A promise under the stars(Karmagisa)
Nagisa first met Karma when they were six years old.
He had just moved into the neighborhood, and his mother, ever polite, had taken him to introduce themselves to their new neighbors. That was when Nagisa first saw Karma Akabane—a red-haired boy sitting on his front porch, kicking his legs idly as he snacked on a bag of chips.
“You’re new,” Karma had said with a grin, offering him a chip like they had already been friends for years. “Wanna play?”
And just like that, their friendship began.
A Friendship Like No Other
Growing up, Nagisa had always been the quiet one. He liked books, video games, and animals. He didn’t talk much in class, preferring to observe rather than stand in the spotlight. Karma, on the other hand, was the complete opposite—loud, charismatic, and constantly getting into trouble. He would pull pranks on their classmates, challenge teachers just for the fun of it, and drag Nagisa into adventures that always ended with them running away, laughing breathlessly.
Despite their differences, they understood each other in a way no one else did.
When Nagisa was being bullied, Karma was the one who stepped in, his usual mischievous smirk replaced with something dangerous. “You mess with Nagisa, you mess with me,” he had said, his golden eyes flashing with a warning. The bullies never bothered Nagisa again after that.
When Karma got suspended for fighting, Nagisa was the one who visited him every day after school, bringing his homework and staying to play video games so he wouldn’t feel lonely.
“You’re lucky you have me,” Nagisa would joke, watching as Karma lazily flipped through his untouched homework.
Karma would grin. “Yeah, I really am.”
A Night to Remember
One summer night, when they were around ten, Karma had snuck out of his house and knocked on Nagisa’s window.
“Come on,” he whispered, eyes gleaming with excitement. “I found something cool.”
Nagisa hesitated for half a second before sighing and climbing out of his window. Karma never led him anywhere dangerous—just to places he claimed were “fun.” That night was no different.
Karma led him to a hill behind their neighborhood, where the sky stretched endlessly above them, speckled with thousands of stars. It was beautiful, and Nagisa found himself staring in awe.
Karma flopped onto the grass, hands behind his head. “When we grow up, let’s do something exciting,” he said suddenly.
“Like what?” Nagisa asked, lying down beside him.
“I don’t know,” Karma mused. “Something big. Something that’ll make life worth living.” He turned his head, his golden eyes locking onto Nagisa’s. “Promise me we won’t become boring adults.”
Nagisa chuckled. “That’s a weird promise.”
“I’m serious.” Karma sat up. “No matter what happens, we’ll always have each other, right?”
Nagisa looked at him, surprised by his uncharacteristically sincere expression. Then he smiled, reaching out his pinky. “Right.”
Karma grinned, linking their pinkies together. “It’s a promise, then.”
Under the vast summer sky, with the stars as their witnesses, Karma and Nagisa sealed a promise that would carry them through the years—no matter what life threw their way.
Laterrrrr
Years passed, but the promise Karma and Nagisa made that summer night never faded.
They remained inseparable, even as middle school became more complicated. Homework piled up, friendships changed, and their classmates began to see them differently—Karma as the clever troublemaker, and Nagisa as the quiet observer who somehow kept up with him.
But no matter what, they always found their way back to each other.
Middle School Changes Everything
By the time they reached their second year of middle school, Karma had gained a reputation. His sharp wit and natural intelligence made him stand out, and his pranks became more elaborate. Teachers feared him. Students admired him—or avoided him. Nagisa, meanwhile, remained the same, still soft-spoken but always by Karma’s side.
But things started to shift.
One day, Nagisa overheard some students talking behind his back.
“Why does Nagisa even hang out with him?”
“Maybe he’s just scared of Karma.”
“Yeah, it’s not like they’re equals or anything.”
Nagisa didn’t know why those words stung so much. Maybe because, deep down, he sometimes wondered the same thing. Karma was always the one leading the way, while Nagisa just followed.
That doubt grew when, one afternoon, Karma got into a fight with an upperclassman.
Nagisa had been at the library when he heard about it. By the time he arrived, it was over. The other student was on the ground, holding his nose, while Karma stood there, fists clenched.
Teachers rushed in. Karma didn’t look scared. He just grinned, like he always did, and let himself be dragged away.
Nagisa knew what would happen. Karma would be suspended. Again.
He found Karma sitting outside the principal’s office later, casually swinging his legs.
“You didn’t have to fight him,” Nagisa said quietly, sitting down beside him.
Karma smirked. “He was talking trash. Thought he was tough. I just proved him wrong.”
Nagisa sighed. “What if you get expelled next time?”
Karma leaned back. “Then I’ll find something else to do.” He turned to Nagisa, and for a moment, there was something unreadable in his golden eyes. “You don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?”
Karma didn’t answer right away. He just chuckled, ruffling Nagisa’s hair like he used to when they were kids.
