Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I’m home.” Nagisa called out quietly as he stepped inside of the Shiota apartment. He removed his shoes, hearing his mother call out a greeting in return. He slipped his indoor slippers on, and shuffled out to the immediate kitchen and dining area, where his mother was cooking dinner. She was humming a happy tune, and Nagisa felt himself perk up slightly. She only ever hummed when she was truly sunny and loving- something good must have happened at work.

He loved it when his mother was in these moods. It meant that he didn’t have to tiptoe nearly as much around her- that he could speak his mind a bit more freely; and best of all? He could actually sit with her without worrying that she might start a harsh lecture and guilt him into wearing a dress. He felt like he could be a normal boy with a normal, loving mother.

“Hey, mom. How was work?” Nagisa asked her, ever the dutiful son.

Hiromi turned to face him, a big smile on her face. “Oh, it was absolutely wonderful, Nagisa. I finally got transferred to another department. Which means I’ll be earning more money by my next paycheck. And my coworkers? They’re simply the best! Everyone is so competent and kind!”

“That’s great!” Nagisa said sincerely. He always felt terrible when his mother came home from work stressed and angry because of her incompetent coworkers who always left her to pick up their slack. Not only because he hated seeing her so upset, but also for his own safety as well. Whenever she got stressed or angry, she would fall into her delusions and if Nagisa so much as stepped out of line even a little- a tiny protest against wearing the pink and yellow floral dress she’d chosen for him, she would go into a screaming fit about how she was always sacrificing so much for him. If her day had been particularly bad, she would grab his hair and yank, or worse, throw something at him.

Sometimes, Nagisa wondered if her coworkers had any idea that they were directly contributing to her own child’s suffering, before realizing they likely would not care in the slightest.

“Isn’t it?” Hiromi put a hand to her cheek, looking positively delighted. “And get this. One of my coworkers has a son who’s also in his third year in junior high! He doesn’t go to Kunugigaoka, but he’s a very studious student and makes straight A’s. Apparently, my coworker has been trying to get him to step out of his shell by setting him up with a bunch of girls from his school, but he hasn’t shown any interest in them.”

“O-oh…” Nagisa faltered slightly, a small flicker of anxiety bubbling in his gut. He was beginning to worry where his mother’s true good mood was coming from. But he still kept a smile on his face, not wanting to trigger her dark phase. Besides, it may not be that bad.

“So when I told him that I have a wonderful child who also studies a lot and could use the extra hand, he was more than willing to work with me!” Hiromi squealed. “So, right after school tomorrow, you’ll have a date with Ichinose Haru. We decided that the best place for a blind study date would be that cute little tea shop! You know the one that we pass by when we go out shopping? The one with the cute flying squirrels? It’s that one. He has club activities, so he won’t be there until half past five.” Hiromi looked elated. “Isn’t that exciting, Nagisa?!”

Nagisa could only stare at his mother, his blue eyes wide with shock. Never in a million years could he have imagined something like this would ever happen to him. A blind date? Set up by his mother? With her coworker? It sounded like something out of a horror movie. Besides, didn’t blind dates always end badly? And why did he have to wait so long after his own classes for him? Why couldn’t they do it on the weekend if they absolutely had to go? But to Nagisa, the most pressing matter…

Does mom know I’m into guys? Or is she having a delusional moment?

Nagisa slowly lifted his gaze to search for hers. He could only see true happiness in his mother’s glimmering eyes. Not a hint of the psychotic delusional look she had in her eyes whenever she was talking about Nagisa being her precious daughter.

Maybe she’s baiting me? Seeing if I’ll be happy to be into guys so that she can convince herself I’m actually a girl?

But there was no maliciousness.

“Oh, I know you might be a little stressed on what to wear, since it’s a blind date,” Hiromi said, as if realizing something. “But not to worry. Since it’s also a study date, that’s why we decided to do it after school, so that you can look neat in your uniform for the date. Your mother’s already thought of everything.” She clasped her hands together.

“R-right…thanks, mom…” Nagisa swallowed a lump in his throat. “S-sorry if I don’t seem too thrilled, I’ve just…never been on a date…” Which wasn’t a lie, at least. 

“I know that! That’s why I want you to step out of your comfort zone!” Hiromi blinked once, before reaching over, grasping the hair ties in Nagisa’s hair. He immediately tensed up, squeezing his eyes shut. But his mother only pulled them out gently, smoothing his hair out. “We’ll think of something to do for your hair together, okay?” Her voice, while still cheery, had a strange twang of darkness in it. Nagisa slowly opened his eyes, lowering his gaze.

…She’s falling into her delusions again. But she’s still sunny. I have to play along. As much as it hurts…

“Right.” Nagisa looked up at his mother with a forced smile. “I’m sure you can think of something nice. Ah, but…can we still keep my hair up? It gets in my face a lot in gym and when I’m trying to work…” It was a gamble to request that when she was like this. It could trigger her dark side in a flash. She might yell and turn her gentle grip into one of pure ferocity.

Thankfully, though, the world seemed to take pity on him.

“Of course we can do that!” Hiromi replied happily. “If it makes focusing on your work easier, I’ll think of something for you, don’t you worry.”

Nagisa genuinely relaxed at her words, just relieved that she was still in a good mood. “Thanks, mom. Do you need help with dinner? It smells really good. Give me a moment to wash up…”

Despite his words, he had absolutely no appetite.

_____

The following morning, after Nagisa got ready for school, his mother came into his room to do his hair. She was still in a seemingly great mood, even humming again while she brushed his soft, blue hair. So Nagisa stayed silent and still, letting her work on it.

He could feel her hands working skillfully, braiding his hair into a single braid. Afterwards, she procured a yellow flower hair clip and pinned it in his hair. She stepped back as she admired her handiwork, with Nagisa turning around to face her.

“Nagisa, you look absolutely gorgeous,” Hiromi sniffled, her eyes watering. “Ahh…I’m so jealous of your beautiful, long hair…”

Nagisa felt his smile twitching down towards his heart.

“Run along to school now,” Hiromi gently nudged him. “And don’t forget to be at that tea shop by 5:30. You don’t want to make a bad impression by being late, do you?”

“No, of course not,” Nagisa replied automatically, standing up and grabbing his school bag. “I’ll see you later, mom. Have a good day at work.”

“I will!” Hiromi chimed as Nagisa rushed out of his room and to the front door. He slipped his shoes on, and left quickly. 

The moment he was out of sight from the apartment, he reached up and popped the flower hair clip out of his hair, shoving it into one of the pockets of his cargo pants. He was already feeling trepidation about going to school with his hair down from their usual twin tails and in a braid. He knew that Karma and Nakamura would be on top of him with their taunts immediately from that alone- if they saw the flower hair clip, the teasing would get worse.

And it wasn’t that bad, in Nagisa’s opinion. He knew that if only they knew how his mother was, and if only they knew how his mother made him feel, that they would stop their taunting. And besides, their teasing never came from true malice- there was always an underlying tone of affection in their voices when they teased him. And they never crossed a genuine line before. They never made Nagisa feel truly, sincerely distressed. Not like his mother has.

So it was kind of hard to get mad at them.

Still, it exasperated him to no end that he couldn’t escape such a fate.

When he got to the old campus building after trekking up the mountain, he immediately headed for his seat. To his slight dismay, Nakamura was already at her seat, talking with Kayano and Kanzaki. When they caught sight of Nagisa, Kanzaki looked surprised, Kayano looked confused, and Nakamura looked downright devious.

“Ehh~ Nagisa, I always knew you were more in touch with your feminine side,” Nakamura said slyly, resting her chin on her hand and grinning at him. “You look so cute and dainty.”

“Just…trying something new? I guess?” Nagisa lied, shrugging slightly. 

“I think you look nice,” Kanzaki said softly.

Kayano nodded. “You look cute! A braid suits you!”

Nagisa felt his heart crack. Just slightly.

A few other students glanced over curiously, but none of them really made a fuss about it. After all, at the end of the day, it was just hair. It wasn’t like he was able to get it cut or anything. Still, he’d worn a ponytail for the first few weeks of school, and then when Kayano showed up, she helped him put them up in his now-signature twin tails. And he’d worn his hair like that every single day since then until now. Given it was already November, it was really no wonder why they would be shocked.

As if the world was done showing mercy on him, the door slid open, and Karma stepped in. His mercury eyes immediately landed on Nagisa, and at once, a huge smirk crossed his face. He walked over, his hands shoved in his pockets. “Nagisa-kun, love the hair. I think it’s missing some ribbons and flowers, though.”

Nagisa felt a shiver run up his spine.

I hate that it feels like he can see right through me.

And yet, at the same time…he was kind of thrilled about it. Having known Karma since their first year, he always admired him…or, rather, that’s what he thought at first. And sure, he definitely did admire him…but when they began hanging out, and as Nagisa slowly discovered his own identity, he realized that it was never solely admiration that he felt for Karma. Around the time he started realizing it, however, Karma began distancing himself from him, and Nagisa immediately gave up on his first love.

