Gakushuu had known that his father has been researching mind-manipulation techniques for about as long as he could remember. It was one of the most terrifying things about him, that he weilded the ability to influence people into doing his bidding. Gakushuu knew first hand how hard he had to work to stop his mind being completely invaded by that man. So, when his friend's left his father's office as hate-filled zombies his heart sunk.

"Seo? Ren?" Gakushuu called out as his friends walked past him as if he were a stranger. He glared at his father. "What on earth have you done to them?"

"Oh, I just stoked the flames of their hatred a little." He said. His eyes were deranged and the smile on his face was too wide. "All it took were a few words to break the precious 'friendship' you were preaching about earlier. The strength I teach isn't something so fragile."

"But what your doing to them- it's not right. It could leave them with psychological scars. Playing with someone's mind is- "

The Chairman cut him off with a cold laugh.

"Oh, don't play the ethics game with me now, boy. You started this. You challenged my philosophy, I'm simply proving you wrong." He said. The smile dropped from his face and he approached his son, each footstep slow and deliberate. "I'm getting tired of you acting like a helpless victim. Everything I've done, you initiated; you're the one who wanted to play the game. I've just been holding you up to the same standard I've been holding myself, and like the pathetic child you are, you couldn't handle it- "

Gakushuu forced himself not to back away although his whole body was tensed to run. They were now so close he could feel the man's breath on his face.

"Well I'm done with you. You're nothing but an imbecile you deliberately provokes me then can't handle the consequences." The Chairman said. "You're not leading A class any more. I am. Right now you're just a worthless loser."

He raised his hand, Gakushuu flinched and the Chairman just grinned.

"Come and speak to me when you're ready to be strong again." He said. "Now get out my office."

His words had stung more than any slap.

That had been a week ago. Since then, the Chairman had taken over A class and started brainwashing any kids that couldn't keep up. He was intent on filling them with his own hatred. To make matters worse, Gakushuu had been kicked out of the class by his father and forced to study alone at home.

He felt completely isolated away from his class. He could hardly focus on studying, his mind was wracked with guilt about abandoning his followers. He was meant to be their leader and he was just allowing them to be manipulated by his father. What if they ended up permanently damaged? None of the other four virtuosos had been replying to his messages, in school they had hardly spoken to him. It broke his heart that his father was able to tear apart his friendships so easily.

"Are you hungry, darling?" His mother said, walking in the room with a tray of freshly prepared tea and home-baked cookies that smelled divine.

"Thanks, mum." Gakushuu said with a smile. This was one good thing about working at home. His mum set the tray down.

"It was so nice of your father to let you study at home. I know your school friends must bother you to help them when exams are coming up. You need to focus on yourself too." His mother said. Gakushuu dropped the pen he was holding.

"Do you really think he's doing it to be nice?"

"Of course he is, honey, he always wants what's best for you." His mother said, before adding diplomatically. "That's why he gets so... upset.. when he feels like you're not reaching your potential."

Gakushuu looked down at the book in front of him, swallowing heavily before speaking.

"Do you think it's... right how he treats me?" He asked tentatively. He tried to keep his tone light, he didn't want to upset her.

"Oh, dear, you know I don't always understand everything he does but he always has the best intentions." His mother said warily.

"Forget his intentions. You know he hurts me, right- sorry, I know you don't like talking about it- but do you think that it's right?" Gakushuu asked. He was skating on thin ice here, but he had to know what she thought. His mother was wringing her hands.

"Of course I hate the thought of you being hurt, Shu, but corporal punishment isn't unheard of." She said in a quiet voice. "Lots of parents smack their children occasionally. It's normal."

"What about when he tore my nails off.. or left me with that scar.. or nearly drowned me?" Gakushuu asked. His tone wasn't accusing nor malicious. He hated bringing these things up in front of his mother. When he looked up at her, she had tears in her eyes.

"I don't like talking about those things, Shu, you know I don't." She said, Gakushuu felt a twist of guilt.

"I know. I'm sorry." He said. "But I have to know. Do you think I deserved that?"

