Both adults awkwardly sat across from one another in a pleasant little coffee shop.

"So..." The female of the two began, "It's been a while."

The male nodded. "It has, Kayano-chan."

Kayano shifted in her seat a little at the formal name-calling, poking at her pudding with a spoon. "S-So... Karma-kun put you up to this?"

Nagisa nodded. "Partially, however it's not as if I didn't want to attempt to mend our relationship. I'd quite like to be able to walk down the same street as you without seeing the tens of ways you leave yourself open for me to kill you." Nagisa spoke without looking up at the woman, cutting into his piece of cake with the knife supplied to him by the cafe.

Kayano gulped at that before forcing a laugh. "Yeah, ha ha, that seems annoying!"

Nagisa made eye-contact with Kayano for the first time since Rio and Karma had shoved them into those seats. His eyes were cold and numb, pushing back his bloodlust. Kayano knew that feeling, and knew that Nagisa had much more bloodlust now than she had had in the past. She was still hoping for the best with this — she wanted her brother figure back. She wanted Nagisa to know how sorry she was.

"Rio told me you and Karma-kun adopted a little girl."

Nagisa nodded, a calm smile adorning his lips. "Yes, we did. Her name is Iyuka."

Kayano smiled back before she glanced out of the window the two were sitting in front of. "I'd love to meet her sometime."

A light clanging noise caused Kayano to turn her head back towards Nagisa. She looked for the source of the noise, seeing Nagisa's knife had fallen on the floor.

"Your knife fell." She stated the obvious.

"I am aware."

"Aren't you going to pick it up?"

"The thought of you being anywhere near my daughter reminded me of the seventeen different ways I could kill you right now. Do you want to see a knife in my hand?"

A cold chill ran through the entire cafe and Karma suddenly popped up as if by magic.

"Ooookkkaaayy — Sorry Kayano-chan, Nagisa must be tired, he's become quite the introvert after all — Come on darling, let's go home." Karma urged, lightly tugging Nagisa out of the cafe and swiftly bringing both of them home.

Still feeling the bloodlust emanating from his husband, Karma led the two of them up to the bedroom, glad that Iyuka was at school for the first time ever.

Nagisa allowed Karma to bring him to the bed and sit him down with little resistance, still fuming about the idea of that liar being anywhere within 100 meters of his daughter.

"Nagi, shh, it's okay, I won't let her near Iyuka until she's proven she's sorry and that she'll never do anything like that again." Karma skillfully ran the fingers of his left hand over where Nagisa's scales were hidden under the makeup, his right hand rubbing calming circles into the small of Nagisa's back, earning a sound resembling a purr from Nagisa. Nagisa relaxed into Karma's touch, cuddling up to the redhead.

Nagisa closed his eyes and enjoyed the calming motions from Karma, doing his best to put the previous hour or so behind him.

Time Skip

Nagisa walked into the park, quickly seeing the girl he was there to meet.

"Attempt number two." He stated, Kayano jumping as she hadn't realized he had come up behind her.

"Nag-Akabane-kun! Hello!"

Nagisa nodded in approval at her calling him 'Akabane-kun.' "Hello Kayano-chan. Shall we?" He began walking away, Kayano following and quickly falling into step with him. Nagisa was aware of Karma's presence following the two of them, but he didn't mind it.

"So, how are you?" Nagisa began the conversation.

"I'm good, thanks! I just got signed to act in a new movie, so I'm happy about that. How are you?" Kayano responded, keeping her tone light and fluffy.

"I am doing well, as well. Iyuka is slowly coming out of her shell in school and seems to be socializing a little bit."

"You love her very much, don't you."

Nagisa nodded. "I do. That is why I reacted so harshly while we were at the cafe the other day. Your acting abilities make you dangerous, even if you claim you wouldn't hurt her, I am skeptical."

Kayano sighed. "And you have every reason to doubt me."

Nagisa didn't respond. He was mad still, yes, but he knew she was being sincere in her apologies. He sighed aloud.

"I'm still not letting you near my daughter for a while, but I think... I think I may be able to start forgiving you. Even Terasaka-kun could tell that you're really sorry. I'm not going to up and forgive you after a few conversations, but I'll try... Kayano."