When Karma began to talk to him again, Nagisa refused to hold onto the hope that they could ever be more than casual friends. Sure, they’ve hung out at Karma’s, both in their first year and even in their third year, and they’ve even hung out at Nagisa’s once along with Sugino, (which, in hindsight, had been a terrible idea. His mother had been in a bad mood and was only able to be somewhat civilized with them), but they never even dropped the honorifics. It was as if they were both acutely aware of the past distance and were simply trying to ignore it. And…well, that was kind of it. There was no way to ask about that distance. Or why Karma was fine with him now.

He would never give Nagisa a straight answer anyway.

But to Nagisa, it was fine. Because Karma was his first real friend. Someone who stopped bullies from coming at him, even when they stopped being friends. If Karma wanted to be his friend again, then Nagisa was more than happy to accept him back into his life. It was probably the abandonment issues. Not that Nagisa was ever ready to face that can of worms.

All in all, however, Nagisa was just happy to be with Karma again, and he was a master at hiding his feelings for Karma. Given everyone thought he was straight, he had even managed to keep his secret about being gay from the class as well.

Minus Sugino. He knows.

Nagisa had come out to him once in passing, and Sugino had sworn never to tell. He’d even helped Nagisa out of the awkward girl talk from the Kyoto trip. He peered over at his best friend, smiling a little as he chatted with Okajima, before turning back to Karma, his smile faltering as Karma stopped by his desk, leaning down slightly.

“Heyyy, Nagisa. If you’re desperate to get that cut off, we can always take a trip together. I’ll even pay for it,” Karma teased, his eyes alight with mischievous joy.

“What does my hair being different have to do with me wanting my thing cut off..?” Nagisa asked in exasperation, causing both Karma and Nakamura to snicker in amusement. He shook his head and turned away from them.

I knew this would happen. I’ll go back to my usual hairstyle on Monday.

He sighed and smiled a little to himself.

Well, a blind study date could be fun. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to truly open up to this guy, and maybe he’ll give me the courage to come out to the rest of my class…

He was anxious. He’d never been on a date, and if this guy was a straight A student, he was very intelligent. Hopefully Nagisa would be able to keep up with him. He touched his braid absently, fiddling with the lower part of his braid between three fingers.

Hopefully, this will turn out okay.

_____

As soon as school let out, Nagisa was grabbing his bag and was out the door, hurrying out of the old campus building and down the mountain. It was brutal, and it was getting colder out. He would need his school-issued cardigan soon. He shivered slightly as he made it down the mountain, and headed straight for the tea shop that he was supposed to meet this guy- what was his name again? Ichinose Haru?

When he arrived, it was already past four in the afternoon, and he decided on using the little money he had to order himself a hot tea while he waited. He opened up his science book as he waited for his drink, and decided to get a head start on the subject he was the absolute worst at.

He hadn’t realized when his tea arrived, nor when the door opened and someone came right for him. After the awful failure of his midterms results, landing in 54th place and resulting in his mother and him having a more tense moment than ever before, he began working harder than ever. He wanted to get into Keisetsu to make his mother happy. And while she was easing up on some of the control in his life, she was still…moody, to put it mildly. And she still refused to call him her son. It was always either “her child” or “her precious daughter”. But if getting into Keisetsu made her back off more, then he was willing to go. But in order to do that, he had to study more.

Someone cleared their throat.

Nagisa blinked and looked up in time to see a boy with silver-platinum hair that fell into his pale green eyes. He had thin, round glasses that slid down his nose and a stoic expression that would put Itona to shame. He was extremely tall and lanky, with a uniform that Nagisa didn’t recognize. It was a dark gray blazer with a green tie, and dark gray and black flannel pants.

He was attractive…in an odd way. Not exactly Nagisa’s type, though.

“I assume you’re Shiota Nagisa?” The boy’s voice came out quiet and smooth. It was only then that Nagisa realized who this was.

“Ah- yes.” Nagisa stood up, noting this guy was much taller than him. “You must be Ichinose Haru-kun. It’s nice to meet you.” He bowed.

“And I’m assuming you’re a boy?” Haru clicked his tongue slightly in what appeared to be mild disdain. Nagisa faltered slightly at his tone. He kind of already knew that he wouldn’t be interested in this guy, but his words were beginning to make him feel self conscious. He definitely wouldn’t be coming out to anyone anytime soon.

But this was a blind study date- he could at least see if they could be friends.

“Yeah. Sorry if our parents made you think otherwise,” Nagisa replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Haru merely shrugged and sat down stiffly.

“Um…would you like some tea? I can pay…” Nagisa offered. He didn’t have much money left, and it was supposed to be used to buy himself a quick lunch for school on Monday, but he wanted this guy to relax.

“No.” Haru said blandly. “What are you working on?”

“O-oh! Sc-science,” Nagisa internally cursed himself as his stutter began to let itself be known. He was always self conscious when his stutter came out. It only really came out when he was highly stressed or in a depressive episode…which was more often at the beginning of the year. No one in E-Class ever made fun of his stutter at least, though. But that didn’t mean other people wouldn’t.

Haru cocked an eyebrow. “...Yes. I see that. I mean what are you working on within the subject of science.” His tone carried an air of arrogance, as if he was already looking down on Nagisa. He felt his palms grow clammy, wanting nothing more than to shrink in his seat and turn invisible. There was definitely no hope for a friendship.

“S-so-sorry…I j-just…”

“Enough. Just tell me so I can show you what you’re doing wrong.” Haru held a hand up to silence him.

Nagisa clamped his mouth shut and turned his work book towards him. He skimmed it, scoffed, and put his head in one of his hands. Definitely not a good sign, and definitely causing his anxiety to rise.

“Seriously? You’re that far behind?” Haru’s cold gaze flickered towards him. “Aren’t you supposed to be in some prestigious junior high? And you don’t even understand the basics of science?”

“W-well, sc-science has a-always been…m-my w-weakest subject…” Nagisa trembled slightly, his cheeks heating up with shame and embarrassment.

“Stop talking.” Haru cringed. “Seriously. You sound weird for a dude, and your stutter makes it hard for me to understand you.”

Nagisa froze, his face feeling as though it were on fire. He’d been mocked before by some main campus students for the stutter he harbored, but he’d never felt so…degraded over it. His face must have shown his mortification, because Haru sighed heavily and pushed his science book back to him.

“Look, this isn’t going to work out. You’re way too emotional. And if you can’t even speak Japanese without stuttering like a fool, then what would be the point in tutoring you in anything else? You’re simply too slow for me.” Haru gathered his belongings, before giving a curt bow. “Good evening.” And with that, he turned and left.

Nagisa sat there, frozen in his spot and face burning.

That guy really knew how to make him feel like he truly belonged in the End Class before Korosensei came by. He hadn’t felt this low about himself in a while. He looked down, clenching his teeth.

…There’s no way that this guy would be smarter than Karma-kun…yet…

His words stung. Maybe romance wasn’t really his thing. He quickly gathered his books and shoved them into his book bag, before fleeing the tea shop and heading straight home.

_____

When Nagisa got home, Hiromi was cooking dinner, humming again to herself. Nagisa felt a flash of anxiety upon realizing he had to deliver the bad news to his mother that her blind study date idea didn’t work out. So, when he called out a timid “I’m back…”, he all but flinched when she called out her greeting.

After kicking his shoes off, he shuffled to the kitchen.

“How was your date, Nagisa?” Hiromi asked happily. “Was he sweet and shy?”

“Ah…um…he was fine…but he really wasn’t interested in me…we kind of…agreed to not see each other,” Nagisa said carefully, eyeing his mother warily. He didn’t want to tell her the real reason why Haru had left, too terrified of the prospect of her reverting back to her usual controlling self.

To his surprise, Hiromi only smiled. “Oh. That’s too bad. But I got more information on my coworker’s son today, so I figured it probably wouldn’t work out. But not to worry, your mother is going to do her best to not let you end up like your father and I. Another coworker of mine has a son too, and he’s only a year younger than you. His mother says that he’s a bit of a playboy, but I’m sure with your gentle temperament, you can ground him down to reality.”

“A…playboy?” Nagisa frowned. He immediately tried to imagine what it would be like to date someone like Maehara, and he quickly, internally shook his head. “Mom, wouldn’t it be better for me to….you know, choose myself..?” He asked, hoping that with her sunny mood, she would agree.

Instead, her smile darkened.

“...On second thought, um…did you set up another blind date?” Nagisa asked quickly, watching as his mother slowly calmed down. When she did, she smiled forcefully and nodded.

“Yes. On Tuesday. I know it’s an odd day, but that’s the only day he doesn’t hang around after school. This one will work for sure. I promise you.” Hiromi said calmly, her smile twitching slightly.

“Th-thanks mom. I’m going to shower and head to bed,” Nagisa quickly bowed to his mother, before running straight for his bedroom. Once he was successfully in his room, he buried his face in his pillow and let out a loud, tearless wail of frustration.

_____

Tuesday went eerily similar to Friday, in terms of the day being awful. His mother did his hair again, he got made fun of again, and the blind date, much like the first one, was a disaster. The guy ended up being unable to stop yapping about himself and his amazing game, bragging about how he has three to five girls flirting with him or confessing their attraction to him every day. This led Nagisa to realize that this playboy thought that Nagisa was a girl, and, after he revealed the truth to him, the playboy bolted and left Nagisa with the bill.