"Gakushuu, I don't know if 'deserve' is the right word." She said after a pause. She couldn't look her son in the eye as she spoke. "But you must know you have a pretty.. combative personality. I'm not sure normal discipline would work on you. Besides. You want to be the best at everything, right? If it was just your father's goal, maybe it would be wrong for him to push you so hard. But you want the same thing, so you can't really get upset at him for motivating you to achieve it."

Gakushuu looked down, but his mother hadn't finished yet.

"You and your father have a very... specific dynamic, one I don't always understand. And Gakushuu, it's not like it's one-sided. You can be very challenging and rude to your Father sometimes. Not a lot of men would tolerate constant challenges and remarks. Listen, Gakushuu, I've always known you were special, and sometimes, special people need special treatment. Your Father knows what he's doing."

"But what about when he hurts himself? Is that something a rationale man would do.. I think sometimes he hurts me just because I remind him of himself." Gakushuu murmured. His mother flinched as if she had been struck and Gakushuu felt a wave of regret. Perhaps that was too far.

"Your Father wasn't always like this; He went through a terrible tragedy years ago that changed him forever." His mother said. She had tears in her eyes. "Perhaps instead of judging him, you should be trying to help him."

"What kind of tragedy?" Gakushuu tried to ask, but his Mother just shook her head.

"I don't want to talk about it. It's still too painful." She said. "But if you really love someone, you stick with them no matter how much they change and no matter what they do to you. We owe your father that much. And really, your Dad makes sure you have the best of everything so you shouldn't complain."

"Thanks, Mum, things are a lot clearer now." Gakushuu said, with the most forced smile he'd ever had to pull. She smiled back as she left the room.

"No problem, sweetie. But please, keep these things between the two of you from now on. I don't like being dragged into it." She said as she exited.

As soon as she did, Gakushuu flopped his head down on his desk, feeling tears sting his eyes. He gritted his teeth, willing them not to fall.

Now he didn't know what to think. His father was the way he was because of some 'tragedy'. Was she right? Should Gakushuu be trying to help his father rather than condemn him? He clearly wasn't a very sane or happy man.

He always thought his mother turned a blind eye to his father's actions out of fear, but she actually agreed with them? She said his Dad had done nothing wrong. What if she was right? He wanted to be perfect and the Chairman was helping him get there, maybe it was just weakness that was making him want to give up now. He should be able to handle it.

He thought back to his classmates. Well. Maybe he should be able to handle the Chairman, but nobody else could manage that dynamic. Regardless of anything else, how the Chairman was treating A class was wrong, and Gakushuu had to think of a way to show him he was wrong before that man warped their minds forever.

This was probably one of the most humiliating things Gakushuu had ever considered doing, but he really couldn't think of any other options.

He stood at the school gate, by the edge of the pathway to the mountain building, waiting for E class to arrive. He stepped from foot to foot, constantly debating just leaving and abandoning this stupid plan. But no. He owed it to his classmates.

Sure enough, a hoard of teenagers soon began to approach him from up the mountain. He heard them before he saw them, their shouting and laughing traveling down to his ears- really, they couldn't be anymore different from A class.

He lent against the gate, arms crossed, eyes focused on the floor. He didn't want to seem too eager. He was almost considering giving in to his embarrassment, but then, someone noticed him.

"Oh it's Asano- what are you doing here?" The little green haired girl- Kayano- said. Well. Too late to back out now. From under his eyelashes he could see E class members surrounding him. Suddenly his heart started pounding.. maybe this was a very, very bad idea. He was all alone in enemy territory. Who's to say they won't hurt him? He'd given them enough reason to.

He felt himself tense up as his mind was filled with images of being beaten up on the side of the road (bones snapping, blood spattering, cries of pain). Relax, he tried to tell himself, not everyone is like your father.

"What do you want? Are your lackeys too busy to do recon on us" Maehara said with a suspicious frown. Gakushuu gulped, now or never.

"It pains me to say this, but I have a favour to ask you." He said. That got their attention. He could see Akabane giving him a curious smile. "I want you to kill my father."

