Heyaa, I'm currently in vacation mode but I managed to squeeze in some time to rewrite another chapter :) hope you like it!


"Gakushuu, stop," Karma groans. His cheek got repetitively poked and it was starting to really get on his nerves. He was finally able to fall asleep after talking with Koro-sensei and had no intention of waking up. Too. Fucking. Tired.

But the attacks didn't stop. No matter how many times Karma growled, they kept on going harder and harder. And then he got slapped with a piece of paper. That's when Karma finally snapped and opened his eyes... to find out that it wasn't his brother who was bugging him the whole time.

A single yellow tentacle found its way to their train compartment through the keyhole and held a small sheet of paper with something written on it. Confused, he starts reading.

Karma-kun!

We are going to arrive in 7 minutes! Please wake Asano-kun up and hurry up before anyone finds you two together! It's alright, sensei understands that you want to keep your friendship secret! I will always be here for you so don't hesitate to ask for help! I will do my best to give you two time to spend together, I promise! (`ω´)

To be forced to part your ways... Such a horrible fate! Sensei is deeply touched! ( ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ ) I won't let such cruelty happen!

PS: I took lots of photos of you two together. ༼ ✿◕‿◕✿༽ If you want to see them, come to me later ≖‿≖

Lots of love, Koro-sensei!

Right.

Karma stares blankly at the piece of paper and wonders what irritates him more: The fact that Koro-sensei acted like an emotional mother or that he still hovered by the doors, waiting for Karma to finish reading the message while wiping away his tears with a handkerchief.

Not to mention those ridiculous emoticons.

As dumbfounded as he felt though, Koro-sensei was right. Karma and Gakushuu really should get back to their respective classes before everyone starts searching for them (maybe they already were but the probability of Koro-sensei having done something to let them stay there for as long as possible in privacy seemed quite high).

And so, Karma nods, acknowledging that he has a point. Upon seeing that, Koro-sensei gives him a big thumbs-up and flies back to the train.

Karma shakes his brother's shoulders, but as always, Gakushuu doesn't even stir. He was quite a heavy sleeper (like the time they overslept until half past eight and Karma had to literally scream the shit out of him for him to come to his senses again). And so, Karma - of course, out of pure necessity - had to add some more slaps.

"The hell, Karma?!" Gakushuu grumbles, rubbing the spot on his cheek where he got hit (just lightly, it was impolite to hit your elder siblings after all :))

"We are almost there, we should return for now," Karma states, a slight note of petulance in his tone. Gakushuu snorts at the open display of childishness and flicks him on the forehead.

"Stop looking like that, we will see each other later." And he stands up, stretching his back and then taking his book.

Looking like what? Karma's sure he looks nothing but incredible and he has no intention of changing that.

"Don't overdo it with the studying, your brain will get roasted," he remarks mockingly. It's rather obvious to both of them that Karma's plain worried but it remains an unsaid agreement to not bring it up. Feelings still pose a rather complicated issue and Karma would rather die than openly show concern.

Gakushuu raises an eyebrow at that: "Me? Speak for yourself, you overgrown baby." Then, before he disappears behind the train doors: "You overdid it this time. Once we get into the hotel, get some decent sleep."

Karma puffs his cheeks, vehemently denying such an absurd idea. He didn't fool anyone with it.


Gakushuu's surrounded by too many people so he has to refrain from taking a big, dramatic breath.

Still. One time. Just this one time, he will admit it. No one will ever know, not unless they split their skull open and somehow manage to replay his thoughts one by one anyway:

Karma's still as cute as he used to be as a baby. Especially when sleeping. Gakushuu could combust in flames at times when the redhead fell asleep on his lap and the lingering baby fat on his cheek would squish against Gakushuu's leg.

That's all. Thanks for listening to his intrusive thoughts. Now, he can follow the instructions and stop getting distracted.

Since this trip was being organized by the E-class that had two teachers already, the A class only required to have one more teacher accompanying them. Said accompany was a 68-year-old ethics teacher who, frankly and understandably showed zero motivation in dealing with a bunch of teenagers and hid himself in the corners. Therefore, the one telling them information now was a young, black-haired man named Karasuma-sensei.