And again, it happened later that week again. His date that time was some hotheaded guy who didn’t see the point in studying and only ever wanted to play basketball. He, too, thought Nagisa was a girl, but unlike the playboy, he didn’t run off when Nagisa told him he was a guy. He seemed fine with it, even cracking a joke that dating was the only thing he’ll play two teams for. He would have been cool, had it not been for the fact he kept complaining whenever Nagisa tried to focus on his work.

And then the following week, there were three more. Honestly, it was getting more and more ridiculous the more his mother tried to set him up on a blind date. None of these guys knew he was a guy, and even if they were generally fine with it, none of them actually cared about what Nagisa had to say, and one of them always ended up leaving early.

Honestly, it was getting ridiculous. Nagisa could also tell that Hiromi was starting to get genuinely angry with Nagisa for it not working out with any of these guys, but what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t force any of them to care about him. And all of them had some sort of issue that Nagisa simply did not want to be around. Though none of them were quite as bad as the first one. Haru’s words constantly echoed in his mind, causing his heart to ache. And he didn’t even care about Haru- his words were simply that cruel.

But how could he possibly tell his mother that he couldn’t date any of these guys that she keeps trying to set him up with? And why did it matter so much to her?

He tried to ask her that. He really did. But she hadn’t been in a good mood at the time, and only ended up screaming about her own divorce with his father. Nagisa left it at that rather quickly.

After several failed blind dates in only a couple weeks, Nagisa was exhausted and just wanted them to stop.

It was when he was on his way to school that he was struck with inspiration.

What if he told his mother that he already had a boyfriend? She would surely stop her frantic work of setting him up with blind dates that turned out terribly. But he couldn’t just tell her that on a whim- he needed to truly sell it. And to be able to do that, he needed a boyfriend. A fake one. One just to cover for him for a while, so that his life at home could relax and he could stop dealing with all of this unnecessary stress.

Nagisa sped up, his twin tails bouncing on his head as he all but ran up the mountain, his mind racing.

Who should I ask..? Sugino knows I’m gay, maybe him?

He shook his head after considering it for a moment.

…No. He really likes Kanzaki, and he’ll be too worried about her finding out about the arrangement and judging him for it. I can’t do that to him. Maybe our class ikemen then?

He made it up the mountain and walked towards the building.

….No good. If we end up having to go on some fake dates, it’d be really awkward when neither of us really have any money. Plus, I don’t think I want our class president to deal with my mom…

He walked inside and began walking down the hallway to get to his classroom.

Okajima and Maehara are no good either. They’re painfully straight. Or, at least Okajima is. Maehara would probably be a really good choice, but with his reputation, mom would definitely know about him by now…

Nagisa bit his lip as he slid open the classroom door, his eyes flickering around the room of his chatting peers. He was among the last to arrive, having slept late due to his exhaustion from the last failed blind date the previous night. 

I’m definitely not close enough with Chiba-kun, Mimura-kun, or Sugaya-kun to ask them for such a favor…and Takebayashi-kun seems like he would be too stiff to ever act such a thing out, even if he understood what I was going through…

His gaze slowly flickered over to Terasaka and his gang.

…No.

He felt bad, but he didn’t believe any of them would be able to go through with that. They’d probably give him away by accident too quickly. Especially Terasaka or Itona, but both for wildly different reasons.

Nagisa sighed heavily, deflating as he walked over to his seat, his head starting to pound. He flopped at his desk, burying his face in his arms. He felt like crying- he exhausted all of his options, hadn’t he? He couldn’t ask a main campus student either, that was completely and utterly out of the question. And he doubted Korosensei would be much help- he’d probably just turn pink and gush about love and write about Nagisa being gay in his racy romance stories. If he asked Karasuma for advice, he’d probably give him a mildly pitying look and say something like, “you sure got it rough”. And Bitch-sensei? …Yeah, hard pass on asking her for advice. She would just tell him to seduce them all.

Maybe he was just destined to be his mother’s little puppet in the name of love until he was able to get along with one of these shitty guys. It made him feel guilty since his mother clearly had no idea that these guys were so awful, but if he tried to tell her, she would just get offended.

And then the door to the classroom opened, with a familiar voice immediately calling out a taunt to Terasaka about something. Nagisa lifted his head slightly, his blue eyes piercing his newest target.

…No…I couldn’t possibly…

But he could.

Karma would be the perfect fit. He was smart, he could easily play up the role, and this was probably the perfect mix of ridiculous chaos that he liked. And besides, coming out to Karma, while he knew he would get teased about it, would be fine. Karma wasn’t the type of person to discriminate against anyone…being anti-discriminatory is what got him sent to E-Class in the first place, after all. Logically speaking, Karma was definitely the best choice.

Before he could fully decide on it, however, Haru’s words began ringing in his ears again.

“Look, this isn’t going to work out. You’re way too emotional. And if you can’t even speak Japanese without stuttering like a fool, then what would be the point in tutoring you in anything else? You’re simply too slow for me.”

Nagisa’s cheeks reddened a little at the memory.

…Karma-kun doesn’t think that…he tutors me when I need it, and he’s never once mocked my stutter…

He shook his head a little.

“Stop talking. Seriously. You sound weird for a dude, and your stutter makes it hard for me to understand you…”

Nagisa lowered his face back into his arms, his mind racing with conflicting thoughts and emotions.

Karma-kun and I are friends…if he thought my stutter was annoying or hard to understand, he would have said something by now. He doesn’t just let things go unsaid. Right?

A feeling of uneasiness began to make its way throughout his body, and he started feeling nauseous.

…Besides…even if that isn’t the issue…what if he rejects me? What if he laughs and refuses to help? What if he thinks this isn’t serious enough to even consider? And what if he realizes my true feelings?

Surely then, Karma would be disgusted with him. He may even distance himself away from Nagisa again, if he realized that Nagisa, in his quest of desperately needing a fake boyfriend, actually had a crush on him. Wouldn’t it be like taking advantage of him? Or just the situation? Nagisa didn’t know, but it wasn’t exactly a good feeling.

He heard laughter and peered over at Karma, who was taunting Terasaka, who was visibly angry now.

…I guess…I’ll just have to shoot my shot. I definitely need to think of why this is a good offer for him, though.

For the rest of the day, Nagisa sat there, deep in thought.

_____

At the end of the day, Korosensei whipped out of the classroom to head to Russia for some homemade piroshki. The class began gathering their stuff up to head out. Many girls lingered, giggling and chatting together while some of the guys simply walked out.

“Muramatsu, I’m hungry. I’ll tolerate your bad ramen, so feed me.” Itona said.

“What are you, dude? A cat?” Muramatsu complained as he, Itona, Yoshida, Terasaka and Hazama all left together.

Nagisa smiled nervously, before turning to Karma, who was already halfway out the door. His eyes widened a little as he grabbed his own bag, shoving his books inside of it before running off after him.

“Karma-kun! Wait!” He called out, relieved when Karma actually stopped and turned to him with a questioning expression on his face. He hurried after him.

How’s he already so far down the hall?

Curse his longer strides.

“What’s up, Nagisa-kun?” Karma asked, his eyebrows furrowing a little.

“Karma-kun, I need to talk to you. It’s seriously important,” Nagisa breathed out. He held back a cringe. If even he could hear the undertone of anxiety and desperation in his voice, then Karma definitely could hear it too.

Karma’s eyebrows furrowed, but he nodded a little, turning and walking towards the home ec room for privacy. It was a little more out of the way, and it was doubtful that anyone would be able to eavesdrop. Not to mention, it was still warmer inside than it was outside.

Once they were inside, Nagisa shifted a little, gripping his school bag tightly in his hands. How was he supposed to ask him such a favor? And could he do it without blushing and giving away his own feelings? He didn’t know. He was starting to seriously second guess himself, but it was way too late to stop now. He had no choice but to see it through.

“Well? What’s going on?” Karma asked him, leaning against one of the counters lazily and staring at him with a bored expression. “What do you need?”

What a dry way to ask me that… Nagisa thought idly, his gaze falling to the ground. He could already feel his face heating up a bit. He opened his mouth slightly, the words slowly starting to spill out.

“Th-the…the tr-truth is…”

His mouth snapped shut as he internally scolded himself for stuttering, only to feel annoyed at himself. He never really cared that he stuttered before, but now that it had been so rudely pointed out, he was beginning to feel more and more self conscious every time he stuttered.

“Look, Nagisa-kun, whatever it is, just tell me,” Karma sighed. Despite his indifferent words, Nagisa could easily detect that his words had softened slightly, likely having picked up on Nagisa’s frustration with himself. He doubted Karma knew exactly why he was upset though.

But Karma was right- Nagisa needed to just spit it out. He was taking up too much of Karma’s time as it was just standing there stuttering like an idiot.

