayano, over in the corner throwing knives and it seemed like a good chance.

"Hi," he said, and Kayano snapped up.

"Nagisa!" Her face widened in joy as she drew him into a hug. "You were gone so long."

"Yeah," he nodded, "it took a while. But I'm glad to be back now."

She grinned. "I'm glad to have you back. Some people have had stuff to do, but it was so much quicker. It feels like you and Karma were gone for ages. Though… at least you were together, right?"

Nagisa grimaced. "Actually we weren't. They separate alphas and omegas in prison."

"Oh," she wrinkled her nose, "that doesn't sound good."

"It was tough," Nagisa admitted.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean," he breathed, "it was hard when we went from university too. Even when we were fighting, living together pretty much meant we saw each other all the time, so it was a weird change. And even though I got used to it, recently we're kind of living together again, though it's kind of different, so that feeling was stronger this time."

Nakamura cleared her throat, appearing behind them. "I'd missed my weekly 'Nagisa pining' update."

"I'm not pining," he defended, "I just-"

She waved him off. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I'm surprised you survived prison. Omega prison? What was that like?"

"They're… really big fans of Haruna Mase."

Kayano's face turned a little red. "Really? I-I'm grateful, but… I didn't think my work would reach that far."

Nakamura elbowed her in the ribs. "You're famous everywhere. They even have a fan club for you in London."

"A-anyway," Nagisa said, before things got too off track. "Did anything happen whilst we were gone?"

Nakamura shrugged. "Ritsu's been trying to find any kind of digital footprint, but it's a lot. Even for an AI like her, she can only process so much information at once, and there's not a lot we can narrow it down to. We're also doing a lot of surveillance, but I don't know everything."

It still seemed like an incredibly high hill to climb. Slow going, but hopefully as they were able to narrow in, getting the information would be easier. Nagisa could only hope that having Yuu might solve part of the puzzle, considering that he'd had a large amount of interaction with whoever it was. But he needed to be okay first.

"Here," Kayano pressed her weapon into his hand, "why don't you throw a knife?"

It actually did make Nagisa feel a little better. It was kind of a mindless activity, but not in the same way prison had been. In the back of his mind, he still had to think about the weight, and how hard he was throwing it. Nagisa had never been the best when it came aim, but he was fairly well practised and at least hit the target, if not perfectly in the centre.

Why did he miss Karma again already?

"Nagisa," a shrill voice broke his concentration, and Yaiba san shot him a look, motioning him towards her.

He handed the knife back to Kayano. "Thanks."

Yaiba san sighed dramatically when he approached, turning her heel almost immediately. "Your friend's conscious."

"I-is he okay?"

She shrugged. "He's spoken a few coherent sentences. The boss says you might be able to get some more out of him."

Were they in one of Karma's weird yakuza films? Whatever the case, Nagisa followed her through the extensive hallways, all the way back into the elevator again. He supposed that it made a little bit of sense, that all the medical stuff would be kept a little further away. Before they reached anything that resembled a hospital, though, there seemed to be far more labs, purpose built for some kind of research.

"Okay," she stopped outside of a room. "It's this one."

"Yaiba san," he said, "is there anything I can't say to him?"

She looked him over for a moment. "He's in our custody now. He's still a convicted criminal, so he's not going anywhere."

Nagisa nodded, feeling a bit awkward about her comment, before he stepped inside. It was worse than he remembered, now the adrenaline and urgency weren't clouding the rest of his judgements. Yuu was so much more purple now the bruises had more time to develop, too, and it made his stomach turn, though at least the bleeding had stopped.

"Thought you were an illusion," Yuu said, his voice dry and croaky.

He attempted a weak smile. "No, I'm very real."

Yuu shifted in his bed, wincing as he did so. "Is your name even 'Nagisa'? They gave me a brief explanation, but let's be real, I don't care."

Nagisa came closer, and pulled up a chair to sit at Yuu's side. "I wasn't convicted of anything, and I'm a government agent, but everything else was the truth."

"Government agent," he muttered something under his breath, "I mean, I guess you did take me down pretty easy that one time. But I don't get it. What does the government want with me?"

He looked down at the ground. "I-I thought you might be useful."

"Useful…" Yuu sighed out a laugh. "I've never heard that one before."

"Listen," Nagisa said, "that man you were meeting, he's not just doing an innocent clinical trial. We know he's making some kind of drug, that's likely going to be pretty dangerous, we just don't know what it is yet. So it was better to bring you here with us."

"It hasn't done anything, though," Yuu folded his arms. "That's why he was so angry."

He shifted. "It doesn't matter, really. We're still going to be doing a few tests, so you don't have to know anything about it."

Yuu sniffed the air, then. "You smell like your alpha again."

Well, Nagisa supposed he'd spent that entire car ride pressed into his neck. "S-sorry. He helped carry you, you know-"

"Hmm," he pouted, "I'll reserve judgement. I take it he's some kind agent too?"

