Work Text:
“Good morning, everyone. My name is (Y/N) Asano, and I am the new transfer student.”
The girl at the front of the room surveys the class with a cold expression. “I look forward to meeting you all.” She certainly doesn’t seem like it.
She stalks across the room, taking a seat next to Karma Akabane.
Karma feels a vengeful glee grow inside of him. Ha! This is hilarious!
“Not so smiley now, are you, Princess?” he taunts.
“…” She looks at him. “Akabane.”
“(Y/N)-chan.”
“Don’t call me chan. Only my friends call me that. And you are not my friend.”
Maybe…just maybe…
“Daddy decided that Princess was useless, didn’t he?” Karma sneers. “Looks like Daddy doesn’t love you anymore~”
“…” She looks at him frigidly. “Please do not talk to me.”
This is better than hilarious, Karma decides. This is possibly the best thing that has happened to him in his life.
(Y/N) Asano.
How does Karma describe her?
Perhaps he should keep it short.
Former student of 3-A (Former, ha!). Daughter of the Principal. Sister of Gakushuu Asano. Captain of the cheer team. Kunugigaoka’s School Idol.
A complete and utter fake.
If you ask anyone on Main Campus, (Y/N) is a kind, gentle soul, a friendly, talented young girl who, even when she’s beaten down, keeps a bright smile on her face.
If you ask Karma Akabane, she’s a liar and a fake.
She’s an Asano, for god’s sake. What do you expect?
The first time Karma saw her, it was hate at first sight.
Pure, unfiltered, hate.
She was cheering on Kunugigaoka’s football team, with a bright, warm smile, which Karma knew, from the very depths of his core, was fake, fake, fake.
“Come on A-Class!” she had yelled, shaking her pom-poms. “Let’s send them straight to hell!”
The team A-Class was playing against was the E-Class team.
They weren’t sent to hell, but E-Class was most certainly put through it.
“So, (L/N)-san how did you end up here?” tries Kanzaki.
“Reasons,” (Y/N) responds.
“Um…ok…”
“What do you want with me? Just spit it out.”
“…Would you like to sit with us at lunch? I know-”
“No.”
“…”
“(L/N)-san, this is an opportunity to make friends!” encourages Koro-sensei. “Why not-”
(Y/N) looks at Koro-sensei. “I have no intention of making friends here,” she states.
“You’ll need allies on your side if you want to kill me-”
“I have no intention of killing you.” Koro-sensei freezes at this, as does Karma. (Y/N) narrows her eyes. “I have no need of the prize money. I will be back at A-Class soon enough anyways, so there is no real point.”
“…”
“Please excuse me.” (Y/N) stands up and starts to walk away from her desk.
“So…you show your true colours at last,” calls out Karma.
(Y/N) stops in her tracks, and slowly turns around, facing Karma. “Fuck off.”
(Y/N) was rather popular back when she was back at Main Campus.
Karma would often see her blow a kiss or two to her admirers, who would often follow her around the school, but noticed how she would skip those from E-Class.
Speaking of following, there was also that clique of hers. She wasn’t really part of the Big Five, but she did have a ‘group’ of her own. It was made exclusively of members of her cheer team, each one as plastic and fake as her.
Naturally, there was no room for the ‘dirt’ that was E-class.
Karma was watching from the shadows when The Incident happened.
“Why won’t you let me join the cheer team?” fumed Hinata Okano.
“You’re in D-Class, Okano,” says (Y/N), her voice cold, unforgiving. “You’re barely hanging on as it is. Get better grades and then I might consider it.”
“That’s not fair!”
“Life’s not fair.”
Okano stormed out of the room, and Karma only just managed to catch the tearful shine of Okano’s eyes.
Lunchtime in E-Class.
(Y/N) is not eating a bite of her food, simply messing around with what’s inside her lunchbox. She is sitting under a large tree, its shadow protecting her from the harsh sun.
Karma casually walks up to her, pouring his strawberry milk inside her lunchbox, some of the milk splashing onto her shirt.
“Oops.” He smiles innocently. “Sorry.”
“…” (Y/N) stands up, and walks towards the nearest bin, dumping her food inside, disposing of it.
Karma kicks over the compost bin, the contents of the bin landing on her shoes.
“Sorry.” He is openly smirking now.
Maybe she’ll say something now. Maybe she’ll yell at him. Maybe she’ll cry.
Karma wants to see that human side of her again, he wants to see that vulnerable side, so he can reach into her and then finally tear her apart.
Oh. That was a little intense.
Meh, whatever. ‘Intense’ is Karma’s middle name.
(Y/N) walks away from Karma, not saying a word.
“What happened, Princess?” Karma mocks. “Did I hurt your feewings~?”
No answer.
What a shame.
The first prank was relatively amateur.
A box of chocolates, the chocolates replaced with a jack in a box which sprayed paint all over (Y/N)’s shirt.
Karma had watched from a little ways off, as (Y/N) and her clique stood there in silence.
