This is a request from Shiranai Atsune for a story in which Nagisa and Gakushuu are stepbrothers. Enjoy!

Mandatory disclaimer: I do not own AssClass. If I did Takebayashi's arc would not have been cut from the anime.

Nagisa Shiota was a seventh-grader when his parents divorced.

If you were to ask Nagisa, he wouldn't tell you that it was that interesting of a story. Hearing them scream about how much they hated each other was the soundtrack of his childhood. He would sit in his room, praying to the kami that they would stop. Sometimes he could even hear his mother smacking his father, the sound reverberating all across the house. It was a normal occurrence to him.

So Nagisa was actually quite relieved when his parents sat him down one night not too long after the welcoming ceremony to Kunugigaoka Junior High, and told him they couldn't get along and were separating.

Actually, it wasn't quite phrased that way. It was more of his mother saying "Nagisa, your father is a massive asshole, so he's finally getting out of our lives."

It was countered with "You bitch!", and then some plates shattered, and then Nagisa left the house to go sit by the river with his headphones in.

The next few months dragged, he had to sit in court hear more bickering and pettiness. His mother won custody of him, maybe the courts were too scared of her to cross her. Who knows. But whatever the reason, his life with a single parent began unbidden.

It didn't take her long to enter the dating game again. She soon spent every Saturday night out with a new guy. There were three possible outcomes to each night. One, she'd come home bitching and moaning about how the guy was 'a loser' or 'not her type'. Two, she'd hit it off and come home beaming and excited about her next date, only for her new boy toy to break it off withing a few weeks, usually because "You're not what I'm looking for". Hiromi often took this to mean that they didn't want a single mom, which enraged her.

But her newest guy was outcome number three, one Nagisa had never seen before.

He stayed. Week after week, Hiromi would meet him and come home at two a.m. laughing and stumbling in the door. She was absolutely glowing every time she talked about him. "You have to meet him, Nagisa." She said breathlessly. "He'll be a great father to you. Actually, I think he has a son your age." Hiromi said with a bit of disappointment on the word son, as if cursing the fact that she couldn't even have a step-daughter.

This had been going on for months. Nagisa still hadn't met his mother's boyfriend, and was honestly not too thrilled about the idea. He hadn't even heard his name. All he knew was that he was an educator and that his mother was happy with him. Nagisa knew he should be happy for her, but he couldn't summon the feeling. He didn't know what he wanted, but this was not it.

And the other thing was, Nagisa was displeased with the agreement that the court had worked out regarding visitation. His father could only see him every third Sunday. And even that was only in writing, Nagisa's mother would sometimes block him from going out to meet his dad, calling his father to insist that their son was 'sick'.

So Nagisa was, understandably, frustrated with her. One night he dared to defy her and shouted "If this guy's so great how come you won't let me meet him?"

His mother froze. But no violence of any sort followed this time. She simply smiled and said "You know what, you're right.".

So that brought him to tonight. Nagisa was sitting at the dinner table, waiting for his mother's boyfriend to arrive. They would be having dinner together. The smell of udon wafted in from the kitchen in their small apartment. His mother appeared in front of him, wiping the giant spoon on her apron. "By the way," she smiled sadistically. "We're getting married."

Nagisa dropped the chopsticks he'd been absentmindedly playing with.

"Yeah, he proposed last night and I gladly accepted. You'll be surprised when you meet him. He's bringing his son over, so be sure to be nice to your new brother."

She disappeared back into the kitchen cheerily, leaving Nagisa to collect his thoughts. It was less than a year since the divorce! She was already shacking up with another guy? And a guy her own son hadn't even met. Nagisa felt ashamed of it, but he put his head down and cried a bit. He was jolted up when there was a knock on the door.

"That must be them." Hiromi got the door and kissed their guest on the cheek. He grinned.

Nagisa could not believe his eyes.

The man is mother was marrying, his new stepfather, was Gakuho Asano, the principal of Kunugigaoka Junior High.

The cute little bluenette was paralyzed with shock and fear. He would be under even more stress to do well in school, on top of his grief over his biological parents' divorce. What if he got dropped into E Class in his third year? He'd never be able to escape the torment. And that also meant...

"Nagisa, meet your new step-brother, Gakushuu Asano."

Yep, he was also in his apartment right now. No. This could not be happening. He was in denial. But deny it as he may, his new step family still stood in front of him, full of fake smiles.

"Hello, Nagisa my boy! I hope we get to know each other very well!" Gakuho beamed. It was so... fake. Nagisa wished he could run away.

Gakushuu took his seat next to Nagisa at the dinner table. The one consolation in all this was that Gakushuu seemed as pouty about the arrangement as he was. The honor student was glaring daggers at his father the whole dinner.

That night was torturous for the both of them. The adults had decided to move Hiromi and Nagisa into the Asanos' large house. Nagisa would keep the surname Shiota (what he really wanted was to go back to his father's name but that clearly wasn't happening so he settled for Shiota) since he wasn't legally Gakuho's son (though Nagisa had a sick suspicion that his mother was trying to get Gakuho to adopt him). The story Nagisa was told was that the former Mrs. Asano ran off with some new guy and they moved to Okinawa four years ago. Gakushuu hadn't seen his mother since. Nagisa felt a pang of sympathy. At least he saw his father, even if it was sparingly.

The wedding was held on a bright spring day in the middle of Wakaba Park. Nagisa and Gakushuu did not have roles, they just sat quietly in the audience. Gakushuu slapped a gnat and accidentally hit Nagisa. Nagisa, sighing in sad resignation, threw a glance at the Wakaba Park Daycare. It was vacant today, as it was a Sunday. He was told he could bring one friend to the wedding, so he brought Sugino, who sat on the other side of him and patted his head. "It'll be okay, buddy. You can come over anytime you need, okay?"

Hiromi walked down the carpet between the two blocks of seating. She was dressed in a white lace wedding dress, if the pictures were to be believed it was the same one she wore when she married Nagisa's father. Nagisa's grandparents looked on with unreadable expressions. The cherry blossoms were falling and got caught in Nagisa's hair. Soon the bride and groom kissed, and the audience cheered.

Later that night, Nagisa and his mother moved into the Asano's house. It was a large, luxurious place. The walls were covered in expensive-looking paintings of various locations all over Japan. The floors in every room (even the bathroom!) were lined in satin carpets. He wondered where all the Principal's money came from. Did running a prep school really pay this well?

But for how big and fancy this house was... It only had two bedrooms. So Nagisa and Gakushuu were forced to share a room. This is exactly the thing I feared... Thought Nagisa as he crawled onto his top bunk. The space on the floor had been completely claimed by Gakushuu's many possessions. Nagisa kept most of his belongings in a box, and decided that tomorrow he'd find a place to put them.

There was an unspoken agreement between Nagisa and Gakushuu to prevent anyone at school from finding out about their new living arrangement. Gakushuu left ten minutes before Nagisa and took a completely different route, even going so far as to ride a different line and transfer to the Kunugigaoka-bound one miles away. Nagisa didn't invite anyone to the house- he had a history of never doing that anyway, though it used to be so his friends wouldn't see his parents fight. Gakushuu didn't bring anyone over either, as he was used to spending one hundred percent of his free time studying.

The two boys spent most of their time apart and ignored each other in most instances. They did not make direct eye contact and wore overly fake smiles when it was family dinnertime. This upset the parents greatly.

"Why haven't I seen you two talk to each other once?" Hiromi sat with her legs crossed, waiting on an answer. She did not get one, both boys just sat in silence. Hiromi looked at her husband, who mirrored her anxious face. "Well, you both should. You're brothers now."

Many days later, Nagisa was able to clear up a spot on the dresser to place some knick knacks, but he was quickly shamed by his new 'brother'.

"Listen. I don't want you here anymore than you want to be here." Gakushuu sat down in his chair, the one he never let Nagisa sit in. "I would have been fine with being raised by a single, albeit psychotic dad. Hell, I could raise myself. That would be ideal." He cracked open War and Peace, the Russian edition. "I hate adults."

Nagisa grabbed his Earth science textbook and crawled up the ladder. "That's... A strong sentiment."

"I really don't think it is. Hate isn't that strong of an emotion."

"What I mean is, we're going to be adults someday. Will you hate yourself then?"

Gakushuu narrowed his eyes at him, staring for a second, then directed his attention back to the book.

Living with Gakushuu was one thing. But dealing with the duo of Hiromi and Gakuho was what had really concerned Nagisa. And with good reason.

Nagisa saw what the principal's idea of 'parenting' really was. Gakuho did not seem to talk about anything but education. He didn't speak to either boy except to ask "What did you learn today?" or "Have you done your homework?" He would quiz Gakushuu on English and French vocabulary at the dinner table. If Nagisa got anything below a 95 on any test, he would ignore him all day. He never wanted to hear about friends or hobbies or even ambitions if they had nothing to do with being the best.

And Hiromi just fed off of this behavior. She smiled and nodded while the principal went on and on about studying. "He's right, you really should study more sweetie." She pinched Nagisa's cheek. "Can't afford for your grades to drop anymore. Or you won't get into Keisetsu University."

And this marriage showed no sign of ending anytime soon, as Gakushuu had predicted ("I give them two months then they'll start fighting and your birth giver will run off with the next best looking thing that comes along."). The Principal and Hiromi seemed like a match made in Heaven (or maybe Hell). They always seemed like they were in their own little world whenever they were together. They giggled and blushed whenever they held hands. It made their respective children want to throw up.

The more the petite blue-haired boy lived with the 'genius' known as Gakushuu Asano, the more he seemed... human. When Gakushuu got up every morning, without fail he'd hit his head on the top bunk, earning a loud ouch! Nagisa suppressed a bit of sadistic laughter. Gakushuu often put his shoes on the wrong feet when leaving, and would not realize until they were halfway down the block. And last night, he fell asleep at the bathroom sink while brushing his teeth.

"Shiota?" Gakushuu addressed him one morning over breakfast.

"Yes?"

"You're friends with Akabane, correct?"

"We were. We don't talk much anymore. Why?"

"I heard he wants to challenge me for the spot of valedictorian." Gakushuu reached for the jar of strawberry jam, suddenly avoiding his eyes. "... Do you think that's a possibility? Like, can he actually rival me if he tries?"

Nagisa knew it was best to tell the truth in this situation. "Absolutely." Gakushuu visibly cringed.

Nagisa finally saw his dad for the first time in almost a year. He practically launched himself into his father's arms. "Daddy!" He didn't even feel embarrassed by his outburst. "I missed you."

Nagisa's father ran his fingers through his son's hair. "I missed you too."

Hiromi walked out of the house to greet her ex-husband. This was progress, at least they were talking without the use of profanity. "Bring him back by nine, he has an exam to study for."

"Okay dear." The father-son pair walked down the street together. "So, there's this new sushi place one town over, wanna go?"

The middle schooler nodded enthusiastically. He had almost accepted the idea of never seeing him at all until he moved out, but a certain someone had a change of heart...

True to his prediction, Nagisa was dropped into E-as-in-End Class in his third year. When he got that letter, his pigtails drooped and he began the walk of shame home. He could imagine what his classmates were thinking as they saw him. What a shame, I thought Shiota actually had potential... What's wrong with Shiota, is he actually that much of a loser? When he got home, he placed the letter on the kitchen table and stood there as his mom and stepdad read it. They just looked at him with the most disapproving stare he had ever seen anyone wear. There were no raised voices, no lost tempers, no profanity, no physical violence. Being looked at like that was all he needed. The adults did not even have words for him.

After what felt like an eternity of that, Nagisa went up to his/Gakushuu's room and pulled the covers over himself. Fighting back tears, he tried to think of what kind of classmates he might have in E Class. Karma would probably be there after his suspension expired. He had heard that Isogai was in hot water with the disciplinarian for his part time job, maybe he'd be there too. And Sugino had already gotten his letter, he was definitely going to be joining them. And the Terasaka gang...

Nagisa's train of thought derailed when the blankets were pulled off of his head. Who could have bothered to climb the ladder all the way up here?

He was shocked to hear Gakushuu of all people. "Listen, Shiota... Err, Nagisa?"

"Yes?" The bluenette sniffled.

"I just came to say... Don't get too bent out of shape about the E Class thing. I mean... You're now in a position where you can prove the principal wrong, y'know?" It was clear that this whole comforting a sad person thing was not his forte. "If you and the rest of E Class rise up and really go well and surprise everyone... Well, wouldn't that just be the best revenge for how shitty he's treated you at home for the past year?"

Nagisa sat up and for the first time ever, actually looked at his stepbrother. Gakushuu continued.

"You're a very... capable person. And so are a lot of future E Class students. Isogai, and Nakamura, and, as much as I hate to admit it, Akabane. I'm sure you'll all figure something out. Everything will be fine." Even he didn't sound sure of his own words, but nonetheless, Nagisa felt his first genuine smile form since moving into his house.

Maybe he could finally get along with his new brother.