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how the hell did i fall in love this time? (and honestly i cant believe i get to call you mine)

Summary:

In which Akabane's Karma soulmate is Asano Gakushuu, and it turns out okay in the end.

Soulmates AU where you switch bodies with your soulmate for 24 hours when one of you are on the verge of dying

title from 'valentine' by laufey

Notes:

valentines day karushu special lets gooooo

this was originally supposed to be a generic fluffy soulmates/soulmark au with maybe 2-3k words but then my brain started turning and that obv never ends well xd

more elaboration/explanation of my soulmates au and how it works will be in the end notes!!

hope you enjoy! happy valentines day!!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

The first time Karma switched about his soulmate was before he could even remember it. All he knew was what his parents told him - for a day, he became exceptionally quiet. They couldn’t even figure out what his soulmate’s name was, and 24 hours later, Karma was back, unaware that anything went wrong.

Throughout his childhood, however, Karma’s year was peppered with days that he’d spend in a place unlike his own home. He eventually learned that while he was in this strange place, he was addressed as ‘Asano Gakushuu’. His soulmate, apparently. 

In this foreign place, Karma was given little to nothing in terms of information or entertainment. A lady would bring him food and medicine every now and then, but nothing else. Especially not answers. He remained locked in a room, a blank bedroom with only a singular acorn plushie that kept him company. The new body that he was in always ached - oftentimes it was his head, other times it was his neck, his ribs, his arms, etc. 

24 hours in what seemed like hell, each hour, each minute, each second passing by slower and slower. Hours that he lost in his own body, occupying someone else’s, practically being forced to carry the burden of healing for his soulmate. A few years into it, and Karma stopped imagining soulmates as a destiny, the romantic gesture of the universe it was ought to be, but instead, as confinement.

But what he hated more than those 24 hours was how his parents acted once he came back.

They were fearful, of course. Soulmate switching happened rarely more than once in someone’s life, so to have a child not even halfway through elementary school constantly replaced by another was obviously disconcerting.

Not that Karma would understand. He was a kid, and hated how his parents started to grow distant. Sometimes, he’d wake up back in his own body only to leave his room and realize they had disappeared, only to return a few days later. 

Then, one day, they left completely.

By then, Karma was in fifth grade. The soulmate switching had slowly ceased, and he hadn’t swapped places since he was in fourth grade. The distance between him and his parents had been growing for a while, and Karma didn’t even realize they were gone until it was time for parent conferences, and he didn’t know where his parents were.

He became catatonic for a while afterwards. Afraid of what the police or the school might do if they realized he was an abandoned child (he’d read comics about orphans, and didn’t want to go to an orphanage or foster or whatever it was they did), afraid of having to take care of himself for the rest of his life.

Then, he swapped bodies with his soulmate once more. This time, Karma wasn’t in the dreaded bedroom again. He was in a large concert hall, holding a violin up to his shoulder, the bow in his hand halfway across the strings. The audience was vast, and murmurs slowly rose in the silence as he lowered the violin, confused.

Pretty quickly, the organizers must’ve realized what happened. They quickly ushered him off the stage, into a little room with a lit up mirror. Karma didn’t like how his soulmate was always being forced or hidden away - well, how he was being hidden away all the time.

This time, he couldn’t bring himself to feel annoyed though. After all, it was his fault that the switch happened. He could hear panicked murmuring outside the door, and felt a twinge of guilt at having disrupted what seemed to be a major event. Maybe his soulmate was a famous violinist (he could never bring himself to search up ‘Asano Gakushuu’, afraid of what he’d find about the boy who was constantly in mortal danger).

He glanced to his left, at the lit up mirror. The first thing that he registered was bright purple eyes. Violet, maybe? Karma never understood why the rainbow had two different shades of purple until now. ‘Purple’ wasn’t good enough to describe his soulmate’s eyes. They were almost pink in the bright light, and Karma felt a bit of pride in how good-looking his soulmate was.

‘Asano Gakushuu’’s hair was a strange color, too. Karma reached up to tug at a strand just to make sure it wasn’t a wig. It was something between a salmon pink and a ginger-ish color, and strangely went well with his violet eyes. It was the first time that he’d even thought to look at his soulmate’s appearance, having always been too caught up in pain to focus on his own curiosity.

But even though ‘Asano Gakushuu’ wasn’t the one in mortal danger this time, Karma could still feel an aching pain in his soulmate’s body. His abdomen hurt, and a simple press confirmed that there were probably bruises at the very least adorning the area. Karma would’ve done a more thorough inspection if it weren’t for the fact that at that very moment, a man burst into the dressing room.

The man who walked in looked startlingly similar to ‘Asano Gakushuu’, probably the boy’s father. Before Karma could even say a word, the man was glaring sharply at him. Karma shrunk back a bit, feeling a shiver go down his spine as he stumbled away from the man.

“You are the soulmate, then. What happened?”

Karma paused, too afraid to say anything. After a few moments, the man sighed (terrifying, Karma was never so petrified as in front of this man), before crouching down, reaching eye level with him.

“You need to answer me so that we can go help you. The real you.”

“I-” Karma gulped, swallowing the lump in his throat. There was a familiar sting, the aching emptiness in his heart that’d burrowed its way there as his parents drifted away. But sharing it seemed shameful, a pang of guilt at the thought that he wasn’t enough to make his parents stay.

But defying the man seemed like a much more terrifying prospect. So Karma continued to speak.

“My parents. They left, and I, um. I guess I haven’t eaten since I found out.”

The man nodded, a glint in his eyes that made Karma want to run away as fast as he could. His voice lowered, something that was probably meant to be comforting but only seemed to make his words sound even more menacing.

“Asa-” The man cleared his throat. “Your soulmate will be able to nurse your body back to health then. For now, I’ll have someone teach you how to take care of yourself. Do you need my help with getting your parents back or arranging for child protective services?”