It seemed that Karma made a small mistake there when he claimed they'd reached their destination. After all, getting to an island via train would probably prove unproductive. To arrive at their resort, they had to sail for another two hours.

Since they had a private yacht rented, both classes were provided with food and drinks and offered many leisure activities and other things without having to pay for anything. Gakushuu took advantage of it right away by sneaking out to a small pharmacy and picking up medicine for fever (for Karma) and headache (for yours, sincerely).

Gakushuu hoped that the little idiot took his advice and headed right to his room to catch some sleep because seriously, he looked horrible with dark circles under his eyes. Gakushuu didn't like it any bit.

Making sure that no one followed him and that the hallways are clear, Gakushuu knocks at Karma's room door and waits for a response. He hears a faint creak of a bed followed by lazy footsteps. Then the door unlocks and reveals a ready-to-drop-dead redhead with a puzzled look which promptly morphs into excitement upon realizing who stood in front of him.

"I just came to give you this," reaching out for the small box in the plastic bag, Gakushuu handed it to him. "Since you would never go and get it yourself. If the fever doesn't go away soon, take them."

"Oh, worried about me? How sweet," Karma chuckles, but he's pleasantly surprised. He intended to just crash and not see the light of the day for the next two or so hours until they were forced to leave. "Thanks. But I'm fine I guess? Mostly tired but the fever's not high, I'm not dizzy either. Should be gone after a day," he tries to reassure him.

Gakushuu frowns in contemplation, scanning Karma's face. It's not like he doesn't believe his brother. He does, but...

nah, actually, he doesn't.

"Let me check," he says and touches their foreheads to compare. It indeed doesn't feel as warm as Gakushuu feared but this little shit here with his weak immune system could probably die of a common cold so he didn't want to risk anything. No, thank you very much.

"Fine," he admits, a bit relieved. "Go to bed, I should leave before anyone sees me,"

In a split second, Karma stiffens. Gakushuu barely notices it, but the redhead's mouth is slightly agape as if he is contemplating saying something and that signals to Gakushuu that something's awry.

"About that..." Karma starts, but his tone quickly dies down. "Never mind, it's not important." He shrugs it off.

Gakushuu eyes him sceptically, but before he can try to coax his brother into spilling the beans, Karma hushes him away: "Go before Nagisa-kun returns." Then he gives him a small hug and shuts the door right in front of his face.

Gakushuu stands there, dumbfounded for a good while. Whatever this was, he didn't have a great feeling about it. With Karma unwilling to talk, he can only hope it isn't any big trouble because if it is... well, it would be a trouble. But Karma was probably sane enough to know when to inform Gakushuu of important or problematic issues, so he decides there's no point in dwelling on it.

He returns to his room. The hallways were peaceful, which made sense, considering that they arrived not even 10 minutes ago and everyone was still getting settled. Gakushuu opens the door to his room and spots Ren, his current roommate. Ren was usually the best option Gakushuu could choose, but right now, the company did not please him any bit. Apart from the fact that he'd very much prefer to have some peace, the painkillers for his headache were still in his hands, an easy object for unnecessary questions.

"Yo, Asano," Ren waves at him while lying in his bed, reading a book. "Where were you?"

Gakushuu walks with the box behind him towards his own luggage and inconspicuously hides the purchase there.

"Just around, seeing what all there is to this yacht." He smiles.

"I see." Ren puts his book down. "By the way, what do you think about this trip? Why would the E-class take us with them?"

That's also something Gakushuu would love to know. Karma gave him nothing but cheap excuses, so he supposes it was probably initiated by the teachers and his brother only went along in order to be a thorn in Gakushuu's side at school too.

"To embarrass us, maybe? I see no good in the two most different classes spending four days together," He ends up saying.

"Right," Ren sighs. "Either way, let's enjoy it while we can, shall we?" He optimistically suggests, standing up and out of nowhere dragging Gakushuu out.

"Where are we going?" Gakushuu wiggles his arm away from the brunette's clutches, though he willingly follows him.

