Warning: slight depressing parts and small thoughts about self harming. Just thought you should know before you proceed. It all gets happier near the end. There will only be one more of these depressing chapters, I promise you.

Gakushu Asano's POV
-Hey Gaku! Let's go and make snow angels!
-Gaku! I got into Kunugigaoka just like you! I wonder if we'll be in the same class?
-Thanks Asano.

My phone vibrates and snaps me out of my reminiscing. Akabane. What the hell could he want? "Asano?" His voice is heavy. It sounds like he's been crying. "What's wrong Akabane?"
"I- I know for some reason that you and Nagisa are close so I figured you'd want to hear this."
"Gakushu! Who is it?" Ren asks, walking into the room. I cover the phone up for a second, "It's Akabane. I'll be with you in a sec. Anyway why are you calling me about Shiota for?"
"Nagisa..." He lets out a sob, "He's in hospital. In a deep coma. I'm so sorry. So so sorry." What? Nagi's in a coma? "What hospital? I'll be there right away!" He reels off an address and then the room number. My head is reeling. How did this happen? "Akabane, I'm on my way. Also, you better let Naomi know." I hang up. "So what did he-?" Ren starts.
"Gotta go! Nagi's in the hospital!" I grab my jacket and run out of the apartment and into the street. Oh God, I called Shiota 'Nagi' in front of him. No one must know our connection. Akabane may know of it but he doesn't know how we're linked. Probably for the best. I don't want him to find out the truth and he'll freak out. Damn.

~Time skip brought to you by the octoperv Koro Sensei!~

"Akabane." I walk through the door to the room that Shiota's currently occupying. The red haired man turns around, his face stained with tears. "Asano..." I go up to him and give him a big hug. He flinches but soon settles down and accepts it. It is slightly awkward due to the fact that I used to like him and he knows that. His eyes start tearing up and he quietly sobs into my shoulder. I pat his back. "What happened?" I whisper. He shakes his head, implying he doesn't want to elaborate right now. I take a glance at the bed. Shiota lays there, eyes closed, hooked into many machines including one that tracks his heart rate. It takes all my willpower not to well up too. I've got to be the strong one here. Akabane won't stop blaming himself if I cry. No, I've got to approach this differently. Otherwise nothing will change.

"Aka- Karma, please tell me what happened. Please. I know you don't want to talk about it but it'll help, I promise. When have I ever been wrong?" A small laugh comes from my shaking friend, "Lots of times actually. You're an idiot." A slight smirk creeps onto his face. Seems like I chose my words right. Now I've got to continue treading carefully. "Idiot? Really now?" More laughter.
"You are one of the stupidest people who have ever lived." Gee, thanks. And who is your academic rival if I'm so stupid?

"Karma! How's Nagisa?!" The one who used to have green hair, Kayano (I think), rushes in and sees our position. Thanks to her uncareful words, Akabane starts crying again. All my good work crumbles before my very eyes. "What's he doing here?" She growls, the question obviously aimed at me. "Akabane called me here. Is it against the law for me to comfort a friend?"
"Since when were the two of you friends?!" She yells and looks like she will actually murder me. Damn, why did these guys have to become assassins? "Since high school." The red head sniffs and glances at her, "So calm down, Kayano. And to answer your earlier question, Nagisa hasn't woken up. He's in a deep coma but is alive. It's all my fault..." He cries. Brilliant. Thanks, Kayano. I'd actually got him to laugh and smile before you arrived. "It's not your fault." She comes over and comforts him,"You aren't to blame for this." "That's not true, he's in here because I lack good judgement! He's in here because I failed to protect him! He's in here because I couldn't defeat the guy he left for me to handle! He- he's in here because of me. Takaoka was right, I am pathetic. I could've  hurt him when he held that gun to my head but I just stood there! Now I've received my karma and look what's happened. My- my boyfriend is in hospital, no clear signs of ever waking up. And it's because of me!" A look passes between me and the short girl. This isn't good. This state of mindset isn't good for him at all.

"But- But- I don't get why that would send Nagi into hospital, I mean. He doesn't have any gun wounds right?" To sort this out I need to know what happened. "Um. Well... Nagisa, Nagisa has tentacles." He scratches the side of his head. "Oh. Ok. I knew that already. So the guy took advantage of that, huh?" The two just blink at me. Apparently to them only the fact that I knew about those things is important here. "How do you know about that?!" They shout. I wave my hands at them, "He's had those things since he was born! Only problem is that he doesn't know that!" Akabane's eyes widen. Kayano's mouth drops to the ground. "S-since birth?"
"Yes. Since birth. I don't know much about it, but let me tell you that as his cousin I can confirm that. The tentacles just edit over or delete any memories Nagi has of them." The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. Now they know. They know that Nagi's my cousin. They know about the tentacles. Oh God, Akabane knows our connection. Well I'm flipping screwed. "So that's who Nagisa's cousin is. Now I get it." Akabane seems to just smile. "I understand. I get why you might have wanted to keep it a secret." He- He understands? Whatever he was feeling about himself before has disappitated. It will come back, yes, that's for certain, but for the current time he's doing alright.