Karma shook his head feverishly, before almost letting out a sob. He was, thankfully, able to choke it down before continuing to speak.

“No, I- I can live on my own. Don’t bring me to an orphanage please.”

The man nodded, standing up and walking away. For a moment, Karma stood there, frozen in fear and confusion, before realizing that he was supposed to follow him and rushing out of the dressing room.

And thus, Karma was brought into a very fancy car, brought back into the house, and put back into the bedroom that he now knew practically as well as his own house. The rest of the day went by with a flurry of activity; he was given lessons on budgeting and how to fly under the governments’ radar, and a lady (the same one who’d always brought him meals when he swapped with his soulmate) was assigned to go to his address.

Karma didn’t see the man at all for the rest of the day. He went to bed, absolutely exhausted, and woke up the next day in his bed. He felt completely refreshed, and upon sitting up, found that his entire bedroom was cleaned, and a note was left under his pillow.

Please take better care of yourself in the future.

Karma really didn’t like his soulmate.

(He kept the note, though. The handwriting was neat, the type that those girls in school always strived for. It was the only thing that he had from his soulmate, even after all these years.)

The rest of Karma’s elementary school career was spent uneventfully, and with no more soulmate switches. His groceries were restocked by the meal lady (as he’d found himself calling her now) every week, but he rarely caught a glimpse of her, and she never lingered.

His absences during the time he went catatonic were mysteriously marked as excused, and he was never asked about it. Parent conferences were automatically negligible for him, and his teachers never seemed to see anything out of the ordinary, so Karma played along as well. 

(He was afraid that if he did anything else, he’d see the man once again.)

As the time for middle school selections came around, Karma was faced with one more surprise. He’d been recommended by his teacher to take the Kunugigaoka Entrance Exam due to his outstanding academics (even though he never really tried at school), and by the end of the school year, he’d gotten his acceptance letter.

Karma rarely felt nervous, but when he was approaching the gates of Kunugigaoka Middle School on his first day, he could’ve practically thrown up from how much his stomach was churning. The school seemed impossibly large, and everyone seemed to be socializing and chatting, already familiar with each other.

He made his way with the rest of the first-year crowd into the auditorium, meeting a few others. One of them, a petite girl with shoulder-length light blue hair, took her place next to him at the assembly, and they idly chatted about some movies.

A loud screech sounded from the podium and everyone immediately went silent, looking up at the stage. There were quite a few people on stage, including some students (probably the Student Council kids) and some teachers. The man standing in the middle was-

A rush of frigid dread and fear encased Karma’s lungs, and he stood there, terrified, watching the man speak. The girl next to him gave him a confused look, whispering quietly.

“Hey, are you okay? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

Karma couldn’t do anything but let out a strained chuckle under his breath. Was it too late to drop out?

“No. Even worse.”

She gave Karma a curious glance, but stayed silent. The rest of the assembly went by without Karma registering a single thing, his mind racing as he stared at the stage, at the man who’d constantly haunted his dreams.

His soulmate’s father was here, at this school. Could his soulmate be here too? 

Fuck.

The school bell rang, and everyone around him scattered. The girl next to him nudged Karma, snapping him out of his trance.

“What class are you in?”

“Oh. Um. 1-A.”

She blinked, looking mildly surprised. She let out an awkward laugh, scratching her head.

“Oh, wow. That’s a shame, I’m in class 1-D. You must’ve done really well on the entrance exam to get into 1-A!”

Karma shrugged, mildly disappointed that his one friend he’d made wasn’t in his class. Wait. What was his friend’s name?

“Well, you can still hang out with me between classes. I’m Karma Akabane, by the way. Call me by my first name.”

“I’m Nagisa Shiota. First name too, if you’d like. It’s nice to meet you!”

Karma nodded, a slow smirk spreading across his face.

“I’ll see you around. Good luck with the first day, Nagisa.”

With that, Karma set off, making his way to where the teachers were spread out, holding up large signs with class numbers on them.

He made his way to the man under the ‘1-A’ sign, a seedy-looking man with a scraggly mustache. Amongst the students gathered there, one seemed to stand out, although Karma couldn’t get a clear glimpse of him due to the number of people gathered around him.

Karma shoved his way past the crowd, quickly signing in with his teacher before turning around, looking curiously at the subject of his classmates’ attention.

His eyes met bright violet. The same color that constantly haunted his dreams, and brought back memories of dull pain and blank walls. 

His soulmate. 

‘Asano Gakushuu’.

Asano Gakushuu seemed unperturbed by Karma, giving him one glance before continuing to talk with some ugly boy next to him with a horrendous sidepart. Karma felt a flare of indignation at the lack of care he was given.

Weren’t soulmates supposed to cry and kiss each other as soon as they realized they were destined for each other? In every movie he’d seen, soulmates immediately ‘clicked’, as if they were always waiting for each other.

Although, the movies never seemed to show the dullness and pain that was involved with it. Or maybe they were an exception. Soulmates were supposed to bring feelings of love and affection, yet all Karma could feel was a lingering sense of fear, discomfort, and anger.

(The anger was most prominent- easier to focus on. The indignation of being ignored, not being given any explanation all these years, his soulmate never trying to leave him messages besides that one time-)

He gritted his teeth, turning away brashly. He resolved to never engage with that asshole-his soulmate- ever in his middle school career.

A while later, the teacher finally led them to their classroom. Karma ignored anyone who tried to approach him, too pissed off to care about playing nice.

Their new classroom was nice. Unfortunately, the desks were arranged in alphabetical order, by last name. That meant that Karma was first, sitting in the front on the far left corner of the classroom. And to his right?

Asano Gakushuu.

Karma turned to his left to rummage through his schoolbag, only to make eye contact with Asano Gakushuu. At the close distance they were at, Karma felt compelled to initiate a conversation.