Kayano smiled warmly, happy Nagisa was going to forgive her someday.

"Thank you, Nagisa-kun."

Nagisa nodded.

Some awkward goodbyes later, Karma picked up his spouse and they drove home.

"I dropped Iyuka off at Isogai-kun and Maeh- Isogai...-kun's house." Karma stated.

Nagisa chuckled. "Still finding it hard to remember they're both Isogai now?"

Karma ruffled Nagisa's fluffy hair as he drove the two of them home.

"I'll be upstairs if you need anything." Karma grinned before heading up to their room to do some work.

Nagisa nodded at the statement in understanding before walking over to the bookshelf, scanning the contents. On the very bottom shelf in the right corner laid a pretty little leather-bound book with a strap wrapped around it. Nagisa questioned what it was there before pulling it out from the shelf and sitting on the couch, book in his hands as he opened it.

The first page had a little doodle of Korosensei and some messy kanji in what Nagisa instantly recognized to be Karma's handwriting. It also helped that the only word on the page was the kanji and hiragana forms of Karma's name. 

Nagisa cocked a brow before flipping to the next page, simply to be faced with more of Karma's writing.

A little date was up in the corner.

Nagisa's eyes widened as he recognized the day as the one he had Karma's mind "erased" back in third year.

"I don't understand why Karasuma-Sensei told me to keep this diary, but here I am anyways. He says that there was a malfunction and I lost some of my memories, but he didn't tell me anything more than that. But while it seems far-fetched that I'd up and lose my memories, I can't doubt that it's true. I know that something is missing, but I don't know what. Something important."

Nagisa gasped as he took in the words, eyes glancing up at the stairway as though Karma would know he was reading this and come downstairs at any moment.

Nagisa turned to the next page. 

"It hurts, it hurts so much. Why does my chest always hurt like this! It's only been a day but this has been the longest day of my life. I need something, someone, to fix this but I don't know what is it! My head hurts so much anytime I try to remember what I lost, and I'm going through agony now just thinking about it. Something is missing and I need it back. Now."

Nagisa flipped the page.

"It's been a couple of days since I wrote anything, but I have a small idea of what I lost. I think it was someone I loved... Sometimes I can feel phantom touches on my skin, light caresses in my hair making me calm down until I realize that nobody is there. My heart starts beating heavily at that point, screaming out in agony, asking where is that person... I need whoever it is back... I don't know how long my sanity will last without that person." There were teardrops smudging the ink. He was clearly crying when he wrote this. "I don't know what I did or what they did to make this happen to me but I want to protect them, I have a feeling that if I could only see their smile it would be like everything is okay again... but there's nothing right now."

The next page was dated a few days later.

"I have more clues now, but I don't like how I got them. I burst into tears while I was watching the gym class yesterday, and I didn't realize why until I saw the cuts on Shiota-kun's wrist. He had gotten hurt during gym yesterday. He looks so fragile, and whenever I look at him for a good amount of time I feel tears welling up in my eyes and all I want to do is go to him. I want to protect him and I don't know why! I don't know anything about him and the mere fact is making my heart beat out of my chest! I... I need to save him from whatever he's dealing with... but he doesn't know me at all..." 

Nagisa felt his own tears grow in his eyes as he turned to the following page.

"It's been another few days. I'm supposed to be writing in this but... But... I'm so lost. My internal pain has grown past unbearable, to the point where I've grown numb. I find myself wandering in my own mind. There's not much to say about these past few days. The only time I feel anything are the moments where anger overcomes me. It's probably not a good thing that I find comfort in it, seeing as all of my classmates immediately cower the minute my hand twitches in irritation. But I can't help but be mad, because something I used to hold close to my chest is now gone. I wander, trying to find the missing piece. The only person I come back to is Shiota-kun. His trembling smile, his quivering laugh, his dark bags underneath tired eyes. 

It makes me wonder why he looks as broken as I do."

Nagisa's stomach churned. 