...at least, that's what I hope.

Karma's POV
2 weeks later and we're still here. Many of 3-E have popped in to see how he's doing. No progress that's for sure but he hasn't gotten worse. From time to time, the anguish I feel resurfaces. I continuously descend down this never-ending spiral, desperately clawing at the edges, trying to climb out of my pile of guilt. Needless to say, I get nowhere. I try to fight the old urge resurfacing to grab a knife and slide it up and down my wrist. Stop it. That was years ago. You're not the same insecure person you once were. Nagisa helped that. Nagisa... What have I done? The urge comes to the surface again but I push it away. Now's not the time to start again. However bad things may get, cutting won't help change anything. All I've got to do is stay strong and hope that he wakes up eventually.

Anyway. Depressing note over, sorry about that. School doesn't seem to mind me staying here as long as I catch up with the work. For that, my friends send me pictures of notes and occasionally drop by. Seems like Asano's school doesn't mind either for the same reason. Kayano seemed to be inasanely concerned about Nagisa's tentacles. I wonder how he was born with them? That question might never be answered but from what Asano has also privately told me, some people tried to take advantage of them when Nagisa was about 7. Asano's mum helped him, but ended up dead. That was the first time I ever heard him mention his mother and probably one of the last.
...
"For crying out loud Karma, this is well depressing." Kira glances at me. I clench and unclench my hand at the thought of Takaoka. "I'm sorry if that's what happened." I see Nagisa out of the corner of my vision and he smiles at me. The typical butterfly feeling fills my inside and warms my heart. I give a big grin back. "But at least it turned out alright in the end."
...
And that was two weeks after everything changed.

~1 month after the events of that night~

Nagisa's POV
A steady beep near me. Something or someone laying down beside me. The eventual sensation of my eyes peeling open. The light blinds me. It's certainly not the most pleasant waking up. I feel a sigh rake through my bones. So... Karma's found out. Yikes. I roll over onto my side, feeling the tubes protruding from my arm and twisting round. Karma's peaceful, sleeping face is right near mine. Like, centimetres away. I flush. It's nice to know I have quite a large amount left in me. I'm so glad he's ok. I start to notice some slight differences to him though. Like how the pillow is slightly wet and the trails down his cheeks. One of my hands goes up to his cheek and tries to wipe the trail away. Another slides down and grabs his arm. I pull it up to me (using all my strength, mind you) and inspect his skin. Nothing. Oh thank God. Seriously. He didn't start up again. Thank you, whoever is responsible for this, thank you. One thought completely shatters the healthy, jubilant illusion I've built for myself, how long have I been asleep?

I bolt up, suddenly also aware a certain ginger haired male is now observing me. "Nagi. You're awake!" He rushes over, drops his book on the floor which makes me wince and gives me a big hug. "Gaku, hey."
"That's all you have to say? Not how's everyone? We're fine at the minute thank you. Oh why have you got to be so flipping reckless Nagi!" He groans. I pull an apologetic face. "Is Karma alright?"
"He's been a bit up and down really. But mainly alright the majority of the time. You've just got to keep that man distracted." I return the hug after he says this. I'm so so glad. "That's Karma for you. He cares a lot deep down. Too much sometimes."
"He loves you, really." The heat rises to my face. "Or... is it too soon for that? Sorry." I gently wack his arm. "B-baka! I was the one who confessed! He just asked me out. That's all! That's all!" I shake my head rapidly, kinda like they do in animes when they're embarrassed. Speaking of animes, my favourite is Boku No Hero Academia! Go beyond! Plus Ultra! Sorry. Got side tracked. "Really now? Did you kiss?" Just as I'm about to try dodge the question, something else helps me. "Who kissed who now?" Karma jolts awake. Great. Another person trying to hug me. Fun. So much fun. "Did you and Nagi kiss when he confessed to you?" Gaku slyly puts. Karma, still not realising that I'm awake, goes a bright vermilion, "How- How'd you find out about that?!"
"Why, because me and Nagi were just discussing it." Karma's head spins round and he finally notices me. Yep, senpai has noticed me. Sorry again. "N-nagisa..." Then promptly places his lips onto mine. When his soft lips brush mine, it's enough to turn my whole face an entirely different colour. His hands circle around me and hold me tight. In my vision, I also see Gaku, smirking, taking some pictures. Pictures. I kick his leg and he drops his phone. Ha. I win. And you are so going to delete those photos afterwards.