“Eh? Whatcha lookin’ at?” Karma asked, a snark in his voice and a smug smirk on his face. His inner resentment towards his soulmate had surfaced, and Karma could feel his blood practically boiling.

In the past, he would generally keep to himself. It wasn’t that he was shy- he just didn’t find any interest in trying to put himself out there. If others approached him, he’d exchange some polite, shallow conversation, but remained distant.

He’d planned to do the same in middle school, but something about his soulmate’s presence grated on his nerves, and the petty part of Karma was finally showing.

Asano Gakushuu’s eyes narrowed slightly, and his polite smile turned somewhat venomous. 

“Akabane. I can’t say it’s nice to meet you.”

Karma’s eyes widened, and he widened his grin, leaning in closer. He could practically feel his veins coursing with lava, heart pounding in his chest. It wasn’t that he was enjoying the exchange, he didn’t know how to respond to something that was both so layered but so simple.

“Oh really? I never wanted to meet you either, so I suppose it’s reciprocated.”

The two of them glared at each other for a few moments, and Asano Gakushuu opened his mouth as if to talk. But before he could say anything, the teacher was rapping a ruler against the chalkboard, demanding their attention.

Karma gave Asano Gakushuu a flippant smirk, pointedly turning away from him. The boy glared for one more moment, before turning around as well.

The rest of the class was just going over the curriculum and syllabus, which Karma dutifully zoned out for. The end of the school day was signalled with the fire alarm, and their class went to line up at the door.

The fire drill went by quickly, with the student body ending up outside of the building, where they slowly dispersed, the first day of school finally over. Karma glanced around, searching for Nagisa or-

Well, maybe not Asano. But he wouldn’t deny that the boy’s retreating back, returning back into the school, didn’t catch his eye. He suppressed the urge to chase after his soulmate, and made his way to Nagisa’s side, who startled slightly at his appearance.

“Oh- Karma. How was your class?”

He covered up his inner turmoil with a flippant shrug, smirking down at the shorter girl.

 “Boring. You?”

“Same, I guess. Tomorrow we actually start school. Are you nervous?”

“Nah.” Nervous didn’t cut it. Karma was absolutely terrified, if he was being honest. His soulmate, the one who’d made love into something that Karma dreaded, was now right at his side. “It’s just school, after all.”

Nagisa nodded slowly, walking over to a car where a woman who must be her mother was waving.

“You’re right. I’ll see you tomorrow, Karma!” She spoke with a slight tinge of hopefulness, although with more hesitation than Karma expected from a fellow classmate. He nodded, turning around to walk back to his own home.

“See ya, Nagisa.”

When he made it back home, the first thing that he did was go to his computer. Slowly, he typed out a name, staring at the blinking cursor at the end of it, which seemed to mock him as his finger hovered over the ‘Enter’ button.

After a few moments, Karma finally worked up the courage to press it. The page loaded for a criminally long time, before the results came up. There were more results than he’d been expecting (searching up a middle schooler would rarely come up with anything, so Karma had pretty low hopes).

Kunugigaoka Middle School Entrance Exam - Record-breaking Top Score Achieved by Chairman’s Son: Nepotism At Play?

Japanese Elementary Schooler Invited to Global Conference for Exceptional Youth

Asano Gakushuu - Linkedin Profile

Fourth Grader Wins National Math Olympiad

The third result caught his eye, and Karma clicked on it, leading him to an impressively built profile. A professional-looking photo stared at Karma with violet eyes, lips curled into a professional-looking smile. 

The list of accolades underneath were the next thing that caught Karma’s eyes. Global exchange programs, awards from endless competitions, certificates and titles that seemed to never end. Was Asano Gakushuu really the same age as him?

How did his soulmate even have time for all of this, being on the brink of death practically twice a month? Karma felt another pang of indignation, at the injustice. Even though he’d suffered so much from the soulmate switching situation, it seemed like Gakushuu was thriving anyway.

Karma slammed his laptop shut, gritting his teeth as he stormed out of his house, wandering aimlessly as he stewed in his anger. He somehow ended up in an alleyway next to a convenience store, sipping on a strawberry milk he’d impulsively bought just a few minutes ago.

A few other middle schoolers seemed to be hanging around the area, wearing a different school’s uniform. They entered the alleyway, and Karma was intent on ignoring them until one of them sauntered up to him, slapping the milk carton out of his hand.

“Hey, get out of our spot, Kunugigaoka kid.”

The middle schooler talking had a bowl cut, his eyes squinted in a way that he must’ve thought looked cool. Karma let out a scoff before he could stop himself, all of the pent up frustration that he’d been accruing the entire day about to burst. Fucking delinquents.

“Eh? I don’t see your name on it,” he said, stepping forward, not willing to back down. The kid’s face turned bright red as Karma spoke, clearly not expecting the defiance.

“You fucker! You think you’re better than us ‘cause you’re in Kunugigaoka? Bet those pretentious assholes never taught you to fight!”

The middle schooler threw a punch at Karma, his entire body following through the punch messily. The fist connected with his cheek, the other kid’s sharp nails scratching his skin. Karma felt his heart race, the blood rushing in his body overpowering any of his thoughts as he lunged forward, throwing a punch at the kid.

The other managed to block his punch, but didn’t foresee the second punch that followed, getting knocked back by a punch to his gut. Karma could vaguely hear the other middle schoolers letting out sounds of panic, scattering away as he continued pummeling the one in front of him.

He let out a rough exhale, slowly rising. At his feet, the middle schooler groaned in pain, but all Karma could feel was exhilaration. He let out a breathy laugh, wiping off a few spots of blood on his pants, emerging from the alleyway.

Karma set off back home, his heart lighter than ever, already planning what he was going to make for dinner.

