~To The Story~

Nagisa looked at the person in the mirror from head to toe. He could barely recognize the person with the frilly pink dress and pretty hair clips even though he was staring at himself. He didn't like what he was wearing and found it off-putting. His mother would argue and call him 'pretty' and 'beautiful' even. He would internally deny it, however.

No matter how many people often tell him how much of a girl he looked like with or without the girly clothing, he would always remind himself that they're wrong and that he's a boy so that he doesn't fall into a neurotic state. Whenever someone does comment on his appearance, he tries his best to ignore them as best as he can.

But he can handle Karma's teasing and never takes it to heart of what he says. He knows he means well and he's only making those comments because he likes to get a reaction out of him.

As tempted as he was to rip the hair clips out of his blue locks as well as the dress he restrains himself knowing his mom would throw a fit if he were to mess up any of the accessories and dress. His mom spent a lot of money on these girly things for him.

He was quick, but careful when he was taking off the dress and clips. Bless his dad for being the one to buy him male clothing. Nagisa didn't know what he'll do if he didn't have his dad around. Especially when he was a child where at one point was convinced that he was a girl.

He felt like he could breathe again and felt less humiliated when he put the dress back and closed the closet.

With his mom out of the apartment, Nagisa's metaphorical chain has loosened and felt less restrained. He made his way to his room. Once shutting the door, the first thing his eyes caught was his phone, lying on his bed.

That's when he remembers that around this time is when you send an e-mail to him. With a small bit of anticipation lighting up inside of him, Nagisa walked over to his bed and sat down, all while picking up his phone. After a few taps on his phone, he opened up his e-mail, and sure enough, there he saw your name in this inbox.

Nagisa! Sorry I didn't send you an e-mail last week. I had a math test that week. No, I didn't fail. You're mean for thinking so! Okay, yeah, I almost failed. But let's not talk about that. Thanks for the washi tapes and stickers you sent me for my journal! They're super cute! I'll be sure to use them. I'll be sending you a gift as well. Would you like some more tea bags? My mom and I recently bought some from a small shop. The old lady who runs the shop is super nice and gave me extra because she thought I was cute 🥰🥰

How are you? How is school? I hope you're doing better than me. How's the concert club? Are you able to get any guys to join you? If not, I just hope you're having fun regardless. Didn't you tell me you made a new friend? He better treat you well or I'll kill him 😡

Whoops! That's all the time I have left! Sorry! My next e-mail will be much, much longer. I promise. Here, I took this cute photo of myself today. You can have it 💖💖

[Insert photo of you]

Nagisa could feel his day brighten up just by reading your e-mail. No matter how long or short they are, he would always enjoy reading them. He always found a sense of comfort in them. It's been years since he last saw you, but the two of you managed to keep in touch through emails and texting and sometimes even just using some good ol' fashion snail mail.

Receiving any one of these messages always puts a smile on his face. He loves coming home, opening up his e-mail and finding your name in his inbox. It's the best part of his day. He gets to ignore all the trouble around him because of you.

Unfortunately, you're not in the same school as him. Nor even in the same city. He was pretty upset when you moved the first time all those years ago. You were his friend and the first person to not judge his appearance when he secretly told you he's actually a boy.

Sure, it surprised you a lot. Though, you were too young to understand the details so you just believed Nagisa and quit playing dolls with him or anything girly for that matter. When you first met him, you did actually thought he was a girl. He eventually revealed his true gender after a couple of weeks of becoming friends.

He was happy that you remained his friend and didn't make fun of him like other kids did when they found out. He assumed you didn't pick on him since you were often teased as well just for being deaf and knew how it felt like. Regardless, the two of you stuck together even after being far apart.

Over the years, his sign language has become rusty and little by little he has been forgetting many of the signs. But when he heard the news that you'll be coming to Tokyo for the semester he immediately picked up sign language again. His mother wasn't so keen about having to waste money on sign classes unfortunately for him. She already has spent so much money on his schooling, not to mention all those extra cram schools.

Lucky for Nagisa, his dad was willing to pay for his classes. Mainly due to guilt for leaving Nagisa with his deranged mother alone.

He worked hard to learn your language even after dropping to the End Class. It paid off 'cause once he saw you again, the two of you communicated smoothly through sign language.

Life for him got easier when you moved into Tokyo. You're always there for him when he needed you, though he hated troubling you with his issues even if you insisted on being there if he needed someone to talk to. You're such a sweet person and always put his needs before your own, which is why he'll always do the same for you even if there is a chance your friendship with him will thin out.

