Chapter 4 - Getting Attention - The Promise From A Long Time Ago

Ayanokoji's Pov:

Our second day of class, well technically our first day of class, was mostly spent on course objectives. Our entire class was listening with completely blank expressions, except for Kururugi, who seemed to be much more interested in explanations than everyone else. I expected the classes to be quite intense, but they were very relaxed; so much so that it looked suspicious.

Going back to yesterday, I can't help but think about the events that took place. Especially with Jabami, this girl is just insane. I can't help thinking about it. Betting all your points against someone at a complete disadvantage just for the thrill of losing? She was very strange, but still very interesting in my opinion. Light is probably thinking of something similar. Probably one of us will come up with something at some point.

I'm still pretty curious about Victorique. But I know next to nothing about her other than her insane deductions and perceptions. Even though Miyuki is my one and only real friend so far, I don't know much about her either. But if I'm not mistaken she mentioned something when we were on the bus. She said she had a brother...

Shiba Tatsuya his name if I'm not mistaken.

This raised some questions for me. For example why he hasn't enrolled here too? From the little she said about him, she said he was more amazing than she was. She also looked very cheerful when talking about his brother. At the time I had asked about his family. And his expression went pretty grim for a tiny split second, so I knew right away that I'd stepped on something I shouldn't have, so I quickly changed the subject and we were chatting about casual stuff.

I noticed the relaxed atmosphere and soon it was time for lunch. After sensei left, we could hear all the students from the other classes disappearing from the school building. Class E, however, made no move after our instructor left. I suppose, due to the nature of our class, no one had a chance to make new acquaintances.

"Can I share some knowledge while everyone is here?"

I decided to take the initiative and speak for the first time.

"Of course. Knowledge is the most powerful weapon of all, after all." Sora said with his usual smile.

"Do you mind if I tell you everything Jabami?" I ask her politely. I see that Lelouch, Sora, Victorique, Miyuki and Ryuzaki raise an eyebrow at what I said.

"I don't mind at all Ayanokoji-kun. Feel free." she said. I nodded my head in thanks. Light probably thought about doing that too, but I took it on first.

I started recounting the events that took place the day before, when Sudo, Light, Horikita, Jabami and I were confronted by the three veterans and how they had hinted that they knew Sudo was in class D just by the way he acted and that they would be soon 'in hell'.

I reported the game that Jabami played with the three when he used his cell phone, as well as that Horikita was still present and served to distribute the cards.

"Although it was only a few seniors who were perhaps making fun of one of the new students, Jabami's tactic proved otherwise." I finished my explanation

The other students in Class E took about a minute to think about everything I had said to them. Before long, Sora asked me a question, well not exactly for me in particular.

"Wait a minute, you said Jabami took all their points right? How many points do you have now Jabami?" Did he ask a little excited? Well, considering she did it for the game. That's one of the things I didn't put into my explanation, along with why she made that bet. After all, it's her choice to tell others about it or not.

"Hmm, about 453,500 points," She said and then several eyes widened. Well, that's normal, after all, on the 'first' day of school she managed to go bankrupt 3 people blackmailing them and she has all that points.

"What the hell!? You can get all this points with betting!?" Sora exclaimed in surprise, but then he was laughing like a maniac, but then he quickly snaps back to normal and asks another question. "But why risk all your points too Jabami? I mean you already had them with the recording, so I could just say that if they won, you would delete the video and they would still give away their points. You had a guarantee that it would would you win from the beginning?" Sora asked.

Well that's logic indeed. The others are certainly thinking about it too. Victorique quickly got out of her bored attitude and was clearly listening intently and probably making some deductions for it. She basically just looks like this when she's working something out on her mind, or talking to us. I think it's normal because of our intelligence.

But... unfortunately for you Victorique and all the others who are thinking like maniacs about why. I'm sure you don't expect this.

"Oh no. Like I said the game was honest. I just won luck. And why should I bet all my points together? Simply because it would be more fun this way. The thrill of losing them all in one game... . It's extremely exciting for me~" she said.

At that moment I could see their faces as if they had grown a second head. Only Light and I were calm, after all we've seen this before. Normally, we also look like this when she first said that to us too.

"Are you serious...?" Lelouch spoke weakly. And Jabami shook his head enthusiastically.

