class c

by powershadow90

kiyos in class c

Starting in class C: not completely defective.
Chaoszweihander15

Published: 2022
Source: https/

Arc 1 Chapter 1: A new life

(Nothing changes on the bus so I'm skipping straight to when Ayanokouji is about to take his first steps towards the school)
As I got off the bus, I saw a gate formed from natural rock waiting just ahead. All the young boys and girls dressed in school uniforms were passing through this gate.
The Japanese government had created the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School with the express purpose of developing future leaders. This would be my school from now on.
Okay, stop for a moment. Take a deep breath. All right, here we go.
"Wait!"
The instant I tried to take my first step, someone called out to me. It was the girl who'd sat next to me on the bus.
"You were looking at me. Why?" she asked.
She narrowed her eyes while we spoke.
"Hm, from the way you had your nose buried in your book, I'd have thought you were oblivious to the situation around you, much less the fact that I looked at you."
"How impertinent of you, but you didn't answer my question: why were you looking at me?"
"I was just wondering why you didn't give up your seat for that poor old woman. Couldn't you see she had trouble standing?"
"That's right. I didn't consider giving it up. Is there something wrong with that?"
"Not at all. I mean, you heard that other boy's argument didn't you? Not only did no one have to stand so the old woman could sit down, ignoring the moral implications, but it would have been a waste of our energy to stand up for her."
"So you thought it would have been pointless to stand for her"
"Of course. It wouldn't have mattered. She would have arrived at her destination, and we would arrive at hours, regardless of whether I gave up my seat for her or not."
"Hm. I feel the exact same way. At first I thought you probably just didn't want to be the centre of attention, or disliked trouble, but it seemed my initial impression of you was wrong."
"Well, I am so glad that you feel that way, but we should really get to the entrance ceremony now."
"Agreed."
We walk to the hall where the entrance ceremony is being held.
"I hope you don't become an annoyance now, just because we think alike."
I hope you don't get too big headed over having a similarity with me.
"Of course, that would be to my detriment. I can tell that you're someone who would like to be left alone by people who talk too much."
"You're quite perceptive."
When we reach the hall, we part ways and stand in lines according to which class we are in. I stand in the line labelled Class 1-C, and the black haired girl I was talking to stand in the line labelled Class 1-D.
I realised I forgot to ask her name. I'll have to ask her later, if I even see her again. She seems intelligent enough, and strong willed. The kind of person you want on your side.

In the line the girl was standing in, most of the people looked pretty average and undisciplined. I had heard this school was meant to accept people who were to become the elites of Japanese society, but by the way they look, they don't seem very "elite" to me.
But perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps they were on my level, and had talent enough to conceal it. One red haired boy certainly looked physically adept enough to last at least a little while in a fight against me, but didn't look all that intelligent.
There was a boy with glasses who looked like a classic honour student. I bet he studied every day, but I could tell from the way he carried himself that he had little to no physical talent.
I looked to the other side of the room, where what I saw was quite different:
I saw a small white haired girl who's eyes darted around, taking in everything she could. She looked frighteningly intelligent. She was probably looking around and making all the observations that I was.
Behind her was a slender boy with long, greasy, unkempt hair, and wearing gloves. I could tell that he had a toned frame. By the looks of the slight muscles I saw around his shoulders and legs, he had trained in combat, probably some form of martial arts.
In the row to my left, everyone seemed to be either average or above average, in either academics or physical prowess.
There was a girl with strawberry blond hair that instantly gave you a feeling of friendliness and calm. She looked as though she would make many friends among both boys and girls.
A few rows behind her stood a tall boy with violet hair. He looked cunning, but not anything special compared to the likes of the girl I spoke to before, or the white haired girl on the far side of the room.
And then we had my row.
I didn't know how to describe them. I would be hard pressed to define my class in one category.
One boy I saw in front of me was enormous, easily the tallest in our year. He was black, and built like an ox. He would be able to crush the red haired boy in the line next to us like a bug.
And then, there was a tall boy with shoulder length magenta hair. He was well built, and he instantly put me on guard. I could tell from a glance that he'd seen his fair share of brawls and fistfights. I could tell he would be a central figure within class 1-C.
It was then that I noticed a pattern between the 4 lines that represented the 4 classes. The line on the far left of the hall, class 1-A, seemed to have truly exceptional students within, such as the white haired girl. The class to the left of us, 1-B, seemed to be made up of intelligent people, but they didn't seem to be at quite the same level to 1-A. Our line, class 1-C, had people who were clever and strong, like the magenta haired boy or the big guy, but I could tell that they had some major flaws. Class 1-D seemed to have the least intelligent or physically able people in it. There were some people like they boy with glasses, or the red haired boy that had talent in their respective field, but were too lacking in other areas. And then there were some students like a certain grey haired boy that seemed to have no great skill in anything. I could tell from a glance that he wouldn't get very far in life.
From these observations, I can come up with a hypothesis: the school organises each class depending on ability. But what purpose would they have for doing that? Was it to give each class an education tailored to that specific class, with class A receiving a complex education, and class D receiving a slightly less complex one. No, that can't have been right. For instance what about the boy with glasses in 1-D. He certainly seemed clever. Certainly smarter than even some of the class 1-A students. But then why didn't he belong in class 1-A if he was so smart?
Before I could continue thinking, the entrance ceremony began.

I disliked the entrance ceremony and imagined that many first year students probably felt the same. The principal and students exchanged excessive words of gratitude, there was far too much time spent standing in lines, and, with so many irritating things to deal with, it all felt like a huge pain in the ass. But those weren't my only complaints. The entrance ceremonies for elementary, junior high and high school apparently all meant the same thing: the start of another major trial for children. I'm order for students to enjoy their time at school, they should make friends, and there are only a few key days after the entrance ceremony to properly do that. Failure to do so signals the beginning of either a rather tragic three years, or three years where you are singled out by the rest of your peers. Whether you are singled out for good or for bad reasons, it doesn't change the fact that you're isolated.
As someone who had never had a "normal" friendship, I decided I'd like to establish proper relationships. Unfamiliar with the notion, I'd spent the day before in preparation, running through different scenarios. Luckily, I don't think I would give the game away about who I really was, but there was always a chance that someone here could be extremely perceptive, and could read my poker face like an open book.
Once the entrance ceremony, all the students in my line were directed to class 1-C.
How should I introduce myself? Should I burst into the classroom and actively start talking to people? Should I secretly pass around a slip of paper with my email address on it, so as to better befriend someone? Someone like me needed to practice, because this environment was so different than what I'd experience this far. Or was it? I mean, there seemed to be division between weaker and stronger people, in both the academic and physical sense. And I was still completely isolated. I had ventured alone into a battlefield, and it was still do or die.

Looking around the classroom, I walked toward the seat that bore my nameplate. It was at the back of the room, near the window. A good place to sit, generally. As I looked around, I saw that the room was already halfway filled with students. The others were either immersed in their class materials or already talking with other people. Perhaps they'd all been friends beforehand or had only recently got acquainted. Well the , what should I do? Take action during this free time and try to meet someone? Next to me was a small girl with silver hair, and in front of me was a girl with short blue hair. I decided to talk to the girl next to me, as she seemed to be reading an interesting book that I remembered reading a few years ago.
"The hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien? I haven't read that in a long time." I said, trying to start a conversation.
"Oh, um, yes how did you know that?" She asked.
"It says the title on the front cover." I replied. What was impressive was that she was reading it in the original English.
"Ah yes I see. Silly me." The girl made a silly but cute face. It was adorable.
"Could I perhaps borrow that book after you have finished it? I've only ever read the Japanese translation, never the original English before.
"Of course I can let you borrow it. I'm so happy to find someone who likes classic literature. I was scared there would be no one like me in the school." She looked delighted, and a beaming smile had begun to take form on her face.
"Well, we all have to pass the time somehow, don't we?"
"Yeah. I wish we could have made time pass during that boring entrance ceremony." The girl made a cute little pouting face.
"Yeah, the entrance ceremony was really boring. I almost fell asleep."
"Haha you're funny... sorry you didn't tell me your name."
"My name is Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. It's nice to meet you Shiina Hiyori."
"Wawa how do you know my name? Are you some kind of pervert?" Shiina looked scared and shocked.
"Who's a pervert?" The girl in front of me with short blue hair decided to join the conversation.
"Him. He knows my name, yet I've never seen him before in my life. He must be a stalker or something."
"Umm. You know... Shiina hiyori-" the blue haired girl started to say, before Shiina squealed:
"Bwaaaa how do you know my name too?" Shiina was starting to hyperventilate.
"It's written on your desk you know?" I decided to say before she passed out.
"Eh? Oh, um... so it is haha. I'm very sorry to call you both perverts and stalkers." She bowed a little in her chair in apology.
"It's fine, Shiina. My name is Ibuki Mio. It's good to meet you." The blue haired girl was stifling a laugh at Shiina's airhead personality.
"Likewise." Shiina smiled at Ibuki, blushing slightly.
Just then the first bell rang. At that precise moment, a man entered the classroom. When I first saw him, my initial impression was that he firmly believed in discipline. If I had to guess, I would have placed his age at around 40. He wore a suit and had a mean face. His hair was short and dark.
"Good morning to you, students. I'm the instructor for class 1-D. My name is Kazuma Sakagami. I usually teach mathematics. However, at this school, we do not change classrooms for each grade. For the next three years, I will be acting as your home room teacher, so I hope I get to know all of you. It's a pleasure to meet you. I will now distribute written materials with information about this school's special rules. I will also hand out the admissions guide."

(Everything here is the same as the ln so time-skip to when he announces 100,000 points)

"Your student cards can be used simply by swiping them through the machine scanner. The method is simple, so you shouldn't get confused. Points are automatically deposited into your account on the first of every month. You should all have received 100,000 points already for this month. Keep in mind that one point is worth one yen. No further explanation should be necessary."
The classroom suddenly started buzzing with excitement.
In other words, we had received 100,000 yen this month. I, like a few others, including Shiina, Ibuki and the magenta haired boy seemed to hesitate. Sakagami-sensei had specifically said 'this month' and not every month. 100,000 yen is a rather large sum of money for a high schooler, especially every month.
"Shocked by the amount of points you've been given? This school evaluated its students' talents. Everyone here has passed the entrance examination, which itself speaks to your value and potential. The amount you receive reflects the evaluation of your worth."
Sakagami-sensei's words told us many things: the school itself knew that 100,000 yen a month is a lot of money, that each student was evaluated by their "talents", that everyone in the school passed the entrance examination, and that our performance is reflected in the amount of points we get. One thing stood out to me though. I doubted that everyone in our year passed the entrance exam. A certain red haired delinquent came to mind. I doubted that everyone in our class had passed, much less scored highly enough to be deemed "talented".
"Once points have been deposited into your account, it's up to you how to spend them. Do as you like. In the event that you don't want to spend your points, you may transfer them to someone else. However, extorting money from your peers is not allowed. This school monitors bullying very carefully."
I could see the magenta haired boy sit up slightly at the mention of point extortion and bullying. Had he also realised the hint that you could theoretically extort points as long as the school didn't find out?
"Well, it appears no one has any questions. I hope you enjoy your time here as students."
With that, Sakagami-sensei left the room.
"This school doesn't seem as strict as I thought," Ibuki muttered to no one in particular.
"This school is extremely lenient, isn't it?" Shiina responded.
"This is almost too much preferential treatment. It's frightening." I decided to give my two cents, so as to let the girls in on my thoughts.
"What do you mean, Ayanokouj-kun?" Ibuki asked.
"100,000 yen a month? You really believe they would give us that much every single month? That's ridiculous."
Shiina was about to say something, but then, something happened that would change out school lives forever,
"Everyone, listen up. My name is Ryuuen Kakeru, and I am the leader of Class 1-C."

Author's notes
2746 words
Hey guys it's author-san here. Welcome to my first fic. Not much to say right now about the fic. I really wanted to read an Ayanokouji in class C fic, but there aren't many. Tyrant and mysterious is really good, and class C Ayanokouji is really well written (and has Kushida lemons )
I couldn't find what Sakagami teaches on the wiki, so I just stuck him with mathematics, if I've overlooked information, can someone comment please?
I don't know if I'm going to do a ship or not, and if I do, I definitely don't know which to do. There are so many good and interesting options. Comment below on your favourite waifu and we'll see what happens.
Also does anyone know how to add text to speech to your story? I'm very new and don't know what to do .
Most of the content I will be writing will be stuff from the ln, with a few differences in names. The biggest difference I want to make is how smart Ayanokouji seems to the reader. The part where he's looking at people in the entrance ceremony hopefully shows how calculating he is. He is going to be a little bit OC, a little bit more like Ryuuen.
I don't have a strict upload schedule in mind. I'll try to finish this fic all the way, even in to the second and third years. If I don't, I'll have the decency to finish the current arc I'm on.
A spider also crawled across my phone and my hand while I was writing .
Feel free to criticise anything.
Hope you enjoyed .

Arc 1 Chapter 2: Class introductions

"Listen up everyone. My name is Ryuuen Kakeru, and I am the leader of class 1-C."
The magenta haired student, Ryuuen Kakeru, was standing at the teachers podium. He had his hands locked around the edges of the podium. I wonder, was he trying to intimidate us, or was he being purely pretentious?
"Starting today, I am going to be your leader. Therefore, you're all going to introduce yourselves so I know your strengths and weaknesses." Ryuuen was about to gesture at a shy girl in the front left corner, who looked positively terrified of Ryuuen, but it seemed that someone didn't agree with this.
"Umm dude what the fuck? Why do we need a leader. Most of all, why do we need you as a leader?" A green haired, well built boy had stood up in protest. I think he didn't like Ryuuen's attitude more than anything.
"Hm I would have wished to start in a specific order, but sure, I can take volunteers. What's your name, green-kun?" Ryuuen asked, apparently amused at the situation.
"It's none of your business. I'm leaving!" With that, green-kun started to pack his bags and was about to leave.
"Wait." A quiet and dangerous tone came from Ryuuen.
"I don't have to wait for you." Green-kun was about to walk out the door, but Ryuuen grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him back to the centre of the room.
"I'm going to ask you again: what. Is. Your. Name?" Ryuuen's expression was bordering on psychotic. Green-kun didn't look too scared. You could tell he'd been in fights before.
"Not gonna tell me? Kukuku sorry about this." Ryuuen started to raise his fist.
"Wait."
All eyes in the classroom had turned to the voice that spoke. It was the black boy, I think I saw on his desk his name was Albert.
"You shouldn't be so quick to use violence." Albert said.
"Kukuku you're a monstrous specimen. Unfortunately I can't understand a word you're saying." Ryuuen chuckled. It was true, Albert was speaking English. This meant that only a few people could understand him, me and Shiina included.
"And, since I can't understand what you're saying, your opinion is irrelevant." With those words, Ryuuen punched green-kun in the stomach. Albert was about to intervene to stop green-kun receiving any more injuries.
"Stop, Albert." I said, in perfect English.
Albert, surprised I could speak his language, looked confused.
"Why should I stop? He's gonna hurt that kid." Albert obviously didn't like violence. A strange quality from one so muscular.
"Ryuuen is right. Green-kun, you should introduce yourself before you receive any further injuries." I said, trying to calm down the situation.
"M-my name is... Ishizaki Daichi." Ishizaki said, wincing in pain.
"Kuku that wasn't so hard, was it?" Ryuuen grinned in the defeated Ishizaki's face.
"Now, unless you all want to end up like poor Ishizaki here, we're going to go around and introduce each other. You all got that?" Ryuuen asked. The entire class nodded, almost in unison.
This is what I had been preparing for. How should I introduce myself? I had already made myself stand out by intervening between Albert and Ryuuen. What should I say when my turn came? Should I make a joke? Should I go into it with really high energy in order to get some laughs? No, that wouldn't work, not with the current tension in the room. Besides, it didn't fit my personality.
"Well then. Last, but certainly not least. Average-kun, introduce yourself."
As Ryuuen looked at me expectantly, students turned, waiting for my introduction.
Clack! The chair rattled as I stood.
"I am Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. I am physically strong, and mentally able, but I'm not anything special. It's good to meet you all."
I sat down, and instinctively cringed inside. I hadn't had time to construct a proper introduction because I'd been too busy daydreaming. It could have been worse, however.
"Kukuku well, it's nice to meet you, Ayanokouji-kun. I hope we get to know each other better in the future. Let's both do our best, ok?" Ryuuen said, with a devilish smile.

After that, most students headed toward the dormitories. Some, however, made their way to cafés, and others went out for karaoke. On a whim, I decided to swing by the nearest convenience store on my way back to the dormitory. I went alone, as Shiina and Ibuki both said they wanted to go to their dorms.
"My, what a coincidence."
Entering the convenience store, I ran in to the black haired girl who I'd met earlier.
"Yes, what a surprise. Forgive me, but I never told you my name. I'm Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. What's your name?" I asked, in hopes of gaining another friend.
"You're rather eager on trying to introduce yourself, don't you think? Anyway, my name is Horikita Suzune. Not that we will probably need to interact much over the next 3 years. We're in different classes after all." She came across as trying to push me away.
"Come on, there's no need to be so hostile. Anyway, did you need to buy something?" I asked.
"Yes, just a few things. I came to get some necessities."
There was no shortage of things you needed when starting life in a dorm, especially if you were a girl. Horikita took various necessities like shampoo off the shelves and promptly threw them into the basket she was carrying. I'd thought she would choose higher quality items, but she only took the cheapest options. Did she also suspect that the 100,000 yen allowance seemed to be too much? I decided to inquire.
"I thought girls usually made a fuss over what kind of shampoo they bought."
"Well that depends on the person, doesn't it? I'm the sort who doesn't know when you might need money," she replied. Perhaps she had picked up on the hints her teacher gave in the introductory speech, or maybe she was just frugal.
(Pretty much everything next is the same as the ln so timeskip)
"Hey, shut it! Just wait a sec! I'm looking for it right now!"
A sudden loud voice drowned out the store's peaceful background music.
"Come on, hurry up. You have a line of people waiting on you!"
"Oh yeah? Well, if they have any complaints, they can take it up with me!"
Apparently, trouble was brewing by the register. A dispute had broken out between two young men who were glaring at each other. I recognised the one with the thoroughly Ill tempered look on his face. It was the student from class 1-D, the guy with red hair. He had his hands full of noodle cups.
"What's going on here?" I asked.
"Huh, who are you?"
I had meant to appear amicable, but the guy with the red hair scowled at me. Apparently, he was under the impression that I was an enemy.
"My name's Ayanokouji. I'm from class 1-C. I just asked because it sounded like there was trouble."
At my explanation, the red-haired guy looked somewhat confused.
"So... what does me forgetting my student ID have to do with you?" He asked, starting to get a little bit angrier.
"Well, I wanted to purchase my things and go, but with you holding up the line, I'm not able to," I responded, annoyed.
"Well, you don't have to worry about that, I'm leaving!" The boy almost shouted as he was about to walk out.
"Sudou, wait. I'll pay for you." A plain boy with blond hair swooped in to save the red haired boy, apparently called Sudou.
"Oh, thanks Ike. I promise I'll pay you back later. See Ayanokoui, that's what people do, they help others in distress." Sudou was cocky now that he had been saved by his friend, Ike.
There were sighs of relief now that the line was moving again.
"Hm. I half expected you to pay for that boy." Horikita remarked.
"It would have been a waste of points." I replied.
"True."
"Anyway, let's finish our shopping. We'll be a bother to the other students if we dawdle," she said.
Wrapping things up, we presented our student ID cards to the machine by the register. Since we didn't have to deal with small change, our transaction was speedy.
After paying and exiting the store, I found Sudou seated outside, starting to eat his noodle cup, with Ike next to him.
"Are you really going to eat here?" I asked him.
"Of course. It's just common sense."
Sudou perplexed me with his matter-of-fact reply. Horikita sighed in exasperation.
"I'm going back. I'll be stripped of my dignity if I spend any more time here," she said
"What do you mean, 'dignity'? We're just high school students. We're ordinary. Or, what, are you the highborn daughter of some noble family or something?"
Horikita didn't flinch at Sudou's harsh words. Seemingly irritated, Sudou set his noodle cup on the ground and stood.
"Woah there Sudou. I don't think Horikita meant to insult you. I think she just doesn't want to be around a delinquent like you." I said, trying to see how Sudou would react. If he reacted violently, I could subdue him. But I wanted to see if he could keep a level head.
"What the hell is you're deal you two? You're so bratty, both of you." Sudou was obviously angry, but at least his fists weren't flying.
"You're right. I'm very sorry, Sudou." I did a mocking bow in false apology. Luckily, Sudou took it as genuine.
"Ah whatever." Sudou continued to glare at me. He grabbed his noodle cup once again, ripped off the cover, and began eating. Just a little while ago, he'd fought in front of the register too. He really had a short fuse.
"Hey, you guys first years? This is our spot."
As Sudou slurped his ramen, three boys called out to us. They seemed to have come out of the same store and were carrying the same brand of noodle cups.
"Oh for fuck's sake. Can you people gimme a break? I just want to eat my ramen. Get lost." Sudou said. He looked pissed.
"You hear this guy?'Get lost', he says. What a cocky little first year punk."
The three laughed in Sudou's face. Sudou shot up, slamming his noodle cup against the ground. The broth and noodles splashed everywhere.
"'First year punk', huh? You trying to make fun of me, huh?!"
Sudou had an extremely short fuse. If I had to judge, he seemed like the type to immediately threaten anyone or anything that crossed him.
"You're awfully mouthy, considering we're second year students. We already put our bags here, see?"
With those words, the second year upperclassmen students put down their bags and guffawed loudly.
"See, our stuff's here. Now, beat it," one of them said.
"You got a lot of guts, asshole."
Sudou was at boiling point, unfazed by being outnumbered. It looked like fists were going to fly at any moment.
"Oh wow, scary. What class are you in? Well, never mind. I think I know. You're in class D, aren't you?"
"Yeah, so what?"
Why does it matter what class he's in. And how do they know which class he's in. Was my hypothesis correct? Does the school put less able students in class D?
The upperclassmen students exchanged glances and burst into laughter.
"You hear that? He's in class D! I knew it! It was a dead giveaway!"
"What do you mean by that? How can you tell he's in class D? Because he's stupid and irrational. Does that mean the school placed him in class D for these reasons? Is he in class D because he's defective?" I asked, deciding to find out once and for all.
"Hey! I'm not stupid," shouted Sudou in protest.
The three upperclassmen students froze.
"W-what are you talking about, we never said class D are defectives," one of the boys said nervously.
"I'm willing to bet the school doesn't allow you to talk about how the classes are arranged, does it?" I asked, seeing how far I could push them.
"N-no it doesn't." One of them replied.
"I see then. Well, if you don't want me to tell the school, each of you are going to give me 25,000 points."

Unknown pov
I could see the commotion happening with those idiots from class 2-C and the 2 first year boys. It didn't seem interesting, so I just walked past, until I heard that dull looking boy speak.
"Is he in class D because he's defective?"
Interesting. Obviously the older boys had let something slip, but it seems that the younger boy was just trying to confirm a theory he had. He was trying to figure out the s system, even on his very first day. Perhaps he had already figured it out. I saw the boys take out their phones, and it looked as though the older boys were transferring points to the younger boy who had made the observation. He was already scamming points off of people. Finally, someone interesting.
"Ah, kouhai-kun. Perhaps you can entertain me." I whispered, smirking.

Authors notes
2066 words
Author-san here. Wow, people actually read my fic? I'm so happy that you're enjoying it.

So Ayanokouji is finding out more about s system, and Ryuuen is starting to dominate the class. We also got a snippet of a
new character (I wonder who it could be )
What will happen next chapter I wonder?
Not much else to say really.
If anyone knows how to add text to speech to the story that would be amazing .
Anyways I hope you enjoyed reading ️.

Arc 1 chapter 3: Enter, Kikyou Kushida.

After the business with the upperclassmen students, I made my way back to the dormitory, my home from that day onward. On my way I checked my point balance: 170,562. Now I had extra points in reserve. You could never know when you'd need them. Sakagami-sensei had said, after all, that you could purchase anything on campus. Maybe I could purchase a day off, if I had enough points. Wouldn't that be something.
At the reception desk, I received a keycard for room 401 and a handbook containing information about the dorm's rules, then boarded the elevator.
My room was about eight tatami mats wide. Also, though this was a dorm, it was the first time I'd lived alone. I refused to have any contact with the outside world until graduation. Considering my situation, I unintentionally cracked a smile. This school boasted a high employment rate upon graduation, and it's facilities and student services were unmatched throughout the country, making it the preeminent high school in Japan. I found such things trivial, however. I'd chosen this school for one fundamental reason.
Freedom
(Tatakae, Shinzou wa sasageyou)

On our second day of school- our first day of actual classes- we spent most of our time running over the course objectives. Apparently, many of the students were quite surprised by how genuinely warm and friendly the teachers at this school looked (aside from Sakagami-sensei, and the Japanese history teacher. I think her name was Chabashira). Most of the students in class, such as Ibuki and Shiina, paid attention to when the teachers were talking. But there were a few, such as Shiho Manabe, who would talk or look at their phones during class. It was around this time that I noticed the security cameras in the corners of the room. Perhaps the students didn't need to be reprimanded, and the cameras would record who was paying attention and who wasn't. It seemed strange though, because yesterday Ryuuen punched Ishizaki in the stomach. Surely if there were cameras, a member of the faculty would have followed up on the incident and punished Ryuuen? Maybe the school would only intervene if a teacher was actually present, or if the wronged party complained to the school.
I decided to relax, and it was soon lunchtime. Students stood up and left with their new acquaintances, disappearing from my view.
"Would you like to have lunch with me Ayanokouji-Kun?" Shiina asked me. I hadn't expected a lunch invitation from a girl this early in the year.
"Sure, I don't have any other plans," I replied.
"Would you like to join us, Ibuki-san?" Shiina asked the girl in front of me.
"I guess I don't have anything else to do. I'm in." Ibuki looked happy at not having to spend lunch alone.
We headed off to the cafeteria together, and ate lunch.
"What do you do in your free time, Ibuki-san?" Shiina asked, trying to start a conversation.
"I don't have many hobbies, but I practice martial arts." Ibuki replied.
"Ooh wow I bet you're really good ." Shiina responded enthusiastically.
Ibuki blushed.
"Well, I suppose I'm fairly decent." She said, embarrassed.
"A-and what about you Ayanokouji-kun?" Ibuki asked me, trying to divert the attention away from her.
"Well, I suppose I don't really-" I was about to respond when I was cut off.
"Excuse me. Are you perhaps Ayanokouji Kiyotaka?"
The three of us turned around.
The person in question who had called me was a girl with short blond hair and big, red eyes. I think I recognised her from somewhere... ah yes she was the girl who was trying to guilt people into giving up their seat on the bus when the blond boy wouldn't budge from his.
"I am Ayanokouji. May I ask your name?" I asked.
"Great. My name is Kikyou Kushida, from class 1-D." She beamed.
Shiina and Ibuki decided this was a prime time to get up and leave, having finished their meals. Ibuki patted me on the shoulder.
"See you in class. Hopefully." She said with a sly smirk. What could that possibly mean?
"Sorry Kushida-san, did you need me for something?" I asked my new lunch mate.
"Well, um... kinda. To tell you the truth, there's something I wanted to ask you. It's just one little question. Ayanokouji-kun, are you on good terms with Horikita Suzune?"
Horikita? Why did she want to know about that?
"We've met a few times before, but I wouldn't say that we're good friends. Good acquaintances at a push. Why, did she upset you?"
"Oh, no. You weren't there for my introduction, but you should know: I want to be friends with everyone in the school. I have the contact information of nearly everyone in my class. But... Horikita wasn't interested."
Hmm... sounds like Horikita alright.
"Weren't you two talking outside the school on the day of the entrance ceremony?"
Considering we'd ridden the bus together, it was no wonder that she'd seen me meeting Horikita.
"Well, I was just wondering what kind of person Horikita-san is," Kushida continued. "Is she the type who'll talk a lot when she's with a friend?"
I was just lucky to not get on Horikita's nerves when we first met. To be honest, we had rather similar attitudes, even if we didn't outwardly act the same as each other.
"Besides me, I don't think she's very good at interacting with others. Why are you asking about her anyway?"
"Well, during our introductions, Horikita-san walked out of the classroom. It seems like she hasn't talked to anybody yet, so I'm a little worried about her."
Kushida made a sad face. For some reason, her face didn't look... genuine. In fact for the few minutes I'd been talking to her, she had lots of emotions on her face. The only thing about her that had remained the same was the look in her eyes. I couldn't tell what it was, but something about her made me feel on edge. I decided not to pry though, and played along.
"I understand what you're saying, but I only just met her yesterday. I really can't help you."
"Hmm. I see. I thought that you two must have been old friends before starting school here. I'm sorry to have asked such a strange question."
"It's fine, don't worry about it."
Just then, a thought popped into my head.
"How did you know my name again?"
"How? I learned it from one of my friends in class 1-C. I asked her what your name was."
That explained it. In fact I think I had seen Kushida talking with a few of my classmates on the way to the dorms yesterday.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Ayanokouji-kun." She said.
"Likewise, Kushida-san."
Today was probably my lucky day. Things had gone well, all things considered.

When I came back to class, I noticed that around 10 people had remained in the room. Some had pushed their desks together so they could all eat as a group, while other, more solitary students quietly ate their lunches alone. Everyone here had brought a lunch box from the cafeteria or convenience store.
It was only about halfway through our lunch break, so I had come back to class to early. Damn. I was going to sit by myself till the break was over. Just then Shiina came in to alleviate me of my loneliness.
"Hello Ayanokouji-kun. What did that Kushida-san want with you?" Shiina was rather more brunt and to the point than she usually was. I wonder why?
"She was interested in meeting an acquaintance of mine in her class that she hadn't had the chance to meet properly yet."
"Oh, right. Nothing else?" She asked.
"Nope."
She smiled a little, but quickly regained her composure. It was then that Ibuki came back in to the room.
"Hey guys," she waved.
"Hi Ibuki-san," Shiina exclaimed, cheerfully.
Just as it looked Ibuki was going to ask me about Kushida, music played through the school speakers.
"At 17:00 Japan Standard Time today, we will be holding a student club fair in Gymnasium No. 1. Students interested in joining a club, please gather in Gymnasium No. 1."
A girl with a sweet voice continued the announcement. Club activities, huh? Come to think of it, I'd never joined a club before.
"Hey, Ayanokouji-kun, Ibuki-san. Should we go to the club fair together?" Shiina asked.
"Count me out. Sorry, but I'm not interested in that kind of thing. Not for me." Ibuki instantly shot down Shiina. Not out of malice, but she just didn't want to join a club.
"I'll come. I probably won't be joining a club, but it will be fun to go at least." I decided, as Shiina looked sad at the prospect of going alone.
"Really Ayanokouji-kun? That's great." Shiina looked elated at my acceptance to join her at the club fair.
"You don't plan to join a club, but you want to go to the club fair? How odd." Ibuki observed.
"Well, as I said, it will still be fun to go." I said, hinting subtly to Ibuki that she should come with us.
"Right. Well, have fun then." Ibuki then turned around, just as the bell went for our next period.

"Oh wow. There are more people here than I expected." Shiina looked around in apparent bewilderment at the sheer amount of people there were. It was pretty packed. Nearly all the students assembled there were freshman, and there were about a hundred people crammed in to the gymnasium. We stood near the back of the room, waiting for the fair to begin. While waiting, we glanced over the pamphlet that students received upon entering the gymnasium. The pamphlet contained detailed information about club activities.
"I wonder if this school has any famous clubs?" Shiina pondered.
"Every club seems to operate at a high level. It looks like many athletes and clubs here are famous throughout the nation."
Even though this school didn't seem like a top-tier institution for activities like basketball and baseball, the clubs certainly looked great.
"These facilities are significantly more substantial than ordinary schools. Look, they even have O2 chambers. The equipment here is so luxurious, it puts the professionals' stuff to shame. And it even looks like they have a tea ceremony club!" Shiina seemed happy at the prospect of a tea ceremony club.
"What? Are you interested in tea ceremony, Shiina-san?" I asked.
"Oh, um well, yes I suppose so," she replied, blushing slightly.
"It seems like it'll be hard for newcomers to get into the athletic clubs," I said. "Even if a first year managed to break in, they still might just be a benchwarmer forever. I can't imagine that would be much fun."
Everything around here seemed too orderly.
"Thank you all for waiting, first-year students. We will now begin the club fair. A representative from each club will explain their function. My name is Tachibana Akane, the student council secretary and the club fair's organiser. It's nice to meet you all."
After Tachibana delivered the opening remarks, representatives from each club quickly lined up on a stage. It was quite a diverse crowd. The club representatives included everything from burly athletes in judo uniforms to students in beautiful kimonos. The seniors started to introduce their respective clubs one after the other. As the upperclassmen finished their introductions, they walked off the stage and headed toward an area where some plain tables were set up. Probably a reception area designed to accept new members. Eventually, everyone walked off until only one person remained. Everyone focused their attention upon him.
He appeared to be about 170 centimetres in height, so he wasn't very tall. He was slender, with sleek black hair. He wore sharp glasses and had a piercing, calculating gaze.
"Hey Ayanokouji-kun. Doesn't he look like a young Sakagami-sensei? Tee hee." Shiina asked giggling.
"Yeah I suppose he does." You could certainly see the likeness between them.
Standing in front of the microphone, he calmly looked around the first-year students. What was his club, and what in the world was he going to say? My interest had been piqued.
Unfortunately, my expectations were dashed immediately. He didn't say a single word. Maybe he was drawing a blank? Or perhaps he was so nervous that he couldn't speak?
"Do your best!"
"Did you forget to bring your notecards?"
"Hahahaha"
The first-year students hurled comments at him. However, the upperclassman stood on the stage calmly, without trembling. The laughter and comments didn't seem to faze him. When the laughter had reached a crescendo, it suddenly died. He wore an apathetic expression.
"What's with this guy?" Remarked an astonished student. The gymnasium buzzed with people talking, yet the boy on stage still did not move. He simply stood there, quiet and motionless, staring fixedly at the crowd. The relaxed atmosphere gradually changed, and things took an unexpected turn. It was as if some chemical reaction had taken place. An unbelievably tense, quiet mood gripped the entire gymnasium. Even though no orders had been given, the silence was so terrible it seemed to have gagged everyone. Not a single student looked able to open his or her mouth. The silence continued for about thirty seconds or so...
Then, the student started his speech, slowly scanning the crowd.
"I'm the student council president. My name is Horikita Manabu."

Unknown pov
I found out that he was in class 1-C, and decided to go to his class after school to see him. When I got there, I saw something unexpected.
A magenta haired boy had thrown a punch at a black boy so large he was almost twice the size of some students. The punch had a hell of a lot of power to it, but the black boy simply blocked it and responded with a punch to magenta-kun's gut that was so powerful magenta-kun practically flew backwards.
The black boy turned away, and went to walk out of the classroom. I looked back to see how bad magenta-kun pissed himself. To my surprise, however, he simply got up and got back to what he was doing originally, which seemed to be punching a snivelling green-haired boy with glasses. That boy had remarkable robustness, even by my standards. I was impressed. But he wasn't interesting enough for me.
"Sorry to interrupt your... activities... but do you know where I might find a student with brown hair and dull golden eyes?" I asked the magenta haired boy, who looked up at me.
"Who, Ayanokouji? I think he went to the club fair." He responded.
"What has this poor soul done to deserve such violence?" I asked, gesturing to the boy who probably had many bruises under his shirt from where he was punched.
"None of your business. Now piss off." The magenta haired boy spat.
"Hmm. I don't much like your tone, but I suppose I can let it slide considering the information you gave me. Good luck with your... endeavours." I said, gesturing once moor to the poor boy, and went to leave.
"Wait, I can't have you walking out of here. You might go to a teacher to tell them about what I'm doing here. My business here would be bought to a swift end." The magenta boy stood up, and cracked his knuckles, trying to appear menacing. It would have worked on a different student, but not on me.
"Haha don't worry, I don't care what you do in your spare time."
"Well then, what's your name?"
"Not one that you'll ever need to make use of, you can be sure of that."
"And what do you want with my classmate Ayanokouji?"
"Well if you must know, he's probably the most perceptive and the smartest student in your grade, maybe even in the entire school. It's worth knowing someone like that, don't you think?"

Ryuuen pov
"What do you mean, the smartest student in the school?" I was perplexed to say the least. Ayanokouji sure seemed to be smart, but he didn't seem like anything special.
"You should ask him about his theories regarding the classes. It could damn well save your class from it's own stupidity."
With that, the girl walked away, her platinum blond hair swaying behind her.
"Kukuku Ayanokouji, seems I evaluated you wrong." I whispered. I could feel a smile spreading across my face.

Author's notes
2769 words
Wow. Three uploads within 24 hours. Pretty good if I do say so myself.
Ayanokouji noticed that their was something off about Kushida, so he will be a little bit wary of her in the future.
Shiina and Ibuki are good friends with Ayanokouji now. Hopefully nothing plot-related gets in the way of that.
Ryuuen meets the unknown girl with platinum blond hair (I wonder who it could be, lol).
Next chapter should introduce the unknown girl, so I'm looking forward to that.
Ryuuen now also knows that Ayanokouji is more than he seems. Will Ryuuen become a friend to Ayanokouji, an ally of convenience within class 1-C, or will the two be at odds?
Pretty cool stuff.
Not much else to say, really. I've been playing Elden ring pretty much nonstop. I've got 110 hours and the game has only been out for about 2 weeks. It's so amazing.
Author-san signing off.

Arc 1 chapter 4: A new alliance.

"I'm the student council president. My name is Horikita Manabu," he said.
Horikita? Like Suzune? Perhaps they just happened to have the same surname. Or, maybe...
"The student council is looking to recruit potential candidates among the first year students to replace the graduating third years. Although no special qualifications are required for candidacy, we humbly ask that those considering application not be involved in other clubs elsewhere."
He spoke in a soft tone, but the tension around us was so thick it felt like you could cut it with a knife. He had managed to silence over a hundred new students in that spacious gymnasium. Of course, it wasn't his position as student council president that granted him his deference. That was simply Horikita Manabu's power. His presence dominated everyone around him.
"Furthermore, we in the student council do not wish to appoint anyone that possesses a naive outlook. Not only would such a person not be elected, he or she would sully the sanctity of the school. It is the student council's right and duty to enforce and amend the rules, but the school expects more than that. We gladly welcome those of you who respects this."
He didn't pause even once during his eloquent speech. Immediately after finishing, he hopped off the stage and left the gymnasium. None of the first-year students could utter a single word as we watched him go. We didn't know what could've happened if we'd tried to talk. Everyone in the room shared the same thought, apparently.
"Thank you all for coming. The club fair has ended. We will now open the reception area to anyone interested in signing up. Also, registration will be open to the end of April, so if any student wishes to join at a later date, we ask that you please bring the application form directly to the club you wish to join."
Thanks to the laid-back organiser, the tension in the air dissipated. Afterward, the third-year students who'd introduced their respective clubs started taking applications.
"That student council president sure was something." Shiina remarked.
"Yeah. He sure knows how to give a speech. He's probably what the school hopes every student will be like."
"I'm going to go and register for the tea ceremony club. I'll catch up with you later, ok Ayanokouji-kun?" With that, Shiina went off to the registration tables.
"Hey. You're Ayanokouji, right?"
As I was lost in thought, someone called out to me. Ishizaki. My classmates Komiya and Kondou were also with him.
"Oh, hey, you three. Looks like you guys are getting along well, huh?"' I responded.
"Uh, yeah. Hey I, uh, wanted to thank you. For sticking up for me, yesterday. With Ryuuen." Ishizaki bowed slightly in thanks.
"Hey, don't worry, it's no problem. We're classmates right?" I tried to smile.
"Yeah, just thought I'd get that off my chest. So, did you join a club?" Ishizaki asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, no, I just came to check things out. What about you? Did you join a club?"
"Nah, I just came because these two wanted to join a club."
"Oh? Which club did you join."
"We came here to join the basketball team." Kondou said.
"Huh, nice." I didn't expect Komiya or Kondou to like basketball. Seems I was wrong.
"That student council president sure was something else. He was so imposing. I got the feeling he ruled the place, you know?" Ishizaki said.
"I know, right? He made everyone shut up without saying a word. That kinda stuff is impossible," I said.
"Yeah. Oh, by the way, Ryuuen made a group chat for the class yesterday." Ishizaki took out his phone. "I'll send you an invite. He'll get mad if you don't. And it's also pretty handy for information."
"Huh. Sure," I confirmed.
"Great." Ishizaki smiled.
That was a rather unexpected proposal. I was happy to be invited to a group chat, even if it was just one that Ryuuen had set up for information gathering. I gave Ishizaki my phone and exchanged contact information with him and the other two.