With a steady and firm grip, you did your best to control the mechanical claw. You moved it a bit to your left, then a little to your right. You had the feeling that this time you'll be able to snatch the stuffed puppy. Your press down the red button which activated the claw to move down.

The suspense and excitement grew within you and Kayano as soon as the claw pinched the ear of the dog. When it was time, the mechanical began to slowly raise itself back. But because of this, gravity started to push down the down resulting in the stuffed toy slip off of the claw and landing straight back down.

You puffed your cheeks and frowned as the taste of defeat washed over you.

"Aw, so close." Kayano patted your back but gave you an encouraging smile.

You sheepishly smiled at her. You've been so focused on the game that something must have happened during that because when you looked at Kayano, you noticed that Karma and Nagisa weren't around.

Where did they go? Weren't they just here?

"Nagisa and Karma-kun?" You signed with a quizzical stare.

"Uh." Kayano whipped her head around to do a quick scan, but couldn't spot the two boys. It seemed like she too hadn't realized their sudden disappearance. She looked back at you with a sheepish smile and shrugged. "Dunno."

You blinked and did your own quick search, but didn't find the two boys. Where did they go? Did they just want to play alone for a bit? That has to be it. It was Karma's suggestion to visit Shibuya's gaming center after all. He seemed to really love his games so maybe he wanted to try something that didn't involve winning some stuffed toy and just dragged Nagisa with him.

You figured they'll return which is why you went back to playing the claw game.

Far from where you and Kayano were, Nagisa and Karma were still in the arcade, just behind a row of the colourful machines of games. Nagisa had no idea why Karma suddenly dragged off, claiming he just wanted to talk.

"I'm gonna ask you something and I want you to be honest with me," Karma began.

"Um, okay?" Nagisa responded, sounding uncomfortable and unsure. He tried to not look at Karma's eyes so much and avoided doing so by looking at his fingers that kept fiddling together.

This wasn't out of fear. He has seen Karma at his worst when it came to scaring people off yet the innocent blue hair boy remained unfazed. The sole reason he's acting this way is that Nagisa had a feeling that Karma was finally going to admit that he likes you. He didn't want this conversation but he can't run away from it.

"Do you like (y/n)-san?" Karma asked bluntly.

"Eh?" Nagisa furrowed his brows and made direct eye contact out of instinct since he wasn't expecting that sort of question. "Yeah. She's my best friend..." Nagisa saw how Karma's face fell into an annoyed deadpan stare. He paused, wondering why he was giving him that look until he fully understood what the redhead meant.

"Oh... N-no, I don't!" He cried out, frantically waving his hands. "What gave you that idea?!" He shrieked, but it wasn't loud enough to alert anyone's attention due to the retro gaming sounds overlapping him.

"You tell me."

"Uh..." Nagisa's face went from a flushed expression to an unsure one.

Nagisa wondered if he gave off this impression that he indeed had a thing for you. If that were the case, that would explain Karma's hostility towards him this morning when he told him that he was texting you. As unsure and reluctant as Nagisa is about having Karma pursue you, he doesn't want to have any issues with him. Especially if it involves you. If he is honest with his feelings then that will just mean he's getting in the way of your happiness.

For Nagisa, your happiness has always come first. That was already decided long ago.

"I like (y/n), but not in the way you think." Nagisa cleared up. "I only think of her as a friend."

"Just friends?"

"Yes." he nodded.

"So. It doesn't bother you that I like her?"

Ah, so now it's officially confirmed. He likes you and you like him. The next step is for you guys to start a relationship. A relationship he has no say in. It could end badly. But maybe it won't. Who's to say? That's what scares Nagisa. As much as he hates to doubt Karma he can't help but think that he'll do something to hurt you.

Up until now, he's never seen Karma grow to actually like and or care for someone. Sure he has female friends, but none of them fall into the same category of 'caring' as you do. Does Karma even know how to romantically treat someone? All he loves is violence, blood, annoying people and looking down on others.

Nagisa looked off to the side for a moment then replied hesitantly. "... No."

At Nagisa's hesitant response, Karma's eyes narrowed a bit.

"You don't sound too sure."

"Karma-kun." Nagisa mustered up a sincere and gentle smile. "I'm fine. You don't need my permission. I feel weird that you did."

Though, Nagisa can appreciate the gesture.

