Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Karasuma had never intended to be tangled up with education. Being a government agent rarely ever had any connections with teenagers or any other high school associations. So, when he left Classroom 3E, he didn’t expect to feel so sad. The kids had grown on him and as much as he hated their teasing, he did feel a bit like a dad. Watching them leave to their respective high schools, some extremely far away, was more difficult than he had imagined it being. 

For himself, he decided to take a few jobs closer to home for a little while. Irina had moved in shortly after their wedding last month. He wanted to give her a space to decorate and consider theirs for the time being. She was always happy when he showed he had even the smallest amount of forethought in their relationship, so it was worth the sacrifice of bigger jobs. 

Currently, instead of cleaning his guns at night as he had the past few decades, he was helping Irina set the table for dinner. Karasuma was still unaccustomed to her meals but they were getting better. Or at least, she was getting better at catering to his tastes. They were just about to sit down for her pasta when he heard a knock at the door. 

Knocking at the door is a normal, pleasant, thing for most couples. Not for them. Unexpected knocks could mean a lot of things and almost all of them were bad. Irina looked up and Karasuma could see her hand begin for the hidden gun in the kitchen drawer. 

“Wait” Karasuma warned hand on his own gun, hidden away in his coat pocket. “Let me check first. The alarms weren’t triggered so they don’t have a record. Dish up my plate for me.” He suggested walking out of the kitchen and towards their smaller entryway. He was confident that his wife was closely watching from behind him. 

A quick look out the window of the door revealed someone that Karasuma hadn’t seen in a few long months. 

“Karma!” Irina exclaimed, rushing from the kitchen to come and see them both. 

The redhead was sopping wet, and without a coat, Karasuma would add. He had clearly been at school earlier that day if his summer uniform was anything to say about it. Why he had a summer uniform on when it was nearly October, he wouldn't know.  His face bore his classic smirk but something was missing from the expression, a bit of the spirit from the kid's eyes. 

“Hey Mr. Karasuma, Professor B*tch” He greeted slyly lifting his face to let the rain drip off. “I’m sorry to bother your dinner.” His apology was enough to confirm all of Karasuma’s suspicions that said something wasn’t quite right. 

“Karma-” he started but was interrupted by his wife pushing him out of the doorway and into the banister behind him. Leaning on the stairs that lead to their rooms, he watched the blonde pull Karma roughly inside their house. 

“You are soaking wet! Didn’t I teach you how to dress for the job?! And what’s this Professor B*tch I told you my name is Irina.” She chided harshly, reaching around for their towel closet. “Why in the world are you walking around in a t-shirt when we are in the middle of a storm?” she asked shoving a blue one into the boy's hands. 

Karasuma tracked the teen's movements as he toweled off his hair with shivering hands. “It wasn’t raining when I got up this morning Professor B*tch” He shrugged and Karasuma sighed. He pushed off the banister and stepped forward to take the towel. Karma’s eyes snapped up like the assassin Karasuma knew he was. 

“Sit down. Take your shoes off” Karasuma ordered and Karma nodded. As soon as the redhead was seated in the entry Karasuma resumed drying his hair for him. 

“He’s going to need to change Karasuma. Take him upstairs while I get another plate ready” Irina instructed pushing at the back of his suit. 

“Uh, I’m not actually that hungry-”

“Let's go Karma. I have some things that we can make work. You’re gonna get sick otherwise” Karasuma said, cutting him off. He was eating with them now that he was here and nothing the kid would say would make any difference. He watched Karma sigh, but take his hand to stand up and follow him upstairs to the couple’s shared bedroom. 

Karasuma didn’t know all that much about Karma, aside from his violent history. The kid was ambitious and driven, but as far as he knew, his only goal was world domination of some kind. A master manipulator pinned by the law, like most of class 3E. Karma hadn’t seemed very interested in the money reward but Karasuma had heard that Karma continued with the terrible school system just to see the world burn. 

“Here, try this one” Karasuma suggested passing one of his older training shirts to Karma. “I have some drawstring sweatpants too so I’d start peeling off those slacks” he added, digging through the bottom of his dresser. 

Karma dropped his wet button-up on the floor and was consumed by the older shirt. He hadn’t quite reached Karasuma’s height yet, and while the kid was built, he wasn’t very bulky. Karasuma was quick to pass him the sweatpants soon after and grab the wet clothing from his carpet and throw them into the adjacent tub. As he re-entered the room he saw that Karma had pulled a knife from his top drawer and was flipping it around. 

“Not even going to question why I’m here?” he asked, staring at the blade instead of Karasuma. He ignored the question in favor of snatching the handle out of the teen's grip. It was easier than it should have been. A large indication that Karma wasn’t focused. 

“You shouldn’t play with knives.” He said curtly. Karma didn’t answer. The kids rarely seemed to answer when Karasuma wanted/needed to actually know something. Nagisa, Isobe, and all of the rest of them did the same thing. “You kids are welcome. Irina and I said that already. I want to know why you’re in a storm without a coat late at night, but it has nothing to do with you being at our house” he explained and Karma held a blank expression. The kid had always been startlingly good at doing that. Keeping Karasuma from knowing what in the heck the kid was thinking…or plotting. 

“Boys! Dinner now!” Irina called from downstairs and both of them didn’t waste any time making their way out of the room and down the flight of carpeted stairs. 

All of the upstairs rooms, halls, and stairs had carpet flooring. Irina had picked it because she hated the cold. She wanted their home together to be warm. Seeing that Karma had thin socks, Karasuma was sure he appreciated it. Their dining room was fairly simple in design as well. A Katsudon and four cushions took up the main floor. Irina had become obsessed with them a while back and demanded they use one as a center table. She had placed out their larger dinner plates and tea set to match. Fettuccine Alfredo wasn’t common in Japan but had become a dish they both could enjoy.

“Smells good. Who knew you could cook Professor B*tch” Karma joked, coming to sit on her left. Karasuma to the seat to his left, across from his wife, and ignored her corrections. 

“Brats who don’t dress properly don’t get to say squat.” she snapped, taking a few bites and allowing Karma the same. “Why the h*ll are you out this late anyway? Don’t you have parents worrying about you?” she questioned and Karma stiffened for a millisecond. Normal people would never have seen it, but the two professional analysts saw it clear as day. 

“Not at home, I’m afraid. Sane adults tend to be frightened of my greatness and stay away” he shrugged casually. “Normally, that doesn’t matter much…I uh, had a slight issue with my apartment though hence me intruding on dinner. Not that I worried you two were ever doing anything fun anyway” Karma smirked but Karasuma knew it wasn’t true. It didn’t fully register in his expression or his tone.

“Issue with the apartment huh?” Irina questioned, and Karasuma could tell from the way she phrased it that she noticed the guardedness too. “What kind of issue? I know you can’t possibly be short on money” she scoffed and Karma shook his head after taking a sip of tea. 

“No, nothing like that.” he agreed. “They’re doing last-minute renovations on the apartment today. I don’t exactly trust hotels so I figured I could get a hot meal here and maybe wait for my train.” Karma explained shrugging as if this were a normal occurrence.

“Train? To where?” Karasuma asked and Karma smiled. 

“To Nagisa’s. He’s staying at that fancy high school his mom wanted. Figured he wouldn’t care if I showed up.”

“Out of the question” Irina denied, shaking her head firmly. “You’ll stay here. No sane person wants to go out in this weather, besides if you don’t trust hotels then you shouldn’t trust trains.” She reasoned and Karasuma nodded along. 

“I have to agree, and more importantly Nagisa would need to find a way to hide you at school which is not exactly ideal for him either.” He knew that Karma cared for his friends even if he was a bit odd with showing it. Karasuma didn’t like this storyline from his student either. In rich people's apartments, there was no such thing as unexpected reservations. So either Karma’s parents planned them without him knowing, or the more likely situation, Karma was lying to them. 

Karma didn’t find much use in lying to his teachers. At least, not that Karasuma knew about. The boy did have logic, even if it was a bit skewed. Karasuma and Irina were no longer heavily involved in his life, therefore it wouldn’t make sense to have any need to lie to them about a situation. Unless…

“Karma, You’re still attending Kunugigaoka, right?” Irina asked even as Karasuma was planning the same thing. Karma finished the last bite off his plate, extremely fast to finish what Karasuma was only halfway through, before he grinned. Karasuma could see a bit of the gaze from their assassination classroom in his eyes when he did that. 

“Yep” he confirmed, popping out the ‘p’ sound. “I’m killing their stupid grading ranks too. Asano doesn’t know what he’s in for.” Asano Gakushuu. The former principal's son if Karasuma remembered correctly. Karma seemed to have trouble staying out of the way of authority figures. Not that the principal or his son was anyone to respect anyways. 

“That’s good then.” Irina smiled getting up from their low table and grabbing Karma’s plate. She walked to and from the kitchen to grab him another serving of food. As per usual, he can count on her to be as diligent as he is. “Eat as much as you’d like. I’m still learning how to make proper proportions for two people. So there have been a lot of leftovers lately.” Complete Lies. Irina has made perfect proportions since she was a child, but she can keep from a second helping for the sake of her student. One would wonder though, why is he this hungry anyway?

Chapter Text

Karma had never loved pasta so much in his life. In all the chaos of the day, he hadn’t had a chance to eat anything. Korosensei would’ve force-fed him by this point had he been here. “Thank you” He smiled at his previous teacher when she set down the new plate. It had been a long day and a ton of food sounded amazing. 

Karma wasn’t an idiot. He knew his teachers probably didn’t believe one ounce of the bullcrap he was feeding them. They were professional assassins and spies. They could probably see through almost anything he told them and Karma hadn’t been able to come up with a very convincing lie. He didn’t exactly know what to say. An amateur broke into his apartment, but it still freaked him out because he’s paranoid that everything is a professional attack on his life, and that now the apartment is compromised and he doesn’t trust hotels to be any safer? Yeah, that won’t come with its own bucket of worms. 

“What have you two been doing? Government stuff?” he asked innocently but Karasuma just raised an eyebrow. 

“I know you’ve been out of my class for a while but surely you haven’t forgotten who I am? Nice try Karma but you know that that’s private information” his teacher scoffed and he smiled, stretching his hands high above his head to let his back pop. 

“Hey, can’t blame me for trying. Japan is a very interesting place” A place that all three of them were aware could hide alien creatures and illegal experiments. “I’m thinking about investing in the government myself” he commented and received the shocked gazes he knew he would. That’s what happens when adults fear what you’ll do to the country. At least, that’s what he thought until Professor B*tch burst out with a short laugh.

“That’s right kid bring 'em H*ll. You’ll have the country on its knees with the charm I gave you” she smiled brightly pouring herself and Mr. Karasuma more tea. 

“Just warn me which branch you’re getting involved in so I can prepare” Mr. Karasuma instructed, sounding exhausted with the idea already. 

When did they become so…domestic? Karma knew that not everyone was so stuck on Korosensei's death as he was, but he didn’t expect even his teachers to accept a normal life so soon. Well, not completely normal. Mr. Karasuma did still have the dagger in his top drawer. Still, most of the others seemed to be doing normal high school life, even Nagisa. But for Karma, things could never go back to the way that they were. He knew that having other people who cared or to be around was nice, and ultimately… I don’t have that.

“I’ll be sure to let you know, Mr. Karasuma” Karma smiled and finished up the last of the food. I should learn how to make that. I’ve never had Italian before. “If you both are so insistent, I guess I can spare the time to rest here for the night. I’ll have to go early tomorrow though. School schedules and all” he agreed holding up his hands in a ‘what can you do about it’ sort of way. If I stay too long, they may get the impression that I want company…which not wrong, but I don’t really want them figuring that out.

“Oh really? Does school start earlier for you now?” Irina asked looking genuinely curious. 

Karma went to answer but Karasuma spoke up first. “No, I’ve seen the school schedule. It’s pretty much the exact same as the junior high school.” why would he have seen the school schedule? Checking in? No that can’t be it…  

“I’m involved in the student counsil, so we meet earlier than the start of school.” Karma explained and Karasuma frowned.

“I never really picture you for that. A bit too inside the rules for you, isn’t it?” he asked and Karma huffed. 

“I can follow rules when I want to.” he argued. I mean, I don’t like teachers and hate liars, but I can play the game just like everyone else. “Asano ran for president on his first day there. Idiot move. Freshman representative was wide open for the taking. Just wait, I’ll be running that school in a few weeks.”

“I’m sure you will. Probably have already driven a few teachers mad.” Irina smiled.  

This kind of small talk feels weird for us. Thankfully the amount of false charm in this room doesn’t make it awkward. I can’t imagine if Nagisa were here. Karma probably would have already denied the stay and left, but he could feel the clamminess on his hands already. The storm made my questionable cold worse. “The first one quit on the second day” he confirmed with pride desperately ignoring the tickle in his throat. I don’t know what they’ll do if they see I’m sick, but I don't want to know. 

“Of course, they did” Karasuma sighed face-palming gently. I wonder.. If school had continued much longer, could I have sent you running, Mr. Karasuma? “So then, where are your parents anyway? I know they’re in business right?” that question was possibly the worst one he could imagine his teacher asking. 

All three teachers of their assassination classroom made it very clear that they wouldn’t stand for the kids being neglected or abused. Korosensei personally fixed Nagisa’s mother and Mr. Karasuma refused to let Takaoka touch them. Karma wasn’t some naive child. He was aware that the way his parents behaved could constitute some form of neglect, but Japan’s child abandonment laws were sketchy at best. Especially since he was a teenager. It was easier, better, to leave them out of all conversations. Even if someone happened to find out, It’s not like Karma would willingly accept going into someone else’s home and being indebted to them.

“Business is where the money is according to pops, so yeah.” Karma agreed. Don’t arouse suspicion. If I lie I have greater chance of being caught. Stretch the truth. “It’s a business trip somewhere I assume in Europe. I never really know their travel plans to be honest.” he shrugged stepping away from the table. 

His feet swayed only slightly before he caught himself but Karasuma was standing in seconds. “Excellent meal Professor b*tch, thanks” He complimented taking a step away from his previous PE teacher. “I think I should probably get out of your hair for the night.”

“You’re not a bother Karma” Irina spoke, suddenly very serious. Her face had become stone-hard. Like when she goes for a kill. “All of you kids are more than welcome here.Especially when you look as pale as a sheet” she continued. Sh*t. and I’m getting dizzy too. If I puke that awesome dinner I think I’ll kill someone. 

Chapter Text

Karasuma had already been sure that something was wrong, but Karma nearly falling when he stood was the biggest red flag the kid could give. Irina commenting on his complexion didn’t help either. “Irina is right, on both counts. You ok?” He asked and the redhead nodded but staggered when he took a step. Karasuma was next to him in an instant, holding him by the arm to keep him steady. 

“I’m fine, get off” Karma insisted pushing with minimal effort. 

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Karasuma argued holding him in a firm grip with one hand, so he could reach up to the boy's forehead with the other. He’s running a fever. “Irina, go get the thermometer, would you? I’m taking him upstairs” he asked his wife before turning back to the slumping teen. Well…don’t stab me kid. Quicker than Karma could argue he was in Karasuma’s arms and being moved towards the staircase. 

“Let go! I don’t need to be carried I can walk!” Karma yelled pushing with the minimal amount of strength he had. The fact that he wasn’t using any of their fighting maneuvers was proof enough that the fight was mostly for show. He won’t hurt me and he’s too weak to break it without doing that. 

“At a turtles pace on the stairs,” Karasuma said, moving up the steps with ease. Karma surprisingly didn’t weigh all that much. The pair made their way to the spare room beside the master. The large space hadn’t been touched since Irina decorated the house. Karasuma’s home office was across from the bedroom, so they really didn’t have much use for it yet. The large gray rug took up a sizable portion of the floor along with the queen size bed. The only color in the room were the dark blue curtains and dresser to accent the gray and black bedding.

Karasuma walked in and set Karma, as squirmy as he was, on the mattress just as Irina walked in with a thermometer and water. The teen in question quickly backed up onto the bed to move out of reach of either of them. “I don’t-” Karma paused for a moment to take a large breath. “Need anything from you H*lla b*tch. I’m not sick” he insisted. He’s panting from fighting me up the stairs. Like H*ll he isn’t sick.  

“Breaking out an old nickname isn’t going to make me forget that fever” Irina snapped, but Karasuma saw the way her muscles flexed. It still annoys her. She’s too easy to mess with. “Everyone gets sick. So come here and let me get your temperature like a good boy. I even brought the forehead scanner kind so it doesn’t have to go in your mouth” she asked nicely. 

Karma was tense and leaning back on his hands to steady himself in the middle of the bed. Still swimming in his teacher’s clothes looked a bit like a panicked ghost. Irina didn't seem deterred though, as she rarely was. Crawling onto the edge of the bed and pointing the thermometer was going to be easy enough.  “I’ll just leave” Karma argued fast and Karasuma saw Irina hesitate. “I’m not your student anymore. Either of you” cold. The words were very cold. He sounds like he did back then. 

