Work Text:
1.
"I can't believe you drag me into this."
It was 2 a.m. in the morning, the time when you were supposed to cram the stacks of criminal law books for your final and ended up questioning the past you decision to take this major with how every word seemed to fuck your brain up. Yet here you were, standing beside the red-headed culprit in front of a graffiti-filled wall with your own yellow spray can in hand.
The male in question didn’t answer, too engrossed in drawing silly faces across the concrete structure, his tongue sticking out slightly from his mouth as he made a swift flick to etch a line, contributing to the increase of colorful strokes collection.
“I need to start studying, Karma, my finals are coming soon,” you continued when your previous sentence earned you no response from the male, most probably falling into deaf ears. Or he’s simply ignoring you.
“You need to let loose, your finals are still a week left,” he finally replied, his mercury orbs briefly shifted to yours before he turned his attention back to the masterpiece he had created, “besides, I’m bored, I need my bestie to wreak havoc with.”
You raised an eyebrow in question, crossing your arms, the yellow spray can being held loosely in your grip as you stared at the back of his hooded head in pure disbelief. His idea of making you relax was to demolish a random part of building in the middle of the night? Truly a creative mind indeed.
“Who knew that the infamous Red Devil of Kunugigaoka has stooped so low that he started vandalizing things just because he’s bored,” you commented, uncrossing your arm, eventually settling to join the male in one of his mischievous acts. He had practically dragged you here so you might as well appreciate his effort.
You shook the spray can in your hand while tapping your foot lightly on the ground, contemplating what to draw. After a few seconds of mulling, an idea struck you. Swiftly, your spray created a full circle on an unblemished spot.
The redhead snickered as he watched you add two smaller circles on top of the big one. “Some kind of law student you are.”
You rolled your eyes. “Oh shut up. I'm only doing it just this once. There's no next time."
“Sure, sure," Karma said, picking on his ear as if he had heard that same remark a thousand times already, a fact that wasn't an exaggeration, "Don't you have anything else to retort with?"
You snorted as you made a long curve near the center of the circle. "What do you want me to say?"
"Oh things like how you actually enjoy causing a mess with me, how you break the rules just for me," the male said with his usual teasing smirk that would have sent girls wobbling at their feet but not you, you're practically immune to it by now. You've been blinded by it way too often.
"And gave you more ideas you could use against me? Yeah, not a chance."
"Aww, so you don't enjoy being with me?"
You merely looked at the male with a blank expression. "Figure it out by yourself, duh."
Karma's eye twitched. "A very diplomatic answer, [Name], very diplomatic."
You playfully stuck your tongue out, not giving him any coherent answer, before you focused back on your task in hand.
Unbeknownst to you, the boy released a sigh under his breath, disappointed that you weren't even flustered by his rather obvious intention. You were after all known as the Steel Lady, a title you unknowingly gained back in junior high school. Nothing really phased you much, regarding everything with a simple blank look on your face. Although Karma got the hunch that it was your denseness who played a major part in it.
Unbeknownst to him, you were confused at his attempt. Didn't he know that his teasing no longer works on you? All these years of being stuck literally on the hips had an unintended effect on you. Sure, Steel Lady, they said but even you weren't unaffected by the red-head sometimes flirtatious words.
"What are you even drawing anyway?" He asked, seeing how you wrinkled your petite nose in concentration.
"You’ll see it later,” you mysteriously replied, earning a scoff from the male.
“What are you drawing?” You countered back, casting a glance at the red markings in front of him, trying to make out its shape from the lines and curves.
“You’ll see it later,” he sneakily retorted and you nearly facepalmed. You should have known he would throw your own words back to you.
“Fine then, I show mine, you show yours once we’re done.”
“Deal.”
By the time you finished your work, your black jacket was covered with yellow stains from your unconscious habit of wiping your hands on it, something you had been scolded by your parents often. Karma was also done with his, visible red tints covered parts of his black hoodie.
You both took a step back to admire your masterpieces, your eyes visibly softening as you scrutinized every detail of your work.
One big circle, two smaller ones that acted as the eyes with a crescent-shaped grin stretched wide a few inches from the bottom curve of the circle. Some wet paint was still trickling down, some had dried quickly from the breeze and by now had smeared the otherwise neat, simple image with yellow lines that obscured the object of the art. Although, for the two vandalic, it was as clear as the day.
"It's been four years, huh?" Karma mused as he eyed what you had sketched upon the wall.
"I wish he could see how we were all doing right now," you murmured quietly, staring at the vast navy sky filled with millions of stars.
The moon that was once believed would be a crescent permanently has slowly patched itself up, a reminder that the one thing which could truly heal you was time. It was inevitable you knew it. Back when the class was divided into two opposing forces, you had been one of the main players to eradicate the blue team. Their idea had been optimistic, too good to be true. You hadn’t allowed yourself to hope, anchoring yourself to the harsh reality.