"This is...intriguing." Ryuzaki spoke for the first time in the conversation.

"Well...really. I think we'll get along fine Jabami-chan" Sora exclaimed. Jabami just smiled at him. Shiro was listening to everything in silence.

"But anyway, getting back to the subject, you said they clearly said that Class D is made by 'defectives' right?"

"That's right," I replied.

"Hmm...So if that's the case the school purposely accepts these 'defective' students who I will take as minor and troubled students, and classifies them in class D?" Sora mused.

"I doubt they would do that, it seems a little shallow. Thinking back to what we learned today and taking into account the deductions we made on the first day..." Lelouch began, "Maybe your class is a sign of status? Like being in the class A is a sign of superiority, while class D is seen as 'defective'?"

"I disagree a little on that basis. Like what Sora said. I met someone from class D, and she sure seems to me to be pretty smart. Enough for me to think she deserves to be at least in class B, if it is, a sign of status as Lelouch said." I put my thoughts in the middle.

"I agree with Ayanokoji, Horikita sure seems to be pretty smart, and from what she said the other day, she's also physically good and practices martial arts." Light intervened, agreeing with me. Jabami just nodded to both of us.

"If that's the case, why are they exactly seen as 'defective' class?" Ryuzaki made his thoughts high. I agree with him.

Well I already have a theory of what this means, after all I got to know Horikita a little, and I already have an idea of her 'defect'. Miyuki beside me seems to have caught that too. But, I'm more interested in seeing how she's going to tie it all together. I think to myself looking at Victorique carefully listening to our conversation. Clearly picking up all the 'dots' to call later.

"I feel like there's still one piece left. At the very least, we can confirm that the closer your Grade letter is to A, the more elite you'll be seen in that school, with the lowest grade, Grade D, seen as school trash. It's probably linked to our discussion yesterday about classes competing against each other in some way, but we're missing a crucial link in bringing it all together." Sora said.

Sora was relatively right. Although we certainly had some clues - the fact that Ayame-sensei said it would be a problem if we were all stuck in one of the regular classes together, and the fact that seniors see Class D as 'defective'. I had no doubt these hints were connected in some way, but as Sora said, we were still missing a vital part of the picture... or at least that's what most everyone must be thinking.

"It would be cruel for students to be arbitrarily graded into Class D and then treated as defective for the next three years." Shiro said in his voice that it was basically a whisper, but it still sounded really cute.

In a normal classroom, your voice would likely be drowned out by the classroom environment such as telephones and conversations during that time. However, Class E is generally silent and there is never more than one person speaking at the same time. It actually makes discussion in our class much easier and more inclusive, even for someone like me who hasn't had much social experience.

"I agree. Hey Ayanokoji, do you think it's possible those seniors were just talking nonsense to find themselves in front of Jabami?" suddenly Light asks me, probably just to be sure since he and I were the only ones present along with Jabami.

"I doubt it. Something like that is not something a person would say for no reason. Also, the seniors were right in their 'deduction' that Sudo is in class D, which means even if they were just saying random things to us cheating or boosting their points with Jabami would only have a 25 percent chance of working, considering there are four classes. And the way they were acting, there must be some reason for them to believe there was a good chance Sudo was in Class D just based on their short interaction." I said. Well that's probably already given her everything she needs to make her magic work.

I expressed my honest opinion on the matter. I don't think they were the type to take an elaborate piece in the early years that they have little chance of working. It is infinitely more likely that they were simply proving Sudo by being skeptical, in other words they were insulting Sudo with insults that only someone who knew how this school really worked would understand.

"Hey, I could be wrong because my deductive ability isn't of the genius level like all of you, but if what we've discussed about the classes competing with each other is true and if the smaller students are ranked in Class D, it doesn't make the competitions very unbalanced?" Kururugi added. Well that's true. Your point is valid.

"Yes. Under the circumstances, I imagine it's immensely difficult for the D-class to compete with any other class." Ryuzaki spoke once more in the debate.

Now that I noticed him, he was sitting in a strange posture, the same posture I saw him sitting on the 1st day of class. He was similar to me in that he didn't actively participate in conversations often, instead he is mostly a passive observer, just adding his opinion from time to time. However, I got the impression that, unlike me, who is simply terrible at socializing, Ryuzaki had a different reason for being quiet and constantly watching.