With that final push, Nagisa lifted his head and looked directly at Karma, avoiding his intense gaze. He forced himself to speak the question that’s been burning on his mind since that morning. He forced himself to not think about the worst that could happen, and only on the best possible outcome. Anything to get out of the new reality that he was painstakingly living through.

“Karma-kun, I need you to be my fake boyfriend!”

As soon as he spoke, he swore he heard a pin drop.

Chapter Text

There have been two times in Nagisa’s life that he was utterly terrified of someone’s reaction to something. The first time was when he was much younger, and he had asked his mother if she would ever get back with his father. Of course, this had resulted in his mother exploding at him, yelling until she was red in the face and Nagisa was crying his eyes out until Hiromi demanded he stop before she gave him something to really cry about. The second time was when he first tried to talk to his teacher to beg him to reconsider sending him to E-Class. He was afraid of telling his mother about his failure, and he didn’t want to fall that far. This resulted in his teacher turning on him and speaking to him cruelly. It had completely shattered his already low self-esteem, and he ended up giving up completely on ever having a future.

Blurting out that he needed Karma to be in a pretend relationship with him while Karma stared at him with wide eyes was probably going to top at least one of those.

Nagisa could feel his body stiffening with each passing second, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. It was way too late to try to pass it all off as a joke- especially when his redheaded friend knew that he was an anxious mess before he spoke.

He would know immediately that Nagisa was lying if he tried.

So all he could do was stand there, dreading Karma’s response. He hoped with all of his might that Karma would not look at him in utter disgust and pull away. That would be the absolute worst case scenario.

Nagisa’s eyes lowered to the ground before he squeezed his eyes shut. How long had it been since he’d said anything? A few seconds? A few minutes? Maybe even longer? He had no idea. Every moment felt like an eternity to him, and it felt more and more likely that Karma would refuse.

“Pft…”

Nagisa’s eyes opened, and slowly, he looked up at him.

Karma, still leaning forward on one of the counters, was staring at him with a huge smirk on his face, his eyes dancing in condescending amusement. The moment their eyes met, Karma lost it. He started to openly laugh, his body shaking as he did. Nagisa stared at him, not entirely surprised by the laughter but still unsure if this was a good reaction or a bad one.

“My, my, Nagisa-kun,” Karma chortled, his smirk widening. “This is certainly interesting. How about this- you tell me why I should bother helping you?” His tone had taken a more patronizing tone than before. Yet, despite his snobbish tone, Nagisa felt a bit more relaxed. It wasn’t an outright no. It didn’t mean Karma wasn’t willing to help him- he just needed details as to why he needed to do such a ridiculous thing. Which, in Nagisa’s opinion, was entirely fair. If Karma had come to him with the same thing, Nagisa would also want to know why.

He took a deep, shaky breath, interlacing his fingers together and fidgeting.

“W-well…my…my mom…” Nagisa focused on his words to try to minimize the nervous stutter. “She…has been trying to set me up on some b-blind dates for the past few weeks…and…she won’t listen to me at all. It’s exhausting and…so many of these guys are downright awful.” He watched Karma’s facial expression carefully as he spoke, trying to gauge any changes that may flicker across his face. To his growing anxiety, there was none. “I can’t do it anymore. I don’t have time to actually study, mom’s always talking to me about all these guys, and I…I don’t want this. It’s one thing when she wants me to go to a certain school or have a certain job…but this is too personal. I just…I can’t.” His voice broke, and he lowered his head again. He felt pathetic and vulnerable, two things he absolutely despised. Especially in front of Karma, who was always so confident and capable.

Hell, Karma was probably looking down on Nagisa for being unable to handle simple social interactions that could lead to something more. But it was a risk that he decided to take, simply because he didn’t want to handle it anymore.

“I see,” Karma finally said, his tone still light. “So that’s why you need a fake boyfriend. To stop the blind dates all together and hang out with me more instead.”

Nagisa’s lips thinned slightly. It really sounded like Karma was exposing his crush on him and was taunting him about it, but he really couldn’t be sure if that was actually the case.

“Yeah,” Nagisa whispered. “I’m sorry for bothering you with this, but I don’t know who else I could possibly go to. No one else would be a good fit…”

“Why, Nagisa-kun, are you implying that I was your last resort? I’m hurt,” Karma teased, standing up fully.

“Th-that’s not what I meant..!” Nagisa stammered. “I just meant..!”

“Relax, I’m kidding,” Karma smirked. “Honestly, this sounds like a really entertaining idea that you have. What exactly do you plan on telling your mom when you reveal that your boyfriend is from E-Class, though? If she’s persistent on setting you up on blind dates, wouldn’t she get mad if she found out you went behind her back and got a boyfriend during all of this?”

“I…I would tell her that we’ve already been dating,” Nagisa replied hesitantly. “I mean, I could frame it as not wanting to say no to her and feeling guilty that I was doing this to you…”

“Uh huh.” Karma let out a quiet snicker. “You really sound like you got it all figured out.”

Nagisa wasn’t dense enough to not catch the sarcasm in his voice.

“Karma-kun,” his voice was beginning to teeter into a more desperate tone. “I can’t trust anyone else with this. Will you help me? I promise I’ll figure it all out. I just need someone there with me.”

His words seemed to sober Karma up slightly, his smile fading a bit while his eyes sharpened significantly. “Tell me something then. Why me? I get not trusting the other crass members of our class, but why not Sugino, if you need a fake boyfriend? Or why not Kayano-chan? It wouldn’t be different if you had a fake girlfriend.”

Nagisa swallowed a lump in his throat. This was the part that he dreaded the most. It was a totally valid question, but that didn’t mean that Nagisa was looking forward to explaining himself.

“Sugino…he really likes Kanzaki-san. It would tear him apart to be part of this, especially if she found out. It could potentially ruin any chance he has with her,” Nagisa explained. “And…to tell you the truth…I’m not…into girls. I never have been. And I think mom may have figured that out.” The last bit was a lie. Sure, at first, he wasn’t sure if that was the case or not, but as he went on more blind dates set up by her, he came to realize that his mother had been telling these guys that Nagisa was her daughter. And while yes, some didn’t care, others left immediately. But in either case, Nagisa was not ready to come clean about his mother’s abuse to anyone. It was bad enough that Korosensei knew now, but he couldn’t imagine exposing it to his classmates, who already kind of got the jist that his mother wanted a girl.

The fact that they knew that much was horrifying to him, but they didn’t know how far her abuse extended, and he fully intended to keep it that way.

To his surprise, Karma didn’t tease him after that. He merely stared at Nagisa with an unreadable expression, before finally smirking lightly. “Alright, then. I’m in.”

“Wh-what?” Nagisa was taken aback, looking at him in disbelief. “Just like that?”

“What, do you prefer to try to convince me?” Karma leaned back a bit. “This conversation will take a lot longer if you do. I have my own terms and conditions before I just agree to all of it. If you can’t accept them, then I’ll have to drop out of the deal.”

“O-of course…” Nagisa eyed him warily. “What…are your conditions?” He couldn’t say that he didn’t expect this. But knowing Karma, he really couldn’t anticipate what his conditions were. Some would undoubtedly be fair, and others, he feared, would be more for Karma’s amusement than anything else.

“First, I want us to come up with a good cover story.” Karma raised a finger. “Frankly, I feel like you would leave out way too many details.”

“Okay…” Nagisa nodded a little.

“Second,” Karma raised a second finger. “We need to discuss boundaries. There’s a lot of aspects to being in a relationship that we don’t need to cross since it’s all fake anyway.”

“R-right, I get that…” Nagisa agreed, “I’m glad you brought that up, because I was going to mention it too…”

“And third and most importantly…” Karma raised a third finger, staring almost daggers at Nagisa, who gulped slightly.

What’s more important than boundaries..? Karma-kun…

“I want you to wear whatever I give you. That includes some cosplay I have in mind,” Karma said, his tone lightening up.

“That definitely shouldn’t be part of the deal!” Nagisa raised his voice in disbelief, causing Karma to laugh in response as he leaned back, crossing his arms.

“Well? Do we have a deal, Nagisa-kun?”

“You’re not serious about the cosplay, are you?” Nagisa asked dryly, hunching in on himself a bit. “Because I’m definitely not doing that.”

“Who knows?” Karma shrugged gleefully. “Maybe I’ll retract that condition and just make you buy me all of my favorite snacks or carry my book bag to class every day.”

“That would at least be preferable to wearing whatever you plan on buying!” Nagisa pointed at him, his cheeks heating up slightly in embarrassment.

“In either case,” Karma sighed, his eyes still dancing in amusement. “I’ve stated my terms. And I know that you have your own terms as well. So go on. Talk to me. I’m listening, you know?”

Nagisa sighed. “You saw right through that, huh? Well, I don’t really have much. I also have some boundaries regarding our fake relationship. But there’s two things that I absolutely need you to follow.”

Karma gestured to him. “The floor is yours.”

“First is to not get into any fights,” Nagisa looked at him seriously. “None. At all. Once mom knows we’re in a relationship, she’ll be very careful about getting information, and if she thinks you’re too violent, she’ll be back to forcing her hand with setting me up on blind dates.”

“Easily done,” Karma snorted. “There’s more than one way to put people in their place.”

