In his shoes

by Yukionna13

Where Karma and Asano switch bodies, class E just thinks it's a hilarious joke and the whole world simply seems to be ending. Maybe Asano wasn't such a bad guy and class E wasn't just a place for losers.

1. Chapter 1

In his shoes

Summary: Where Karma and Asano switch bodies, class E just thinks it's a hilarious joke and the whole world simply seems to be ending. Maybe Asano wasn't such a bad guy and class E wasn't just a place for losers.

Disclaimer: I do not own Assassination Classroom.

A/N: This is a monster and my first one-shot to boot. I really liked the idea and this came out. I 'm hoping for responses, since I haven't been getting a lot of feedback on my writing lately. Enjoy~

---

Karma woke up with a jolt when he realized that he wasn't in his own room. The space was a bit too neat, a bit too organized and not to mention too full of prizes and certificates that he had never won.

Of course he noticed also that the rooms also as big and empty as his, but he didn't want to think about that. Thinking such thought lead to many depressing things and he would go of to hit somebody, despite his unknown situation.

In the worst case he would simply hit his kidnappers if he really was kidnapped, but he doubted that. No bindings of any kind. Even beginners would be smart enough to do that.

So standing up after observing his surroundings and finding it save enough to do so, he strode to a nearby full-body mirror, wanting to look for any superficial injuries that he hadn't noticed during his check. (Even if nothing really hurt. He had learned his lesson after the last time of thinking he was actually fine)

And was promptly confronted with another face, body, whatever it was. And not any face, no it was the familiar face of his school beloved student council's president, Asano Gakushū.

It was understandable that he freaked out like shit, because this couldn't be real! What for a fucking joke was this? He was somehow in his arch-nemesis body, also in his room and if he was here Asano had to be in his house, in his body.

What for a bloody nightmare.

Karma would have loved to delude himself into thinking that it was just that, a damn nightmare, but he knew himself well enough and he knew how he felt when he was either delirious and half asleep. Hell, he even knew how he felt when he was hallucinating!

Asleep and dreaming felt different and no matter how many times Karma actually deluded himself into something or lied to himself, he wasn't going to deny the impossible possibility of actually being in Asano's body.

Just to be sure, he pinched himself and got promptly rewarded with an aching arm. Right, this was reality. But out of all people who it could have been it was Asano. Really, karma was such a bitch.

He winced at the unintentional pun. The thing about being named Karma and even having a teacher who's nickname was bitch out of all things often lead to those situations.

Catching his train of thoughts, he decided that he should do something more productive instead of standing in front of the mirror only clad in his pants. That Asano had even such a huge mirror in his room wasn't a surprise. He seemed like the type.

He immediately brightened at the thought of Asano. When he had already such a freak-out how would the chairman's son react? He was always such a stuck-up.

Karma wasn't really above snooping around Asano's things and why would he give up such a glorious opportunity for blackmail? Nope, this was a one-time thing. At least he hoped it was and he would be back in his body again.

He would cross that bridge when he got there. Now... Did Asano have a porn stash?

His encounter with daddy Asano was interesting to say at least. After a few minutes of polite talk the chairman had suggested that he should drop trying to act like Asano and just talk freely.

''I'm sure Asano-kun wouldn't mind it if you stopped pretending to be him, Akabane-kun.'' And Karma stopped talking, feeling like he had been been doused with a bucket of ice water.

''Wha-'' Before Karma said anything coherent, he shut his mouth. The man's eyes were full of amusement and contempt.

This was just beyond three different ways of fucked up.

''Frankly, Akabane-kun, I don't care about this problem. As long as you don't affect my reputation and Asano-kun's in a long term, it won't matter to me. I am sure that you will find a solution for this. If anything this will be entertaining.'' Karma didn't get what kind of relationship Asano and his father had, but this wasn't that what he had expected.

He felt angry on Asano's behalf and told the man what he thought of him.

''You do realize that you're his father, don't you?'' he blurted out in a whirl of emotions. Karma didn't want to involve himself with Asano's private life, but this conversation pushed his buttons in a way, where he couldn't stay calm. He was projecting his own life into this situation and seeing his ten-year-old self again.

''Of course I do that, why wouldn't I?'' He said that with such a nonchalant way, like it didn't matter to him. Karma gritted his teeth. This all felt wrong and he couldn't help but think that Asano might be as fucked up as he was himself.

''You are his fucking father. Why would you not even give a shit about it when he's suddenly gone? You should be worried, angry, panicking! Don't just sit here and drink tea!'' Oh, fuck not involving himself with this and he would not stop until he had made his fucking point clear.

The chairman was watching him with a contemplative face. Not angry at his shouting nor guilty for not caring.

''Get that stick out of you ass, you bastard. Do you think you're doing your son a favor for doing this to him?'' he spat out. ''To you he's just another student, but how much do you think does this affect him? To have his own father put such a distance between you and him, always trying to get things right and being told ''Yeah, now next''. You're supposed to support him, not treat him like a little puppet and control his strings!''

He wasn't doing anything. How the hell could he just sit there?

''Motherfucker! Say something! You're son is gone and he could be dead and you just sit here and the last thing you probably said to him was telling him to get things for the student council done.''

Karma got an reaction. Just not the one he was aiming for. Instead of getting worked up or trying to shut him up, the chairman grew cold. The air surrounding them cooled down and a stiff atmosphere settled between them.

''Asano-kun isn't dead and I have taught him enough for him to take care of himself. I must ask you not to suggest such a thing,'' the chairman cut in icily. His eyes were razor sharp, but Karma didn't care. This reaction was better than no reaction.

''What? Afraid I'm right? Now that Asano's not here you suddenly care? That's really fucked up of you.'' Now the chairman's eyes were burning with something. He didn't know with what, but he felt smug.

''Right, it was nice to have this conversation with you. Maybe you'll appreciate Asano more if he ever comes back.'' And I am not here hung unspoken in the air.

Suddenly, Karma felt weary. Being Asano wasn't so great as he had hoped. Not that he had hoped anything in first place.

---

Sometimes Gakushū hated how his life went.

Normally, he was mostly indifferent to his environment. He could easily fake any emotion that was required in certain situations (his father had taught him well), but he was mostly indifferent. Annoyed at worst and smug at best.

Though his time spent with his father was an entirely different story.

Between them was no love. Only the relationship between a teacher and a student. Gakushū didn't feel the same as all other people in his school. His mother wasn't there and the only time he had asked about her had gotten him a curt answer from his father and a cold, cold atmosphere in the room.

Needless to say, he hadn't asked again. Once was more than enough in his opinion.

Back to the subject, Gakushū was quite often annoyed, mostly at his too slow peers, and sometimes he felt angry with his father; maybe even a bit forlorn (but he would never show that. His pride wouldn't let him)

He wasn't a very happy person.

So when he woke up in another room and most important in another body (Akabane's to be precise and wasn't that weird), after a short panic attack he had felt... excited. There was still a tiniest bit of disorder and confusion, a mix that didn't sit well with him, but for once something was happening outside the influence of his father, since he simply couldn't see the use.

Though... Akabane was now in his body. Everything he had crafted so carefully with his own hands and skills could be lost simply by the wrong word and the character of his body's inhabitant.

The strawberry-blond quickly decided that that wasn't going to happen.

But something, which frustrated him the most: Akabane didn't seem to posses a single full school uniform. He was lucky enough to find a cravat during his scavenger hunt through the house.

(He pretended not to notice that Akabane's house was just as big and as empty as his. They were nothing alike and he would never acknowledge it even if they were.)

When he arrived at the main building the redhead (strawberry-blond? How should he even address Akabane or himself now? Was Karma now Gakushū and otherwise?) hadn't arrived yet. Instead he was met with the sneers of his normally ass-kissing peers and various unimaginative names.

Really, how two-faced people were (He should know the best. Mask were his specialty). It made him put on a slightly grin he had seen on Akabane's face. The expression was surprisingly useful.

When he finally saw a wisp of blond-red hair, he was shooting from his place to the other boy in an instant, eager to leave those damn faces behind him.

''You!'' he hissed out angrily. Akabane was slouching in his body; his body language casual and non-threatening. Unacceptable.

''Me,'' he answered and gave him a shit-eating grin. ''Huh, I guess it was really a switch. You know, number two, your dad's really an asshole.''