"Kind of…" then Nagisa remembered something. "Actually, even Haruna Mase's an agent here. I'm sorry I couldn't say anything about it before, but-"

He rolled his eyes. "Is that meant to be some fake carrot and stick kind of thing? Honestly, Haruna Mase."

"Really!" Nagisa stood up enthusiastically. "She was busy… throwing knives… just now, but maybe some other time. Actually, we've all known each other since junior high."

"Junior high?"

Yaiba san specifically said nothing was off limits, right? "Yuu kun… do you remember the moon explosion?"

Nagisa started talking, then. He didn't need to disclose every gritty detail, but he did a good enough job explaining the main points. That they had an octopus teacher due to a horrific lab experiment, and he was blamed for the whole moon thing. That they were pretty much tasked by the government to find a way to kill him in a year, so they'd learnt to be assassins. He explained that it was kind of hard considering he was pregnant for most of it, but they'd managed in the end. He even gave a brief explanation about Kayano's fake identity, and how 'Haruna Mase' was actually just her stage name.

"Woah," he nodded, "yeah, that sounds like crack."

"Crack?" Nagisa tilted his head.

"N-nevermind."

"A-anyway," he continued, "it was a really crazy year. But what this guy might be creating… it could be worse than what happened to Korosensei."

Despite the bruises, his face managed to turn pale. "So you're saying I… could turn into some kind of octopus freak?!"

"Well," Nagisa frowned, "I wouldn't call him a freak…"

"I'm not trying to insult your beloved teacher! But," he slapped a hand to his cheek, "I'm too attractive for that."

"If it helps," he tried, "I think the theory is that the tentacles are less literal this time… more of an internal change."

Yuu's eyes narrowed. "Great. I want pudding."

"I-I can get that!"

Somehow, then, Yuu attempted a smile of his own. "I'm kind of beat, Nagisa. This is a lot to take in. Do you mind if I just take a nap for a bit?" Then his eyes crinkled up and he laughed. "Look at me, huh? Out of prison for a few hours and I'm already making demands."

"It's fine," Nagisa smiled back, and gently squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry for bothering you."

Yuu pretty much passed out again right then, slumped against his pillows. Nagisa really couldn't help but feel bad for him. He almost felt second hand pain, just looking at him like that. Even after his worst fights, he hadn't had injuries that bad, he was certain. It was only natural for him to cringe, at even the thought of it, and wonder just how long it would take to heal.

Even though he was supposed to be involved in this kind of thing, Nagisa felt like he should keep his eyes to himself, as he made his return. It was a ridiculous idea, considering that he should be paying attention to as much as he could. Maybe he was just conditioned internally, to fear anything that seemed like science.

He was a little surprised to see Irina come out of one the rooms, immediately catching sight of him. Nagisa didn't particularly feel the urge to rush over to her and catch up, though he couldn't leave without walking past her. Not that he was trying to avoid her, either, though. Nagisa just kept walking, until he came close.

"Have a good time in prison?" She asked.

Nagisa still jolted as though he'd been caught in an electric fence. "I- as good as it could be."

She raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. I probably won't get told anything, so."

But then Nagisa thought about something. The very thing that got him out of that cell… he was channelling what she'd taught him. When all of his other skills weren't primed to work, perhaps he owed her a lot. But then there was always room for improvement. If he was supposed to be regaining strength… maybe asking for help from the best would be exactly that.

Nagisa felt stupid even considering it. Ridiculous, that he'd ask his old Bitch Sensei for something that equated to sex help. But the threads of curiosity had been strung, and Nagisa wanted to know. Would he even be capable, of learning her skills? Using them in a real battle? Though… anything to be a more rounded assassin.

"Nagisa," Irina said, her eyebrows raised. "You want something?"

He swallowed. "I want… more assassination lessons."

"Tadaomi said you already had a good instructor for that already."

"Not those kind of assassination lessons."

Her eyes widened a little. "Well, now I'm interested." She looked him over, head to toe. "It's true that I haven't had any particularly wild jobs for a while, especially since Nao… but I'm not rusty. What's in it for me? And, why?"

"I realised," he purely spoke his thoughts aloud, "that in some situations, when I don't have an actual blade, that it might be a useful skill. Even if it's just the set up. And, I want to perfect my assassinations even more."

"It's true that I was always impressed with you as a student," she said, "and you did get the top grade in class during our kissing practise." Irina appeared to debate it with herself, then, before finally reaching a conclusion. "Maybe… maybe there's still some work I can do here."

He lowered his head almost automatically. "Thank you."

"Come on, then." She leant off the wall. "Let's go."

"Go where?"

A smirk came over her face. "Rule number one, Nagisa kun, is to polish your blade."

