Work Text:
Candy/Sweet
“Babe,” Akari says, stepping over the threshold of Karma’s house, “you are a mess.”
Akari doesn’t know why she humors Karma sometimes. Sure, she’d called her frantic on a school day and made Akari start worrying and mentally cataloging every single dark alley that she might find Karma hunched over in a pool of her own blood. Maybe Karma deserves to be left to fend for her own after that scare. Maybe Akari’s just a little bored. Whatever the reason she’s here now in Karma’s house, standing over Karma’s couch as the girl whines and kicks up a fuss on the upholstery, being far too dramatic in Akari’s opinion. And she’s an actress, she’ll know about dramatic.
“How do you give a boy chocolates for Valentine’s?” Karma laments. She has her face buried in her hands.
“You just do it,” Akari says, hands on her hips, and Karma peeks through her fingers to glare at her.
“Who’s the boy?” Akari asks, nudging Karma aside and plopping down on the empty space. She starts twisting braids into Karma’s hair. Karma blushes at that and refuses to answer, and Akari thinks this is worth getting out of her house and going all the way downtown for.
Akira is grinning. “Karma…”
“Shut up, okay?” She says. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Nothing is out of the realm of possibility, especially with us,” Akari says.
“I guess,” Karma sighs. She brings her hands down to her lap and glares at the offending plastic bag on the coffee table, a chocolate bar mysteriously peeking out of it. Karma probably hadn’t planned to give anyone chocolates for Valentine’s at all, this looked like an impulse purchase from - Akari looks at the receipt - 45 minutes ago, after which she panicked and immediately called Akari.
“Who is it?” Akari asks, again.
Karma sighs melodramatically. “Asano.”
Akari’s jaw drops. “Asano? Like Gakushuu Asano?! Like the principal’s son Gakushuu Asano?!?”
“Told you you wouldn’t believe me,” Karma crosses her arms, “well, it’s okay. I don’t really believe myself, if we’re being honest. I mean, he was a little bitch when we were in 3-E, I don’t know how I’d ever like someone like him.” She pauses. “Even if he is cute.”
“He is cute,” Akari agrees. “why do you like him?”
“Well,” Karma thinks, “he doesn’t treat me like a girl. I mean, okay, he does, but he doesn’t-’
“-look down on your abilities or efforts because you’re a female,” Akari says. “Yeah, I get that a lot, too. Occupational hazard, makes me wanna put my assassin skills to use and stab their eyes out.”
Karma giggles, and Akari finishes off one braid. “He acknowledges me as a worthy rival, and doesn’t try to go easy on me just because I’m a ‘weak, frail little girl’.”
“Did you two get into a fight?” Akari asks curiously, “this doesn’t sound like it’s about grades anymore. It sounds like you two got into a fight.”
“Oh, we did,” Karma grins. “He hits hard. He didn’t even try to pull his first punch. It was hot.”
“What happened?”
“We tied in our first exam, and he was pretty pissed about that but was trying to be nice,” Karma waves a hand, “and because I would be a disgrace to myself if I didn’t try to rile him up with that, I did after school. And he said that he’d beat me in everything else, and I said that he’s never beat me at hand-to-hand combat. So he challenged me to a spar.”
“Who won?”
“I did, of course,” Karma looks smug. “It wasn’t even a close fight.”
Akari raises a skeptical eyebrow.
“Okay, it was kind of close,” Karma corrects, rolling her eyes. “But I still won, so it doesn’t matter.”
Akari laughs. “Okay, so he doesn’t look down on you and fights hot. What else?”
“He’s smart,” Karma says, “not that we aren’t, but he is, which is good. He has a nice face.”
“Superficial,” Akari says, “Karma, come on girl. What do you see in him?”
“He’s,” Karma takes a deep breath, “passionate. He usually has some student-council-president golden-child act around him, but when he lets that go, it’s,” she gestures at nothing, “it’s like he’s alive. Even if it’s because he’s trying to beat my face in, and it’s not just because he loves competition, he wants to be stronger and improve and I admire that. And he’s nice, in a weird way I suppose, he does care about people even if he thinks they’re idiots and honestly? I can relate. And he’s-”
Karma turns to meet Akari’s eyes. Akari is staring with a soft smile on her face.
“Don’t mind me,” Akari says.