Gakushū was thrown out of the loop for a second before he shook his head.

''That doesn't matter.'' He knew that already, so cut straight to the point ''Do you know how to reverse this?''

''Do you think I wouldn't have done if I did?'' He smiled sardonically at him. ''I don't know shit about this. I woke up like this and I guess it's the same for you.''

He had to give him a point. Important was now what to do. This situation was out of his comfort zone and all he could do was damage control.

But for now he had class and for sure he wouldn't let any absence stain his perfect attendance.

''Okay, let's go to class first and talk about this later. Keep in character. I don't want this to leave any marks.''

''Ah... about that. Give me my phone for a sec, yeah? It's important.'' He held out his in a demanding gesture and Gakushū was tempted to deny his request. In the end the need to finish this quickly won.

''Here.''

With a nod Akabane took his own phone and dialed a number. It was slightly amusing to see how the redhead's body language straitened a little bit. Not enough to be really noticeable without the training of reading it. The person he was dialing was someone Akabane respected.

Interesting.

''Yeah, Karasuma-sensei?- Yeah, it's Karma- No, don't have a cold. I'm just in a difficult situation and it will affect our little secret if we don't do something- No! Of course not! I would never- Yeah, I'm with Asano- Nope, no deal. Can't ditch him. Let's meet somewhere. It's important. Good, okay. See you, sensei.''

Asano was annoyed that he couldn't get any information from that half of the conversation. Be patient, he reminded himself. He would get those answers soon.

''What now?'' he asked impatiently. Class started in ten minutes and time was getting sparse.

''We wait for my teacher. Think about what we do.'' The other boy shrugged.

''Does this have anything to do with the thing that your class hiding?'' He narrowed his eyes sharply. He had been trying to find this out for ages and maybe he was getting now the chance to.

''Maybe,'' was his indefinite answer. ''By the way, I look horrible with this get-up. Where did you find that cravat anyway?''

''This is part of the proper school uniform, which you don't even seem to posses. Why aren't you wearing one?'' Gakushū snapped at Akabane and pointed at his cravat-less shirt. ''I have one in my bag. Wear it.''

''Don't wanna, Asano. It's annoying and constricts me,'' he actually whined at him and too mock him also opened the top bottom.

Right, he had to calm down. Getting worked up wouldn't help him now.

His nerves were high-strung when the teacher finally arrived. A tall, raven-haired man with a stern face. He could get why Akabane would respect him.

''Now Akabane, what is the problem?'' he asked and looked at Asano's face. Except that he was now wearing Akabane's, which caused the whole problem in first place.

''The problem is, dear Karasuma-sensei,'' the other teen nearby started with a drawl, that didn't really seem to mesh with Gakushū's normal behavior. ''That Asano and me,'' He gestured between themselves. ''Have switched our bodies and are currently not residing in our supposed one.''

Silence.

''Akabane, if this is supposed to be some kind of joke then I must tell you that this is not funny.''

''You wound me! How could I-''

''The point is,'' Gakushū cut in. ''That he's speaking the truth. As if I would ever join in such a stupid prank.'' He scoffed with a disdaining expression only to make his point clear.

''Right.'' The teacher pinched the bridge of his nose. ''Let me assume that this is really true. Do you have any clue what has caused this?''

They both gave him a look that said ''duh'' and heard him sigh once more.

''Alright then. I have to ask you both to come with me then. Until this has reversed or we have found a solution you two aren't allowed to separate nor go anywhere without my notice,'' Karasuma ordered them in a professional tone and levered them with a serious look.

He wondered whether he was really a teacher because a normal one wouldn't have such an oppressive aura.

''But I've got class,'' Gakushū stressed as if it was very important and to him it was. But to the others around him it wasn't and he had to make sure that his attendance record was spotless or his father would be mocking him until the end of his life and he didn't want that.

''Asano, I'm sure you realize that this situation is very critical and we should make sure that it isn't dangerous.'' Of course he realized that, but he was stubborn to a fault and wouldn't let this incident ruin everything he had worked for.

''Of course I realize that, but by making sure that nobody notices our change no attention will be brought to your little secret up there and will also prevent any panic or a curious nose snooping around,'' he told them carefully neutral, but he knew that they knew he was doing this only for his own good.

''You do realize I would be the one going in your place, don't you?'' Akabane raised an eyebrow.

''Yes,'' he answered with gritted teeth. He had weighted the odds of one day of missing school and Akabane in his class against each other. While he had deducted from the redhead's greeting that his father had somehow found out, he couldn't forgive himself from missing one day no matter what circumstances may be.

''Oh, this is going to be good. So you really want that?''

''Akabane, this is not a game. We have to make sure-'' Akabane interrupted his teacher. Maybe the redhead's form of respect wasn't so visible for the teacher.

''Oh, come on, Karasuma-sensei. We were separated before and the world didn't end. I'm sure nothing will come out from us switching roles for the day. It's not like you could immediately get us an appointment with a neurologist.''

From the teacher's expression he could very well, but he didn't protest.

It was quite odd, Gakushū realized. They hadn't talked to him about whatever they were yet and he was burning to know, now that hadn't had to save his attendance record.

His eyes searched the non-existent watch on his wrist, only to realize again that he wasn't in his own body. He took out his phone.

5 minutes to class

''Alright, if we're done with this, we should get to class.'' He swerved his head around to look into Akabane's eyes. ''I warn you, Akabane. Ruin my reputation and you will be the one, who'll suffer the consequences.''

''Oh?'' The grin he received was mocking.

''And wear the damn cravat!''

---

He's incredibly dull, Karma noticed as he sat down on Asano's chair in class A's classroom. The admiring smiles sent his way, each and every good morning he had to answer and the façade that he always had to uphold.

This all felt like a lie, a role that he had to play and never was able to take a break from.

Asano and he were similar but he refused to acknowledge that fact. At least he had a supporting family now that would not let him become so dull like the other boy had become.

I'm glad I'm not you, but he was now and was already bored and annoyed of it.

Maybe he shouldn't have agreed to this deal.

---

They hadn't gone to class directly. The teacher – Karasuma was his name – had first grabbed his phone and held several rather confusing conversations with someone else; Gakushū had yet to make sense of it.

Not once had he called the person by name, always using 'you' or any non-telling kind of addressing.

When the man was done he had been told to follow the trail up to the mountain path, which had been quite strenuous, but not enough for him to take more oxygen than normal.

It left him pondering about class E's fitness, because studying on this mountain had to have some kind of effect. The air was cleaner here too, he noticed when they arrived at the classroom.

''Asano,'' Karasuma's voice ripped him out of his thoughts. ''I have to tell you about the unusual situation here in class E. But before I say anything you have to sign this contract.'' He held out a piece of paper. ''Read through it. This secret is on a international level and should anything of this spread to public, the consequences will be disastrous.''

He was really serious, Gakushū realized a bit faint and snatched the paper out of the man's hands.

On the paper was a full contract written in detail about the do's and don't's of killing a 'target' whose name was never written down. A full section dedicated to the consequences, penalties and the few allowances of keeping this assassination? secret and how class E played a special role in this.

His father had to know about this. For a short moment Gakushū felt a sense of superiority, but squashed it in regard to the rules and the reaction of the public. Whatever this was, it was dangerous for so many important political parties being involved and he was truly curious.

There were amendments at the end of the contract. One that particularly leaped out was this one.

'For the disposal of the target any person, that is registered to be a part of class E's student body, is not to be hurt in any way, may it be physically, mentally or emotionally.'

Well, that had to have history. Gakushū took the pen that was offered to him (Akabane didn't even have one on him. How unprepared) and signed.

Well, did that mean he was a part of class E now?

(Something inside him didn't resent the idea as much as he should. Maybe they weren't so dull as his own class.)

---

He was lucky that Asano and he had exchanged their phones. Otherwise he would have already died of boredom and probably hurt someone (Well, he wasn't allowed to, but that didn't make it less tempting)

Karma had now also Asano's phone number to play with. Well, let's see what the other boy was up to.

Hi, darling. How's class?

The response came immediately.

Don't text in class.

Aw, what a spoilsport he was. Karma could barely keep himself awake, would Asano prefer that? Probably not.

Come on. I'll fall asleep if you don't text me. Would you like that more?

Don't. I just got familiar with your unique situation. I am surprised.

