A/N: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY I WORKED LIKE HELL TO GET THIS OUT ON TIME FOR YOU GUYS
Something that Kunugigaoka never advertised was their Valentine's Day festival.
Although with the school's reputation, it wasn't like they needed to advertise much. Given that it was a yearly event, people just showed up anyway. According to legend, it was arranged and paid for mostly by the school and its top administrators, giving the students enough time to focus on their demanding exams and end-of-year schedules. Honestly, the Valentine's Day festival seemed to serve more as a way to get prospective students interested in the academy than anything else, as well as letting the community come in to explore the prestigious school grounds. Had to keep up those good relations with the public, after all.
Though, in the heat of the moment, the festival seemed just as focused on the holiday as anything else.
Yuuji dodged booths, passing people left and right and muttering apologies whenever accidentally bumping into someone. And that happened a lot. There must have been over a thousand people in the main courtyard alone. Yuuji scowled. This place was as lively as usual.
Two large boards forming the shape of a heart stood by the entrance to the school, towering over all newcomers and making everyone who walked through them feel indoctrinated into the lovey-dovey theme. Beyond them stretched two rows of booths, the tented structures selling things like cards, souvenirs, charms related to studying and luck in romance, and of course, chocolates. There were many shrieking girls. And just as many pouting guys.
Everything was in shades of red, white, and pink. Garlands of lace and assorted cut-outs stretched between the trees, while other, separate strands connected one booth to another. Arrangements of flowers had been placed at tastefully-selected corners. Bringing up the end of the main row of booths was even a flower-sculpture of the school mascot, Kunudon. It gave Yuuji the creeps.
He stumbled past another rejection-zombie, the male student's eyes lost and empty from lack of receiving chocolate. The student shuffled away, groaning something about 'one, please…just one.' Yuuji stared after him for a moment with a mix of pity and fear before continuing on.
He still hadn't found what he was looking for. Yuuji frowned and craned his neck in order to see all the way to the end of this row of booths. Where is the section for Class E? he wondered. I've wandered all over by now, but still haven't seen it…
At last, Yuuji gave in. He tapped the shoulder of the nearest student wearing a Kunugigaoka uniform. "Hey," he said. "Could you tell me where the booths run by Class E are?"
The boy that Yuuji had stopped gave him a funny look. "Uhh… Class E doesn't have any booths."
"What?" Yuuji exclaimed. "You're kidding me."
The boy in the uniform slowly backed away. "Nope. That's the way it is. They're so far behind and so low, they uh…need to focus on their schoolwork before we can let them back onto the main campus. Principal's orders."
He pointed towards an open gate in the chain-link fence that surrounded the school premises. "Their part of the festival is over that way, but it's not much. I'd stay here and enjoy the real party, if I were you."
Yuuji stared at the chain-link fence. Then he stared back towards the student. "You serious? Isn't the entire school supposed to participate?"
The student shifted on his feet. "They are participating. Nothing's stopping their friends and family from going over to see their section. Besides, if you ask me, they should stay where they belong. We don't need…distractions," the student's voice ended in a mutter, as if he didn't quite believe what he was saying.
Yuuji scowled. He swept one hand through the air in a rough farewell to the student and walked off in the direction of the fence. Tch. Behind him, the student nervously adjusted his overjacket and then disappeared back into the crowd.
The familiar roughness of Kunugigaoka's mountain path greeted Yuuji's shoes as he made his way up the hill. Well, this is more than a little unfair, he thought as the colors and noise from the "main" festival slowly faded behind him. Not two minutes later, another realization came to his mind. Yuuji frowned at the imposing trees and muddy landscape all around him. Huh. There didn't seem to be many decorations out here. Weird.
He stopped in his tracks. Then, after a moment of thought, Yuuji shrugged and continued on. Oh well. If this sixth sense alert meant that another rogue assassin was going to try to jump him, then they better make it quick. He was sick and tired of that.