“If you don’t like it, kill me and everyone else here”

When he had said that then, he meant it. But that d*mned octopus fixed that dead look in his eyes…I wonder why it’s back.  

“Bullsh*t” 

Karasuma found himself watching his wife sit on the edge of the bed with that statement as her only precursor. Irina huffed but reached around Karma’s weak struggle to let the thermometer get a reading. “Bullsh*t Akabane” she repeated and he stilled enough for the screen to flash a red 102.5. That's way too high.  “We may not be officially your teachers anymore, but you're the student here like it or not. That means the minute you step through the door we are looking after you. If you didn’t want that, then you’ll have to go somewhere else next time cause that’s just how it’s gonna be” she ordered throwing the thermometer at Karasuma so she could sit back on the comforter easier. 

Karma ducked his head and sat up across from her, ignoring that Karasuma was in the room entirely. “That doesn’t make sense,” he argued. “I don’t need that and you aren’t going to be held responsible by anyone.”

“Being held responsible shouldn’t be the only reason that someone wants to take care of you, Karma” Irina said a bit gentler now. She’s never that sweet… “Anyone who has suggested otherwise can go to h*ll.” there it is. Can’t say I disagree though.

“I told you when you came in that you didn’t need to explain yourself Karma. If all the questions were uncomfortable, you don’t need to answer anymore but from what you said, your parents aren’t home right?” Karasuma interrupted and he got a reluctant nod. He couldn’t help the sigh that escaped him. “Alright then. You stay here until you’re not sick. End of story. And don’t even think about sneaking out because we’ll both know.” we have a state-of-the-art security system and Irina sleeps as light as a feather. 

Sh*t. Karma’s chest was heavy and his head was dizzy but he was clear enough to know that there was no way that they were letting him go home tomorrow. It was an act of God that he happened to be robbed during break cause otherwise, he had a horrible feeling that he’d be missing school too. “I-” he went to argue but didn’t have the chance.

 Irina put a hand on his knee before giving short smile. “No” she deadpanned when her smile dropped. His dizziness was enough to make him lay back on the extremely fluffy pillows. This sickness is not helping my case at all.  

“You two suck” he muttered in a last-ditch attempt to annoy them. Karasuma rolled his eyes and helped Irina up.

“I’m gonna run to town for cold medicine. That fever is no joke Karma, if you have any other symptoms come up just yell for one of us. Irina will be just next door” Karasuma informed oh so helpfully. Like I’d ever actually tell them more reasons to keep me here. Oh well, it seems that the rain really got to me. And before he was able to begin resisting, Karma drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

“-needs help”

“Yes-.....-so sick and hungry”

The voices were the audio version of blurry, whatever that would be. My brain isn’t working right. He hoped the reason they were, muffled! The word was muffled, was because it was from the other room. However, when he felt a presence linger a little too close he knew he was wrong. 

His hand instinctively reached for the blade he stashed under the pillow and in sync with opening his eyes, blindly slashed at the person above him. Fever or not, feeling like crap or not, no physical state would erase the training that Karma has been through. Go for- His wrist bent around until his body pinched under the pain and dropped the knife. 

He blurrily could see Professor B*tch leaning over him and holding his wrist, in the other hand his knife. Sh*t. She doesn’t even have to try. Karma weakly attempted to pull out of her grip but she just frowned at him. 

“Your reaction time is good, but you have no strength left.” She told him, or Karma thought. When Karasuma came into his line of sight he realized she was talking more to the other teacher than to him. “Karasuma hand me the medicine,” She asked her husband and Karma saw his teacher bring a water bottle and pills from seemingly nowhere. Not nowhere, they were probably there and I just didn’t notice. Professor B*tch wasted no time pulling out two pills and unscrewing the cap from the bottle. “Sit up Karma” She ordered.

Sitting up should be easy. Should be. When your body feels like it is coated in cement, that task becomes much more difficult. Every muscle ached by even the slightest movement. Attempting to push up on his elbows took more than a few tries, and ultimately ended with his back hitting the mattress again. How did I get so sick so quickly? Was it because I forgot to eat? Or the storm I suppose. Apparently unable to watch him struggle further Irina reached over a free hand and helped pull up his head enough that she could shove in the pills and let him sip some water. 

Karma was vaguely aware she was whispering something to Karasuma but he was more focused on the pills that went into his system. “What?” He asked quietly and Professor B*tch turned back to look at him confused. What medicine did you give me? 

“You definitely are out of it, huh kid” She frowned reaching up to touch his forehead. He tried to turn away but she brushed back his hair anyway. “Don’t worry. It’s just some ibuprofen. Just go back to sleep. We’ll come to check on you in a bit” She assured standing up and following Karasuma out the door. Karma welcomed the darkness that came when the door shut again. 

Karasuma sighed as they sat in the hall outside of Karma’s door. “So, what’d you find?” he asked and Irina snorted quietly. 

“Too much.” She started pulling out her phone to show him. He knew that while he was gone she would do some looking into Karma’s parents and what was possibly happening. Her phone screen proved as much, showing tickets registered to Karma’s parents to Moscow. The date at the bottom revealed they had been in Russia for over a week. He frowned and his wife hummed. “That’s not even the worst part. I looked into the kid’s apartment and found there was a break-in tonight. Police got involved and everything. That’s why he couldn’t stay there” she whispered and Karasuma felt his head thunk against the wall behind him. Sh*t.

“Why wouldn’t he just say that?” He asked far too tired. 

“Karasuma. We’re spies and assassins. I wonder why he wouldn’t want to tell us that someone broke into his apartment?” She asked sarcastically and Karasuma rolled his eyes. Fair enough. I do feel like killing whoever did it. He’s smart enough to realize we would want to investigate if we knew. Still…

“Did they catch the guy who did it?” He asked and tensed when she shook her head. “Sh*t” Karasuma breathed. There wasn’t any way for him to be in two places at once. “No way of knowing if the person broke in for theft or because they know who Karma is. What he knows.”

“My thoughts too” She agreed, pushing a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. “I could find out. With Karma as sick as he is he shouldn’t be aware enough to wonder where I am any time soon.” True enough. Karasuma knew she could probably have the man in custody or dead before breakfast, but…

“If it is someone after information on the octopus, you could be a target too.” He sighed and before she could argue he spoke up again, “Karma was spooked enough to come here before Nagisa’s, he probably deduced that it wasn’t an amateur thief.” Karma excelled when they covered threat assessment in class. Karasuma had no doubts that the kid was able to tell a real threat from a false one. His wife hummed in agreement, but he knew she probably still wanted to find the suspect and then hide the body. If someone didn’t have to stay here I would be inclined to join her. 

“So then I bring along a friend. The agent kid you trained a few weeks ago. Would that satisfy you?” She asked leaning over to fiddle with his tie. You, my dear, would traumatize him. He’s a new recruit still. When he didn’t respond she moved so she was nearly in his lap with her face inches from his. “I’ll be so quick you won’t even have time to miss me” She whispered with a smile and he forced a huff. I’d still miss you.

“You’ll only be gone for three hours at the most if you're efficient. I won’t have time to miss you constantly talking.” He corrected with a smirk. She gasped, clearly offended, as usual. He fully expected the punch she sent toward his gut and easily grabbed her hand before the moment of impact. Irina looked up at his face and smiled a bit too feral for his liking. 

“I’ll call the brat then” She grinned moving to stand up from the floor. Karasuma let his grip hold her firm enough for her to land right back against his chest. Her blonde hair smacked against his face when she turned to look up at him. 

“Be careful, Irina.” He ordered quietly, feeling a bit stiff as the words left his mouth. He was still unused to blatantly telling his wife sentimental things, especially when she was such a natural at it. Her body relaxed against his as she angled her head up just enough to kiss the underside of his jaw. He let go as she pulled away. 

“Of course. I’ll be back in a few hours” Irina promised moving down to their bedroom to change. 

“Try not to get blood on your uniform, we just ordered that one” He called to her in a whispered voice. Plus then I would need to explain what mission you went on that resulted in blood. Her only response was a quiet laugh as she left through their bedroom window. She’ll be fine.

Chapter Text

Irina had a lot of theories about what had truly gone down at Karma’s apartment. What she found, was not anywhere close. Clearly, it had crossed her mind that the job was done by a professional, and that much was true . derʹmo. There was no hiding the latex gloves that still sat on the kid's counter. The gloves that she had gifted him last Christmas. 

“Never kill someone with your hands bare. Too much DNA involved .”

She had meant it half as a joke at the time, but the fact that they were out, the security footage had been wiped, and there was no sign of anybody. All of the signs were pointing to… He killed him. Probably dumped his body in the river. Less genetic material that way. 

“Mrs. Karasuma? Everything ok?” Ibiki asked from behind her. Focus. She straightened up and pushed the box into the trash. 

“Everything’s fine. Look at the cameras for the building across the street and see if you can find when the thief came inside. I want to know what he looked like and what his name is. Anything you can grab.” she ordered curtly and the agent nodded. 

“We aren’t going to go look for him?” He asked and she shook her head. 

“No. That won’t be necessary.” We wouldn’t be able to find anything concrete anyway. “Just send me everything you find. I’m going back home.”

Irina had only been gone an hour when he heard noises on the other side of the door. Karasuma stood up from his spot on their hallway floor and pried the guest room door open to check on the house’s patient. Karma was still in bed, asleep, but his face was pinched. The sheets were moving everywhere and there were patches of sweat. His fever must be breaking.  

The noise Karasuma heard wasn’t from the sheets though. They were huffs and..whimpers that were emanating from the redhead himself. Clearly uncomfortable and in pain, he wasn’t anywhere close to the peaceful state he was in the hour before. Sh*t. “Karma?” he whispered coming closer to the bed so that the boy could hear him. The close proximity also allowed him to hear Karma better. 

“Nnn” he mumbled shifting his body under the tangled sheets. “S’nsei” he breathed and Karasuma could only guess what must be going on in his head. Nightmare. The teacher who sent him out of school? Or maybe Takoaka?..who am I kidding? It's most likely about that d*mned octopus. 

“Karma” he tried again at full volume. “Wake up kid.” the huffing and shuffling on the bed didn’t stop and he seemed to be no closer to waking. If I reach for him, he’s gonna try to stab me. Even knowing that Karasuma knelt down and tapped the boy’s shoulder. Karma’s eyelids snapped open and his previously twitching arms gripped for a knife that was no longer there and swung. The momentum combined with the tangled sheets only caused him to tumble off the side and onto Karasuma’s lap. Well, that was elegant. “Calm down. It’s just me” Karasuma reassured. 

Karma was panting but didn’t panic once he looked up at his teacher’s face. The moment he collected himself though, he was scrambling to get up. Karasuma took pity on him and moved the sheets off of his legs to allow him to sit up on the floor beside him. He still looks pale and weak but the fever is probably over with. “You ok?” Karasuma asked knowing that the kid was definitely not ok. 

“Fine.” Karma rasped moving to sit up properly. “What time is it?” He asked looking around the room for any indication of the answer. 

“Probably around two or three in the morning. You should probably go back to sleep”

“I’d rather not. A shower is sounding much better at the moment”

“That wouldn’t have anything to do with whatever you were mumbling about right?”

…

The silence was to be expected, but the red tint on Karma’s face was new. The last time Karasuma had seen the boy embarrassed was at the harassment of Koro-Sensei. He must have been trying to hide that then. That means this has happened before, possibly even frequently for him. A one-off could have easily been explained away by the fever. The teen seemed to become more aware and let his usual smug expression come back to his face. 

“Look, if you want me to be super sweaty in your house that's your weird preference, not mine.” Always resorting to awful humor attempts. 

“If you want to ignore the obvious symptoms of a nightmare, fine. But don’t think you can bull crap me kid” Karasuma challenged right back before standing up and offering Karma a hand. When he was sure the redhead was steady he led him to the adjacent bathroom and turned on the hot water for a bath. “Don’t shower, you could fall over and neither one of us wants me to have to break in here if that happens.”

Karma laughed but gave a mock salute. “You got it boss.” he agreed, coming to lock the door when Karasuma took a step outside. “Also” he added with a grin, “I can, and have, bull crapped you.” The door slammed in his face. As if things couldn’t get worse, Karasuma felt a text come through from Irina. 

Irina: It’s worse than we thought.

Irina: I’ll explain when I get there. 

Irina: I’m having your lackey do cover-up work while I finish inspecting his parents. I’ll be home soon. 

Karasuma sighed. I’m never going to get rid of this one. He’s going to just have to stay where I can see him eternally. Through the door, he heard a large thunk immediately followed by: “come in and I’ll slit your throat” said in a sing-song voice. Yeah. At this point watching him would be a charity to society. 

Karma bit his cheek to keep from making any sort of grunting noises as he massage the foot he stubbed into the porcelain tub. Sh*t. That dream had been the worst in a while. Probably fueled by the fever. Let it go Karma. He didn’t matter. Koro Sensei knew he was going to die and still asked a bunch of high schoolers to do it. Let it go. He steadied himself against the tub wall and then began to take a bath.

  Nothing was going according to plan. He was supposed to be going to Nagisa’s and school in a few hours. There was no way to sneak out without them knowing and even if the fever was gone he severely doubted they would allow him to go to school either. Not that they should be allowing me to do anything….Sh*t. He needed advice. Another perspective. It was time to call in reinforcements.

Chapter Text

3E: Octopus Squad

2:30 am

Devil incarnate: So

Devil Incarnate: Hypothetically, If I murdered someone, would that put us on bad terms?

2:31 am

Blue Sunshine: Why didn’t you answer all my texts? Also, what?

Octopus Jr: Why didn’t you invite me?

Bully Boss: Who the crap did you kill at 2 in the morning?

Good Pres: You didn’t actually commit murder tho right?

Sniper chick: Nah we’d be good. 

2:32 am

Chemist: you guys are gonna make me bomb my test tomorrow if you keep spamming.

2:33 am

Chemist: also, he said hypothetically, he didn’t really kill anyone.

2:33 am

Blue Sunshine: He did.

Blonde Bad*ss: He 100% murdered a dude tonight

Octopus Jr: He did

Bully Boss: No he did

Karma blinked at his phone screen and mentally cursed himself. Sh*t. I sent it to the group chat. 

2:33 am

Devil Incarnate: I’m going to be honest here, I thought I was only texting Nagisa

Devil Incarnate: @Blue Sunshine, I got kinda busy and didn’t see. 

Two Face Babe: focus Karma. Who did you kill?

Blonde Bad*ss: I too would like to know

2:34 am

Bug Girl: All those in favor of muting the group chat say aye

Cupcake lover: Aye

Sniper bro: Aye

Justice: Aye

Gamer Girl: Aye, Y’all suck. I can hear about murder in the morning

Vice pres: Aye

Pervert muted the chat

Witch muted the chat

2:35 am

Bug Girl: alright, way to take initiative. 

Bug Girl, Cupcake Lover, Sniper Bro, Justice, Gamer Girl, and Vice Pres muted the chat. 

Two Face Babe: Cowards

2:36 am

Devil Incarnate: I forgot to ask his name

Devil Incarnate: should I have done that first?

2:36 am

Sniper Chick: oh kami

Bully Boss: where’s the body?

Blue Sunshine: Where are you?

Sniper Chick: He totally offed someone.

Blonde Bad*ss: What’d they do? Insult your ego?

Octopus Jr: Why didn’t you invite me?

Chemist: oh gosh

Chemist: I should’ve muted for plausible deniability

2:37 am

Killer Pitch: ok, I just woke up to y’all, and holy crap

Killer Pitch: How do you all find the problems you find

Good Pres: Just leave while you still can

Sniper Chick: was there a lot of blood?

2:38 am

Devil Incarnate: Ok, one at a time

Devil Incarnate: @Sniper Chick, no blood.

Devil Incarnate: @Bully Boss, I don’t feel like leaving a digital footprint for that

Devil Incarnate: @Octopus Jr, you live forever away from me and If you came you would bring the entire idiot squad with you.

2:39 am

Blue Sunshine: If you don’t answer my question, I’m leaving school right now and coming to your house. 

Devil incarnate: I wouldn’t go there if I were you

Devil Incarnate: It's kinda an active crime scene   ¯_(ツ)_/¯

2:40 am

Two Face Babe: First of all, Karma hand typed an emoji and the bully squad missed it because they’re asleep.

Two Face Babe: Secondly, If there’s no blood why is it an active crime scene, and what back alleyway are you hiding in?

Chemist: I have a test so I’m leaving now, but please no more murder

Chemist muted the chat

Blonde Bad*ss: “no more murder” ah Okuda. So cute

Blue Sunshine: @Devil Incarnate you have two minutes

Killer Pitch: Wait if its a crime scene then did you call the cops? And who was at your house at 2 am?

