So, I know I'm 3,5 days late. I'm sorry, I was writing regularly after uni but then got stuck in Switzerland for half a week plus didn't have any Internet/Data so I couldn't make any progress. Nevertheless, the chapter is here, quite lengthy and with a lot of shit happening :D So yeah, enjoy!


"We did it!"

"We pulled down the Big Five in the battle for the top spot too!"

The whole class E bursts into an uproar, throwing their exam results into the air.

Koro-sensei watches his students celebrate, one by one announcing their ranking, and his heart swells with pride.

They beat the odds. Proved their strength to the main campus and most importantly, exceeded their own expectations. Slowly but surely, his students have broken free of the learned helplessness that's been instilled in them and quite honestly, there is nothing more Koro-sensei could ever hope for.

"The first place is Karma!" someone points out and the commotion intensifies while everyone's calling out for the redhead to congratulate him. Yet it is only then that it becomes clear that-

"Karma's not here?" Sugino turns to Nagisa in confusion.

"He said he's got something to take care of real quick, I thought he'd come back by now though," the boy confesses. They met shortly in the morning on the way to the school but instead of taking the usual right turn up the hill to their campus, Karma kept going straight.

Truth be told, there should probably be no reason for Nagisa to feel as uneasy as he does. Karma has been skipping lately too, today would be no exception. Maybe it's got something to do with his secret girlfriend/boyfriend or whatever it might be that they had speculated about with Nakamura.

But then he remembers the prompt interaction the two of them had and something just didn't feel right. For one, it was strange to see Karma without his usual black blazer and while he claimed to have simply forgotten it, Nagisa found it difficult to believe as Karma, with his insane memory rarely ever forgot anything, let alone the one thing he wears every day.

But then, why would he lie about it?

Did he lie in the first place? Maybe Nagisa truly is just paranoid. Karma's demeanour did not seem out of the ordinary, the smiles and tone as carefree and wild as ever... but after having spent so much time around his friend, Nagisa has started developing a sense of what the normal amount of "manic" is. Or so he believes. He's learning to trust himself and his judgement a bit more and it tells him that today, Karma seemed quite... different.

"Dude literally overthrows the Asano and becomes the new head of this dictatorship but still ditches classes like a delinquent. Classic," Nakamura remarks but her warm chuckle betrays fondness rather than teasing.

"Yeah, bet he found himself some nice tree to lay on and is just laughing at everyone from up there," Okajima adds, earning himself a laugh from the rest of the class.

It's not such an impossible picture to envision. Actually, it sounds more probable than anything Nagisa might be imagining, yet the uneasiness doesn't leave him. He picks up his phone and looks at the unanswered messages he sent to his friend.

It's been twenty minutes. Karma tends to be a fast replier (unless he's seriously studying but let's be real, that happens like twice a year) so this only adds to his suspicions.

Nakamura is still laughing. She doesn't seem to be aware of anything either.

"Anything wrong, Nagisa-kun?" There's a tentacle on his shoulder and he startles, too deep in his own thoughts.

"Koro-sensei," the boy acknowledges. The class hasn't noticed the interaction so he keeps his voice down, not wanting to draw attention. "No, sorry. I'm just worried about Karma-kun, that's all. He hasn't been answering me."

The teacher ponders for a moment, understanding: "Hmm... I too find it strange for Karma-kun to be absent, we were all supposed to look at the results together. Did anything happen?"

"No," Nagisa shakes his head. "I don't know. I saw him in the morning before he left somewhere else and everything seemed fine but I can't shake off this feeling..."

"Where was he headed?"

"He didn't mention. But it looked like the route to the main building," he answers.

Surely, Koro-sensei would say that there's nothing to be worried about. After all, this is Karma they are talking about and Karma always disappears like this, always bends the rules and strays once in a while like a street cat. Plus, even if he got himself into some trouble, there was barely anything he couldn't tackle. Yet when Nagisa glances up at Koro-sensei, he immediately notices the troubled expression.

It's one thing for him to feel concerned but Koro-sensei?

"What? Do you know something, Koro-sensei?!" the student inquires frantically. It's only then that he notices the room has gone significantly silent and it's just his voice cutting through.

"No, though I have a hunch…" the teacher trails off. He thinks of the main campus and of what Karma could have possibly wanted there and remembers all of a sudden the revelation he had during the school trip regarding the redhead and another student from class A.