Just before Yuuji started to get suspicious again, a white shape came into view. Upon getting a bit closer, it looked to be some kind of signpost. Once Yuuji finally stood in front of it, he peered down at the structure.
It was made from some sort of white stake, pushed securely into the ground with a plush heart hung on it like some sort of beanbag. And the heart was covered in…arrows? Yuuji's eyebrows tilted in confusion. He fought to keep his heart from speeding up as he looked at the gruesome sight, a dozen arrowheads buried deep within the rosy cushion. It looked like a miniature forest was sticking up from its flesh.
Yuuji could practically feel a sweatdrop animation on the back of his head. Maybe it was supposed to be some sort of Cupid thing? Yuuji shrugged and continued on.
As he went, Yuuji came across a few more of those weird Valentine's-themed posts. There was one with four robotic arms attached to it. A heart-shaped light on top whirred and flashed when Yuuji approached. He decided to stay out of its range, hurrying away as fast as he could. Then there was a signpost as morbid as death itself, black paint dripping down its formerly-white sides as if the maker had decided that darkness should be considered the true spirit of Valentine's Day. A somber arrangement of deep crimson roses, black tulips, and red spider lilies adorned the base. Yuuji shivered at the collection of death symbols.
Beyond those were an art-themed post, camouflaged so well that it nearly blended in with the mountainside, a post that seemed to be being used as a motorbike stand for the moment, and a post that simply read 'EAT AT MATSURAIKEN FAMILY RAMEN STAND' in big letters.
Huh. Yuuji glanced around in befuddlement. What was the deal with these signposts? They were simple and plain, at least by their main structure, and seemed intended to connect them to the main campus's festivities. But they were doing so in the faintest, most indirect way.
Anyway, Yuuji walked on. He had managed to time his visit so that he came right before school let out. Most of the students at the main courtyard had been there to hang out and enjoy the festival after class, but already the air was permeated with the feeling of going home. And as Yuuji walked up the path, a few students dressed in Kunugigaoka's uniform came strolling back the other way. They shot him a few strange looks, but nobody stopped him. Yuuji tugged on the brim of his hat. He would be surprised if any of them recognized him anyway—they hadn't seen him in months, and he was dressed slightly nicer than usual today.
At last, Yuuji reached the end. He waited near the wooden post that served as a gate, right before the final step into view of the school building. He shifted nervously on his feet. For a moment, he brought one hand up and placed it over a point inside his jacket, checking to make sure that a certain something was still there. Yes, it was. At last that hadn't gotten lost, despite all the jostling-
A short, green-haired girl passed by on Yuuji's left. A few seconds later, there was movement at the schoolhouse door. In a smear of blue and gray, Nagisa exited.
A grin broke out across Yuuji's face. He waved towards the boy. "Nagisa!"
The boy seemed lost in thought for a moment before he noticed Yuuji calling. Then his expression changed immediately. He gathered his bag underneath one arm, hurrying over to the wooden post.
"This is a surprise," Nagisa said, jogging over to Yuuji. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon. I mean," He blushed and glanced away. "Well, considering that we only just started d-dating officially."
Yuuji nodded. "I know. I just…had something I wanted to do."
"Mmkay." Nagisa adjusted the strap of his bag over his shoulder. "So how've you been?"
"Fine. You?"
"I'm doing fine too."
Silence fell for a few moments. "So, what is it?" Nagisa said at last. "Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't had enough of this place by now…"
Yuuji fidgeted, trying to swallow down his nervousness. "I know you've been super-busy with exams, lately," he started. "So have I. But here-"
He took a small box from the inside of his jacket and held it out towards Nagisa.
"I wanted to give you this," Yuuji said.
The package was covered in blue and silver wrapping paper that shone in the dull winter sunlight. The chocolates contained within were not handmade, which would have been the most significant, but they were hand-selected. Which was close enough. And with Yuuji's gourmet sense of taste, "hand-selected" meant a lot. The gift was of very high quality, and expensive, though not enough so as to make Nagisa feel bad about accepting them. Yuuji watched Nagisa's eyes widen as the boy recognized the crest of the company from a sticker on the box's surface.
