Work Text:
It was incredibly late at night, but the teacher failed to fall asleep. He laid on his back in bed letting the clock tick down the time. There was a bit of excitement for the next morning in his brain. He had important plans. It made him too worked up to sleep. He stared at the ceiling fan that softly spun around above his head, pushing cool air throughout the bedroom. If only he had something warm, but the spot next to him was empty and cold. All he could do was wait for the owner of the spot to return and warm it up.
In the silence in the small home, he heard the front door open and close. His head tilted back and peered at the time from the nightstand’s digital clock. It was nearly the next day in the early morning, but the other had managed to get home before the day officially changed. Work always managed to keep the other out too late. The teacher’s lips shifted as he chewed the inside of his cheek.
As the other made their way through the house, they moved exceptionally quietly. The teacher smiled to himself, thinking of how the person was most likely walking on the tips of their toes to be a quiet mouse throughout the home to get to their bedroom. With a sleepy grin, he turned onto his side and curled up, closing his eyes to fake being asleep.
Suddenly, the bedroom door opened. Instinctively, he slowed his breathing, remaining as still as possible. He heard the footsteps shuffle inside carefully. As much as he wanted the other to quickly warm up the other side of the bed and get in with him, he also had a little test he wanted to run. They had been married for a handful of years, so he felt like he could predict what the other would do if they got home to him sleeping. He was sure it was what had been done in the past, but of course, he had always truly been sleeping before. Now, he could figure it out.
Scenes played out in his head in a million different ways while he had been lying there waiting for their return. But in the end, he settled on one choice in which he thought was the best and most reasonable answer. It was the moment of truth.
The person walked over with soft footsteps. They lowered themself to kneel beside the bed. They reached over and gently brushed the teacher’s bangs from his sleeping face. They put a kiss on his forehead that was a simple, light peck. They stared for a moment longer before they stood up and headed for the bathroom off the master bedroom.
Once the teacher heard the bathroom door shut, his eyes opened, he smiled like an idiot, and he rolled onto his back. He almost felt like a teenager with a crush as he got giddy about it. How romantic and sweet his husband was to drop by and kiss his sleeping face.
After some time, he turned back onto his side and waited for his husband to be done out of the shower. Once he heard the knob squeal and the shower shut off, he closed his eyes again in wait. There were soon footsteps again walking over to the empty side of the bed. The longing, empty space almost cried in joy.
He felt the blanket resting over him get pinched and pulled up as the other began to sneak their way underneath the covers with him. The teacher breathed carefully, keeping it steady as he waited for any more additional sweet moves from his husband while he ‘slept’.
“Nagisa, I know you’ve been awake.”
Nagisa froze. Ah. Really? Then again, Karma wasn’t any worse than he was when it came to what they had learned all those years ago. Karma had always been greatly impressive.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and sat up. He moved on his elbows beside Karma and looked down at the redhead staring at him in the dark. Nagisa offered him a slight frown.
“Yet you still pretended I was sleeping all up until you laid down.”
“I was humoring you,” Karma replied. He reached over and hooked a finger around one of Nagisa’s loosely-hanging blue hair. His own red hair was damp and spread out on the pillow, and the shower made his skin shiny and seemingly glow in the dark.
With a laugh, Karma asked, “What are you pretending to be asleep for?”
“I’m seeing how nice you treat me when I don’t know it,” Nagisa replied. His cover was blown, so Nagisa poked Karma’s arm. With an easy understanding, Karma raised his arm and put it around Nagisa’s back, and Nagisa leaned in. He placed his head on Karma’s arm for a pillow. His palm went to Karma’s bare chest, feeling his warmth under his touch. There was a beating on his palm as Karma’s breath hitched slightly. Even after all their years, Karma still had a reaction.
“Did you take tomorrow off?” he suddenly asked, ignoring Karma’s response to his touch.
Karma drew in a slight inhale through his nose. Nagisa, again, could feel the movements under his palm. It was a little gratifying to make Karma’s physical body shudder. Instead of a verbal reply, Karma gave a soft, agreeing hum.
“And it’s off for good?”
Karma gave a light chuckle. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, every time I tell you to clear your schedule for something, you end up filling it up again,” Nagisa deadpanned.
“I’m a busy man,” Karma answered. He bent his arm that Nagisa laid his head on and curled his wrist, reaching Nagisa’s hair with his fingers. “It’s not easy being a bureaucrat.”
“You find everything else easy about it,” Nagisa argued.
“Well, the work is easy. I’m a genius, Nagisa. It’s the juggling back and forth that’s a pain in my ass.” Karma suddenly turned. He brought up his other arm and wrapped it around Nagisa, pulling him closer to him. Nagisa was shifted into his chest. “I have to split my time up between so many different people, including you.”
