Memories of the Past

Chapter 10: Relational Time

Karma and Nakamura were taking their time walking down the mountain and to Kunugigaoka Junior High's parking lot. Sure it was late, but both honestly didn't care because it was Sunday tomorrow, and didn't have anything to do. As they made his way down, the two talked about what Karma had heard with Nagisa and Kayano. "Are you kidding me, she didn't even confess with all that time she had!?" Nakamura questioned, clearly annoyed. Karma shrugged. "The poor girl said she got interrupted by Isogai and wasn't able to." Nakamura shook her head, clearly not amused. "After all that grace we gave her, she didn't even do the one thing we wanted her to do." "Well you know, things don't always go your way in life." Karma's response didn't satisfy Nakamura in the slightest. "No, we can't let this pass! Did Kayano go with Nagisa?" Karma nodded. "Perfect, we know that They're going to Kayano's to drop her off. Maybe we can get some juice on them while they're together." Karma sighed and started to shake his head. "Maybe this time we should let them be, after all Kayano did just get done trying to confess. She probably is recovering from gathering all that courage to do so." Nakamura started pouting. "Oh c'mon! We already gave them their chance and they blew it. We can't do that now can we?" This made Karma think about what he had said to Kayano earlier. "Okay then, but as of now your free trial of privacy has ended" Karma started to smirk and looked at Nakamura. "You know what, yea we can't miss out on this can we." He said. "See? I knew I could count on you." The blond said. The two fist bumped and made their way to the car. Before they got through the lot however, Karma heard footsteps hastily running towards them. K-Karma, Nakamura w-wait up!" Karma turned around to see his girlfriend running towards them. She stopped in front of him panting as she tried to catch her breath. "Woah, you ok?" He asked handing her his bottle. "Y-yea I'm fine" she said while grabbing the bottle from his hand. She started drinking until she felt satisfied and then handed it back. "U-um, is it ok if I can grab a ride with you guys?" She asked bashfully. Karma cocked his head. "I thought you came with Sugino and Kanzaki?" He asked , clearly confused. "W-well, I kind of told them they could both leave without me because I already had someone to pick me up, but I honestly just didn't want to go with them because it felt awkward, I guess. Well, n-not that I don't like their company it's just, I-I don't know." She said with defeat. 'Ohhhh, she felt like a third wheel.' Karma concluded. "Sure, you can come with us." he said. Okuda's face lit up and she made her way to the passenger side of the car. "W-Wait, where am I gonna sit?!" Nakamura complained. "I don't know, I mean, there are three other seats in this car you could take, unless you want to go in the trunk, which I wouldn't advise." Karma answered. Nakamura groaned and sat in the left back seat behind Karma. Okuda, feeling sorry for the girl, took her seatbelt off. "S-sorry Nakamura, if you want I could move to the back." She offered. Nakamura smiled and decided it wouldn't be necessary for that, much to the raven haired girl's relief. She would admit, she was kind of jealous that Nakamura was able to live with Karma for a short time, but she definitely didn't show it. Karma made his way out of the parking lot and started heading straight towards Kayano's apartment. It took a while, but Okuda started getting confused and asked where they were going. Before Karma could answer though, the blond in the back had gotten to it first. "Well honey, we're gonna see what little miss lovesick actress is doing with Mr. Small Blueberry." Despite her weird way of addressing them, Okuda could tell who Nakamura was talking about. "Wait, so are you guys doing what I think you're doing?" She was met with the sound of silence, but she could see the horns and tails and evil smiles growing on each person. She sighed knowing there was nothing she could do about it but wait and watch. Suddenly, Karma pulled over and stopped the car. "Hey what's going on?" Nakamura asked. Karma pointed out the window to a grassfield. "Ohhhhhhh," both girls said simultaneously. They had found Nagisa and Kayano laying down, seemingly stargazing together. "Quick, let's go hide in those bushes over there." Karma proposed. One girl nodded, but another one just kind of stared worryingly at the two on the grass. She ended up going with them deciding to just go along with whatever the two devils had planned. Both Karma and Nakamura had obviously gotten their phones out and switched them to night mode so they could at least be able to perceive what the two were doing. They started recording, and seemingly by some divine intervention Nagisa pulled Kayano over close to him with his arm. 