Hey! Really sorry for the delay again, had a bit of a rough time and that left me with little time or energy to write. I'm okayish now though!
Arrysa: you're so sweet T.T Thank you so much for dropping the review, I have no idea what's wrong with FFN anymore, but I also see no notifications nor traffic information. My stats look like a ghost town right now and I was wondering if everyone just dropped the fic haha. Other than that, I'm so happy you liked the last chapter XD Had a lot of fun with it too before I dropped the bomb. About Nagisa, he's just frustrated about Karma's diet consisting of strawberry milk exclusively :D Nothing deep there!
Aniwaiii let's get to it sniff sniff
"There's someone I want you to meet. Someone who shaped me into who I am now and became a very important person in my life," Karma declares, looking into his brother's face with a tender determination. "His name is Koro-"
The windows of their living room light up a fiery orange despite the drawn curtains and both Karma and Gakushuu duck, instinctively hiding behind the couch. The initial intensity dies down immediately but there's still an ominous glow coming from the outside. At that point, both of their parents already stormed into the room in concern.
"What the hell was that?" Gakushuu breathes out in confusion.
Karma doesn't know what he expects to find, but he rushes to open the curtains. It's a stupid thing to do, considering the unknown dangers, but his insides are screaming with a dreadful premonition.
What greets him is the sight of a smoky dome where the mountain should be, a honeycomb barrier engulfing the very place his classroom and teacher reside in. His dear teacher, who the underworld as well as the government had its eyes on.
"No," Karma chokes, the realisation washing over him like an ice bucket. He knows that this doesn't mean anything yet, maybe Koro-sensei escaped, outsmarted the enemy and pulled a trick up his sleeve like he always does-
but maybe he didn't.
Despite his family's protests, Karma storms out with nothing but a phone in his hand. The device already rings with countless new notifications from the class chat, none of which answer their questions and only further fuel the anxiety. Nagisa doesn't pick up his calls at all and while Nakamura does, she offers little comfort or explanation. She hangs up after a minute to get dressed and investigate together with the rest of their classmates.
The air prickles Karma's bare skin and his lungs smart with each desperate inhale. It's only March, the evenings merciless and he wishes he at least managed to snatch a jacket on the way out. Barely five minutes have passed and yet his fingers already stiffened to the point typing on his phone hurts. Deciding that the best course of action is to simply head to the campus, Karma pivots towards the path. At the same time, someone pulls him back forcefully.
And surprisingly, it's not his brother.
"Karma-kun, wait!"
Unlike his son, Gakuho doesn't show any signs of weariness from the running. His breath remains even but there are undertones of anguish reflected in his violet eyes as he tries to hold the redhead in place. "I know you're concerned for Koro-sensei, but you need to come back for now."
Karma's brows rise at the realisation that someone in his family knows the reason behind his reaction. What a funny turn of events that the man he feels least connected to turns out to be the only one sharing the awareness about Koro-sensei and his bond with the teacher.
That is precisely why his father should understand then, that Karma won't turn away from this.
"Whoever planned this assassination attempt is on a different level, I need to go help him!"
His father however doesn't relent, the grip on Karma's forearm iron-tight and forming bruises as he struggles to get away. It only shows how incredibly strong Gakuho is as he effortlessly holds his son down while reaching for a phone out of his pocket.
It too drones with notifications, though those come from the news and countless missed phone calls. He puts it on display for the teen to read, expression solemn: "It's the government. They planned an ultimate assassination and revealed Koro-sensei's existence to the public."
This only fuels Karma's determination to rush to his teacher's side. He's going to break his own arm if that's what it takes for his father to let him go.
"The more of a reason why I have to go there! The government doesn't know, we need to tell them! He won't destroy the Earth! He's harmless, we have evidence-" Karma hollers, but his voice gets drowned out by a wave of shouts from behind him accompanied by white flashes.
Those white flashes turn out to be press cameras aimed straight at the two of them. A hoard of reporters with microphones in their hands surround them and Karma's brain short circuits, confused about why and how he's being swarmed by the media out of the blue, all the while the revelation of the fact that Koro-sensei's life truly might be in danger overwhelming him. Like a deer caught in the headlights, his words die on his tongue and his body freezes.
They all ask him questions. The lighting blinds him and Karma feels claustrophobic, dizzy, a thousand voices urging him to explain the situation and closing in on him from all sides. The words all melt into a cacophony of nonsense like monster, hostage, abuse and he doesn't understand any of it, doesn't even realize he forgot to breathe at some point.
Just as he thinks he's going to lose his footing, Karma's whole body is pressed against something much bigger than him, blocking the flashes and relieving him from sensory overload. That something gently unroots him from the spot, guides him away and Karma's moving backwards now. His vision is reduced to the grey of soft fabric and his ears are covered by it, muffling the commotion. It takes a while to realize that it's his father's arms holding his head tightly against his chest and hiding him from the reporters.
