Love in the Times of the Crescent Moon

Chapter 3

In the days that followed, Kit constantly felt watched. She wanted to be part of the class and get to know her new classmates better, but now it was as if she was the prime suspect in a murder case. Karma was everywhere. He took challenges seriously and clearly didn't like to lose - he just enjoyed winning. Only at home could she still move freely.
"Did you cook?" her father asked when he came home.
"Are you still not used to it?" Kit teased, stirring one of the pots simmering away on the stove.
Since her father sometimes came home late from work, she thought it was important that he eat properly. Of course, it had something to do with her mother's death, and ever since she'd moved in with her father, she'd noticed how lonely and isolated he was. The house, once inhabited by only him, had felt lifeless until she arrived. It made her sad to think he had been just existing. Sure, he loved his work, but work wasn't everything.
"You know I go easy on you in gym class, right?" her father teased, pulling her from her thoughts.
"You don't have to. It's just the way it is, and I don't see why you're making such a big deal out of it."
"Because it undermines the team's morale. Your classmates like you, and they might listen to you. What would happen if everyone started thinking like you?"
"You know that won't happen."
"Maybe not, but I don't want to invite that conversation."
"Oh, Dad," she sighed, hugging him from behind. "I'm afraid discussions are part of your new job as a teacher."
"It's not my strong suit."
"True." She kissed him on the head, then returned to her pots.
"You're so much like your mother."
As always, Kit felt a brief wave of grief, which subsided only after a few long breaths.
"I wish she were here."
"Yes, I do, too."

It took Karma precisely a week to win the game. He had been observing her, at first lacking a clear approach, until it hit him yesterday during training in the woods. Now was the perfect moment to test his theory.
They were in gym class, and after Karasumasensei had taught them various stabbing techniques with knives, Nagisa, Sugino, and Karma were the chosen ones to practice on their instructor - a trained elite soldier.
But instead of stepping forward to follow orders, Karma turned to Kit, held the knife out to her, and said, "Ladies first," with a winning smile, waiting eagerly for her reaction.
"Hm." She returned his smile. "How did you figure it out?"
But before Karma could answer, Karasumasensei interrupted, "Karmakun! Tasks aren't assigned randomly here!"
Karma withdrew his knife gracefully and - like the others - tried in vain to strike his teacher. It seemed he still needed practice if he hoped to kill the octopus.
Later, Kit was already seated in the classroom when Karma returned from lunch break. He had thought about how best to start the conversation and ultimately chose the most straightforward approach.
"I won, didn't I?"
"Looks like it," she replied cheerfully, picking up the last rice ball from her bento box.
"That was fun."
"I'm glad." She nudged the box aside with her elbow, resting her chin in her palm. "So, how did you figure it out?"
Karma's pulse quickened as he explained his observations. "All you had to do was take the knife. Maehara was standing right in front of you, but you let him win - and I don't think you're someone who lets others win on purpose. That got me thinking."
"And then you remembered the day Sugino tried to take my charm."
Karma grinned mischievously. "Exactly. I should have noticed it sooner. Karasumasensei always has us fight with real knives, never with stand-ins. And the more I thought about it, the more situations I recalled where he'd done something similar for you. I went over every day since you arrived, and I realized I'd never seen you hold a weapon."
"You never will."
"Why not?"
Karma watched as she started to answer but then hesitated. No, he had to know. He almost said something, but instead, he waited in silence.
"Do you really want to know?"
He nodded. "If it's not a secret. Though, if it were, I'd want to know even more."
Kit looked amused, which filled him with a strange sense of satisfaction. "Apparently, my father thinks it's a big enough secret to keep under wraps. He believes my attitude toward weapons might unsettle all of you."
"I'm happy to be the guinea pig."
Kit eyed him skeptically, her honey-colored ponytail bouncing as she leaned back in her chair, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her gaze had shifted, as if she were reliving a memory.
"All right. Did you know I was thrilled to attend a public school? After spending so much time in private schools, I sometimes felt like I lived in a completely different world. I wanted a normal childhood, free from relocations and heavily guarded schools." She tucked her knees to her chest. "One time, years ago, my father tried public school, and I loved it. I never had trouble making friends, and I hoped we'd stay in one place for a long time. But one day, I didn't come home. I don't remember exactly what happened, but when I woke up, I was in a dark basement. My father was there, too, frantically gesturing and speaking to someone I couldn't see. They went at each other with knives, and then there was a gunshot. I only saw my father collapse before the police burst in. They took him to a nearby hospital."
Her expression brightened. "A young doctor saved his life. He was incredible—calm, kind, exceptionally skilled. In that moment, when he told me my father would survive, I decided on two things: I would become a doctor to save as many lives as possible, and I would never touch a weapon again."
Karma was at a loss for words. He rarely found himself in conversations that required this much empathy.
"That makes sense," he muttered instinctively.
Kit smiled. "So? Do you think this lowers morale?"
Karma shrugged, relieved they were back on familiar ground.
"It might spark some discussion, but that's long overdue. We're kids trying to kill our teacher. Yes, he's a freakish yellow octopus who wants to destroy the world, but he's still a living being. None of us know what it's like to take a life, and we don't want to think about it, either. The government expects us to give it our all. The fate of the planet depends on us—and this." He placed his knife on the desk.
Kit stared at the blade for a long time. "Yes, killing him is the right thing to do, but I couldn't do it."
"You mean you don't want to do it."
"Honestly?" Kit leaned forward, frowning slightly. "I think I couldn't do it. After that incident, I refused to touch a weapon again, on principle. I hadn't thought about it much since coming here, but..." She cautiously ran her fingers over the tip of the knife. "No, I really can't do it. Even if you're all right, maybe it's some kind of trauma. Anyway, I won't be much help with your assassination attempts."
Karma stowed his knife and watched as Kit gathered her notes.
"Are you really going to keep studying?" he asked, surprised.
"Unless you mind? The exams are coming up soon."
"Lucky for you, I have nothing better to do."
He said it casually as usual, but inside, he replayed their conversation in his mind. The image of Kit sitting there, with her knees hugged to her chest and a somber expression, stirred his protective instincts. That only ever got me in trouble, he reminded himself, thinking of why he was in Class E. And she didn't need protecting, he reasoned, recalling the scene with Sugino. She was clearly her father's daughter, and if the octopus weren't some superhuman being, she might have been able to take him down without a weapon.
"And?" Kit asked with an expectant look.
"Hmm?"
She tapped her pencil on the paper in front of him and said, "You're surprisingly calm. Maybe it's not such a good idea to tell the others. If it's already making you think so hard..."
"No," he insisted, "it's not. I was elsewhere. And still, I see that this result can't possibly be right."
"What?!" Kit let her head fall onto her arms. "Japanese, English, bio, social studies—no problem," she lamented, "but how am I supposed to navigate this math jungle in such a short time?"
"That's what I'm here for," he replied, putting on a devilish look. "I'm far from my limit."
Kit lifted her head for a moment before it landed back on the desk. "I'm not."

