Thank you for the wait and reviews loves :) As always, they made me smile

Now then, onto the chapter!


"Hello, Karma-kun. Glad to see you're doing well."

The shock on Karma's face must be apparent because his father's grin only grows wider.

Sans for the plethora of expletives, the redhead's mind can come up with no fitting response. Thankfully, Koro-sensei immediately springs into action and approaches the chairman, which ultimately saves Karma from the embarrassment of everyone witnessing him dumbfounded and gaping like a fish.

While the two adults talk, he struggles to decide what to do now. Should he run from the man? No, it was too late anyway. And it seemed that finding his stray son wasn't the only thing on his agenda today. Stay then. Should he lay low or confront the principal head-on? He could, this was his ground and those were his friends behind his back after all.

Speaking of friends, they sure as hell weren't inconspicuous staring at him.

"I'll have you move to the new campus of our affiliate school opening next school year." The chairman declares loudly and carries on explaining how this was all for the sake of creating an optimized learning environment for the future E-classes.

To Karma's ears, it all sounds like a lousy attempt at delegitimizing their results by removing them from this school's official list of students.

God, this was the worst. His first instinct would normally be to notify Gakushuu about what's going on and his hand almost reaches into the pocket. Fortunately, a small aha moment stops him as the scene plays out in his head at the thought of telling his brother. Hi Gaku-nii, guess what, not only was your fear of our father losing it and destroying the school absolutely correct, ALSO I'm in that said school building against your (better) judgement! Haha, what a funny coincidence!

Yeah, no. Gakushuu would have his ass for that.

Whoop his ass like a pinata in fact.

He returns his attention back to the scene and notes Koro-sensei's discomposure. The chairman had just pulled out a paper to reveal a notice of dismissal.

"You're no longer necessary for my education, you see," the man continues with an even voice. "So I've come to kill you once and for all."

His classmates start murmuring among each other at that bold statement. To the outside eyes, this was simple enough - the chairman changing his tactics to attain his goals while also ridding the world of a danger that was this Mach 20 "monster". Karma, despite hearing all that sentiment from Gakushuu, also believes that's all there is to it, his father choosing to be a plague just to spite his enemies. But then the man walks straight to him and Karma fights every urge in his body to not back out from the window, refusing to appear weak. The principal looks at him with a new expression altogether, as if he had just put down a mask and replaced it with another.

For the longest time, neither moves. It's unsettling, how his father keeps gazing at him, the violet eyes deliberately wandering up and down, to his limbs and then back to his face. The classroom's ground on which he stands is also elevated, so they meet at eye level. Considering his past efforts to avoid the man, the redhead has never had a chance to fully and unobstructedly see the chairman, let alone from this close. So now when he does, it immediately strikes him how much he notices.

His face is still no warmer than an iceberg, yet Karma spots the miniature tug between his eyebrows, the way it involuntarily scrunches. He's seen this mannerism so often in Gakushuu, most recently yesterday at the kitchen table, as he asked Karma to stay home. He recognizes the light twitch of fingers on the man's right hand as well, the way it reminds him of how he constantly uses that as a tell-sign that Gakushuu is going to either flick him in the forehead or ruffle his hair. It's a 40/40 chance, the remaining 20 being any other form of physical contact, yet always 100 Percent coming from the most affectionate part of his brother's heart.

It feels so wrong seeing it on this man. Karma's stomach turns at the absurdity of his own mind comparing those two people and applying the same rules. And as if to further rub the salt into the wound, his father brazenly utters:

"The board has approved your transfer to class A. It's all for your own good too. You will see soon."

Karma refuses to accept it. He vehemently denies those words and his traitorous thoughts by reminding them both of one indisputable fact.

"You hit Gakushuu," he seethes and watches as the line between the chairman's brows deepens. "It hurt him so much he could barely open his mouth to talk by the end of the day. He couldn't properly eat until we iced it for over an hour. Was that also for his own good?"

The man's expression falls flat and Karma almost screams. Stop looking like him. Stop trying to make yourself look human.