"Back off. Now. Or I will make sure you regret every remaining day of your measly lives," he hears his father threaten, the tyrannical coldness back in his voice.
Despite all the controversy about the principal letting the superhuman teach at the school, the reputation of Asano Gakuho is still not to be taken lightly. The crowd intuitively recedes, a shiver running down their spine as they face the demon himself. That grants Gakuho enough time to pick up his son and swiftly escape.
The reporters recover quickly though and decide to chase after him, only to be stopped by a car swerving right in front of them.
Gakuho stares in shock as he recognizes the vehicle.
"Get in, now!" Iori commands from the window of the driver's seat. Simultaneously, the passenger door opens with Gakushuu holding it out for them to jump in. So Gakuho does exactly that.
Iori then violently steps on the gas and all four of them hit the back of their seats, leaving behind nothing but a trail of dust in their tracks. They're safe, for now.
"Are you okay, Karma?!" Gakushuu takes his brother by the shoulders, scanning him from head to toe. Karma nods, looking shaken up but otherwise unhurt.
"We're going to my place. Everyone knows where you live and the whole area is teeming with media and civilians alike," Iori announces while looking at her ex-husband through the rear-view mirror. Deep lines are forming between her brows, the result of both fury over the invasion of privacy and apprehension about the safety of her son. The video of him under scrutiny, distressed and speechless on live TV plays in her mind. Her fingers clench the wheel so tight that Gakuho worries it might break.
She also tries her best to bite back on the questions about everything she heard about Karma's class before that footage. Once they return to the safety of their house though, once her son gets a cup of tea and preferably stops looking like a ghost, she'll get to the core of it.
The drive takes longer than usual, mostly due to the unrest on the streets. Thankfully, Iori's car and face are unfamiliar in the city and no one spares her a glance. And although the public now knows about the fact that Asano Gakushuu and Akabane Karma are both sons of Asano Gakuho, very few had even heard of let alone seen their mother and her residence.
When they do arrive, the iron gates she never had to use before close behind the car. This tangible separation from the outer world allows the family to let out a sigh of relief.
True to Iori's words, the first thing she does is hush her children to the sofa with warm throws while she makes tea. Gakuho leaves for a separate room to handle the most urgent phone calls. This extra time alone serves as a means of collecting their thoughts, a pause from the chaos unfolding outside.
When she walks in with warm cups of chamomile tea, Karma's stuck to his phone, reading and writing messages in what seems to be a group chat. Next to him, Gakushuu silently looks on. The strawberry blond seems much calmer than half an hour ago when he first found out about this so-called assassination classroom.
They notice her only when she's handing them the cups. Karma's face has regained some colour since but there's a permanent gloom cast over his eyes and the corners of his lips droop heavy.
"So you know about Koro-sensei? About my class?" he asks quietly.
The directness takes Iori aback. She sits down and aborts all her plans of gently coaxing answers out of him.
"I heard things from the news. Please explain what it means. Were you being held hostage by a monster? Were you forced into-"
"No! They got it all wrong, Koro-sensei would never, he-"
"Koro-sensei?" Iori's voice strains.
This time, it's Gakushuu who replies: "That's his homeroom teacher's name. The real one's. He's the superhuman those reporters spoke about."
Both his brother and mother gawk at him in shock.
"How do you know about this?" Karma chokes out.
Gakushuu rubs his temples tiredly. "I've had suspicions about your class being involved in something bigger. Ever since the island trip. There were also articles about a giant yellow being floating around. Both you and father refused to talk of it so I tried to put one and one together by myself, but I didn't have the full story. Not until now."
Just as he's being mentioned, Gakuho appears in the doorframe and it doesn't escape anyone's attention. Iori turns at him with a stone-cold glare: "You had a hand in this."
"It's not like I had any other choice."
"No, but you used it as an opportunity to profit yourself. Have you got no shame? Those were children you involved! You endangered your own son!"
It's then that Karma stands up abruptly, knocking over the mug and spilling its contents. He couldn't care less though, not when his teacher's name was being dragged through the mud and dirt all the while he could be dying on the mountain at this very moment.
"You've got it wrong! Koro-sensei is nothing like what they say!" Karma exclaims, his lower lip quivering. He's got his whole family's attention on him and intends to keep it that way, even if he sounds like a mess. "Koro-sensei is the reason why I'm even talking to you right now, the reason I didn't throw stones into your faces when you asked for us to be family again. He showed me the good and bad, he was there when you weren't, he raised me!"
The tea stains their carpet, white wool turning an ugly brown, and Karma's mind feels the same - clouded by misery and exhaustion. He doesn't want to be here, listening to his parents' moral standpoints, explaining to the world that the monster they talk of saved Karma's life over and over again. He needs to move, to find out what the hell is going on and how to stop it.