"For me?" Nagisa breathed, holding the chocolates as if in a dream.
"Of course."
None of them spoke, but one other sensation was in the air. Yuuji knew what Nagisa was thinking—this was almost like an apology. Given that, in Japan, only girls were supposed to give gifts to guys on Valentine's Day, Yuuji might as well be putting himself in the "girlfriend" role right now. Which meant that Nagisa was in the more masculine role by default. Yuuji let his cheeks burn, but he kept his head held high. It was worth it. Consider this his way of telling Nagisa that, while he might have mistaken Nagisa for a girl at first, Yuuji mostly certainly did not do so now. And he could see from the look on Nagisa's face that Nagisa was highly complimented.
"But," Nagisa protested. "But I've already-"
"What?"
The boy's gaze flickered towards the school building and back. "Nothing. She'll understand."
Nagisa held the box close to his chest for a moment before putting it away inside of his school bag. When that was done, he glanced up at Yuuji and let out a nervous laugh. "Well, the world better survive past March 13th," he said. "I need to pay you back on White Day."
"Haha," said Yuuji. Then the actual meaning of Nagisa's words struck him. "What?"
"Nothing."
A faint voice sounded behind them, calling from a little ways down the mountainside.
Nagisa's expression became sheepish. "Whoops! That's Sugino. Sorry Yuuji," he apologized. "I said I'd walk back with him today. Um, we're best friends but haven't spent a lot of time together lately..."
"No problem," Yuuji said. He waved Nagisa off. "I understand. Go have fun. Just…enjoy," Yuuji added as Nagisa went past. "The gift, I mean."
Nagisa nodded and smiled at him, whispering "bye" as he passed.
Yuuji had just enough time to sigh before Nagisa's voice came again, from behind him this time. "Wait!"
Yuuji looked back over his shoulder.
The boy came trotting up to Yuuji's side. "I need to give you a reply gift. Don't wait up for White Day."
He stood up on tiptoes and gave Yuuji a peck on the cheek.
"Just in case!" Nagisa smiled. He waved and turned to go, this time for real.
Yuuji stood, slightly stunned. Eventually his mind started working again. He gave a small smile back, waving in return at the sight of Nagisa's retreating figure.
Heh-heh. Yuuji looked off into the distance for a moment, feeling the butterflies flutter in his stomach. Mission accomplished. Operation give-Valentine's-chocolate-to-his-boyfriend (his boyfriend! Yuuji's mind flooded with happiness at the thought) was secured. Eventually Yuuji turned to walk on back down the hill. He strode at a slower pace than usual, wanting to simply enjoy the happy buzzing feeling all around him. Two kisses on two meetings at the schoolhouse gate. He was on a roll.
"Hey."
A blunt, stern voice made Yuuji turn. A different boy had appeared at the wooden gatepost. He looked to be around Yuuji's age, standing at average height. His hair was as red as spilled blood.
The boy's pose was so casual, it was impossible to know when he had appeared at the gatepost. He might have just strolled up. He might have been there all along. Although his posture was lax, Yuuji spotted his hand curled at the ready around the strap of a schoolbag over his shoulder. The energy surrounding this guy felt…dangerous. Like he was the spark before a forestfire. And even worse, that he knew it. His golden eyes were sharp. His expression was serious. "You Nagisa's friend?"
"What? Uh, yeah. Sure," Yuuji fumbled. He fought to keep a straight face.
The boy's expression looked almost thoughtful. "Got a minute?"
"…Maybe?"
The red-haired boy nodded. He set off toward the school building. "Let's talk inside."
The new boy hadn't phrased it like a demand, but Yuuji felt herded inside the classroom anyway.
The air inside the classroom was cold. The main campus probably didn't want to spring for heating and other luxuries all the way out here, but it was still a bit of a surprise at first. Yuuji sat behind a desk, placed near the windows and second from the front. The brown wood stretched out in a square expanse in front of him. Briefly, Yuuji wondered if he was siting at Nagisa's desk. Nah, probably not. It didn't matter anyways.
