Love Through Ink On Skin

カルマ (Karma)

My name is Karma Akabane, I am fourteen years old, and this is my side of the story.

First thing's first (I'm the realest), I definitely wasn't going to show up for classes on the first two days, week, weeks, or even the first month. But, the Headmaster wanted me to show up, he even went as far to show up at my house and whatnot. Although whenever I asked him about it, he didn't give me a reply of any sorts. How strange...

But then again, it meant I would have all of my school days to observe and learn about everyone. None of them seemed all that interesting; just a girl with green hair, one with pinkish-orange hair, a guy with somewhat silver hair... They're quite colourful. I was extremely interested in him when he walked in. Nagisa Shiota...

Maybe it was the way he looked so fragile, maybe it was his eyes -they shone brightly in this dim room filled with no hopes of the school's dropouts-, or maybe it was the aura around him. But there was something that made me stare at him in the most indiscreet manner possible. I assumed I wasn't very discreet, but my judgement was confirmed when he stared back at me. It took me minutes to realize that I was caught by him. I thought of a way to play off staring at a complete stranger who'd now become my classmate, and then I decided to just wink at him, a lazy smile forming on my lips as I did so. He seemed to squint a little and gave me a smile, along with a small wave before he turned to greet another male who I recognized as Yuuma Isogai.

Isogai went by many titles: Mate of Hiroto Maehara, President of Class 3-E, Ikemen... But he was very kind, easily likeable, and also very intelligent, but now that he was sent to the E-Class, none of it mattered.

I heard quite a lot about them, Maehara and Isogai. The news of them spread when I was five, that's how far back they had known each other. They met when the Board of Directors (including the Headmaster) made a joke about them being "so close they may as well be Mates". Then their moms decided to jokingly write on Maehara's arm but when it showed up on Isogai's arm as well, same colour and shape, they realized that their sons were, in fact, Mates.

I got off track, didn't I? I was doing just fine, but then I got off track...

The day proceeded with us learning about our new teacher who was very...different. I'm not too scared but how could he have blown up 70% of the Moon?! He doesn't look like a monster! I'm sure it wasn't his fault, but he did admit to it... This whole situation is just wrong!

I didn't know what to think about everything that went on that day. First it was awful having to wake up early after not have doing it in a long time, then I was thinking about Nagisa the whole day, and now this?!

The class sessions were very easy, then again they always were on the day before they do the Mate Encounter Ceremony (not really a ceremony but hey I didn't name it). They're always the same, first the rules are are discussed, the same rules engraved into our souls from the minute was are able to comprehend others. Everyone gets excited for these ceremonies at the beginning of the term, because they're not usually held until the very last day of our school term. They must've held them now because of the rumor of the two Doubles in our group.

The same rules, the same process:
-Stand up where everyone can see you once you're called.
-Bring an arm up and take any Pen or Marker of your choice to write on it.
-Write your name as neatly as possible on a part of your wrist that everyone can see.
-Wait to see if your Mate is in your group or not.
-The rest depends on the outcome.

It was pretty nerve-wrecking and yet exciting to see everyone's anxious eyes dart across the room in hopes of getting to share some time with their newly-discovered Mate. I always prayed and hoped with all of my being to get a very respectful and observant partner. I now think back to those times and am happy that I was able to get such a Mate as the one I ended up with: they're just my type.

Anyways, I remember my mother explaining the Mate system and telling me just how it worked. Although it may sound fun to have someone out there that is destined to be yours, there's a catch to it all.

An ugly and horrifying catch to actually being with your Mate, living happily ever after and whatnot. Because once you've found them and made it official so everyone knows about you two...

Your time starts ticking until the final second. 

But this was mostly for the Doubles, and those were both discovered during our Mate Encounter Ceremony, and when we discovered that one of them just so happened to be in our class, he was even more interesting to me than everyone else I'd ever spared a glance at in my whole life.