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Karma twiddles his thumbs, wondering if Asano is ever going to text back about tomorrow.
“It was last minute, dear. He might not be able to come,” Karma’s mother says, slipping past him to sit down at the table next to him.
“I guess, but he could-” He’s cut off by his phone dinging.
Can’t come, grandparents dad mad.
That’s the whole text, and Karma stares at it for at least two minutes before texting back a question mark.
“Did he say he couldn’t come?”
“He sent me an… odd text. I’m not really sure what it means.”
Blood covers Karma’s vision for a second, and he remember how his chest clenched when he saw Asano’s hair dyed close to his own color.
“Maybe I should go check on him in the morning,” Karma suggests, trying to sound casual.
“I’m sure that’s not necessary. You know how his father is, he’s probably working too much, and not sleeping enough,” she replies with a laugh.
Karma clenches his fists, glaring at her. “He’s not crazy, stop talking about him like that.”
“We all heard about what happened, and what he does with stress. Even saw the scars,” she says, clicking her tongue.
“He didn’t do anything! And even if he did, that doesn’t make him crazy. It would mean he’s hurting, and needs our help.”
“Whatever, you don’t have time. I’m leaving tomorrow night, so if we’re going to do anything, it’ll have to be earlier. Either he shows up, or he doesn’t. It doesn’t really matter.”
Karma stands too fast, knocking his chair over. He storms up to his room, slamming the door. He throws himself down in bed, but even as the hours tick by, he can’t seem to sleep. When he finally checks the time, and realizes that it’s almost three in the morning, he texts Nagisa.
Hey, u up?
A few minutes pass before Nagisa responds. Yeah, I’m up. Why are you?
I’m worried about Asano… come with me to check on him?
Nagisa sends a thumbs up, so Karma climbs out of bed. He throws on his backpack, and heads out the front door. No one’s awake to notice, so he has no issue getting to where him and Nagisa always meet. Nagisa looks tired, dark circles under his eyes, and his hair loosely tied up. He has it pinned so none of it touches his neck, and Karma can guess what kind of thoughts kept him up tonight.
“Come on,” he whispers even though they’re completely alone, standing in front of a bus stop that the bus stopped running hours ago.
The walk to Asano’s house is quiet. Nagisa keeps his hands tucked in his pockets, and Karma is too worried to speak. Nagisa seems to desensitized to everything they’ve seen, but Karma can’t stop thinking about it. He can barely look at Asano some days, knowing what’s going on in that house. He’s tried not to let it effect their relationship, but things have been strained. But Nagisa asks if he’s ok, then moves on. Tells him to check on Asano when they notice something off during the school day when their paths cross, but never pushes himself into the situation. He keeps a polite distance, respecting every one of Asano’s boundaries.
“Nagisa…”
Nagisa turns to look at him, his light blue eyes shining even though it’s dark.
“Are you… ok?”
Nagisa laughs, quiet and sad. “Yeah, I’m alright. Tired.”
“No, I mean… Ugh. I don’t know how to say this. You’ve taken this stuff scary well. Do you have experience with this kind of situation?” Karma asks, his voice smaller than he’s heard it in years.
Nagisa frowns. “Somewhat. I’ve dealt with kids who couldn’t get out. Hell, I worked at the women’s shelter with my mom for years. Sometimes escape isn’t possible, at least not in the moment. You have to be patient with that. Forcing it when you can see nothing will work is only going to make them feel worse.”
It’s not the answer Karma was expecting, but it’s so much better than he could have hoped for. “So you knew we couldn’t get him away from his dad?”
“Yep, I know his dad. It’s not likely. Especially not since he’s painted Asano as some sort of crazy person. That he’s slipping or something.”
Karma hums, dread growing in the pit of his stomach. They’re quiet the rest of the walk, shoes crunching as they walk up the gravel driveway. Karma knocks, and when no one answers, he picks the lock. Nagisa doesn’t protest, or tell him it’s illegal. He follows Karma inside without a word. They head up to Asano’s room, Karma leading the way. There’s no one in the halls, but Karma still moves as quietly as possible. He knows that Asano’s grandparents are going to be here, and that he can’t be seen.
Nagisa is naturally quiet, enough so that Karma keeps having to check behind him to make sure he’s still there. Asano’s door is shut, and he doesn’t get a response from knocking on it. So he tries the knob, his heart pounding at the thought of what he could find behind the door. But when he opens it, he sees nothing off at first glance. He can see from the moonlight shining through the window, a form under the blankets, and the sparkling clean room. It’s how Asano likes it, put together, and organized. And there’s no blood anywhere, even as he flips on the light to get a better look. There’s a bruise on Asano’s face, but he doesn’t see anything else amiss.
Nagisa slips past Karma, approaching Asano slowly.
“Asano?”