Pin drop silence.
Until (Y/N) laughed. She looked straight at Karma and shot him a (fake) smile. “You totally got me, Akabane-san!”
Rage.
Karma watches Kanzaki shrink into herself as she walks home, as jeers and insults are thrown at her from the Main Campus students.
Someone pushes her, and Kanzaki falls to the ground, her books scattered all over the ground.
Karma begins to walk up to her but stops when he sees someone else approach her. He hides behind a tree in order to see exactly why would (Y/N) Asano would ever help someone?
“Stop crying,” says (Y/N), holding out a hand for her to grab onto. Kanzaki takes it and stands up, sniffling.
(Y/N) crosses her arms. “You need to stop being so pathetic, Kanzaki,” she says, her eyes narrowed.
Kanzaki looks like she’s about to burst into full out tears.
(Y/N) takes a deep breath and sighs, her tone changing into something softer, kinder almost. “The reason they pick on you is because you look vulnerable, pathetic and weak. You try to hide so that people won’t notice on you, but it just has the opposite effect.”
“…” Kanzaki looks confused.
(Y/N) sighs again. “Tell me something. In the wild, a wolf wouldn’t attack a lion, would it?”
Kanzaki shakes her head.
“But it would attack a cow, wouldn’t it?”
Kanzaki nods her head.
“Why is that? Why doesn’t it attack the lion? Why doesn’t it leave the cow alone?”
“…It’s because the wolf knows it’s weaker than the lion,” answers Kanzaki tentatively. “So, it decides to pick on the cow instead…”
(Y/N) smiles. It isn’t like how she used to smile, how she used to smile back in Main. This smile is more…evil-looking, cruel, mischievous (and it makes Karma’s heart do weird backflips worthy of an Olympic gold medal, but there was no way in hell he was ever going to admit that).
“Kanzaki-chan, you are the cow. And Main Campus are the wolves. To beat them, you need to become a lion.”
“…But…I’m not nearly strong or clever enough…” Kanzaki shuffles her feet nervously. “I’m…not ready…”
“Then fake it till you make it.” (Y/N)’s tone is hard. “Hold your chin up high, stand straight, and pretend you don’t care.”
Kanzaki does exactly that, not really succeeding, instead looking sort of like constipated turtle.
“You look like a constipated turtle,” sighs (Y/N).
“Sorry,” Kanzaki mumbles.
“Let me put it this way,” says (Y/N), pinching her brow. “Try to look like a bitch.”
“…a…bitch?”
“Yes. A rich, beautiful cold brat who has money and looks and the whole school humping her leg like a chihuahua.”
“…that’s…oddly specific.”
“Just do it.”
Kanzaki tries to look bitchy, and kind of succeeds, putting a cold look on her face and holding her chin up high.
“Now walk,” instructs (Y/N). “Walk back home like that.”
“…and if they insult me again?” asks Kanzaki timidly.
“Ignore them. Pretend that they’re tiny little ants.”
“…Alright.” And so Kanzaki walks away, trying her best to pretend that the Main Campus are tiny little ants.
“…”
…Karma gets it.
She’s…trying to be nice.
Maybe…maybe she was really trying to change.
…
THE NEXT DAY
…
Okay, you know what Karma said about (Y/N) trying to change?
Karma takes that back
She isn’t trying to change, not at all.
Why did Karma expect anything different?
“The way you’re cartwheeling is completely wrong, Okano.” (Y/N) crosses her arms. “It makes you look like an amputated duck.”
“Haaanh? And when we ask you for your opinion, Miss ‘I’m so great at everything?’” snaps Okano. “Jeez, could you stop poking your nose in where it doesn’t belong? My cartwheel is fine-”
Kanzaki looks helplessly from one girl to another. “Guys, we shouldn’t argue-”
“She’s insulting my skills!” yells Okano.
“I’m trying to help you!” (Y/N) retorts.
“So, dissing me is helping now? How about some actual constructive feedback instead!?”
“…Ok, you want constructive feedback?” (Y/N)’s voice is cold; Karma swears that the temperature drops a few degrees. “Just quit. You’ll never be able to get anywhere, so why keep trying if you just keep on messing up?”
“…” Okano clenches her fist and glares. “Why you…!”
Kanzaki’s eyes widen, and she mutters, “Wasn’t that a little harsh…?”
(Y/N) doesn’t even bother to answer, only turning her back on the two girls and walking away.
Okano yells and launches herself in (Y/N)’s direction, about to give (Y/N) one of her signature flying kicks. “YOU BITCH!”
(Y/N) simply steps out of the way and watches as Okano lands in the dust, raising an eyebrow as if to say, ‘Seriously?’
Okano gets back up on her feet, breathing heavily. Anybody with half a mind can see that she is still angry from the angry furrow of her brows to the red flush of her cheeks and the trembling of her clenched fists.
