Ding.

Nagisa's head is spinning. Where even is he? Last thing he solidly remembers, he was playing never have I ever at Okajima's party. The spinning suddenly morphs into a pounding pain and nausea, so he decides to ignore that for a moment and try and focus on the relative comfort of the pillow he's lying on. Well… it feels like he's propped up almost in a sitting position, actually. Whatever.

Ding.

A groan, and then the shift of the mattress beside him. Karma? That makes sense, actually. His own bed isn't this comfortable. Right, yeah, he remembers being half carried across the doorway, plus a couple of flashes of stumbling down the hallway. How did he even get that drunk? Trying even harder to remember makes things worse, though.

Suddenly very awake, Nagisa stumbles his way out of bed, finding it far too bright despite the blinds being closed. For one, he really needs to pee, but he also needs to figure out what actually happened. His phone is on the nightstand at least. Not that he remembers putting it there… maybe Karma did it? If he did, he even put it on charge for him. Somehow he feels like he might owe him an apology.

There are… a number of messages on his phone. Nagisa hasn't felt this popular… ever. Which makes him concerned. It's a question of who he'd rather hear it from though. Karma? Well he'll probably just make fun of him. Then Nagisa shakes his head at the thought. No, that's unfair. Karma deserves to not be doubted at this point.

He still feels a little shaky as he makes it to the bathroom, which smells strongly of bleach. The next thing that comes to him is the memory of leaning with his head over the toilet bowl. He thinks Karma might have held his hair back. That's not exactly great. How's he going to look Karma in the eye? What should he even say at a time like this? Hey honey, thanks for cleaning up my puke?

Nagisa tries his best not to undo the work, despite his nausea being through the roof, and just focuses on peeing. After that, brushing his teeth helps remove the gross taste in his mouth a little. He's really glad he has that here now. But now what? Nagisa could check the messages on his phone properly… but maybe it would be better to hear from Karma. He must have been there for the worst of it.

The light of the hallway seems too bright to him. Ugh. This might be the worst hangover he's ever had. Maybe he should detour to Karma's fridge? All he wants are carbohydrates. Maybe Karma has something… Though, he actually cooks well. And if he eats at all, Nagisa kind of wants the junk food variety.

He doesn't get as far as the fridge, though, because there's obvious activity on the sofa. He blinks. Why is there a child's voice?

"-Did I do it right?"

"Yeah," that's Karma, "now you have to hide from the police… Hey I think Nagisa finally woke up."

Somehow he feels a sense of fight or flight take over him. Karasuma and Bitch Sensei's young daughter Nao, who Nagisa suddenly remembers he agreed to babysit, turns over the sofa and shoots him a toothy grin. Oh no.

"Nagisa san! Karma san said you were feeling yucky!"

All he has is his grimace. "Yeah, I was. But I feel a lot better now!"

"I'm not gonna catch it right?"

"Hey Naochan~" Karma says, "do you know what 'binge drinking' means?"

She shakes her head.

"Karma-"

Karma ignores him. "How about 'alcoholic'?"

"Isn't that when you drink a lot of wine and get sad?" She looks at Nagisa. "Why are you sad, Nagisa san?"

Karma doesn't even try to hide his laughter.

He takes it back. He has no remorse. "Don't worry, I'm definitely not sad. He's just telling a joke."

"Oh," she wrinkles her nose. "I don't get it."

"That's right," he says. "Karma's not very funny, is he?"

"Hey-"

He squints at the TV screen. "Are you playing GTA?"

Karma shrugs. "I just told her to pick a game."

"She's five."

He rolls his eyes, but reaches over to pause the game. "Alright, Party Pooper san, fun's over. Gotta pick another one, Nao chan."

It doesn't take her long. "Pokémon!"

Karma straight up gives him puppy dog eyes. "Can she Nagisa? Can she play Pokémon? Or are you gonna say it encourages animal abuse or something?"

"It's fine…" He averts his eyes. "Can I speak to you though?"

"Sure."

Nagisa takes his chance to wander back into the bedroom. For one, he should probably get dressed, rather than standing around in pyjamas. It's impolite at best, especially during babysitting. Maybe it will make him feel a bit less groggy anyway. He hopes… Though, he's not sure what clothes to change into. When he locates the outfit he wore last night, the smell of alcohol is off putting the say the least.

"I have a gift for you," Karma says, brandishing a bottle of Pocari Sweat. An electrolyte drink is probably the best thing right now, actually.

