Chapter 19

Class assignments were posted in the school almost a week before classes started.

It was also when Gakushuu would continue his work as the class representative and Vice President of the Student Council.

Well, to be honest, he was mostly taking over the Student Council, so it was an incredibly busy day.

As soon as classes started, he would become the President and as a third year, a lot more responsibility would fall on him as well.

So, when he heard Karma got into a fight, he wasn't surprised. But what he was surprised to hear, was that another Kunugigaoka student was involved.

The involved student was unwilling and the situation grew out of their limits to handle. Maybe if they had had more time to negotiate or threaten said student, it would have been easier. But without time on their side, he couldn't do anything for the other boy.

On the day Karma was called for punishment, Gakushuu waited outside the school anxiously. There was only one place to go from class D, and he hadn't been expecting Karma to drop there at all.

When Karma finally left the school, he had a disappointed-frustrated-angry expression on his face.

Gakushuu wondered what exactly had made him so many negative emotions simultaneously. He stepped into view, and the flash of resentment when Karma saw him was startling to witness.

"Are you okay?" He asked first, before Karma could throw angry words at him. There was a quick flicker on his face, before he kept walking. Gakushuu kept pace.

"Yeah," Karma rasped out finally, his voice sounded like he had been screaming or not speaking for a long time. His shoulders had tightened incredibly in the short time Gakushuu had been walking with him.

But even then, he didn't tell him to go away, even though his body language told Gakushuu that Karma really wanted to be alone to get his thoughts in order and maybe work his frustrations out.

Karma increased his pace just as Gakushuu decreased his, and Gakushuu was looking at Karma's back, drawn up straight with tension.

Oddly enough, Gakushuu felt another moment of déjà vu, but this time, he didn't know who. Gakushuu almost reflexively reached out, then pulled back the moment his hand brushed against Karma's back.

Karma paused and looked back.

Then his expression twisted up into an incredibly frustrated expression. He gritted his teeth as he turned around.

Karma grabbed Gakushuu's chin, tilting his head to make him look straight into Karma's mercury gold eyes.

"Look at me ," he said, "I'm right here. Me. Akabane Karma."

His grip on Gakushuu's jaw tightened for a moment when Gakushuu's eyes widened in surprise.

" Look at ME," Karma repeated, his frustration leaking through the words. 

Logically, Gakushuu understood that the frustration Karma was feeling wasn't just because of him. But, his mind could protest a million times fruitlessly when his body didn't even seem to listen.

He put his hand over Karma's wrist. Karma was holding onto Gakushuu's face like he was about to run away, and also like Karma wanted to slam his head to the ground.

"I'm looking at you right now, Karma," he replied, his hands shifted to lay over Karma's.

They locked eyes, and something incredibly intense passed between them. Something personal, but heavy.

It thickened the air with tension.

Karma's eyes flicked away first. He frowned, his eyes darted between Gakushuu's, tracing his features for a bare moment that left him feeling slightly hot.

Karma's eyes stopped, stuttered and then went back to Gakushuu's eyes.

He let go of Gakushuu and then took a step back. Then Karma turned around and walked away from him.

Gakushuu kept standing, shocked still, face hot and heart stuttering a little too fast in his chest. He stared until Karma walked out of sight.

He didn't even know when he would see him again, but his legs refused to move. He was frozen.

Because-

Because he was pretty sure Karma's eyes had paused on his lips.

Gakushuu got busy with his class representative and Student Council duties. There wasn't much, so he could be done in a day. But he made it his excuse to get out of his house for a little while.

Karma was suspended, and would start his third year in class E.

Gakushuu had to sneak into Karma's house and threaten him to not let his grades drop. Then, when he saw Karma sulking, he ended up spending half the day with him.

He showed off his much better baking expertise and Karma almost snorted jalapeño sauce.

Gakushuu was once again in awe of the range of spices Karma had. Smugly, Karma showed him different spices and let him taste a few (Gakushuu knew it was going to burn him, but he still did it. He was a complete idiot) which looked interesting.

