The Serpent Inside (A Karmagisa Fanfiction)

17: Pace

Flexing his abnormally pale fingers, Nagisa clenched his teeth together in pain as he let a small groan out from his lips. He could hear his heart thumping painfully in his ears, the constant beating ringing throughout his entire body as he tried to shove the drumming out of system. He took a deep breath and slowly pushed himself off the floor, his arms shakily releasing a small force to place him on his aching knees. Misui held onto his arm, making sure he didn't fall over in painful exhaustion. His wrists were throbbing from the injection, pain scorching up his arms like wildfire.

Nagisa's eyes fluttered, large bags hiding under his crystal eyes. Fatigue crawled up and infested itself into his body, worming its way into his heart and simply remaining there, leaving a pit of emptiness in his heart and lungs. Weaving his scattered thoughts together, Nagisa managed to support a sentence with a shaky frame, though a structure nonetheless.

"How much time left?" He said carefully, his mouth slowly pushing out the words like it was his second language. She remained somewhat silent, thinking over what was the best logical answer.

"Two minutes, if we're lucky." She murmured quietly, brushing his hair out of his face so that he could see easier.

He was silent for a second, his lips pulled into a frown as he visibly winced, raising an arm to her slender hand. "Put my hair into pigtails." He muttered clearly.

Misui blinked for a second, surprised at the sudden request. "Put y-your hair into?..." She said to herself. Her eyebrows furrowed as she questioned him. "Why though?"

Nagisa shrugged. "I have no idea."

Misui propped Nagisa up against the laboratory wall before taking the hair bands off his wrists. Nagisa flinched, but stayed quiet.

"Any importance in pigtails?" Misui asked to keep the assassin's mind occupied and off of the incoming wave of bloodlust.

"It's how I wore it in Junior high- back when I first met Karma." Nagisa managed a small smile at the mention of his boyfriend.

Misui finished her job and took a metal tray as a mirror. "Does it look okay? Yumi always does my hair so I don't get much practice."

Nagisa drearily looked at his reflection before forcing out a hum of approval.

His eyes started to droop and the last thing he was able to recognize before the darkness took over was Misui's face turning to one of pure horror.

With Karma

"Karma, please calm down." Karasuma said, his eyes worried as they followed Karma's pacing like a trance.

"Yes, please do." Irina butted in, her head placed into her hand as she sighed. "I'm getting nauseous just looking at you moving back and forth like that!"

Karma ignored their pleas, continuing to tread along the living room floors. His chin was hidden from view as his hand covered it, the position making him look like a detective. Except this one was much more frantic. "Okay, okay, let's go over this one more time."

Irina groaned. "We've already gone over what's happened eighteen times, Karma. We're all as worried as you, but if you keep up this pace, literally in this case, I will murder you before you can even save Nagisa."

"I have to agree with Irina on this case, for the first time in forever." He muttered the last part quietly so she wouldn't hear. "All of us want to freak out right now, Irina more than anyone else, (Hey!), but if we don't keep our cool, we won't be able to help Nagisa at all."

Karma took a deep breath, sitting rigidly down into one of the leather sofas that sagged on the ground. "Alright then, what do you suggest we do?"