“I don’t think I’m that difficult to please,” Nagisa said.
“You’re not.” Karma put his face into Nagisa’s hair and muttered, “I’m probably the difficult one.”
“Probably?”
Karma mulled on it for only a second: “I’m the difficult one.” Nagisa laughed at his compliance. He turned into Karma’s chest completely and closed his eyes to sleep.
Morning rolled around smoothly after that. The comfort he needed to rest easy for an important day was none other than his husband’s warmth. Nagisa slept with ease. And when he woke up, he felt groggy and as if he did not want to ever leave the comfortable hold. Karma’s arms were still wrapped around him. He turned his head into his chest and closed his eyes, wanting a little bit more time. Even if he couldn’t fall back asleep.
They had to go back today. It wasn’t as if Nagisa hated it there, but going there did make his stomach feel weird.
Suddenly, Karma muttered something as his eyes cracked open. He grumbled while he woke up. Nagisa pulled away to watch the lids draw back as the reddish-orange eyes were revealed. The owner of the red eyes realized he had been being stared at.
“What?” Karma asked, his voice slightly groveled. “What?”
“Nothing,” Nagisa said. “I was looking.”
“And you call me the pervert,” Karma grumbled tiredly. His arms tightened around Nagisa and hugged him closer. “Ten minutes.”
“We have more than ten minutes.”
“Give me it all then.”
Nagisa laughed. “Okay.”
If someone had walked up to Nagisa when he first met Karma and they had told him ‘Hey, that’s the guy you’re going to marry! He’s going to be super sweet and doting in private. He’s going to make you swoon. Trust me. This guy is a romantic! Nothing like how he seems with everyone else. You’re going to love him back just as much.’ he would have laughed in their face. There was no way. Akabane Karma? A romantic? To him? No shot.
He was so stupidly wrong. Karma was the epitome of a good husband. While Karma was still Karma, he proved to be a sweeter version of himself behind closed doors. He still bullied Nagisa, but it was with love and adoration, and Nagisa could feel it. There were no regrets marrying Karma.
Except when he was so damn perverted.
Karma stirred slightly. His hand had been placed on Nagisa’s waist. It suddenly began to rub in circles, pressing in slightly for a little bit of pressure. Because he knew Nagisa could take it and liked it. His fingers rubbed into the hip and slipped down, sliding back and forth on his waistline in a tease.
Nagisa gave him a soft grumble and gently swatted at the hand touching his hip. “Karma,” he said in a grumble.
“Mm?”
“We have something important to do today.”
“I know.”
“So, don’t,” Nagisa warned.
Karma chuckled and put his face into Nagisa’s neck. “Where’s the fun in that?” His touch sank lower. He pinched at Nagisa’s thighs. The pressure when he massaged into his hips got stronger. Nagisa gave a slight whine and did a shove on Karma’s bare chest.
“Karma.”
“Nagisa.” His breath came beside Nagisa’s ear. “If you don’t want me touching you, then you should probably do something about it, mm?”
“Fine.” Before Karma could think about Nagisa’s words, he was shoved. Karma’s back went flush against the bed when Nagisa roughly pushed back on him. He let out a small noise, but it was mainly from amusement. A grin cracked on his face as he watched Nagisa swing his leg and straddle his waist.
“I said don’t,” Nagisa repeated, now sitting on top of Karma. He wanted to be intimidating, but Karma was someone who was impossible to break. His face, in Karma’s opinion, was too cute, especially when he attempted dominance. Instead of agreeing and standing down, Karma placed his hands on his hips and pulled him down harder on top of him.
“If you sit on me like that, I’ll get worked up,” Karma said.
“I think it was perfectly fine before to call you a pervert,” Nagisa retaliated, crossing his arms.
“Rock your hips.”
“No.”
“Humor me,” Karma pleaded. “Come on, Nagisa.”
“Did you forget what we have to do today?” Nagisa questioned, remaining stubborn. He felt Karma’s thumbs begin to pinch deeper into his hips; he ignored it as best as he could, but it did feel good.
“I don’t see what that has to do with morning sex,” Karma grumbled, maintaining an innocent look.
“We have to meet up with everyone again,” Nagisa said. “After ten years.”
“Again, I see how nothing about a ten year anniversary has to deal with me wanting morning sex.”
Nagisa dropped his head and sighed. “Because you tire me out after sex,” he admitted in a quiet voice, his face taking on a shade of red, flushing with embarrassment.
“I’ll take it easy on you,” Karma said.
“Thanks,” Nagisa replied sarcastically.
