(A/n: sorry this chapter took so long coming out! Thanks for all the reviews and support, they motivated me to keep writing this story. Additional trigger warning for some fairly graphic violence!

Gakushuu spent every moment of his summer break working, driven by the humiliationof his defeat by E class. Gakushuu got only five hours of sleep per night if he was lucky. He needed to memorise the entire curriculum- and even more than that! His academics not only had to be unbeatable, but he couldn't let his other skills slip either; He needed to keep building connections with powerful people, Needed to keep learning new instruments and new skills, he needed to make sure he was in peak physical form.

Then maybe, his father would be satisfied. The two of them had hardly spoken at all over summer- Since Gakushuu wasn't in school, there was no need to. But the younger Asano could tell his father was still furious about A class' defeat in the first term finals.

Ren had tried to arrange to meet up with Gakushuu for frivolous 'social' reasons, but Asano had declined every time. He had no time to waste, and he didn't like the concerned look in Ren's eyes lately.

On the day before they were due to go back to school, Gakushuu was called into his father's office at home. It was strikingly similar to the man's office at school, with its large window, dim lighting, and grey minimalistic decor. And just like the office at school, it had a stagnated, oppressive atmosphere.

But Gakushuu knew better than to let the unease he was feeling show.

"Asano-kun, because of your stupidity in allowing your followers to make a bet you didn't win, E class managed to triumph against the main school." The Chairman said, a dangerous smile on his face."This, as you know, is counter-intuitive to my education model. It makes E class look positive, which is unacceptable."

Asano didn't say anything, he just glared ahead. He often found silence to be the safest option.

"No matter- I have devised a plan to remind people that E class is in no way a positive place to be." The Chairman continued. "Kotaru Takebayshi, are you aware of him?"

"An E class student- dark hair and glasses?" Asano said- As a ruler, it was imperative he knew the names of all those below him, even if they were in E class. "I fail to see how some bookworm from E class is relevant."

"He scored the highest in his class in the finals, I've given him the opportunity to move to A class. He of course, accepted." The Chairman explained, a sadistic look of glee in his eyes. "Under my direction, we will convince Takebayashi-kun to tell the entire school how terrible E class really is- he'll damn his classmates and teachers to the rest of the school, by branding them as criminals and delinquents in need of reform, as per my order."

"And you're sure this will work?" Asano said sceptically, unable to resist the urge to attempt to put his father down. "E class seems to be very loyal to each other this year."

"Of course it will work- Takebayashi will do anything to gain acceptance from his family by rejoining the strong." The Chairman scoffed. "When he damns E class I'll make him the one to 'reform' them. I'm offering him power- I'm giving him the authority to be a leader. That is something nobody can resist."

"As you say, sir." Asano replied, his expression remaining impassive. But inside, he felt a sudden spike of rage; Why did that pathetic bookworm get handed the role of a leader from the Chairman himself? Takebayashi was only 7th place in the exams, and he had the Charisma of a weakling. He was no leader.

Asano and the Chairman had been wrong about Takebayashi, and the plan had backfired horribly; The boy had rejected the Chairman's education methods in a very public way, by smashing an award and demanding that he be sent back to E class, in assembly right in front of the entire school.

Asano was furious; How dare Takebayashi turn on the main school like that! How dare he make them look stupid and weak! But Gakushuu knew his own anger was nothing compared to the cold rage of his father, which was why, when he was called to go to his father's office after school, an icy dread ran through him.

The man probably held him responsible for the Takebayashi incident earlier that day. Just thinking about what kind of punishment awaited him made Gakushuu shiver. And yet. He didn't dare try to run away- for he knew the consequences for that would be far worse.

Asano knocked on the door to his father's office, hearing the sound echo around the wide and desolate room on the other side.

"Come in." That deep voice said. Gakushuu squashed all urges to run, and instead pulled open the door with almost-trembling hands and stepped in. The blinds were closed, making the room even darker than usual; it was hard to see.