The words came out his mouth before he had a chance to think. That wasn't exactly what he'd meant to say. Definitely a Freudian slip. He saw the horrified and confused expression on some of their faces. "I don't mean I want you to murder him or anything. I just want you to kill his education philosophy."

E class still looked confused.

"How would we do that?" Yada asked.

"I need you to occupy the top fifty spots in the upcoming exams. With myself coming first, as usual." He explained. "Of course, it means nothing if I do the best as expected, but if your class- the class he has deemed as failures- dominate the top spots over his chosen ones he has taught personally, it'll prove his teaching philosophy is wrong."

There was an uncomfortable silence, then Kataoka spoke.

"Listen.. Asano. I don't know what's going on between you and your father, but are you sure this is what you want?" She said tentatively. "Are you sure you want to actively work against him to drag his life's philosophy through the mud. Aren't you worried it might damage your relationship."

"Damage the relationship?" Gakushuu couldn't help but scoff. He was sure any relationship they had was toxic beyond repair. "He's been telling me since I was little I should see him as an adversary to beat. He should expect this. That's just the way things are between us."

"But why now? Why do you want us to help you 'kill your father' now? I thought you were on the same side." Mahara asked sceptically. Gakushuu glanced to the side.

"As I'm sure you're aware, the Chairman is now teaching A class himself. He's filling them up with hatred and pushing them way beyond their limits." Gakushuu explained, he glared at the floor. "They're not me. I was raised by the man, I can take his 'teaching methods' but they can't. It'll break them."

He bowed his head, although it was almost physically painful to do so, acting subservient to his rivals.

"So please. Help me prove what he is doing is wrong."

He dared not look up, not wanting to see the expression in their eyes; would it be pity, mockery, hatred? There was a beat of silence as E class took in his words, and nobody said anything for a few moment. Of course, Karma Akabane just had to ruin it.

"Eh? Aren't you really shouldn't be worried about us. Didn't I already tell you I'm taking top place this time." He said, tongue out. Gakushuu could seriously hit this bastard. He looked up at him with a scowl. It was taking all his willpower not to say something rude back.

"Ooh the gloves are off now!" Sugino was saying. "So you're finally ready to challenge Asano, Karma?"

"Just don't let it turn out like last time you planned to go head to head with Asano. I believe you ended up in 13th place." Takebayashi said, fixing his glasses. At those words, Akabane's bravado faded and suddenly he was bright red.

Gakushuu had to smile at that, it was pretty amusing seeing Akabane being the one of the receiving end of mockery.

"Yeah, just try to do better than me!" Terasaka teased, earning him a kick to the stomach from Karma. Gakushuu just watched on. God, these guys were so different then the types of people he was used to..

"Asano; Karma said it a little crudely but, you don't have to worry about us." Isogai said, approaching Gakushuu with a smile. "We've really knuckling down already. We were already going to bring out our A-game. We're just like you, we want to win too."

"I look forward to your challenge then." Gakushuu said, an unconscious grin making his way onto his face at the idea of competition. It was definitely easier to think about than certain.. other things.

"We'll see you on the battlefield then." Isogai said with a smile, a few of them laughed, then E class filed away, carrying on their walk home. Some of them even waved goodbye. Gakushuu awkwardly waved back, getting used to this tentative sort-of-alliance that he never would of imagined possible only a few days ago.

"The final exams are a mere week away. You can feel the tension in the air. This will surely be a pivotal time for our students." Korosensei said, permanent grin in place as he spoke. The Chairman nodded in agreement.

"Certainly." He said, cordially.

The super creature- Korosensei, as his students had aptly named him- was here to pick up some of the last minute material the Chairman had added to the curriculum. The thought had crossed the man's mind to simply not inform E class on the updated content of the exams, but he was sure that trick wouldn't work a second time. Korosensei would not be fooled again.

It had taken the Chairman some time to decipher Korosensei- not only did he possess unbeatable speed, but he also held an intellect that could challenge the Chairman himself (despite the octopus' sometimes childish aspects). However, after careful observation, the Chairman had decided that despite his physical appearence, Korosensei was very much human. And humans are fallible, even if they do possess inhuman abilities. Korosensei was one of the few people the Chairman saw as an equal.

