The lesson today was heavily based on the family.
While Koro-sensei was as riveting as he usually was, Nagisa couldn't help but allow his mind to wander at his own family situation. Albeit being a family of three, one of which contained an insane mother cooped up in an asylum and the other who had missed out on ten years of his son's life, the bluenet felt that the usual suspect of family problems was not as applicable to him as he thought.
Then again, there was Karma, who's family was almost never there. It would have been more acceptable to apply 'neglect' more than outright abandonment for his situation. Not that Karma gave much grief about it, as of course, he had better things to be occupying his mind with.
From what Nagisa could recall, Karma was in the past, a model student. He kept mostly out of trouble, completed his assignments with no fuss and succeeded in his exams and thrived in the almost obsessively competitive nature of their school whether it came to academics or extracurriculars. And also from their many heart-to-hearts these past few months, he learned that his delinquency and intolerance of authoritarian figures partly stemmed from corrupt teachers and his own parents. While the whole school knew one side of the story involving Karma and his movement to Class E, one would think that his case would have been fought for by his parents. But they didn't. Opting to write a succinct email apologising for their son's behaviour and an equally succinct phone call to their son, the Akabanes were efficient in minimising their time being wasted on such trivial matters. While there was his mother's tendency to priortise her work and status as a CEO of her own pharmaceutical company and his father's running of a hospital abroad, there was no question to how strained their relationship was.
As was the case for Nagisa, the red-head hadn't the maternal or paternal experiences that shaped what the majority of their classmates had. And while their classmates and the pair had the 'us versus the world' mentality, and so sharing a sort of bond at the face of an unjust system may or may not have slowed the process of isolation for them, Nagisa could tell that it was only wishful thinking that Koro-sensei was attempting to establish these bonds in a familiar setting.
Nagisa, outwardly kind-hearted, timid and overall a nice guy, could never forget his personal problems that have plagued and robbed him of his desired childhood. His classmates could never fill the blanks of his time being forced to abide by the wishes of his only guardian in return for food and a place to sleep. Other than providing the most basic essentials at the cost of his identity and at the expense of his voice, Nagisa continued and will continue to resent the woman who made him what he was; messed up, bitter and unmendable.
"Would you like to share your thoughts on the matter, Nagisa?" an encouraging voice piped up, effectively halting the increasingly resentful emotions stirring up in his chest.
"Family is family, no matter what they do, they are your flesh and blood. Isn't that enough to forgive their every fault?"
He's never said something so vile in his life. How he wished he could wipe that eternally plastered grin on his teacher's face at his outright lie.
"What was that bullshit earlier, Nagisa? You don't actually believe that nonsense, do you?"
"Of course not." he replied, slightly affronted that Karma would think as such. "I wasn't going to express my real opinions on the matter. After all, I'm pretty sure Koro-sensei knew I was lying through my teeth. The class however, don't need more evidence for friction. We're already on unstable ground."
"Always the peacemaker." Karma mused, taking a bite out of his sandwich before swiftly changing the topic. "I want to go travel this summer."
Nagisa quirked an eyebrow. "Where?"
"Anywhere. I want something new. It feels stagnant here." Karma whispered, for once showing a hint of personal vulnerability. "You better come with."
He wasn't quite sure what he was implying here, whether it was riddled with reading between the lines and finding their opposites or not. Whatever this was leading up to, Nagisa had had no indication otherwise to not trust his best friend. He didn't care too much for the details now, as long as he knew that Karma wasn't going somewhere on his own, independently searching for something he didn't know he needed all this time.
"Who am I to refuse?"
"Were you in the army, Tou-san?"
Haruka blinked. "What makes you say that?"
"Karasuma looked like he recognised you." he answered easily. "Well, he seemed to more than recognise you. I've never seen him...scared."
His father fidgeted with the pendant hung around his neck like a pencil to a student. "Your observation skills are only improving aren't they?" he chuckled. "I can explain that. Don't worry, I wasn't like Takaoka, abusing your own soldiers is the sure-fire way to have them retaliate in the future. No, my time at the military was in engineering, clearly, it's something I have continued to do to this day."
He sighed, suddenly fighting the urge to walk away and leave it at that.
"I was good at what I did. See the advanced tech that's been trying and failing thus far to subdue your teacher? I designed them. Theoretically, my sketches and journal entries outlining the machines were sound. In practice, they didn't always work out in the way I wanted them to. Usually, quality control accompanied my team before testing. It just so happened that one miscalculation caused the deaths of over a hundred pilots and covered up civilian casualties. I left. I took full responsibility for what happened, and I believe that I'm better off not continuing with that line of high-risk work.
The training you're undertaking is of utmost importance to me, Nagisa, because your line of profession is leading you to almost certain deaths at your hands, whether they be intentional or innocents who were caught in the crossfire. I need to make sure you're ready, because that mistake almost ruined me. Admittedly, I don't think I have ever recovered."
"How long were you there? Where did you go after?"
"Eight years serving the military. Left for a small village in France and stayed there for two years and embraced my time alone." He sighed again, not daring to look at his son in the eyes. "I know, I know, it sounds pathetic, and you have every right to hate me for it. I could have returned to Japan, took care of you instead of your mother. I took the coward's way out because I couldn't cope with my mistakes."