The red-haired boy leaned up against the blackboard, observing Yuuji as if he was some sort of mildly interesting zoo animal. Yuuji tried to keep his expression even. So this was Karma Akabane.
Yuuji had heard just a little bit about him from Nagisa, who claimed to actually be the boy's friend-of-sorts. He was supposed to be clever, wickedly intelligent, and an absolute terror when it came to both starting and winning fights, all with a penchant for mischief. Apparently he had once been a bit of a delinquent as well. And oh god, that name. Yuuji suppressed a shudder. It almost felt like he was being shaken down by a philosophical concept.
Karma's amber eyes fixed him with a look.
"So," he said, nearly making Yuuji flinch with that one word alone. "You and Nagisa seem to be close. I assume you've stayed in contact a lot since you visited us in the Fall?"
He was talking about the food festival. Yuuji nodded. Karma gave a short nod to himself. "That explains a lot," he muttered.
Karma tilted his head back, hitting it against the blackboard. When he next opened his mouth, a surprisingly normal stream of questions poured out. Where do you live, how long have you known him, what do you like to do? And yet, all of them had the faint sense of orchestration behind them, as if pulled along by careful, invisible strings. But the moment Yuuji stopped thinking about it, the effect seemed to vanish. He couldn't comment on it. He couldn't even prove it was there.
So he answered. Yuuji told him briefly about his neighborhood, which school he went to, how it was sorta far from Kunugigaoka but that was fine, the trip wasn't that bad and by now he was used to it. Plus, it was worth it. He told him that Nagisa had given him his number, and that they had kept in touch via messaging. He told Karma about his food blog, which was still running, albeit barely, about the most recent video games he had played, about the cool media prep program at the high school that he wanted to go to. Subconsciously, Yuuji realized that most assassins could have probably found this stuff out surreptitiously, but Karma seemed to be the more direct type.
At long last, Karma looked Yuuji up and down. His nose wrinkled. "I don't get it," he said. "What does he see in you?"
Yuuji struggled to think. Eventually, an answer came to his lips. "I don't know," Yuuji admitted. He paused. "But whatever it is, I hope it's enough for him to stay."
"Pfft, I'll bet." Karma's voice had taken on a teasing tone. A gleeful glint shone in his eyes. "Ahh, young love, so fervent and yet so easily crushed. I bet you hope he'll stay with you forever, despite…"
Karma's hand shifted in his pocket. Yuuji caught sight of the tip of a smartphone before Karma's hand stilled. The other boy's grin froze for a second. He looked down at the device and frowned, as if rethinking something.
"What?" Yuuji asked. "What is it?"
Karma shook his head. "Nevermind."
"But man, you really don't care if you get in his way, do you?" Karma said with a drawl, stuffing the object back into his pocket. "I mean, if you've gone through all the effort to come here, that much is obvious."
Confusion flitted across Yuuji's face. "I'm not sure what you mean."
"You don't care if you distract him. You know he's in the middle of something important, and yet you're still willing to make him waste his time and look to the side at you. When what he should be focusing on is the main target."
"I'm not a distraction!" Yuuji protested. "A-At least, he doesn't treat me like one." Yuuji hung his head. "When I'm with Nagisa, he seems…so happy. He enjoys being with me, or at least I'm pretty damn sure he does. He looks," Yuuji searched for the words, "I guess this sounds kind of strange, but he looks so…alive? And if he's with me, I can at least work hard to make him look like that more often. To smile and really mean it, like he does."
Karma stared back at Yuuji for a moment, not even blinking.
Then he sighed. "Geez," Karma said. He ran one hand through his hair as if in exasperation. "You're so normal. Honestly, it practically reeks coming off of you." Karma's nose twitched as if he could smell what he was talking about.
Yuuji shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He couldn't say anything in his defense. He knew that Karma was right.
