Although Gakushuu made that cold declaration, he let that perfect mask slip eventually and spent the next 4 hours at Karma's place. To be more precise, he wrapped himself in a blanket all while stubbornly refusing to be talked to, only reading his book and eating a whole bucket of ice cream.

He was sulking, to Karma's absolute terror. Witnessing his older brother trying to deal with his first mental meltdown would have been hilarious if said older brother wasn't Asano Gakushuu, the definition of perfection and tenacity himself.

After a long time of consideration, Karma decided to join him. He might have been flirting with death at that point, but he plopped on Gakushuu's back, their bodies creating an X. The strawberry blond doesn't comment on it and Karma breathes out in relief. It's a bit alarming that Gakushuu doesn't even seem annoyed by the extra weight on his body, only carries on munching the ice cream with eyes glued to the piece of literature.

Right. If he survived this, then surely he can do this.

Karma reaches for the spoon Gakushuu was using and dips it in the bucket.

"Get your own spoon, ass," Gakushuu finally grumps, hand already flying up to get his spoon back. Karma, however, already put it into his mouth.

"Nah, too lazy," he grins, the smugness more of an act.

His brother only gives him a glare but says nothing else. He's always been good at sharing and all, but the loss in exams left him stingy. It's starting to creep Karma out to see Gakushuu this low.

A bit irked by the lack of reaction, he loads an extra big spoonful of the sweet ice cream. When the mass reaches the size of a tennis ball, Karma makes airplane noises and swings it in front of Gakushuu's face.

"Gaku-nii, say Aah!" he coaxes with a smile.

Gakushuu's eye twitches in irritation. His nose scrunches and he's ready to retort something super smart back. Unbeknownst to him, that's exactly the moment Karma waits for. The second Gakushuu opens his mouth, Karma forcefully shoves the entirety of that vanilla strawberry ice cream in.

Gakushuu chokes. His face morphs into horror, his jaw slacks and he starts to blow out air hysterically. The ice melts a bit faster, but still, his face feels numb from almost freezing. The poor strawberry blond didn't even have the chance to fight back.

"Eh, Gaku-nii has quite a big mouth," Karma says with a playful tone. He's truly impressed that he managed to stuff the whole thing in one go.

Gakushuu throws the book at him.

"You fucking dipshit!" he hisses, abruptly sitting up and throwing Karma off himself. His brother's limbs work fast and manage to hold Karma down long enough for him to retrieve the spoon and fill it with an equal amount of ice cream. Karma knew what awaited him but no amount of trashing and struggling helped, with the soft mattress giving in under him with each movement.

And so, he encounters the same fate.

This very scene repeats itself three times. Karma manages to overpower his older brother and force an ungodly amount of ice cream down his throat, then vice versa, and again and again until the whole bucket empties, leaving the two of them deadly exhausted with a sore throat, mouth and brain freeze.

If you asked him, that was quite a good afternoon.


Since Karma's class won the bet, they had the privilege to order class A to do one thing. He personally had no idea what would be fitting, but it seemed that their octopus teacher had something on his mind.

The next day, he brought it up with the class.

"Everyone~" Koro-sensei greeted, coming into the classroom with a magazine in his tentacles. He opened it to reveal a photograph of a beautiful island resort. "I have decided on the prize for you!"

The students fidget in anticipation, faces lighting up in excitement. Thankfully, Koro-sensei doesn't keep them guessing for long:

"Let's have a trip to this wonderful island with class A!"

WHat.

"WHAT?!" everyone immediately objects, standing up and shouting in disagreement. Everyone except for Karma, who still had yet to process his words.

"Are you crazy, Koro-sensei?!" Okano-san shrieks, hitting the table with her hands.

"Did you go nuts you damn octopus?!" Terasaka emphasizes and to show just how dissatisfied he is with that suggestion, throws a pencil.

Despite having ninety percent of the class shooting at him with rage, Koro-sensei easily dodges the bullets while trying to placate the crowd: "Please calm down and let me explain!"

Isogai-kun, one of the very few who remained seated and wasn't actively trying to murder the teacher, appealed as well: "Guys, let's listen to Koro-sensei's reasoning for now. Fighting won't solve anything!"

Most of them listen and cool down, but they all wear the same disapproving looks. Karma sees Nakamura grunt, crossing her arms and legs in open opposition.

Karma himself is just confused. He'd be lying if he said that it didn't interest him. Class A can go and burn in hell for all he cares, but it just so happens that Gakushuu is part of that bunch. Apart from the fact that a break from school would greatly benefit the strawberry blond (Karma doesn't want to ever witness his older brother having a breakdown ever again), he thinks it could be fun. If this works out, they'd be going on their first trip together.

Karma almost breaks into a grin.

Actually, screw that, it'd be fucking hilarious.

Now, now, he has to play this cool. He has to uphold his devil persona and not raise any suspicions.

"Well, octopus? What's the meaning of this?" he asks, making sure his voice sounds as fed up as he should feel.

Their teacher is stuck somewhere between flustered and excited, which in turn irritates the class even more.

"Yeah, Koro-sensei! Why would we want to go with that arrogant A class?!" Kayano-chan added.

Finally, Koro-sensei explains: "Of course! Don't you think, this rivalry and negativity between our classes is energy wasted? We should try to improve the relationship between class A and E, don't you think?"

That statement effectively shuts up the entirety of class E. Not that it was a good argument. They were just too stunned to even react.

Their deadpan expressions say as much and Koro-sensei tries to justify himself:

"I mean, if you were to get on better terms, it would greatly benefit our class, wouldn't it? And learning about one another might actually help you grow up as individuals! We should learn not to hate our rivals but to treat them like equals!" He continues, his voice somehow too eager. "Besides, don't you think that if they saw how this class works and how much we do our best, they would accept us instead of trying to pull us down?"

