So I couldn't update yesterday because the website crashed apparently and then I was in the train the whole day today so it's only now! Sorry but I hope you understand!

Edit: Reuploading it because the formating got screwed up.


Karma has been receiving way too many heated calls lately. Sure, all of them were from people he willingly surrounded himself with and while hearing from them was (usually) actually appreciated, he wonders for a hot moment if he should ditch this phone number for good.

"Are you listening?"

And with each passing moment he spends on this call with Gakushuu, the urge gets stronger.

"No," he groans out of spite. "Since you keep telling me the same thing over and over again, my brain shut down on its own. I can't control it. It's a defence mechanism."

"I will literally come there and smack you," his brother retorts and Karma almost laughs at the absurdity of this statement. The very reason they were talking on the phone right now was because Gakushuu couldn't come over to smack him.

"Yes, yes. I got it already. I'm sorry for ignoring your advice and going behind your back. Should have stayed home like a good little boy and left you all alone to deal with the adult stuff because I'm too unreliable to do that. Happy?"

There's prolonged silence on the other side and were it for the occasional clangs of glass and the soft background chatter, Karma would have thought the call got cut off.

"That's not what I meant and you know that."

He does, really, and he agrees on some level that going to school a day after getting attacked and risking being targeted by the chairman was reckless. Yet at the same time, the hypocrisy of this whole situation puts him off, leaves a bad taste in his mouth. There his brother was, lecturing him about how Karma should have stayed away from their father, while Gakushuu himself currently sits in the restaurant with said father, getting real chummy from the sound of it.

"Sure. Whatever. Anyway, what does he want? He said anything yet about why he took you out on dinner?" Karma asks, making sure his tone carries the mistrust he currently feels.

The strawberry blond makes a thoughtful hum: "No. But it doesn't seem like he wants anything either. I told you what he was like when he came back from your campus. To me it really looks like he's genuinely sorry-"

"Hilarious, don't finish that sentence."

"-and is trying to apologize in his own way. Or whatever the equivalent of apologizing for him is," Gakushuu stubbornly insists.

The redhead heads to the bed puts the phone down, close enough to hear, and buries himself into the pillows. He's tired, his bruised ribs throb in a way that doesn't exactly hurt enough to take painkillers but at the same time makes it difficult to move in any way without making him highly uncomfortable. And now, this conversation was eating away at his already depleted emotional capacity reservoir. Truly, the impulse to just hang up became even more tempting.

"He bought us A5 Wagyu steaks, Karma. A5. He never goes to restaurants or spends such sums of money unless it's for work, let alone on such short notice. He's been weirdly silent and mellow. Even asked me about the bruise on my cheek. That's the most contrite I've ever seen him for as long as I've been living with him," the boy explains in a hushed voice.

Karma has to bite down on his tongue to not reveal that the reason the chairman probably even asked about that injury was that he scathingly mentioned it in their encounter earlier today. Or the fact that the man apologizing in the first place wouldn't have probably even occurred to him, if not for the redhead pointing out that Gakushuu was the more suitable recipient.

He's kept the whole bomb incident a secret from his brother because he doubts anything good will come out of him knowing about it. Other than that, it'd be hard to explain how he even survived the explosion without mentioning a certain national secret. There was also the lingering distaste for showing vulnerability in his moment of weakness when he thought the man had really blown himself up, some kind of shame that discouraged him from even thinking about the whole event. As such, he had only recounted the events in the most objective way possible:

The principal challenged the E-class homeroom teacher to an intellectual contest and lost. Simple, short, true.

If Gakushuu suspected there was more to the story, which let's be honest he most definitely did, he at the very least didn't prod any further. Karma supposes that for the time being, the mere fact that "loss" and their father were lumped together in one sentence proved to be a sufficient explanation enough for the man's sudden change of demeanour.

In Gakushuu's eyes, the chairman had been humbled and after reaching rock bottom, appeared to be rethinking his methods. As someone who had recently been in a very similar spot, the strawberry blond must be finding a connection of some sort with the man, a first emotional link to the enigma called their father. And while Karma can try to understand that sense of rapport, he doesn't feel ready to entertain the idea.

