The rest of the day there was no one in the class who could concentrate. Your classmates were looking at you, believing you had flirted with Karma again or something and in the end, caused his fall. You could only lower your head in embarrassment, even though they were assuming wrong things.

"Stop it guys, she did nothing wrong, I was there" Maehara said and some of the other kids that saw what happened during the game also nodded.

Thank you guys...

"Maybe, but why does Y/N seem to be so close to Karma lately? I mean, he has been bullying her all this time and now she... wait, Y/N, did you purposely throw Karma off the pole to take revenge for all the bad things he has done to you??!" Terasaka asked as if he was a genius who found out the ultimate answer to everything that happened.

You really wanted to slap yourself at that moment. And you did. No one commented on it though.

"Oh Terasaka, you are an incurable idiot..." Rio said.

"No! Think about it! She has been flirting with him, probably to confuse him... Karma is smart but he is also a man! His mind was distracted and then he couldn't see Y/N's real intentions of taking revenge..." Terasaka continued and you hit your desk's surface so hard that the whole class turned to you.

"Could you please stop talking as if I am an obsessed freak?! I have never flirted with Akabane, we all realise that he is a man but I have never tried to confuse him and most importantly, dear Terasaka, I would never throw him off a pole just because he annoys me!"

You couldnt see yourself, but from Terasaka's scared expression, you must had been really frightening.

"Then why did he fall?!"he insisted.

"He saved her from falling! Doesn't Karma always help us when we need him? What's so weird about him doing that?" Yukiko said. You loved that girl.

"Indeed, I was also there"Isogai told and nodded.

"Of course you would agree with your girlfriend!" Terasaka yelled at him.

Isogai and Yukiko blushed and turned in front. The teacher entered the class and no one said anything more about the matter, but they were glancing at times at you. You decided to hide yourself behind a book and just pay attention to the lesson.

However, you couldn't avoid looking at the empty seat behind you.
---

What am I even doing here?

During the break, you found yourself outside Karma's room in the school infirmary. You took a deep breath. You originally wanted to come with Kayano and Yukiko, but you wanted to be alone with him when thanking him about what he did.

You knocked the door and entered slowly, peeking into the room.

"Now you are peeking into my room? Seriously, Y/N, nothing can keep you away from me..."the familiar teasing voice said.

At least he speaks normally... I think.

You closed the door behind you and looked at him. He was lying on his bed covered with a white blanket. He looked as if he couldn't move much, and his one hand had bandages. Yet, he was smirking to you as if everything was okay.

"How are... you?"you asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"Hmm... let me think about it."he said and tried to lean forward, but instead he frowned a lot from the pain.

Ouch..

"Akabane... I am... I..." you couldn't even find the right words.

He patted a chair that was next to his bed.

"Whatever you want to say, I want to hear it from here."

Normally, you would have already declined his offer but now he 1) was injured 2) was injured because he saved you and also 3) you were feeling like the worst person ever alive . So, yeah, you sat on that chair with no objections.

"Wow, it's the first time you are so obedient" he murmured amused.

"Oh please, don't take advantage of the fact that I am feeling bad..." you said and regretted it the next moment.

"Uuuuh... so you are feeling bad. I appreciate it but... after falling down to the cold ground to save you, I even hurt my back, you know. Now, if you want to kiss me I won't be able to protest. You see, I can't even scream because it also hurts my back. And I have only one hand to protect myself... when did I become this weak?"he said and sighed dramatically.

Don't break his head... you must control yourself, Y/N, and not break his head. He has only one.

"You must really adore me now. How many times have I saved you? Two?"he said and looked carefully at you.

You raised an eyebrow.

"As if. The fall damaged your already damaged brain, Akabane, don't try to glorify yourself. It was only once."

He stayed silent for a while and you wondered if something happened.

"Akabane?"

"Your team won, Y/N. I must keep my promise and tell you who Hiro is."