"Wow. You're really ramping up the difficulty level for these finals. High schoolers would struggle with this." Korosensei said, as his beady eyes scanned through the pages. "How exciting."

"Naturally, I expect my students to be able to take on this much." The Chairman said. "I do hope your class can keep up."

"I have total faith in them." Korosensei replied. "It takes an impressive educator to be able to teach children of this age to reach this level. You have my respect, sir."

"You flatter me, Korosensei." The Chairman said, with a dismissive wave. Korosensei suddenly fixed those tiny black eyes on Gakuhou.

"You never did tell me, why you decided to become a teacher." Korosensei said. "I was once told that people become teachers either to pass on their own strength or to make up for their own weaknesses. Which are you, I wonder?"

The Chairman looked out of the window, slightly taken aback by that comment. Despite all his achievements, he knew he didn't measure up. Nothing he did could make make up for his past failures. "Dunno." He replied honestly. There was a beat of silence.

"Rumour has it that your son has been banished from the classroom and is studying at home." Korosensei said. The Chairman looked at him.

"It makes sense. He's so far ahead of the other pupils." The Chairman explained. "Staying in class with them will only slow him down."

"You've raised a remarkable boy by any metric." Korosensei said. "But I wonder, how do you balance being his educator and being his father?"

Another hard-hitting question. Korosensei was good.

"Asano seems to be thriving with myself in the position of educator. It's better that way." The Chairman said.

"For you or for him?" Korosensei asked.

The Chairman glared at him. He felt as if those tiny black eyes could see through everything; all his hypocrisy, his excuses, his bullshit. Of course a genius superbeing would be the only one who felt like he could question Gakuhou. And that was all it really took for his carefully contrasted tower of lies to start crumbling. Because really, deep down, he knew it wasn't for Gakushuu's sake that he held him at arms length. It was just; if it destroyed so much to loose a student, how would it feel to loose a son. The Chairman realised he'd been quiet for too long.

"The results speak for themselves." He said dismissively. His son was a success, nobody could argue against that.

"They certainly do." Korosensei said, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "Parents have an even greater responsibility than teachers when it comes to the children in their care. They teach them what kind of treatment is acceptable from the people they love."

The Chairman gritted his teeth. "What are you trying to say?"

"Just thinking out loud." Korosensei said, his grin was still in place despite his more serious tone. "I'm sure you have spent a lot of time and effort teaching your son about the kind of behaviour he should expect from a loved one."

Gakuhou could not think of a response to that, he simply maintained his glare at Korosensei. "Shouldn't you be making lessons preparations?" He said, after an awkwardly long stare-off.

"Yes. Of course. I look forward to our next conversation." Korosensei said, before sipping off so fast it had appeared as if he'd teleported.

The Chairman was left in his office alone, with the echos of Korosensei's words still tumbling through his brain.

When Gakushuu was walking home later that evening, he could tell somebody was following him.

"You really need to get a hobby or something, Akabane." He said, stopping suddenly in his tracks. Sure enough, Karma came slinking out of the shadows behind him.

"You're good. I was wondering how long it would take for you to notice." Karma said with a playful smile. "We really must live close to each other."

"How delightful." Gakushuu replied sarcastically. The two fell into step with each other, and next thing Gakushuu knew they were both walking side by side. Well. This was new.

Karma kept glancing at him, as if he had something he wanted to say but couldn't bring himself to.

"Whatever is rattling around that demented brain of yours, just spit it out." Gakushuu said. Karma looked like a kid with his hand caught in the candy jar.

"About what you told us earlier." Karma started. "What did you mean by that?"

"I'm going to clarify yet again, before you do something illegal, that I did not mean I wanted you to kill my Dad literally." Gakushuu said with a frown. "I won't be blamed for any murders you commit."

"Asano- who knew you had a sense of humour? No, that wasn't what I was talking about." Karma said. "I was talking about when you said 'I can take his teaching methods. They can't' what 'teaching methods' are those?"