I'd been in my dorm on a Saturday morning when I got a message from Ryuuen.
We need to meet. Now. Come to the classroom. Take note that even though it's the weekend you need to wear your school uniform.
Hmm. What could this be about. Ryuuen had been staring at me in class yesterday. Did he want to fight me? Or did he want to just talk.
I put on my uniform and headed to the school building. It was mostly deserted, apart from a few teachers, and students who had actual work to attend to.
When I reached the classroom, I saw Ryuuen. He didn't look very angry. In fact, he looked like a mixture between happy and curious when he saw me.
"Ah, Ayanokouji. I didn't think you'd show." Ryuuen smirked.
"Well, when the leader of the class asks for you personally, it becomes hard for you to refuse." I said.
"Let me cut to the chase Ayanokouji: what do you know about this school?" Ryuuen's expression turned serious.
"What do you mean? Like the fact that we get points that act like money?" I responded, trying not to give anything away.
"Don't bullshit me Ayanokouji. An upperclassman told me to ask you your theories about the classes. I don't know what the fuck that's supposed to mean, but you're sure as hell going to tell me." Ryuuen was now almost scowling.
"Was this upperclassman a boy?" I asked. Had the three students I blackmailed figured out that Ryuuen would probably try and beat me up if he knew I was keeping information from him. No, they didn't seem smart enough for that.
"No, it was a cocky girl with blond hair. That's not the point though: how. Much. Do. You. Know?" Ryuuen marked every word he said with a step forwards toward me, until he was right in my face. An intimidation tactic like this would have worked on someone like Kaneda or Shiina, but not me.
"Why did you join this school, Ryuuen?" I asked.
"Why the fuck does that matter?" Ryuuen spat.
"Trust me, it matters. It will make more sense if you tell me." I prompted.
"Like any other student: I want the 100% employment guarantee." Ryuuen said.
"Ok. Do you think the school can offer that to every single student that attends this school?" I asked.
"Well... yeah, that's kind of what it said in the introduction pamphlet." Ryuuen was confused.
"Have you noticed the difference between classes A, B, C and D?" I wanted Ryuuen to figure it out on his own.
"Well... I suppose class D is made up of people like the three idiots." Ryuuen was thinking hard.
"And what about class 1-A?" He was almost there.
"It's made up of people like that bald guy, or that little girl. I heard the girl got perfect scores in the entrance exam." Boom. He figured it out.
"So what you're saying is... that the classes are ordered based on academic ability?"
"More or less." I decided not to give away too much.
"And only class A gets the employment guarantee?"
"Almost definitely."
"Shit." Ryuuen looked slightly worried. "Ayanokouji. I want your help." Ryuuen looked at me now, with an expression I couldn't tell.
"With what?" I asked.
"You're going to help me and the rest of the class somehow get that 100% employment guarantee." Ryuuen ordered.
"And why should I do that? What even makes you think we can get the guarantee if we're in class C?" I asked.
"There's probably a way. Remember on the first day, sensei said that we could buy anything with points. Maybe we can purchase the employment guarantee." Ryuuen's brain was working hard.
"Hm. Perhaps I will help you. Not for you, but for my other friends in the class, like Ibuki, Shiina and Ishizaki. They came here for the employment guarantee. I don't want to see them upset." I said. It was true. Since coming to this school, I had started to gain feelings, and I wanted to help people who thought of me as a friend.
"Ok then. Will you follow my orders, or at least give me help on strategies?" Ryuuen asked.
"I suppose. I won't do anything illegal though." I responded. There were some lines that I couldn't cross if I wanted to maintain my freedom.
"Agreed. But will you be willing to use violence, if you don't get caught."
"I will be willing, as long as I deem it appropriate."
"I suppose I can't ask for much better." Ryuuen looked confident now, and his trademark smirk appeared on his face.
"Let this be the beginning of a fruitful three-year partnership, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka." Ryuuen held out his hand.
"Glad to do business with you, Ryuuen Kakeru," I responded, shaking his hand

Unknown pov
I must have missed him at the club fair. Damn. I need to get him to come to me. But how? I take out my phone, and called a number that I almost never called.
"Oh, what do you want you cocky bitch." He asked
"Charming. I want you to organise a chess tournament. I'll give 500,000 points as the prize money. Aim it at the first years, but invite a few seniors too."
"Hey, what's this about? Don't hang-"
"Ok then. Talk to you soon, Nagumo." With that, I ended the call

Author's notes
1492 words
Well, here we have it, the beginning of Ryuuen and ayanokouji's partnership. The reason Ayanokouji wants to team up with Ryuuen is because of his friends, not because he wants to reach class A.
We also saw the student council president. He's going to play a pretty similar role as he did in the ln I think.
We also got a hint at a certain senpai.
A shorter chapter, so not much to say.
Next chapter will be interesting. Not sure how good it will be but hey.
Hope you're all doing well, and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 1 chapter 5: an interesting competition.

It was Sunday, and I had just woken up to the sound of my phone ringing. The caller ID read: Ryuuen Kakeru. That was unexpected, at least at this hour.
Ryuuen and I had made a deal yesterday; we would make sure our class gained the 100% percent employment guarantee that the school offered. Ryuuen would be the class leader, and I would help him.
"Ayanokouji, did you see the school message board?" Ryuuen asked.
"No, I didn't. Why?" I didn't know what he was talking about.
"There's a chess tournament being organised by a few seniors for the first and second years. Are you any good at chess, Ayanokouji?" Ryuuen asked, sounding a little bit excited.
"I'm not bad, I guess." I didn't want to stand out unless there was a good reason.
"There's a 500,000 point reward for the winner. I'll ask you again: are you any good at chess, Ayanokouji? That's 5 times what we were given on the first day. We don't know how much those points could help." Ryuuen tried his best to divert my attention to helping the class.
"I'm confident in my abilities. I could probably win." I would win if it meant that I could help my friends.
"So does that mean you'll do it?"
"Sure, I'll do it."
"Good. I've already ordered Kaneda to enter. He says he's good too."
"Well, the more people we put in, the better. It probably won't be a large tournament anyway, it'll just be me, Kaneda and a few other chess nerds." I said

"It seems I was wrong." I said to Ryuuen.
"Yeah. You were." Ryuuen said
There were almost 300 people in the park where the tournament was being held.
"This is a lot of people. Are you sure about this, boss?" Kaneda asked Ryuuen.
"Just shut up and get in their Kaneda." Ryuuen glared at Kaneda
"Yes Ryuuen." Kaneda slinked off.
"Ayanokouji. Can I trust that you will play to win?" Ryuuen asked cautiously.
"I will. I'm not going to throw away 500,000 points."
"Good. Don't fail." Ryuuen encouraged
"Greetings, students. Welcome to the first and second year chess tournament. I am the organiser of this event, and Vice President of the student council, Nagumo Miyabi."
A tall blond boy, obviously called Nagumo, stood on a small podium in the centre of the event. He was cocky and confident, that much was evident.
"The rules are simple: if you see a person without an opponent, play against them. If you lose, please leave the playing area. The person who wins the tournament receives 500,000 private points. That is all. Please begin."
Wow. This tournament was quite unconventional. Instead of pre-set matches, you could play whoever you wanted right out of the gate.
I sat down at a free table, and waited for an opponent. It wasn't long before a boy with grey hair and a confident look on his face came up to me.
"Hello. I'm Yamauchi Haruki. You should know that I was a national level chess player when I was younger, but I haven't played in years, so I might be a little rusty."
An obvious lie.
"I'm Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. I've never played in a tournament before. It's nice to meet you, Yamauchi-kun."
We shake hands and start the game.
It isn't long, perhaps 30 seconds, when Yamauchi is checkmated.
"Damn you. I bet you cheated, you bastard!" Yamauchi seethed, and I could see tears forming in his eyes.
"Be a gracious loser, don't embarrass yourself."
With that, Yamauchi walked off. Poor boy.
I played a few more matches, until there were just a few people left. I noticed the white haired girl from class A wasn't here. I'd have thought she would've come for an easy reward. What a shame, I would have hoped to play her, instead of people like Yamauchi.
Before I knew it, the final match came. My opponent was a girl with platinum blond hair and a cocky smile. Where have I seen her before.
I could see Ryuuen trying to get my attention, and pointing at her, and then tried to say something, but before he could, Nagumo came up to our table.
"Well everyone, I hope you had a good day, even if you didn't win. Now though, it's time for our final match. You, first-year, what's your name?" Nagumo asked me.
"I'm Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, of class 1-C."
"A few gasps and mutters came from the second year students. Were they surprised that a mere student from 1-C managed to beat upperclassmen who were in classes 2-A and 2-B?
"And you, well, you don't need much of an introduction for the senior students to know who you are, but could you introduce yourself for the benefit of the first-years." Nagumo asked the girl in front of me.
"Piss off, Nagumo. You know I don't like people knowing my name unless I want them to." Wow. She was feisty.
"Ah, um ok." Nagumo said, rather nervously.
"Well then, begin the match." Nagumo announced, and the park erupted with cheers and applause.
"Let's have a good game, eh, kouhai-kun?" The girl said to me.
"And, if you play well, I'll tell you my name." She said, her smile growing wider.
"Let's have a good game." I said, bowing.
I was playing white, so I decided to move pawn to e4. Simple.

"A good, solid move."
She then played pawn to e6.

"Interesting move." I said.
"Yes. Speaking of interesting, I saw you on Wednesday evening outside the convenience store."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, moving pawn to d4.

"Don't play dumb, kouhai-kun. I know you figured out the s system, and you blackmailed some second-years, to boot." She said, moving pawn to d5.
"Again, I don't know what you mean." Pawn takes d5

"First blood goes to you it seems, kouhai-kun. But seriously, stop playing dumb. It doesn't suit you." Pawn takes d5.

We play in silence for a few moves.

She seems to be copying my moves. I look at her, and she's staring right into my eyes. I stare back. Her eyes are a beautiful crimson, like blood. But I can also tell that their is fierce intelligence in them. I make my move.

"Introducing a bishop in to the mix, are we? From the way you were looking at me just then, I wouldn't have thought you wanted a member of the church to be around." What did she mean by that?

I know I'm picking good moves, but that doesn't mean she has to copy every single one. I decided to castle, for a better defence.

And she does the exact same thing!

Just what angle was she trying to play here?

"You see, kouhai-kun, you interest me. I like people who interest me." And, for the first time in a while, she made her own move.

"Why do you think I'm interesting?" I asked.

"You managed to figure out 90% of what makes this school special, on the first day no less. Not even Horikita Manabu figured that out, and he's one of the most interesting people in the school." She said.

(I'm nearing the image limit, so I'm going to have to just say the moves. Very sorry )

I play bishop to g5
She plays bishop to e6
I play queen to d2
"Queen, huh. Do you have a queen of your own, Kouhai-kun?" She asked.
She plays knight to c6.
I play castle to d1
"Do you want to know something, kouhai-kun?"
She plays bishop to e7
"Sure."
I play rook to e1.
"I was the one that told Nagumo to organise this tournament."
She plays pawn to a6
"Why did you do that?" I asked.
I play queen to f4.
"Because I wanted to meet you face to face, kouhai-kun."
She plays knight to h5.
"Is that so?"
I play queen to h4
"Yes. In fact, I want to make this game even more interesting."
She plays pawn to g6
"I'm listening."
I play pawn to g4
"If I win, you leave this school."
She plays knight to f6
"That's a little harsh, don't you think?" I couldn't lose now.
I play pawn to h3
"But if you win, I will take you out to dinner." She said.
She plays rook to c8
"Fine then. It's a deal. I hope you're paying." Anything, so long as I didn't have to leave the school.
I play pawn to a3
"Good then. I hope you don't disappoint." She said, her grin wider than I had thought humanly possible.
She plays rook to e8.
I play knight to e2
She plays pawn to h5
I play knight to f4
She plays knight to h7
I play knight to e6
She plays pawn to e6, taking my knight
"Poor move, kouhai-kun. I would've thought you could play better."
"Don't count me out yet senpai."
I play rook to e6, capturing the pawn that took my knight.
She plays bishop to g5, taking my own bishop.
I play rook to g6
"Check." I said.
"Heh, don't get cocky, kouhai-kun." She smirked.
She plays king to f8, bringing herself out of check.
I play queen to f5, taking a pawn.
She plays rook to c7
I play knight to g5, taking her bishop.
She plays rook to e7.
I play queen to h6
"Check." I say for the second time.
"Damn, kouhai-kun. You're pretty good."
She plays queen to e8, escaping check.
"And now, senpai, I declare-"
I play rook to g8, the final blow

"Checkmate."
I heard cheers now that the game had finally ended.
"Good game senpai." I said, shaking her hand.
"Indeed. Meet me at 21:00 next Saturday outside the dorms."
"What for?" I asked.
"You fool. For dinner, remember." She said.
"Oh. Um. Yes, I will be there." I said, blushing slightly.
"Awww, don't be nervous. And you also better not be late." She grinned.
Even though I won, why do I feel like I lost?
"Wait, senpai." I called to her
"What is it, Kouhai-kun?" She asked
"What's your name. I should at least know my dates name."
She laughed.
"My names is Fuka Kiryuuin. Remember it, Ayanokouji."
"I will."

Nagumo pov
Damn. How could Kiryuuin get beaten by a brat from class 1-C? This puts the second years in a bad light. She's supposed to be one of our best and brightest. How could she just lose. I had to keep up appearances though.
"Congratulations, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka of class 1-C, you managed to win the tournament. Do you have any words of wisdom for us?"
"No, not really," he said. For fucks sake, how can he be so clever, yet not having anything to say after wiping the floor with a girl as clever as Kiryuuin?
"Well then. I'll now transfer the 500,000 points, as promised."
"Thank you, Nagumo-senpai." He said. Enjoy this feeling while you can, you little shit. I'll crush you for humiliating the second years.

Author's notes
1878 words.
Whew what a chapter. This needed some big brain moves to plan out the game. For anyone wondering the game I used was Morphy vs Allies. I couldn't just put up images, as I found out that you can only put 20 images per chapter :(
Ayanokouji finally met queen Fuka. They have a dinner scheduled for next week yay.
Nagumo knows that Ayanokouji is intelligent, but he doesn't know just how dangerous Ayanokouji is.
Not much else to say really. Next chapter goes back to the ln storyline, and we all know what that means. It means swimming. And when I say swimming, I mean girls. And when I say girls, I mean girls in swimsuits.
(Don't worry I'm not a pervert, but unfortunately we won't be able to have the perverted nature of Ike and Yamauchi in the next chapter )
As always, hope you're doing well, and I hope you enjoyed.

Chapter 6: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting.

Hi , author-san here before we start. There were a few comments in the last chapter that complained Ayanokouji was too emotional. This is intentional. The school valued Ayanokouji as class C level, because he has slightly better social skills than in the light novel. Just thought I'd clear that up. Also, in the swimming chapter, Ayanokouji blushes when Kushida talks to him after the race because she is in a swimsuit. She says "hmm? What's the matter? Your face looks red for some reason? Are you not feeling well, by chance?" Anyway, enough facts; on with the story!

"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun!"
"Morning, Shiina."
Arriving to class, Shiina seemed as happy (and as tired) as ever.
"Are you looking forward to swimming today?" She asked.
"Yes. I haven't been swimming in quite a while." I said. The last time had been a few months before I came here, when it was compulsory for me to do so.
"I've never been swimming before. I can't wait to learn."
(Awwww )

Timeskip
"All right. The pool!"
After lunch had ended, it was finally time for swim class. Finally, the moment most of the class had been waiting for.
"Come on, let's go, Ayanokouji-kun," Shiina said, beckoning.
"Huh?O-okay."
We naturally separated when we got to the changing rooms. I changed quickly, and went outside with a few of the other boys.
Upon seeing the fifty-meter pool, Kondou cried out, "woah, this school is something else! It's even better than the city pool, don't you think?"
The water was clear and beautiful, and because it was indoors, we didn't have to worry about the weather. The perfect environment.
"Wow! It's so spacious! It's so much bigger than the pool at my junior high school."
I turned around and saw Shiina looking at the pool.
"Yeah, it's really something."
Shiina looked too cute in her school swimsuit. I decided it was better just to look at her face rather than her body. I'd read about the reactions that might take place.
"Why the pained expression?" Ryuuen examined my face closely, with a suspicious look.
"I'm in the midst of an eternal battle," I replied.
"Well, I think I know how you feel there."
Ryuuen then looked at my body.
"Hey Ayanokouji, do you work out a lot?" He asked.
"Huh? No, not really. I'm not particularly proud of this, but in middle school I was the kid who never had any after-school plans."
"Well, you say that, but... judging from the development of your forearms and your back muscles, you seem above average." Ryuuen observed.
"Yeah, well, you're not exactly out of shape either, you know?" I said.
"Of course I know. I worked out loads to get this figure." Ryuuen's body was almost as toned as mine, but most of his muscles would mainly be used in combat.
"Anyway, you're body is even better than mine. How did you do it?"
"I guess my parents blessed me with good genes."
Ryuuen came closer, and said quietly "come on, Ayanokouji. We're partners; we have to know each other's strengths and weaknesses."
He was right. I had agreed to help him pull the class up.
"Fine. Yeah I used to work out a fair bit, but it was mainly just to keep healthy. I had a lot of spare time outside of school."
"How tragic. I expected something more exciting." He appeared somewhat dissatisfied.
"Are you a good swimmer, Ryuuen?"
Although he gave a slightly puzzled look in response to my question, he answered "I haven't been swimming in a few months, but I suppose I'm pretty good for my age. What about you. And answer truthfully." Ryuuen looked at me expectantly.
"I'm probably an above average swimmer, even amongst the upper years."
"Kuku, I can believe that."
"All right, everyone, line up!"
A macho-looking middle-aged man, the kind of guy who apparently devoted himself to sports, gathered everyone together and started the class. He looked like a PE teacher, but also seemed like the kind of guy who was attractive to men and women alike.
"Good, all of you are here. After you warm up, I want to see what you can really do. Swim for me," the coach said.
"E-excuse me sir. I can't really swim though..."
Shiina raised her hand sheepishly.
"Since you have me as your teacher, you'll be swimming by summertime. Don't you worry about a thing."
"Well, we don't really need to force ourselves to swim, do we? It's not like we're going to the beach or anything."Kaneda said. He had said earlier that he could swim, just that he wasn't a very good swimmer.
"No way. I don't mind at all if you're bad at swimming now, but I'll make sure you guys are winners in the end. Besides, being able to swim will definitely come in handy later in life. Definitely."
Swimming would definitely come in handy? I looked at Ryuuen, who was deep in thought. Well, I suppose knowing how to swim would be convenient. However, hearing a teacher say something like that made me feel uncomfortable. Though, he probably just wanted to keep the students from sinking like rocks.
Everyone started their warm-up exercises. The teacher asked us to swim for about fifty meters. Students who could not swim, like Shiina, were allowed to touch the bottom of the pool with their feet. I hadn't been in a pool since last summer. The water must have been temperature controlled, because I didn't get chilled when I entered and adjusted right away. After getting in, I started to swim lightly.
After 50 metres, I waited for everyone else to finish.
"Well, it looks like everyone can swim, for the most part. In that case, I'll have you start competing against each other. We'll separate groups by gender. Fifty metre freestyle. I'll give out a special bonus to the first place winner: 5000 points. The student who comes in last place, however, will have to take supplementary lessons. Get ready."
The skilled swimmers cheered with joy, while the less confident students groaned.
"For each group, we will split in to groups of five. The top five finishing times overall will then move on to a final round. The winner of that round gets 5000 points."
It surprised me that the school would use points as a prize, especially for a small competition like this. Up first, it was the girls. Shiina couldn't compete, as well as another student called Rika, as the didn't know how to swim. The winner fastest time of the first round was Takeko Nishino.
Ibuki was competing in the next round, so me and Shiina gave a few waves of encouragement. Ibuki had the fastest time in that round, and was the fastest overall so far.
In the final round for the girls team, although there were other girls, it already looked as though Ibuki would win. Sure enough, after the whistle blew, there wasn't much competition, and she got to the other side a full 2 seconds before the runner up, Takeko.
"Hey, Ayanokouji." Ryuuen said to me.
"What?" I asked.
"Don't swim slowly. I want you to swim as fast as possible. At least, I expect you to come first." "Promise me." Ryuuen was running out of patience with me, I could tell.
"I'll win, don't worry."

I finished my first lap in 28 seconds. I came 2nd in my round.
Ryuuen finished his lap in 26 seconds.
Kondou was the 3rd fastest with 31 seconds.
Albert, despite all of his muscle, came 4th with 32 seconds. Probably because of his massive body.
And Komiya was the 5th fastest out of all the boys with 34 seconds.

"What was that bullshit, Ayanokouji?" Ryuuen said, after I had got out of the water. He was pissed.
"Don't worry Ryuuen, this is only the preliminaries. I'll beat you at the final round."
"You fucking better." He said. Why was Ryuuen so angry?
"Are you angry because you want to know how fast I can actually be?" I asked.
"Yes. The class can't operated at maximum efficiency if I don't know everyone's strengths and weaknesses." He said. I felt a little sorry for him. He really did want to make the class as best as it could be, even if he usually had a weird way of showing it by beating up Kaneda or Ishizaki.
"Fine then. I'll show you just how fast I can swim in the final round. I was going to win anyway, but now I'll win by an unsurpassable margin." I said.
"Kukuku I told you to do your best, not to get cocky. Those are some big words. You sure you can back them up?" Ryuuen asked, trademark grin starting to appear on his face.
"I'm confident in my abilities."

Me, Ryuuen, Kondou, Albert and Komiya were lined up at the pool, ready for sensei to blow his whistle. The moment he did, I did a perfect dive into the pool, and swam with all my might. I'd been swimming before, but I had only ever done it because I was forced to. Swimming because I wanted to felt great.
I reached the end of the pool first. A few seconds later, Ryuuen touched the side of the pool.
"Kukuku wow Ayanokouji, you weren't kidding, you were really fast." Ryuuen smiled.
"Well, I can't go back on my word, can I?"
Albert came last this time.
"What was his time, sensei?" Ryuuen asked my time.
"21.2 s-seconds." The teacher was gobsmacked. I doubted even any of the upperclassmen in the swim team could beat that.
"It seems I underestimated you again kukuku." Ryuuen said.
"You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover." I responded.
"Kuku true enough."
We got out of the pool.
"Woah, Ayanokouji-kun. I'm pretty sure you broke a record there." Shiina's eyes were wider than I've ever seen them because she was so surprised.
"Yeah, you could probably beat professional swimmers, Ayanokouji-kun." Ibuki said, impressed.
"Well, I guess anyone can be this good with a little training." I tried to play down my accomplishment.
After that, sensei transferred me my 5000 points, amazed that a first year could swim so fast.
We got changed and headed home.

Kiryuuin pov
I'd heard from Nagumo, who'd heard from a first year, that Ayanokouji had broken the school swimming record. Unfathomable. I knew he was good, but I didn't think he was THAT good. Well, that's just another thing to bring up on our date on Saturday. Ah yes, the date. I'd picked the fanciest and most expensive restaurant on campus, a place almost exclusively visited by teachers, and a upperclassmen trying to impress first-years with their money. I suppose I fall into the second category right now. How amusing. But I'll be able to impress him with more than just money. That I can say for certain.

Authors notes
1829 words
The pool chapter. Not much interesting going on, but we see Ayanokouji's true abilities. They're pretty godlike.
Ryuuen now knows the extent of Ayanokouji's abilities, and will be able to formulate strategies around this.
Kiryuuin just wants to impress Ayanokouji .
We passed 1000 reads and 100 votes today. Thanks guys ️

Shiina is happy.

Not much else to say really.
Hope you're all doing well, and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 1 chapter 7: Dining with a queen.

After leaving class, I went straight toward the dormitory.
Just outside the classroom, I saw Kushida. She appeared to be waiting for someone while leaning up against the wall. Noticing me, she smiled like always.
"I'm so glad! I was waiting for you, Ayanokouji-kun. There's something I wanted to talk to you about. Do you have a minute?" She asked.
"Yeah, sure..."
She couldn't be confessing her feelings for me, could she? Nah, there was about a 1 percent chance of something like that. Besides, I already had someone I was interested in. I didn't want to mess things up by going out to dinner with her whilst already dating someone else.
"I'll just ask you outright. Ayanokouji-kun, have you seen Horikita-san smile even once?"
"Huh? No, not that I can remember."
Thank goodness, she had come to talk about Horikita. Thinking back, I didn't recall ever seeing Horikita smile even once. Kushida took my hand in hers, closing the distance between us.
"Woah, Kushida. What are you doing?" I didn't want to be seen with Kushida touching me like this. Some of the boys in our year would have a fit, or try to kill me. Perhaps even both.
"What do you mean? I want to become friends with Horikita-san," she said.
"Well, ok. Sorry, I lashed out a little their." I apologised. I don't know why, but I still didn't trust Kushida. Something about her seemed off. No matter her expression, her eyes always stayed the same.
"It's fine, Ayanokouji-kun, I understand. I have no concept of personal space, and I sometimes forget others are rather sensitive when it comes to that kind of thing." Kushida said.
"Anyway, regarding Horikita: I think she guesses your feelings. At first, a lot of people tried reaching out to her, but now you're the only one."
"You seem to know Horikita-san pretty well, Ayanokouji-kun."
"It's not like I'm close to her or anything. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've spoken to her since the first day of school."
Kushida looked a little crestfallen.
"Didn't you try to ask her for her contact information last time? How did it go?" I asked.
I knew that Horikita didn't mince words. If Kushida had approached her, she would've responded harshly.
"She rejected me." Kushida said, frowning.
"Well, if she rejected you already, I don't know what you can say to her to get her to accept you."
"Won't you...help me?" She asked.
"Uh..."
I didn't answer right away. For pretty much anyone else besides Kushida and Horikita, I would have offered help. But I didn't want to for two reasons:
1) Horikita wanted to be left alone. Kushida, and everyone else for that matter, had to respect that.
2) I still didn't trust Kushida. I don't know how to explain it, but I felt as though I'd seen her eyes somewhere before. And if I'd seen her eyes before, that meant she was dangerous, considering the only eyes I'd seen before coming here belonged to people from that place.
"I understand how you feel, Kushida, but..."
"So that means... you can't?"
She did the best she could to plead for my help, but to no avail. Who Horikita's friends were wasn't my business.
"Yeah. I'm sorry, Kushida, but if Horikita doesn't want to be your friend, there's not much that you or I can do about it."
Kushida was upset, but she put on a brave face.
"It's ok Ayanokouji-kun. Maybe I'll try and find someone else who can help me." She said.
Didn't she listen to me? I said she shouldn't persist, not find someone else to help her. Ah well, if Horikita ends up punching her, I just hope someone gets a video.
"Bye Ayanokouji-kun." Kushida walked off, waving at me.
"Bye, Kushida-san."

Timeskip
Well, this was it. Saturday, 21:00, outside the dorms. I was waiting for Kiryuuin to come and pick me up for dinner.
I had spent some points on some new clothes. I had read somewhere that the clothes made the man. Whatever that meant.
"Ah, Ayanokouji-kun."
I turned around to see my date.
She was beautiful. She wore her hair down as always, with her signature headband adorning her scalp. I noticed she was wearing almost no makeup. I'd heard that girls usually wore makeup to special occasions like this. To be honest, quite a few girls in my class wore makeup just for everyday life. I'd have thought Kiryuuin would have put some on for something like this. Although, she was naturally beautiful without makeup as well. She didn't need it.
Her dress was simple and a dark grey. One would've thought the colour rather drab, but it contrasted nicely with her platinum blond hair. The dress wasn't extremely revealing, but it looked a little tight. I could see the way her waist curved downwards to her hips, and her breasts, slightly larger than average, were hard not to look at.
"Haha, my eyes are up here, Ayanokouji," she smirked.
"Ah, s-sorry, Kiryuuin-senpai." I apologised, bowing slightly.
"No need to apologise. If anything it's a compliment I suppose," her eyes flashed in the light of the nearby street lamp cheekily.
"Well, you do look good tonight, Kiryuuin-senpai," I tried my best to compliment her.
"Why thank you, Ayanokouji. And please, don't use honorifics. I don't care much for them." She said.
"Well then. Shall we go, Kiryuuin?" I asked.
"Yes. I'll lead the way, as I doubt you'd know the restaurant we're going to." She said.
What was that supposed to mean

Ah, I think I got it now.
This restaurant was seriously high class. It was the type of place for teachers and seniors. A first year like me was probably very rare. Although saying that, I saw the blond boy I had seen on the bus on my first day here. He was the infamous narcissist Kouenji Rokusuke. And it looked like he was here with a senpai of his own.
"Come on, Ayanokouji, I've reserved us a table." Kiryuuin said to me.
We sat down at a table near the window looking out on the street. A waiter came and poured us some water.
"Thank you," I said.
"So, Ayanokouji. You're pretty smart, right?" Kiryuuin asked.
"I suppose I'm above average." I responded.
"Well, judging by your antics on the first day, and our little game last week, I'd say you were quite a bit better than 'above average'," she said.
I see now. This wasn't supposed to be a romantic dinner, but an interrogation. Perhaps for her it could be called a dinner and a show.
"Well, that depends on perspective, doesn't it. To chess grandmasters, I could be an insignificant stain that they could clean up without a second thought. But to people like
My classmates, and even some of the seniors, I could be considered an opponent they can't defeat." I said.
"Well, there's just one tiny hole in that lie you just told." She smirked at me.
"What lie. And what hole?" I asked.
"I am at grandmaster level, and I was really trying my hardest, yet you still beat me."
Damn. I knew she was a strong chess player, but I didn't think she was grandmaster level. I had got caught up in my own intelligence, I hadn't considered how good she actually was.
"Aww, it doesn't matter, Ayanokouji. This dinner is my treat for you beating me, so please don't leave." She pouted slightly.
"Well, I suppose it would be rude not to stay. But, if I did stay, you would have to make it worth my while." I said, trying to flirt.
"Oh don't worry. I'll make it worth your while."
The waiter came over and took our order.
I ordered the soup for my starter and a steak for my main course.
Kiryuuin also ordered the soup starter, and ordered cod for her main course.
"So, Ayanokouji. Why did you come to ANHS?" Kiryuuin asked me.
That was out of the blue. I decided to lie to her again.
"It was the 100% employment guarantee that drew me in, just like most of the students here." I lied.
"Oh, when will you learn, Ayanokouji? Your poker face may work on most of the simpletons at this school, but I'm a cut above them. You realise that when you lie, it only makes me want to know even more? So I'll ask you again: why did you come to ANHS?"
Kyruuin's perceptive abilities were almost on par with mine. For the first time since coming to this school, I was at a loss for words. Sure, I'd beat her at chess, but she had the upper hand when it came to conversations and reading people.
"I came here because it allowed me to live my life in relative peace. My parents and I, we... don't exactly get along well." I said.
"Hm. You're telling the truth, but it seems there's more to discover in you, Ayanokouji. Ah well, for now, let's just enjoy the evening." Kiryuuin raised her glass.
"Yes, let's enjoy." I responded, touching my glass against hers, after which we both drank.
"Tonight has been nice." I said. Really. Even though Kiryuuin was trying to read me, I'd enjoyed talking to her.
"Likewise, Ayanokouji. In fact, you've impressed me. I would like to do something like this again, sometime. Would you, perhaps, be interested?" Kiryuuin asked.
"I thought this was just a reward for the chess match." I said.
"Oh. Well, I suppose it was. Well, if you don't want to go I suppose it-" I cut off Kiryuuin before she was finished.
"I don't remember saying I didn't want to go," I said, smiling a little.
Kiryuuin was momentarily stunned. I don't think she expected me to take the initiative like that. After a split second, her smile slowly crept back onto her face.
"I was hoping you'd say that." She said.
What sane man wouldn't accept a second date?

Unknown pov
How dare he. How fucking dare he.
First, he became friends with that girl, and then didn't help me when I asked him. Anyone else. Anyone else would have leapt at the chance to help me with something. Why can't he think with his dick like all the perverts in my class? At least I can manipulate them in to doing pretty much anything I want. Maybe he was gay? Maybe that was why he didn't like me touching him earlier.
I felt myself calming down a little. I suppose something like that can't be helped.
But then, walking down the street, I saw something that disproved that theory entirely.
There he was! In the restaurant, across the street from where I was. Just seeing his big stupid face made all the anger come back, but it reached new heights when I saw there was someone sitting across from him. It was a girl. A senior by the looks of her developed figure, and not a bad looking one, either. I hadn't met her yet. Fuck him. How did someone as boring and pathetic as him know someone that I didn't? How?!?
Then, something happened that I didn't think I'd ever see.
He smiled
How the fuck did that girl get him to smile. I couldn't get it? She wasn't that good looking. I think most boys would rather go for me than her. But then again, he wasn't most boys.
Gah! Why am I thinking about him like that? I'm supposed to hate him, not get jealous of whatever bitch he's with!
I hate you!
I hate you!
I HATE YOU!
AYANOKOUJI KIYOTAKA! I HATE YOU SO MUCH!

Authors notes
1954 words.
And there we have it, folks. Your prayers have been answered, and Ayanokouji x Kiryuuin is starting to go.
Ayanokouji didn't help Kushida with Horikita, mainly because Horikita had already said no to Kushida, but also because Ayanokouji didn't trust Kushida. How does Kushida feel about that, I wonder?
Other than that not much else to say. I can't write romance very well, so don't hate on author-san if they can't get things right .
Hope you all are doing well, and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 1 chapter 8: the end of everday life

For third period, we had maths class with Sakagami-sensei. When the bell rang, Sakagami-sensei walked into the classroom. Most students who were talking quieted down, although a few just kept on talking or playing on their phones.
"Quiet down a little, please. Today's lesson will be a bit serious."
"What do you mean, Sakagami-sensei?" Ryuuen asked.
"It's the end of the month, so we're going to have a short test. Please pass the to the back."
He handed out the papers to the students in the front row.
Eventually, the single-sheet test reached my desk. It contained questions in the five main subjects. With only a few questions per subject, it was really short.
"Huh? I didn't pay enough attention, though. This is so unfair!" A student cried out.
"Don't say that. This test is just for future reference. It won't be reflected in your report cards. There is no risk involved, so don't worry. Of course, cheating is prohibited."
His phrasing struck me as odd. Normally, only grades were reflected in your report card. But the way Sakagami-sensei said they wouldn't be reflected in our report cards made me think the grade could be reflected in some other way. Perhaps this would determine the amount of points we got?
As soon as the pop quiz began, I scanned the questions. There were four questions per subject, for a total of twenty. Each question was worth five points, for a total of one hundred points. Most of the questions were extraordinarily easy, to the point where it was almost a letdown. In fact, the questions seemed to be about two levels less difficult than the ones on the entrance examination. It appeared far too easy.
However, just as I thought that, I reached the end of the test. The final three questions were an order of magnitude higher in therms of difficulty. The final math problem couldn't be solved without complex formulae.
"No way. These questions are really difficult..."
These questions couldn't be geared toward a first-year high school student. The final three questions were clearly of a different quality than the others, so it was possible they'd been put on the test by mistake. Even though the results wouldn't be reflected in our grades, what in the hell were they evaluating with this?
Well, I guess I'll just solve these problems the same way I did on the entrance exam.
Sakagami-sensei monitored us. As he slowly patrolled the classroom, he kept a watchful eye to dissuade us from cheating.
I continued staring intently at my test until the bell rang.

"If you just come and tell me straight, I'll forgive you, okay?"
"Tell you what straight?"
After we'd finished lunch, I was chatting with Ishizaki and the other guys next to the vending machine in the hall. All of a sudden, Kondou sidled up next to me.
"We're friends right? Comrades that stick together through thick and thin?"
"Uh, yeah. I guess so."
"So then, naturally... you would tell us if you got yourself a girlfriend, right?" He asked.
"Huh? A girlfriend? Well, I wouldn't call her my girlfriend yet, but I went out to dinner with a senpai over the weekend."
Kondou put his arm over my shoulder.
"You see? Doesn't it feel good to get that off of your chest? What's her name?" Kondou asked.
"I would tell you, but she values her privacy rather highly." I said.
"Does that just mean that she doesn't exist? Don't worry brother, been there." Kondou said. Ishizaki and Komiya bowed their heads in silent sorrow.
"Right. Ok then. I've got to go now, see you." I wave goodbye.
"Bye Ayanokouji." The three boys wave me off.

May 1st
We need to talk Ayanokouji
I received the text message in the middle of my afternoon class while absentmindedly jotting down notes. I could see Ryuuen staring at me, waiting for a response. I nodded in confirmation. It was then that the morning bell rang. Soon afterward, Sakagami-sensei strode into the room, holding a rolled-up poster. His expression today was more stern than usual.
"All right, your morning homeroom is about to begin. Before we get started, does anyone have any questions? If so, now is the time to speak." Sakagami-sensei appeared totally convinced that the students had questions they wanted answered. Immediately, several students raised their hands.
"Um, I checked my point balance this morning, but I noticed we had way less points than we should. Did something go wrong?"
"Komiya, I explained this already before, didn't I? Points are deposited in the first day of the month. I've confirmed that points were wired this month without any issues."
"But... we only got 49,000 points deposited into our accounts though."
Kondou and Komiya exchanged glances. Ishizaki appeared to shocked to notice them looking at each other. I'd checked my point balance this morning as well and, just as I predicted, we receive as many points as we did last month.
"Points were deposited. That much I know for certain. Everyone in this class got their allowance for this month. To think otherwise is ludicrous. Understood?"
"Well, even if I tell you that we understand, we received less than half of what you promised..." Kondou, still perplexed, began to look dissatisfied.
"Kukuku! I see. So it's like that then, teacher? Ayanokouji, you were right."
He stood up and addressed the rest of the class
"It's simple. We're in class C, so we received less points that classes A and B, but we probably received more than class D."
"While they both certainly have their flaws, Ryuuen and Ayanokouji are right. For crying out loud, barely anyone seems to have noticed the hint I gave you. How deplorable."
In response to this, many of the students began grumbling and whispering to each other.
"Sensei, although we've figured it out, I'm afraid I still don't quite understand." Ryuuen asked Sakagami. He appeared to ask on behalf of his classmates, but I knew he wanted answers just as much as everyone else. Just as I'd expect from the tyrant class leader. Even now, he took the initiative.
"Can you please tell us why we didn't receive any points? We won't completely understand otherwise."
That was certainly true.
"A total of 49 absences and late arrivals. One hundred and ninety-five incidences of talking or using a cell phone I'm class. That is quite a few infractions over one month. In this school, your classes results are reflected in the points that you receive. As a result, you wasted more than half of the 100,000 points that you should have received. That's what happened. I should have explained this all to you on the day of the entrance ceremony. This school measures its students' true abilities. This time, you were evaluated as being above defective, but below competent. That's all."
Sakagami-sensei spoke in a robotic fashion, devoid of any emotion. The doubts I'd had since coming to this school were finally confirmed, though, in a worse way than I would have liked. Even thought we'd started with the huge advantage of 100,000 points, Class 1-C had lost just over half of it in a single month.
From the tube he carried, Sakagami-sensei removed a white rolled-up poster and spread it out. She stuck the poster to the blackboard with some magnets. The students stared at the poster.
"Are these... the results for each class?" Shiina tentatively took a guess. She was probably right. Class A through class
D were listed. To the side was a row of numbers that went up to a maximum of four digits.
Class 1-A: 0940 points.
Class 1-B: 0650 points.
Class 1-C: 0490 points.
Class 1-D: 0000 points.
Considering we had 490 class points, and we'd received 49,000 class points, that meant that 1000 points would mean 100,000 yen, wouldn't it? Every class had apparently lost points.
"You've all been doing whatever you pleased this past month. The school has no intention of preventing you from doing what you want. Your actions, such as being late or talking during class, only affect the points you receive. The same goes for how you use your points. How you choose to spend is entirely up to you. We have not put any restrictions on point usage"
"How do classes A and B have more points than us?" Ryuuen asked.
"All classes were scored using the same rules. Despite that, classes A and B didn't lose as many as you, and class D...well they were judged to be lower even than you. Do you finally understand now? Do you see why you were placed in class C? In this school, students are sorted by their level of excellence. The superior students are sorted into class A, the lease capable in class D. It's the same system you'd find in the major cram schools. In other words, class D is akin to the last bastion of failures. Class C is viewed as inept, but not completely defective, as in the case of class D. This is the result of you not being as smart or as well behaved as classes A or B, but being better than class D. However, I have to say, this years class C was better behaved than it is in most years, and you retained almost half of your points. I am impressed by how well you behave, considering how the school evaluated you. Well done."
"So does this mean we're stuck at 490 class points forever?" Ryuuen asked.
"You're class' points aren't just linked to the amount of money that you receive each month. They're indicative of your class rank."
In other words...should we get to 660 class points, class C would be promoted to class B. This really did sound like a company performance review.
"Now then, I have one more bit of bad news to share with you all."
He stuck another sheet of paper on the board. It listed the names of everyone in class. A number stood next to everyone's name.
"Judging from these, I can see that we've quite a few idiots in this class." As his shoes clacked against the floor, he glanced at us. "These are the results of the short test you took a while ago. I am not entirely impressed at your performance, but I suppose you could have done worse, overall."
With the exception of a few high scores, almost everyone tested below a sixty. The lowest scoring was Ishizaki, with 27. The average score was 69 (nice ).
"I'm so glad. If this was an actual test, 4 of you would have had to drop out."
"D-drop out? What do you mean?"
"Oh, what, did I not explain this to you? If you fail on a midterm or a final exam in this school, then you are expelled. If we applied that rule to this test, anyone who scored below 34 points would have had to drop out."
He drew a red line on the paper, separating the four people in question from the red of the class. Among these four people, Kondou had scored the highest, with 33 points. Anyone with a score equal to or lower than Kondou's had failed.
"Oh, and one more thing. This school, which operates under government supervision, boasts a high rate of advancement into elite education and workforce placement. That is a well-known fact. It's very likely that most of you have chosen your college or future workplace."
This was it. I saw Ryuuen tense up and lean forward in his chair.
"However, nothing comes easy in this world. Mediocre people such as yourselves would have to be naive to think you could easily get into the college or workplace of your choice."
Sakagami-sensei's words carried throughout the room.
"To make your dreams of a bright future come true, your only option is to overtake class 1-A. This school guarantees nothing for any other students."
There was a silence in the classroom. I could see Ryuuen thinking deeply.
"It looks like most of your bubbles had been burst. If you had simply understood the harsh reality of the situation from the start, then this long homeroom period might have meant something. Your midterm exams are in three weeks. Please think things over, and be careful not to fail. I have confidence that you can find a way to avoid getting red marks on your report cards. If at all possible, challenge yourself to act in a way befitting a skilled individual."
Sakagami-sensei exited the room, closing the door with some force for added emphasis. The students marked in red were left dejected, Ishizaki especially.
Immediately after Sakagami-sensei had left the room, Ryuuen leapt up to the teachers podium and began to speak.
"Everyone, we need to get our shit together. You don't have the right to refuse."