The male stared at the wistful look on your face before raising a hand to ruffle your head, earning a loud yelp from you, successfully destroying the melancholic atmosphere. “Don’t look so downcast, of course, he is.”
“Yeah, I know but Karma, you’re messing up my hair! And your hand is wet!” You ducked down to break free from his hold, immediately patting down your hair to tidy it. You looked down at your red-streaked hands then glared at the male who looked away, whistling merrily.
You sighed in defeat, so much for trying to be sentimental, brushing your hands on your clothes, dirtying it even further. “So, what did you draw?”
“See for yourself,” he said, tilting his head at the art, stepping aside to allow you to see it better. Red lines and curves merged together, intertwining into a palpable shape that you couldn’t believe the great Karma would draw. Bunny? Why would he draw a bunny? You had expected he would draw some devilish looking picture or equally gruesome creatures. But instead, what you got was a cute, small bunny with dead fish eyes. There was even a small red ribbon around its neck.
“Karma, what the he-”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Karma said before he crouched down, dipping his finger to a puddle of red liquid from the dripping paint before writing something on the corner of his drawing, his shoulder shaking while he did so.
Curious, you peeked over his shoulder to see what he had scribbled on the wall and why he looked so happy about it.
Property of Akabane Karma.
“Really Karma? Really?” You blurted out, giving an incredulous look at the male who was cackling lightly to himself. "You really need to declare your mischief to the world?"
“Why not?” He said as he looked at you, something flickered for a moment in his eyes, disappearing before you could tell what it was and he went back to drawing more things on the concrete pillar.
“I’m not writing my name, just so you know.” You huffed as you squatted beside him, your own spray can ready in hand.
The male shrugged lightly. “Figured.”
And so the both of you continued to wreak the building, scribbling and drawing god-knows-what, even when your spray cans laid empty at the side and all of your fingers were smudged with shades of yellow and red.
2.
“Isn’t this like illegal?”
“Probably.”
You shot the male a look full of incredulity at his indifferent tone of the current situation. The current situation, being, climbing through barbed fences which was obviously set up to keep people away from that place. You had sworn that you saw several red, neon signs with the words ‘Keep out’ then ‘Danger’ written on top of them as the two of you tracked the railing for any entryway but found none. On the bright side, for Karma with you rolling your eyes at the side, there was a part of the fence where some of the barbed wire had fallen off. It was quite high off the ground, seeing that even Karma needed to crane his neck to look at the top.
“But seriously, Karma, we probably shouldn’t be here,” you said, your eyes caught another ‘Danger’ sign from afar, hanging limply to the side, possibly due to some of the bolts coming loose.
“What if this place is a secret military base or something?” you added, glancing at your back warily to see if some adults would suddenly pop out from their disguises in the bushes, their leaves rustling from the breeze only increased your paranoia even further.
“Nah, I’ve been here several times already and no one caught me,” he said, skillfully clambering his way up the twisting metal as if he had been trained to do it since birth. Not a second later, he was already on top of the fence, looking down at you.
“You’ve been here several times already?” You asked, looking up to face him with a deadpan look on your face, clearly disappointed but not surprised.
“Found this place by chance.” He shrugged lightly.
“How did you even-” You cut yourself up, sighing. Only Karma could find a forbidden place without any intention to search for it in the first place. He had that natural tendency to steer into trouble.
“You know what, I’m not going to ask further,” you continued, dropping to one knee to stretch your leg before switching to another after you’re done. The male merely chuckled, his eyes trained closely to your every move.
“So do you need any help to get up or what?” He asked, lifting his eyebrows up in a silent challenge, fully aware that you wouldn’t take any of his generous offers.
“No need,” you simply replied, standing up after you’re sure your legs got enough warm-up. You nimbly sprang up, almost reaching the top in a single jump, fisting the flexible metal in your grip then quickly making your way up to sit beside him, wobbling a bit.
Karma whistled as he reached a hand out to steady you which you gladly took even when you knew that you weren’t going to fall anytime soon. “You really are a rabbit, didn’t make a mistake naming you that during the mock assassination.”
You scoffed, glancing at the male from your peripheral vision. “Being named a Rabid Bunny was not cool at all.” You recalled the moment you drew the lot with that codename in it, you heard the red-head cheered somewhere in the back.
“You lived up to your reputation, no harm done,” he commented before jumping down to the other side of the fence, landing soundlessly on the hard ground.
“What part of me lives up to my reputation?” You snorted as you eyed the ground for any safe spot to fall on. A slight hesitation filled you when you spotted several what seemed to be a bear trap hidden among the tall grasses of the field. Had Karma somehow gotten lucky with his jump? But then you remembered he had come to this place already so he probably knew where to land.
“Aww, is the little bunny too scared to jump down?” He teased, raising both of his arms as a safety measure which didn’t reassure you at all. Knowing him, he would have taken his arms away the moment you fell.