Good Pres: I’m dipping. You guys should probably go to sleep

Good Pres muted the chat

Ritsu: Good Morning classmates!

Ritsu: I have found Karma’s location

Ritsu sent an attachment

2:42 am

Devil Incarnate: Snitch

Blue Sunshine: Thanks Ritsu!

Blonde Bad*ss: Wait is that Mr. Karasuma’s house?

Two Face Babe: oh you totally got in trouble with the teachers huh? Was it because you called the cops?

Sniper Chick: Wait, you aren’t with them right now right?

Sniper Chick: the last time I stayed up late and Professor B*tch found out she totally chewed me out for not getting beauty sleep

Bully Boss: WHO DID YOU MURDER

2:43 am

Devil Incarnate: Alright stop blowing up the chat. Mr. Karasuma might hear it through the door

Devil Incarnate: I am here by choice so suck it @Two Face Babe 

Devil Incarnate: Idk where Professor B*tch went but I’m pretty sure Karasuma is in the hall

Devil Incarnate: someone sorta broke into my house. My neighbor called the cops and then I went and found the dude after they finished interrogating me. Also, this was earlier today at like 6 not just now

Blue Sunshine: so that’s why you were coming over. 

Octopus Jr: Y couldn’t I come?

Octopus Jr: I’m helpful

Bully Boss: @Octopus Jr. absolutely not

Bully Boss: You are helpful but I ban you from unsupervised satan time. 

Devil Incarnate: alright shut up idiot

Devil Incarnate: I only told any of you fools because I need to know how to get away from the teachers.

Two Face Babe: Good luck with that

Blonde Bad*ss: lol

Killer Pitch: Are they not letting you leave????

Sniper Chick: Yeah I do not want anything to do with that. Hope you escape their clutches <3

Sniper Chick Muted the Chat

Ritsu: I feel this activity may need to be reported

Blue Sunshine: Oh no! Please don’t do that

Devil Incarnate: if you do that, you’d be reporting yourself?

Ritsu:...

Ritsu: I see your point and have calculated that it is a better outcome for me to not report you.

Blonde Bad*ss: ok, but fr what’s up?

Devil Incarnate: They seem to think I need their help and won’t let me leave for school today.

Blonde Bad*ss: Mr. Karasuma is helping you ditch school?

Bully Boss: Bullcrap

Blonde Bad*ss: *nobody believed that*

Killer pitch: Wait, is tomorrow Monday? I totally spaced

Blue Sunshine: Need their help with what?

Karma sighed as he soaked in the steam. They know too much already. Not that any of them besides Nagisa would really do anything about it. If he was going to enact a plan he would need to give more details. Or, try and do it on his own.

Devil Incarnate: I was a bit…ill when I came over. But it's totally cleared up now. They’re stubborn and have a state-of-the-art security system. 

Bully Boss: I could show up and say we were gonna go somewhere

Blonde Bad*ss: no one can believe that you two would willingly socialize alone

Blonde Bad*ss: also, Since when do you get sick?

Killer Pitch: If you’re sick you probably shouldn’t go to school tho?

Blue Sunshine: You were gonna take the subway even though you knew you were sick???

Ritsu: I have an idea

2:50 am

Devil Incarnate: Everyone shut up and let the robot speak

Ritsu: I could make an alert require both Mr. Karasuma and Professor H*lla B*tch at their agency. At that time you could then attend class. I have your class schedule prepared

Blonde Bad*ss:...

Blonde Bad*ss: Why do you have his class schedule

Blue Sunshine: that’s a terrible idea

Killer Pitch: Can you really hack the gov tho?

Bully Boss: I’m not sure how it’s any better than my idea

Octopus Jr: I could come kidnap you

Blue Sunshine: Karma no

Devil Incarnate: ya know, imma let the class schedule thing slide in favor of taking up your offer @Ritsu 

Devil Incarnate: @Octopus Jr You are a solid backup

Bully Boss: you bring Itona into this and I’ll kill you

Blonde Bad*ss: good luck with that Terasaka

Blue Sunshine: I could just tell the teachers

Ritsu: @Blue Sunshine not if I block your phone 

Ritsu: @Killer Pitch 100% I can. 

Ritsu: @Blonde Bad*ss I have all of your class schedules :) 

Blonde Bad*ss: alright, Ritsu is scary

Blue Sunshine: Ritsuuuuuuu noooooo

Blue Sunshine: why would you betray me like this

Ritsu: Karma and I are currently in a plan to destroy Asuno  

Devil Incarnate: We’re doing a bang-up job too. Sounds like a good plan. 

Devil Incarnate: Night 

Karma powered off his phone and sank into the hot water. This will work. I’ll go to school, they’ll see I’m fine. Construction will have finished, so everything will be perfect. He came out of the water and glared at the wood door. Well, if anyone does what they’re supposed to do.

Chapter Text

When Karma emerged in fresh clothes he found that the middle sheet had been removed leaving just the comforter and fitted sheet on the bed. Kurasuma had clearly removed it after Karma got himself tangled in it earlier. He thinks I’m going to go back to bed…cute. He walked past the bed and over to the nightstand where he left his keys from earlier. As much as he didn’t like the idea, he would need his school uniform before going to class. Just as he was about to pull them out Kurasuma knocked at the door. He slammed the drawer shut as his teacher came in.

“I just got an alert from work I need to go check.” Perfect timing, Ritsu. “Grab the tissue box and put on your shoes while I get my bag.”...

…

…

“What?” Karma asked, sure he must have heard wrong. There is no way. No way that everything could go so spectacularly wrong after only a few minutes. Mr. Kurasuma paused in the doorway with a questioning look of his own. 

“What? You didn’t think I was gonna leave you here by yourself, did you?”

Yes actually! That was the entire idea. “I can’t go into a government building” Karma refused, dropping most of his sly tone he usually put on for his teacher. This wasn’t really a decision he was going to let his teacher make for him. “Also, I literally live alone. I can handle sleeping in your house without dying” he corrected bringing back a bit of his smirk so his teacher wouldn’t be too suspicious of his plans. 

“Even if that were true, which we both know it’s not, You’re sick right now” his teacher pointed out. “Why can’t you go into a government building? You didn’t mention having trouble with the law.” Great. Now he’s suspicious anyway. 

“Are you telling me you trust them after they hid an alien that was going to blow up the earth for an entire year?” the silence that came after that question spoke for itself. “Exactly. Plus I doubt you’re going to let me bring any of my knives along with me” he shrugged sitting down on the bed to help with the illusion that he intended to go to sleep. 

His teacher seemed to mull over the information for a moment. “Are you going to leave the moment I’m gone?” he asked and Karma smiled. I’m winning.  

“We literally just discussed your security system, so no. I wasn’t planning on it” he confirmed and when his teacher sighed he knew that he won. Mr. Karasuma sighed at least 40 times a day. Rio always said it was his legal obligation as a dad teacher. Whatever the heck that meant. 

“Fine. I expect you to text every hour as proof of life until Irina gets back.” Karasuma agreed, turning back towards the hall. “Stay put” he warned seriously, shutting the door to leave Karma with a grin that hurt his face. Plan saved. 

Once he was sure that Mr. Karasuma had left the property he pulled out his phone and his keys. Once he had his screen open he shot Ritsu a text. 

3:20 Am

Devil Incarnate: Can you disable Mr. Karasuma’s security system?

3:21 am

Ritsu: Already done ;)

Karma took that as a sign to leave out the bedroom window with his keys in hand and start towards his apartment. Was it raining? Yes. Could he become sicker as a result of this? Also yes, but there weren’t many choices left anymore. Returning to the scene of a crime was a big no-no but he felt that if Koro-Sensei were here, he would understand. What had to be done, had to be done. 

Running across the rooftops of the city wasn’t exactly easy, but it certainly made the hour-long walk faster and more entertaining. The only issue now, was that his apartment had a black SUV parked out front that most definitely didn’t belong to his neighbor. Sh*t. Who’s that? Was he hired? I knew I should’ve verified it first. He pushed away his regrets for the sake of sending Ritsu the license plate. 

Ritsu: The car belongs to the Japenese Government. It has no official registered name.

Double Sh*t. That meant that Mr. Karasuma had sent someone to check on the apartment and they were still there. Getting his uniform was out of the question. He groaned and looked down at his appearance. Would showing up in wet oversized sweats really be the weirdest thing I’ve done? Karma considered it for a few minutes before running towards the other side of town. Worst case scenario, I steal a uniform from the faculty office before the student gov meeting. After all, he should have plenty of time to get there and change before the 6 o’clock meeting.

He did not have plenty of time. He slipped a total of three times before giving up and taking a bus to school, ignoring the odd looks he received from the other passengers. Said bus was going insanely slow in the heavy morning traffic and the rain made it all the worse. Once at school, he barely managed to take off his wet shoes and put them in the locker for his inside shoes before coming into the meeting room. Que Karma dripping into the meeting wearing baggy sweatpants and a t-shirt in the middle of the president's opening greeting. 

All the students stopped talking to stare at him in the doorway. Rude but expected. “Ohayo” he greeted shutting the door behind him. 

“Karma-Kun, why are you not in uniform?” the president asked with a sneer and Karma smirked. It's so funny that he thinks I care.

“My uniform unfortunately was damaged yesterday” he answered with shrug intending to take his seat before Asano stood up and grabbed his wrist. He had half a mind to throw him over his shoulder but his body sneezed instead. To his embarrassment. d*mn it. 

“Senpai, allow me to locate a spare uniform while you do attendance. We’ll be back shortly” Asano offered not addressing Karma in the slightest. Is he helping or plotting right now? Regardless of the answer, the redhead snapped his wrist back towards his person before the president answered. 

“Alright. Do try and be fast then” he agreed, allowing the two to leave. 

Alright, Asuno. What now? The hall was strangely silent as they walked to the uniform closet. It wasn’t until they were both inside with the door shut that Asano spoke. 

“Why the H*ll are you at school soaking wet and sick?” he asked, sounding as if he thought Karma was crazy. Probably accurate, but my insanity has little to do with my life choices at the moment. 

“I’m not sick” Karma denied pulling off the training shirt and reaching for the button-up. “And I hadn’t realized your eyesight had become so bad that you couldn’t see rain anymore. What a shame I wanted to beat you because of your low intellect, not your frail vision” he sassed and the other boy huffed looking down at his phone while Karma continued to change. 

“Only idiots work when they’re ill. Even I don’t come to school to get everyone else sick. Shouldn't you be at home with your parents?” 

“Not really your business. I don’t talk much with people who can’t even obtain an officer position in the student office.”

“And I don’t talk with scum but here we are” Asano snapped while Karma finished his tie and blazer so they could enter the hall again. “If you get sick in class, I’ll rat you out to the school nurse,” he warned quietly with venom in his tone. Karma snorted. 

“If I get sick in class, I’ll rat myself out” 

“Whatever, end class loser”

“Whatever yourself president scum“

He took a deep breath before they came back to attend the meeting. He could do this easily. Survive the school day, ignore Asano, and ace his tests. Screw being sick. That had never stopped him in the past. Now that he was at the school there wasn’t any way he was going to back down. Even if Asano kept throwing him odd looks during the meeting.

Chapter Text

Karasuma rushed up towards the building and felt relieved when he felt his wife come up beside him. “You got the alert too? Where’s the kid?” she asked as they came up the stairs towards the main doors. Karasuma stepped forward and opened it to let her inside.

“I left him at the house. He was too anxious to come and I think he’ll stay put.”

Irina stopped her speed walking to stare at him like he'd grown a second head. “Bull crap. You left him alone?”

“He’s 15”

“It’s Karma and he’s sick!”

“He said he’d stay put”

“And you believe that?”

…. sh*t. Karasuma really didn’t, but an emergency is an emergency. As they looked around their head office, they found that no one else seemed to be aware of any emergency situation. He paused the conversation enough to stop one of the lower employees. “Mulligan” he called and the younger man stopped in the hall to bow before the two of them.

“Agent Karasuma! Agent Jellavich. I wasn’t aware you were both coming in today” the agent said with a small smile. Most agents had that smile when looking at the two of them. If they were both on-site it tended to not be a good thing. 

“I wasn’t either. I got an alert. From the looks of it though, I’m beginning to guess false alarm?” the younger agent seemed as confused as Karasuma felt. 

“It’s actually been kinda quiet today sir” Mulligan confirmed and Karasuma waved him on his way. What the heck? We’ve never had a false alarm before. He was pulled out of his thoughts as Irina simultaneously pulled him back out of the building. 

“I’m driving. You need to catch up with me and we need to get back to the little demon at our house” she explained and Karasuma nodded. That seemed a good a place to start as any. 

Holy Sh*t.  “You’re positive?” Karasuma questioned and the blonde nodded stiffly turning the car around a particularly harsh corner. Could the kid have been so calm?

“He did a good job hiding it, must have paid attention when I told all those stories” why does she sound proud? “But he killed someone in that apartment. I’m positive. Your rookie confirmed that a man broke into the apartment but he never left.” she explained grimly gripping the steering wheel a bit tighter than necessary. Why? Sure, Karma had been violent. That much was clear to the Karasumas from the moment they met the kid, but to kill someone? Was he threatened? Was it a murder attempt or self-defense? Both adults had many questions running through their minds, but Karasuma knew which one he wanted to know the answer to first. 

“Why wouldn’t he tell us that? Clearly, he wasn’t well afterward, which is likely why he came over.” He asked letting his wife hear his frustration.

“He didn’t come over for us to help Karasuma. He came because his house was compromised and all the kids agreed to not stay in traditional hotels without security” she corrected sounding just as frustrated. After the whole alien not-alien thing, all the kids had to follow strict rules for their own safety.  Hotels, and any other publicly used sleeping accommodations, were one of those strict rules. 

“What are the chances he actually tells us what’s going on?”

Irina was quiet for a minute as they stopped the car in the driveway. But only a minute. Then she looked up with the determination she shows for assassinations. “100%. Because I’m going to ask him” she assured with complete confidence. He let her shut the car door before letting the doubt show on his face. This isn’t going to go well. Regardless, he followed after her. 

Karma was doing amazing. He had survived the first two class periods before he really felt the sickness return. Sitting in his amazingly boring history class he began to feel the pain become a headache. It seemed his sickness was coming down to an epic head cold. 

“Mr. Akabane to the principal’s office. Karma Akabane to the principal's office.” Came over the loudspeaker making Karma’s head hurt for more than one reason. 

Sh*t. why am I being called in? Is it the uniform thing? Karma’s head snapped over to Asano who, upon inspection, seemed just as surprised as him to hear his name come over the PA. ok, ok. Act natural. It’s possible I’m just getting a lecture about uniforms. That would make sense right? He stood from his seat, grabbed his bag off the back, and left the classroom. 

Karma may not be the teacher’s favorite, but he hadn’t caused any trouble at his new school…well, not any trouble that the principal would know about anyway. He had to remind himself as he walked where the office even was. Deep breaths. Natural grin. Give them H*ll. He opened the door and-

“Karma! We were so worried”

…

Sh*t

Irina accompanied her evident concern by standing and ushering him further into the office that held his principal and Mr. Karasuma. Why are they here? Is it because I’m sick? D*mn it Ritsu. You’re my least favorite again. Karma kept a loos smile on his face and shoved his hands in his pockets. This is fine. The school doesn’t need to know anything and I can deal with my teachers once we’re out of the building. 

“Mr. Karasuma, Mrs. Karasuma, what’s going on?” he asked casually and the principal cleared his throat before speaking. 

“The Karasuma’s are here to pick you up from school. They say it’s imperative for your safety that you spend at least two days out of school while they handle a security threat. Seeing as how they are high in the Japanese government, I am inclined to give them custody until the threat is dealt with.” kami. Of course, they would act as if there was some government threat. Looking over at Irina’s face Karma had the feeling he knew what she was thinking. This is payback because I faked a government threat too. sh*t.  

“Government threat?” Karma asked, putting as much confusion as possible into the question. Mr. Karasuma stood from the chair and nodded. 

“I’ll explain on the way back home,” he promised a bit too darkly for Karma’s liking. He’s pissed. “Thank you for meeting with us Principal Hiroshima. We’ll be leaving now.” Mr. Karasuma didn't give him any time to respond before Irina had a hand on his arm and they were all walking out of the school like the fake happy family he had nightmares of being. 

I am so screwed.

Chapter Text

Karma had never been so uncomfortable in a car in his life. Professor B*tch was driving, but that surprisingly wasn’t the scary part. The Scary part was that Mr. Karasuma chose to sit in the back seat beside him and was staring at him. Not saying a single word. Sh*t. Say something. He always talks. Always lectures why aren’t either of them lecturing? Karma wasn’t getting anything from body language either which meant one of two things. Either he’s royally pissed and doesn’t know how to not scream, or he knows something he shouldn’t and wants me to talk first so that I give myself away. Either way, Karma wasn’t good with sitting around in the deadly silent vehicle any longer. 

