Assassinating The Remaining Distance

The classroom was quiet, the kind of stillness that only exists after thirty energetic teenagers have finally vacated a room. Nagisa Shiota sat at his desk, the fluorescent lights overhead hummed a low, comforting tune that matched the rhythm of his red pen. He was marking a series of essays on "Future Aspirations," a topic that always brought out the most colorful, if not entirely realistic, parts of his students' imaginations.

One student, a particularly rowdy boy named Kenji who had spent the first month of the semester trying to find Nagisa’s "breaking point," had written a surprisingly heartfelt piece about wanting to become a veterinarian. Nagisa smiled, his pen hovering over the margin. He remembered being that age—feeling like a small, insignificant thing in a world full of giants, wondering if he would ever have the strength to choose his own path.

A sudden vibration on his desk broke his concentration. His phone screen lit up, illuminating a cartoon strawberry milk icon in the notifications.

Karma: Well, look who finally decided to join the land of the living. I was starting to think you’d been eaten by a particularly aggressive chalkboard, Nagisa-kun.

Nagisa felt a warmth bloom in his chest, a familiar spark of amusement that he hadn't realized he’d been missing. He picked up the phone, his thumbs hovering over the keyboard.

"I’m just busy, Karma," he whispered to the empty room, his voice soft and fond. "Unlike some people, I actually have to work for a living."

He typed back: I’ve just been busy with grading. Being a teacher is a lot more paperwork than Koro-sensei made it look.

The reply was almost instantaneous. Is that right? Maybe you’re just slow. I’ll have to see if you’ve gotten any faster at the reunion next week. Don’t be late, or I’ll have to tell everyone you’re still using a booster seat at restaurants.

Nagisa laughed, a genuine, light sound. He didn't bother replying. He knew Karma would just keep going until he had the last word, and he had a stack of essays that wouldn't grade themselves. He set the phone down, but the smile lingered on his face.

The thought of the reunion had been a low-frequency hum in the back of his mind for weeks. He was looking forward to seeing Kayano, Sugino, and the others, but there was a specific, sharper edge to his anticipation when it came to Karma. They hadn't seen each other in person in five years. Five years was a long time for people who had once shared everything from bento boxes to assassination plots.

---

The week passed in a blur of lesson plans and staff meetings. Nagisa found himself more distracted than usual, his mind drifting to a certain red-headed bureaucrat who seemed to be taking the political world by storm. He’d seen Karma on the news a few times—looking sharp in a suit, his expression a mask of professional boredom that Nagisa knew was actually a sign of intense calculation.

At 6'4, Karma was a literal giant now, a far cry from the boy who used to lean his elbows on Nagisa’s head just to annoy him. Nagisa, meanwhile, had stopped growing somewhere around his second year of university. He was still the same "petite" Nagisa, though his shoulders were broader now, and his eyes held a depth of experience that most people failed to see.

On the night of the reunion, Nagisa stood in front of his bathroom mirror, adjusting the collar of his button-down shirt. He looked... ordinary. And he liked that. He looked like a man who enjoyed his life, who found peace in the quiet moments.

But as he walked toward the restaurant, his heart began to pick up speed.

The venue was a private room in a high-end izakaya in Shinjuku. As Nagisa approached the door, he could hear the muffled sounds of laughter and clinking glasses. He took a deep breath, smoothed his hair, and stepped inside.

"Nagisa! Over here!"

Kayano was the first to spot him. she looked radiant, her hair styled in a way that screamed 'successful actress,' yet her smile was the same one she’d worn in the old mountain classroom. Within seconds, Nagisa was surrounded.

"You haven't changed a bit!" Sugino laughed, slapping him on the back. "Still the same old Nagisa."

"I think he's actually gotten shorter," Terasaka grunted, though he was grinning as he offered Nagisa a drink.

"I'm right here, Terasaka-kun," Nagisa said mildly, accepting the glass. "And for your information, I'm exactly the same height I was at the last reunion."

The room was a whirlwind of nostalgia. Everyone was there—Isogai, Maehara, Okuda, Takebayashi. They swapped stories about their jobs, their lives, and the strange, beautiful legacy their tentacled teacher had left them. Nagisa listened, his heart full. He felt a profound sense of pride in all of them. They had survived the impossible, and they had thrived.

But his eyes kept drifting toward the door.

"He's not here yet," a voice said near his ear.

Nagisa turned to see Rio Nakamura, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Who?"

"Don't play coy with me, Nagisa. I’ve been watching you look at the door every thirty seconds. Karma’s running late. Some 'important government business,' or so he says. Probably just wants to make a grand entrance."

Nagisa felt his cheeks heat up. "I was just wondering if everyone made it, that's all."

"Sure you were," Nakamura teased, poking his shoulder. "Just wait. He’s grown into quite the heartbreaker, you know. Very popular in the offices. The 'Ice Prince of the Ministry,' they call him."

Nagisa smiled at the mental image. "That sounds like him."

Just then, the door slid open.

The room didn't go silent, but there was a noticeable shift in energy. A tall man stepped inside, shedding a dark overcoat to reveal a perfectly tailored charcoal suit. His hair was the same vibrant shade of red, though styled with a bit more maturity than in his youth. His eyes scanned the room with a sharp, predatory intelligence before settling on a specific spot.

Nagisa felt the air leave his lungs.

Karma Akabane didn't just walk into a room; he owned it. He moved with a grace that was both lazy and dangerous, his height making him tower over almost everyone present. He exchanged quick greetings, his smirk flashing as he dodged a half-hearted punch from Terasaka, but his gaze kept returning to the corner where Nagisa stood.

Finally, Karma made his way over.