"He goes through lessons very fast, he's very demanding, doesn't let you have a break..." Gakushuu started to say, trailing off when he saw Karma's unconvinced look.

"You said they could break a person." Karma said. "I assume you've suffered through these 'teaching methods' as well."

"It's different, I'm different." Gakushuu replied. Suddenly the adrenaline was thumping around his body. Karma was interrogating him, he was probably trying to find his weaknesses and exploit them.

"What do you mean by that?" Karma asked. It wasn't his usual teasing tone, he was being deadly serious here and that made Gakushuu more nervous. He felt like he was under a microscope.

"I don't expect you to understand." Gakushuu said dismissively, putting on a false show of casual arrogance. "I'm just stronger than my Classmates. That's a fact. Ultimately, I can handle whatever he does to me. But he's started to hurt my friends too. So he's taken it too far. That's all there is to it."

"And Asano, what is it that he does to you?" Karma asked after a moments deliberation. His tone was still so quiet and careful. "Specifically?"

Gakushuu froze, feeling suddenly trapped. His mother's words from days ago were ringing through his head, how he deserved what happened to him, how his father only did it because he was special. He'd clung to it because it was much better than the alternative explanations he'd been pondering; That maybe his Father just didn't like him very much. At least if some of it was Gakushuu's fault it was in his control.

"Asano?" Karma prompted, when the other didn't answer.

"Honestly Akabane." He huffed. "It really isn't any of your business."

"If your father hasn't done anything wrong, then you should be able to tell me what his 'teaching methods' are." Karma said, he had his hands in his pockets now, looking casual- trying to look casual. "Does he hurt you?"

"Lots of parents use corporal punishment." Gakushuu said, parroting his mother. Karma frowned at him.

"That doesn't make it right." He said resolutely.

"I have a very combative personality. I purposefully provoke people." Gakushuu said, still parroting his mother. "Can you honestly say you have never wanted to hit me? What about the rest of E class. I can just cause that reaction in people."

"Yeah, maybe I have wanted to hit you at some points, but I'm not your Dad. And in case you haven't noticed, a 'crazy delinquent' like me has been able to restrain myself from hurting you, so he should be able to do the same." Karma spat looked around before continuing. "Asano. Remember the day Takebayashi broke the Chairman's award, and I found you wandering around covered in blood with two of your nails missing. Your Dad didn't do that, did he?"

Gakushuu faltered, suddenly feeling himself choke on his words. Excuses and denial that should of come so easily to him suddenly wouldn't leave his mouth. He just had to say he trapped his hand in a car door (wait, that was the excuse he told Ren. What had he told Karma again.. basketball? Football? No...). His silence was damning.

"He did, didn't he?" Karma said.

Later on, Gakushuu couldn't explain- even to himself- why he did what he did. Perhaps it was because it was because a crazy part of his brain thought maybe Akabane would validate him and tell him that yes, Gakushuu had deserved everything that happened to him. Or maybe it was the other way around and he wanted someone to tell him that what happened to him was wrong. Or possibly it was just that he was incredibly lonely after being completely isolated from his friends, and he knew Karma wasn't someone in a position to spread rumours (nobody from the main school would believe him). But for whatever reason, Gakushuu told the truth.

"Yes. He did." He said, crossing his arms and glaring at Karma, just daring him to say anything. "I didn't notice Takebayashi sneaking that award out of his office. It was proportional."

"Shit." Karma breathed out. He suddenly looked a mixture of angry and horrified. It was clearly the answer he'd been dreading. "You- You must know that's not right."

"He doesn't just randomly beat me, it's always because of something I've done." Gakushuu argued. He was parroting his Dad's arguments now, the ones he didn't even know if he believed in. "Other people just don't understand our dynamic. He wants me to be the best, and I want to be the best. Nobody said it would be easy. But everything he's ever done to me has only made me stronger."

(Liar) his mind screamed.

"Asano, listen to yourself. You think it's wrong for him to use 'those methods' on your classmates, but whatever he's been doing to you is fine?" Karma said, sounding exasperated. "Does that make sense to you?"