"Karma?" The voice pulls him out of his thoughts. It's gentle and a little bit unsure, hoping for a peaceful resolution.

Unfortunately, the redhead couldn't dig out the same kindness in him even if he was given a shovel and a map with a huge X on it. "So what? He buys you expensive food, throws in some nice words and suddenly everything's alright and forgiven? Didn't you say it yourself? He's a master at manipulation. This could very well just be another of his coys to get wrap you around his finger."

"I'm not ruling out that possibility and neither am I forgiving anything," the older boy shoots down immediately. Then, a bit more hesitantly: "However, all I want is to explore where this takes us. If he's truly trying to repent, he'll go with our requests. If he has ulterior motives, we can at the very least juice out any concessions he'd be willing to make to gain our trust. It's us manipulating him, Karma. Not the other way round."

Gakushuu has to excuse himself shortly after, as the chairman returns after paying their bill. They end the call and Karma sighs into the covers in resignation. He's rather cynical about how much of this really was just a strategic move rather than sentiment, still, he chooses to believe in the strawberry blond.

After all, it was still the Asano Gakushuu he was talking about. And while Karma has personally seen more of his soft side as of late, no one could deny the sharp and ruthless part of him when it came to facing his opponents.

Somewhat less anxious, the redhead pulls the covers a bit higher and closes his eyes. He falls asleep in a matter of minutes, which however means he misses a rather important phone call.


Gakushuu stashes his phone back into the pocket of his uniform right as the chairman turns away from the counter and heads back to their table. He would have preferred to talk with the younger boy a bit longer and placate his obvious cynicism, but letting the principal be privy to their conversations (or even him being aware that the two of them stayed in contact practically all the time) stood quite high up in the list of things he'd rather not do. He neatly puts the knife and fork parallel to each other as a signal he's done with his meal and straightens his back, the neutral mask slipping right back on.

"Let us head back," his father exclaims, eyes falling on the empty plate, "if you're finished."

Gakushuu stands up without a word and they leave.

The ride back home is silent and even the chauffeur, despite clearly brimming with curiosity at the reason behind such a sudden and extravagant occasion, senses the tension and keeps the questions to himself.

He peels his gaze away from the window occasionally and directs it to the man sitting in front of him. He sees little of his face so it's hard to gauge what expression he has right now. Still, there's a difference in the way he carries himself which in combination with their dinner as a whole flabbergasts the strawberry blond.

It's only when they arrive home and close the door behind them, does he finally find it in himself to speak up again:

"May I ask what the intention behind today's dinner was, sir? You have yet to voice out your critique or orders."

His father doesn't seem surprised by that question but there's a glum cast over his eyes. He takes off his jacket, hangs it on the hallway rack and proceeds to loosen the tie around his heck.

Gakushuu stands in the same place and awaits an answer even as the man walks to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. The lid of their kettle audibly snaps open, water turbulently fills it and the vessel clicks close again. He hears the rustle of a teabag being ripped, yet it appears the chairman himself has no intention of saying anything.

Patience running out, the boy walks to the room and challenges the man with a determined face: "I heard of your loss to the E-class. Does it have anything to do with that?"

That seems to hit the nail. His father doesn't show it but after spending fifteen years under the same roof and studying each aspect of his personality, Gakushuu has learnt to recognize even the the most miniature changes in body language, as well as different tones of speech. It's no wonder then, that it doesn't escape his attention how one breath comes a tad too fast, nor how it's carefully let out shortly after as if to regain composure.

What he, however, doesn't recognize, is the short and almost frank admission.

"And if it does?" his father replies like it pains him.

Another moment of silence hits them and Gakushuu looks on as the chairman pours boilinig water into his cup. He has already put back on the emotionless facade and it stirrs unease in the boy. Not wanting to risk losing this peculiarly honest air between them, he switches tactics.