"Well," Karma said, his voice deeper than Nagisa remembered, vibrating with a rich, smooth quality. "I see the preschooler managed to stay up past his bedtime."

Nagisa looked up—way up—and met those mercury-gold eyes. A slow, defiant smile spread across his face. "And I see the delinquent finally learned how to tie a tie. Did your secretary do that for you, Karma-kun?"

Karma’s eyes widened slightly before he let out a sharp bark of laughter. He leaned down, his face coming dangerously close to Nagisa’s, his presence overwhelming. "Feisty. I like it. Teaching hasn't made you soft; it's made you sharper."

"I have to be," Nagisa replied, holding his ground. "My students are a lot like you were. If I show a single moment of weakness, they’ll tear me apart."

Karma straightened up, his smirk softening into something more genuine. "I highly doubt that. You were always the best at hiding your teeth until the very last second."

They moved to a quieter corner of the room as the party roared on around them. For a while, they talked about the mundane things—Karma’s work in the ministry, Nagisa’s struggles with the school board. It was easy, the kind of conversation that only comes from years of shared history.

But beneath the words, there was a tension Nagisa couldn't quite name. He felt acutely aware of the distance between them—or rather, the lack of it. Karma was standing close, his hand resting on the back of the chair Nagisa was leaning against, effectively framing him.

"You look happy, Nagisa," Karma said suddenly, his voice dropping an octave.

Nagisa blinked, surprised by the sudden sincerity. "I am. I like my life. It’s quiet, but it’s mine."

"Quiet," Karma mused, swirling the ice in his glass. "Is that all you want? Just quiet?"

Nagisa looked down at his own drink. "I want a family, eventually. I want to be someone’s support. Someone they can come home to." He looked back up at Karma, his gaze steady. "What about you? Are you still chasing the next big fight?"

Karma’s expression shifted, a flicker of something vulnerable crossing his features before he masked it with a grin. "Maybe I’m tired of fighting. Maybe I’m looking for something worth coming home to, as well."

The noise of the party seemed to fade into the background. In that moment, the 6'4 politician and the petite teacher were just two boys again, standing in the shadow of a mountain, looking for a way forward.

"You’ve been avoiding me," Nagisa said, the realization hitting him with sudden clarity. "The last five years... you could have visited. You could have called more."

Karma looked away, his jaw tightening. "You were building something, Nagisa. Something real. I didn't want to be the ghost from your past that kept you from moving on."

"You were never a ghost, Karma," Nagisa said softly. He reached out, his hand hovering near Karma’s sleeve before he pulled it back. "You were the one I was waiting for."

Karma froze. He turned back to Nagisa, his eyes searching Nagisa’s face for any sign of a joke, any hint of the "taming" Nagisa practiced on his students. Finding none, he let out a long, shaky breath.

"You really are the most dangerous person I know," Karma whispered.

He reached out, his large hand gently cupping Nagisa’s jaw. His thumb brushed against Nagisa’s cheekbone, a touch so tender it made Nagisa’s heart ache. "I’ve spent five years trying to convince myself that I was fine with just watching you from a distance. That I didn't need to be part of your 'ordinary' life."

"And?" Nagisa asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"And I’m a terrible liar," Karma admitted.

He leaned down, and for a moment, Nagisa thought he might kiss him right there in front of the entire class. Instead, Karma leaned in until his forehead rested against Nagisa’s. The height difference was comical, forcing Karma to hunch over, but neither of them cared.

"I have a lot of burdens, Nagisa," Karma murmured, his breath warm against Nagisa’s skin. "The ministry, the politics, the people who want to see me fail. It’s a lot to carry."

Nagisa smiled, his hands finally finding purchase on Karma’s lapels. "Good. I told a coworker once that I wanted to marry someone with burdens I could help with. It sounds like you’re the perfect candidate."

Karma chuckled, a low, vibrating sound in his chest. "Is that a proposal, Shiota-sensei? We haven't even had a first date yet."

"I think we’ve had about ten years of first dates," Nagisa countered. "We just didn't know it."

Karma pulled back just enough to look Nagisa in the eye. The arrogance was gone, replaced by a quiet, fierce loyalty that Nagisa recognized from their childhood. "Then let’s make it official. Tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at your school."

"You’ll cause a scandal," Nagisa warned, though he was already nodding. "My students will never let me hear the end of it if a government official in a fancy car shows up for me."

"Let them talk," Karma said, his smirk returning in full force. "It’ll give them something to aspire to. Besides, I want them to know exactly who they’re dealing with if they give you any trouble."

Nagisa laughed, leaning his head against Karma’s shoulder. "I think I can handle them, Karma."

"I know you can," Karma said, his arm sliding around Nagisa’s waist, pulling him close. "But you don't have to do it alone anymore."

The reunion continued late into the night. There were more drinks, more stories, and a few tearful goodbyes. But as Nagisa walked out of the restaurant in the early hours of the morning, he wasn't alone.

Karma walked beside him, his long strides shortened to match Nagisa’s pace. The cool night air felt refreshing, and the city lights seemed brighter than they had hours ago.

"So," Karma said, glancing down at Nagisa. "A family, huh? How many kids are we talking about? Because I’m not sure the world can handle more than two of us."

Nagisa smiled, reaching out to catch Karma’s hand. Their fingers intertwined, a perfect fit despite the difference in size.

"We’ll start with one," Nagisa said. "And we’ll see if we can tame them together."

Karma squeezed his hand, his eyes bright with a future he was finally ready to embrace. "Challenge accepted, Nagisa. Challenge accepted."

As they walked toward the station, the distance between them—the years, the growth, the silence—finally vanished. They were no longer just the assassin and the target, the teacher and the politician. They were just Nagisa and Karma, two people who had finally found their way home.