Chapter 54

Gakushuu and Karma had a tradition.

It wasn't a gentle, soft tradition but a typical Karma-style one that started when they were still discovering new ways to not-hate at the people around them. A tradition that was hot, and spicy, and ended with both of them trying not to cry.

It was their Valentine's Day.

For the rest of the world, it was a time of teenage embarrassment, dramatic confessions and progress or not with their crush.

For Gakushuu, it was a test of courage.

He had one very large, very obvious gift placed very obviously in front of his locker.

Last year, he had received a punch-me box which he assumed had been Karma's, only to eat the chocolates from another and try not to die slowly inside at the jalapenos.

Now he would like to clarify that Gakushuu didn't hate Mexican food. Or its spices. But Karma had this innate ability to be infuriating even with his food choices.

He showed off his cooking talent by making the worst possible mix of jalapenos and caramel in the history of food.

Gakushuu was almost envious as he baked Karma the prettiest looking cake he had ever made with an absolutely intense amount of salt. The first bite would kill his taste buds, not to mention his love for sweets.

But that had been their second year.

They were dating in third year. But that didn't have to mean anything to Karma….

Or so he had assumed.

Because inside the petty prank of giving Gakushuu boxes within boxes, until it was Gakushuu's height, was a small cup with an equally tiny spoon.

Gakushuu dipped the spoon in the cup, and took a bite.

Tiramisu parfait.

He raised an eyebrow, before taking another bite.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with it. In fact, it went to the other extreme and became absolutely delicious. It was coffee, and there was no sweetness to distract him from the textures crunching in his mouth. The aftertaste was amazing as well.

Before Gakushuu knew it, he had finished it up. Afterwards, he looked at the cup almost forlornly. He hadn't expected it to taste that good till the very end.

He looked up at Ren and the other boy looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"If you're done enjoying your home delivered parfait, maybe you should clear up the boxes in the Student Council room?" He asked pointedly. Gakushuu sighed.

"It was a really good parfait," he told Ren.

"Yeah, I know," he rolled his eyes. "And so does most of the class," Ren showed a picture of their class group, where Anaya had sent a picture of Gakushuu taking his second bite of his parfait, looking surprised and half in love with it.

Anaya waved at Gakushuu, pointing at the boxes that were spread over half of the room from Gakushuu eagerly opening his newest present from Karma. Gakushuu was ever the love sick idiot who lived to get punched in the face by Karma's pranks or his tender mercies.

"Now, clear up your boyfriend's trash," Ren translated for his girlfriend. Gaksuhuu sighed again, dropping the spoon inside the tiny glass.

"Yes, all right. Let someone enjoy their Valentine's gift, at least, before you put them to work," He said sarcastically.

"If we let you enjoy all your gifts won't it take us years to actually get to work?" Ren asked, looking at the other half of the room filled with gifts that had been given to Gakushuu.

At least Karma had made sure to distinguish his well enough that Gakushuu didn't have to look through them all to find Karma's, or it might have taken even longer.

"I know a few people who will appreciate these at least," he sighed, thinking about a couple of orphanages and the lone elementary school he had spent time with class E in. "I'll buy a little more and just send them in bulk," he noted aloud.

"How about you help finish the preparation for our end of the year ceremony instead?" Ren sighed dramatically.

"Aren't our juniors preparing for that?" Anaya asked, scrolling through her phone casually.

"We don't want to leave it in their hands, Ana," Ren said, flicking her shoulder. "You get back to work too."

"I've finished up my work as the Vice-representative of the class," Anaya said. Ren glared at her pointedly.

"The other work," he said. Anaya sighed dramatically, reaching for a small stack of paper.

"You can leave it here and enjoy your day. I'll finish up," Gakushuu told the two, his lips curling up into a smile.

Valentine's Day was something special and Anaya and Ren were both busy people even without their self imposed work dumped on themselves.

"Have fun," he insisted. "It'll be good for you two."

They has both been beside Gakushuu for the last three years, and they would continue to do so for the next three years as well.

But unlike Gakushuu, they didn't have enough people to delegate to, enough power to stand up their parents, or enough strength to say no when and if an opportunity dropped in their lap.

Time would always be short for people like them. Gakushuu, Ren, Anaya, and a small quarter of their class who were the self designated "rich kids" of the class.

They were leaving a part of their lives behind, but even as they graduated and reached high school, their separations wasn't forever.

Maybe they weren't class E, with an assassin for a teacher, a societal pressure to overcome, and a person they had to become. But they had their own struggles and growth.

Hinata, Seo, Mori, Miyuki, Anaya and Gakushuu, who would also dare to include himself, among the group of people who had improved the most in the last few years.

All of them had found more about the kind of person they wanted to be, and Gakushuu knew that many more would find more in high school as well, and maybe if they felt like they needed them, their classmates would be happy to reunite and help each other grow once again.

It would be like the time when the class was trapped in the middle of a landslide, or when the class came together to practise for baseball, or stand up against the Principal together.

It was the way their experiences slowly shaped their class.

Three years was a short amount of time, but Gakushuu was good at making lasting bonds. And he would make sure this class was one of them.