With a roar Okano launches a punch towards (Y/N)’s face, but (Y/N) without so much as a flinch grabs Okano’s arm and flips her backwards, sending her crashing to the ground.
Okano doesn’t get back up this time.
The retaliation was unexpected.
Karma never thought she would have the guts.
But there Karma was, realising that all of his clothes had been switched out for something truly hideous.
No one had any spare clothes, and therefore, Karma Akabane was forced to spend the rest of the day in a tattered yellow Hawaiian shirt and mud splattered shorts, subject to the sniggers and giggles of fellow students.
Karma hadn’t known who had done it.
Not until (Y/N) Asano had brushed up against him as he was moving classes and whispered to him, “You look good inn yellow, Akabane,” her lips lightly touching the skin of his ear and sending shivers down his spine.
Love Hate.
“Asano-san, what you did was completely out of line!” fumes Koro-sensei, his face a deep black. Karma feels himself tremble ever so slightly, but (Y/N)’s face seems composed, bored even.
Karma may be a devil, but (Y/N) is definitely not human.
“I was defending myself,” she says calmly.
“You could have seriously hurt Okano!”
“And she could have seriously hurt me if I had let her.”
The entire class sits in pin-drop silence as Koro-sensei looks straight at (Y/N). “Hurting another classmate isunacceptable,” he growls.
“She was the one who started it.” (Y/N)’s face betrays nothing.
“Okano, is this true?” And just like that, Okano is now the one who is shaking (even more) as Koro-sensei directs his gaze onto her.
“…yes…” Okano mutters, confessing to her sin. “But she provoked me! She insulted my skills! She told me that I should just quit gymnastics!”
“…” Koro-sensei looks at (Y/N) once more.
“…Okano is telling the truth,” says (Y/N).
“And what made you say such a thing to her?”
“She asked me for advice, and I gave it,” (Y/N) states.
Koro-sensei sighs, his face fading back into its usual yellow colour. “I see now. (Y/N).” (Y/N) nods, showing she is attentive. “For now, I am letting you off, since you are new, but you must not provoke another student in such a manner again. Do you understand?” he says, wagging a tentacle at the young girl
“I understand.”
“And Okano.” Okano perks to attention. “You mustn’t lash out like that a fellow classmate again. Violence against others will not be tolerated. Do you understand?”
“…I understand.”
“Good!” And just like that, the tension in the air disappeared, as if it hadn’t been there at all. “Now, let’s get back to the lesson, shall we?”
By the end of the day, the rain is pouring down like never before, dark clouds swirling in the sky and fog clogging the air. Karma luckily has brought his umbrella, so his hair is fluffy rather than sodden from the water.
He walks out of the school, frowning when he sees a figure standing amongst the white fog.
“…Asano.”
(Y/N)’s eyes are trained on some spot in the distance, and her foot is tapping impatiently, the rain soaking her all over. “Akabane,” she responds curtly. “You’ve come to spill milk on me again?”
“Aw, Princess, you know me.” Karma gives a dark grin. “I’m a complete angel. I would never do something like that on purpose. Could you imagine?”
(Y/N) snorts in response.
“So, what’s someone like you doing out here?” questions Karma. “Standing in the rain like a stray dog?”
“Waiting for my brother,” (Y/N) says. “He should be here any minute now. That idiot’s so late today.”
There’s a little catch in her voice that most people would have missed or ignored, but Karma isn’t most people, and as such he pounces on this chink in her armour. “And by any minute, do you mean one hour?”
“…” The tapping of her foot stops.
“I stayed back an hour to help some of the others with math. And knowing that Asano, he wouldn’t forget anything. He’s always on time, always completely prepared. Face it, Princess. You’ve been ditched.” Karma holds out his umbrella, smirking. “So why don’t you let the handsome prince take you home?” he mocks.
“…Gakushuu will be here soon,” she answers, her voice slightly unsure. Her eyes are still looking somewhere far away. “He’ll be here. So, I don’t need your help.”
“…He’s not coming for you. No one’s coming for you,” says Karma, the smile dropping from his face. “You’re one of us now, Princess. An outcast. A piece of trash. No one from your old life will even want to touch you now. Welcome to E-class.”
“…that isn’t true.” (Y/N) shakes her head, laughing. “That’s ridiculous! My brother cares about me, obviously, he just can’t afford to spend time with me right now because there’s so much work to do, and I have to concentrate on my studies too!” Water drips down her cheeks.
“A dog with a leash can’t stray too far from his master,” states Karma. “And stray dogs are to be kept far away from the house.”
“…” (Y/N) finally looks at Karma. There is a sugary smile on her face, one that reminds Karma of the old days, back when Karma was in D-class and she in A-class.
But her eyes burn with something even darker than sin itself.
“Does the Princess have something to say?” Karma mocks, trying not to waver at the look in her eyes. “What is it, Your Majesty?”
“…I really like dogs too!” she says, her voice dripping with thick, sweet, choking syrup, the saccharine poison forcing its way down Karma’s throat and drowning out his voice.
