The Serpent Inside (A Karmagisa Fanfiction)

61: Conversation

Gakushuu read over the text once more before realizing it was just Karma's incredibly nerdy way of telling Gakushuu that Nagisa was ready and listening. Another sweep with his eyes over the cafe lead Gakushuu to about four or five people that possibly could be Nagisa, but he still had no clue.

Good.

Natsuhiko would have no idea that they were being listened to.

Gakushuu placed his award-winning smile on his face, perfected after years of fooling the press as a child, and later an adult.

"Natsuhiko-kun, お久しぶりです (it's been a long time). Gakushuu politely greeted.

"Ah, Asano-san, お久しぶりです." Natsuhiko returned.

Gakushuu sat down at the table and glanced idly over the menu. "How have you been? I read that you've been working in a very high-end laboratory. Shibasaki, was it?"

"Ah, yes I have. Work has been amazing, much better than the commoner work I had been doing previously." He chuckled in that way he always had, the way that now made Gakushuu's skin crawl from how absolutist it felt. It made him think of when he used to be like that.

Gakushuu dryly chuckled, "I see. Made any breakthroughs recently? It seems someone like you would be making them left and right now that you're in a laboratory of your standards."

Natsuhiko chuckled loudly, "Why of course! You see, I'm not supposed to say, we have a bit of a situation. But that only applies to simpletons, you won't tell."

Gakushuu smirked, "Of course not."

"See, I knew it! Well, a long time ago, like, back when we were in junior high, there was this insane scientists who made this freaky formula. Something happened to all his work though! It's all gone but I managed to recreate it!"

"Oh? What did this formula do?"

A manic grin spread across Natsuhiko's face.

"It makes hybrids."

Gakushuu nearly winced. There it was--Natsuhiko's death sentence. He wished he could say it was nice to know the man, but it really wasn't.

"Incredible. Did you do it all yourself?"

"Why of course. It's mainly made out of Diethyl azodicarboxylate, you see. I wouldn't let anyone else get their hands on something so sensitive and so important."

At least nobody else would have to die.

"I see."

The conversation was interrupted by a young man wearing the cafe's uniform walking over.

"Hello, I'll be your server today. Do you know what you would like?"

"Ah, yes. I'll take the fruit waffles and the mixed fruit juice." Gakushuu ordered.

"I'll take the Assorted fruits plate and a pione juice" Natsuhiko ordered. Gakushuu noticed those two were some of the most expensive items on the menu.

The two chatted and ate once their food arrived, and Gakushuu silently did his best to made this last conversation a good one for Natsuhiko.

"You know I haven't actually told anyone about this yet. My stupid boss took my only sample to his work and lost it, the idiot!" Natsuhiko grumbled. "I'll have to remake it from scratch now, and I still need to find a way to test it."

"You'll probably die before it gets out at this rate." Gakushuu joked.

It wasn't a joke, but Natsuhiko didn't need to know that, and the greasy-haired man was too busy laughing to see the smile slip from Gakushuu's face.

Eventually, they parted ways.

Gakushuu drove back to the Akabane manor and noticed a person with deep purple hair he had seen at the cafe, before said person pulled the wig off to display the bright blue hair he now knew was underneath.

"I assume you'll have him dead very soon?" Gakushuu asked without prompting.

"In a short while. I'm destroying the lab first and letting a small amount of time pass so the police don't suspect you." Nagisa blandly mumbled as he took off all the apparel he was hiding under.

"I see. That's both smart of you, and very kind." Gakushuu smiled, getting a small smile in return.

"You're a part of this family too, Gakushuu-kun. Just ask Iyu-chan. I'm not just gonna let you go through the hassle of getting the cops off your back."