Well, that was a victory for Karma. He grinned. Might as well make the best out of this situation.

Wouldn't have expected that, would ya? Already met Koro-sensei?

A short pause.

No, I haven't arrived at the classroom yet. Who is Koro-sensei?

Don't worry. You'll meet him when you're in the classroom. I don't want to spoil anything. He wrote back with a grin. It probably didn't suit his current face.

If you say so. Funny how you could sound doubtful through a text. I've arrived at the classroom. Don't bother me and don't fall asleep. I will gut you if you do.

Ah, already coming up with ways to kill people? I knew you would fit right in. And no promises ;)

With those words he turned back to the class. Basically everyone else around him was writing down the words and notes the teacher was emitting at the front.

Why did he agree to this again?

Right, the idea seemed fun at the beginning. Now... well as he said, Asano had an incredibly dull life and he was going to have some fun with changing that.

---

When Gakushū stepped into the classroom the sight was half of something he had expected and the other half just plainly strange.

The room was a shabby version of the ones they had in their own building. Chairs and desks covering most of the area and one desk for the teacher at the front.

His conversation with Akabane had been inane and only had given him a clue about Karasuma not actually being class E's homeroom teacher, but this...

Well, only the teacher and the back of classroom were strange to him. That and the big black box in the corner to his left. When he swept with his eyes through the classroom, he was met with distrustful stares and disbelieving eyes.

That, for once, didn't surprise him. What did, was the yellow, octopus-like creature with a pointer in his grasp and a smile that spread over his whole face.

Gakushū refused to comment anything of this and continued to stare at them. The situation was just as ridiculous to him as it was to them and any question they were going to pose were probably outside of his knowledge. He had a stubborn streak and nothing would change that.

''Nurufufufufufu,'' Laughter startled the class out of their stupor. ''I see, you have arrived, Asano-kun. Please come here.''

There was happy wriggling of his tentacles and soon he found himself standing in front of the class, trying to introduce himself as if he was some kind of transfer student. It crept him out slightly that the only person, who was treating this as normal was the most abnormal person out of all of them.

''As you have been noticed,'' Gakushū started, gaining more confidence with each word. He could talk about this and start to get some sort of insight here. ''Akabane Karma and I have somehow in a bizarre way switched bodies and are currently changing our roles to avoid any suspicion of anyone, who could find out the secret of your class. We don't know how long this will last, so don't cause any ruckus that could make this even harder.''

The last part actually sounded condescending enough so that he had found some semblance of his normal behavior back.

Or maybe he was copying Akabane's behavior, a part of his mind answered back.

''Are you trying to pull of some stupid joke on us, Karma?'' Someone from the back asked. He was a burly brunet with his hair died at the sides. A troublemaker, Gakushū recognized immediately.

''This,'' he started slowly. ''Is not a joke. If you are unsure you can call Akabane's phone and my voice will answer. Karasuma-san can verify this. Though I would appreciate if you would not call Akabane during class.''

He still received doubtful stares. Sighing silently, he weaved another argument for the verification of his useless situation.

''Look, I can understand you don't believe me right now, especially with Akabane's tendency to make everyone an idiot, but I, as in Asano Gakushū, would never participate in such a thing.'' He gave them all a serious look, posture straight as a rod.

A clap resounded in the classroom.

''Now that we have established that, let's go back to class.'' A tentacle touched him lightly from behind. ''Asano-kun, I'm glad that you are here now and have introduced yourself. You can call me Koro-sensei. Even though you are here only temporary, I hope you will participate in the assassination of me.''

Moving his head to stare at the creature, he marveled how odd this had gotten. Yesterday, he had just done everything like normal and today this.

A bullet whizzed past his right ear.

''Well.'' A blonde girl – Nakamura Rio; he recognized her – smirked at him. ''Welcome to the Assassination Classroom.''

---

Right after the end of the lesson and the minute he had extracted himself from the classroom with chaos behind him, he got a call from Asano. Which was highly unusual. The thing that Asano even called him and that he was calling during school. Was class E too much for him?

Karma smirked. Probably not, but his class would want a prove for the switch.

He picked up the call.

''Your class is insane,'' was his greeting before he could utter a single word.

''Hello to you, too, Asano. Can you really not handle us? I'm disappointed.''

''Karma? Is that really you?'' The redhead identified Isogai's voice.

''Hey, class rep. How's Asano doing? I hope he's not too boring.'' For all their contrasting personality traits he and Isogai got along quite well. The raven may be a bit bound to rules, but he still had quite a mischievous streak inside him. Well, he had written the list for the most popular girl in the class.

He smiled slightly to himself.

''Asano-san had done nothing upsetting so far. Are you disappointed, Karma?'' He could practically see Isogai grinning cheekily, though everyone else in the class would have probably asked something similar.

Was it weird that it warmed him so much?

''Nah, I've expected so much. His life is really dull.'' How many times had he actually thought that already?''Did you know that? I had even to motivate his class to be more interesting.'' Karma heard a distinct chuckle before it vanished; probably by Asano taking back his phone to scold him.

''Firstly, Akabane, my life is not dull, as you have called it and second,'' the other boy's voice turned practically into a hiss. ''What did you do?''

''Eh, I may or may have not made the teacher cry, but the rest was totally the your class' own fault.''

Apparently Asano took a few seconds to assess the situation and draw out possible plan for damage control. It was predictable how he would react and would continue to when his surroundings wouldn't give him a better challenge.

Karma didn't exactly want the one he could almost call a rival to become so boring.

''Akabane,'' he said in a long-suffering tone. ''Please, do me the favor and don't traumatize my class. I'd rather have them in a semi-normal state, thank you.''

Silence.

''Did you just make a joke?'' Maehara's voice asked from the other line.

Karma could guess that Asano was preparing to close up again, which would really not help. So he quickly jumped in and said, ''You said semi-normal, didn't you? Up until now they were pretty normal. Does that mean I can drive them at least half-insane?''

''Please don't,'' was his deadpan answer and his class began laughing.

If there was a quiet snort from the newest member of class E no one mentioned it.

---

If anyone asked Gakushū how his time with class E was, he would answer 'Horrible' simply out of habit. If he actually took some time to think about his answer he would reluctantly say 'Insane' and after a while 'Acceptable' because they weren't that bad and he had certainly met worse.

The first lessons had been something quite ordinary save from the octopus standing in the front. There had been a few obvious assassination attempts, but apparently there was a 'no shooting in class'-rule, so that ruled constant gun firing out. It was a sensible decision and was strongly supported by the target.

Who was still adamantly insisting to be called 'Koro-sensei' by him. It was almost funny.

Gakushū had been mostly trying to wrap his mind around his current situation and how to reverse this state, since there was no way he was staying like this. Not only would Akabane destroy his reputation, but he would also not be able to continue to follow his responsibilities he had committed himself to.

It was a dilemma what to do honestly. Either he could try to preserve the image of everything being alright for how long it lasted and work out a solution when he had time. The thing was he as Gakushū didn't have time and he really didn't intent on staying like this.

Giving in to Karasuma's demands would be sensible, as much as it grated him to concede this (small) defeat. Again, Gakushū was stubborn but he had learned to give up at crucial times (His father wasn't the most pleasant person to go against he could admit).

Right, next time he would-

A yellow tentacle wiggled in front of his nose. Abruptly, he jerked back.

''Nurufufufufufu, Asano-kun, would you please come outside with us? We have P.E. now.'' The boy stared long at the appendage. How could he have spaced out this long and not have noticed that everyone was leaving? Or at least the girls.

(He was a bit surprised they didn't have real changing rooms. The differences between class A and E were vast)

''I also have Karma's clothes here. Feel free to change into them,'' the teacher in front of him said and offered said clothes. ''I took the freedom of washing them first. I didn't know whether you would be uncomfortable with this.''

Technically, it was only Akabane's body touching his own clothes but he appreciated the sentiment.

Taking the bundle, the boy stood up to change. He wondered how the lesson would go. The students in class E were trained to become assassins, who were supposed to save the earth. So how high were the chances that they received extra physical training for it?

Looking back at their success at the baseball tournament and the sport festival, pretty high.

It was funny how everything suddenly fell together to a sound picture now he the full details.

Gakushū ended up following all the other boys in his class to get to the P.E. lesson. It made him feel slightly awkward, since they kept shooting him glances with expectant eyes, as if he would suddenly jump in and say 'It was all just a prank!'.

