Chapter 5 - Genius Game Night - A Storm Approaches
In a place determined as Karaoke Parlo, we can see all 10 students of Class 1-E, 2 of them are facing each other while the other 8 colleagues are watching the clash.
The first person opens their eyes.
Revealing to be Sora. and then he makes the first move.
"Pawn e4," he spoke confidently as he looked at his opponent.
Your opponent also opened his eyes slowly. And then Sora speaks.
"Let's start the game, Ayanokoji," he says with his typical smile.
Now if you're lost in what's going on, let's go back in time to see how you got to that situation.
Ayanokoji's Pov:
I started the stopwatch function on my phone and after about a second stopped again. The time displayed was 00:01:362. The timer function built into our phones was useful because it used the format of minutes : seconds and milliseconds.
"Two," I said out loud.
So once again I started the stopwatch function and stopped shortly thereafter.
00:02:118
This was not good. I repeated the process again, as I had stopped the timer at a time that could not be used. More than shit...
00:02:935
"And five. That makes seven in total," I declared to my colleagues who were seated around a large table with me.
Checking the last digit or digits of the millisecond component of the current time is a widely used method for computers to generate a pseudo-random number. It's impossible to generate a truly random number due to the way computers work, so the next thing is pseudo-randomness, where a number is generated based on a 'seed', be it a sequence of numbers or an aspect of the environment.
It is important that pseudo-randomly generated numbers appear random so that they cannot be predicted or manipulated. The exact time to the millisecond is one of the simplest ways to do this.
In our case, we were using this method of generating random numbers to simulate rolling a die, as we didn't have any with us.
"Seven, huh? You know what that means, right Ayanokoji?" Sora mocked me from across the table.
I sighed in the affirmative.
"That puts you on Regent Street, in other words you owe me 900 points!" he said manically.
Operating my phone, I transferred the 900 points to Sora. Now I only had 364 left. I was definitely not in a good position. I had an extremely low score and didn't have many assets either. My situation was unstable, to say the least.
At the time I was playing Monopoly with Sora, Lelouch, Ryuzaki, Jabami and Victorique. More specifically, the classic edition based on London Monopoly. Of course, we hadn't brought a Monopoly sign with us for Karaoke Parlor, so we were playing purely in our heads. There are so many different elements in Monopoly, from piece positions to own ownership and so on, that at first I had doubts whether we would be able to remember them all, but it seems that my doubts have gone astray.
At first I was really skeptical about joining this game as Jabami was also in it, but the stakes aren't so big for me to really worry about losing a lot of money here. I thought Jabami was the type to only bet big, but it seems that with her classmates she is more merciful.
Kururugi didn't have the ability to calculate or a memory good enough to participate, so he was just sitting quietly next to Miyuki with a slight confusion written across his face. Honestly, I felt bad for him as he was left out due to his mental ability. Kururugi wasn't stupid at all, in fact he was probably in the top 10% of this school academically, but he just wasn't on the same level as the rest of us.
As for Miyuki, she just doesn't know the rules of this game. In fact, she didn't even know he existed when we asked. That was a little surprising. I believe she had the ability to play with us if she knew what it was about, but since that wasn't the case, she was on Kururugi's side, and unlike him, her expression wasn't confused. In other words, she was at least getting the gist of the game. She's probably been watching closely, so in case we play again, she can join the game.
Shiro, on the other hand, was not a player by choice, instead she was acting like the banker. We had unanimously agreed that Shiro had the best memory and calculation ability in Class E, so she was the natural choice for the neutral party who had to follow the entire game mentally and reasonably clear up any misunderstandings. Our other choice was also Victorique, but she said she wasn't able to calculate as well as Shiro, even if she wasn't bad at it.
Before the game, we wrote down our point total and after we transferred everything we had to Shiro, she gave out 2,000 points to each of us to act as our money. This system was convenient because the school had already set up a method to easily transfer points and check your balance at any time, facilitating payment to other players. I'm sure the school would be very confused if they checked our point transfer history, though.
After the game, Shiro would give us back all our points, even a value equal to the sum of what she had distributed throughout the game by dividing by four. This way, all points won by the winner would be taken from the losers' balance, unlike Shiro's.