“So, you gonna explain this ‘government threat’ that’s important enough for me to miss the rest of History?” he asked, maintaining eye contact even as Mr. Karasuma narrowed his gaze. Alright, Mr. Karasuma. Bite. tell me what we’re doing here.

“You lied to me,” the older man prompted. Ok, fair enough.

“Technically, I just said that I wasn’t planning on leaving. I never said I couldn’t change my mind every once in a while” he smiled slouching a bit in his seat. 

“Technically, you said that your apartment was under construction.”

…

Well d*mn.

Karasuma watched as the grin and a bit of blood drained from Karma’s face. He wasn’t expecting that. He must have thought I only meant he was lying about leaving the house.  The teen seemed to be looking around the car for any form of exit for a moment before sighing. “You know I thought the government would stop looking into every detail of my life when I solved a global threat for them.” The government. Karma often would do that. Separate himself from anyone who he was upset with by using different names. In short, Karma wasn’t seeing him as a teacher right now. He saw him as an enemy. Irina pulling the car to a stop likely wasn’t helping either if the stiffness in the boy's shoulders was anything to go by. 

“Don’t play dumb Karma. It isn’t a good look for you” Irina warned. Karasuma couldn’t help but agree. At this point, everyone in the car was playing a game of chicken. Karasuma never really was a big fan of games. 

“We aren’t talking to you as law enforcement kid. I’m asking you because I need to know what’s actually going on and if I can help you in any way” Karasuma explained plainly but the redhead scoffed. 

“Help? Help with what?” he asked, a bit desperately. “I am a straight A student, top of my class actually. My body is in excellent physical condition now that I’m no longer ill and I have been trained in self-defense. What more could I need from anyone?” Karma challenged with the crazy grin he wore so often. 

I don’t buy it, kid. Any of it. Karasuma wasn’t sure how much he wanted Karma to know. Too much snooping and questioning and the kid could try and disappear. He wouldn’t succeed of course but Karma isn’t exactly one to stop and rationally think through a situation before he goes for the kill. Evidently, Karasuma didn’t need to worry about that because Irina answered instead. 

“How about covering up a dead body?” she asked turning around so she could see them both from the front seat and be included in the conversation. Even with her watching, neither of them were prepared for Karma to throw open the passenger side door and bolt out of the car. “Sh*t” she muttered running out after him, Karasuma not far behind. 

Why is he running? Karma didn’t run from anything. Ever. Right now though, he was moving as if Hell itself was chasing him. They turned the corner to an alley with a fire escape and Irina took all of two seconds to grab his shirt collar and yank him off the siding. That was quite possibly the worst plan I’ve ever seen him execute. 

“Move again, squirt, and I’ll knock you out to have this conversation at home” Irina warned, catching her breath a bit and letting Karma stand for himself. He was backed into a corner and resembled a dog who looked far too afraid of people but definitely willing to bite. 

“I have no doubt that you are trying to figure out how to avoid this entire conversation” Karasuma began and Karma huffed. 

“Oh what gave you that idea?” he asked sarcasm not so much dripping, but overflowing from his tone. He’s still not giving us anything. “Look, this is a lot easier for all of us if I pretend I don’t know you and you pretend you don’t know me and we all go back to normal life. My apartment is probably-”

“Being investigated by the police” Irina interrupted and Karma turned to look at her surprised. Hmm. interesting. He thought we wouldn’t involve anyone else then. Irina, go slower or he’s going to try fighting us. Normally Karasuma would say that doesn’t matter, but he didn’t know if Karma had a knife on him which would make things a lot more complicated. “I called them when I found evidence of a break-in.” she explained sounding, dare he say, gentle. “Were you home when he broke in, Karma?”

Karma seemed to slow his panic at the question. Take your time. What did this guy do? Why did you feel like you couldn’t do anything to stop it? Did you know him? Did he know you? The teen chose to look at his shoes when he answered, “yeah.” quietly but not without spite. d*mn. Karasuma in all honesty wasn’t sure whether that was better or worse than if Karma had come home to a strange man in the house. 

“Give me a run down then, Mr. confident. What happened?” she prodded using Karma’s pride against him. The redhead decided to take the out and leaned against the alley wall behind him. 

“It doesn’t matter professor b*tch. I stand by that. It wasn’t any of your business to break into my apartment. But yeah. There’s a bit more than construction. He broke in…I was studying in my room” he confessed and Karasuma felt fury boil in his blood. It was in moments like these that he wished he was still able to be all for the kids’ teacher. Watch them and make sure no one was screwing with them. If he was studying…did he even hear him come in? “I didn’t hear him come in. Whoever he was, he was trained well.” well sh*t. 

Karasuma knew that there was always a chance that some assassin connections would come back and bite the kids in the butt. To be honest, he always expected that it would be Nagisa, not Karma but go figure. If someone was after him then it’s likely someone was paying for the kill. Not that he could ask the dead man any questions about a possible boss. That means someone could still want him dead. 

“I don’t work with both headphones in, so I heard him by the time he was in the hall. I-” Karma paused and looked up with his classic hide all feelings smile before continuing. “I didn’t even think about it to be honest. I just moved. He was quick and all but I’m faster. I didn’t want blood on the carpet so I just waited till he stopped moving. You’ve done it before you can guess the rest.” he finished looking unsure about what was supposed to happen now. Karasuma didn’t really have a good answer for him. He still had a million questions going through his mind at a mile a millisecond. Why only ever one headphone? What would he have used that would make him bleed? Does he keep a knife in his room when he’s safe at home? Does he not feel safe at home? Did the guy hurt him when they fought? How much trauma can a single teenager have?

Irina didn’t seem to be having this struggle, instead, she ruffled Karma’s hair and smiled. “Good job” she complimented sweetly, with complete sincerity in her tone. “I’d’ve killed him too if a random stranger burst into my room. It was the right call. So was coming to our house after. You did that because the location was compromised right?” she asked and Karma nodded pushing her hand off after a moment. 

“But that doesn’t mean I need any help. Or that I need to be getting pulled out of school. Once the cops clear out it’ll be fine. I just need to move” Karma argued and Karasuma shook his head. 

“It’s not that simple. If you’re telling me everything, which I believe you are, that means that someone likely paid for this assassin to come get you.” he denied. “You’re right about the school, once you go 24 hours without a fever you can go, but you’re wrong to think that you can just go back without letting us look into it first.”

“I ‘can’ go? What like I’m two?” Karma snorted pushing off the wall and shoving his hands in his pockets. “You’re not my teachers anymore and you’re not my parents” he clarified in a bit of a sing-song way. 

“Oh? And where are they by the way?” Irina asked sounding about as frustrated as Karasuma felt. And as much as Karasuma wanted the answer to that he saw the way Karma was standing and how pale the boy looked. This was a lot of stress and he clearly wasn't in a trusting mood. Small steps babe. Small steps. 

“Irina, that can wait for another time. Let’s just go back home hm?” he suggested leaning closer to his beautiful wife. She looked uneasy but began walking back towards the car. Karasuma didn’t start moving until Karma did. 

“So” Karma broke the silence as the car came back in sight. “What are the chances that I get to leave by tomorrow? Ya know because I have a life and am thriving in it?”

Oh Akabane. “Absolute zero”

Chapter Text

Karma refused to go to dinner. It was a protest that he hoped was working because his stomach was paying the price. The moment they pulled into the driveway he b-lined for the guest bedroom. He was good with not talking about his parents or any other childhood trauma, thank you. He huffed, leaned against the door and jammed it before sitting at the base. He ignored all other attempts at conversation until he heard his phone ring. He answered it after peeking at the contact name. 

“What Itona?” he asked staring at the painting that was on the ceiling because really who painted their ceilings with murals? 

“You failed” Itona answered and Karma would glare if the kid were physically there. 

“No sh*t.”

“Ritsu texted the group chat. Rio says she’ll bring flowers to your funeral” He continued and Karma rolled his eyes. He would have to get her back later. “Do you want assistance?”

“At this point, they’d just get you too. We’ll wait until something real bad happens” Karma denied smiling when he heard Karasuma try and open the door. Good luck old man. Not happening. “It should be fine.”

“If you say so. Terasaka can drive me over pretty quickly so just let me know.”

“You just don’t wanna miss it if I shoot someone again.”

“Yeah” Itona confirmed and Karma could hear his smile through the phone. He really is a mini octopus. 

“Go to bed Itona” he ordered lightly. 

“Fine, but promise you’ll call me so I don’t miss anything.”

“You got it kid” he assured and ended the phone call just in time to see Irina drop into the room from the vent on the side of the wall. Holy sh*t. How did I not notice that sooner? I should’ve known that there was more ways to get in. That was an obvious safety risk. If it wasn’t Irina… “Wow. no privacy” he mumbled scrolling mindlessly on his phone trying his best to ignore his former teacher completely. 

“You can’t run away from hard things Karma” she told him and he wasn’t quick enough to keep her from snatching his phone. He stood to grab it but she put it in a place he wouldn’t dare to touch. Yeah I’m not reaching anywhere near her bra. She smirked and put a hand on her hip. “You need to eat.” She said firmly and he scowled. 

“Give me my phone.”

“Come eat dinner.”

“My phone. I bought it”

“My house, my rules.” 

“I’m not hungry.”

“I don’t care” she snapped and Karma took a minute to read her face. She wasn't’ the fake kind of angry right now. The angry that she showed in the classroom that meant they had at least five more tries before she left the class annoyed. She was the real kind of angry. The stare at the guys who were harassing Rio and Okuda angry. Don’t lose the one secure place right now Akabane. I need her until they close the case. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't afford to be out on the doorstep. 

“Screw you” Karma muttered pulling the knife he had jammed into the lockout so that he could open the door. He sidestepped Karasuma without batting an eye before sulking down to the table. He was moving but no one said he had to be happy about it. He hoped the way he scraped his chair against the floorboards really drove that point home. 

On a separate note, the food smelt amazing. Smoked salmon and onigiri had never looked more appetizing. Oh Kami. Maybe I should just cave. Is it really worth it just for the sake of image? Glancing up at Karasuma’s expecting face sitting across from him, Karma scowled and slouched in his chair. Not touching a thing. It is. 

“Eat something” Irina ordered setting a preserved plate in front of him. I see. It’s a new form of torture. He gave a stiff shake of his head shoving his hands in his pockets. 

“I’m good” he denied and Karasuma huffed. 

“You left before eating and you need to eat in order to take medicine” his teacher reminded and Karma laughed. 

“How do you know that I didn’t eat at school?” he asked.

“Because you looked like you were about to puke in the nearest trashcan this morning.” rude Karasuma. “Look, if you don’t want to eat that’s fine. We could talk about where you’re parents are instead” his teacher compromised, but they both knew it was a dirty way of backing him into a corner. He had done it earlier too, back at the alley. He knows that they haven’t been home lately. They probably both looked into it after finding the body. The thought of the body made him feel nauseous all over again. 

“If I had known you both were still in the cruel and unusual punishment business, I wouldn’t have come” Karma snapped with just a hint of his usual charm. He grabbed a fork and debated if he could handle even a single bite. They’re going to know something’s wrong. Irina said I did good but… He felt just a ghost of the man’s neck beneath him and he dropped the silverware. “This is stupid” he huffed standing from the table. 

Karasuma grabbed his wrist and he jerked back hard enough to make both of them stumble. His teacher let go immediately and Karma let out a nervous laugh. sh*t. He’s going to take that way deeper than he should. “Didn’t your mother teach you not to hold on to assassins?” he asked frustrated and Irinia had the gall to laugh. 

“Failed that one” she near snorted. Karma felt his face go red as he realized his mistake. Karasuma was glaring but even he could see the glimpse of a smirk on the man’s face as Professor B*tch tried and failed to contain her laughter. They look so…comfortable. Neither of them were really threatening him. Or even pushing him. 

He sat back down. 

“How unfortunate for him” Karma cracked and smirked when Professor B*tch threw a fork at him. It was easy to doge. He wondered if that was the point. 

“Indeed” Karasuma agreed lightly. Karma sat up and looked back at his plate in disdain. They aren’t going to let this go. If I leave now, I’m short a phone and gain more suspicion. “Just half Karma”  his teacher said quietly after he had stared too long. He rolled his eyes for show and began on the salmon. The amazing taste made him forget why he was ever sick in the first place. 

He finished eating faster than expected and reluctantly took the medicine offered to him. “Good. Tell the brats to stop texting you. It’s late and they should go to sleep soon” Irina huffed giving him his phone as she collected dishes. Sure enough, the group chat had been going off the entire time they were eating. He would have to deal with that later. 

“So, how is this going to work?” Karma asked once he heard Irina start on the sink. Mr. Karasuma looked up at him and seemed to understand what he was asking. He always did. He wondered if the older man was always following what he was thinking. Am I that easy to read? I shouldn’t be. 

“You can’t stay at a compromised location so you’ll stay here.” Karasuma reiterated. 

“For how long?” 

“..when are your parents due back?” Mr. Karasuma asked in return. Karma gave his usual grin. Not because he was happy, but because it was easy. Looked normal. 

“Don’t know. Haven’t called in a while. That doesn’t answer my question.” Karma could tell from the frown on his teacher’s face that he was about to hate whatever came next.  

“I can't in good conscience let a minor go home alone when their safety has already proved to be in danger. Until your parents are able to come and the man behind the attack is caught, you’ll just have to stay with us.” 

…

… I should’ve let Itona help.

“But don’t worry. We don’t require anything too different from what you’re used to I’m sure” Mr. Karasuma smiled and Karma’s eyes narrowed. “Just tell us when you leave, when you’ll be back, be home for dinner, and answer anytime we call you. Ya know in case of emergencies.”

Oh, kami. 

When I die from this, I’m going to kill you all over again, Korosensei. 

Chapter Text

Karma was quick to finish what he could of the plate before declaring that he was done for the night. Karasuma couldn’t say that he was exactly happy with the way the night had gone but it certainly could have been worse. Perhaps he should be grateful for the small mercies in his life. The teen’s refusal to answer about his parents beyond that they hadn’t kept in touch was concerning but his main goal was just to keep Karma healthy. Irina had scared that idea into him the moment Karma hid out in the guest room. 

“Your first kill is never easy,” Irina said more serious than he had heard in quite a while. 

“I know that as well as you do” Karasuma agreed but she shook her head. 

“No” He hated the way her face fell. “You don’t” He hated what she said next even more. “I killed my first target when I would still be considered a child. I have only grown from that step, but that doesn't mean it was easy. I stayed up for weeks. Paranoid that someone was going to come in through my window the way that I had. Terrified that some ghost of the past was going to slit my throat if I let my guard down even for a moment. I didn’t trust anyone or anything that moved” She explained completely monotone. The same voice she had used to explain her plans when she first arrived at the school. 

Karasuma had always hated that voice and the way her eyes would drain of all life. There wasn’t much he could do to change what had happened to his wife in the past, but he could certainly heed her warning now. They would watch Karma like a hawk. As he watched the Redhead make his way upstairs he couldn’t help but wonder. Where are your parents anyway? He would figure that out later. 

Just as Karasuma was about to start following him there was a knock at the door. He flipped around to see Irina had froze in her endeavor to set the table to look toward their window. It wasn’t her then. That means they're an unexpected guest.

“Go upstairs Karma. Now” He ordered sternly satisfied when the footsteps on the stairs resumed and he heard a click on the upstairs door. I’ll worry about him listening so quickly later. He slowly approached the door and found that his wife was doing the same. She had already pulled her thigh pistol and nodded from her position around the door. Here goes nothing. He swung it open. 

“Hi Mr. Karasuma! Sorry to come so late” Nagisa smiled giving a small bow. Irina instantly came around to see that the small child was really on their doorstep. Holding a duffel bag. “I got worried,” he explained and the door was suddenly slammed open even further to reveal a familiar blonde girl towering over him. 

“And I came to revel in the demon’s failure” Rio grinned holding a backpack of her own. 

What is happening to me? Since when did my house become a children’s sanctuary? He sighed and stepped away to let them come in. It's too cold outside for this. “Do your parents know you’re here?” he asked and wasn’t really all that relieved when neither child indicated that they had even heard him. That’s a no.

“Hi professor b*tch” Nagisa greeted and before Irina could even oppose the phrase Rio echoed the sentiments. He watched his poor wife huff in frustration. They’re never gonna let that die sweetheart. 

“I don’t suppose you brats are intending to spend the night are you?” Irina asked and Karasuma could already understand what she was deciding. We’ll need to let Rio stay in our room and I’ll take the couch. It was natural that his wife would come to the same conclusion. The boys could share. 

