Hey guys~! So I'm finally done with my English paper and I'm super happy because I only have one more paper after this! *cheers* The downside of it is that the exam is two weeks away so there's a high chance that I'm spending the next two weeks studying and not updating! T.T So I apologise in advance with you have to wait two weeks for the next chapter! Now, onwards to the reviews~!
13590anime : Thank you! Glad to here you like it! Here's your update!
BlueSkyBlue : I miss you so much~! T.T My finals ends in two more weeks so I'll make sure to make up for every chapter that I miss after that!
ynius : Well, Director Asano will help but not much! Let's just say his idea for a number one son hasn't completely vanished and it's his twisted kind of way to make Asano learn a lesson on how to handle someone beneath him. *smirks evilly*
KyrieEleisonElise: Honestly, it took days to figure out something that Karma can use as blackmail. I mean, this is Asano Gakushu and I don't think a simple blackmail will cut it. So I'm really glad you approve Karma's method!
Jose97 : I will never be bored reading reviews! What type of fanfic are you doing now? Is it a Naruto fanfic, Harry Potter fanfic, Supernatural fanfic, etcetc ? Because if it's a type that I know, I want to read it! ^.^ I wish the best of luck on your projects!
duchessme : Thank you! ^.^
Gakuho watched with interest as Nagisa excused himself with the smile never leaving his face. He told him they were playing around, that they were old classmates and wanted to simply catch up with old times. The shaken form and agonized face that he caught a glimpse when he walked into the scene were immediately erased and replaced by that unnerving smile, the desperation that filled his eyes was gone as soon as Gakuho saw the other two students. Nagisa didn't even bat an eye when he stared the boy with an intense gaze but with his usual cold polite smile that could break any normal student under pressure.
Apparently, Shiota Nagisa proved to not be any normal student.
As soon as Nagisa was out of sight, he focused his stare back at the still horrified students.
"I do not care if the students show any discrimination towards the Class E. However…" his eyes gone cold as he gracefully neared their pale faces.
"…I do not tolerate violence, especially towards one of my Class A students."
Gakuho felt no small amount of satisfaction when he saw the tears or the small wet spot in between their pants that showed their utter fear towards the him.
In the eyes of the two students, they saw two large centipedes crawling on their faces. Their many legs touching every inch of their faces as they were frozen on the spot. Suddenly, the centipedes stopped crawling and lifted their heads, which were directly in front of their eyes, before injecting their venom into their blood inside their mouths.
"It would be such a shame that two violent students would be expelled from school just when they are a few weeks away from graduation."
Gakuho absolutely relished in their utter dismay and fear as they comprehend his words.
"Please expect a letter from school to your parents respectively. Also, the both of you do not need to come back here, ever again."
And with that, he left them in the dark hallway.
Because of Class E, Gakuho was a changed man.
But he still has no qualms of using his power to get rid of the trash that litter his perfect school.
Nagisa stared at the anti-sensei knife in front of him.
Harmless to any human but deadly to the first teacher he had respected.
Slowly, almost tenderly, he held the plastic knife in his hands, his thumb running gently at the dull edge. He positioned the knife across his wrist and made a slashing motion.
But as expected, there wasn't even a single harm to the delicate skin.
A bitter rueful smile graced his lips as he continued to stare at his flawless wrist.
He was a coward.
He didn't even have to guts to take away this hateful life of his.
He was supposed to be strong.
He could have easily beat those bullies earlier.
But rather than the physical wounds, it was their words that made him weak and unable to fight back.
Pathetic.
The knife fell with a silent thud from Nagisa's lax fingers. He brought his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He buried his face in between his knees, letting his hair act like a curtain shielding him from the harsh reality of the outside world.
Loud shouting was heard downstairs and Nagisa buried his head deeper. He tried to muffle the screams but much to his dismay, his hearing was sharpened greatly since the start of Class E assassination practices.
He knew when he came down for dinner, his mother would glare murderously at her phone and another crack would appear mysteriously at the screen.
His father had called her to convince her to sign the papers again.
He wished his father would just stop. Because the one was going to be hurt was not him, but his son.
His useless cross-dressing son who can't make his own mother happy with him just because he was not born a girl.
"Karma-kun…Korosensei…Karasuma-sensei…Bitch-sensei…everyone…please, take me away," Nagisa whispered as a single tear escaped his closed eyelids.
But as usual, his prayers were never answered.