Nagisa shot him a withering look. “...And the second, and most important one. If she ever approaches you and talks to you about me, you have to promise me, no matter what she says, you will not look into it, and you will not ask questions.”

His demand was met with all amusement quickly vanishing from Karma’s face, now replaced with an intense look of serious contemplation. His eyebrows were drawn down, and his lips twisted to a small frown, as though he were trying to figure out a complicated problem.

…Undoubtedly, I’ve caught his attention and made him suspicious that something’s up. But he knows that asking would break the trust we have.

All he could do was wait and see if Karma accepted his conditions.

“...Alright. Fine.” Karma finally said after a solid minute of silence. “I accept your terms. But you still never gave me an answer. Do you accept mine?”

“Yes.” Nagisa nodded. Even if Karma did end up buying him something embarrassing, he would much rather wear that in the private space between them than go on another blind date. “Let’s talk about our fake story. If we keep it as close to the truth as possible, it’ll be more believable.”

“Ehh, you sure sound like an expert on lying,” Karma smirked, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “How naughty of you, Nagisa-kun~”

“I’m just trying to make it seem real!” Nagisa immediately defended, crossing his arms petulantly. “My mom is really thorough. She’ll leave no stone unturned. No questions left unasked.”

Karma hummed a little dismissively. “Alright. So, what? We were friends our first two years, and then I swept you off your feet during summer break?”

“K-Karma-kun! Please take this seriously!” Nagisa could feel his face heating up more and more.

“What, are you saying I’m not charming? You definitely fell for me first, right?” Karma snickered, causing Nagisa to clam up and stiffen.

…Does he know? Or is he just teasing me? I can’t tell with him…

His heart was pounding painfully against his chest, and his palms were getting hot and sweaty in anxiety. He hoped that Karma didn’t know a thing about his real feelings. That would be completely disastrous. But if he did…then wouldn’t agreeing to pretend to be his boyfriend be a little too cruel? Even someone as sadistic as Karma wouldn’t do something like that, right? Then again, this was the same guy who actively tied a man up and shoved hot wasabi up his nose for no real reason aside from the fact that it amused him.

But would he go as far as to make light of Nagisa’s feelings for him?

He didn’t know. He truly didn’t. And it terrified him.

“Well, you definitely fell for me first,” Karma continued, seemingly oblivious to Nagisa’s inner panic. “And you definitely confessed to me first, unable to resist my charms and good looks…”

…I feel like I can resist you right now, though…

“And after consideration, I accepted your undying love for me,” Karma held his head up high, looking amused. “You nearly broke down into tears from relief, knowing that you can’t go on without me…”

“That’s way too overdramatic!” Nagisa protested, his cheeks red.

“But it’s close enough to the truth, is it not?” Karma mocked, “you came to me and asked me to be your fake boyfriend, all while you have this cute little mousey expression on your burning red face.”

Nagisa slapped his hands over his face.

…I guess he has a point. It is pretty close to what happened…

“As for when…” Karma tapped a finger against the counter. “Shortly after the summer break will do. Late September, maybe?”

“S-sure. Then to make it close to what happened, it was after school, right?” Nagisa asked, accepting his fate of being mercilessly teased. At least Karma agreed to it and was actually trying to help him. “Should we have been doing anything? Just walking to the train station? Studying?”

“If you’re trying to impress your mom, then tell her I was tutoring you,” Karma shrugged. “It was at some cafe and I bought you a drink and some snacks while helping you with science and math.”

“Right, but…how would the confession have come out?” Nagisa asked, his eyebrows furrowing. The conversation was a little painful for him, as all of this stuff, minus the actual confession, was stuff that he did with Karma. It made it all feel painfully realistic, and it made his desire for it all to be real much stronger. 

Karma seemed to think it over for a moment. “...You could say that as we were leaving, you wanted to thank me, and your confession just sort of tumbled out. It’s pretty in line with your jittery nature.”

“H-how is it-?!” Nagisa stammered, stunned, before cutting himself off and sighing. “You know what, whatever. It’s not real anyway. Fine. I was thanking you and it came out, and you accepted. And we’ve been dating ever since. Ah, but…if it’s September, then that was before our midterms…”

“So?” Karma asked, looking bored.

“So if you were helping me study, your labor would have been for nothing, since I ended up dropping to 54th place. Remember?” Nagisa enunciated. “Mom won’t be too impressed if your tutoring landed me below the 50th place cutoff.”

“Ah…I see…then it was sometime before the school festival instead. I realized how much you were struggling and trying your best and offered to help you,” Karma shrugged.

“That could work…” Nagisa nodded a little bit. “...Yeah, this could work. She could probably chalk up my desperation to stay in E-Class to having a crush on you.”

Which was, actually, a small part of why he wanted to stay, but he wasn’t going to let Karma know that.

“Alright. We got our story down then,” Karma smirked victoriously. “And now, we need to discuss boundaries. You and I both have them, so I’ll go ahead and tell you what mine are.”

Nagisa nodded warily.

“First, no prolonged hugs. It’s weird.” Karma said bluntly.

“That’s fine,” Nagisa nodded slightly. He could live with that. The idea of hugging Karma for longer than a second anyway would make him implode on himself.

“Second, no pet names for me. If you so much as try calling me a pet name, I’ll fake break up with you in front of your mom,” Karma threatened.

Nagisa blanched slightly. “Got it. No pet names. Those are really embarrassing anyway.” Which was true. Even if he and Karma were actually dating, he seriously doubted he would ever use pet names on Karma. It felt way too weird.

“Third, I don’t want to hear you telling any stories about us without consulting me first.” Karma’s gaze seemed to pierce him. “Stick with whatever we agree on first. I’m aware most couples gush over their shared experiences, but that is something I will not tolerate. Likewise, I will not tell anyone fake experiences we have had either. We need to be on the same page.”

“That’s easy enough,” Nagisa nodded slightly. It would be a bit awkward if his mother pressed him for details, but he was sure he could manage.

“And finally, and most importantly…absolutely no kissing.” Karma said firmly.

Nagisa blinked a little.

“No cheek kisses, no forehead kisses, no hand kisses…and definitely no kissing on the lips,” Karma listed. “I don’t care if your mom expects it. That’s a line we will not cross. If you want to tell her that we’re both still new to relationships and dating, that’s fine.”

Nagisa nodded slowly, his heart aching a little.

Way to remind me that you’ll never feel the same way about me…

It hurt. It hurt a lot, actually. But he was only thinking about it from his own point of view. Karma didn’t have to help him. In fact, he had every right to refuse such an offer of being his fake boyfriend. He could just step away from it all and laugh at Nagisa’s struggles, if he wanted to. But he wasn’t. This was a huge favor, and undoubtedly, Karma would hold this over Nagisa’s head for a long, long time, and probably eventually demand compensation of some sort.

So Nagisa only smiled. “I wouldn’t expect it any other way.”

Karma eyed him for a moment, before shifting his weight slightly. “Alright. I listed my boundaries. Spill yours.”

“Um…” Nagisa floundered a little. Honestly, he didn’t really have any. He was happy to be in a relationship with Karma, and he’d accept pretty much anything Karma wanted to do. Even if it did hurt since the lines between fake and reality would be blurring tremendously. But he had to list at least a few things, lest Karma got suspicious.

“I’m fine with most things…” Nagisa chose his words carefully. “But, um…no showing pictures of me crossdressing to my mother. That includes the photos you took from our trip to Okinawa.”

It was definitely more of an issue with his mother rather than Karma embarrassing him, but thankfully, Karma nodded anyway.

“And…I guess…” Nagisa looked up at the ceiling in thought, pursing his lips together. It would hurt him to say what he said next, but he needed to show Karma that this was all completely for show, and not seem eager to be dating him.

He looked at Karma with a shy smile.

“I don’t want us kissing, either. I’d rather wait until I actually fall in love.”

“Sounds good,” Karma responded, sticking a hand out with his easygoing smirk of amusement. “We have a deal then, Nagisa-kun.”

Nagisa stared at Karma’s hand wordlessly for a moment, before reaching out and grasping it. “Yeah. We do.”

As their hands- Nagisa’s clammy and cold and Karma’s larger and hotter hand, grasped onto one another, Nagisa couldn’t help but feel like he’d just made a deal with a real devil.

Chapter Text

In the following day, while Nagisa hiked up the mountain to get to class, his mind raced over the prospect of seeing Karma again. After all, he’d agreed to be in a fake relationship with Nagisa, and then left shortly after, calling out that he needed time to think over everything. He hadn’t texted Nagisa or anything afterwards. It was causing Nagisa to feel more and more anxious that Karma was having second thoughts about the whole thing.

But it wasn’t in Karma’s nature to back out of something after giving his word. That was the only semblance of comfort that Nagisa could give to himself throughout the night and in the morning.

But he’s surely planning something. This is too big for him to just let me take over.

Letting out a sigh as he finished climbing the steps, he walked towards the building, a dark feeling in his gut screaming at him that he was walking into the lion’s den.

When he slid the door open to the classroom, he was shocked to find Karma and many of the students already there, with Karma looking pleased with himself, and several students looking stunned.