"Besides, our class is the E class, it is below the D in the alphabet, meaning we are the 'worst' in terms of letters," Lelouch noted this.

"If we're bothered by our stupid class handwriting then I'm going to be seriously pissed off!" Sora complained loudly as he collapsed onto his desk as if defeated.

"Don't worry. I'm sure there's more to it than that, as you said before, we're still missing some information." Light comforted him. And he's right. But that's for her to explain.

"You know, if we're assuming that we really have to compete against other classes, that the lower classes are inferior to the upper classes, and there's a missing link between these two assumptions, we might have to steal our position in the hierarchy from the other classes by through these competitions?"

Lelouch reached this conclusion. It certainly was a very good deduction if we assume that all of our previous deductions are also correct. At this point, we don't 'yet' know enough to confirm or cancel it. There was a glaring hole in Lelouch's theory that I couldn't help pointing out.

"The problem with that idea is the incentive. If Class D is seen as the worst, then that means Class A would be the best, right? But why would anyone want to be in Class A instead of Class D? a difference in lyric, and I doubt the other classes would interact with each other outside of hypothetical competitions." I said. That should be enough for her to put it all together. I see out of the corner of my eye at the person I'm thinking of and inwardly fake a smile.

"There could be a million different reasons for this. Or maybe none. We just don't know enough," said Sora.

His tone screamed something like "I've thought so much over the last few minutes I don't want to think about any more shit" but a voice interrupted him.

"I don't think that's true Sora. We already have all the necessary information. At least for a while." A voice that hadn't spoken until now spoke. I get excited all of a sudden.

Show me your skills again.

When people turn toward the voice. Victorique is standing there with the same pipe he had used earlier when explaining some things. I see several people raising their eyebrows. Let's go Victorique. Work your magic.

"What do you mean by that Victorique-san?" Miyuki who was listening silently until now beside me along with Jabami ask at the same time.

"Yes, what do you mean?" Lelouch asked. Victorique just starts walking slowly from side to side like the previous time.

"As, our information. With everything we've gathered so far, it was enough for me to come to a logical conclusion." She spoke calmly.

"What are you waiting for then Victorique-chan?" Sora spoke. I saw her frown a little at that, but she still started to explain.

"The reason why you have grades A through D or E counting on ours. Before I answer your question let me ask you something. Do you really think this school would give a 100% employment rate to all classes at this school?" she suddenly asks us.

This is interesting. In fact, this is suspicious. A school where, hypothetically, classes are divided by hierarchy of best and worst. Class D students are considered 'defective', but who does not guarantee that students in C are also like that? Maybe they are better at a very minimal fraction.

Then I can see some eyes widen a little. Looks like they understand what she's getting at.

"What do you mean by that Victorique? They can't?" Kururugi asked confusedly. Really the mind is not your best. Victorique looks at him and starts to explain.

"When I was coming to Japan, I researched the school. It said '100% employment rate for graduates'. Now I ask you, would they really do that if those D classes considered 'defective' graduated? I don't think so. Which brings us to the second part here. Lelouch said we can compete with other classes to get to the higher hierarchy, so why would we want to graduate from Class A instead of the class we fell initially?" Victorique speaks with his pipe in his mouth, walking from one side to the other. A glowing look suddenly appeared on Suzaku.

"So you're saying that right?" Jabami joined the conversation for the first time.

"Looks like that's the case...I see, things make more sense to me now." Sora exclaimed while Lelouch seemed to share his opinion.

"Yes, Sora. Probably the requirement for the 100% employment rate in any area is probably only possible if a student graduates from Class A. This hypothetically explains why the 'other' Classes feel superior in a way or another." Victorique finishes his explanation.

She is very good. She explained it in a way that is easy, and quick to understand without saying too many words.

"It sure is useful information..." Lelouch mumbles. I agree with him. Which means we probably have to pass 4 classes here to climb to the top. Interesting.

"Actually, but this thing doesn't interest me that much. What I really expected coming to this school with Shiro is to find strong opponents for us to have fun with, right Shiro?" Sora suddenly exclaimed

"But that raises another question" Victorique commented drawing everyone's attention to her again.

"This school clearly doesn't just accept students good at studies, if that were the case, some of the ones I saw at the opening ceremony wouldn't have made it at all. Just the way they were noisy told me they were anything but studious. . And I'm sure that was Class D," she said. This was impressive.

