Karma Akabane headcanon/AU
So, i know this isn't canon but I love the idea that, rather than being naturally smart and just knowing things, the reason Karma gets good grades is because 1) he actually enjoys learning,, when he can do it his own way. I actually believe that the reason Karma is rarely at school is because he can't stand the people there rather than that he doesn't like learning. I know this might seem odd but, like, even the smartest, most academically gifted person out there has to learn the things they know from somewhere. You're not born knowing these things, you learn them overtime. But also, i've seen people say Karma's parents aren't around much, like they're pretty absent parents, and that would make sense, but if he doesn't really have friends, then there's probably not much else for him to do except learn things. Why doesn't he pay attention in class or not study? Because he's already covered this in his own time. That's why, when the teachers add questions of things the class hasn't been taught yet, he still gets a good score, because he's already learnt it on his own time. also, he clearly does care about his grades because the one time he doesn't do as well as he thought he would, which, i Can't remember, but i'm pretty sure he still did pretty well, he seems so upset and annoyed by it, because he actually does study and stuff, but it's perfectly normal to forget things? and, when Korosensei starts taunting him for it, he seems embarrassed and annoyed, but also like he's holding back from responding. He clearly takes pride in his grades and being smart, but consider for a second, that he was studying in his own time, in his own way, which may be disruptive to others and that, combined with his whole delinquent thing, being why he deosn't study in class. so, he actually did study, and he still failed, and then his teacher, thinking he just didn't put enough effort in starts to tease you for it. You can't admit that you actually did study, for someone like Karma that would seem even more embarrassing, that he put in effort and still didn't succeed, so he doesn't reply and he lets Korosenei, and everyone else, think he just didn't try hard enought. And then, next time there's an exam, Korosensei goes to his house and sees him studying in private. He assumes that Karma took his words and prvious failure to heart, but maybe he just always did that, studied in secret, in private. This isn't to say Karma is faking being a delinquent or doesn't enjoy doing delinquent things, because he does, but that doesn't mean he can't enjoy learning, as its own thing as well. If he didn't enjoy learning to some extent, he wouldn't be as smart as he is. And it's not just maths, it's all his subjects that he's getting around 98-100 marks in.
so yeah this is my Karma secretly likes learning but won't let anyone know because it goes against his whole delinquent thing agenda.