A/n: I do NOT own Karma (ABOVE). She's an OC belonging to a dear friend of mine, . I hope you all enjoy! Love you all!!!

~✨Celestial✨~

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It had been a few weeks since Louis brought Karma and Io to the church. During those weeks, the azure-eyed girl became close friends with everyone. While she was more on the quiet side, she found joy in sparking up conversations with her newly acquainted friends. Though it has only been a short time since she first arrived at the church and introduced herself to everyone, she was the person everyone came to if they needed to talk. She'd provide the best advice for them in an attempt to ease their worries.

After having met and saved Mia in the Howling Pit, Karma lended her room to the blonde. She decided to sleep on the couch in order to let Mia recover. While waiting for her to regain consciousness, Karma found herself falling asleep on the couch more often. She hadn't realized how comfortable it was until she fell asleep on it.

During one of Karma's many naps on the couch, she was awoken by Yakumo. He'd lightly tapped her on the shoulder and told her to make room for him. She sat up, allowing him to sit down beside him. Her azure eyes watched his every move like a hawk. "There are other places to sit, Yakumo."

"What's the fun in sitting by myself?" He remarks, grabbing one of the magazines off the table and flipping to a random page. Karma pushed herself to her feet with a small sigh, which didn't go unnoticed by him. Lowering the magazine, he glanced at her with a smirk. "Sick of me already?"

"No," Karma promptly replied, shaking her head. "I just remembered something." She walked away, leaving a curious Yakumo behind. He wondered what she remembered and eagerly awaited her return.

A few minutes later, Karma returned with a tokkuri and two small cups. She sat down, placing the tokkuri and cups on the table. Yakumo stared at the ceramic flask with an excited gleam in his eyes. "No way..." He closed the magazine and tossed it aside. He reached out to touch the tokkuri, but stopped. "Is this what I think it is?"

Karma crossed her legs with a faint smirk. "Depends on what you think it is."

Yakumo grabbed the tokkuri and immediately received a whiff from the liquid inside. "Oh, man! It is saké!" He placed the ceramic flask down and eyed the girl beside him. "Where'd you manage to get this?"

"Found it," Karma simply replied. She leaned forward and filled the two small cups with saké, handing one to Yakumo. "Don't drink it all."

Yakumo downed the saké in a single gulp. "Sorry, but that might be impossible for me. This tastes way too good."

"Just make sure you pass out somewhere else. This couch is mine."

"Since when?" Yakumo questioned, pouring more saké into his cup.

"Since a few days ago."

He chuckled. "Then I'll try to pass out on the other couch."

The corners of Karma's lips quirked upward into a smirk. "Please do."

After Mia woke up and joined their group, they headed to the Cathedral of the Sacred Blood. Exploration proved difficult as the architect of the structure was convoluted. The Lost were strong and exhausted the group.

Once arriving at one of the mistles, they decided to return to the church to restock on supplies and rest. Mia had insisted on giving Karma her room back, but she decided to allow her to keep the room since she preferred the couch.

Walking toward the cushy couch, Karma spotted Yakumo sitting down on it. He was stretched out with his feet propped up on the table. His eyes were closed as he rested his head against the back of the sofa. She slowly sat down beside him, making sure she didn't disturb him. An exhausted sigh fell from her lips as she leaned back. Her eyes fluttered shut and she fell into a deep sleep.

A few minutes ticked by and Yakumo suddenly awoke when he felt something land on his right shoulder. Looking to his right, he saw Karma's head on his shoulder. He was about to ask her what she was doing until he realized she was asleep. Her crimson bangs framed her porcelain face perfectly as she slept. Using his left hand, he reached over and combed her bangs aside.

A minuscule smile tugged at Yakumo's lips, deciding to let the girl sleep. He welcomed her closeness, feeling as if this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Ever since Karma joined them, he's grown closer to her as a friend and ally. Among his feelings for her was a smidge of fondness that seemed to be blossoming as they continued to fight alongside each other. He also found the feeling blooming whenever the ever-so-quiet Karma pulled him aside from time to time to ask for advice or simply talk about what troubled her.

What confused Yakumo was the feeling of fondness. He wasn't sure if it was love or simple adoration for her skills in combat. He'd never been in love before and couldn't pinpoint why such a feeling was arising within him. He tried to push it aside, but it would always return tenfold whenever he saw Karma.