Ryuzaki had already gone bankrupt at the beginning of the game, so only Sora, Lelouch, Victorique, Jabami and I remained. I was in a terrible situation as I had just lost most of my points by landing on Sora's 3 House Regent Street and also had almost excessive bad luck throughout the game.
Damn games based on luck...
I mumbled in my mind. Unlike me, luck seems to be on Jabami's side, and she had that damn smile she always had. Victorique wasn't much better off than me. I could see the frown on his face in frustration.
The properties I owned were Old Kent Road, Kings Cross Station, Bow Street, and Vine Street. In other words, I owned well less than a third of the properties of the painting and didn't have a single color set, so I couldn't build any houses either. I was bound to go bankrupt at any moment. Victorique was just like me, as he had the same number of houses as me.
"Say, before I finish my turn, would you be interested in a trade to Marlborough Street , Sora?" I asked the man who just took three-quarters of my money.
"Of course. My demands are that, in return, you give me Old Kent Road as well as both stations." He replied looking smug.
"You know it's a pretty unfair trade. You have Whitechapel Road, so getting my Old Kent Road would give you a monopoly, wouldn't you? A color set to a color set is a mutually beneficial arrangement for us." I said.
I was sure a slight trace of irritation was present in her tone. But sora didn't notice or pretended not to.
"Of course, getting the brown monopoly would be beneficial to me. However, the orange set is definitely the best set on the board due to the fact that it covers spaces 6, 8 and 9 after arrest. These numbers are some of the moves most common when rolling two dice because of the amount of different combinations of moves that can make them, since they are located after the arrest, a space each player usually visits several times per game, the orange properties are the most common spaces. Combine this with the fact that building in these spaces is relatively cheap, although it still costs a lot of rent if other players land there, and you'll get by far the best set of properties in the game."
Sora analyzed Monopoly with surprisingly high depth. This was the first time I actually played this game, and before I thought it would be based almost exclusively on damn luck. I didn't know so much thought could be put into it.
"But more importantly," Sora began, her mischievous smile growing, "You're not in a position to bargain for a fair deal, are you? Being on the brink of bankruptcy and all. Victorique is the same."
Was he right. I could see Victorique turning red with anger making an expression that I thought was very cute. Seriously, her when she's angry is definitely fun to watch. He pointed this out because he plans to do something like Victorique, of that I'm sure.
"Alright then I'll give in to your demands." I sighed in exasperation. My destiny was already stated in this exchange of ours, I was sure of that.
X
Eventually, a completely unexpected result happened. One that made even Lelouch and Sora completely stunned by Miyuki. What is it you ask?
The winner of the game... Victorique .
Now you're asking how the hell this was possible, since her position was equal to, or even worse than mine. I answer you...
I have no idea what kind of witchcraft this was.
Suddenly in the middle of the game, everyone started falling into their properties non-stop. Before, I thought Lelouch was going to win the game, because his position started to improve. Even now Sora is stumped along with him. But Sora, is the most alarmed.
"What the hell witchcraft was that!?" He yelled out of nowhere. Well I would also like to know.
"Looks like luck was on your side this time, Victorique," Jabami commented with his smile. She had been smiling since the start of the game. Even when her position got bad, she couldn't stop smiling. I thought it was because she was confident she was going to win but now...I really don't understand this woman. But given the insane amount of stitches she has, she probably doesn't even care.
"I already knew I was going to win anyway," Victorique says proudly. You knew? I highly doubt that, you were desperate as hell. This is clearly a lie.
"Absolutely Doll-kun." Lelouch speaks sarcastically along with a sneer, also knowing it was a lie. Victorique just glared at him.
About 20,720 total private points, which were transferred by me, Sora, Ryuzaki, Lelouch and Jabami, all losing 4,144 points each.
"Say what you want I've earned the points." Victorique states the obvious with a smile.
"Right, right. For me it was definitely some kind of witchcraft," Sora exclaimed, still annoyed at having lost a game practically won. "Anyway Ayanokoji," He catches my eye.
"Yes?" I ask.
"What do you think of a game of chess? It's just me you are," he says out of nowhere earning glances from everyone here with Shiro, who seemed the most perplexed.
