Chapter Six
Nagisa stopped outside of her house. She was so ashamed and exhausted she nearly forgot herself.
A movement from her dad's bedroom window caught her eye.
Hastily tugging her ahir from it's ties, she pulled it up into a messy updo that made it look shorter and more boyish. She kicked her girl's shoes off and stepped into the pair of slightly too big boy's shoes she had hidden behind two flower pots in the front and buttoned up her jacket to make her shy feminine figure less visible.
Only after these precautions did she unlock the door, hit by the warmth of the house, she kicked off her loose shoes with ease immediately, calling out to her father, telling him that she was home.
"Nagi," Her tall, slim father appeared on the stairs, smiling down welcomingly at his daughter, still smelling strongly of his cologne and dressed head to toe in his work clothes.
"How was school, did you finish that work you had to catch up on?"
When the girl eventually spoke, her voice was a subtle difference lower, words were pronounced differently and faces made different expressions. She often wondered if someone from school would even recognise her if they saw her this way.
"School was fine," She lied easily, all shame and regret gone from her eyes. "I got a merit on that project I was working on for geography."
She conversed casually as she removed her coat and bag.
"I'm sorry I couldn't make dinner today. I know you have to work hard."
"That's understandable, there's no problem in taking a break for a wh-"
The man stopped speaking suddenly. Sensing this, Nagisa turned back to face the man with her face frowning curiously.
"What's that?!" His voice lowered, stepping down the stairs towards his daughter. Nagisa tensed, shrugging self consciously.
"What's what dad?"
"On your neck?"
Her heart sank to her stomach. Gakushuu and Karma's lips and breath on her skin came jolting back to her, her fear making her queasy.
"I-I-"
His hand slipped under her jaw, tilting her up gently to get a better look, while Nagisa shut her eyes and tried not to bite her lip and cower.
To her surprise, her dad slapped her back playfully. "A lovebite? Is that from a girl son?"
She swallowed, nervously. Feeling no relief, only the strain of having to lie and pretend.
"A girl confessed to me in the library this afternoon."
The man whistled, though his smile shrank a little. "Who is this girl?"
"Just a girl called... Nakamura. I don't think there's much between us though."
The man nodded, saying how that was a shame. Nagisa her chance to slip halfway up the stairs, stopping at the call of her name though.
"Nagi, you didn't make up that you were studying did you?"
"No." She spoke too quickly, "No. She was actually studying with me... then after she-"
"That's fine. I have to go back to the office soon though, you'll be alright home alone won't you? There's food in the fridge or money for a take out if you want?"
The girl nodded her head, ending their conversation, locking herself behind the door to her bedroom.
She pulled her hair down over her shoulder and shed her clothes, lying down onto her bed in her boys boxer briefs and bra-less vest. There wasn't a single dress or skirt in her cupboard, not a single t-shirt designed to fit her figure or a single item with a polka dot or flower or a spot of pink either. On her desk, there were no perfumes, no earrings, no hair ties or ribbons or pretty fairy lights like she had seen in her friends' bedrooms'.
She herself didn't hate this, but if someone from her school were to see, she could only guess what they would say. Nagisa was weird. She was different.
After a while, she heard a gentle knocking on her door. She could have sworn she had heard her dad leave the house, but she guessed she had been wrong.
She pulled her hair up quickly, only having time to answer the door in a pair of baggy trousers and her vest.
Her head tilted, seeing her father there by her door looking at his watch. "I'm heading off. I must have forgotten my folder - ah here it is."
The man perched down in the room, taking his black folder from where it was half under the bed.
"You were working in my room?"
"No. I was looking around, just to make sure you weren't hiding anything strange." The handsome male smiled despite the obvious invasion of privacy and ruffled his sons hair. Suddenly, Nagisa's weak, makeshift up-do came out, and her pretty pale blue hair tumbled down thickly around both of her shoulders.
The darker eyes of her father looked at her, and then seemed to turn completely black.
"This is why I said we should cut it. We don't want you looking like a girl now, do we? Everyone would laugh, look at you, it's just disgusting."
His hands tugged roughly, causing Nagisa to shut her eyes and cringe back. When his touch finally left, he had uttered his goodbye and slammed the door shut in her face. Her scalp hurt, and her hair had been tied much too roughly. She slipped over into the bathroom, finally allowing the sigh of discontent to escape her.
Standing in front of the mirror, she eased her hair down from its shackled confines gently. Before her own reflection, she realised the truth in her dad's words, the bite on her neck was a dark vivid colour, and despite only thinking she had one, she saw at least three dotted around in various different spots, low on her collar also.
Before, her father may have only seen the one on her neck, but seeing her in her vest like this, it was clear her story about the library had been either a lie or a great deal edited.
Nagisa's face looked said as she eyed the marks, her emotions only conveyed as much as the silent eyes of a glassy reflection should. To her boyfriend, lurking silently in the door, it told him everything.
She turned around, walking straight into something she knew for a fact wasn't there before. The blue haired girl's heart sped up like never before as warm arms encased her, and she feared she would be kidnapped and killed and tortured horribly all in the space of a second. Then as she gasped, she inhaled the familiar scent she knew to only belong to one person.
