Originally posted on AO3.

Part of the Snapshots of Passing Time series.

Meant to be gen, but goddammit, KarmaxIsogai is so tempting.

Well, this was really awkward.

While many found the coldness of late winter to be discomforting, Karma actually enjoyed the nippy breeze. It was one of those odd days in winter when there was no snow on the ground and the sun shone lukewarm sunshine upon the ground. Armed with his cardigan – he really didn't like how bright yellow it was, but it was more comfortable to sleep in than the uniform blazer he was wearing now, and besides it made a great blanket – he had been prepared to hibernate for at least two periods.

As soon as he exited the stairwell to the roof, he stopped in his tracks at the sight of the lone figure sitting in the corner farthest to the right, protected from the breeze by the low stone walls.

Karma often didn't take notice of his fellow classmates, but he wasn't deaf to the gossip. Especially when Nagisa-kun had also mentioned it to him a few weeks ago.

Winter was perilous on the roads. Accidents always happened. And the domino effect that they had afterwards could be devastating.

Look what a traffic accident had done to Isogai Yuuma. It had left him fatherless, tears running down his face, and curled up in Karma's favorite napping spot.

Hence the awkward situation.

"Oh! Akabane…" Isogai hastily swiped at his eyes and gave him a sickly edition of an ikemen smile. Karma actually felt guilty for approaching him. "What's up? Are you skipping class again? You aren't allowed to do that, you know."

"Look who's talking," Karma kept his distance from the other boy and instead sat a few feet away on the stone wall and leaned his back against the high fence. He eyed the blazer-less and cardigan-less form. Without them, Isogai looked a lot smaller than usual. Unlike Karma, who had been an early bloomer, Isogai looked as if he had yet to hit any growth spurts. Maybe it was because he was hunched over, but the width of his shoulders and waist were too narrow to be healthy. Had he lost weight...?

"Aren't you cold?" he found himself asking without meaning to. His red hair flipped up in a passing breeze and he smoothed it down impatiently.

"I'm fine," Isogai shrugged his shivering shoulders. "I gave my cardigan to my little sister because she spilled milk on hers before school started. And my mom…" Isogai's voice faltered. "She had to sell her jacket, so I lent my blazer to her."

For the first time in his life, Karma felt like a total ass for having both the blazer and the cardigan on him while Isogai had neither. Was this the Ikemen Sympathy Effect? Was that where the melancholy blue sparkles were coming from?

"Sounds tough," he found himself saying. Isogai shook his head and wiped his eyes again. This time his smile was less forced. Another breeze blew by and Karma shivered a little himself as he unconsciously scooted closer towards the corner. Maybe it really was too cold to nap here for today. He should have tried the nurse's office... "Is it hard?"

"It is, but at least they're still alive. Not like…" all at once Isogai looked dangerously close to tears again. Karma had yanked his handkerchief out of his pocket before he could stop himself. His hand hung uncomfortably in the air, unable to take back the action, yet not completely willing to move forward with it.

Isogai saved the situation by shaking his head and pushing it away. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not going to cry again," his face set into a firm expression. "I'm the man of the house now, so I need to pull myself together. One way or another…!" he seemed to have regained a little more of his bright spirit. The redhead found himself admiring Isogai's resolution. An old memory of almost two years fluttered through his mind of how late he used to stay up by the front door, waiting for his parents who were enjoying the exotic sights of another country. Did he cry then…?

He shook his head as if he were shaking off an irksome fly. "Admirable as always, Isogai. As expected of a class representative," he made to get up and, as a last minute afterthought, gave him a clumsy pat on the shoulder. "Well, do your best."

He missed the surprised look Isogai gave him as he walked away.

...

...

"Eh, Isogai? I thought you gave your blazer to your mom?" the next day had Maehara's eyes taking in the blazer that was too big for his friend's body. Amidst the late winter snow, it made him look like a child. "You've really lost too much weight. It's too big on you now," Maehara squinted. "Or more like, it's not even the right size...?"

"Don't be silly," pink-cheeked, Isogai rubbed his hands together and tucked them into the blazer's pockets. He had given his gloves to his little brother to layer over his own. Fortunately he still had his father's old scarf to wrap around his neck.

"And you're wearing your cardigan underneath there too?" Maehara caught a glimpse of yellow wool peeking out beneath the gray polyester. "Are you doing it to make a better fit?"

"Uh, well, kind of," Isogai laughed sheepishly as he fingered the warm material. His mind drifted before he could help himself, back to yesterday where both the blazer and cardigan had magically appeared on his desk, neatly folded, after gym class. None of his classmates knew where it had come from. "Well, it's really cold today so..."

"Well, that's true. It just started snowing all of a sudden last night… hey wait a minute, what are you hiding from me?" Isogai sometimes wished that his best friend didn't know him so well. He turned his gaze from Maehara's suspicious stare and looked ahead to the snowy path towards school.

"Really, I'm not hiding anything…" Isogai spotted a familiar figure in front of the school gates in front of him, red hair standing out quite clearly against white snow. His heart nearly jumped into his mouth at the sight of Akabane Karma, nonchalant as you please, in a black cardigan clearly showing underneath his winter coat.

"Akabane!" scolded a foolish teacher. "What happened to your cardigan? And your blazer!"

"Lost them. Or something," Akabane's voice mirrored his uncaring posture. "I wore one of my own. It's still a cardigan, so isn't it fine the way it is?"

"No! How could you lose both of them at once!" the teacher looked ready to explode. "Once I tell your parents – "

"Go ahead. They aren't here."

"Whoa," Maehara grabbed on to Isogai's sleeve and leaned towards his ear as he whispered. "Isn't that Akabane? He's always getting into some kind of trouble."

"Yeah…" Isogai's felt his pink-cheeks burn red. As they walked past, for just a brief second brown eyes met light amber.

Though it lasted a second too long to be a coincidence, Akabane dropped his eyes and casually ignored both him and the teacher who was still yelling his head off.

"I wonder if he's wearing it just because he likes it? The cardigan, I mean," Maehara commented offhandedly as they changed their shoes at the shoe lockers. Snow fell out from beneath the treads and melted into a puddle on the tiled floor. "The school one clashed with his hair a lot. The one he's wearing now suits him a lot more."

"Yeah..." Isogai played with his sleeve as he glanced out the open doors to where Akabane – no, Karma – looked to have gotten bored of the teacher's yelling, and just plain turned around to leave the school altogether. As if to mock the teacher (who really looked like he was about to blow up any minute), he stripped off his coat and paraded away in his black cardigan with his tongue sticking out and devil horns metaphorically crowning his head.

Both the blazer and cardigan felt warmer as he pulled them tighter to himself to make up for ill-fit, particularly around the shoulders. Would his back grow as broad as Karma's someday...?

"It really does suit him."

This was not supposed to be a shounen-ai fic.

What the hell happened?