"I can't believe he enjoys tormenting me," she told Okuda later over a cup of tea.
"That's not particularly surprising if you know Karmakun a little," Okuda replied. "But he's actually really nice," she quickly added, as if she had said something mean. "I mean, it's nice of him to take so much time for you, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is," Kit had to admit. "His payment is watching me despair at his pace." She laughed. "I just have to try even harder."
"Are you talking about school?" they suddenly heard a voice ask beside them and were startled to see Nagisa.
"Nagisa-kun!" Kit exclaimed, her heart pounding loudly in her head. "You can't just sneak up on us like that!"
"I'm sorry," he replied, looking guilty. "I thought you'd seen me."
"He's completely silent, isn't he?" Karma chimed in, having appeared behind Nagisa.
Now Kit also noticed that Nagisa was holding a tray with two cups. She moved her bag from the seat beside her, and Okuda followed suit.
"Come on, sit down. I have to leave soon anyway."
"Are you going home, Kitsan?" Nagisa asked.
"No, I'm going dancing."
"Dancing?"
She nodded.
"I've been dancing since I was five. First ballet, but I stopped enjoying that eventually, and now I'm trying out different dance styles. The more energy a dance has, the better."
"What a waste of time," Karma stated bluntly. "You should focus on boosting your math skills instead of hopping around on the dance floor." Calmly and without looking at her, he sipped his coffee.
"You're being really annoying right now," she shot back.
Against her will, Kit felt a pang in her stomach. Grabbing her bag, she stood up, said goodbye without another word, and nodded toward Okuda and Nagisa. Just as she reached for the doorknob, she heard Karma call out loudly across the café, "Sorry!"
And then, as she turned around one last time, he added, "But it's still true."
What an idiot, Kit thought as she left the café, shaking her head.