Nagisa had quite literally signed up for this, just then, so he supposed he had no choice but to follow. He wondered if Irina actually had the clearance to just be taking them out of this facility, but nobody actually questioned them, all the way into the car. Nagisa had no idea about the address she gave, only realising that he'd just resigned himself to whatever she had in store for him.

"W-why are we at a spa?" He asked, when they arrived, clearly in some sort of luxury building.

Irina had the nerve to look smug. "I need something to work with first. Come on, get in the chair."

He didn't know what he was doing, in the slightest. Irina must be a regular there, though, because she said just a few words to a receptionist, and suddenly he was being motioned into what seemed more like a medical chair. Was this supposed to be relaxing? Nagisa wasn't sure, but he was pretty much pressed down into it, like some sort of medieval torture device.

"Okay," Irina said, and swung an eye mask at him, "put this on and lay back."

Nagisa was a little nervous about accepting what was basically a blindfold, but he went for it, and tried his best to relax. At first, whatever they were doing felt nice, a nice warm weight above his eyes, before it was ripped away without warning, and admittedly Nagisa cried out a little. Then, he felt himself get stripped, as they did the same to his body. At the very least, he got a little used to the sensation, and something smoothing was rubbed all over his face. They definitely did something to his hands, too, and he was pretty sure he'd somewhat felt the pressure of his nails being filed.

He wasn't sure exactly how long that kind of torture lasted, but eventually the mask was lifted off, and Nagisa's skin felt entirely raw. It was strange, to blink in the light after all of that. It made him feel a little dumb, as three members of staff gave him a wry smile and bowed, before the tallest one came over with a mirror, and Nagisa sat up.

"What do you think?" Irina said, giving Nagisa the once over.

"Uh," he looked in the mirror, "I don't really see the difference?"

He saw the tension in her brows increase with frustration, before she relaxed again. "Well, we haven't done any of the major changes yet. But… it's a start. Now to the hair stylist."

She quite literally dragged him up by the arm, like some kind of rag doll. Nagisa was hopeless to her whims, though his legs were a little sore after presumably being waxed of all their hair. She didn't seem to care, though, and he found himself being forced into a salon. The place was cleared out, except for them, and the stylist had a rainbow coloured hair style. Apparently Nagisa had no say in this, before he started to talk to Irina in a whispered tone.

"What are you saying?" He asked.

Irina smiled sweetly. "Just talking about the style."

"It's not just for a trim?!"

She sighed. "Your hair style makes your face look too round. It's okay if you want to come across as cute looking, but we're going for sex appeal here."

Well, it seemed ridiculous complain about his hair getting cut shorter. Admittedly, it was still fairly long for a guy, though not outwardly feminine. Nagisa had never really thought about changing the style drastically before. After the first time he'd cut it, he decided it looked good, so he'd just maintained it exactly the same. Honestly, he was kind of interested.

"Okay," he breathed, "you can do it."

It was hard not to cringe, as the stylist started messing about with his hair, before eventually directing him to move to one of the special chairs so he could get it wet and wash it. Whatever the case, the shampoo he used smelt pretty amazing, and after being waxed raw just previously, the head massage was at least a little nice.

Nagisa could barely follow what was happening, but then he took scissors to his hair, moving with a speed that wasn't entirely human. Nagisa just watched him in fascination, as he snipped and snipped away. It was freaky, for him to lose so much in one go, but Nagisa knew he had to just trust Irina. He ended up closing his eyes, unable to even really imagine what it would end up looking like.

He started blow drying it, eventually, and Nagisa hoped that meant he was done. But, then he started touching all over his hair again, and it was followed by weird textures and sounds. Nagisa cringed once again, but then he finally pulled away, turning the chair. Nagisa opened his eyes again, and he was faced away from the mirror, looking at stylist and Irina, gauging for a reaction.

"What do you think?" The stylist asked her.

Irina's jaw dropped, her eyes wide as she started at him like some kind of foreign life form. "U-uh, wow."

In a slight panic, Nagisa twisted around, finally catching sight of himself in the mirror. He almost fell from the chair, because surely that was a different person staring back at him. But, when he moved, it moved, and Nagisa's soul re-entered his body. Aside from the length of his hair… it had pretty much been the same since he was a kid. The most noticeable change was that his fringe only swept over half his face, and it was fluffed up for more volume, the stands almost tantalisingly dangling in front of his eye, whilst the other was completely exposed. The other side was far shorter than he used to have it… somehow making his jaw look far sharper than he was used to. It made him look… older.

Nagisa squinted, leaning closer towards the mirror. Was it... really him? He looked kind like some sort of idol… not that he was attractive enough for that, of course! He wrinkled his nose, and yet again, his reflection wrinkled black. Did he really… look good like this? Nagisa flushed a little at the thought. It was really different, but he realised he liked it.

"Thank you," he beamed.

"Come on," Irina cleared her throat, "we're not even close to done. We can't spoil the look with those clothes."