He wished it was, but it was unfortunately reality.

Reluctantly, Gakushū stopped somewhere in the back of their formation. It was clear that the class always took a certain order in this but he didn't really know where to go. Normally, like any good student, he would stand in the front, but this was out of question when he could embarrass himself here like no tomorrow.

Even if it was just Akabane's body.

''Okay, everyone,'' Karasuma, who stood at the front, shouted and gave them look-over. ''We have an unusual situation today, but we will continue like before. Go run five laps, stretch and then we will play tag over the whole mountain. Group A is it. Got it? GO!''

With only a little grumbling the whole group started to run the assigned laps, him following.

His mind went over the assignment. Running and stretching was normal warming up but the tag was the interesting bit. The P.E. teacher had said over the whole mountain, so it was going to take place in the forest with all its obstacles. It required parkour, he realized.

Shooting, fighting and parkour. Gakushū began to see the class in a different light than before.

Their teacher was something extraordinary with his ability to move at 20 Mach, but Gakushū realized that he was smart, terrifyingly so and class E (and now him too) had the task to eliminate him.

On the side they still had to focus on their studies and he could respect them for not just giving up one and continuing only the other, though he suspected that it had a lot to do with their teacher.

Back to the topic, he knew how to parkour. Everything he did was not often voluntarily done. It was practical to know martial arts, so he did. It was practical to learn an instrument, so he did. It was crucial against his father to study law to keep himself in his house, so he did.

At first he had learned it for the usefulness of it and had intended to drop it, when he didn't have enough time anymore. But...

He always continued. Maybe it was the feeling of freedom or the lightness he associated with the sport. He loved running – feeling like nothing in the world could stop him. It was just indescribable.

Maybe it also had to do with the fact his father had then showed the first time he cared. He had taken a look at his sweaty, chaotic form and the next morning he had found a new pack of training shoes and suiting training clothes.

It could have been an act of selfishness for making sure that he was still alive when his father would give him the position of Kunugigaoka's chairman, but it was still more than what he had been regarded as before by his father.

They were almost strangers but then again knew the weaknesses of each other too well to be called just that.

''Asano!'' the shout of the P.E. teacher pulled him out of his thoughts. ''You're in team A. I have here a picture of the lining up. We won't have any markers for identification, so commit them into your memory.''

It would seem unfair to any other person than him, but Gakushū took this as a challenge and trust in his ability to keep up with the situation. Class E took this really in a stride. How unnerving, when they regarded a simply body switch already as something not so unusual anymore.

''Alright, do you know the basics of parkour or would you rather train separately with me for this? I assure you, it is no weakness to learn something knew what others have already learned.''

He got pegged as the proud type. Accurate, but he wasn't that pleased that his act was seen through like this. Gakushū also wasn't very pleased that Karasuma just assumed he would be too proud to accept help in not crippling himself.

(Maybe he was right in this, too but he still didn't have to like it)

''I know parkour. I am mediocre at it,'' he replied, deliberately taking a slightly displeased tone in his voice.

''Alright.'' The teacher nodded. ''After warming up you will show me what you can do and then I'll decide whether you can join or not''

He was sensible in not taking his words for the truth.

''Okay.'' And he started running.

Jogging, he had already found out a long time ago, was not exactly his favorite way to exercise. It gave him too much time too think about the things he could do instead and made him uneasy. It was additionally very boring after his tries at parkour and didn't give him the adrenaline kick he had learned to love during free running.

He finished the five laps in a swift tempo, no so surprised that almost everyone in the class finished at the same time.

They didn't do group stretching, not like in the main building, where many had to be forced to do any exercise at all. It was kind of sad, but it worked for Gakushū since he could work at his own pace.

Akabane's body was lighter than his, even when they had the same height. He had to admit that the redhead was more flexible than he was, though his own body was sturdier and could absorb more harsher impact than his current one could.

When they lined up again, Karasuma let them go with a few words and took him to a different terrain. The section was a unsteadily down-hill running patch of leaf-covered earth and overgrown with many trees.

It raised a challenge for Gakushū who mostly just parkoured somewhere in the city. Going to the woods or somewhere in the nature in general took too much of his already spare time, when he already had to arrange his schedule precisely to even have time for any parkour at all.

In short, it made him want to run down there.

''I want you to reach the top of the tree with the half cut of crown within five minutes.'' He pointed at the crudely cut plant. Huh, that had to have history. ''I will evaluate your performance and then decide what to do with you. Okay?''

He nodded.

''Start anytime you want.'' When the last word was uttered, he was already off.

---

They had already surrounded him, Karma realized. He had barely set a foot outside the classroom for lunch break and they were already everywhere, asking him to eat lunch with them or various small inquiries.

It was suffocating for Karma, who was used to being left alone in peace. Just like the cravat.

Well, at least he had now more people to terrorize.

Navigating through the stifling crowd, he made a beeline for the exit. Nothing would convince him to stay there. Screw Asano and his reputation.

He would have done something to them if he had the equipment. Maybe he could rig the cooling system or flood the basement. It was tempting, but he wasn't in the right mood, when so many ass-kissers were trying to get his hide.

Karma wondered why some people would even want such a horde after them. Were they out for some kind of power trip or what? It made him want to recoil, seeing all those people, who usually sneered at him, to look at him like that. With admiration, some false some true, and their want for attention.

He couldn't and wouldn't give give them what they wanted.

''Asano-kun? Are you alright?'' A half-familiar voice brought him back to earth again. Karma looked up from where he had hidden himself from plain sight.

It was Sakakibara Ren. One of Asano's friends and a Virtuoso. Who the hell thought of that weird name? He couldn't really understand why they would even let themselves be called that. Maybe they needed it for their ego's.

In front of him Sakakibara grew visibly more worried. Huh, they were really friends. Didn't Asano also call him by his first name?

''I'm alright, Ren-kun.'' That was how he called Sakakibara, right?

Karma found it a bit laughable that he thrown off the loop simply by a load of people. He had behaved just fine during class. Just a few friendly and open comments on their teacher's teaching that had suited Asano's style just fine and the horde in class A, that always agreed with Asano's opinion. Sickening.

''I'm not very reassured by this, Asano-kun. The last time you said this, you almost collapsed on me after the student council meeting,'' he was replied to in a concerned voice. This... this was not something he had expected. ''Come on, if you're not feeling well enough to handle the crowd today we can go outside to eat. Even great leaders have to rest once.''

That startled a laugh out of him.

''You just pulled that one out of your ass, didn't you?'' came out before he had any chance to stop it. The redhead grimaced. Bye, you lovely cover.

''Well, I did 'pull it out of my ass' as you said it so lovely.'' The brunet looked at him with a thoughtful face. ''Come, let's eat outside in the lovely sunshine. You aren't suited to deal with our school when you're already slipping.''

Trailing after Sakakibara, he stirred on the idea that Asano had one real friend. Manipulative, two-faced Asano had Sakakibara Ren as a friend. It was probably the nicest thing he had discovered today.

When they arrived at a secluded but still clean place, Sakakibara pulled out two bento boxes before he could even comment on their lack of food.

''I know you don't like to accept gifts from those fangirls, but let's eat this now and not the food in the cafeteria. It's quiet here.''

''Well, if you phrase it like that, Ren-kun.'' He gingerly accepted the closed box. Now that he was represented food, he noticed he was hungry. No wonder when he looked back at the morning where he had spent most of the at screaming at Asano's father.

Thanking Sakakibara quietly, he muttered a quick ''Itadakimasu'' and dug in.

''You didn't eat breakfast,'' the other boy stated critically.

''I didn't,'' he let out between two bites. He didn't let the weirdness of the situation disturb him out. He had already switched bodies with Asano. Eating in the presence of one of class A was nothing against that.

''For being such a genius you are surprisingly bad at taking care of yourself.''

''Does that surprise you, Ren-kun? I heard many geniuses are notorious for lacking in at least on area of common things,'' Karma remarked smartly, despite being well aware he was out of character.

At least from what he knew about Asano's character in public. Sakakibara apparently got a different version of it than what others did.

Just when he was about to put a peace of egg roll into his mouth his phone ringed. Putting his chopsticks down, he checked the number. It was Asano, who else would call him at this time (or at all, his class didn't call him as much as texting him).

