"Nagisa?"
He looked up from his knees and winced at Karma's uncharacteristic concern. Since Haruka left for work, Nagisa was supposed to be alone for another hour at least.
"What the hell, Karma?" he said tiredly, swiping his sleeve over his eyes as he stood up.
The redhead frowned at how vulnerable his friend appeared to be. Overall, he was more dishevelled than usual; his blue vest lay abandoned in a corner, his school blouse was wrinkled with the top buttons exposing pasty white skin, his navy tie hung loosely from the collar, and his hair stuck out in all directions as if he's been neglectfully messing with the blue tresses.
"You weren't answering my calls." he replied uncomfortably while trying to remain unfazed. "I was worried that I had to find Maehara or Isogai to watch Friday the 13th with."
Nagisa cracked a smile at the thought. If things ever came down to that, Karma would probably be arrested for manslaughter and Isogai would have to start looking for a new sidekick. "No can do Karma; you're stuck with me today. Let the two live their lives in peace and Karma-free."
Karma sighed good-naturedly, pointedly ignoring Nagisa's puffy eyes and pitiful sniffles. "Looks like Maehara lives for another day."
The two faced each other in silence, awkwardly maintaining their easy humour despite the clear fact that Nagisa was not alright. So far, Karma had always turned a blind eye whenever Nagisa's moods deviated from the norm, and even then, it would only apply when fists got involved. The sudden shift to 'deadly mode' was reaction he noted but never asked about, that included the chilling smiles and the easy restoration of his endearingly kind disposition. While he tried to avoid saying anything, he could not suppress the occassional shudder that went down his spine when those cool apraising eyes met his, or the approving inclining of his head at Karma's own defeated adversaries.
Whatever this was - ths very antithesis of his 'deadly mode'- currently standing before him with a hunched back and troubled eyes, Karma didn't want to have to decipher this side of him before he'd begun to figure out his most lethal side. This wasn't the timid act he donned for the world to underestimate him. Something foreign clenched at his heart as he continued to observe his best friend. Nagisa must have noticed the gears turning in his mind because his back straightened and he gave an easy smile, already directing his body to flee.
"I'll get the popcorn ready. You know where the DVDs are."
Oh no he wasn't. With the ease of training in his reflexes to one day catch a yellow super octopus that could reach Mach-20 speed, Karma's arm shot out to block Nagisa's exit. He fixed him with a stern look. "I don't know what's going on with you, but since I am such a cool and amazing badass you've ever had the pleasure to be graced with, I am willing to let this go." he hesitated before stepping into Nagisa's personal space to wrap his arms around him. "Are we really watching all twelve films tonight?"
Nagisa, despite being deeply touched and conflicted, responded his gracious humour in kind. "If you can handle it of course." He breathed in and returned the hug, quietly mumbling what might have been a 'thank you'.
While Karma set up the TV and searched for Haruka's hidden stash of horror DVDs, Nagisa successfully located a bag of microwavable popcorn from their forever disorganised cupboard and stuck their movie snack in the microwave. After three minutes listening to the satisfying 'pops', Nagisa opened the microwave door only to be blasted by the sweet sweet smell of the much beloved snack. He not-too-subtly poked at his belly, persuading himself and inevitably failing to not heat a cup of butter as well. He loaded the popcorn into a bowl and guiltily poured melted butter all over the top. Alas, this internal argument was meant for their next movie night.
They munched through the popcorn while passively watching the unskippable previews of corny and obscure rom-coms before reaching the main menu, where an imposing robust figure stood menacingly over Camp Crystal Lake. Nagisa would forever deny the surprised 'eep' that escaped his traitorous mouth.
Halfway through the first movie found Nagisa snuggled like a terrified puppy against Karma's chest. The popcorn bowl lay discarded by his feet, holding but a few kernels and excess salt. The redhead- though thoroughly enjoying the chase- was absent-mindedly carting his fingers through Nagisa's hair. His other hand was propping his head up, elbow snug against the arm rest.
"Are you scared yet?" Karma asked.
"I've been terrified since the main menu." Nagisa replied wryly.
Karma raised an eyebrow at the dry tone. Why was he so sarcastic when his body language was practically screaming 'protect me, I'm fragile'?
"None of that Nagisa, I'll be the shining knight in armour you've always wanted." he responded, patting Nagisa's head reminiscent to when the bluenet did the same to his cheek. This elicited a startled laugh.
"I thought my father was my knight?"
"I'm his stand-in since he's dealing with a sleeping dragon at the moment."
"I don't know how I feel about that."
"That Haruka-san is with Principal Asano?"
"No, I'm more disturbed about the 'sleeping dragon' part."
"Why?"
"You mean that wasn't intentional?"
"Probably."
They paused in their teasing. What was supposed to be a hypothetical and completely fabricated and unfounded claim was slowly becoming a very real and very disturbing possibility. It dawned on them that maybe this was a thought for another time; as in never.
"I remain unconvinced with your status as knight. What are your credentials?" Nagisa began, pinning Karma with a pseudo-interrogating look. "What makes you qualified to defend me?"