"Nii?" she speaks as if asking something that probably only he would know.
"I would like to test myself Shiro, only you and I could beat each other, although there was almost rarely someone who could beat us in chess." Sora spoke to her. If I'm not mistaken they said they are invincible together right?
That was interesting. I was also a little curious about it, but did I really want to play this game? As I was lost in my thoughts someone enters the room.
"Looks like they were having fun without me, I'm a little late so I'm sorry." That was Light.
"And where exactly were you sir?" Sora asked sarcastically.
"On a date," he replied instantly.
"We were supposed to meet at half past six, and it's almost eight o'clock you idiot!," Sora yelled at him. But why was he so angry? I mean, it's not like we're doing anything important besides playing.
"Aha, I think you're right. Sorry." Light spoke shyly stroking her cheek.
Light grabbed a chair and joined us at the table. I briefly wondered what exactly he had been doing for the past three to four hours. He couldn't have been on her date this whole time. Or could I? I really don't know next to nothing about dating, but I don't think it would take that long.
"I was on a date with someone from Class A, so I figured out a few things so we probably don't need to check out Class A tomorrow."
"So you better share what you found out about Class A right away?" Suggested Kururugi, who was all the time in confusion due to our game. I see Miyuki gathering close to me, along with the others. It looks like the possible game of chess will take a while.
"So what did you find out while you were on your date, Plaboy-kun?" Sora asked sarcastically. Did he give a nickname? Is he now Lelouch by any chance?
It seemed that Sora was holding a grudge against Light for being able to get a date with girls so easily, after all, not even a week had passed since school started. I wondered if this would be problematic in the future.
"The situation in Class A is much more interesting than I thought. Two different students have tried to take the position of leader and the class is split evenly between the two factions. One is led by Kohei Katsuragi, a big bald man with an intimidating appearance. The girl I went out with, Ryoko Nishikawa, is supporting her rival faction, led by a crippled girl named Arisu Sakayanagi. Sakayanagi prefers innovative leadership, while Faction Katsuragi prefers a more conservative approach."
That was interesting.
Light summarized what he had learned in the last few hours. Unexpectedly, his intelligence was excellent, which surprised not only me but apparently everyone else at the table as well. Was that the power of getting out with pretty girls? Information right in your face like that, easily? Maybe I should try experimenting for myself.
And just when I had that thought, I for some reason had a shiver down my spine.
"Sakayanagi..." Shiro muttered.
"Sakayanagi?" Sora questioned his sister. "What do you mean Shiro?"
"Sakayanagi. That's the name of the president of this school."
"Serious?" Kururugi asked in surprise.
I have to admit, I was also quite surprised by this development. Assuming our theory has already been confirmed about students being graded in grades A to D based on the person's assessment. This meant that the daughter of the highest authority in that school had been placed in the upper class. Such a thing would raise eyebrows, to say the least.
"Yes. His name was in the fine print on the acceptance documents we received from the school." Shiro explained.
"Did you notice and remember that Shiro-san?" Miyuki asks perplexed. Well Shiro has a memory that can easily surpass anyone here in this regard. Jabami also looks a bit surprised by this.
"That's right," she simply answered Miyuki's question.
"Could it be that Arisu Sakayanagi was only placed in Class A because of her father's influence?" Light mused aloud.
"It's a possibility. We can't know until she's shown her ability, I think. It's useful information, though." Sora said, sinking into his chair. But then he notices something.
"Now that I think about it, Class A isn't waging a civil war for power based on two different game styles right? This is awesome!" Sora screamed childishly with joy.
Honestly, he reminded me of a boy who was about to meet his favorite celebrity. It seems he really thinks of everything as a game, and just finding out about potentially interesting opponents was enough to spur him on. At least he 's having fun , I thought to myself.
"By the way, I liked Ayanokoji's piano performance," Light said as he pulled out his cell phone and showed me a recording of me playing the piano. But there was something about her. My face was censored.
"Censored?" I speak loudly.
"You can thank me for that," I hear Sora speak, then look at him as if asking him to continue. "I made a deal with the person who recorded it. You and I were lucky it was just one person. And don't ask for the deal." He spoke quickly rather annoyed.