I was sure I'd seen her wanting to sleep more than anything in that hell that damn guy was talking about. But even so, she analyzed everything around her without being noticed. Your observation skills are very frightening indeed. Seem not to miss the slightest detail. There's also the fact that she noticed the cameras the moment she stepped into the room too...

I decided to join the conversation a little by getting their attention.

"Honestly, that entrance exam, to me seemed pointless," I said suddenly drawing in raised eyebrows. Victorique was smiling clearly at me. I couldn't help but think how beautiful she was smiling.

"What do you mean by that Kiyotaka-san?" Miyuki asks me. I could see Shiro also confused along with the others.

"I think Victorique can also answer that Miyuki." I told her and then she looks at Victorique. Miyuki clearly wasn't dumb or anything. In fact everyone here looks confused. Ryuzaki has been looking intently at Victorique since she started her explanation.

"What Ayanokoji means Miyuki. Is that the entrance exam we were given is just a joke. It doesn't change the grade of the class you end up in. For example, I'm sure there are some smart students who have fallen into the class D even though there is an academic from class A or B. Now you ask why that is? Remember when you mentioned that Class D was made of 'defective'? What do you think?" She explained.

"I see. just like the name says, they have a defect. Something that made them fall into class D. People are probably chosen whether or not to enter school even before taking the test no matter what grade they get on it. " Ryuzaki spoke.

"Wait, if that's true, they've already chosen before, how can they determine each other's flaw? It means they know their past right?" Kururugi intervened confused.

"Suzaku, are you really that dumb?" Lelouch exclaimed at him like he was an idiot for asking that. The others seemed to agree, and he hangs his head in shame.

"Let's look at Kururugi, besides the 'supposed entrance test', what else did the school give before entering?" Victorique asked calmly. And then Kururugi is surprised after thinking a bit.

"The interview... we did an interview too" he finally realized.

Yes, we all had an interview after the entrance exam. That is, the people you interviewed were somehow highly capable of detecting some kind of problem or defect that you had to designate your class. This really was scary.

They couldn't know my past. Could they?

I could see that some also seemed skeptical about this.

"Well... a lot to process at once. Let's take a break for now, and focus on something different." Sora spoke.

"On the topic of knowledge, we need to gather more information not only about the school, but the other classes themselves as well. Since we need to test this earlier theory, then how are we going to divide people into classes? I'll stick with Shiro of course." He stated as if it were obvious.

"But before you decide, give me your contact information, I'll set up a group chat for us. I'll send a text message where we'll meet tonight and what time later."

"So you're taking charge, aren't you?" Lelouch smirked.

"I'm just suggesting an idea. But only an idiot would fight a battle without knowing the information about his enemies," Sora said haughtily, clearly defying Lelouch's smirk.

"Very well, I'll follow your suggestion, there's nothing to do here anyway."

"Give me your contact information too, Ayanokoji."

"Right." I simply replied, handing over my phone.

Sora only took a few seconds to add my contact information to his phone and then gave it back to me. He sure is very quick to use this thing . I couldn't help but think.

s

She's very cute...

But before anything else a voice echoed in his ears.

"Today at 5 pm Japan Standard Time we will be holding a Student Club Fair at Gym #1. Students interested in joining a club, please gather at Gym #1. I repeat -" One girl with sweet voice continued the ad. Club activities, huh? come to think of it, I've never been in one before.

"Guys, can we leave to get class information for tomorrow? I'm interested in checking out this fair" I spoke my thoughts.

"Are you going to join a Kiyotaka-san Club?" Miyuki asks me. I just look at her and shake my head before saying.

"No, I just wanted to have a look. I might find something interesting there."

"I see. I don't see a problem with that really, I was also a little interested in going and looking." Sora spoke a little before turning to everyone. "Well, who here is interested in this? We can leave it to get class information tomorrow." He added.

"Hmm, I'm really not up to it I guess. I'm going to take a walk around, and as a bonus see if I can get some information from the classes even if it's not the paper right now." Light replied, Ryuzaki beside her suddenly asking. "Can I go with you? I'm not interested in this fair either." Light raised an eyebrow at that but then shrugged.