“...You do know that I could beat you up as I jumped down?” You huffed, seeing there weren’t places for you to freely jump down except maybe into the arms of the devil incarnation himself. You could jump past him or maybe use the male as leverage to jump further and land somewhere behind him but you didn’t want to take any chances. The male’s tall stature prevented you from seeing what laid far ahead.
“See this is why you’re called Rabid Bunny, so violent~” Karma snickered, spreading his limbs wider. You were still doubtful if the male would even catch you but decided that it wouldn’t be a real problem. The experience of learning parkour definitely taught you how to correctly land from a high place without endangering oneself.
“So are you going to jump or not?”
With that previous thought in mind, you took a deep breath and willed yourself to fall straight into the ground, letting gravity do its job.
Seeing that you had fallen without a warning, Karma looked stunned, not fully expecting that you would just throw your body away just like that. He shot forward to catch you in time, the sudden weight and momentum made him stagger slightly. Immediately, however, he steadied himself, carefully holding up your legs on each side of his waist.
“I’m surprised,” you said, blinking rapidly, arms wrapped tightly around his neck, “you really did catch me.” His hands felt warmth on your bare skin and you relished yourself in that feeling. You had made a bad choice of wearing shorts at night so along the way, you could feel the cool breeze nipping at your skin.
He raised an eyebrow at your remark although you couldn’t see it. “You thought I was joking?”
“Knowing you, that’s what I should have anticipated from the start,” you said, slowly loosening the hold you have around his neck, “now, can you please put me down?”
Karma hesitantly slackened the grip he has on you, another thing that caught you by surprise. First for his hesitation, the second being that he listened to your request for once. You blinked once more as he softly put you back on the ground.
“Well,” you began, pretending as if you weren’t bothered by it, “where do you want to lead me?”
The change was instant. The male smiled as if all the things before didn't happen, that you even wondered if that brief hesitation had been something but a figment of your imagination.
"Sure, let's go!" He cheerily said as he twisted his body away to walk deeper into the place, missing the way Karma had that lost look in his eyes as he stared at his palms.
The red-head brought you to the top of a hill after walking past a forest for a bit, where you could see the city from higher ground.
The view was simply breathtaking at night. The way the light from the building sparkled like an ocean of shining pearls. You could see the cars muddling like ink across the chromatic view. With the lack of artificial lighting polluting the area, the milky way revealed its grandiosity. Millions of stars decorated the navy blue backdrop of the sky. Soft breezes blew, sending your hair fluttering into the wind as you tried to tuck some strands that fell over your face.
It's quiet up in the overlook, you couldn't even hear the chirps of the crickets. It was like watching the world in slow motion, in a stalemate where you could take a breather away from the chaos of your daily life. For once, Karma stood silently at the side, hands shoved into his pockets as he watched the city drifted away.
"It's beautiful," you muttered in awe.
"It is," the boy mused along with you before his gaze landed on you. "That's why I wanted to show it to you."
"Then thank you for that," you replied, your lips quirking up into a soft smile. "I need to see more of the beauty of the world at night."
It was quiet for a moment, the two of you enjoying the night ticking away with every second before Karma broke the comfortable silence. "I've seen something way more beautiful than this."
That earned your attention. "Oh? What is that?" You questioned as you turned your head to face him, only to find him already staring down at you. You tilted your head, confused to why the male was looking at you so intensely. He wasn't trying to be cheesy, was he? You mentally shook your head.
"Is there something on my face or hair?" You asked, frowning and groped through your hair to check if a twig or two was stuck in it.
Karma only sighed at your clueless response, quickly looking away to admire the city. "There's nothing on it, don't worry," he said.
You believed his words for you didn't find anything and let your limbs fall at your side. "So, what was that beautiful thing you saw?"
"Never mind, you wouldn't realize it anyway."
And so you stood there, staring at the male in puzzlement as the world faded from its navy shade to black with the clouds drifting slowly among the sky, the night silently trickling away.
3.
The restaurant bustled with people mingling in and out of the room as it was the peak of lunch hour. It was already busy on weekdays but now that it was Saturday, the hecticness increased tenfold. Shouts of orders could be heard from every corner, busy waiters scampered around to list everything they could before disappearing into the staff section and walked out with a tray on both hands, stacked with various customer’s food.
“You’re jealous, aren’t you?”
“I’m not.”
You slurped your orange juice loudly, clearly not believing what he said the slightest bit. Some customers sent disapproving glances at your unladylike attitude but you paid them no mind, preferring to stare at the red-head who was stirring his drink almost aggressively. Poor strawberry milk, it didn’t deserve such treatment.
“Sure, Karma, sure,” you said, covering your amusement by picking a piece of fries and nibbling it daintily, “you were so hostile toward Yuma though, I wonder why.”
