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"Huh?"
Karma was more than a little displeased to open his closet and find that his favorite sweatshirt was missing, though he had an inkling as to where it had gone.
“Nagi, did you steal my black Korosensei sweatshirt?”
To nobody's surprise (Karma's, least of all), there was a confused hum from the other side of the house and then a little “oh" before a shock of blue hair appeared in the doorway. Nagisa was flushed red, looking embarrassed at getting caught. “Sorry, I wore it on Tuesday. It’ll be in my closet.”
Karma chuckled at his boyfriend's darkening face. “It’s okay. You look cute in my clothes, anyway. They look so big on you!”
“Karma!” his boyfriend whined, turning even redder than before.
“What?” Karma asked, flashing an overly sweet smile in hopes of further flustering the blue-haired teacher. He's going to make a tomato jealous someday with all the blushing he does. How precious!
Nagisa deadpanned, releasing a sigh at Karma’s “innocent” expression. “I’m going to go prepare lunch.”
“You don’t have to—”
Nagisa pouted, the expression so impossibly adorable that Karma felt himself melt. Nagisa, 1. Karma, 0. Operation make-a-tomato-redder has officially backfired.
“Okay.”
After Nagisa made his way out of the bedroom, Karma laughed to himself. Hoping that Nagisa was not about to burn the house down (even though this was definitely not the first time Nagisa had surprised him by cooking for them), he walked over to his boyfriend’s closet to get his sweatshirt back. As he put it on, he was met with the familiar scent of Nagisa’s cologne, and his lips unconsciously curved into a smile. I’ll make a Korosensei sweatshirt for him when I get the time. Or maybe he just likes wearing my clothes...Aww, even cuter.
He was about to shut the closet when suddenly his golden eyes fell upon a worn-looking orange shoebox that he did not remember ever seeing in Nagisa’s closet. While he certainly did not want to invade his boyfriend’s privacy, he was intrigued. What could Nagisa possibly be storing in a shoebox?
Curiosity finally overwhelmed him, and — Lord forbid the proverbial cat die — he picked it up and opened it. He found that it was mostly filled with pictures. Photograph after photograph chronicled various moments the two had spent together: dates at various restaurants and movie theaters, the time they had played paintball together, when Karma had been brought in to help Nagisa’s class with their combat training, their trip to Paris last spring...Karma felt his heart warm at the memories.
Under the photographs was a black roll book that he immediately recognized as Korosensei’s. He gave a soft smile as he flipped through the book, his fingers brushing across names that were still so familiar to him, even after several years. Before setting it back into the box, he took the time to pay his respect to the one teacher he would never forget.
There will never be another place like 3-E, and no class will ever share such a bond or learn as much as we did that one year. Thank you for teaching me that we all must value our lives and treat our opponents as equals, Korosensei.
But it was the last object that almost brought the redhead to tears. Hidden in the very bottom of the shoebox, as if Nagisa had done his best to hide it, was a small, black jewelry box. Opening it carefully, he pulled out a beautiful platinum band embedded with three small diamonds forming a tiny, glittering triangle. Nagisa, you...This...
A slight blush tinged his cheeks, and he attempted to distract himself from the secret he had accidentally discovered by focusing on cleaning everything up and putting the shoebox back in its place. He could not let Nagisa know that he knew about the ring.
But then an idea occurred to him, and he smiled devilishly.
A week later, at noon on Valentine’s Day, Nagisa anxiously dug around the shoebox for the ring. Come on. Come on. I can’t propose to him without it. I made plans!
His fingers finally wrapped around the jewelry box. Exhaling in relief, he pulled it out of the shoebox and then opened it to admire the ring.
Except the silver platinum band was gone, replaced by the tacky green of a slightly expired sour gummy.
He couldn’t have... “KARMA! WHERE’S THE RING?”
His boyfriend was smirking as he entered the bedroom. “Looking for something, babe?”
The gleam of a ring was visible on the palm of his hand.
He really did do it. “You...Oh god. I’m going to kill you someday.” He gave a little huff as he took the ring back. This absolute idiot...
But then the ridiculousness of replacing an engagement ring with a stupid sour gummy suddenly hit him, and he laughed. “What am I ever going to do with you?”
Karma laughed, too. “Propose to me, of course. You are going to take me where you planned and then ask me, you know...”
How did he find the ring in the first place, anyway? Nagisa felt heat rise to his face. “You...”
“Let’s go, shall we? After you!”
Is he ever going to stop being unpredictable?
Fortunately, Nagisa had not planned to have someone else come and drive them. This was good, because if he had then he would probably be fiddling with the box and having a mini-meltdown in the back of the car. As it was, he put his mind onto the road and let himself slowly get distracted from his nerves.