He puts a gentle hand on the bed, waiting for a few seconds for Asano to respond. He doesn’t, and Karma’s chest tightens. He’s been oddly still since they came in. Nagisa presses his small, thin fingers to Asano’s throat.
“Go call the paramedics,” Nagisa whispers, pulling Asano’s eyelid up. “Tell them he might be overdosing.”
Karma can feel the blood drain from his face.
Not again, why is he always in these situations? Yeah, but an overdose? the other side of his mind questions.
He calls, his voice shaking as he explains the situation, and gives them the address. Nagisa has Asano on his side, and Karma can see how white his face has gone. His hair falls loosely around his face, his eyelashes fluttered behind closed eyes. Nagisa is calm, one hand on the back of Asano’s chest, and the other pressed to his wrist. Once again they end up in a hospital waiting room together, waiting to hear about Asano. Except this time his dad is already there, and he keeps screaming at the nurses. Nagisa rolls his eyes, exactly as he did when the man woke up to the paramedics busting down the door, and screamed about that.
Honestly, Karma has half a mind to go over there, and slap him. Tell him to get his priorities straight, but he knows that will only make it worse. His own mother is calling, but he puts his phone on silent, and tucks it in his backpack. Finally Gakuho is escorted outside for a bit for causing too many distractions. Karma’s a little relieved, but also a little annoyed he doesn’t get to punch him. Nagisa watches everything with narrowed eyes, looking back at his hands once he’s gone. They sit there for a few more hours before someone tells them that they can go see Asano. He has a breathing mask on his face, and bandages on his neck and down towards his shoulders.
Karma can feel anger bubbling in his stomach.
“I saw bruises earlier. There wasn’t too much I could see, but some of them looked bad,” Nagisa says, sitting down beside Asano. He doesn’t look at Karma as he speaks, though it’s clear he’s who it’s directed towards.
Karma hums, sounding defeated and sad. He looks down at his shoes, dropping into a seat next to Nagisa. After a few quiet, tense moments, Nagisa’s hand lands on Karma’s leg, gentle and comforting. Karma leans against Nagisa’s shoulder, staring at his brother’s pale face. He’s not sure how long they wait before Asano finally opens his eyes. His gaze is sharp, even as he’s still waking up.
“What happened?” he asks, locking eyes with Karma. It’s clear he knows where he is, though he has no idea why.
“You overdosed… was it your dad again?” Karma can’t help but ask, his fists clenched.
“No,” Asano replies, voice level and detached.
“What does that mean?” Karma demands, head shooting up to glare at Asano.
“It means, that was all me. I didn’t mean to, if that’s what you’re worried about. I was out of it from the beating and the disassociation. Ugh, my head hurts.”
Karma frowns. “I’m going to get a nurse, I’ll be back.”
He storms out, feeling Nagisa’s eyes on his back. After telling the nurses that Asano is awake, he heads back to the waiting room, unable to deal with his swirling emotions. And the thought of accidentally taking it out on Asano is too much, so he sits, and puts his head into his hands. He doesn’t know how long he sits there for, his sense of time completely thrown off today, and he’s only pulled out of his head by Nagisa running up. He grabs Karma’s hand.
“Come on, his dad’s trying to hurt him again. I don’t know exactly what he’s doing, but I saw him put something in Asano’s IV, and the nurses are on their way there now.”
Karma can feel his chest go tight, panic flooding his body. Bile rises in his throat as he runs along side Nagisa towards Asano’s room. He can hear the beeping before they even get there, monitors screeching. But his heart drops to his stomach when he sees the flat line on the monitor, Asano’s face slack as a nurse performs chest compressions. His knees go weak, and Nagisa barely manages to catch him before he hits the floor. Nagisa’s face is white as a sheet as he watches the room, but Karma can’t make himself look again. Not after seeing Asano’s face, he can’t see it again. Less than two minutes later, the beeping becomes normal again, and Karma finally breathes.
His head spins, and he has no idea how long he’d been holding his breath. Gakuho comes in soon after, telling everyone to leave.
“He still needs treatment,” Nagisa says, pushing forward.
“I said get out. He’s my child, and I’m allowed to make all decisions for him.”
“You can’t keep medical treatment from him cause you’re angry! This is insane,” Nagisa yells, but the nurses reluctantly file out one by one.
Asano is breathing, though he still looks so wrong. Gakuho slaps Nagisa, sending him to the floor.
“You can’t tell me what I can, or can’t do to my son. You’re nothing more than trash on the bottom of my shoe, you shouldn’t even be near him.”
He pulls Nagisa up by his arm, throwing him out of the room before slamming the door. There are indents where his fingers were, his face already bruising, and Nagisa looks horrified.
“We have to do something,” he whispers, holding his arm.
And while Karma agrees with him, he has no idea what to do.