That matter hadn't even crossed your mind the whole time. All you could think about was Karma's accident, and you wondered how many things you had also ignored during that time. You took a deep breath and looked right into his eyes. Even as a patient, he was amazingly hot.

Oh yes you only think about his accident but also, you don't forget to comment that he is hot. Great, Y/N, what a great person you are.

"About this... don't tell me. I don't want to know."

He was surprised but tried not to react too much.

"How come? You were this passionate during the game...you were holding my shoulders so tightly~... and I guessed it was because you really, really wanted to know his identity. But it seems that it was because you were actually enjoying your body close to mine..."

Now that I think about it, I will break some bones of his. He has a lot of them.

"Speak seriously for once in your life, please! And I was just really focused on the game, I had actually forgotten our deal for a while. We indeed won, but if you hadn't saved me, there was a high possibility that you would be the winners. Our pole was about to fall too. Me being the reason for your loss, and not with a fair battle... I can't accept it. I don't want you to tell me."

He didn't say anything, as if he expected you to say something more. He was expressionless, so you couldn't really tell what was in his mind.

"It' s not that I don't want to know... I really want to find out Hiro-kun's identity. But that wouldn't be fair to him either. He said he will meet me when I find love... I have to wait till then. He probably had a reason to ask that. I have to do what he said and not use dirty tricks."

He bit his bottom lip.

"So why did you agree in first place?"

You shrugged and answered.

"I am not sure... at first I thought you were lying about knowing his identity and I wanted to force you to admit it. Also, I thought that if I knew who Hiro was... even if I never find love, which is very likely to happen, at least I would know him. Even if it is too late when I find love, at least I will know how he looks like. But now... I know I have to play fairly. And also... I think I am convinced that you know who Hiro is."

His signature smirk returned to his face.

"And why is that?"

You couldn't help but smile too.

"You once said that Hiro-kun would agree with me dating you. You were right... he would agree."

Karma didn't ask for an explanation. He was just there smiling. You looked down embarrassed about all the things and thoughts you have revealed to him.

"And... thank you. It was not necessary to do that, but thank you for saving me there... so now, we are even. You were feeling bad about making me cry with your dare, and you wanted to date me to pay me back... there is no need now."

Karma lifted your chin with his good hand and made you look at him.

Is it the first time that his touch is so gentle?

No, it's not. During the game... he was also trying not to hurt me. When he saved me, his hug was also gentle, and even his tight grip in my hand...

"That was not the reason I wanted to date you, idiot. I have already said that if you want to find love, you should date me. The trick was never really a reason..."

You gasped. He was not too close to you- he couldn't even lean towards you because of his back- and yet the moment was so breathtaking. And you realised it was because of his words.

A knock was heard from the door and it opened, revealing Maehara, Isogai and Nagisa. Karma didn't even bother taking his hand away from your chin.

"Hey Karma listen to this, I... oh..." Maehara froze when he saw you and him and looked away awkwardly"Did we interrupt something?"

"Yes" Karma blurted out and you pushed his hand away.

"No! You guys talk with Akabane, it's okay" you said embarrassed and stood up, ready to leave.

You noticed Isogai smiling to himself, and Nagisa too but he tried not to show it. You hadn't realised it till then, but during the game and after, even though you were close to the blue haired boy you didn't feel your heart pounding like crazy like it used to. You had actually enjoyed how good of a team the two of you were with Kimura and the others, and you hadn't even considered the situation as anything apart from that.

You enjoyed Nagisa's presence without having any romantic feelings. Could it be that you had moved on from that stage?

"Oh, it's okay, I would come to find you too"Maehara told you and you were surprised. What could he want both you and Karma?

"Say it" Karma said kind of annoyed that they had interrupted your previous talk.

On the other hand, you couldn't sort out your feelings and thoughts, so it was probably better that they appeared.

"Okay then. How about spending the weekend all of us together?"
---
A/N:

Hiro's advice:
"Don't talk to strangers.

I am the only one you know though~"

;)