The red-head had invited you to watch the newest release of Sonic Ninja and today was by chance, a free schedule for the two of you. You had been waiting for Karma at the designated spot you both agreed on when you saw Isogai walking across the street with some groceries in hand and of course, you had to call out to him.
“Yuma!” You shouted, waving a hand as you approached the former class president, after waiting for the light to turn green to cross the junction, who looked at you in surprise.
“[Name]!” He exclaimed with his usual gentle smile on his face, “It’s been a while.”
You laughed as you stopped in front of him. “We really need to meet often when we’re in the same university. We have a lot of things to catch up with.”
The black-haired male chuckled. “Yeah, we should if I’m not busy juggling my study with my work.”
“I could visit your working place, no biggie,” you continued, beaming, excited to see more of the male. Isogai had been one of your closest friends back when you were in class 3-E even before that with him being your...life guard for that condition of yours. Though you both kind of drifted away when he moved to another high school while you stayed at Kunugigaoka with Karma. It was only during the second semester that you realized he was studying in the same place as you when you spotted the male in the library during the final exams week.
“That would be nice if you aren’t busy either,” he replied, eyes crinkling up at the edge as he smiled wider at your suggestion before he tilted his head in question. “What are you doing here, by the way?”
“Oh, I was waiting for Karma but it seems like he was running late,” you said, taking out your phone to check the time, frowning when ten minutes had gone past the agreed time. Your fingers typed a quick message to the red-head, asking where he was.
“Karma?” the black-haired seemed surprised at your answer. “Are you guys on a date?”
You frowned when no new messages came from the male, he was usually a fast responder, before looking up from your phone in an equally surprised look.
“Me and Karma? Nah, we were just hanging out. He invited me to watch Sonic Ninja today, going to have some lunch first though,” you answered, waving your hand to the sides in denial. Quietly, however, you mused to yourself.
A date, huh? That word was actually the first thought you have when the male asked you to go with him to watch. But you had quickly dismissed it away, figuring that he wouldn’t have such feelings for you.
“Isn’t that what you call a date?” Isogai commented nervously as he prayed for the devil himself. To think the male had been pining you for five years and yet you were clueless to all of his advances. It was very subtle from the red-head part, something he was quite surprised since he had thought he would be more frontal with his feelings, so he could see why the dense you wouldn’t notice them.
“It’s just two friends hanging out, not a date.” You shrugged lightly, standing firm to your ground.
Isogai sighed, knowing that no words were going to convince you.
“Alright, if you say so,” he said in defeat before his eyes caught the movement of a red-head from the corner of his eyes, an idea popped into his head. If these two idiots wouldn’t get it together already, he might as well as stepped in.
“Your hair seems to have gotten longer, [Name],” the male suddenly commented, reaching a hand out to pick the locks of your hair that had gone past your back, inspecting it.
“Yeah, I haven’t got the time to cut it.” You sighed in exasperation, watching Isogai frown, probably from seeing the hideous split ends you have. “You know how my hair just went dry when it got too long.”
“Yeah, I know that’s why you need to cut them soon,” he said, letting your hair fall out of his fingers, back to where it hung over your shoulder. “Didn’t they say hair is a crown for girls?”
You hit the male’s shoulder playfully. “You’re getting cheesy, Yuma, you know that I don’t really pay attention to that kind of stuff,” you said, “Besides, you know what I focus on more than my hair.”
Isogai chuckled, feeling the hair on the back of his hair raised as he sensed a dark, bloody aura being directed to him. His idea had worked quite too well in fact. Just one last thing for the final act.
“Sure, sure, bunny legs.”
“That’s not what I meant,” you whined and hit his shoulder once again, mouth pulled into a pout.
When he felt the looming bloodthirst got way too close for his own good, the black-haired male knew he should go else he’d be a dead meat soon. But the devil was quicker.
“Oh, Isogai? Fancy meeting you here~”
The former class president gulped, his imminent death has apparently decided to reveal himself.
“Hey, Karma, it’s nice meeting you. It’s been a while,” he said, masking his nervousness and fear with his usual angelic smile. The devil in front of him might be smiling but he was aware the male was far from pleased.
“It really has been a while, huh,” the red-head continued, tilting his head, his eyes drilling holes to his head. Isogai saw that the male had somehow stood between you two, forming a barrier quickly without him or you noticing.
“I would love to chat more but I need to go soon, my siblings are waiting at home,” he said, checking his wristwatch before flashing the other two an apologetic smile when he was in fact desperate to get out of the choking aura coiling around him.
However, he still decided to take his chances. “And [Name], don’t be afraid to text me if you need anything or want to meet up, okay?”
You nodded with a radiant smile. “I will, I will, I missed talking to you so be sure you’re ready to be bombarded by messages.”