''Aka- Asano here,'' he corrected his slip quickly. Sakakibara was watching him from the side, having perked up from the almost-mentioning of Karma last name.

''Akabane,'' his own voice greeted him evenly. ''Is there someone with you?''

''Yes, there is.'' He purposely left out the name not to make himself suspicious.

''Is it Ren?'' The voice took a rather long-suffering quality to it.

His own lips curled up into a small smirk.

''Oh? How did you guess?'' Well, wasn't that amusing? Asano had his personal mother-hen and he had accepted that for a long time already.

''I would like to call it intuition, but I know Ren long enough to know that he would have moved you aside from the moment you started to slip up.''

''Did you tell him?'' Karma frowned slightly. That would have been a pretty one-sided game on Sakakibara's side then. He didn't appreciate being played with.

''Calm down, Akabane. I didn't tell him anything.'' Karma let the small tension in his body out. Good, otherwise he would have raised hell. ''But you're going to have to take him with you. He won't let you go, no matter what. I've tried too many times not to know that.''

''Where to?'' Though he had a horrible foreboding where to.

''To class E, where else, Akabane?'' Asano said, unsympathetic.

---

Gakushū let the phone sink down from its current position and turned to Karasuma.

''I have notified Akabane, but I am sure he will bring a friend of mine with him. I can vouch for him not to panic or to make a big issue out of it.'' He trusted Ren, even if he was an annoying idiot sometimes. ''If Akabane and Ren-kun aren't back at the end of lunch break I will trust you too excuse both of them from school.''

''Alright, if we can't find a solution for this, we will have to wait for this to reverse itself somehow. I don't want to notify the higher ups, since this could easily ruin your everyday life.''

Gakushū held back a snarl of ''Do you think I can not handle it?''. He felt grateful that not so many people were informed of this situation, otherwise it may have some uncomfortable consequences. Sometimes his temper was curse, despite his mind telling him already it was perfectly sound.

Stewing on his thoughts, he went back to the classroom. It would be certainly interesting to see how Ren would react. No doubt something along the lines of 'how can such a mysterious change even happen' and poetic rhymes. His speech was often too flowery for Gakushū's tastes.

But well, Ren was his friend, despite being a horrible flirt.

He opened the sliding door to the classroom and was promptly assaulted by 27 expectant stares.

''I called Akabane. He will be here shortly,'' he replied to the unsaid question.

He received nods.

''And by the way,'' he added casually. ''Sakakibara Ren is accompanying him. Try not to be too obvious and shoot him.''

He shot a glare at Nakamura's direction, the blond, who had shot him before.

''Don't be a baby, Asano,'' she replied cheerfully. ''It was just a welcoming shoot. Unless he switched his body with Kanzaki, there will be no problem.''

He raised an eyebrow at her, obviously catching the theme. Others did not.

''Why would he change bodies with Kanzaki-san?'' The burly brunet, Terasaka, asked gruffly. He reminded Gakushū a bit of a bear. Just not the cute ones, though he was just a threatening as a little one.

''Of course because Kanzaki is Sakaki-guys rival in Japanese! Karma and Asano are also rivals, do you get it now, Te-ra-sa-ka-kun?'' she drew out every syllable of his name, mocking him.

''Yeah, I got it! No need for this!'' He got a smirk in return.

The class watched Terasaka and Nakamura bickering, waiting for Akabane to finally arrive and hopefully end this whole role switch.

---

Sakakibara was trailing after him uneasily, clearly unsettled by the foreign environment.

''Asano-kun, would you remind me again why we are on the path to hell, which is just out to get our souls and devour them?''

At the front he rolled his eyes, glad that the other boy couldn't see him. He still had to stay in role until he meet Asano. He didn't want Sakakibara to run off on him.

''Don't be so melodramatic, Ren-kun. When we're at the classroom I will explain it to you. Unless you do not want to be involved in something unbelievable and supernatural.'' Karma gave him a vague explanation and a way out. Now he just wanted to see how much Sakakibara trusted Asano.

''Don't be ridiculous. I won't leave you here alone when you're unwell again. Since it went so well last time.'' He turned back, only to be glared at by a furious looking Sakakibara.

''Woah, calm down, Ren-kun,'' he tried to soothe the angry brunet. Karma didn't exactly know what had happened, but in a way he was reassured that Asano had actually such a good friend amid the hordes of false people.

...This whole body switch thing was serious screwing his perception of Asano and his life. Hopefully this situation would be reversed soon. God help him if he started to draw parallels between Asano and himself. He already had enough melodrama in his life; he didn't need more problems added to his current ones.

''I only gave you a way out,'' he continued, still aware of the other boy's flaring temper. That surprised Karma a bit. Sakakibara had always seemed to have a mild personality, but this was probably a good lesson not to judge a book by its cover. There were always some surprises in there. ''And it's not going to be a repeat of last time.''

The redhead didn't knew what had happened, but it seemed to be severe enough for Sakakibara to get worked up.

''...Ok, but I'm still going to go with you. I'm not leaving you alone here.'' Karma should feel insulted when Ren pointed at the whole forest at the word 'here' like an insult, instead he just became a bit fonder of the brunet.

''Thanks, Ren-kun.''

---

From the window of the classroom he could see the wisps of his own strawberry-blond hair. It was weird seeing himself walk there and not be the one who had the control of it.

As quickly as possible Gakushū ran outside to meet Akabane. Ren was trailing after him, glancing at his current surroundings with mistrustful gaze, which Gakushū could fully understand. Akabane had most likely had not given him a proper explanation of everything, but Ren could have run off without any proof and despite Gakushū trusting him, there could have been the possibility of someone getting wind of their current situation.

He moved to the pair, some of class E being curious and following him.

''You're not wearing the cravat, Akabane,'' he said as a greeting. ''Did you not wear it in school?''

''Chill, Asano. I did wear it in school. Just pulled it off when we were going here.'' Asano gave a searching look to the bemused Ren, who was standing there, looking between the two of them. The secretary nodded, confused.

He nodded to Ren in thanks and turned back to his own body. ''I suppose you don't have figured out anything?''

''Nope, not really,'' the other boy said, body language slouching with every word – the act finally slipping. ''I can stop being you now, don't I? It's exhausting.''

''Well,'' he answered wrily. ''Not everyone is suited to be me. Rest your case now. I think we can find a solution for our current situation.''

''If it weren't such a inconvenience, could someone please tell me what is going on? I have not endured this long trip only to brushed aside like that. So, Asano-kun?'' And was it strange not to be the one to be addressed with Asano when no one of his family there?

Ren's body was turned to Akabane, who was in his body, his expression clearly waiting for an explanation.

''Well, first I'm not Asano. This one-'' He pointed to Gakushū in Akabane's body. ''Is your dear friend and I'm Akabane Karma. We kinda switched bodies in a weird twisted way and are now looking for a way to reverse it. Thanks for being so nice by the way.''

Ren's face morphed into something between disbelief and shock, while staying blank at the same time. He turned his head to look between the two of them – at Akabane twice as long than at Asano.

''Right,'' the brunet paused for a moment. ''You are telling me that you two-'' He pointed at them again, the gesture clearly betraying his credulousness. ''-switched bodies and that I have spent the whole day worrying needlessly about Asano, who was in truth not Asano.''

''Yeah, something like that.'' Seeing Akabane shrug so nonchalantly in his body made Gakushū want to straighten his own, but he quashed the urge to. It was bad enough to see himself acting so ungraceful; he didn't need Akabane to use that to annoy him. By now he understood at least that aspect of his character.

''Alright-'' Uncharacteristically Ren threw his hands up in a exaggerated motion, then pointed his finger at Akabane. ''-if you're Akabane, you owe me a bento.

Gakushū looked at the brunet quizzically for a moment, before deciding it wasn't worth it. Ren had always had the ability to make his own drama – be it intended or not. It wasn't as if it annoyed him that much in contrast, he could make profit from it by acting caring or putting on an act, which would convince his fellow students further of his altered personality.

''...If that's your only problem,'' Akabane answered after short pause, snorting.

''So, have you thought of anything, Akabane?'' Gakushū brought the conversation to the subject again.

The other boy's smile didn't spell anything good.

''Well, maybe you committed some kind of serious sin and now have to atone for it. I heard you have to dance naked in the rain to reverse it.''

