Chapter Text
Nagisa decides that he will not look in Karma's direction once the next day.
Back before Karma's expulsion, it was impossible for him to stay mad at the boy for longer than a few hours. No matter how justified his anger was - and usually it was very justified - he would always crack eventually. Mostly it was the way that Karma would stare at him, eyes pleading, like he wouldn't be able to go on if Nagisa didn't forgive him that moment. The stares were also supplemented by flattery, notes, and occasionally a gift. Never an apology, but all of the workings of one.
It hurt Nagisa to forgive him so easily, but it hurt him more not to have his best friend around. So he always cracked.
Now, he is determined not to make the same mistake.
"Karma's been staring at you all breakfast," Kayano whispers. Nagisa knows; he can feel the pinpricks of his eyes on the back of his neck.
"What a weirdo," he replies, not looking up from his breakfast. He hasn't told anyone about Karma sneaking into his room the night before. Mostly because it has to do with tournament stuff, which he's oath-bound not to talk about, but also a little because he's afraid that if he tells someone, they'll say he's overreacting. Nagisa doesn't have the patience to explain how entitled Karma can be, especially when he knows that he'll be beloved either way.
"Right, a weirdo," Kayano drawls. "Like you were yesterday when you were stalking him."
"That was different. I was worried about him being missing. I'm right here, though, so there's no reason he should be staring." He looks up just to give her a pointed look. Drop it. She nods, like reading his mind, but sighs to herself.
"You've been in an awful mood since the tournament's started," she says, nudging him with her elbow. "If there's anything you need to talk about, you know you can tell me, right?"
She's not wrong, he realizes. Sure, the dark lord is living at Hogwarts, Karma is acting like he never abandoned him, he's representing a school that hates him in a deadly tournament, and he's pretty sure the headmaster wouldn't care if he died either way, but it wasn't an excuse to be a bitch to his friends.
"I know," he says, and tries for a smile. It works, somewhat. "I'm sorry I've been so crabby. It's just been a lot of stress."
"I totally get that," she replies. "Like, if I was in your situation I'd probably curl up into a ball in my room and never leave." She pauses, grimacing. "I meant that as a compliment. Like you're really brave for coming out here at all."
"Thanks," he says dryly, but it does help. If the entire school doubts him, at least he has one person who thinks he's brave.
"I know what'll cheer you up," she continues, pulling out a loose set of papers from her bag. "Your interview got published."
"Wait, really?" In all honesty, he doesn't want to see what the reporter had written, but his mind also itches for it. At the very least, he wants to know how everyone else in the magical world would view him. "Why didn't you mention it earlier?"
"You were kinda busy staring at your food," she jokes. "Didn't want to break your concentration."
Nagisa peers at the paper from the corner of his eye. "Can you read it over and sum it up for me?" His stomach is doing jumping jacks.
"I already read it," she says, pushing the paper into his hands. "You'll want to see it for yourself. It's all good things, don't worry."
Hesitantly, he opens the paper in his hand and stares at it. The first thing he notices is his own face staring back at him, tilting its head to the side slightly at his attention. Karma had been right; he does look intimidating. He can see the nerves in his eyes, plain as day, but to the average newspaper reader, he looks cold. Willing to do whatever it takes to win.
He kind of likes it.
Scratch that. He really likes it.
The second thing he notices is that Nakamura's and Karma's pictures are also there, flanking his picture. And both of theirs are considerably smaller.
"You must've done something to make the reporter like you," Kayano says, nudging him with her elbow. All I had to do was answer his incredibly invasive questions. No biggie. "Half the article is about you, and the other two just get scraps."
He reads through the article, then reads through it again, looking for the punchline. Karma is reduced to an unstable hothead, and more words are spent describing Nakamura's appearance that her skills. But Nagisa actually receives some positive notes, in between digs at his criminal mother, his Hogwarts house, and the fact that he has the face of a ten year old. Since he's already mocked about these things regularly, Nagisa isn't too pressed about it.
The reporter painted him as a wolf in sheep's clothing, someone who has a toughness inside that counters the "juvenile, almost naive" look, as the article calls it. He also noted that both of Nagisa's competitors named him as their pick for runner up, which puts a bit of a damper on Nagisa's plan to secretly use this knowledge, but also makes him seem desirable.