Yakumo was pulled from his thoughts when Karma awoke and lifted her head off his shoulder. He grinned at her, placed his right arm around her shoulders, and pinched her cheek. "You do realize you snore, right?" He teased. "Oh, and you drool, too."

Karma glanced at his shoulder and noticed there wasn't any drool. "I wasn't drooling," she retorts, knowing Yakumo was teasing her.

"Okay, that was a lie," he chuckled. "But you do snore."

"Sorry," she meekly apologized.

Another hearty chuckle came from Yakumo. "I was just kidding, again."

Karma playfully smacked his arm before standing up. "If you're done teasing me, we should head back to the Cathedral."

"Oh, right..." He grumbled.

"Let's go, Yakumo."

The boy pushed himself off the couch, stretching out his arms and legs in the process. "Let's get this over with."

Back at the Cathedral of the Sacred Blood, Karma and Yakumo partnered up while Louis and Mia searched another part of the Cathedral. As they delved deeper into the Cathedral, the duo came across many of the Queen's Vanguard. They proved to be tough obstacles, but Karma and Yakumo were able to defeat them within seconds.

Minutes turned into hours as Karma and Yakumo continued to explore the Cathedral in search of the source of the bloodsprings. They'd been ambushed by the Lost numerous of times and had to rest at a nearby mistle to catch their breath. Once they were both back on their feet and ready to face the Lost again, they set off.

Another hour passed before the duo was able to find an area where they hadn't been. They fought against a couple of female Lost before proceeding through an open door. They followed the pathway to an open area, where a Greater Lost was waiting to pounce on them. The moment they entered its territory, it pushed itself off the ground.

"The hell is that thing?" Yakumo murmured, grasping his sword tightly.

"No idea," Karma blandly replied, readying her halberd, the Impaler.

The Argent Wolf Berserker charged forward, swinging its weapon around in an attempt to stagger the revenants. They promptly dodged its attacks and circled around, striking it from behind.

After dealing some heavy damage, Karma and Yakumo backed away as the Lost entered a berserker state. Unprepared for Argent's quickened attacks, Yakumo was struck by its axe and sent flying back. He cried out in pain as his body slammed against the ground.

Seeing he needed to heal, Karma grabbed the enemy's attention by stabbing it in the back. Argent turned around, its now brutal attacks targeting the female revenant. She managed to dodge the axe, but the blast from one of the attacks knocked her halberd out of her grasp and sent her tumbling. Her back crashed against the ground, a small groan emitting from her throat.

Argent stalked toward Karma with its axe raised, ready to impale her. She stared up at the Lost before searching for her weapon. When she realized it was out of her reach, it was too late. The assailant brought its axe down on her with a powerful swing. Karma was prepared to feel excruciating pain and for her body to disperse into a cloud of ash, but she felt nothing.

Yakumo reacted quickly after he regenerated and placed himself between her and Argent. He raised Oni Bane and blocked the axe. Using all his strength, he shoved the Lost back. Without tearing his eyes away from Argent, he asked Karma, "You okay?"

"I should be asking you that question," she retorts, pushing herself to her feet.

A smirk appeared on his face. "Let's show this thing how it's done."

Karma recovered her polearm, her own grin manifesting on her face. "Let's get this over with."

With their combined efforts, the Argent Wolf Berserker was slaughtered. With the enemy now gone, Karma used her regeneration to heal herself before moving forward with Yakumo at her side.

While walking over to a nearby stairwell, Karma spotted a vestige. When she heard her own voice emitting from it, she didn't hesitate to pick it up and see what memory was trapped inside.

Yakumo was blinded by the bright illumination from the vestige as Karma purified it. He covered his eyes with his hand, only lowering it when the light was gone. Glancing at the girl, he noticed her petrified state and knew she was currently exploring the memories held within the vestige. He waited eagerly for her to return, curious as to whose memory she was witnessing.

A few minutes ticked by and Karma returned to normal, the vestige now gone. She stared in disbelief, replaying the memory over inside her head. It was her memory. She was struck down by a fellow revenant named Jack after having frenzied from the scent of the Queen's blood. Slowly, she reached a hand up to her chest and placed it over her heart. She was puzzled as to why she was still alive since Jack pierced her heart, killing her instantly.

"Hey," Yakumo called out to her, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. "Looks like you've seen a ghost."

Karma peered over her shoulder at him before casting her gaze downward. "A ghost, huh...?"