“You’re welcome,” Karma said, grinning, flashing the sharp tooth he still had after all his years. “So?”
Nagisa was too good at resistance. He gave him a cute smile, denied him, and hopped off the bed, heading to the bathroom before Karma managed to think of something to retort with.
Once they all filled their lives out and started to be their own people, the deserted class of 3-E was left to slowly rot away. They purchased the entire mountain to keep the memories of that year, desperately wanting to save what they had left of the alien that made the deepest impression on their lives, but they were all too busy. No one had the time to worry about dusting and keeping watch out for vandalization. Every so often, someone remembered to pay someone to go and clean up a bit, but it could not stop the inevitable decay.
Nagisa felt a little heart broken as he stepped through the threshold of the old building’s front entrance. The floorboards creaked loudly with a hiss. Dust whispered under his feet. He frowned and kept walking, his eyes bouncing around by instinct. It was a trained motion how he first looked down the hallway all the way from the front to the end, and then his eyes would come back forward, reading the signs as he returned his gaze.
His mind played an echoed memory in his head. It was him and Sugino running down the hallway, laughing as they raced to the baseball field. Another memory fluttered by of him and Nakamura chatting about a recent romance comic that had started serializing. Then a painful stab in his chest as he thought he saw that large, yellow figure giving him a gentle poke in the forehead as he told him he achieved good marks.
“Nagisa?” Behind him, Karma placed a hand on his lower back and dropped his head near his ear, whispering quietly to him out of concern. Nagisa turned his head slowly and gave him a small laugh.
“I’m fine,” he said. He lied. He wasn’t fine. Nagisa desperately had wished things could have played out differently. He had even fought Karma about it. They tried to figure out another way, but in the end, he still died. And Nagisa had been the one to dive the blade in.
“Or I’m not,” Nagisa said. He did not like lying, so he quickly rephrased himself. “I’m not okay, but I’ll be fine. I just need a moment.” Nagisa had been closer to him than Karma had been. Not that Karma was not upset too. He had shed a tear which had shocked the rest of the class. When time had gone by and they could talk about what happened more, Karma had been teased about it. By everybody.
But Nagisa was, undoubtedly, the one who had tried the most to save their late teacher and was left with the failure.
“We’re the only ones here for right now,” Karma pointed out. They were the first ones there; others had yet to show up. Every movement that was made was theirs and an echo of their own. “Take your time.”
Nagisa walked around. Slowly. Taking in the time that had passed by. Karma followed behind him at a distance to give him space, knowing Nagisa would gesture him closer if he wanted him to be.
They stopped by each room. There wasn’t a lot considering how small the building was and how many kids ever attended the End Class when it had existed. Nagisa did not want to be in a horrible mood, so they spent minimal time in the teacher’s room. It held too many memories; and there was a false warmth lingering in the air as if someone had been there recently grading papers.
There was the nursery he had been in a few times, but each time had been with Karma after getting injured. He turned his head and glanced at him out of nostalgia, and Karma, reading the look in his eyes, could only turn his gaze away and snicker about his childhood delinquency.
The classrooms came last. There weren’t many since they were all in one combined class. They reached the homeroom. Nagisa took a deep breath before he stepped in.
He looked over the rows of desks, saying each classmates’ name in his head as he went seat by seat. Though it was in his head, he swore he could hear that snickering voice from their late teacher repeating the names after him. He reached the end of the line to the very last seat and opened his mouth.
“Akabane Karma.”
“Ugh.” Karma instinctively repulsed. He stood by the doorway, leaning against it with crossed arms. It wasn’t his typical stance anymore. As an adult and a government official, Karma had a much more proper way of standing now. But it seemed the nostalgia made him act like the delinquent teen he used to be. “Why are you dropping that?” he asked.
“I was just going through the class order list from memory,” Nagisa answered. “That was your name at the time. Sorry.”
“I married you for a reason.”
Nagisa raised his eyebrows. “To get rid of your family name?” he asked.
“Yes,” Karma answered with a teasing grin. “And your body.”
“Well, considering I denied you this morning and just called you by your previous name, it looks like that didn’t go too well,” Nagisa deadpanned.
At that, Karma’s face turned a little sour. Nagisa lightened up. He laughed at him. Karma frowned. So, Nagisa strode up to him. He tapped on his husband’s crossed arms; Karma dropped them. Once they were down, Nagisa snuck his arms around Karma’s torso and buried his face into him. Karma’s arms had snuck around his waist in return.
“Thank you for coming with me here,” Nagisa said.
“You, I came because of the reunion,” Karma stammered.
