2/8/17: I can't seem to decide what last name to give to Mayu orz. It should be Akuno, but I tend to write Akuma ;; So I fixed that this chapter, please forgive me.
In what had felt like an eternity, the teacher, pale and emotionless, who had arrived in the room turned to close the door behind her, and then she walks towards the podium in the front of the classroom. All the students in the class could do was stare at their teacher. Once she had settled herself in front of the room, placing her attendance book down, the woman looked up, facing the class.
"Everyone," words started to fly by her mouth. "The bell has already rung." Her voice was youthful, yet lacked emotion as she spoke. "Please take a seat." The woman showed no hesitation or fear of being the teacher of the classroom.
Rather than doing what they were just asked to do, the students just turned to stare at each other. Usually, they are given assign seats on the first day. Wasn't their teacher going to do that? Before anyone could even ask, it was as if she had read their mind.
"You will get your assigned seat later. For now, take a seat." Finally aware that they will be given a seat assigned to them later, the students that had been standing went and filled in all the seats that been vacant. SeeU rushed to pick up all her fallen pencils and placed them in her box. After doing so in seconds, she picked up her box and rushed to the first vacant seat she found, which was next to Gumi.
Seeing that all her students are seated, Mayu continued on. "Now, we will take a test." The very second after those words flew out of her mouth, the students in the class could only stare at her in disbelief then express themselves with shock.
"What!? A test!?" Yu cried out in shock.
"We just got back here and we are taking a test!?" Tianyi screamed.
"It's the first day of school! Who gives tests out on the first day!?" Al asked in disbelief.
Everyone was turning to each other, asking each other about what they just heard, and complaints were already coming out of their mouths.
"Shouldn't we start by introducing ourselves?" Prima's voice ranged out, more audible than any complaint or comment that had been spoken in the past few seconds. Everyone had stopped talking and with their mouths shut, they turned to face Prima, who sat at the desk in the last row in the center. Facing her teacher who is giving her attention to her, Prima continued. "It is your first day here after all, Ms. Akuno." A slight bit of arrogance was laced in her voice. Being the kind of girl who expects respect from everyone, even teachers, Prima felt it was perfectly okay for her to act as if she was important, even to the point of acting as if she deserves more respect than her superiors. Upon hearing that a test will be handed out, Prima chose to spoke out to her teacher, hoping the woman change her mind.
Naturally, Chika joined in. "Aren't you going to take attendance? Don't you want to memorize our names? You know, the usual?" Chika usually gives her utmost respect to her superiors, but knowing there will be a test immediately, Chika felt no need to act nice to Mayu. Her words were also laced with arrogance. Chika and Prima had believed that with Mayu being new, she wouldn't know what she was doing if she had just chose to hand out a test on the first day. They were told that Mayu was a "good teacher," but in their eyes, handing out a test on the first day, refusing to hand out assigned seats, and not bothering to do introductions first was hints for them that Mayu was not so great. For them, they view it as a way to humiliate their teacher, something they enjoyed doing the previous school year.
Prima and Chika truly underestimated Mayu.
"There is no need for introductions," Mayo responded boldly to the class, specifically directly to the two girls. "I already know all of your names." Mayu's gaze then went straight towards Prima.
"You are Prima Warburn, 14 years old and born on January 14, 2000. You are 156cm tall and you weigh 42kg. You are the daughter of Raphael Warburn and Zunko Tohoku You were born in England, but moved to Japan at age four due of your mom's job." Prima's eyes grew wide in disbelief. How did Mayu knew such basic yet personal information and memorize it? "You have an amazing soprano voice, and at age nine, you auditioned for a role in a National talent show. You didn't make it past the first round because you proved you couldn't even dance properly, and you had caught a sore throat so you weren't able to sing well either. At the age of ten, you grew jealous of your mom giving more attention to your brother, so you threw out the toy dinosaur you gave him that he treasured dearly." The raven haired girl sat there, staring at her teacher with a shock expression. Prima knew nearly nothing about her teacher, yet Mayu seemed to know everything about her just by saying that much. Before anyone could even react, Mayu quickly moved on, changing her glance to Chika.
"Chika Itou, 14 years old and born on October 16, 1999. You are 165cm tall and weigh 46.3kg. You are the daughter of Roro and Mizki Itou. You were an honors student in elementary school and excelled in dance class, going much advanced than your friends achieved. When you started Junior High school, you received poor grades and nearly failed the first year, which is why you dropped out of CFM Junior High and transferred to this school, Bokaro Junior High School. The same year, you were unable to recite the words in a play you were in at Tokyo, leading to public humiliation in your school as well as students mocking you since you had acted arrogant to them up until the event, adding on to why you left and came here." Chika struggled to keep her composure. How did her teacher even knew that information Chika had tried to keep secret?
"You already know my name from the assembly, so there is no need for me to introduce myself," Mayu announced to the class. "Anyone else want an introduction like those two?" No one even got a chance to answer – not that they wanted to anyway as they feared of going through the same humiliation – since Mayu immediately continued on. "It's a waste of time to do so though." Everyone kept their silence. It was best to not say anything.
"From now on, you will have a test every Monday," Mayu announced to her class. "The two students who score the lowest on the tests will be our class representatives." Once again, much like when they heard about having a test, the students were quick to chatter in an uproar. Representatives of the class were usually people who have high grades. The idea that the representatives were the students with the lowest grades was bizarre and unusual.
"Sensei!" Piko called for the teacher's attention. "What does that mean? The representatives are usually students who have good grades. What about the class officers?" Mayu turned to face Piko who sat at a desk near the front where Mayu was at. A few students who were interested in nominating themselves as representatives put their full focus on Mayu.
"In my class, there are only two representatives. There is no such thing as class officers." The students looked at their teacher in shock. No class officers? No president? Vice-president? Treasurer? Students who had planned on attempting to earn a position as a class officer could only stare at their teacher in disbelief.
"The class representatives exist to discourage unwanted thinking and full concentration on what is important, like their studies."
"Discourage unwanted thinking? Full concentration on their studies?" Miriam questioned. Despite having saying it to herself, Mayu had heard her and turned to the left where Miriam was sitting at.
"They are responsible for providing lunch for those who did not bring theirs, cleaning the classroom, taking care of the school rabbit, and all the likes," Mayu went on, and Miriam listened to Mayu intently, growing interested in Mayu already. While some of her classmates were clearly showing dislike for Mayu – especially Prima and Chika thanks to Mayu humiliating them – due to her two unexpected announcements, Miriam had found herself liking Mayu. The teacher shared the same views as the platinum blonde. Miriam had believed in Elementary School that unnecessary thinking should be gone and replaced with complete focus on school.
"I will have them handle all the chores," Mayu announced, and another uproar was created with complaints from the students once those words were announced.
"Doing all the chores?" Kaito asked, hoping he heard Mayu incorrectly.
"What? All the chores?" Kokone questioned.
"Why all the chores?" Bruno muttered in annoyance.
"What the hell is this…" Ann couldn't believe what she had just heard.
"One the other hand," Mayu continued to talk despite the complaints that were going on in her room. "The two students who score the highest will be given special privileges." This brought everyone's full attention. Special privileges for the students who achieve the highest scores? This never happened in their classes during their previous two years of junior high school.
"The big locker in the back of the room that is meant for only the teachers," Mayu focused her gaze on the aforementioned lockers, and the students turned around to stare at them. "Those students will have the right to use those lockers." A few teenagers in the room suddenly found themselves interested in attempting to do well on the test now. The locker was large enough to fit everything they couldn't fit in their small lockers in the back of the room and their desk.
"Just as long as they show up for first period, I do not care if they skip any morning assembly or meeting." A few more kids who weren't so interested in the lockers had gotten interested in the words that had just flown out of Mayu's mouth. Morning assemblies were a bore to them. The chance of skipping them and their teacher not caring had given them the motivation to do well on the test.
However, not everyone in the class were fond of these special privileges if they were to be given to the most intelligent students and not to anyone else.
"That means they get to sleep for an extra thirty minutes!" Wil blurted out.
"What the hell? That's not fair!" Iroha cried out.
"That's special treatment for certain people!" Gakupo added.
"People in this classroom who are stupid and lazy will be treated differently." Mayu went on as usual, uncaring of what her students believe. "Those people will suffer." Everyone focused on Mayu, shocked with her words. "Intelligent people who put effort into their work earn more privileges and live wealthy lives." Facing forward, Mayu continued on.
"That is society."
Without even stopping or letting anyone in her class even grasp what she had announced, Mayu went on. "Do you know how many people can live happily like that and have others below them envy those?" Pausing as if she was waiting for someone to answer, the class of ninth graders could only sit there as they did not have an answer for her question. "Six percent," she began again. "Only six percent can live happily like that. In this country, only six out of 100 people can be happy. In this classroom, there are 24 students, and only six percent of you all can be happy. Of the 24 of you, only one or two of you can live with happy lives."
The twenty four students began to look around, staring at each other. Of all of them, only two can be happy. Some began to wonder who those two are that can truly live happy lives.
"If you want to be apart of that six percent," the students were brought back to reality by Mayu's words. "Then you must make an effort, get good grades in school and enter a good university."
"I don't think it's all about going to a good college," Luka announced her opinion.
"Yeah," Kyo agreed. "What about sports?"
"How about music?" Tianyi added.