The kiss ends. Needless to say, I'm left speechless. "Love you too, Nagisa-chan." Don't call me '-chan' ever I want to growl but no words emerge from my open mouth. "I take it we're still going out? I mean, a month shouldn't change anything, right? I still have strong feelings for you and judging from that dreamy look on your beautiful face I take it you still like me too." I blink. 'Dreamy?' 'Beautiful?' Either he's teasing or he's sick. Let's find out. The back of my hand touches his forehead. No fever. Some of his words finally process. I mean, a month shouldn't change anything, right? A month? A month?! "A MONTH?!"
"Well, yeah. That's how long you were asleep for." Karma deadpans. How the hell should I know that?! I take a look at my cousin. He nods. Damn. "Oh no. What about school!"
"You wake up for the first time after a month and the first thing you fret about is school?" Karma's tone is mocking, "I guess you two really are related."
"Oh. I almost forgot." Gaku muses and then grabs the front of Karma's shirt and pushes him against the wall, "Hurt my cousin, Akabane, and you're dead. I mean it." Bloodlust radiates from him. "Yeah. Sure. Like I'm gonna pick a fight with Nagisa Shiota, a better assassin than me. I still remember what I said about you being an idiot, Asano. And I stand by it." He let's go of Karma. I guess rivalry doesn't fade, huh?

I hear a cough. Standing by the entrance to my room is her. My mother. Karma starts to get up and I pull on his sleeve. He sits back down, "What the hell does that woman want? Me to kill her? Because I'd happily oblige." Is all he growls in my ear. He means it. He means every single word and syllable in those sentences. "What do you want?" My tone is icy. It's certainly not going to be friendly towards her. Not after all she's done. Especially to me but also to the others around her. "To... to beg your forgiveness, Nagisa!" She bows.
"Oh, here we go. Crawling back for mercy are you? 'Cuz you're definitely not going to get any from him. That's for sure." Karma speaks louder this time. "Look. You're aware of this but I'm an awful, awful mother. Your sister let me know that you were in here. And when I heard yesterday that your heart stopped for a couple of seconds... I couldn't not come to see you. No matter what I've done." I look at Karma and Gaku. My heart stopped for a couple of seconds? "I accept now who you are. I accept your sexuality, I accept everything. You see, I've been have therapy over the past couple of years and it's helped. It's helped change me. I'm a better person than I was. I know this won't change anything. You still don't want to be my son. But I understand. I just wanted you to know."

Tears well up in my eyes. "What do you mean I won't be your son? Mum, I love you and I forgive you." Karma tries to protest but I cut him off, "You forgave your parents when they came back home after years of neglecting you. It's the same here." I smile at my mother, "So... we good?" She nods and exits the room telling me to call her. I will. Forgiveness and honesty are seriously some of the best policies. That wrapped up a chapter in my life. I literally would never be single ever again. I was destined to be with Karma for the rest of my life.

...
"And that Kira is how I started to date your 'mother'-"
"Seriously? You're calling me a mother?" Nagisa stares at me, taking his focus away from grading papers. "Are you turning our love story into a How I Met Your Mother thing?" I grin.
"Of course. She's on the couch. I'm telling the story of how I met her mother. It's perfect!"
"You are way to obsessed with that show."
"What about Boku No Hero Academia?"
"Boku No Hero Academia is a work of art!" He throws down his pen, suddenly really defensive. (Seriously though, both are amazing. If you haven't seen either you should check them out.) "So's HIMYM! But anyway, I'm more obsessed with you." I smile. He rolls his eyes, "And... now you sound like a yandere. Way to go, Karma."
...
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I'm incredibly sorry when this gets depressing. It's kinda my thing to do that to my stories, they either have dark twists or are like this. I'm actually a really upbeat person, I guess this is where the sadness that isn't in my body goes.

Also, the hints about self harming will be explained later on in the book. I'm really sorry about that. It's just something that people need to be aware of. Some people hurt themselves, yes. And we need to be helping them as much as possible. What I mean is, if you find out that someone you know is doing this to themselves, help them to stop. They might dislike it, but in the long run they'll thank you for it. Also, don't laugh at them. Be there for them. As someone who is currently helping one of her friends with this, I know what it's like. People found out about it and they laugh sometimes at him. Be a good friend and things will be ok. You'll show them that they are needed in your life, it'll help.

On that note, to cheer us up, I think it's time for the Karmagisa picture of the day!

Hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the next one!
Bye!
~Peanutsfan1

Word count: 2962.