"Who is this Slytherin boy, really, and what are his capabilities? I, for one, am excited to see how this tournament plays out. I'm sure it will be a wild ride from start to finish," Kayano reads aloud, and Nagisa blushes.
It is a blatant display of favoritism, and one that probably puts a giant target on Nagisa's back. But at the same time, no one has ever favored him like this before. For the first time in the competition, he feels like someone besides for his friends and professor is rooting for him.
"You're really going for the win, huh," Hazama says from across the table, looking over from her own paper. "That's impressive. I didn't know you had it in you to be so cutthroat."
"Stone cold killer," Maehara chimes in, grinning widely at him. "Gonna make champions out of our whole house."
"No pressure, of course," Isogai says, but his eyes are gleaming. His whole table is eyeing him like he's a prize, a golden ticket that could save them all. That has a chance of winning it all.
"I'll do my best," he manages to get out shakily, and they cheer like he's a god. He itches to turn to Karma's table, to get his reaction, but forces himself against it. He doesn't need his attention right now. At this point, he might not need his attention at all.
This line of thinking lasts him all throughout lunch, and halfway through dinner. A new record.
He hasn't felt the pinpricks since the morning, which, fantastic, but he's in a better mood now and it's putting a damper on his annoyance with Karma. Twenty different people had congratulated him on the article throughout the day, none of whom he had ever spoken to before, and he even got a request from someone to sign their copy of the newspaper.
After that, Sugino asked if he could act as Nagisa's bodyguard, which mainly consisted of him walking directly in front of him and shouting "Come on, people, let's keep it moving! No crowding, he has places to be." Highly embarrassing, but flattering.
Maybe Karma's mad at me now, since I got so much more attention than him. This thought makes him feel just the tiniest bit guilty, which he smothers aggressively within himself. No. Don't I deserve to get some attention? God knows he hogged all of it when he went here.
But then he remembers Karma's face when the reporter asked him the last question, and shivers. He doesn't know what Karma would've done to him if his teacher steps in, and that thought scares him. He always used to know Karma's limits. Maybe I'm not the only one who's changed.
Without thinking about it, he looks over to Karma's table for the first time all day and finds him... missing. Why am I not surprised? He's not sure what this means in terms of their scheduled meetup by the kitchen. Maybe Karma's so offended by the article that he doesn't want to see Nagisa's face at all. Maybe that was all it took to kill whatever good feelinds he seemed to want to build up.
Despite these thoughts stewing in his gut, he still makes sure to pass by the kitchens after dinner, telling his friends that he wants to grab some extra dessert. He glances at the entrance, keeps walking, then does a double take.
"You're here," Karma says, beaming. "I didn't know if you'd actually show. Thought I might have to stop by your dorm again."
"If you do that again, I'm switching dorm rooms," Nagisa replies, but there's a lot less bite in his voice than he thought there would be. "I thought you wouldn't show up. You weren't at dinner."
"You noticed? How sweet. And here I was thinking you've been avoiding my gaze." Nagisa doesn't refute this; Karma continues on, unfazed. "I've used my spare time today to look into our reporter friend. Seeing if there's anything he values in this life, how I can get ahold of it and destroy it. Nothing crazy."
"Did you find anything?"
"No, he's a locked safe. Probably knows how to cover his tracks, being a reporter and all. But I'm not giving up yet." His eyes glint manically. "Pretty nice stuff he wrote about you, though. You should be proud."
"I am." One good thing about Karma's skyscraper-sized ego is that Nagisa never feels like he has to hold anything back. Humbleness, in Karma's eyes, is weakness. "Have you eaten anything since breakfast?"
"Who has time to eat when there's sleuthing to do?"
"I'll take that as a no. Come, let's get you something." He beckons for Karma to follow him into the kitchens, and when he doesn't, grabs his elbow and tugs. "I'm not going to follow you to this great surprise if your blood sugar's low. It makes you jumpier than usual."
"I can't go into the kitchens," Karma says, grimacing. "The magic barrier there is too strong."
"Stronger than the dorms?"