"Karma.." She sunk into his arms, not at all surprised that he had gotten in somehow. Not at all afraid. At this moment, all she could think about was how incredibly good it felt to be cradled by him like this.
Karma could only stare at how sweet the girl was with her hair down over her shoulders like this and her cheeks with the warm caress of an angel's touch against his chest.
When she pulled up, her eyes met him and then hardened. "I should slap you."
Her words held no true menace, nor did her eyes hold grudge.
"For lying about having made up with Gakushuu? Or for getting into a fight with him? Or for neglecting you in there while we fought?"
"For thinking it's okay for your best friend to touch all over me actually." She said bitterly, looking unimpressed as she put some distance between them.
At that moment, Gakushuu appeared in the doorway as well, "You found-"
His eyes landed on the girl, making her stop and realise self consciously how exposed her upper body was.
"...Nagisa..." He hummed, eyes scrutinising her dreamily. The fact that he actually stopped dead, seeming to forget about what he was saying was disturbing enough. His eyes lingering on her love bite was even more so.
Her hands fell from where they had been raised to tie her hair back up, thinking better of it, she added to her conversation.
"You brought him to my house? Y-You could have told me Karma."
"Sorry." He admitted, moving a few strands of her hair to cover her slim shoulders a bit better.
Gakushuu's throat was clearly dry judging from how hard he swallowed as she walked by him.
"How did you guys even get in, didn't my dad lock the door?"
"We came in through your window actually, but you weren't in there."
"What?!" She whispered, glaring at Karma who shot Gakushuu an even harder look for telling.
"That was my secret. Gakushuu." He hissed, "But since you know now, yes, I do come by through your window sometimes but don't worry, if you're changing I wait and if you're sleeping don't wake you."
Her jaw hung, unsure of how to react. Karma smirked, his golden eyes laughing, "Relax. I'm joking."
The pretty blunette became more comfortable, but her eyes looked weary and tired as she headed into her room.
"You should go. I'm tired."
"We came this way to apologise to you. We can leave afterwards."
Nagisa's expression betrayed how much she secretly wanted them to get it over with and leave.
"We just want you to know that thanks to you we've realised where we went wrong and thanks to you we've gotten above it. We also realise how much of a pair of idiots we are. I-I don't know about Karma, but I'm ashamed of myself for acting like that. I-Y-you just have this effect on me Nagi-"
"Gakushuu, it's fine. Really, we should just forget about it."
Her words made his stomach shake and a strange happiness floated about inside him like the air had become sweeter after she'd said his name. Honestly though, she was just couldn't handle him talking about that.
"I'm glad." The boy blinked his purple eyes happily.
"Well then, you've spoken, she's thanked you, isn't it about time you left." Karma smirked, waving his hands away towards the door happily as if Gakushuu was a pest he could shoo away.
His head remained still, but his eyes flickered almost violently. Karma was already touching Nagisa's shoulder and gradually slipping his playful touches lower as they spoke, hiding beneath the safety of the unspoken excuse of fixing her hair.
Gakushuu had his nose turned up in disgust when he spoke, "Are you two going to have sex tonight?"
"G-Gakushuu!" Nagisa whined anxiously. He caught her eye, and is if remembering himself looked apologetic.
"I don't mean to offend you. I just find it a bit unfair that you get to have fun in Nagisa's bedroom while her father's out and expect me to somehow stand an equal chance as you."
He directed towards Karma, who smirked.
"You had your chance and you blew it. Besides, you didn't make Nagisa want you at all. She was angry at me for letting you come near her, I think if anything she's more repulsed by you now than before."
"Just stop both of you." Nagisa snapped before they could start a fight again, especially not in her home.
"I-I never said that Gakushuu."
"But what you said was close, no?"
"How can you blame me, you didn't even ask me if I wanted it. I never consented yet the both of you thought it was okay to kiss me and to-to ruin my neck which my dad saw by the way. Y-You," She paused, breathing in to compose herself, reminding herself that this was her house and that she was the one in charge here - with her dad gone at least.
"I'm sorry Gakushuu, as lovely of a friend you are, I just don't think of you in that way. It's Karma I'm in love with, I know you can respect that."
The feeling of swallowing a whole brick was similar to what Gakushuu felt now, it weighed against the bottom of his stomach, his best friend's triumphant look adding to the heap by throwing pebbles.
"You finally heard the truth. Well then, you can leave now." He taunted.
He felt spotlighted by both of their eyes on him. He felt pathetic and stupid for even showing his face here.
"I-I can show you out if you li-"
"It's fine."
Gakushuu turned, unable to look at the couple sitting naturally beside each other, unable to escape from Nagisa's voice expressing her love for another.
He didn't realise he had slammed the door until the sound of the impact hit his ears, allowing the black to sink from his eyes and let him see clearly again now that he was outside.
His breath hitched in harshly, and he realised from the contrasting cold on his cheekbones that he was crying. Not out of sadness, but anger.
Resent for Karma, and somehow, the smallest bit of hatred for Nagisa too.