It was the last straw. Isogai watched you get yanked away by Karma, his hand gripping your wrist tightly. The black-haired male sighed in relief. Hopefully, the little stunt he pulled just now would make the red-head realize that beating around the bush wouldn’t do anything except allowing his own chances to leak away.
“Karma!” You shouted, your legs trying to keep up with the harsh pull, “Our movie is still an hour left, why the rush?”
“We still need to eat lunch, remember?”
You knitted your eyebrows, couldn’t really find any real problem if you didn’t have any time to eat. But you let yourself be dragged by the male, enjoying the hold he has around your wrist. You both ended up in a cafe where Karma suggested to go after a few moments of walking blindly around. The service was nice, you got your food quickly even when the place was crowded with people and the waiters were friendly which reminded you of Isogai.
“You didn’t have to pull me you know,” you said, swirling your drink with one other hand supporting your chin, your fingers tapping your cheek in a rhythmic manner. “I didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye to Yuma.”
And that’s how you ended up with a fuming Karma. It amused yet baffled you at the same time, wondering how he could be so antsy just because you talked with your other friend or one could say a brother figure.
“You’re my bestest friend, Karma, no need to get jealous! No one could replace you,” you chirped, trying to diffuse the simmering anger inside him.
Once again, the red-head let out a perplexed sigh at your words and looked away, clearly not angry but some other emotion replaced it. Disappointment; which confused you even further.
You took a bite from your sandwich, your eyebrows furrowed deeper as your eyes scrutinized the green shades of the lettuce while wondering what you had done wrong.
4.
“How did you even get these injuries?”
You were currently dabbing a cotton ball soaked with antiseptic to the fresh wound on his arm, frowning at the red-haired male who wasn’t even flinching from the pain and was instead looking away from you, chin placed on top of his other hand, his bangs casting a dark shadow over his eyes.
When Karma barged into your apartment, sporting various injuries across his body, you were livid. Your legs quickly brought you to search for the medical supplies you had kept in case of an emergency, abandoning your earlier intention to bundle yourself up into a sad burrito and wasted the rest of the evening by watching some sappy movies.
The male didn’t answer your question, still dead set on glowering a particular spot in your room.
You sighed as you turned your attention to the cuts and bruises on his face. The edge of his right eye had been nicked, his lips were busted, a visible red line on it. His cheek was marred with bruises and a large gash going from his cheekbone downward, the other side wasn’t any better.
As far as you knew, no one could defeat him in any combat or even touched him during that moment. He was the strongest in class and was even able to get toe-to-toe with a full-fledged assassin. So, who had done such a beating on him?
Even if someone provoked him, it wasn’t like him to be so impulsive. Well, he was back then when he thought he was high above the cloud until his fight with Nagisa brought him back to the ground, giving him the short epiphany of knowing how to back down from a fight.
“Karma,” you called out.
He still refused to look at you.
Knowing that he wouldn’t budge or heed your worried callings, you reached your hands out to cup his face, forcing him to look at you. His mercury colored eyes bored into yours with a rage so intense you were taken aback for a while. Was this why he kept refusing to look at you?
"Who did this to you?" You whispered, trailing your finger over the cuts on his face. You unknowingly traced the bruises that had ruined his pale cheeks, the cuts that were still bleeding, the sharpness of his cheekbones, unaware of how the male’s breath hitched.
"[Name]," he finally spoke out, startling you out of your trance, his voice strained with hints of warning at the edge.
"Y-yes?"
"Weren't you going to treat my wounds?"
Ah right. You had forgotten. Letting go of your hold on him as if you had touched a scalding hot kettle, you masked your flustered state by rummaging through the medical box for bandages, becoming more attuned to his gaze at you. Had his stare always been this piercing?
You unconsciously pulled your collar away. Weird, is it getting hot here?
Your hand bumped into something soft in the box and you took the bandage out, swiftly yet carefully wrapping it around the wound on his arm. Next, you cut the bandages to smaller gauzes before working your way frantically to dress the injuries on his face, all the while shifting your eyes elsewhere, anywhere but his eyes.
Once you're done, you folded your hands neatly on your lap as you stared, dimly wishing that you had traced that defined ja- You caught yourself midway, in pure disbelief for having such a...weird thoughts.
"Who did this to you, Karma?" You decided to ask once again, trying to shake yourself out of the silly thought earlier. If the red-head still didn't want to answer, you wouldn't pry any further.
The silence came and you took that as his answer. You put the medical supplies you had taken out, arranging them neatly to their pristine condition before standing up to bring them back to the cabinet. You haven't even taken one step forward when you felt something snaking up your waist and you got pulled into a hard chest.
"K-Karma?"
The male, instead, buried his face to your neck, his short red locks gave you that ticklish sensation.
Ever since that day where you met Yuma, the red-head had been getting awfully physical. Grabbing your hand when you're both in a crowded place in fear of 'the small bunny got lost' as he quoted, sneaking arms to your waist to startle you, draping his body all over you when you're in the middle of studying to pester you or even hugging you when things were particularly bad for him on that day. Not that you mind but his actions...confused you.