"Yes. Because I'm different." Gakushuu said. He felt like he was arguing against himself as much as Karma, and he wasn't convincing either. "I don't expect you to understand, Akabane. Your parents haven't showed up for a parent-teacher conference since first year. Even when you beat another student and got suspended they were only present over Skype!"

"How do you know that?" Karma asked, looking affronted and the tiniest bit hurt. Gakushuu pounced on that weakness like he'd been taught to.

"I've read the school files. I know lots of things about a lot of people." Gakushuu shot back. "Listen, just because my Father isn't neglectful doesn't mean what he has done to me is wrong. Clearly his method is better, because even though we're probably of equal intelligence, I'm student council president and your a delinquent with a history of violence."

There. He'd said his piece. Karma would probably try to hit him now, and he'd hate Gakushuu too much to ever look at him again with such pity in his eyes. But instead, Karma just gave a humourless laugh.

"You're pretty good, I bet you use that to get out of a lot of uncomfortable situations; shift the focus to the other person. Make them so upset they forget the original topic." He said with a shrug. "Unfortunately, I'm the master of that, so it won't work on me. I certainly don't think my dear Ma and Pa are good parents. But that doesn't mean what your Dad's doing is justified."

Gakushuu felt as if his proverbial walls were being torn apart by this E-Class reprobate of all people.

"I- " Gakushuu started. His mind whirling, trying to think of another justification, another excuse, but he was drawing a blank. He picked up his speed. "You're just try to unnerve me."

"I'm not." Karma said, he took a step forward and Gakushuu took a step back.

"I shouldn't even be wasting my time talking to you- "

"Asano, you don't have to- "

"I really should be studying. You should too- " Gakushuu said, he was walking so fast now it was verging on a jog. All he knew was that he suddenly wanted to get as far away from Karma as possible. He didn't want to hear what he had to say, he didn't want to have to see the concern in his eyes any longer.

He didn't want to confront the idea that if even an enemy was horrified by the Chairman's actions, then the man had without a doubt crossed a line.

"Asano, wait. I'm not trying to- " Karma was saying. Gakushuu cut him off yet again. He was almost at his house now.

"Listen. Akabane. If you're serious about wanting to take first place from me, you can't afford any distractions." He said. "Any issues I have I'll handle it myself. Conversation over."

He pulled open the gate hastily, breathing heavily from adrenaline more than exertion. Karma watched but did not make any attempt to follow him.

The other boy was looking conflicted, like he wasn't sure what to do next. "You're not alone, you know." He said finally, before backing away, looking like he very much didn't want to.

Gakushuu let out a shaky breath of relief, walking up to his house and opening the front door. Well. That wasn't a very graceful way to deal with a difficult situation. He'd practically just run away. But he really couldn't think of another way to confront it.

"Where have you been?" The Chairman asked as Gakushuu entered the kitchen. It was the first time the man had spoken to him since he'd told Gakushuu to leave school. Gakushuu hated that he still felt validated by this tiny morsel of attention.

"For a walk." He said breezily. "It helps me focus. Exercise is linked with concentration, after all."

"I'm aware of that. You don't have to explain it to me." The Chairman said. He was filling up a large mug full of black coffee. Gakushuu wondered how many cups he'd had today alone.

It was no secret that the Chairman worked ridiculously long hours, but lately it seemed like he had forgone sleep completely. Whenever Gakushuu woke up in the middle of the night, the light from his father's study was still on, the sound of him tapping on the keyboard permeating the house.

Despite his reputation of being almost-superhuman, the physical effects were starting to show; his skin looked pale, and the bags under his eyes were more prominent than usual. Tiny tell-tale signs that he was slowly loosing his grip.

His increasingly extreme methods to maintain control were likely a sign he was starting to get desperate. For a millisecond, Gakushuu felt the tiniest glimmer of pity for the man in front of him, who, for all his power was so obviously broken. Then he remembered the blank stares of his mind-warped friends and the sympathy evaporated.