"Of course. The house elves here could destroy the whole place if they wanted. They just prefer to make delicious food." His stomach rumbles. "If you wanna get me something, though, I'll be in your debt forever. Now that you've reminded me that food exists, I'm starving."
Nagisa is hit with a painful flash of memory: Karma laying on his bed, eating leftovers that Nagisa brought him from the kitchen, flashing him a smile so bright that Nagisa would've done anything to keep it there. "You're my hero," he would garble, mouth still full, and Nagisa would tell him to swallow before he spoke. "You're my hero," he would repeat, and Nagisa would pretend like the second time didn't warm his chest just as much as the first.
Nagisa would've done anything for him, period.
"I'll get it for you this time," he now says, turning swiftly on his heels. "But next time, I'm letting you starve."
"Fair's fair," Karma shrugs. "We are competitors, after all." And Nagisa isn't facing him anymore, so he can't see the way he winces.
After Karma is good and fed, he leads Nagisa to his "jaw-dropping, life-changing, eternal-debt-causing" surprise, which is outside the castle near the woods. Nagisa, who isn't dressed for an outside excursion, shivers in the September air.
"How much farther is it?" he asks, rubbing his arms.
"Almost there," Karma whispers, adding, "Keep your voice down. This is a secret, remember?"
"Is it?" All he remembers Karma saying is that it's tournament related, although that should've been his second clue that this was going to be something illicit. The first clue was, of course, that Karma was the one orchestrating it.
They reach the end of a row of trees, and Karma sticks out an arm to stop him.
"Here's where we need to boot up," he says, taking out a small potion bottle from his coat. "Invisibility potion."
"How illegal is this?" Nagisa asks, staring at the opaque purple liquid. "And where did you get that?"
"I made it," Karma says proudly. "Made a few revisions to a potion that redirects people's eyes from things so that it'll work on people."
"And you've tested this?"
"Somewhat." Liar. "I'll drink some first so you can rest easy." He uncorks the vial, taking a large gulp.
A minute passes, and nothing happens.
"How long is it supposed to take?" Nagsia asks. Karma frowns.
"It should already work. Maybe look away for a second to let the redirection magic work?" Nagisa complies, and when he looks back, Karma is gone. "How's this?"
"It worked," Nagisa says, a little stunned. Karma's always experimented with potions, but most of the time they ended up being foul tasting duds. This is a high level potion that he adapted himself. He's a strong competitor for sure, the nervous voice living in his head whispers. Very strong.
"I'll leave the bottle on the floor so you can take some," Karma's voice says from nowhere, and Nagisa sees the bottle appear on the ground a few feet away. He picks it up, sniffs it, and then chugs the rest.
"It tastes like firewhiskey," he coughs.
"Most of my potions do," Karma replies.
"That might mean you're an alcoholic." He feels a hand land on his shoulder and jumps. "Don't do that. You scared the crap out of me."
"Sorry," Karma says, his voice close to his ear. "I followed your voice to find you. I need to lead you to the surprise, remember? It'd be hard to do that if you can't see me." His hand travels down from Nagisa's shoulder, tracing his upper arm before landing at the crook of his elbow. Nagisa suppresses a shiver. "This good with you?"
"If it's the only way," he says, wishing he could see just how close Karma's standing.
"Perfect." He feels his arm being tugged, and starts moving before he can trip. "We need to keep quiet now, but you'll know the surprise when you see it."
Nagisa actually hears and feels the surprise before he can see it. A bone chilling shriek, followed by a rush of heat that washes over his skin, banishing the chill in the air. A few moments later, he sees the surprise that Karma was talking about.
Dragons. A few of them, larger than life, chained down inside large enclosures.
"What the hell?" Nagisa mumbles to himself without meaning to, and Karma's hand quickly travels up his arm to his face, securing itself over his mouth.
"Shhh," he breathes in his ear, and Nagisa startles, yanking the hand down from his mouth instinctively. So dramatic. At the same time, he also remembers that dragons are absolutely super duper illegal in this part of the world, so he understands the need for discretion.
They stand there, watching the dragons trudge around their enclosure, occasionally shrieking or blowing flames, but not doing much else. It's only a few minutes later that he notices two men standing by the entrance of the enclosure. One of them is dressed up in protective gear, and he is gesturing to the dragons, talking animatedly. The other person is someone Nagisa takes a second to place, but then recognizes.