Her strange behavior didn't go unnoticed by the boy. "You feelin' okay?"

"Fine..." She mumbled sorrowfully. "Let's keep going."

Exhausted from exploring the Cathedral, the group headed back to the church. They decided to rest up before returning in hopes of locating the source of the bloodsprings.

Karma retreated to the hot spring to relax her aching body. Discarding her clothes, she wrapped a towel around her body and entered the hot spring. Delving into the warm water, she sat down with her back against the side of the hot spring. Reclining her head back, she gazed up at the sky. In the distance, she could hear the wails of the Lost as they stalked the streets of the city.

Doing her best to tune out the ruckus and ignore her reassembled memory, Karma closed her eyes and let the warm water soak her body. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

Five minutes passed before Yakumo decided to join Karma in the hot spring. As he walked out, he saw the girl was fast asleep. He couldn't believe how easy it was for her to fall asleep in random places. She's even fallen asleep at the bar after they shared a bottle of brandy. He thought she was drunk, but it turned out she was only tired.

Yakumo entered the hot spring and sat beside her. He "accidentally" made a loud splash, but it didn't wake Karma. He wanted to ask what memory was inscribed into the vestige. However, he didn't want to disturb her slumber.

Patiently, Yakumo waited. He examined her face and saw her cheeks were turning red from the steam. Reluctantly, he shook her shoulder to wake her so she wouldn't pass out from the heat. "Wakey, wakey, Sleeping Beauty."

Karma's eyes opened and she glanced to her right. "Why'd you wake me up?" She groaned.

"Didn't want ya passin' out in the hot spring." Yakumo fell silent for a few seconds before asking, "So...you gonna tell me about that vestige or leave me in the dark?"

Internally, Karma debated on whether to tell him or not the entire time since she purified the vestige. It had belonged to her and stitched together her fragmented memory. Although her memories before she became a revenant are still missing, she couldn't think of her life as a human with what she remembered from the vestige. After a prolonged silence, she spoke up. "You really wanna know?"

"If you wanna tell me," he replied. "I'm not gonna force you to tell me something you don't want to."

Karma hugged her knees against her chest, resting her chin on them. "Well..." She explained how the vestige contained her memory of the time when she first awoken as a revenant. She was assigned to Jack's unit, where she fought against the Queen and her Knight during Operation Queenslayer. Having impaled the Queen using her blood veil after her mask was knocked off her face, she was struck through the heart by Jack to stop her from frenzying and her body disintegrated. After that, all she remembers is waking up with Io at her side.

"That's one hell of a story," Yakumo commented.

"You're telling me. I have more questions than answers."

"Just don't dwell on it for too long. Wouldn't want to lose you in a fight because your mind was elsewhere."

"I know," she sighed.

The two revenants fell silent. They stared up at the starry sky, admiring its beauty for the longest time before deciding to leave the hot spring. Changing back into their clothes, they headed over to the sitting area. Karma sat down on the couch she claimed a short while ago while Yakumo sat in the chair beside it. She glanced over at him with a confused expression. "Why're you sitting there?"

"I'm pretty sure you told me that was "your couch"," he replied.

"It is, but you have my permission to sit on it today." Karma patted the seat next to her, beckoning him to sit beside her.

With an amused grin, Yakumo moved over to the couch and sat by his friend. He leaned back, placing his arm on the back of the sofa. His eyes dwelled on the setting sun that peaked through the crumbling wall of the church.

Having gotten lost in his thoughts for a few minutes, Yakumo hadn't realized Karma fell asleep until he turned his head to ask her a question. Seeing she was asleep, he decided the question could wait. He saw how her neck was reclined backwards against the backrest, wondering how she was comfortable. In her current position, she'd wake up with a kink in her neck. Deciding to save her the trouble of a stiff neck, he used his hand to move her head to his shoulder.

Yakumo wouldn't admit it out loud, but he enjoyed Karma's closeness. Over the past few weeks, he'd grown fond of the girl because of the way she listened to others and helped them to the best of her ability. While mostly quiet, she still shared her thoughts from time to time.

While she listened to others, Yakumo noticed she would bottle up her own problems. Only on rare occasions did she share what was bothering her. Turning his head, he kissed the top of her head. He hoped one day she would be willing to let him deeper into her heart, allowing him to shoulder all her burdens.

"Good night, Sleeping Beauty."