[KARMAGISA] Not Your Average Teacher's Love Story

Chapter 16 - Delinquent Territory [Part 1]

     "Did you hear?" A whisper from Naoko transferred to Nagisa's ear. Her voice was tinted with a shake of hoarse breathing, sending sprinkled ice down Nagisa's spine. "The delinquent is getting in trouble again."

"The delinquent?" Nagisa asked.

He sent a puzzled look towards Naoko, who played with her two blonde locks of braids. "Yeah. Surely, you should've heard of the delinquent from our class. He's so rebellious, I can't even concentrate on studying properly." She pouted. "Come on, Shiota-Sensei! Aren't you going to take care of your own students?"

"The delinquent? I've never heard of that name from our class before!" Nagisa surrendered willfully.

Naoko sighed, a hand placed under her chin and her elbow pressed against the surface of Nagisa's desk to prop up her head. Originally, she decided to take some time off of her break just to study properly, but that seemed less likely by each passing second. "That's because," Naoko pressed an index finger against her lips. "Yoshiki silences them, so there's no way anyone of the victims would spill the tea!"

Nagisa frowned. "Then, how did you know about this?"

"That's of course because I am a genius!" Naoko huffed. Nagisa had a sudden urge to blurt out 'yeah, right', but he forced himself to shut up. "So... what's so interesting about Yoshiki?" He asked.

     "Yoshiki-san is the notorious delinquent from our class—even more rebellious than Akio-san, and you can probably see how far that goes." Naoko gave a silent giggle. "Anyways, I was wondering if you can attend to this matter? Since you are a teacher after all."

"What's wrong with Yoshiki-san?" Nagisa asked.

"Shh!" Naoko shushed him, slapping a hand over his mouth before sneakily looking both ways. Then, she continued, releasing her hand off of his mouth. "Yoshiki-san is known across the school for brewing havoc, for example, he would graffiti the outer walls of the school building, stuff spray cans in lockers that'll automatically spray once students open their locker doors, and more. Either way, he's a big influence to the bad guys spewing around town. Even I can't help but feel disgust towards them."

     Nagisa sighed. It must be serious if it's coming from you.

     "So do me a favour for not blackmailing you earlier! Investigate the havocs of Yoshiki-kun, the deadly delinquent, so your students will have a greater time to study!"

     Although Nagisa felt the urge to tell her that stopping a delinquent had nothing to do with studying, he paused and agreed.

*****

     "Yoshiki-kun!" It came as a surprise to the students of Class 3-5 when Shiota-Sensei had begun calling the delinquent over to his desk with a light pat. "Come see me at break time, 'kay?"

"Shiota-Sensei used informal speech!" Tomohiro gasped. Tomomi gasped alongside with him.

Yoshiki Makino was the twelfth student on the Class 3-5 attendance list, known for atrocious comebacks and deliberate rude comments. But as Nagisa called him, the student had no objection. It was almost as if the news about him was all nonsense. Nagisa attentively watched Yoshiki ruffle his dark purple bangs, sometimes blowing at them so they'd fly upwards and land back down elegantly. His grey eyes seemed dull and out of life, as if he was only a fragile puppet doll.

"Um... Yoshiki-san?" Nagisa nervously called. "Are you okay?"

Yoshiki gave him a cold stare, something that Nagisa hadn't expected. "I'm fine."