The stylist gave them another cheery wave, as Nagisa was pulled off again, shoved back into the car as Irina gave a hurried series of directions. Before he even knew what was happening, he was being dragged into a department store, and every single thing he saw was far out of the price range he'd go for. Not that Nagisa usually bought new clothes for himself.

"Alright," Irina said, picking several items up from the racks with the speed and determination of a typhoon. "Give these a shot."

Nagisa looked at what appeared to be leather jeans with horror. "I can't wear something like this."

"God gave you an ass," Irina said, "you use it."

"I-"

"In." She shoved him inside the dressing room.

Nagisa sighed, taking a long hard look at it. He would never wear this kind of thing. Still, he just preferred the loose and comfortable fit of clothes, even if he'd admitted to himself that he wasn't going to actually grown anymore. The least he could do was try it, at the very least. He steeled himself, before removing the clothes he was currently wearing, and tried to wiggle into the jeans, which were a little hard to get all the way past his thigh.

He couldn't bring himself to look at his shirtless reflection, so he dove straight for the shirt he'd been given, which was surprisingly plain and white, though the attached price tag made his eyes almost pop out of his skull. It somehow fit a little different to how he'd expect it too, though, and for once he didn't feel like he was drowning in it. Nagisa sucked it up, then, pulling on the jacket he'd been given, a similar material to the trousers, and then he opened the curtain.

Irina dramatically sucked her breath in. "I can work with this."

She reached over to him, though, messing around with half tucking the shirt in, giving it an asymmetric look, before she spun him around. Finally, Nagisa saw his complete image, and he was confused right down to his core. The clothes really did complete the image, making him appear far less soft than he was used to. Somehow… he felt almost dangerous. Nagisa didn't look like himself. But, he didn't really feel like himself either. All of these clothes… they were like a costume.

"You see," Irina scoffed, "this is what happens when you wear clothes that actually fit."

Nagisa just nodded dumbly, twisting so he could see himself. The look wasn't entirely masculine, he noticed from the way the leather clung to his thighs, making them look almost wet. He didn't think he'd ever seen himself in something so close fitting, which lung to the natural curve of his thighs up to his hips. It was like the outfit as a whole was bringing out the best of both sides to him.

"Okay," he nodded, finally stating his approval.

"Great," she smiled. "Let's go pay."

Nagisa winced, thinking of the price tag. "…Is this how you should be using government money?"

Irina just shrugged, and that was that. Nagisa left the building looking like an entirely different person to the one who entered. He hoped nobody was looking at him, as they exited, and kept his eyes firmly planted to the floor. If he really wanted to learn this kind of skill, he was going to have to be far more confident than he was currently acting…

"Let's start with the basics," Irina announced, chin up. "Best 'I want sex' face?"

"I-I don't know-"

This was so embarrassing. It wasn't as though Nagisa held a mirror up to his face during that sort of thing. He'd never tried to make an expression like that on purpose… it just kind of happened. He supposed… he could just try and think about it. But he didn't really want to do that right beside his ex teacher. He wanted to smack himself, right then, because he'd literally asked for this kind of instruction. So, he cringed, and attempted his best 'sexy'.

"You look constipated," she folded her arms. "Try again."

Nagisa took a deep breath in, and tried to picture it. It had been a while, but it wasn't like prison had completely squashed out his desires. It was still shameful to think about this kind thing in front of Irina, but he attempted to block her out. Sexy… Nagisa's mind spiralled a little, imagining wet lips on his jaw, trailing down, sucking that weak spot on his neck. Whether he specifically meant to or not, he imagined his fingers curling into crimson hair, keeping him just where he liked it… And maybe Nagisa's thoughts might have started to reflect on his face.

"Much better," Irina said, as the car pulled to a stop. "Come on, we're going to my office."

He hadn't even known she was important enough for her own office, honestly, but Nagisa was happy for her. They didn't run into anyone, when they entered the building again, and Nagisa very much appreciated that. As it turned out, Irina's office was actually decently sized, enough so that he didn't feel cramped in there. Nagisa couldn't picture her doing paper work, though.

"I'm going to give you some advice," she slinked down in her chair. "You don't need to be confident as yourself. When you do these kinds of missions, the most important thing is to be someone else. So you leave whatever shame you have with your old character, got it?"

"That's…" Nagisa thought about it, "a lot harder than it sounds when you put it like that."

She shrugged. "Nobody said it was easy. You're just unpractised."

He supposed that was true. Deciding to just focus, Nagisa honestly felt like he was back in school again. Though this definitely counted as some weird kind of private tutoring. Something told him she was a little glad, though, to be back in the teacher's chair. It was a little strange for Nagisa too, considering he was usually the one doing the teaching nowadays.

She lectured him on many things. There was a ten minute lecture about his general posture, before she told him that the most important thing was enticement, since he'd already mastered the kiss of death. Unfortunately, that was honestly what Nagisa was worst at. He did everything she said, tilting his neck in a way that was supposed to be suggestive as he spoke, but it still felt ridiculous in this environment.

