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Nagisa let out a heavy sigh as he slumped his shoulders. In front of him was nothing but a gray brick wall, and to his left were the bars of a holding cell.
Nagisa Shiota, a teacher with no prior criminal record or history, had just been arrested for assaulting someone in a back alley.
It was just after work when it happened. He was on his way home after work, ready to just go home and relax. However, as he turned a corner, he spotted a mugger down a back alley trying to rob a woman at knife point.
Nagisa didn't hesitate. There was no need to, his mind had already mapped the angles, measured the distance, calculated the risks. There was only one thing left to do.
He surged forward and closed the gap. Within moments, he had taken the mugger into a chokehold from behind.
The mugger hadn't seen it coming at all. His attention was no longer on the girl, but rather on Nagisa, desperately trying to free himself from Nagisa's grasp. His attempts however were in vain, and it wouldn't be long before he would pass out.
After a moment longer, the mugger stopped moving, incapacitated, but most definitely still alive.
Nagisa looked around for the girl, but it appeared she ran off during the commotion. He let out a sigh of relief.
All's well that ends well, right?
Or, that would have been the case, if only Nagisa wasn't so unlucky. If only a police officer didn't have to suddenly round the corner at that very moment.
There he was, holding a slumped figure in a chokehold in the middle of a dark alley.
Nagisa saw the expression on the police officer's face, and knew he had to explain himself, and quickly.
Unfortunately, “Don't worry, he's not dead, just unconscious.” Was not the right choice of words in that situation.
Nagisa was put under arrest shortly after, and now found himself in a holding cell at the nearby police station.
“Do I get a phone call at least? Is that how this works?” Nagisa called out from within the holding cell.
A few seconds later, a cop walked up to the cell. “Nagisa Shiota, is it? Teacher, no prior criminal record, arrested for allegedly assaulting someone in an alley, correct?”
“Listen, there's been a bit of a misunderstanding, but I can explain-” Nagisa began, before being interrupted.
“Yes or no? Answer the question first. We’ll take your statement later.” The cop said, dismissively.
Nagisa let out another sigh. “Yes.”
“Ok, your phone call. You only get one. If they don't pick up, that still counts as your one call. Here's the form, please fill out their name, contact number.” The cop said, passing a clipboard through the cell bars. “If they pick up you'll have the opportunity to speak with them.”
Nagisa took the clipboard, staring at the form nervously. He took a deep breath, and wrote down the first name and number that came to mind.
Karma Akabane.
The Karma Akabane, up-and-coming bureaucrat who's managed to make quite the name for himself in recent months.
The same Karma Akabane who also just so happened to be Nagisa's boyfriend.
Nagisa passed the clipboard back to the cop.
I hope Karma doesn't make fun of me too much…
The cop stared at the paperwork for a moment, before glancing up at Nagisa. “Are you sure that's who you want? Remember, one call only.”
“I’m still not sure if I even want him to pick up, to be honest.” Nagisa muttered quietly.
The cop raised an eyebrow curiously, but decided it wasn't worth his time. “If Mr Akabane for some reason picks up and is interested in talking with you, we'll let you know.”
The cop walked off. Nagisa was once again alone.
Could today get any worse?
A couple minutes later, the same cop from earlier returned, a phone in his hand. “Today's your lucky day, Mr Shiota. No idea why, but apparently Mr Akabane is interested in speaking with you.”
“Thanks.” Nagisa said, eagerly taking the phone from the police officer as he passed it through the bars.
“Hi, Karma.” Nagisa spoke into the phone, trying to sound as casual as possible.
“So, Nagisa, mind telling me why I just got a call from the police?” Karma's voice spoke through the phone, his voice teasing.
Skipping straight to the point then?
“Well, it's actually a funny story, Karma.” Nagisa replied, his voice shaking slightly.
“I bet it is. Good timing too. I think I need a good laugh after today's boring meetings.” Nagisa heard Karma sigh from the other end of the line. “You wouldn't believe how little is actually discussed in two hours- oh but I should probably save that for when I have to come rescue you, right? So, why'd my boyfriend get arrested?”