"It really changes the way you see things, doesn't it?" He offers, softer than he's ever dared speak in the presence of this man. It jarrs him though, how his tongue feels heavy like lead, how it refuses to cooperate. He knows what he wants to say, what he probably should in order to gain his attention and to make it resonate. Yet somehow, talking with his parent proved thousand times more difficult than with Karma or anyone else before him. His stomach churned at how wrong this situation was – him, who's always been lectured, now becoming the lecturer to his lifelong teacher.

"Suddenly you turned into the thing you scorned and those you deemed lesser stand above you. It makes you think, doesn't it, how relative power and status really are."

The chairman mixes his cup with a spoon and takes a sip. His gaze, however, is now plastered on his son. Gakushuu takes that as a win.

"It also makes you think about what isn't that fickle. Family, for example. Bonds. No matter how much you scared and pressured my friends, they still found the strength to stand up for the things and people that mattered to them."

He cautiously takes a seat on the adjacant chair, meeting his father's stare: "And somehow, it turns out that the things you considered weaknesses are the very things that pull you through the worst times."

Gakushuu remembers the way his father had unexpectedly taken him in his arms, apologizing. How those violet eyes lingered on the gauze on his cheek, even as he pulled away barely three seconds later and acted like nothing was out of ordinary. The strawberry blond sensed the regret bleeding out from his father, but most of all the longing for something dear among the havoc he's caused and subsequently put himself through.

"Father, do you-" he stutters and it's almost horrifying how the line between calculative honesty and his personal feelings blurs. "Can you finally see the world we see it? Can you understand why we fight against a regime that allows for no such relationships? Or worse, actively destroys them?"

"It's getting quite late, isn't it?" the man finally speaks up. He's apparently finished the tea and was now using that opportunity to stand up and walk to the sink, showing his back to the boy.

"Father, I suggest we talk about this. And about our family." Gakushuu doesn't relent. He's up on his feet as well, shadowing the chairman just a few steps behind.

The man turns around and gives his son a contemplative look. The strawberry blond suspects he's going to be shot down once again, but there's suddenly a hand on his head, warm and firm. Gakushuu's brows rise in shock. This was the second time he's been touched, the first time gently in probably more than a year. Maybe even several years.

He knows, then, that his father isn't seeing just him at the moment. The man is finding his students from a decade ago, Ikeda who was in a similar age when he died, and it explains the gleam in his eyes.

"We will," the chairman concedes at last, his hand gone in an instant. "But not now."

Unfortunately for Gakushuu, he's aware of how vulnerable he must come across right now and refuses to say things he's going to regret.

And with that, the strawberry blond is left alone in the kitchen, cursing under his breath. He's missed the golden opportunity to lay down his demands and will definitely be met with Karma's disapproval upon recounting their conversations and showing empathy. Yet he can't help but feel like they have, in a way, come further than ever before.

Mysteriously, the spot where his father's hand rested keeps tingling for the whole evening.


Behind the closed doors of his study, Gakuho slumps into a chair and sighs into the palms of his hands. His son's words lay heavy on his chest but what truly takes the cake is his phone, filled with numerous missed calls and one text message.

He doesn't have this number saved but he doesn't need to, because it's quite obvious who it belongs to.

Something akin to dread eats its way into his bones, the kind of anxiety he hasn't felt in a long time which was reserved for only one single person in his whole life. One person, who for the longest time was his world, his equal, his soul.

That was, until ten years ago.

He opens the message. There, a single line glares right back at him.

Once I am back, we are going to talk.

Gakuho casts a glimpse at the papers on his desk, at the various proofs of his wife's absence in Karma's life and other documents supporting his case.

He regrets the hurt he's caused to his sons and wishes to make peace with them if that was even on the table, but he doesn't think he's ready to let go of either of them just yet. Nothing was going to change his conviction that they were the safest with him and even if it means sacrificing any chance of recovering their relationship, he'd at least make sure to protect them from the world.

He types his reply in a similar manner, concise and straight to the point and mentally prepares himself for a battle way more critical, than today.


Next update: Saturday 26th!

Hope you liked it!