Mayu glanced at the three who called out and smirked. "Chances of having successful lives with sports and arts are even lower. People who are first class receive first class education at a young age and put in a great amount of effort into their studies." Mayu then cut off her gaze at the three and looked around the room, meeting everyone's gaze, one by one.
"Do you ordinary people think you can accomplish that?"
"Ordinary?" Ann questioned. She was a well known model in the city and was very popular with the students of Bokaro Junior High School. That comment Mayu had just made left her feeling heavily offended. Her friends, SeeU, Prima, and Chika were not as popular or rich, but they were quite wealthy and throughout their lives, they have felt they were more unique than everyone else. Students like Tonio, Miriam, and Piko have spent most of their lives achieving what they felt were best for them and what was expected of them. They had felt they were better than everyone else. A majority of the class who were not as wealthy or smart were raised in a comfortable lifestyle with loving parents and a nice home. They felt they were fine enough with just that.
They all felt special in different ways, so to be told that they were just ordinary people, and by their teacher of all people to say that, most of the students in the room couldn't help but felt offended.
"You guys in this school, Bokaro Junior High School, you are all way behind of the people who are in famous private schools." Mayu turned her head up, as if the corner of the room her eyes are locked on was more interesting than the students she is teaching.
"Picture it," Mayu told her class. "They live in a wealthy way none of you have ever experienced. They get privileges and freebies that none of you will ever receive. When they are sick, they can simply get examined at the finest hospitals without ever having to wait, unlike you guys. They can easily get the games you all wanted and have to wait for. They can enter an amusement park with special passes and ride all they want without having to wait."
"That's not fair…" Kyo muttered, and despite how quiet he had spoken from the back of the room, Mayu heard him. The teacher looked directly at Kyo.
"Open your eyes." Mayu slowly left her place in front of the podium and continued speaking as she walks around the classroom, through each aisle of rows staring down at each student. "In order for the privileged to live happily, you ordinary people have to pay the taxes and earn low salary. These privileged people, do you know what they want from you?" Mayu had waltz to the back of the room when she released that question from her mouth. As she expected, no one could answer or even say a word.
"They want you to remain stupid forever."
As quickly as Mayu had said those words, Ann aggressively stood from her desk, hands slamming the top and chair roughly pushed back. If the earlier comment of being called ordinary was not enough to push Ann off the edge, everything else that had came out of Mayu's mouth surely did. The model couldn't stand to sit there, being told as if she was lower than those wealthy people when Ann possibly had much more money due to her job.
Turning to Mayu, who is a few steps away from her, Ann glared at her. "Stop saying all of that as if there were no such people as them in this room," she angrily hissed at her teacher. Mayu simply stared at Ann, keeping a straight face.
"Why not? Surely, those who are privileged are not in this room now."
Ann couldn't believe her ears. Did Mayu not know who Ann was?
"Sensei…" a quiet male voice Ann adored had spoken. Turning to the source of the voice, Mayu stared at Kaito.
"What is it?"
"Ann…" Kaito began, but felt the words were growing lost in his throat. While Mayu was not that far from him and just remain standing where she had been, her yellow orbs were staring directly at the boy. The way she kept her gaze at him, so quiet with no sign of emotion anywhere in that face of hers, left Kaito feeling weak as he tried to speak. Kaito was nearly ready to chicken out on what he was to say until he found himself glancing at Ann again and realized why he spoke up in the first place. Knowing he had to protect his dear friend, the blue haired boy quickly earned the strength to speak up again.
"Ann is a privileged person too, just like those you mentioned." Once those words left his mouth, Kaito kept his gaze on Mayu. He believed that after enlightening Mayu on that fact, the teacher would leave Ann alone.
The result was the opposite of what he had expected.
Mayu's emotionless face was soon decorated with a small smirk and she began to walk closer to Kaito, abandoning the blonde who was still standing. Once she got to Kaito's desk, she stood right in front of him, her small and barely noticeable smirk never leaving.
"If she is a privileged person," Mayu began, her voice that had been so serious and lacking any other emotion until now was laced coated with a sense of arrogance. "Then why is she here?"
"Eh?" Kaito sat there, not expecting that question from his teacher.
"Due to a scandal that had happened in a nearby private school leading to a shutdown of it over a year ago, several students in this school had transferred here. Bokaro Junior High School also has a reputation of being the best of the public schools in this district." Mayu enlightened the boy as well as everyone in this classroom with her information. "But as I recall, Ann transferred to this school in the first year, long before the scandal happened in that other school. Why?"
"Sensei, I-" Ann began, ready to reveal her reason, but Mayu cut her off.
"I didn't ask you. I asked him. Since he is kind enough to speak up for you, he should answer the question." Mayu kept her gaze on Kaito. The boy was unsure of what to say. He knew the answer, but he felt too pressured to even let his words come out. Mayu kept a steady, cold gaze at him, and everyone's eyes bored deeply into him, waiting for Kaito to answer the teacher.
