Chapter 43

Gakushuu had been a little absent from class lately.

He wasn't avoiding his class or anything drastic. Just that he was spending as much time as possible with Karma. Their relationship had been progressing so well that Gakushuu had- not deliberately- not spent much time outside of school with class A.

Since Karma was steadily getting busier, he once again had time free, and Araki, the first to get his schedule aside from Ren and Anaya, invited him for a study session.

They did that quite often, though those sessions no longer needed Gakushuu to lead or guide them anymore. The class was good at managing their own time and knowing when to have fun and when to study.

So Araki's invitation wasn't suspicious at all.

Though it was odd when he insisted that Hinata not come along when she asked.

But honestly, he didn't really look deeper into it. He trusted Araki and moreover, he was slightly concerned if the other boy needed help of some kind from him.

He made sure to invite Ren and Anaya along though, and while Araki didn't look displeased exactly, he still looked a little put out.

It was only when he entered the cafe Araki had been guiding him to, that he realised he had been reading the other boy completely wrong. He had been reading his father completely wrong too.

Because in front of him, stood an assortment of students from Kunugigaoka, all from class 3-E. He met Karma's surprised eyes, then looked over the other students, brow furrowing.

There obviously was a purpose to bringing Gakushuu here.

Then his eyes fell on someone he hadn't realised he had automatically skipped over.

Isogai, the class rep of class E, a cornerstone of leadership and all around nice guy. Isogai, the boy who got demoted to class E for getting a job and who promised to ask Gakushuu for help when he confronted him about his financial situation.

Gakushuu turned on his heel, grabbed Araki by his collar and slammed him against a wall.

Behind him, the customers gasped at the sudden violence, one screamed. Someone took a few steps towards him but Ren stepped in, to stop them, a dark look on his face.

Anaya clicked her tongue before looking at Araki and Gakushuu with an assessing look.

"No fucking wonder," Gakushuu said through grit teeth.

He was trying his best not to put his hand around Araki's neck and choke him to death. Betrayal was an unfamiliar and extremely unpleasant sensation.

Araki choked, the tips of his feet scrambled for footing and Gakushuu leaned forward, feeling quite unstable about his mood at large.

And he had been in such a good mood too.

What a shame.

"What did he say?" He hissed out, his vision tunelled, barely limited to Araki's wheezing figure. "What the fuck did he tell you?" He asked again, his voice dropping low into a threatening growl that he had never even practised before.

It was sheer fury, betrayal and shock at work.

He had never lost control of his senses like that. He had never felt betrayed like that before.

He hadn't been expecting something like that at all. Not from someone in his class, not here, in something like this.

Class A had given up their class trip .

It might not seem like a big deal, but it was.

They hadn't known if Gakushuu would arrange for something else in exchange and they had made plans like every other year. They were the kind of people who didn't even know if they would be free a month from now, and they had given up their class trip at Gakushuu's request.

This confrontation felt wrong. It wasn't Araki's nature at all.

But he knew who it was like.

Anaya's hand touched his, and Gakushuu let out a deep, shaky breath. He let go, dropping Araki and took a step back.

Then he took a deep breath. And another.

His face was flushed, and he still felt like he was a moment away from snapping and punching Araki's face in. But it wasn't his fault. It wasn't.

Gakushuu laughed inside his head. He couldn't even convince himself.

Why the fuck hadn't Araki told someone before he was invited to meet with the Principal?

"We're leaving," he informed his classmates, ignoring the flurry of activity from the class E students behind him, and Araki finally picked his head up to look at him.

"You can't, Shuu," he said, and Gakushuu stiffened.

He felt fury light up in his veins again. He felt indignant at the address, at the fact that Karma was so close and yet he still stood with his class and not Gakushuu .

It was a pointless desire though, but that didn't mean that he did not want the comfort, the support.

"Don't you dare call - "

"You can't leave, Student Council President," Araki interrupted, and his eyes held a familiar maniac look that Gakushuu had never seen on Araki.

Gakushuu felt a noose tighten around his neck even as he shut his mouth at those words.

"You idiot," he said, his lips and eyes downturned. It was a look so explicitly upset that Anaya looked away even though neither Araki or Ren or even the students from class E did.

"You should have just told me," he told Araki. Araki looked back at him, a slight frown on his face.

He hadn't even known his father could do something like that. He had thought that his father was going to stop.

But of course. The better class E did, the worse it would seem on the other students.

His father wouldn't stop.

"You need to defeat them, President." Araki reminded him.

Anaya sighed, then she took out a bottle, opened the cap and put her thumb over it. Then she held it below Araki's nose, hold his face with his chin. Araki tried to push Anaya's hand away, but his vision blurred.

He missed, almost falling over.

Gakushuu turned back to class E with a smile.

"Please ignore all that. I'll make sure to compensate all the staff and customers for the mental anguish, and we'll pay for the meals of all the customers currently here. In return, please sign the NDA's before you leave." Gakushuu requested all the other customers aside from the gaping class E.

"Right," he breathed out as Anaya got up, leaving an unconscious Araki slumped against the wall and Ren and Anaya made the other customers sign the NDA's and throw them money before they regained their sensibilities.

He turned to face class E.

"Since I've found Isogai is working again ," he said, slightly sarcastically, "I suppose he can only be expelled from Kunugigaoka."