Unknown pov
Class 1-D: 0000.
0 points?
0 fucking points?
How was I supposed to live like this? What did the students in other classes have that I didn't? I'm beautiful, I'm kind, I'm clever, I'm athletic. At the very least, I should have been in class B, if not class A. I bet it was him. I bet he'd figured all of this out already, I bet he told all the other classes, just to spite me.
No. I'm thinking too rashly here. Of course he hadn't figured it out, and even if he had, I don't think he would have even told his own class.
I had to do damage control now. Ike and Yamauchi were practically crying. God, how pathetic. I wish they'd pull there shit together. But that didn't matter. Now, I had a clear goal. I would have to team up with my old schoolmate, who didn't much like me. I would get her to team up with me, no matter what. I needed to unify the class, under either mine or Hirata's leadership. Once that was done, it wasn't out of the question to think we could rise through the classes. We'd need to form study groups, and generally shape the worst of us into better people.
We could become class 1-A.
But first, we needed to crush class C.
What fun. Watch out, Ayanokouji.

Author's notes
Not much to say really. Pretty much word for word from the light novel, with a few insults dropped since class C didn't do too badly.
Not much else to say really.
Hope you're doing well, and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 1 chapter 9: A strong leader. An interesting student.

"Everyone, we need to get our shit together. You don't have the right to refuse." Ryuuen announced. His smile was nowhere to be seen. That meant that he was actually serious.
After Ryuuen said these words, the class erupted into an uproar. It was complete chaos. Ryuuen simply sighed in response. Then:
"QUIET!"
Instantly, the class fell silent. Everyone looked at Ryuuen, waiting for him to start punching someone.
"I understand you're all confused right now, but that's just what the school wants. We need to think clearly and strategically here."
I had to hand it to Ryuuen. Not only was he gifted strategically and physically, he was a potent public speaker. It was a wonder he wasn't in class B, or even A for that matter.
"First things first," Ryuuen said, looking at the notes he had made during Sakagami-sensei's speech. "Item number 1 on the agenda: no more being late to class, and no talking or using a cell phone in class. Anyone who is late for, talks or uses a cell phone during class, will be thoroughly punished."
This went without saying. It was almost entirely those things that had lost us 510 class points. And I could easily guess what punishment would befall someone stupid enough to ignore his direct orders.
"Item number 2 on the agenda: get better grades. Kaneda, Shiina. You two got the highest scores on the exam. I want you to tutor the people who failed. Anyone who didn't fail, but would still like some tutoring, you are welcome to go with them. But try not to cause them any trouble."
This also went without saying. It would be imperative to our classes success to pass every single exam. Ishizaki and the others who failed would have to improve their grades for the upcoming midterms.
"Now all of you. Go."
Everyone made to leave.
"Ayanokouji, stay here."
Damn. Why me.
I stayed behind, and said goodbye to Shiina and Ibuki.
"What is it, Ryuuen?" I asked.
"We need to conduct recon on the other classes." Ryuuen said.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, we need to know the strengths and weaknesses of each class. Luckily, I already know the major figures for each class, but we should conduct further research."
So what Ryuuen meant was, he wanted to see if there were any other competent people in the other classes that hadn't made themselves well known in the school.
"Okay then, tell me about class A." I said.
"Well, from the looks of it, class A is generally just better than the other classes, and by now, they probably know they're better. Right now, there are two central figures in class A: Sakayanagi Arisu, and Katsuragi Kouhei. Out of the two, Sakayanagi is said to be the most intelligent."
Ok, this was good information Ryuuen had gathered. I was surprised he had taken the initiative to try and scope out the other classes, even before we knew this was a competition.
"Alright. What about class B?" I asked.
"Class B has one unanimous leader: Ichinose Honami. Her social network among the first years is rivalled only by Kushida Kikyou, of class D. Her right hand man, or should I say her loyal dog, is Kanzaki Ryuuji. He's above average in both intelligence and physical ability. The entire class is unified under those two."
Ok, so class B was dangerous. It would be hard to break them easily.
"And what about class D?"
"It's foolish to just label them all as defective, like the school did. From what I've seen, there are a few of them who could run circles around people even in class A. They are also the least unified class in the grade, probably even in the entire school. Kushida Kikyou, who I mentioned earlier, has the joint largest social network in the grade, among both boys and girls. Hirata Yousuke is the de facto class leader, and is in the soccer club. He's popular among girls for being a pretty boy. He is dating Karuizawa Kei, who has a high social standing, and has a social group that spans multiple classes, but is made up entirely of girls. Kouenji Rokusuke, who I'm sure you've heard of by now, is both physically and mentally a once in a generation talent, by some accounts. Luckily, he has little to no interest in day to day affairs. He probably won't be a big threat, unless he decides to get involved."
Ok. Now we had to formulate a strategy to advance to class A. Knowing Ryuuen, this would probably involve violence of some kind.
"Ok, I would like to add some other people to the class D list." I said.
"Go on." Ryuuen prompted.
"Horikita Suzune. Although she is weak socially, she is probably one of the best and brightest in the grade. She isn't very popular, however. And then there's Sudou. I don't know his second name, but he has a physique nearly as impressive as Albert. I doubt he'll make it past the midterms though. I propose helping Sudou advance in the midterms." I said.
"And why on earth should we do that?" Ryuuen asked.
"Firstly, I can get a favour out of class D with it. Secondly, Sudou is a net negative for class D. We can exploit that weakness at a later date." I reasoned.
"Kukuku you have a messed up mind, thinking like that. I like it." Ryuuen smirked.
"After the midterms, I gather you will want to use violence to advance?"
"Yes. Violence is an effective tool, as I'm sure you're aware." Ryuuen said.
"I ask that you hold off on that front, at least until we know how the school will punish violence against another class." I said.
"Obviously. I may be in class C, but give me some credit." Ryuuen made a mock sad face.
"Don't worry, I was just making sure." I said.
"Do you have a plan for getting the students who failed the exam in our class to pass?" Ryuuen asked.
"Yes. I, I do, in fact." I replied.
"What is it?"
I explained my plan to Ryuuen in detail.
"Kukuku, are you sure it'll work?" He asked.
"Don't worry. It'll work." I said, confidently.

Unknown pov

I was looking over the entrance examination scores for the new first year students, when something caught my eye.
There was one student that scored 69 on all of his entrance exams. He even scored 69 on his end of month test.
(Nice )
I checked the students name and class.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, class 1-C. Why did that name ring a bell to me. I called my secretary in.
"Yes, sir?" She said.
"Can you remember a student called Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, class 1-C?"
"Hmm. Ah yes, I think I hear vice-president Nagumo talking about him. Something about chess. And Kiryuuin-san."
Kiryuuin? And Nagumo? Alarm bells started to sound in my head. But I do remember Nagumo talking about a chess tournament during the first week. I unfortunately wasn't able to attend due to business I had to conduct.
"Thank you, Tachibana-san, for refreshing my memory."
She bowed and left.
This was worrying. If both Nagumo AND Kiryuuin were involved with this boy, he must be something special. I needed to keep an eye on him.
After all, it's the duty of the student council president to keep an eye on noteworthy students.

Authors notes
1242 words.
Not much to say.
Ryuuen already conducted research into the other classes, as Ayanokouji made him more suspicious of the school and the s system.
Ryuuen also showed himself to be able to keep calm in such a stressful situation.
Kaneda and Shiina are leading study groups.
Ayanokouji has a plan in case tutoring doesn't help them pass.
Not much else to say.
I just watched the first episode of Akito the exiled. God, it's fucking amazing.
Hope you're all doing well, and I hope you enjoyed.
(P.S. does anyone know how to add text to speech to the story?)

Arc 1 chapter 10: May the fourth be with you!

"Are you free for lunch? Do you want to eat together?"
During our break, Kiryuuin called me.
"Sure. Where should I meet you?" I asked.
"I'm waiting outside the cafeteria now." She said.
"I'll meet you there."
"Stay cute, Ayanokouji."
"A-ah, um...you too, Kiryuuin." I said nervously.

"Ah, there you are, Ayanokouji." Kiryuuin patted me on the back when she saw me, and kept her arm over my shoulder.
"Hello, Kiryuuin. How are you?" I asked.
"I'm good. How did you find May 1st?" Kiryuuin looked at me curiously.
"Well, it certainly wasn't boring. I'm still in class 1-C." I said.
"Well, does it matter? You're having lunch with a pretty girl, after all." She flashed me a smile.
"I suppose it isn't all bad." I try my best to smile back.
"You're damn right it isn't. What do you want?" She asked.
"I'll get a special meal set. What'll you have?"
"I'll have the sushi."
Kiryuuin reached for her phone to pay, but I grabbed her arm.
"I'll pay." I said.
Kiryuuin smiled.
"I like a man who takes charge." She said.

We sat down and started to eat.
"Now, Kiryuuin. I would like to talk business, if you don't mind?" I asked
"What kind of business?" Kiryuuin was intrigued. I suspected she already knew what I was going to ask.
"I need the first midterm papers for last year, and the pop quiz you took on April 30th last year." I said.
"Well well. It seems my interest was not misplaced in you. Fine, but it'll cost you." She was impressed.
"I think I already paid you." I said
"Paying for my lunch isn't enough, Ayanokouji." Damn, I'd have thought she would go for it.
"Then, how many points do you want?" I asked.
"Haha, I don't want something as superficial as points. No. In two days time, they will be showing an old movie at the cinema. I would like you to accompany me." She demanded.
"Oh. I thought I was going to have to pay you. I didn't expect to be rewarded," I said, smirking.
"Now now, keep it in your pants, Ayanokouji." Kiryuuin teased me.
"S-sorry, Kiryuuin." I apologised, a little embarrassed.
"Don't be sorry. In truth, I like it when you talk to me like that. It makes a change from the dull boy I played chess with. When you talk like that, you remind me of the boy who almost completely figured out the s system on the first day." Kiryuuin looked into my eyes.
I stared back, trying my best not to look emotionless.
"Ayanokouji, from now on I want you to call me Fuka." She said, suddenly. Weren't girls supposed to be really iffy about people using their first names? I decided not to question it.
"Ok, Fuka." The name sounded good to say.
"And in return, will you allow me to call you Kiyotaka?" She asked, trying to do her best Kushida face.
(That just means puppy eyes)
"Of course. I wouldn't want to feel left out, now, would I?"
"Heh, you really are an interesting person, Kiyotaka. Don't worry, I'll get those past papers for you. I'll give them to your on our date." She got up and walked off. As I watched her go, I saw her wink and blow a kiss at me. I'd never been so embarrassed in my entire life, and I felt a few boys give me the 'you're dead to me' look.
Damn, Fuka. You'll be the death of me.
I messaged Ryuuen
I've initiated the first stage of my plan. I'm just waiting for the test papers to be delivered to me.

Good. This is good work. Tell me when you have them.

Thanks. I will.

May 4th
Today was my date with Fuka. It was early evening, and I noticed it was fairly warm tonight.
"Ah, there you are, Kiyotaka." I heard Fuka's voice behind me.
"Hello Fuka. You look nice this evening." I said.
It was true. She wore jeans, which was an unusual difference from her usual short skirt and tights combo. She wore a blue jumper.
"Well, look who's trying to flatter their senpai." She grinned cheekily.
"Shall we go then?" I asked.
"Sure. Do you know the way to the cinema?" She looked to me for confirmation.
"Yes, I do."
"Lead the way then, Kiyotaka." She said. I found that I liked it when she called me by my first name. It made me feel good inside.

On the way to the cinema, Fuka started to walk closer and closer next to me, till we were practically touching. Then, I felt something brush against my hand. I looked down, to see her own hand trying to interlock its fingers with mine. I spread my fingers, allowing her digits to touch the inside of my palm. I looked at her face, and our eyes locked. Neither of us said anything, and we continued walking in silence.

When we got to the cinema, I found out the name of the film we were watching.
Star Wars.
"Have you ever watched this before, Kiyotaka?" Fuka asked me.
"No. I've never even heard of it before." I said
"Really? I find that hard to believe. What rock have you been hiding under for all these years?"
Damn. I'd slipped up. Obviously this was a very famous film that everyone had watched, or had at least heard of.
"To be honest, most of my time before coming here was spent at home. I didn't really have any interest in stuff like movies."
"Aww, your life is so tragic haha." Fuka cackled.
You don't know the half of it.
"Oh, hi Ayanokouji-kun." I heard a sweet voice behind me.
I turned around and saw Kushida waving at me.
"Oh, hey Kushida. I didn't expect to see you at a film like this. What brings you here?" I asked.
"Don't you know, Ayanokouji-kun? It's Star Wars day. May the fourth be with you." Kushida did a motion as though she was striking me with a sword.
"In truth, quite a few people in my class were going, and I was invited. What about you. Did that girl bring you here with her? Is she your...girlfriend? Tee hee?" Kushida giggled at the prospect of me dating someone.
"Kushida, this is Fuka Kyruuin. I've been dating her for the past few weeks." I said.
"Ooh, I didn't expect you to have a girlfriend already." Kushida said.
"Don't worry, Kushida, no need to get jealous," Fuka smirked.
"Wawa I'm not jealous," Kushida denied and pouted.
"Hm. Sure, whatever you say. C'mon, Kiyotaka, let's get go into the cinema." Fuka grabbed my hand and dragged me into the cinema.
I waved apologetically at Kushida in farewell. She waved back, smiling slightly. The look in her eyes had stayed the same the entire time. I know I had seen them somewhere before.
"I don't like that girl, Kiyotaka. There's something off about her." Fuka said to me, once we were out of earshot.
"I have the very same feeling, to be honest." I admitted.
"Good. Sharp instincts with things like this will serve you just as well as a gun or a knife in life or death situations." She said. That got dark quick.
"Yeah. Anyway, the films about to start." I said, as the lights in the cinema started to dim.
I nearly leapt out of my seat when the starting credits came up. Luckily, Fuka didn't notice.

About halfway through the film, I felt something warm on my leg, I looked down and, in the gloom, I could see Fuka's hand. I looked at her face, but she continued to watch the film. She slowly moved her hand up my leg. She was about to reach a certain place with her inquisitive fingers. I pushed her hand back down my leg, and whispered to her:
"Not here. Not in public."
Fuka understood, and whispered back:
"Fine. But you have to put your hand on my lap as well."
A good enough arrangement.
I placed my hands on Fuka's jean-clad leg. I squeezed it. She flinched, wether in pain or pleasure was unclear.
Her leg had a nice texture. It was soft, yet firm with muscle, too. She had obviously exercised quite a bit. I liked the feel of them.

Once the film had finished, we went back to the dorms. Fuka still needed to give me those past questions.
She unlocked the door to her room, and invited me inside. She gestured to sit down at the table as she went into her bedroom. As I had just sat down, she came back with a folder in her hands.
"The test questions, as promised." She said.
"Ah, thank you Fuka."
"It's no problem. You did come out with me this evening, after all?" She had her usual smirk on her face.
"Yes, anyway. Thanks for inviting me in, but I must really get to bed. Goodbye." I made to leave.
"You could sleep here, if you wanted," Fuka said, in an unusually seductive voice.
I froze. This was it. A choice had to be made now. I decided to go with the objectively better option, in the long run.

"I'm ok with that. So long as you are?"
"Of course. Let me just get changed into my pyjamas." She said, grinning.

Unknown pov
Damn, so he really was dating her. I hadn't wanted to believe it at first, but he'd got himself a bitch. Well done him. I got the feeling she didn't like me. How could someone like him over ME? It didn't make sense.

I found myself looking at them during the movie. About halfway through, she put his hand on his leg. Fuck, was she really gonna do that, right here? Sure enough, her hand started to move up his leg. Heh, I could use this to my advantage. I was about to cry out in disgust, but then the unexpected happened.
He pushed her away.
Damn, he really had some self control. How could a weird little virgin like him have the balls to refuse her.
Wow. Ok. Now he was putting his hand on her leg. I looked away.

After the film, my friends asked me if I wanted to go to karaoke. I declined, saying I didn't feel well. No, I wanted to follow them. I followed them all the way back to the dorms. I expected them to split up here. I wanted to talk to that girl. But wait... He's going in to her room with her.
I chuckled. There was only one thing a boy and a girl of their age would be doing together at this time. They'd fuck. They'd fuck like rabbits in heat. The thought of it made me sick. The thought of him...shirtless...
No. No. No. No. No. NO!
I hated him. And yet, I felt warm. I liked thinking about him, doing...stuff...to me.
I got back into my room, and I thought of him. On the bed.
But there was something wrong. I couldn't get that bitch out of my head. What was her name again? Oh yes, that was it.
Fuka Kiryuuin. You mark my words you bitch. I'll destroy you.

Authors notes
1887 words.
Quick thing: they don't. They just sleep in bed together. Author-san doesn't want the story to become mature. If we reach 10k reads, I suppose I can make a separate book for that scene. Only if you guys are cool with it .
Kushida met Fuka, and Fuka could obviously tell that there was something off about Kushida.
Ayanokouji got the old test questions.
Ayanokouji spent the night in Fuka's dorm AND THERE WERE NO LEMONS! They just slept in the same bed.
Concerning Star Wars: I can't wait for Kenobi to drop!
Nothing much else to say.
Hope you're all doing well, and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc1 chapter10.5:Fuka's bedroom

I feel bad for not doing the bedroom scene. Look below for the rest of the story
Warning!
!may contain inappropriate content!

I'm so sorry.

Arc 1 chapter 11: the morning after

... ... Last night was good.
I woke up before Fuka, and my face was full of her sweet smelling hair. I inhaled, and closed my eyes. It was at this moment that she decided to wake up.
"Good morning, Kiyotaka." She said, yawning.
"Morning, Fuka." I smiled.
"How did you find last night?" She asked.
"It was...a new experience. One that I enjoyed" I admitted.
"Well, isn't that something? I suppose you won't object to this then," she said, backing herself onto me.
"Unfortunately, I have to. I'll need to go back to my dorm before anyone else wakes up. I think the school would probably launch an inquiry if they knew I'd stayed here." I said. It was true, and I'd have to be careful on my way back. Luckily, my internal body clock woke up earlier than most anyway, so it was unlikely I'd be spotted by a student.
Luckily the corridors of the dorms didn't have many security cameras, mainly just in the elevators and in the stairwells. It could easily be argued away that Fuka and I had parted ways last night, unless someone already knew.
"Hmm, I suppose you're right. But be sure to come back in a few hours, won't you? And don't forget those papers." She said as I got dressed.
"Don't worry, I'll see you later. I have a little bit of business to attend to first, so I'll see you at around lunch?" I asked.
"Sure, I'll make it. We can eat here?"
"That sounds good to me." I confirmed.
"Bye, Kiyotaka." Fuka put her arms around my waist and kissed me on the cheek. I could feel her soft chest pressing into my own.
"See you later, Fuka," I said, returning the kiss.
I left the door, and pulled out my phone.
Text me when you see this, so I know you got it. I have the test papers, phase two of my plan is complete
Ryuuen probably wasn't awake yet, but I decided to text him now so he could wake up to some good news.
I got to my room, and made myself some breakfast. A few minutes later, my phone buzzed. It was Ryuuen.

Good job, Ayanokouji. Can we meet up now?

Sure, I've just made breakfast. Get it while it's hot.

Ok, I'll be two minutes.

A little while later, there was a knock at my door.
"It's open" I said.
Ryuuen entered the room.
"Kukuku you little devil. How did you do it? How many points did you spend? I'll cover the cost with the class bank."
Ah, yes. The class bank. It was a rather good scheme I came up with after the chess tournament. I didn't really need all of the 500,000 points that I won from that, so I decided to give 400,000 to Ryuuen. We decided to keep these points in reserve in case we ever needed a large amount of points for something. Also, every student deposited 5,000 per month into the class bank. Now, we had 480,000 points in the class bank.
"No need. I didn't have to use points." I said.
"What? Then, how did you manage it?" Ryuuen asked, sitting down and biting into a piece of toast he had been buttering.
"I got them from my...partner." I said.
"Oh, and who's that." He asked.
"Fuka Kiryuuin. The girl I played at the chess tournament."
Ryuuen's eyes went wide with apparent shock, as if remembering something.
"Ayanokouji, she was asking for you a few days before that. You shouldn't trust her." Ryuuen looked slightly panicked.
"Don't worry, I know. I have it under control."
"How do you mean?" Ryuuen tilted his head.
"Let's just say that I only got back to my apartment half an hour ago, and I didn't sleep here." I said.
"What does that me-...ohhh. Kukuku. Ayanokouji, you player." Ryuuen grinned.
"Anyway, we're getting sidetracked. Regarding the test questions, don't give them to the class just yet." I said.
"Why? So they can learn how to study without a cheat-sheet?" Ryuuen was right.
"Yeah, pretty much. Also, I need some photocopies made."
"Why?" Ryuuen was confused.
"It's time to initiate phase 3 of the plan." I said.

"What's phase 3?" Ryuuen asked after a long pause.
I told him my plan.
"Hmm...kukuku, that's perfect. Wow, you're surprisingly good at this strategy stuff." Ryuuen said.
"You're not too bad yourself, you know?"
"I'm nothing compared to you." He was right. I was just a bit better than most students. It was a given, considering my past education.

It was lunchtime, so I decided to go and see Fuka.
When I got to her dorm, however, her door was open. Inside her room was...some guy. He looked familiar.
"Ah, speak of the devil and he shall appear. It's good to meet you again, Ayanokouji." The blond boy said.
I looked at Fuka. She mimed moving a chess piece.
Ah, yes. He was the organiser for the chess tournament, vice-president Nagumo.
"Yes, it's good to see you again, Nagumo-senpai." I shook his outstretched hand.
"What did you mean by 'speak of the devil'?" I asked.
"Ah, well. You see: this morning, the student council received an anonymous tip that the students Fuka Kiryuuin from class 2-B and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka from class1-C were engaging in sexual activities last night. I doubt this is true, considering you weren't here at her apartment, but I still have to ask: is it true?" Nagumo asked.
Shit. Someone must have followed us last night, or had perhaps just seen us walking into Fuka's room by accident.
Either way, someone had it out for us.
"No. This is a lie." I said.
"Well, I thought as much. We saw you two coming upstairs on the security camera footage, but there's no definitive proof of you engaging in sexual activity." Nagumo said.
"Yeah, I told you all this already, Nagumo. You didn't have to bother my friend here with that, did you?" Fuka was angry.
"I know, I know. It's just standard procedure. Well, I'll be leaving now. Sorry to bother you." He got up and left, shutting the open door behind him.
"Damn, what are we going to do, Fuka?" I looked to Fuka for guidance. She would know more about how to evade school punishment than me, having a years worth of experience more than me at this school.
"Don't worry, this kind of thing happens all the time. I mean, Nagumo is one of the biggest womaniser's the school has ever seen." She simply laid on her bed, unfazed.
"Really?"
"Really. Without catching us in the act, there's not much they can do." Well. That was good to know, at least.
"I'm sorry, Kiyotaka, but Nagumo ate the lunch I gave you. What a prick."
"It's fine. I'm not that hungry anyway."
"Aww, but I wanted to feed you," Fuka pouted.
"E-eh? Please, Fuka. You're embarrassing me," I turned away.
"Aww, poor little Kiyotaka." She teased.
This didn't go on for very long, and we talked away the rest of the afternoon.

Unknown pov
It was probably done, now. I waited for him at the agreed location.
"I'm very sorry, but you're tip wasn't any good. He wasn't at her apartment, and there was no other evidence suggesting they fucked."
I leapt up, in fake surprise.
"P-please, Nagumo-senpai. You shouldn't use bad language like that," I put on my best angry face.
"Anyway, are you sure. I want to make sure that senior girl isn't taking advantage of that first year. Did you check the security cameras from last night?" I asked.
"Yep, and you were right: they were walking together, but there was no evidence suggesting he went in to her room."
Fuck. I thought this was supposed to be easy.
"Oh, never mind then. I was probably just imagining things," I poked my cheek and stuck my tongue out.
"It doesn't matter. Always report something if you see something strange. I have to go to the student council room now, if you'll excuse me." He walked off.
"Goodbye, Nagumo Senpai," I said, waving at him.
I went back to my dorm.
Fuck, how did this happen? They were supposed to be caught red handed. I knew they'd gone into the bitches room. I knew that they'd...done...that.
I couldn't get either of them out of my fucking head. Why? Why couldn't I just forget about them. All I could see were their faces, leering at me.
"Poor, girl. Don't you feel sorry for her?" He asked.
"Hmm. No, not really. She gets what she deserves." She said.
"Shut up, you bitch!" I said.
"Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of how fake you are." She said. They both laughed.
"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I shouted, turning around.
But there was no one their. I had just imagined it.
I felt my stomach churning. I went to the bathroom, put my head over the toilet, and threw up. It wasn't just vomit going in to the toilet bowl.
I was crying, my tears mixing in with the mixture of water and bile.
"Please...leave me alone..." I laid on the floor, curled up in a pathetic, stinking, sobbing ball.
"Please, don't say those mean things to me, Ayanokouji."

Authors notes
1568 words
Some romantic moments at the start, but things got real serious, real quick.
Kiyotaka spent the night at Fuka's (he only slept in the same bed as her, he didn't do anything else. Go to horny jail *bonk*
Kiyotaka gave Ryuuen the test papers.
Kiyotaka had another phase of his plan yet to go.
Nagumo was informed by someone who saw Kiyotaka go into Fuka's room. The school won't look further in to the matter, unless actual definitive proof is given.
I can't wait for the new season for the classroom of the elite anime to come out. It releases pretty close to my birthday, so that's something to look forward to. .
Not much else to say.
Hope you're all doing well, and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 1 chapter 12: childhood friends.

Before I knew it, class had ended for the day. It was time for the next part of our plan. I headed to class 1-D to speak with Kikyou Kushida.
"Hey, do you have a minute?" I called out as she prepared to head back to the dorm. Kushida turned around.
"Oh, it's unusual for you to come to talk with me, Ayanokouji-kun. Do you need something?" She asked.
"Yeah. If it's ok with you, can we talk outside?"
"Well, I was going to meet up with my friends, so I don't really have much time, but...okay."
Smiling, she followed me, not a trace of unpleasantness to be found. After we turned the hall corner, Kushida waited for me to speak.
"Rejoice, Kushida. You've been selected as an ambassador of goodwill. Take these." I said, handing her a brown envelope.
"What's this, Ayanokouji-kun?" She asked.
"They are last years test papers. If you look near the front of the pile, you'll find a pop quiz that the second-years did on April 30th last year."
She looked at the paper.
"It's the exact same!" She exclaimed.
"Yes, and do you know what that probably means?" I asked.
"That the midterm questions will be the same as the papers here?" She guessed
"Correct."
Kushida was flustered.
"Oh, well. Thank you, Ayanokouji-kun." Kushida made to leave.
"Wait." I stopped her.
"What is it, Ayanokouji-kun?" She asked.
"There are two conditions I want you to agree to." I said.
"Oh, ok. No problem, what is it?" She asked.
"I would like you not to give them to your classmates until the day before the test, so they can learn how to study without the answers." I said.
"Ok, and what's condition number 2?" She asked.
"You and class 1-D owe me and class 1-C a favour, to be cashed in at any time I or Ryuuen Kakeru please."
She froze for a split second, but regained her composure.
"Well, ahem. I suppose that's...fair enough." Kushida said.
"Great. Goodbye, Kushida."
"Yeah, goodbye, Ayanokouji-kun." She said, waving as I went.

I'd been helping Shiina with her study group, which contained Ishizaki and Kondou, after school. We'd finished for the day, so I decided to head home. I left the library. When I got outside, I saw Kushida. That in itself wasn't strange, but she was heading towards the school. I felt myself getting curious as to what she would be doing at the school building at this hour.
I decided to follow her. If she was busy, I'd talk to her again tomorrow. Bearing that in mind, I pressed on. When I got inside the school, I took out a pair of indoor shoes from the cubicles in the hallway, but I didn't see Kushida. Had I lost her? I thought I had, until I heard the faint clack of shoes.
I followed her up the stair to the second floor. The sound of footsteps continued to the third floor. The next level after that was the roof, wasn't it? Students were free to use the roof during lunchtime, but it should've been locked after class. While I thought it strange, I went up the stairs, trying to hide my presence as best I could in case she was meeting with someone. Then, I stopped partway.
Someone was up there.
I pulled out my phone and, checking it was on silent mode, started a recording. I gently leaned against the handrail and peeks through a crack in the rooftop door. Through the opening, I glimpsed Kushida. No one else was with her. Was she waiting for someone?
A rendezvous at such a secluded place...could she possibly be waiting for her boyfriend? If that were the case, I could end up cornered on all sides. While I agonised over how to sneak away, Kushida slowly set her bag down on the ground.
And then...
"Ahhh, so annoying!"
Her voice was so low that it didn't sound like Kushida.
"She's seriously annoying! God, how irritating. It'd be better if she just died..."
She grumbled to hereelf, as if chanting the words to some kind of spell or curse.
"Ugh. I hate stuck-up seniors who think they're all that just because there a little bit pretty. Why is she such a harpy? A rotten girl like her couldn't possibly outclass me. Ah, she's the worst! She's just the worst, the worst, the worst! Kiryuuin, you're so annoying! I hate you!"
Why did she hate Fuka?
"And you, Ayanokouji. Why do you want a favour from class D? What sick, twisted game are you planning in the shadows?"
I felt like I'd glimpsed the true side of this gentle girl. The side I'd suspected existed all along. She probably didn't want anyone else to see this darker side. A voice in my head whispered it was dangerous to stay here.
However, and odd question still hadn't been answered. Why did she hate Fuka? And why did she agree to work with me if she didn't like me? Why force herself to talk and conspire with me? Did she want to get along with me? Or did she want to become closer to Fuka?
At any rate, I needed answers. I opened the door to the balcony.
"Huh...Kushida? What are you doing here?" I decided to play the fool.
After a brief silence, Kushida coldly asked, "what...are you... doing here?"
"I got a little lost. Sorry, my bad. I'll be going now."
Kushida looked straight at me, clearly seeing through my obvious lie.
"Did you hear?" She asked
"Would you believe me if I said I didn't?" I replied.
"I see..."
Kushida briskly walked towards me. She placed her left forearm against the base of my throat, and pushed me down to the ground. Although she was much stronger than I'd thought her to be, I could have got her off of me. This, however, suited me. This new Kushida wore a terrifying expression, one you could almost compare to Fuka's angry face.
"If you tell anyone what you just heard, I won't forgive you."
Her words were ice, and I didn't think they were an idle threat.
"And if I did tell?"
"In that case, I would tell everyone that you raped me," she said.
"That's a false charge, you know."
"That's ok, it wouldn't be false."
Her words had heft and power, leaving me unable to reply. As she spoke, Kushida grabbed my right wrist and slowly opened my hand. She pushed my palm up against her soft breast.
"They feel better than you're little girlfriends, right?" She asked. Well, I would have to disagree.
"Anyway, your fingerprints are on my clothes. That's evidence of my claim. I'm being serious, understand?"
"Yes. I do." I said.
It was a rather odd position we were in, with Kushida on top of me.
A new look came over her face. She grabbed hold of my hand, and held out a single finger, which she started to lick.
"Do you like that, Ayanokouji?" She asked, her expression remained the same, except there was a strange hunger on her face now.
I remained silent.
Her hands shifted down to my belt, trying to unbuckle it.
"No, Kushida, I don't want to do that with you." I said clearly, so my phone could pick it up.
"SHUT IT, AYANOKOUJI! THIS ISN'T ABOUT YOU, IT'S ABOUT ME!"
Her expression was almost enough to make me worried now. Even now, her eyes stayed the same, devoid of all emotion. I finally knew where I had seen those eyes before.

They were the same eyes that stared back at me whenever I looked in the mirror.

Kushida pov
Yes, this was finally it. Once he had experienced me, he wouldn't be able to go back to that bitchy skank Kiryuuin.
Then he spoke.
"You know, this recording I took actually proves that you're raping me Kushida." He said.
What.
I looked at him, and he was holding out his phone, which had been recording our conversation.
"Delete it." I said.
"Get off of me." He said.
"I said DELETE IT!"
I grabbed his throat with both of my hands, in an attempt to intimidate him.
"Don't you see, Ayanokouji? We're meant to be together, you and me. Forget about that slut. I'm way better than her."
I would have to be careful not to kill him, only to make him fall unconscious. Then I could have all the fun I wanted with him. I was getting warm just thinking about it. The training I had received from that place when I was younger, when my parents had abandoned me their, meant that I could have snapped his neck if I wanted.
But then, he grabbed both of my wrists in his right hand, and pulled me off of him.
"Kushida, what you did here today was illegal. If you want me to keep my mouth shut, you're going to do as I say from now on."
Our positions had reveresed, and he was on top of me. He was looking in to my eyes. I saw them. They were his eyes. The eyes of that man. Which meant that Ayanokouji must have been that boy. The one who I grew up alongside, and the one I had been separated from due to my own incompetence.
"Demon." I said.

Authors notes
1576 words.
And there we have it. Kushida knew Ayanokouji before the both came to ANHS, which can only mean one thing.
Ayanokouji gave Kushida the test papers for class D to use, in exchange for 1 favour.
Ayanokouji saw the true side of Kushida.
Kushida knows Ayanokouji.
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I think this was a banger chapter.
We passed 3000 reads and over 300 votes yesterday.

Manabu is impressed with our progress.
Not much else to say.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 1 chapter 13: a new threat.

"Demon."
Ah, so that was why she was like this. She grew up alongside me, in the white room.
"Kushida...why? How did you end up in that place?" I asked.
She spat in my face. Right in my left eye.
"Come on now, Kushida. Talk to me." I was worried about Kushida. Being raised in the white room didn't exactly do good things for peoples minds, as evident in Kushida.
"Same as you. My parents gave me up to that man. They wanted me gone, out of their lives. It was just a convenient way to do so." Kushida was scowling at me.
"Hm. And when were you kicked out?"
"I couldn't keep up during the final assessment 6 years ago. I was given back to my parents, but they didn't want me. I was a failure to them. They left me in a backwater orphanage in Tokyo. I haven't seen them since. I hated the orphanage. It was hell."
"More of a hell than the white room?" I asked.
"Heh, you might be right there." Kushida looked away and smiled cynically. I don't know how I hadn't seen it before. It had just been me for the last 2 years. I'd forgotten what the other children looked like. I remembered now, looking into the broken eyes of one of them.
"Kushida...I can help you." I offered. Her face loosened from the scowl that had been there. She looked like she was about to cry. But then, it returned tenfold.
"Go fuck yourself, you weird creep. Or better yet, go to that little slut Kiryuuin. Get away from me." She pushed me off of her, in an unexpected burst of strength. I instantly went to protect my phone. If she managed to delete that recording, my life would be over. He would be able to take away my freedom. I couldn't allow that.
But she didn't. Instead, she looked at me.
"Goodbye, Ayanokouji-kun."
She pulled a kitchen knife from her dorm out of her blazer and was on me in an instant. I barely had enough time to react. I held my arm out, the knife going through my hand. It hurt like hell.
Kushida was breathing heavily, the look in her eyes as violent and unstable as ever. But as soon as my blood started to drip down along the handle and onto her own hands, she retched. She let go of the knife, and placed her bloody hands to her mouth. She ran to the edge of the school roof, and threw up over the side. This went on for a few seconds. After that, Kushida spoke calmly, yet menacingly.
"Ayanokouji."
"Yes?"
"Mark my words. I'll destroy you. And that man. And the white room. And then you'll serve me, forever."
With that, Kushida brushed past me, and went back downstairs.
It was at this moment I realised that the knife was still stuck inside my hand.
Shit.

I went back to the dorms, trying to hide the fact that I had a piece of cutlery sticking out of my hand from the cameras and any students I walked past.
I got to the room of the person who was best suited for this situation, and knocked lightly on the door. There was no answer, so I banged the door with my good fist as hard as I could. I heard a bang from inside, like someone had fallen off of a bed. I then heard an extremely angry shout, and not long after I heard the locks opening. The door opened, revealing the rather unhappy face of Ryuuen Kakeru.
"For fucks sake, Ayanokouji. Why are you waking me up at this time of night?" He was pissed. In response I showed him my hand with the knife in it.
Ryuuen seemed surprised, but at least he didn't faint.
"Shit. Come in them, I think I have some bandages somewhere."
I came in and sat at the table.
Ryuuen had some bandages and medical tape ready and laid out.
He turned to me.
"Ayanokouji, I'm going to put the bandages on, so you'll have to pull the knife out. You think you can do it?" He asked.
"Yeah, I can do it." I said.
"Good then. 3...2...1...NOW!"
I pulled the knife out. Fuck it was so painful. It hurt like a bitch on the way in, but that was nothing compared to the pain I felt now. I almost let it show on my face.
Immediately, Ryuuen put the bandages over my hand, doing his best to put pressure on the wound and staunch the bleeding.
He then stuck the bandages on with the tape, leaned back, and sighed.
"Kukuku, what the hell happened, man?" Ryuuen was finding the situation funny, in a weird way.
"Hah, it was an accident. I was cooking, and dropped the knife on my hand." I lied.
"So, what you actually mean is: someone tried to kill you, you blocked it with your hand, they felt bad about it, and you want to protect them?" Ryuuen had, once again, seen through me.
"*sigh* fine. Yes, but I can't reveal who they are. It would be too damaging in your hands. If anyone is going to blackmail someone for this, it's going to be me, not you." I glared at Ryuuen.
"Jeez, fine, kuku. No need to get angry. If you don't want to tell me, I won't pester." Ryuuen smirked.
"Good. Anyway, I should get back to my room. Goodnight, Ryuuen." I went to leave.
"Good night, Ayanokouji."
I shut the door behind me.
I got back to my room, and fell onto the bed.

I couldn't get to sleep, so I got up and left. I bought some juice from the lobby's vending machine and headed back for the elevator. But instead of going back to my room, I went somewhere else.
I knocked on Fuka's door.

Unknown pov
I was surprised. I didn't think someone would call a meeting like this.
To the left of me was the student-council president, Horikita Manabu, and his sister, Suzune.
Next to them was the infamous narcissist, Kouenji Rokusuke. And next to him was one of the leader's of class A, Sakayanagi Arisu, daughter of the schools director.
"Thank you all for coming," a voice said. It wasn't a voice I had heard before, at least I don't remember hearing it.
"C'mon now, pretty girl. A perfect existence like myself can't be kept waiting forever. Say what you have to say."
Kouenji, as charming and considerate as ever, took the words right out of my mouth.
"Hm. Very well. The demon of the 4th generation is attending ANHS." With that, the voice stepped into the light.
It was those eyes. It was those same eyes I remembered seeing, all those years ago.
"Fufufu, so the angel of class D is actually a half-formed demon that man created. How amusing." Sakayanagi laughed.
"Why did you call us here, Kushida," Horikita spoke.
"Don't take that tone with me, you fucking bitch. I'm sticking my neck out here for you lot. The reason I called you all here is because you either were part of the white room's regime at one point, or you have knowledge of it."
I fell in to that first category. I didn't think that either of the Horikita siblings had knowledge of the white room.
"Manabu, I trust you have heard of the white room. You're family tried to oppose it at one point, didn't they? And what happened to your parents?" Kushida asked.
"H-he killed them." For the first time I had ever seen, Manabu's steely façade started to crack.
"Onii-san, what is she talking about? What is this white room." Suzune asked, worriedly.
"Don't worry, Suzune, I'll fill you in. Later." Manabu said.
"And what do you want from us, Kushida." I asked.
"Well well, look who finally decided to talk. I haven't seen you since I left. I gather you left not soon after. You barely passed that assessment during our 6th year.
She was right, I scored the lowest during that, and I was kicked out the following year, 5 years ago.
"Ho ho, you still haven't told us why we are here yet, two-face." Kouenji laughed.
Kushida glared at him.
"We are going to destroy the demon. I can't do this alone. Sakayanagi?"
"Fufufu, finally, my chance has come to bury the false genius." Sakayanagi giggled.
"Kouenji?"
"Ho ho, I suppose even a perfect existence like myself would be challenged against demon boy. I'll join you." Truly, his arrogance knew no bounds.
"Suzune?"
"I-I'll do whatever nii-san wants."
"Fine then. Manabu?"
"No. As student council president, I have to remain impartial. Should I find any of your actions against this boy to be illegal, I will not hesitate to get the police involved."
Manabu smirked.
"Fine."
Kushida turned to me.
"And what about you, Kanzaki?"

Authors notes
1521 words
Yeah in this fic the fan-theory that Kanzaki was in the white room is canon.
Manabu and Suzune have a slightly more normal brother/sister relationship than in the ln.
Kouenji and Sakayanagi know of the white room's existence.
Manabu is torn between the anti-white room group and helping Ayanokouji.
Not much else to say
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 1 chapter 14: The benefits of friendship.

The study groups were going well. Of course, no one suddenly loved studying or found great joy in it. However, they all did their part to avoid expulsion so they could continue to spend time with their friends. The people who had failed at the quiz last month frantically repeated everything written on the blackboard, wracking their brains to understand the problems.
Ishizaki occasionally came close to passing out during class. His head would bob up and down as he started to doze, but he managed to stay awake.
How exactly did this school define an exemplary student? At the very least, people didn't pass or fail based solely on academics. Considering the fact that people like Ike and Sudou from class D had been accepted into the school, that much was obvious. If the school enrolled students talented in other areas, though, it was odd that they'd have a system in place to expel students for just one failing grade. At least, that's how I saw it.
Unless the system itself was a lie, there wasn't much I could conclude. Could they be creating such problems for students like Ishizaki and Sudo solely so they could overcome them? It likely wasn't that simple. Both the small test we'd taken and the classes, so difficult for people like them, posed problems.

When the lunch bell rang, everyone made a mad dash for the cafeteria. Our break was 45 minutes long. After lunch, the whole class agreed to meet in the library for a twenty-minute study session. At first, we'd planned to study in the classroom. However, for better concentration, we decided to avoid noise and use the library.
"Ayanokouji-kun! Do you want to eat lunch together? I don't have any plans today!" Kushida unexpectedly hopped out in front of me. The memory of last night was still fresh in my mind.
"Ah, okay. Well then, where do you want to-" I began.
"Oh my goodness! Ayanokouji-kun, what happened to your hand?" Kushida asked me, holding my bandaged left hand.
"Oh, well. I was cooking yesterday, and I dropped my knife. I'm pretty clumsy," I said.
Kushida was caressing my hand with her thumb, right above the faint red patch where some blood had seeped through. Then, she applied strong pressure with her thumb on the wound. I looked into her cold, dead eyes.
"I bet that hurts quite a bit, doesn't it, Ayanokouji-kun."
"Yes, it does," I said, pulling away my hand.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Ayanokouji-kun. Was I possibly...being a bother?" Kushida asked.
"Oh, no. Not at all."
After I'd discovered Kushida's secret, she'd been rather blatant about keeping tabs on me. She said that she'd destroy me, after all. I couldn't trust her.
I quickly texted a small group chat that I had created.
I'm with Kushida. Keep an eye on my location. I'll start a group call if I run in to trouble.

