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It was lunch break, and Karma was strolling around looking for somewhere comfortable, somewhere he could laze around and pass the time.
Koro-sensei must've been in a good mood today. Didn't think it was possible for him to be any more obnoxious.
Karma thought to himself as he wandered mindlessly, eventually leading him to the forest just across from the E Class building. As he continued walking between the trees, he spotted that all too familiar blue hair poking out from behind a tree.
“Nagisa-kun, what’s someone like you doing out here? Decide that the rest of our classmates are too annoying to be around?” Karma accused teasingly, circling around the tree until he was standing in front of Nagisa.
Nagisa was currently sitting down, back up against a tree as he flipped through a notepad. However he stopped the moment Karma addressed him, turning his head to look up at him.
“Oh, hey Karma-kun. I was just going over my notes on Koro-sensei.” Nagisa's brow furrowed. “We know a lot of his weaknesses now, so surely we can use some combination of them to assassinate him.”
“And here I thought you were out here just slacking off.” Karma said as he dropped down to sit next to him. “So, any luck, or is all that thinking just for show?”
“Well… I haven't come up with anything yet. A lot of his weaknesses are rather… situational at best.” Nagisa replied, deep in thought.
“Also some of them are just completely useless.“ He muttered quietly.
“Of course they are. He may be our teacher, but he's also our target. As if he'd give away any meaningful weaknesses.” Karma said as he stretched his arms overhead. Karma felt like laying down.
“At least we've still got more than half a year left. That's plenty of time to find out more of his weaknesses… not that we've really got much of a choice...” Nagisa said as he continued to scan over his notes.
Karma glanced over at Nagisa, taking in that concentrated expression of his. He found it amusing to look at.
Karma hadn't noticed he was still staring, his eyes lingering on Nagisa's face.
Nagisa cleared his throat with a cough, his cheeks reddening slightly and his eyes drifting elsewhere. “Karma-kun, is there something on my face?”
Karma froze, before calmly turning his attention straight ahead. “Yeah, a bit of dirt, actually. It was distracting me.” He lied. “Guess that'll happen if you decide to sit in the middle of the forest though.”
“Don't worry, you got it.” Karma added, as he watched Nagisa from the corner of his eye try to remove the non-existent dirt he had mentioned.
What a strange thing for me to lie about, since when do I need excuses?
Karma thought to himself, before deciding not to think about it any further.
Whatever, it's not like it matters anyway. Can't go making things weird between us.
“So, were you going to spend the whole lunch period out here alone then? If so, that's pretty sad, Nagisa-kun.” he paused, glancing back over at Nagisa's face. “I guess it's a good thing you've got me to keep you company.”
“Are you sure? If you want to be somewhere else, I won't force you to stay.” Nagisa said, tilting his head.
“You're too nice, you know that? If I didn't want to stay, I wouldn't be sitting next to you, would I?” Karma replied, his tone a fraction more defensive than necessary.
“...So annoying…” he muttered to himself.
Seriously… What's with my chest today? Lack of sleep?
“Sorry, Karma-kun, what was that last part? I couldn't quite hear you.” Nagisa asked sheepishly.
“Nothing that you need to worry about.” Karma replied.
I must just be tired. Lying down for a bit should fix it.
Karma thought to himself, deciding that maybe a change of position would help get his mind off of… things.
Karma stretched his arms out once more, and turned around on the spot, before letting himself fall backwards onto the forest floor.
However, when he felt the back of his head make contact with the ground, it wasn't against the forest floor as he was expecting.
For a moment, Karma was confused. Wasn't his head a bit too high up to be on the ground already? Wasn't the ground a bit warmer than it should be? And, most importantly, why could he see Nagisa's face looking down at him from directly above?
Nagisa-kun's face sure is red.
“Karma-kun? What are you doing?” Nagisa stammered.
What am I doing?
A beat passed as Karma asked himself that, reality slowly catching up with him.
Warm.
Soft.
Not dirt.
…
Oh.
He suddenly froze, closing his eyes before his expression could betray him.
“Felt like lying down.” He eventually replied, his tone casual and unbothered.
Not entirely a lie.
So… I'm resting on Nagisa's lap.…
And he hasn't shoved me off yet.
…Interesting.
…
Getting up now would only draw attention to it.
Karma felt heat rising to his face. It was irritating. The fact it irritated him only made the heat rise faster.
Well, if he isn't going to make a big deal about this, then there's certainly no point in me doing so.
…It's just a lap, after all.
That's it.
“R-right.” Nagisa stammered, returning to his notepad, though clearly struggling to focus.
“Just ignore me. I'll be down here catching some shut-eye.” Karma said casually, very aware that Nagisa kept glancing down at him.
For some reason it was annoying him.
He didn't like that he didn't understand why.
He was just using Nagisa's lap as a convenient pillow, after all.
Yet here he was, obsessing over it.
How irritating.
The faint blush on his face refused to go away.
How annoying.
How long was he going to stay like this?
How long would Nagisa let him?
Minutes passed, and Karma continued to stay in place.
