Beep. Beep.

The redheadʼs eyes slowly opened as he started to regain his consciousness. He sighed at the number of apparatuses which clung to him like his life depended on them. Well, atleast it did about three days after the incident.

His skin suffered burns and scars—some that might permanently mark his body, and a prosthetic arm, but it didnʼt matter. As long as Nagisa was at the room in front of his, safe and sound.

He snapped out of his trance as the door clicked open, his team and past classmates invited themselves inside.

“Karma,” Nike whispered in disbelief as she saw his state. All of the emotions she had built up, along with the others, finally reaching its limits.

Tears started falling from the girlsʼ eyes while the men looked away but with relief. “Thank goodness youʼre alright.”

Karma flashed his usual smirk, but his eyes depicted gratefulness. “Couldnʼt have done it without you guys.” Then, his expression shifted. “How...is Nagisa?”

“Wonʼt you see her?”

“No. Not now.” He grinned sadly. “I canʼt just appear right in front of her and say 'Surprise! Iʼm alive!', can I?”

“Of course not.” the attention shifted to Rio who crossed her arms in dismay. “But we all know sheʼll have to confront you at some point.”

“Rioʼs right,” Ryunosuke followed. “What are you planning to do now that this is all over?”

Karma shrugged his shoulders, but was deep in thought.

“Iʼd like to do it myself, if you donʼt mind.”

—•—

23:00 ;

NAGISA

I noticed that there was no one else in the room aside from myself. Visiting hours must have been over ages ago. I hope they got home safely. I felt a little guilty that I wasnʼt able to thank them properly, but the shock that lingered in my heart ever since I awoke overcame my gratitude.

I moved my legs to check if I had the strength to walk. Slowly, with the help of the dextrose stand, I managed to get myself out from the barren room. This is why I abhorred hospitals. They make me feel handicapped. I hate being treated like a fragile doll. I hate being a burden.

Nonetheless, the smell of medicine greeted me as I proceeded along the halls towards the gardenʼs entrance. There were less nurses assigned at the south wing, so the corridors were silent but never eerie.

“Kamisama, douka koe o kikasete hon no chotto de ii kara... ”

As I entered the garden, I heard a familiar voice— a tune he used to sing a long time ago.

“... Mou nido to hanarenai you ni, anata to futari, ano seiza
n—

Nagisa?”

The singerʼs figure became clearer under the rather lit night sky. His unruly crimson hair which glistened into scarlet under the moonlight, his toned build, peach lips, and the cat-like mercury-amber eyes I used to gaze at before I fall asleep. It was him, it was...

“Karma.”

My Karma, who still so out of stubbornness had made himself comfortable sitting on top of a tree despite having a bench under it.

'Stop. Donʼt submit yet. Donʼt run to him just yet,' I told myself, barely managing to hold back. I formulated a passive expression as I went near him, on the bench bestowed upon me.

A chilly silence filled the atmosphere around us. So many things untold. Too many questions left unanswered. So many secrets kept under wrapped. Too much feelings held back. All for the sake of the wasted three years— Yes, it was at this moment that it would all be unraveled.

“What are you doing here, outside of your room?” Karma genuinely questioned, but I could see his uneasiness. I didnʼt become an assassin for naught.

I decided to play along our seemingly endless charade, and replied. “The moon was full tonight, and I thought I could see it from a proper ambiance.” I stared at him intently, then asked. “I knew you were injured, but they never told me you were confined here. Are you fine?”

“Yes. A prosthetic arm was much help. I knew we would meet but I didnʼt think it would be sooner.”

A long pause followed after his answer, but I decided to stop the pretense. I canʼt take it anymore. Come to think of it, why were we speaking so formally?

“How about us? Are we fine? Will we ever be fine again?”

I wanted to ask him the questions I kept in my heart for the years I thought he was stone cold, buried six feet underground. If he had ever thought of me, and how I was coping up with the supposed loss. Why he chose to spend those three years away from me. What he was thinking, showing up in circumstances where he or all of us might actually die.

“Nagisa, I—”

“I doubted you!” I inhaled sharply. “I doubted if you really were somewhere out there and not underneath, lifeless!”

I started to think back to the times I hallucinated him being actually behind me, watching over me. Only to find out that it was the memories taking a toll on me.

“I gave you the benefit of the doubt! I trusted you to never make a fool out of me! To let the incident remain untouched, and never be recreated again!”

I realized how badly hurt I was to learn of my so-called friendsʼ betrayal. How betrayed we felt.

“I didnʼt want to see you again, in this condition! And yet you appeared in front of me, and left again for dead!”

I covered my face with my palms when I realized I was crying. I never thought I would let out this much emotion again.

“Nagi, listen to me. Please!” I felt him jump down, his arms embracing me from the back. “All this, Iʼm doing this to protect you! When our friends betrayed us, I couldnʼt accept it— not when they have hurt you! I couldnʼt let them roam free when they killed innocent lives just to justify their lust for power! I sacrificed three years, because I wanted them to repent! To what they have done to them! To you— To us!”

“I wanted to find something to ensure that even in just a little while, they treasured our bond. I wanted to lash out, to pour out my frustration on the whole thing.” Karma sighed in exasperation, gently caressing my hair. “I never meant to take this long. To put ourselves in danger just for their sake, but here we are anyway.

I donʼt believe that such 'forever' exists, so I swear that as long as we lie awake, I will stay with you.”

My tears halted as I faced him, holding out my pinky finger, as childish as it seems.

“Promise me?”

He looked at it in amusement before taking it.

“I promise.”