Chapter Text
Nagisa woke the next morning to his school alarm and the events from the previous night felt like a dream. Meeting Karma again? Impossible. Then a ding from his phone made this “dream” become reality.
“Hey it’s Karma, didn’t know if you kept my number still or not lol..”
Nagisa hadn’t, he had deleted all the numbers he had saved on his phone on a bad day where his phone felt too loud. He proceeded to save the number as Karma and just left it be. He didn’t have time right now to respond anyway since he had to get Riku up for school. Riku herself was still sound asleep in bed, unaware of anything that happened. She was content with her dreams of princess land with her dear father as her knight in shinning armor. A dream she adored having. That was until Nagisa gently shook her awake.
“Wake up baby, its time for school” he whispered while pulling the blankets off and then opening up the curtains which covered the tiny window.
“Daddy… its too early”
“It’s actually later than I woke you up yesterday, get up and put your uniform on please.”
Riku huffed a little while she rolled out of bed and onto the floor, then she finally got up and grabbed her uniform. While she was putting on her little show, Nagisa was grabbing himself a new outfit from the closet to change in the bathroom while he waited for Riku to change. The next obstacle was breakfast. They had about four pieces of bread, butter, and peanut butter. Just enough for Riku’s breakfast and lunch. Nagisa would worry about eating once he went to the store in the afternoon. Thankfully for him, it was a Friday, and Riku had a sleepover at a friend’s house so he had plenty of time to take care of errands. Soon Riku was done getting ready in her room so she came to the kitchen where Nagisa had prepared her toast with butter spread on top.
“Where’s your breakfast daddy?”
“I already ate sweetie.”
“Okay..” She didn’t quite believe him but trusted her father knew what he was doing. While she ate her toast, Nagisa brushed and then braided her hair into these twin braids she adored. It was her signature hairstyle and by now Nagisa had it down where he could finish it in two minutes if he was rushing that bad. Once her hair was done and she finished her food, it was time for them to leave the house. Nagisa had a habit of packing everything they needed for the day pretty quickly, he was always anxious that something would go wrong if he didn’t plan everything as early as possible. The walk to school for both of them was uneventful, Riku held Nagisa’s hand, talking about her plans for her little sleepover as Nagisa nodded along. He would occasionally ask a question or two to keep himself engaged in the conversation.
After some time Nagisa dropped Riku off at her school. He talked to her teacher long enough to tell her that Riku would be going home with another classmate that day and then he started to head to his own classroom at the junior high he worked for. Nagisa really did enjoy teaching, it was his passion after all, but it wasn't the most sustainable source of income. Especially when he worked in an area with a bad reputation. Some days, Nagisa thought about trying assassination for a career, then he remembered he needed to keep Riku safe and decided against it.
With starting class once his students arrived, he opened with his friendly welcome, wanting his students to feel welcome. The first half hour went great, and then it just went downhill from there. He got stuck with a class full of kids who just didn't care about school. He understood where they came from, he knew what it was like to be at the bottom of the school, however no matter what he did, he couldn't connect with them like Korosensei had to him. He offered tutoring, tried to be invested in their lives, bring personal stories that they might be able to relate to. Nothing worked. This exhausted him terribly.
The day just seemed to continue to drag on until lunch, a break. He took this chance to finally look at his phone, and the text from Karma. He felt himself just starring at the familiar number, the short and to the point text, the way Karma added lol after just about every message even if it wasn't necessary. Guilt formed in the pit of his stomach, unsure if he should even respond. After what felt like an eternity of just staring, Nagisa finally typed up his own response.
"Hey, it's Nagisa, and yeah I did keep the same number."
Nagisa considered changing his number before in the past but something just kept him from it, maybe it was this. The chance that Karma would reach out to him to say something, anything. It wasn't long before chat bubbles appeared. Karma had seen his message. Nagisa couldn't help but just stare again at the typing, scared of what he'd say next. The bubble would appear, than disappear, and then appear again. Almost as if Karma was struggling to figure out what to say himself. Eventually the message finally popped up.
"How are you today?"
It was simple, easy to respond to. Something Nagisa needed right now.
"I'm good, just working really"
"Oh? What do you do? Teaching?"