"You need real practise," Irina finally concluded, "or this is hopeless."

"P-pracitse?"

She shrugged. "If you want to learn this kind of thing, it seems like the best way, to me."

Nagisa gulped, pulling himself to his feet. "Right. I'll try."

There was a glint of something in her eyes. "You're not going anywhere without me."

"Why?"

A wild smirk came across her then. "I need to show off my handiwork."

Somehow Nagisa was afraid. Maybe it would be easier to walk around in a room full of strangers, rather than people he'd known since he was a young teenager. What were they going to think of him? Nagisa didn't hate this whole makeover, really, but it was going to take a lot of getting used to. Aside from the fact that none of this really fit his self image.

"This is it," Irina declared as they reached the training area, calling everyone's attention. "My magnum opus."

Of course, their heads snapped, and Nagisa immediately felt the scrutiny. This was ridiculous. He was sure he didn't match his looks, half hiding behind Irina like she was going to protect him somehow. She practically grappled him, forcing him forwards, throwing him to the lions. Nagisa shifted from foot to foot, his arms folding in front of his chest.

"Who's that?" Kimura asked suspiciously.

"Uhm," Nagisa flushed almost from head to foot, "hi."

"No way."

"Nagisa?!"

"What happened?"

All at once, there was a crowd around him. He didn't have much of a choice, as he was inspected from angle. Scrutinised. Honestly, he'd never been looked at so closely before. Surely even the most confident of people would feel slightly uncomfortable with this. Deeply, he regretted even talking to Irina in that moment.

"Looks like you finally hit puberty," Nakamura joked.

Even Sugino had a slight flush to his cheeks, and Nagisa really didn't know what to make of that.

"R-really," Nagisa said, "it's only a little change…"

"Little?"

He shifted again, looking around nervously. At least, someone was being weirdly quiet. "Where's Karma?"

Almost simultaneously, the others looked around in equal confusion.

"He was just here," Isogai offered.

Nagisa nodded. "T-thanks. I'm kind of tired, after all this… so I think I'll go lie down."

Karma's whereabouts were honestly a problem for later. Nagisa really did need the rest, needed to go shut out the rest of the world and try and forget what happened that day. Irina's lessons… he could start to think about them some other time. It was a lot to take in, and he thought it was fair that he have some time to adjust.

"Oh, sorry," Nagisa said as he stumbled into the shared bedroom, realising the light was already on.

There was a sharp intake of breath, and due to their closeness, Nagisa immediately recognised the twinges of Karma's voice. He considered it for a moment, before he decided to cross the room, only to find Karma slightly hunched over on one of the beds, his face absolutely scarlet, like he'd been dry heaving or something. He hoped he hadn't fallen ill within the last few hours.

"What happened?" Karma looked up at him, with a demanding gaze.

Nagisa looked down at himself. "What do you mean? I-"

He sprung to his feet, heat and venom evident from his entire demeanour, and grabbed Nagisa roughly by the wrist, yanking him out of the door. Nagisa was really confused, then, at the sudden urgency. Karma's head was turning like a madman, staring at the ceiling as though it was about to bite him. Apparently he found himself satisfied, because eventually they stopped.

"Camera blind spot," he offered for just a second, before smashing their lips together.

Nagisa didn't have much of a choice but to kiss him back, clutching onto his shoulders for a bit of leverage. In hindsight, he should have noticed the more than evident scent of Karma's arousal before, but surprisingly it hadn't been the first thing on his mind. Karma was kissing him as though it was the only thing on his mind and he might die if they happened to stop.

He hadn't been sure about what Karma would say, to all of this. Nagisa could at the least accept, now, that for whatever reason he found his normal self attractive. And this was a big change. Irina wanted him to practise his skills… but surely Karma was almost too easy. He hadn't even had to say anything to him, and he was already like this… but it was a good chance. He considered it, when they physically had to stop for a moment to ease the burning in their lungs.

Nagisa almost bit down on his tongue, moving his head away slightly. "Anyone could walk past here."

"So?"

He finally let go of himself. "Maybe I don't want to be interrupted."

"You-"

He lowered his gaze, peering at Karma from below his lashes. "It's your turn to follow me."

Nagisa didn't exactly have a firm plan, as to where they were going, but then he saw the entrance to the shared guys' bathroom and it felt like his best bet. The closest he'd come to a door that locked, at least. Karma seemed to get the idea. Now that Nagisa was actually paying attention to it, he could almost sense his small jump of arousal.

"I had some special lessons today," he explained, lightly pushing Karma back into the stall.

He seemed to get the message, stumbling backwards until his legs met the toilet. The last person who used it had closed the lid, so Karma fell back onto it comfortably enough. Now that Nagisa was somewhat above him, he himself started to feel kind of weird. He liked the flush on Karma's cheeks that hadn't disappeared, although he still looked coherent. Well, there was no time like the present.

