"What is it in that place that changed you so much?" Gakushuu asked. His face betrayed no emotions, but it's the slight tremble in his voice that tells Karma there's fury lurking underneath. Not that he needed any superhuman power to deduct that, anyway, since it wasn't the most unexpected reaction. Karma did just announce his stay in class E after all. Again.

"Nothing really," he answers calmly.

Gakushuu doesn't back off though: "This school has always been the same but why is it only now you decide to rebel? Are you actually hiding something from me?"

He stands right before Karma, burning holes into him. Something that he's hiding? Something that made Karma change his mind and actually find the courage to fight against that ridiculous system of their school? Of course, it was Koro-sensei and the assassination classroom. They opened a whole new world to him, a world where he could be happy, where he wasn't controlled like a puppet and brainwashed.

"I'm not."

On some level, he's aware that Gakushuu won't buy it - no matter how good of a liar Karma was, Gakushuu was better, more weathered in that department. Karma felt guilty lying to his brother, but he tells himself it can't be helped, considering that Koro-sensei remained a top national secret.

"I don't believe you. Something made you too daring, even for your standards. And I will find out what it is."

And that's how their conversation ended a week ago.

Yes, Gakushuu meant the best for him. Yes, he was really really mad that Karma did not return even after scoring fourth in the school. But after everything that he has seen on the main campus and then everything that he felt here, among those 'failures' as Gakushuu calls them, Karma finally realised what really mattered.

Grades might influence his future a lot but what the hell was the point in studying for the sake of a 'better future' if, in the end, he turned into a stressed-out, lifeless machine with happiness to work towards? Because that's the path his brother was walking and the path he expected Karma to follow.

He refused.

That's why. He's going to prove that blockhead wrong. He's going to show Gakushuu that what really matters isn't prestige or status. Sure, standing above everyone was cool, but Karma will achieve that his own way. He doesn't need to suck up to some assholes, abide by some restricting rules and try to be someone he's not.

Gakushuu scoffed at him, claiming he was naive. That he had 'sunk so low'.

That, however, didn't stop him from being an annoying mother hen. Karma's head was already throbbing from pain due to getting hit by a pipe today on the school trip (which was cool by the way, the fact that they got a school trip to hot springs after exams). And as if heavens hated him, somehow Gakushuu found out and sent him a 7-paragraph-long text message which included mostly cussing him out for being an irresponsible shit without any sense of self-preservation. Maybe, Karma could find a light hint of worry if he squinted hard enough (though to be honest, Gakushuu must have been laughing to himself thinking Karma deserved a good smack to the head).

And last but not least, he received a lecture about how ridiculous his decision to stay in class E was. And since he was already at it, of course Gakushuu had to rub it in his fact that had he gone back to the main building, he could have easily enjoyed a much more luxurious school trip. Like some five star hotel spa treatment or whatever it was that Gakushuu and his class were having.

Seriously, what kind of school was this?

Okay, maybe he'll admit he's kind of jealous and wishes he could have gone on a trip with his brother (to prank him, of course). But then he remembers the ugly bitches in class A and gets the creeps. No thanks.

Anyway, Karma sent him a short reply where he oh so humbly thanked him for the worry and then added a nice sarcastic response concerning his offer. Something along the lines of I'm sorry, Gaku-nii, but you are such an uptight idiot so I have to do this you know? I'm being a rebel for your sake as well. Okay, maybe not that directly, but the point remained the same. Needless to say, Gakushuu wasn't happy.

Well, the vacation was nice and relaxing. The class became more open and their bonds deepened. A new student came - Ritsu. A lot happened but in the end, she befriended the class and somehow, it all worked out? Karma scratches his head sometimes at the absurdity of all the occurrences in and around his class, but who is he to question anything? His teacher is literally a giant colour-changing octopus capable of moving at Mach 20. What's one murder AI?

That's what he placated himself with until another tentacle freak turned up. Itona and his whole big brother Shenanigan slash obsession seriously made Karma question whether this was all just a disturbing conjecture of his mind. Maybe this was all just a fever dream and he was still sleeping on his bed on a weekend with Gakushuu hovering over him with medicine.

But nope, he was very much awake and this was reality. Even that fake teacher Takaoka and the walking mushroom Shiro guy (seriously, what the fuck was his problem?!) weren't a work of Karma's messed up head. Not that he couldn't have imagined Terasaka being manipulated by them, but what was rather unexpected was that the guy showed some serious guts and fundamentally changed Karma's view of him.

All in all, things were good. Karma even had the opportunity to travel to Hawaii with Koro-sensei and Nagisa-kun to see Sonic Ninja. The movie was great, even worth the five hours travelling. Everything should have been great.