“Don’t worry about me, Nagisa,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”
A Friendship on the Edge
But things didn’t go back to normal.
Karma was suspended for two weeks. When he returned, something was different. He didn’t smile as much. His pranks became crueler. And, worst of all, he started avoiding Nagisa.
Nagisa didn’t understand.
He tried to ask, but Karma brushed him off. “It’s nothing,” he’d say, forcing a grin. “Just bored.”
But it wasn’t nothing. Nagisa could feel it. The distance growing between them. The way Karma stopped calling him at night, stopped dragging him into trouble.
One evening, Nagisa finally confronted him.
“Karma,” he said, standing in front of him on their usual walk home. “Why are you pushing me away?”
Karma stared at him.
For the first time, there was no smirk. No teasing. Just silence.
Then, finally, Karma sighed. “Because I don’t want you to be like me.”
Nagisa blinked. “What?”
Karma stuffed his hands into his pockets. “You’re different, Nagisa. You’re…better than me.” He kicked at the ground. “If you stay around me too long, you’ll just get dragged into my mess.”
Nagisa frowned. “That’s stupid. You’re my best friend.”
Karma smiled, but it was sad. “I don’t think that’s enough anymore.”
And with that, he turned and walked away, leaving Nagisa standing alone in the fading sunlight.
A Broken Promise?
That was the last time they spoke before Karma stopped coming to school entirely.
Nagisa waited. He kept expecting a text, a knock at his window, anything. But it never came.
Days turned into weeks. Then months.
And just like that, Karma Akabane—his best friend, his partner in crime—was gone.
Nagisa found himself walking up the same hill one evening, staring at the sky where they had once made their promise.
“No matter what happens, we’ll always have each other, right?”
He clenched his fists.
“Right.”
Then why did it feel like Karma had already disappeared from his life?
Nagisa never forgot.
Even as months turned into a year, even as he adjusted to life without Karma by his side, the absence always felt wrong. Like he had lost a part of himself.
Karma had disappeared, leaving nothing behind but memories.
Nagisa wanted to be angry. But mostly, he just felt sad.
And then, one day, Karma came back.
Reunion in Class 3-E
Nagisa had never expected to see Karma again—not like this.
It was already strange enough being in Class 3-E, the “end class” where the school dumped its so-called failures. But things became even stranger when their new teacher turned out to be an unkillable octopus.
Nagisa was still adjusting to all of that when, one morning, the door slid open—and Karma Akabane walked in.
The room went silent.
Nagisa barely heard the teacher’s introduction as he stared at Karma, who stood there like nothing had happened. Same red hair, same confident smirk. But something was different.
Something in his eyes.
Karma scanned the room lazily before locking eyes with Nagisa.
Nagisa’s breath caught.
Karma tilted his head, as if amused, and shot him a wink. Then he walked past him without a word.
Nagisa clenched his fists under his desk.
After all this time, after everything, that was how Karma greeted him?
Not an apology. Not an explanation. Just a wink?
Nagisa didn’t know whether he wanted to hit him or hug him.
Old Wounds, New Scars
Nagisa didn’t confront him right away.
Karma fell into his usual routine—causing trouble, teasing people, acting like he was untouchable. He was still Karma. But at the same time, he wasn’t.
He was sharper now. Colder. His pranks had an edge to them that hadn’t been there before.
Nagisa could tell that Class 3-E fascinated him. The idea of assassination, of fighting, of getting revenge on a system that had wronged them—it was perfect for someone like Karma.
But Nagisa wasn’t fooled.
He could see past the smirk.
And one afternoon, when everyone else had gone home, he finally cornered Karma outside.
“Why did you leave?” Nagisa asked, standing in front of him.
Karma blinked, pretending to be confused. “What, class? I was just—”
“You know what I mean.”
Karma sighed dramatically. “Come on, Nagisa. That was, what, a year ago? Ancient history.”
“Not to me.”
For the first time, Karma hesitated.
Nagisa took a step closer. “You disappeared. You stopped talking to me. You acted like I didn’t exist. And then you just show up one day and act like nothing happened?”
Karma stared at him.
Then, suddenly, he laughed. Not his usual mischievous laugh—something more bitter.
“You really wanna know?” Karma said, voice quieter now.
Nagisa nodded. “I deserve to know.”
Karma exhaled, running a hand through his hair. Then he looked away.
“I got tired,” he admitted. “Of everything. The teachers. The school. My parents. Everyone expecting me to be some genius kid who never failed at anything.” His voice was light, but there was something heavy underneath it. “So I stopped playing along. And when I stopped being perfect, they threw me away.”
Nagisa’s breath hitched.
Karma shrugged. “Figured it was better if I disappeared for a while.” He glanced at Nagisa, a small smirk tugging at his lips. “But you—you don’t belong in a place like this, Nagisa. You were always meant to be better than this.”