"Let me show you," Nagisa planted his hands on Karma's shoulders, and moved to straddle him, "just what I learnt."

Karma audibly gulped when he moved in, as though he was bracing himself for some kind of mighty fall. Not that Nagisa wanted to think about Irina in a time like this, but it was important to test out his lessons properly. Usually, whenever he was with Karma, it just flowed. He'd never paid a crazy amount of attention to what he was doing, or where he was touching. Perhaps this was a little advanced. But he still wanted to try.

"O-okay."

Nagisa absolutely beamed with pride. Like he'd already been thoroughly seduced. That wasn't particularly hard, though. Even though the things he was saying weren't exactly like him, it didn't feel as shameful. It was just kind of amusing to him, a light way, to get Karma's reactions. Was this why he spent so much of his life making fun of people? To a lesser extent… Nagisa kind of hated that he could see the appeal. He didn't feel uncomfortable with him, at least, which was a huge improvement.

Nagisa leant back a little, pretty much standing on his knees so he still appeared bigger than Karma like that. "You don't like the new clothes? It seems like you ran off just now."

Kind of shifting back, Karma leant as far as he could so he could look at him again, and then bit down on his lip. "They'd look better on the floor."

He almost laughed. "I think Bitch Sensei would kill you."

"Nagisa."

Right. Sexy persona. It was just too difficult when Karma was distracting him. Practically, he'd have to consider what he'd do in a real assassination. He allowed a flowing calm to wash over him, and he looked down again, concentrating on Karma as he was. But then it faded again, straight away. Nagisa just couldn't direct his blood lust at Karma. Not properly, at least.

That didn't mean he couldn't do this, though. Perhaps on a regular occasion, Nagisa would be half way though ripping Karma's shirt from his body right then, but something stopped him. Maybe it would be better to do it slower… The clothes they'd been given there buttoned at the front, at least, so Nagisa slowly fiddled with the first one, tugging at it for a good minute before unbuttoning it. He followed the next two in suit, very slowly exposing Karma's flushed chest.

Nagisa paused for a moment, trailing his fingers along his skin. He wasn't sure what to think of his own new look, but even from their start he'd always seen Karma as the most attractive person he knew. Almost unfairly so, since he'd never had anything close to an 'ugly duckling' middle stage. Nagisa would hesitate to think of him as perfect, but there was nothing he'd ever change about him. Not that he had authority over that…

He kissed him again, then, as the energy grew. It didn't matter how many times they did it, kissing Karma was like tapping into electricity. Nagisa's hands grew hungry, spreading across Karma's chest. He felt a little bit of pressure on his shoulders, and he quickly realised Karma was trying to push the jacket off. It was kind of heavy, so Nagisa let him, mentally apologising to Irina for just a moment as it fell to the floor, though Karma was back on him in an instant.

Admittedly, things sped up right there. Their lips and tongues practically danced together as hands went everywhere, and Nagisa was entirely dizzy for him. He barely even noticed the shirt coming off too, Karma's own warm hands causing a spark of sensation against his stomach. Whether he truly meant to or not, Nagisa found himself shifting on Karma's lap, practically grinding in search of some kind of friction. Which, to his sudden realisation, might be bad news for the expensive trousers. He didn't want to ruin them with his slick the first day he had them.

Somewhat reluctantly, he pulled back, which was a good chance to catch his breath. He shuffled back onto his feet completely, feeling exposed as he started to unbutton them. Noticing the way Karma looked at him, Nagisa perhaps took it a little slow, drawing out the process of unzipping them. He liked the glassy look in Karma's eyes, as the material slid down his eyes and he kicked them off with the rest of his clothes, which left him in just his boxer briefs.

"I don't want to ruin them," Nagisa admitted a little shakily, which was met by a self satisfied look from Karma, who had clearly figured out exactly how they'd get ruined.

He didn't want to make it a competition, necessarily, but Nagisa wasn't going to lose here. He was having way too much fun being the one who had it together, and he didn't want to stop. So, Nagisa debated it, not so far gone yet to have lost his sense. And then he remembered, if he was going to practise his skills, he could easily take it all the way. So, admittedly, Nagisa did something he never thought he would, and then got to his knees.

"Karma," he said.

"Hmm?" It came off kind of strained though, which was good.

Nagisa remembered what he could, and tilted his head so his neck was extended. "Is this how you want me, alpha?"

There was a moment's pause, where Nagisa had just enough time to think he'd said the wrong thing. Of course, Nagisa would never usually refer to Karma like that, and he started to feel a bit stupid for it. But then Karma half growled, and yanked Nagisa back onto his lap so fast he almost got whiplash. His lips were immediately at his throat, hands yanking at the waistband of his underwear, and Nagisa was happy to have it gone.