“Nagisa! Is it true?!” Kayano called out immediately, standing up.

“Huh? Is…what true?” Nagisa asked warily, though he had a feeling he already knew. He side-eyed Karma’s mischievous smile, immediately knowing that he had said something.

“Are you and Karma…really going through with this?” Isogai asked tentatively. “It’s okay if you are, it’s just…not expected.”

“...Karma-kun, what exactly did you tell the class?” Nagisa asked him, slowly turning to him in disbelief.

Karma shrugged lightly in response. “Only the basics. I mean, we have that parent-teacher conference at the end of next month, so if anyone here sees us acting our parts, their reaction won’t give us away in front of your mom. I told them it was temporary and that if your mom does any digging, to tell her what we already told her.”

“You seriously told everyone?!” Nagisa’s voice raised in pitch in pure embarrassment, staring at Karma with wide, bulging eyes.

“It’s not like it was a secret mission,” Karma leaned back a little. “And no one here will dare to make fun of you for it.”

“Karma already threatened us with wasabi if we did…” Maehara said dryly.

“I think it’s sweet!” Kurahashi announced, clasping her hands together. “I mean, isn’t a fake relationship really romantic?”

“Heh, indeed it is,” Fuwa said, lifting a hand to her chin in amusement. “These kinds of plots are always a major slowburn. Just take a look at the infamous manga that’s almost four hundred chapters long and still ongoing, but you two are more likeable and level headed than our protagonists, so I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“What manga are you even talking about?” Nagisa muttered, baffled.

“And don’t give other series so much attention!” Kayano added, looking just as confused as Nagisa.

“Well, I think it’s weird,” Terasaka said loudly, banging a fist on his desk.

“Hey, Terasaka…” Isogai warned.

The gruff male only leaned back into his seat, even as Karma shot him his own look of warning, as if daring him to say something intolerable. “You guys think so too, right? I mean- it’s Nagisa and Karma. They’re complete opposites. You really think a relationship like that would work?”

“They do say opposites attract,” Okano said thoughtfully, lifting a finger to her cheek.

“Indeed!” A giddy, familiar voice boomed in excitement, and suddenly, right next to Nagisa, stood Korosensei, wiggling a couple of his tentacles in the air while giving his usual ever-wide smile. “In fact, the opposites attract trope is widely used in classical literature! Just look at Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen! Elizabeth Bennet was a rather spirited woman who did what she pleased when she wanted, while Mr. Darcy was someone much more reserved and aware. Their love was rather tumultuous, but in the end, true love always prevails!”

“Wh-when did you get here, sir?” Nagisa flinched back in shock.

“Oh, I’ve been around the block,” Korosensei responded cheekily, before moving quickly to the podium. “And I just so happened to hear what’s going on! Nuruhuhuhu! I have to admit, I’m rather surprised!”

“What’s so surprising about it?” Karma asked with a lazy grin. “You know this sort of thing is exactly the kind of chaotic mess I enjoy getting into.”

“You, Karma-kun, I’m not surprised by,” Korosensei held two tentacles up into an X formation. “However, I am surprised by you, Nagisa-kun. To think you’d be so bold and upfront with your feelings!”

Nagisa tensed at Korosensei’s words while his face immediately heated up. He internally cursed not only himself, but his teacher as well. If Karma and anyone else thought that the relationship was strictly for the benefits, then they surely knew now that it wasn’t. At least, not on Nagisa’s end.

“Ahaha, how brutal, teach,” Karma laughed, his eyes dancing in what seemed like amusement. “Nagisa-kun, you never did like being the center of attention, but the weird octopus just had to put you on blast, huh?”

No thanks to you…

“Um, I had a question too…” Okuda raised her hand slightly, looking at Nagisa with a curious expression. “Just how long do you think this will last? I mean, I understand Karma telling us just in case, but do you really think it’ll last until the end of next month?”

Nagisa paused, and for a moment, his mind went blank. How long? He hadn’t even really considered how long it would be. He knew it would need to be long enough for his mother to completely back off from trying to set him up on some blind dates, but he had no idea how long that would take. Would it only take a week? Maybe a few months? Would they play the long haul and be in this pretend relationship until graduation? He didn’t know. Karma seemed to be anticipating it for the next month at least, though, so he probably had a rough estimate as to how long he was comfortable parading himself around as Nagisa’s fake boyfriend. So he turned his head slightly to look at Karma, hoping he would answer Okuda’s question.

“It could be a while, but we haven’t discussed that yet,” Karma replied brightly, as if sensing Nagisa’s gaze.

“Then why would you tell them before you knew?!” Nagisa asked incredulously.

“Because it would be funny,” Karma snickered, “plus, you’re more dense than Karasuma-sensei. I figured the class could give you pointers on how to be a good boyfriend.”

“Oh! What a splendid idea!” Korosensei shrieked in excitement, before darting off and back within a moment, holding multiple books in his tentacles. “I’ve got lots of books here on acting and other romance related books, Nagisa-kun! From old classics to more modern takes, these all are my top recommendations on how to act!” At once, he unceremoniously dropped all of the books he had into Nagisa’s arms.

Nagisa yelped at the sudden weight of all of the books. His book bag strap slipped from his shoulder to his elbow at the sudden movement. The shifted weight caused him to lose balance slightly, taking a few teetered steps to the side to try to right himself.

A hand grasped his other arm gently, but firmly, helping him stand, before half of the books were removed from his grasp. Nagisa blinked owlishly before tilting his head to the side to peer at his savior.

Karma stood there, looking like he was having all the fun in the world. “How careless, sensei. You know Nagisa’s the size of a mouse,” he teased.

Nagisa huffed softly as the class began to laugh, while Korosensei flailed his tentacles around all while babbling some sort of excuse. He set the books down by his desk, before taking his seat. He could feel his face turning red again as he leaned down to set his bag down. Beside him, Kayano leaned over, lifting a hand to hide her mouth.

“Nagisa, if you need some tips, I’d be happy to help. I helped with that play when we were taking care of those kids, remember?” She offered him a small, meaningful smile. “I doubt you’ll have the time to read all of those books that Korosensei provided.”

“Probably not…” Nagisa agreed quietly. “I would appreciate the help though.”

“Dude, have you ever been in love?” Sugino, who sat behind him, leaned over a bit. “I mean, if you have been, then why not just act like how you would if you were in a real relationship?”

Uh, because I do like Karma-kun and if I acted too naturally, he would pick up on it, maybe?

“No, I’ve never been in love…” Nagisa shook his head slightly. “I can’t imagine how I would react if I was in a relationship. It just never felt like it was possible for me, you know?” Which wasn’t a lie, at least.

Sugino gnawed at his lower lip. “Aw, seriously..?”

“Mm…the only love I’ve really been exposed to, outside of movies, books, and TV shows, is my parents' marriage and Maehara’s failed relationships.”

Kayano gave him a sympathetic look. “Neither of those are exactly a good model for you to follow through with, huh?” She asked softly.

Nagisa shook his head, just as the bell rang, interrupting the chatter of the rest of the students. Korosensei was at the podium before the bell even finished ringing, picking up his attendance book.

“Alright, alright! Take your seats now, class. We can continue our juicy discussions at lunch!”

Nagisa rested his chin on his palm, sighing softly. It was going to be a long day.

_____

By lunch time, everyone knew what was going on between Nagisa and Karma. The few students who had arrived late heard about it, and both Karasuma and Bitch-sensei had also heard about it. It seemed like every time there was a moment between classes, it was what was being discussed between everybody- whispers and giggles and stunned gasps filling the passing period. So when the lunch bell finally rang, Nagisa grabbed his convenience store red bean paste bun and bolted out the door to eat lunch outside. It was way too stifling inside, and he really didn’t want to hear anymore goading from his classmates.

When Nagisa was a safe distance away, he leaned against one of the trees, sighing to himself.

Honestly…today’s such a pain…

He wasn’t entirely surprised upon arriving to class and finding out that Karma had told everyone about their deal. In fact, it made perfect sense. With how shaky their story is and how suspicious it would be to tell her after so many blind dates that Nagisa already had a boyfriend, she was sure to do a bit of recon of her own and ask his classmates whenever she would see them out and about. Or she would be watching their reactions carefully, if he and Karma were still faking a relationship during the parent-teacher conference. If any reacted with shock, then it would probably confirm that she had been right to be suspicious.

Still, he wished Karma had consulted with him first. A bit of a warning would have been nice.

He opened the wrapper and pushed his bun halfway out, taking a small bite.

Still, though…it’s kind of nice that Karma-kun is covering all of our bases, even if he’s doing it for his own amusement. I didn’t think he would be so eager to help me out with something as sensitive as this.

It was one of the things that Nagisa really admired about Karma, honestly. He was constantly surprising him- he always thought he had a general grasp on his friend’s unpredictability, but he always found new ways to prove Nagisa wrong. And it was usually always for the better. Karma proved time and time again that, despite his teasing nature, he did take his friends feelings and safety seriously. Nagisa just didn’t realize how far he was willing to take it- to pretend to not be straight and be in a gay relationship with him, until yesterday.