"Anything you say means absolute horseshit if it just ends up ruining everything," Karma snarls, giving the chairman no chance to even try to deny it or explain himself. "Even if you force me to join your cult or tie me down with some papers, I won't be a puppet on your strings. I'll find a way out."

He hopes the contempt seeps into his words clearly enough and cuts deep, should the man even care.

The humane mask falls then and Karma's skin prickles at the abrupt change.

"You can try. But I always win. And I'll win this too," his father proclaims and turns his back to him, refocusing on Koro-sensei.

While the two teachers enter the classroom and set up the assassination, Karma remains unmoving by the window.

His friends send him encouraging looks and as much as he appreciates them, he can't muster up enough resolution to assure them he's alright. He feels the furthest from alright. Between the dread and distaste for the man's presence, apprehension about their class' future boils under his skin. This was Karma's safe place, the first semblance of normality and unity in his life, like hell he'd let anyone just barge in and tear it down.

It seemed his fears weren't unwarranted either. Their octopus teacher opens the first textbook and is met with a math problem. Rather simple too, apparently, but he panics and barely survives the first blow from the anti-sensei bullets.

"This is bad," he hears someone mutter. "The chairman might actually kill Koro-sensei if this goes on."

And indeed, the giant in front of them had been battered so badly there were pieces of him falling to the ground, leaving gaping holes in the body. Karma felt the need to do something, if not for the fact that he felt directly responsible for everything that was happening - this was his father after all, no matter how much he denied that fact - and that father was hurting his and his friends' precious mentor.

"Stop," he calls out. "Just let him be. I'll go with you, just-"

But then, Koro-sensei turns his head to the redhead and smiles. It's a soft, almost unnoticeable gesture, but it clears Karma's racing mind.

"It's alright," comes out of his lips, gentle and reassuring, and the boy finds himself believing it. "Sensei will be the one to protect you, no matter the path you choose. You need not worry."

At the same time, irritation crosses the chairman's face. "I'd appreciate it if you stopped feeding my son such absurd ideas," he grunts, voice dangerously low.

"Are you afraid of me stealing him away from you, Principal Asano?" the former asks, though there's little taunt behind those words. "That is not my intention. I merely wish to support him, just like all of my students. To force our own ideals upon them is futile after all, as they will inevitably follow their own belief."

The man ignores those words and instead prompts his target: "Move on to the next problem if you will. Before you recover."

Koro-sensei doesn't argue and trudges to the next desk. He lifts his tentacle, the students hold their breaths-

And a gust of wind sweeps across their face. They blink and there stands the teacher again, grinning wide as all remaining books lightly close in his wake. It takes a moment for the spectators to realize what has happened but when they do, they cheer loudly. The principal Asano on the other hand stares in disbelief.

"I more or less remember which questions were on which page, math was the only challenge because I lent it to a student so long ago that I'd forgotten," Koro-sensei confesses.

"So you just happened to memorize the books that I happened to bring?"

"Heavens no. I've memorized all of Japan's textbooks."

That renders the chairman absolutely speechless. Karma catches himself slumping slightly against the wall, relief washing over his whole body. They won. Koro-sensei gave them a real scare in the beginning but he got up from that one blunder instantly, proving once again that nothing was impossible for him.

"Such simplistic assassination poses no problem for a passionate educator. Here I thought you understood me but your students' defeat seems to have truly unnerved you," he jabs at the man. "Now you've dug your own grave. The last problem is yours." He beckons at the English textbook.

It's a victory for them, Karma tells himself. There's no way his father would throw his life away over a stupid bet, even if it's one he initiated. The man was more calculative than that and even a dumbass would see that there was no point in denying the loss. In the worst case for them, he'd come back with another plan. But right now, all that's left is for him to back down and allow Koro-sensei to teach their class on this campus.

However, nothing could be that easy today. To everyone's confusion, the chairman walks to the final textbook.

"He can't be serious, right?" Yoshida-kun asks in horror. He looks straight at Karma as if the redhead would know any better. "Hey! If you don't wanna die, just admit defeat already!" he then yells at the man.

"Maybe the grenade is just a fake, ain't no way he's gonna blow himself up," Terasaka-kun retorts.