''Very funny, but I think it's you, who committed the sins. Make sure to atone for them in your lone time,'' he deadpanned, not even trying to take him serious. ''If you have nothing, let's go to the running lane behind the building.''

Karasuma and the octopus had told him to go there after he had met up with Akabane for possible examinations on the octopus' side. He felt uneasy of the idea of that monster touching him, but he wanted back and didn't have any solutions yet. Also the contract, which forbid him from harming any of the students, made him safe.

He was in Akabane's body and Akabane was in his, so it would be contact breaching to harm them in any way (he was still aware that only the teacher's sense of honor was the thing that kept all the students safe, but class E had survived this long, it wouldn't stop now).

They moved to the backyard with curious eyes following them around. Class E seemed to have all moved outside, wanting to pry how this would end.

''Good afternoon, Karma-kun! I see you're out with a different style today, though I am sad that I haven't seen you today this way yet.'' Those tentacles, disguised as arms, were wiggling in a disgustingly happy way, for which he could have really liked to cut them off, but Ren was there, so it wasn't possible. ''I hope we will be able to solve this unusual situation.''

Unusual, impossible, illogical. That was a pretty good way to describe it. How did one change bodies or rather minds? Their minds were connections of billions of nerve cells, all of them creating their thoughts, and yet they had somehow done it. It grated him how illogical it was.

''Beforehand, had anyone of you come in contact with a suspicious person or been in an unusual situation?'' Karasuma went straight to business, for which Gakushū was grateful.

''Nope. Though if you call going shopping unusual...'' Again a shrug. ''I only went groceries shopping yesterday and then normally to bed. Nothing more.''

''Me neither. I only had a student council meeting yesterday and went outside free running. Have you noticed something there, Ren-kun?''

The brunet shook his head.

''Yesterday's meeting was just routine. We didn't even decide anything important, so no,'' he said, reminding the currently redheaded boy of the rather boring meeting. Clearly the brunet had nothing else to say.

Gakushū felt a bit stupid for involving Ren in this. It had been a split-second decision, just the desire to see a familiar face in this place and not a move for anything he had wanted to plan.

The brunet was a friend, that he could admit and he was closer to Gakushū than any of the other three teens, that the school had started to call the five Virtuosos. He knew more about Gakushū than the others did and worried more about him than the others ever would. Sometimes he wondered whether he really should have let the other boy so close to see his more unsightly side and then Ren would come and make a jab at his character.

No, it wasn't really worth it, but he felt to know that he had someone on his side despite knowing he was not the one everyone expected him to be.

---

Karma was bored. He was seriously bored.

Asano and Karasuma were discussing possible causes of the problem with Sakakibara occasionally piping in. Was there something different from your diet? Did you go somewhere new yesterday? Any suspicious behavior from friends? It got boring fast.

Despite everything Karma had yet to find something that offended him so much he wanted to go back.

He meant, sure it was a bit annoying to act like Asano and he couldn't really stand his dad, but he had a new crowd to terrorize and taking a break from the assassination with the class was the biggest annoyance from all of it. He was concerned about getting back, but this was probably some kind of supernatural shit, that simply wasn't explainable.

''Alright, we have established that we can't find an outside influence. Sakakibara-kun? Would you please go inside the classroom and tell the others to go there, too? I want to talk to the boys alone,'' Koro-sensei finally piped in, still in that ridiculous costume. He turned to the ministry agent. ''Karasuma-sensei, would you please follow him?''

The addressed man regarded the disguised teacher for a moment, wondering what he had planned. Karma was curious, too. Would he now perform some kind of miracle again?

''Alright, I hope you will find a solution,'' the raven answered and promptly walked away with Sakakibara on his tail.

''Okay, you two-'' The teacher clapped his hands together. ''I've taken the freedom of measuring your brain activity during the past minutes and it seems that the electronic signals of your nerve cells have truly switched. At least you, Asano-kun, have a different rhythm from before and your body possesses Karma-kun's now.''

Karma shared a look with the other boy, curiosity a bit more piped than before. Magic, he wanted to say jokingly, but in a way he really didn't want to jinx it. He didn't feel particularly violated by this breach of his own privacy, but it was his teacher and Karma had actually anticipated something like this.

Of course he couldn't speak for Asano, though he probably didn't even know about the methods for the brain scan.

''As capable my tentacles are – I cannot change your minds back with whatever method had been used first. I assume that you two have been at different locations beforehand, so this is not some kind of thing that can be archived by humankind.'' Tell him something he didn't already know. ''I would like to study your brain activity a bit more for further information. Do I have your permission?''

''Sure,'' Karma replied easily. ''Do what you want, as long as you can find out something.''

Asano wasn't so fast with answering. The other boy narrowed his eyes – an expression that suited his face better than the stern one he had worn before – and stared at the yellow octopus.

''How will you do that?'' he asked, voice covered in suspicion. Koro-sensei, not even looking deterred by the amount of doubt in the others voice, launched an explanation about his tentacles being able to sense several wavelength that the brain was emitting and tiny tentacles being able to go through the skin and check up on any abnormality that may foster I their brains.

There was also a part about neurology and several about the brain itself, but Karma understood only about two thirds of it. Not that it was very difficult to get lost in the mambo-jumbo that was the whole process, but Asano seemed to look more reassured now that he knew their teacher knew what he was doing.

His expression changed from relieved to annoyed pretty quickly when they both were covered with yellow tentacles, which seemed to be everywhere. Karma let out an amused smile at his expression. Well, it was his own face, which looked so uncomfortable, but it was still pretty funny.

Asano grabbed one of the tentacles, eyeing it with distaste, but he didn't remove it from his face. At least the boy knew that this was unavoidable if he wanted a solution for this situation soon.

''Don't look at me like this, Akabane,'' Asano snapped at him, eyes going from the tentacle to him.

''Oh? How do I look at you, Asano? Tell me,'' he replied back, making sure his voice was irritatingly innocent. He really got a kick from ticking the school president off.

Giving him a look, the boy in Karma's body gritted his teeth and stayed quiet.

''How boring,'' he remarked, but stayed also quiet for Koro-sensei to finish the examination.

''Okay, you two. I'm done. Let's go back to class and ask everyone if they have an idea.''

''This is officially weird,'' greeted them Nakamura, pointing at them. ''Who else thinks we're just being played?''

The whole class raised their hands.

''Well, I missed you too, guys. Koro-sensei is evaluating data. Anyone got an idea how to reverse this?'' Gakushū didn't understand how easily Akabane slipped back into his class. It was as if he had been always like this, including Asano's body.

''Well,'' a brown-haired girl with a bob said, making particular motions with her hands. ''In most anime the characters have to get together in a mortal situation, so that their souls come back into the original body. I also know one where the characters kiss.''

''Yeah, not doing either. Next?'' The idea seemed to repulse both of them equally, so that was definitely not what they were going to do.

Silence.

''Really no one, guys? Has none of you ever read something about this?'' Unless they watched anime or read manga, they probably didn't. Gakushū wanted to despair a little, but that teacher was still evaluating their data, so there was still hope.

''Well, in that one anime two people switched due a machine, though...'' the girl from before said again. Despite the ridiculousness of it, everyone was silent to hear the end. ''I didn't watch the next episode yet, where they switch back.''

He wasn't going to take her seriously anymore. This was useless.

''Okay, Fuwa. Please if you have any kind of non-harming or non-sexual idea, say it, but else- do me a favor and don't say anything like that. I don't exactly want the picture of me and Asano kissing going around.''

''I have to agree, Fuwa-san. As much as I appreciate any idea, I do not want to kiss Karma,'' Asano added to make it clear. It was disconcerting how they didn't raise objections to being almost killed, but that really kind of natural to dismiss it as not acceptable.

''Maybe you two should touch? Did you already?'' Isogai suggested, smiling a little helplessly at the two of them. At least it was... well a beginning.

''No, we haven't,'' Gakushū replied and watched Akabane warily. Would something happen if they did? It was harmless enough to try at least.

''Let's go outside in case something happens,'' Karasuma suggested. His tone was serious, giving the impression that he was anticipating some kind of disaster.

''Again? How many times do we have to move?''

''Behave, Karma,'' class E's female representative scolded him and walked out with a few others.

Okay, this looked absurd. The whole class was standing around them in a circle with the distance of 50 meter at least, while Ren was standing with them, looking like he wanted to be somewhere else. At least he had someone to share his misery with.