It gave you that sense of hope you tried to squish away every time it bloomed. The hope that he would somehow see you more than a friend.
“Let me stay like this for a while,” he murmured to the base of your neck, sending goosebump through your entire body, the hold he has around your waist tightened as you could feel waves of frustration flooding out of him, more than the usual dose he usually has. Did something irk him so much that he started fighting once again?
You hummed underneath your breath in a silent affirmation as you made yourself comfortable on his lap knowing that you wouldn’t be leaving it anytime soon. If by hugging you he could somehow soothe the raging emotion inside him, then you would sit there as long as he liked until he calmed down. You raised a hand to run your fingers through his hair, something your mother used to do to lull you back to sleep after waking up from a nightmare.
It provoked a different reaction from the male, however.
You stiffened when Karma suddenly flipped you and before you knew it, you were already pinned down on the couch with both of your hands at each side of your head. His knees held your legs down, not giving you any chance or movement to retaliate, his strength made it impossible for you to struggle free.
“What ar-mmph!” You didn’t get the chance to finish your sentence with the male shutting you up by crashing his lips on yours. With your mouth still halfway opened, the red-head easily intruded inside, his tongue tasting every inch of your hot cavern, making your head turn into a jumbled yet you still tried to retain your sanity. His mouth left yours just as quick as it landed on you.
His lips latched onto your neck, launching a series of bites and nibbles all across your skin, drawing out blood in several places which he quickly licked away. His movements were in a frenzy, it’s as if he was...desperate.
You stifled a moan from leaving, turning your head away to hide your face, a mistake on your part because you merely gave the male more access to your uncovered neck as he continued to leave more bite marks.
He released the hold he had on you before quickly pining both of your hands up with one hand, his other hand caressed the soft curves of your waist, gradually rising up which sent an alarm ringing in your head. As much as you begrudgingly enjoyed the rather rough handling, this needed to stop. He wasn’t in the right mind from the start. His actions must have been spurred from the stress he had.
“Karma!”
The male froze as if the autopilot he has was shut down. He got off you, releasing all of his hold on you.
"I'm sorry, that wasn't supposed to happen," he whispered hoarsely and something inside of you broke when you heard that. Oh no, this wasn’t what you mean. You didn’t want him to regret what he was going to do just now.
"Karma, wai-"
You didn't even get to finish your sentence, your hand reaching out to stop him, for the male quickly took off running from your apartment, not even the slightest glance at you before slamming the door shut at the same time lighting crackled outside and the rain came pouring down on earth. Had he looked back, he would have seen the fresh tears that trickled out your eyes.
You let your hand drop back to your side, confused at the disarray emotion inside you. Flashes of Karma covered in shades of blue and red entered your mind. Have you been killing too many hopes for yourself that you were blind to other people’s wishes?
5.
“Don’t try to avoid me, Karma.”
You frowned as you stood in front of the door, arms crossed, blocking the male who was trying to leave the vicinity. Weeks have passed since that day and the red-head has ceased all methods of communication with you, ignoring the constant messages you sent, your phone calls were met with voice calls. He even stopped coming to the places where he could be seen frequently. He didn’t even visit the vending machine for his daily strawberry milk. It was by pure luck you caught him on his way back home from a lesson on the same building as yours.
“Please, move out of the way, [Name],” he said, sweetly as he stalked closer akin to a predator slowly advancing upon its prey. The look he sent you gave chills down your spine but you stood on your ground.
“No,” you replied, firmly even when the male stood in front of you, his towering height loomed over you and the image of a bunny being cornered by a wolf appeared on your head. You flinched when his forearm slammed the door beside your head as he leaned closer.
“Aren’t you afraid of me, [Name]?” he asked, face dangerously close with a sharp glint in his eyes. “Aren’t you afraid of what happened back then could easily happen again right at this moment?”
His breath fanned your lips, a single movement and his lips would have met yours already. You could feel the hair all over your body rose, either from fear or anticipation, maybe a mixture of both you didn’t know.
The air was thick with tension that suffocated you. The two of you have no intention to back down even the slightest bit. Until finally, Karma was the one who broke the silence.
“...Have I ever crossed your mind even once, [Name]?”
“What?”
The male back away, the gap between your lips increasing and you resisted the urge to chase his, preferring to stare at the red-head who has a forlorn look in his eyes.
“Tell me, [Name].”
“I…” You gulped down, your throat suddenly got parched, lost at what to say. He never crossed your mind once. No, it was more than that. It was especially bad when the male was ignoring you.
Karma sighed at your lack of response, a bitter smile gracing his handsome face. “I knew it.”
“Wait!” You grabbed his arm before he could take a step back. After taking a deep breath, you prepared yourself for what you were going to say.