"And the rest?" Sora asked. Everyone else seems to be interested in seeing this fair apparently

"I'm not interested in joining a club because it seems like a waste of time, but I suppose I can go check it out," Lelouch comments dryly.

"Very well let's go!" Sora exclaimed. Did he forget the woman said 5 hours?

At 5pm we see our entire group, apart from Ryuzaki and Light, walking towards the Club Fair. During our free time, we talked about various things. Like for example the possible benefit you get if you join a club. We speculate that it probably had some.

But... as we were keeping the E-Class a secret, we chose to ignore it, after all, Sora said he wouldn't miss the chance to see people's faces when they discover the E-Class. see if it's possible to join a club yet, then those who wanted to could join. Although I think only Miyuki would be interested in something like that.

After a while the student council president introduced himself. At first some people were making fun of him, but soon afterwards they quickly fell silent. He introduced himself as Horikita Manabu. Jabami and I raised an eyebrow and looked at each other with probably the same thought. They are relatives? After a while, all the commotion ends and then we can enjoy the fair.

We see a lot of things. Clube de Arco e Flecha along with another great junction of clubs. But what caught my attention the most was the music club.

And then when we were walking I came across...

A piano.

A fully sampled piano in a somewhat open place near the music club. I look and don't see anyone near him.

"Ayanokoji? What's wrong? Why did you suddenly stop?" Lelouch calls him. And then turns to the direction he's looking with the others.

"I see...you said before that you played the piano right? Why not play a little?" Sora spoke.

"That would be awesome Kiyotaka-san, you should play" Miyuki excitedly talks to me.

"I'm interested in your piano skills, to know if what you said was just a lie" Victorique, who was walking like she was going to fall at any moment, suddenly gets excited out of nowhere, smiling at me.

"I think it's better not..." I say weakly.

"Ayanokoji, I wanted to hear you play..." I hear Shiro saying to me in a whisper, and then I along with everyone else turn to her. Sora suddenly shows a smirk.

"See, Ayanokoji, even my cute little sister wants to hear you play. You wouldn't refuse such cuteness would you?" he asks smiling. I see Him and Lelouch smirking along with Victorique. Miyuki was the only one who was really smiling here it seems. I look at Shiro and see his eyes... making a very cute expression.

I am trapped here. It was then, that every year inside the White Room , along with my experiences, I started to work in a super accelerated way together with my brain in search of a useful answer.

I could play the piano. But it would definitely draw attention here. Or I could just ignore it all. But... looking at the piano I can't help but remember her . I came here with the goal of living a peaceful life. But when I got to that class, I saw that it was really interesting. The answer is, do I still want to live my peaceful life? Or live a fun, worthwhile life?

So all my years of experience from that place along with my brain started to work in an insane way in search of the answer I'm looking for. After a while of processing the answer I was looking for finally came up in the form of a single thought.

Screw this

I start walking towards the piano calmly. I see there's no one near the piano. Will if I start playing without permission will I be reprimanded? I really hope not.

Victorique Pov:

I watch Ayanokoji walk calmly towards the piano. Looks like I'm going to hear him play. Interesting.

"This is not good." I hear Lelouch mutter between us.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Sora asked confused.

"If he's really as good as he said at the performance, then he's going to attract attention... we don't want to attract attention, isn't that our intention? Because of Class E secrecy." Lelouch spoke. And then I see Sora go blank.

"Holy shit" Sora muttered.

"Ayanokoji! Hey!" He yells at him. But Ayanokoji didn't see it for some reason. Didn't he hear? No, that's impossible.

"Well it looks like we have a problem..." Sora spoke weakly.

"For now let's watch the Show, alright Miyuki, Jabami?" They agree with me with a smile.

"But I'm really curious to hear him play." Kururugi speaks behind us. We roll our eyes forward.

Ayanokoji's Pov:

As I walk towards the piano with some nostalgic thoughts running through my mind, I hear Sora yell at me.

Looks like he's encouraging me. Thank you Sora.

I come to the side of the piano. I look around, and it looks like the senpai in charge of the Music Club is busy talking to someone. He is busy.

Well, I hope he doesn't mind.

I sit at the piano. I look at the keys intently... it's been a while since I've played.

Now which song should I play?

After thinking carefully I come to my conclusion. If not, which one is it serious ? I ask myself. I start preparing my fingers.