“Sorry to intrude”

“Oh absolutely”

She sighed but he could tell it was forced from the way her lips turned just a millimeter. “Alright. Have you both eaten?” When both of them shook their heads she began making her way back to the kitchen to dish up more plates. He looked at his two former students when something suddenly dawned on him. 

“If you’re parents don’t know you’re here, then how did you get here?” he asked carefully.

“Easy enough. I drove” Rio beamed. D*mn it. These kids are going to send me to an early grave.  

“So where is Karma-kun anyway?” Nagisa asked.

sh*t. 

“I’ll go get him. You two start on dinner” He ordered before turning to walk as controlled as possible up the stairs so that they wouldn’t follow. How could I forget when he literally just went up there? If I already forgot him I’m not sure we’ll be able to keep him alive for more than a week. Regardless of his doubts, he ended up in front of the guest room door that was still locked. 

“Karma?” he called giving a small knock. It wasn’t answered. There wasn’t any indication of life on the other side. Sorry kid. As much as he hated to do it, he wasn’t going to ignore Irina’s advice. He used his spare key and opened the door easily but he couldn’t see any lump or figure anywhere that could be Karma. It didn’t take long for his eyes to land on the bathroom door. Why would you corner yourself Karma? He foolishly forgot to knock this time. 

The knife landed a hair away from his face as he dodged, just left of the blade. Sh*t. Irina’s gonna have my head for the door. Standing in the corner just beside the tub was a slightly unsteady redhead. I should’ve come here the minute I knew it wasn’t assassins. “There’s no threat. It’s just your friends” Karasuma assured. Karma seemed to barely register the new information and instead allowed himself to sit on the bathroom floor. Karasuma joined him. They were quiet for, to the normal person, an uncomfortable amount of time but Karasuma had grown used to all kinds of uncomfortable situations. Sitting on his guest room’s bathroom floor wasn’t the worst one by far. 

“Sorry bout the door chief” Karma sighed standing up, unprompted. Karasuma took it as his turn to stand as well and shook his head at the blade sticking out the once-perfect cedar. 

“What are the chances she doesn’t notice?” Karasuma asked yanking the knife out and passing it back to Karma. Better for him to have it in case he needs to run. Just until we catch the hitman. 

“What was it you said to me? Absolute zero?” Karma mocked with a grin walking out of the room. Karasuma glared at the space he had been moments before. I’m gonna kick them all out one day. Then I can be alone…Alone with Irina. He facepalmed to himself as he headed for the dining room. I don’t even sound intimidating to myself anymore.

Chapter Text

“What’s up Nagisa-Chan, Rio” Karma greeted, hands shoved in his pockets when he spotted his friends at the dinner table. Rio smiled up at him but she wasn’t the one he was focused on. He was much more distracted by the glare Nagisa was sending him. Combined with the hands on his hips stance that he used the minute he stood up, it created what Class 3E had effectively dubbed his ‘teacher pose’. A dreaded look to be on the receiving end of. 

“You didn’t text me back and I heard you went to the school today even though you were sick.” Nagisa frowned. Karma shook his head and mentally laughed. Of course, he had Ritsu hack into the school files and see that I was picked up for being sick. 

“I’ve been a bit busy and I’m not sick” he denied only to take a few steps back when Rio gave him a look he knew too well. Crap. He didn’t have to see her to know what she was going to try next. I hate you.  

“We’ll just have to check!” she yelled moving to tackle him so she could feel his forehead. He would’ve escaped too if Nagisa hadn’t come out of nowhere and snatched his wrist. He felt a chill run up his arm, already unused to his friends' sneaky tactics after having been separated for a time. Snake. Traitorous snake. He barely missed biting Rio as she quickly pressed her palm to his forehead. 

“He’s in the clear” the announcement was thankfully followed by his release from bodily confinement. 

“That's good. Have you been feeling better then?” Nagisa asked as he straightened himself up. He hated it when his friends felt the need to completely tackle him. Looking at the two of them he couldn’t help but wonder what they planned to do here. Their class never did anything half *ssed which could only mean that something was meant to happen. They were probably spies for the others. 

“I’m fine. You should both go home. Won’t your mom hear if you leave Nagisa-Chan?” Karma asked hoping the teachers would be reminded of how terrible Nagia’s home life was instead of his own. The plan was easy enough for her best friend to see through. 

“She doesn’t expect me home on the weekends. I normally just stay at the dorms, but we were actually kinda hoping-”

“Sleepover!” Rio announced with a grin. 

What the h*ll? 

“I brought some scary movies and we’re gonna steal the teacher’s couch. I’m sure Professor B*tch won’t mind” the crazy blonde continued pulling a duffle bag from seemingly no where and starting the trek to the living room. 

No she’ll mind. Sh*t. Karma looked desperately at Irina only to find she was smiling the same crazy smile and following Rio to the couch. 

“I get to pick first movie.” She announced and Karma didn’t know why he ever thought she would save him in the first place.  He hated that the thought of his friends staying over didn’t make him upset. He hated that it actually sounded safer staying up all night in the living room than it would be going back upstairs. Karma didn’t say anything as he and Nagisa joined the girls on the couch. He could think about what was happening later. 

Karma was getting comfortable here. That much was obvious to Nagisa even if the redhead hadn’t said much. He and Rio had decided to come just in case the resident loose cannon needed moral support, but it seemed their teacher’s already had everything under control. The biggest testament was when Rio mentioned movie night and Karma actually looked up for Professor B*tch. It may not seem like much, but Nagisa had never once seen Karma in his whole life look at an adult figure for help. No one except for Korosensei had gotten the teen’s trust which meant that while he had been here, things had changed. 

Sitting in the living room it was pretty easy to see how desperate for a distraction they all were. There had never been so many assassins by trade, who completely ignored the inaccuracies of John Wick. It was really quite funny that America thought that hired guns could share a communal space safely. Like H*ll. 

Still, it didn’t seem like Karma was as tense as usual, and by the time they started on movie two he actually started falling asleep. Nagisa smiled at the sight of his friend in peace and leaned over to tap Rio on the shoulder. She turned and smiled too. 

“I guess they must be doing ok” She whispered, watching amused when Mr. Karasuma came over and dropped a blanket on said sleeping child. 

“Yeah. Maybe we overreacted” he agreed quietly turning back to the movie in front of them. They’d leave tomorrow morning. Nagisa didn’t want to stay anywhere he wasn’t needed if it would cause trouble. Then again, judging from the way Karasuma leaned to speak with Irina, something was wrong even if it wasn’t Karma-related. 

They’re working together on something. The way Mr. Karasuma held a hand over his gun always gave away where the man's nerve levels were. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Behave” Was the only instruction he gave before he left them alone. 

Hmm. I wonder if they’re catching someone related to the person Karma killed. Nagisa glanced at Rio who nodded. She thinks the same then. He pulled out his phone and quickly sent the information to the group that didn’t have Karma, something created out of necessity when the resident demon stopped responding, and decided to let them sort the rest out. He could finish asking Karma questions before he left tomorrow. 

That was the plan anyway. 

Their plans never work. 

“What are you both doing here?” Irina asked quietly once the second movie ended. Standing ominously between Karma’s fallen form on the couch and their positions on the loveseat next to it. “If you lie I’ll know.” 

I doubt that. Nagisa had only gotten better at his hidden skill. “You guys know then?” he asked instead and Irina only stared for a moment before nodding. They both knew that it didn’t serve any purpose playing dumb at this point. “We just wanted to check on him”

“The last time we killed a guy,  it was kinda traumatizing” Rio agreed standing to mess with the DVD player. She was always so casual about it. KoroSensei’s death. A weird way of coping but Nagisa wasn’t going to judge her for what worked. “Plus Karma’s not exactly fantastic with things that aren’t extremely violent.”

Irina nodded and smiled at the two of them. “Alright. That’s fair, but tomorrow I want you both to leave. Mr. Karasuma and I have some business with Karma and it won’t get done if you’re in the middle of everything” she instructed and Nagisa had a thought hit him suddenly. What if his teachers weren’t just finding the people who did this? What if-

“Oh you’re getting attached to the little demon aren’t you?” Rio asked for them both, sitting back down beside him now that the third movie was set up. Irina’s lack of response was answer enough. 

Hmm. Good. Karma could use another adult. Nagisa certainly wasn’t going to help him out of it if his friend was getting accidentally adopted. Though, I may double-check their investigation skills.

Chapter Text

Listening to his headphones when he came home from school was second nature. Growing up in a noisy neighborhood meant that was one of the only ways to get homework done. Even with the box fan he kept running 24/7, it was hard to think past the traffic. So he did what he did everyday, turn on his favorite playlist, stick a single earbud in at max volume, and begin Calculus. 

He was barely on the start of the second lesson when he felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time: Murderous intent. 

Ya know, that feeling you get when you feel like freezing cold ice was dunked over your head and your heart has stopped beating? That feeling that something isn’t right and you really should’ve made sure that a knife was within reach of your study desk. He turned his eyes to his open bedroom door and saw a dark-clothed man standing in his hallway. He knew what had to happen, even if it scared him. 

It was instinct, really. Jumping up from the chair and moving in a way that only Nagisa had done in the past. He had practiced for weeks but had hoped to never use it. He leverage himself around until he was behind the man, lodging his neck in a deadlock desperately. How did this guy get into his house? Who was he? Did someone hire him? Why isn’t Koro-Sensei here to save him? There were too many questions and not enough oxygen and suddenly-

It all went quiet.

Deathly still silence and his own harsh breaths were the only things Karma even knew of. It took an entire minute before the world came back to him and he forced his locked bones to release their position. He had fallen to the floor, on top of the man who was now face first on his bedroom carpet.

“Sh*t.” he heaved trying to stop from panting or shaking. Adrenaline is the worlds best drug, but holy h*ll that wasn’t the way he wanted to finish studying for the night. Karma hesitated before reaching up to confirm a pulse only to find that there was nothing there. 

Dead. 

Not a single movement or heartbeat to be found. 

“Oh my god” he whispered pulling his hand back as if the body had poisoned him. “Oh my god.” This wasn’t happening. He wouldn’t- he had changed. This wasn’t supposed to happen. “No.”

“No!” he screamed, feeling gravity pull him down onto the floor tangled in sheets. Karma could feel the sweat and claustrophobic sensation of blankets sticking to him. It was so overwhelming he didn’t even have time to consider that he wasn’t in a bed at all, that he had stayed in the living room. It wasn’t until there were footsteps thundering down the staircase that he even realized there were other people. “No” he panted pulling at the sheets, wishing once again for his knife. “No, no” they weren’t moving, caught up between shaky hands and his legs but he wouldn’t need to struggle with them for long. 

“Karma” Irina spoke softly, rushing to grab at the sheets finally pulling him free. “It’s ok Kiddo. Deep breaths” she instructed throwing them to the other side of the room before hesitantly reaching over to help him properly sit up. Her hands were freezing as they guided him to sit against the bottom of the couch. More than that, the knowledge that the room wasn't quiet was enough to help Karma look his teacher in the eye. 

She looked scared. Or worried. “Are you ok, Karma?” she asked gently keeping a hand on his chest that seemed to force his heart to stop racing quite so fast. 

“W-where’s K-k” he didn’t finish stuttering since she filled in the gap for him. 

“Karasuma had to go to work. Nagisa and Rio left after the movie was over. Turns out Nagisa’s mom gets phone calls from the school when he leaves the property.” she explained. Oh right. Karma had forgotten his friends were even supposed to be here. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and then she took her hand away. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

H*ll no. He shook his head and she just nodded. She’s way better at this than Mr. Karasuma. 

“I figured you would say that. C’mon Kiddo, we’re going out.” she ordered standing from the mess of the sheets to give him a hand up. Go out? He looked down at his sweat-soaked clothes and hear Irina laugh. “Ok fair. Go get changed and meet me at the door.”

A donut shop. Irina asked him to get changed, ignore sleep, and leave the house so that they could go to a 24 hrs donut shop a mile from their house. 

“They have the absolute best chocolate donuts. We’ll have to get one for Karasuma too” Irina commented holding open the bright pink door so he could walk inside. Now wearing a fresh hoodie and the borrowed slacks from the spare uniform Asuna gave him. It definitely wasn’t his best look, but the girl working at the counter didn’t seem to care. 

“Hello Mrs. Karasuma, you’re usual order then?” She’s a regular then. Karma saw his teacher nod before she gently bumped him on the shoulder. 

“Go on then. Get anything you want,” she ordered. 

The case was full of all sorts of sweets that honestly made Karma feel a bit sick just looking at them. He looked up at the brunette packing the other donuts and saw the plain sugar donut that was likely Mr. Karasuma’s pick. “I’ll just have what Mr. Karasuma normally gets” he hummed and the hostess, her nameplate read Fujiwara, complied.

Soon enough they were sitting outside the little store, at five in the morning, eating the most sugary food he had ever shoved into his mouth. That includes the dessert he stole from Koro-Sensei. He suffered through the taste for the sake of not having to talk to anyone. It was a nice break to be able to look up at the light-polluted sky that he was so familiar with. 

“We need to get you some clothes.” 

The comment made Karma turn to see Irina giving his outfit an onceover. He hit her with his signature smirk and rolled his eyes. “Blame your husband if you don’t like what you see. It’s his stuff.” She laughed like people often do at his blunt humor. His parents never had. 

Wait. why am I thinking about them?

“I only point it out because that’s something we should do today. You’re going to be staying with us for a while and that means you’ll need something to wear besides Karasuma’s sweats and school uniforms” She explained. “We can go to the shopping district in a few hours. Maybe after coffee.”

The shopping district?

Chapter Text

Karma wanted to burn the shopping district. 

Irina had been walking around a 24hr mall with him for the past three hours and to say he was exhausted would be an understatement. He typically avoided large crowds like the plague because they are hard to canvas and tend to have a bit too much security for Karma’s taste. Trying to keep track of the exits and imagine any form of attack was not exactly a teenager's favorite pastime. 

Beyond that, despite having bought enough to fill a closet Irina continued to make him pick out decorations for the guest room, a new comforter, pillows, movies, and now had him looking at books. Never in his life had he ever had the opportunity to choose what he wanted in his room. Well, aside from study materials. 

The small bookstore held far more than just educational material. Irina seemed to be grabbing a few English novels and was perusing the classic childrens literature department. For what child, Karma couldn’t say. “I think we’ve spent enough of Mr. Karasuma’s money” Karma muttered looking at the options that seemed endless. 

“That’s impossible darling” Irina laughed coming beside him with a small English book in her hands. A little bunny in a blue coat decorated the cover along with the words “Peter Rabbit.” 

“What is that?” he asked, disgusted with the idea that she would choose something juvenile. 

“English Practice. You’re welcome.” 

Before he could think of anything else clever to say he felt someone bump into him, spilling hot coffee down his back. 

“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry!”

Holy sh*t that burns. He rushed to try and pull the zip-up off as the liquid continued to steam only to feel the woman grab at his wrist with napkins. She’s touching me.

“I didn’t see you-”

“Stop touching him” Irina warned pulling the woman off and stepping between them. “How dare you not watch where you’re walking? I expect full compensation for his hoodie and also,” she started holding her hand out to the stranger. “I’ll take his watch now as well. Unless you’d like to be reported to security.” 

My watch? With the burning clothing mostly off, as far as keeping his decency would allow, he could see his watch had indeed been grabbed off his wrist. Pickpocket. Looking around he saw most of the store had stopped talking to stare at the altercation, seemingly completely enthralled as the thief hurried to pass Irina a $100 bill and his watch. I didn’t notice. I was too focused…or relaxed? I don’t know anymore. I should’ve paid more attention. I want out of here. 

“Are you burned badly, Karma?” Irina asked gently coming to stand behind him and see the damage done to his back. “sh*t. You need to change. Are you done for the day?” Karma nodded letting her place his watch back and take the jacket. What is happening to me? I should be fighting this more right? Joke it off? “Me too. I’m going to check out. Take this bag and go get changed in the restroom. I’ll watch the door.” she instructed pointing to the bathrooms that were near the registers. 

That B*tch. Irina was still fuming even if she was smiling at the cashier. That petty thief better pray Karma doesn’t have serious burns. Once she was out of line she waited for Karma to meet her at the door. The redhead looked exhausted. Exhausted and paranoid. But at least he looked a bit more like a teenager now. He had changed into a maroon button-up and jeans that seemed to fit much better than her husband's sweats. 

“Looking good hot stuff. Let’s go” she complimented wrapping an arm around his shoulder to guide him out of the mall. Karma didn’t move to shove her off, which was sign enough that the kid was done with any form of shopping for a while. Good thing too, because Irina was already plotting to set fire to this particular mall. 

The car ride back to the house was silent apart from the small hiss Karma made laying his back against the car seat. The sound only served in making Irina speed faster to get him home and open their front door. I should have some burn cream somewhere. As she started hauling in their shopping bags she desperately wished Karasuma was here to help.