There were a variety of tastes that Gakushuu was sure he hadn't ever tried. There were some of the Indian spices in the curry Karma had made, but he showed Gakushuu Mexican for lunch and they compared the differences in spices.

Chika could have been delighted to have this talk with Karma, and Gakushuu said so to him. Karma rolled his eyes dismissively and Gakushuu wondered if he should actually let them meet.

Chika was one of the relatively calmer ones, but Karma could definitely make the oddest foods, and Chika would be a willing victim so he could keep eating, even if he was on deaths door.

Gakushuu felt a shiver of premonition go down his spine and he prayed for Chika's stomach. That was basically a free victim for Karma instead.

A lot of people in Gakushuu's class were actually quite vulnerable to Karma's brand of humor. Maybe not Ren, who had been through almost all kinds of phases Gakushuu had gone through, or Anaya, who could deadpan with the best of them.

But Hinata would be crying tears of blood after a minute. Mori would definitely end up dead by the end of the day, and Kimiko would either kill Karma or the rest of Japan, if Karma escaped.

Gakushuu wondered with morbid curiosity how Karma would fare against the people in his class.

If it was an actual fight, they'd definitely be dead, unless it was Kimiko. Even Gakushuu had no idea what Kimiko did half the time, and that was saying something.

Gakushuu had first become friends with Kimiko's mask of a polite ballet dancer from class B, then Kimiko had started messaging them and her true bullheaded self had emerged. After that, Kimiko and Hinata started dancing around each other and Gakushuu started to wonder if Kimiko had relations with the underground, because, from the surface, she was basically the daughter of a secretary of a minor company's boss.

But Kimiko herself was such a contradictory figure that Gakushuu couldn't be totally sure. He wasn't that pushy a person in the first place. He had generalized background checks that were just minor, and most of his information was always gained by the person themselves.

Unless of course, he designated someone as a threat. Then, he would use all his methods against them.

Even with Karma, Gakushuu had just checked enough to see that his parents were alive and every other information was all things Gakushuu had deduced or had gotten out of Karma himself.

He knew Karma was surprisingly strict about his food habits, especially in his home. He didn't ruin home cooked meals, but if it was meant for consumption outside, it was fair play.

Karma was neat, but he wasn't minimalistic. His whole house was redesigned to Karma's tastes and Gakushuu found that he liked it far more than his own home, which was minimalistic and always seemed to show light coloured painted walls to him.

There were wooden designs and dark shades and therefore, far far from the shades of blue or cream that screamed at him accusingly.

Gakushuu didn't dislike his own house, but he didn't have control over the colours and it showed.

Gakushuu would have thought Karma would have liked a wallpaper but he shrugged uncaringly when asked.

Karma's house might have had only one occupant, but it was much better than Gakushuu's own. Though, Karma obviously didn't feel the same.

He was sure the cats made it better though. He wondered why Karma had never tried to get any animals before if he felt so lonely.

Then he changed his words. It wasn't that Karma felt lonely , but more that he felt abandoned instead. Animals had a short lifespan, so maybe he didn't want to be left behind.

Gakushuu looked at Karma under his lashes, feeling slightly curious. Karma, with abandonment issues, was kind of obvious, but he had never actually seen someone Karma actually wanted to be with.

Except maybe that one friend he had for a while in class D. Shiota Nagisa.

Gakushuu had talked to him once.

Gakushuu used his Vice President powers for good to make one of the students with a potentially abusive parent meet him privately.

This time it was Shiota Nagisa, class D. He came in quietly, his eyes fell on Gakushuu with wariness.

"Vice President Asano, Shiota Nagisa from class D," he introduced, then gestured to the papers in his hands, "The teacher told me to put these in the meeting room," he said.

"Thank you, Nagisa," Nagisa nodded, and placed the stack of papers carefully on the table.

"Can I talk to you for a moment? You are free to refuse or leave anytime," Gakushuu spoke soothingly, and Nagisa stiffened.

He turned around and faced Gakushuu. Gakushuu stood and leaned actually against the table, keeping his head leveled near Nagisa's.