I press the C5 chord and then the sound echoes throughout the gym. Without warning, I start playing the chords calmly.

What song am I playing you ask? It doesn't have a name since I didn't try to give one. After all this song...

It's my own creation.

Victorique Pov:

Ayanokoji sits down, and presses the first key. A sound suddenly echoes throughout the gym, and without any warning, he starts playing more chords.

I liked listening to music to pass my time. Piano was one of my favorite instruments to listen to, so I was confident in my knowledge of piano music but...

Why didn't I know this song?

She was something I had never heard before. I've never heard it before but even so I could tell that every chord he played was with such extreme precision that I was so shocked. I could only see Ayanokoji, who was sitting near the piano, playing notes I had never heard before.

But why did I feel so relaxed to this song?

His posture was extremely calm, his fingers dancing slowly over the piano, gaining speed and momentum. The students closest to the sound of the piano were the first to stop, putting an end to all the conversations they were having among their friends. Gradually, it gained the attention of the entire gym as the beautiful melody that I never heard was filling the entire gym.

The sadness of the first movement stopped time. I could swear later that my life froze, everything around me turned to black and white as the music kept playing around me and turning reality into an old movie.

Ayanokoji immediately switched smoothly to another movement of this song she had never heard before.

Time sped up again as the colors snapped back to reality as his fingers ran from one end to the other across the piano, hitting the keys with more grace and speed than should have been humanly possible .

I could feel the chains that held me to my past...I could feel them slowly cracking as the music continued. Until then...

They totally broke.

My heart was racing as my eyes fixed on the boy playing the piano in a newfound light. I could see Miyuki and Jabami totally stunned by Shiro. Kururugi looked very surprised while Lelouch and Sora had their mouths wide open.

Everyone in the gym was transfixed in open astonishment as the music, incredible and beautiful, reached every student's ears.

Almost as suddenly as he virtuously began his performance, he ended it, the pace slowed, the music reached its peak, the break in the music came to a slow end.

As soon as the final chord was played, it was as if a spell had been lifted. There was an abrupt, unchanging silence.

Applause rang out in the gym, then more applause followed until the sound became deafening.

Several people started to congratulate Ayanokoji.

"That was awesome!"

"That was amazing. Wonderful!"

And then I can see Ayanokoji exchanging a quick word with what appears to be Senpai from the Music Club, and then he runs away...

"Fuck..." I hear Sora say with his mouth wide open.

"I admit...that was impressive." Lelouch right behind.

"Looks like Ayanokoji didn't really lie when he said he played the piano huh..." Kururugi mutters with a tone of wonder.

"Kiyotaka-san was awesome," Miyuki exclaims.

"Strong, smart, and good with instruments... he sure is awesome huhuhu," Jabami spoke with an awkward little laugh at the end.

"Amazing," Shiro spoke for the first time in a while. But her speech came out more like a fainter whisper than any she gave. She sure is very impressed.

"What do you think Victorique-san?"

I have my hand on my chest, my heart beating fast like never before...what the hell is this? What does that mean?

"Victorique-san?" Miyuki suddenly appears in front of me and I step back in surprise.

"Don't scare others like that Miyuki!" I exclaim.

"But you didn't say anything when I called you." She spoke weakly.

"Ahem, so what did you say?" I ask politely.

"What did you think of the song?"

"Oh yes the song, it was completely amazing. Although I've never heard it before." I speak quickly trying not to sound nervous.

"Looks like you fell in love with Doll-kun? But I agree with you, that piano song was something I never heard either" Lelouch speaks curiously. I feel my forehead crease at that damn nickname again. But I don't say anything.

"I've never heard it either," Miyuki speaks with her hand on her chin as if in deep thought.

"Maybe...it's a song he created himself?" Shiro speaks suddenly. That was one of her biggest lines since she got here. And then everyone digests their lines. Could he have created this song? If so, he is on a level above just professional...

"I see... oh shit! Shiro let's go!" Sora suddenly exclaimed.

"Huh? What is it Sora?" Lelouch asks as we all go back to him.

"I was looking closely at the place, even though lost in the music, a person recorded this. I have to stop her from posting it at all costs! Class E can be discovered if Ayanokoji becomes popular throughout the school. They will start to ask what class he's from, and stuff like that, let's go Shiro!" Sora grabs Shiro's hand, and runs off in some direction. Probably the direction this person who recorded it went.