“You didn’t have to buy all this crap” Karma pointed out sitting on the staircase as she brought in the last of the twenty-five or so bags. Looking around the entryway, she could see how someone may find it a bit excessive, but the kid hadn’t brought anything with him and the only items she had managed to bring back were school books. 

“What? Never had your mom take you to decorate a new room before? Back to school shopping?” she asked casually grabbing a few bags to start bringing them upstairs. Karma gathered some as well and followed behind. 

“No” 

What? She glanced over her shoulder to confirm she wasn’t hearing things but Karma was just staring at the ground as they walked. Those pieces of sh*t. She couldn't wait to hear what Karasuma had found out at work, but for now, they had a room to customize in mostly red and black. 

“F*** them.” She replied setting the shopping bags on the floor.

The rest of the afternoon went smoothly as the two quietly unpacked the bags and the guest room transformed into a rather nice study space and bedroom. Karma’s body language gave away that he was feeling more relaxed, most of his anxiety was left at the mall. She had seen what she needed to see. 

Karma had taken half an hour to select a bed set. An hour to even figure out what his clothing sizes were. It was blatantly obvious he had never been taken out before. Not only that, but that he was terrified of public places. 

Just how badly had Koro-sensei messed this one up?

Chapter Text

Karasuma was extremely disturbed. 

The more he learned about Karma’s family, the more he didn’t like. Karma was correct when he said his parents were away doing business, but only in the sense that they were working out of the country. What he obviously failed to mention was that they hadn’t lived in Japan for six months and hadn’t sent any care for Karma in all that time. 

Worse than that, starting with Karma’s suspension, records showed that his parents were out on business trips for all that time. Meaning that the neglect had been going on for years. Karma had been living exclusively off the funds he received from Koro-Sensei’s mission. 

He couldn’t help running a hand over his face to try and combat the oncoming rage headache. The computer screen in front of him looked more smashable by the minute. Never a good sign. 

Who could abandon their own child? A 13-year-old child. He took a deep breath to steady himself, grateful for his quiet office, absent of most distraction. Currently, it was giving him the freedom to think about how to gain custody of Karma and also convince his wife to take in a slightly psychotic teenager. Or he would’ve been if his phone didn’t ring. 

Irina. 

“Hello?” 

“I want full custody” Irina demanded in a hushed tone. 

Oh . Maybe this was going to be easier than he thought. “Me too. What happened?”

“He’s never decorated his room, Karasuma. Never picked out his own sheets. H*ll he didn’t know what size shoe he should buy. No back-to-school shopping. None of it.” 

She sounds pissed. He hummed to show he was listening but didn’t dare to interrupt her rant. He could tell from her tone she wasn’t done. 

“I don’t know what you’ve found, but at this point, I don’t care. He needs something different and we have the space.” She finished with a sigh. 

“Where is he now?”

“Reading. I told him I’d be making lunch.” She answered gently. Coming down from her rage high. “What did you find?”

“What you say makes sense. They haven’t lived here for quite some time. And haven’t supported him financially either. He’s an orphan in all but name.”

“I could fix that”

Oh I know you could. Karasuma couldn’t help but smirk at the idea. It had been crossing his mind too. “I know. But we both know that wouldn’t help anyone. We need them to give us control. That, and to find who’s trying to have him killed.” Hopefully, before the E-Class does. If we’re late, we’ll be scraping the perpetrator off the cement. “I’ll be home soon. We can decide what to do then.” 

Irina made a discontent hum but he could tell she was satisfied for now. “Do you need me to get anything on the way?” he asked grabbing his bags. 

“Lunch if you don’t mind. I have a feeling if I grab a knife right now, it won’t be going in food.”

“I appreciate the warning Irina”

“Always love”

“Alright, everyone’s here, Nagisa. What’s the plan?”

Nagisa smiled at Kayano and the rest of his friends. Not quite everyone was available, but their limited squad would do. He and Rio hadspent hours trying to create the perfect kill and he was certain they had all the tools they needed to succeed. Even if Karma couldn’t help. “Thanks for coming everyone.” he greeted. 

“Like we’d let you whimps do all the heavy lifting” Tarasaka scoffed, looking at the bully squad in approval. 

“What Tarasaka means to say, is that of course we want to help Karma-Kun” Sugino grinned. 

“Good. Cause we’ll need all of us to get this done properly” Rio assessed hand on her hips. She took out a tablet from her backpack and set it on a rock. The field outside their old classroom building was always up for grabs since they had purchased the rights to the facility. It was easy enough to meet here. The tablet came to life a moment after with Ritsu’s form smiling at them, still in her old uniform. 

“Hello, classmates! It’s time for a perfect kill.” she greeted sounding as sweet as ever. 

If only Koro sensei could see her now. 

“After some thorough investigative work, I found a small level of chatter amongst assassination networks. It seems there was a job hiring of an unnamed assassin to dispose of Karma for $50,000.” Whispers started among the group but Ritsu wasn’t finished. “According to my sources, and with the help of Itona, it seems that the job was posted for grabs again yesterday afternoon. As of now, no one has taken the deal.”

“A hitman job? How did you hear about that?” Terasaka asked Itona loudly. The smaller boy shrugged innocently but Nagisa knew the truth. Out of all of them, Itona and Rio kept up with the assassin connections the class had made and continue to listen in on new conversations when possible. 

“Unfortunately” Ritsu added over the noise. “I cannot tell who is asking for the job, nor do I know if that is the top of the ladder.”

“So,” Rio started. “Our goal is to take the job under the guise of Ms. H*llaB*tch’s call sign. That way we can stop any other assassins from trying to make another attempt. One group would be in charge of going to the meet-up spot. Obviously, I would pose as B*tch sensei and someone else would come as a bodyguard of sorts.”

“You got it blondie” Terasaka volunteered and Nagisa smiled. 

“Perfect. The second group will be in charge of securing the location of any reinforcements from the employer. We’ll want to be in teams of two and have at least four in that second grouping. Mimura and Fuwa, Sosuke and Kiara, Sugino and Hiroto, and Miramatsu and Yoshida are you all fine with that?” Nagisa wasn’t sure why he had asked when he knew they were all going to nod along with anything he planned. 

“Excellent!” Ritsu beamed. “Itona, you and Nagisa will be in charge of going after any Boss-level players should there be more hierarchy than expected. And of course, I will be assisting with surveillance and emergency contact should we need it.” 

“We get to kill?” Itona asked blankly and Nagisa laughed. 

“Maybe” 

Chapter Text

Karma had never really had his own room before. 

Obviously, he had an apartment to himself, but this was very different from that. By the time he and Irina had finished moving things in, the place looked completely different. The plain bed now had blue and black covers to perfectly match the blackout curtains on the patio windows. His new bookshelf had an entire shelf full and room enough for all his textbooks when he retrieved them. His closet was full of plenty of different outfits for any occasion and the walls were littered with photos of his class. 

In short, it looked like someone actually lived there. He sat on his new desk chair and stared at the layout, letting his feet rest on the soft carpet. This is…kinda nice. Finally left in the quiet while Irina made dinner, he was able to actually take everything in. Despite their rough shopping experience, decorating had been kinda fun. 

Thinking back, he couldn’t recall a time when he had ever spent time like that with his mother. Either of his parents really. 

The last time he had seen them had been about three months before his fight with the teacher that landed him in the End Class. They had always avoided him since he was small. Said he needed to act more grown up, yet when he had begun to mirror their coldness it was as if they were repulsed by him. 

As if they were disgusted at the very thing they created. 

He tried not to think about them too much. He would tell himself that it wasn’t that bad. Afterall, it’s not like his mother was like Nagisa’s. She never hit him or tried to make him be someone he wasn't. His father avoided him, sure, but his parents were together. They didn’t mess with him like Itona’s family had and they weren’t overbearing. It was fine.

He was luckier than his friends. 

How could he complain about having independence? He always wanted that. Or at least, he has always had it and never felt like giving it up. That fact was part of why it was strange to hear his teachers try to give rules that he had never needed. Try to be adults and ‘protect him’. He had survived this long without any of that and he certainly didn’t need it now. 

And yet, sitting in the room that they had decorated together, he found that maybe…maybe he had wanted it? Holy sh*t I’m going soft. He didn’t have a plan for this. His conflict of emotions was really putting a damper on his escape plans. His teachers were acting as if it were all natural. As if this was just the things that families were meant to do.  If taking care of me was as easy as Irina and Karasuma claim it is…then why hadn’t my parents wanted to do it?

“Karma?” Came a call at the door combined with a knock. Karasuma’s home. 

“What?” he called shaking his head of his thoughts from earlier. No need to think about things  that didn’t really matter anyway. I’m fine on my own. 

“Lunch is ready and I want to talk with you about something” Karasuma answered and Karma tried not to stiffen at the vagueness that always accompanied ‘I want to talk.’ He rose from his chair and opened the door to the hall allowing Karasuma to look inside for a moment before he stepped out and shut the door. 

“Looks good in there. How was the mall?”

Karma couldn’t help the open opportunity. “I don’t know, how would you describe Hell?” Karasuma seemed to appreciate the humor though and huffed in amusement as they went downstairs. Karma would be willing to bet that was the laugh of a man who had also been dragged along for long shopping trips with Irina Sensei. 

As he found his spot at the table it hit him suddenly that Karma had his own chair now. He reflexively had taken his seat and now had a proper matching cushion and his drink of choice, cherry limeade. He couldn’t help but wonder how things had turned out this way. 

When Koro-Sensei died, Karma had missed his friends. He had missed being with a group of people that he wasn’t constantly worried would kill him or judge him when he said something a bit harsh or dark. Now, things were different. Karasuma and Irina were acting as if he was never going to leave or have a time when they wanted him gone. This doesn’t make any sense. On one hand, he was mad that they were butting into his life without invitation, but on the other he found himself feeling more comfortable than he had in a long time. 

It scared him. 

He didn’t like feeling like he had something to lose. 

“Eat up kiddo. Karasuma and I are planning on taking you out today so you’ll need the strength” Irina instructed placing a plate of onigiri in front of him. 

Going out? He had thought after this morning that Irina would have had enough of dragging him out in public. “Take me where? I’m not just some doll you can lug around.” he asserted, slowly beginning to eat. If I can get them to leave without me, I might be able to find when my parents will be back. Maybe they could help with getting out of this. Especially if I mention the government might be getting involved. Surely they would care then. 

“Don’t get so defensive all the time. I want to take you to the theatre with us. We’ve been planning to go see the new Sonic Ninja movie. You and the students really liked the first one right?” 

Oh. Karma had almost completely forgotten about that. Koro-sensei had taken Nagisa and him to go see the first one all the way in Hawaii. The flight had been terrifying but the day was fun overall. That feels like ages ago. He wondered if Nagisa would go and see the new one as well. He wondered if Koro-sensei would have cried watching the new story like he did last time. 

“I’m good” he excused, refusing to look up as that would involve analyzing his teachers' reactions. Something he found he wasn’t feeling up to at the moment. Something about remembering his dead teacher really seemed to dampen the mood. “You two should just go.”

“No” Karasuma denied instantly and Karma stopped eating to listen to his tone. It was softer than normal, but firm. What’s he getting worked up over? “We can all just watch a movie here. I’ll go set one up.” He offered and Karma finally looked to see that Karmasuma was indeed getting up from the tabel already. 

Why would he do that? If they’d been planning to see this, why not just force me to go? Aren’t I ruining their plans? “But you said you’d been planning on it right?” he questioned and Irina just smiled. 

“Well sure, but what would be the point in going to do something fun if we’d be leaving you out of it?”

….oh. 

Karma was really confused. 

Chapter Text

Nagisa knew this wasn’t the way he should be doing things, but they were in too deep to turn back now. “Is everyone in position?” he asked through their in-ear radios. 

They had agreed to meet the employer at some kind of neutral-ground hotel. Rio, dressed rather extravagantly for the night, was standing by for the clear signal that they were prepared for her to walk inside with Terasaka. Arguably, she would be in the most danger tonight since she would be posing as Irina. 

Meanwhile, Itona and Nagisa had set up camp on the roof of the building. Confident that any snipers could easily be taken out by their external group, Mimura, Fuwa, Sosuke, and Kiara would be watching for that and more while monitoring the building. Leaving the other half of group two to the internal affairs. 

“All clear” Mimura answered. 

“Clear” Terasaka confirmed. 

“You got it Nagisa” Sugino said. 

That’s everyone. Looking over at Itona he received a nod that they were also ready to begin. Alright then. It’s now or never. While it had been some time since they had thought about an assassination attempt, by no means were they out of practice. Koro-Sensei had taught them well. “Time to kill then, Mrs. Irina.” 

“Understood” Rio answered under her breath walking up the stairs of the hotel with Terasaka on her arm. 

The hotel’s interior was as extravagant as Rio could’ve ever imagined. It reminded her an awful lot of the Fukuma Denjo Hotel they went to as a class. Not really a good memory to be associating with. It made a chill go down her spine even now. 

“Don’t tell me you’re chickening out now” Terasaka muttered to her as they approached the front desk. Her heels echoed against the marble floors, making every person in a thousand-foot radius aware that she was here. 

“Not on your life” she assured patting his hand so he would let go once they were in talking distance with the hotel host. She instantly noted his handgun holster on his hip and the knife that his receptionist was fiddling with. A clear indication that every person in the building was armed. 

“Welcome to The Continental, Ms.?” The host greeted. 

“Jelavic” Rio supplied in her best Russian inflection, thankful for the extra lessons on infiltration from Irina. One wrong hint that she wasn’t who she was claiming, and this whole thing would go to sh*t a lot quicker than it was meant to. “I’m here for a meeting in the lounge.”

“Your ID Ms. Jelavic?” the host asked. Rio made her best effort to seem relaxed when she passed the fake ID Ritsu had created for her to the man. He grabbed it, scanned it, and then smiled before passing it back. 

Oh thank God. 

“Have a nice night Ms. Jelavic.”

“Call me Irina, love” she waved taking Terasaka on her arm so they could resume their walking. As much as they had learned in their special classroom, she still couldn’t help but feel a bit stiff as they passed the heavily armed hotel staff. 

“Don’t tense” Terasaka whispered patting her arm more gentle than she thought he was capable of. She hadn’t even noticed how stiff she was moving until he poitned it out. She relaxed as best she could and nodded. 

“It’s gonna be fine” she assure both him and herself. 

Now, she just had to perfectly pretend to be her teacher and not tip anyone off. 

“I swear every one of those little sh*ts are dead” Irina mumbled casually throwing her keys at the hotel valet. Just as they had settled down for a screening of the newest Keaunu Reeves movie, Irina had gotten a text from one of her old informants congratulating her for taking a job offer after a long dormancy. 

Obviously, she did not. 

So instead, Irina found herself looking up what was happening and discovering that all of her former students were rendezvousing at the place she was reported to be accepting her new job. Surely not a coincidence. Meaning she had to abandon family movie night to come to The Continental: a hotel famous for being an assassin's dead spot. No violence or business within the walls. 

In order to get in, she’d have to use another hotel guest though. While she was a gold member, she had a bad feeling someone was already using her name to get into the hotel. Looking around she quickly spotted another man going to check in and attached herself to his arm. The things I do for kids. 

“Hello handsom. Want some company?” she asked innocently pleased when he gave the disgusting grin she was looking for. Slimballs tended to make bad choices for the sake of their own potential personal gain. It paid off as per usual and she easily gained entry. 

The minute they were past the lobby she began to slip away avoiding his attention so that she could do what she came here to do. I need to find where the deal will be. According to her informant, she was still early for the interaction but they didn’t discuss an exact location within The Continental. A bummer considering the facility was huge. 

She rounded the corner of one of the halls, fully prepared to make her way up to the longue to try and locate any familiar faces, only to find exactly what she was looking for. 

Sugino and Maehara were standing against the hallway wall clearly creeping around where they shouldn’t be. They had dressed in suits but the lack fo any facial disguises made spotting them way too easy even if Sugino did have  growth spurt since she last saw him. What an awful infiltration job. If this was my hotel, they’d be spotted in a second. 

She came up behind them, completely silent, until she was about two feet behind Sugino. She leaned into his ear ready to whisper only to hear and see a comm link. There are more than. The whole class maybe?

“This isn’t good. The client doesn’t look like what Ritsu was describing. I think it's just an underling” The comm radioed, too quiet for her to hear which girl it was. All of them then. 

“So then,” she quickly slapped her hand over Sugino’s mouth before he could scream as she announced her presence. She wished she had time to relish in the way they jumped in fear when she spoke. I missed this. She removed her hand to give a proper mom glare, complete with both hands on her hips. “You’ve already screwed things up.” 

Sugino looked as if he was staring at a ghost and hesitantly reached up for his comm. “Guys, we have a code H*llab*tch” he sighed and Irina smirked at his defeat. Maehara was smart enough not to talk and instead passed her what she could only assume was an extra radio. She stuck it in her right ear just in time to catch the end of her student’s complaints. 