Karma returned the look with a thoughtful one. This was proving to be a more weighted question than he initially thought it would be. But this was Nagisa; a resourceful assassin-in-training whose affinity for stealth and deception along with his growing skills in combat make him a formidable opponent. In addition, he had to consider his insightfulness and his random suggestions on thought experiments. His language skills, English in particular, were where his academic prowess lay. His communication skills could be used to talk down a hostile foe who was only hostile in their bark - which usually made up for their lack of bite - or else they could be used to uncover his innermost thoughts not by the words he said, but the words he didn't say.
Nagisa awoke suddenly, not quite sure what he was dreaming of or when he began dozing off. From the faint glowing screen of the TV displaying Jason in the main screen, he must have missed the rest of the first movie. On the futon beside him was Karma, silent in his sleep as he is when conscious- excluding the times he isn't being an asshole of course.
He stared at his friend a bit longer, trying to discern this strange feeling threatening to erupt from his chest. His elaborate and surprisingly sincere answer last night reminded himself of why he trained so hard for his father's examination. He needed someone else who was undeniably on his side, someone who really understood him. Haruka missed out on more than half of his life and though Nagisa would like to admit his adoration for his father now after so many years dealing with a dominantly matriarch-run household, he knew that it would be foolish to place so much trust into a man who was just beginning to know him. Even Nagisa was at fault here, considering how he still did not know where his father had been all those years. What compelled him to leave? At first glance Nagisa assumed it was a result of an unhappy marriage and he didn't doubt that if this was not the main reason, the divorce was most likely a big part of it. What perplexed him instead was the 'where'. With the amount of time spent away from his biological family, Nagisa would have thought that Haruka found another better-matched significant other. Furthermore, how he managed to sustain himself must have been relatively mediocre if Haruka came back with a job as unstable as a self-employed mechanic. Just what did Haruka do for those seven years?
If he was serious about placing the remainder of his trust in Haruka's hands, he had to find out more about him. He would ignore the little voice in his head saying that he had nothing to worry about. This was something that needed to be done, especially if this is what it took to become an assassin.
Two devastating punches later had Haruka and Gakusho panting on opposite sides of the clearing. Harka grimaced as he held up a hand to nurse his left cheek, watching warily at the way Gakusho was shaking his arm. This spar was meant to ease his quietly distressed friend and distract him for even a moment. But whatever this day meant to him, as was noted from Gaskusho's calendar sporting a little mark on the corner of today's date, it was dire enough to have affected his combat. With how infrequently Haruka sparred, he had expected to be floored. A draw, however, garnered more evidence for Gakusho's odd behaviour. That, and the fact that he was exuding less of his 'you are all beneath me' vibes. He seemed almost human today, with emotions that excluded the usual polite disdain and casual passive aggressiveness. Rather, the walking contradiction was both strangely gentle in his speech and dangerously close to using self-deprecating insinuations.
Haruka hadn't seen this side of his friend high school, when the principal was just as much as a workaholic as he was today. In his rare episodes spurred by the build-up of stress, the constant dismissal of well-deserved breaks, and the piles upon piles of extracurriculars, further contributed by his intense focus in his studies broke him back then. His strive for perfection even resulted in him swallowing his pride to ask for help, in which Haruka would readily accept. These were the rare moments where Haruka was the one taking the lead in their friendship, offering an attentive ear and covering for him on the off-chance he fell ill.
These moments of weakness tapered off to non-existence when they finished high school, right before they went their separate ways. Did Gakusho ever find anyone else to help him the same way Haruka did? If he hadn't, how was he even coping? He was running a famously prestigious school while keeping an international government secret housed in a building just outside the main campus who also taught a class of supposed misfits. Though Haruka was not impressed with his friend's logic on the matter where the bottom 10% left behind provided motivation for the rest of the school to not fall into the same category as Class-E, he also recognised that now was not the time for that. He could berate him when he was coherent.
"I think we should leave it for today." Haruka called out, approaching his friend while trying not to compare this to approaching an easily startled deer. "It's best not to spar when one of us is severely distracted."
Gakusho frowned, clearly uncomfortable to elaborate. "Haruka…"
"Look, you don't need to explain yourself, least of all to me. I just want to let you know, now that I'm back, that I'm always available should you need me. Like old times."
Serious eyes met tired auburn.
"I will hold you to that, Haruka." he began, relieved yet stress lines showing themselves more prominently on his face. "It's been difficult since you left. I did find someone in college, but she is not with us anymore. And today marks the day I lost one of my first students." He chuckles hollowly, breaking eye contact to struggle with his discomfort. "My only friend left, my wife disappeared and that student committed suicide. Although I am immensely relieved to see you have returned alive and whole, Haruka, I also can not erase the last twenty years alone, living with guilt all the while drilling my son with lessons on power, just so he doesn't follow my student's path. Needless to say, I am not what you remember me by. This was something I wanted to inform you earlier and I suppose today was the day for it."