Gakushuu watched Ren and Anaya leave tactfully, before looking at his gift from Karma fondly. Both of them had similar ideas.

Unlike the last few years, this year's Valentine's wasn't meant to be a prank. It wasn't a competition, or a way to test each other.

This year, it was a gift. It was an offer, and a continuation of what they were already doing. It was nothing special, but also something of a tradition for them still.

Gakushuu hoped Karma liked the gift he had decided to give to him.

"You know, you've been showing me everyone else's Valentine's tradition, but what about yours?" Kayano asked, a little mischievously.

Rio's eyes snapped immediately to Karma. Her eyes bright, wide and eager for a piece of blackmail on her normal pranking buddy.

"But you have to be specific right?" Rio said slowly, her lips curling up into a smirk. "He has a girlfriend, not to mention the thing he has with Gakushuu ," she let the name roll off her tongue, intimately.

Karma's eyes narrowed.

"That's not going to work on me," he told her. "I'm not going to put a hit on you for saying his name," he said with a smile.

"I… am just saying his name," Rio said slowly. "He's all yours."

"I know," Karma replied back, a smile still in his face.

"Okay, I honestly can't tell by your smile if you're happy or trying to be creepy," Kayano added her two cents.

"I'm happy," Karma said, batting his lashes. "Two of my friends beside me, one about to confess to her crush and us two encouraging her to be open about her love for our resident assassin."

"To be fair, we're all assassins," Rio pointed out. "Also, this doesn't mean you get to avoid the question. What's up with you and Gakushuu?"

Karma sighed dramatically.

"But isn't it so much better to find out for yourself?" He asked her. "Put your assassination skills to good use and sneak around some ordinary middle school students to find out gossip."

"I did," Rio scowled, "but I couldn't even find Asano after he left my line of sight the first time."

"Maybe you need more training," Karma shrugged.

"You got a gift right?" Kayano interrupted, her eyes narrowing at Karma. "I saw it."

Karma shrugged again.

"People give me gifts all the time," he said casually.

"Everyone knows you never accept gifts. Aside from your and Asano's famous Valentine's exchange," Kayano said, her tone growing more suspicious.

"These were from my partner," he smirked, "I couldn't just let them go to waste."

"Partner," Rio mouthed. "Partner as in Asano Gakushuu or your mysterious girlfriend?" 

"Sounds like something is going on between you three," Kayano asked, her lips quirking up mischievously.

Rio paused, before blowing a raspberry in disbelief.

"What, no way. It's Karma," then she looked at Karma, "There's no way, right?"

Karma raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Are you saying them both?" Kayano asked, "Asano and the mystery girl?"

Karma snorted. Then he started laughing.

"Oh, that's good," he said, after he finished. Kayano was pouting and Rio looked at her victoriously. "You're not wrong," he said, still breaking into giggles.

"Wait, what do you mean she's not wrong??" Rio asked. "She's right or not. Are you all dating?" She insisted.

Karma burst into laughter again.

"Oh look, it's Nagisa," he got out. Kayano made a surprised sound, turning to hide. Rio sent Karma a dark glare.

"It's not over," she hissed at him, before turning to Kayano, "you can do it! Give it to him before you lose the chance!" She shoved Kayano lightly.

Kayano stumbled, coming to a stop in front of Nagisa. She blushed.

"I thought you and Asano would be dating," Rio told Karma quietly, watching Kayano attempt to confess to Nagisa. "Everyone was surprised to see a random girl out with you. Even more so when you said she was your girlfriend."

Karma shrugged, his eyes shifting away from Kayano to Rio, who was looking at the other two, a little upset.

"Are you okay?" Karma asked, surprised.

He hadn't seen Rio look upset before. She always kept up a teasing cheer, a good nature that was similar to Karma, but without his violent outbursts.

"Yeah," she said, clearly not. "Watching her work so hard to confess to him, makes me wish I had worked harder for what I wanted too. But now, it's too late." She sighed.

Nagisa received Kayano's gift with a smile and they didn't need to hear Kayano to know she was telling him something sweet and encouraging.

Karma didn't say anything to Rio's subtle implication of her feelings. 

Sometimes, all you needed was someone to just listen. Rio had clearly made up her mind, and she just wanted to share it with Karma, who tended to understand her mind the most.

He did understand, but at the same time, Karma was well aware of exactly how mutual their feelings for each other was.

When Gakushuu decided to dedicate himself to something- a project, research, a person, even Karma- nothing would change his mind. Failure meant there were other ways around it.

Karma let his fingers brush against a soft petal inside his pocket.

Just like Gakushuu, Karma wasn't someone who changed his mind easily either. Once set, he would see things through.

Karma smiled.

"Come on, looks like Kayano didn't manage to confess after all," he said, watching Nagisa walk away.

Rio laughed.

"It doesn't change anything," she said, opening the door to reach Kayano who looked surprisingly peaceful about the resolution.

"Maybe not," Karma said.

Kayano smiled at them brightly, her words shy but grateful for their help.

Rio smiled back, the hint of longing that Karma had seen was gone, like it had never been there.

And Karma…

Karma wondered if Rio was talking about Nagisa or Kayano.