Despite his blatant attempts to get under his skin just now, Nagisa feels love bubble up in his chest. "Thank you."

He hesitates. "How much do you remember?"

Nagisa cringes. "Not a lot… I know we were playing a drinking game. That's the last part that's… clear. Everything else is little bits and pieces." Unfortunately he remembers some of the things he admitted to, and he looks at Karma seriously. "I think I remember talking about some… awkward things during that game. I'm so sorry."

Karma just laughs. "Oh that game was nothing. Apparently you called Nakamura to tell her my 'ass was carved by the gods'. I mean really? What does that even mean?"

All he can produce is a choking sound. What?!

"Here," he pulls up an image on his phone, but Nagisa can't bear to look. "She memed it."

"I didn't…"

"I'm not mad," Karma waves off casually. "I can't exactly say someone's announced how attractive I am to such a big group of people before, but I'll definitely take the compliment. You even told the taxi driver!"

Nagisa hangs his head in shame.

"Not to mention the propositioning." He laughs again. "I can't believe it. You really don't remember trying to jump my bones right there at the party with everyone watching?"

He looks up at Karma seriously. "I think you were right. Let's go to Samoa as soon as possible. I need to get out of the country."

His face is still devilish though. "It was worse than fresh hires at their first office drinking party. At least you had fun, right?"

"I'm so sorry," he says again.

"Don't worry about that," Karma says. "I head 'sorry' enough last night. At least… I think that's what you said? It was kind of hard to tell, you were puking at the time and all."

He buries his face in his hands.

"I'm 'the best boyfriend ever', right?" He grins. "You made it too easy. I have five years of ammunition with this."

"I probably deserve it…"

"Mmmhmm," Karma doesn't argue. "I feel like that and your hangover is enough atonement anyway…" He looks around. "Do you have clothes?"

The change of topic is welcome. "No…"

Karma stretches his arms, and steps over to his wardrobe. "Maybe I can find you something…"

He ends up digging out a couple of items. Nagisa's honestly sceptical, but it's not like he has much of an alternative. Of course the smallest pair of trousers Karma owns don't fit him, though he manages to make them stay up at least with a belt and some rolling. Mixed with a hoodie he apparently shrunk whilst washing at some point, he's just about presentable.

"You look like a plagued rat with depression," Karma says.

He tries to glare, but that just makes his head hurt worse. "I feel like one."

Karma just laughs and ruffles his hair. Nagisa's not sure whether to be offended by that.

As mornings went, this is a pretty terrible one. Thankfully, Nao still seems occupied with Pokémon. It's weird how video games seem to be the universal answer to a child's attention span. All in all, Nagisa's at least a little relieved at that. For one, Karma's sofa is pretty comfortable, plus it's relatively easy to dissociate a bit with only the familiar theme tune playing in the background. It's like napping whilst he's still awake, almost.

The only thing that jolts him out of it a bit is Nao asking to use the bathroom. He hopes the cleaning product smell has faded at least. That minor concern allows him to wake up a bit.

"It's probably bad right?" Nagisa says. "Just letting her play video games all day."

Karma shrugs beside him. "She seems happy enough."

"Karasuma Sensei won't be though." He finds himself shifting. "I don't know what else to do though."

"I don't know what else kids like," Karma says after a while. "The park or something?"

Nagisa shudders at the thought of outside, but it's probably for the best. It's not like there's much set up here for a kid to do.

"We have to feed her anyway, right?"

He didn't even think about that.

Thankfully, Karma seems more than happy to do the talking when she returns.

"Say, Naochan, wanna go and do something more fun than this?"

She looks at them both curiously. Given her age, the sense of being studied that Nagisa feels is a little unnerving. "Can we go to Sanrio Land?"

That's not what Nagisa had in mind.

"What's that?"

She grins wildly. "Best place ever! It's my favourite! I go with Mummy and Daddy all the time!" As if to demonstrate, she starts twirling on the spot.

Karma coughs. "It's not far from Kunugigaoka… I think."

Nagisa feels… Well he wants to tell Karma he's an idiot for giving a child an open ended question like that. And… oh no. She's giving them serious puppy dog eyes. Somehow, it's much more effective than whenever Bitch Sensei used to do it. Well now they can't say no. Also… he's kind of curious why Karma knows where it is.

