Kristmas Karma

Kristmas: Karma - Part Two

"Hey."

All the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I back away, having dropped my guard around Nagisa at just the wrong time again.

He blinks at me once. "You okay?"

I laugh it off. "Naturally. Just looking forward to opening more presents. Thought more would want to watch, honestly."

He stares at me thoughtfully and I do my best to hide my real thoughts from him.

Can't let him know I'm weak. I'm the great Akabane Karma. Perfect scores. First place.

"Yeah..." I nod to myself, a smile growing on my face. "So whatcha got?" I attempt to steal it from him again and he expertly dodges.

"Can we go somewhere else for a moment?" He rattles off nervously.

"Geez, if you're so eager to open something, try mine." Yada offers a very large box bigger than her entire torso.

"Oh, um, actually—" Nagisa starts.

"Sorry, I gotta go right after this. I'll be quick." Yada smiles apologetically, setting the package in front of me. Something catches my eye on the ribbon. "I know it looks big, but it's actually not as bad as you'd think."

I pluck the item off noting the little demon face and smiling with my own. "Hey, it looks just like me." I grin devilishly.

Yada laughs. "That's totally what I thought too! Just wait until you see what else I got."

I attach the charm to my phone immediately.

Makes me feel more evil just having it.

I go into this thing with high hopes for the rest of the items only to end up a little disappointed. Another fuzzy blanket. A mug that ironically says "Bad Taste" which is okay. A cat bed. I haphazardly toss that to the side because it isn't actually for me. The only other worthwhile item I find in the whole box is a matching devil face popsocket, which I also install right away.

"What do you think? I mean, I just got such a kick out of that mug." She laughs, but it seems slightly forced.

"I love the cellphone gadgets." I wave the phone in front of her as a point, wishing Second hadn't destroyed his phone so I could continue harassing him. I could use a better distraction.

"And?" She presses further.

"Hm?" I peek into the empty box and then at the pile of crap that came from it on the couch. "It's alright, but I like these most."

She pales a shade or two and sighs heavily.

"Um..." I awkwardly stare at the pile. "It's not bad or anything. I'll... use it." I then watch as Gakushuu turns away from the cat bed in disgust. "Eventually."

So much for that.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." She responds bitterly, leaving with Kataoka and Okano right after.

"Everyone told you the first one was fine." Kataoka chastises. "But you didn't listen, not even to me."

"Well, since it's all eaten up anyway, guess I should start cleaning." Hara says cheerfully on her way to the kitchen.

"Come on, let's go help her." Muramatsu suggests, Terasaka and Yoshida joining him.

"Aww man!" Someone shouts from the door. "Are Nakamura and Hara really the only ladies left?"

"No, Hazama's here too." Rio responds playfully. "But you and I both know that I, alone, am too much for you to handle."

Okajima steps out of the entryway so I can see him. "Who said I wanted to do the handling?" He notices me right away and walks up with a thin brown paper bag.