"Nagisa. I called him Nagisa today. Not Nagisa-kun. Not Shiota. Not Shiota-kun. Just, plain, Nagisa. I find that that is all I end up thinking about nowadays. I will sit in emptiness, and then..."

There must have been a long pause before Karma wrote again, because in the next paragraph, the letters in his handwriting were thicker, showing signs of using a different pencil. 

"... he comes to mind, soothing my jumpy nerves. Calming my bleeding heart. I... I... 

My calendar is a nice reminder every morning. When I wake up, I expect it to be snowing, but then I get the slap in the face that it's nowhere near that time of the year. It's warm. Sunny. Bright. So much time has passed, and I can still feel that aching hole in my chest and mind from the memory loss. Nagisa. And there it goes again, Nagisa popping back up into my head. But it's not Nagisa-kun, or Shiota-kun. When I called him Nagisa, he flinched. He looked at me with happy, wide eyes, as if he was hoping against hope for something from me. And when I asked him why he even looks sad since I'm around, (I was joking... Right?) his soul looked crushed, and he couldn't even look at me again as he walked away, dejected. 

So much time has passed. So much that I haven't been able to remember experiencing. And yet, I... I... 

I wonder when, in that vague, hazy timeline, I fell in love with him." 

Nagisa felt tears rolling down his cheeks, and he wiped them off with the back of his hand. 

"I found Nagisa crying in the woods today. I wanted to hold him against my chest, where he would be able to hear my racing heart. But as I watched him sobbing, I think I finally realized that the problem was me. And so I left him in his sorrows. Alone."

Nagisa looked at the bottom of the rumpled page, and he turned to the next page, expecting another journal entry. What he found instead shattered his heart. 

"Alone

Alone

Alone

AlOne

ALone

Alone

Alone

ALONE

Alone

Alone

ALONE

AlonE

AloNE

ALONe

ALONE.

And once again, I failed Nagisa. I left him alone, where he would have to suffer through his problems. Alone. 

It's a brief flash, one that makes my heart skip a beat and get stuck in my throat. ALoNE. I think I remember the regret, the betrayal. How I wanted to burst into tears. And then I remember, very, very clearly, how I whispered to Nagisa as he cried into my chest. How my arms were wrapped around his shaking shoulders. 

How I whispered, "I love you, my little, precious blueberry."

How he wailed in angst, how he cried in his loss. I think he regrets, too. 

I remember his sorrow-stricken face as he collapsed to his knees. As he choked at the utter pain racking his body. How he realized too late that he simply couldn't live without me, and my final words, the time limit forcing me to cut it too short, being, "I love you, blueberry." 

I think we both suffered in that moment, where I didn't say the words enough, and where he didn't mean his mistake to break us apart.

Memories are such a precious thing. I wonder if Nagisa ever regrets losing mine. But, at the moment, it doesn't matter what I don't know. Because what I do know is that I love Nagisa. Love him down to the darkest parts of my heart. I know that I will hold him in my arms, and that we will both cry at things we cannot have. Time we cannot rewind to change the past, to keep and make new memories. 

I think... I think I've been hiding long enough. Maybe... maybe Nagisa will forgive me, one of these days. I'm not sure what I did. Maybe it was a big misunderstanding. Perhaps I'll tell him when I get all my memories back. Or I can just shelve that part of my life and never look at it again. I can't be for sure. 

But first, the present is now. And I have a relationship to mend."

Nagisa wasn't trying to hide his tears anymore as he threw the book to the side. The journal  and sprinted up the stairs and into their bedroom, running into Karma and wrapping his arms around his husband immediately.

"Woah, Nagisa what's wrong? Are you alright?" Karma asked, dropping his work to turn and comfort his sobbing lover.

"I-I found your note-notebook from when I- when I erased-" Nagisa fell into loud sobs before he could finish, but the message came across.

"Oh, Nagi... I never meant for you to find that book... I'm sorry you had to read that." Karma rubbed soft circles into Nagisa's back, moving them to sit on the bed. "I love you so much, and I always will. Even without my memories, as you can see." Karma forced a chuckle past his lips. "I got all my memories back in the end, so it's all okay. I'm here, and I will never leave you again."

What a beautiful lie to tell.