Gakushū was standing across an amused Akabane, who was somehow taking this in a stride.

''Could we now?'' Gakushū asked impatiently, simply done.

''Right,'' the other boy replied, chipper. And stretched out his right palm, positioning it in the middle of the two of them. Quickly, Gakushū copied him, until their hands are touching.

For a moment there was nothing, only the sharp feeling of disappointment then-

''Karma!''

''Asano!''

-nothing.

---

Karma could honestly say he had seen a lot. His parents were rich enough to effort vacation in a whole different country and the most ridiculous things during them. He had spent enough time on the street in gang fights and alone not to bat an eyelash when something out of the ordinary happened. Class E had a monster as a teacher, who was able to do about anything at the speed of 20 Mach and still be a good teacher.

Being imprisoned in some kind of weird gray-ish place, where only Asano was keeping him company was not something he was actually prepared for. Well, they had switched bodies, but sometimes things were really too much.

At least he had his own body again.

''So... this is going to be some kind of cliché, where were supposed to get an understanding of each other?'' Asano paused in his pacing to look at him crossly, before stopping moving entirely.

''We have waited here for only a few minutes. Either we can talk or we wait.'' Karma didn't really know how much time had passed. It was difficult to get some kind of orientation here. They had both mapped out the area, which seemed to consist of one room with the size of ten square meters. There was no door or anything on the walls. They seemed to be stuck.

''Okay, Akabane. If you think that some kind of power wants us to talk, talk,'' the stawberry-blond conceded finally and sat down on the floor. It was about the most ungraceful thing he had seen him done beside his mighty long fall from the pole during the sports festival.

''Sure.'' And he plopped down beside him. ''So I'll just dump my entire live story on you.''

He shifted a bit, because no matter how easily he said this, it was still something he was sore about.

''So I've got a mother, a father and no siblings. I'm 15 and my birthday is on the 25th December, blood type AB,'' he dumped the information on Asano. Maybe he would get a birthday gift now. ''Your turn.''

''Right.'' Also uneasy shifting. ''I have a father, no mother and am also sibling-less. I'm 15, born on 1st January and have blood type B.''

''Oh, we can celebrate our birthdays together.''

''No, thank you.'' He grimaced a little. ''I dislike celebrating my birthday. People are so noisy during the party.'' Karma could also guess they were always flattering and worshiping him. In the long run it probably got annoying.

''I like being on the top, but my birthday is always a strenuous occasion.''

''Right, I like pranks. I can't believe how people don't see how arrogant you are,'' Karma pointed out helpfully and got a shrug in return.

''What can I say? I'm a good actor.'' Asano stared down at the ground. ''This is too superficial, isn't it?''

''Probably,'' he answered, then resolved himself. Karma was starting too feel very trapped and wanted out. If it required talking about himself so be it. ''Okay, my parents are never home because they travel the whole time and leave me alone. They have a lot of money, bought a freaking huge house with it and it's too fucking empty to spend any time there. Your turn.''

The strawberry-blond hesitated for a moment, his eyes watching Karma with an intent gaze. Did he also see himself in Karma?

''My house is... similar. My father is not home during the day, only breakfast.'' Karma snorted at that. Yeah, he had had the pleasure. ''And I'm normally left at my own devices. Our house has a few employees, but I don't talk to them often. I like being outside of it more.''

''Sucks, I guess. I don't hate it like before. I can invite friends over if I want or I just stay in my room. It's easier than trying to start fights. I always have to buy bandages and stuff for them.''

''I also invite Ren-kun sometimes over, but I prefer to go somewhere else.'' Asano's gaze went somewhere far away. ''If my father is home, he just treats me like a student. I can count the times he had been a real father to me on on hand.''

''Yeah, my parents suck pretty much, too. They weren't there for my primary school graduation and didn't do shit for me during middle school. I don't really have a lot of positive memories of them doing anything parent-like.''

''I guess we have something in common,'' the strawberry-blond muttered lowly, grimacing at the thought. Karma felt similar. ''How is being taught by- by Koro-sensei anyway.''

Karma smirked at the stutter. He found it always amusing that adults and more serious people had problems with speaking out that name. There was mostly pride in the way, but Karma mused on the fact that calling their teacher that would somehow confirm the thought of him being unkillable.

Well, not everyone figured that out. It was probably just embarrassment.

''It's nice. He tries everything to make the class comfortable and his teaching methods are effective, despite being fucking crazy.'' Karma let out a chuckle. ''I don't think we could have ever gotten a better teacher than him.''

''Sometimes I wish we had a teacher like him in the main building. Class E's not a bad place to be. Everyone in your class seems to be happy,'' came the admission from Asano. It surprised Karma, though not unpleasantly.

''Everyone would want to have a teacher like Koro-sensei.'' Something which he could truly relate to. Hadn't he had meet their unusual teacher he would have gone down a darker path. He could fully see him doing that, envisioning all the potential ways it could go. ''You're not a bad guy, Asano, despite being a dick. You can always come and try to kill sensei. It's really great to down your blood pressure.''

''Why, thank you, Akabane,'' the strawberry-blond said wryly. ''I admit, were you not such a troublemaker we maybe would have gotten along quite well.''

''Or killed each other already,'' he supplied.

Asano snorted and opened his mouth to say something, before the world fell into a blinding white.

---

He woke up to a pounding headache and tingling body.

''Urgh, tell me you caught the truck, which ran me over.'' Yes, he could truly agree with that sentiment. Gakushū lifted himself up from his lying position, but was gently pressed down again.

''Your hearts stopped at the same time you two touched,'' the teacher – Gakushū was going to call him Koro-sensei now, he had to give some kind of name and if he insisted on it being Koro-sensei, okay – informed them gravely, his expression blank, sad and shocked at the same time. His grin was gone, but nothing else had really changed.

For a moment neither Akabane nor Gakushū could say anything. Maybe it was shock, maybe just the simple thought of 'what the fuck?' as Akabane would put it out later on. He had almost died with Akabane for whatever reason.

''I restarted your hearts with electrical charges, but we're going to get you to the hospital now.'' The stern voice didn't leave any room to argue and a few minutes later it seemed like the world had started to turn again. Gakushū saw several worried faced, not just for Akabane but apparently him too.

He almost wanted to laugh. He had spent about half a day in this class and their concern seemed to be more genuine than the one in the main building would ever be. Now he could say he envied this tight knitted group.

The whole hospital administration flew right over his head because he had almost died and it made him uneasy to think about it. He let himself get checked by the doctor, hooked up on an IV and answered the asked questions but otherwise remained still.

At least Akabane had been stationed in the same room as him, the face of the other boy uncharacteristically serious.

''We almost died,'' the redhead stated after a long stretch of silence. It shook Gakushū out of his own stagnating thoughts.

''Yes, and we are back in our original bodies it seems.'' He had only realized that when the doctors had referred to him as Asano-kun and not as Akabane-kun and had startled the strawberry-blond for a moment out of his reverie.

''Are you okay?'' Suddenly he was exposed to a sharp, scrutinizing stare of two golden eyes, which unnerved him more than he wanted to admit. Akabane was dangerous when he wanted to be.

On impulse Gakushū wanted to lie and say he was fine, but suppressed the reflex with the thought of, 'I don't need to lie. He went through the same.'

''No,'' he answered honestly, voice not so firm as he wanted it to be. ''I don't think I am, but I need a bit time and then I will be.'' The boy let out a long sigh, the before building tension fleeing his body. ''What about you, Akabane?''

''I always thought, I would have my next near-death experience during an assassination attempt on sensei's life.'' Gakushū flinched. Was he the only one, who felt so weak in face of death? Suddenly he regretted showing so much weakness to Akabane. ''I think this was scarier than last time. I didn't have control of it. Fuck, I didn't even notice it.''

Now the strawberry-blond saw that Akabane was not so unaffected as he had first assumed. The other boy's hand were clenched tightly, the knuckles gaining an unhealthy white color. Hze felt the need to say something, anything for Akabane to stop that behavior, because he didn't want to see the person, he could reluctantly call a rival, so weak.

In the end he didn't have to.

''Karma-kun, Asano-kun, we're coming in,'' class E's homeroom teacher's voice called though the door. It made the uncomfortable atmosphere in the room vanish.