Still, he can't figure out the reason for the sudden visit. Why would Karma go to the main campus out of all places, during a regular school day - especially on a day when the results would be published? Did something occur regarding the ranking or marks that he needed to personally clear up with Asano Gakushuu?

Strange, truly strange.

"Nagisa-kun, why don't you try calling him?"


Meanwhile, on the opposite side, crippling dejection fell upon the entirety of the Kunugigaoka Junior high school as they stared at the main board. While class 3-E rejoiced about their success in taking the top 50, other classes - especially class 3-A only stared in horror upon seeing how far down the list their names were.

It made no sense.

They studied so hard. The principal himself came to teach them, drilled so much knowledge in their head… and yet they placed worse than ever before.

Of course they did, Karma sighs. There was no way they could have kept such a drastic output for a long time without it significantly impacting them in the long run.

Gakushuu may have been forced to stay home and rarely ever talked with the chairman but he still kept tabs on his class, considering he was supposed to be their leader. Karma's heard enough from him about what kind of regime had been established and he feels mostly sorry for them.

But no matter. This isn't why he came here. And as much as he'd love to see how well he did, he can't even make out a single letter from how far he's standing, the hoard of students in his way. He feels stuffed and the grey uniform he packed in the bag this morning is now uncomfortably clinging to his skin. It's tight enough that he feels his phone vibrate with each message he receives from Nagisa-kun (he will answer, later). He really misses his own blazer, at the very least because it doesn't restrict his movement. However, this boring arbitrary uniform fits well among other uniforms, and the crowd grants him the cloak of anonymity. With his hair neatly tucked in a hat and gaze low, no one even spares him a single glance.

Without missing a beat, he starts scanning through the students. It doesn't take him long to find Gakushuu, not only because of the distinct strawberry blond hair but rather because everyone except the Virtuosos keeps their distance (probably out of respect, how funny). The student council president stands right in the middle, the centre of attention as he deserves, with a clear view of the board.

Getting to them on the other hand is no easy feat. Annoyingly enough, no one's willing to move away from their spot so Karma has to force his way through and endure more than enough rude comments. On a normal day, those would earn them the prospect of getting punched in the face... at the very least. Seriously, the amount of self-control he's displaying at this moment would definitely make Gakushuu proud.

"Asano-kun," he silently calls out when he believes to be in his hearing range. The latter doesn't seem to register it though, eyes fixated on the results, so Karma has no other choice than to actually get close to him. He's painfully aware of the schedule - apart from now, no other long break offers itself when he can talk to Gakushuu, so this is his only chance. Even if it means he's going to lose that cloak of invisibility, Karma grabs his brother by the hem of his shirt and calls him again.

Gakushuu flinches and there's a flash of annoyance on his face until their gazes meet and he realizes that the unwelcome tugging was actually his baby brother. His baby brother, who had no business being in this building full of eyes.

He thought they were over the whole monitoring phase.

"What the-" he gasps but immediately composes himself, keeping his tone low. "Why are you here?"

"We need to talk," Karma stresses, letting go promptly. A few onlookers notice that some student got bold enough to touch the 'god-among-peasants-Asano-kun' though and he already feels the stares burning into his back.

Gakushuu frowns, also aware of that fact: "Later, this isn't a-"

"The chairman knows," the redhead cuts him off and that's enough to render him speechless.

Gakushuu's eyes widen in sheer horror. He thinks he hears wrong, hopes so, but Karma is looking at him with an uncharacteristic urgency. Sans the roof incident, he doesn't remember the last time Karma was ever scared of anything, not even as a child, and it comes crashing to Gakushuu that something colossal has befallen them. Or rather, someone.

"Follow me," he chokes out, ears ringing. The virtuosos are looking curiously at him now too so he forces out a smile and excuses himself, automatically heading towards the exit. He has no idea where he wants to go but he needs to get away from the crowd at least and speak with Karma.

His brother tails him without a word and soon they find themselves by the front entrance, shielded from the principal's office view with roofs over their heads. Even though they're alone now, it's probably a question of time before curious students sneak in to see who is privately meeting up with Asano-kun. Worse, someone might hear the subject of their conversation, gossip may spread and reach their father's ears.

Actually, does that matter anymore? Since he apparently knows now.

"How?" Gakushuu clutches his head, too overwhelmed by the whole situation. First the exam stress, then the results and now this.