Nagisa's lap was comfortable, not that he planned on doing this again. This was just an accident, after all.
Apparently, Nagisa had gotten somewhat used to it too, not struggling to concentrate as much.
“...Maybe if we can get Koro-sensei motion sick, we could douse him with water, and then he might be slowed down enough for one of us to land a hit?” Nagisa mused.
“What? Like get him to ride a log flume? I think he'd see it coming then surprise us with some new stupid ability of his.” Karma replied.
“If we end up going to an amusement park, it's worth a shot. I was thinking we could maybe ambush him with some water guns next time we take a train. He might get mad at us for making a mess on the train though.” Nagisa said as he furrowed his brow in concentration, flicking through his notepad for any other weaknesses that may help.
Karma shifted slightly in Nagisa's lap.
He felt Nagisa suddenly freeze.
“Karma-kun. It's… kind of embarrassing when you move around like that.” Nagisa said quietly.
…
“Then push me off.” Karma eventually replied after a moment's delay, tone deliberately challenging.
At least I'm not the only embarrassed one…
…
…What?
Karma furrowed his brow, in frustrated confusion.
That... was just an intrusive thought, obviously... right? People think things they don't mean all the time. No use thinking any further on it.
He was fine.
What a stupid thing to worry about.
There was no point overthinking it.
“Whatever,” Nagisa sighed. “If you're comfortable, I suppose I can put up with it for a little while longer. We've got to go to class in a few minutes, though.”
A few minutes…
The words looped in Karma's head, sticking like glue.
“How accommodating of you, Nagisa-kun. Have you considered a career in being a pillow? Who knows, maybe it's your calling.” Karma said, grinning.
“Karma-kun, are you… feeling ok? Your face is kinda red.” Nagisa asked, peering down at him with that innocent expression of his.
That's just cheating, Nagisa-kun…
Karma thought to himself, decidingingly looking away.
“I'm fine, it's just hot today. You worry too much, you know that?” He said as he made his head a little more comfortable in Nagisa's lap.
May as well make myself comfortable… or something.
The minutes flew by, silent, but peaceful.
Nagisa's lap was… rather comfortable, all things considered.
Was it the most comfortable place? Absolutely not.
A regular pillow would easily win.
Yet, if someone offered him one right now, he would be hesitant to accept.
He'd already made himself comfortable.
He can't be bothered to get up.
…Or any other excuse really.
Whatever excuse works.
…
Something in his chest tightened.
Guilt? As if he was lying?
It was irritating. Who could he possibly be lying to right now?
…
The lack of an answer was even more irritating.
…
How annoying.
Eventually, Karma realised just how much time had passed, and reluctantly lifted his gaze up towards Nagisa.
“...We should probably head to class before Koro-sensei starts looking for us, huh?” Karma eventually suggested, after a final beat of hesitation. His tone was unbothered, but with a hint of something else underneath.
Nagisa stared down at him curiously. Those big blue eyes fixed on him. Staring at him intensely with overwhelming innocence and seriousness. Locked onto his eyes.
Karma felt his chest tighten again. He looked away in an act of self defense.
Don't look at me like that.
Nagisa had a talent for being able to read people. Something that Karma was well aware of. He didn't know what the full extent of this talent even was, but he did know one thing.
He didn't want to be read right now.
He felt vulnerable, and he hated every second of it. It was an uncomfortable twisting in his gut. Somewhere along the way, his control had slipped. He needed to get it back, it wasn't even a question.
It felt like several minutes had passed.
It couldn't have been more than a few seconds.
Had Nagisa said something?
…Was he about to?
Karma didn't want to find out.
With almost eager enthusiasm, he pushed himself up and off of Nagisa's lap.
“Well, come on, then. I'm curious to see what the big octopus plans on teaching us today. I hear Terasaka’s been plotting something too. Should be entertaining, especially when it blows up in his face.” Karma said, stretching his arms overhead.
He offered a hand to Nagisa. “Go on. Get up. If we’re late, I'm blaming you.”
Nagisa blinked once, then twice, before finally taking his hand.
…Soft.
Karma let the thought linger, just for a moment, before yanking on Nagisa's hand and hauling him upright.
“H-hey! Karma-kun! Be careful!” Nagisa stammered, flailing slightly to keep his balance.
“Why? You've clearly got good balance.” Karma replied with a grin, letting go of Nagisa's hand.
“I still could've fallen over, you know.” Nagisa said, patting down his uniform.
“Could've, but didn't.” Karma said dismissively, hands behind his head as he walked on ahead.
He knew Nagisa would catch up to him shortly, so he kept his eyes ahead, not turning to look back even once.
Just as predicted, a moment later he heard the sound of Nagisa's footsteps approaching him from behind. Sprinting lightly at first, before falling into step from just behind.
Which was why Karma didn't need to glance over his shoulder.
It most certainly, definitely, absolutely, had nothing to do with the flushed expression he could no longer hide.
The expression, of course, certainly, definitely, absolutely had nothing to do with Nagisa.
I wonder if Nagisa will be out here tomorrow as well?