Karma blushes. “Uh huh.”
“Come on,” Akira grins at her, and then grabs her hands to hoist her to her feet. “Let’s go find your boy.”
“This is stupid, I can’t do this,” Karma hisses from the bush that the two of them are crouching behind.
“Come on, girl, you’ve been to outer space,” Akari hisses back, “just go, profess your love, and kiss him back!”
Karma opens her mouth to protest, pauses, closes it. Then turns to Akari with a betrayed look. “This is payback, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Akari winks.
“Why don’t you go terrorize Nakamura instead?” Karma pouts, “she had as much to do with you and Nagisa as I did.”
“But you’re here and Nakamura isn’t,” Akari points out.
“I-” Karma starts, but Akari spots Asano leave the school building at nudges her.
Karma turns and sighs.
“What’s that box he has?” Akari asks.
“All the chocolates the other girls gave him,” Karma sighs. “Both obligation and romantic.”
“How many romantic?”
“Too many,” Karma sighs, again.
“And are you giving him obligation or romantic chocolates?”
“What do you think?!” Karma hits her over the head. Akari laughs. She hits back, and Karma pulls at her hair a little. The noise draws Asano’s attention because of course it does. Maybe they shouldn’t have hidden for a stakeout so close to the school gates.
“Akabane? Is that you?” Asano calls out. He turns to their direction.
Akari elbows Karma. Karma shoots up from the foliage. “Yes! It’s me.”
“I thought you’d already left,” Asano says. “What are you doing here? Who’s with you?”
“Who are you, the police?” Karma snarks back. “I can hang out with whoever I want, whenever I want.”
“Behind a bush at our school gates,” Asano says flatly.
Karma crosses her arms defiantly.
Akari sighs, and stands up. “Asano,” she greets.
If Asano looked surprised to see her, he doesn’t show it. “Ah, hello Yukimura. Or would you prefer if I addressed you as Kayano?”
“Yukimura is fine,” Akari says plainly.
Asano opens his mouth to speak, but then his attention is drawn to something else, namely the little bag that Karma is holding. “You’re giving chocolates to someone?” He asks.
Karma crosses her arms. “What’s it to you?” She demands.
“Oh,” Asano says, voice sounding odd. “Nothing. It’s just,” he waves a hand weakly, “you didn’t give anyone chocolates today.”
“Well I will,” Karma says, clutching the bag tighter.
Asano makes an odd face. “And you’re waiting here. For that person to come out of school.”
“Smart, aren’t you,” Karma huffs.
Asano looks lost. He looks down at the box in his hands, then up again. Akari is a master of reading people and she’s enjoying this, eyes flicking back and forth between Asano and Karma.
“Right,” Asano straightens, “see you tomorrow, I guess. You two, Yukimura.”
“Bye,” Akari says, amusement lacing her tone. She waits until Asano’s out of earshot before turning to Karma, whose face is the reddest Akira has ever seen.
“What the hell was that?” Akari laughs, “dude!”
“Shut up,” Karma says, “I couldn’t do it.”
“I can tell,” Akira says. “So what, you’re going to just let him walk away like that?”
Karma shrugs. She looks down at the bag of chocolates.
“Come on,” Akari says, “these cliches only happen in movies. You can’t pretend to be this oblivious.”
Karma shrugs, again. “Yeah, okay, he likes me. Or at least enough to be bothered about this,” she stares at the chocolate. “Still doesn’t mean I can give it to him.”
“I don’t understand your thought process at all.”
“I, okay, it doesn’t make sense.” Karma says, frustrated, “but-”
“I’m glad you know it doesn’t make sense,” Akari nods, “now go!”
“I-”
“Asano!” Akari yells, “wait up!”
Asano stops and turns, expression inquisitive. Karma shoots Akari a betrayed look, but sprints in Asano’s direction. Akari watches them in captivation. Whatever they’re saying to each other is too soft for her to hear, but she watches with glee as Karma flippantly tosses the bag of chocolate in Asano’s direction like she’s playing too hard to be cool about it, and Asano fumble with the box as he tries to catch it.
They speak for a moment longer, both their faces red. Karma tilts her chin up like she’s ready for a fight and Asano, in true dramatic fashion, drops his box and steps over it and kisses her.
Akari squeals.