And yet Karma's heart kept sinking with every passing day. Karma being in class E created a ripple between him and Gakushuu that even he didn't know how to mend. They both tried to operate around it though and in some ways, it worked just fine. Gakushuu still cared for him and visited regularly, they even shared laughs from time to time. But Karma felt himself growing more distant as a result of having to constantly lie to his brother about his school days. When he thinks about it, this was probably the first time ever that he's had to hide such a big and important part of his life.

And then, exams came. Gakushuu tended to completely shut out everything "irrelevant" during that period to focus on dominating the ranks. Sometimes, the lines of relevant and irrelevant stretched even all the way to Karma himself and blurred. It was nothing new and Karma would have been fine if other aspects of his social life remained unfazed. But that wasn't the case.

Everyone was obsessed with grades again. Not just Gakushuu or the main campus. Class E too. Koro-sensei. Even the people whom Karma trusted to be different somehow turned into the very things he was trying to defy. Top fifty this, top fifty that. Why? Why was he doing this again? He despised this pressure. He refused to be a puppet on strings. You must study. You must be the best. You must, you must, you must.

Everyone keeps repeating that. Gakushuu, the students, Koro-sensei. Karma believed that Koro-sensei cherished the process rather than the results, yet he was wrong.

Why was yet another person he admired turning into a hollow, generic teacher?

Karma sighed. His unwillingness to study or tend to any of his responsibilities for the matter really has reached a whole new level. He wasn't as lazy as he was dejected, frankly. And also too mopey to even care. Besides, he'll do fine anyway, so what was the point?

For now, he has another important task at hand to concentrate on. The game. The new game he just bought.


Gakushuu, on the other hand, has been working hard. Not just in studies, but also in his private life.

Yesterday, he talked with the chairman about class E. Gakushuu straight up declared he knew that his father was hiding something about the class E. It was obvious from how much Karma changed after all. And so, he did his research.

One of the things that popped up was rumours about some alleged being floating around. Gakushuu has no idea how it ties to this school, to Karma himself, but his instincts are screaming. He's worried sick but what really, seriously takes the cake is the anger. Why would Karma hide something that important from him? Did he not trust his older brother anymore?

He had to get to the bottom of this.

And then, by some lucky coincidence, the virtuosos proposed a contest against class E. Gakushuu internally rejoiced, realizing that a chance presented itself for him to reach his goal. While writing the contract, he added a simple condition.

No secrets.

And then, he could question Karma all he wanted. And if Karma isn't willing to talk, he'll just juice the information out of any other student.

A perfect plan. All they need to do is win.

But. they. didn't.

How could mere failures like them take three top spots in the exams?! Gakushuu stayed number one as always but they still lost the wager to the E class. Moreover, the principle of this school, of this hierarchic system was disturbed. A being the best. E being the end. The outcasts. The useless ones. How could the trash overturn this simple, absolute fact?!

And then - Karma. What the actual fuck was that brat doing. Thirteenth?! 85 points from math?! Was he kidding? Was he seriously getting more stupid because of staying in that place?

As if it weren't enough, Gakushuu got mocked by the chairman.

He really felt like murdering someone by the end of this. And there was a very suitable victim right in front of him.

"Can you explain yourself?!" Gakushuu hisses, clenching the ranking paper in his hand. Karma doesn't look at him, keeps his gaze plastered on the book he's holding, but his face darkens immediately.

"No, I can't."

That pisses him off even more. How could Karma be so calm?! Why didn't it eat him up from the inside?!

Gakushuu throws the paper on the floor in frustration and sits down on a chair. He's fuming at this point, unable to wrap his head around the fact that he lost. He. The ace, the ruler of this system. Maybe he didn't lose directly, but it was still his authority being overturned. And then he had to suffer through the humiliation from his father without anything to retort back.

"Chill out, Gakushuu, don't break down on me now," Karma suddenly pats his back with a gentle voice. "This isn't the end of the world."

Gakushuu sneers bitterly. "Who do you take me for to break down, you little shit?"

Karma shrugs, putting the book down. There's no taunt in his posture. "You are just a human, humans do feel depressed once in a while."

Gakushuu would be moved if he didn't absolutely hate the implications of that sentence. He's not just a human. He doesn't get depressed. He shouldn't be having lows because he shouldn't even have a reason to sink there. These feelings were a hindrance.

"Drowning in self-pity leads nowhere. It's pathetic," he states, earning himself a sour look from Karma. The redhead looked ready to argue about that, probably sputtering some nonsense like people are allowed to let their feelings out. Gakushuu's in no mood to hear it so he promptly stops him: "That's why. Next time, I'm going to crush the E class. I will show them their place. And you-"

He looks him in the eyes.

"-you will hopefully realize where you belong."


Karma belongs to me, hahahahahahhahahaaa XDDD No, just kidding T.T Unless?

(Can I have him?)