The Girl Who Loved A Beautiful Devil ~Karma AkabaneXReader~

Chapter 4

 I was late.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me; beads of sweat slid down my face as I gasped for large gulps of air. My eyes widened and relief spread over my being as they caught sight of the pretty blue sign hanging above the cutely-decorated-entrance of the little café located at the corner of the intersection. Immediately, my hand latched onto the handle of the entrance and pushed. A faint chiming of a bell sounded as the door opened and I swiftly stepped myself inside.

Despite the burning pain in my lungs, I scanned over the interior of the old little café until I spotted a familiar head of crimson hair at the corner-seat in the back that was next to the window and I wasted no time heading over there. The walls of the small café were painted a pale but warm yellow and were nicely decorated with paintings of adorable wooden houses and forest animals; the tables were wooden and plain but held a classic touch to them, and the seats were made of soft, smooth velvet and were the same color as the walls. The whole room gave its guests a warm, cozy feeling and the air was lightly laced with the sweet smell of cinnamon and vanilla.

I halted in my tracks and turned to face the redhead who was seated in the seat next to the window. Bending down into a deep bow, I cried out my apology, "I'm so sorry, Karma-kun!" I lifted my head a little so I could look him in the eyes when I began my explanation for my tardiness, "I- I left my notes in class yesterday so I had to go back and get them this morning... I'm really, really sorry!"

A small smile played on Karma's lips as he gave a wave of his hand. "It's alright, (L/ N)-san."

I instantly stood up and a relieved smile spread across my sweaty face. "Thank you so much, Karma-kun!"

He simply nodded in acknowledgement and gestured towards the seat opposite him. I slid in and sat down on the soft velvet. "But honestly speaking, I was so worried, I thought you'd be so mad at me."

Karma smirked. "Well, I was, but when I saw you at the door with your blushing face, your body covered in sweat and dressed in that school uniform; you were too cute to stay mad at."

Blood rushed to my cheeks at his abrupt and backward compliment. "U-um..." I mumbled, unsure how to respond to him which made him chuckle.

Just then a menu was placed in front of me followed by a kind male voice, "Good morning, Miss, I'll be your waiter for today. Feel free to look through the menu and tell me what you'd like!"

"T-thank you," I stuttered, still vaguely flustered from Karma's words. I reached my hand forward and flipped open the menu, stopping at the parfait section. "And I'll have a..." I trailed off as I turned to the waiter, my eyes went wide at the sight of him and I mumbled a careless, "Ikemen."

He had vaguely-spiked-hair with two adorable little antennae at the top of his head and pale gold eyes that seemed to glitter whenever he smiled at me; he looked like the epitome of an ikemen.

"Excuse me, but I couldn't quite catch that, Miss," he apologized with a sheepish smile; god, he was adorable!

Realizing what I'd blurted out in my dazed, stupid state, I immediately closed the menu and gave him a meek smile. "I-I said I'll have a simple strawberry parfait."

"Alright, one strawberry parfait coming right up!" he exclaimed with a grin before heading off to the kitchen. I breathed out a silent sigh and slumped back into my seat. "That was so embarrassing..." I mumbled to myself under my breath.

"You know, I didn't invite you here just so I could see you ogle at the class rep," Karma's voice then spoke up which startled me slightly; I'd nearly forgotten that he was there... the power of entrance of an ikemen was powerful indeed.

"S-sorry," I stammered, about to apologize once more when something hit me. "Wait, class rep?"

Karma gave a light nod and took a sip of his iced tea. "He's the class rep of 3-E Class."

"Really? W-well, he seems really nice." I said truthfully. "So are you good friends with him or something? Since you chose this café and all..."

"No," he said, bored as he twirled the straw in his glass. "I only chose this since I thought I'd help him out for a change." He said and he must've noticed my puzzled expression as he added bluntly, "His family's poor and his mom's sick so he works here to keep them alive."

"But... isn't it against school rules to have jobs?" I questioned.

"Yea, that's why he got sent to the E Class." He answered plainly. "Though no one from the other classes know that he continued to work here even after he got transferred."

The smirk made its way back onto Karma's face as he put his elbow on the table and leaned forward. "No one except you that is... Which class are you from?"