Nagisa tried to keep his eyes open at the teacher in front of him. Sadly, it was futile effort. The nights of restless studying and the stress of his mother verbal abuse were taking a toll on his body. Last night, he couldn't even sleep a wink because of his anxiety from his father's phone call and his mother's bad mood.
And yesterday's event didn't help at all.
His head was pounding from the pain.
That morning, he woke up with dark circles more obvious than ever. He knew he couldn't completely hide them with make-up anymore. He tried his best to focus on the board but the teacher's flat monotone tone was just begging him to sleep!
Nagisa counted his blessings when the bell finally rang! He tried to stand up, maybe have a walk around the building to calm his war-like thoughts. Too bad his legs had different ideas. As soon as he realised he was too tired to even stand, he let out a heavy sigh and rested his head on the table.
The change of position only caused the pain in his head to increase but he was just too tired to move so he shut his eyes and hope that sleep would take pity on him.
Thankfully, it did.
Nagisa woke up with a killer headache. He let out a groan as harsh artificial light attacked his sensitive eyes. He shut his eyes for a moment and it was just then he realised he was laying on something soft. With his eyes still shut, he tried to focus on his other senses to assist his situation.
From the feel of the soft fabric, Nagisa guessed he was on a bed. He could vaguely hear the voices of some teachers as they continued with their lessons so he was relieved to know he was at least still in school. From the smell of slight antiseptic in the air, Nagisa realised he was in the nurse's office.
Unable to hold back his curiosity any longer, he slowly opened his eyes to let them adjust to the light. He was greeted with a mass of red hair.
Nagisa blinked owlishly for a moment before his blurry vision sharpened and the shape of a human face belonging to the red hair came into recognition.
Beneath the cover, his hands were clenched into fists so tightly that it left crescent shaped wounds on his palm when he realised that the red hair did not belong to one person but two.
Two people that he hoped would never see him in this state.
Forcing a strained smile, he greeted them,
"Hello, Karma-kun, Asano-kun."
None of them returned the smile. Instead, Karma took the time to really inspect Nagisa.
He looked horrible.
The concealer under his eyes did nothing to hide the dark circles and only made them worse. His cheeks had lost their baby fat but Karma suspected it was because of the lack of food instead of puberty. His face was gaunt and his usually silky hair had lost its colour. His shoulders were slouched together, as if he was shouldering the whole world and his posture was screaming out exhaustion. His already petite body was so much skinner than before and it was so painfully obvious he was dead tired.
And that only made the smile he wore more painful to look at.
Nagisa's body tensed and his breathed was stuck in his throat when suddenly, Karma roughly grabbed his front shirt and roughly pulled him closer so that their faces were inches apart. At the corner of his eyes, he saw Asano panicked at the abrupt action and Nagisa couldn't blame him.
Even he was stunned and slightly terrified at Karma's dark expression. A sudden wave of nauseas hit him and he shut his eyes in hopes that the dizziness would fade. It was at that moment did he realised how cold it was and he was even shivering!
"Nagisa-kun, someday I won't be able to stop myself from killing you."
Completely startled and caught off guard by Karma's words, he couldn't stop himself as he instinctively struggled to break free of Karma's grip and pressed himself at the head of the bed. His breath quickened at the sudden adrenaline and when he realised there wasn't even an ounce of bloodlust from his ex-classmate, Nagisa was ashamed to admit that just for a moment, he was actually afraid of Karma.
He blinked in surprise when rough hands gently pulled his body into the chest of the owner. Warmth enveloped him as he was embraced by Karma. Nagisa immediately relaxed when he caught whiff of Karma's spicy scent.
'Maybe because of all the wasabi he's carrying around,' Nagisa idly thought as the tension in his body started to fade.
Karma didn't need to say how worried he was when he got a call from Asano, telling him that Nagisa had a dangerously high fever and won't wake up. He didn't need to say his frustration towards Nagisa when he refused to tell him he whole truth. He didn't need to say how helpless he felt as he watched his best friend fell deeper into despair.
No, he didn't need to tell all of them because Nagisa got the message as clear as a crystal through his embrace alone.
Karma cared about him and to Nagisa, that was more than enough.
For once since the start of his transfer to Class A, he felt the burden on his shoulders lightened considerably. As relief flooded inside of him, exhaustion finally came to announce its presence and it wasn't long before he fell asleep in Karma's arms.
Gently as to not awaken the sick student, Karma laid him back onto the bed and covered the feverish body with the white covers. He grabbed the damp cloth on the table at the side of the bed and placed it on his forehead. On instinct, he swept the stray bangs on Nagisa's forehead.