'Perfect!' Karma and Nakamura both thought. A passing car's headlights showed over them and it was apparent in their cameras that Kayano was sporting a heavily redend face. "This is perfect!" Nakamura whispered. Karma nodded and Okuda just smiled. Even though she ever wanted to be part of these two's schemes, having one of them as your boyfriend didn't help you any. These little pranks and shenanigans that she'd gotten into with Karma had easily started growing on her and started to find them mildly entertaining. After a while, Nagisa let go and the two stopped recording. Both started to rewatch their videos and each had a satisfied look on their face. However, before they could share anything, Karma spotted Kayano's facial expression at that moment. He started recording once more causing Nakamura to be caught off guard and drop her phone. Since it was so dark, she struggled trying to find it especially with all the branches and people in the way. She eventually found it but by the time she did, the two were gone. "Aw, where'd they go?" she asked. Karma spoke up. "Oh they just got into Nagisa's car and are driving off..." He looked outside. "Just now." "Oh, ok. Did you get anything good?" she asked. Karma tapped on his phone and showed her a video of Kayano hugging Nagisa. "Oh good, can you send that to me?" Karma nodded. The three got out of the bush and made there way back to the car. "See, I told you we'd get something good!" Karma shrugged, but also smiled, basically saying she was right. Karma got out his keys and inserted it into the lock. However, the car was able to make a startup noise, but ceased to do anymore then that. "U-um, Karma, is something wrong?" Okuda asked. Karma kept trying but to no avail. "Wait right here," He said to both girls. Karma opened the door and went outside to look under the hood. Everything seemed fine so he didn't know what was up. 'Maybe the batteries out.' He thought. Now that he had that conclusion, he needed some way to jump the battery. However there was no way of doing that, especially at this hour. Karma closed the hood, then dialed his automobile club to see if he could get some help. After that, he got back into the car and settled down. "Welp, guess we're gonna be out here for a while." Karma said, starting to relax. Okuda started getting worried and asked what was going on. "The batteries are dead so we gotta wait for someone to come and jumpstart or replace it." "Why don't you go and just pick up another battery from the mechanic or stores, there's plenty around here." Nakamura suggested. "You honestly think there's anything opened at this hour?" Karma asked. Nakamura shrugged, then continued to look through her phone. The two waited there for a good ten minutes before hearing a honk next to them. Karma looked outside to see Maehara and Okano in the next car parked next to them. "Um, are you guys doing okay? Y'all aren't looking too hot" "Well, as you can see we're stranded in the middle of the night and our battery is dead, other than that, we're doing fine." Karma answered. Maehara gave him a thumbs up before driving off at the green light 'Really Maehara really?!' Karma sighed and went back to relaxing. However, a few moments later two headlights shine brightly in back of them, waking both Karma and Okuda up. Nakamura was still on her phone, but she noticed the blinding white lights in back of them. Karma got out of the car and started walking over intedning to punch Maehara for leaving him clueless. However, as he went into the light of the street lamp, he noticed there was already a huge bruise on his face. "Is that what I think it is?" Karma said, smirking. "Yea, you probably know exactly what this is." Maehara said in a bit of pain. "Well, you know you kind of deserved it." Karma assured him "What? How do you know how I got this the blond asked. "Well first of all, you didn't have that bruise when I saw you a little earlier, and two, Okano is in the passenger seat." Maehara hung his head in defeat. "Yea, you're probably right." The two then took the jump cable's out of Karma's trunk and hooked it up to each battery. "Alright, ready when you are." Karma gave a thumbs up and the two started running their engines. Karma's car started, only for it to stop fifteen seconds after. "Dang it." He cursed. They did that about four more times, each attempt getting worse and worse. 'Umm, is it working yet!?" Maehara yelled. At this point, Karma was super frustrated. Okuda had to calm him down a bit before they could do anything else. Karma looked out his open window and gave him a thumbs down. He then got out of his car and looked at the bottom side of it. "Oh no." he said. He got up and went over to the two girls who were in his car. "The gas tank's blown." he said calmly. Okuda started getting worried. "D-does that mean we're stuck out here?" She asked. "Afraid so." Karma then went over to Maehara and Okano and told them about his situation. "Why don't we just bring you guy's home. Okano proposed. "Oh what, but I-" "stop being a baby!" she said, punching his face. Karma laughed. "You definitely deserved that one now." Maehara rubbed his face and winced in pain. "Thanks for the offer, but I can't just leave my car out here." He said. "It's fine, you can just have it towed to a mechanic to get it fixed." Karma supposed that wasn't a bad idea. In fact, it seemed like the most logical way to do things. "Alright, I'll go get the other two." He said. Karma went over and told both Okuda and Nakamura that