"There's a big pool on the upper floor. Hopefully, no one is there yet," Ren declares.

Except he was damn wrong.

The whole class E has already accumulated there in swimsuits, looking really excited. Upon noticing them, Gakushuu immediately turns around to leave, but someone stops him by grabbing his arm. To his irritation, it's not Ren.

"Hoho, leaving so soon, Perfect-student-kun?" A blond girl grins smugly at him. Her attitude and tone incredibly resemble Karma and when Gakushuu thinks back on all the times his brother boasted about some trouble he took part in, this girl always popped up. If he remembers right, her name is Nakamura Rio. The one who got first in English.

"Hey guys, lookie who is here," she calls out loudly, earning many curious faces from her classmates.

The gawking and attention grated at Gakushuu's nerves, worsening his headache, and he started unconsciously frowning. Nakamura noticed it and started grinning even more.

Disgusted, he jerks his arm from the girl's clutches: "Don't touch me."

Then he turns at Ren who's grown two shades paler: "Ren, we are going back."

This time, a black-haired boy (Isogai Yuuma, whom he recognizes from all student council meetings) stands before them, smiling apologetically: "Please forgive Nakamura-san's rudeness, Asano-kun. We have no intention of starting a fight so feel free to stay here."

His expression is warm and placating and if it weren't for Gakushuu's absolute contempt for all of E class, he might have even liked Isogai. He supposes the boy didn't earn his title of an 'ikemen' just on a whim.

Gakushuu has to steer himself in order to not let his civil mask slip and venomously retort he bears no desire to play friends with them. Instead, he thanks him and is about to leave, when the rest of his class suddenly appears behind him.

Ah, what a pain. If he leaves now, it would be the equivalent of running away from a battlefield and leaving his pawns at the mercy of their enemies. So Gakushuu has to suck it up and accept this challenge, however ridiculous.


An hour has passed and Gakushuu still doesn't feel any less relaxed than when he entered. Despite those oh-so-kind words of 3-E's class president, not many seemed excited about their presence and the same the A-class.

From the corner of his eye, he spots the familiar blond girl he's been desperately avoiding, talking to a blue-haired boy, Shiota Nagisa: "Where is Karma at such a good time? We could have so much fun with everyone," He overhears, the sinister undertone chainsaw to his nerves.

"I think he's still in our room. I will call him, wait a bit," the shrimp smiles, running off somewhere. Gakushuu's eye twitches at that. He wishes he could kick them both down and scream at them for not only not noticing Karma's condition but also dragging him out here instead of letting him rest.

But of course, he can't do that. He can't show his feelings or let his worries or care be displayed. Even if it were his little brother. It takes one slip-up, one wrong move and everyone will find out about them. The moment that happens, it's game over for them.

So he sighs in vanity, hoping that Karma would flat out refuse the invitation and sleep. Something tells Gakushuu he won't, with Karma's need to appear strong and unbothered, a perfect image of a devil.

When Gakushuu thinks about it, maybe they do share more similarities than they give credit to.

Hiding their real selves behind masks and lies.

Showing only strength and determination.

Maybe, if Gakushuu was a normal person, he'd say it's a bad trait to have. But he's not and strength is the only thing he knows and yearns for.

Just as he feared, Shiota truly was oblivious enough to drag Karma out of bed. He didn't look as bad anymore but now the two of them, Gakushuu and Karma would have to return to being 'enemies' and mock each other again.

"Karma! Entertain our guests a bit, will you?" Nakamura giggles at the sight of them and it makes Gakushu really, really want to punch her. Except it wouldn't do for the perfect student to hit a girl, would it? No matter how annoying she was.

The redhead's lips curl up mischievously, walking towards Gakushuu's seat in the bar along with her and Shiota.

And so, the play begins.

Half an hour of insults, attitude, mocking faces and suffering. Anyone looking on would confirm, except they'd be wrong about one thing. Gakushuu wasn't half as upset about the taunts as he was about another thing. And that was him and Karma having to pretend they were each other's archenemies all the time.

Maybe it was a bit stupid and childish of him to say this, but although they knew they were only acting, it still hurt.