"I thought you could tell me!" Karma answers exasperatedly. "He showed up in front of my house yesterday after school and-"

"He what?!" the Gakushuu interjects sharply. "Did he do something to you?!" His hands automatically pat Karma down to make sure he's unhurt.

As endearing as Karma finds it, there's no time for concern. He shakes his head and stops his brother: "No, we only talked. I didn't know what happened on your side and you haven't written to me so I wasn't sure if phones are safe anymore, that's why I had to come find you here."

"My phone has been bugging since Tuesday," Gakushuu explains, suddenly putting the pieces together. "Okay. Shit."

"You think he got into your phone?"

"I don't know. But he hasn't said or done anything to show he knows about us, at least not to me," he trails off, recalling the last few days or weeks. "I had a feeling for a short period that he was watching, ever since... after the sports festival? But I thought it was because of our loss or because he was displeased with me. I never thought he would figure anything out..."

Karma groans at that. He knows it's probably none of their fault but the jitters and adrenaline are making him snappy and Gakushuu not providing any answers doesn't help. He hoped to at least learn something.

"What did he want from you?" Gakushuu asks, rubbing his temples. Then, something even more unsettling hits him: "Why didn't he say anything to me in the first place?"

The redhead shrugs: "No idea. All he did was ask me to transfer-"

"Asano-kun!"

Before Karma can finish the sentence, a male voice interrupts them, reminding them of the fact that they are still in public. Both brothers recoil in shock and Karma immediately faces the other direction, trying to keep himself hidden from the person.

Unfortunately for him, there isn't just one person. From the other side, more people head toward them (not only class A, he notes). Apprehensive, the Karma surveys his surroundings in the hope of finding an opening to leave yet it dooms on him that there are students practically everywhere.

He shoots Gakushuu a bewildered look that says something along the lines of Why the hell did everyone actually follow us?!

"Asano-kun, the class is starting soon. Are you coming? What do we do?" another person asks, this time a girl from Class A. Her voice is trembling and it's clear that she's on the verge of tears.

Gakushuu's brows furrow in realisation and he mentally slaps himself for being so stupid. After all, just a while ago, the whole entire school received crushing news, himself included. Not only had he been toppled from the first place by his own little brother (who probably hasn't even realized yet), the entire system had seemingly collapsed, leaving his classmates dismayed and baffled. Considering that Gakushuu still was the student council president, their leader, it was understandable that they were looking for his guidance.

But god was this terrible timing.

"Who's that, Asano?" Ren's voice immediately catches his attention and he turns towards it, seeing his friend emerge from the crowd. The brunette's voice comes off equally exhausted as he looks, but at this very moment, his gaze is alert, wary as he notices the unknown figure standing with his friend.

Gakushuu is about to brush it off, lie and make up a story, but from the right, a boy (if he remembers right, from class B) grunts at Karma, annoyed: "Hey you! Didn't you just drag Asano-kun away before? What class are you from? What do you want with him?"

"Yeah, could you bother him some other time? We have important things to discuss!"

Shit.

The impatience rages in their words and Gakushuu unwittingly clutches his fists, anxious.

It's getting messy. He needs to get Karma out of here before they realise that it's him. The visit would most probably not be appreciated, considering the fact that hardly anyone in the main building liked him before, let alone after he beat them in their scores.

He tries for nonchalance, redirecting their attention to him again: "Everyone, calm down. I'm sorry for disappearing. Let's go back to our class-"

"Wait!"

Much to Gakushuu's annoyance, yet another of his classmates interrupts him.

"I swear that hair looks familiar... Hey, take that hat off!"

"You're right, that red hair-"

Shit, shit, shit! Gakushuu curses and his eyes immediately dart to his brother.

Karma doesn't say anything, only self-consciously putting a hand over the back of his head to hide the few loose strands. But it's too late anyway as the murmurs grow louder until-

"Is that fucking Akabane?!"

The cat's out of the bag.

Funnily enough, Karma recognizes that voice and scornfully looks up to see a former classmate from class D surrounded by his bunch of nasty friends. He doesn't even remember the name anymore, just that he was an arrogant asshole that loved to pick on everyone he deemed lesser. Of course he had to fuck everything up. Of course.

While Karma's exchanging death stare with that jerk, the information spreads like fire. The brittle peace shatters like glass and people surround him, demanding answers.