Koro-sensei entered the room with Karasuma-sensei and a blonde woman in tow. He hadn't had her in a lesson yet and also didn't know her name, though he could see she was a fairly good looking foreigner. The teacher's in class E were quite different from the ones he knew. Mostly they were young and looked also different. In contrast to their teachers they had a certain air of authority not unlike his father.

He was not focusing on the scene before him, he realized and brought himself quickly back to the present.

''-notified your parents about your hospitalization.'' Gakushū's head snapped back so fast he was surprised he didn't get a whiplash. He felt dread. Would his father come? It would be natural for a father to pick up his son from the hospital, but Gakushū didn't want to see his father's reaction to this incident.

It was not like they had even a normal father and son relationship.

''We can't hide the fact you two are here, but we can partly cover up the reason why.'' Karasuma's business attitude made it easier for him to focus again. His head swirled with questions at his words. ''It would still be because of cardiac arrest, though we can say you two experienced it through an electrical shock. I don't want to draw attention to this incident, since it would for one make your lives difficult and second possibly disrupt our task of killing our target. If you do have a problem with anything I'm saying you can talk to me whenever you want. It doesn't matter if it's about the way we're handling this or your experiences today.''

''Thank you, Karasuma-sensei.'' Gakushū echoed those words. In truth he was not planning on saying anything. The situation would be handled on acceptable terms and he didn't want to talk about his feelings to anyone (except he had and even if they both agreed not to talk about it anymore in some way).

After the teachers left they were flooded with more people than the room could manage to inhabit, so class E organized groups to visit them. Gakushū was left slightly perplexed that they would want to ask about his well being. He had more or less tried to make their life hell. Not to his father's level, but still.

''Don't be silly, Asano! You're a part of our class now.'' The idea abhorred and at the same time warmed him. Half a day and he was already a part of them? It was a foolish sentiment.

''Don't get the wrong idea,'' a girl said. Her gaze was coolly boring into his own, analyzing his expression with an unreadable face of her own. ''We're still wary of you, but you're in our secret now. So be useful, you hear?''

Akabane had laughed at his stumped face.

''Ren-kun, I'm fine,'' the school council president forced out, his teeth gritted. Ren wouldn't stop fluttering around him and ask questions. He knew he had scared the other boy, but he had still limited patience. ''The doctors checked me and I have to stay here only for observation.''

Reluctantly the brunet backed up, but didn't stop to observe him from his standing position.

''You scared me, Asano-kun. I think I have the right to assure myself you're fine.'' And Ren seriously sniffed at that.

''Call me Gakushū.''

''What?'' He sighed at the confused look on Ren's face. It was honestly sad that this boy was supposed to be one of the most intelligent people in their school. Well, you couldn't do anything about your friends.

''Was I so unclear, Ren-kun? I said call me Gakushū. Is that so difficult to understand?''

''But you never let anyone do that! Not even your friends from foreign countries.'' The brunet was a bit too shocked than it was justified. It wasn't Gakushū's fault that everyone and everything called him by his family name. (Well, his first name was a bit too alike with his father's)

''Then you're the first, Ren-kun. Be honored.'' Instead of the sass he expected he only received silence as an answer.

''Let me make myself clear,'' he said sharply and narrowed his eyes at the brunet. ''I want you to call me by my first name, because I see you as a close friend. As you have stated yourself, I do not do that easily, so be polite enough to follow my wish. Did I make myself clear?''

Shaken out of his stupor, Ren finally answered.

''Yes, Gakushū-kun. Thank you.''

''Good.''

The last group, which had come with Ren was standing near Akabane's bed and silent by the display the had just watched. It made him uncomfortable to be stared at like this, but he refused to admit it and fidget.

''You're human,'' blurted out a dark-haired boy. Gakushū remembered him from the baseball tournament. Sugino.

''Of course I am, why would I not be?'' he snapped back, irritated.

''Well-'' At least the boy had the decency to look sheepish. ''You have that ultimate boss aura around you. A bit like your father.''

Someone chuckled from the entrance of the room.

''I'm honored that you think of me like that, Sugino-kun.'' Eight startled gazes were suddenly fixed on the door. None of them had seen nor heard the chairman enter. ''Now, I would appreciate it if I could speak with Gakushū alone for a moment. Akabane-kun can of course stay.''

The sudden use of his first name startled the strawberry-blond. His father always called him Asano-kun, why would he change that now? From his peripheral vision he could see Akabane smirking. What did he do?

After a few seconds of shocked silence, their visitors began to leave one by one. Ren was the last to leave and whispered a short ''Good luck'' into his ear. He actually felt like he needed this luck for once.

''Well, I see you're back in your original bodies,'' his father (yes, this was his father and not the chairman speaking) said nonchalantly, as if it was normal for people to change bodies.

Gakushū's head whirled around?

''You told him?!'' he let it out in a strangled hiss. He could kiss his respect goodbye now.

''You never asked,'' the redhead helpfully pointed out. ''And no, he somehow found it out himself. Don't ask me how.''

''Alright, do you have anything to discuss with me, rijicho?'' He addressed the man in front him carefully. If he knew about their previous situation, then he could be toying with him.

''I am not talking to Asano-kun, but to Gakushū. I am here as your father, Gakushū, not the chairman.'' He sat down beside his bed, taking a chair from the table in front of their beds. ''Akabane had said things this morning, which have made me thinking.''

Gakushū shoot Akabane a look, but instead of an helpful answer he received a face with wide eyes. What had happened between them?

''I have been thinking about the possibility of you not coming back, which had been practically impossible in my eyes, but Akabane-kun had pointed it out to me. I have raised you to be strong and I had faith in you to be able to survive.'' He didn't know what to say, his only action was to stare disbelievingly at his father. ''Imagine my surprise, when I have been called and told my son is in hospital because he went into cardiac arrest.''

And for the first time, he could see something else beside in his father's eyes beside contempt or boredom. Weariness. His father suddenly looked like he had aged by good ten years.

''I changed my teaching methods twenty years ago because one of my students died because I didn't teach him to be strong. I never wanted something like that to happen again-'' Two violet eyes bored into his own. Grief, that was that what he saw in his father's eyes. ''But even when teaching somebody to be strong, I do not seem to be able to defy death.''

His father was still agonizing over his old student's death, he realized with a start. His invincible, unbeatable father feared of his students dying because he didn't teach them enough.

''I am not dead, yet,'' he found himself saying and stared back stubbornly at those tired eyes. ''I am not dead, yet, and even if I were it would be surely not because I don't know enough or because you haven't taught me enough. You can't defeat death, no matter what you do. Do not take the blame of soemthing you cannot do anything for.''

When the man in front of him began laughing, Gakushū thought he had finally broken him. How many times had he heard his father laugh? Not a chuckle or a faked laugh, but real amusement that was not even on his expense.

''Do you know what is a teacher's greatest accomplishment?'' his father asked him when he was finally done.

''When their students win some kind of prize in what you have taught them in?'' Gakushū answered quizzically.

''Also very nice, but I think it is when their students finally surpassed their teacher. To see that the person they have nurtured to begin to start to go their own way and leave the teacher behind. This is what I see as the greatest.'' Gakushū stared at him. How had the talk evolved to this?

''Gakushū, I want you to know that you are by far my greatest student and I am proud to call you my son. Do you think you can see me as your father one day?''

He was asking for forgiveness in an indirect way, the boy realized. It was truly bizarre how this day had turned out.

''Maybe, I can. If you try hard enough.'' Gakushū presented his father a challenge and the man didn't disappoint.

''Excellent. I am excited to see how this will go, Gakushū.'' Asano Gakuhō looked over his son once more. The younger strawberry-blond felt rather tired from all the events today. ''Go and rest. I will take you from the hospital when you're going to be released.''

With those words the chairman of Kugigiaoka Junior High vanished behind the door.

Exhausted, Gakushū let himself fall back on his back. This whole ordeal had been thoroughly energy consuming.

''Well, congratulations, I guess.'' He shot the redhead a tired glare.

''Do you want a reconciliation with you parents, too, Akabane?'' The other boy snorted.

''No, thank you. It sounds exhausting.''

That, Gakushū could definitely confirm.

---

Look at my tumblr for my fanart to this fic. Link: post/149350737942/ my-own-fanart-to-my-new-one-shot-i-honestly Delete the spaces.

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