"I am aware that you have some amount of family trouble, and I want you to know that I can get you out of your house, if you want," he said bluntly, but not unkindly. "You can ask me anytime, even if it's in High school and you go to a different school than me."

Nagisa opened his mouth then shut it. He stared for a few moments. Then cleared his throat.

"Thank you, Asano. But it's not like that," he moved his hands around helplessly, "and I know how to manage it. It doesn't go that bad."

Gakushuu sighed.

"It might not seem too bad, but it's always nice to have a place to run away to, right? I'm giving you the option to run away. You can take it as seriously or lightly as you want to, but I'm sure you're aware that I have done it more than once already," Gakushuu stared into Nagisa. Nagisa shook his head.

"I'm not doubting your ability, I just-" don't want to, Nagisa bit back those untrue words. He looked like he was being pushed into a corner. Gakushuu relaxed slightly.

He didn't want to give the other boy a panic attack or make him cry. Just a way out.

"I just called you to inform you of it, you don't need to make any decisions anytime soon. Thank you for your time, Nagisa," Gakushuu dismissed and Nagisa bowed lightly, before leaving.

Nagisa had his number, like everyone in the school, but he had never called for help. Gakushuu had always been aware that he couldn't help everyone, and Nagisa didn't seem like he would ask him for help anytime soon.

But he had never seen Karma and Nagisa together. He couldn't even imagine their interactions. Nagisa had seemed quite quiet, and maybe even timid. But Karma had obviously seen something in him.

"Nagisa is in class E," he blurted, and Karma paused. He didn't look at Gakushuu. A tension that had been simmering rose sky high in an instant.

"The class environment isn't too bad, and the teacher is actually really nice. She's a kind person," he continued, "and the Principal will arrange a few class competitions between class A and class E."

Then he looked at Karma, and Karma looked back. There wasn't any resentment in his eyes, but Karma looked like he didn't want to talk about it, he wanted to avoid it and run away, as far as possible.

"Are you worried about me, Ace-kun?" Karma smiled and there was a mocking undertone that Gakushuu was surprised to find had actually been missing for a while now.

"Yes," he answered honestly. Karma looked startled, before he giggled.

"Right, of course. Who did I think I was talking to? Asano Gakushuu, the son of the demon king, who single handedly turned all opinions around about him," the mocking tone was gone again, and Gakushuu found himself relieved.

"I like to think my class helped in that," he smiled, neatly ignoring the topic again even though it burned in his throat. But he had already said all he wanted to.

Gakushuu wasn't sure of the reason for his anger, but he wanted it to ease. No matter how good Gakushuu got, his father had always been his biggest blind spot, and he kept his matters under strict lockdown.

Unlike Karma's first offense, there weren't any records of it outside the school, so Gakushuu couldn't even find out for himself.

Karma leaned back from the dining table, his chair balanced precariously.

"Your class is surprisingly united," Karma's eyes glittered, "did you teach them something?"

Gakushuu grinned.

"How did you find out? Did you prank them?" Gakushuu hadn't seen any evidence of it so either they had escaped or they had internally handled the spill over.

Karma hummed, not giving it away.

"They escaped?" He guessed. They had been getting pretty good at their observation skills. "How many attempts?"

Gakushuu stared Karma down and the other boy pouted, looking away exaggeratedly, playing up his unwillingness.

"3?" He guessed again, and Karma's neck snapped back to look at Gakushuu. He laughed at the surprised look on his face.

"Let me guess, Ren, Anaya and…Kimiko?" He asked tentatively. Karma clicked his tongue.

"I wasn't surprised by Ren and Anaya," Karma played with his chair, swinging back and forth on the back two supports, "but the last was going to be Araki, but, stuff happened and-"

"It was Hinata," he completed. Karma raised a brow. "I know you don't know about Kimiko and the only one she'll go out of her way to help is Hinata."

"...Yup. The female you didn't seem to have taken it well," Gakushuu shrugged with a smirk.