Honestly, just hearing Karma's voice was enough to help Nagisa relax a bit. He knew that he could get himself out of this situation by himself, but if Karma could help him, it would make a world of difference.
“I… subdued someone who was trying to rob a person, but a cop only saw the aftermath.” Nagisa explained, choosing his words with particular care.
Karma let out a light laugh. “Subdued, huh? So, let me just make sure I'm on the same page here. You were choking someone out, and a cop happened to walk by at the wrong moment? Do I have that right?”
“...More or less.” Nagisa admitted.
“I'm curious, did you at least try explaining yourself?” Karma teased.
“Well… yes, but… that may have made things worse, actually.” Nagisa paused for a moment before continuing. “Don't worry, he's not dead, just unconscious, is what I said.”
After Nagisa finished speaking, there was silence, nothing.
Nagisa was worried that the call had somehow disconnected. That was until he heard Karma laughing on the other end of the line. “Oh my god, Nagisa, are you serious right now?”
Nagisa groaned.
Of course he found this funny, why wouldn't he?
“...Ok, I know I led into it saying it was funny, but… it's not that funny, Karma.” He muttered, slumping his shoulders.
Eventually, Karma's laughter died down.
“No, no, you're right, it's not funny.” he said, pausing deliberately. “It's hilarious. Ok, what station are you at? I'll see if I can help you clear this up.”
“Wait? Right now? Aren't you still at work?” Nagisa asked.
“And? Y'know, while I'm absolutely flattered that you consider me such a hard worker… you'd have to be an idiot to think I'm going to prioritise government paperwork over helping out my boyfriend who just got arrested. No offense of course.” Karma teased.
Nagisa let out a sigh of relief, a fond smile forming on his face.
“Anyway, I'll be there in fifteen. If you get bored you can always start counting the bricks.” Karma added.
“Right, I'll see you soon.” Nagisa said, ending the call and passing the phone back to the police officer.
It was a little over fifteen minutes later when Karma had arrived at the police station.
Nagisa wished he could say it was a surprise, but unfortunately Karma's entrance was anything but subtle.
What gave it away?
Was it the sudden, complete silence that fell when he walked in?
Or maybe it was the panicked rushing and whispered exclamations that Nagisa overheard from his cell a moment later?
It was probably both. Only one person could cause so much chaos without even raising a finger.
Nagisa actually felt a twinge of guilt for the officers. It wasn't his intention to unleash Karma on them like this, but unfortunately Karma felt otherwise.
Peering through the bars, Nagisa spotted him immediately. Karma was leaning casually against the reception desk with that all too familiar smug grin on his face. One officer has gone completely pale, while the poor, unfortunate receptionist forced a casual smile.
Nagisa groaned internally. I'm definitely apologising for this later… somehow.
The receptionist pointed Karma to the back of the police station, and he began walking his way over towards the holding cell.
“Nice place you got here, very minimalistic.” Karma said as he surveyed the holding cell’s interior with a teasing grin.
“Karma!” Nagisa said, swiftly getting up from his seat and walking up to the cell bars. “You actually came.”
“Obviously. You think I was just going to pass up the opportunity to see you, innocent teacher Nagisa Shiota, behind bars? I wouldn't miss it for the world.” Karma said with an amused laugh. “So, did they take your statement yet?”
“...were they supposed to?” Nagisa asked hesitantly.
“Were they supposed to?” Karma repeated, before letting out a tired sigh. “Yes, yes they should've. So, what about the guy you choked out, where is he?”
“I don't know.” Nagisa answered, closing his eyes in concentration. “They brought us both in together, but after they put me in here I lost sight of him.”
“Right… ok, just sit tight, then. I'll go have a friendly chat with the police officers about your little situation here.” Karma explained, already walking off.
“Ok, just please don't do anything illegal!” Nagisa called from the holding cell.
Karma let out a laugh. “Why not? Don't you want some company in there? Kidding, kidding, nothing illegal.”