Nagisa doesn't believe in telepathy, but he finds himself looking at Karma as though he's actually about to read his mind. In fact, there's a lot he can read from his facial expression alone. It's like having a miniature debate with him. What do we say? Are you going to be okay with this? Well it's not like we have a choice.

"Sure," Karma says. "You're the boss."

"Yay!" She stops spinning at least. "Can we go now?"

Unfortunately, they kind of have to given the journey time. Nagisa feels bad, but he really can't match the five year old's energy. At least she didn't say Disneyland? He's not sure if that would have been worse or not. At least the fresh air helps him feel a little bit better… if only marginally. He's not sure how long that'll last.

At least her enthusiasm is slightly infective. She looks around in a kind of awe when they reach the train station anyway. Nagisa wonders how often she's actually been to one. If there's one thing he knows about Bitch Sensei, it's that she hates public transport. In his current state Nagisa would be inclined to agree, though he's mostly just thankful they've missed the morning rush hour.

He can't bring himself to talk much during the journey, though he tries his best to smile and answer Nao's maybe overwhelming amount of questions. At least it's a distraction from the instability of the train, which threatens his stomach every time it staggers. This is fine. Nagisa's still afraid to look at his phone messages.

Their final station is covered in Hello Kitty motifs, in a way that led him to think it would be creepy at night. Luckily, or maybe unluckily for him, it's pretty bright outside. Honestly Nagisa feels a little worse actually standing up and walking again, but perhaps through sheer willpower alone he manages to make it right up to the obnoxiously coloured Sanrio Puroland entrance.

At least Nao seems happy?

One of the few bonuses to being to groggy is that he can't react much to the eyewatering cost of the tickets. Sure Hello Kitty might look cute, but she's seriously draining his wallet. It feels a little like she's mocking him, when they come out into the large entrance hall decorated with her statue. He's even a little intimidated.

"I wanna go to Hello Kitty's house!" Nao announces.

It turns out to be a little like a fun house, just really really pink. There also doesn't seem to be much to do other than take photos, but Nao smiles pretty wide. Nagisa just kind of feels like he's stepped into some kind of alternate universe filled with young kids running around and a room that looks like a candy store threw up on it.

"Cute, huh?" Karma says, whilst snapping several photos. Meanwhile, like she's some kind of pro, Nao switches her poses up.

Nagisa looks up at him, a little taken aback. Honestly it's not a word Karma uses much. "Yeah, I guess."

Karma rolls his eyes. "Quit being such a downer. Aren't kids precious~?"

He knows Karma's not being serious exactly, but it jolts something in him. I still want grandchildren, it echoes in his head. Nagisa's senses are probably way off, but Karma genuinely doesn't seem bothered in the slightest. Usually Karma would be the first to complain about something he doesn't want to do… And sure he could be hiding that, but even if he is it doesn't seem to be straining him in anyway.

Other than Nagisa occasionally talking about things at work, it's not like kids have even come up in conversation for any reason. So maybe Karma does like kids? That's not abnormal… or even a bad thing. Given how much he acts like one sometimes it probably makes sense. Nagisa would probably even say he likes kids, given his career choice. Even though they're usually older, he still used to enjoy tutoring Sakura and some of the other students at the kindergarten they fixed up.

"Can I see, Karma san?!" Nao rushes over, looking hilariously impatient with her hands on her hips.

Karma crouches to her level. "Sure, let's scroll through."

Of course, simply not disliking children and actually wanting to have one are two completely different thing with a lot of steps in-between. Nagisa doesn't even know how he feels about it, it's not something he's really actively thought about independently. Maybe people who actually have a chance of that happening think about it more?

Nagisa forces himself to swallow down the particularly scary thought that Karma could be a good dad. It freaks him out more than anything could have in that moment. He's a good cook… funny… can be caring when he wants to be… Nagisa physically shakes his head, as though trying to completely banish the thoughts.

"Nagisa san," Nao snaps him out of it, looking up at him expectantly. "We gotta go to my favourite part."

It's not like he has much of a choice, because she grabs him by the hand and tugs him over to some kind of magical mirror. She stands in front of it expectantly, and sure enough, a pink gown is digitally projected over her reflection. And okay, he can see why a kid might find that fun. It's a little less fun when she drags him into the frame too, kitting him out in the outfit.

"Tada!"

Nagisa inhales and reminds himself it's only harmless fun. "You look great Naochan."

She beams. "You know Mama calls me Princeza."

Beside them, Karma snickers.

He doesn't do anything other than glare, but he hopes the message gets through loud and clear.