Kushida and I went to the café to get lunch together. When we arrived, the absolute flood of women overwhelmed me.
"What's going on? There's an insane number of girls here," I said.
I'd say 80 percent of the customers were girls.
"This isn't really a place where boys come to eat."
The menu included items like pasta and pancakes, food that only girls would like.
(A/N I know plenty of guys who like pasta and pancakes )
Athletic people like Sudou would probably complain about the small portions. There were a few guys, but you could say that they were either coupled up or playboys. Very guy here was either alone with one girl or surrounded by multiple ladies.
"How about we go to the cafeteria after all? I feel kind of uncomfortable here," I said.
"You'll be fine once you get used to it. It seems like Kouenji-kun comes here every day. See?" Kushida pointed to a table in the back, where Kouenji sat surrounded by girls. He looked just as grand and imposing as ever. I'd never seen him around during lunchtime. Was this where he went?
"He seems very popular. This girls around him seem to like him."
Kushida didn't seem surprised. Probably because she saw him here a lot. I overheard some of the conversation between Kouenji and the girls.
"Fufufu Kouenji, you're so funny."
"Haha, would you expect any less, Sakayanagi."
So that white haired girl with the cane next to him was Sakayanagi, one of the leaders of class A. Interesting, I didn't peg her as the type who was in to guys like Kouenji. In fact, I didn't think she had any romantic feelings whatsoever. I was naturally suspicious, so I looked around.
I saw a boy with purple hair sitting with some girls, but he wasn't paying much attention to them. Occasionally, his eyes darted to me and Kushida.
We sat down as far from Kouenji as possible.
"Do you want to know something, Ayanokouji?" Kushida asked.
"Sure." I cautiously answered.
"No one can hear us over all this racket in the cafe. It's practically just you and me in here right now."
"Ok..." I was confused.
"Do you want to know something else?"
I stayed silent.
"You're probably going to die today, you know?"
I froze.
"What do you mean?" I asked. I quickly called the chat, and cancelled the call.
"Not so fast. Take out your phone, I want to check you're not recording. I won't fall for that again." Kushida kept up her public appearance face.
"I'm leaving. Goodbye Kushida." I got up and left.
"Huh, leaving so soon, Ayanokouji-kun? Oh well, have a...pleasant day, I guess. Be careful on your way back." Kushida's face flashed into what I saw on the rooftop the other night.
I made my way out of the café. I noticed that Kouenji, Sakayanagi, Kushida and the violet-haired boy all left and followed me.
I decided to take the quickest route back to school. Unfortunately, there had been a pipe burst along the road. That seemed far too convenient for them to be a mere coincidence. I was forced to go into a back alley. I hadn't gone exploring much, and didn't know the campus very well. After a few seconds, I realised that this was a dead end. I turned around, to see my pursuers behind me. There were 6 people in all. Obviously, they had called for reinforcements. The new additions were 2 boys from class 1-A, one with long, greasy hair, and one with a ponytail.

Shit, I was completely cornered.
"Well, demon boy. It seems like the game is up. This is where your life at this school ends. If it doesn't end entirely." Kouenji said.
"Yes, indeed. If you're still alive after this, you can slink on back home to your father." Sakayanagi purred.
It seemed that the people in front of me knew who I was. I wonder if Kushida had told them, or if they already knew.
It started to rain.
It didn't look like anyone was coming to help me. I could have handled all of them if I fought each one separately, but not even I could fight Kouenji without even numbers. He was far too strong, almost on par with me.
I braced my fists.
"Well then. I suppose this is goodbye, Ayanokouji." Kushida gave me one last sadistic smile.
"You could've just accepted my advances, then we wouldn't be here, would we?"
When I didn't respond, her smile disappeared.
"Get him," she ordered, ready to charge me.

"Kukuku, what's going on here, then?"
Finally. My soldiers had arrived, and not a moment too soon.
My assailants turned around to see 4 people behind them.
Ryuuen, Ibuki, Albert and Fuka.
"How are you holding up, Kiyotaka?" Fuka asked in mock sadness.
"Fuka...this isn't the time to be messing around." I whined.
"Ayanokouji, hang in there, we'll help you." Ibuki said.
Now it was 5 vs 6. In fact, it was 5 vs 5 because Sakayanagi couldn't fight.
"Fufufu seems we've been sandwiched in here." Sakayanagi laughed.
"Ho Ho, well done, demon boy. It seems we underestimated your social circle." Kouenji smirked and combed his hair.
"Now, Kushida. Could I convince you to stand down? You may have more people, but we have better fighters. How about we call it quits?" I proposed.
Kushida looked at her feet, fists clenched. Then, she slowly looked up at me.
"Never." With that, she charged at me.
I easily dodged to the side and aimed a kick at her ribs, which she took, and grabbed my leg. Using the leg she grabbed as a pivot, I swung around and kicked her in the face. Luckily, I didn't knock her out. Suddenly, a voice cried out.

Unknown pov
"Stop this, right now! I won't allow violence to break out on campus property." I said.
Everyone in the alley turned to look at me.
"I won't ask what reason you're fighting, but I suggest you all leave, now," I ordered.
The group dispersed, and I could see them making rude gestures and grimacing at each other.
It didn't matter if they didn't like each other, although it would be nice if they could get along. But I couldn't allow violence to spread.
I was a new representative of the student council after all. I needed to do right by Nagumo-senpai.

Authors notes
1564 words
I can't help but feel a bit miffed with how this chapter turned out, I think stuff moved a little bit too fast. What do you think?
So this fight was actually meant to kill Ayanokouji, or fuck him up so bad he had to leave school.
Ayanokouji persuaded Albert to help him.
Ibuki helped Ayanokouji.
Kushida now has a mark on her face. She got this because she 'slipped and hit the floor'.
A first-year member of the student council witnessed this fight, and stopped it before anyone became seriously hurt.
Everyone present a the fight saw Kushida alter.
Not much else to say.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

A celebration is in order.

Wow, we did it! We're number 1 in #firstfic! Yay.
We beat one of my all time favourite fan-fics for core ever: Chaoskouji (that's so fucking good by the way, Kudos to the author. You should check it out.)
In celebration, here's some appreciation for my best girl.

When I started this fic, I thought it might get a hundred reads, at most. I was originally going to have Shiina as the best girl, but loads of people called for Fuka. In fairness, I do like Fuka more than Shiina.

But Shiina just so cute tho .

Here's some memes. Watch out for spoilers.

I feel bad for Yamauchi now, so here's a few appreciation posts.

Poor Yamogod.

Can't wait for season 2

That's all on the meme front. Might write another chapter or two today, who knows.

Arc 1 chapter 15: finally, some rest.

We gathered at my room.
"Jesus, Ayanokouji. What the hell was that?" Ibuki asked.
"A disagreement between childhood friends." I said.
"Kukuku, you know that psycho bitch, Ayanokouji?" Ryuuen asked.
"Well, I don't remember her, but I'm confident we went to the same elementary school." I said.
"Huh, that explains it... I always thought she was suspicious, Kiyotaka," Fuka said. She had.
"Anyway, you should probably go back to your own rooms. That authoritative girl back there would probably report us to the student council for conspiring." I joked.

Everyone had left except for Fuka.
"What is it, Fuka?" I asked.
"Kiyotaka...what happens now? What's your plan?" She asked.
"My plan. Heh, I hadn't really thought of anything yet. I suppose the true nature of this school will start to show, soon. We had a taste of what this school does to people today. I can't imagine how your classmates feel in the upper years after a year or two of this." I admitted.
"Hah, well. I can't speak for all my classmates, but I for one revel and thrive in this schools environment. You get the most interesting people coming through here, such as the current student council president, and especially you."
I liked it when she called me interesting.
"Hmm, it's getting pretty late. You should go back to your room now." I said.
"Yeah, ok. Bye Kiyotaka." She said, smiling and waving.
I shut the door, and collapsed onto my bed.
Today had been exhausting.

It was Thursday. Tomorrow, the midterm would be upon us. Class had ended for the day. After Sakagami-sensei ended the homeroom period and left the classroom, Ryuuen immediately leapt into action. He took out the printed copies of the old test that he'd made at the convenience store and brought them up to the podium.
"Everyone, before you return to the dorm, listen up."
Everyone stopped to listen to Ryuuen. This was a role that no one else in the class could play. Only Ryuuen could do it.
"I know that you've all been studying a lot in preparation for the test tomorrow. I have something to help you. I'm going to hand out some papers."
Ryuuen distributed the question and answer sheets to the students in the first row.
"Test...questions? Did you make these, Ryuuen-san?" Shiina asked.
"Actually, these are the old test problems. I got them from a third-year student last night."
"Old test problems? Huh? Wait, will these questions be on the test tomorrow?" Ibuki asked.
"Yes. To tell you the truth, I heard that the midterm test from the year before had almost exactly the same problems as this one. So, if we study what's on the test, it'll surely come in handy."
"Woah, seriously? Thank you Ryuuen!" Overjoyed, Kondou hugged his test paper. None of the other students could suppress their elation, either.
"What the hell? This is amazing!" Komiya laughed.
"Ishizaki, do your best when you study today."
"Yeah. Thanks, Ryuuen, you really helped me out." Ishizaki also accepted the test papers.
"Let's keep this a secret from the other classes, ok. Don't be scared, and do your best to aim for a high score. Anyone who doesn't pass will be beat up by me before they leave." Ryuuen cracked his knuckles. I was inclined to agree with him, for the most part. We didn't need to send supplies to classes A and B. We needed them to progress as slowly as possible. Class D was different, however. We needed Sudou to stay in school.

"There are no absences today. It appears everyone is present."
Sakagami-sensei strode through the classroom with a bold smile on his face.
"That's the first hurdle cleared. Are there any questions?"
No one raided their hand. Everyone looked confident. The teacher promptly took up the test papers and passed them out. Our first period test was for social studies. Out of everything we'd studied, it was probably the easiest subject.
"If anyone stumbles here, the other tests will be an uphill battle, quite frankly. You'll take this midterm and the final exam in July. If no one fails either test, you'll be rewarded with a vacation during your summer break."
"A vacation?"
"That's right. A dream vacation on an island surrounded by a brilliant blue sea."
Of course, the beach in summer meant I'd get to see Fuka in her swimsuit
"Wh-what is this strange pressure..." one of the boys muttered.
Sakagami-sensei stepped back from the obvious tension the students exuded...mostly the boys.
Before long, everyone had their test papers. On the teacher's signal, everyone began. I held off on starting for a moment and looked around at the others. With everything they'd learnt, could they avoid failing? First off, how many of this test's questions were the same as the ones from the old exam? I needed to check that first.
All right
I discreetly clenched my fist in triumph. Despite my fears, the questions here were the same as the old ones. I hadn't looked them over in any detail, but I saw no great difference. If I'd memorised what was on the old test, it was clear that I could get a near-perfect score.
Glancing around the classroom for assurance, I didn't notice any students looking flustered or confused. I assumed many of them had engaged in some last-minute studying. Slowly, I went through and answered all of the problems.

The second and third period exams were for Japanese and chemistry, respectively. While I worked, I discovered something else that intrigued me. Looking over the problems again, I realised that what Shiina had drilled into the study group was consistent with what was on the test. She'd been able to accurately predict what problems would appear just from the lessons. The cute, silver-haired girl next to me was even more impressive than I'd thought.
Then came fourth period. Mathematics. All of the abnormally difficult questions that had been featured on the mock test also appeared here, but the content was the same as the old exams. Even if Ishizaki and the other guys couldn't understand the problems, they could still apply the answers if they'd memorised them.
Then came the break.
"How are you finding the test so far, Ayanokouji-kun?" Shiina asked me.
"I'm confident. What about you?" I asked.
"Same, I think it's unlikely I'll fail." She smiled
(Kawaii)
Our English test began next. This was the hardest exam we had, but I think Ishizaki and the others managed it. I bet Albert would get good marks on this exam.

Timeskip
Sakagami-sensei strode into the classroom, looking around at the students in surprise. Everyone was clearly anxious, holding their breath in anticipation of the results.
"Sensei. We were told that the results would be announced today, but when?"
"There's no need for you to get so worked up, Ryuuen. You should have passed quite easily."
"So, when will the results be released?"
"Well, I'd you'd like, now is as good a time as any. If we waited to do it after class, we wouldn't have time for other procedures."
Some of the students visibly reacted to the words "other procedures."
"What...do you mean by that?"
"Don't get flustered. I'll tell you now."
As usual, he reveals the details simultaneously and collectively. He stuck a large, white sheet of paper with everyone's names and test scores on the blackboard.
"Honestly, I'm impressed. I didn't think that you'd score so well. Many students tied with perfect scores in mathematics, Japanese, and social studies. More than ten of you, actually."
Some of the students shouted in joy and delight when they saw the 100s lined up on the results sheet.
Sensei then took out his red pen. And drew a red line, right...

Under Ishizaki's name.
The class cheered; no one had been expelled.

"Cheers!" Ryuuen said joyfully and toasted with a can of juice. That evening, the central figures of class 1-C (consisting of Ryuuen, Kaneda, Shiina, Ibuki, Albert and myself) along with Fuka had convened once again. Liberated from our studies, we were all overjoyed that no one had been expelled. Everyone smiled...except Kaneda, as we were holding our celebration in his dorm room.

"All things considered, though, that midterm was dangerous. If we hadn't put the study groups together, Ishizaki and the other idiots probably would have failed. Even though we managed to make it through the midterm, we shouldn't lose our heads. Our next challenge is the final exam. We should expect those questions to be even more difficult than the ones today. In addition, we still need to find a way to increase our points further."
"Hey, Ryuuen. Do you think it'll be really difficult to get more points?" Ibuki asked.
"We tried so hard on the midterm that they'll definitely give us some points, right?!"
"Class C's score was the second highest in the grade, after Class A. I think we'll probably gain a few more points, at the very least."
Also, I'm changing the class bank system. I'll announce it officially on Monday, but from now on, all students will give 1/10 of their points given by the school. So next month, instead of 5,000 points, it will be dropped to 4,900 points. That is, if our points haven't gone up by then.
This was a good idea. This meant that if the class points went up, more money would be deposited into the class bank each month.
"Now, Time for the real reason I called you all here. We're all classmates here, after all. Excluding Kiryuuin, of course.
Ayanokouji and I are working together to get into class A. I want you four to help us." Ryuuen said.
"Get into...class A? A-are you serious?" Kaneda asked.
"Yes, I absolutely am. The people gathered here right now are the most capable people in class 1-C. Increasing our points is an inevitable part of getting to the top as well."
"B-but, isn't reaching for class A kind of ridiculous? I don't doubt the abilities of anyone in this room, but what about the rest of our classmates? It'd be impossible to beat them by studying." Kaneda said.
"Of course it won't. Which is why we will use violence." Ryuuen said.
"Shiina and Kaneda, you weren't here for this, but a few days ago, a group of 6 people ganged up on Ayanokouji. There were representatives from all 3 classes that oppose us."
Kaneda shifted awkwardly.
"I know it would be foolish of me to ask you two to fight, so instead I'll ask you to help formulate strategies to beat them. What do you say."
Kaneda thought for a moment, while Shiina looked at me. I nodded at her slightly.
"I accept," Kaneda said.
After a pause, Shiina spoke.
"I also accept." She said.
"Good stuff. I know we're still far from our goal, but we can do it as long as we work together."

Kanzaki pov
"Damn. I've got this huge mark on my cheek now. People are asking me about It all the time now." Kushida seethed.
"Well, you're not the only one who met their match you know, Kushida girl." Kouenji said. He had tangled with that huge guy, Albert, for the very brief fight, before Ichinose showed up.
"Fufufu it seems you lot are completely outmatched, by a few class C students and an apathetic second-year. How cute." Sakayanagi giggled. We couldn't exactly blame her for not helping, because of her condition. And at least she's bought some fairly competent people with her.
"Well then. Where do we go from here?" I asked.
"In class D, we have Sudou. He could easily be manipulated to work for us." Kushida said.
"Unfortunately, I'm probably the only person in class B who will be willing to help you all."
"I have quite a few accomplished martial artists in my faction. Once I crush the baldy, I can finally take control of Class A." Sakayanagi said.
She would be invaluable to us. Her class was made up of what the school considered geniuses, after all.
"And, I've also taken the liberty of contacting someone who doesn't much like the demon." Kushida said.
"Who?" I asked.
"Hehe. Come on in, senpai~" Kushida said in her public voice.
"Heh, well. Isn't this wonderful?" The vice-president of the student council, Nagumo Miyabi of class 2-A, chuckled.

Authors notes
2085 words.
Pretty much pulled straight out the ln, with the point purchasing cut out.
There are now 2 definite factions among the first years: the anti-white room squad Nagumo, and class 1-C Fuka.
Things are about to get interesting.
I literally cannot be bothered to write Arc 2 it's just so boring, so here's a summary:
Ryuuen/Ayanokouji's plan works out, Sudou gets suspended for 2 weeks and 50 class points are transferred from class 1-D and class 1-C.

Current class standings after the final exam in July:
Class 1-A: 1052
Class 1-B: 0720
Class 1-C: 0582
Class 1-D: 0090

Current class 1-C class bank after the final exam in July:
925,600 private points.
Arc 1 is finished .
I'm not writing arc 2, so I'll write some Kushida vs Ayanokouji stuff for a side story.
It's been a little while since I wrote more than 2000 words.
Nothing much else to say.
Hope you're all doing well and Hope you enjoyed.

Side story: Manabu

Quick note!
I'm not writing arc 2 because it's so boring, and author-san can't think of any big brain moves to make it better. Trust me, I tried .
So the outcome of arc 2 was that Sudou was suspended, and 50 points were transferred from class D to class C.
Glad that's cleared up.

"So, Suzune. I gather you're going on a cruise with the rest of the first-years?" I asked.
"Yes, Nii-san. I will be attending." My sister said.
When I first heard that she had come to this school, I was worried that she was still flawed. She was, and was placed in class D, but I could notice the improvements she'd made to herself during the years we'd been separated.
"Good. I would like you to keep an eye on Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, and the group we met with a few months ago." I ordered.
"Yes, nii-san." Suzune bowed her head.
It pained me to have to order her to do things, but she only responded to direct orders, not requests.
"Nii-san?" She asked.
"Yes?"
"Why must I keep an eye on them? It's not as though it's any of our business."
I sighed.
"If you must know, Suzune, your trip will contain 2 special exams. One of them is on the island, and the other on the cruise ship. The cruise ship in it of itself is dangerous. We don't know if someone could get thrown over the side of the boat or not. The island is deserted, and you will not be monitored by teachers. This means it would be extremely easy for a fight to break out." I explained.
"Understood, nii-san." Suzune bowed and made to leave.
"Suzune," I called our.
"Yes, nii-san?" She turned around.
I couldn't say anything. My words caught in my throat.
"Be careful, won't you?"
"Yes, nii-san. I will take care of myself." She walked out of the room.
God. Sometimes, she reminds me so much of our mother.
Both of our parents were killed 3 years ago, when conducting research into the Ayanokouji family, and there secret 'project'.
And at the same time I attend this school, the son of that man enters as a Kouhai.
I seriously considered Kushida's offer to join her. But no. Killing Ayanokouji wouldn't bring my parents back. It wasn't even him who carried out the killing. He probably didn't even know about our connection.
No, I had to remain neutral. I did feel sorry for anyone who went through that sick institute of forced genius. Especially for Ayanokouji. I never got to receive much love from my parents as they were taken away from us soon after Suzune was born, but Ayanokouji's father actively took steps to make sure his son had a miserable life in a place like that.
Once I get out of here, I will do everything in my power to destroy that place. I suppose I agreed with Kushida's group ideals. But I didn't want to harm Ayanokouji. He hadn't done anything wrong. Had he?

Authors notes
514 words.
Short side story. In this fic, Suzune is goated, at least a lot better than she is in the novel. She's just below Kiryuuin in intelligence and physical ability.
The Horikita siblings' parents were killed by Ayanopapa.
Horikita will try to stop conflict from happening between Ayanokouji and Kushida factions.
Not much else to say.
Hope you're doing well, and I hope you enjoyed.
PS: tell me any other characters you want side stories for, I'm definitely doing one for Kiyo and Fuka.

Side story: Ayanokouji

I went to Fuka's room, upset.
"Kiyotaka, what's wrong?" She asked.
"Oh Fuka, it's terrible." I said
"What is?"
"Oh, it's just horrible."
"What is?!"
"Ohh, Fuka." I pretended to cry.
"WHAT IS IT?!" She practically screamed.
"It turns out I'll be going on the cruise without you. It's first-years only." I sobbed.
"Aww, it's ok, Kiyo. I'll be waiting for you when I get back."
"B-but, what if I can't control myself, and become unfaithful to you?" I looked at her.
"Well, not that you will. But if you did, Kushida stabbing your hand would be nothing compared to what I'd do to you." She kept her cocky smirk up the entire time. That was almost worse than Kushida's.
"But, what if I can't?" I asked.
"Hmm. Well. I suppose you could let off some energy before you leave..." Fuka walked towards me, and placed a hand on my chest.
"I think I like this cheating preventative." I said.

Authors notes.
Nope. No lemons for you .
Just a quick comedy chapter after we heard that Horikita's parents were killed by Ayanopapa.
Hope you enjoyed.

Side story: Kushida.

Hm. The cow tits bitch Ichinose stopped us from fighting. I suppose I should thank her, really. Ayanokouji almost beat the shit out of me.
I had just arrived at the meeting place. I was the last to arrive.
"Ah, Kushida girl, there you are." Kouenji said.
"Why did you call this meeting, Kouenji?"
"Ho Ho, straight to the point, eh? I like it. Well, to be quite frank, you and Kanzaki boy here aren't on the same level as a perfect existence like myself, as evidenced in our little tiff the other day."
"Obviously. We were kicked out of that place years ago." Kanzaki said.
"Fufu that's the problem. Your education was stopped before it could get serious. We'd like to remedy the situation, if just a little." What did the loli mean by that?
"Yes. In short, Kitou will train you in martial arts, I shall help build your stamina, and Sakayanagi girl here will sharpen your brains." Kouenji tapped his head.
I don't know whether I felt happy or angry. I had been thrown out of an education I hated, to an orphanage I hated more. And now, I was at a school I hated, being asked whether I wanted to return to an education similar to the one that fucked me up in the first place. I looked at Kanzaki, who nodded. Well, I suppose if he could do it, I could too.
"We'll do it." I said.
"Good choice. Your training begins tomorrow." Kouenji said.
"Now, onto our next item of business. Nagumo, how is your puppet coming along?" Kouenji asked Nagumo.
Nagumo just laughed.
"I won't be able to get her to go after Ayanokouji without a valid reason. She's too kind hearted." Nagumo said.
"Then, what do you suggest we do?" Kouenji asked.
"I can feed her lies. I can tell her Ayanokouji killed people and she'd probably believe me, under the right circumstances." He said.
"Fufufu you're so naught Nagumo-senpai." Flat bitch said.

Authors notes
332 words.
So, Kushida and Kanzaki will be learning similar to how they did in the white room, but not quite as rigorous. By the time the island exam starts, Kushida will be around Ibuki level strength wise, and Kanzaki will be able to match Kitou, who in the light novel was the best martial artist in class A. So we got that to look forward to.
Hope you enjoyed.

Side story: kouenji

The senior girl I had been playing with was passed out on the bed. She was rather pretty, although not as magnificent as myself. Such a shame she couldn't handle me.
Tomorrow would be the first day of Kushida's and Ishizaki's training. I needed to make sure I got enough sleep so that I could train them to the best of my abilities.
I just couldn't wait. I had no doubt that both of them could have got to Ayanokouji's level if they'd stayed at the white room. Alas, time was short, and we didn't have the sadistic nature of the white room at this school. We would train them, yes. But if they failed, we wouldn't simply toss them aside like they were before. It was the job of a perfect existence like me to make them better. I had told Kushida that I was helping to destroy the demon, and his father. Although I did want to bring the white room down, I would do it when I became the head of the Kouenji conglomerate. My parents needed me to study and keep my head down, for the most part, so I could reach class A.
My parents...
I started to shake with fear.
I know that the white room was sadistic, and would toss its 'defective' subjects to the side. But my mother and father...are on another level. They never let me rest. Being the son of a major family, I had always been tasked with being the best at everything, whether I wanted to or not. My father was inspired by that man. The one who created the white room, and was a secret investor in its construction and maintenance. He decided not to send me their, as the public would notice if I suddenly went missing. He also thought that the white room was too relaxed in its methods.
Yes, my father taught me in a far stricter manner than Ayanokouji was taught, and yet I think he could probably get the better of me in almost any situation.
The reason I want to destroy him and the white room is because it they never existed, then my father would never have had those ideas.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and his father are the reason I bear the weight of my parents ambitions, and I couldn't simply forgive them for it.

Authors notes
395 words
Okay so, Kouenji's father taught Kouenji in a worse way than the white room ever could. It was so bad that it made Kouenji narcissistic because, if someone went through all that training, they had to be the best. Right?
Next chapter I think will be the start of the island exam arc. I've decided to change the rules for cabin mates. For each cabin, there's a person from each class. They were chosen by the teachers and the student council. I'll only show the cabins of the main players in the fic.

Boys cabins.
Cabin 1: Hayato Kitou, Tetsuya Hamaguchi, Ryuuen Kakeru, Kouenji Rokusuke.
Cabin 2: Kouhei Katsuragi, Kanzaki Ryuuji, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Hirata Yousuke.
Cabin 3: Yahiko Tatsuko, So Shibata, Albert Yamada, Sudou Ken
Cabin 4: Hashimoto Masayoshi, Ryota Beppu, Satoru Kaneda, Yamauchi Haruki

Girls cabins.
Cabin 1: Masumi Kamuro, Ichinose Honami, Ibuki Mio, Horikita Suzune.
Cabin 2: Miki Yamamura, Chihiro Shiranami, Shiina Hiyori, Kikyou Kushida.
Cabin 3: Ryoko Nishikawa, Sayo Andou, Manabe Shiho, Karuizawa Kei.

These are only the cabins that contain people that are part of the Ayanokouji or the Kushida gang.
Not much else to say
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 2 chapter 1: departure

"Goodbye, Fuka." I said
"Goodbye, Kiyo." She leant over to whisper in my ear.
"I have a special surprise for you when you come back." She whispered seductively, and then kissed me on the lips, which I gladly returned.
We were in my cabin. Fuka was allowed to come on to bid me farewell, but she had to go now. I watched her leave. After she'd gone, I felt the boat start to move slightly. I raced to the top deck. When I got there, I looked at the edge, seeing Fuka still standing there. I waved at her, and she waved back.

The endless summer sea. The infinite blue skies. The perfectly clear air. Here, in the midst of the Pacific Ocean, we didn't feel the intense midsummer heat, and the gentle sea breeze kissed our bodies. Yes, this really was an oceanic paradise.
"This is the good life, eh guys?" Ryuuen asked our group, arms crossed over the railing.
"It sure is." Shiina exclaimed. The view from the "special seats" on the deck was exceptionally gorgeous.
"This view is incredible! I'm honestly super moved right now!"
A group of girls lead by Karuizawa Kei from class D came out from the ship's cabin. Karuizawa pointed out to the expansive ocean, wearing a radiant smile.
"Seriously, the scenery here is just amazing!"
Kushida Kikyou, the girl who hated me more than anything else, was also present among the group of girls. It looked like the extraordinary view had stolen her fake breath away.
After overcoming numerous hardships, midterms, and the final exam, we had welcomed summer vacation with open arms. The Advanced Nurturing High School had arranged an extravagant two-week trip-a cruise on a luxury liner.
"I'm glad none of you got expelled. Although, I expected nothing less of the best that class C has to offer. I bet you're glad you did well. I mean, if this were a normal trip, it would've been impossible for us to go." Ryuuen congratulated us.
We had faced some tough challenges just a short while ago, but this trip completely blew those feelings away. Perhaps the blue seas had washed away our everyday troubles.
"I never dreamed that high schoolers could go on such a luxurious cruise. And it's for two whole weeks."
As Shiina stated, this was certainly no ordinary trip. At our government-sponsored school, there was absolutely no need for us to pay for tuition or other miscellaneous expenses-which, of course, included this trip. We received the best of special treatment. The cruise liner and its facilities were of the highest possible quality. The ship was fully equipped with everything from prestigious restaurants to a theatre, and even an upscale spa. On my own, this would probably have cost me about 100,000 yen, even in the off season.
Our trip, which promised the pinnacle of luxury, had finally started today. According to the schedule, we would spend our first week staying at a fancy summer lodge on a deserted island. After that, we would enjoy the cruise ship for another week.
"Attention, students. Please assemble on the deck. You will be able to see the island soon. This is a good time to take in some rather significant scenery."
This rather strange announcement issued from the ship's PA. The island appeared on the horizon a few minutes after several students had gathered. Shiina let out a gleeful cry.
Other students noticed, and began assembling on the deck. After a crowd had gathered, some particularly domineering boys showed up and began pushing us out of the way in order to get the best position.
"Hey, you're in the way. Move it, you defects."
One of the boys tried to intimidate me, and shoved my shoulder. I stayed firmly in position. He tried to shove me again, this time with his right hand. He tried once more, with both hands, and with all his meagre strength...
Fell backwards. In a panic, he quickly grabbed onto the deck's railing to keep from falling. My friends, and even some of the students that came with him, sniggered.
"Kukuku, did you just try and shove Ayanokouji? Why'd you do that?" Ryuuen slunk over to us.
"You do understand how this school is structured, right? Class C may not be as inhumanly stupid as class D, but you're not much better. Defects like you are just that-defective-so you should submit. We're all in class A over here?"
"Kuku, is that what you think, is it? In what way are we...what was it you said...defective?" Ryuuen leaned over the boy who had tried to push me, who started to shake a little.
"T-there's no true logical explanation. The school just valued you as a failure. We in class A are above you in every way." Damn, this kid didn't know when to quit.
"Did you hear that Albert? He thinks he's better than you in every way. I wonder if he could beat you in a fight?" Ryuuen gestured Albert to come closer to the boy.
If he had been scared of Ryuuen, he was almost terrified of Albert.
"L-let's go guys." Finally, he went away, and most of his friends went with him.
"Damn, I have to stay in a room with that guy." Albert muttered under his breath in English. Poor Albert. At least he probably wouldn't be insulted by that boy.
"What a strange mindset those class A dicks have. If we manage to reach class A, I hope we don't end up like that." Ryuuen scoffed in distaste.
A little while later, the crowd started getting riled up and making noise. The students' enthusiasm increased by leaps and bounds as we sailed closer and the island became clearer.
I'd thought that the ship would have gone directly to the island, but for some reason we passed the pier and started circling around. The island, on loan from the government, had a surface area of about 0.5 square kilometres. The highest point of the island reached 230 metres. In comparison to Japan's total area, the island was tiny, but when seen by one hundred-odd people on a cruise ship, it looked unbelievably massive.
Eventually, the boat made a complete pass around the island. The ship continued to circle without changing speed, barely making a splash as it moved unnaturally fast through the water.
"Such a mysterious sight! It's so moving! Don't you think so, Ayanokouji-kun?" Shiina gasped.
"Yeah, it is."
As I looked at Shiina, whose eyes sparkled as she looked at the deserted island, I felt my cheeks getting red. Shiina was just too cute. I wanted to protect her smile, and her childlike mannerisms.
An announcement came over the PA speakers.
"We will disembark in thirty minutes. Please assemble on the deck. All students should have changed into their jersey's. Make sure to check your designated bag and your luggage, and do not forget your cell phone. Please keep all other personal items in your room. There is a possibility that you will not be able to visit the bathroom for some time, so please do so now."
Apparently, the private beach was near. Ryuuen and the others went to change in high spirits. I started heading toward my group's room, too. There, I put on the jersey that I used for gym class, returned to the ship's deck, and waited until we reached the island. As the island grew closer and closer, the first-years' enthusiasm reached its peak.
"We will disembark now, beginning with the students from class A. Cell phones are prohibited on the island. Please hand your phone to your homeroom teacher as you leave."
Following the loudspeaker's command, the students went down the stairs in an orderly fashion.
"Come in. Hurry up! Even though we're wearing thin clothes, we're all sweating!"
There was no place to hide from the sun on the ship's deck. No surprise that people were complaining. The class C students waited on standby in the heat.
Disembarking took longer than I thought it would, probably because the teachers guarded the students on both sides as they got off the ship and checked their luggage.
"Hey. Does it seem like they're being strangely cautious right now? On their guard? I mean, they didn't even confiscate our cell phones during the final. They're really cracking down on the personal items." Ryuuen observed.
"It certainly seems that way. I mean, if we're just playing in the ocean, I can't imagine they'd need to go this far." It was very strange, to say the least.
As we got off the boat, chatting amiably with one another, our homeroom teacher greeted us.
"I will now start roll call for class 1-C. When you hear your name, please respond loud and clear."
Our homeroom teacher started taking attendance, clipboard in hand, while simultaneously instructing us to form a line. Sakagami-sensei wore the same kind of jersey as his students. This atmosphere was more akin to training camp than summer vacation.
Most of the students wanted to run off onto the sandy beach. Soon enough, a tall teacher stepped onto a white platform. It was Mashima-sensei, class A's homeroom teacher. He normally taught English, an was well-known for having a stubborn disposition. At first glance, he could easily be mistaken for one of those bodybuilder types. He was built like a professional wrestler, but was actually quite intelligent. He'd even taught special courses in the past.
"First, I would like to say that I'm happy you've arrived safely. However, it's unfortunate that one of you was unable to participate due to illness."
If this were some kind of dinky field trip, that'd be one thing, but such a luxurious vacation was another story altogether. I wondered if that kid would regret not coming after hearing friends talk about it. Even in poor health l, I think they should've pushed themselves and participated. Oddly enough, the teachers themselves looked rather grim. Well, while this was a vacation for us students, maybe the teachers supervising us had to think of it as a job.
No. Somehow it seemed more than that. While Mashima-sensei surveyed the students in silence, I could see that adults in uniform had started setting up some kind of special tent nearby. I also saw computer and other equipment on a long table. This increasingly business-like setup didn't match the natural splendour around us at all, and many of the students looked perplexed.
Mashima-sensei uttered a few cruel words, as if waiting for the atmosphere to change. "Well then. We shall commence the current academic year's first special test."

Authors notes
1790 words.
A new arc, and a new special test.
Almost completely copied from the ln, except for the intro and the conflict with class A. It'll get better. Probably.
And one more thing. In the ln, Mashima looks like a bodybuilder. Look at him in the anime.

Look how they butchered my boy.
Not much else to say.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 2 chapter 2: the island exam part 1

"Well then. We shall commence the current academic year's first special test."
"Huh? Special test? I thought they were acting a bit weird."
Almost everyone in our class had the same variation on that statement. We'd all noticed the things the teachers were doing, and how it didn't look like much of a holiday. Our summer vacation was a product of the school's goodwill, but that had been an illusion. We plummeted from relief into stark tension.
"The test commenced now and lasts for one week, concluding on August 7th at the year's end. This test will determine if you can live on a deserted island together as a group. In addition, I should warn you that this special test is both practical and realistic, designed based on real-world corporate training."
"Living on a deserted island. Does that mean we're not staying on the boat, but the island?"
Some students from class B and C voiced their obvious concerns.
"You are correct. During the test, you will not be allowed to board the ship without a suitably justifiable reason. It will be necessary for you to fend for yourselves on this island while you are here, from creating a place to sleep to preparing the food to eat. Once the test starts, each class will receive two tents, and two flashlights. You will be provided with one box of matches. There is no limit to the amount of sunscreen you can have. Each student will be provided with one toothbrush. As a special case, girls will be allowed to have as many feminine sanitary products as they'd like, without any restrictions. Please ask your respective homeroom teachers for those. That is all."
With that, the teachers began distributing the items.
"You may think that this is unbelievable, but that's because you've lived a short, superficial life. There is an actual, prominent company that holds training sessions on uninhabited islands."
Many of the students appeared unconvinced and wore dissatisfied looks.
"I assume you're all thinking something like, 'what does this test mean?' Or perhaps some of you doubt the existence of such training programs. However, students who remain at such a base level of thought are unlikely to become anyone promising in the future. What is your basis for determining this to be 'unbelievable' or 'ridiculous'? You're just students. In my opinion, you're all equally worthless. What kind of insignificant person determines that they can criticise a leading company? That's bizarre. Were you a president in charge of one such notable business, then you might have some right to deny our claims. However, there shouldn't be any grounds for someone here to be able to do that."
As we listened, we did certainly determine that parts sounded unreasonable or unrealistic. But, just like Mashima-sensei had said, we had no basis to oppose their claims. Those who found this beyond the realm of their understanding could call it "bizarre" or "unbelievable" but for someone who did understand the point, well, it would be absurd to think otherwise.
"But teacher, isn't this supposed to be our summer vacation? We were brought here under the pretext of going on a relaxing trip. Don't you think the at bringing us here and then springing this corporate training on us could be considered unfair?"
Some of the students from class D began to protest along these lines.
"I see. I suppose that you're not wrong about that. I can understand why you would be discontented."
Mashima-sensei's response showed that he recognised the soundness of such an argument. There were students who were dissatisfied with the current situation, and those who were dissatisfied with the process as a whole.
"However, please do not worry. It would make sense for you to have complaints if you were being forced into a harsh situation. However, even though we're calling it a special test, there's no need to think about it in such unhappy terms. In the coming week, you can go swimming, or hold a barbecue. It wouldn't be a bad time for you to occasionally have a campfire and chat with friends, either. The theme of the special exam is 'freedom', after all"
"Huh? Huh? The theme is freedom? We can have a barbecue? And this is still called a test? I'm so confused..."
Even though this was a test, we were free to play. The contradiction confused the students, and our doubts only increased.
"As a major part of this special test, we've decided to distribute 300 points to each class. By using your points well, you might be able to enjoy this week's special test just as you would a normal trip. We've also prepared a manual just for that purpose."
Mashima-sensei received a booklet that looked to be a few dozen pages thick from another teacher.
"This manual lists all of the ways you can obtain points. It also explains where to get drinking water and food, as well as essential necessities. If you wanted to have a barbecue, it also explains how to prepare the equipment and ingredients. We also have numerous tools for you to enjoy playing in the ocean to the fullest."
Gradually, the students' grim expression grew calmer.
"So, we can do whatever we want with true 300 points?"
"That's right. It's possible to arrange for anything using your points. Of course, it's necessary for you to use them in a systematic way, but with a solid plan, you can spend your week without any difficulties."
If we could really get through this week by using the points we had, then this would be more like a vacation than a test. It might end up being a real summer vacation.
"B-but teacher. You said this was a test, right? So shouldn't there be some kind of difficulty to it?"
"No, there's nothing difficult. It won't even have any adverse effects on your second semester. I guarantee it."
"So, it's really okay for us to just have fun for one week?"
"That's right. You're all free to do what you want. Of course, there are some bare minimum rules that you need to abide by as a group, but there shouldn't be anything difficult about that."
If that were true, then that meant there really was no risk? In that case, we should ask if he could explain the purpose of this test. Was it linked to some kind of exchange between grade levels? I couldn't understand the school's true intentions, but Mashima-sensei's next words clarified everything.
"When this special test period is over, each class' remaining points will be added to their total class points. Your point totals will reflect this change once summer vacation is over."
As he spoke, a gust of wind blew across the beach and kicked up a cloud of dust.
Mashima-sensei's words were the greatest shock of the day. In previous examinations, they'd measured things like our academic abilities. Naturally, this was advantageous for students with a fundamentally high level of academic ability. However, the rules were completely different this time. This test was designed in a way that didn't create too much of a gap between the classes.
"So if we can endure this for one week, then starting next month we could see a huge increase in our allowance?"
That's right. This wasn't a competition to test our scholarly abilities, but our endurance. If we managed to curb our basic desires, we might get closer to being the top class.
"Each class will receive on copy of the manual. If the manual is lost, you may have another copy. However, it will consume points, so please be very careful. Also, the student who was marked absent from this trip was from class A. According to the rules of this special test, should any student have to leave due to illness, there will be a thirty point penalty to the class as a whole. Therefore, class A will be starting with 270 points."
Even though it didn't affect our class, the penalty was still merciless. The students from class A were visibly trembling. The other classes also appeared shocked. As soon as Mashima-sensei had finished speaking, he told us to disperse. Another teacher's voice came over the loudspeaker, telling us that each class would receive supplementary instructions from our homeroom teachers. We then gathered around Sakagami-sensei. The four classes had congregated in order to keep some distance from each other.
"I will now hand out wristwatches to every one of you. You are not to take them off until the end of the test. If you remove your wristwatch without permission, you will be punished. This watch doesn't just tell time. It's sensors also check your body temperature, your pulse and even your movements. It's equipped with a GPS. Also, in the off chance something bad does happen, this watch comes equipped with the means to notify the school. If you find yourself in an emergency situation, please do not hesitate to push that button."
The vendor who supplied the watches had stacked them next to Sakagami-sensei. The time had come for class C to collect our supplies. We were instructed to take the watches out of their boxes and put them on.
"When you say emergency, do you mean, like, if a bear shows up?"
"Even if that was a joke, the test had already begun. I cannot answer any questions that might possibly influence your results."