The next few days passed by without much fanfare. He and Asano seemed to have developed a system--or, well, a mutual agreement to ignore each other’s existence. Karma spent most of his time hanging out in the hallways with Nagisa, and Asano seemed to be slowly building up a network of acquaintances (and admirers, Karma couldn’t walk two steps in the hallway without overhearing some girls gushing over Asano).

Soon enough, the first set of midterms came and went without much fanfare. Karma was second place, right behind Asano Gakushuu, who had gotten a mere two points off. A school assembly was arranged soon after. Karma skipped school that day, not looking forward to seeing the man (maybe he should start calling him Chairman, ‘the man’ was way too ominous).

The day that he came back, the air in the classroom seemed to have shifted. Asano’s newfound popularity had dissipated for some reason, and most of his classmates gave the boy a wide berth (although the ugly one with the horrible sidepart still remained by his side). 

Karma soon got his answer to the mystery while talking with Nagisa, the two of them standing outside of the Class 1-A room.

“During the school assembly, the Chairman started talking about some really weird survival of the fittest thing. And then Class 3-E arrived, and practically got bullied by the rest of our upperclassmen. It was… really weird.”

Karma had vaguely heard about the experimental academic system in Kunugigaoka, and other rumors about the dreaded ‘E-Class’. 

“Do you think… I’ll be in Class 3-E someday? I mean, I’m already in Class D. I feel bad for the E-Class students, but I don’t really want to be in their position either.”

He let out a hum, shrugging. “Eh. You’ll be fine. Aren’t the E-Class members all delinquents or something? That’s what one of my classmates was saying, at least.”

Nagisa hesitated for a moment, before nodding.

“...Yeah, I guess you’re probably right. I should get back to class now. See you at lunch, Karma.”

“See ya, Nagisa.”

Karma slipped back into the classroom, his eyes being drawn to Asano Gakushuu. His soulmate was sitting by himself, dutifully writing notes, a textbook hanging off the edge of his desk.

At least his soulmate wasn’t an eyesore. Karma could’ve sworn he’d thought that before, but he couldn’t help but appreciate the attractiveness of his soulmate. He had a soft look to his face that Karma remembered from the last time they’d switched bodies, but his features had sharpened, making him seem a bit more mature.

He walked over to Asano’s desk, leaning over to snoop at what the other boy was doing. Asano tilted his head up, one eyebrow raising slightly as he regarded Karma with that infuriating neutral look.

Karma smirked sharply, his eyes widening as he felt himself bristle, staring back at Asano challengingly. He could vaguely register his voice being a bit louder than he’d expected, attracting the attention of his other classmates.

“Hey, Asano. Why don’t you come with me during lunch? Let’s go up to the roof, so we’re not bothered by anyone else.”

It was only after the words left Karma’s mouth that he realized it could be viewed as a threat. It seemed like the rest of his classmates had interpreted it like that. He ignored the looks of fear and disbelief being sent his way, and focused on Asano.

The said boy finally seemed to have a flicker of emotion. His eyes were slightly widened, and his lips curled up into a smirk, violet eyes glinting with something that made Karma’s heart race.

“Sure, Akabane.”

Karma nodded stiffly, standing there for a moment unsure of what to do. Asano looked away from him, continuing with his notes, and Karma was left with no choice but to sit down at his own desk.

Oh shit. He’d told Nagisa that he’d be there for lunch.

Karma pulled out his phone, sending off a quick text to Nagisa, shoving the phone back into his bag as the teacher came back, the end of passing period signalled with the ringing of the bell.

He glanced over at the window, spacing out as the teacher started droning on. It was only until the bell rang once more signifying the start of lunch period that he snapped out of it, his gaze drawn to the boy next to him.

The two of them remained silent as they grabbed their respective bento boxes. Asano stood up first, making his way out of the classroom and Karma followed him, well aware of the eyes of his classmates that followed them.

The roof door was unlocked, as always. Most people didn’t go up there because of how cold it was, but Karma never really cared. The two of them stood on the rooftop for a moment, before Asano turned to Karma, finally addressing him.

“Akabane-”

“Call me Karma,” he butted in. Asano seemed a bit peeved at the interruption, but continued.

Akabane. What is it?”

Karma glared, setting his bento box at his feet, stepping closer to Asano, straightening up to make himself seem bigger (they were the same height, so it didn’t really have that much of an effect).

“Asano. Why the fuck-”

Indignation, anger, fear, confusion. So many emotions swirled together in Karma’s heart, and he could barely figure out how to articulate exactly what he was feeling, what he wanted from the boy in front of him.

Asano looked uncertain too, his eyes softening from their usual cold, distanced gaze. He seemed mildly uncomfortable (good, he deserved to feel uncomfortable).

“We’re soulmates.”

“Yes, that’s quite clear, Akabane,” Asano intoned, a touch of sarcasm in his voice. Karma gritted his teeth.

“Why the fuck didn’t you try to explain anything? Why did you keep your distance?”

That was the right button to push, apparently. Asano’s composure cracked, and he fumbled a bit, as if he were trying to look for the right words. At that moment, he seemed less like the incredible, unreachable student that everyone else saw, and looked just like Karma. Lost.

“I- There’s nothing to explain.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Karma could hear his own voice rising in volume, and Gakushuu seemed to bristle at it as well.

“What? What do you want an explanation of? We might be soulmates, but that doesn’t mean you’re entitled to knowing anything about me.”

A wave of rage swept over Karma. His nails dug into the skin of his palms, forcefully grounding him as he tried to stay calm while responding.

“I’m entitled to know about it when I was fucking stuck in your body, in that fucking room practically every other day when we were kids! You’re the reason why my parents abandoned me, of course I have a fucking right to know about the source of all my problems!”

Asano froze, his eyes widening slightly before glaring back at Karma, stepping forward as well. They were practically chest to chest at this point.

“I didn’t have any autonomy either, Akabane. You were a kid? I was a kid too!”

“Well why the fuck didn’t you tell me anything?! You could’ve written me a note while we were switched, why didn’t you?!”