“They’re so sweet and cute, you know!” She laughs, looking Karma up and down. “There’s this little red one who I see very often. He’s thinks he’s so scary, barking at me all the time. It’s so adorable! But I sometimes feel really sorry for him. His parents- oh sorry, owners, like to go on really long trips, and they leave him alone all the time. Then he really acts out, getting into fights and biting all these people, but when he gets home, he cries and cries. It’s just so pathetic.”
Karma can’t hold himself back anymore. His fist flies through the air, straight towards (Y/N) Asano’s face.
“I am speechless.”
Karma and (Y/N) are back in the 3-E classroom, under the disapproving gaze of Koro-sensei, similar to before with Okano really, except it was only the three of them.
Karma, in hindsight, curses himself for falling for the bait. But he feels satisfied
“Asano-san.” (Y/N) isn’t afraid. But it’s not like she’s calm either. Her dull eyes stare at somewhere that isn’t here nor there, and she barely breathes.
Karma isn’t sure if he likes it.
“I warned you today that you were on caution, and any more fights would get you in serious trouble. And yet, the minute school ends, I get-” Koro-sensei waves a tentacle in Karma’s direction. “-this. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
“He started it,” she mutters, barely audible, sounding like a sulking child.
“I see. And is this true, Karma-kun?” asks Koro-sensei, his usually sunny smile now much more comparable to the bloodthirsty grin of a serial killer.
“…” Karma could lie. He could lie. But he isn’t that kind of person… “…No.” Well, he is that kind of person as it turns out. What a surprise.
“Oh yes, so it was a ghost who punched me?” snaps (Y/N), vindictive. “It was a ghost who mocked me? It was a ghost who spilled milk all over me? I am so done with your bullshit, Akabane.”
“I’m done with your bullshit too,” Karma fires back. “You’re all sour over the fact that you’re not in Main anymore and you’ve been taking it out on all of us like a petty little bitc-”
“I understand what has been going on now.” Koro-sensei’s voice has a certain resolution to it. “You both can go home now, but I want you to stay after school tomorrow. Understand?”
“…Understood,” (Y/N) mutters.
“Understood,” Karma mutters as well.
…
THE NEXT DAY
…
“Bonding,” Karma seethes, crossing his arms and slouching in his chair. “Fucking bonding. I can’t believe it. The undercooked piece of seafood wants us to bond.”
“That octopus is a strange one,” remarks (Y/N) quietly, rocking backwards and forwards gently.
“Princess, he’s a literal octopus who walks and talks and flies at Mach 20. Strange does not even begin to cover it.”
“…” (Y/N) falls silent again.
The two are sitting together in the empty 3-E classroom. Door and windows are all tightly shut and locked.
“The attitude you two have will not do at all!” Koro-sensei had said, wagging a tentacle as a large cross appeared on his face. “Assassins must have the ability to set aside their differences and work together, and the two of you fighting will only drag the entire class down! So, I have devised a challenge for you two…”
“I can’t believe the octopus turned the mountain into an escape room.” Karma shakes his head. “If only you had a hairpin or something, I could-”
(Y/N) walks to Karma and brings a hairpin out of her pocket, wordlessly putting it in Karma’s hand.
Karma takes it, and bends it out of shape, inserting it into the lock and wiggling it around until he hears a click. “You do the honours, Princess.”
(Y/N) swings the door open…
They quickly run through the corridor, Karma reaching first and pushing the doors to the exit. “No use. It’s locked. You have another hairpin.
“No…that was my last one.” (Y/N) frowned. “There’s a key, right?”
“There is, in the staff room.”
“So, let’s go.”
“The key has to be somewhere in here,” says (Y/N).
“Let’s check.”
They turn the room upside down, but come up with no results, except for four strange pieces of paper, with various things written on them.
“…it’s not here.”
“It is,” responds Karma, pointing to the safe. It is locked with a six number code, which Karma doesn’t know.
“…there are a number of possibilities,” says (Y/N), tapping her foot anxiously. “If we try them all-”
“No can do, Princess.” Karma shakes his head. “We only get three tries for this kind of safe. And besides, trying them all would take ages.”
“…Koro-sensei…the paper …it must be a clue!” (Y/N) turns to Karma. “We have to solve this…!”
“Okay.” Karma snatches up one of the papers. “This one should be…” His bravado quickly fades when he realises that the entire thing is written in a foreign language. “…easy.”
“Give it to me.”
Karma hands it over to (Y/N). “I doubt you’ll be able to solve this one.”
“…” (Y/N) scans over the paper. “It…it seems to be written in French. I’m a little rusty, but it’s asking a question: what must an assassin always have?”
…So…she knows French, huh? “…Koro-sensei always tells us that an assassin must always have a second blade,” offers Karma. “As in a back-up plan, if the first should fail.”
“A second blade…” (Y/N) thinks aloud, tapping her foot (something she seems to do when she’s thinking).