Authors notes
1583 words
Just like the last chapter, pretty much straight from the ln.
Not much else to say.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 2 chapter 3: island exam part 2

"The test has already begun. I cannot answer any questions that might possibly influence your results."
"Uh...that's a kinda freaky answer."
"I don't think there are any wild animals here. If one of the students were injured, that would be a big problem. They probably gave us these watches solely to manage your well-being. Don't you agree? We're on an uninhabited island, after all, so the school has to ensure no one...gets hurt." Ryuuen said, rather suggestively.
Indeed, the school had gifted us these watches to keep us safe. If we were roaming freely about the island, the teachers wouldn't be able to monitor our condition with their eyes alone. Plus, it would be difficult to install cameras here, like inside the school. They most likely intended to monitor our physical condition so they could respond to any unforeseen circumstances. The helicopter back in the ships was probably there in case of just such an emergency. As people received their watches, they placed them on either their right or left arm, according to their preferences.
"Is it okay for us to get in the water with these?"
"There shouldn't be any problem. They're waterproof. However, should they malfunction, immediately report to a test administrator and exchange it for a replacement."
This special test was somewhat eccentric in its design, so it likely wasn't the first time the school had run it. Clearly, they had planned for various situations. However, there might have been some oversights.
"Sakagami-sensei. I understand that we're going to be spending one week on this island, but is it possible to get by without using any points?"
"Hmm. Well, the school isn't involved in the test process at all. That means that you must prepare your own food and water. Thinking of solutions to resolve the issue is part of the test. I don't know if any way of doing so without points."
The girls looked visibly more perplexed than the boys. The fact that a bed wasn't guaranteed probably made them feel uneasy."
"If you check your manual to the last page, you will see a list of penalties. This very important information encapsulates the difficulties of the test. It will determine whether you live or die."
On the last page, a line read: these penalties will be applied to anyone who falls under the following conditions:

Anyone who is deemed unable to continue the test due to significant deterioration in health or serious injury will be penalised by thirty points. That student will then retire.

In the event a student has polluted the environment, he or she will be penalised twenty points.

In the event students are absent during the 8AM or 8PM roll call, five points will be taken for each absent student.

However, the most serious punishment was detailed in the fourth entry on the list:

In the event a student is found guilty of an act of violence toward another class, robbing another class, or causing damage to another class' property, etc., the offending students' class will immediately be disqualified, and the individual will forfeit all of his or her private points.

It looked like class A was subject to these same penalties. The fourth rule was totally reasonable, written to prevent students from engaging in harmful behaviour, while the other three rules were clearly there so individual students wouldn't behave carelessly. Because we had roll call in the morning and at night, it was impossible to sleep your time away at camp. It was also meant to suppress rather barbaric behaviour, like a student littering everywhere.
Essentially it was a contest of restraint.
"You are free to behave as you wish. However, if ten students fall into poor health, then all your efforts will be for nothing. Once a student has retired from the test, he or she cannot come back."
The students who had thought it possible to get through the test by relying on their own endurance now looked perplexed. It would be impossible not to spend a single point, but that was true of every class. However, whether you actively participated or resigned yourself to your fate in this test, endurance alone would not win the day here.
How would we use our points effectively, save them, and get through this week?
Gradually, the shape of this very literal "special test" became clearer.
"In other words, using at least some points is unavoidable?" Asked Manabe, who'd been following the conversation.
There was a wide variety of items for purchase in the manual: essential equipment for surviving, like tents and cookware; machines and tools, like digital cameras and wireless transceivers/walkie-talkies; items for amusement, like umbrellas, floats, stuff for a barbecue, and fireworks; and food and water, the bare essentials.
We could prepare for anything with our points. Apparently anyone could request something, and just report to their homeroom teacher in order to use points and purchase it.
"Sakagami-sensei, can I ask something? In the event that someone were to retire after we had already used all 300 points, what would happen?" Asked Ryuuen.
"In that case, all that would increase is the number of people forced to retire. Your points can't be changed any more after reaching 0."
"So, in other words, we can't get into negative points during the test?"
Sakagami-sensei answered in the affirmative. Mashima-sensei had said that there wouldn't be any negative effects from this test. It looked like that was true. Sakagami-sensei continued talking, occasionally glancing at his wristwatch to check the time.
"Each one of the supplied tents is large enough to accommodate eight people. The tents weigh close to 15 kilos, so please be careful when carrying them. Also, the school will not step in to help should your supplied items become lost or damaged. In the event that you need a new tent, remember to use your points.

Timeskip coz I want to get on to some good parts

Well then, allow me to explain some additional rules."
"A-additional rules? There's more?"
"Soon you will be permitted to roam about freely, but there are several designated 'spots' on the island. In these spots, there is what's referred to as right of exclusive possession, and only the class that occupies that spot may exercise those rights. The class that obtains those rights is entirely free to determine how they wish to exercise them. However, rights of exclusive possession are only valid for a period of 8 hours after being invoked, after which they are automatically revoked. That means that another class can acquire those rights at that time. Also, you gain one bonus point if you occupy a spot once. However, that point is provisional, and cannot be used during the testing period. Therefore, bonus points are calculated and added to your total after the test has ended. Because the school is constantly monitoring you, there is no room for fraud. Please be aware of that fact."
The manual went into the bonus points in great detail. Apparently, there was some kind of apparatus installed near each spot, one which showed rights of exclusive possession. It was unclear how many spots were on the island, but they were clearly important. However...
"I can understand your impatience, but be aware of the risks. After you take those risks into account, then you have to consider what to do. Everything is written in the manual."

A specialised key card is required to occupy a spot.

You can earn one point by occupying a spot each time.

Occupied spots can be used freely.

You will receive a fifty-point penalty if you use a spot occupied by another class without permission.

Only a designated leader could use the keycard.

It is impossible to change the leader without suitable justification.

The manual outlined those rules. While Sakagami-sensei explained, I noticed details such as how the rights of exclusive possession were reset after every eight hours; how if a space wasn't occupied, you could take it immediately; how it was okay for the same class to occupy the same space repeatedly, etc. So if one class successfully managed to repeatedly hold on to three spots for eight hours at a time, that class could obtain fifty points by the end of the test. However, there were big risks associated.
With the rules established thus far, it looked like a simple matter of the early bird getting the worm. It seemed like a good system, if you were able to forcibly occupy spots over and over again.
But that was impossible. The final rule detailed why.

On the seventh day, the last day of the test, you had the right to guess at the identity of the other class' leader during roll call. If you managed to get it right, then Roy could obtain 50 points for a correct guess. Conversely, the other class would have to pay 50 points as compensation.

If you moved to acquire a spot without caution, and your leader was discovered, then you could lose a great number of points. So, high risk, high reward.
However, the guesses couldn't be hazarded without risk. If you happened to be mistaken, you would suffer a 50 point penalty for being incorrect. In addition, a class whose leader had been found out would lose all of the bonus points they'd saved up until the . This rule made it so if you didn't have much confidence, you would be hesitant to join the battle to occupy spots.
"One person must be chosen as the leader, no exceptions. However, you are free not to participate. Please tell me once you've selected someone. At that time, I will provide you with a keycard stamped with the leader's name. You have until roll call today. In the event that you do not decide by then, we will decide for you. That is all."
In other words, the leader's identity would be discovered if you only managed to glance at the card. With that, Sakagami-sensei seemingly finished with his explanation. The dies was cast. Everyone looked to Ryuuen for orders.
"What's our strategy, Ryuuen-kun? If we manage to rough it out, and guess all leaders correctly, we will overtake class B." Kaneda observed. Ryuuen just laughed.
"Kukuku, no Kaneda. We came here to have a nice vacation, so we're going to have a nice vacation. I think we should have a massive beach party." He said, smiling.

Authors notes
1749 words
Mostly taken straight from the novel again, and I think it's going to be the last time for this arc.
Finally, I can't wait to come up with some semi-original content.
I finished watching Akito the exiled. That series is pretty much flawless.
We also passed 5k reads.

Ichika is happy.
Not much else to say.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 2 chapter 4: island exam part 3

"We came here for a vacation, so we're going to have a vacation. I think we should have a massive beach party." Ryuuen said.
The entire class was stunned. I understood the strategy Ryuuen was going for now, and it was a fairly good one.
"B-but, Ryuuen-kun...what about our points? What about the contest?" Kaneda asked, but backed down after a single look from Ryuuen.
"Yeah. I think I saw in this manual somewhere that we could even buy jet-ski's." Ryuuen said.
It was true, I had seen them. They would be a great way of getting from one side of the island to the other, quickly.
Ryuuen left the rest of the class to purchase what they wanted and gathered our "inner-circle".
"Ok guys, listen up. The other classes are going to try something on this island, you can be sure of that." He said.
"But, Ryuuen-san? Don't you think the punishment of them being disqualified would be enough to put them off?" Shiina asked. Oh Shiina, how innocent you are.
"You think that will stop them? And even if they do get punished, it won't undo any damage they do. No, we need to get Kushida and the others out of the competition as soon as possible. They'll probably expect us to play it safe, and try to defend ourselves, or stay in sight of the teachers." He was right, I wouldn't be surprised if Kushida found a sharp object and visited me in my tent during the night.
"Ok then. What's the plan?" Kaneda asked.
"For today, we're going to have fun, and relax. It'll be good for the class to let off some steam and have a real holiday. And then, once we've spent all of our points, everyone can retire."
It was a good plan, if Ryuuen meant we were going to try and find out the leaders as well.
"This is a good plan, Ryuuen. Should we decide who will stay on the island?" I asked.
"Yes. Me and Ayanokouji will, of course, stay on the island. I also think Ibuki, Kaneda and Albert should stay. Everyone else should retire tomorrow." Ryuuen said. A good choice. Albert may have some difficulty moving through the dense jungle, but his sheer strength far outweighed his slow movement.
"Good. Also, Ryuuen, I want to purchase a small screwdriver from the manual." I said.
"What for?"
"So I can open up my watch, remove my GPS tracker, and give it to one of you." The school had said we were forbidden to take the watches off. They didn't say we couldn't remove parts FROM the watch. Besides, why would they put a screwdriver that small into the manual.
"Kukuku, that's some real cunning thinking, Ayanokouji. By giving it to one of us, you not only look as if you're moving around, but should the school require to know where you were, the person with your GPS will be able to testify that you were with them." Ryuuen was bang on the mark. It was a big-brain move. The school could, of course, check the watch.
"To prevent the school finding out about this, on the last day you will give me the GPS tracker, and I will smash the watch. This way, I can get a new watch from the teachers."
Everyone looked at me in silence.
"Wow, Ayanokouji-kun. You really are very smart." Shiina beamed.

The rest of Ryuuen's plan was a little violent, but it was a good strategy. Ryuuen had left a mark on Ibuki's and Kaneda's faces. Although they knew it was painful, they still volunteered for it. Then, Ibuki was sent to follow class D and find out where their base camp was. She would sit near the camp, and wait until someone noticed her, and invited her in. There, she would find out the leader of class D and notify us. Although both Kushida and Kouenji were in the class D camp, Kushida couldn't say anything against her, and Kouenji would probably see it as a waste of his time, if he was still even there. I suspected he'd gone off on his own by now.
Kaneda would do the same for class B. Even though Kanzaki was there, he couldn't dissuade Ichinose and the rest of the class from helping a fellow student, especially one that was hurt.
It would be pointless to try out that strategy for class A. They were too aloof, and were smart enough not to trust anyone who came to them. We still needed to find out their leader however. This is where Ryuuen and I came in. On one of the nights, whilst they were sleeping, we would sneak in and find the keycard. It was an extremely dangerous task, and if we were caught, we might get a 50 point penalty. It was slightly easier than it would've been if Sakayanagi was here, however, since Katsuragi was leading this exam. He would have placed someone from his own faction as the leader, not one of Sakayanagi's cronies, which meant the people that we had to search was less that 50% of the class.
Albert's role was simple: stay on the beach and provide intimidation support if needed.

It was the second day now, and the party was in full swing. We had people on jet-ski's in the ocean, or sunbathing on the beach. I had inadvertently become the master chef of the group, manning the barbecue. It was fine, though. I liked cooking.
Earlier this morning, we'd sent Komiya and Kondou to class D to check on things. We told them to give class D an invitation to come here. If all went as we planned it, they would be driven into a false sense of security when we all retired, thinking everyone had gone.
They came back, having completed their objective.

About 30 minutes later, I saw 2 class D students walking towards us: Kushida and Horikita. They looked surprised at all the fun we were having. I motioned to Ryuuen, who looked to where I was pointing, and smiled.
They walked towards us, so he sent Ishizaki over to greet them. I left Kondou in charge of the barbecue, and went to sit near Ryuuen.
"This is absolutely outrageous" I heard Horikita say.
Their class obviously were going for the conservative "save points" strategy.
"I thought someone was sniffing around. It's you, huh? What business do you have with me?" Ryuuen said.
"You seem to be doing quite well for yourself. This looks like a really fun party." Kushida smiled.
Ryuuen, tanned and clad in his swimwear, laid back in his chair. He flashed his white teeth at them.
"Just as you see. We're enjoying our summer vacation."
He spread his arms wide, proudly showing off the extravaganza.
"Hello, Ayanokouji. It's been quite some time. In fact, I don't think we've spoken to each other since the first day."
Horikita greeted me.
"Yes, it's been far too long Horikita. How have you been?" I asked.
"This is a test. Do you not understand what that means? You don't seem to understand the rules..." she addressed Ryuuen, ignoring my greeting. Ryuuen acted disappointed.
"I'm shocked. Does that mean you're offering help even to an enemy like me?" He asked.
"If the person on top is incompetent, those below him will suffer. This is pitiful. I can't believe you went along with this, Ayanokouji." Horikita said.
"First off: hurtful. Secondly: I don't control the class, you know. I couldn't stop them having a nice, normal vacation." I said, in mock anguish. Ryuuen simply smiled, grabbing the bottle of water placed next to his walkie-talkie.
"Wow, how many points did you spend. To be able to have this much fun, I mean." Kushida asked, giggling and bubbly as ever.
"Hmm. Well, I didn't make a precise calculation." Ryuuen responded guilelessly. "But, as you can see, we're enjoying our summer vacation. We're not your enemies. Do you understand?"
Horikita, finding our behaviour incomprehensible, pressed her fingers against her forehead and wrinkled her brows as if she had a headache.
"We're trying to warn you. You're an idiot."
"Which one of us is the idiot? Me? You?"
Ryuuen would accept no insults, and threw them back at Horikita.
"You want to try surviving on this deserted island in this shitty hear? Don't joke. Class D, the lowest of us all, had to put up with starvation, heat, and futility just to save a measly 100 or 200 class points. It makes me laugh."
"This test is about perseverance, ingenuity, and cooperation. It would likely have been impossible for you from the start. You can't establish a satisfactory plan."
At least Horikita had fallen for our plan, hook, line and sinker. It wouldn't have been a stretch to think Kushida believed it as well.
"Cooperation? Don't make me laugh. People betray each other with ease. People lie. Relationships built on trust just aren't viable. You can only trust yourself. If you've finished your reconnaissance, leave. But if you wish, we'd welcome you here. You're free to enjoy yourselves, whether it's to eat meat or play on the jet-skis. Or perhaps you would prefer to have a different kind of fun with me? I can prepare a tent for...personal use."
I slapped Ryuuen's arm and made a ' not cool, bro' face. He clicked his tongue.
"That's not the kind of answer I'd expect to hear from someone who declared war on us." Horikita said, referencing the Sudou incident we'd created, and that author-san was too lazy to write .
"I absolutely loathe hard work."
(Haha me too)
"Patience? Saving? You must be joking? This is the way we do things in class 1-C. No more, no less." Ryuuen stated.
"Right. Well then, do as you please. It's convenient for us, anyway."
Horikita had changed her mind. Class C wasn't her enemy, so we weren't a problem.
"Working up a sweat in order to evaluate other classes is such a pain."
Horikita turned on her heel to walk away, but paused.
"There is one more piece of evidence. You know Ibuki, of course?"
"Yeah, she's a member of our class. What about her?"
"Her face is swollen. Who did that to her?"
So Ibuki had made contact with class D. I wondered if they'd invited her into their camp. While Horikita was nearly convinced that Ryuuen was the culprit, she purposefully asked in a roundabout way.
"Ah. She ran out of here rather suddenly. She went looking for help from another class in the end? Pathetic girl."
Ryuuen snorted in disgust, then laid back in his chair.
"There are helpless idiots in this world. A ruler doesn't need subordinates who disobey orders. We determined that I would use our class points to my liking. That's the fact of the matter. Besides, it's pointless to raise the banner of revolution against the ruling class."
"In other words, Ibuki-san clashed with you when you wanted to spend points?" Kushida asked.
"Well, you could say that. That's why she got a light punishment."
He made a gesture like slapping someone's cheek.
"Another boy defied me as well, so I had him driven out. I heard he didn't die, so he's probably off somewhere eating grass and insects to survive."
Ryuuen was doing a really good job of acting. It pained him slightly to have to hit Ibuki. I mean, he probably didn't feel that bad about Kaneda, as it was what he did most days.
"You...used up all your points on the first day, didn't you?" Horikita asked.
Even if we'd used up all of the 300 points we'd been given, there wouldn't be any penalties. The effect was nonexistent.
"Yes, as you said. I used all of our points."
"What short-sighted thinking. You're happy right now using your points, but what are you planning to do after the party's over?"
"Kukuku. What should I do, I wonder? Well, I suppose that plain, ordinary people can only engage in plain, ordinary thinking. You're desperate to protect the points you were given. Looking around for the leaders, desperately holding spots, working up a sweat running through the forest. Absolutely worthless."
Even though they'd confronted us with facts, Ryuuen laughed and showed no sign of panic.
"Fine. Let's head back, Kushida. If we stay here longer, I'm only going to start feeling ill."
"See you later, Suzune."
"I don't know exactly where you found that out, but do not call me by my first name so casually."
Ryuuen had done some investigating.
"Well, I rather like forceful women. I'll make you submit to me eventually. When the time comes, it will be the ultimate pleasure."
When he said that, Ryuuen touched his crotch under his bathing suit, clearly trying to provoke Horikita. Horikita's eyes, full of contempt, turned her back and walked away. I slapped Ryuuen on the arm again for the second time to make him stop being a creep, even if he was just acting.
Kushida also waved goodbye at us, eyes flashing for a brief moment, then followed Horikita.
"Do you think Kushida believed us?" Ryuuen asked.
"I think she did. At least, she didn't figure out the entire plan." I said.
"Good, good. Now, chef Ayanokouji, I want a burger, could you perhaps make me one?"
"Sure thing." I said, going back to the grill.

Authors notes
2250 words
Finally, some semi-original content.
Kushida didn't figure out class C's strategy.
Horikita is still neutral, but now doesn't like Ryuuen.
Kouenji has retired, because he didn't want to live like an ape.
We passed 6k reads. Back in chapter 10, I said I would make a lemon chapter for Kiyo and Fuka. I wasn't expecting the reads to go up so quick. Eek .
Not much else to say.
I hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 2 chapter 5: island exam part 4

The time was near. The sun was setting on the second day of the exam, and it was time for the majority of the class to leave. The class went en masse to the teachers and asked to be let back onto the boat, saying they were too sick to continue. Sakagami-sensei didn't question them. No penalties were suffered, as we had no more points.
Now, it was just me, Ryuuen and Albert. We had changed our strategy with Albert now. Ryuuen and I had given Albert our GPS trackers. He would use the keycard to claim spots, to earn us some extra bonus points. By the end of the week, we should earn about 50 points from his efforts alone. Ibuki and Kanzaki were also on the island, trying to discover class B's and D's leaders.

Ryuuen and I set off together. Tonight would be the hardest part of the examination to pull off, but if we managed it, we could go through the rest of the week relatively carefree. Tonight, we would go to class A's camp, which Ibuki had said through the walki-talkie that class D had discovered already, and was in a cave on the North side of the island. She also said that only 2 people were seen coming out of the cave: Kouhei Katsuragi, and his lapdog, Yahiko Tatsuka. Katsuragi had been holding the keycard. This meant that either Yahiko or Katsuragi were class A's leader. In all likelihood, it was Yahiko, as Katsuragi probably wouldn't have been stupid enough to let himself be seen holding the keycard if he was actually the leader. But we wouldn't leave it up to chance, so it was time for the hard part.
At night, we would go into the cave, and find the keycard whilst everyone was sleeping. It would be difficult not to wake anyone up, but it would be safer than guessing the leader.

We had made a small camp near where we were before, out of sight in the tree line. We waited till nightfall, then went back onto the beach. Waiting for us were 2 jet-ski's fastened to the shore. We figured it would be best to use these, as navigating the dense foliage at night would be quite difficult, and possibly dangerous. We untied them, fashioned the classes 2 flashlights we had been given to the front of them, and set off. Luckily, they weren't very loud, as they had electrical engines. We purred across the waves under the moonlit night sky.

We circled the island, until we saw a faint light near the shore. That must have been the cave where class A was occupied. We tied the jet-ski's to a tree on shore, and made our way up towards the light.
When we got there, it was a cave, sure enough. The opening looked like it cut deep into the mountainside, like a demon's mouth. There were two temporary toilets and one shower room near the entrance.
"I can't really see the inside from here..."
Trying to confirm what was in the cave while keeping our distance was probably next to impossible.
"Let's go." Ryuuen said.
Luckily, even Katsuragi wasn't paranoid enough to put a night watchman outside. We entered the cave, as silent as shadows. Inside the cave were several vinyl sheets joined together in one giant tarp, which blocked us. We had to open it without damaging it, and without making a noise.
We felt around for an overlap between two, and when I found one, I gestured to Ryuuen.
Beforehand, we had gone through various hand signals, such as "this way" or "stop" or "I've found the keycard." That last one was useful.
I held it up while Ryuuen went through, and he did the same for me. We set it down gently, making almost no noise. Beyond the vinyl wall were two tents. I gestured which one I would go to, leaving Ryuuen to go to the other one.
When I got to the tent door, I opened the zip extremely slowly. Doing it too fast would create noise, so it was better to spend time doing it. Ryuuen did the same. After two minutes, the door had opened enough so that I could walk through if I bowed my head. I looked inside.
I had got the girls tent.
Although we knew that the leader was either Yahiko or Katsuragi, they could have hidden the card with the girls, so it was a good idea to check them.
I made a silent prayer that no one would wake up, and checked the bags of the girls. All I could find were changes of clothes and underwear, and some toiletries. But no keycard. I thought I would have to check inside the sleeping bags then. As I was about to dip my hand inside, however, I felt a tap on my back.
I turned around, and I saw Ryuuen. He gave me a thumbs up, the gesture for "I've found the keycard." We got out of the tents, and zipped them back up, very slowly.
We snuck out through the vinyl, and ran back down to the beach. Finally, we could relax.
"What was the name on the keycard?" I asked.
"Just as we thought: Yahiko." Ryuuen smirked.
Good. We now had definitive proof of a class leader, and soon, we would have the other two.
We went back to the jet-ski's, untied them, and set off again.
We travelled along the coast, till we found the rendezvous point where we would spend the rest of the island exam: a wooden fishing hut, complete with fishing rods. We had gone there earlier today with some supplies, such as food and water, enough to last the two of us for the rest of the week. The rest of the supplies had gone to Albert, who would meet us here on the second-to-last day of the exam, along with Ibuki and Kaneda.
"Well, Ayanokouji. All we can do now is wait for the exam to end." Ryuuen said, laying on one of the beds that the shack had come equipped with. Not camping mats, actual beds. With pillows.
"Yep. I can't wait to see the Kushida groups reaction when we reveal ourselves." I said.
"Kukuku, me neither. Goodnight, Ayanokouji." Ryuuen said.
"Goodnight."
Tomorrow, we would have to bring the jet-ski's out of the water and hide them somewhere, probably in the jungle.
But now it was time for sleep.

Ibuki pov
It was the dead of night.
I had stayed awake so that I could complete the mission as soon as I was sure everyone had gone to sleep.
I then got up, and started looking through the girls bags. After about 5 minutes, I found what I was looking for: the keycard.
I saw the words Horikita Suzune written on the corner.
I put it back in the bag, and went over to my bed, and went back to sleep.

Kaneda pov
It wasn't hard to discern the leader. This class was too carefree. The only one here that posed a threat was Kanzaki. He was in Kushida's gang, that hated Ayanokouji for some reason.
I had seen the leader claiming the spot, several times:
Shiranami Chihiro.
I went over to her hammock, and found the card in her pocket.
Sure enough, her name was written on it.
I went back over to my own hammock.
Sleep found me quickly.

Unknown pov
I woke up suddenly, to the sound of someone getting up and searching bags. I peered through the gloom, and saw Ibuki Mio looking at the keycard.
She turned around, and I quickly closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep. I heard her go back to sleep. I knew that she hadn't come up with this plan. This had his name written all over it.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. God, I hate you.

Authors notes
1252 words
I had a lot of fun with this chapter, even though it was pretty short. I really liked the idea of Ryuuen and Ayanokouji riding across the ocean, under the moonlight.
Ryuuen and Ayanokouji have confirmed Yahiko Tatsuko as the leader of class A
Ibuki has confirmed Horikita Suzune as the leader of class D
Kaneda has confirmed Shiranami Chihiro as the leader of class B
Next chapter will take place the day before the exam ends, when Ibuki, Kaneda and Albert go to the shack where Ayanokouji and Ryuuen are hidden.
Here are the point standings for then:
Class A: 250 points 22 bonus points.
Class B: 220 points 22 bonus points.
Class C: 0 points 45 bonus points.
Class D: 240 points 22 bonus points.
(The bonus points are the same for A B and D because they've only been occupying 1 spot for the same amount of time as each other.)
A certain class D girl saw Ibuki look at the keycard.
Next chapter should be interesting.
Not much else to say
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 2 chapter 6: island exam part 5

Ibuki pov
Today was the day.
The test would end tomorrow, and it was time to get back to Ryuuen and Ayanokouji at the shack.
No one had seen me in the tent on the first night, so I was all good. Now, I just had to create a distraction so I could get away.
Using one of the matches I'd been given, I applied flame to a small pile I'd prepared, right outside the camp toilet.
I quickly went back to the tent, and waited till I heard voices to pick up my bag and leave. I ran away from the camp, towards the beach, where there was a jet-ski waiting for me, and another for Kaneda.
But then, from behind, I heard a noise. I turned around to see a foot flying towards my face. I quickly ducked, only to have the foot brought down on my temple in an axe kick. I looked up to see my assailant: Kushida Kikyou.
"Heh, did you think you could get away with it?" She said, the grin I'd seen in the alley before the midterms appearing.
I was scared, and delirious. I put my hand to my head, and I luckily couldn't feel any blood. I could tell I had a slight concussion, but I could still get myself out of this. That possibility vanished when I saw a girl come out of the tree line.
It was Horikita Suzune, the leader for class D in this exam.
"Stop, Kushida!" She said. That was unexpected.
"Why should I? She knows your identity." Kushida said.
"It doesn't matter. Violence is against the rules." Horikita responded. I'd figured that she wouldn't mind bending the rules if it meant that she could win.
"Besides, we know their leader: Albert Yamada. I saw him claim a spot myself the other day." She said.
Good. At least Horikita had fallen for it.
"Yeah, well. I don't feel like losing 50 points." Kushida grimaced.
"Well. It doesn't matter. My brother ordered me to ensure violence didn't break out between your group or Ayanokouji's."
"Did he, now. Well. I suppose that makes you my enemy." Kushida said, as she leapt toward Horikita. Her fist was about to collide with Horikita's face, when-
It was blocked. I could tell from both Kushida's and Horikita's form that they were adept at martial arts. Probably on my level, and maybe a bit better.
They traded blows. At this point the fight could go either way.
But then, Kushida's foot collided with Horikita's unguarded face, and she collapsed on the ground. Kushida walked towards Horikita. I had to stop her, it looked like she was going to seriously hurt Horikita while she was down.
She had her back turned to me, so I took 2 items out of my bag. I aimed one straight up in the air, and I aimed one at Kushida.

Kushida pov
"Heh. I've always hated you, you know. How does it feel to get beaten?" I asked.
Horikita didn't say anything, but glared at me.
"Hm. You're just like that annoying brother of yours. Such a shame. Sorry about this, Horikita. Don't worry, I'll pin your injuries on Ibuki." I said, raising my foot to stomp on her face.
"HEY, PSYCHO BITCH" Ibuki shouted behind me. I turned around, and saw a flashing light coming towards me. I dodged to the side, and fell over. The thing that had whizzed passed my head went into the jungle and...exploded? Did she just shoot a firework at me? And she had the gall to call me a psycho bitch?
I was about to get up and attack her, but a knee was driven into my back, and my hands were tied up as quick as lightning. Horikita had subdued me, with the help of the traitor.
Speaking of which, I saw Ibuki get on one of the jet-ski's that was parked at the beach, and set off. Damn.

Kaneda pov
That was intense. I had seen the firework she shot in the air, which was our signal for help, and had rushed to the beach to check out the situation.
Kushida was bound, and Horikita was leading her back to the forest. I had never seen Kushida angry, like the fighters in our group had, and I was glad. Her angry face terrified me.
I went to the jet-ski waiting for me, and set off to the shack.

Ayanokouji pov
Albert had just to get some more food and water before he went to claim more spots. He also gave me a situation report. He confirmed that he had occupied spots whilst in the presences of students from class A, B and C.
Just then, I saw something moving across the water out of the window. I went outside and stood on the dock to see Ibuki racing towards me.
She got to the dock, and I saw Kaneda appear on the horizon.
When they were both inside, and had told me about the incident with Kushida and Horikita, I asked the inevitable question:
"Who are the leaders?"
Ibuki went first.
"Class D's leader is Horikita Suzune." She said. A good choice. I probably wouldn't have guessed that. I looked to Kaneda.
"Shiranami Chihiro is class B's leader." He confirmed. I didn't know who that was. Another good choice.
"Was there anything else about the encounter with Kushida?" Ryuuen asked.
"Yes actually, two things. She was a good fighter. Better than what I saw in the alley that time." That was strange. Had she been trained during that time?
"And the other thing?" I asked.
"Yes. She said the student council president had ordered her to stop violence between our groups."
That was strange. I had met the man briefly during the trial against Sudou that we fabricated after the finals. I had guessed that they were siblings, judging by their last names. So, they knew about our conflict, yet remained neutral? That was certainly interesting.
"Ok, that's good. For the remainder of the exam, you two could stay here, or accompany Albert." I gave them the choice. Kaneda decided to accompany Albert, while Ibuki opted to stay with us.
I also gave Albert 2 sheets of paper. One to give to Horikita in class D, and one to Katsuragi of class A.

Timeskip to the last day

Ryuuen, Ibuki and I set out to the beach where the exam started. If we timed it just right, we would be able to arrive after the other classes had guessed leaders.
We arrived at the beach, but stayed hidden.
We saw Hirata writing on a piece of paper.
We saw Albert writing on a piece of paper. We had told him who to guess.
We saw Kanzaki writing on a piece of paper.
We finally saw Katsuragi writing on a piece of paper.
It was time to make our entrance.
"Oh, hey there, sycophants. Did you miss us?" Ryuuen said.
The entire beach reacted in a sea of whispers.
"I thought you'd all retired, except for Albert and Ibuki, Ryuuen-kun." Hirata, the leader of class D, said in surprise. He must be shitting himself now. He had obviously guessed Albert as the leader.
"Who are you? More importantly, where's Suzune? I've dreamed of squeezing her bottom."
I slapped Ryuuen on the arm for the third time during this exam, giving him the c'mon dude look.
Just then, we heard the click of a megaphone being turned on. Mashima-sensei appeared on the beach. The first-year students hurriedly tried to form a line, but Mashima-sensei waved his hands at them to stop.
"It's fine. We don't mind if you want to keep relaxing. The test has already concluded. Now, we've entered the summer vacation part of the trip, so it's all right if you loosen up."
Even though he'd said that, tensions were naturally running high for the students. They all stopped their chatter in an instant.
"Over this past week, we, your teachers, have closely watched your efforts in this special test. There were some students who took on the challenge honestly, head-on. There were some who devised schemes to tackle the test. Many things have happened, but overall, the results were splendid. Good work."
The students appeared relieved to receive such straightforward praise from Mashima-sensei. It seemed like everyone was finally starting to believe the one-week test was really over.
"Well then, to get straight to the point. I would like to announce the results for this special test."
There probably wasn't a single person, not even our own homeroom teacher, who had seen these test results.
"We will not accept any questions regarding the results, no exceptions. We would like you to accept the results you have been given, analyse them, and use them to help you for the next test. It is what it is (meme reference). Don't wet yourselves over these results. You must accept reality, you know?"
"That's what we should be saying to you class C people. You used up all of your points, right? Don't make us laugh." Sudou poked fun at class C's reckless behaviour.
"Now, we will announce the rankings. The lowest score is class B with 5 points."
The class B students were upset. Kanzaki looked angry, and Ichinose looked as though she had failed.
"In third place is class D with 105 points."
The wind was knocked out of Sudou's sails. We laughed at him.
"In second place is class A, with 140 points."
A commotion broke out. No one had expected the rankings or point totals.
"And then, class C..."
For an instant, Mashima-sensei's movements stiffened. However, he soon resumed speaking.
"...has come first with 250 points. This concludes the announcement."

A few hours ago
Katsuragi and Horikita pov
Albert from class C came up to me. He gave me a slip of paper. On it, there were words written, and not in his handwriting.
From Ayanokouji Kiyotaka: class B's leader is Shiranami Chihiro.

Authors notes
1595 words
Finally, the island exam arc is over. Arc 3 starts next, the zodiac exam. Damn, I'll have to remember the rules for that one.
Current class point standings:
Class 1-A: 1292
Class 1-B: 0725
Class 1-C: 0852
Class 1-D: 0195

Class C promoted to class B .
As long as nothing goes wrong during the zodiac exam arc.
I really liked this chapter. I think It turned out well.
The reason Ayanokouji only told the other classes class B's leader was because class B was the immediate target. It wouldn't do to give them any free points by telling them another classes leader.
Horikita followed her brothers orders, and stopped Kushida from beating up Ibuki.
Kushida managed to beat Horikita, thanks to her training. Horikita was sick though, so it wasn't a fair fight.
Kushida didn't make the big brain move of making Horikita retire.
Nothing much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 2 epilogue: departure

The exam was over, and the first-year students scattered. The ship was going to depart in two hours, and although we were free to play in the sea, we were also free to go onto the ship. I walked aboard, and was immediately confronted by an excited Shiina.
"Hey, Ayanokouji? How did it go?" She leapt and hugged me, after not seeing me in almost a week. I hope no one who saw would tell Fuka.
"It went good. We came first." I said, subtly pulling her off of me.
"Really? That's amazing! I'm going to tell everyone else!" She rushed off.
She was too cute. ️

After I returned to the ship, I went back to my room right away. An exhausted Hirata was there, asleep on his side.
I changed my clothes quietly so I wouldn't wake him and headed into the hall. My call history had filled up. They were all from Horikita. Scary. For the time being, I just answered the emails and relaxed in the lounge while I waited. Wait, how did she even get my number?
She probably wanted an explanation for what I had done.
Soon, a quite flustered Horikita met up with me, radiating a silent pressure.
"Why did you do it?" She asked.
"Why else do you think? To surpass class B" I said.
"B-but...you could've given us class A's leader as well, and bring their points down. Why didn't you?"
"Because I wanted to keep your points as low as possible. We don't want to have too many threats assailing class C- oh, my bad, I suppose we're class 1-B now." I smugly said.
She stormed off. Then, she stopped.
"We guessed that Albert Yamada was your leader. I myself saw him occupy a spot. How was that wrong?" She asked.
"Did it ever occur to you? How could the teachers monitor who used the keycard?" I asked. Horikita fell silent.
"They could have tracked you GPS location." She said.
"Ah, yes. And what if one were to remove the GPS device from your watch, and give it to the person posing as leader.
Then, it would look like the two of you were together." I shot back. She deflated slightly, and then walked off for good.

Authors notes
380 words
Just a quick chapter for the dialogue between Kiyo and Horikita.
Ayanokouji told Horikita that he broke the rules.
Not much else to say really
I hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 3 chapter 1: a wild Kouenji appeared.

It turned out I was sharing a cabin with a member of the Kushida gang: Kanzaki Ryuuji. The moment I entered the cabin, we locked eyes. We agreed silently to call a truce, as Hirata was also here. It seemed I may have to sleep with one eye open.

It'd been two days since the end of the special test on the island. No other exciting event had occurred aboard the luxurious cruise ship that ANHS had provided for us, and we were enjoying the respite.
It went without saying that time spent on a deserted island bad caused a bunch of young, rambunctious students like us to lose our minds. We, the guys, we're basically beasts-sex-starved carnivores. It'd been more than a week since I'd seen Fuka, and even I was starting to feel the pain now. While we watched the girls chattering and dilly-dallying like herbivores, the boys waited for an opening like the predators we are.

(A/N taken straight from the ln. Author-san did not make this up, except for the queen Fuka part. This is an incredibly creepy paragraph.)

This luxury cruise ship, equipped with everything, felt like a dream come true. This trip let us forget everything unpleasant. It wouldn't have been strange for two people to fall in love here. Rumour had it that many couples had come together on this trip.

I just wish I could improve my relationship with Fuka .

Despite everyone's outward calm, we maintained a sense of readiness. People who know how to relax can be effective.
"Hmm? You haven't been in the room all this time, have you?"
Hirata Yousuke, one of my cabin roommates, and a member of class 1-D, shook me from my reverie while I gazed at the sea. "I don't really have any reason to go out." I said
"That's not true, though. I mean, you have your friends in class C, right?"
He was right, I had Ryuuen, Shiina and Ibuki. But I just didn't feel like going out.
"You might make more friends if you were a little more proactive, Ayanokouji-kun. Though I suppose it's none of my business."
Hirata was very popular and admired by many students. All the girls adored him, and he had a girlfriend named Karuizawa. A man with so much happiness probably couldn't understand the pangs of loneliness.
"You're a solid guy, Ayanokouji-kun. I think you might just need the right opportunity."
Jeez man, I do have friends, you know. I didn't need such kind-hearted yet cruel words. I got up and left the cabin. I was going to hang out with Ryuuen.

Many of our classmates appeared to be enjoying summer vacation to its fullest. Both guys and girls could be seen in the pool in their bathing suits, boldly frisking around. The heavy, fraught mood that weighed on us during the test had lifted.
This display of wanton indulgence came from the students' liberated desires, which had been suppressed back on the island. We didn't need to use points for any of the facilities on the ship, or for food and drinks. Everything was free of charge. No one had to restrain themselves. You needed to borrow things like swimsuits and other equipment, but that was about it. It was heaven.
By the time I reached the restaurant where Ryuuen said he was, over half the seats had already been taken. Ryuuen saw me, and waved me over. I slipped past the crowd and sat in the empty seat the group saved for me. We all said our greetings.
"Right, down to business then. How are your roommates?" Ryuuen asked. He was teamed up with both Kitou and Kouenji in his group, both of whom were members of Kushida's group.
"Kanzaki hasn't done anything yet." I answered. Aside from Hirata, my only other roommate was Katsuragi, who was amicable enough.
"Hashimoto doesn't seem to have been ordered to do anything by Sakayanagi.." Kaneda said. Hashimoto was dangerous. You never knew where his loyalties lied.
"Nothing to report." Albert confirmed. He was bunked up with Sudou from class D. Although he wasn't officially part of their group, Kushida could still manipulate him.
"Same here." Ibuki said alongside Albert. That was surprising. Ibuki was in the same room as Masumi Kamuro, Ichinose Honami, and Horikita, who were 3 figures involved in the interclass struggle. Masumi was Sakayanagi's lacky, but Ichinose and Horikita hadn't picked a side. Both of them were adverse to the violence between the groups.
"Kushida hasn't said anything to me yet, but I think I caught her looking at me once." Shiina said. She had the most dangerous roommate possible: Kikyou Kushida, the devil herself. We had a system in place in case Kushida attacked Shiina. At all times, at least one of us was on call with her. Shiina was at more risk than the rest of us in a physical fight, and Kushida was the most likely to try and go for the kill. Well, Kaneda was just as at risk, but he didn't really matter. Besides, he didn't really have anyone dangerous in his room, unlike Shiina.
"Good. Anyway, let's eat." Ryuuen praised our findings.

After that, I decided to return to my room. I took the stairs rather than the elevator, and returned to my room on the third deck. When I got there, I noticed some wet blotches scattered about the hallway floor. The blotches appeared to head towards the room across the hall from mine, which was Ryuuen's room. When I followed the trail, I discovered a wild Kouenji striding through the corridor, nude from the waist up, wearing nothing but a bathing suit.
"S-sir! Please don't walk through the hallway while you're still dripping wet!"
A young bellhop hurried towards Kouenji, apparently eager to control this emergency situation. The bellhop was already holding out a towel, overly prepared, like he always walked around with a strategic towel.
"Ha ha ha! It appears you've found me, eh?" Kouenji said.
"Yes, I've found you. This is the fourth time. I've already told you, please dry yourself off after you leave the pool. If you don't, you'll disturb the other passengers."
Apparently, this man was a repeat offender. That explained the bellhop's prepared towels.
"Disturb? But I've no memory of disturbing anyone. I don't dry myself off with a towel on principle ever since reaching the age of reason. Haven't I already said? 'A fine man, dripping with water,' hmm?"
He slicked back his wet hair, scattering droplets of water. The bellhop hurriedly used the towel to dry the spots on the carpet and wall. Kouenji stopped. I wondered if he found the bellhop's flustered behaviour amusing.
"Do you have a pen and paper on hand?" He asked.
"Huh? A, uh, oh...due to the nature of my job, I do walk around with a notepad and pen, but..." the bellhop, clearly unsure where the conversation was headed, fearfully took out a ballpoint pen.
"Did you know that a prominent celebrity's signature can accrue an unexpectedly premium value over time? Aboard, some autographs are valued in the millions to even the tens of millions."
"And...what of it?"
After Kouenji had finished scribbling something on the notepad, he thrust it back at the bellhop. It was far away, but I was able to make out the name "Kouenji Rokusuke."
"Wh-what is this?"
"Isn't it obvious. A signature. Even though it's written on such a cheap notepad, it will certainly hold tremendous value in the future. I'm presenting this to you as a token for your troubles. Please receive it gratefully and safeguard it."
Apparently Kouenji believed the bellhop would receive this with gratitude, or perhaps a sense of awe-inspired devotion. But no one in their right mind would want this. If anything, his ballpoint pen and notepad were worth more.
"Please don't look so suspicious. I am the man who will carry Japan's future on his back. At that point, I intend to vacation upon a significantly larger ship, but I'm prepared to wait until then. Of course, it will be a luxury liner of significantly higher quality than the common ship upon which we are now riding."
Well, a luxury liner was still a luxury liner. Personally, I'd be satisfied as long as it wasn't fated to sink like the Titanic. Kouenji guffawed, seemingly satisfied. The bellhop, completely dumbstruck, continued staring at the wet spots on the floor. He had completely lost the will to keep trying to stop this man.
Such a shame. Kouenji was almost a match for me, yet he was still ever so flawed.