His soulmate flinched, as if he’d struck him. For a moment, he looked like a fish, opening and closing his mouth silently. After a while, he pressed his lips together, staring down at the ground.

Karma stood there, waiting for Asano to respond. But after a minute passed, he stepped back, letting out a low scoff. The disappointment hung heavy in his heart, and he turned around, walking back towards the door back inside.

“...Fuck you, Asano.”

He left his soulmate behind on the rooftop, slamming the door behind him. He felt the familiar heat of anger simmering in his blood, and he left the school in a trance, easily avoiding detection of the elderly school guard. 

By the time that he finally snapped back to reality, he was once again in an alleyway, standing over two kids who were laying on the ground, injured and groaning in pain. Someone was clutching his arm, dragging him away.

It was only after he’d been pushed into the back of a police car that he realized that it was a police officer that’d been dragging Karma away. Once they got to the station, he sat in a room (not a cell, guess minors get the luxury of a normal room), twiddling his thumbs. 

His parents wouldn’t be able to be reached. Thankfully, all they asked was for his name. After a bit of waiting, a police officer opened the door, escorting him to the lobby of the police station.

“You’re lucky that those kids’ parents didn’t decide to press charges. Try to stay out of trouble from now on.”

Karma nodded, ignoring the officer as he looked over the lobby, not spotting his parents. Instead, the lady that brought his groceries was there, a neutral look on her face. The officer gently pushed Karma towards the lady, before leaving him in the lobby.

“Akabane. You will be transferred down to Class 1-D due to your misbehavior. Please report to that classroom starting tomorrow,” the lady said, her voice formal. She turned around, leading Karma out of the police station.

“Did the man- I mean, the Chairman handle this? Is that why you’re here?”

Karma’s question was never answered, as the lady went to a car, entering it and leaving Karma standing on the sidewalk next to it.

“That’ll be all. I recommend you make your way back home before it gets too dark out.”

The car peeled away, (literally) leaving him in a cloud of smoke. With practically no other choice, he slowly started making his way back home, pulling out his phone to text Nagisa. His new classmate, he supposed.

Karma: see u tmrw nagisa

Nagisa: ? ok cu!

The next day, Nagisa gave him an angry jab for not telling her about his new transfer. Then, Karma learned that Nagisa was a boy, not a girl, in PE class. That led to him receiving another (even angrier) jab.

The next two years passed by quickly. Karma hung out with Nagisa in D Class, rarely even seeing a glimpse of Asano. The Class 3-E system became even more prominent as they entered their dreaded third year. Nagisa was booted down to E-Class, and Karma was left in 3-D. (He was a bit thankful. Nagisa freaked him out, after that one incident.)

Karma wasn’t a fan of the whole ‘survival of the fittest’ schtick. It felt like a false meritocracy, with the school acting like an uneven playing field. So when he saw a 3-E student getting beat up by some other students, he had to intervene.

...And consequently got sent to the Chairman’s office. Fuck.

As soon as he entered the room, Karma wanted to run right back out. But the Chairman’s expectant glare left him no other choice but to slowly walk and sit down in the chair in front of the large desk.

“Akabane Karma. I would expel you,” the Chairman started, causing Karma’s heart to stutter. Even if Kunugigaoka wasn’t a school he enjoyed, he didn’t want to get expelled. (And if one reason he wanted to stay was because of the glimpses of his soulmate he got, well, no one had to know.)

“-but you are in a... unique situation. Thus, I’ll be giving you a two-week suspension and a demotion to Class 3-E.”

Karma startled for a moment, looking up.

“What?”

“If you have no other questions, you may leave.”

He wanted to leave, but nagging questions itched at the back of his mind, demanding answers.

“Did you deal with the police back in my first year? When I was brought to the police station?”

The Chairman seemed to be mildly annoyed (fuck, Karma was totally about to get killed right now, wasn’t her?), but still deigned to respond.

“Yes. I’m disappointed to see that you never learned from your actions.”

Karma shuddered, standing up abruptly and bowing (and when did he ever bow?) before fleeing out of the office with a quick apology. As he closed the door to the office behind him, the second person from his nightmares emerged from the hallway.

“Akabane. We should talk.”

His heart skipped a beat. His mind went blank, and he answered without thinking.

“I told you to call me Karma.”

Asano’s lip twitched upwards slightly, and he shook his head, stepping back in the hallway and walking away, leading Karma through the school.

“I see that your meeting with the Chairman didn’t affect you much.”

“Eh? Did you already know that I was meeting with him?”

“The entire school knows, delinquent-” (Karma just realized that he’d probably be considered a delinquent given how often he got into fights, and his habit of teasing others.) “-you’re on suspension, right?”

Karma nodded.

“Would you... like to go to a cafe to talk? Since you have the time now.” From where Karma was walking beside Asano, he could see his soulmate’s red ears. It was cute, maybe.

“Sure, Asano. There’s a maid cafe that I’m sure you’re familiar with a few blocks away.”

The said boy glared at Karma, rolling his eyes as they left the school building, walking along the street towards the downtown area.

Akabane.”

Karma whistled, and they entered the first cafe they saw, sitting down at one of the booths after they ordered. (Asano, of course, got a black coffee. Karma got a hot chocolate, out of spite.)

Once they got their respective drinks, Asano started speaking again, staring into the dark abyss of his undoubtedly bitter drink.

“I’d like to first acknowledge my part in harming our current relationship. Whilst I may not believe in soulmates and destined compatibility, I was unnecessarily hostile and unfriendly to you.”

Karma let out a huff, inwardly thankful for his own sweet drink to ground him.

“Yeah, well. It’s not that I think soulmates are absolute, either. You’ve been more of an inconvenience to me than a blessing.”

Asano stiffened. “I didn’t have much choice in that. I don’t feel comfortable with sharing the reasoning why, but I’m willing to try and get us to that point. I never intended for you to be harmed.”

