"I don't want to do this anymore! I've changed my mind!"

"Too late to back out now, Nagisa! They're coming!"

"Kaaaaarma!"

Nagisa wailed like a dying cat as Karma unceremoniously tossed him off the roof and left him dangling above the alleyway by one thin rope, cinched tightly around his midsection. He tried in vain to free himself of the constricting object, but even his elbows were wrapped up and unable to move. As he struggled, footsteps approached.

He heard voices down on the street below.

"You shoulda seen his face. He won't be messing around there anytime soon, ayy?" A rough voice laughed, low and grating.

"Damn straight. Too true." This voice was different, higher and nasally. Other voices laughed.

Were they going to just pass by?

"What the hell is this, brother?" The rough voice said. Oh no.

"Well ain't you a cute little thing?"

"No! I'm n-not!" Nagisa tried to sound intimidating and angry.

"Look at her, brother, ain't she just the cutest?" It clearly hadn't worked.

"Sure is."

They began to laugh and swing at the blue-haired bait playfully with their weapons. Nagisa squirmed and wriggled, trying to manoeuvre himself so that the delinquents couldn't reach him. Luckily, Karma wasn't completely heartless, and had levered the bluenette just high enough to avoid any baseball bats or metal poles. He was just out of their reach.

"Get away from me!" He yelled, which only made the men laugh louder.

"Get here, let me stand on your shoulders." One of them yelled. Some scuffling ensued.

Suddenly Nagisa felt the rope move and shift around him. Unbalanced, he thought for a moment that they'd broken it and he was falling, but soon realised Karma was pulling him up higher. The delinquents swore loudly and yelled to each other. They were kind of laughing. It was terrifying.

"Karma! Let me down!" Nagisa cried. A flash of bright red hair popped over the roof. The redhead was trying not to laugh. "Really?" He asked cheerfully. "Yes, really!" Nagisa yelled.

Karma shrugged. "If you say so."

Nagisa's world lurched and he was spinning, twisting, being lowered down to the ground at an alarmingly fast rate. It took him a second to comprehend that Karma, true to his word, was letting him down. Or rather, dropping him.

"Stop!" He screamed, just before his bound body smashed into the delinquents. His decent was brought to a sudden halt. The baseball bat wielding fiends screeched with laughter, as did Karma.

Nagisa was feeling sick and dizzy. He considered throwing up on the delinquents, but figured that would only anger them further.

"Karma, I swear…"

'No sweat Nagisa, look."

Nagisa glanced down and saw that the felons were running off, yelling obscenities and making rude gestures at the two teenagers. He couldn't figure why until...

In the distance, a car engine could be heard.

The men quickly rounded the corner just as a police car swerved in and some officers jumped out. A fight erupted, but the delinquents were outnumbered and soon they were all neutralised.

One of the officers looked over at the small, blue-haired bow dangling above an alleyway on a rope, but decided to make no comment.

Karma let Nagisa down gently and met him back down on the street. The bluenette shakily untied himself, before turning to his sheepish friend.

"Karma, what did you do?"

The redhead smirked and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Ah well, while they were distracted I took the opportunity to call the cops and let them know the situation. Yesterday I caught those goons trying to attack, steal from and do unsavoury things to a girl from Kunugigaoka, and they're also notorious for drug schemes and the like."

Nagisa blinked in surprise.

"Aw Karma, who knew you were such a softy!"

"I am no such thing! I just, I, felt like fishing for delinquents! It was a coincidence!"

"No, you're secretly a do-gooder at heart, aren't you? I can imagine the headlines now!" Nagisa giggled and swept out a hand to an invisible audience. "Rebellious teenager turns hero to keep his streets safe from unsavoury men and danger."

Karma scowled, but couldn't stay mad at his best friend for long. He sighed.

"Just don't let this go and ruin my reputation, now. I have an image to maintain, you know."

"Ya ya ya."