Meanwhile, Asano took the chance to carefully inspect Karma's actions. It was obvious that they were best friends but after Karma's confession about Nagisa saving him, he carefully looked back at their past interactions with a new perspective.
And for once, a part of Akabane Karma actually made sense.
The way he scared off those two Class D students who talked back about Nagisa a few months back. How he stood almost protectively in front of teal-haired during the war between Class A and Class E. Why Nagisa was the only one unfazed by Karma's slightly sadistic behaviour when they were still in Class D.
So when he saw the hidden concern and slightly frustrated hopelessness in his eyes, he finally realised how important the bond between them.
An unexpected pang of envy took his breath away.
Pressing his lips together, he quickly obliterated every thought about friendship and turned to address the school delinquent.
"Akabane, I hope you have a good idea to help Shiota-san because I absolutely refuse to waste my time if you don't have any well-thought out plans."
Asano was slightly impressed when Karma managed to wipe away every expression he had before and faced him with a lazy smirk,
"Of course I have. Who do you take me for?"
Even after much persuasion, Karma refused to leave Nagisa alone when Asano had gone to his own class. Nagisa suspected that Karma was just too lazy and wanted to skip. Looking after his sick friend was the perfect excuse that Korosensei couldn't argue. Especially since they didn't have exams anymore.
A wave of sadness washed over him when he thought about the yellow octopus alien. Nagisa didn't deny that he missed his target and fellow assassins. Ever since the fight between Blue Team and Red Team, he wondered whether they truly just decided to kill their teacher off or they tried to find the cure.
'Ah,' Nagisa thought guiltily.
'Maybe it's my fault. I was the one who challenged them to kill Korosensei after all.'
Nagisa shook out from his musings when he realised he arrived home. It took a hell lot of convincing a certain red head that he was fine walking alone and no, there was no perverts that's going to take advantage of him.
Even though he was touched and a little bit of embarrassed by Karma's concern, he knew it would only spell bad news if his mother saw Karma. When Karma and Isogai had visited his home for the first time, Hiromi didn't hesitate to voice out her displeasure towards the both of them.
Especially against Karma when he had talked back to her when she had yelled at Nagisa for eating the snacks too much when both Karma and Isogai had eaten five each and Nagisa was just starting his second one. Karma immediately retaliated, saying Nagisa didn't have to be like a 'prissy and proper girl watching out for her diet' because Nagisa weighted less than average.
What Karma didn't realise that Hiromi wanted Nagisa to be that exact 'prissy and proper girl'.
As soon as Nagisa entered the house, Hiromi greeted him with a sickeningly sweet smile. In her hands was a mail from school.
It was his results.
Moments after he realised it, he was engulfed in her embrace.
"Nagisa-chan! Your mother is so proud of you! You got second place in your exams! Even though…"
Nagisa clenched his teeth when a sharp pain tugged from his scalp as her tone darkened slightly. He didn't have to look at her face to know she was wearing a displeased frown.
"…I was hoping you would get first place but no matter!"
And just like that, the pain eased and her voice lightened. He silently let out a sigh of relief when she moved away from him.
"As a reward, mommy bought a present for you!"
It was then he realised she was holding a small black velvet box, not unlike a ring box.
With an excited smile that could fool anyone except for him, Hiromi shoved the box in his hands. With wary eyes, he reluctantly opened the box, hoping against hope that it wasn't a ring.
Thankfully, it wasn't a ring.
Sadly, it was a necklace.
The necklace was simple yet beautiful. The chains and clasp were made from silver and a pendant of his name, Nagisa, in kanji (渚) made from sapphire hanging at the middle.
It was so beautiful that it filled Nagisa's heart with dread.
"Wear it, Nagisa-chan! I want to see how it looks on you!"
With stiff movements, he did as he told. The metal was cool against his warm body from his earlier fever and the weight of the pendant hung loosely in front of his school uniform.
Vaguely, he heard his mother clapping in delight and saying something about it looked perfect on him but Nagisa didn't register all of that. Instead, he felt like the pendant that weighted so little was more than ten pounds, the silver metal around his neck felt like a metal collar, forever chaining him to his mother. The pendant was like a dog tag, telling the whole world that he only belonged to his mother and no one else.
"Akabane, please tell me you know where you're going," Asano said with a poorly exasperated tone as he continued to trail behind Karma. The said boy only turned around and stuck out his tongue. Asano felt his eye twitched at the immaturity of that action and let out a sigh.
"Of course I do. I only have been there once but I still remember Nagisa-kun's place," Karma said lazily as they turned another corner.