"I suppose it is a bit charming, given the background that we come from. But really, there's something that you need to know," Karma said, his voice becoming a sudden hiss. "I don't know how you think you deserve Nagisa," Karma said, stepping away from the blackboard and walking slowly around the edge of the teacher's podium. "I can tell—there's no way you've seen all of him."
"You've never seen his dark side, you know?" Karma said, advancing towards Yuuji. He stalked closer, past the first row of desks, leaning forward at the shoulders, moving like a panther. "You've never seen Nagisa serious. Never seen him scary, never seen him turn that trusting smile into a chilling smirk."
"You've only seen the lighter parts—the kindness, the laughter, the innocence," Karma continued. "The curiosity, the gentleness, the 'human' side. You've never seen his aura turn into a snake, never seen how those eyes grow cold and precise once they've found a weak point, never seen him from the other side of the knife. You've only thought about him taking people down, never seen how capable he actually is of doing it. A person can look a whole lot different when their knife is suddenly pointed towards you."
Karma paused for a moment to get his point across, his hand coming to the top of the desk for emphasis. Yuuji was held trapped in his gaze.
"So," Karma said in a voice solid as rock. "Why do you like him?"
Yuuji paused for a moment. When he spoke, his voice came as something quiet.
"He's, well…" Yuuji squirmed in his seat, his cheeks beginning to flush. "He's amazing, isn't he? I think he's cute, and he's really cool. He's always been there for me, but at the same time he doesn't live his life solely for other people. He's got his own hopes and dreams. And they're fun to watch. I just…think he's a really good person. He's smart and funny, and brightens up the whole room. Being around him is…well, I just enjoy it."
Karma blinked. Then, after a moment, he drew back, returning to his previous position by the board.
"Is…is that too shallow?" Yuuji asked at length.
"It's fine," Karma replied. "I understand now. You're his sanity."
He stood by the blackboard, turning to look back at Yuuji. "But be careful. That's a pretty big deal, being someone's designated sanity. Can you do that?"
Yuuji stared back at Karma. For a moment, he didn't speak. He hardly thought. Instead, he gathered all the courage he could muster and looked directly up at the red-haired boy. He nodded.
Karma scoffed, but moved languidly away. He hoisted his bag back over one shoulder.
"Eh, whatever. So long as he's happy," Karma said. He threw one hand up in a casual motion of farewell. "Just keep Nagisa safe. Remember, if you hurt him in any way, I'll kill you."
Yuuji tried to speak, but found that he could not. So he nodded vigorously. Silently, he thought to himself that he was pretty sure Nagisa was perfectly capable of taking revenge for himself anyway.
With the slide of a door, Karma left. All at once it was silent inside the classroom. The air seemed a lot more relaxed once the other boy was no longer in it.
Yuuji relaxed, letting go of tension that he didn't even realize he had. Well. That had happened.
The hint of a laugh escaped Yuuji. Heh. Glad to know that at the very least, he had karma on his side.
Afterword: Okay so I know Kunugigaoka never had a Valentine's event in canon (we got the Maehara/Okano chocolate-giving drama instead), but WHAT IF. WHAT IF, GUYS. It doesn't help that after I read a post on tumblr from pepperbalm hoping that Class E's Valentine's Day "would become a big enough event that it attracts Yuuji back to Kunugigaoka", I couldn't stop thinking about it… So hey. I extended canon a bit.
* "Matsuraiken" is apparently the name of Muramatsu's family ramen stand. You know, that blonde guy with the weird mouth who's in Terasaka's gang? I had to get that info from the Assassination Classroom wiki.
* Nagisa's remarks are due to the fact that Korosensei's explode date is March 13th. And well, White Day is March 14th. :| So yeah. If Korosensei did explode, there would be a lot of Japanese women who never got to receive their reply gifts. Dick move.
* I'm curious to see if any of you can guess what Karma was considering showing Yuuji. It's nothing too, too major, but if you look back at chapter 159, you'll see it. I just thought it would be out of character for Karma not to use that for some mischief, but he ended up coming to some realizations here that made him decide against revealing it.