“Shut up” Nagisa ordered over the indistinguishable chatter. That can’t be good. 

“We have a lot bigger problems than that” Terasaka announced and Irina never so desperately wished for access to security footage. 

“What happened?” she demanded already motioning for the others to follow behind her. If any of you are dead, I swear I’ll kill you. 

“Rio just beat our guy to a pulp and he confessed the boss is still here. Security is on us, we need a route Ritsu” Terasaka announced now sounding out of breath. 

“Sh*t” Irina cursed breaking into a sprint. “Ritsu, route me to the same place. Nagisa, stay away from the head of this. If Rio was able to take the underling that means he’s just a pawn being sacrificed. Do you hear me?” she ordered, a bit more relieved when she felt her phone buzz to reveal a digital walking map leading her through the hotel. 

“It might be a bit late for that” Itona deadpanned. “We get to kill, bye b*tch Sensei”

Oh no.

Chapter Text

Karasuma really didn’t know what he was doing. If he thought he was clueless as a teacher, he had nothing on being a parent to a traumatized teenager. 

Karma had loved the movie but was antsy with Irina suddenly disappearing. Karasuma had noticed how much the kid hated not knowing what was going on. Thus, he had to find something to do with him as he was obviously not going to sleep anytime soon. 

And what was his bright idea?

“I’ve been thinking. You probably are going to need some snacks for when you’re studying here and there’s a 24hr grocery store not far from here.” Take this kid who just spent his entire day shopping, shopping again. Probably a dumb suggestion. 

Karma seemed to share his opinion of the thought if his scoff was anything to go by. “Why do you and Irina sensei have an obsession with 24 hr stores?” he asked.

Irina. Karasuma tried not to stare too hard at that comment. He normally just says H*llab*tch. Or professor b*tch. “We do work odd schedules for shopping with. Most people tend to enjoy that sort of thing.” Kami knows Irina does. Karma didn’t really react to that at all though. He was still staring absently at the powered off tv. I wonder what he’s thinking. 

I wonder if he’s scared. 

“You don’t have to go, Karma. You’re not going to be pressured into leaving while we still haven’t captured the people who are after you.” he assured only to be met with a dead stare. Ok, so maybe not scared. 

“You don’t have to make it sound like I’m the victim.” Karma warned standing from the couch. “Only one of us is dead.”

Alright. This is taking the exact turn I was wanting to avoid. As standoffish as Karma was being, Karasuma could see his insecurity. The guilt. I should’ve just asked him if he wanted to read a book. “That’s true, but it doesn’t make it your fault or mean that you don’t have a right to be upset by it.” 

“I’m not upset” Karma denied. 

“Ok” Karasuma sighed. 

“I’m not!”

Oh boy. The sudden shouting was not expected. “Ok” he repeated unsure of what he was meant to say. That only seemed to make it worse. 

“No! It’s not ok, because you don’t get it!” Karma yelled. “You act as if I didn’t kill someone less then a week ago. You both have bought me school supplies and decorated my room as if I’m some sort of innocent child!” 

Karasuma could not be held responsible for what he said next. 

“You are Akabane.” 

He stared at the furious red head with the same determination he showed every day at training. “You are a child. Maybe not full innocent of everything, but in this situation, you’ve done nothing wrong.” So much for going slow. 

“No one has ever thought that before.” Karma snapped bitterly. “I don’t see why you and Irina are wasting your time.” 

“Because someone should have Karma” Karasuma finally snapped back. “Someone f***ing should have.” 

Karma stared at him for a minute, letting the silence echo in the house before turning around and storming upstairs. Karasuma stared after him and dropped his head in his hands. Why did it have to be teenagers?

Why did it have to be teenagers?! Irina mentally screamed as blood spattered on the wall of the hotel. She had been fighting her way through people for the past five minutes as she made her way up to the rooftop where Nagisa and Itona were. 

Ritsu had been helping each of the student groups evacuate but Itona and Nagisa went radio silent after announcing their murder plans rather bluntly over the commlink. She felt her feet couldn’t carry her fast enough as she rushed to stop her two craziest children. 

Err…well…Karma probably beat Nagisa at the least. 

The scene she came upon had her frozen as Nagisa had pinned a large man, double Karasuma’s build, to the floor with Itona towering over them both. Holy h*ll. 

“Who told you to send them? We both know that a b*st*rd like you isn’t the one sending orders.” Nagisa said almost feigning a whisper in the man’s ear. 

“I-it was a c-couple. They said he was crazy” the man stuttered terrified as Itona leaned down holding a knife that seemed to appear out of nowhere. 

“Itona!” she yelled as a warning snapping out of her confusion long enough to try and rush them. 

She was too late. 

“A-akabane. That’s the name.”

Everything moved in slow motion as Itona jammed the blade into the man’s heart. Nagisa instantly reacted and dropped the body before so much a speck of blood could get on his clothes. The two teens stared at the now-dead assassin. 

sh*t. Sh*t. Irina had a million thoughts. The kids didn’t listen, they need to get out of here, Karma’s parents or some other relative possibly hired the hitman, are all the others gone, and what the crap is happening. Calm your mind. Man the mission. Thinking is for aftermath. 

She took a deep breath before she called to them. “Nagisa. Itona. We’re leaving.” Both boys turned to look at her and nodded. Itona instantly came to her side as Nagisa paused just a moment to grab the phone of the dead man. Looking down at the children staring at her she couldn’t help but notice the ghost of a satisfied grin on Itona’s face. 

He’s been waiting for this. She couldn’t exactly say she hadn’t been. “Stay behind me.” she ordered moving them quickly to begin descending the stairwell. Irina pressed the commlink as they began skipping steps to escape quicker. Likely there are reinforcements on the way. “Ritsu, update now.” 

“Certainly Professor H*llab*tch” Ritsu replied in a cheerful tone that did not reflect murder and deadly assassin chase in the slightest. “Terasaka and Rio exited via a fifth-story window with the aid of Kayano’s rope tether abilities. As they were the last to escape everyone is not at least twenty feet away from the property at the meet-up spot.”

A fifth story window. Fantastic. She didn’t stop her fast pace but did look behind her to ensure the boys were keeping up. They were fast but it was obvious from the sounds in the stair chamber that more were on the way. s h*t. “This is why all of you should let the professionals handle it.” she muttered forgetting the line was open. 

“By our count you’ve killed like 30 men” Sugino scoffed. 

“You ungrateful little sh*t. It was 38 and ten of those were women” she corrected flinging open one of the doors so that they could run down a hall. “Mimura, do you still have that inflatable stunt pad in your backpack?” she asked picking a random empty hotel room to shove the boys into with her. Thank God it has a window. 

“Yeah, where do you need it?” Mimura answered.

“Ritsu?” she checked opening the window and kicking out the screen. 

“East side they are exiting via the fourth-floor window. Estimated jump time is in five minutes as the others set up.” Ritsu filled in. 

Irina sighed and turned to the boys. They seemed ok even if Nagisa looked upset. “Do both of you know how to jump?” she asked putting a hand on Nagisa’s shoulder to ensure he was paying attention. They nodded and she gave a quick smile. “Good. stay together and all of you go back to the old classroom.” she instructed passing them each a knife.

Nagisa looked startled and grabbed her wrist. “You’re not leaving? The whole place is-”

“Oh honey” she interrupted caressing his cheek with a smile. He released her but looked upset all the same. “Don’t worry a bit about me. I’m just going to get rid of the evidence you’ve all left behind.” because you all would make rotten assassins. 

“But that job is impossible by all calculations.” Itona objected. 

“Sweetheart, being a proper assassin isn’t a job.” five minutes. She gently shoved them both toward the open window and turned for the door. 

“It’s a calling.” 

Chapter Text

“Alright. Listen up baby *ssholes” Irina commanded, wiping the blood from her chin unsure of which guy had managed to splatter it on her face. Her former students all seemed to straighten up at her entrance to their small circle in the bushes. Notably, Itona and Nagisa had both made it back safely and were now surrounded by their classmates. “Which one of you had the bright idea to come out here and kill a guy without telling me or Karasuma? On a school night?” she added staring at Nagisa’s blank, yet guilty, face. 

“Ya know, I know you’re asking but for some reason I get the idea you already know,” Terasaka said, holding an ice pack to Rio’s knuckles. 

“I would never assume” Irina assured not looking away from the guilty party. “Give me the man’s phone Nagisa” she ordered holding out her hand to accept the burner that the blue-haired teen supplied her. It was clear they had all already been snooping through the text messages.

It was in the messages that she found the ‘Akabane’ contact name which held detailed texts regarding where Karma lived, his school schedule, the foods he frequently bought, his credit card information, and more. f***in’ h*ll. The assassin had no issues with sending his man on the day requested to try and kill the teenager for $500,000. They put a price on their son. 

“So, are we gonna go get them too?” Sugino asked, voicing what likely everyone else was thinking. 

Irina sighed putting the phone in her pocket to properly address the gremlins. “No. at least ‘we’ aren’t.” she answered, instantly noticing a few of them deflate or stiffen, prepared to argue. “Karasuma and I have already been working on this and there’s a lot more at play here than any of you realize. I won’t have you screwing things up just because you’re nosy brats.” Not after all the work I’ve put in to make this happen. 

“Yeah well you guys were going too slow” Kayano objected. 

“I agree with Kayano. If we leave it to you and Karasuma sensei then we won’t get any updates” Rio agreed. 

“They’re right. Karma sucks at using his phone and stop moving Rio or you can hold your own ice pack” Terasaka complained and Irina was once again reminded of the fact she was in the forest near a large mass murder scene with mildly injured children. We need to get out of here. 

“Alright. Terasaka, Nagisa, Itona, and Rio are with me. The rest of you are to go home. I’ll stay with you until we get close to town then the five of us are going to take care of any injuries and conversations that need to be had. If I hear of any of you causing trouble before I have a chance to finish this job you’re all dead. Social lives, bank accounts, dead. All of it. Understood?” she instructed satisfied when a chorus of ‘yes ma’ams’ echoed through the group. 

Why did I decide teenagers would be worth any amount of money? They’re such a pain. 

Karasuma sighed as his tenth call in the past hour was once again denied by his wife. She hadn’t sent any information since she left in a rush and he was not inspired by his lack of ability to locate her tracker. However, that didn’t mean he enjoyed the times she would randomly fall off the map. Especially since it often meant he had to do some sort of governmental cover-up. 

Beyond concern for his wife, he also had no idea how he was supposed to address the teenager who was currently sulking in the room behind him. Shortly after storming upstairs Karasuma had followed and decided to sit outside his door. In part to be there if Karma needed him, but also because he didn’t trust the red-head’s mood which unfortunately meant that he could try to escape protective custody. 

I should have listened to Irina. She had warned him that Karma would be extra touchy and that he may push boundaries. Karasuma knew well from his time as a teacher that teenagers specialized in pushing buttons you never knew you had, but he naively figured it couldn’t be any different than when he was at school.

It was entirely different. 

A part of Karasuma just wanted to blame it on the fact that Karma had recently gone through a traumatic experience, but he knew that wasn’t true. Things are different now. I’m not his teacher. Their relationship had changed. Karasuma had changed. I’m not sure what this is anymore…but there’s no way he’s leaving until we know it's safe. Even when Karma finally could leave, Karasuma was certain that he wouldn’t go back to living alone. Everything’s going to have to change. 

He sighed and thunked his head against the door, in hopes of drawing Karma’s attention. “I’m sorry for snapping at you.” he called, waiting for some kind of response. There was none. 

He looked back at his phone hoping Irina would magically be responding, but there was nothing there either. On my own. “Do you need water or anything?”

Nothing. 

There’s no way he could’ve left…right?

Karasuma stood up and tried the door to find it locked. d*mn it. “Karma. Either answer now or open the door.” he ordered. There wasn’t a single sound in the house beside him. Grabbing a master key from his pocket he threw open the door and quickly discovered the open window. 

sh*t. 

Karma was panting by the time he reached the room upstairs and locked the door. 

What the f*** just happened? His emotions were everywhere, matching the thoughts running through his head as he walked into the bathroom and locked a second door. None of this would have happened if I had just gone to Nagisa’s like I planned. Why didn’t I do that? Pulling his phone out he sat on the floor by the cabinet and took a deep breath. 

Because I knew they would help even if Nagisa couldn’t, but I didn’t know it would be like this. He didn’t know they would care this much. That they would question how he was doing beyond the break-in. He never imagined they would welcome him into their home like he belonged there. 

That they would make him question his parents. 

He scrubbed the totally nonexistent tears from his face and dialed a number he knew well, a number that ignored him most days, and waited for someone to pick up. When the dial stopped he held his breath.

“Evening, who am I speaking with?” his mother asked in English and Karma froze. 

She doesn’t have my number saved?

“Hello?” she repeated. 

“Okaasan?” he asked hesitant, only to be met with the same stagnant pause he had given her a moment before. “Sorry to bother your trip,” she told me to never call her again. “I just-”

“You’re still alive? Karma?” she asked and Karma felt like the phone in his hand was burning his skin. 

What the f***? How does she know about-

“Oi!” she called clearly not speaking to him anymore. “Honey! I need to change my cell number again. Also your hitman as sh*t”

Hitman?...no. there’s no f***ing way. 

“Sorry, dear. Next time it’ll be faster if you just give us your money and stop contacting us like we told you,” she told him before the line disconnected completely. 

…f***. 

Karma had been through a lot in his fairly short life, and through it all he learned one thing: Anger is a beautiful gut reaction. 

He stood up and chucked his phone into the toilet before unlocking the bathroom door and entering the guest bedroom again. Screw telling Ritsu to disable security, he was well aware that Karasuma was likely waiting in the hall. It didn’t matter what his teachers thought of him. After all, for all he knew maybe they were trying to kill him too. He opened the window and jumped into the streets for the second time since coming to this house. 

You didn’t prepare me for this Koro-sensei. He thought bitterly as he ran toward the only place he knew was safe. What exactly am I supposed to do when my parents try to have me killed for your assignation money?  

Maybe it would be in Koro-senesi’s book.

Chapter Text

Asuno wasn’t sure what drew him to the old Class 3-E building, but he was beginning to think a dead octopus had something to do with it. 

His life had never exactly been normal. An overbearing abusive father didn’t do a lot of good towards a teenager's already fragile mental health. Prior to Koro-Sensei joining their school Asuno was certain that he would succeed his father in becoming the perfect academic weapon he’d been trained to be. 

Then, Class 3-E became a threat to his entire reality and in doing so, changed everything he thought he knew. 

Koro-Sensei challenged his father. H*ll, he challenged the school and their entire mission. He made Asuno see that education was a very different idea than the ‘Schooling’ his father provided. He asserted that caring was just as important as teaching and perhaps that one was even required in order to do the other.  He made Asuno see that his father…His father was f***ed up. 

Granted, his father had changed since Class 3-E’s graduation, but Asuno still had a hard time seeing past the childhood he’d largely missed. He was jealous that Class 3-E not only got to have teachers that seemed to genuinely care, but they were able to do what Asuno couldn’t. They were able to take his father out of the school. 

Since then Asuno came to the abandoned building every few weeks. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was looking for but being there helped him calm down when things got just a bit too tense. It was because of this odd routine that he was in front of the building now. Though, something about the routine was off today. 

Asuno heard sounds coming from Class 3-E. In a building that had been empty since graduation. 

Someone else is here. He reached into the small pocket on his slacks and grabbed the slim knife he carried as a habit from when the Alien had been in their school. It wouldn’t do much, but it made him feel a bit safer. 

Asuno slowly walked through the hall and came to the open door for the classroom where he could better discern the noise. It sounded like strained breathing and sniffles. Someone’s crying here? Asuno could only assume that it had to be someone who used the classroom in the past. That or a dying cat. He took a deep breath and stepped through the open door only to not see anyone immediately. The desks were empty. 

But, the crying hitched to where the room was dead silent. 

sh*t. One of us should probably be scared and I’m at the disadvantage being the one out in the open. “You’re trespassing on private property” He announced to the room, aware that it wasn’t a very frightening thing to say. The cabinets are too small to hide in. He glanced at the octopus’ old desk and narrowed his gaze. They’re under the desk. 

When no voice answered, he came closer until he was beside the desk. Careful Asuno. “If you’re one of the Class 3-E brats, you better not shoot me” He warned before bending over to see the edge of a 9mm barrel in his face. Figures. 

“The f*** are you doing here?” 

Karma. Of all the students Asuno had met from the famous End Class, Karma was the last he would’ve suspected to come cry in the abandoned classroom. Karma moved the gun to sit in his lap and Asuno was able to see the tear tracks on his face. What happened?

“I was going to ask you the same thing” Asuno answered folding his knife back into his pocket so that he could sit across from the redhead. “I thought you were staying with the government agents for a while.” They were who picked him up from school. Did they do something to him?