His father wasn't even bothering with his usual false smile. The man had an utterly murderous look on his face. Without saying a word, the Chairman walked past his son, over to the door. He closed it, and Asano heard the familiar sound of a lock clicking.

If Gakushuu wasn't panicking before, he was now. He wanted to ask why the Chairman had locked the door, he wanted to point out that really, the whole Takebayashi thing was the Chairman's fault, not his own. But he couldn't. He throat felt tight and constricted, like icy hands were clamped on his windpipe. It took all his energy to keep breathing, let alone speak.

So Gakushuu just stood there, waiting for the Chairman to make his move. He had never seen the man so enraged, so unstable before.

"The plan was for Takebayashi to promote my education model by making E class look hellish. But the opposite has occurred." The Chairman said as he walked back to his desk, his voice was tight, and cold as ice. "Of course, you don't need me to reiterate what you already know. Come closer."

Gakushuu found himself unable to disobey the man's command, ignoring his instincts, he walked closer towards the desk, cautiously, as if he were approaching a deadly predator.

"It was your job to welcome Takebayashi back into A class. Clearly you were inadequate, since he opted to leave so quickly." The Chairman said, he opened his draw and started rummaging for something. Gakushuu found his voice

"While that may be, it was your plan in the first place, Chairman sir, so I- " Gakushuu cut himself off when he saw his father suddenly pull out a knife from his desk drawer. Survival instinct kicked in, Gakushuu turned to run away, but the Chairman was faster. He grabbed Asano by the wrist, and pulled him half across the desk before slamming him down into it. Gakushuu felt a bruising pain in his ribs as he was pressed into the wood. Desperately, he tried to free himself, but the man was insanely strong.

The edge of the desk jabbed into his stomach as he frantically tried to pull away, eyes trained on the small but sharp-looking knife in his father's hand.

"What the fuck? You crazy bastard!" Gakushuu said through gritted teeth as he thrashed about in a futile attempt to escape. His father had never hurt him before- not so directly like this, not with a knife; had the man finally gone over the edge? Was he going to kill him? "If- if you kill me, you won't get away with it! People know I'm here. You won't be able to get all the blood out of this carpet!"

The Chairman tightened his grip on Asano's wrist- his hand was starting to go numb. "I suggest you cease the dramatics, Asano-Kun." The Chairman said, his tone threatening. Knowing that fighting was futile anyway, Asano stopped trying to pull away, although every part of him wanted to. "I'm not stupid enough to kill you. This is simply a punishment for neglecting your duties. Stay still. Or you might loose a hand."

Gakushuu felt his breath quicken. What was his father going to do to him? Was he going to chop off a finger like they do in the Yakuza? He felt so vulnerable and weak, unable to defend himself, subject to the whims of this unstable, sadistic man.

Gakushuu let out a cry of pain when he felt the knife suddenly pierce the skin at the tip of his finger. He quickly forced himself to bite his tongue. No matter what. He refused to seem even weaker than he already was by screaming and crying.

The knife was pushed under his nail, painfully slow. Gakushuu hissed in agony, as he felt the nail being ripped away from the skin. He could feel hot, wet blood dripping down his fingers.

The suffering was like nothing Gakushuu had ever felt before; It was amazing how such a small part of the body could hurt so damn much. He blinked back tears.

"That was for not making Takebayashi want to stay in A class- " His father said, his voice emotionless even as he tortured his teenage son. He pressed the knife into Gakushuu's second finger. "And this- is for allowing Takebayashi to take one of my awards from right under my nose."

Having experienced it once before didn't make tolerating your nails getting ripped off any easier; the sick crunch of Keratin being forced off skin, the sticky blood that comes pulsing out, the agonising pain that radiates through your entire arm, the feeling of complete helplessness, and knowing you have eight more fingernails that could potentially be ripped off if your torturer decides to.