"It's definitely real," Karma declares through gritted teeth. "He's not the type to cheat or bluff, that's how much he believes in his own plans and abilities."

And yet, the plan failed and the only thing to rely on was his intellect. No matter how genius, no normal human could solve a problem in a split second before a grenade goes off. Heck, just reading the task would take ten times more than the fuse allowed. Why was the principal still standing there in contemplation then?

"What does it feel like to have death right before your eyes? What could be flashing through that perfect mind of yours?" Koro-sensei voices out that question. The man doesn't bother answering as his past plays out in the depths of his mind. The faces of his first students, the crushing suicide of Ikeda, and the realisation that good students will always be taken advantage of.

He remembers once again the cornerstone of his philosophy. The reason for everything he's been building the last ten years - his desire to cultivate resilient students who wouldn't let themselves be trampled on, who would win and live a good life, even if it meant at the expense of others.

His ultimate act of atonement.

And for that purpose, he considered his life a small price to pay.

If nothing else, at least this could give it some worth.

"You're going to die if you open that," Karma snaps sharply, recognizing the change in his father's demeanour. "It's over!" he stresses at the lack of response.

As appalling as it was to find pieces of Gakushuu in their father, nothing prepared Karma to see a reflection of himself too. A glint of madness that conceals resignation. Karma recognizes in those eyes a version of himself that threw himself down a cliff out of despair, out of fear of the world crumbling underneath his feet. How stupidly poetic, that it's once again in the face of Koro-sensei that both he and his father resort to such drastic measures.

The principal only spares him a single glance before he turns back to the book, but even that short moment stirs a pang inside of the redhead. He's not sure why he's even this upset, he doesn't care the slightest for the man, does he? He doesn't. He despises him. Asano Gakuho virtually stood behind all the disputes in their families, his unreasonable principles lead to their mother leaving and subjected Gakushuu to immense pressure. Asano Gakuho was the man Karma chose to blame and would have been better off without.

Nevertheless, his body moves on its own and tries to leap through the window and stop the man, with a punch probably.

"What are you doing, Karma?!" his classmates immediately hold him down and wrestle him back.

He hates him. Asano Gakuho can't be called anything but a self-serving despot, a manipulator who's caused more pain than anything else. Should he perish right here and right now, it wouldn't matter.

It wouldn't, right?

Moments flicker.

A distant memory of a loving presence picking him up, praising him for reading a book on his own.

Of big warm hands securing him on a slippery path covered with fresh snow.

Of violet eyes a mere breath away from his own golden ones, their noses nuzzling.

No.

Those times were long gone. It wouldn't matter. That man has made his choice and that choice he should live and die with.

Gakushuu's torn expression, grief barely disguised in his voice.

"Who do I have left if not him and you?" left hanging in the air.

Karma bites the inside of his cheek.

Gakushuu.

He imagines Gakushuu coming home only to find out their father killed himself in a vain attempt to prove himself. He imagines his brother, already lonely and more fragile than ever, realizing he'll never have a chance to build a relationship with any of their parents again. It's a hope that Karma can't identify with, but he'd let the world burn to ashes before he would let this gentle, affectionate part of Gakushuu die.

"You stupid old man, get away from there!" Karma yells this time, throwing a pebble he found on the windowsill. It hits the chairman in the leg. He pays it no mind so the boy turns to his teacher: "Koro-sensei, don't let him open that b-"

He doesn't even get to finish the sentence. Right after his father opens the textbook, the whole room gets consumed by a blinding light, which along with a loud explosion stuns everyone.

Karma instinctively ducks and pulls his friends down with him to shield away from the impact and potential debris.

It's too late, he panics. There's no way any person could have survived that.

The moment he comes back to his senses, Karma springs into action and runs into the classroom. The air is still filled with smoke, the smell of burning wood attacks his nose, but he endures it and searches among the mess.

"Fuck! Fuck!" He curses while wafting the dust away. It's difficult to make out anything in front of him and with each step he takes, he restlessly awaits blood. Then, his shoes hit something soft and liquid. Karma's heart skips a beat.

"Shit!" he swears in terror, hands fanning more frantically until the smoke clears out. "Shit, no, father-" he chokes, kneeling down.