The head of the ministry Department of Magical Games and Sports. The man in charge of the whole tournament.
He probably would have stood there staring at the dragons all night if Karma didn't tug on his arm again. He allows him to lead him away, only looking away from the creatures once they turn the corner. He's never seen a dragon in real life before - he doubts anyone at Hogwarts has - and they're as beautiful as they are terrifying.
"I think we're far enough now that they won't hear us," Karma says after a short while. "So? What'd you think of my surprise?" Nagisa can't see his smirk, but he can hear it perfectly clearly.
"How did you know about this?" he asks, the first of many questions on his mind.
"After Lovro gave me detention, he said he was leaving somewhere, which I thought was super suspicious because what could be more important than watching over my detention? So I followed him off the ship and saw him by the dragons."
"And he didn't catch you?"
"Nah, he probably thought I'd spend the whole night seething and planning my revenge from my room, so he didn't even leave someone to watch over me."
"And the dragons are... part of the tournament?" He doesn't want to believe he'll have to fight a real dragon for a challenge, but his heart sinks even before Karma responds.
"I totally forgot you can't see me nod," he says with a snort. "Yeah, definitely. Even if the games guy wasn't there, what else is going on now that'd need giant deadly lizards?"
"Maybe they'll try to use them to kill the dark lord."
"That's what they have us for, silly." Suddenly, Nagisa sees a flickering in front of him. "Oh, I think the potion's wearing off. That's good, I was worried it might be permanent."
"What were the odds of that?"
"Five percent, maybe. Hey, watch it! You can't flick me when I can't see you, that's bad sportsmanship."
"Worse sportsmanship to turn your competition invisible forever," Nagisa grumbles, and from the way Karma's eyes snap to his, he can tell that he's starting to flicker too. "Why did you show me this, anyway? You had a huge advantage knowing the challenge, and now I have it too."
"That's the point," Karma says, and his grin is more hesitant than usual. "I was thinking we start up some kind of alliance."
"What could you possibly get from an alliance with me?" Nagisa asks, and he doesn't even mean it in a self pitying way. For as long as he's known him, Karma's been an individualist. Whenever he had to work with a partner for anything - the partner usually being Nagisa - he would always take charge, saying that it'd be quicker if he did it himself. The Karma that Nagisa knew would rather die than admit he could benefit from someone else's help.
"You're great," Karma says. "I'm sure there's stuff you could help me with too." Bullshit, but flattering bullshit, which was a nice change of pace.
"Really," Nagisa says flatly. "There's only three of us in the competition anyway. I don't think an alliance would do you much good in this situation."
"Really? That's a different tune than you were singing when you agreed to combine your potion supply with the blonde's." Nagisa freezes. So he overheard that. It's fine. It wasn't anything too incriminating.
"That wasn't an official offer of an alliance or anything," he says slowly, fighting to keep his tone casual. "It was just strategy. This is a much bigger deal than that."
"Maybe I'm trying to show you that I can be a better ally than her." Now it's all starting to make sense. Karma doesn't need him to be his ally; he just doesn't want him to be someone else's ally, and he'd be willing to sacrifice his own advantage to do so.
Nagisa can use this.
"I still don't know why you want to be my ally so badly," he starts, "but we were friends before I even knew her, and I know how capable you are. If you want an alliance, I'm happy to make one."
Karma beams, and Nagisa ignores the sinking in his stomach as they shake hands.
"I don't know how much help I'll be in this tournament," he says as they walk towards the castle, "but I owe you one. A big one."
"I know you'll pay me back somehow," Karma says easily. "You're good on your word."
"Why did we need to go all the way out there, anyway? You could've just texted me."
"Would you have believed me if I just told you, or would you think I was bullshitting you to sabotage you in the tournament?"
"...you have a point."
He drops him off by the front gates, dashing off to the ship before Lovro can notice he's gone, and Nagisa only breathes again once he's in his dorm room, diving under his blanket and pulling his phone from his pocket.
Nagisa is no Karma. When he texts people, they believe him.
Nagisa: the first challenge has dragons. real dragons. dont ask me how i know
He gets a response only a few minutes later.
Nakamura: holy shit