The Serpent Inside (A Karmagisa Fanfiction)

12: Closure

Takaoka grinned, the scars permanently marring his face stretching as his broken, dirtied yellow teeth showed themselves. "You're mad for no good reason, Shiota-kun. Anger will only affect the pathetic way you fight me. It will only make you even weaker than you already are."

Takaoka tilted his head in a mocking way, and Nagisa was able to see the faint outline of two scars caused by an electric shock.

Nagisa felt his veins throb as the thought of slitting Takaoka's throat parched his own. But merely killing the man wasn't enough. No, he wanted Takaoka to suffer, he wanted Takaoka to writhe beneath him, on his knees begging for forgiveness like he had made Nagisa do back in Class E. "Mad?" he asked, forcing the human noises from his throat. "Mad?" Nagisa let a hoarse laugh leave his lips. "You haven't seen mad." His fingers dug into the skin of his palm as he tightened a fist, slitted blue eyes glowing in the dark.

Takaoka didn't seem convinced. He laughed as his right eye twitched. He cracked his knuckles. "Fine then, little doll. Show me what it means to be mad."

Nagisa felt himself hissing deep within his throat. All he saw was red.

That's when the first blow hit.

Karma screamed as he saw Takaoka land the first hit on Nagisa, throwing his blue-haired husband to the grown, skidding across the floor.

"That felt even better than I imagined it would!" Takaoka laughed, stalking towards Nagisa's fallen form while cracking his knuckles.

"Aren't you angry? Where's the bloodlust from all those years ago? Hahahaha!"

Karma's throat burned as Takaoka slammed his foot down on Nagisa's chest area, Nagisa releasing a strangled cry as a cracking noise rumbled throughout the room. Karma's legs were flailing around as he tried to get some hold of the ground so he could save his lover.

Karma knew how this would play out if Takaoka got his way. Karma knew what would happen if Nagisa didn't get up. It didn't even cross his mind that Nagisa likely knew this too, because all Karma could think about is how Nagisa was having kick after kick hit him and Karma was hanging there, watching, doing nothing to save him.

Distantly, Karma could hear his own screams of Nagisa's name, could feel how his weak throat burned with the noise, the strain of his thrashing body on his hands- but none of that mattered because Takaoka reached down to pick Nagisa up and sent a punch to his chest strong enough Nagisa was sent flying backwards again.

Karma swore he could feel the blows just as much as Nagisa was.

"P-Papa? Daddy? What's happening? What is the bad man doing to Papa? Why is Daddy screaming?"

Karma's eyes tracked to the fearful little voice of his daughter. Right. She didn't understand.

How could she?

Iyuka was five, still around a month and some change before she would turn six.

And she had to watch all of this.

"CLOSE YOUR EYES!"

Iyuka flinched back and a shocked expression coated her dirt-coated face. Neither of her parent's had ever raised their voice at her, nevertheless be pushed to yelling.

She took the smart route and did as told, shutting her eyes as tight as she could. She would have covered her face with her hands, if she had been able to.

Takaoka threw another punch, bruising Nagisa's beautiful face. Nagisa yelped as he fell to the ground again. His body was limp, the only motion being his slow blinking and deep raspy breaths he attempted to gather, in hopes of keeping his body functioning and alive. Takaoka clearly didn't want the same, dragging Nagisa's up by the hair and jamming the boy down onto his knee as if trying to break a stick.

Karma screamed once more.

Nagisa was losing.

Nagisa was losing.

Losing meant death.

Nagisa was dying.