"Right..." I say weakly.
"Oh right, when I was coming here I met Himejima and Gremory, Ayanokoji." He said that part smiling mischievously at me. I feel this is going to get problematic.
"Gremory and Himejima? Who are these?" Lelouch asks curiously.
"Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima from Class 2-A, Light and I met her when we were walking after Jabami split from us when he extorted the points from 2-C." I spoke looking at Jabami, who just gave me an innocent smile. I suddenly feel like Miyuki and Victorique are paying a lot more attention.
"So what did these women say to you? Asked for a date?" Sora spoke clearly with mockery and irritation in his voice once more.
"Oh, not really. The most interesting thing about all of this is that when I found them accidentally, Rias asked about you Ayanokoji." He spoke with the same smirk. I suddenly feel all eyes on me.
Damn Light, you did it on purpose, right?
I see Lelouch looking at me with a mocking smile.
"Now what do we have here? Looks like Boyfriend-kun is cheating on Doll-kun." he spoke with a completely sarcastic tone. I could see Victorique turning red, and Miyuki smirking. Before anyone says anything I decide to speak quickly.
"Stop calling it that, besides I'm not cheating on anyone, after all, I'm not dating anyone so if I go out with someone it's considered cheating," I say quickly to avoid any kind of retaliation.
"But who are these two, I mean, what do they want? Are they interested in Ayanokoji?" Kururugi asked. Well I also wanted to know. And from the way Light spoke, they probably didn't notice or ask about our Class. Or if they did, he's omitting that part.
"Actually the one who looks really interested is Gremory, Himejina seems to be skeptical about that. In fact she looks a lot like you Lelouch. So much so that I initially thought you were brothers when I first saw her together with Ayanokoji ." Light spoke.
That's true. She has purple eyes and black hair just like Lelouch. And something tells me that these two must not know each other under any circumstances . I suddenly thought that. Why, I don't know.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Lelouch asked a little curious. And I can see Kururugi, curious too.
"Well, she has purple eyes and black hair, like you, and I think their personalities are a bit similar," he said.
"Oh, that's curious. I'm interested to meet this Himejima and see for myself." Lelouch commented with a smile.
"If you had to describe them, how would Light?" Sora asked probably wanting as much information as possible.
"Well, Rias Gremory, you are definitely smart and perceptive, aside from your possible 'obsession' with Ayanokoji," he says. Obsession? What does he mean by that exactly? I can also see some curious looks.
"As for Akeno Himejima, I think the best way to describe her is with, Ara-ara." He said. I can see everyone, shutting me out, looking at him like he's grown a second head. He notices and adds.
"Don't ask me about it. You'll know when you meet her," he said. I can see the eyes of our colleagues on him, but they say nothing else.
"Back to the subject, Ayanokoji and Sora aren't going to play?" Victorique comments suddenly earning a curious look from Light, which she notices and adds. "Sora had challenged Ayanokoji in a game of chess." That was true.
"So we don't have a board, do we?" Jabami spoke, earning a mocking look from Sora.
"Oh please, anyone who needs to use a board is not qualified to face me Shiro or Blank," Sora said confidently before turning to me and clearing his doubt, "You don't need it right Ayanokoji?" He asked.
In fact I don't need to. You don't need a board to play chess, there are some people who played championships and are blind. So, the need for a board for those with a superior mind like us, with the exception of Kururugi, is not necessary.
"No. I'm fine without a board." I confirm, Sora then smiles and sits in front of me, the others start looking at us waiting for the game to start. Sora opens his eyes and speaks confidently, his first move. I decided I wanted to go with black.
Normally, in a game of extremely skilled people, starting first can be considered a big advantage. I really don't think Sora is capable of beating me at chess. At least not alone. As he said before, he said that playing alone, he had some rare exceptions, who managed to beat him before in chess. Other than that, only Shiro could defeat him.
"Pawn e4," he said. I open my eyes, and then make my first move.
"Pawn e5," I said confidently.
X
Sora's Pov:
It had been some time since the beginning of the game. And I can confidently say that Ayanokoji is indeed a formidable opponent. He plays in a completely unpredictable way.