Instead of touching warm liquid, however, there's a slimy film at the end of his fingertips that spans over a larger area. Karma follows it with his eyes and finally detects the outline of a body. His father lays on the ground, shaken up, but appears to be very much in one piece and conscious.

At the same time, a tentacle lands on Karma's shoulder. He looks up to meet Koro-sensei's smile and realizes what's happened.

"You goddamned octopus," he exhales, suddenly very lightheaded from the adrenaline crash.

The teacher notes the boy slumping and uses his limb to press Karma towards his own gelatinous body while another ruffles his hair in a silent apology. Koro-sensei then returns his attention to the chairman, who seems to have recovered a bit from the initial shock.

"Your once-monthly trick?" Gakuho utters meekly as the moult around him disappears. "Why didn't you use it on yourself?"

The answer is obvious enough but he still needs to ask it. Why would his enemy spare him at their own cost?

"Because there's no doubt you would have opted to blow yourself up if I had won," his opponent answers gently.

"How would you know what I'd do?"

"Because we're so similar," Koro-sensei says. "We're stubborn educators, aiming for perfection even if it means using our own lives."

The principal raises an eyebrow at that, though there's little scepticism in it.

"I have heard about you from your old cram school students, about what happened and about you as an educator. The ideals I pursue right now are identical to those you all those years back. And even though you've taken a different path, this E-class that you created has been indirectly carrying on that intention."

Principal Asano remains quiet, the revelation slowly sinking in. He feels conflicted about having his so-called enemy not only protect but also confess respecting and pursuing the same goal. How could that be true? Wasn't Koro-sensei supposed to be the obstacle, rather than ally? Wasn't he the one compromising the future of this school's students? Of his children?

"I'm the only one this knife can kill. We do not teach the theft of human life here. You and I share the same ideal - not a killing education, but one that lets live."

One that lets live.

What a simple, yet painfully true way to put it. Gakuho supposes that's all he ever wanted, indeed.

For them and for Ikeda to live long and fulfilled lives.

"Sacrificing yourself won't bring that forth, Principal Asano. Only if we're of sound body and mind can we grant the same to our students. What I mean to say is-"

"That was the most fucking moronic thing you could have done," Karma interrupts them, voice shaky.

It's only now that Gakuho glances up from the ground and his indifferent expression breaks. His son sits only a few steps away, still leaning on the yellow giant, but his stare burns so intensely that it flays the man to the bone. The redhead's distraught calls from earlier play in his ears and he thinks, shamefully, when did he become so pathetic? How could he have so easily lost his cool and pulled a stunt this stupid in front of his own child?

His lips tremble and tears well up in his eyes. If the redhead wasn't curled into himself like a hurt animal on high alert, Gakuho might have leapt forward to embrace the boy and beg for forgiveness. For his actions, for the lengths he has gone to try to control him, despite the fact that he had no right to do that. He wonders how the redhead could even care, how he could have found it in himself to plead for the man not to open that grenade, when he had every right to wish the worst upon him.

Everything Gakuho has done was born from a genuine desire to let his students, his sons, his family win.

Yet now, even now at the face of death, he failed to realize that even that desire amounted to nothing if done the wrong way.

He had been cruel. So cruel.

"I-" he stutters, the golden eyes gazing back at him dissolving any excuses or resolution left. He doesn't know what to say, whether to apologize or to explain himself, whether there's any point to it.

From the bottom of his heart, he still believes in the philosophy he has created and in the good it would bring long term. However, its flaws now bare their teeth at him and it would be ignorant to not admit them.

"Can you stand, chairman?" Koro-sensei offers, clearly aware of the inner turmoil.

The man gathers himself without a word. At the same time, Karma hauls himself up with the help of tentacles and dusts his clothes.

Gakuho considers what he could say at the moment to convey his honest feelings. He's not truly sorry for his ideals, not yet at least and neither does he know if he can change. But one thing, he decides, will never be false:

"I regret the hurt I have caused you."