“…what would the corresponding numbers for ‘blade’ be in the alphabet, if let’s say, a = 1, b = 2, and so on?” asks Karma
“…2, 12, 1, 4, 5,” (Y/N) says, after a moment’s thought.
Karma inputs the numbers ‘212145’ and tries to open the safe. “…Hey, did you translate that right?”
“No, I’m definitely not wrong.” (Y/N) shakes her head. “That is what the question says…”
“…well, what’s ‘blade’ in French?”
“It would be ‘la lame.’” (Y/N) frowns. “But technically, if you translate ‘la lame’ literally, it becomes ‘the blade’ rather than just ‘blade,’ so ‘blade’ is actually ‘lame’ rather than ‘la lame…’
Karma has it. He quickly inputs the numbers ‘121135,’ and the safe opens with a click, revealing a key.
“Wow…” (Y/N)’s eyes widen. “That was…pretty cool…”
“…heh…you warming up to me now, Princess?”
“…no, I’m not.” Her voice is unsure, and Karma’s heart leaps for no reason at all. “Come on, let’s go.”
“…that octopus is a strange on,” (Y/N) murmurs, repeating her earlier statement.
The entire of 3-E is surrounded by a tall (six meters if Karma has to make an estimate), metal fence, with no barbed wire thankfully, but it’s a fence all the same. The fence isn’t completely solid, though, more like a mesh, and Karma can see to the other side.
“Don’t tell me we have to unlock another door,” groans Karma.
“…no…” (Y/N) points. “I don’t think there is a door.”
Karma looks in the direction (Y/N) is pointing in. And on the floor, he sees a pole.
“Koro-sensei wants us to vault over it. He’s even kept cushioning on the other side, see?” Sure enough, Karma can see a large blue mat on the other side, along with a large rope. “One of us has to vault over, then toss the rope so that the other person can climb over.”
“Alright then, I’ll go-”
“No,” (Y/N) interrupts him forcefully. “I’ll go.”
“…Why?” demands Karma.
“Akabane, pole vaulting is dangerous without intense practice and training.” (Y/N) crosses her arms. “This fence is six meters at least, that’s Olympic levels.”
“And you’re suggesting that you’re capable?”
“…yes. I am.” (Y/N) takes a deep breath. “I’m very experienced in gymnastics and athletics, so something like this is right up my alley.”
“And how do I know you won’t just leave me here?” Karma challenges her.
“…you don’t. You’ll just have to trust me.”
“…” Trust. How can Karma trust someone like her?
But as he looks into her eyes, he can see no manipulation, no deceit. Just the cold hard truth.
“…Alright then. Take the lead, Princess.” Karma reluctantly picks up the pole, and hands it to (Y/N).
(Y/N) steps backwards, taking one breath, two breaths, three. Then she starts to run, eyes trained on her destination, and she brings the pole to the ground, launching herself over the fence, and landing on the mat, uninjured. She stands up, looking at Karma.
She’s going to leave now, Karma knows. She’s going to leave Karma behind, and it serves Karma right for believing in an Asano of all people-
(Y/N) tosses one end of the rope over the fence, ready for Karma to take so that he can finally make it to the other side. “Come on. Climb over before I graduate, yeah?”
…
THE NEXT DAY
…
“…Okano.”
Okano looks up from her lunch, glaring at (Y/N) who is standing before her. “What?”
“…Your cartwheels aren’t perfect,” says (Y/N), and Okano’s opens her mouth to spew a retort, but (Y/N) continues. “But they are very precise and controlled, which is impressive considering that you don’t train very intensely. You also look very graceful from an audience’s perspective, and you can also do multiple cartwheels in a sequence in a high speed, which is also takes a lot of effort. All in all, I would give your cartwheels an eight out of ten.”
“…so…is this your way of saying ‘sorry?’”
“I’m not apologising. I’m stating facts.”
“…” Okano cracks a small smile. “Thanks, I guess.”
“You’re welcome. And, one more thing.”
“…yeah?”
“When I eventually get back into Main, and yes, I will get back into Main, I’m planning on opening the cheerleading team to members of all classes, not just A, B, and C class,” (Y/N) tells her. “You’re welcome to come for try-outs, if you want to. I’m sure you’ll get in.”
This time, Okano’s grin is as bright as the sun.
(Y/N) turns around to face Karma, who was watching from a distance. “Hey, Akabane…you don’t mind if I sit with you for lunch, right?”
Karma smiles, genuinely “Sure thing, Princess.”
(Y/N) and Karma, a few days after ‘The Great Escape Room,’ become friends. One might think that a friendship between someone who is born of the system and someone who breaks the system is completely atypical and absurd, but Karma was never one for the typical anyway, and it would seem that (Y/N) completely agrees.
Today, Koro-sensei just handed back the quizzes they did a few days ago, right before break started, and Karma smiles in satisfaction as he once again looks at his paper with a large ‘96%’ written on it.
“Impressive,” compliments (Y/N), smiling.