Nagisa clenched his fists. “And who are you to decide that?”
Karma blinked, caught off guard.
“You left me behind, Karma,” Nagisa said, voice shaking. “You were my best friend. You were the one who promised we’d never be boring, that we’d always have each other. And then you left.”
Karma looked down. For once, he had no comeback.
Nagisa inhaled sharply, willing himself to calm down. “I don’t care what happened back then. I don’t care that you were hurt. I get it. But if you think I’m just going to let you waltz back into my life like nothing happened, you’re wrong.”
Silence.
Then, slowly, Karma smiled.
Not his usual smug grin. Something softer.
“Guess I deserved that,” he muttered.
Nagisa rolled his eyes. “Yeah. You did.”
Karma chuckled. “Well… I am back now.”
Nagisa sighed. “Yeah. You are.”
A pause.
Then, quietly, Karma asked, “Think we could still be friends?”
Nagisa stared at him.
Then, after a long moment, he smiled.
“You owe me,” he said simply.
Karma grinned. “Deal.”
And just like that, the distance between them wasn’t so far anymore.
Their promise had been broken once.
But maybe—just maybe—it wasn’t too late to fix it.
Later*
Even after their conversation, things weren’t the same.
Karma was back, but there was still a gap between them. They were older now, different. Karma was sharper, more reckless. Nagisa was quieter, but stronger. They still understood each other in ways no one else did—but something was missing.
Still, they tried.
Karma started walking home with Nagisa again. Sometimes, they trained together after class. Karma teased him about his height, and Nagisa rolled his eyes but smiled anyway. It was almost normal.
But something unspoken lingered between them.
Neither of them acknowledged it.
Not until everything almost fell apart again.
The Turning Point
It happened during an assassination training exercise.
Class 3-E had been split into teams, working on a survival drill. The goal was to “eliminate” the opposing team using stealth tactics.
Nagisa was quiet, calculated. He moved like a ghost, slipping through the trees. His team had taken down three people already.
But he should’ve known Karma would find him first.
A red flash. A smirk.
Nagisa turned—too late.
Karma’s knife was at his throat before he could react.
“Gotcha,” Karma whispered, grinning.
Nagisa narrowed his eyes. “You got lucky.”
Karma raised an eyebrow. “You mad?”
Nagisa huffed. “No.”
“Liar.” Karma leaned in slightly, voice playful but with an edge of something else. “Come on, admit it. You hate losing to me.”
Nagisa’s heart pounded.
It wasn’t the fight that made him freeze. It wasn’t the blade. It was the way Karma was looking at him—like he was waiting for something.
Nagisa swallowed. “I don’t care about losing.”
Karma tilted his head, watching him closely. “Then what do you care about?”
Nagisa didn’t answer. He couldn’t.
Because deep down, he already knew.
A Moment of Realization
After training, Karma found Nagisa sitting on the rooftop.
“Didn’t think you’d run away,” Karma teased, sitting beside him.
Nagisa sighed. “I wasn’t running.”
“Sure looked like it.”
Nagisa hesitated.
Then, finally, he said, “I don’t get you, Karma.”
Karma blinked. “Me? What’s there to get?”
Nagisa turned to look at him. “You left. Then you came back. And now, every time we’re alone, you—” He exhaled sharply. “You look at me like you’re waiting for something. What is it?”
Karma was silent for a moment. Then, he chuckled.
“Man,” he murmured. “You really don’t get it, do you?”
Nagisa frowned. “Get what?”
Karma leaned back, gazing up at the sky. “You’re still the only person I can be real with.” His voice was quiet. “I pushed you away because I was scared of losing you. And then I lost you anyway.” He turned his head, meeting Nagisa’s eyes. “I’m not making that mistake again.”
Nagisa’s breath caught.
Karma smirked. “And if you still don’t get it—”
Then, before Nagisa could react, Karma leaned in and kissed him.
It was brief, just a press of lips—light, teasing. But it sent a shock through Nagisa’s entire body.
When Karma pulled back, he was grinning. “Now do you get it?”
Nagisa stared at him. His face felt hot. His heart was racing. He should’ve expected this. This was Karma, after all.
But he hadn’t.
Because a part of him had never thought he was allowed to want this.
Slowly, Nagisa exhaled.
Then, before Karma could say something smug, he grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him into another kiss.
This time, it wasn’t brief.
Karma made a small, surprised noise before melting into it, his usual cocky confidence faltering. Nagisa felt him smile against his lips.
When they finally broke apart, Karma laughed breathlessly. “Well. That answers that.”
Nagisa rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “Idiot.”
Karma grinned. “Your idiot.”
Nagisa huffed. “Yeah. My idiot.”
And just like that, the space between them disappeared.
They had lost each other once.
But this time, they weren’t letting go.
The End.