"Rookie," I say, biting my nails thinking intently. I can see my cute little sister worried, like she's trying to tell me something. More unfortunately, this game, I'm alone. So she can't interfere. When I was thinking Ayanokoji talks to me.
"Sora," he says, suddenly gaining everyone's attention. "Which?" I ask him. And then he asks me a rather intriguing question.
"Don't you think chess is a flawed game?" He spoke, earning raised eyebrows from everyone. What does he mean by that? Was he somehow trying to distract me from the game? If that's the case he's an idiot for thinking I'm going to fall for it.
"What do you mean?" I ask him as he makes his move.
"Bishop a6," he says before saying what he's going to say. It's like he doesn't even mind having a relaxed conversation and playing mental board at the same time.
"What I mean is, the King is the most important piece on the board. But still, in 99% of the game, all he does is run and hide behind his allies. Being the most important piece, Shouldn't he also be the most powerful? The King, shouldn't he be the one who leads the soldiers to victory?" He spoke suddenly. That is...
"That's a pretty interesting analogy, Ayanokoji," I say honestly. I see the others are also surprised by his question. The most surprised are Shiro and Lelouch and myself included, as we play a lot of chess. Shiro and Lelouch seemed to be thinking deeply about what he just said
I'm thinking about it myself. In fact, this is a very interesting question. The King is the most important piece in the game, and at the same time, the most useless if we look at it that way he put it.
As the game goes on I start to get a little panicky. The reason for this? I made a failed move. The reason for this move was because I got a little anxious and nervous as the game unfolded.
It was a miscalculation. But you can't blame me, I don't have a supercomputer mind like Shiro. This is a mistake that wouldn't have happened if she and I were playing together. And I could see that she noticed, as she looked worried, probably trying to warn me about it first. But as I was playing alone, she couldn't, after all, be considered cheating. And I really wanted to see how I would fare against someone alone.
This mistake probably cost me this game.
"Lady e3," the moment he said this Lelouch and I were stunned, completely taken aback by this. Shiro just looked like it was an obvious move at that moment. A sacrifice from the Lady. No matter what move I make, I'll end up in Checkmate after a few moves. And I'm sure Lelouch noticed it too. Shiro had probably seen this many plays ago.
"I lost..." I say weakly, earning confused looks from the rest who don't play chess, consequently can't keep up with the game.
Ayanokoji's Pov:
I won... but I must say, he is a very good opponent indeed. If it wasn't for his little mistake, the game would probably be even.
I have now realized why he claims that Blank never loses. And not themselves. Shiro and Sora together must take away their disadvantage if they are together. I noticed that Sora, as the game progressed, was getting more and more nervous and anxious, causing him to have made a flawed play. This mistake probably wouldn't have happened if Shiro was playing with him.
I now really think, that maybe, together they will be able to defeat me...
Shiro's supercomputer mind, along with Sora's strategies. It would definitely be interesting.
"I thought you said you never lost." Lelouch spoke mocking Sora. I could see him and Shiro getting a little angry, but I spoke before they could.
"He said that he and Shiro together, never lose. That is, Blank, as they call themselves when they are together, they never lose." I say, and I can see Shiro's cute look as if he's thanking me.
"Exactly as Ayanokoji said. Me and Shiro together formed Blank. It's Blank never loses." Sora confirmed.
"If that's the case, how about a game with me against Blank ?" Lelouch challenged them both. I can see Sora showing his typical big smile, followed by Shiro just looking at Lelouch.
"Okay, so you're challenging Blank huh? What do you think Shiro?" Sora asked his sister who simply nodded.
"So are you prepared to lose?" Sora spoke with tremendous confidence. Different from how it was when you challenged me alone.
"You are very arrogant. Perhaps, that level of arrogance can only be reached if you have never really lost before. I, Lelouch Lamperouge, will grant you your first defeat right here, Blank." Lelouch stated.
I can see that Lelouch and Sora were quite arrogant, they gave the impression that they were used to being superior to their opponents when it came to games. Mainly chess. Because of their attitudes, their pride was at stake for the next game. If either one of them wins convincingly, it will be a big blow to your opponent's ego.