“Thanks, Princess.” Karma gives her a lazy grin. He really couldn’t be bothered to, he knew he would ace it, and he did.“Hardly studied too. What did you get?”
“Oh, nothing remarkable.” To anyone else, her tone might sound dismissive, casual, but Karma knows her well enough to detect that underlying something that puts him on edge, so he snatches up her paper, and his eyes widen when he sees her ‘100%.’
Karma Akabane is second. The thought spins around in his head: second, second, second, second, second.
There is a sly smile on (Y/N)’s face. “Just because we’re all buddy-buddy now doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass when I can, Akabane.” She laughs. “Or should I say, ‘Second Place?’”
“…you bitch,” growls Karma.
“Ooh, did I hurt your feewings~?” mocks (Y/N).
“Guys, you shouldn’t fight in here,” says Isogai nervously, seeing the look on Karma’s face. “Just because it’s break doesn’t make it a-”
Karma goes in for the kill, his fingers attacking (Y/N)’s sides and incessantly begins to tickle her with a dark grin on his face. “Take that!”
“Ahahahahha!” Tears pour out of (Y/N)’s eyes as she tries to push Karma off her, but fails, falling to the ground in the process. “Karma, stop!” she chokes out.
Karma grins. “Then beg me for mercy, Princess.”
“P-please…” Her eyes narrow. “Have a breath mint.” (Y/N) suddenly grabs Karma and flips him over, now on top of him. “Time for reve-”
“In broad daylight?” remarks Bitch-sensei from the doorway, raising an eyebrow. “My my, you two are bold. Just use protection, ‘kay?”
“…” Realization slowly dawns on (Y/N)’s face. “I…I…NO!” She gets off Karma and leaps to her feet. “I would never!”
“Really?” The Bitch Supreme smirks. “Because it sure looked like it, honey.”
“I’m leaving!” (Y/N) storms out of the room in a huff.
Karma doesn’t bother to get up. He lies there, takes his time, pondering over what just happened…
He closes his eyes.
(Y/N) Asano, her image appears
Same as ever. Nothing different. Not at all.
(Is what Karma is telling himself, and it’s true. But his future self will never anticipate the magnetic pull, the backflips his heart makes, the butterflies in his stomach.)
“Ugh, today was so annoying.” (Y/N) rolls her eyes as she walks down the mountain with Karma. “Seriously, now everyone’s shipping us all because Bitch-sensei made it weird. Honestly. Us? A couple?” (Y/N) laughs.
Karma laughs along. “Yeah, could you imagine?”
Ridiculous, honestly.
“Gakushuu!” calls out (Y/N).
Oh no.
Oh no.
Karma quickly grabs (Y/N)’s arm and hisses in her ear, “(Y/N), why is that bastard here?”
(Y/N) slaps Karma’s arm. “I told him to walk with me. And don’t call my brother a bastard.”
“…” Ah. Karma had forgotten that the two were related.
“…(Y/N), why did you bring Akabane with you?” Asano barely does anything to hide the obvious repulsion in his voice.
“Look.” (Y/N) crosses her arms. “Karma’s gonna be hanging around me a lot more now, so I want you both to get along. So be polite. Both of you.”
“He abandoned you,” Karma points out, his voice rising. “He left you to rot in the rain like a stray do-”
“You don’t know anything about me, or (Y/N).” Asano’s eyes flash with anger. “So, I suggest you kindly shut your trap-”
“Let’s just go.” (Y/N) begins to walk the way to her home. “Try to keep up.”
The two boys exchange one last glare, before following (Y/N).
(Y/N) walks much faster than them, and thus, she is now several feet ahead of the two, and safely out of earshot, allowing the boys to argue.
“Let me make one thing clear, Akabane,” says Asano, glaring. “If you intend to hang around my sister, I will not make it easy for you.”
Karma smirks. “Well, I like a good challenge anyway~”
“My sister is not a challenge,” Asano spits. “She’s a person, with fee-”
“What’s that I hear about me?”
You know what Karma said before about being safely out of earshot?
He takes it back.
Does she have super-hearing?
“Can you two not spend two minutes in the same place without fighting?” (Y/N) sighs. “You both are like toddlers, honestly. Well, Karma, you’re on your own now, since we’ve reached our destination. And I’m never walking with the both of you again.”
“I told you,” say Karma and Asano in unison.
(Y/N) laughs a little. “Well, see you tomorrow, Karma.”
“Why did you forgive him?”
“He’s my brother,” answers (Y/N) nonchalantly as they walk up the mountain together.
“He still abandoned you,” Karma points out indignantly. “Are you really gonna make it that easy?”
“…there’s stuff,” mutters (Y/N). “Hard to explain. But he cares about me. And I care about him.”
“…If that’s what you say…”
Maehara asks (Y/N) The Question on a warm, sunny day, while they are all outside.
“Hey (Y/N), how are you so smart?”