"What do you want here?!" they ask but don't even give him the time to say anything, churning more questions instead.

Another student, someone whom he doesn't even recognize, grabs him by the collar and shrieks: "Did you come here to make fun of us?!"

More hands tug at his uniform and Karma squirms, futilely searching for a way out.

"You think just because you placed first you can walk here like the place belongs to you?!"

Now that is a surprise. First? Did he beat Gakushuu? He almost smiles in pride at that achievement, except he's getting swarmed by increasingly more irked students throwing accusations at him.

Gakushuu marches forth, about to intervene when the virtuosos with Ren in the lead find their way to him and against his own will pull him away. Without missing a beat, they circle him, cutting him off from the scene with worried glances and questions about his well-being.

"Did Akabane try something on you? Are you okay?!"

On some level, Gakushuu appreciates the concern and can understand how they came to the conclusion that the redhead was harassing him. All things considered, to the world they were enemies - Asano the perfect, gracious student and Akabane the unruly delinquent. Without context, this could have easily looked like Akabane intentionally came to the main campus solely to pick a fight or humiliate him for the exam results.

Except that isn't the case and convincing his friends seems near impossible. He repeats it three times before his patience wears thin and he stops reacting to them altogether, instead searching the crowd for a sign of his brother.

Karma's nowhere to be seen. He can't make out anything, he's lost sight of his baby brother, fuck, fuck, fuck and Gakushuu's heart hammers in his throat.

For a second, he thinks he hears Karma's ringtone, as random as it seems, but it's gone as fast as it appeared and he wonders if he just imagined that.

"I told you it's fine. We were just talking. Now let me go-"

"It looks bad there, you should stay away," Araki warns him, nodding to the commotion. And indeed, the agitation has only worsened as more students joined the spectacle, spitting venomous allegations:

"There's no way you and the rest of E-class placed so well! You guys cheated!"

"Yeah, you definitely cheated to get first place!"

"Did you threaten Asano? Is that why you're here you scum?!"

Gakushuu's vibrating in anxiety now. He has to go. He has to interfere, fast, or else-

"I have to go," he declares but instead of sounding determined, there's clear urgency in his voice. The virtuosos try to stop him but he slips out, not a single care about what they think. Right now, only one thing matters.

Just as he feared, the spectacle has turned into a full-blown brawl. He notices one student on the ground holding his jaw in pain and knows it immediately. There are more guys joining the fight now, the girls are screaming and pushing and pulling and he can finally, barely make out Karma in the middle of it, face contorted in distress as he's trying to not get swallowed by this mayhem.

Panic rises in Gakushuu's throat like acid. This isn't good. The students are out of their minds, melting down and lashing out at any target at hand. Gakushuu gets it, he knows the the immense emotional stress they endured and knows that they're first and foremost terrified of the chairman's reaction to their failure. But by god was this getting out of control.

"Everybody calm down!" he bellows, squeezing himself into the crowd. But they pay him no attention. Bodies press against his, ribs screaming in protest and it feels claustrophobic and painful, very much like a crowd crush.

"Stop this! Let go of him, he came because I asked!" Gakushuu tries again, louder, but even his position as the class representative and their leader doesn't suffice. His heart is racing and for the first time in his life, he experiences hysteric fear. He can't see Karma anymore. Where is he? He needs to get to him. This isn't even a simple scuffle between students or rival classes anymore, this turned into a downright life-threatening situation.

Logic thrown out of the window, he starts shoving anyone in his way aside, mercilessly and no longer concerned about hurting them. He may not look like it but Gakushuu is strong, strong enough to tackle grown men with no problem, but there are too many of the students and he has little space, so it takes him longer than he'd want.

Out of nowhere though, he hears unfamiliar voices shout out Karma's name. There's a yellow smudge in his periphery vision but it disappears fast, only to then reveal particular students from Class E. He recognizes Shiota from the blue hair immediately, followed by a few others whose names he can't bother to remember right now. They seem to understand what's going on because in no time, they're heading to the commotion. While Gakushuu does wonder where the hell they came from and why, he doesn't particularly give a shit because they're now helping him disengage the crowd and that's all that counts.

Finally, he spots red hair. The relief is short-lived though, as the red doesn't stop there - it expands to Karma's face, his neck, even the white shirt and uniform he never wears - and Gakushuu thinks he will burn the whole school to the ground right then and there, along with everyone present.