And again, no one even mutters a word. Koro-sensei must probably be very drunk or high because even an idiot like Terasaka can tell it won't work. Class A and the main building are full of bigots and they won't change just because of one trip to an island with them. Karma logically knew that no one would agree with this, but his desire to spend some nice time by the beach with Gakushuu motivated him to find a way to make it happen.

And so, he bursts into laughter, a loud and explosive one, falling down from his chair for the extra flare.

"Good one, Koro-sensei!" he forces out in between wheezes while sitting up on the chair again. Everyone's eyes are on him and he takes advantage of it: "Improve the relationship? How funny. Sure, whatever you say. I'll go with it but on my terms. I'll have plenty of time pranking them and making their lives hell!"

Nagisa-kun pulled that 'I knew it' face, chuckling. Others start to warm up to the idea as well, imagining the kind of mischief Karma would subject them to. The thought of Karma making them regret ever being born really spoke to their soul.

"I have a huge collection of spices. And wasabi. For starters, I can sneak it into their food and record their pain!" he plots with a smug grin.

Sugino-kun seems to be very pleased by that and snickers: "That would be pretty funny! But I think we should first put some bugs into their clothes."

"Wouldn't it be better to actually steal their clothes?" Nakamura contributes to their 'destroy 3-A' club. "And then record their reactions?"

"Ew, Nakamura, you are showing your perverted side again." Meahara-kun laughs and soon, the whole class joins in the conversation about how to harass and embarrass their enemies.

All according to Karma's plan.

"E-E-Everyone! On second thought, I think it's better if we went alone?!" Koro-sensei suddenly calls out, interrupting the passionate discussion.

The students however are too excited about the prospect of revenge, blood lust oozing: "Nah, sensei. I think that's a wonderful idea," Nakamura evilly declares. The others agreed.

Yup, all according to his plan.


"Can you please tell me why?" Gakushuu snaps, his face washed in disgust. He's holding the contract that Karma's class collectively wrote down about going to the private island together with the A class.

Not so surprisingly, Gakushuu didn't fancy the idea. The last thing he wanted was to spend the next few days with those failures.

"Eh? We just want to spend some time with you guys, is that a problem?" Karma feigns innocence, rather unwilling to admit that he was the mastermind behind this agreement. Wouldn't do any good to show that he loved his brother so much that he manipulated his class into agreeing. He had his pride and image to uphold, after all.

Gakushuu narrows his eyes in confusion: "What kind of lunatic made this up? Forcing us to stay with that useless E-class trash. I knew you'd be thinking up something terrible for us but this?!"

"Come on, we aren't that bad you know?"

"We?" his brother repeats spitefully. "Since when do you count yourself among those failures?"

"Since the moment I decided to stay there," Karma answers, not wanting to start an argument. It would be meaningless anyway. "And aren't I also a failure now, with how I screwed the exams?"

He thinks he sees something in Gakushuu crumble. The strawberry blond, however, only sighs, really fed up with this subject.

"That's it, I'm so done," he mutters, shaking his head and promptly collapsing into Karma's bed. Karma raises an eyebrow. No lecture today? Gakushuu must have had a long day.

Following his example, Karma hops into the bed right next to him and positions himself so that they see each other face to face. Gakushuu doesn't react, so he starts poking him in the cheek.

"Karma, I'm tired. Please let me be," he whispers, burrowing himself deeper into the pillow.

Something in Karma stirred uncomfortably.

"You had a lot today?" he prods carefully.

Gakushuu exhales heavily: "No. I mean yes. Agh."

"Which is it?" Karma huffs in amusement.

"The chairman just gave me a... motivation speech. And then everyone bombarded me with questions. Afterwards, the student council work piled up, teachers needed help with organisation. And I had extra classes and music lessons... my head hurts since morning and I didn't get much sleep the last two days," he confesses.

His voice becomes softer with each word. It looks like he's falling asleep but fighting it.

"You can relax, Gakushuu," Karma tries to convince him. "We're together," he reminds him and takes his brother's hand into his own.

It's faint, but Gakushuu's lips curl up. It's genuine and vulnerable, the complete opposite of what he wears at school. It's the one from which Karma can hear Thank you, or I love you. And sometimes, in an affectionate manner, Fuck you.

Karma squeezes his hand in reassurance. It's good to see Gakushuu put his guard down for once. It's also good to see him rest. Karma's really glad that he managed to convince the class to go to the island. If not for the fact that he could have some fun with Gakushuu, then because at least he'd provide his brother with a temporary escape from the cold home with the chairman. The place where, instead of being given the opportunity to unwind, he has to put up yet another barrier.

Yeah. He's so glad.


Bonus: 5 hours later

"GAKUSHUU! IT'S HALF PAST EIGHT, GODDAMN IT, WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!" Karma screams. He literally just woke up and caught a glimpse of the time. Gakushuu had yet to get up though, so he shook his shoulders.

Gakushuu starts to stir.

Karma slaps him. It wasn't necessary per se, but every second counted.

Gakushuu needed to go. It was late. Their father would definitely be suspicious if he came back this late.

"You little shit-" his brother growls, but Karma immediately cuts him off:

"GET THE FUCK UP IT'S HALF PAST EIGHT DO YOU HEAR ME HALF PAST FUCKING EIGHT EVENING!"

And he has never seen Gakushuu run faster.

Well, needless to say, he had a nice time explaining himself to the chairman.


Satsuki, thy name is fluff whore.

Get ready for the island arc ;)