After Karma had blackmailed Asano, he was forced to go along with Karma's oh so brilliant plan to help Nagisa.
Spying at Nagisa's home.
Asano had first scoffed at the idea, saying that spying was for lowly people. For some crazy reason, Asano tagged along anyways.
They finally stopped in front of a house. Checking the name plate, Asano was relieved to see that it was written 'Shiota's residence'.
However, it was short lived when Karma casually jumped over the closed metal gates.
"This is breaching private property!" Asano whispered furiously but Karma only smirked.
"Don't tell me the chairman of the student council can't even do something as simple as jumping over a gate," Karma taunted.
Seething, Asano spat out, "I refuse to commit a crime simply to indulge in your plans!"
He was taken back when he saw black horns and a black tail came out from Karma as he looked at him with a mischievous smirk.
"Asano, you don't want the students to know that their perfect leader fell asleep at the library, do you?" he crackled as he whipped out the said pictures from God knows where.
Eyes widening in surprise, Asano immediately turned furious as he glared at the smirking teen. He tried to snatch the pictures away but with the gate separating them, it was impossible. Growling, Asano easily jumped over the fences and demanded through gritted teeth, "Give me those pictures!"
Karma playfully stuck out his tongue before he lazily threw them at Asano. He easily caught them and immediately proceed to shred them into little bits of pieces.
"I still have a dozen of that same picture and a lot more of different ones," Karma called back as he walked away from him.
Knowing he didn't have a choice, he gritted his teeth and followed him. They climbed a tree that was conveniently near a window and Asano guessed that window lead to Nagisa's room. Shifting his balance to stabilize himself on the branch, he peered inside the room.
The room was a mess.
That fact surprised Asano since he assumed Nagisa was the type to keep his room clean. But when he continued to look around, he realised that the mess was not caused by teenaged male laziness.
In fact, the only thing that was a mess were the many dresses scattered all over the room, something that brought questions to Asano's mind. But the one thing that caught his attention was at the middle of the bed, laid a very beautiful blue sundress. A very beautiful and torn blue sundress.
The sundress was practically in pieces, only kept to together by a few stands of threads. In fact, when Asano looked closer, it was not the only one torn and in pieces. But none of the others were badly torn as the one on the bed.
He felt Karma jumped off the tree when the person they were looking for was not in his room. Asano did the same, albeit feeling a little disturbed by the earlier scene.
Who knew the sweet and gentle Nagisa could be so… violent?
After a few minutes of walking around, they found the object of their thoughts at the garden. He was alone and from afar, was talking to himself. They were too far to hear anything but from the way his face contorted, they assumed it was something that frustrated the teen greatly.
A glint caught Karma's eyes and it was at that moment he saw a necklace tightly clenched in Nagisa's fist.
Asano was carefully looking at Karma's movement at the corner of his eyes. He was internally conflicted whether to sit there and watched the teen or just approach him.
Luckily, Karma solved the problem for him.
Karma stood up from his crouched position and plastered his infamous grin. He was about to step out from their hiding place when an unexpected person came.
Asano realised it was the woman from the time he saw Nagisa at the park.
So, he was right about the woman being his mother.
Seemingly change of plan, Karma frowned at the intruder and went back to his hiding place. From their point of view, the both of them were arguing as Nagisa's face became more frustrated while the woman's face became darker as the argument continued.
SLAP!
They jumped slightly at the unexpected sound. Eyes widened in disbelief, Asano watched as Nagisa's mother's hand was still in the air from the slap as she glared angrily at her son. Even from the distance, Asano could see the bright handprint on Nagisa's cheek.
For some reason, Nagisa showed a minimal amount of shock at the action. His bangs hid his eyes as he refused to look at the woman. The action triggered another switch inside the woman as she started another round of yells and screams. When she realised the boy didn't respond to her, she said something that made him looked at her with horror on his face.
Nagisa tried to say something but she was too angry to care. Finally, there was a look of utter defeat as he said something to her. His words were the right ones because her face immediately changed into a happy one. Slowly, Nagisa unclenched his fist to reveal the necklace he was holding. With a visible tremble in his hands, he wore it as he refused to move his eyes away from the ground.
His actions made his mother happy and she engulfed him in an embrace. Even when she started to play with his hair, he remained unresponsive.
Watching the scene played out in front of him, he didn't even need to hear their conversation to know what happened.
And to know the reason of Nagisa's change.
Judging by how Karma's expression darkened, he understood it too.
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