Well, he's already pretty popular with people around here. But most didn't see his face fully because he was on his back playing the piano, so I couldn't see his face properly. But he's definitely going to have to avoid publicly crowded places at full hours all month long if we're going to keep Class E under wraps for 1 month. After all, one of them might say they saw him.

Now that I thought about it... wasn't I paying attention to who recorded it? How was this possible? Was I so immersed in the music that I didn't pay attention to my surroundings? But I never stopped paying attention to my surroundings! Why the hell would that change now!?

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, I sigh at that. It's a waste of time thinking about it now.

"Hey guys are we going back?" I talk to them, and they nod their heads weakly, agreeing with me. They are probably still impressed with it all. Well me too.

I put a hand to my chest where my heart is located. It's beating fast... too fast.

X

Ayanokoji's Pov:

I am now walking the school streets.

When I finished playing, I saw that it was full of people and senpai came to me asking if I wanted to join the music club. I politely declined, and then realized the attention I was attracting. That was bad, so I just took off running at great speed.

My memories go back to when I was playing the piano. The song I played...

When I was in the White Room , only one person spoke to me very often. That person was my mother.

I remember she gave me presents on my birthdays. All of them. I didn't understand why she did this, but I still accepted it with great gratitude for everything she gave me on these birthdays. She was the only one who celebrated this date of mine.

She was very fond of music, her favorite instrument was the piano, and her favorite music was Für Elise. Well your ex favorite song.

When I turned 10, my mom got sick in a hospital that was run by my dad's people containing the best doctors.

But his condition did not seem to improve. And there was little time for her birthday.

So I thought to myself back then.

She has already given me many things, and I have not given her anything...

That's when I got the idea, to play the piano on her birthday in her room. Amazingly that man helped with that. So I thought about playing Für Elise, his favorite song at the time. But then I thought...

She's already given me a lot, and I'm just going to play a copy of a song for her? Even if it's your favorite...

So I did, something that surprised even that man. I was 10 years old and created a whole new song from scratch with the piano. A special song to play on my mom's upcoming birthday.

Then his birthday came and I played the song. When I finished...my mother was crying completely. At the time I thought I had done something wrong somehow, but then she did something that surprised me. She hugged me tightly, tears falling from her eyes thanking me.

In that moment...I felt like it was the only time I felt really happy.

My mom kept hugging me, and then I said I wanted to play her favorite song, but she had already done a lot for me. That's why I decided to put in an effort and create a special one for her. I apologized if the song wasn't close to her favorite, so she laughed and told me.

"Silly boy, your song you made for me is my favorite now" she said with a big smile. At the time I really felt moved.

But it didn't last long...

About an hour and a half after playing her favorite song... she died.

But before she died. When I finished playing the song I made, she had said a few words to me. Words that came to be his last.

"Kiyotaka, I know I have no right to demand anything from you, not after what you've been through because of us. But I have one last request." She had told me at the time. It was as if he knew it wouldn't last much longer...

I listened to what she was going to say.

"I'm sure you'll be free one day, so... when that day comes. I want you to seek your happiness. That's the last and only thing I ask of you. Find someone or people you trust. . People who will become the ones you value most in the world. Find your happiness. And don't forget that Kiyotaka. I love you my son. I love you more than anything in this world."

The moment she had said those sentences back then, something happened that I never thought was possible... I cried.

For the first and last time in my life, I cried when she said that. I didn't know why.

I then stop walking and start looking at the beautiful, completely bluish sky.

I am now free.

I never blamed my mother for the childhood I had. I know it wasn't her fault at all. It was all that man's fault . But still, I don't hate them for what they've done. After all, thanks to them I acquired skills that are superior to basically any normal person.

So I promised myself.

That he would seek happiness. A happy life.

And now that I'm at this school, I can finally try to understand what this happiness my mother was telling me about. And would it be possible for me to find people who would become important to me as she said? Or will my mindset not change? But that doesn't matter now after all.

I promised her that.

And anyone who gets in my way, whether that man or anyone else.

I will show you the skills of the Masterpiece they created.

If they get in my way in search of my life of peace and happiness that I promised I would pursue in my mother's name, then I...

I will make sure to destroy them all.