𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, ᴋᴀʀᴍᴀ ᴀ.

23 | in short time

───── ❝ if you were my girlfriend ❞ ─────

[emei chiba]

On a sweltering day like this one, every student cheered at the sound of the bell, ready to go back to their air-conditioned homes. 

Karma decided to take a walk through the forest before he headed home. With his hands in his pockets, he fixed his tasseled hair and squinted at the splotches of sunlight that crept through the canopy of leaves. 

Too bright... He grumbled at the scorching weather.

As the boy goes further down the trail he heard a familiar sound. Soft snoring in the distance of a girl Karma grew fonder of. 

Once again, she was slouched under the shade of a big tree, Emei. He remembered her mentioning something along the lines of losing the key to her house so she had to wait for her dad to get home to let her in. 

"Yo, sweet cheeks, wake up," Karma hovered over her, flicking her forehead. The girl groaned and rubbed the spot that was hit "How the hell can you sleep in this kind of heat?"

"Mmm..." Emei hummed as she stood, stretching her arms in the air as she breathed out a big yawn. "Haaaahhn~ My mom told me I could sleep through a war."

Karma leaned in to get a better look at the girl's face, causing her to lean back and avoid eye contact.

Ah...So close. She tucked her chin nervously. Their faces were centimeters apart, noses almost brushing.

"I heard you got your ass kicked by the fat sub. Yet somehow you're still alive. Tell me your secrets~" Karma raised an eyebrow expecting a reply.

But after a long silence and no answers from the girl, Karma knocked on her head suspiciously. "Hello? Anyone in there?"

"It hurt so much..." Emei snapped out of her trance and whispered as she touched her torso, wincing at the discomfort. She was a bit frightened when Takaoka attacked her, but she reasoned with herself that it was normal to feel that kind of fear once in a lifetime. 

Karma noticed, frowning. Genuine concerned, the boy felt. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but tease her, "You're so reckless. I could almost be worried for you."

"At least I didn't die. I guess taking punches from you helped my immune system," Emei reeled up her sleeve to flex her nonexistent muscle at the redhead, she grunted determined to get a muscle to pop up. 

Karma chuckled at her actions and patted her head softly. "Hell yeah. You're lucky to be with me."

Emei's face warmed up after his comment. She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead and turned around. 

"Hm?"

"Nothing━you're such a narcissist."

Karma hesitated but soon voiced his proposal. "Let's go to that cafe again━I'll pay this time."

Emei's face brightened as she whipped around. "Really?" 

She took a jump at the boy and stood on her toes to reach his height. The girl was too distracted by the promise of sweets that she hadn't noticed how close the two were. 

If not she would've seen the redhead slightly flinch.

Fuck. What the hell was that?

Karma's mind went blank for a bit too long. Long enough for Emei to detect an odd change in the atmosphere.  

"Hello? Anyone in there?" Emei giggled while mimicking Karma's action, knocking on the boy's forehead gently. 

He blinked out of his daze, returning to reality. Emei was back on her flat foot, and he could only see her forehead if he didn't look down. 

"Ah...Yeah, my treat," the tall boy stated, rubbing the back of his neck. 

The pair strolled down the steps together; Emei tried to match their walking pace. Left foot. Right foot. Left. Right. 

"Why is Akabane being so nice?" She mused. 

"Don't question it unless you want me to take my offer back," Karma sneered in a somewhat teasing tone. 

"Will we have this outing again?"

"You wish. Maybe if you were my girlfriend, I'll take you out on dates and pay every single time. But you're not~" Karma smirked while pinching her cheek. "Now shut it with the questions."

"Ow! Ow!" Emei was too busy fighting the boy off to remember the word "girlfriend" coming out of his mouth. Had she heard, Emei would've ran. 

"Aww, would you prefer that I'm gentle with you?"

"Ow━!"

♡

later...

with not a single thought in the head: