Chapter Text
Karma liked Koro-sensei to some extent. He wasn't 'attached' like his fellow classmates were probably becoming. He had learnt from a young age that getting attached was just asking for bad things to happen. In fact, people weren't good enough to deserve getting attached to, and those who were, were only pretending to be decent people.
His parents were good people, ones he should've been attached to, just as they should've been to him. They cared more about their work though, which was fine, he didn't feel connected with them to be hurt by it. Nagisa was someone he used to be, unadmittedly, attached to, at least partially. But the small teen scared him, so Karma had to cut ties quickly. The only person Karma would admit that he'd been foolishly attached to was his past teacher, Ono-sensei, someone who stood up for and cared about him. Someone who claimed to care about him at least. As soon as another person who had higher grades than him came into the picture he was tossed aside.
Betrayed.
For those reasons, he wasn't attached to Koro-sensei. The teacher was someone they were supposed to kill after all, becoming attached would literally be a self setup for heartbreak. They had to kill him, the class knew that. They had to use every opportunity to try and do it successfully before too much time goes by making it harder to do so. Because if too much time goes by, then they'd be attached.
They were supposed to go to the school assembly, something Karma was finally attending, but it was a long trip and if their target of a teacher would show up then he'd meet them there with mach 20. They decided to use the free-alone time to come up with assassination plots. Every moment they had away from their target counted, especially since not much progress has been made. Ideas were thrown and shot down with kindness. There was a sense of eagerness amongst each student, if Karma would be so bold he'd say that the mini assassins actually were into killing the teacher just as much as he was. And people had the audacity to call him the crazy one.
At some point, Karma didn't know when, an idea was thrown out. He was only half heartedly paying attention but it was something too out there. Something that was sure to work but no doubt at the cost of a human life. Everyone was sure of this, none of them seemed serious about it though which kind of ticked Karma off. What was the point of coming up with something so perfect and discarding it?
The chance of succession was high, and this was coming from Karma. Someone who, more often than not, had a plan for everything and thought things through analytically. He thought it was a good idea. And since he was also never one to hold back his thoughts, he ever so casually asked,
"Then why don't we do it?"
Maehara gave him a concerned glare from where he was walking. They were on the main campus now -finally- and were slowing down due to tiredness. Every word they said about the 'plan' was done so in code. Which was why Maehara had to choose his next words carefully.
"We weren't being serious about it, do you know how insanely dangerous that is man? One of us will probably get killed." Others nodded in agreement.
"I mean, sure but it gets the job done right? It sounds kind of fun- the plan that is. I'll totally be up to do it-"
"Karma..bud, what the hell? We just said that you'd die" Nakamura wasn't exactly gentle but she cared. Concern looked odd on her face, not a very good look for her.
"So? Don't get me wrong, that sounds kind of bad but," he had to think of a way to word it without using assassination or Koro-sensei, "that cliff by the classroom? I used it when I got back from suspension. I was saved, obviously, but it was a close call and what we said earlier doesn't sound any worse." It was as vague as he could be, said nonchalant too. Too fucking nonchalant for his classmates peace of mind apparently.
Seeing their looks of concern and disbelief, Nagisa popped up too. Sheepishly rubbing his arm, "lt's true, I was there when he did that. Not that we should do…what we talked about but yeah, Karma's kind of quick to do that sort of thing" he purposefully ignored Karma's gaze after, knowing he'd get a glare from the implication that he was just looking for ways to kill himself.
What was 'quick to do that sort of thing' meant to mean?
Rude
"So, is that a no?"
"Yes, that's a no! Who the hell would say yes to that!?" Terasaka yelled. Karasuma told them to hurry up. Now that he mentioned it, the class was much further from him then they should've been. It was because Karma usually stood in the back whenever he did chose to come to main campus and since the main conversation was going on around him, the class instinctively went back a few steps with him.
It was probably the only reason Karma wasn't pushed further about it. Why he wasn't scolded some more by people who pretended to care about him. They all rushed to catch up with their teacher, including Nakamura, who gave him one glance with a frown. As if silently proclaiming that the conversation wasn't over.
Though he didn't see the need for it to continue.
Asano didn't want to follow Karma. Who would want to bear witness to his delinquent tendencies and vulgar personality? That should be considered an act of self-harm. He was only following him because he had to. He was trying to find out why, and more importantly, how Karma managed to get a better grade than him once again. It was getting absurd having a slacker like him taking the top spots.
It's why he trailed closer and further than the class. Somewhere inside himself he acknowledged that he wasn't as stealthy as they seemed to be. Stealth and strength were things they were eerily good at, so he expected to be caught at some point. If not by them, then by a loud mouthed main campus student blowing his cover. Surprisingly neither happened.
They seemed too caught up in a conversation already. Speaking about an idea that must've been mentioned while they were still doing their journey down the mountain but was being continued now. Asano didn't mean to eavesdrop, not that he particularly cared about their privacy, listening to them too much might infect him with their dumbness. He was listening simply because that's what ears do.
And afterwards, he wished nerves didn't make him feel things.
He slipped back to his class, feeling a bit more in his own head than he should've.
It wasn't until lunch that the five famous A class students were able to get together and talk. They were always good at reading each other. Their intelligence made up for the lack of emotional or social skills, but they could use logic to deduce when something was wrong. Sometimes process of elimination and common sense pinpointed what.
Asano was always a bit harder on the second part. There were plenty of things that could worry their leader, there were even more things that he probably wouldn't tell them.
"If you don't want to be as emotionally stumped like the freaks from class E, I recommend talking about it." They all had been shooting looks to see which would speak up about it first. It just happened that Tomoya was the one to break and do so. He wasn't the nicest of the group, that would go to Ren, but he was straightforward and if Asano didn't see something in him then he wouldn't have been a part of the group.
Asano sighed and rubbed his eyes, frustrated as to why he was even so bothered in the first place. Why did Karma have to be in class E of all things? Then it would make admitting this a little easier. It felt almost shameful to be worrying for those students when he'd been taught that they were the worthless ones of the bunch.
"Karma Akabane, I overheard him and his friends. I'm just a bit concerned, you see, they were talking and he admitted that he tried to.. kill himself.. he said he jumped off the cliff that's by their classroom. And I don't know, it's just been.. on my mind, I suppose," Asano wasn't one to hold his head down but just this instance he did, "I'm sorry for bringing this suddenly." Ren waved him off, a frown now etched on his face too.
As much as people liked to think, main campus students weren't completely heartless. The big five, weren't completely heartless. They were just smart, sue them. They knew their worth and oftentimes that worth was higher than others. But being self-aware that didn't make them monsters. The big five heard what E class liked to say, heck, what other main campus classes liked to say. At some point they all talked smack about each other.
But they were still teens, humans at that. There was a certain line between school rivalry and sensitive topics. There was a line between bullying and straight up harassment. Asano liked to think they never crossed that line. That it was an unspoken rule all would follow.
To know that a schoolmate so close in reach was suffering from those kinds of thoughts was concerning. Even the big five, students who were supposed to, and kind of did, hate E class the most, would admit that they were feeling sympathetic towards the red head.
"Do you- do you think it's because of us? Or some other A students? I know of two people who bully Nagisa over his placement in E class" Ren wondered aloud.
Tomoya Seo, someone who was worse to E class than Asano himself, even looked weirded out by the news. "He doesn't seem like the type to do something like that over bullies though. Maybe home life? He is kind of…. insane, stem from neglect or abuse."
They didn't know squat about his home life, but with his track record of rebellion, it didn't seem like he had someone at home or in his life trying to guide him on the right path or fix those behavioral issues. Problems at home was plausible.
Back up the mountain, Karma was still getting those irritatingly caring looks. Koro-sensei was thankfully oblivious to the tension, or if he noticed it he didn't bother mentioning it. Probably assuming Karma had done something with his poor people skills and fucked some relationships up. Which, honestly, he wondered himself if that was the case. He didn't see why else everyone was suddenly acting differently. It was pissing him off.
The only person he could tolerate looking at was Nagisa, who wore a pitiful expression but only because he knew how much the others were bothering him. And knowing Nagisa, he felt bad on his behalf. If the class wanted to fuss over someone, why not Nagisa? His bipolar mother and her weird fantasy of her son being a daughter was concerning and should be properly taken care of. It should've been prioritized over someone potentially dying for a very worthy cause.
During PE, something Karma rarely participated in, his shirt got tugged on by Itona. The tiny, kind of scary looking boy was someone Karma found himself spending more time with. Turned out, they had similar tastes in humor and Itona liked skipping and causing trouble just as much as he did. Maybe a bit less. Rather, he liked watching Karma cause problems and seeing their outcomes.
"Want to go somewhere? I don't want to do this class today" he said simply. His tone was still monotonous and face was unreadable that Karma saw no reason not to agree and went to the roof of the building with him. Scathing the walls to do so because there was no other way. He usually laid on the roof out of sight so that he could still observe the lesson without being a part of it. Itona seemed a bit hesitant this time. It wasn't like he had never been on the roof before. They had done it before all the time. But now his friend was nervous.
"A fall from this height wouldn't injure you, would it?" Itona was, to his knowledge, basically made in a lab. His pain tolerance was much higher so he often forgot what was dangerous to a human and what wasn't. It was suspicious that the conversation happened now of all times. Karma scowled.
"No it wouldn't. And if you think I go up here for the thrill of being able to get hurt then you're wrong. I'm not trying to kill myself" he huffed. Itona just stared at him with the seemingly lifeless, heavily bagged, eyes. He hated not being able to read someone's expression, Itona was lucky Karma chose to look past this irritation for the sake of their friendship.
He noticed their parenting only got worse from there. Especially when he held something even minimally sharp. Cutting the worksheets that got printed two to a page got Sugino's watchful attention. He had to almost bite the class president in order for him to leave him alone. Even Kaede fell victim to their stupidness and worried when he had a damn Anti-Koro-sensei knife and was twirling it mindlessly like he's done many times since joining the class.
"You guys are being dramatic, leave it already will ya?" None of them replied and Karma felt himself wanting to punch something.
"I can sense the urge to harm rising in your system. If you'd like, I can send a few breathing exercises or articles on-"
"Me being violent isn't directed at myself, Riku!" Karma snapped, resisting crushing his phone where the robot classmate decided to show up.
Good for him, none of the teachers were there. Double good, his classmates looked away and acted natural. (Though that might've been out of fear instead of snapping out of it, so the relief was temporary. As suicidal as they were sure Karma was,, he was still the same violent Karma they knew before).
Karma could only snap at them so many times before feeling bad though, by day three he needed a break. He almost debated not going to school but that would just stir up more commotion and at that point Koro-sensei would probably find him. So he took whatever time he could to get away. The campus itself was small for E class but they were on a mountain with a forest so there were plenty of options. And if he didn't feel like being outdoors then there was a perfect campus not far.
Main campus was usually off limits. Students from E class weren't allowed and if they were found, they were jabbed at and told off. Which was perfectly fine with Karma. He worked well with hostility and punching some brats that tried to pull status over him was just what he needed. Rules had never stopped him before.
Despite how long it usually took them all to go down the mountain for assemblies, Karma got down quicker on his own. Over time he learned the quickest ways, though it was never too much of an obstacle to begin with. He just liked to slack behind because A, he never really bothered with assemblies, and B, he liked having his foolish classmates in sight. Oddly enough.
Word of Asano's worries got around pretty quick. When you're practically (considered) the smartest in the school and the principal's son, then the things you say gets out there one way or the other. Maybe it was good that others knew about this, Asano would hate to know that Karma took his own life because of one of them. Others should work to better themselves.
Someone from main had seen Karma come towards their campus alone. It didn't make sense that he was alone. Too far away to be heard by Karma, a student had sneered about why a nobody was on their campus. Asano had been ready to step in at that, irritated. It seemed like all five of them were ready, actually. But someone beat them to it. Another body walking next to the sneering one had jabbed him in his ribs in a way that certainly wasn't playful.