“…” She frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, I always figured that cheerleaders were supposed to be…dumb?” Maehara laughs awkwardly. “I mean, that’s how it is, right?”
“…Hollywood,” (Y/N) sighs. “There isn’t a single thing it hasn’t managed to fuck up.”
She brings out her phone, and quickly selects a playlist. Upbeat, fast music begins to play.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the show! We’re reaching for the top, and we’ll never fall below!”
(Y/N) then does a series of backflips so fast that Karma’s sight begins to blur, and then does some different jumps that makes her audience hold their breath, seemingly defying gravity.
A show indeed.
The music stops, and (Y/N) bows down to her audience, and Karma, along with a bunch of others, claps hard.
“Does that answer your question?” asks (Y/N), looking straight at Maehara.
“…Yeah, it does.”
“People think cheerleading is easy,” (Y/N) tells Karma, later. “And as you can tell, they’re wrong.” She smiles. “My dad first told me that cheerleading was a stupid career choice, and I would be better off investing my time somewhere else. And now today, my cheerleading team has won every competition they’ve taken part in.” She laughs. “Not going to lie, I did a great job.”
“How humble.”
“Oh, shut it, strawberry.” (Y/N) playfully pushes him. “But let that be a lesson: if you work hard enough, nothing can bring you down.”
Thoughts.
That’s all they were.
Silly little thoughts that would pop into Karma’s head annoyingly from time to time, easy to brush off, easy to ignore.
But thoughts will turn into feelings, and feelings are a part of who you are.
The day (Y/N) truly becomes a part of Karma is burned into Karma’s brain.
Today is burned into Karma’s brain.
There are 365 days in a year, and listing out what happened in all of those days would frankly be ridiculous and time consuming, so maybe it would be best to pick out what stands out the most in Karma’s mind…
…
THE FIELD TRIP
…
At this point in time, E-class is in their trip to Kyoto, and this particular moment is the long awaited ‘gossip time…’
“Sounds like a party in here,” Karma remarks as he walks into the room, holding a cup of tea.
“Karma, great timing,” says Isogai. “Which of the girls in our class do you like?”
“…” Karma pays no attention to the paper handed to him, saying the first name that comes to mind: “I believe I’ll have to go with Okuda.”
“Bullshit!” groans Okajima, unsatisfied with Karma’s answer. “Everyone and their grandmothers know you have the hots for (Y/N)!”
“That isn’t true,” says Karma as casually as possibly.
“Bullshit liar, bullshit liar, bullshit liar!” Maehara jeers.
Karma knows opportunity when he sees it, and in this case, he sees it when Koro-sensei peers into the room with a pink, blushing face, noting something down in a notebook.
“Maybe you should be more worried about him.” Karma points at his poor victim.
Almost immediately, the room dissolves into chaos, everyone sans Karma and Nagisa drawing their knives and going after their target.
Karma simply sips at his tea, smiling and revelling in the chaos.
He steps outside to see all boys and girls attacking Koro-sensei, said teacher dodging their attacks at Mach 20, and Karma leans casually leaning against the wall.
“Hey Karma, don’t tell me he spied on you guys too,” says (Y/N) from beside him, looking at the destruction. Karma jumps a little; he hadn’t noticed her.
“Alright, I won’t.”
“Jesus.” (Y/N) rolls her eyes. “I see you aren’t attacking him.”
“Got nothing to hide,” says Karma (lying; he’s very good at it). “And I could say the same about you. You have no secrets either, huh.”
“…heh…” (Y/N) looks right at Karma and smirks. “Nah. I’m just very good at keeping secrets.”
(Karma wonders if drinking insecticide will kill the butterflies in his stomach.)
…
THE CAVE
…
Now, obviously there’s the island incident. The 3-E students got poisoned, Nagisa beat up Takoka, blah, blah, blah.
No one gives a shit about that, so let’s move onto Koro-sensei’s infamous matchmaking scheme (on of many to come): The haunted cave.
Karma and (Y/N) both walk through the cave, the candle Karma’s holding lighting their way. “How much do you bet this is some stupid matchmaking scheme?” says (Y/N), sounding exasperated.
“My firstborn child,” Karma jokes.
“Thought so.” (Y/N) sighs. “That octopus is never gonna give up.”
“Never gonna let you down, never gonna-”
“Shut it.”
They walk in a comfortable silence for a while, before (Y/N) asks another question. Well, it’s less of a question, and more of a statement.
“You’re afraid of Nagisa, aren’t you?”
Karma stiffens. She’s good. “What do you mean? Me, scared of Nagisa?”
“Don’t bullshit me, Karma,” sniffs (Y/N). “You looked scared to death back there with that battle with Takaoka.”
“…you got me there, Princess,” admits Karma.
“Can’t blame you there. He was pretty scary back there.”
“I know, right? And he’s like a mouse most of the time, who’da thunk that he’d have turned out like…like that!” Karma laughs bitterly. “Just goes to show that things you’re the least afraid of are the most dangerous…”
“Everything’s dangerous, Karma,” points out (Y/N). “I mean, I’m dangerous too.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re strong, I know that.”