He lifted the bun to his lips and paused just as he was about to take a bite.

Eh..? Wait a second…pretending to not be straight..?

He lowered the bun.

Okuda-san had asked how long this would last…and way back when we were in Kyoto…Karma-kun said that he liked Okuda-san the most. Not to mention, weren’t they partners during Korosensei’s test of courage..?

His eyes widened a little.

No way…do Karma-kun and Okuda-san…like each other? Are my problems interfering with their probable relationship..?

His gaze fell to his partially eaten bun, his eyebrows upturning a little in distress at the idea.

Who am I kidding…that’s definitely the case, isn’t it? Karma-kun is softer around her, and he’s fascinated by her scientific abilities…meanwhile, science is my worst subject that Karma-kun always tutors me in alongside math…not to mention, Okuda-san is cute and innocent. She’s everything that I’m not.

“Why am I so stupid..?” Nagisa muttered to himself, lifting a hand to his forehead.

“Nagisa…” A woman’s voice said, peering at him from around the tree. Nagisa flinched in shock as Bitch-sensei stared down at him with her wide, curious and yet utterly mischievous blue eyes. “I heard all about what went down yesterday.”

“Eugh…yeah..?” Nagisa smiled anxiously, unsure why she wanted to speak with him. The class was buzzing about the details anyway, so there was no real point in asking him anything.

“I also heard that you’ve never been in a relationship,” Bitch-sensei leaned down, her golden hair spilling over her shoulders. “If you want, I can teach you some wonderful seductive moves, or show you how to give a proper kiss~”

“No thank you!” Nagisa’s voice squeaked as he stood up quickly, his bun still halfway in its wrapper as he clutched it tightly. “I, uh, appreciate it though? I think?”

“So you don’t want to learn how to kiss even better? You can easily do a fifty hit combo on Karma in front of your mom, you know?” She winked.

“We agreed that we won’t be sharing any kisses! S-so your lesson really isn’t needed!” Nagisa shook his head rapidly. “I’m going now.” He turned away from her and walked off quickly.

“What kind of fake relationship is this?!” Bitch-sensei cried out, “no kissing?! You gotta show off your steamy love affair if you wanna make it believable!”

Nagisa only quickened his pace, his face burning for the umpteenth time today.

Seriously…everyone here is so sleazy!

He shook his head slightly. For now, he just needed to focus on the “how long” aspect of his and Karma’s little game that they called love. He didn’t want to keep Karma from potentially seeking out being in a relationship with Okuda, or anyone else. He was doing him a huge favor by doing this- putting his life on pause to help Nagisa out of his predicament. And he wasn’t even sure what Karma was planning on doing, or how they would end up proving that they’re together in front of his mother.

He hadn’t exactly thought that far ahead the previous night, still reeling from the fact that Karma had even agreed to help in the first place. What he was hoping for, though, was to just be able to hang out with Karma like normal and send a picture to his mother. That would probably be more than enough for her. But he couldn’t know for sure. Not until he actually brought it up with his mom.

But how could he bring it up to her?

Was he supposed to just waltz up to her, announce he’d actually been in a relationship for almost a month now, and just didn’t tell her? Wouldn’t she get mad at him for it? He honestly didn’t know, and it terrified him.

He stopped walking, standing near the classroom. His eyes lowered.

…There’s still so much that I haven’t thought about. It’s no wonder why Karma-kun wants us to discuss everything before we tell her anything. I mean, if I was asked to do something this big and there was no real plan, I think I’d be really worried too…especially if I was already in love with somebody else…

His free hand clenched into a fist for a moment, before loosening, his shoulders hunching in on himself.

I can do this…as long as I know Karma-kun likes Okuda-san, then I can definitely focus on getting the answers he needs so that he can go live his own life…

Sighing quietly, Nagisa walked back to the classroom, his heart heavier than it was that morning.

Chapter Text

Nagisa was all too glad to leave school that day. All day, ever since he’d arrived, he felt like he was being studied by his fellow classmates and felt like they were picking apart his plan bit by bit and leaving him exposed. Every time one of them grinned or snickered softly in amusement, Nagisa would feel a bead of sweat on his forehead and drip down his temple, anxiety swirling in his gut that his classmates realized his true feelings. After all, it seemed like Korosensei had already picked up on it, so he feared that it would only be a matter of time before the rest of his class figured it out too, right?

So fleeing the school quickly and inconspicuously was the best decision he’d made all day.

By the time he got down the mountain, his nerves were still running high, but he’d at least managed to calm down just enough to not look like he was running away from the building. He kept his gaze slightly lowered as he began walking by the main campus building. He didn’t need to look up to watch where he was going, already very much aware of how many students were around him. Most ignored him, while some gave him disgusted looks, knowing he’d come down from the E-Class building. Around him, students chatted- mostly about their classes, the homework, their teachers, and being unable to keep up with their lesson plan, followed by hushed whispers and warnings about falling to E-Class.

This was normal to Nagisa. He didn’t care for it at this point. After all, their finals at the end of their first term proved that they could beat out even A-Class’ “Big Five” if they worked hard enough, thanks to Korosensei and his special lessons. Not to mention, they were tasked with something much bigger than just worrying about schoolwork. And they only had a few more months to do it.

Being the tail end of November, Nagisa was very much aware how their deadline was looming over them all.

However, what did catch his attention was a high pitched giggle followed by a playful “oh, you..!”. He blinked, his steps slowing to a halt as a female student grabbed hold of a male student’s arm as they walked by, both laughing over something the male student had said.

“It’s true! I even showed off the test afterwards and he was just so stunned..!”

“That’s so bad! He’s your friend!” The girl giggled.

Nagisa blinked slowly, and for some unfathomable reason, he tried to picture himself and Karma in a similar scenario. Karma talking about something or other and causing Nagisa to laugh as he clung onto him like a piece of arm candy. It felt…way too flirtatious and bold. Nagisa doubted he would ever get to do that- or if he even really wanted to. 

Nevertheless, his face turned bright red at the imagery and he quickly slapped his hands over his cheeks.

Calm down. You’re seriously getting ahead of yourself.

He took a deep breath in through his nose, and exhaled through his mouth, his eyes shutting as he did this a few times to calm himself. He knew that he was going to need to do something physical with Karma in front of his mother to sell the fact that they were dating. He knew that she would want to meet him. He would just need to discuss with Karma the best day to walk him home to introduce them before sending Karma on his way, and then do it a few more times to really sell that they were a couple to her. 

Logically, the best thing he would have to do would be simple hand holding, but he worried that his mother wouldn’t be completely satisfied with that.

Would clinging to Karma’s arm count as prolonged hugging? He suddenly wasn’t sure anymore.

Ugh…I’m just going to go home and do my homework. This is too stressful.

With a shake of his head, he continued to walk away from Kunugigaoka Junior High and to the train station.

Sure, he and Karma covered their general bases, but the situation felt so much more important and intimate than a simple “hey, pretend to be my boyfriend in front of my mother”. She would be asking questions, she would be reading their body language, and the ruse could easily last up to several weeks, or even months. It entirely depended on how his mother took the information and if she secretly truly wanted to be the one to choose Nagisa’s boyfriend.

Not for the first time, Nagisa wondered what Karma was possibly gaining from all of this. After all, if he liked Okuda, then what was the point in parading around pretending to be his boyfriend for his mother? Was it just so he could mess with his mother a little? He didn’t know. He’d thought about asking Karma what was in it for him, but he knew that Karma wouldn’t give him a direct answer.

But it wasn’t like Nagisa could give him a direct answer as to why exactly he didn’t trust anyone else with this. He could excuse Sugino and Terasaka and his gang, but there were many other guys in their class that he could have gone to. And Karma knew this. But he was going to let it go, so long as Nagisa didn’t ask questions of his own.

It made sense, but it didn’t make it any less frustrating.

By the time Nagisa got home, his head was starting to throb a little from thinking of all of the things he wanted to ask Karma about but knowing that he couldn’t without risking Karma asking questions of his own. 

“I’m home…” Nagisa called out, as per usual.

“Nagisa! Welcome back!” Hiromi sounded elated. “Come, sit down! I have wonderful news for you!” From where Nagisa stood at the doorway, he could practically hear his mother bouncing on the balls of her feet, and his heart dropped slightly in worry. Still, though, he took his shoes off and walked inside, peering over at his mother curiously.

“What is it, mom..?” He asked warily, spotting her walking over from the stove, holding her phone in her hands. She held her phone out to him, startling him enough to flinch back a bit. 

“Look! What do you think? Isn’t he handsome?” She gushed. On her phone was a picture of a kind looking boy with soft brown hair and green eyes and large glasses. He was attractive, Nagisa had to admit, but just from looking at him, he could tell that he wasn’t really his type. 

“Yeah. He’s good looking.” Nagisa replied, not wanting to appear completely disinterested and cause his mother to lose her patience.