But the Chairman had decided Gakushuu has sufficiently suffered. He let go of his son's wrist, and the boy almost slid down the desk onto the floor. Luckily, he managed to keep his balance.

Gakushuu grabbed his injured hand and pulled it closer to himself. He felt like being sick, or running away. But he couldn't. He had to be strong. So he stood his ground and glared at his father.

"You're getting more barbaric lately. Is it perhaps a sign of madness?" Gakushuu said to him, with a voice full of spite. He sounded a lot more cocky than he felt. The Chairman paid no heed to his son's insult, however. The man passed the knife towards his son, Gakushuu flinched away.

"Take it." Gakuhou commanded, holding the knife out to him. Gakushuu looked at him with confused amethyst eyes.

"Take it." The man repeated. Reluctantly, the blond reached out his hand and took the now blood-soaked knife from his father. Was this a trick?

The weapon felt foreign and dangerous in his hand. It wasn't a feeling he liked.

The Chairman put his left hand flat on the desk, presenting it before Gakushuu.

"I also made several mistakes. In the first place, I was the one who chose Takebayashi." The Chairman said, looking at Gakushuu expectantly. "Remove one of my nails."

"What?" Gakushuu said, shocked. The Chairman's eyes narrowed again, full of disdain.

"For the student who ranks top in exams, you don't seem particularly bright." The Chairman said, a dangerous edge to his voice. "Remove one of my nails. I've already shown you how it's done, haven't I?"

This was insane- this had to be a trick. Why would the Chairman want Gakushuu to hurt him? He didn't understand.

"I won't ask again. Stop standing there like some sort of invalid." The Chairman said, authority radiating off him. "Do it or else I'll remove another one of your nails for your insolence." He grinned, before adding in a mocking tone. "Don't you want to get revenge on your father who's so mean to you?"

"You're insane. You need to be committed." Gakushuu hissed, grabbing his father's wrist with his injured hand. The Chairman was right; he did want revenge. But not like this, not in a way that was still so much under the Chairman's control he wanted it in his own terms. This felt wrong. He didn't want to do this.

Gakushuu rested the knife on the tip of his father's nail. He willed his hands not to tremble. Gakushuu would never admit it, but he didn't like blood and gore. He hated seeing people physically hurt. He had to bluff his way through dissection in class, and he never watched horror movies.

Now his life was like a horror movie.

Fearing the consequences if he didn't, Asano dug the knife under his father's nail, as quickly as he could. Blood started to ooze out as he drew the knife back, pulling the nail away. Gakushuu knew first hand how incredibly painful that must be, but his father didn't make a sound, he just watched his son with intent mauve eyes.

This was so disgusting. Gakushuu felt his mind start to cloud and his knees weaken.

"The failed plan itself was also my idea. Take another nail for that." The Chairman commanded, his voice free from strain, calm to the point of apathy. This man was truly insane, Gakushuu realised. And yet. Gakushuu followed his commands , although he hated this man he derived no joy out of injuring him.

"Lunatic." Asano said under his breath, as he went for the second nail. Everything about this felt wrong. Gakushuu might have a reputation for being ruthless, but actual torture wasn't in his nature.

Crunch.

The nail pulled away from the skin.

"I also allowed Takebayashi to take the award from under my nose. That's another nail." Gakuhou demanded, his eyes fixed on his son, not even looking at his other nail. Something in Gakushuu snapped.

"There's no point to this!" Gakushuu shouted- his father, this man, was a monster. And he wanted to make Gakushuu into a monster too.

"Such blatant displays of emotion. Are you too much of a child to keep your feelings in check?" Gakuhou mocked. "Remove another nail."

"No!" Gakushuu replied, not caring that he was shouting, already backing away towards the door. "I'm sick of your twisted games!"

"I suggest you don't- " The Chairman started to say, but Gakushuu didn't stay around to listen. With all the strength he could muster, he ran towards the door and kicked it as hard as he could. There was screaming, groaning sound of the hinges breaking, and the door swung open.