Karma straightens. "What? I didn't say anything."

You thought it though.

"Yay!" Nao says happily. "You too Karma san!"

Apparently Karma is no match for a determined five year old. He doesn't quite fit the mirror all that well, though, so he's mostly spared from the princess gown treatment aside from a few glitchy seconds. He's clearly acting up his reaction a little, but Nagisa still finds his look of horror amusing enough to laugh at.

They pass through the rest of Hello Kitty's house without much incident. And then it's on to the next character's house. Nagisa quickly realises that this entire place is essentially one huge pastel coloured photo set. It doesn't help much with his general grogginess, in fact it probably adds to it. Everything kind of blurs into one, like he blinks and suddenly he's on an It's A Smallworld knockoff ride.

He's actually pretty happy when Nao announces she's hungry. Sure, Nagisa still can't face the idea of complex food, but he'll take the opportunity to just sit down. He kind of regrets it when he sees the amount of definitely sugar products Karma's apparently given Nao the okay to have. His own plate doesn't look much better. It's like a candy store monstrosity.

"Nagisa san, Karma san," Nao says, slurping her straw, "who's your favourite?"

Nagisa thinks for a moment. "I haven't really kept up with Sanrio characters recently…"

"Badtz-Maru," Karma says without hesitation.

Nao gapes at him. "That's the same as Papa!"

Karma grins. "I mean, he kind of looks like him."

She mulls it over. "I think so! My favourite is Cinnamoroll."

And apparently passionately so. Nagisa wonders why Karma is so up to date on these things, honestly. Or maybe he really is just that observant. Whatever the case, the two of them chatter about it, and Nagisa once again feels guilty for his lack of contribution. Just another thing Karma seems to be better than him at…

It goes downhill not long after though. Nao is still pretty young, and there's only one thing that happens when you cram a child full of sugar. Almost like a switch after they finish eating, Nao starts to look like she needs a ten hour nap. At last, something Nagisa can relate to. It's like she's fighting with every step.

"Hey Naochan," Nagisa leans down to her level, "have you had enough for today?"

She appears to think it over, swaying a little. "'s fun here though…"

He pulls a smile. "That just means there's a lot to look forward to next time you come."

Finally comes a look of defeat, and she's practically leaning her weight on him. "M-kay."

Somehow he figures she's not going to be much good walking all the way back to the train station. Instinct takes over him a little, and he manages to manoeuvre her into his arms, pulling her (thankfully pliant) body up as he tries to support her weight against his hip. Emphasis on tries, because she's a lot heavier than she looked.

"Here," Karma offers his arms out, "I've got it."

Nagisa doesn't argue with him, because he really don't want to end up dropping her. Though, Karma doesn't seem to know how to actually hold her securely. Nagisa sees it over his face, before he apparently decides to just shift her into a kind of piggy back position. At least Nao seems used to it, sleepily holding onto his neck.

"Thanks," Nagisa says, albeit quietly.

"You're better at this stuff than me," Karma catches him off guard a little.

Considering Nagisa's been thinking that about him all day… "Hardly."

Karma sighs dramatically. "You knew what to do. I didn't think she was this tired."

"I babysat a bit in high school," he admits. "While I was tutoring. I guess it was a kind of two birds one stone thing."

They don't say much else, as they head out towards the station. It's really not like Karma's clueless anyway. Nagisa knows there's no way he'd have survived today alone at least. Well, children are a lot of work even at the best of times… He just hopes Karasuma isn't mad at them for wearing her out like this.

Nagisa's pretty beat too, actually.

At least half asleep by the time they get there, Nao slides down onto the train seat between them easily, though elects to keep her eyes shut. It's a pretty good idea, and Nagisa finds himself relaxing too. Rather that fall into the standard Tokyo metro head forward slump position, though, he finds himself resting against Karma's shoulder. It's a lot more comfortable there. He doesn't actually fall asleep or anything, but time seems to go quicker that way, most of everything else fading away until the announcement of the station name.

"Do you need anything to drink?" Karma asks when they make it back.

Nao, who found the strength to walk from the station at least, shakes her head. "Sleepy…"

Before Nagisa can feel too bad about it, she's literally saved by the bell. It makes him jump in this state, anyway, though that's probably a good thing. It's enough to refocus him to the extent of opening it at least, revealing a tired and somewhat stressed looking Karasuma. That sight alone may as well have been three espresso shots.