"What's wrong? Are you chickening out, or could it be, you chose to defend that girl just because you like her?" Mayu taunted Kaito with those words. Hearing them, Kaito suddenly felt the strength he needed to answer his teacher. He wasn't going to let her mock him. Looking up, staring directly at her eyes, Kaito gave her the answer she asked for.
"Ann came to this school because she chose to. She wanted to be closer to a friend who goes to this school."
Silence then came to the room. Ann couldn't help but admire the blue haired boy even more. Kaito felt relief overcome him. Mayu ended her heavy gaze at Kaito and started walking off back to the front of the room, commenting to the answer she received while doing so.
"How useless."
Ann, Kaito, and several other students in the room gaped at their teacher, stunned by her words. Upon reaching her podium, Mayu began another speech.
"If you were given one day to have special privileges, just like her," Mayu's gaze landed on Ann, indicating who exactly she was referring to. "Would you abandon it all for who you think is a friend, show off all the wealth you have and waste it, or," she cut off her gaze on Ann and her orbs stared directly at every other student in the room. "Would you put the special privileges you were given to good use?"
"What do you mean 'wasting' our wealth?" Chika asked with a look of annoyance.
"Why did you stare at Ann when you said those exact words?" Prima questioned her teacher with slight anger in her voice. She was still unhappy and offended by her teacher's earlier comments that had offended the raven haired girl.
Kaito stood up angrily, once again, earning everyone's attention. "Ann doesn't waste her wealth or shows it off," he yelled at Mayu. At this point, Kaito was convinced that Mayu was antagonizing Ann and her friends. Openly humiliated Prima and Chika, classified them and Ann – as well as quiet SeeU, who is wealthy and a good friend of the three girls – as ordinary and not special, and then calling Ann off for being the kind of person who wastes away her wealth, Kaito felt angry at Mayu. It was as if she was trying to openly offend them, and worst of all, it appeared she didn't even considered how her own students would feel.
"Are you trying to be a white knight now?" Mayu asked nonchalantly, not even bothering to look at Kaito. "I am sure some people here agree with me. Those girls you are protecting, they constantly show off and waste their privileges doing silly things, like for example, attending this school."
Ann, Prima, and Chika stared at their teacher, trying their best not to go up to her and strangle her. Kaito, however, couldn't hold his rage in.
"Can you stop-" he began to yell.
"I agree with Akuno-sensei."
Everyone turned to the source of those words. All eyes fell onto a red haired girl with a strand of hair sticking up. Looking down on her desk to avoid the gazes of her classmates, Miki continued.
"If I were to have the same privileges as those girls, I would put them to good use, like taking extra classes or preparing for my future…"
"I agree," Piko spoke out. "Those girls, all they ever do is spend time together and waste their days away, never caring what could happen in the future."
"I had always envied them for having everything I couldn't have, but the way Akuma-sensei and Furukawa-san say it now, I guess I'm glad I'm not them." Tonio commented. Soon, a few voices spoke out in agreement. Kaito, Ann, and their friends stared at their classmates in disbelief. Sure, they knew Miki would agree that they were wasting their time since the redhead despised them openly. Of course, nerds like Miriam and Tonio would agree too as they either hated them or despised them. Everyone else though, or at least, those who spoke out? The clique thought those people adored them and would defend them alongside Kaito.
"Do you see now?" Mayu's question was aimed directly at Ann. "Did you truly think someone besides Shion-san was going to defend you? You now know, everyone here believes you are wasting your time, and believe me, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have class time wasted." Mayu coldly called off on Ann. "Because of your idiocy and stubbornness, we haven't started the test earlier like I planned to."
Glaring at the creamed haired woman, Ann slowly sat down, and Kaito followed. Ann realized that if she tried to defend herself even more, Mayu would simply find a way to bite back. The blonde then recalled having gone to the office a few months ago, personally requesting that she and her friends are taught by the best teacher. Ann wanted to believe they had ignored that part like they ignored the part where she asked to keep Miki in a separate class, but knowing that Chika and SeeU have enlightened her earlier that their mothers were told Mayu was excellent, Ann figured that Mayu might be the person she herself had requested to have.
The blonde girl was now regretting ever asking for the "best" teacher possible if it meant she had to suffer through this.
Meanwhile, Kaito had realized that even if he tried to defend his friends, Mayu would find a way to hurt them. Chika and Prima found themselves despising Mayu for everything she had said, and she had been in the room for only around twenty minutes now. Some students like Miriam and Tonio, however, found themselves admiring Mayu as the teacher shared the same views and ideals as them.
"Now," Mayu brought everyone's attention back to her. "Without further delay, we will take the test."
A/N: This came out much longer than I thought it would. Oh well, without further ado, feel free to review and even read this.