"Confident, huh? Well then, how about we make this game interesting? If you win, Shiro and I will give you 8,000 points each while if we do, you'll give us 4,000 points each."
Sora's proposal has now certainly been skewed in favor of Lelouch. If Lelouch wins, he earns a total of 16,000 points, while if he loses, he only needs to pay up to 8,000 points. In addition, he will have the opportunity to evaluate two of his colleagues. If I were in his place I would accept the proposal.
Wait... now that I think about it, Sora and I didn't bet anything on our game right? This is weird. I could have sworn he would want to bet on him. Perhaps, he forgot, due to all the talk Light brought up with the information about Class A? That was probably it...
Wait if that was really the case... I missed out on earning points . What the fuck!
"Of course, I'll accept that. I'm no stranger to betting on my victory after all, especially since in chess I usually win." Lelouch smirked as I was screaming in my thoughts. Normally, if they'd only known each other a day, they would have signed on a cell phone recording or something, but they know the other is going to pay the winner.
X
Lelouch's Pov:
Looks like I underestimated Blank a lot. I learned a lot more about these two brothers just in this chess game. Now I see what they mean by never lost together. Shiro is basically the super computer mind making extremely calculated plays, while Sora is the strategist.
I could see sometimes that Shiro looked like he wanted to make a move by making her fall into my trap, but Sora stopped that when he thought it was too weird. And he doesn't look like he was facing Ayanokoji.
Both basically prevent each other from making any failed play.
Sora's smirk still didn't leave his face, and Shiro was as stoic as ever. Shiro operated with cold, calculating precision. It's like she has a map in her head that shows every possible sequel with frightening depth and precision. Her mind really is one of envy. Couple that with that cute face of hers.
Even though she is the same age as the rest of us, she has the body of a girl around 13 years old.
If it were just her, it would be possible to win. After all, she's like a supercomputer, so she has a big weakness. More unfortunately, Sora covers this weakness completely.
I had fallen behind a bit, but when I realized all this, I found a way to win. Exploring tricks and traps that would have a negative effect mainly on the game's positional play. Something Shiro can't easily see, and hopefully Sora too.
"G6 knight," I say confidently.
Out of the corners of my eyes, I noticed that some observers were surprised by this for a second. Two of them actually. That is, Ayanokoji and Victorique narrowed their eyes when they heard my movement. Looks like they understand what I want to do. Well at least, I'm sure Ayanokoji got it, Victorique, it's another story, after all, she doesn't seem like the gamer type.
Your weapons are, your analytical mind and incredible deductions. Along with your ability to print multiple pieces of information at the same time, and put it together in a way that you're capable of for other people to understand.
Honestly to me it feels like some kind of superpower in your mind. The way she does it is something that totally intrigues me.
Despite that, the move I made, knight to g6, was still objectively a bad move. Why? It's because black can respond with a passive movement that covers the diagonal. In doing so, it accomplishes two things. It makes black's pieces more active and developed and also forces me to pull my knight back to where it was, which effectively means I lost two moves while black was developing his pieces and building an attack.
I looked at Shiro expectantly, waiting for her response which would inevitably be f7 facing g6, closing the game. I couldn't help but feel a little glee when she was about to open her mouth across the table.
With that, the victory is almost guaranteed and I'm with 16,000 points, making up the 4,144 I lost and getting a little richer, nothing compared to that woman who gained about 350,000 points on the first day, but it was still something .
However when she was about to declare her move, Sora interrupted her. Then he spoke.
"Don't take it, it's a trap. Throw Knight to a5 instead."
My inner joy immediately disappeared and I confirmed something, about what Ayanokoji said. He didn't say he never lost, he said Blank never lost. He said. And that actually seems to be somewhat true.
That's their dynamic, how they work together. They don't have weaknesses.
"It's my loss. I admit it." I said.
Somehow I felt a strange sense of calm even though I had been totally beaten. Maybe it was because I was so used to seeing the outside world. Everything from school to chess and everything else came easily to me and so I developed an apathy towards my daily life. This school was really interesting, no... my class which was really interesting.
I'll beat you one day, Blank. I swear.