The bodies around him mean nothing anymore and Gakushuu punches, kicks, digs elbows into anything and anyone hindering him. There are gasps and cries and he knows that this is behaviour unfitting of his status and reputation but fuck if he gives a flying shit about that because his little brother is hurt and bleeding and it's their fault-

"Karma!" he calls, catching the boy in his arms at last. He holds him firmly in a protective cocoon but his brother hisses in pain, lips forming a tight line. That sight makes Gakushuu's stomach drop to the floor and he adjusts his touch to feather-light, afraid of further aggravating any injuries. His blood boils at the fact that he let this happen, that he let Karma be attacked by so many people at once that he couldn't fight back anymore and mainly- that Gakushuu couldn't protect him.

From somewhere behind, a student groans loudly. He drapes a hand at his stomach where Gakushuu just punched him.

"Asano, why did yo-"

Gakushuu turns his head around so hauntingly fast it shuts the boy up. All he can do is tremble as the strawberry blond pierces him with his eyes.

"If any of you lay a finger on Karma again," he looks around at everyone present, "I'll personally end you."

This freezes everyone in place. They don't know this version of him, this version that harbours no leniency or tolerance, let alone for the notorious Akabane whom he supposedly couldn't even stand. But Gakushuu is long past pretences, there are no restrictions to his words, his thoughts or actions anymore. And he quite honestly thinks that if anyone here even breathes the wrong way, he might actually kill them. He just will murder anyone who even looks at Karma the wrong way, he'll slaughter them in cold blood. Even if he's aware on some level that it's not entirely the students' fault, even if some of those students are actually his classmates. The one truly responsible for this after all is none other than the man who pushed them too hard, to the point they fell into insanity.

And speaking of the devil-

"What is happening here?"

None other than Asano Gakuho steps out of the school building. His amethyst eyes seize control and the students fall back like cornered prey.

The chairman walks up to them, face unreadable, scanning the scene in front of him before landing on the brothers-

"What is the meaning of this?" He asks again.

The students pick themselves up from the ground in panic and scramble for an answer. But all that comes out of them are incoherent sentences and unintelligible sounds.

Meanwhile, the few people from Class E run towards Karma in worry. They try to talk to him, ask him where he's hurt, but the redhead remains dazed, not providing any information. Gakushuu hasn't had time to fully inspect the scope of his injuries but just that gash on his head and unresponsiveness is enough of a reason to feel concerned. He notices that Karma's leaning more on him with each passing second, head lolling into Gakushuu's shoulder.

"I think he needs to go to the hospital," Isogai states, looking urgently at both him and the redhead. Next to him stands Nakamura and Shiota, who automatically reach for their classmate.

"We'll take him there. Please leave him to us," Shiota adds, then nervously directs his gaze towards the chairman standing not so far away.

Gakushuu doesn't follow it, he knows exactly what awaits him. And as much as he'd like to hold Karma and stay with him to make sure nothing happens to him anymore, there's a monster he has to fight off first. All things considered, having Karma leave the chairman's sight together with the people his brother trusts is the better alternative right now.

"Okay," he hesitantly gives in, letting Isogai and the other two take his little brother. Behind them stand more E-Class students now and they all join in to help, which assures the strawberry blond at least to some extent that Karma is in good hands.

He stares at their back while they leave, frowning. He knows that Karma will probably be alright, he's a tough little shit that brat, this isn't the first time he got hurt in a fight. Still, the anxiety gnaws at him. It also doesn't help to know that the whole school just witnessed Gakushuu absolutely losing his marbles and threatening anyone who'd even consider coming close to Karma.

And then, there's his father.

His father who's still keeping his gaze plastered on only Gakushuu, not commenting on anything the rest of the students tried to explain.

"Asano-kun, please come with me to the office," the man finally says, no emotion in his voice. "Everyone else, return to your classes."

And with that, Gakushuu takes a deep breath and puts back on the cold, controlled facade he reserved for his father. Steering himself for the most complicated, abhorrent conversation in his life, he follows the man back into the school building.


Right, so that's where I'm leaving this chapter at. Next up: Gakushuu vs Gakuho and all the glitter around that

I have deadlines next week and realize now that writing when I'm dead tired from uni really doesn't go that well so I'd say next update will be on Sunday the 18th, give or take up to three days.

Hope you liked it and let me know what you think! Till then, have a good one!