Those words take the redhead aback. The furrow of his brows is temporarily replaced by surprise. Then, he looks away and grunts: "There are better people to say that to. Don't get me wrong, for all I care, you can go ahead and blow yourself up any time." He scratches the back of his head. The conviction behind his tone falters and it's clear to them all that he's not being entirely genuine about that indifference. Still, the chairman doesn't comment on it.

"I wouldn't stop you. The only reason I did is that Gakushuu actually gives a shit about you, even tried to cover for you by lying about that bruise. He's kinder than me in that aspect."

The chairman takes that information in. He's not ready to process it, not here with so many eyes on him, so he only nods to show his son he understands.

A minute passes of them standing still before Gakuho takes a deep breath and tries to salvage any remains of his dignity. He turns to Koro-sensei, who immediately notices.

"Thank you for saving my life," he says firmly. And then, less confidently: "I'll permit class E to remain on this mountain and allow you to work here."

He pivots then on his heel, heading to the door. Before he leaves the class, Koro-sensei calls up behind him: "Let's keep on following through with our ideal education."

And to some extent, it lifts off at least a small amount of ache from his chest.


Half an hour later, Gakushuu finishes his class. He walks straight to the parking lot where his and his father's chauffeur waits for them.

Though unlike all the times before, he doesn't get in the backseat. He stands outside on the lookout for the chairman.

He's managed to gather enough information about the adoption process and the jury on his own, however, he wanted to discuss the matter with his father for the last time. Call it sentiment or stubbornness, but the strawberry blond merely concluded that should he not manage to convince the man, maybe he could use the chance to obtain further facts that he could use.

Gakushuu leans on the car and soaks the last rays of the sun with closed eyes. The day was surprisingly peaceful, Karma hasn't reported any problems yet either. With his mood better than in the last few weeks, his hopes for this conversation increase with each minute.

Then, the sound of footsteps pulls him out of his thoughts and he opens his eyes to meet his father's.

They appear distant and devoid of any of the clever, manipulative edge. It's a terrifying sight, for Gakushuu has never known that this man was capable of looking so... devastated.

"Father," he acknowledges, tone steady but tinged with a hint of urgency. He steps forward and immediately notes the dishevelled appearance. The chairman's suit was all crumpled, in some places even dusty. In his entire 15 years of knowing this man, Gakushuu has never seen a single speckle of dust on him.

Unsure of whether to show concern, let alone ask about what happened, he jumps straight to the topic: "I'd like to talk to you once more about the-"

He gets cut off by the man pulling him into a tight hug.

Gakushuu's face is pressed against his father's chest, he feels hair tickling his nape and it's an alien sensation, it knocks the wind out of him. Yet he lets it happen, partly because of the shock and partly, though he would never admit it - because it soothes the child in him.

"I'm sorry," he hears.

Was he dreaming? This must have been a dream. He must have imagined that.

Yet despite all that doubt, his father continues to holds him firmly.


UFF!

Once again a difficult chapter!

I'd like to actually explain the decisions I made in writing this part. See, in the original series, Asano Sr. basically blows himself up, gets a pep talk and suddenly is all okay with Koro-sensei completely changing class E. The first time I watched it I just accepted it, but now it feels a bit... weird? This man has spent 10 years building his life, his career and this system based on that philosophy, only for it all to crumble over a relatively short period of time. That, in itself, is a heavy blow. And then he gets so desperate he decides to get himself killed. How is no one acknowledging the actual gravity of such actions?

Now in this fic, add the pressure and hatred he feels from his sons. There's no way I could imagine him just shrugging the loss off and being like alrightyy we besties now Koro-sensei, let me go try to assassinate you some time. Like HUH? NO WAY.

Let him suffer. Let him try to deny being wrong, then let him drown in doubt, in confusion, give him time to sort out his thoughts and feelings.

Let him cling to a decade's worth of his work while also realizing that it's not right either. Let him regret the pain he's caused every time he looks into Gakushuu's eyes.

Ah, I don't even know if I'm making sense anymore. What I mean to say is, the change can't be instantaneous, can it?

On the side note, it took me some time to finish the chapter so I'm updating at like 2 am right now and my brain is dead :D I might elaborate or answer questions if you have some in the next update.

Which will be on: Saturday 19th

Bai bai :3