He worked in funny ways. His teasing was through the roof and sometimes unbearable. It made Nagisa so nervous, embarrassed, and made his face. To say the kind of things that Karma said in public was almost humiliating. He wished his husband had a mute feature to turn on whenever they were near people.
But when it was time for heart-to-heart conversations, discussing intimate feelings, and saying sweeter things, Karma got a little tongue-tied. To make it worse, he chose and picked his battles too; sometimes he would say romantic things, but it was an unpredictable mood. The husbands never had a dull moment.
“I still appreciate it,” Nagisa continued. He leaned out of the hug to look at Karma, but his hands stayed flat on his chest. His heart was beating under his touch. “You probably would have come up with some work excuse and not have gone if not for me, am I wrong?”
“You’re right,” Karma admitted. It was not as if he wasn’t friends with the people from their school years, but he found a reunion to be cheesy and a waste of time when they were all individually still in contact with one another anyhow. He saw Nakamura a week before, and he met up with Sugino at a game two weeks before; a few weeks back he ran into Terasaka at the store, and a few days after that he saw Hayami at the arcade playing a shooter game.
“So, thank you for being here with me, because without me then you wouldn’t have come here, so the only reason you’re here right now is for me.”
Karma was all action. He slipped his hands off Nagisa’s waist and put them on his cheeks. With his face in his hands, Karma leaned down, kissing Nagisa’s waiting lips. His mouth moved sweetly against his. The kiss was more than a simple kiss. Nagisa hummed against his mouth, feeling a bit of want, longing, and desire in the touch along with a clingy tingle.
One of Karma’s hands came down to the back of Nagisa’s neck, pulling on his head to tilt it back. Nagisa whined from the tug. Karma’s other hand went to Nagisa’s waist and dragged his body against his. He stepped forward, forcing Nagisa to retreat backwards against the pressure of his much-stronger waist.
Nagisa’s back hit one of the desks. He gasped. Karma took that moment, sneaking his tongue in between Nagisa’s lips. He whined against him and grabbed at his shoulders.
“K, Karma,” Nagisa stammered, turning his head away. But Karma took that chance at Nagisa’s exposed neck. “Karma.”
“I’ve always wanted to do something like this here,” Karma said, speaking in a low whisper against his husband’s throat. “Always have,” he repeated.
Nagisa whimpered. He moved his hands on Karma’s shoulders toward his neck. His instincts were making him hug Karma, not shove him away. It felt good as he kissed his neck, taking some moments to tease with his teeth or tongue. Nagisa was slowly pushed back and slid onto the edge of the desk; he had no idea when he kicked his feet up to sit.
“A, always?” Nagisa asked.
“Always,” Karma repeated. He touched Nagisa’s slides. HIs fingers flicked the bottom of Nagisa’s shirt, teasing the thought of slipping his hands underneath. “From now, to when we got married, to when we finally got together, but to when we were here too.”
“You,” Nagisa mumbled, feeling Karma’s warm touch on his bare stomach. He sharply inhaled.
“Me?”
“You are a pervert.”
“Mm,” Karma hummed, stealing a kiss off Nagisa’s lips. “Maybe.”
“Hello!? Nagisa?! Karma?!”
Nagisa shoved Karma off from him. Despite Karma being physically stronger by a lot, he wasn’t expecting it. He huffed as he staggered back. Nagisa quickly smoothed out his clothes.
In the doorway, a blonde head of hair popped her head in. She smiled and completely stepped in once she found the two she was looking for. When she made eye contact, her eyes widened a little bit. One of them looked slightly irritated and the other looked flustered.
“Oh, did I interrupt something?”
Nagisa swiftly said, “No.” but Karma’s “Yes.” had a flatter tone and was louder than his nervous squeak. Embarrassed, Nagisa quickly snapped his head over to Karma and glared. But Karma shrugged nonchalantly, the corner of his lips tilting slightly.
Nakamura looked at Nagisa and smiled. “What were you doing then, Nagisa?”
“Nothing,” Nagisa lied. “We were talking about the seating.”
“Uh huh.” Nakamura turned to Karma. “What were you two doing, Karma?”
“Making out,” Karma answered bluntly.
“Karma.” Nagisa was going to kill him.
“I appreciate Karma’s honesty,” Nakamura said, flashing a grin at Nagisa. Okay, so Nagisa was going to kill both of them.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but sigh. Karma and Nakamura ganging up to tease him brought a familiar and comforting feeling to his chest. Even ten years later, they could still find things to joke about and bring them back to the times they missed. It would be the closest they could ever get to going back.
So, Nagisa was fine with it despite it being embarrassing for him. He took a step toward the door and said, “Let’s go and watch to see if anyone else is here yet. I hope we all make it.”