He left it there. Both didn't miss the fact that Karma's shadow could be seen by the kitchen door.
He awoke up next to Karma, red strands mixing with his blue, shoulders flush against each other in a sea of pillows that somehow migrated from his bed to the living room couch. The TV was off and from the corner of his eye, Nagisa could make out his father's work shoes stacked with his only other pair of good shoes by the front door. After the first few occasions where Haruka hilariously attempted to tease out a confession from the two of them, both together and separate, Haruka had no choice but to be contented with the fact that they really were good friends.
'Good friends are not usually that comfortable with each other, but what do I know?'
It irked him, hearing his father let slip something from his past that seemed more than he made it out to be. While Nagisa had finally been told about his whereabouts this past decade, and that his principal was a friend of his too, he felt that he still didn't feel satisfied with the information at hand. With his father's aversion to constructing bonds, and by keeping his acquaintances just acquaintances, was Haruka still working on his post-military life or was he punishing himself to a life of a small world in a small town and never daring to venture out?
Father and son spiraled around each other in a deadly dance of strikes that were dealt with horrifying precision that would have left even Koro-sensei raising his non-existent eyebrows.
At the sidelines was Karma, who was sat on a low branch and observing the spar with a deceptively passive expression that would have been feigned disinterest to the untrained eye. Neither Nagisa nor Haruka could miss that subtle gleam in his amber eyes, the urge to join in and share in the thrill that was outsmarting your foe through power, strategy/minute improvisation and raw skill. The fluidity of their strikes were met with automatic blocks or misdirections, using each other's momentum in attempt to cause the other to lose their balance or distort their footwork. Although no weapons were used today - it was hand to hand combat strictly, upon Haruka's orders - Karma couldn't deny that he would be hard-pressed to hold back a pained grimace if he were to be struck.
Speaking of, he could not help but narrow his eyes at the similarity in their styles. It was heavy on finesse and skill, filled with feints and efficient use of their whole body, gliding from one stance to another without missing a beat when their follow-through was halted by a sharp block.
It was a deep contrast to his own style, while equally efficient in footwork, he opted to use the power he worked hard for to his advantage. While Nagisa could never match him in raw power, Karma likewise could not match him with the raw talent he had as a pure assassin. Always searching for the final blow as quickly as possible as opposed to his tendency to draw out a fight in the hopes of overwhelming them at the end.
He could not deny the merit of their styles, no matter how much his pride hated the admission.
This spar was the first time he's ever watched Haruka fight, which only confirmed his suspicions of where he's been away from Nagisa. He was usually quick on grudges and relentlessly brutal to authoritarian figures, but with Haruka, Karma felt that his disappearance must have had a very good explanation. One that was more dire, more intense than the half-lie he fed Nagisa. So he kept his reservations of the man at bay, opting to - for once - give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he did return. He did start amending his loose ends as soon as he did.
He cared for Nagisa, as loathe as he was to admit he had the capacity to feel such tender emotions. If it meant tolerating a potential threat that was his own father, then maybe Karma can let go of this charade one day, as proof that there were unselfish people in his life.
But first…
"Your old age is showing, Haruka-san! Even Nagisa could take that hit a hundred times over!" he mocked loudly, interrupting their ridiculous circling.
"Why don't you come down from your tree and I'll show you 'old age'!" Haruka returned, breaking his stoic face to point accusingly at Karma's bait.
Nagisa grinned to himself, also relenting his stance. And there was another thing to list down on his father's profile.
'#03 Fiercly protective of his age.'
Exams were coming up, and so was the recommencement of the academic rivalry between Class A and Class E. Nagisa had been focusing on English as his specialty, while Karma had been focusing on maths. As Haruka was a maths genius in his own right, the redhead was more than welcome to stay over at their apartment during the exam preparation period to have Haruka tutor him. Meanwhile, Nagisa would attend study groups with Nakamura and some of the other students in the public library. It was a busy time, and everyone was motivated to surpass the arrogant Class A. In class, Koro-sensei had reused his strategy in tutoring everybody one by one with the help of his Mach-20 speed.
Haruka was kind enough to allow Karma to stay in their apartment over night; not that that was any different to what they were already doing. During dinner time where Haruka orders take-out instead of having Nagisa cook was where the stress of the exams was forgotten. This was when any talk of school was banned. They talked about a range of topics, no matter how trivial it was, the easy banter between father and son and surrogate son coaxed the children to have fun.
For Nagisa, it was also the best time to learn more about his father. Said father regaled to them the stories of his youth when he was their age. He reminisced the typical school life in a tough school where allies were rare and genuine friends even rarer. He even talked about Gakusho, and how their interactions developed into a genuine friendship before Haruka left Japan. Here, Haruka smoothly changed the topic to Nagisa Karma's friends. The duo didn't miss the tightening of his normally gentle smile, nor did they miss the darkening of his kind grey eyes. Since Haruka was their personal confidant who knew when not to push, they would do the same for the man.