It finally kicked in, then, that it had been almost a month since the last time they were together. As much as Nagisa would enjoy hours of foreplay in any other situation, right then really wasn't the time. He abandoned the gentleness from earlier, tugging Karma's shirt off like it would kill him if he didn't. All the while, Karma's kisses and nips were dead set on distracting him. Nagisa managed to get his trousers and underwear down as far as he needed, and Karma kicked it off the rest of the way.

Nagisa hovered above him, then, heart pounding so fast it probably wasn't safe. He didn't care, though, as his forehead leant against Karma's and he tried his best to breathe. The anticipation was burning up inside him, but he needed a moment to process everything. Nagisa knew already, he'd be gone when he had Karma inside him, so this was his last chance.

"Tell me you want me."

"I want you," Karma said shakily. "Need you. Nagisa-"

He happily lined himself up, sinking down in a fluid motion. It didn't seem to matter that it had been a little while, all he felt was satisfaction, as he took him all the way to the base. Karma's eyes had a certain kind of glisten to them, his hands clamping onto his waist, and Nagisa couldn't stop himself from leaning forwards, placing a peck on his lips.

After just a second or two, Nagisa couldn't take the waiting, and even a little bit subconsciously his hips started grinding. Karma's head lolled back a little, and then it was Nagisa's turn to kiss at his neck too. He moved slowly enough, far more pleasured by just the feeling of having Karma there. One thing Nagisa had yet to actually experience, save for his heat, was doing this without suppressants clouding his senses. So close to Karma's glands, his scent was so much clearer and more appealing, and Nagisa started to feel intoxicated.

Somewhat naturally, they mutually sped up. Nagisa needed a little more than just the gentle grinding movements, so he curled his toes up, and planted his feet on the ground so that he'd be able to push himself up and down more easily. Nagisa gasped, the feeling of sliding in and out a little more intense. His brow creased, his gaze far more concentrated than Karma's as he tried to shift himself into the angle that was going to feel the best, and he gasped out.

Apparently that was when Karma decided he was going too slow again, because his fingers were suddenly applying a lot of pressure to his waist as his own hips snapped up, and then they were moving together. Nagisa couldn't help himself, leaning for another kiss, which turned amazingly slopping within a moment as his hips jumped. He wasn't sure how thin the walls were, though, so he was glad for the way it diminished the small noises that were escaping the back of his throat.

Nagisa loved this in ways he never thought he could. He'd always rejected the idea of being in to sex, but after every time with Karma, he wanted it more and more. Not that he wasn't satisfied, of course, but satisfaction was fleeting. So then he was left with a kind of hunger. Nagisa didn't exactly how else to feel about it, but he loved it. The electricity, the heat, the closeness… it felt like everything all at once.

But more importantly he loved Karma.

How had he avoiding looking at him like this for so long? Pleasure was the best look on him, in his opinion, but he knew he was definitely right. Nagisa had never considered he'd find sweat attractive, but the way the front of Karma's hair clung slightly wetly to his forehead did something to him. The impassioned look in his eyes, too, which brought out the best of their natural gold colour. The flush still tinting his cheeks… and his full lips… It definitely wasn't fair.

Maybe Nagisa spent too long staring at him, because Karma jerked, then, one hand travelling to his ass to hold him close to his lap. After squeezing him firmly there, his other hand came to the back of the seat, just about giving him enough to push off. Even after so many years, Karma was still weirdly strong, and apparently more than capable of holding Nagisa up with just one arm. His eyes rolled back a little at the position change, but he had decent core strength, and was able to hold himself up flush to Karma's body, legs immediately wrapping properly around his hips.

A dark part of Nagisa kind of liked that he was strong enough to lift Nagisa so easily. They didn't stay like that for long, though, before Karma managed to push them against the wall, which took a good part of his weight. It certainly allowed Karma to drive into him harder, almost immediately finding the spot inside him which made his head spin. Nagisa lost track of everything then, crying out to his heart's content.

It surprised him a little that from this position, their heads were almost entirely level. Nagisa made sure to take advantage, kissing him deeply. He tried to contribute at least a little to meeting Karma's movements, though it was a little harder like this. Eventually he gave up on that, instead just clenching around him. In response, Karma bit down hard on his lip, which usually would have turned him on a whole lot more, if not for his sharpened canines that clearly wanted to stake a claim.

"Ah," Nagisa let out, pulling away for a second as his fingers automatically came to his lips, revealing the crimson blood. He wrinkled his nose at the taste of iron.

"Sorry," Karma at least had it in him to say.

He thought about it for a moment. "Did you just try to claim my lips?"

"Shut up," Karma murmured, before his hips snapped up hard, and Nagisa's head immediately tossed back and smacked against the wall.

He didn't really care about the pain, though, because suddenly it was so fast and hard that Nagisa was immediately alarmingly close. As if to prove a point, Karma's sharp teeth scraped all the way down his neck, so close to actually breaking the breaking the skin around his scent gland that for just a second, before he moved down and actually bit into his shoulder with purpose.