“Fine. Could you at least tell me why you didn’t leave me any notes other than that one time?” Karma received a sharp glare directed towards him for prodding, not that it deterred him at all.

“...Are you still on that? Fine. I was worried that leaving a note would only worsen our relationship. And my father didn’t want me interacting with you.”

“Why?”

The strawberry blonde shrugged, taking another sip of his drink from hell. “He had a bad experience with his own soulmate, I believe. I’ve never taken the initiative to ask.”

Karma let out a sigh, feeling somewhat defeated. It wasn’t like he could argue-- the Chairman was terrifying, and having him as a father was undoubtedly part of the reason why Asano was always on the brink of death as a child.

“Well, how was your experience? In my body, I mean.”

“Ah. It wasn’t eventful. I’d refrain from interacting with anyone, do whatever tasks needed to be done, and then return to my own body.”

He let out a hum, nodding. It was a bit reassuring to know that Asano wasn’t actively trying to sabotage him when they had switched bodies (a fear that Karma never really had, but it was always a possibility).

“And you? What did you do other than interrupt my violin recital in fifth grade?”

A low blow. Karma couldn’t help but grin at the passive aggressive remark. “Oh, y’know. Lie on your deathbed in your place for 24 hours in a bland room without any entertainment.”

Asano cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Ah. Hm.”

The two lapsed into a short silence, finishing their drinks. They exchanged a bit more conversation, and then left the cafe, taking separate paths to their respective houses.

The next day, the moon exploded.

Karma got a text from an unknown number the day after that.

Unknown: The moon explosion is linked to Class 3-E somehow. Government agents have been coming in and out of my house, meeting with my father. Have you heard anything?

Karma: asano???? is that u???

Asano Gakushuu: Yes. Answer my question.

Karma: how tf did u get my number

Karma: and no

Asano Gakushuu: Hm. If you do, let me know.

Karma: um ok??

Karma: but srsly how DID you get my number

Karma: asano??

Karma: answer me

Karma: bruh

Karma rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh as he tossed his phone to the side. Nothing of interest regarding the government happened for a while, and Asano, under the pretense of investigating whatever the fuck was going on, hung out at Karma’s house.

The two of them sat on his couch, chatting. Asano was furiously typing on his laptop, multitasking as usual, while Karma just lounged lazily next to him.

“Are you sure it has to do with Class 3-E in particular?”

“Yes. Did you ask your friend Shiota?”

“Oh. Uh, we’re not really friends anymore.”

“Couldn’t wait to break up your friendship with him until after this all happened?”

Karma glared at Asano. What an asshole. It’s not like he even knew what a friendship was, only using servitude, intimidation and little henchmen to build connections.

“Asshole.”

Suddenly, they heard a knock at the door. Karma sighed, getting up from the couch to go check the peephole.

“Are you expecting anyone else, Akabane?”

“Nah, it’s- Oh shit. Asano, hide.”

Asano’s eyes widened, and Karma could hear scrambling from the living room as he slowly opened the door, speaking at a volume higher than normal so that Asano could hear.

“Do you need something? Why do you guys look like government agents?”

Two people in suits, a stern-looking man and a marginally friendlier looking woman stepped inside, holding briefcases. The lady stepped forward, speaking up.

“Karma Akabane, correct? Are your parents or anyone else in the house right now?”

“Uh, no. I live alone,” he replied, very blatantly and unapologetically lying. 

“We need to talk to you about something very important regarding Class 3-E. How about we move to your living room? This discussion may take a while.”

Karma let out a light, dismissive laugh as he stepped back, leading the government agents to the living room, which was wiped clean of any indications Asano was there. If it weren’t for the fact that the previously open cabinet was closed, he would’ve thought Asano completely left.

“Sure, come over here. I’m not in trouble, am I?”

The lady shook her head, taking a seat on a seat across from where Karma had decided to sit. The man stood behind her, stiff as a tree.

“No, you’re not. You know about the moon incident, correct?”

“Ah, fuck,” Karma swore out of reflex, realizing that Asano was right. “I mean, yeah. I do know.”

“Well, the rest of this may sound a bit unbelievable, but...”

The next two hours left Karma absolutely reeling, flabbergasted at the new information that had been thrust upon him. He vaguely remembered signing the NDA and other contracts, before being asked one question that snapped him out of his shocked state.

“Now, this may be a sensitive question, but we need to know the answer in case you face mortal danger during your time in Class 3-E. Do you know who your soulmate is?”

Karma’s heart skipped a beat. He glanced at the closed cabinet for one millisecond, before leaning back, letting out a flippant laugh, waving the question off.

“Nah, I don’t.”

The lady nodded, continuing to hand Karma some documents.

“If you ever do switch soulmate bodies or learn of your soulmate’s identity, please let us know. It’s a risk of exposure, after all.”

Karma let out a hum of acknowledgement, signing the last few contracts he needed to before the government agents bid their goodbyes and swiftly left. As soon as Karma closed the front door and walked back to the living room, he saw Asano rifling through his documents, a mildly curious look on his face.

“This is intriguing. Akabane, once you go back to class, we’ll have weekly briefings. I want to be in the know.”

Karma crossed his arms, approaching Asano from behind.

“How do you know that I’ll cooperate, Asano?”

“Because you didn’t tell them about me. I’ll do my best to help you all indirectly. Try to stay out of harm’s way.”

He let out a hum, pulling out his laptop and starting to type once more. Karma let out a sigh of exasperation, before sitting down on the sofa right behind where Asano was sitting on the ground.

“Fine. But only if you start calling me Karma.”

Asano slowly turned around, his eyes narrowed and lips downturned into a confused frown.

“What is it with you and trying to get me to call you by your first name?”

Karma shrugged. He really didn’t have an answer, he just...

