Assassinating The Remaining Distance

Nagisa Shiota had gotten used to being underestimated. It happened often enough that he barely noticed anymore. The first time a new student looked at him and asked if he was really their teacher, Nagisa had smiled and introduced himself again. The second time, he had laughed. By the third time, he'd started keeping count! “Midget-sensei,” one of his students said, leaning back in his chair with all the confidence of someone who had not yet learned to fear consequences, “are you sure you're strong enough to teach us?” The classroom went quiet. Nagisa looked up from the stack of papers in front of him. He smiled. “Strong enough for what?” The student hesitated. A few of his classmates snickered. “You know. To control us.” Nagisa tilted his head. “I see.” He placed his pen down. “Then I suppose we'll find out.” The student swallowed. Nagisa smiled a little wider. It was almost unfair. He wasn't intimidating in the traditional sense. He was still shorter than most of his students, and the people he knows. He had a soft, high voice, an approachable face, and a habit of explaining things patiently instead of raising his voice. But he'd learned a long time ago that patience and weakness were two very different things. By the end of the semester, the students who had once called him small were among the easiest to handle. Nagisa privately called it taming. He wasn't sure his coworkers appreciated the terminology. “I've finally tamed them,” he'd said one afternoon. His colleague had stared at him. “...You can't say it like that.” “Why?” “Y-you make it sound like they were animals!" Nagisa had thought about it. “Maybe..." Then he'd smiled and returned to grading. Teaching suited him. That was something he had never expected to say with such certainty. His life was quieter than it had been when he was younger. There were no assassination attempts waiting around the corner. No secret missions. No impossible teachers smiling cheerfully while the entire class plotted his murder. Just lesson plans. Homework, parent meetings, students who needed help, students who pretended they didn't need help from a "preschooler". And the occasional headache. It was ordinary. Nagisa liked ordinary. ♡ After everything that had happened in Class 3-E, he had developed an appreciation for things that most people took for granted. A quiet morning, a warm meal, a familiar routine. And, well... Someone to come home to. That last one had become increasingly difficult to ignore. Nagisa wasn't embarrassed by it. When one of his coworkers eventually asked him whether he wanted to get married someday, he had answered without hesitation. “Yeah... I do. To a person with burdens I can help with." The answer had been so immediate that she blinked. “Really? Nagisa-kun has some very simple wishes." Nagisa smiled. “I'd like a family.” “A family?” “Someday.” He looked down at his coffee. “I think it'd be nice... I want to see if my heart can open up for someone." His smile was gentle. Almost boyishly simple. “I'd like to make someone happy. And I'd like their love in return. There was nothing particularly complicated about the dream. A... husband? Upon realizing a few things about himself, a home, children, perhaps. Someone who would be happy to see him at the end of the day. Someone he could make feel loved... his coworker ended up wishing him the world under her breath. He'd tried dating some men a few times. There had been pleasant conversations, awkward dinners, and people he genuinely liked. Nothing was wrong with any of them. Still, each time, something inside him had quietly whispered that he wasn't quite there yet. It simply felt as though he were waiting, for what, exactly, he didn't know. So he stopped looking so hard. Maybe eventually... he'd understand. ─── Across the city, Karma Akabane was being told he had twelve minutes to eat lunch. He stared at her schedule. “Twelve, huh..." “Thirteen, if the Yamabuki-san runs late.” Karma looked up. His coworker smiled apologetically. “You know how these things are.” “I do... it's quite alright, though." He picked up the container in front of him. Twelve minutes... he could work with twelve minutes! He had become very good at working with very little time. His life had changed dramatically over the years. The boy who had once lost all faith in teachers who pretended to care was essentially humbled into a remarkable politician. Karma preferred it that way. He had left that boy behind. The name was still somewhere in old records and old photographs, but it belonged to a version of himself that he didn't need anymore. Standing at a very impressive 6'4, Karma Akabane considered himself a work in progress. His schedule, however, was less amusing. There were always scripts, meetings, someone waiting for him to finish one thing so they could start another. He didn't resent it. He loved becoming someone else for a while. He simply had less room for everything else. Things that didn't matter could wait. People who weren't important could wait. And there was one person he'd been waiting for himself. Nagisa. The thought appeared so naturally that Karma barely noticed it anymore. He had known where he was for years. He knew he had become a teacher. He'd heard little pieces of his life through their old classmates. Sometimes he saw his name in the group chat. Sometimes someone mentioned him. Sometimes, very rarely, he would hear his voice on a call. But she never interfered. Just a very fun, very brief fishing session seven years after the class 3-E building was put to rest. That'd been five years ago now. Nagisa had found something he cared about. He knew what that meant. He deserved the chance to build his own life without someone from his past suddenly appearing and demanding a place in it. So Karma stayed away. Mostly. He still wondered... Whenever he happened to be near his city. Whenever he passed a school. Whenever someone mentioned teachers. Whenever he heard a familiar laugh somewhere in a crowd. He wondered whether he'd recognize him immediately. Years could change a person's face, though that wasn't applicable to the still baby-faced Nagisa. Their voice was harder to forget. And Karma had never forgotten his. He had loved him for longer than he'd ever admitted aloud. That realization no longer embarrassed him. It simply existed, like something he had carried into adulthood without meaning to. Maybe someday they'd meet again, maybe they wouldn't. He had accepted that. At least.., that's what he told himself. “Karma? He looked up. His coworker was watching him. “You stopped eating.” Karma glanced down. he had, indeed. He picked up her fork. “You seem to care a lot, don't you?" “Thinking about something?” Karma smiled. That timeless, sly smile that lidded his eyes. “Nothing important.” It was a lie. He knew it. She probably did too. ─── That evening, Nagisa's phone buzzed while he was making dinner. He glanced at the screen. A message from the Class 3-E group chat. He opened it. Reunion☆☆☆ Someone had finally decided that enough years had passed. There were already dozens of messages about suggestions, arguments, and schedules. Terasaka complaining about the restaurant they had to eat at, and Hara insisting the food there is great. Yada insisting that they absolutely had to invite everyone except Okajima. Nagisa smiled. He scrolled through the conversation. Names he hadn't seen in years appeared one after another. Old memories resurfaced with surprising ease. He wondered how everyone had changed. Then he saw a name: Karma. Nagisa stopped scrolling. For several seconds, he simply looked at it. He couldn't remember the last time they'd properly spoken, but his icon was simply that of a cartoon strawberry milk. He frowned slightly. That was strange... not because they'd had some falling out, but... life had simply happened. One year became two. Two became three. Nagisa stared at the invitation. Then, without really thinking about why, he typed: "I'll be there. Hopefully, I won't be distracted by late assignments. Hello, everyone♡" He sent it. Across the city, Karma's phone buzzed while he was waiting for his next calling. He glanced down. The reunion message was still open. He had been staring at it for nearly a minute. Then another notification appeared. A new message in the group chat... Nagisa: I'll be there! Karma's eyes widened. For a moment, he forgot about where he was. He stared at those words. Then, very slowly, he smiled. "How do a bunch of letters manage to look so cute...?" “Akabane-san?" She looked up. The assistant was standing nearby. “Ready?” Karma locked his phone. His smile remained. “Yeah.” he stood. “I am now.”