Unknown pov
I sat in my room.
It's funny, you know? How bored someone can be, even though they have so many 'friends'.
Just then, my roommate came in.
"Oh, hello Shiina-san." I said, putting on my false exterior.
"A-ah, hello Kushida-san. I was just about to go to sleep, I hope I didn't wake you?" She asked. God, she was so fucking nice. I hated that.
"Oh, no don't worry, it won't be some time till I fall asleep myself, if I'm honest." I said.
"O-oh, that's good then. Anyway, goodnight, Kushida." She laid down on her bed.
"Yes, goodnight, Shiina-san." I stepped towards her. I let the cheery façade drop.
"Sleep tight, Shiina-san." I placed my hand on her cheek and loomed over her.
"Don't let the class D girl bite, Shiina-san." I said. I could see myself reflected in her eyes, my face only a few centimetres away from hers. God, I looked almost exactly like Ayanokouji.
I could see tears forming in Shiina's eyes, out of pure fright and terror.
"BOO." I suddenly jumped. Shiina spasmed, and then I think she must have fainted.
Aww, poor thing.
Just then, I saw a text come from the group chat. It simply said "tonight".
I smiled. Now, it was time to have some fun.

Authors notes
1648 words
Eek, poor Shiina .
This chapter was mainly dominated by Kouenji, and it was just a refresher on who was teamed up with who in the cabins.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 3 chapter 2: traitor part 1

Kouenji was alone all the time because everyone steered clear of him, disgusted by his incredibly selfish personality. Many of us had already experienced the same treatment as this poor bellhop. Kouenji was like poison, especially to our group. Anyone who encountered him, friend or foe, suffered for it.

In order to avoid being dragged into something bothersome, I slunk past the two of them. Getting too near a member of Kushida's group, and a high ranking member at that, would be dangerous.

"Oh ho? Why, if it isn't little Ayanokouji, hmm? What a coincidence."

Ugh. Kouenji called my name. It wasn't surprising that he called to me, right? The instant the bellhop noticed that Kouenji's attention had shifted over to me, he appeared elated. I'm finally free! Is what his look seemed to say.

No, no. How could a crew member act like that? He ought to continue serving the customer, no matter how annoying the customer was. It was like someone releasing their pet into the river without permission. Especially if that fish was a ferocious, invasive species like Kouenji, which would devour all the native fish in the river until there was nothing left.

"Do you want something from me" I asked.

"No, no, I've no real business with you. I've simply acknowledged you, considering you're upbringing, and the fact that we are roommates. Although, we are certainly not alike in terms of position."

Kouenji flipped his hair once again, scattering more water, which splashed my face and uniform. Of course, he didn't seem to have the faintest clue of what he was doing to his victims. Despite what was happening to me, the bellhop watched this tragedy unfold with a grin. Oh, yes, yes, I sympathise with the pain you're feeling...not, he seemed to say.

"Well then, goodbye." I said, walking off.

"Actually, there is...one thing." I heard a voice behind me. I turned around to see a bare foot flying towards me. I hit it to the side and, with all my might, I punched the, admittedly sizeable, bulge in Kouenji's swimsuit. He staggered backwards.

"Hm. It seems you are as good as I. Be happy, you managed to get a lucky blow on a perfect existence."

Kouenji said. Even if anyone believed his neutral expression, I could notice faint tears in the corners of his eyes. He walked off, slightly slower than before. No one could simply tank through that kind of pain. The bellhop smiled slightly at seeing his oppressor brought to justice.

I decided I didn't want to go back to my room. I'd head back to were Ryuuen was. A map of the ship was on a nearby signboard, and pretty easy to understand. The fact that the map had been placed in a gilded frame might've been overkill, but also made it seem like something you'd find on a luxury liner. I drew a rout that'd let me kill a bunch of free time, and immediately hopped onto the elevator. I got off on the second deck.

The ship had nine decks in total, plus a roof. The fifth deck was above ground, while the fourth deck was below. The first deck housed both the lounge and banquet area, while the rooftop had the pool, café and other facilities. The third and fourth decks were for guest rooms. The guys were on the third deck; the girls on the fourth.

The guys and girls, teachers included, were neatly divided. However, there weren't any special restrictions on our movements, so a guy could easily wander through the girls' area. We were probably prohibited from staying on the girls' level or coming into the area after midnight, though.

The ship also had various kinds of entertainment options, such as movies and a live theatre venue. These were everywhere, from the first underground level up to the third underground level. On the fourth underground level-the lowest level at the bottom of the ship-was some kind of switchboard breaker room. That particular level was irrelevant to the students.

The lounge was open twenty-four hours a day. We were free to go there no matter how late it was, but a notice from the school urged us to refrain from going there as much as possible. As I walked through the second-level area, I noticed that the atmosphere felt quite different. The rooms were vacant, and I couldn't tell what they were used for. So few students were in the hallways that it appeared deserted.

I pushed the button for the elevator, and saw Kushida staring at me when the doors opened.

"Oh, Hi, Ayanokouji-kun."

"Hello, Kushida." I replied, walking on board and closing the doors. I pressed the button for the floor above us. The moment the doors closed, Kushida moved to punch me. I deflected, and performed a quick, sharp blow to her stomach. It wouldn't cause too much pain, it was just to stun her. She was about to attack me again, when the doors of the elevator opened. She quickly turned the attack into a friendly hug.

The boys who were on the other side of the doors gave me death-glares. If only they'd known what she had try to do to me just seconds before.

As we both exited the elevator, both our cell phones started ringing at the same time. There was a loud, dinging sound that meant we'd received a message from the school. Usually it was a message with new instructions to follow, or some kind of modification to an event. Your phone would make a sound even if you had it on silent. Clearly, it was a message of high importance.

"What is it?" Kushida asked.

She stopped in her tracks and looked puzzled, which was understandable. Even though they'd explained this system to us after school started, we hadn't received any important messages during our summer vacation until now. Simultaneously, an announcement could be heard throughout the ship.

"Attention. This is an announcement to all students. All students should have received a message from the school, as indicated in the contact line. Please check your individual mobile devices and follow the instructions accordingly. In the event that you did not receive a message, we apologise for the inconvenience. Please go to the nearest faculty member for assistance. Because the contents of the message are extremely important, please do not miss it."

"That was about the message we just got, right?" Kushida asked.

"Probably."

I pulled out my phone and saw the following message:

A special test has begun. This test is called "Traitor."

In each class, there will be 2 "traitors" assigned. It is the job of these "traitors" to "kill" as many students as possible throughout all 4 classes. To "kill" an opponent, the traitors will be given a model gun, which they will "shoot" at an opponent. A camera in the barrel will reveal the face of the student that has been "murdered", and that student will be disqualified. They will then be separated from the students still taking part in the exam. Meals will be brought to your rooms if you are "murdered" until the test is over. For every student a traitor "murders" 100 private points will be deposited into their account, and 1 class point will be added to their class total. There is no benefit to "kill" a student in your own class.

If you see a traitor "shooting" another student, you can take a picture on your phone to reveal that student is a traitor, revealing them to the school. Doing so grants the "witness" 500,000 private points, and 50 class points. If every traitor is discovered and turned in to the school, every student that has not been disqualified will receive 10,000 private points. If a traitor is caught, they will be sent back to their rooms for the remainder of the exam, and 50 class points will be deducted from their class. There is no benefit in "witnessing" a traitor if they are in your own class.

A traitor from one class can "betray" a traitor from another class. Doing so "steals" the amount of "kills" they have, and they are added to your own. 50 class points will be deducted from the "betrayed" traitors class to the "betraying" traitors class.

If every student aside from the traitors has been "killed", each traitor gets 1,000,000 private points in addition to whatever points they had already gained by "killing" students.

You are a traitor in class 1-C. Your fellow traitor is Ryuuen Kakeru. Please come to room 204 at any time to collect your model gun. Good luck.

Authors notes
1450 words
So there we have it. Fuck the zodiac exam. Even if I've read vol 4 quite a few times trying to understand it, I still can't get my fucking head around it. Maybe author-san is just too dumb.
In its place, I've inserted the classic party game "traitor". I love this game. This is probably equally as confusing with the points, but at least I can follow the rules properly.
It'll be a good idea to check the rules, as I came up with it on the fly. If you find any inconsistencies in the following chapters, please let me know.
This exam will also allow free movement the whole time.
You will also have noticed a big difference in this chapter: the paragraphs are spaced apart. Yeah, when I was writing, it didn't seem too bad. But I read a few chapters this morning, and I actually kept getting lost. .
So yeah, fuck the zodiac exam.
Kiyo and Kushida had a fight on the elevator. Ayanogod won.
If you play Elden Ring, you will have seen the new update, 1.03. They nerfed all my boi's. Mimic tear is now useless, sword of night and flame is worse, bloody slash is useless. I just fucking hate that. We got some new music, and new NPC's and quests though, so I guess it isn't all bad.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 3 chapter 3: traitor part 2

You are a traitor in class 1-C. Your fellow traitor is Ryuuen Kakeru. Please come to room 204 at any time to collect your model gun. Good luck.

Well. That was unexpected. Finally, when we thought we had some rest, it seemed another special exam would be taking place. How bothersome.

I texted Ryuuen.

Strategy?

Your room, 10 minutes. Make sure no one sees you.

Ok.

It was imperative in a situation like this to give clean cut questions and answered. Too much was unknown at this moment to dilly-dally with our words.

This exam seemed to follow a similar plot line to a book I once read: murder on the orient express. I said goodbye to Kushida, who ran off to take care of her class. If I had to guess, she was probably a traitor too. I mean, me and Ryuuen seem too good a combination to be mere chance, so I guessed the school chose the traitors because of their value.

I waited 10 minutes, then went to my room.

Ryuuen was already there.

"Hey, Ayanokouji." He said, almost tiredly.

"Should we go to room 204?" I asked.

"Oh, is that where you got sent to? I got sent to room 107. I already have my gun, so you can go and get yours now."

It was probably easiest to assign different rooms for different traitors. That way, innocent students couldn't see where 8 people went at roughly the same time. That would make it too easy. I set off, and soon arrived at room 204. I opened the door, and there was a staff member in there, with a model gun on the table.

"Name?" He said.

"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka." I answered.

"Affirmative. Please, hide the model in your jacket. It wouldn't do for you to be discovered this early due to carelessness." He ordered, handing me the gun.

"Ok."

I exited the room, with the gun in my blazer. This exam was good. If I lost, I would be sent to my room for the rest of the trip. If I won, I could win a minimum of 1,000,000 private points. If I was to "kill" every student on the ship, excluding the other traitors and the students from class C, I would win an extra 12,000 private points, and 120 class points, give or take. If I were to betray all 6 traitors, I could get another 300 class points. If we won the absolute best result, we could overtake class A.

This was a lot to take in. I decided to go back to my room, and talk to Ryuuen about the exam. When I got back to my room, Ryuuen and Hirata were there. I took my gun out and shot Hirata.

"Already did it." Ryuuen said.

"Ah, ok. Sorry, Hirata." I felt a bit bad now.

"Don't worry. It's fine, you did what you had to." Damn, an attitude like that wasn't going to get him very far in this school.

"Anyway. Ryuuen, I have a plan. Shall we talk somewhere else?" I asked.

"Yes, good idea. I know the perfect place." Ryuuen exited the room, and I followed him. We went down the hallway stairs, all the way down to the bottom. We went along a few corridors, and we were finally in a place where we wouldn't be disturbed: a supply closet.

"So, what's the plan?" Ryuuen asked.

"I will end the entire exam today." I said.

"W-what? You can't be serious? How?" Ryuuen was flustered. I think it was the first time I had seen him like that.

"Remember what it said in the text message? We have to capture a students face on the camera in our gun to kill them. Well, what if we capture the face of every student in the school, including the other traitors?" I asked.

"Then...the exam would be over. But how could you shoot every student in school?"

"Well, first off..." I explained my plan to Ryuuen. When I finished explaining, Ryuuen grinned.

"Kukuku. That's so simple, yet so complex. How did I not think of that. Do you think he will let you do that?" He asked.

"Don't you remember Ryuuen? Anything can be bought with points." I said.

Very small timeskip

I knocked on Sakagami-sensei's door. After a few seconds, the door opened, revealing the man himself.

"Hello, Ayanokouji. What can I help you with?" He asked, inviting me inside. He closed the door.

"Well, sensei. I trust you know that I am the traitor?" I wasn't simply guessing, I was almost sure of it.

"Yes, I am aware. I picked you myself." He said, smirking slightly.

"Then, I would like you to make an announcement on the ships PA speaker. Say these words exactly: 'all students who are not confined to their rooms as a result of the current exam, please gather at the front deck.'"I said.

"And what makes you think I would let you do that?" He asked.

"How many private points?"

"200,000."

"Deal. Transferring the points now. I will call you when I want you to make the announcement. I would also like to purchase a megaphone, such as the one Mashima-sensei used on the island exam."

"No problem. That will be another 50,000 points."

"Ok"

"These are some very odd requests. May I inquire as to why you asked me them?"

"No. All you need to know is that this exam will end with a new class A at the beginning of next term."

Small timeskip

Me and Ryuuen were in position, overlooking the front deck. Luckily, we had found a place that had a perfect view of the front deck, but where it was very hard to spot us from below.

"You think this'll work?" Ryuuen asked.

"I'm confident." I said, pulling out my phone, calling Sakagami-sensei, and telling him to make the announcement.

"All students who are not confined to their rooms as a result of the current exam, please make your way to the front deck. I repeat, all students who are not confined to their rooms as a result of the current exam, please make your way to the front deck"

Sakagami-sensei's voice rang out over the PA system. About 2 minutes later, around half of the students in the grade were below us. Another minute, and all students from classes 1-A to 1-D were visible to us. Ryuuen took out his gun, and I did the same, also taking out the megaphone, putting it to my mouth.

"Hey, up here." I shouted.

Every student turned to us. All of their faces were visible to us. All of their faces were visible to our guns, which we were firing at a rapid rate, trying to get every students face in the shot as much as possible. Many students were shouting, or attempting to cover their faces, or getting their phones out to try and record us. It was too late, however. Below us, I could hear many simultaneous "ding" noises, which signified everyone below us being sent an email by the school. I felt my own phone vibrate in my pocket. Taking it out, the email read:

Congratulations. The traitors win. The results for this exam are as follows:

Traitors: 420 class points earned for class 1-C (I didn't even intend that result to happen. Nice )
Traitors: 2,012,000 private points awarded.
The current class standings are as follows:

Class 1-A: 1192
Class 1-B: 0625
Class 1-C: 1270
Class 1-D: 0095

That concludes the "traitor" special exam. Please enjoy the remaining 4 days of the cruise.

Kushida pov

How fucking dare he. He has the sheer balls to punch me in the stomach on the elevator, and now this?
Mark my words Ayanokouji. Tonight, you'll pay.

Authors notes
1310 words
Ok, all done with that very quick exam. The school intended it to take longer, but Ayanokouji, like the god he is, wanted to enjoy his vacation, not spend it sneaking around. I'm aware of how lazy this was, but Ayanokouji is just as lazy, but cooler.
Class C will be promoted to class A in the new term. .
Sorry for only one upload today. I was at a party .
Not much else to say.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

My apologies

Last chapter was a proper stinker. Just read it again. It's like post-nut clarity. I mean, the events in the chapter are what happened, but it's still pretty shit. Buuut...
It leaves more time for some none-exam stuff on the ship :D.
Also...
Author-san promised that they would do a lemon chapter after 10k reads but...I am too shy. I am very sorry . I cannot write such filth.

Ichinose also apologise on my behalf.

But wow. 10k reads in just over a week of the fic starting. I don't know if that's impressive, but I think that's pretty good going.

Sorry for the absence of lemons. I never thought we'd hit 10k.

I also got the platinum trophy for Elden ring today. If you have all 9 legendary armaments, but the trophy won't pop, just put all the armaments in your chest and pick them back up. It should do it.

Sorry for last chapters stinker. I'm not as good writing original content, as I am altering existing content.

I hope next chapter is better.

Thank you all for reading this fic.

Arc 3 chapter 4: blackout

We were in the most expensive restaurant on the ship, celebrating the outcome of the past few exams. In the history of this school, not one class had risen to class A so quickly.

It wasn't just the group, either. It was the entirety of class
1-C. The plates had just been cleared, and it was at this point that Ryuuen got up to make a speech, tapping his glass with his fork.

"Fellow classmates. I hope you're all enjoying yourselves."

There were a few cries of approval.

"Good. It was the school administrative that said we weren't deserving of 100% guarantee of further education and employment."

There were a few boos and hisses.

"Well. Who's laughing now? I'll tell you who: it's next terms class 1-A!"

The entire class cheered. A few of them hadn't quite realised the point totals yet, so for some it was a pleasant shock.

"And none of it would have been possible if not for people like Ayanokouji, or Shiina. Maybe even Kaneda." Ryuuen gestured to the 3 of us. Aside from Ryuuen, we were the strategic masterminds behind 1-C. But just because it was true didn't make it any less embarrassing to be singled out. I could tell that Shiina had the same feelings as me. As Ryuuen spoke, Shiina leaned in and whispered to me.

"You know, I didn't realise it before, but Ryuuen is...quite charismatic, isn't he? Charming, even?"

"Yes. I suppose he is."

As we were talking, something unexpected happened.

Hashimoto pov
Damn. How did I get involved with such a crazy bunch of people. All I did was side with the princess, and now I was in the bowels of a cruise ship, looking for the circuit breaker.

Just as I was about to give up, I saw it. I called the group to check that everyone was in place. They gave me the green light.

I opened the circuit breaker and, wearing rubber gloves, started ripping out wires. Sparks started to fly, and I had to get away before anyone saw me. Just then, the lights went off.

Good. The first phase of the plan was a success.

Ayanokouji pov
The lights went out. Immediately, I grabbed Shiina and went to the stage.

"Ryuuen? Ryuuen?" I called.

"I'm here, Ayanokouji." I followed the sound of Ryuuen's voice, and bumped into him.

"Text the chat. Tell them to come to the stage of the restaurant."

I turned my phone light on while he was doing that, revealing a panicked scene in front of me. My classmates were crawling over each other, trying to get to a lifeboat. Didn't they know that just because there was no lights didn't mean that the ship was sinking.

(Disclaimer: I don't know how the fuck boats work, but let's just assume that Ayanokouji is right.)

I then heard a noise behind me. Turning around, I managed to brace myself as a fist flew at my face. I couldn't make out who it was, but it was definitely a boy, and it wasn't powerful enough to be Kouenji, so I assumed it was Kanzaki.

I delivered a kick to his ribs, and then a punch to his throat. Credit to him, he managed to stay standing. I finished it with a roundhouse to his temple, knocking him out.

It was at this moment that I realised I had let go of Shiina's hand at some point.

Shiina pov
"Hello, Shiina." I heard Kushida whisper in my ear.

I turned around, and she slapped me in the face. I fell to the ground, clutching my cheek. It was so painful. Her strength belied her lithe arms.

"Awww. Is the widdle baby hurt?" She asked, mockingly. Her face had become like what I'd seen on the second day of the cruise.

"H-help me." I tried to shout, but only a hoarse whisper left my lips. Even if I had shouted, I don't think anyone would have heard me over all the commotion. I felt tears in my eyes, and I could feel my body stiffening up out of fear.

"I've seen the way you are around Ayanokouji. I bet you like him, don't you." Her grin grew wider.

"N-no. That's not..."

"Well. News flash, you little wannabe: Ayanokouji is mine. Not yours, and not that slut Kiryuuin's. He's mine, whether he likes it or not." Kushida was squatting next to me. Her skirt was rather short, so her crotch, clad in blue panties, was exposed to me. I wasn't an expert fighter, but I knew that the crotch was a weak point.

With all the might I could muster, I pulled my foot back and drove it right into her weak spot. Kushida yelped, and her eyes went out of focus. This was my chance, so I took it and ran.

"Oh, no you don't." Kushida had recovered. She yanked me by my collar, and my legs gave out underneath me. She had such a strong grip.

I was sprawled out on the floor, Kushida looming over me.

"Heh, good one. I didn't think you had it in you. Just for that, I'll make this quick." Kushida raised her foot over my face. I couldn't move, as her other foot was pinning me down by my hair.

Just as she was about to drive it directly onto my face, someone rugby-tackled her to the ground, and I could hear her being punched in the stomach, repeatedly.

"Don't. You. Dare. Touch. Shiina. You. Bitch." I was surprised at who had saved me.

It was our leader: Ryuuen Kakeru.

Ryuuen pov
I didn't feel bad about punching Kushida like this. If I hadn't caught her by surprise, she would have stomped on Shiina. I couldn't allow that to happen.

I punched her in the stomach again. And again. And again, until she managed to kick me off of her. I don't think she could fight anymore, so I went to check on Shiina.

"Are you OK, Shiina?" I asked.

"Y-yes. At least, I think so. Thank you for saving me, Ryuuen." Shiina blushed.

"It's no problem." I said, pulling her up.

Ayanokouji pov

The lights had come back on now, to reveal Kanzaki 'sleeping'. It seemed that he had too much to eat.

And I could see near Ryuuen and Shiina that Kushida was clutching her stomach. I hadn't noticed that she was with us. She must have eaten a bit of bad fish.

"Attention students: we are sorry for the sudden power failure. Backup generators will be used until the main circuit box is repaired. We are sorry for the inconvenience"

The announcement came over the ships PA system. It turned out that there had been some kind of power failure. Judging that Kushida and Kanzaki had come to us almost immediately afterwards probably meant that they had engineered this themselves. Interesting.

I checked to make sure everyone was ok. Outside of Shiina, who had a red mark on her cheek, everyone was ok. We had beaten their plan, once again.

Timeskip
It was the last day of the cruise. I had my luggage, and I was at the front deck of the ship. I could see the dock, where there were a small congregation of students. I tried to find a certain platinum blonde, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw Fuka.

It had been 2 weeks since I had seen her, and I was struggling. It was hard for a boy my age to be away from the outlet that someone like Fuka provided for me, especially after I had gotten used to it over the past few months.

I waved at her, and I could see her waving back.

Once I had gotten off the ship, I immediately made my way towards her. Once I had reached her, I hugged her, and kissed her on her soft lips.

"Mhm. Hello, Kiyotaka. It looks like you missed me." She said, smiling.

"Yes, I definitely did. It's so good to be back, here with you." I kept hold of her slim waist. The usual boys gave me their usual death stares, but I didn't care. All I wanted to do was be with Fuka right now.

Authors notes
1400 words
Quick addendum to the apology in last chapter. I didn't know that people liked how the exam ended.
I think this was a good chapter. To be honest, I never liked the cruise arc. All it did was introduce Karuizawa as a person and not just as a side character. And since this fic is dedicated to queen Fuka, I didn't really see the need to carry the arc on for that long.
Summer break next. Be prepared for some slice of life.
From now on, I'll probably be doing a max of 2 chapters a day. I'll always do at least 1 upload a day, unless I actually can't.
I'm so sorry about doing that to Shiina. Just wanted to remind you that Kushida is a yandere. Any girl who so much as looks at Ayanokouji is dead to her .
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Summer part 1: summer conspiracies

At most high schools, a class will have a class representative, either elected by the students or chosen by the teachers. That class representative is more often than not a member of the student council.

At this high school, ANHS, however, you were the leader because you were either the best, or you were the most popular. In some cases, you were the leader because you were willing and able to do whatever it takes to get to class A.

In most years, all the classes have a clear leader: someone who has taken control of the class. It didn't matter how they did it, whether they used violence, or charm.

Class 1-D had no clear leader, rather an assortment of key figures, such as Kikyou Kushida, Horikita Suzune and Hirata Yousuke, among a few others. The more central figures you have in your class that don't fall under the same leader, the weaker the class was.

That was why our class, class 1-C, was the strongest. Our leader, Ryuuen Kakeru, had taken control of the class on the first day. Although many people in class C could have been leaders, like Albert or maybe Kaneda, they didn't take the chance to establish themselves. That was why Ryuuen was our leader.

The counterpart to us was class 1-B. They had a leader to be sure, Ichinose Honami, and she acted as a voice for the class. She was also a member of the student council, which only solidified her position as leader. Her right hand was Kanzaki Ryuuji, a shrewd and cunning individual on par with some of the second or third years. This class had unanimously picked them to lead their class.

But what happened when too many people wanted to be the leader of their class? That class would inevitably be weakened, especially in a special exam, the like the school holds at various points. Class 1-A was one such class.

Officially, class A had 2 different leaders, with 2 different ideologies: Katsuragi Kouhei, who was in favour of strengthening their own class' position by gaining more points, and Sakayanagi Arisu, who was in favour of defeating the other classes by making us lose points. This was a simple question of defence or offence. Behind the scenes, it was Sakayanagi who called the shots. Her intellect was a once in a generation talent, and Katsuragi couldn't match her.

If Katsuragi were to lead his class, his class wouldn't be as strong as it would with Sakayanagi at the helm. However, Katsuragi's pride wouldn't let him back down, and he would still try to be the leader of class 1-A, dooming the class as a result.

Which is why I was on my way to see him. I had heard that he couldn't get his sister a birthday present, as outside contact wasn't allowed. If I were to get his parcel to his sister, he would conspire with me. At least I hoped so.

I saw the bald man in question, and went to greet him.

"Good morning, Katsuragi."

"Yes? Oh, it's you. The one from the traitor exam." Katsuragi deflated slightly when he saw who it was. He, like all the other students in that exam, had fallen for my extremely simple scheme, losing his class 100 points as a result. If Sakayanagi was there, she would have realised that it would have been Mashima-sensei who made exam announcements, not Sakagami-sensei.

"Yes. I recently learned that you couldn't get an item off of campus. Is this true?" I asked.

"How did you learn that?"

"Does it matter?"

"No, I suppose not. Yes, it's true. I tried to appeal to the student council to let me post an item to a relative of mine, but they wouldn't allow it." Katsuragi admitted.

"What if I told you I knew how you could get that item to your relative?"

Katsuragi was immediately cautious. If I was sincere, he could get his present to his sister. But, if I had hidden intentions, I could drive a metaphorical dagger in to his back.

"I'm listening," he said, quietly.

"I have good relations with a certain few senpai's. One particularly beautiful second-year knows how to smuggle items in and out of school grounds." I offered.

"And how do I know you're not going to betray me? I don't know you very well, but you and Ryuuen have risen through the class ranks at a faster pace than any other in the history of this school." Katsuragi looked hopeful, but that just made him more cautious.

"That's simple: you don't know if I'm going to betray you. Just...think about it. Call me when you have an answer." I said, handing him a piece of paper with my phone number written on it.

I had no doubts he was going to call me.

Saturday, early morning
I woke up with Fuka's leg across my stomach. God, I loved those legs.

The reason for my abrupt awakening to a heavenly sight was the vibrations of my phone ringing on the bedside table. The caller ID said Katsuragi Kouhei.

I answered the phone.

"Can you guarantee my parcel will reach the person I want it to reach?" A voice asked.

"I can, if you comply with my terms."

After a brief pause, the call ended.

Fuka was starting to wake up.

"Fuka, you know how you said to me the other day that you knew how to get stuff of of campus?"

"Mhm." She answered, sleepily.

"Well then. Can you, perhaps, help poor Katsuragi's sister get her birthday present from her big brother?" I asked.

Fuka smiled.

"Well, I suppose if you ask me, I can't say no."

Saturday night
I had messaged Katsuragi the details for the meeting place and time: 23:00, at the southern seafront parallel to the dormitories. Just when I thought it was a no-show, the man himself turned up.

"Good evening." I greeted.

"Well? What are you going to do? Throw it in the ocean and hope it reaches its destination?" Katsuragi got straight to the point.

"Well, you'll see. In fact, I think I can hear the sound of your postman now. Listen." There was a faint rumbling in the distance, coming from out to sea. As the rumbling got closer, a small boat came in to view, and eventually docked next to us.

"Hey you. You're not Kiryuuin. Who are you?" The man on the boat said.

"Don't worry, I'm her friend. This man here wants an item taken off campus and posted to someone. Can you do it?" I asked.

"Hmm. Fine. We usually only do business with her, but I'll trust you. You have the package?" He asked.

"Y-yes. Here." Katsuragi said, handing him the package.

"Good. Tell Kiryuuin to tell us if it's not her making a drop next time, ok?" The man in the boat asked, steering the boat away.

"Don't worry. I'll remind her." I said, waving to the boat as it left.

"T-thank you, Ayanokouji. How can I ever repay you?" Katsuragi asked, bowing.

"Well. At the start of next term, you will continue to strive to be the leader of class 1-B. That is what you can do for me." I said, walking off. Katsuragi was too stunned to reply.

Authors notes
1231 words.
I intended this to be a really short chapter, but it turned out longer than expected.
I was planning on a collab between Katsuragi and class C, but I couldn't figure out how. I was just gonna copy paste the chapter from vol 4.5, but then I realised that relied quite heavily on Sudou. So I had to improvise.
Katsuragi Kouhei is now in the debit of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
Not much else to say.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Summer part 2: swimsuits. Lots of swimsuits.

It was the last day of summer. Tomorrow, I would officially be a student of class 1-A. Things were about to get serious.

But for now, it meant that there was 1 day left of relaxation and freedom. And I had some good plans, as Fuka had invited me to the pool. I was excited for swimming. And when I say swimming, I mean Fuka. And when I say Fuka, I mean Fuka in her swimsuit.

We met up at 08:30 outside the dormitories. She was wearing a sun hat and a dress.

"Hello Kiyotaka." She said, hugging me.

"Hello Fuka." I said back.

We went off to the swimming pool. Along the way, we came across Sudou, Ike and Yamauchi from class D. They gave me the stink eye for what happened on the island and the ship.

"Damn, Kiyotaka. I know you humiliated everyone on the ship, but they really can't get over it, huh?" Fuka said, loud enough for them to hear. This only made them angrier, but they kept walking. One thing that was odd about them was Sudou. He was carrying 2 bags, and one of them looked moderately heavy. For someone of Sudou's physique to have any trouble carrying something meant that it had to be pretty heavy. Interesting.

When I got to the changing rooms, it got even weirder. Yamauchi and Sudou had made some sort of barricade in front of Ike. If I remembered correctly, they were directly in front of the vent. I heard something get put inside the vent, and then the vent door clanged shut. Had they put something in the vent? Like a camera? No, that didn't make sense. Why would they want to watch the boys get changed? It would be more like them to put it in the girls room.

Perhaps they had a way of moving the camera through the vents. Come to think of it, I think I saw Ike in the electronics store looking at a remote controlled car the other day.

This was bad.

"Woah, talk about luxury. It's completely decked out."

The large pool facility, normally used for club activities and regular practice, looked completely different today. A number of students crowded the area, but food stalls were also everywhere. Snack and junk food were in abundance: hot dogs, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, and more.

Even weirder, upperclassmen seemed to be managing the stalls. There were all types, from serious students who worked hard without so much as a smile, to students who looked like they were having a blast. It reminded me of the special tests.

Whatever was going on, it certainly seemed festive.

If you wanted to attract positive attention from the people around you, you had to put in the work. Take academics, for example. If you were at the top of the class, or got the highest score in an exam, people paid attention to you. The same held true of you exhibited remarkable athleticism. But there were many ways to stand out, and one was simply by being attractive. Handsome men, beautiful women-it was easier for gorgeous people to attract attention than Star athletes or academic titans. You couldn't really deny that that special factor existed.

I didn't know how we compared to other schools, but a lot of people at this school were more attractive than average.

What would it be like if stunning looks went hand in hand with athletic prowess and a perfect mind? Someone who wasn't just cute and exceptionally stylish, but also academically brilliant. The result would be the girl who came out of the changing rooms now, clad in a rather revealing swimsuit.

"Eh Heh. You like it, Kiyo?" Fuka asked me. I realised later that that was the first time she had called me Kiyo. I wasn't bothered right now though. I was too busy admiring the view. Sure, I had seen her wearing less before, but something about the swimsuit just made it better.

"I love it" I said. I would have to be careful that my nose didn't start bleeding.

Just then, another girl came out of the changing rooms, this time turning the heads of many male students.

"Whew. This sure is a huge crowd, isn't it?" Ichinose, the leader of class 1-B came out of the changing rooms. Was she talking to me? We had never really spoken before, but I suppose it was natural for her to want to speak to me after what happened on the island and the cruise ship.

Nope, it turned out she was talking with one of her friends. That was a shame. I had wanted to talk to her for a while. In the coming conflict next term, someone like her would be necessary to avoid conflict between the 2 groups.

Fuka and I went to the sun beds, and laid down.

"Ah, Kiyo. Could you perhaps put the sunscreen on my back? I can't quite reach." Fuka asked. I knew for a fact that she was flexible enough to touch her back, but who was I to deny the queen? I rubbed the sunscreen into her back, and she let out a small giggle.

"Mhm, don't enjoy yourself too much. People will notice." She said. Jeez, that was embarrassing. Once again, I felt death stares from other male students. I didn't mind. I was happy right now. Nothing could ruin my mood.

"Heads up, Kiyo. We got company." Fuka said to me. I followed her gaze, and saw Kushida. Luckily, she wasn't focused on us, but it was doubtless that we'd interact at some point during the day. Damn. And, to make it worse, Kouenji and Kanzaki had just joined her. I had just realised how strong Kushida's feelings were for me, whether they were love or hatred or whatever didn't matter.

For her illusion to work, she needed to be friends with everyone, and not have a particular friendship group. She had made a friend group just to either kill me or make me her pet. She really felt strongly about me. Right, ok, now Sakayanagi was with them too. Could it get any worse?

I saw Ryuuen, Ibuki, Shiina and Albert walking out of the changing rooms. I hadn't realised they'd be here, but it was a nice coincidence. I waved them over.

"Sorry for bothering you." Said Ryuuen, approaching me. He understood that Fuka probably wanted to spend time with me.

Fuka quickly waved her hand. "Pfft, don't worry Ryuuen. It's the last day of summer vacation, after all." She smiled.

"Well, it's true that we only have a few opportunities to have a day like this. Hiyori really wanted to come out today." Huh, Ryuuen had called Shiina by her first name? How odd.

As Ryuuen and I chatted about nothing in particular, we heard increasingly loud cheers up ahead.

"Sounds like they're all fired up over something," Ryuuen said.

I raised my head to look. At the centre of the uproar was a huge splash. A person and a ball flew upward into the air. The person delivered a powerful, aggressive spike that sent the ball flying to the opponents side of the pool. Apparently, they were playing volleyball.

"Wow! They're really good!" Said Shiina.

There were 3 pools in the large facility, all currently being used for various activities and games. One pool was for standard swimming. Another was built to function like a lazy river with a current. The final pool was mainly geared toward activities and sports.

A large crowd of screaming girls surrounded the sports pool, in which students were playing a fierce game of volleyball. I'd never seen many of them before. The majority looked a little older than us. They were probably second or third-year students.

One male student, in particular, stood out.

"Tch, what a show off."

The object of Fuka's expressed annoyance was the same student I'd noticed. Nagumo Miyabi, the student council Vice President. At first glance, his slender form appeared delicate. Upon closer inspection, though, you saw his well defined abs. The way his blond hair swayed whenever he moved, and the composed expression on his face, caught the eye.

Apparently, this young man had stolen most of the female students' attention.

"Ugh, how annoying. I didn't want to have that guy blocking my view." Fuka said.

It was certainly annoying, as just then Kushida's group went over to watch him. That in itself wasn't annoying, but it was the fact that they all already seemed to be acquainted. That was worrying, as I'm pretty sure Nagumo hated me. Not quite as much as Kushida, but I'm pretty sure he hated me. If they had teamed up, that meant that they had a powerful student on their side. That was bad news.

He wasn't showered in attentional due to his appearance. I saw the sharp gleam in his eyes as his attention focused upward. He soared into the air to meet the ball that a teammate passed him.

Most of the onlookers went quiet, as though they'd forgotten to cheer. Everyone watched with bated breath. He shot the ball at a sharp angle and with high velocity. It assaulted the enemy team. The student who received the ball was clearly skilled, too. He responded quickly and dove to keep the ball in play.

Everyone screamed in unison as Nagumo scored a point. His physical abilities' superior nature was obvious. Looking at how developed the lower half of his body was, I guessed that he focused on a sport in which he used his legs. Was it Fuka that told me he was in the soccer club?

The game had finished, and Kushida's group went over to talk to him. That wasn't surprising, as I had thought they were in cahoots. What was more surprising was Ichinose going up to him. Then, it made sense. I had heard that the student council President had rejected her application to join the student council multiple times, but she still managed to get in. Perhaps it was Nagumo who accepted her application?

"Hey, Kiyo. Why don't we play some volleyball? With you, me, Ryuuen, Albert and Ibuki, we'll have 5 people. I suppose that'll do. I want to wipe the smug look off of Nagumo's face." Fuka said to me.

I looked at the others. "What do you reckon? You want to play?" I asked.

"Kukuku sure." Ryuuen smirked.

We went over to the volleyball pool.

"Hey, hey, Nagumo. Fancy a quick game?" Fuka shouted to Nagumo.

Nagumo paled slightly when he heard her voice, but turned around.

"Ah, Kiryuuin. And Ayanokouji. You think you can beat us? Heh, I suppose it's not fair for all us seniors to go up against a few first-years. You guys go, I'll play with Kushida and the others." He said. The people he was playing with before left, and the Kushida group joined him, as well as Ichinose.

All in all, they had Nagumo, Kushida, Kouenji, Kanzaki and Ichinose. 5 vs 5. Sakayanagi obviously couldn't play.

"Haha, let's all have fun, guys." Kushida giggled.

"Yeah. Do your best." Ichinose said.

"Hm. Let the game begin." Nagumo said, throwing the ball in the air.

Authors notes
1878 words
A few alterations from the ln.
The idiot trio has placed the camera in the vent. Kiyo saw them.
A volleyball game has begun between the Ayanokouji group and the Kushida group Nagumo's pawn.
Not much else to say
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Summer part 3: the best kind of reward.

It wasn't going well. We were losing the game 7-3.

"Kiyo. You ok, champ?" Fuka asked me.

"Yeah. To be honest, I don't have much reason to get competitive." I admitted.

Nagumo shouted something to us. He was probably making fun. We had only been winning so far because of Fuka and Albert, our star players.

"If we win..." Fuka came up to me and whispered in my ear.

"I'll sit on your face." She said.

(Nice meme reference )

Instantly, I felt a new energy in my limbs. This pressure was terrifying.

I gestured to Albert to let me serve. I threw the ball into the air, and smacked it with all my might at Nagumo's face. I didn't need to do that. I just thought Fuka would like it. Evidently, by the way she was clutching her stomach, doubled over with laughter, she did.

For the next 10 minutes, I played to the absolute best of my abilities. A lot was riding on this match. The score was now 15-7. We had won. I looked to Fuka, who nodded her head, which was a promise for our later activities.

I looked at the defeated team. Nagumo was trying not to sulk, and Ichinose was trying to comfort him, and cleaning up his bloody nose. Kanzaki and Kushida just looked at me. 'How could we have expected any less than perfection from a man like him?' Their expressions seemed to say.

Shiina was cheering us from the sidelines. She was jumping up and down while clapping. Since she was in a swimsuit, this made certain parts of her move around a lot. Ryuuen had to crack his knuckles at Ike and Yamauchi to get them to stop gawking.

We went back to the changing rooms, where Ike, Yamauchi and Sudou were at the vent again. Too bad for them that I'd already told Fuka about it, and she had taken the memory card out. At least, she should've by now.

Fuka pov
"Well done on that game, Kiryuuin-san." Kushida said to me.

"Sweetie, when it's just us two, you don't have to be fake. There's no one else in the changing rooms right now." I said.

She looked around. She hadn't realised that we were alone.

"Well. Good for you. How did you get him to beat us?" She asked, all cheeriness gone.

"I don't know what you mean." I said, obliviously.

"Don't play dumb with me you fucking bitch. I bet you offered yourself, didn't you? Yeah, you're just a little slut, right? Well, Kiyotaka loves me. Why would he love you when he could have me. ME!" She had pinned me to the lockers. Rather, I'd let her pin me to the lockers. I wasn't afraid of some psycho girl.

"Hm. If he loves you so much, then why did you stab him that time." I asked.

"Th-that...he wasn't listening to me. I had to. He had you whispering in his ear, I had to snap him out of it, to bring him back to m-me." Her eyes had gone empty now, not even full of malice.

I had been planning for this moment ever since Kiyo came to my room with a bandaged hand that night. From out of my pocket, I pulled a small cooking knife. Kushida hadn't realised what I was doing yet, so she was still rambling incessantly.

"This is payback." I said, stabbing her hand, mirroring what she had done to Kiyo. She screamed in pain, dropping to the floor. I tugged at her hair, bringing her face up to mine.

"Kiyo can love whoever the fuck he wants to. Right now, though, I'm fairly certain he and I are what you would call 'in love.'" This drove Kushida over the edge. She was crying and screaming and shouting. Damn, her voice was like nails on a chalkboard. I slapped her face to shut her up.

"Listen. No one is gonna hear about this. Am I right?" I asked her. She nodded.

"Good. You should call one of your little friends to help you. Here are some bandages." I tossed a bundle of bandages on her.

"Try not to die." I said, walking out of the changing rooms.

Ayanokouji pov
I saw Fuka walking towards me.

"Did you do it?" I asked.

"Yeah. Here is the memory card. You were right, it was a toy car." She gave me the card. I noticed she had blood on her hands.