“I wanna call you by your name, at least. Calling you Asano just reminds me of your father.”

Asano’s gaze darkened, and Karma watched his soulmate hesitate for a moment, fingers frozen over the keyboard.

“...You can call me Gakushuu if you’d like. Just not in public.”

“Gakushuu,” Karma blurted out, suddenly leaning closer to Asano. Gakushuu. Leaning closer to Gakushuu.

Gakushuu’s ears turned red, and he suddenly stood up, slamming his laptop shut and hiking his school bag onto his shoulder, stuffing his device in it and fumbling his way over to the front door, clearly flustered.

“I’ll- I’ll be going, then. I’ll see you the weekend after your suspension ends.”

“Yeah. Uh. Okay.”

Fuck. Karma made his way over to where Gakushu was pulling on his shoes. Before Gakushuu could fully exit the door, he spoke up once more.

“Bye, Gakushuu.”

The strawberry blonde glanced back, his violet gaze piercing Karma once more. He could feel his own face flush, but instead he focused on the other boy. His cheeks were red as well, eyes bright and wide, making him seem young, like a regular middle schooler.

“...Bye.”

Gakushuu turned back around, quickly fleeing. Karma stood there, the outside chill freely seeping into his house as he stared at the retreating back until Gakushuu disappeared from view, turning around a corner.

He couldn’t wait for his suspension to end.

The rest of the year went by in a whirlwind of bullets, tentacles, and pure adrenaline. Karma played his role as the prankster, a mildly (read: extremely) sadistic delinquent in the classroom, and on the weekends, in the privacy of his home, he’d debrief with Gakushuu.

The debriefing sessions were formal at first. Gakushuu brought an entire clipboard and took notes, and they sat on opposite couches. Then Karma migrated, and they talked on opposite sides of one couch. One night, after the week of Ritsu’s introduction to the class, an especially long debrief led to dinner at Karma’s house.

Karma went all-out on cooking that day. Unlike the plain fried rice or ramen that he usually made for himself, he pulled out ingredients he rarely used, the ones that sat on the counters waiting to be experimented with.

The end result was, of course, flawless. (Not really- Karma had to substitute some ingredients he didn’t have, almost overcooked the meat, and at one point the pot nearly boiled over.) Gakushuu was sitting at a perfectly set table (how did he even find the fancy silverware? Even Karma could barely remember where that was kept), and his eyes visibly widened as Karma brought the dishes to the table.

Miso soup in two small bowls, and a spread of different dishes like tempura-battered vegetables, braised beef, and rolled egg omelette covered the dining table. Gakushuu, as expected, absolutely devoured the meal. Karma was an exceptionally good cook, after all. So their debriefs started being hosted over dinners. Sometimes, Gakushuu brought ingredients and cooked something himself, and Karma started inviting Gakushuu to help him chop vegetables. The kitchen bustled with activity, and the two of them started exchanging comfortable banter as they cooked, which they would continue over dinner.

After Okinawa, Gakushuu was reluctant to part, and since it was time for vacation, he simply stayed the night at Karma’s house. (The bed situation made Karma nervous at first, but thankfully they found a spare futon that Gakushuu could sleep on.)

They drifted closer in this way. Debrief sessions became two-sided. Karma learned more about the Five Virtuosos, who were actually a pretty good friend group. Ren stopped by once, after Karma found out that Ren knew about the whole soulmate thing.

Then Nagisa came over once, accidentally meeting Gakushuu after Karma had accidentally scheduled two things on top of each other. Gakushuu ignored Karma for around a week afterwards, but quickly came back after the Reaper situation. (They had another sleepover that night. Gakushuu and Karma slept on the couch together, after a long movie marathon.)

That night, they grew even closer. Gakushuu would never admit it, but Karma had seen the wetness in his eyes as he shifted closer to Karma. Unfortunately, Karma fell asleep first, but when he woke up, the two of them were laying down on the couch together. Karma had been squished in between the back of the sofa and Gakushuu, whose arms were wrapped around Karma. But surely, that was just because of the lack of space the couch granted them.

And then Koro-sensei died, and they graduated. And Karma watched as Asano led his henchmen- no, his friends- to defend Class 3-E against the onslaught of reporters. And as Karma was about to enter the bus, he glanced back at Asano.

Violet eyes. And Karma realized that he really wanted to kiss Asano at that very moment, with the Kunugigaoka banner blocking them from reporters, his classmates waiting for him on the bus behind him, and Asano right there, standing with the same neutral face he always had.

(Karma had slowly learned how to distinguish Asano’s expressions. The glimmer in his eyes or a quirk of his eyebrows. At that moment, he could tell that Asano wanted to do exactly the same thing that he did.)

“You should go. I’ll see you after your interrogation, Akabane.”

Karma nodded stiltedly, hesitating for one more moment. Then he heard some of his classmates calling for him, and stepped onto the bus.

“Yeah. I’ll see you, Asano.”

Just before he completely stepped on, he saw Asano’s face break out into a smile. It wasn’t a large one, not like the wide, full-toothed one like Koro-sensei always had. It was small, almost unnoticeable to anyone unfamiliar with Asano.

And then Karma was on the bus, driving away and tracking Asano once again, the faint head of strawberry blonde hair as it became little more than a tiny prick of color.

Interrogations passed by with almost as much boredom as the days that Karma spent as a child in that bland bedroom. But once it did, Karma had barely reunited with the rest of his class that had gathered in the lobby of the government facility before he was bolting outside.

Just as he expected, a head of strawberry blonde was standing outside. Behind him, he could hear his classmates exclamations of confusion at the sight of the student council president. But none of that mattered, as he flung himself at Gakushuu, who easily caught him with a fond laugh.

“Gakushuu!”

He pulled away to see Gakushuu, who had the same small, soft smile on his face. 

“Karma.”