I gulped but kept a firm countenance as I replied, "The A Class."

"A smart one, are we?" he smirked. "So now that you know our class rep's little secret, do you plan on going to the principal or your A Class friends to rat him out?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, slightly offended. "No, I told you before, I'm not like them. I promise I'll take your class rep's secret to the grave."

The redhead stared at you for a moment before saying, "Good. So what should we do now?"

"Well," I began and straightened myself in my seat. "We talk, I'd said I wanted to observe you and I can't do that if you just sit there. And besides, talking is a great way to get to know someone."

"Alright then," Karma said. "What made you want to become a psychologist, (L/ N)-san?"

"Wait, w-what?" I blurted out. "I thought I was supposed to be the one asking questions?"

"But you never said that, (L/ N)-san, you should make yourself clearer next time." He smirked at me which made me clench my jaw in chagrin. "Alright, fine, I'll tell you."

At hearing my words, Karma leaned back into his seat as though he was preparing to watch a movie. I sighed and took in a deep breath before speaking, "Ever since I was little, I'd always been curious about how one's mind works but it wasn't until three years ago that I'd really decided that being a psychologist was what I wanted to do with my life. My brother was sixteen back then and I was twelve when he got into a car accident; he was hit while riding his bike to school. Lucky for us, he survived, but unlucky for us, he was traumatized; he wouldn't leave his room even after he'd recovered physically. So my parents sent him to see a psychologist and he got better, slowly, but he was healing and that was all that mattered. That was the moment that I'd decided that I wanted to become a psychologist, so I could help heal people just like how my brother's psychologist healed him."

There was a pause of silence that followed after I'd finished with my story; neither of us spoke and the one who broke it was the waiter, who was also the E Class rep. "Here's your strawberry parfait!" he said with a swoon-worthy grin as he placed the pink parfait on the table in front of me and a silver spoon on the side. "I hope you enjoy."

"I hope so too, thank you very much." I smiled at him and he gave a light bow before leaving.

"He's getting awfully cocky these days." I then heard Karma murmur which caused me to turn to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Karma-kun," I started, a bit shocked when I'd finally deduced the meaning to his words. "Are you... jealous?"

"No." The redhead only gave me an impassive look and rested his cheek on his palm. But I could see the faintest blush tinting his pale cheeks. "Oh my god, you are!" I exclaimed unintentionally, I was simply just too stunned by my epiphany. "You're jealous! And you're really cute when you blush, Karma-kun!"

Karma scowled at my words, clearly unamused, but I definitely was; the blush on his cheeks had grown and I never would've thought someone like him was capable of looking that adorable and precious!

"Okay," I laughed. "I'm sorry."

I smiled at him despite his scowl and scooped a spoonful of the strawberry parfait and put it in my mouth for a taste. "That's so good!" I hummed with my mouth full of parfait. I then scooped another spoon and held it out to Karma who gave me a questioning look. I grinned. "Here, try some!"

A small smirk began to form on his lips as he leaned forward and took the spoonful of parfait in his mouth. He pulled away and licked his lips rather seductively while his mercury eyes were trained on me the whole time. "It tastes as sweet as you." He smirked and I could feel my cheeks growing warm once again.

Suddenly, a few giggles filled the quiet and serene atmosphere of the little café. It sounded like it came from the seats in front and I followed Karma's gaze as he turned around in his seat; seated in a few tables in front were a small group of teenagers who looked to be about the same age as us and a large, odd-looking man. It took me several seconds until I realized that I'd seen them yesterday; they were the students from the E Class, and the odd man beside them, with his abnormally round head, was their teacher- Karma's teacher.

"Karma-kun, are those..." I trailed off as Karma stood up from his seat with an irritated expression. "I'll be right back."
I didn't have time to stop him before he made his way over to them and I reflexively shut my eyes when I see him hold up a fist aimed at his odd teacher. I heard screams, followed by grunts and then more screams.

After a while, I gained up enough courage to open one eye to see Karma coming back towards our seat. "There seemed to be a few people spying on us," he said with a cool smile, holding out his hand for me. "What do you say about taking this date elsewhere?"