"You look pretty happy for someone who's lost 12,144 points counting the game we play in real estate banking." said Sora provocatively.
"Oh, I was so involved in finally finding a worthy competition that I totally forgot about it, and don't get so cocky. Even though you were alone you still lost to Ayanokoji," I said with a smile. I could see his brows furrowed at what he said.
I transferred the points to them.
"You guys together really don't have any weaknesses. You guys completely cover each other's bases, now I understand why you're so confident together." I said, with a slight hint of irritation in my tone.
"Well that's not true. Blank has a weakness."
Well that's a surprise. I thought about it a lot, but I couldn't think of anything. Light seems to have noticed my surprised expression as he spoke.
"Can't you figure it out? If not, then you're too involved in the chess game you just played. Step back and see the bigger picture," he said.
Too involved in the game I just played? What does that mean? Honestly, if everyone here is talking riddles for the next three years, then it's not going to be fun. I think Victorique would be an ace in riddles. I looked at the only guy I knew would be baffled by me, the boy I'd known since I was a kid, Suzaku Kururugi. As predicted, he had an even more confused expression than I did.
"I feel like I'm seriously losing control here. You guys are acting like it's obvious. What is it?" I asked with clear frustration.
"It's violence." Ryuzaki spoke for the first time in a long time.
Then it clicked. Violence . What Light said was true. I was thinking so much about how I could beat them at chess that I completely forgot to think about the big picture. Sora had even said that in his presentation on the 1st day of class, if I'm not mistaken. He was close, which means he had probably never been in a direct confrontation, and Shiro was just a little girl (quite a 16 year old girl). Hitting them violently seemed by far the most effective method. But somehow, I felt like I couldn't do it. I wanted to defeat them fairly on their own turf.
"I see..." was all I could say.
"Anyway, if anyone here is threatened with violence, I can protect them. I don't know about the other students in this class, but I'm sure I won't lose to any other students in this school. My training was... rigorous." Suzaki said.
I sincerely hoped he couldn't be beaten by anyone else in this school. If there's anyone in this school who can beat Suzaku in a fight, then I have no idea why he's in that class. More even saying that... I can't help but look at him.
Ayanokji. I think looking at him out of the corner of my eye.
He's someone very mysterious, he's someone who's very smart, and he's also good at physical matters, from what you said in your presentation. As if that wasn't enough, he's good even with instruments, and at intelligence and strategy games like chess. I realized something I hadn't noticed before. All the students here seem to have some kind of weakness, and a point where they're strong.
Ryuzaki and Victorique said they had solved cases before. So, your deductions, for sure, are strong. More Victorique, like me, is someone who is not physically good. Ryuzaki seems to be more athletic, although not his strong point.
Miyuki, is probably the person that I and all my colleagues know least about her. She seems like someone very polite, just like Light. More in her presentation on day 1, she said she was confident in her academic and physical abilities. But we haven't seen her do anything big yet.
Yumeko Jabami seems to be very good at games based on luck. Or as she would probably like to call most of them, games of chance. She also said that as long as she's not too hard, she won't have a problem with physical issues. Plus she probably can't fight.
Kururugi, as I said, is athletic. As for me, I'm more of a strategist, and in physical matters I'm a total shit. Sora has his supercomputer mind, Sora is good at reading people from what little he learned about him.
Putting it all together I can't help but think of something.
What is Ayanokoji's weakness?
I really couldn't find out.
"That's... reassuring. However, it will be more comforting when we see what you're capable of in PE." Sora said with a laugh, to which Suzaku responded with a smile.
xXx
Ayanokoji's Pov:
I am currently walking alone with Miyuki by my side. The reason? I decided to stay and tidy up the place we were, to make it easier for the cleaning staff. Miyuki decided to help me, although I told her I didn't need to, she was still stubborn and stayed to help me.
We are currently walking back to our dorms.
"Kiyotaka-san," I hear Miyuki beside me say.
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you something?" She says completely shy and weird. I just nod my head in agreement. I see she is struggling to formulate her question. And then she asks me something totally intriguing...
"It might seem like a weird question...but Kiyotaka-san, do you believe in the supernatural or the concept of magic...?"
. . .
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. . .