“No, you never crossed my mind even once, Karma,” you began and Karma let out a small pained chuckle.
“Yes, I know that [Na-”
“You’re always on my mind.” You cut him off and felt the male stiffened in your grip. He opened his mouth to retort but you once again beat him to it.
“I know that I’m as dense as a rock but trust me.” You looked up to stare at the male dead in the eyes. “I’m not as dense as what you think I am.”
“I know the touches you gave me, the concern you have for me, the teasing you do,” you continued before giving him a soft, somber smile, “but you do that to all people so what am I supposed to hope for?”
“[Na-”
“The nickname you gave me, the way you looked out for me back then, your chaotic pranks you sometimes did to me, everything,” you whispered, blinking rapidly to ease the tears that were going to pour out, “I treasured them all.”
“So, yes, you never crossed my mind even once, Karma.” You loosened the hold you have on him and widened your smile. “You’re there 24/7.”
"Does that mean?"
"Yes, Karma." You giggled. "I like you."
You were met with a hug, the male practically launching himself at you as he buried his face on your neck, arms wrapped tightly around you, knocking the breath out of you when you smacked against the door from the impact.
“You didn’t know how long I’ve been waiting for those words to leave your mouth, [Name]," he whispered, holding your head close to his chest. You could hear the thunderous beating of his heart, matching with your own noisy heartbeat.
"I'm sorry," you murmured softly, wrapping your arms slowly around his back and squeezed his shirt. It took you this long to realize your feelings for him, five years was a really long time. You didn't want to imagine what Karma had to suffer from your denseness and pessimistic brain.
You both stayed like that for a while, enjoying each other's warmth before he released the hold he had on you.
“I’m holding myself back from just devouring you right here and there.”
You blinked at the sudden change of atmosphere but complied anyway. It was what you could offer in exchange for the long years he endured with you batting an eye to his hints.
"Well then, why don’t you do it?” You lifted your eyes up to meet his gaze, mouth pulled into a small smirk to taunt him.
You could hear the concealed growl in his throat. “...you’re that eager to get ripped apart?”
“Why not?” You even angled your head that basically screamed ‘free meal’ at him. So when the male pressed his lips softly to you, you were surprised. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you melted into the kiss. It was gentle and light as if the male was testing the water, sending butterflies fluttering in your stomach.
It turned into a full-blown make-out session not a moment later. His hands fitted to the lithe curves of your waist. Between the swirling of tongues and tedious slow strokes of his thumbs, you felt dizzy. The sudden need for air attacked you, wanting to turn your head away but the red-head wasn’t having any. He gripped your chin firmly, forcing you to stay in place as his tongue continued to make you writhe underneath him.
Your knees buckled, every ounce of strength left your body, but the male acted quick, slamming his knee between your legs to prevent you from sliding down while nibbling the bottom of your lips, sending your mind reeling in the process. When the red-head rubbed on your nether region, all traces of logical thinking were thrown out and you moaned into his mouth which most likely excited him because the nibble turned into a bite, the metallic tinge of blood filled your chamber.
The male finally let you take a breath, releasing the tight grip he has on your chin and you immediately threw your head sideway, heavy pants leaving your mouth with a wet sensation dribbling down from your chin.
“You aren’t half bad at all,” he said, one corner of his mouth lifted in a teasing smirk, lifting his leg slowly. As a result, you nearly slumped to the ground, your weak knees still couldn’t support you. Luckily, Karma caught you in time.
“Oh, shush, we learn a thing or two from Bitch-sensei,” you grumbled, slapping his shoulder lightly as you leaned all your body weight on him. The male laughed softly as he steadied you.
“...and you said that Nagisa was better than you?” you weakly asked him, looking up through the bangs covering your eyes.
“I have high pride but yes, I admit he was better than me at that,” he said, frowning before it quickly turned into a snicker when he recalled the spicy scene that occurred back then.
“Poor Kayano, to think she got that on full force,” you mumbled, “can’t imagine if that happened to me.”
“Oh, you wanted me to do that to you?” Mischief flashed in his eyes, his smirk only widening.
“Give me a break, Karma,” you groaned, planting your face on his sturdy chest. “I’m barely standing right now.”
He snickered. “Sure, sure, Be prepared to not be able to walk though.”
You hit him again at his implication yet your flushed face betrayed your feelings. “We’re not going that way that soon.”
“Whatever you say, bunny.”
“Shut up, let me have my hug in peace.” You wrapped your arms around his torso and pressed your ear to his chest, listening to the erratic heartbeats the male has. He’s teasing you but he’s this nervous and you mentally laughed.
“I’ll try not to be dense, okay?” you said, running your fingers on his back.
“Mark your words, [Name],” he grunted, “I’ve had enough of your denseness for five years.”
And you laughed.
In this monochromatic world of yours, you couldn’t wait for the colorful shades that were going to decorate it.