"Well, that was her girlfriend. She would be planning something equally vicious back." Gakushuu fluttered his eyes mockingly, "I'd sleep with one eye open, if I were you."

"Wow, I get to deal with a vicious female Gakushuu who's girlfriend I accidentally pranked, while being suspended from school?" Karma's lips spread into a wild excited smile, his eyes sparkled. He looked like a kid who's birthday had come early.

"Just for lil old me? Really?" Gakushuu could almost see the gears in his head moving as he thought up ideas for the upcoming spectacular prank war.

Gakushuu wondered if he should feed to it or not.

"Maybe I should help her, if you're so happy about it?" He asked, a reflexive smile on his face from seeing Karma so exuberant.

Karma froze.

"Huh," Karma warily met Gakushuu's eyes. He raised a brow, feeling slightly offended at the reaction.

"What?" He asked.

"You've literally never pranked me before," he deadpanned. "You never even retaliated aside from White Day, and you gave something to everyone who gave you chocolates," Karma narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

Gakushuu smiled, and tilted his head, consideringly.

"I guess you wouldn't know," he said, thinking aloud. "The reason I'm constantly playing Kunugigaoka's overachiever is because I have a deal with the Principal. He gives me class A, and I give him the perfect student."

Karma looked away, his eyes noticeably cooler.

"... give?"

"More non-interference, actually," he clarified, confused. Karma stared at him.

"... and you give him the perfect student?" He asked. Gakushuu tilted his head, still confused.

"Yes?"

There was a flash of bitterness in his eyes. A dawning realization that Gakushuu wasn't completely sure about.

"So you both are planning my downfall, huh?" Karma asked, suddenly cheerful again after a moment of silence, that gave Gakushuu a whiplash. He shot Karma a worried glance before accepting it.

He wasn't planning on interfering with whatever world changing realization he was having. And realizing Gakuhou was a shitty person, was never going to be a bad thing.

"I'm sure the Principal will accept class A bullying class E," he bared his teeth, and Karma huffed out a laugh.

Gakushuu silently agreed. He couldn't imagine anyone 'bullying' Karma. They'd probably end up half-dead in a ditch with wasabi stuck in their nostril.

When Gakushuu was finally prepared to leave, almost cutting it too close to skipping his pre-event rehearsal, Karma suddenly grabbed his arm.

Gakushuu turned around, about to demand Karma let go because he really needed to leave, but then he saw Karma scratching his cheek, with a look he would call on anyone else as shy.

"Karma?" He unstuck his throat and asked. The sight was about to throw him into a tachycardia and he wasn't sure he would survive not breathing on top of that.

"Um, thanks," he said, not looking at Gakushuu's face, "For coming by," he clarified when the silence dragged on.

Gakushuu tried, unsuccessfully, to make his voice work, and managed to get out a squeak.

Karma looked up, startled at the sound.

Gakushuu stared back helplessly, his face flushed a pretty pink and as time dragged on, it creeped down. Karma's eyes followed his blush and Gakushuu tried to work his voice.

"My hand," he croaked.

"Oh, uh. Yeah," Karma replied, distractedly. He let go of Gakushuu's arm.

Gakushuu cleared his throat.

"I have to go," he said.

"Yeah," Karma replied.

They stared at each other.

"Yeah," Gakushuu repeated, softer. Then he turned around.

Karma was going through something, figuring something out, that was making him rethink a lot of things.

He hadn't really beaten up the Kunugigaoka student. In fact, the Kunugigaoka student was an unfortunate bystander.

But Karma did get into a fight, and one of the other guys tried to take him hostage. Karma ended up laughing, because that was a hilarious concept.

Hostage? Against him?

Then, they beat up the student.

And Karma beat them.

Except, the student clearly held a grudge. His father or mother or whatever, was clearly an influential figure even if he didn't make it to class A, and the student complained to the teacher that Karma beat him up.

Now, Karma was sure, his teacher would laugh it off. His teacher wasn't a very good person. But he encouraged Karma's studies, understood that Karma worked the beat on his own, at his own pace and let him decide how to handle his own fights.