Nagisa paused at not only how fast Karma had responded, but also how he guessed his job spot on.
"Yeah, at a junior high."
"Imagine if you taught a delinquent class like ours."
"Yeah. Imagine."
Nagisa didn't know if he should admit to Karma that he actually did teach a class like that. A class he had hoped to change into students who would succeed in life like Korosensei had to him. Well, maybe Korosensi had failed him too with how his life is going. Of course he loved his daughter, she was his pride and joy. It was just hard to live through so much and be told life would reward you and then it just doesn't.
Nagisa and Karma texted back and forth a little while longer, the chatter was idle with dry responses coming from both sides. Neither knew how they should talk to the other, scared to push them to not responding anymore.
The school day finished soon enough with Nagisa gladly grabbing his bag and leaving to head to the grocery store. With no food in the house and a fresh paycheck, he needed to take advantage of this before the bills came into the picture. The store Nagisa went to was slightly out of his budget, but these brands were the only ones Riku could tolerate eating and keeping her fed was his priority.
As he browsed through the shelves, phone in hand with a list on the screen and a basket hanging off of his arm. A familiar voice called out to him.
"Hey Nagisa, didn't expect to see you so soon."
Nagisa froze, slowly turning around to face Karma.
"Oh hey yeah I..I didn't expect to see you so soon either" Nagisa remarked, stuttering through his words.
Karma looked Nagisa up and down, observing him more closely now that they were in proper lighting. He took into account many things like how his hair was messy, his clothes worn and old, and how tired he looked overall. Though the thing that caught his attention the most was the phone with a red case Nagisa held, the same case he had bought him to match with. Karma made a note of this before speaking again.
"Is work that draining for you?"
Nagisa fiddled with the handles on the basket, "I guess you could say that."
"Then how about I treat you to something to help with that? Just as old friends, nothing more."
Those words were both a stab to the heart and relieving. Nagisa couldn't help but miss when things between the two of them were better.
"What could you even treat me too?"
"Mmm… coffee, dinner, a spa day, I can go on. The new action movie coming out soon."
"Just dinner would be fine."
"Sounds good, text me your address and I'll pick you up at six mkay?"
"Okay."
Karma walked away after that, leaving Nagisa just stunned. Then he thought about what he agreed to and couldn't help but feel a bit panicked about this. He had basically agreed to a date!
He quickly finished his grocery trip, thankfully he was so used to what he needed to grab by now that he missed nothing. After that he headed home and looked around his deteriorated apartment. He did not want Karma to see the inside. After he put up his groceries he went and showered to make himself look at least halfway presentable and smell decent. Nagisa then glanced down at the time to see that he had about an hour now before Karma was due to pick him up. He then remembered he hadn't sent his address yet and proceeded to do so.
"Hey here's my address ********"
"That's in the run down part of town isn't it?"
"It is..but its not that bad"
"If you say so"
Nagisa sighed and spent the rest of his free time cleaning the house, he didn't get time to do so often without Riku making a mess of things immediately after he finished cleaning something. Toys mainly. He got so into cleaning it took him a moment to recognize that someone was knocking on his door. He walked over, wondering who it was as it wasn't time for Karma to get him yet. Nagisa opened the door and there stood Karma.
Karma was standing and holding his phone, a blue case on it which had once matched his own red case.
"Karma? You're here early its not six yet."
Karma looked at him with a confused expression before holding his phone up with the time, "Actually I'm late, it's six fifteen"
Nagisa blushed a little from embarrassment. "Oh.."
Karma just chuckled a little, "still as time blind as ever" he joked before grabbing Nagisa's wrist and leading him to his car. His car was one of those fancy teslas. Nagisa could not say he was surprised as Karma had always had a fancy taste in well everything.
The drive was quiet besides the humming of vehicles around them. No music or radio. Nagisa wondered if he should say something, if a conversation was needed. He always did struggle
with understanding when he should and shouldn't speak. He looked over to Karma, he stared quietly. He hadn't actually looked at him fully. Karma looked like how he did in high school except older. His hair parted differently, his gaze still sharp and confident. Nagisa spent the drive just observed Karma, taking in all the new and old features, the ones he had adored as a teenager.