"Papa!" Nao calls cheerfully enough, though her weariness is pretty noticeable.

Karasuma picks her up, not breaking eye contact with Nagisa. "What did you do to her?"

Karma scoffs, folding his arms. "We kept her amused."

"Saw Hello Kitty," Nao mumbles.

"You're welcome," Karma adds dryly.

"Hm." He looks down at Nao, though, and Nagisa instantly senses the lightness. It's not surprising, though. Everyone knew Karasuma was most protective of his daughter. "You had fun?"

"Mmhmm," Nao responds.

He clutches her. "What do you say then?"

Nao peels her eyes open. "Thank you… Nagisa san… Karma san… Let's go again."

"Anytime you want," Nagisa says.

Karasuma straightens and nods. "Thank you for taking care of her so last minute."

Nagisa can only hope she ends up not telling him the part where Karma let her play violent video games. It feels almost too quiet when they leave, though. Weird. It's like Nagisa's been drifting in some kind of alternate universe for a while, suddenly thrust out to deal with real life. Such as the consequences of his own actions. They probably need to talk… without the fear of leaving a child unattended.

Though, Karma doesn't say anything, swiftly taking his chance to fall down on the sofa, shamelessly slouching against the cushion. Nagisa can't blame him, considering his probable lack of rest. But then he doesn't know what to do with himself, hesitating in position for a moment. Ultimately he elects to join him, sitting stiffly for just a moment before he pretty much just lets his body slump entirely against Karma's.

Rather than reposition him though, one of Karma's hands strokes the hair away from his eyes. "How about you? Thirsty? Feel like you can eat something yet?"

Nagisa's throat goes dry, though not from literal thirst. He doesn't even know what the emotion that pulses through him is, other than a kind of heaviness. It's like his stomach twists itself in knots, with the way Karma's looking at him… It almost feels tender. Somehow the softness of it feels too much to cope with though, like he might just burn here.

Karma's face contorts with worry. "You're not about to puke again, are you?"

He swallows. "Why are you being so nice?"

That causes Karma to still. "What do you mean? I'm always nice."

Nagisa shoots him a pointed look.

"-To you. Special case."

He automatically flushes a little, turning his face to hide it. "You make fun of me more than anyway."

"Well then you shouldn't make it so easy," he says lightly, before kissing him on the forehead.

That weird twisty feeling bubbles up again. It's almost like fear… though there's nothing he's actually scared of. More like he feels himself being sucked in to a whirlpool of depths unknown the more Karma looks at him like that. He almost wants Karma to make some kind of derogatory comment just so he feels a bit more normal again.

But maybe normal is overrated. Because maybe he also wouldn't mind it too much if Karma never lets him go.

"Still don't remember anything."

Karma brushes his arm. "You want to?"

He shakes his head. "It'll probably just make me want to leave the country for good."

"Let's start with a week," Karma says.

Finally he feels himself relaxing properly, practically lying in Karma's lap at this point. "Sounds nice."

Karma nudges him. "I mean it."

"I'm not sure I can afford a trip like that, not on short notice anyway."

He rolls his eyes. "You doubt my budgeting?"

"No, but-"

"It was my idea anyway, so it's on me."

Somewhat alarmed, Nagisa sits up properly again. "It doesn't work like that."

"Sure it does."

"For like one date maybe!"

Karma actually looks mildly irritated. "So it's just one long date."

"That's too much though!" He takes a deep breath. "I guess I never spent all of the reward money… And Korosensei always encouraged us to travel…"

"Okay, then?"

Nagisa swallows. "Yeah, okay." He lets out a yawn. "But first I should probably get some real sleep."

Karma hums. "Are you staying?"

He wants to. It's near overwhelming, how much he doesn't want to go home. It's weird to think that not to long ago, he was going out of his way to avoid falling asleep next to Karma. Now it's starting to feel more unnatural when he's on his own. But he hasn't been home all weekend at this point.

"I shouldn't," he admits. "If I actually want to make it to work tomorrow."

Karma accepts it at least, pulling himself to his feet. It's pretty good motivation for Nagisa to stand too, already hating the heavy feeling of his body. He doesn't want to go. Karma kisses him gently, their first of the day he realises. And Nagisa really doesn't want to break away from it.

"Goodnight," Karma says against his lips.

Nagisa almost feels compelled to clutch at his chest when the door closes behind him, the ache travelling all the way down to his toes. It's almost like this sense of missing him is ten times worse than any kind of hangover.