. . .
. . .
unknown location:
"Here are the reports you asked for" a man in a white coat said handing something to someone.
"This really sucks...first, my son runs away when we were closed. And there was all that shit with Britannia." The man who received the report spoke.
"Sir, there is someone who wants to see you. Someone important." A man walks through the door talking.
"Send in," he replied grimly. The man just nodded and then after about 5 minutes a person walks through the door.
Said person starts to sit in the room looking at the other man who has eyes scary as hell with just a smile, and then she speaks for the first time in what felt like hours of pure silence.
"It's been a while, Professor Ayanokoji," The person says with a smile. Said man, Professor Ayanokoji just stared at the person in front of him for a long time before speaking.
"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of visiting a member of the Blois family , so that he has left Europe only to come visit me?" He asked.
xXx
Ayanokoji's Pov:
I was now in my bed getting ready for bed when my phone suddenly rings. I check the call, and quickly become alert.
The reason? Unknown number. I was wondering whether or not I should answer it, but after a while, I decided to get it over with and answered the phone.
"Hello?" I ask, and then quickly the person on the other end of the line speaks.
"[Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, right?]" The person spoke. I quickly get on my guard. That's a voice I've never heard before. And then my mind went into several different questions. How did he get that number? How does he know my name? Is he someone from there? I did not know.
"Who are you, and how did you get that number?" I speak ominously.
"[You don't need to be so careful with me, I'm not an enemy. In fact, it's the other way around, after all I have a great connection from someone in your class]" the person said. He doesn't look very old. Maybe the same age as me. But who?
"Very well, who are you, sir friend?" I replied with a sarcastic tone.
"[My name is Shiba Tatsuya ]" The moment he said that I stopped... Shiba Tatsuya? This is not...
"Miyuki's brother...?" I ask weakly. There are still a lot of weird things here. First is that external contact shouldn't be possible, so how did he get my number?
"[Yes, and if you're wondering about the security of the school's network, you needn't worry. You can rest assured that this or future calls I make, the school won't find out. Their system is quite medieval for me and easy to hack.]" He spoke as if he had read my mind.
"How do you know about me, and how did you get my number?" I spoke relaxing a little, the threatening tone completely gone.
" [Miyuki told me she made her first friend at school on the first day. She looked quite happy actually, ]" he said. Huh? Did she tell him the first day? It means he got in touch with her...
He said that the school system is quite easy to hack and even called it medieval... this person, it looks like he's a pretty powerful engineer in the art of technology.
"[How did I get your number, let's say I have my means, so I'd like to ask you two questions, and I'd like you to answer me with complete honesty.]" He spoke. He ignored the question of how he got my number, but okay. It's not like I can force him to say it. And he wants to ask a question and he wants me to answer honestly huh...
"Very well Shiba-" Just as I was about to speak he interrupts me. "[Tatsuya, call me Tatsuya and I'll call you Kiyotaka in return, after all, you're sister's first friend right?]," he replied. I could hear a small trace of irritation in his voice.
"Very well, Tatsuya, are those your questions?" I ask with a little curiosity. And then he's silent for what feels like about 20 seconds before speaking again.
"[Do you think Miyuki is hiding something?]" he asks something intriguing. My answer after thinking a lot is...
"My answer is... no matter how radiant the moon is, it will always have a dark side "
"[That's actually a very interesting answer. So to my second question.]" He started and then stopped, before speaking again.
"[ Do you care about my sister? ]" he asked. I could feel that his voice came out much heavier and more serious than when he started.
Do I care about her? She was my first friend. But now that he said that, do I really care about her? Could I really care about someone...? I decide to answer honestly as he asked.
"Miyuki was the first one I did at this school...I really feel happy about it. I hope it stays that way for the next three years, as my first friend, I really care about her." I answered. He stopped for a while, probably analyzing my voice to see if he could find any traces of a lie. Well I think I answered honestly so I don't think there should be a problem. And then after a long time he answers again.
"[So you care about my sister, and would do anything to make your friendship last these 3 school years right?"] He asked. And I replied without hesitation.
"Yes."
"[Very well. If that's the case, I'd like to ask you a favor Kiyotaka. ]".
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