"Oh, the blood? Don't worry, just a little bit of business with Kushida." She said.

Shit. Things had escalated.

"Right, let's get out of here then." I pulled her close, heading back to the dormitories.

When we got back to my room, I ordered her to take a shower to wash away any blood. I cursed myself. She had obviously done this out of revenge. If I hadn't been stabbed, then she wouldn't have stabbed Kushida. I was confident that Kushida wouldn't go to the teachers, at least. I still had that evidence of her.

I heard the bathroom door open behind me.

"Good. Finally. Let me see the kni-" I paused, as before me I saw Fuka dressed in nothing except a towel covering her breasts and lower body, held up by her mouth.

"Well now. What was it I promised you for winning the match? Oh yes, that was it." When she spoke, the towel dropped, revealing what had been covered. I was lost for words. She pushed me onto the bed.

"I promised to sit on your face." She said, smiling.

Kushida pov
I was in so much pain. I almost felt bad about doing that to Ayanokouji on the rooftop that time. It was absolute fucking agony.

"Deep breaths." Kanzaki said. He had helped me get to my room without being noticed. I had lost a lot of blood, and needed to rest. At least I had had the decency to leave the knife in Ayanokouji's hand.

Kanzaki had stitched up my hand, doing a good enough job that I would have thought he was a surgeon.

"Heh. We got medical training in that place, didn't we?" I said, weakly.

"Yes. But it came at a steep price." He said.

That was true. By the time I was ten, I could match high schoolers. But now, thinking about my sanity, I wondered if it was worth it.

Whether it was worth it didn't matter. I have these skills, so I should use them. I should use it to bring an end to that place. But, even with the group now, we couldn't beat him.

"K-Kanzaki. We need more people on our side." I said.

"You're right. We can't let that place continue." He said.

Ah. I forgot, most people in the group were in the group because they wanted to destroy the white room. But not me. I was their because I wanted Kiyotaka to be mine. But he wasn't mine. He was Kiryuuin's. I had to remove her from the equation entirely if I wanted him.

Authors notes
1184 words
Volleyball match done and dusted.
We'll be starting the sports festival arc next.
Class 1-C has now become class 1-A.
Class 1-A has now become class 1-B.
Class 1-B has now become class 1-C. Kiyotaka and co. beat the Kushida group at volleyball.
Fuka stabbed Kushida in the hand.
Not much else to say really.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 4 chapter 1: festival announcement

Our afternoon class became a two-hour homeroom period. When class A's teacher, Sakagami-sensei, arrived, he began to instruct us in a detached, matter-of-fact manner.

"It seems that you have risen to class 1-A, students. Well done. Do not get complacent, however. The other classes are still vying for your position as of right now."

That was right. We had started in April as class 1-C. Now, in September, we were now class 1-A. It was a feat that Nagumo Miyabi of class 2-A had managed when he was a first-year, although he started in 1-B.

"Starting today, classes begin again. However, from September to the beginning of October, we will be holding more physical education classes to prepare for the school sports festival. We'll distribute new weekly schedules, so please review them carefully. In addition to new schedules, we'll also distribute materials related to the festival. Students seated at the front, please pass handouts to those behind you, and so on."

The moment Sakagami-sensei uttered the words "sports festival" the class erupted in an uproar. Some students were undoubtedly excited by the prospect, but just as many loathed the idea of anything focused on physical exertion.

"The details on the printed handouts can be found on the school homepage as well. Please refer to them if necessary."

"Sensei, is this festival another of the special exams?" Ryuuen asked.

"You're free to interpret this however you wish. In any case, this event will massively impact each and every class."

The students who loathes exercise continued grumbling. At an ordinary school, you could find a way to sit out or skip a sports festival. If this festival affected the entire class's fate, however, then even the least athletic of us had to participate.

On the other hand, some students were really fired up about this. Particularly those who, like Albert, were confident in their athletic abilities. This was probably the first exam that would let them contribute to the class meaningfully.

"Some people may have noticed this already, but for this year's festival, we're going to divide all the students across all grade levels into two groups and have them compete against each other. You in class A are assigned to the red team. Class D is also assigned to the red team, so they will compete alongside you," explained Sakagami-sensei.

Classes B and C were assigned to the white team. It would be red versus white.

"Woah! Seriously?! We're really doing that?" Shouted Kondou. He'd probably assumed that this exam would put all four classes against one another, same as always. This sports festival required a strategy that we hadn't yet seen before. It demanded cooperation between students from different years.

"First, let's view the sports festival's outcomes. I don't want to have to explain them to you repeatedly, so please listen carefully," said Sakagami-sensei.

He went over the text on the printout, tapping the paper forcefully to indicate where to look. Still listening, I lower my eyes to the handout.

Sports festival rules and team division
The sports festival divides all students, across all grade levels, into two teams: Red and White. The breakdown goes as follows: classes A and D are on the red team, classes B and C are on the white team.

Point allocation for all competitors
(individual competitions)
Points will be allocated as follows: first place will be awarded fifteen points, second place will be awarded twelve points, third place will be awarded ten points, and fourth place will be awarded eight points.

One point will be deducted for coming in fifth place, and one additional point will be subtracted for each place below that.

(During a team competition, the winning team will be awarded 500 points)

Point allocation for recommended competitors

Points will be allocated as follows: first place will be awarded fifty points, second place will be awarded thirty points, third place will be awarded fifteen points, and fourth place will be awarded ten points.

Two points will be deducted for coming in fifth place, and two additional points will be subtracted for each place below that.

(The final competition, the relay race, will offer three times the point values.)

Red vs. White team outcome

After reviewing the combined overall scores for each class, 100 class points will be deducted from the first-, second-, and third-year batches of the two classes on the losing team.

The effect of ranking by grade level

Fifty class points will be awarded to the class that scores highest in each of the three grade levels. Classes that achieve second place in their grade level will not see any changes to their class point totals. Classes that achieve third place in their grade will have 50 points deducted, and classes that achieve fourth place will have 100 points deducted.

"How many points does the winning team get? That doesn't appear to be written anywhere," said Ryuuen.

Sakagami-sensei's response was cruel and brief. "None. Their reward will be not having any points deducted. Please keep in mind that points are awarded and subtracted, not just by team, but on a class-by-class basis. So, even if the red team wins, you'll still be hit by the 100-point penalty if class A holds the lowest combined score overall."

So we didn't just need to worry about our team winning. Suppose we scored highest among the first-year classes, and received fifty points? If we lost to the white team, we'd still get a 100-point penalty. If we ended up taking fourth place among the first-year classes on top of being the losing team, we'd be penalised 200 points in total.

Individual competition rewards
(may be applied to the next midterm exam)

Students who achieve first place in an individual competition will be awarded either 5000 private points, or the score equivalent of three points on a written test.
(In the event that a student accepts the test points, they will not be allowed to give those test points to another student.)

Students who achieve second place in an individual competition will be awarded either 3000 private points, or the score equivalent of two points on a written test.
(In the event that a student accepts the test points, they will not be allowed to give those test points to another student.)

Students who achieve third place in an individual competition will be awarded either 1000 private points, or the score equivalent of one point on a written test.
(In the event that a student accepts the test points, they will not be allowed to give those test points to another student.)

Students who score lowest in an individual competition will have 1000 private points deducted from their total.
(In the event that a student has less that 1000 points, they will instead receive a one-point penalty on a written exam.)

Regarding rule violations/foul play

Read and comply with every competition's rules. Those who violate the rules will be disqualified. Anyone engaging in foul play may be forced to withdraw from the festival. In such cases, the school may render all previously awarded points invalid.

MVP reward

The student who receives the highest total score across all competitions will be awarded 100,000 private points.

MVP rewards for each individual grade level

The three students from each grade level who receive their grade's highest total score across all competitions will be awarded 10,000 private points.

At first glance, this sports festival appeared worse than previous tests we'd taken, but there was a wide range of potential benefits. We needed to pay close attention to the risks and rewards of the individual competitions. Information that hadn't been previously disclosed could trip us up.

After all competitions end, the school will calculate each students point total and assign penalties to the ten lowest-scoring students in each year. The exact nature of the penalties will vary on grade level, so please consult the homeroom instructor in charge.

That was a major red flag.

"Sensei, what kind of penalty would we get?"

"For you first-year students, the penalty would be a point deduction on your next written exam. The ten students with the lowest overall scores will each receive a deduction of ten points," Sakagami-sensei explained.

Authors notes
1393 words
Pretty much taken straight from the light novel.
Sorry for the late upload, I was doing mega work at school.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 4 chapter 2: sports festival announcement (part 2)

"The ten students who score the lowest overall scores will receive a deduction of ten points," Sakagami-sensei explained.

Now that we'd heard the rules, it was time to look at the different kinds of events in this sports festival. They were divided into two categories, "all participants" and "recommended participants." "All participants" was exactly what it sounded like: an event that literally all the students in a class participated in. Individual events like the 100-meter dash fell into that category, as did group events like the tug-of-war.

Meanwhile, only certain select students would participate in "recommended participant" events. The word "recommended" implied that a person was nominated, but a student could put themselves forward if the rest of their class agreed. A single person could also participate in a competition meant for multiple people. Events in the "recommended participants" category included the scavenger hunt, the mixed-gender three-legged race, and the 1200-meter relay race.

Point gains and losses were determined purely by the event results, but the combination of team competitions and individual competitions made the festival tricky. We had to be wary of our enemies, classes B and C, but also mindful of our allies, class D. Class A and class D would be helping each other, but to get first place in the combined scores across every grade level, our own class needed to take the top spots in multiple competitions.

"Details of the events are noted in your handouts. There will be no changes whatsoever," said Sakagami-sensei.

"Ugh, this is crazy hard, though! This is on a completely different level than junior high!"

Events for all participants

100-metre dash
Hurdle race
Capture the flag (boys only)
Ball toss (girls only)
Tug-of-war (separate events for boys and girls)
Obstacle course race
Three-legged race
Cavalry battle
200-meter dash

Events for recommended participants

Scavenger Hunt
Four-way tug-of-war
Three-legged race (mixed boys and girls)
1200-meter relay race (mixed grade level, all three years)

Thirteen competitions in total-a grand lineup. The numbers indicated the order the competitions would be held in. There was some dissatisfaction over the large number of events for all participants.

"There would normally be, like, three or four events for a single person! Besides, is it even possible to do all these in one day?"

"I appreciate your concern, but the school already considered that," answered Sakagami-sensei. "No events require specific skills, such as cheerleading, dancing, or coordinated group gymnastics. The sports festival will be a thorough test of your general physical ability and stamina."

The unathletic students' resistance was in vain. Sakagami-sensei had anticipated their every complaint.

"Another important thing to note is the participation table. Fill it with the order you'll participate in, and I will submit it to the school on your behalf. I don't imagine any junior high has adopted a system like this, so do be extra careful not to make any mistakes. Your class must come to a consensus on everything to do with the sports festival, such as which students will participate in which events. No changes will be allowed once the deadline passes, no matter the reason. The submission window opens one week prior to the festival and ends at 17:00 on the day before it begins. If by some chance you miss the submission window, you will be assigned randomly. So, be careful."

"Excuse me, but I have a question. Is that all right, Sakagami-sensei?" I asked, raising my hand.

"Feel free," replied Sakagami-sensei. He smiled thinly at me.

Both Ryuuen and I understood how this school worked. The more questions we asked now, the better we'd understand later. Better safe than sorry.

"I realise that no further changes will be accepted once the submission window closes. However, in the event of someone's absence, what do we do? In the case of an individual competition, I assume that would be treated as an absence, but for group competitions? Especially in games like the cavalry battle and the three-legged race, we might not be able to compete at all if one important person is missing."

"Should you fall short of the minimum required number of people for competitions for all participants, you will be deemed unable to continue and disqualified," replied Sakagami-sensei. "For recommended-participant events, however, you are permitted to arrange a substitute-for a price. To establish a substitute, you must offer points as compensation."

We'd have to pay to prove we weren't cheating, huh?

"While we're on the subject... if an athlete's health suffers, or they're severely injured, will it be possible for that person to continue participating if they wish? Or will they have to stop and see a doctor?" I asked.

"We leave that to the students to decide for themselves. Knowing your own limits will be an indispensable skill in the working world. For instance, you can't simply take a day off just because you have a fever on the date of an extremely important conference," replied Sakagami-sensei.

So, personal responsibility might trump personal health if the stakes were high enough.

"However, if someone's health gets truly poor, then they'll have to drop out," Sakagami-sensei added.

"I understand. Well, how many points are needed to assign a substitute?" I asked.

"A substitute requires 100,000 private points per competition. That's expensive or cheap, depending on your resources," replied Sakagami-sensei.

"I see. Thank you very much."

That was affordable, since we were getting more points than we did at the start of the year.

"If there are no more questions, we'll wrap up," said Sakagami-sensei.

He looked around the classroom. Students glanced at one another doubtfully and whispered, but made no effort to speak up. This was likely our last chance.

"Next period's location will move to gymnasium 1, where you'll meet with students from other classes and grade levels. That is all," Sakagami-sensei said flatly. He checked the time. "You have twenty minutes of homeroom remaining. You're free to use that time however you wish."

With the teachers permission, Ryuuen walked up to the teachers podium.

"Listen up class. From now on, we are going to train every day. I trust those who know how to exercise to be able to train themselves accordingly. I also expect them to help train the less athletic students. If you're not confident in your physical abilities, one of the fitter students will train you," he said.

A good plan. The most notably athletic students were me, Albert, Ibuki, Komiya, Kondou and Ishizaki. There were a few of the class who were extremely underprepared for this festival, such as Kaneda and Shiina.

Since I was one of the more athletic students, I would probably end up stuck tutoring someone. What a bother.

"Ok, you can all do whatever you want now. Ayanokouji, can I speak with you?" Ryuuen asked.

"Sure." I went over to talk to him.

When I got there, he was waiting expectantly.

"Well? What's your plan?" Ryuuen asked.

"What do you mean? My plan is just to try and get through the festival without pulling a muscle or something," I replied.

"Tch," Ryuuen clicked his tongue, looking down in frustration. "Ok. I trust that's not all you're going to do, but I'll wait to be surprised. I'd prefer you tell me what you're going to do in advance, but I'm fine with this."

Wow. Ryuuen could read me like an open book. I did have a plan.

Authors notes
1261 words
Pretty much straight from the ln again.
The class is going to train every day.
Ayanokouji has a plan.
I just rewatched shrek the final chapter. It always makes me cry .
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 4 chapter 3: conspiracies

We had just finished todays training. I had trained with Kaneda. He was absolutely unbelievably scrawny; there was no muscle on him at all. I wouldn't be surprised if he scored dead last in the whole tournament.

That didn't bother me though. He could handle the penalty of ten points off of an exam.

I was halfway to the dormitories now. I decided to call someone.

I dialled the number, and let it ring. They picked up fairly quick.

"Hello? Who is this?" She asked.

"Is this Ichinose Honami?" I asked.

"Yeah. Ayanokouji-kun, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me." I was surprised she knew who I was just by listening to my voice, even though we'd only talked a few times briefly before.

"Oh, well then, what did you need?" She asked.

"I need the contact information of 2 girls you know. Don't worry, it's not for anything weird, I just wanted to talk to them about something that happened a little while ago." I decided not to beat around the bush and get straight to the point.

"Hm. That's a pretty strange request, Ayanokouji-kun. You'll forgive me if I ask why, right?" She was concerned, which was fair enough.

"I understand your concern. I will only be giving them a phone call, nothing else. I just need to check something with them. I hope you understand, but it's a private matter." I explained.

"Hmm. I suppose there shouldn't be any problem with that. After all, I don't think you're the type to be a creeper or anything. Fine, who did you want?"

"Shiranami Chihiro of class 1-C, and Chiaki Matsushita of class 1-D."

Timeskip

I texted Shiranami and Matsushita.

Hello. I am a fellow student trying to look out for our class. I would like to meet with you. I have a plan for the upcoming sports festival that I need your help with. I understand if you're hesitant, but I really need your help. I hope you can forgive me. By the way, if you're wondering how I got your contact information, Ichinose gave it to me. Please meet me behind the dorms at 20:00 tomorrow. I understand if you decide not to come.

Now, I just had to cross my fingers and hope they would turn up. I was confident that Chihiro would, at least.

Timeskip
20:00 the next day

I was waiting for Chihiro and Matsushita. I waited for 10 minutes, and I decided they weren't coming. As I went to leave, I heard a voice.

"U-um, excuse me? Did you want to meet me here?"

I turned around, and I saw Chihiro.

"Um. You're not in my class. Why did you call me here?" Another voice came from the distance. I could make out Chiaki Matsushita walking towards me.

"Ah, good, you're both here. First, I want to say thank you for trusting me. You won't regret this." I said.

"What did you want?" Matsushita asked.

"I'll be blunt. I want your class participation tables. Please, don't leave." Matsushita was about to walk off, and then stopped.

"Do you know how crazy that sounds?" She asked.

"Yes, which is why I'll explain. Matsushita, you will give me the participation table for class 1-D, and submit another table that I have made before the competition. If you do this, I can guarantee you a spot in my class." I offered.

She looked stunned. She thought for a moment.

"Hm. On one condition." She said.

"Fine."

"In at least one event that I participate in, you will make sure I win by matching me up with unathletic students. And you will sign a contract allowing me to be transferred to your class." She said.

Currently, 2 students wanted to transfer to class 1-A: Katsuragi and Matsushita. 40,000,000 private points would be required for this. 820,000 private points were going into the class bank each month, which meant it would take nearly 40 months to transfer both students. We would have to increase our point gain, but it wasn't impossible.

"Fine. I will see to it. You have my word I will transfer you to class 1-A if you give me the participation table for class 1-D and replace it with a participation table I create, in which I will give you an advantage in one competition." I said, while Matsushita recorded me. Once she was satisfied, she turned around and left.

"Ayanokouji. I expect this festival to be entertaining." She said, giggling a little.

I turned towards Chihiro.

"Um, I w-won't betray my class, if that's what you're wondering." She said, defiantly.

"Of course you won't. But what if I said I could get Ichinose to notice you?" I said.

She froze. Unbeknownst to her, I had seen Chihiro looking at Ichinose strangely multiple times. I had deduced it was some kind of attraction, because she sometimes didn't look unlike Kushida whenever she did something weird to me.

She looked down. I could only see her mouth, which had turned into a slight scowl.

"How...did you know?" She said.

"That doesn't matter. Will you do it?" I asked.

She looked at me with dead eyes. For a moment, I thought I had found another white room subject, but no. Our eyes were similar, but were forced upon us because of the trauma we had endured. Chihiro's gaze was born of a deep and dark obsession, probably an infatuation with Ichinose.

"Yes. I'll do it. But if you tell anyone, you'll be sorry." She said, walking away. She didn't look back. I didn't even need to bribe her with a spot in class A.

A few moments passed, and my next meeting arrived.

"Ayanokouji. Are we alone?" Said Katsuragi.

"Yes, don't worry." I calmed him.

"Good. What did you want then?" He asked.

"I want you to give me the participation table for class A, and then submit another table that I create. If you comply, your spot in class A is secured." I said.

He thought for a moment.

"Ok, I will. But answer me this first: if you're going to submit a table of your own, why do you need the old one?" He asked.

"By seeing the old table, I'll know which students your class thinks are strong in the competition you put them down for. Then, I'll know which students to try and keep out of the competition." I explained.

Katsuragi, seemingly satisfied, walked off.

"You're certainly very intelligent, Ayanokouji. I wonder why you weren't placed in class A from the beginning."

That was something I wondered sometimes. There were students in class A with worse social skills, athletic prowess or academic ability than me, even when I was pretending to be less than I was. A prime example was Yahiko Tatsuka. That kid rivalled Yamauchi of class D in uselessness, and yet he was judged to be class A material. This school certainly had a strange way of sorting students, one that I think I would never figure out.

Authors notes
1179 words.
Quick update, I know. Please, keep your pants dry.
Interclass conspiracies
Introduction of Matsushita, the princess herself.
I was reading through the school database page on the wiki, and I noticed something strange about Chihiro's report, which is why I picked her as the class B traitor.
Katsuragi is already in with Ayanokouji. This is just part of the deal they'd already established
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 4 chapter 4: recollections of the past

We began making comprehensive preparations for the sports festival in earnest now. Training sessions would be getting harder, since the festival was only one month away. The teachers said we could use the weekly two-hour homeroom period as we wished, and Ryuuen, the leader of class A, took the initiative. Sakagami-sensei moved toward the back of the classroom and didn't say a word. He probably intended to watch.

"Before we bump up the difficulty for our practice sessions, we need to decide the order we'll participate in, and who will enter the recommended-participant competitions. I've been thinking about this for a while," said Ryuuen.

"Okay, but when you say 'decide,' how exactly are we going to decide?"

"Good question. The answer is: ability. The more physically able students in the class will be nominated for all recommended events. I've drafted this participation table:

Scavenger hunt: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka

Four-way tug-of-war: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Ryuuen Kakeru, Albert Yamada, Ishizaki Daichi, Ibuki Mio, Kyogou Komiya, Reo Kondou.

Three-legged race (mixed boys and girls): Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Ibuki Mio.

1200-meter relay race: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Ryuuen Kakeru, Ibuki Mio, Albert Yamada, Kyogou Komiya, Reo Kondou.

In the 1200-meter relay race, each of us would have to run roughly 170 metres. I wasn't too worried for myself, but I wondered if the others would be up for it. I noticed that I had been picked for every recommended event. What a pain.

That day, I received an email from all three of my spies. I now had all the participation tables from all 4 classes, and I would be able to manipulate them as I wish. I looked over each table. Classes C and D had gone for a more "volunteer" approach, where students could participate even if they weren't athletically gifted. Not much had to change with those tables. I put Matsushita down for the scavenger hunt, and made sure to put unathletic students there in classes B and C too.

The class B participation table was the only one other than our own that looked professional. All the students who were participating were actually athletic, or at least were physically fit. That would need quite a few changes before the festival.

With everyone working hard, the days passed quickly. Finally, only one week was left until the sports festival. We handed our participation table in to Sakagami-sensei. Either Ryuuen or I would be sure to check it every day to make sure it hadn't been changed. I couldn't have people playing my own strategy against me.

I met up with Matsushita that day to confirm everything with her.

"You will be participating in the scavenger hunt. This event is based on luck, but I can guarantee you will at least get third place." I said.

"Hmm. I suppose I can't ask for much better. Do you have the new participation table?" She asked.

I handed her the participation table I had prepared for her to give to her homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei, the day before the festival began.

"Good. I'll see you around, Ayanokouji-kun." She said.

"Yeah, bye." I waved her off.

The reason I had picked Matsushita as a pawn in class D was because I could tell she was smart. I reckon she was a match for some people in class B. She was also athletically above average. She was almost like me, in the way that she kept her talents hidden, but she did a better job than me. At first, I had thought she was an ex white room student, but I quickly found out that she wasn't.

It was strange, really, how many people affiliated with the white room had come to this school. There was Sakayanagi and Kouenji who only knew about the place, and Kushida, Kanzaki and I who had been there. Although, now that I think about it, it wasn't that strange. The white room produced generational talents. Even if I was the only one still in my generation, Kushida and Kanzaki were still far above average, which is why they'd been accepted into this school.

I felt sorry for them. Their parents had left them to the white room. My parents never "left" per se, but my father wasn't exactly a role model for what a parent should be. I never knew my mother, either. I hadn't even seen a picture of her before.

As I was walking along absentmindedly, I bumped into someone. That someone had an extremely soft chest, I noticed.

"Oh, Ayanokouji-kun. Hello, how are you?" Ichinose said to me, brushing the strawberry blond hair off of her face.

"Ah, I'm fine. Sorry for bumping into you." I apologised.

"Haha, don't be. It's probably fate, or something like that." She said.

"Fate? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, when two people randomly bump into each other, it's usually considered to be the start of something good." She said.

"Ah, I see. Well, sorry to bother you, then." I said, walking off.

"Wait, Ayanokouji-kun...you don't look so good. Are you ok?" She asked.

What did she mean by that? I suppose it was probably due to the melancholy I had been feeling before.

"Oh, it's, umm...it's nothing. Just thinking about my parents, is all." I said. I wasn't exactly lying.

"Oh, do you miss them?" She asked.

"Well...not really. I don't miss my dad, and I never really knew my mother." I admitted.

"Oh, that's too bad. I never knew my father either. I suppose we're like two sides of a coin, eh, Ayanokouji-kun?" She managed to find the bright side of the situation, as always.

"Hah, I suppose you're right."

"Hm. Yes, well. It's been good talking to you, Ayanokouji-kun. I'll see you at the sports festival." She waved goodbye.

"Bye, Ichinose." I waved back.

I don't know why, but I felt a strange feeling whenever I was around Ichinose. It wasn't the same as love, I don't think. At least, not the same type of love I felt for Fuka. It was weird, like I had known her before. I don't think she was in the white room. I got the feeling that she was genuinely nice and happy, unlike Kushida. It was so strange, like I had a connection with her, but couldn't quite grasp it.

Flashback, unknown pov
My father had taken me to a new place. A "new environment" he called it. I didn't really know what that meant, but he took nii-san with me as well. I don't know where mom was, but I was excited to spend time with my dad. He was always away from home, and rarely came back to see us.

I looked to dad, and then to my twin brother. They both looked exactly the same. They both looked exactly the same. They had the same hair and eyes, and even the same bored expression.

We arrived at the place dad had mentioned. It was so cool. Everything was white. There were weird machines and windows everywhere, but I didn't care. It looked amazing. Me and nii-san could play here for hours. In one of the rooms, I saw that there were other children too. I could see a boy with violet hair, and a girl with crimson eyes. They both looked like they were having fun, playing with all the equipment and toys that were laid out for them.

We spent the rest of they day in there, with the other children. I was so tired by the end, I was practically half-asleep. I was directed to a small bedroom. It was really small, and didn't have much to it. There was a toilet and a shower there, as well as a bed, but not much else.

Just then, the door behind me opened. It was mom. That was weird, dad said we wouldn't be seeing her for a while. I leapt up to give her a big hug, and she scooped me up in her arms, whispering in my ear to stay quiet. I did as I was told.

She carried me out of the white playroom. Along the way, I saw the big men in black uniforms slumped on the floor. They must have been really tired too. I know I would be, if I had to stand up like that all day. I could see one man sleeping in a really weird position, though. Their neck was bent in a really weird shape. That looked painful.

She carried me all the way out, and put me in my car seat.

"Mom. What about nii-san?" I asked. I didn't want to be away from him for too long.

"I'm sorry, Honami. I couldn't find him. I could only find you. I'm sorry." She was crying as she started the car, which made me cry as well. I wouldn't ever see my brother again.

Until now.

Authors notes
1495 words.
Not much to say about this chapter really. Interpret this chapter however you will.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 4 chapter 5: the sports festival (Part one)

At last, the day had come. The curtains were about to rise on the sports festival, and it looked to be a long day. The entire student body, all wearing their jerseys, marched together as one. Well, we called it a march, but most people just strolled along, taking the movement just seriously enough not to disrupt the order.

Fujimaki, from class 3-A, have a speech during the opening ceremony. Although there weren't many, a number of spectators watched from the school grounds' outskirts. They were probably adults who worked on campus. The school didn't seem to have put any restrictions in place regarding who could attend the festival. Occasionally, one of the spectators smiled or waved.

Meanwhile, the teachers themselves watched us without the vaguest hint of smiles. Medical personnel could also be seen setting up some kind of cottage. It could fit around twenty people and was equipped with an air conditioner and a water cooler. The school's preparations were as meticulous as they had been on the deserted island. They provided tents for the red team and white team; these faced each other on opposite sides of the track. The school didn't want the teams mingling with each other, except during competitions.

The first event of the festival was the 100-meter dash, and I saw that a camera had been installed and pointed towards the finish line. The line between victory and defeat could come down to a hair's breadth in competitions like these.

I noticed a commotion in class D, and I heard a few shouts in the white teams tent. Obviously, they had found out about the alterations to the table.

I was in the 7th group for the 100-meter dash. I headed to the track with the rest of the first-year boys. The festival ordered events such as the 100-meter dash by grade level, starting with first-year boys and ending with the third-year girls. Then, there'd be a break, after which the order would switch. We'd resume competitions in the opposite direction, starting with third-year girls and ending with first-year boys.

The competition was about to start. The first-year boys formed ten groups in total; mine was seventh. Each group contained eight people, two from each class. Albert and Ryuuen were in the first group.

All of class A watched, holding their breath. They were up against Sudou from class D, too. If we won this race, everyone on our team could use that momentum to get hyped. If they did poorly, it would probably put a dent in our spirits.

As soon as the signal sounded, Sudou shot forward like a bullet. Ryuuen and Albert were close behind him though. He reached the goal milliseconds before Albert, with Ryuuen just a few seconds behind.

The signal to start the next race came right away, without any time to bask in the afterglow. The signals came at about twenty-second intervals, which meant that it would take four minutes for all the first-year boys to finish running. This event would repeat for all the boys and girls in all three grade levels, which meant that the 100-meter dash should finish in about thirty minutes.

We, the seventh group, also had our roles to play. I would take first place, and Kaneda would do his best. He was sure to place fairly low anyway, considering our competition.

In class B was Hashimoto and Kitou. In class C was Kanzaki and Shibata. In class D was Kouenji and Hirata. This was the hardest group to beat, and Kaneda would probably come last. Scratch that, Kaneda will definitely come last.

It was time for us to run. I felt a lot of eyes upon me. I looked to Kaneda, giving him a wink of support. When the signal was given, I ran as fast as I could. Before I knew it, I had passed the 100-meter line. I noticed I had come just slightly before Kouenji, which was good. I had come first.

Class A was cheering for me, and shouting support for Kaneda, who was still running.

After the tenth group had gone, it was time for the first-year girls. The first two groups went, and then it was time for Ibuki to run. I had no doubt she would have the best time amongst the girls in our class.

I focused on the other girls who would run against Ibuki. In the second lane was Horikita Suzune, in class D. Ibuki was in the same group as the person who had saved her on the island. What a bizarre coincidence.

Ibuki didn't even look at Horikita, and she wore a complex expression. She was conflicted as to whether she should let Horikita win as thanks for what happened on the island. But I could see that she made up her mind to win.

When the signal sounded, seven of the girls launched themselves forward. Between the two I focused on, Ibuki had the better start. Horikita's reaction was slightly delayed, so she lagged behind the rest of the group. However, she immediately picked up the pace and began to catch up to Ibuki, who seemed distracted. She glanced behind, perhaps curious about Horikita, and the distance between them closed. Ibuki remained stuck in the middle of the group, neither increasing nor decreasing her distance from Horikita.

As they neared the end of the race, Ibuki's expression stiffened. She and Horikita were neck and neck, running side by side. Horikita, looking quite pleased with herself, managed to nudge ahead of Ibuki by a narrow margin.

Ibuki ran harder, fighting to close the distance between herself and Horikita, but Horikita managed to cross the finish line first. After that, everyone cheered.

Ibuki kicked the ground in frustration. I got the feeling that if she hadn't been so concerned about Horikita, then the race results would have been different. Her hyperawareness was the reason Horikita won.

After the first-year students' 100 metre dash ended, we went to check the results. I had taken first place, as expected. In fact, I had the fastest time out of the first-year boys.

Even though we'd gotten off to a good start overall, tracking our scores would get more complicated from here. No notebooks or phones were allowed, and though we could talk to one another about the results, most of the class didn't know what the other classes were planning. (Except for me, since I made the other classes plans)

I approached Ibuki, who'd just gotten back.

"That was close," I said.

"Yes, I suppose. Horikita was faster than I expected," said Ibuki. She breathed a sigh of frustration.

"Don't worry. I bet you got the best time for the girls in our class." I tried to comfort her.

"Yeah, I guess." She looked away.

After each grade had finished the 100-meter dash, the final results were tallied. The first round of points for the red and white teams were announced.

Red team: 2115 points.

White team: 1799 points.

The competition had just begun, but the red team already had a massive lead.

Authors notes
1199 words.
Pretty much taken straight from the ln again.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 4 chapter 6: sports festival (part two)

The hurdle race came next. It was like the 100-metre dash in that it was based on speed. However, you also needed to clear the hurdles while running. If you knocked down or touched a hurdle, your time was penalised. If you knocked the hurdle down, the penalty was 0.5 seconds. If you only touched it, 0.3 seconds. There were ten hurdles in all, placed at ten-metre intervals. If you knocked them all down, you'd have five seconds added to your time. It'd be completely hopeless.

"Next up is the fourth group. Please get ready," said the referee.

I got into the same lane as before, and saw Kanzaki standing in the second lane.

"We meet again. Did you know that our participation table was changed at the last minute? None of us knew." Kanzaki said.

"Weird. Maybe there's a traitor in your class." I replied.

A boy from class D got between us, cutting our chat short. I had once again edited this group. I had placed Kanzaki and Sudou in this group.

When the signal came, I started running as fast as I did before. I cleared all the hurdles before the others, with Sudou finishing a few seconds behind me, knocking over the last hurdle.

The next competition was capture the flag. Though simple, it was still a fierce and dangerous event.

"All right. We're definitely winning this one, guys. Ayanokouji, Albert, you guys take point." Ryuuen said.

Although we were teamed up with class D, they weren't really cooperating with us, so Ryuuen and Hirata just agreed for as many people to play defence as possible. We were facing off against class B and C, led by Katsuragi and Kanzaki. Albert and I had a plan, and in this situation was our best shot. The class B and C defence was just them standing around in a line with no gaps in between. It would be impossible to get through.

Blatant violence, like punching and kicking, was naturally prohibited. However, the school would overlook a certain degree of rough-housing. Pushing, grabbing and such were expected.

I looked to Albert, giving him a thumbs up. He nodded in confirmation.

When the signal went off, Albert walked off towards the opposing side, completely alone. The class B and C students were laughing a little, and even the class D students we were teamed with found humour in the situation.

(The good the bad and the ugly theme starts playing)

When Albert was about 3/4 of the way to the enemy flag, he held up his hand. That was my signal.

I sprinted as fast as I possible could. Albert got down on one knee, and cupped his hands in front of him. When I reached him, I jumped onto his back, and placed my next step right into his hands. When I did this, he stood up and launched me over the white teams defence line. I rolled when I landed, and ran till I touched their flag. The game was won in a most spectacular way.

I saw the class B and C students shouting, calling us cheaters. I could also see the red team cheering for us.

With no time to rest, the first-year boys got ready for the tug-of-war. Meanwhile, the first-year-girls were making steady progress in their ball toss. The team competitions continued. I hadn't paid much attention at first, but the competition order was fairly arduous. It took a lot out of my less athletic classmates.

"How much of a gap between the teams do you think there is now?" Asked Ryuuen.

"Dunno. I can say for sure that the red team is winning, though," I answered.

"Yeah. We're a few steps ahead. It'll be even better if the girls win this one, at least," he muttered.

Because we were some distance away, we couldn't clearly discern how the ball toss would end. All I could think was that it looked like a close battle. The game finished soon afterward, and the teacher in charge counted up the points while clearing away the balls.

"With fifty-four points total, the red team wins."

The girls added to the boys good result in capture-the-flag. Our relief was fleeting, because the referee called us over to start the tug-of-war.

"All right, let's do this!" Said Ryuuen

A pure test of strength; our power and wits against theirs. Who would triumph? As the four classes gathered, we split into two groups, left and right. We lined up in order of height. By doing so, we could apply our strength without much unevenness. The opposing team would see this, but even if they tried to imitate us, they couldn't line up by height in such a short time span.

Just then, the signal went off, and we immediately pulled on the rope.

"And pull! And pull!"

The D/A coalition worked together with great vigour, shouting the standard tug-of-war battle cry. At first, it looked as though the two sides were evenly matched, but after a few seconds, the game started to shift in our favour.

"Go, go, go! Come on, easy!"

Before long; we heard the signal that the match ended, and that the red team had scored a point.

Now though, the opposite team had managed to copy our formation, and arranged themselves in height. We now formed a perfect bow shape.

Shibata shook his head, shouted words of encouragement to his class, and grabbed the rope once more.

"We got this. Don't worry." Ryuuen said.

"Don't be so certain. Everyone, keep your guard up. The next round won't be like the first," said Hirata.

The signal went off.

"And pull! And pull!"

The red team pulled, just like we did the first time. There was a new resistance on the other end on the rope, but we managed to pull through, and we scored our second and final point.

The red team was easily winning now. We could probably lose every other competition and still win the tournament.

Next up was the obstacle course race. It wasn't all that hard, and I still got the best time out of the first-year boys. We'd had a similar obstacle course in the white room, so I could almost work off of muscle memory.

We didn't have any time to slack off before we needed to prepare for the three-legged race. Meanwhile, it looked as though things were getting rocky for the first-year girls on the obstacle course. Ibuki was winning, and it looked like she had beaten Horikita.

Ryuuen and I were talking while he tied our legs together for the first-year boys' three legged race. The races followed right on one another's heels. It was incredible execution on the school's part, structured as effectively as a live television program.

Because a three-legged race meant two people per team, only a scant four teams could run at once. Albert and Komiya were ahead of us, and looked quite comical, due to their height difference.

We started the race. We were running against Kanzaki and Shibata from class C, and Sudou and Kouenji from class D. This would require Ryuuen to match at the very least Shibata, who was known for his speed. We had practiced daily, and I was confident in him.

When the whistle blew, I ran as fast as I could. Ryuuen slightly supported himself on me, so as to not drag us by trying to run. We finished second, after Sudou and Kouenji.

"Hm. Well, Ayanokouji boy. It seems you cannot match up to me when others are dragging you down." Kouenji remarked. I ignored him.

Authors notes
1293 words
I quite liked the CTF section. I originally envisioned Albert throwing Ayanokouji like a javelin, but that was too unrealistic.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 4 chapter 7: revelations

We'd won the four way tug-of-war, and the mixed-gender three-legged race. It was now time for the last event, the 1200-metre relay. Both guys and girls would run in this race. Three guys and three girls from each class had to participate.

Our chosen runners assembled in the middle of the field. Horikita's older brother, and Nagumo-senpai were among them. We had a chance of winning the festival now, and we weren't going to waste it.

The instant the signal started, Ishizaki got off to an ok start. He was toward the middle of the first runners. Sudou was in the lead.

Next up, Ishizaki passed the baton to Ibuki, who was slightly faster. She managed to outrun quite a few people who had the baton given to them before her.

She ran and passed the baton to Albert, who managed to tank through and run almost to the front.

He passed the baton to Komiya, who lost our lead slightly. 6 people managed to pass the baton before he passed it on.

He passed the baton to Ryuuen, who was neck and neck with the person next to him to pass the baton to me.

I looked to my left, to see the student council president, Horikita Manabu. He was handed his baton at the same time I was handed mine, and we both set off at an incredible pace.

Even in the earlier events of today, I had never run this fast, not in my entire life. I beat the elder Horikita by about half a second's difference.

The crowds cheered. All my classmates came pouring onto the pitch. Albert lifted me up, which was a little embarrassing.

In the distance, I could see Kushida looking at me. Her eyes were full of hate. I could see her talking to Sakayanagi about something. That wasn't good.

The results would be announced during the sports festival's closing ceremonies. All the students looked toward the gigantic electronic scoreboard.

"We'll now announce the results of this year's school sports festival!"

"Red team" and "white team" were displayed as separate entries on the scoreboard. The tallied numbers started to rise, showing the total points the teams had acquired from all thirteen events. The winning team was...

The words "red team wins" appeared on the board along with the team's score. The competition had been incredibly arduous, but the red teams D/A coalition appeared to be victorious.

"Next, we will announce each class's overall points."

The board divided the twelve classes into 3 categories, and it displayed the overall points for each class all at once. We didn't really care about the details for the senior year scores. What was crucial for us was class A's position.

1st place: Class 1-A
2nd place: Class 1-D
3rd place: Class 1-C
4th place: Class 1-B

"We won. Yay!" Shiina was jumping for joy.

To be honest, the entire class was jumping for joy. We had worked hard, and it had payed off.

"Lastly, we wi announce the MVP for each school year."

First year MVP: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka

That was certainly unexpected. Not.

My classmates cheers had reached a new height now. Our team had one, our class had won, and I had won. Our class certainly had the best position in the entire school right now.

I then received a request to meet up with someone after school. I hadn't expected that.

The students, having used up all their energy during the festival, began to leave the classroom one after another, looking completely drained.

Everyone left the room one by one, and before I knew it, I was the only person left. I was prepared to respond to the request, and was waiting for her here.

Just then, she entered the classroom.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Ayanokouji-kun. I got caught up talking with a friend." She said, putting her hands together in an apologetic gesture.

"Don't worry. It's fine, Ichinose," I said.

"So, why did you want to meet up like this?" I asked.

After we met at the classroom, we were walking around the corridors. Eventually, we went up some stairs, and went to the roof.

"Oh, well...there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about." She said, quietly.

Wow. Could I be getting a confession? Cool.

"Oh. Well, what is it?" I asked.

"Ayanokouji-kun. You said you never knew your mother, right?" She asked.

"Um...yeah, I know I had one, but I can't remember her."

"Well...your situation is the exact same as my relationship with my father, but I can remember his face." She said.

I thought she said she never knew him. Either way, this conversation was starting to take a weird turn.

"I also remember my twin brother. He and my father looked the same. I looked more like my mother though." She said.

"Um, right. Ok?" I was confused.

"Ayanokouji-kun. I want you to look at this picture." She said, pulling out a photograph from her jacket and showing it to me.

The photo was very poor quality, and I couldn't make out who was in it. After a moment, I could make out Ichinose and...

Me? No, it wasn't me, or Ichinose. For one thing, I've never worn clothes like that, and Ichinose's...chest area...was slightly larger in this photo than it was in real life.

But then...who were they? I then noticed two children underneath them. One of them I could make out instantly to be a miniature Ichinose. But the other was...Myself. So then, that meant that the man who looked like me was... my father?

"I-ichinose...w-what is this?" I felt confused, and sick.

"Ayanokouji...the woman in that photograph is my mother. And the man next to her is my father." She said.

Then, what was I doing in the picture.

"And the boy standing next to me is...my brother. You are my brother, Ayanokouji."

