~I'm sorry, guys, but we need to move forward with the story. Rising action is needed here... We're getting closer and closer to the climax, so Karma needs to come back into play. *braces self for EtherealTulip SomePersonReading and jemerald129167 to blow up the comments again*. I might join you guys this time. Maybe I could even insert you and your plans into the story somehow. I have that power; I'm a god- er, uh, an author. Anyway... Story!

{Nagisa POV}

It's been about a week and a half since Kayano and I started officially dating, and so far, Kayano's been right. In public, Karma's pretending to be happy for us, teasing us with Nakamura, just like the way things used to be. But when we're alone... That's another story.

Karma declared war. For the past week, he's been pulling pranks on me... And these "pranks" get more dangerous every time. At first, they were small... Like the textbooks that were rigged to fall on me as I opened the door to my apartment. Others were worse, like when he put poison ivy in the sleeves of my jacket. Once, I went to put on my own shoes after school, my left foot got severely cut from all of the rusty metal shards Karma put in there. My mom had to take me to the hospital for an emergency Tetnis shot...

Yesterday, it hit the climax. My apartment is on the third floor of our apartment building, and I always take the emergency exit stairs to get more exercise in. Karma knows that. So he used the roof hose (our apartment has a rooftop garden) and sprayed the last few stairs before the third floor with water. In the frigid weather, it froze easily. Running up the stairs like I always do, the result wasn't good. I slipped as soon as I hit the ice and fell backward, tumbling down the stairs. Halfway down, I turned a bit and flew over the railing... The ground wasn't exactly soft.

Today, when I came limping into class with a pair of crutches and my left leg broken in two places, I played it off, saying that I tripped on the stairs on the way up to my apartment... Which wasn't entirely wrong. Karma laughed along with the rest of the class as they called me clumsy, but his eyes gleamed with evil happiness.

Now, I sit on a bench as the rest of the class goes to gym. I had insisted on participating, but Karasuma-Sensei was against it. He said that the more I rested, the faster I would recover. He shoots me a sympathetic glance as he leads the rest of class 3-E to the woods. They get to practice parkour, and I'm stuck on this bench for the entire period.

After a few minutes, I hear rustling in the bushes behind me. Karma, I tense. He always skips gym! Oh no... I brace myself, but the voice that greets me isn't Karma's...

{KoroSensei POV}

"Hello, Nagisa-kun!" I face my favorite student, moving to sit on the bench next to him in a flash. "You had to sit out gym, eh?"

"Yeah," He mutters, scuffing the dirt with his good foot. Huh. He doesn't usually act like this...

"What's wrong, Nagisa?" I ask, one of my tentacles outstretched towards Nagisa's head.

"Nothing's wrong," Nagisa quickly shoves my tentacle away. "Leave me alone."

I frown, and I can feel my face turn a deep shade of violet as a red 'X' appears across my face. "I'm sorry, Nagisa-kun, but that's definitely the wrong answer. I can tell that something's the matter. Please, don't be afraid to tell me."

"I-" Nagisa chokes a little on his words. He lifts his head, and I'm surprised to see that he's crying. "Sorry. I've been such a crybaby these last few weeks." He wipes his eyes with his sleeves, but the tears keep flowing down his cheeks. "I-I'm sorry. I just..." Nagisa trails off, unable to finish, and buries his face in his hands.

"Nagisa-kun..." I've never seen one of my students like this... And I certainly never expected Nagisa to be the first. He's always been the strongest willed in the class, especially after the whole incident with his mom. But now it's as if something inside the blue-haired assassin has broken, and I'm not sure how to fix it.

I slowly wrap a tentacle around Nagisa's shoulder. When he doesn't try to push me away, I add another. Eventually, I've wrapped Nagisa in a six-tentacle embrace, holding him as close to me as I would a family member. I don't know what's gotten Nagisa into this state, but I want to help. He's one of my precious students. There must be something I can do.

{Third Person POV}

Under the cover of the forest, Karma Akabane watched the sappy scene. A teacher trying to comfort a crying student. Karma had succeeded. He had broken Nagisa. Smiling devilishly, he backed away into the woods.

~Sooooooo? Who still wants to kill Karma with their scythe? (Cough) anyway, sorry for another short update, but it feels right to end this one here. I'll see you guys next time!