"Shut up man! That's inconsiderate, y'know. He doesn't mean to be a jerk, he just wants someone to care about him," the boy seemed genuinely upset by his friend's lack of knowledge regarding the topic of the suffering student. How could someone be so full of themselves to not pay attention to someone's cry for help? It was clear that Karma didn't get the required amount of positive reinforcement. Statistically, it must've been what drove him to jump in the first place (if that had even been the first time).
"Oh. I- I didn't know. What, is there like, something wrong with him? Besides his…behavioral issues" he chose his words carefully, seeing displeased glares all around him. And so the rumor continued to spread.
"His parents are always away, he lives on his own,"
"He shoulders too much responsibility that he uses other students as an outlet. Kinda sad when you think about it,"
"His father might hit him,"
"He's always wearing long sleeves..do you think he..?"
Oh how people's minds worked when there's something influencing it. Something that used to be hated could easily turn into something cherished with a few misunderstandings and convincing words. Now practically all of main campus knew (thought) Karma was suicidal. Which was kinda funny, or at least he'd find it funny if he knew about it.
Surprisingly, he found that he didn't get chastised for being off campus. Which was kind of weird and disappointing. He was hoping to tease Asano or fight some bullies or something. Too bad.
He went to the vending machine for his beloved strawberry milk, wondering if the girl standing off to the side of it would say something about him being there or using the privileged vending machines. He perked up when she spoke, eyes almost gleaming in hopes she'll do something to start trouble. Was this a bad habit? Probably, he might need help, but then again, main campus already knew that.
"You seem to like strawberry milk, Karma-kun, is it your favorite?" Huh? She was being nice. He pushed back his surprise to reply,
"Yeah, I guess it is." She ended up happily buying him one. He took it with thanks, as much as he tried, he couldn't find any ulterior motives. And he always found ulterior motives when there was one.
He wondered if 'octopus-aliens with mach 20 and powers' could exist, if maybe other power related things did too, and almost everyone in the area got hit with something. Maybe it just didn't strike where Karma lived? That seemed to be the most logical reasoning as to how and why the school was being friendly. He was met with strangeness all around. He considered the idea of a parallel universe.
"Hello Akabane-san" a student waved as he passed, it didn't sound overly sweet like the girl from earlier (though that might've just been her natural high pitch tone) but it was still weird and nice. He meant to go to the roof to hide away for a bit but along his way someone stopped him.
"Ah I'm sorry, the roof's off limits if that's where you're going. The principal is planning to do something up there and it's dangerous." That had to be a lie. The roof was fine from what Karma saw down below. And what work would need to be done? But the boy seemed cautious and didn't look like he was going to move unless he knew Karma was away from the towering height. As much as he wanted a fight earlier, all this kindness was wearing him out so he obliged and left.
The boy shuddered when he was out of sight. The first reasoning being that he just blatantly lied to Karma Akabane, who could've easily hurt him if his reputation was true. And second being from relief that he just stopped a possible attempt.
Karma had been planning on skipping the next class in favor of being on the main campus longer but his plans were cut short when he got offered to go to the library. 'I'm sure you study quite frequently with the grades you have, surprisingly you're really smart! You could totally come with us to the library,' seeing his discomfort, the boy quickly amended, 'or just in general. You don't have to be with us to go,' in the end Asano, who was passing and heard the whole thing, added that his fellow E class students could come by too.
Yeah fuck no, Karma was going back to E class. He went immediately after that, practically dashing away. Internally wondering what the hell happened. Asano. Teacher's pet, principal's son, all star student- Asano, was saying E class could use the library? Something they literally had to make a bet about earlier in the year because of how much A class was bothered by it. But now class president of A class was inviting them.
He was definitely in a different universe where things are disturbing.
He bursted into the classroom, not minding the eyes on him from both the students and Koro-sensei. The teachers face went purple but before he could speak Karma spilled the news that Asano Gakushuu just told them they could use the library whenever without strings attached. The news made their jaws to drop too. (Besides Itona who didn't show emotion). He was glad that, should the majority of the school be affected by some weird superpowered thing, that his classmates still knew how weird it was.
Koro-sensei quickly ended the lesson so his students could use the perks while it still lasted. Who knew how long until those snot nosed brats changed their minds.