Everyone's eyes widened.

Gakushuu was the ideal student council president and he was also incredibly nice to the students. Even if class E was overall despised, Gakushuu made it…slightly better.

So, something like that from his mouth felt almost incomprehensible. A few darted looks at Araki and Gakushuu stepped in, blocking the view. He smiled, calmly threatening, like he was just giving a speech or talking about an event they would be taking part in, instead 

"Please don't. Please don't tell the Principal about this!" Isogai asked, no, begged. And Gakushuu felt a part of him softening.

"The Principal already knows," Gakushuu informed the other boy. His eyes widened with devastation. Kataoka came close, her hand placed reassuringly on his.

"However," Gakushuu sighed, and the chilling silence shattered at his words, "I'll challenge you instead. To a class competition."

Gakushuu smirked, feeling the first stirring of amusement as remembering an almost forgotten transfer notice. He met Karma's eyes and though he looked confused and worried, he held the gaze.

"My class against yours, the pole toppling competition during the sports festival," he offered. Karma looked startled, and it wasn't just him.

Class E wasn't aware of the exact politics that went on between Gakushuu and his father, but offering to overturn an expulsion was difficult for anyone, even if Gakushuu was far from just an 'anyone'.

" Just our classes," he stressed. Then, "If you win, I'll shut down the expulsion. Word won't go out about it. If I win…"

He regained his temperament as he stepped up. This time, he would win. He wouldn't let his father touch class E with a ten foot pole.

"Isogai will be expelled, and- how about switching to class A, Akabane?" He asked, dragging the last name almost mockingly, a smirk playing on his lips 

Karma grinned back.

"Wow, Shuu," he teased back, "Class A? Me? Wouldn't our beloved Principal just send me back to class E again for fighting anyway?"

A few students tittered, bursting into laughter. Gakushuu bared his teeth.

"I don't think he will, actually."

It was a threat, but class E didn't look like it knew if it was against Karma or the Principal.

"You have a bad habit of losing when you gamble, Asano," Karma stepped forward, his eyes lit up at the challenge.

"I'll make sure not to gamble if it's with you," Gakushuu gave him a sly smile, and Karma flushed. His classmates became flustered at the blatant flirting and Karma flushed brighter when Gakushuu took a step into his personal space.

"Hm," Gakushuu said, his fingers straightening the collar of Karma's school uniform. "I suppose you'll have to try really hard to get away from me then."

Gakushuu stepped back, satisfied with the red on Karma's startled face (and the blush that Karma's classmates had as well, at his display).

Anaya and Ren appeared and Gakushuu bent down and threw Araki over his shoulder like a sack before leaving.

Class E, led by Rio, started screaming excitedly.

Karma met him a few hours later, a flush forming on his cheeks the moment he realised Gakushuu was already there.

"I've been waiting," Karma said, curling a couple strands of hair around his fingers.

"Looks like you didn't try very hard to run away after all," Gakushuu laughed. Karma huffed, dropped his forehead against Gakushuu's.

"I'd never run from you, Shuu," Karma told him, the teasing tone dropping entirely in favour of something more honest.

But he didn't ask.

Gakushuu hid his face in Karma's neck, pulling him into a tight hug. Karma held him, his hands running down Gakushuu's back comfortingly.

Gakushuu breathed.

Karma was warm, with the smell of forest and soil over him, even when he wasn't near it. Gakushuu liked the forest, the isolation of class E, the mountain and the stream. He slid his nose against the crook of Karma's neck ignoring the shiver that ran down Karma's spine.

He closed his eyes and just felt the warm, comforting body against him.

Then five minutes after that, they bickered as Karma made him food, stealing a few kisses cause neither could resist wanting to, and Gakushuu tried to ignore what was going on outside their bubble for one more night.

"Sorry," Araki said, his voice tight as he avoided Anaya's eyes. "I don't know what happened."

Ren frowned when Araki accidentally met his.

"I believe you," he said, "but what happened when you met the Principal? Did he tell you something? Make you do something? Maybe offer you something to eat or drink?"

"No…" Araki trailed off. "He was just talking. He told me to make sure Gakushuu puts class E down. He just kept talking-" Araki's lashes fluttered, eyes rolling back for half a second before he refocused at the two in front of him, frowning.

"What-what was I saying?" He asked, massaging his forehead with his hand.

Ren and Anaya looked at him with alarmed expressions.

"I think…you need to go to a hospital," Ren said, swallowing back any further questions.

Araki chewed the inside of his lip, looking from Ren to Anaya.

"That bad?" He asked, trying to input some humor, but failing.

"No, just. It'll be good to do a check up at least once," Ren waved his hands emphatically. Anaya nodded.

"I don't think it's bad , but maybe you shouldn't think about what happened anymore," she recommended..

"I don't think I'm forgetting anything important, but okay," Araki shrugged semi-casually.

"You mean you aren't forgetting your studies," Ren teased, catching on.

"I do have a life outside of studying, you know?" Araki rolled his eyes.

"... Yeah," Ren said, slightly faintly.

Araki raised an eyebrow.

Anaya shook her head.

He sighed.

"Okay, whatever. I'm leaving then. See you tomorrow," he nodded at the two before leaving.

Ren and Anaya exchanged glances.