Unfortunately, the drive only lasted for half an hour. They stepped outside, and Karma gasped in delight. “Oh my god. You brought us back to 3-E?” His gold eyes glittered with the intensity of thousands of stars.
“Yeah, I-I-uh...I thought that it would be nice to come back here. I mean, I teach here, but...but this is different.” Why can’t I be as calm and collected as he is?
“It’s perfect, Nagi. Do you want to do something first, or do you want to get over it?” Karma asked soothingly. “Whatever you want to do, I’m fine with it.”
Nagisa gave a little nod and took a shaky breath. “You’re incredible, and I’m not and I don’t know how to do this...”
“Babe, hey...” Karma hushed, bending down to kiss his nose and laughing softly at how red his face was. “You are incredible, all right? Keep going.”
“Don’t laugh, you idiot!” Nagisa huffed, slapping him lightly on the cheek. Yes, his face was practically on fire. He didn’t need to be laughed at for it. Still, Karma held him close for a while longer, their faces close enough for them to feel each other breathe. “Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just that I’m so, so happy, but I’m a bit nervous as well.”
“Take a deep breath and propose to me already,” he teased lightly, kissing him on the forehead this time.
“Karma!”
“I’m waiting~”
Nagisa felt his face grow even warmer, if that were possible. “Okay, okay.” He inhaled deeply and got down on one knee, ignoring the fact that his jeans would most likely have grass stains on them by the time he was done. “Karma Akabane, you are incredible, and I am so, so lucky to have a wonderful man like you in my life. You are so smart and caring, and you’ve always looked after me in a way that is just so special. I can never thank you enough for being there for me whenever I've needed you.”
“It’s my duty, Nagisa,” Karma responded with a small bow, looking rather bashful at hearing such praise. “I hardly deserve all of the credit. I've always needed you as much as you've needed me, Nagi.”
Am I the one proposing or is he? “Karma!” Nagisa laughed softly. “That’s very sweet, but can I finish?”
He put on a look of faux seriousness. “Apologies. Please continue.”
God, I somehow love this man. “Every moment we spend together is one that I deeply treasure in my heart, and I so badly want to continue making more memories together, Karma.” Nagisa’s eyes squeezed shut. “I-I want us to spend the rest of our lives by each other’s side, because I know I’ll never find another person like you. Will you...Will you marry me?”
He slowly opened his eyes and was shocked to see that Karma’s golden eyes were glistening with tears. “Karma, are you...Are you crying?” Did I do something wrong? Please tell me that I didn’t hurt him accidentally.
The redhead sniffled as he took the ring. “Oh, Nagi. You’re far too sweet for your own good.”
Nagisa gave a relieved smile as he stood back up. So they were happy tears. Guess I ended up surprising him after all. “It’s true, though. I would love to spend the rest of our lives together.”
“Me too, Nagi. It would make me so happy if we do that.” He immediately corrected himself. “Seeing that we’ll be getting married sometime soon, we will be doing that.” A joyful laugh escaped his lips. “Nagisa Akabane has a nice ring to it, don’t you agree? Wanna trade?”
Nagisa grinned, his heart soaring higher than he ever thought possible. “It sounds perfect. I love you, Karma.”
Karma put a hand under his chin and tilted his head up before leaning into a kiss. “I love you more.” The redhead kissed him again, and Nagisa then felt him slip something made of cool metal onto his left ring finger.
He looked down to find a platinum band similar to the one Karma was currently wearing, except there was a single ruby instead of three diamonds. It was breathtakingly beautiful, reflecting the golden sunlight and reminding him of Karma’s hair. It’s...oh god...
“You’re ridiculous!” Nagisa’s entire body turned red.
“Yet you decided to marry me, right?” A small, teasing laugh followed this statement.
He was about to yell at Karma for his apparent obsession with teasing him when a humorous thought entered his mind. “Nakamura-san's going to flip when she hears.”
Karma laughed again, this time more happy than jesting. “So will the rest of our old friends from 3-E.”
Nagisa blinked. “Wait, Karma, are we going to invite all of them?”
Karma smirked, and Nagisa had a sudden sense of foreboding. “Are you planning our wedding already, babe?”
“Uh-ah-I...SHUT UP!”
“Oh yeah?” he asked, his voice a low drawl that made Nagisa’s skin crawl in sudden anticipation. His smile grew even more devilish. “Make me.”
Screw you, Karma. He mustered all the confidence he had. “You are going to regret that when I beat you at paintball, Karma. Again.”
“Am I, Sensei? You are so on.”