"I wasn't asking for your permission. I didn't want this to be one of Koro-sensei's soap operas." Karma grimaced. "If you like her, then just tell me."

He didn't. But if he were to say he did what would Karma do? Back off? That wasn't an option. For one thing, it would be dishonest and immoral to do so. Nagisa had already decided to place your happiness before his. Even if he thinks Karma will hurt you, even if he thinks you'll speak to him less, Nagisa decides to push through.

Nagisa held back a dejected sigh.

"We're only friends," Nagisa affirmed. "That's all I ever saw her as. If you want to ask her out then go ahead."

There was a lack of sincerity in Nagisa's tone that Karma caught. Is he lying to him? Or is there another reason as to why Nagisa seemed off-putting of him crushing on you?

"Then why the hell are you so pissed off whenever I was with her today?" Karma's voice dropped into irritation yet his expression stayed calculated and passive.

"I-I wasn't." Nagisa stammered, backing away with one step out of defence. "L-look can we just go back to where the girls are? I don't want to argue with you. It will ruin their day."

Of course, Karma did intend to stop before things escalated into an argument. He wasn't petty enough to do so. Also, there was already enough tension between him and Nagisa and he didn't want to let it be known to you or Kayano. However, he did overhear Kayano asking Nagisa if everything is okay with him and the Karma while he was sharing a snack with you.

Lucky for him, Nagisa was able to reassure her. If Kayano caught on then there was only a matter of time before you noticed anything.

"Whatever you say, chief," Karma said dryly and then walked past the smaller boy.

He already got the answer he wanted. If Nagisa doesn't have any romantic feelings for you then was there any reason for him to not ask you out? No there shouldn't be. If there is an entirely different reason as to why this is bothering Nagisa then Karma figured he should just leave him be. He gave him his chance to talk.

Nagisa didn't follow him just yet. He stayed put for a moment, having a wave of uncertainty wash over him. He hated doubting Karma. Truly, he did. He still thinks of him as a close friend despite the distance between them. Right now, all he can do is just wait and see what happens. He should trust Karma.

You were left with a bad taste in your mouth after the trip to Shibuya. You did have fun, yes, though you couldn't help but think about Nagisa. The two of you barely spoke nor did anything together. You wanted to speak to him privately, but the time just never arose and or the timing just didn't seem right.

You were in your room, sitting in front of your desk, busying yourself with your homework. Or, at least that was the plan. The way Nagisa behaved today worried you. He was quieter and had his head in the clouds. And, you don't know if it's just you but whenever you're with Karma, Nagisa seemed... annoyed?

You blamed yourself. You have to talk to him to make sure everything is okay.

You bit your lower lip, eyes staring at your phone while you were mindlessly tapping your pencil against your opened textbook. What if he's mad at you? No, he couldn't be. This is Nagisa you're talking about. Not wanting to dawdle anymore, you decided to text him to make sure everything is alright.

You

Nagisa?

Are you okay?

Nagisa

Yes?

Why?

You

It seemed like something was bothering you 🥺

Nagisa

What?

Nothing is bothering me.

You

I meant when we were at Shibuya.

Is it because I'd spent more time with Karma than with you?

Nagisa

I love spending time with you, (y/n).

But I understand if you want to hang out with your new friends.

I'm happy that you made new friends 😊

Also, I know how much you like Karma-kun, so I get why your eyes are on him.

You

But I still feel bad.

Nagisa

Plz, don't.

It really isn't a big deal.

You

Are you sure?

👉👈

Nagisa

Yes.

No. You weren't just going to accept this. Who knows when you'll see Nagisa again once you move. You want to create more memories with him while you still have the chance.

You

Why don't we spend the whole day together tomorrow?

Just the two of us 😋

Nagisa

That sounds nice.

You

Great!

I'm not letting you out of my sight 😤

Nagisa

... You sound like a stalker.

You

So funny 🙄

See you tomorrow.

I gotta finish my homework

Nagisa

Then get to it.

See you tomorrow 👋

You

Okay!

Nagisa

Bye 😁

You smiled contently, glad that things worked out at the end. You're so lucky to have such a forgiving friend like Nagisa. With your phone off to the side, you continued to do your homework so you can be free for the rest of the evening.

Feeling bright and bubbly, you went through your assignment with ease. Tomorrow was going to be great and you were super excited. However, all that optimism drained out of your system when you saw a text came in from a certain someone.

Karma

Wanna go on a date tomorrow? 😉

~End Of Chapter~