“It’s not about who can beat you up, Karma. People can ruin you without even laying a hand on you.” (Y/N) narrows her eyes. “All it really takes is a few well-placed rumours and a few leaked secrets to make the world burn.” She sighs. “It’s the mistake a lot of people make, really. It’s so easy to forget. In today’s world, violence will only get you so far. It’s about how well you can mess with people.”
“…you seem to know a lot about messing with people, Princess,” Karma notes.
“Heh.” (Y/N) smirks. “And what are you going to do about that?”
“You shevil.”
“Thank you, darling,” she drawls in response, grinning.
Oh shit, it’s the butterflies again.
Perhaps you have a good picture of their friendship now. Strong, passionate…
The news hits Karma like a truck.
“What do you mean, you’re going back to Main?” Karma demands.
“I just got the letter.” (Y/N) doesn’t make eye contact with Karma, she instead looks down at her feet. “I’m going back, Karma. Today’s my last day in E-class.”
“So, you’re just going to abandon us?” spat Karma. “You’re going to abandon me?”
The look on her face is like a knife straight through his heart.
“I…I’m not abandoning you.” Her voice is soft. “You all are really precious to me…you’re precious to me, Karma.”
“Then why?” Karma’s voice cracks. “I thought you cared about this. I thought you cared about the assassination. I thought those moments we had actually meant something to you-”
“They do! They mean everything to me! Things are complicated, Karma. I can’t stay…”
“Then prove it.” Karma’s voice is cold. “Prove to me that you aren’t lying, Princess.”
Karma didn’t know what he expected.
A hug? A tear-filled confession of friendship?
But he certainly didn’t expect (Y/N) pulling him in for a kiss.
Karma is a smart person, but he thinks, in this very moment, this is how it feels to be dumb. This is how it feels to have your head empty.
No thoughts, just (Y/N).
He kisses back.
“…” There are a few precious seconds of silence, after (Y/N) stops kissing Karma. “I…” (Y/N) takes a breath. “I’ll be in the cheer club after schools.”
She turns around and begins walking away, and Karma’s brain screams at him to say something, anything, but as you would have it, he stood there, voice gone.
What a shevil she is.
Stealing Karma’s heart and running away the second she kisses him.
Well, Karma supposes he’ll have to steal her heart as well, just to get even~
The Cheer Club, she said.
That’s in the sports hall, isn’t it?
She’ll be happy to see him, right?
Right?
The door is already open, so Karma peeks in, to see…
(Y/N) is on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Karma has never seen her in such a vulnerable state before, and it almost feels like he’s peeking in on something private, not meant for his eyes.
(Y/N) shakes someone’s body, tears streaming down her face. “Aiko? Wake up! You need to wake up!” Around her, many more bodies are scattered, and Karma realises with a jolt that they belong to girls. Actual girls.
“They were weak.”
Ah.
The Principal.
He looms above (Y/N), looking down on her disapprovingly as she cries. “You allowed yourself to become weak, and in the process, you made them weak,” he tells her. It feels like they’re in the middle of a conversation. “While you were in E-class, their performance declined, bit by bit, until I had to…step in.”
“They weren’t ready,” (Y/N) chokes out. “They couldn’t take it. You killed them!”
“Now, now, you shouldn’t exaggerate so. There are a few broken bones here and there, but they’ll come out of this stronger. You’ll come out of this stronger.” The smile on his face is truly terrifying.
Just when Karma thinks that this possibly can’t get any worse, (Y/N) looks at him, glances at him from the corner of his eyes, and mouths, go.
By god Karma wants to stay.
But he doesn’t know anything.
So he goes.
An ambulance comes afterwards, and (Y/N) and Karma help carry (Y/N)’s Main Campus friends to the ambulance beds.
And when all is said and done, she collapses into Karma’s arms and cries.
…
THE NEXT DAY
…
“…So…” They sit together on a bench in a park. Karma licks a cone of strawberry ice-cream aimlessly. “Complicated?”
“Yeah.” (Y/N) sighs. “We’re not your standard textbook dysfunctional family, Karma. We’re functionally dysfunctional, if that makes sense.” She leans into him a little, resting her weary bones. “He’s more of a teacher than a father.” Karma can sense the obvious hurt in that last sentence. “Living with him is like walking on eggshells. I always feel like a disappointment, always feel like I’m weak…”
“Well, then, the solutions obvious, then isn’t it?” says Karma. “Live with me.”
“…huh?”
“Live with me.” Karma grins. “And bring your asshole brother along with you while you’re at it. Let’s really piss him off.”
“…” A wide grin slowly appears on (Y/N)’s face. “You genius! I could just kiss you right now!”
“Then do it.” Karma leans forward, closer to (Y/N). “I dare you.”
“…bastard.”
And so, she takes the dare, and there’s no one in the world except for them.