Nagisa didn't scream or anything when he came, but his head rolled and he let out one of the heaviest breaths he'd ever had, all the tension leaving his body. Karma kept moving through it, though he definitely slowed down somewhat, making it a little more bearable as his brain started to pull itself back together from the thousands of tiny pieces it had exploded into. He relaxed, though, knowing he wouldn't have to wait long for Karma to get off too, the warm sensation of it weirdly more pleasant than Nagisa had ever thought he'd find it.

Wait. No. That was an absolutely terrible idea. Usually it was completely fine because he'd be able to clean himself up quickly, and the scent would be dulled by the time he actually had to face anyone. Then his stomach turned, because he hadn't even taken any of his pills since returning to their facility. That definitely wasn't ideal. To say the least.

"Wait," he finally came to his senses with the sheer urgency, "pull out."

Karma immediately did it without hesitation of course, but he looked kind of dazed at the request.

"I haven't taken my pills," he explained, and Karma's eyes widened.

"Oh yeah."

He almost rolled his eyes, but he decided he wasn't going to just leave him hanging. So, Nagisa turned them and went down to his knees again, and took as much of Karma's erection into his mouth as he could without hesitation. It was a really odd sensation, to taste his own slick on him, but he pushed past it. Karma's hand instinctively wound into his hair, but it was a lot harder for him to grab on with the shorter length.

Nagisa really didn't waste time, passionately sucking him as though he wanted it. Maybe he even did. He didn't even know, but Karma's rough pants from above him spurred him on, swirling his tongue around the head when he could, his hand jerking what he couldn't comfortably fit in his mouth at the same pace. And, then, for once in his life he looked up, taking a glance at Karma's blissed out expression. It was worth it, because he met his eyes for just a second, and then actually cried out, once, twice, and that was the only warning Nagisa got before his mouth was full.

He didn't actually have much of a choice about swallowing it down, as it turned out. It was kind of hard to think about that, especially when it was pretty forceful. Even when Karma pulled out of his mouth, though, it seemed way more complicated to crawl all the way over to the closed toilet to try and spit it out. So, he cut his losses and gulped, looking up at Karma as he licked the remainder from his lips.

With that, Karma dramatically murmured out a curse under his breath and slid down the wall, hitting the floor with a thud.

Complete K.O.

"Karma?" Nagisa crawled over into his lap, with a weird desire to be as close to him as possible.

He didn't actually say anything, for a while, but wrapped his arms around Nagisa anyway. It was nice, to just be able to curl up there, listening to the beating of Karma's chest. Almost, he was pretty sure, his was beating at the same pace as they calmed down, coming back to their senses just a little. Nagisa smiled, actually feeling a little bit sleepy all of a sudden.

"You're actually Nagisa, right?" He asked lowly. "Not someone in a crazy good disguise?"

Nagisa frowned. "You'd… do all of that even if you weren't sure?"

He half chuckled, and then pulled him closer, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Only the real Nagisa can get me off that hard."

"Karma," he turned his head away with an embarrassed pout.

Karma grabbed him by the chin, though, forcing him to look. "So you're allowed to say 'is this how you want me alpha'," he air quoted and raised his voice to a higher pitch, "but I can't even-"

Nagisa cut him off with a real kiss, effectively shutting him up. It was soft and sweet, tying them together in a way that he very much liked, and he would have been happy to stay forever. They both seemed to mutually know how hard to press, what they could take and what would be too much, and Nagisa felt a little too obsessed with the feeling.

"I want to clean up," he eventually said.

It was about then that Nagisa really noticed that they were in a toilet stall, instead of their bedroom. And technically, anyone could have walked in during that, or could be out there right then. Nagisa struck his head out first, and there was luckily nobody, so they gathered up their clothes and raced across the room to the line of showers- which were all thankfully separated by curtains, and fell under the spray, which Karma quickly turned on, with a laugh at their mutual ridiculousness.

"Don't go anywhere again," Karma half sounded like he was commanding it, though not in a serious sense.

Nagisa met his eyes. "I won't."

He kissed him again, and Nagisa forgot where they were. They may as well have been in the midst of an actual rainstorm, for all he cared. And then when they pulled apart for just a moment, looking at each other deeply, Nagisa almost caved in. Because he loved Karma so much, and he wanted to scream it for everyone to hear. He loved him and he wanted to tell him right then and there.

It felt like it had been too long, though. Nagisa wanted to tell him, and maybe it was stupid, but he wanted to do it in the right way. In a better way that felt better than a shared bathroom shower. Not that Nagisa had ever been one for huge romantic gestures, but just this once, he knew he wanted something more. Even if that meant holding his tongue for just a little bit longer, he hoped that even if he didn't say it right then, somehow Karma would be able to feel it.

"I'm not going anywhere."