As Karma walked out of view, all Nagisa could do was sit down and wait.
If he listened closely, he could just barely overhear Karma's conversation with the other officers. Not that it mattered, because whatever Karma was saying was beyond Nagisa's understanding. Talks of bureaucratic process, half-accusations, and thinly-veiled half-threats. All very Karma.
A few moments later Karma returned, with one of the police officers by his side.
“Congratulations, Mr Shiota. You're being released with no charges at this time.” The police officer said as he unlocked the holding cell door. “Consider yourself lucky that you have such a persuasive friend.”
“Yeah, Nagisa, you should consider yourself lucky.” Karma added with a teasing glint in his eyes.
I sure don't feel lucky right now…
Nagisa thought to himself, already preparing himself mentally for the endless teasing that was to come.
He stepped out of the cell and towards Karma. “So, how'd you convince them to let me go?”
“Nothing much. Just brought up how there's a process for this sort of thing, and that ignoring it can have… unpleasant consequences.” Karma explained with a smug grin.
“Also, lucky for you, it turns out that the person you ‘subdued’ was being rather uncooperative with the other officers. Not to mention he already has a criminal record for mugging. All I did was help… convince them that letting you off with anything harsher would be more trouble than it's worth.” He added, his tone calm but his words undoubtedly dangerous.
“You’re dangerous, you know that?” Nagisa said, following Karma out of the station. On his way out, Nagisa retrieved his belongings.
“Dangerous? Coming from the one who just got arrested? Aren't you being a bit hypocritical?” Karma said, grinning.
“It was to protect someone, and I didn't do anything too deadly to them.” Nagisa replied.
“Right, right. You didn't kill him, only rendered him unconscious. Real smooth of you.” Karma said, mockingly. “Now let's get home. Also, I'll be telling the whole group chat about this.”
“Of course you would.” Nagisa said, with a deflated sigh. “Please don't leave out too much context, at least.”
Karma pulled out his phone and began typing away, reading out loud as he did so. “Just had to bail Nagisa out of the police station. He choked someone until they passed out. Send. That about sums it up, right?”
Immediately, Nagisa felt his phone go off in his pocket. It was most certainly the group chat. Nagisa reached for his phone… then froze. “Karma, what did I just say about leaving out context?”
Today was already exhausting enough. He could deal with the group chat later.
“What? Nothing I said was false, necessarily. Just explain the situation to the group chat the way you explained it to the police officers, and I'm sure you'll have this simple misunderstanding resolved.”
“You're gonna pay for this, Karma.” Nagisa muttered.
“I don't know~” Karma replied in a mock sing-song tone. “I did just help bail you out, which means you do owe me one. I know, how about we say we're even?”
Nagisa groaned. Karma had a point, which only annoyed him more. “Ok, we're even. Thanks again, Karma.”
“Don't even mention it.” Karma said, pulling Nagisa closer by the shoulder. “Anything for my, apparent criminal, boyfriend. Next time, try to avoid getting caught at least.”
“Is that any way for a government official to be talking?” Nagisa asked, letting Karma pull him closer.
“Probably not, but teachers shouldn't be getting arrested for assault, should they?”
“You're never going to let me live this down, are you, Karma?”
“Nope.” Karma answered simply.
Nagisa leaned against Karma's side.
“Nagisa, you know it's hard to walk when you do that.” Karma said, glancing down at him.
“I'm getting my revenge.” Nagisa replied, not budging from his position.
“And after I went out of my way to help rescue you, this is how you repay me?”
“I don't see you pushing me away, y'know.” Nagisa said.
“Maybe I should turn us around and go back to the police station?” Despite his words, Karma held Nagisa by his side.
“Maybe I'll choke you out before you can.” Nagisa jokingly threatened as he continued to cling to Karma's side while they walked.
“What? So I can bail you out again?” Karma added.
While later on Nagisa would have to worry about clearing up all the misconceptions going on in the group chat, for the time being, he decided he would just enjoy the walk home with Karma.