“That’s good! I’m glad!” Hiromi held her phone close to her chest. “This is actually my boss’ son. He just turned eighteen last week, so he’ll be graduating high school in March, but he can help you get into the high school of our dreams!” She leaned over, almost as though she were sharing a conspiracy. “To tell you the truth, he actually goes to Kei U! He can tell you what to expect on the entrance exams!”

Nagisa cringed slightly. Sure, the age gap wasn’t too terrible, given Nagisa had just turned fifteen a few months ago, but it still wasn’t really ideal, and he would much rather prefer to avoid dating older guys. Maybe if he himself was older, he wouldn’t mind as much, but…

“A-Actually, mom…” Nagisa spoke up, his voice wavering slightly.

“Can you believe our luck, Nagisa? I have a feeling he might be the one for you!” Hiromi placed a hand on her flushed cheek, looking ecstatic. “My boss even told me that his son doesn’t care about gender and would be happy with your boyish charm.”

Boyish charm? I am a boy, though…

“Mom…” Nagisa said again, a hint of exasperation added to his anxious tone.

“Not to mention, he’s the valedictorian of his grade and will be the one giving a speech during graduation! He’s also a member of the Student Council, and does volunteer work! He’s perfect for you! Oh, I’ve truly outdone myself securing you a date with him..!”

“Mom, hold on!” Nagisa stood up fully, his palm flat on the table. His mother finally stopped gushing to stare at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to ask questions about this supposed new boy she got ahold of. “Look, we really need to talk. I’m sorry, but I can’t be doing these dates anymore.”

Hiromi froze.

“I…th-the truth is…” Nagisa looked down at his hands, unable to keep the slight stutter out of his voice. “I…I appreciate what you were t-trying to do for me. Really…but I can’t keep quiet about this any longer.” He lifted his head to look at his mother, trying to gauge how she was feeling. “...I have a boyfriend.”

Hiromi stared at her son blankly for a moment, before barking out a soft laugh. “Oh, Nagisa, really. What kind of lie-”

“It’s not a lie,” Nagisa quickly cut her off, feeling a bit guilty as he did so. “We’re dating and…I can’t keep doing that to him. It doesn’t feel right. I really, really care about him, mom. I’m sorry that I kept it from you, I just…didn’t know how to bring it up. You were always so happy making these dates.” He hoped fervently that by appealing to her as the dutiful son, that she would ease up on him. Though he could tell from the way her eyes darkened that she wasn’t pleased.

“Really…” Hiromi asked, her tone deadpan. “And when exactly did this happen?”

“T-two days before the first day of our school festival,” Nagisa stammered. “B-but I…I’ve had a crush on him for a long time now.” At least that bit wasn’t a lie.

Hiromi’s eyes narrowed then. “Ohh. So you’re telling me that he’s in E-Class,” she said flatly, voicing it in a way that made it clear that she wasn’t asking, she was confirming.

Nagisa nodded a bit.

“Absolutely not.” Hiromi said firmly. “I’m letting you stay because I can understand why you want to be there when the class does amazing things, but you need to focus on your future too. The grades of your classmates will bring you down.”

“He isn’t like that!” Nagisa immediately defended. “He’s actually really smart. Smartest not only in the class, but among the top in the school. Did you know that for our midterms several weeks ago, he placed second? In the whole school.”

“Second?” Hiromi’s eyes bugged wide a little. “And yet he’s still in E-Class?”

“He’s…absent a lot,” Nagisa said, looking away from his mom guiltily. It wasn’t technically a lie, since Karma did enjoy skipping school whenever he felt like it. But he didn’t have so many absentees that he was forced to stay in E-Class. “He gets sick really easily, that’s all. Some chronic illness that he deals with.”

“Oh…” Hiromi’s face changed from suspicion and shock to pity. “That sounds awful. I had no idea.”

“R-right, so it’s really not a big deal that he’s in E-Class, you know?” Nagisa rocked back and forth on his feet, his fingers fidgeting together. “He’s a great guy, he just has some health issues. Maybe when he’s doing well, he can walk me home and you can say hi.”

“Oh, don’t be silly. If he’s going to walk you home, then just go ahead and invite him over for dinner!” Hiromi said with a growing smile.

“D-dinner?” Nagisa’s eyes widened.

“Of course! I would love to officially meet the boy who’s making my daughter happy!” Hiromi said cheerfully, clasping her hands together. “How about on Saturday? We’ll need to deep clean the apartment to make it look nice and then I’ll also need lots of time to prepare our meal…”

“Y-you know, you’ve actually already met him?!” Nagisa stammered out, hoping futilely that this would work. “I-it’s Karma-kun! You know- red hair, came over once with Sugino?” Normally, when Nagisa and Karma hung out, Nagisa avoided bringing any friends over out of fear of how his mother would react. It was a deep-seated fear that his mother would blow up at him over something mundane while he had guests over. It would be utterly humiliating to be screamed at by his mother in front of them, after all. For both him and them. Thankfully, his friends never seemed to mind him avoiding his own home when they hang out, and never really asked questions before. Well, he supposed now that didn’t really matter when they’ve already heard her screaming at the top of her lungs before. Still, with Karma’s general knowledge of how his mother was, inviting him over for an evening felt unthinkable.

“Oh,” Hiromi’s eyes lit up in recognition. “I always thought that he was rather handsome. My, he seemed to be in great health last time I saw him.”

Nagisa nodded nervously. “H-he had a good week at the time, so we were just celebrating.”

“Well, take care of him tomorrow so that he can come over on Saturday!” Hiromi ordered, “I’ll be sure to cook him something that will help with his health. In the meantime, just make sure he can show up!”

“Th-that’s really short-notice though? He might be busy with other things!” Nagisa pleaded with her. It was already Thursday, and to give Karma as much of a heads up as he could would require him to message him right away. He doubted Karma really had plans on Saturday, but his mother never seemed to care if other people were busy, she just wanted to do something whenever she wanted.

“Oh, Nagisa. Don’t be ridiculous.” Hiromi smiled darkly. “I need to meet him. So run along now. Dinner should be ready in about half an hour.”

Nagisa sagged his shoulders a little, letting out a soft sigh. He knew there was no point in arguing with her at this point. Unless Karma couldn’t come, she would not give up. But if Karma did decide against it, or he simply didn’t show up, then how would his mother react? He worried that she would lose her mind. If they had a legitimate excuse, she might be a bit more understanding, but if Karma just…didn’t show up? Nagisa genuinely feared that his own safety would be compromised. He touched his hair lightly as he trudged to his bedroom, flinching a little as he recalled the many times his mother grabbed his hair and yanked in pure rage.

While his mother seemed to have genuinely improved in some areas and tried to keep her temper in check, she still had her moments, and it was utterly terrifying. It was as if she were warning him that she could force him to do whatever she wanted if he kept disobeying her, but was deliberately holding herself back. In a way, it felt like the power imbalance grew even worse, now that Nagisa had tasted a sense of freedom.

In his room, he threw his bag onto his desk chair and sat down on his bed, pulling his phone out and immediately messaging Karma.

Nagisa

Hey, so my mom wants to meet you officially. She wants to have you over for dinner on Saturday.

Sent at: 17:46

It didn’t take long for Karma to respond.

Karma

I get to actually meet your mom??? And use my wits to charm her??? wwwwwww

Sent at: 17:50

Nagisa

It isn’t funny! This is serious. I didn’t expect this to happen…I just thought if we showed us off a little, then she would accept it, but I didn’t think she wanted a whole evening getting to know you.

Sent at: 17:52

Karma

Well, what’s done is done, right? I knew something would come up as your fake boyfriend, so don’t sweat it. I didn’t have any plans on Saturday anyway.

Sent at: 17:55

Nagisa

Still…no last second cancellations, okay? Please. Don’t do that to me.

Sent at: 17:56

Karma

You sound rather flustered over the phone, Nagisa-kun.

Sent at: 18:04

Nagisa swallowed slightly. With how long it took Karma to respond, he was worried that Karma was overanalyzing his previous message. It was either that, or he’d been in the middle of something at home. With Karma, it was always impossible to tell.

Nagisa

Just don’t do it, okay? But are you really down for dinner with my mom and I?

Sent at: 18:05

Karma

Yeah, I’ll be there wwwwww don’t get your panties in a twist.

Sent at: 18:06

Nagisa

Not funny, Karma-kun.

Sent at: 18:06

Nagisa watched as the Delivered messages flipped to Read. But this time, the little dots did not appear, signalling that Karma was done with the conversation. He let out a shaky, heavy sigh, flopping backwards on the bed and staring up at the ceiling, his eyebrows furrowing. This had escalated in a way that he truly hadn’t anticipated…and yet, at the same time, he felt like he should have anticipated such events. He’d been so anxious about the prospect of pretending to be in a relationship with his crush that the logistics of it kind of flew over his head.

He lifted his phone up to skim through the conversation again, his eyes narrowing slightly at Karma’s initial response.

Just what is he planning..?

He would have to seriously talk to him tomorrow and make sure they were on the same page. That had been one of the rules anyway, right?

Surely Karma had a plan and was going to confide in him…

Swallowing a sudden, heavy lump in his throat, Nagisa rolled over onto his side and stared at his phone, unable to quell the nausea that was rising rapidly within him.