Gakushuu started rummaging through the cupboards for some studying snacks, and he could feel the Chairman's eyes on his back.

He was suddenly hit with a wave of fear; this situation was eerily similar to when the Chairman had threatened to break his legs and forced him to eat off the floor. He hadn't done anything wrong this time.. Well. He'd thought that last time hadn't he? What if the Chairman had found out he'd asked E class for help.. he certainly wouldn't be pleased.

"Asano. I have a hypothetical question for you." The Chairman said suddenly. Gakushuu almost dropped the bag of crisps he was holding, but managed to maintain composure.

"Yes?" He said, preparing himself for any range of mental-maths, philosophy, history or whatever other subject of questions.

"Let's say you had a partner. A romantic partner." The Chairman started. It was so far from anything Gakushuu was expecting, he thought he'd heard him wrong.

"I don't want a romantic partner." Gakushuu said, automatically. The Chairman sent him a withering look.

"It's a hypothetical." He said. "It doesn't have to be a romantic partner. It could be perhaps, a best friend."

"I thought you didn't want me to have friends." Gakushuu replied bitterly, unable to help himself.

"It's a hypothetical!" The Chairman snapped, before sighing, composing himself. "Let's say this best friend, or partner or whatever.. For no reason at all decides to beat you up. What would you do?"

"As if that would ever happen." Gakushuu scoffed, thinking of Ren. Yeah, no offence to Ren but he wasn't beating Gakushuu in a fight any time soon. Still, this line of questioning was weird. Gakushuu knew the Chairman had an ulterior motive, but he couldn't work out what.

"It's a hypothetical. Do you not know the meaning of hypothetical?" The Chairman practically growled. Gakushuu snapped to attention. This was obviously some sort of test, what was the right answer in this situation?

"Well, obviously if I'd let that happen it means I'm not strong enough. I'd train until they couldn't do it again." Gakushuu said after a pause. That was the correct answer, right? That was what you're supposed to do. The Chairman didn't seem satisfied with his answer.

"What if you never got stronger than them? What if they keep doing it, then what?" He prompted. Gakushuu frowned.. was this some sort of trick question? What was it he was missing?

"I would keep training and I would be strong enough. If for whatever reason I couldn't reach that goal, then I'd just be inadequate." Gakushuu said, resolutely, crossing his arms. "What kind of question is this, anyway? I doubt it's going to come up on the exams. If it does then you've really lost the plot."

The Chairman didn't rise to his verbal sparring, instead, he just stared at Gakushuu as if he had said something terrible. Gakushuu felt his stomach plummet, expecting wrath for whatever he'd done this time. But instead, the Chairman just swallowed and said;

"Just go back to studying, Asano."

Gakushuu didn't need to be told twice, he quickly left the kitchen, hurrying back to his room. He had a feeling that whatever answer his father had wanted from him, he'd given the exact opposite.

I think this might be the longest chapter yet Wheeew.

In the original manga/anime, Gakushuu does have an attitude of 'How my father treats me is just part of our dynamic. I can handle it but my classmates can't' and desipite everything he feels responsiblity to set Gakuhou straight, so I decided to explore this a bit here. Of course, given the more extreme portrayal of Gakuhou here, Gakushuu's views take a darker tone.

I also wanted to explore some of the less obvious consequences of abuse, such as violent and hostile behaviour becoming normalized and accepted. Obviously that's the oppisite of what the Chairman wanted, and he's finally starting to realise the consequences of his actions.

Also, I thiiink this is the first time I've written Korosensei in this story. Thats mostly because I wasn't sure how to handle him, because he's such a goofy character. Additionally, I didn't know how to handle a character who could theoretically stop the Chairman anytime he wanted. But after thinking about it, even in cannon, Korosensei had a very hand-off approach to tackling life problems. Which, while it may seem uncaring I guess makes sense given he's aware of his own short life span. He never really directly steps in to tackle E-Class' life problems (Whether it's bullies or Abusive parents like Nagisa).

Anyway, thank you for the reviews! I enjoyed reading them and they motivate me to continue this story, which hopefully I'll make until the end.