Karma trusted the man because he felt a sense of kinship, because they understood the other person.

He was a teacher, and Karma was a student.

Or.

That was what was supposed to happen.

Karma never saw it coming.

He didn't see the way the teacher sneered at him, nor the superior way he looked down at Karma.

Karma felt betrayal .

It was the bitter taste in his mouth, the red of his blood thrumming in his vision and the terror in the eyes of the man in front of him.

Karma didn't remember the exact motions of what he did, but everything simultaneously felt absolutely clear and also like he was blurring out the world on a whim. He felt high.

And then he felt his own pain.

The world came crashing back down on him. His arms hurt, his hands hurt, his foot hurt and there was a man with terror in his eyes in front of him.

Karma turned around and walked away.

He was reluctant to see Gakushuu. He could feel a heaviness in his bones, a desire to just rest that he didn't generally feel.

Generally, he felt like running, like he would keep running forever. Away from something, or to something. But forever running.

Though, he would admit, that it was a different sort of pleasure to come home to a house occupied by living creatures besides himself.

He felt a stirring of humor every time he remembered the name Gakushuu had given the ginger. Mirai was a startlingly funny name, specially when associated with Asano Gakushuu.

He punned with his own hair colour and the ginger fur of the cat. Karma had insisted on Yuki as the name for the white cat, while laughing his head off at the name Gakushuu chose for the ginger.

The two cats laid together intertwined with each other, and Karma went through his daily routine of checking on the cats, their nessesities and then the rest of the house.

And then, he thought, and thought more.

By the time, Gakushuu visited and left again, Karma was in a better state of mind.

It felt like his blind rage had let Karma realize that he still kept a tunnel vision on a few things. He couldn't just ignore things into going away.

And that's exactly what he had done, hadn't he?

The Principal had always been a strain on Gakushuu. His movements and choices in life were restrained as long as Gakuhou held any amount of power over him.

And Karma laughed it off as simply 'daddy issues. It was frighteningly apt, but it made him feel the slightest amount of self-recrimination that he had known so much and never actually tried to help.

He hadn't even made excuses for himself.

He had just considered it, acknowledged it and then ignored it.

Gakushuu had obviously decided on his course of action, and had managed to handle a lot of things his father had done, if the massive advantage of 'giving him class A' was true.

It probably was, he admitted. He didn't really know much about the Principal, but he was definitely a control freak. He wouldn't have been able to stand his son treating his school lightly,

But Karma couldn't imagine him giving up control over class A either.

And most importantly, Karma just didn't like the way he treated Gakushuu.

Through the three years, Karma had seen Gakushuu have panic attacks, lose his composure, look like he was a second away from tears or exploding or both. And every single time had been right after meeting with the Principal.

Gakushuu had tried, in the beginning to call his father "father" but after a few months, he had stopped trying. He called him the Principal all the time, unembarrassed and unrepentant, even when he realized he had called him so.

It was a deliberate attitude he had chosen. To treat him like a Principal instead of his father.

Karma approved, but he also-

He also remembered waiting in an empty house. He remembered going out alone, or getting hurt as he cooked because he was too small or if he made a mistake.

It was as much bitterness as necessity that made his cooking decent. It was pure spite that turned it excellent.

He hated the day his parents came back and saw him. They had been surprised and happy, coddling him for a few minutes before forgetting about him after that and going out again.

They took him to a restaurant and he ate food better than his own. And he hated.

He hated every thing about that day, that week, that seemed to stretch on without an end.

Earn their love?

Karma realized what a joke the thought was.

His parents didn't even know what love was. They didn't love Karma and they certainly never cared.

They kept the house because they liked to buy houses, and they needed a permanent residence.

Karma had money because he was their biological child. He lived in their house because he was their bioligical child.

He didn't want anything to do with either, but he had to. He was helpless. He was a child.

Karma built his careless attitude because of that helplessness. He became wild because he never had any restraint. He let go.

And he shouldn't have.

Karma wouldn't become someone like his parents. He would never let himself.

Change came slow, but it always started with a single decision.

And Karma had made his.