+1
The movie played on the TV was long forgotten, which was probably for the best considering that he had a more pressing matter in hand. Putting you under his mercy.
A moan left your mouth, your arms around his neck tightened as he nibbled on the warm juncture between your shoulder and the column of your neck which gleamed with both sweat and his saliva. His teeth broke your skin, a red mark bloomed on the white canvas of your skin which had been botched with similar spots. The male made sure to leave evident marks that wouldn't disappear anytime soon.
His hands slowly rubbed small circles on your exposed waist, your shirt had bunched up slightly from the another vigorous session you two were doing. Trailing his lips upwards, he pressed chaste kisses to your jaw before pressing his lips on yours, easily sliding his tongue inside with little resistance from you. Your mouth tasted sweet from the ice cream you ate earlier and he reveled in the stickiness caused by it, urging him to take a nip of the tasty treat.
“Ow, stop biting like a dog, Karma.” You pulled away, glaring, a tinge of blood visible on your already kissed red and bruised lips, giving it a more tantalizing sight.
“Your nose scrunches when you do that.” The red-head snickered, not the least intimidated by your glare. “Make you look like an angry bunny.”
You scrunched your nose as an automatic response to this, making the male laugh harder.
“You're cuter this way,” he said, poking your nose.
He didn't miss the way your cheeks erupted in shades of pink as you hit his chest a couple of times before burying your face on his neck, hiding your embarrassed face from the world.
"And I was planning to enjoy the movie but you had to ruin it," you whined.
It happened so quickly that it was a blur even for the red-head. You were sitting down beside him, licking the scoop of ice cream on the spoon, and the next second, you were on his lap, being kissed like his life depended on it.
“Speaking of bunny though,” you suddenly said, abruptly lifting your head from his neck before leaning back to look at him. “Why did you draw a bunny back when we were vandalizing stuff?”
“I thought you said, you won’t be dense anymore?” Karma snickered as you creased your forehead, watching the gears turned in your head. He laughed when the realization came not a moment later and you hit him again on the chest, your face burning in an even deeper shade of red.
“Real smooth, Karma, real smooth,” you said, running your fingers through his hair, “Property of Akabane Karma, huh?”
“I was being obvious enough, [Name],” he said, smirking and cupped your cheek to land a soft peck on your lips.
After years, years of being exasperated by your bluntness, countless nights of him thinking was it worth it to spend so much time on a girl who obviously wouldn’t see him as more yet he persisted and you were finally in his arms. He should probably thank Isogai for being a catalyst for that, albeit begrudgingly for sparking that jealousy and the realization they wouldn’t get anywhere if he kept being so subtle. His huge ego prevented him from doing so.
But that would be another time, right now, he should be focusing his thoughts on the dense bunny he had grown to love.
[Name]
Yuma
Guess what?
Yuma
What? (・_・;)
[Name]
Karma and I are dating!
Yuma
Oh, it did work (´･ᴗ･ ` )
[Name]
What work? 🤔
Yuma
The little stunts I pulled to make him jealous (￣︶￣)>
[Name]
What did you do? 😐
Yuma
Oh, nothing as long as it works out in the end ( ◡‿◡ *)
Btw, are his wounds okay?
I kinda went too far back then (・_・ )
[Name]
IT WAS YOU???
I THOUGHT YOU WERE A HARMLESS IKEMEN
Scratch that, how can you injure him that bad? 😳
Yuma
Did you forget I was the best in knifework? (´･ᴗ･ ` )
[Name]
???????
YOU USE KNIFE?????
Yuma
I need to protect myself, [Name] (・_・ )
[Name]
What exactly happened back then dear me
Yuma
(￣ω￣; )
[Name]
ANSWER ME MISTER
Yuma
(︶︿︶)
[Name]
Isogai smiled as he pocketed his phone, not answering your question. Finally, it’s about time they stopped dancing around each other and just got on with it.
The little provocations he did sure worked really well. To the point, Karma was so close to sending him eight feet underground. He had even picked a fight with him, he swore to god. Had it not been for the knife work he was taught back then, the devil would have reaped his soul away already.
Silently, he prayed to all those male that would dare to lay a finger on you. They wouldn’t be seeing the light any longer for sure. A jealous Karma was something you wouldn’t want to see in your life.
The black-haired male stretched as he looked at the sky, taking a moment to admire the night sky. He hoped that the red-head would take good care of you and repainted your world back to how it used to be. It hurt him to see you push people away due to your incurable condition, keeping everyone in an arm length. But then, Koro-sensei miraculously healed you, curing you of your narcolepsy. Though of course, after a long moment of shutting away people and not allowing yourself to hope for much in life, you had a hard time leaving that blank shell of yours.
But seeing that you had spent years with him practically joined in the hips, he was sure Karma had done his job right. If not, he smiled, they would just have to settle it with another fight.