they were switching cars, much to their confusion. They ended up going anyways. The car wasa a five seater so it was pretty cramped in the back. Okano proposed that she could change seats so that the other two wouldn't have to worry about being next to Karma, much to his chagrin. They ended up doing just that and left Karma's car to be picked up by the tow truck. It was already two in the morning so everyone was incredibly tired to the point of looking like zombies. Since Maehara was the one driving, he felt it the most. The girls ended up falling asleep in the back while Karma and Maehara struggled to keep themselves awake when dropping everyone off. "So, what's going on with you and Okano these days?" Karma asked. He really wasn't in the mood to tease, but he needed to stay awake somehow. Luckily, Maehara's guard was less than present, making it easy to get an answer out of him. "As you know, we've been going out for about a year now. So far things are going well. Although, there's one thing about our relationship that's been bugging me since middle school." He confessed. That caught Karma's attention and now he was curious. "Oh? How so?" He asked. Once they got to a red light, Maehara started up. "Well, it's just I don't know how long I can keep up with her. Her temper doesn't seem to have any breaking point and I can't seem to tone it down. At this rate, I might have to break up with her." He says sadly looking at his girlfriend sleeping in the back. He then pulls up his sleeves to show a few bruises on his arm. Karma looked astonished at them. He didn't realize how much he had taken from the girl in back of him. He knew that both of them loved each other, and that the latter was just bad at handling feelings. Karma didn't even know where to begin with this. If he told him to break up with her, he knew both or at the very least she wouldn't be able to take it, at least for some time. On the other hand, if he had really been trying to tone her down with no success, then they wouldn't have any other choice. He didn't exactly think of it as an abusive relationship, for even when he had a conversation with Maehara privately, he was happy when talking about her. He knew both of them held deep feelings for each other, at least that's what he observed. But if this is truly what sprouted from it, then maybe a decision had to be made. Either that, or something had to change between the both of them, whether it'd be Maehara changing himself, or Okano toning herself down. Either way, it was apparent the two were heading into the depths of the good and bad of their relationships. Karma was going to tease him, but once he'd seen what his friend had been going through, he needed to help. Karma sat there in silence for a few moments, contemplating what he should say. If Okano, or even any of the other girls caught wind of what the two boys were talking about, he could be royally screwed. "Ok, I'm gonna help you guy's out." he said leaning back into his chair. "Wait, really?" Maehara said especially surprised at the person who he was talking to. Karma nodded and looked back to see Nakamura starting to stir awake. He then started whispering in Maehara's ear. "Yes, but we'll have to do this some other time when we're alone." Maehara nodded and continued driving. Eventually, they made it downtown leading them to Karma's place. "Thanks for the ride." Karma said unbuckling himself. "Anytime" Maehara responded. Karma and Rio made their way down the path before healing someone scream from the car behind them. "Wait, are you guy's forgetting Okuda!?" Okano yelled from the passenger seat where she just moved to. "She's actually supposed to go to her own house, we just brought her along!" Nakamura yelled. "Wait, I don't know where she lives!" Maehara screamed. Karma sighed before walking back down the path and to the car. He decided it was already late and figured the other two didn't want to stay up much longer. Karma shook Okuda to wake her up. "Hey Manami, wake up." He said softly in her ear. The girl started stirring up and readjusted her glasses. "W-what?" she asked, still very much half asleep. "Just come with me for now, I'll talk to you when we get inside. She nodded and stepped outside. Due to the cold air circulating through the land, she was instantly woken up at the sense of the freezing atmosphere around her. "Alright, we'll see you guys later!" Okano waved goodbye and the three waved back. "U-um Karma, why are we at your p-p-p-place?" she asked, trying to get used to the cold. "Well, Maehara dropped me and Rio off first but didn't know how to get to your place, so I suggested that you would stay here because they were tired and I didn't want them to stay awake any longer." "O-oh, ok" she responded. Okuda definitely wasn't opposed to the idea, it just caught her a little off guard at the moment. The three made it inside and plopped themselves down with no care whatsoever. It was late and they were tired. At first, Karma was going to invite Okuda to see if she wanted to sleep beside him, but after giving it a second thought, he erased that idea from his mind and just gave her the bed. He ended up sleeping on the living room couch.