"Koro-sensei is the best thing that happened to me. Me and my whole class, the whole school in fact. He gave us a future to look forward to and he literally saved both mine and father's life. And I intend to pay that favour back. I'm leaving, now."
Before Karma manages to walk out of the room, his wrist gets pulled back. He's about to snarl to let go, but it's Gakushuu who holds him.
"You're not going alone. I'll help," his brother declares, expression soft. "I don't know anything about him, don't know what exactly you mean by him saving your lives either. I'll have you explain that later. But I saw how you bloomed over the year - you changed me too and it allowed us to get this far. Whatever and whoever Koro-sensei is, I owe him my gratitude."
Remarkably, the adults don't throw a fuss like he feared either. His father's calmness makes sense, considering he knew all about the truthfulness behind Karma's statement about Koro-sensei. But when even his mother puts aside the doubts and inner turmoil, when she decides to trust him despite all the concerning allegations, Karma feels a boulder fall from his shoulders.
"I love you two more than anything and if you're saying this Koro-sensei made such an impact on you, then I must meet him and confirm it for myself." Iori stands up and pulls her sons into a gentle hold. She feels nowhere near reassured, numerous questions and worries bubbling in her chest, but she recognizes genuine care when she sees it. And she saw so much of it in Karma when he talked of his teacher. Anything he wants to protect, she will too.
"I'm also not letting you go out there alone when there are bothersome reporters hunting your whole class down like wild animals. You've been in contact with them and Karasuma-sensei, haven't you? Tell us what the plan is and your mother and I will see how we can help." Gakuho joins in, already putting on a coat. He throws Karma one too, lest should he storm out into the march night again, he wouldn't freeze.
Karma catches it, eyes filling with hot tears. He bites them back though, with a greater task at hand to tackle and he tells them everything he knows.
Only class E is allowed to take part in the meeting with Karasuma-sensei, considering everyone else doesn't have the authorisation to even be in the same room with him. Karma's family drives him to the military base and insists on accompanying him by foot too, only to be held back by the guards. Only Karma is granted permission to take part in the briefing.
They wait in the parking lot (though that in itself is too generous of a term, they were in the middle of nowhere) along with many other families. Gakushuu recognizes some from the parent-teacher conference from previous years, but he's too occupied with his own thoughts to even attempt to strike up a conversation with them and extract more information. Besides, they all hang around anxiously and clutch their phones for any news from their children.
After what seems like an eternity, the gates finally open. Out walk three soldiers and behind them trudges the E-class, their steps sombre and heavy. The military explains that from now on, the members of class E and their families will be placed under governmental protection. Said protection involves a post of guards around their houses at all times that follow them with each step outside of their homes.
Gakushuu catches Karma's gaze and curiously finds the gold in them flaming hot with fire. Not only that - all of the students, despite betraying no emotions on their faces, have a hidden drive in their eyes. This combined with how strangely compliant they suddenly behave tells Gakushuu one thing.
Something's up.
Karma doesn't talk about it. He goes along with the arrangements so calmly that it alarms both their parents, to the point they sit him down at the two-day mark to pull him out of that seeming catatonia. He shrugs it off, claiming to have simply made peace with the fact that there's nothing he can do. After all, the mountain was completely surrounded by armed forces and the government had zero plans of backing down no matter how small the chances of Koro-sensei's explosion. Besides, he and his whole class were being monitored so they couldn't even try anything.
All of that rings true.
And over time, Gakushuu's conviction that Karma's cooking something up in his head dwindles bit by bit. He doesn't push the subject, only observes the devil when he isn't locked in his room. They talk like nothing's out of place, except Karma no longer pulls pranks or teases Gakushuu like he used to, voice now a steady murmur instead. His phone stops buzzing altogether which means he either receives no notifications or has muted them. The latter seems more likeable, especially considering that any time he puts the device down, he does it screen down.
However, one thing worries Gakushuu. Even as Karma is playing games or watching movies, his eyes don't follow the actions. They dim ever so slightly, absent and disconnected from the present. Whether that happens because he's planning a huge rescue operation or because the situation weighs on him gravely, Gakushuu can't tell anymore.
Much to everyone's surprise, there are no huge fights despite their family staying together under one roof for days. There are thankfully enough rooms for each person to stay in and their parents manage to work through the initial tension and join forces for the sake of supporting their sons. It almost feels like a real, complete home, except the strawberry blond occasionally stumbles upon his mother video-calling her new husband and realizes that once this passes, Gakushuu might be losing something too.
Then, it's one day before the date the government announced they'd be firing the ultimate weapon.