And Karma’s world stopped at that simple word, his name exiting Gakushuu’s lips as if it were the most natural thing to ever happen. And, true to Karma’s style, he blurted something out without even thinking.

“Boyfriend.”

Gakushuu’s eyebrow raised, his lips slowly curling up into a smirk.

“Boyfriend?”

Karma shook his head rapidly, practically fuming as he leaned in closer, grabbing Gakushuu by his cheeks.

“You know what I mean. Be my boyfriend. Er- No, do- Do you want to be my boyfriend?”

Gakushuu let out a laugh, pausing for a moment. He looked at Karma- not the calculating look he had when he was weighing pros and cons of a deal. Just looking. Karma’s blood ran cold.

“Sure. I wouldn’t mind that.”

He rolled his eyes, before pulling Gakushuu’s face closer, bringing their lips together. For once, he felt grateful to Bitch-sensei for those stupid kissing lessons.

It was only after they separated that he fully registered the jeers of his classmates from where they were standing, with practically front-row seats of the whole debacle. Gakushuu seemed nonplussed, thankfully. 

“What-”

“KARMA WHY-”

“Asano?? Is-”

Class 3-E practically swarmed him, although just like with the reporters, Gakushuu was excellent at fending them off. He raised one hand, quieting down Karma’s classmates. (How did he even do that? Even Koro-sensei struggled to do that, and he was fucking inhuman.)

“Let me reintroduce myself. I’m Asano Gakushuu, Karma’s soulmate. Yes, I’ve known and been aware of the situation this entire year. Yes, I still treated you all as my enemy. I understand if you don’t forgive me.”

It seemed like Gakushuu had mistaken Class 3-E as the type to hold grudges. The first person to approach was Nagisa, who admittedly had the advantage of already being somewhat clued into it all.

“Asano. I think you really motivated me to keep improving, actually. So, thank you for that.”

Nakamura was the next to pipe up, Karma’s co-conspirator oftentimes, and ready to tease.

“Yeah, thanks for taking Karma off our hands! I want to say sorry to you, on behalf of Karma! I’m sure he’s a handful.”

The rest of the class burst out into friendly chatter, the mood lifted as Gakushuu was enveloped into Class 3-E, and Karma was unfortunately made victim to the teasing of countless of his classmates.

Karma felt happy, in the middle of the crowd, watching Gakushuu fumble around, trying to handle ten conversations at once.

He felt happy later, too, as they sat on his couch together, a blanket tangled over their legs, their legs interlocked with each other’s. Gakushuu’s head rested above Karma’s collarbone, and Karma contented himself with picking at Gakushuu’s hair, running his hands through it.

(It was criminally soft, after all. Gakushuu insisted that he didn’t use any fancy products, but hair that soft didn’t just magically come to be.)

“...You know, I did write you notes. Every time we switched bodies.”

Karma paused in his ministrations, fingers caught in Gakushuu’s hair.

“Eh?”

“I wrote notes to you every time. I flushed them down the toilet before we switched, though, because I was afraid that you’d hate me more. I knew I was hurting you, and I really did feel bad.”

“Wait, then that last note? The one that said, uh, ‘you should take better care of yourself’?” Karma asked, thrown in a loop. 

Gakushuu’s ears turned red, and Karma absentmindedly pinched one of them, receiving a light glare in return.

“...I forgot to dispose of it. I was really worried, you know. I was in the middle of a violin recital one moment, and then in bed, starving and dehydrated. I wrote that note because I was mad at you for neglecting yourself like that, and I wanted to be petty.”

Karma snorted, pulling Gakushuu closer. His soulmate shifted, so that they were facing each other directly. He buried his face into the crook between Gakushuu’s neck and shoulders, exhaling. He felt Gakushuu’s skin warm as his breath cast over it, and he tightened his hold around Gakushuu, pulling him closer.

“You’re an asshole, Gakushuu.”

“Seems like we’re made for each other, then.”

“You think so? I thought you said you didn’t believe in soulmates.”

“...I suppose the soulmate thing may have some merit.”

“Pfft.”

“Don’t laugh at me."

“I think I reserve the right to laugh at you, since I’m your boyfriend.”

“Ha... Not for long, at this rate.”

“No, Gakushuu, don’t break up with me, we’ve only been together for... 5 hours!”

Gakushuu paused for a second, tilting his head as if he were really considering it, before relaxing further into Karma’s arms, closing his eyes.

“I won’t, Karma. Let’s try and make it to our 24-hour anniversary, at least.”

Karma let out a quiet laugh, the exhaustion from the long day overtaking him as he leaned back against the couch, head sinking into a pillow.

“Sure, Gakushuu. 24 hours.”

Notes:

feb 14th hung over my head like the blade of a guillotine.... i really wanted to finish this on time for valentines day so i basically wrote half of this in one sitting on my bed (4 hour long session of fanfic writing w no break....)

explanation of my soulmates au:
- put simply, when one soulmate is on the verge of death (physically, not mentally), the two will switch bodies for 24 hours or if one of them dies (which then they would switch back)
- i was thinking of making it so that it was both physically and mentally, but i was worried it would be too convoluted in terms of the mechanics of it so i tried to keep it simple
- how it would work for a normal soulmate pair is that they only learn who their soulmate is near the end of one of their lives, since people don't usually come back from the verge of death
- thered prob be a romantic/tragic trope where the person who's dying would leave a message behind to their soulmate before they die, but obv thats not what happens w gakushuu and karma which is why karmas parents were super freaked out
- gakuhou is exceptionally horrible in this fanfic (bwomp bwomp), and gakushuu was brought up being literally pushed to his physical limits which is why karma was switching bodies with gakushuu so often when they were children; as they grew up, gakushuu became more resilient and was pushed to the verge of death less often (wow thats bleak sorry i made you suffer gakushuu lmao)

 

ummmm yeah lmk if this fanfic was cool or not :) thanks for reading