“How did you know that?” Karma huffed. 

“Kinda hard to miss when they pull you out of class. I was with you right before remember?” he was pretty sick. It’s possible that he doesn’t. 

“I forgot about that” Kamra mumbled. “My life’s kinda f***ed. What about you? Shouldn’t you be somewhere doing rich kid things?” 

Asuno shook his head and glared. “What do you mean f***ed? Your life was always like that. What happened?” He wasn’t like this. Not even when Koro-Sensei died. At least not in front of anyone else. He came here for a reason. 

“Why do you care? I’m not really your problem.” 

“Unfortunately you are. I may not be class president, but I am the school secretary and therefore am partially responsible for looking after you, Mr. Class Rep.” He corrected. In reality, Asuno wasn’t exactly in charge of him, but Karma was one of his only friends not that he would admit that to anyone. Their rivalry was something he enjoyed about school. Seeing the headstrong red-head in tears made him justifiably upset. 

“That’s such bullsh*t” Karma laughed and Asuno shrugged. 

“Yeah”

Karma was quiet for a minute and then nodded. “Ok. why the h*ll not? You’ve already seen me so it can’t really get much worse than this.” 

A s long as it’s not worse than a giant yellow octopus from space, I’m sure it’ll be fine. 

“My parents hired a hitman to kill me” 

“What the f***” Asuno whispered snapping up to see if Karma was just teasing. Based on the blank stare he was getting from eyes that were still glossed over, he knew he wasn’t. “Did they hurt you?” 

“I’m fine, relatively.” Karma shrugged. “I did a lot worse to him than he did to me”

“Meaning?”

“I killed him.”

….” ok” Asuno nodded unsure of how else to process that information. “That's why the agents were here? They were helping?” I’m going to need a lot more information Akabane. 

“We didn’t know it was my parents. I only just found out when I called my mom and she was surprised I wasn’t dead already.” Karma confirmed surprisingly calm about the words he was saying. Obviously, by his demeanor, he was upset, but it was disconcerting that the kid didn’t sound anything but resigned. 

Ok. so his life is f***ed. “Were you living with them?” do you have somewhere to stay?

“No. I’ve been on my own for a while. I’ll be fine. I just…” Karma sighed slamming his head against the wood desk. “What are you supposed to do when you find out your mom and dad never cared and just want you dead? That the secret government agents are the only ones that give a d*mn? The octopus is dead. I don’t exactly know how else to ask or what I’m supposed to do at this point.” 

Well I definitely don’t. “H*ll if I know.” Asuno sighed. “I have my own apartment now. You’re welcome to stay there” he offered, unsure of what else he could do. 

“Not safe” Karma denied. 

Unfortunately, that’s probably true. Asuno and his pocket knife didn’t stand a chance against trained assassins. “Then why run here? Away from Kurasuma. He was helping you, you said so yourself.” 

Karma scoffed and wiped his face. At least he’s calming down. I think. “They’re too good. I don’t fit with them. They’re convinced we’re gonna be some sort of family-“

“And why not?” Asuno challenged. “Do you know what I would give to have that? You have a golden opportunity Akabane, when have you ever run away from that?” When have you ever run from anything?

“This is different. I can’t just feed them bullsh*t” 

“So you feel things, big deal. News flash so does everyone else. You’re a part of class 3-E. Are you really going to let that stop you from having what you want?” 

Karma looked at him for a moment before he just laughed. “I always get what I want, Asuno.” 

That’s more like it. “Then get off the floor, Akabane.” He smirked in return, standing up to offer Karma a hand. 

Chapter Text

“Move again and I’ll sedate you” Irina threatened. 

Rio huffed but sat still as Irina finished whipping off the blood from her face. 

“We were only doing-” Terasaka tried to defend but Irina wouldn’t hear it. 

“No” She denied, throwing away the gauze before turning to face where the boys were sitting on the couch of her safe house. “I will hear no excuses as to why you all would come up with such a half-*ssed plan and not even tell me where you were.” 

“We used what you taught us.” Rio argued and Irina felt her blood boil. 

When she’d seen the kids in the building, her heart panicked. Sure, she’d been able to keep it together and finish the job just as efficiently as she always had, but it scared her. Like it or not, these were her students and she wasn’t fond of the idea that they would use what she taught them just to go die in some H*llhole. 

“No you didn’t” She seathed. “If you had, then I would’ve been here with you because everyone would’ve been aware how absolutely moronic it was to come the way you did. It was going to fail from the start and I taught you better than to die on a kill.”

They all were quiet and maybe a rookie teacher would think they won the argument, but Irina wasn’t a rookie teacher. The way that Nagisa and Itona were looking at her told her everything she needed to know about what they were thinking. 

It wasn’t child-appropriate. 

“They were going to kill Karma” Nagisa pointed out as if Irina didn’t fully grasp the situation. 

“Better to kill them” Itona added and Irina sighed. 

That was always the hardest part about children. Sometimes, they said things that Irina completely agreed with. Irina also would’ve killed that man if she’d had the chance. The problem was, the kids shouldn’t be thinking the way that Irina thought. They weren’t assassins, and while they had their own traumas, Irina had made sure they could have lives full of color. 

That they could be children in a way that she’d never been. 

Irina had thought she’d succeeded in doing that, but the way that Itona spoke now told her that she hadn’t. 

“I understand what you’re saying” She began, “but my point stands that you all know better than to try on your own.” Be the responsible adult Irina. 

“You’re not fast enough” Itona challenged even when the others looked unsure of what to say. The second smallest had no fear when he spoke to her. He stood from the couch to be at eye level, clearly asking for her to deny him. 

“What exactly do you think that Karasuma and I are doing? Hm? Sitting on our f*cking hands?” Itona moved back just slightly when she cursed, but Irina was too far in to stop out of sympathy now. 

If he wanted to fight her, she wasn’t going to deny him. 

“I have been working to find the people responsible for the initial hiring of the b*stard that Karma took out. More than that, I’ve actually been with the little sh*t protecting him. Is that what you thought you were doing tonight? You think Karma would’ve approved if even one of you had been hurt? Is that it?” She questioned with hysteric amusement. 

“Karma would’ve been disappointed in the lot of you.”

“Alright” Tarasaka spoke up and Irina saw him pull Itona’s hand, forcing the younger boy to sit back down. She noted then that the youngest looked considerably less bold after her small rant. She saw how Terasaka did not look happy at that development. “I think he gets it, teach.”

Well good. Now none of us are happy. 

“We should’ve called” Rio spoke up and Irina looked back at her countertop where the girl had been sitting. The young blonde stood and was now coming towards the couch to sit on one of the arms beside Nagisa. “But we didn’t. So what now?”

“That is the question isn’t it” She sighed looking at the four of them. They were still so young, and she was still angry, but there weren’t many options now that they were involved. She knew better than to think sending them home would do any good now. They were here and she was going to have to make the most of it. 

It seemed Itona understood her resignation because he smiled. “Now we kill?”

She smiled and laughed. 

“You can come, but it’s my turn now.”

When Karasuma came upon the old Class 3-E building, it was as a last resort. 

He didn’t have a reliable way to track Karma once he’d lost the redhead on the security footage. The teen, even under emotional distress, seemed to easily spot cameras as he ran through the city. When he’d checked the last location he’d been able to trace, there was no sign of the kid. 

Thus, he had to guess where Karma would run and this was the only place he could come up with. 

It was a surprise to see Gakushu Asano standing outside as if he were waiting on him. 

“Bought time you got here” Asano greeted as Karasuma came to stand on the porch with him. 

“He’s here then?” Karasuma asked and the teen nodded. 

“The old classroom. He’s better than he was when he got here.” Asano confirmed looking as hard to read as his old man. Karasuma didn’t want to think about what Karma must’ve looked like a little bit earlier if the kid was saying he was ‘better.’ 

“Why are you here?” 

Asano shrugged and looked back at the school. “I come here every once in a while. It’s quiet.” 

Karasuma didn’t like that, from the sounds of it, Asano apparently was camping out at school rather than going home when he needed a break. His eyes, the more that he looked, mirrored Karma’s from the first night they’d had the teen over. Something else is going on with him. He’d have time to look into that later. 

“Alright. I’ll take it from here. Go home kid” Karasuma instructed and was pleased when Asano listened, leaving him to enter the school on his own. 

Get it together Karasuma. Be the responsible adult. 

He and Karma needed to talk. 

Chapter Text

Karma didn’t bother moving from his seat when Karasuma appeared in the doorway. 

After Asano’s inspiring pep talk, he’d taken a seat on top of his old desk, taking his time to think about everything that had happened in the past week. He’d known that his old teacher was going to come looking for him, but at the same time, he wasn’t sure what he was going to say. He didn’t know where they would go from here. 

So when he found that his time was up, he didn’t say anything or move. He just stared at Korosensei’s old podium and waited to think of something. 

No more lies left to tell. What an odd realization. 

Karasuma stared just as plainly, not moving and not speaking. Giving Karma room to breathe. 

It was suffocating. 

“F*cking say something at least” Karma muttered. 

“Watch your mouth” 

He laughed mostly from the shock of it all and then shook his head. “That’s all you got? Really?” he asked pulling his feet up onto the desk to sit crisscrossed. “I ran away, again, because I found out my parents tried to have me killed, and all you have to tell me is: watch your mouth?” bite the bullet, don’t get grazed. Karma was proud of himself for saying it all without letting his voice shake. 

Things were different now. Saying things that scared him weren’t as easy as they used to be. He was just as confident as when he jumped off the cliff to kill Korosensei, but his confidence wasn’t the problem. Back then, he didn’t care about anyone else and no one cared about him. It was his relationships that changed…his emotions. 

Gross. 

Karasuma sighed and moved further into the classroom, stopping when he was able to lean against the chair in front of where Karma sat. It was clear from the tired expression on his face that Karasuma was not surprised by Karma’s trauma dump. 

“So, you already knew then” Karma deduced. How long have you known? How did you figure it out? Was my room bugged?

Wait, since when did I think of it as ‘my room’? 

“No.” Karasuma corrected and Karma’s brows furrowed. “But I’m not surprised.”

“How’d ya figure?” 

“They’ve left you alone for months. Don’t contact you” Karasuma started, every word making Karma more tense. Hearing the reality he’d been living in for years felt wrong. His secrets being out in the open. “They never sent you funds or tried to visit. That’s not normal parental behavior. It’s-”

“Neglect?” Karma suggested in a hush. I already know that. I’ve always known that much. I’m an idiot for not considering-

“Abuse” 

Karma’s breathing stuttered and he could’ve sworn his eye twitched. He wasn’t really sure why. He just confessed that his parents hired an assassin to kill him so why was he upset at hearing the word ‘abuse’? It made him want to run. It’s true. It made him want to disappear.

It’s true and it hurts. 

“They’re completely undeserving of you,” Karasuma said. “And, I’m sorry.” 

Idiot. Karma shook his head and folded his hand in his lap. I don’t need anyone’s apology.  “Don’t be. I can take care of myself. I don’t need them.” He reassured but Karasuma didn’t look convinced. 

“That’s not what I was apologizing for” Karasuma corrected. “I know I can’t control everything. Your parent’s choices were completely their own. They’ll get what they have coming to them.”

Ok, what the h*ll does that mean-

“I’m sorry that I didn’t see it sooner.” 

…what?

Karma stared as his teacher continued.

“I should’ve seen it. Said something.” Karasuma said gently and Karma dug his nails into his palms as his hand began to shake. 

“I knew that your home life wasn’t good” 

shut up.  

“and as your teacher I should’ve looked into it. It was my job to look after you and I failed.”

Shut the f*ck up.

“They never should’ve had the chance to do this to you.”

Karma took a breath and tried to think of something to say. 

“I’m strong enough to do it on my own.” he wanted to say, but he couldn’t not when he knew it wasn’t true. If it had been, he would’ve seen through his parents’ lies years ago. He would’ve called his mother’s bluff when she said they had to leave on his birthday. He would’ve screamed at his father when he started to rent out Karma’s bedroom to a stranger. 

He would’ve realized that normal teenagers don’t have to live on their own before they’re in high school. 

I’m so stupid. Karma’s eyes burned. 

He shoved his hands into his face with the hopes of intimidating his emotions back into the crevice of his soul that they’d crawled out of. Crocodile level tears rolling past his knuckles and onto his desk. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. 

“S not your fault” Karma said, voice warbling. “I should’ve known.” I should’ve done something. “All the signs were there that they hated me.” 

“It is my fault.” his teacher interrupted instantly. “As it is Irina’s and that d*mned octopus. You were handling things but we shouldn’t have let you” Karasuma corrected putting a hand on Karma’s knee. 

Karma didn’t even notice that he didn’t flinch at the motion at all. 

Regardless of the reassurance he shook his head anyway and finished pushing any sign of his outburst off his face. “Parents don’t just try to kill their kids. I’ve never been the ideal son. I’m sure they would’ve been normal people with a kid like Nagisa.” 

He was very offended when he heard Karasuma force down a small laugh. “Sorry” Karasuma apologized with a soft smile. “It’s just funny that you view Nagisa as normal.” 

Karma nodded and swallowed more tears. “Yeah alright” he agreed forcing his smirk back on his face. “Bad example.” Actually, I don’t know if anyone in our class is a good example. The most behaved of them all was probably Itona. So, you know, very low bar. 

“It’s gonna be ok” Karasuma told him and Karma sighed. 

“Right. I just gotta move, likely change schools when they discover I don’t have guardians, and create an entirely new identity.” he agreed feeling his heart hammer at the thought of the mess he had in front of him. 

No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t go back to the way things were before. 

His safety was completely compromised in his old apartment. Who knows how many hired guns knew where he lived. Karma’s school likely wasn’t much better and unfortunately was also filled with innocent civilian children. Not only would he risk his life in going back, but the lives of his classmates would also come into question. 

In short-

“My life is ruined.” 

“You’re life is not ruined” Karasuma argued and Karma found himself laughing. 

“Oh? And what would you call it?” Karasuma sure picked a funny time to be an optimist. “Don’t you get it? I have nothing left. Nowhere.” He explained gripping his hair as he tried to run a hand through it. Maybe I really am going crazy. 

“That isn’t true Karma.” Karasuma corrected and before Karma could bother to interrupt the older man was grabbing his hand and pulling it away from where he’d ripped out a few hairs. The surprise of the action caused Karma to allow his teacher to collect his full attention, hand now gently placed on his lap. “You have a place with me and Irina.” 

Karma stared as Karasuma paused and tried to gather his thoughts. 

He’s serious about this. The very thing he’d been anxious about, what he’d told Asuno was true. Karasuma wanted him to stay. 

They want me?

“It may not be perfect and it doesn’t change that your parents have caused you a lot of pain and trouble lately but it’s safe.” 

Safe. 

“Your room still needs a few things but it’s close enough that you won’t have to change schools. We’ll sort out a new safety plan.”

My room. 

“Despite what your parents have said or done, you are not hard to love Karma.”

Did he just say love?

“You are welcome home with us.” Karasuma finished and Karma hated it. 

He hated it, because while his lip trembled and his hands went cold, he felt more safe than any moment he’d spent with his parents. His stomach was in knots and his legs felt shaky but his heart was sure even with his head spinning in circles. 

He was wanted. 

“If you don’t want that we can-”

Karma didn’t bother letting Karasuma finish that thought before launching himself at his former teacher. 

Strong, warm, arms instantly caught him balancing them against the small student desks. “Shut the f*ck up” he muttered into Karasuma’s neck as he wrapped his arms around the man as tight as he could manage without hurting him. When even was the last time he’d had this?

Karasuma held him just as tight and when Karma’s tears couldn’t be kept at bay any longer, he made no comments on it. He ran a hand gently through his hair and stayed still. As if the smallest move would make Karma vanish. 

“M sorry. I was-” Karma tried not to choke himself as he spoke pulling his head away just enough to get air. “It scares me. The things I can’t stab” he admitted cringing at his own d*mned feelings but Karasuma just shook his head. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. His teachers were never supposed to see past his lies or care that no one was home. They weren’t supposed to help save him from his abusive parents. 

So why was Karma so happy that it didn’t go the way he wanted?

 Karma allowed the hug to continue a moment more but pulled away when he felt his not-teacher take a deep breath. “It scares me too” Karasuma told him offering up his handkerchief. Karma took it and harshly scrubbed any sign of his breakdown off his face. “Both when I married Irina and when I met all of my students.” 

I’d be scared to marry miss h*llab*tch  too. 

“But over time, it becomes less scary. You just need to give yourself a chance to get used to it.”

As Karasuma gestured for him to stand and follow, Karma smiled at Korosensei’s old desk.

“Take advantage of what you have while you have it” Korossensei instructed. 

Karma shut the door.

You got it teach.