Karma has been awfully quiet for the whole evening, understandably so – tomorrow, his teacher would be no more. This knowledge pollutes the air, ruins not only his but also Gakuho's appetite and they both retire early to their rooms, one by one without much explanation. Iori doesn't stop them but looks at Gakushuu with brows knit together.
"He really means so much to them, doesn't he?" she asks when it's just the two of them.
It's obvious she means Koro-sensei.
Gakushuu never had the chance to meet the superhuman but there's a lot he can conclude from having stayed by Karma's side. He tries to explain it to his mother:
"Before class E, Karma trusted no one. He was violent and cocky and had no real friends. We could barely see eye to eye back then, not only because of that but because I was no better."
It's not something Iori wants to hear, especially knowing that the volatile temperament of her son stemmed from her absence, among other things. Still, she beckons him to carry on.
"Not that far into the semester, he flopped his exams. Not bad, but still enough for it to be embarrassing for both of us. I also had a loss of my own to deal with back then and we both battled with it very differently. I relied on my old ways and it was slowly destroying me, whereas Karma started relying on his class and his teacher. The difference was palpable – he stopped needing to assert himself with violence, realized the value behind teamwork and started putting effort into what he did. I didn't notice it back then because I was preoccupied with the old framework of my mind crumbling, but in hindsight, he started smiling more too."
Gakushuu takes a deep breath, sorting his thoughts out. He has a clear idea of where he's going with this, just not how to get there. Yet his mother doesn't seem to mind the rant and silently listens on.
"This sudden change also resulted in our mentalities clashing. We fought a lot. I didn't know what brought it forth and chalked it up to him deliberately rebelling against everything I did and taught him just for the sake of it. But over time he opened my eyes and showed me the faults behind my actions and how ignorant I've been. He and his class overthrew the hierarchy system at Father's school. After that, Father paid a visit to the E-class campus and most probably also faced Koro-sensei himself. He hasn't told me anything about that incident but that afternoon, when he returned, he was a changed man. For the better."
It's a very loose and incomplete summary of what has occurred the last year and he'll have to tell her in more detail one day. For now though, this has to suffice. After all, what she needs to realize first and foremost is just how impactful of a figure this Koro-sensei was to not only Karma as a student but also him as a person, to Gakushuu as his brother and to both Gakuho and Iori who he opened up to as a result.
"I think that were it not for Koro-sensei, I would have never even been able to call you mom again," he says at last, proof of just how far this being's influence reached.
Iori nods, lips in a tight line. Her eyes gleam wetly until tears start running down her cheeks. It's a worrying sight, but she reassures him that it's nothing, that she merely feels regretful and simultaneously moved.
Gakushuu is no different. He supposes if this was him in Karma's place, he wouldn't be able to just sit still and wait for his loved one to perish. No, to be killed.
He wouldn't be able to bear that...
Just like Karma wouldn't.
Of course he wouldn't!
"I'm sorry, I have to go right now, I'll help you clean up later," Gakushuu jumps out of his seat immediately. He bolts out of the kitchen and leaves his mother behind, confused. Heading straight to his younger brother's room, he doesn't even bother knocking and busts the door open with all his strength.
He makes it just in time.
Karma's wearing unfamiliar combat gear and propped halfway out of the window. A hood covers his red hair and the high collar hides half of his face. Still, Gakushuu sees how it twists in horror upon realizing that he got caught in the middle of sneaking out.
"I literally locked that door," Karma makes an attempt at easing the situation. Said lock lies broken on the floor. Again.
"I knew it, you're going to save him," Gakushuu ignores it, but has the decency to at least close the door and not out his brother completely. Yet.
Karma's expression hardens and for the first time in too long, there's life back in his voice: "We have to do this. We have a plan, we know the mountain better than anyone out there. I'm going no matter what you say or do."
That much, Gakushuu is aware of. He didn't come here to stop him anyway.
"I'll go with you," he demands softly.
This throws Karma off. His offences drop, relieved that he doesn't have to knock his older brother unconscious to carry out the mission. Still, he shakes his head: "No. Even though you're strong and all, you'd still be a liability. I'm sorry."
"Then I want you to update me. Tell me when you get there, what's happening or at least text me once in a while so that I know you're alright. That's all I ask for."
It's a lot to ask nevertheless, especially in a high-stress high-stakes situation that Karma's getting himself to. Who knows if he'll even have the time to check his phone, let alone shoot texts regularly. Still, he considers it - it's not like Gakushuu's backing down from this either.
"I'll do my best," he promises.
That's satisfactory enough, Gakushuu supposes.
"I'll be waiting. Stay safe, Karma," he pulls him into tight a hug. Then, he bumps his shoulder lightly in encouragement. "Go save your teacher. And make sure to introduce me to him properly next time."
Karma grins at that.
"Yeah."
:') Sobs
Next update: 18th of November
(also just curious since the stats have been at a zero for over a month now, is anyone else reading this still?)