Gakushuu ran out, as fast as he could, hurling the knife out of his hands as if it were poison. He didn't look back, he just kept running, and running.

When Gakushuu finally ran out of breath, he wasn't exactly sure were he was; His mind had gone blank while he was running, it was a pleasant, numbing feeling. He didn't think about what had just happened, or the pain, he just focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

But now, as he lent against the wall of a shop, his fingers stinging and covered in blood, reality was starting to sink in; He had disobeyed his father, not only that, but he'd escaped a punishment. And to top it all off he'd broken the door to the Chairman's office. Now what? He couldn't keep running forever.. it was already dark out, just how long had it been? He checked his phone. It was already 20:00pm. He had a missed call off his mother, and off Ren.

Before Gakushuu could decide on a proper cause of action, however, someone approached him.

"Whoa, Asano-Kun? What happened to you?" An amused voice said. Gakushuu groaned when he realised it was one of the people he'd least like to see when he was lost, out of breath, and covered in blood; Karma Akabane. That delinquent from E class who got semi-decent grades (he came 13th in the last exam though, so he wasn't as impressive as Gakushuu first thought).

"I'd appreciate if you'd mine your own business, Akabane." Gakushuu replied, amethyst eyes narrowing. But predictably, the red head didn't leave.

"Did you get on the wrong side of a loan-shark or something?" Akabane said, looking at Gakushuu's fingers were his nails were supposed to be. Gakushuu rolled his eyes.

"Don't be stupid. It was an accident during football practice, the ball hit my hand a little too hard." Gakushuu said. The lie came to him easily, which was surprising, lying was one of the few things he didn't have much talent for.

"Who knew the great Gakushuu Asano was so clumsy?" Akabane said, with a slight grin. "It really isn't your day, is it? Since trying to turn Takebayashi against us back-fired as well."

"I don't have time to waste on mediocre delinquents such as yourself." Gakushuu snapped, turning to storm away (and find out were about he was exactly). But to his surprise, Karma put a hand on his shoulder, tugging him back.

"If you don't get that wound treated it will get infected." Karma said, still with that teasing edge to his voice. "I have a first-aid kit in my bag."

"I don't need your help."

"That's okay- if your fine with your finger going all green and swollen and rotting." Karma said. Gakushuu shuddered- okay, he really didn't like gore.

"Shut up! Okay! Fine! Show me your first aid skills." He snapped, holding out his injured hand. He wasn't sure why he was letting Karma, one of the enemies, help him. He put it down to mental exhaustion. Even Akabane looked somewhat surprised.

"Good boy." Karma said, sounding so patronising that Gakushuu almost turned to leave. He pulled out a small first aid kit from his bag, and got out the antiseptic.

"Let me guess. You get into so many fights that you need to carry a first-aid kit around?" Gakushuu said, wincing slightly as antiseptic was applied.

"Violent thugs like me have to be prepared." Karma chuckled. "It's something good little honours students like you wouldn't understand."

"I wouldn't want to." Gakushuu said. Glancing down at his hand. Akabane was surprisingly gentle for someone with such a violent reputation. They'd been at the same school for three years, but Gakushuu had hardly spoke to the boy, other than to reprimand him.

"Done." Akabane said, as he put a bandaid on Gakushuu's second finger. It was character-print. Of course.

"Thank you." Gakushuu replied, because no matter how harsh he was, he refused to be rude. Maybe Akabane wasn't as bad as he seemed.

"No problem- now the Student council president owes me one. I can have some fun with this." Karma chuckled, a devilish grin on his face. Gakushuu took it back; Akabane was even worse than he seemed. "Catch you later, Pres'. Keep that wound clean."

With that, the red head turned and left. Gakushuu sighed, reality coming crashing down on him. He had to go home, he had to face his father. He couldn't run away even if he wanted to.

phew- I reached the end. This chapter was surprisingly easy to write once I got down to it! Review for more!