Authors notes
1005 words
Wow, big surprise. Wow, let's just hope no one put anything hinting at this in an earlier chapter .
Yep, Ichinose and Ayanokouji are twin siblings.
Class A won the sports festival .
On another note, just thinking about this early representation of Ryuuen.

Look how they butchered my boi.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Side story: Ayanokouji

I know this is kind of sudden, but, please, it will only take a moment. I want your honest opinion.

Are people equal or not?

A proper society will constantly strive for equality. There are those who clamour for men and women to always be considered equal. As a result, we raised the employment rate for women, we made specialised subway cars only for women. Sometimes, women will even argue over the order of names in a family register. The public opinion of people with disabilities has also changed. We're now told that we should not use the term "disabled people" when referring to them, so as not to discriminate. Nowadays, children are taught that all people are equal.

But is that true? I had my doubts. If men and women had different abilities, then their roles should differ. People with disabilities are still disabled, no matter what polite euphemisms you use. No matter how you try to avert your eyes, the meaning of the word does not change:

So my answer would be, "no, we are not equal." To be human is to be unequal. Equality does not exist.

Long ago, in a bygone era, a great man said that heaven does not place one man above or below any other. However, he did not necessarily adhere to the idea that everyone is equal. Did you know that there is more to that famous passage? The rest goes like this:

everyone is equal when they are born, so I ask, why do we see differences in position and status?

And it continues:

Do you or do you not encourage learning to create a difference?

So then, education creates an imbalance. The point's spelled out there, in the incredibly famous work Gakumon no Sume.

It was strange. I had once attended a high school called ANHS. The education system their was unique. It required people to advance to class A to be guaranteed a place in society. That environment allowed anyone to succeed, as long as they were talented enough. And that was the root of the problem.

Natural talent trumps education

But what if it didn't have to be like this? What if I could create an environment that would allow any person to thrive with the right education. I was talking with one of the people I had kept contact with from that school, Kouenji. He felt similar to me, in many respects. I was now a prominent member in the Japanese government, and he owned the Kouenji conglomerate, one of the major corporations of Japan. We were what the school intended to produce: leaders.

But we hadn't earned these positions due to our merit. We had earned them because we were cunning enough to dupe our schoolmates. It wasn't fair. I didn't want a society like that to continue.

So I had talked with Kouenji, and we had devised a plan. We called it the 'white room'. It would allow us to educate children in a controlled environment, and we had just started work educating the fourth batch of subjects.

There were some who opposed this idea, saying it was cruel, and threatening to take legal action. Horikita had been a notable example. He was too focused on the negative aspects the project had, and he couldn't see the positives. I tried to reason with him, but eventually I had to have him silenced. His wife, too.

"Ayanokouji, what's wrong?" My wife, Ichinose, asked.

"Nothing, I'm just...thinking about work, is all." I lied.

"Hm. Well, can you take care of the children for today? I've got my own work to worry about too." She said.

Ichinose knew about the white room, but had turned a blind eye, knowing that I was doing it for the future of Japan, a view she shared.

"Actually...I was thinking of taking them to my work, one time." I said.

Her face darkened.

"Don't say that." She scowled slightly.

"Y-yeah...sorry." I apologised.

"Look, I don't mind if you want to do that with orphans who have no better option, but you're not doing this to my...to our children." She said.

Just then, the twins came in.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Kiyo-onii-chan wet the bed." Honami said.

"Right, well. Can I leave this to you?" Wifey said, looking at me.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." I said.

She left the house then, and I didn't know that I wouldn't see her for a long time.

20 minutes after she left, I got the kids in the car, and drove them to the white room. What would be the harm in just a few days, just to help them develop a little.

Just as I had thought, they were fine. Their day had gone great. Tomorrow, I'd start putting them through some actual training, but for now, I'd just put them to bed.

I went to Honami's room, but she wasn't there. I went outside, and walked along the corridor. Several of the guards were injured, and I saw one with a snapped neck. I kept walking along. I knew it was her that did this.

Sure enough, I walked outside, and she was putting Honami in the car.

"Wait!" I said.

She turned towards me with a gun in her hand.

"Don't take another step!" She shouted.

I stopped, and put my hands behind my back.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm saving my children." She had tears in her eyes.

"You mean...child? I only see Honami in there."

"I couldn't find Kiyotaka, probably because you're hiding him somewhere, you sick freak." She screamed.

"W-we can talk about this..." I said, taking a step forwards.

"I SAID NOT ANOTHER STEP!" She said, and shot me in the knee.

It hurt so much, it was fucking agony. I saw her get in the car and drive away.

It didn't matter. I still had my son.

I knew he could surpass all my expectations one day. I'll find my wife, and my daughter. One day.

Authors notes
1019 words
A blast from the past lol.
I don't think this chapter was very well written, idk. What do you think?
Hope you all enjoyed.

Arc 4 epilogue

"I'm...your brother?" I asked.

"Yes. 12 years ago, our mother and father separated. I don't remember everything, but I remember you. And him. I think he wanted to take us someplace, but mom saved me. She said she couldn't find you, or something."

My head was spinning. I had a sister?

"I know this is probably a lot to take in, Kiyotaka, but...why don't you start by telling me where you were taken?" She asked.

Yeah, that was probably a good idea. I started to regain my focus. I told her about the white room.

Her face was changing, complex expressions present in her eyes.

"That's...worse than I thought. And you say Kushida-san and Kanzaki-kun went there too?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's all true." I confirmed.

"Well then, Ayanokouji. I suppose we have a lot of catching up to do, eh? Or, I suppose I should be calling you Kiyo-onii-chan, shouldn't I?" She held out her hand.

"You're broken, Kiyo. But I can help fix you." She said.

I took her hand.

"H-honami...nee-san." I said.

"Yes. Don't worry...I'm here for you." She said, pulling me close and hugging me tight.

I noticed that tears were forming in my eyes. Is this what they called "happiness"?

We had talked for hours. Well, it was mainly me listening to a blow-by-blow run through of Ichinose's life. I was...upset that I was never there for her when she needed me.

About halfway through our conversation, I received a text.

How are you going to get Ichinose to like me?

It was from Shiranami Chihiro. I had promised her that I would get Ichin-...no, Honami to like her. I instantly regretted that deal I had made. How could I fix that?

Well, it didn't matter now. I was talking with my sister. I didn't care about anything else right now.

Authors notes
321 words
Just a lil' cute chapter for some Kiyonami stuff.
Also did this to remind readers of Chihiro.
Hope you all enjoyed.

Arc 5: the end of it.

It had been a few days since Honami had revealed she was my sister, and that I had a mother. I also had a half sister called Kiyone.

It was time to go to school now. I met up with Honami in the morning, and walked to school with her. We parted ways at the main school building.

I received a text. It was from Kushida.

Meet me on the rooftop at lunch. I'll be alone, so I expect you to be alone as well.

Right, this was a little bit odd. I texted Ryuuen, telling him about it. He said they'll stay out of it, but I should text them after 10 minutes, then they'd look for me. It was a good plan. One that I hoped would work.

I also texted Honami, telling her to come to the rooftop if I wasn't in the cafeteria half an hour into lunch.

The day went as expected. Sakagami-sensei walked into the room, and bought out a sheet of paper with the class rankings on it:

Class 1-A: 1350
Class 1-B: 1020
Class 1-C: 0510
Class 1-D: 0210

Our class had made a massive lead of over 300 points. It would be very hard for the other classes to surpass us now, at least without a special exam.

The time had come for me to meet with Kushida. I went to the rooftop, and I saw her. Her hand was still bandaged from where Fuka had stabbed her.

"Hello, Ayanokouji." She said, facing away from me.

"Hello, Kushida." I went to stand next to her.

"Ayanokouji? Do you know what it means to love someone? Or for someone to love you?" She asked. That was unexpected.

"Well. I wouldn't say that, but Fuka and I are in a relationship, and it feels good." I admitted.

"Tch. That's just it. You don't love her. She doesn't love you, you just think that." She spat.

"Umm...ok," I said, awkwardly.

"I...love you, Kiyotaka." She turned around, and kissed me on the lips. She embraced me, and we moved away from the ledge of the roof. I had to admit, it felt good.

"Kushida...I can't reciprocate your feelings. I already have someone." I said, walking away.

"Kiyotaka..." she called.

"What?"

"...

I lied. I called for backup just before you got here." She said.

Ah well, I suppose that was what I got for trusting her.

"Well. I'm going to call for my backup, too." I said, bringing out my phone. But...it wasn't in my pocket. I looked to Kushida, who was holding it in her hands.

"Hm. It's funny, how many uses a simple kiss can have, isn't it? They can be used to show someone you love them, or they can be used to steal something." She said. There were no emotion in her words. Just emptiness.

I went to grab the phone, but she managed to avoid me. I launched a punch at her face, but she deflected it.

"I've had a lot of training since that day in the alley, you know? And since that day on the cruise ship. I'm no match for you just yet, but I can hold out until the rest of them get here." She said.

I kicked her in the face, sending her reeling backwards, and falling over. She still hung onto my phone, even when she was sprawled on the ground.

I knelt over her, about to grab my phone, when a wild Kouenji appeared and pulled me away.

The whole gang was here: Kushida, Kouenji, Kanzaki, Nagumo. Sakayanagi was also there, but she didn't really count as a combatant.

I wouldn't be able to beat those four on my own. I would have to hold out until my friends came. It should be about 10 minutes soon, and then they'd come looking for me.

They attacked all at once. I couldn't deflect all of their blows. I was hit in the head and in the ribs. I tried to counterattack, but Kanzaki blocked me, and pushed me into Kouenji, who punched me in the face and sent me sprawling to the ground.

For the first time in my life, I felt fear. I looked up at Nagumo, who smirked as he kicked me in the face.

"That's for humiliating the second years in the chess tournament." He said.

Damn. He was still angry about that? Talk about petty.

Just then, the rooftop door opened. Ryuuen and the rest of my friends came out. Instantly, the two groups started fighting.

Albert was managing to fight Kouenji, whilst Ryuuen was holding his own against Kanzaki. Kushida went up against Ibuki, and Fuka traded blows with Nagumo.

I had to slip away, now. I left the rooftop, through the door. I could feel blood dripping down my face, and could feel I had at least two broken ribs. I walked down the stairs, each step making my ribs grind against each other. It was really painful.

When I turned a corner, I saw Honami, my sister. That was good. I would be safe now.

Just then, I felt an odd sensation in my lower back. It was extremely painful, but also felt soft. It felt similar to when Kushida had stabbed me in the back, all those months ago.

I looked behind me, to see Kushida standing there. I looked further down, to see a knife stuck in my lower back. So this was her plan, all along.

She pulled the knife out, and I fell onto my knees, tumbling down the stairs. I could hear someone shouting, faintly. Was it Honami? I couldn't tell, since my hearing had gone fuzzy. That was weird. I couldn't see anything, at least not clearly. I could make out figures, but nothing definite. All I could see were blue eyes, and...strawberry-blond...hair...

Ichinose pov
She...stabbed him. Kushida stabbed my brother.

She didn't look like the Kikyou Kushida I had met at the start of the school year. She looked different, angry and hateful. I knew that she had gone through the same training as Kiyotaka, and that her psyche was damaged because of it, but I never expected it to come to this.

He fell slowly down the stairs. I screamed, and ran over to catch him before he hit his head.

I caught him, and held him in my arms.

"N-nii...chan..." I could feel tears forming in my eyes.

"H-ho...nami? Is that you?" He said, weakly.

I was on my phone, trying to call the school security, telling them to call an ambulance.

"Yes. Don't worry, it's me." I said.

He lifted his arm up and cupped my cheek in his hand. I felt his icy touch on my face.

"Hm. I think I do remember you. When we were little. And mom, too." He said.

I cried even harder.

Just then, the security came with a stretcher, and took him away. They also subdued Kushida, and took her away. By now, she was a mess. She was snarling and writhing in their grip, trying to bite them or kick them. She was covered in blood. My brothers blood.

They took him away. To the hospital.

I was allowed to go with him, as I was a witness.

I just couldn't understand it though. How could I have let this happen?

It was all my fault.

1243 words.

I hope you enjoyed this fic.

Arc 5 chapter 2: the beginning of it

Ayanokouji POV

"So, he isn't at the school anymore?"

"That's right. For the past day he's been at a hospital in Tokyo. I want you to retrieve him for me."

"Sir, are you sure that's wise? Wouldn't it be better for him to be treated first?"

"Fool. If he fully recovers, he will be able to escape back to the school. No, he still might escape, but this is a one in a million chance we've been given. It would be foolish to waste it."

"You're right, sir. How should I go about it?"

"It doesn't matter how you do it, but be discreet. Take only as many people as you deem necessary. You're the only person I can entrust this task to, Akito. Be sure not to fail me."

"Yes, sir."

I watched the fair skinned man walk away from my office. I was surprised by how much he'd grown over the past 17 years since I'd met him.

Kiyotaka POV

It was all so hazy, I don't remember much of what happened.

First there was a fight on the rooftop, and then...

That's right! Honami was there. My sister, Honami Ichinose. I remember feeling happy and safe now that she was there, and then...

Kushida...stabbed me...

I remember feeling the pain of the metal entering and exiting my back, and the warm, almost soothing texture of my blood running down my back. I thought for sure I would die.

Honami had come to the hospital with me, and I don't know what happened to Kushida or the others. My guess, though, would be that the school would swear everyone involved in the incident to silence, and cover the incident up.

But I survived.

I was told by a nurse that a detective would be coming today to take my statement, and that I would need to tell them about everything that had transpired.

I decided to watch the lobby camera, like the one that they had in the school dorms. After a few minutes, I saw a man come in, and I saw the glint of a badge at his belt. He must be the detective that the nurse told me about.

I was looking at the screen, and I saw him walk through the lobby. As he was about to go to the elevator, something happened that I didn't expect: a nurse walked over, pushing a teenager in a wheelchair over to him. They conversed, and went over to a side room.

There was something...odd about the nurse. She was young, very young. She was about as old as me, maybe even younger, and she had red hair and golden eyes. There was something off about her eyes, but the grainy definition of the screen couldn't let me see her any closer.

Just before she went in, the nurse made some sort of signal to someone else in the lobby; a white man in his early 30's, I'd say. He followed them inside the room, and the nurse came back out and waited for them.

I was starting to get interested. What was happening?

A few minutes later, the white man came out...wearing the clothes the detective had been wearing earlier. The boy in the wheelchair came out, too, but he was wearing a doctor's uniform, and was pushing a stretcher with a body bag placed upon it.

I could only guess what was inside.

So, that was the game the old man was playing.

That would also explain the apparent young age of the boy and girl: they were white room students. And the white man must be one of my father's cronies.

I couldn't go back. Not yet.

I figured out a plan that would get me out.

I went to the nearby medical cabinet, and took out some bleach and rubbing alcohol.

I ripped a piece of fabric from my hospital gown, put it under the running tap, and put it over my nose and mouth.

I then put the bleach and rubbing alcohol in a bowl, and mixed the solution with the spoon I had used for my lunch. I got out a large cotton wool pad from the cabinet, and soaked it in the solution I had made: chloroform.

(A/N apparently this is how you make chloroform idk, but yeah he makes chloroform)

I pressed the assistance button, knowing that it would summon a nurse to the room fairly quick. I then stood behind the door, and waited for them.

When the door opened, I cupped the chloroform soaked rag around the nurse's nose and mouth, and waited until she fell unconscious. When she finally stopped moving, I laid her on the bed, and stripped her nurse's uniform off of her, and I swapped my current attire for hers.

I decided to give her a shred of dignity and put my old hospital gown on her.

I put the surgical mask on my face, and walked out the door.

As soon as I walked in to the hallway, I saw the three white room enforcers at the end of the hall, walking towards me, so I headed in the opposite direction, following the signs for the car park. I would have 10 minutes at best before they found me, and I didn't intend to stick around.

I took out the car keys of the nurse who's uniform I was wearing, and chuckled.

I'm really sorry about this.

When I got to the car park, I started to press the car keys, hoping that they would trigger a nearby car.

Beep beep

I looked around for the car that made the noise, and I saw that it was an old Toyota that had signalled.

Just as I was about to get in, however...

"I think it would be best if you stopped there, Ayanokouji."

I turned around, and saw the white man posing as a detective.

"And why would that be? So you can take me back to that place?" I asked.

"It's what's best. Both for you and the country as a whole. You know that, deep down," he said.

"I don't care if it's what's best, I'm not going back," I said, keeping my ground, getting in to a fighting stance.

"It's treason, then..." he said, adopting his own fighting stance.

(Couldn't resist)

Just as I was about to charge forwards...

"Get away, Ayanokouji!" A woman's voice exclaimed.

I looked over to where the voice had come from, and saw class D's homeroom teacher, Sae Chabashira, walking towards us.

"Chabashira-sensei, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I've come to save you. Go to this address, and stay there. Stay there and don't come back to ANHS," she said, handing me a slip of paper.

"Ah, Sae-chan, it seems you're still as defective as ever. You really haven't changed since school," the white man said.

"Well, Akito, it seems your nose is still firmly stuffed Ayanokouji-sensei's backside. You also haven't changed, it seems. Go, Ayanokouji. I'll hold him off long enough for you to escape," she directed that last part towards me.

So, he used to go to school with Chabashira, and my father taught both of them. How very interesting.

I got in the car and drove out of the car park, and drove as fast as the speed limit would allow in the bustling metropolis of Tokyo. Luckily it wasn't rush hour, but it was still pretty crowded.

I opened the slip of paper that Chabashira-sensei had given to me. Upon it was written:

[redacted] street, Sakyo, Kyoto.

Kyoto, huh? Why did she want me to go there?

Authors notes
1275 words.
Well, I'm back.
I'm not writing starting in class B any more, it's just too dogshit.
Bet you didn't expect this fic to be updated any more, huh?
Well, neither did I, to be honest.
Basically, a few days ago someone called the fic "trash". And of course, I was a little bit upset, but I thought to myself: "if this is trash, then what does that make the other fic I've done?" And I got a little demotivated to keep updating starting in class B.
And then, I had a mega big brainwave: what if Ayanokouji didn't die in starting in class C?
Well, I did always mean to continue this fic someday, and I deliberately didn't say Ayanokouji died so I could continue writing it. I guess that that day is today.
I also took a character from classroom of the elite: zero, a fic I started a while back. Samuel Akito, a European (still not sure what country I want him to be from, but probably England) boy raised in an orphanage. But the orphanage was kind of similar to the white room, and it taught the children very rigorously at a young age. He was then adopted by a Japanese diplomat, who gave Samuel his surname.
When the two moved back to Japan, Samuel went to ANHS, which is part of the plot to cote: zero, so I won't spoil any further.
So I suppose this fic is the canon succession to cote: zero.
Not much else to say, really.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 5 chapter 3: reunion

I had been driving for a few hours now. Luckily, I don't think I was followed.

I had just come into Kyoto now, and I was slightly taken aback by the beauty of the shrines and temples I could see off in the distance. Such masterful craftsmanship I could see in the woodwork.

I followed the signs to Sakyo, and asked a local for directions to the street I was looking for.

Kyoto was definitely easier to navigate than Tokyo, what with it's grid pattern and all. It wasn't long before I found the address Chabashira-sensei had told me to look for.

The house itself was in slightly poor condition, with a broken window on the first floor, and a slightly decaying door. When I went to knock on said door, I froze.

Who's house was this? Why should I blindly trust Chabashira-sensei with this? What if it was a trap?

No, I was probably overthinking. But, a small inkling of doubt still remained, and I didn't knock on the door.

All of a sudden, the door opened, revealing the face of a woman in her late 30's, with shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair and deep blue eyes. It was like looking at Ichinose. She carried a rather heavy bag of rubbish at her side, which she was probably going to put in the bin.

"K...Kiyo...Taka?" The woman asked. How did she know my name?

"Uh, yes, I'm Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. I was told by my teacher, Chabashira-sensei to come here," I said.

The woman dropped the bag, letting the contents spill out onto the floor. I could see tears in her eyes, and she raised her arms, and wrapped them around me in a tight hug.

She was sobbing into my chest, her tears seeping through the fabric of my nurse uniform. I didn't know why, but I returned the hug.

"Miss...who am I to you?" I asked.

"You're...my son..." she said through her cries.

So this was my mother. Instantly, emotions flooded me. This was mine and Honami's mother.

A single tear fell onto her head. It took me a minute to realise it had come from my own eye.

"Umm, you're kind of hurting me now...I've got broken ribs and a recovering stab wound, you know," I said.

"Eek! How did you get those? Come inside, and let me get you on a bed," she said, all her tears gone now.

Once I was on the bed (I understand that it was normally Honami's bed, but now it was mine, I suppose), and my mother (who's name I discovered was Sakura) had given me some tea, she got a chair and sat down across from me.

"So, Kiyotaka...what have you been up to since I last saw you?" She asked, trying to start conversation.

"Well, I trust you know about...that place?" I asked

She nodded, and I saw her jaw clench at the mere mention of the white room.

"Well, I managed to escape, in March this year," I said.

"That's wonderful. But, how?" She asked.

"I went to ANHS. I was told that he wouldn't be able to touch me there," I said.

"Wait...does that mean you met Honami, then?" She asked.

"Yes, and I only discovered the bond between us about 2 weeks ago," I said.

The discussion went along these lines for a little while.

"Then...how come you have a stab wound, two broken ribs, you're wearing a nurse uniform, and you have a car?" She asked.

"Uh, well...that's a long story," I said.

"I'd like to hear it."

"Well then: some guys beat me up, hence the ribs, as I was escaping, a girl stabbed me, hence the stab wound. I was admitted to hospital, where a certain someone tried to retrieve me, leading me to disguise myself and drive away," I explained.

"Oh, wow...um...straight to the point, no build up or anything? Why were you being beaten up in the first place?" She asked.

Well, this story would take a little bit longer, so...

Timeskip

I was sitting at the kitchen table, eating the soup that my mother had just made for me.

"This is really good...thank you," I said.

"Oh, don't worry about it, it's the least I can do for you," she replied.

Just then, the front door opened.

I thought about hiding, but it seemed as though the person who had just come in was expected.

"Hey, Kiyone, did you have a good day at school?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah," the voice of the girl who had just come in spoke a single word, and was about to disappear upstairs.

"Kiyone, before you go, there's someone I want you to meet. Could you come to the kitchen for a sec?" She asked.

I heard a slight groan, and then she came in to the kitchen.

I would place her at 14, and she had the trademark strawberry blond hair of an Ichinose family member, but she had green eyes instead of blue. Her hair was longer than our mother's, but shorter than Honami's.

"Who is this gloomy guy?" She asked.

Hurts just a little bit.

"Kiyone, this is...your brother," Sakura said.

Kiyone froze.

"My...brother?" She asked, stunned.

"Well, half-brother to be exact; we share the same mother," I chimed in.

She looked at me, as if saying "no one asked you"

"Mom, are you sure? He looks nothing like us," Kiyone said.

"Trust me, Kiyone. A mother never forgets the face of her child," said Sakura.

"Well. How long is he staying for?" She asked.

"Kiyone, come on, of course he's staying for-," Sakura started to stay.

"Well, I'm going to stay until I'm well enough to fight again, and then I'm going back to Tokyo. So, about 3 months at least," I said.

Kiyone looked satisfied with my statement, whilst Sakura looked slightly surprised.

"You...you're not staying?" She asked.

"You know how much danger I'm putting you in by being here. Chances are I'll have to stay for a significantly shorter amount of time if I'm discovered," I said.

"Hehe, what, are you on the run or something?" Kiyone asked, mockingly.

"Well, yes. My father, you see, is not a very nice man, and he wants to keep me under lock and key. Luckily for him, he has a vast amount of resources, and he'll probably kill you to get at me," I said.

Kiyone looked a little bit frightened, and then ran off upstairs.

"Did you really have to scare her like that?" Sakura asked.

"Well, if she's scared, she'll be more likely to run at the first sign of danger," I said.

"Hm. I suppose that's true.

I spent the next few months healing, and building up my strength. I was able to do a pull-up without feeling any pain after the first month, and the stab wound fully closed after 2 months, leaving a scar.

It was now November, and my mother and I were about to get in the car.

"Goodbye, nii-san!" Kiyone said, hugging me tightly. We had bonded quite closely during our time together, and we felt like real siblings.

"Bye, Kiyone. I'll see you again, someday," I said.

We got in the car, and drove towards Tokyo.

I pulled up next to the gate of naturally formed stone, that I had seen all those months ago when I was getting off of the bus.

I gave my mother the address to drop the car off at, and hugged her.

"Kiyotaka...Will I see you again?" She asked.

"I...don't know," I said, truthfully.

She started to cry a little.

"Don't worry. Even if we don't see each other again for a long time, I vow that I'll come for you eventually," I promised.

She smiled.

"You better," she said, kissing me on the cheek.

I watched her drive away, and turned towards the school.

Here we go again

I knew where I needed to go first.

Unknown POV

I was sitting in my room, reading a magazine.

I was still missing him, even though it had been nearly 4 months since he had gone.

Just then, the door knocked.

I walked towards the door.

"Ugh...Nagumo, I thought I told you, we're never going to fu—," I said, opening the door.

"Oh, well, that is a shame then. I suppose I'll have to find someone else," said the boy in front of me.

"K-Kiyotaka!?" I said.

"Yes, it's me. Hello, Fuka," he replied.

We stayed motionless for a few seconds, and then we launched ourselves at each other.

I hadn't felt him in so long. I closed the door, and we moved to the bed.

Authors notes
1466 words
I think this was a pretty good chapter. What do you think?
Ayanokouji reunites with his mother, and meets his half-sister.
Ayanokouji goes back to ANHS.
Next arc will be a recap arc of the students time at school whilst Ayanokouji was away.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 6 chapter 1: a toast

"Kuku, you damn bastard!" I said, after Nagumo had punched me in the face.

"Come on, Kouhai. You really think you can match up to me?" He said, a smug grin on his face.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Ayanokouji slip away. Good, he needed to get out of here. He could have died if we hadn't come when we did.

I made to punch Nagumo's face, but that was a fake out. Instead, I grabbed his hair, and pushed his head down with all my might, and brought my knee up to connect with his big stupid face. He was out of the count, for now.

Good, now it was 4v3 in our favour.

Wait, no, that's not right. There was someone missing. Who wasn't here?

I saw Ibuki sprawled out on the ground. That meant Kushida had beaten her.

Wait, Kushida? Where was Kushida?

I looked at the rooftop door. She couldn't have, could she?

I ran through the door, and went down the stairs. I was just in time to see Ayanokouji in Ichinose's lap, in a pool of his own blood, and Kushida Kikyou standing over the two of them with a knife.

I immediately disarmed Kushida, and restrained her. She had lost any sensibility now, and was just a writhing mess, kicking and trying to bite me, but she had lost any strength now that she had killed Ayanokouji.

Wait, no...not killed. He wasn't dead yet. I could see Ichinose calling an ambulance, and the campus security had already come to take Kushida away.

"Good job kid. You could have helped out a little sooner, though," one of the security guards said to me.

The fucking balls on this guy. Damn, I wish I had got there quicker, too. Doesn't undo what happened, though.

Everyone involved in the fight was brought to director Sakayanagi's office soon after that: myself, Ibuki, Albert, Kiryuuin, Kouenji, Kanzaki, Nagumo and the loli, although she hadn't actually been fighting.

"What happened here today must never happen again. I am extremely angry. With all of you. I've been told that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka will survive," he said.

That's such a relief. I'm sure the others on his side felt the same way.

"And I know that none of you were directly responsible for the actions of Kushida Kikyou, who has been taken into custody. However, you are the only students who know about this situation, and you must not, and this is a direct order, you must not tell anyone about the events that happened here today. Not only would it make life stressful for Ayanokouji when he comes back, but it could potentially start new violence. Do I make myself clear?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good. The cover story you will be given if asked about his absence is that he has been given the brief chance to study abroad. You may go now," he said.

Everyone left the room, our group going in one direction, Sakayanagi and the others going wherever they were going.

On our way back to the dorms, we saw Horikita Manabu and his sister, Suzune.

"Well. I hope you're happy. Do you see, now, why I wished to stop violence between your groups?" He said.

"What do you mean. Ayanokouji-kun has gone abro-," Ibuki started to say.

"Fret not. As Student Council President, I have been told about the full situation. You do not need to hide anything from me. But, shall we speak in a more...secure environment?" He asked, directing us to the student council room.

We all looked at each other, and followed him.

Once inside the room, we each took a chair, and Suzune stood behind Manabu, who was seated at the head of the table.

"Do you even know why your two groups were fighting?" He asked, suddenly.

"Kukuku, because all of them have unfinished business with Ayanokouji, right? Kanzaki and Kushida went to the same school as him, Kouenji and Sakayanagi want to prove that they're better than him, and Nagumo wanted to crush him for...ummm...some reason." I said.

"I...suppose that's not incorrect, but it's not the entire truth. You see, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka is the product of something called 'the white room'," he said.

He proceeded to tell us about the white room, and Ayanokouji's role within it. He told us about how his parents had tried to stop the white room from functioning, and how they were killed by Ayanokouji's father.

Heck, the Horikita siblings had way more reason to hate Ayanokouji than any of the others. But he didn't.

"So, why don't you hate Ayanokouji?" I asked.

"Hm. I suppose it's because...I feel sorry for him. Having to be separated from society for all those years, not being able to live a normal life...I think it weighs down upon his souls every minute of every day," he said, calmly.

Why couldn't everyone else be like this guy?

"Well, I think that's enough talk. Suzune, could we please have some drinks?" He asked his sister.

"Yes, nii-san," she said, walking over to the globe in the corner of the room.

She pressed the surface of the globe where ANHS would geographically be, and the globe opened.

"I trust none of you are adverse to alcohol?" Manabu asked.

We all shook our heads.

"Good. Suzune, could you bring out the...hmmm...the scotch please?" He asked.

Suzune took out a bottle of golden liquid, and also brought out 5 glasses. She laid them out and poured out some for each of us.

Manabu stood up and raised his glass.

"To Ayanokouji Kiyotaka-kun. May he survive his wounds," he toasted.

"Ayanokouji," we said, glumly.

"Kiyotaka..." Kiryuuin said, downing her glass. This must be especially hard on her, since they were dating and all.

I drank the contents of my glass. I had had alcohol before, but I had only ever had beer, nothing this strong. It burned my tongue and throat, and I could feel it in my stomach.

I really hoped that Ayanokouji would be ok.

Authors notes
1017 words
I hope this chapter wasn't too cringe with the drinks globe. I just thought it would be cool.
I've got a lot of free time right now, so I'll be updating quite a bit today and tomorrow.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 6 chapter 2: hangover

The next day, I woke up with a headache. I think I drank too much at the student council room.

I looked around. This wasn't my room.

I looked to my left, and saw a very nice tea-set on the coffee table. I looked to my right and got a face full of silvery hair.

I started running the possibilities through my head: Sakayanagi (ew, definitely not the loli), Kiryuuin (no, I would never do that with Ayanokouji's girlfriend. Would I?)

I raised the covers to find out we were both naked.

Yep. We had totally done it.

I also saw that the girl next to me was very short.

Damn! I fucked the loli?!

The rumours of this would be catastrophic.

I got out of bed, and got dressed. I noticed a bottle on the floor, the contents of which we had been drinking the night before. So that was how I got Sakayanagi to agree.

"Mmm. Kakeru-san..." the girl on the bed groaned.

Huh? That wasn't Sakayanagi's cold, sly voice. This voice was warm and gentle.

I turned around, to see Shiina Hiyori staring at me.

Oh thank god. I didn't sleep with the loli.

"A-ah, Hiyori-san..." I said.

"Mmmh...you weren't just going to leave, were you?" She asked.

"N-no, I was just...uhhh...getting some breakfast," I said.

I could see that Hiyori's cheeks were blushed. Was she still drunk? She either had a very low alcohol tolerance, or that scotch was really fucking strong. Perhaps it was both.

"Well, why don't we wait on that, and get back to what we were doing last night..." she said, getting out of bed.

She wasn't wearing anything.

A man only has so much self control.

The next day we were back in class again, and the seat in the far right corner of the room was absent. A few whispers began to float around. Ayanokouji was never late or absent, after all.

The bell rang, and Sakagami-sensei entered the room.

"Good morning, class A. Settle down please," he said.

"Sensei, where is Ayanokouji-kun?" Asked Ishizaki.

"Ayanokouji has been given the chance to study abroad for a short while. He will be back again within a few months," Sakagami-sensei answered.

"But, sensei, I heard that he fell down the stairs and cracked his head open," one person said.

"That's not true. I heard that he sexually assaulted Kushida Kikyou, and was arrested," said another person.

"You're all wrong. I heard he confessed to Honami Ichinose, got rejected and then dropped out," another person added.

"Everyone be quiet! Don't make assumptions based on rumour and conjecture. Please, be respectful," Sakagami-sensei said.

"I heard that someone stabbed him," someone said, quietly.

Sakagami-sensei froze momentarily, but continued.

"As I said, nothing but rumours. Please don't give these rumours a chance to circulate," Sakagami-sensei said.

And so it is that we continued our school lives for some time.

It was mid-October, and getting chilly outside. The student council held an election, complete with a ceremony to honour the outgoing members and swear in the new ones afterward. That event was significant, with the entire student body assembled in the gymnasium, but most first-year students couldn't have cared less. They nearly fell asleep during the ceremony, quieting their breathing so that the teachers and upperclassmen wouldn't notice them.

"President Horikita has some friends nap remarks he'd like to share with you all."

The moderator stood aside as Horikita Manabu slowly took the stage and approached the microphone.

"I'm very proud to have led the student council for nearly two years. I'm also quite grateful. Thank you all very much," Horikita said to the crowd. His address was brief and unemotional, delivered with the air of a solemn obligation, and he retreated to his original position once it was done.

The ceremony didn't end there. The other student council officers remained on the stage. "President Horikita, thank you all for your hard work. Now then, we'd like to welcom Nagumo Miyabi, a second-year class A student and the next student council president, to say a few words."

Nagumo walked onstage and stood in front of the microphone. Ichinose, a first year, was among the student council members who watched him attentively.

"Hello. I'm Nagumo, second-year Class A. Student Council President Horikita, I sincerely appreciate the strict yet kind guidance you've shown me. I'd like to express my respect for you, while also emphasising what an honour it's been to serve alongside the most capable president in the school's history. You've exhibited the strongest leadership possible."

Nagumo bowed his head deeply towards Manabu. Then he faced the student body once more.

"Allow me to introduce myself again. My name is Nagumo Miyabi, and I will be assuming the position of student council president at the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School. I sincerely look forward to working with all of you."

Nagumo had behaved enigmatically during the sports festival, and after "the incident". Now, he was the picture of politeness. However, that courtesy didn't last long. He donned a small, thin smile, and the atmosphere changed almost immediately.

"This may be sudden, but for my first order of business, I pledge to change the term length for student council members, as well as the general election method. The previous student council held the general election in October instead of December each year. This arrangement, which saw the next generation of leaders move into their roles early, yielded mixed results. Therefore, the new student council has determined that it's time to take things a step further. From now on, the student council president and officers will have indefinite terms while attending school, so that they may serve continuously until graduation. At the same time, we'll annul both the current general election system, and any restrictions on the student council's size. The council will constantly accept new officers. In other words, an excellent candidate may join the student council no matter how many people are currently on it. Also, if someone is determined unfit for office, they can be removed by a majority vote. Please allow me to confirm this to all students, teachers, and student council members who served under the previous president. To bring this school into the future, I intend to thoroughly destroy the past."

Nagumo spoke forcefully, as if he meant his remarks to deny the achievements of the previous student council president, who still stood right behind him.

"I wanted to implement these changes at once. Unfortunately, a newly elected president must deal with many obligations and restrictions first." Nagumo glared at Horikita, then immediately turned back to the student body. "A revolution is coming. Students with real ability will rise to the top, and students without any will fall. I intend to turn this school into a true meritocracy, so please, give me everything you've got. I look forward to seeing what you can do."

The entire gymnasium had been silent during his announcement, but as soon as he finished speaking, almost every second-year student shouted with sheer delight. Apparently, there was some kind of tension between the second and third-year students that we first years didn't know about.

Authors notes
1215 words
Just a quick filler chap.
Hope you all enjoyed.

Arc 6 chapter 3: paper shuffle

As I made my way back, I bumped into Katsuragi and Yahiko from Class B. I planned to just walk by, but Katsuragi stopped in his tracks and said to Yahiko, "sorry, but you go in ahead. I have a little something to discuss with Ryuuen."

Yahiko immediately nodded and agreed to Katsuragi's orders.

"Ayanokouji is still absent," Katsuragi said.

"Well, aren't you observant. What do you want me to do about it?" I asked sarcastically.

"I just wanted to tell him that I was surprised by his performance at the sports festival. I never realised he was so athletics," he said.

"We're in class A, after all," I said.

"Perhaps. But his abilities are truly extraordinary, even for a class A student."

In the midst of all the chaos, Katsuragi had observed Ayanokouj closely. He was conscientious like that.

"Imagine whatever you like," I told him.

"No matter. I didn't come here to talk about Ayanokouji's abilities, only our arrangement." He said.

Arrangement?

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Ah, so he didn't tell you. Ayanokouji did me a favour a while back, so I'm currently doing his bidding within class B," he said.

Ayanokouji, you clever bastard.

"Why are you telling me about this? Shouldn't it be kept between you and Ayanokouji?"

"I don't see Ayanokouji around. Therefore, I've determined that you are the one Ayanokouji would want me to work with, rather than just sitting quietly," he explained.

That's true, I don't think Ayanokouji would appreciate Katsuragi just sitting around.

"Well, that's all I wanted to say. If you ever need me, call upon me. I'll do whatever I can," he said, walking off.

"Yeah, count on it," I said, continuing to the main school building.

What other deals had Ayanokouji made without me realising?

A few days later, our class's atmosphere was heavy. The feeling wasn't disappointment so much as nervousness. Class A's homeroom teacher, Sakagami-sensei, appeared to sense it.

"Take your seats. It seems you prepared quite a bit in advance for this," he remarked.

The moment Sakagami-sensei walked in, everyone went quiet and a bit stiff. The only reason we behaved like this was because of me, and the way I controlled the class.

"My, my. You all look so serious."

"It's because today's the day you announce the midterm results, right?" Ishizaki looked slightly nervous.

Sakagami-sensei grinned in response.

"That's exactly right. The school will expel you immediately if you fail the midterm or final exam. I told you as much before, so I imagine it's fresh in your memory. Even though you rose to class A in record time, due to your excellent participation in special examinations, many of you are still in danger when facing a written exam. If you receive a failing grade, you'll need to prepare for the consequences. So, without further ado, I'll now post the results. Read them carefully."

His warning was genuine. The classroom's surveillance cameras always had their lenses trained on the students, observing everything. If someone acted out after seeing their test scores, the school would undoubtedly respond with draconian measures.

"So, we can see everyone's test scores?"

"Of course. It's allowed by the school's rules."

There was absolutely no privacy, nothing concealed. Just like a company might post up every salesman's profits, our chart exposed the capable and the incapable alike.

The threshold for failing hadn't changed from the previous test, but the situation was a little different.

"A score of forty or higher is considered a passing grade for all subjects. Anyone with a score under forty will face expulsion. These scores also reflect your results from the sports festival. If anyone achieved a score of over one hundred points on this test because of their sports festival results, the school will treat them as having received a perfect score."

Meanwhile, the school would deduct ten points from the midterm scores of the ten students with the lowest sports festival results.

Many students waited with bated breath as Sakagami-sensei slowly posted the scores on the blackboard.

Everyone passed, but everyone looked at the bottom score:

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka: 42 points

Damn. That guy hadn't even seated the midterms, but he managed to get by with just the sports festival points. He really was amazing. If he hadn't performed as well as he had at the sports festival, he would have been expelled.

At any rate, because the test problems had been simple; there were a few perfect scores among those students at the top of the class. Sakagami-sensei gave us a genuine compliment. "As you can see, no one has to drop out of school due to their midterm scores this time. All of you managed to pass. I must say, in the 9 years I've taught at this school, no other class starting at C or D had held on this long without any students dropping out. Well done."

Sakagami-sensei had never shown us this side of his personality until today. Quite a few students seemed hesitant to believe that it was genuine.

"You praising us feels weird." I wouldn't be fooled: although it was good that no one failed, I understood that Sakagami-sensei wasn't the type to end on a positive note. The gentler a teacher acted at this school, the creepier we all felt.

Our teacher pushed his glasses back.

"Next week, in preparation for the second semester's final exam, there will be a short test with problems from eight subjects. I'm sure that some of you have already started studying, but I just wanted to remind you. There will be one hundred questions on the test, making for a total of one hundred possible points. However, the questions will be on a third-year junior high school level. This test is meant to confirm that you remember your fundamentals. Furthermore, much like the mock test you took in the first semester, it won't effect your grades. However—this test's results will have an enormous impact on your next final exam."

Authors notes
1008 words
Pretty much just taken from the ln
Hope you all enjoyed

Arc 6 chapter 4: contract

"This tests results will have an enormous impact on your next final exam," he added.

Of course. Nothing could be simple at this school. Our next challenge was about to begin, it seemed.

"Wait, what kind of impact? Can you tell us?" I asked. Sakagami-sensei had purposefully drawn thing out to exacerbate the class's anxieties.

I would love to help you understand, Ryuuen. The school has decided that this next quiz's results will help determine which students to partner in class," said Sakagami-sensei.

"Partner?"

"That's right. Pairs decided based on this test will go on to take the final exam together. There will be eight subjects on that exam, each worth a total of one hundred points. Four hundred test questions, fifty for each subject. There are also two possible ways for you to fail this exam. If your pair scores under sixty in even one subject, then the school will expel both students. The sixty-point total, by the way, refers to the partners' combined score. For example, let's say Ishizaki and Ryuuen were partners. Even if Ishizaki scored zero points, they'd both be safe as long as Ryuuen scored 60 points."

Everyone gasped. With an excellent partner, this would be an easy test.

However, this still left the second method of failing.

"There's one additional hurdle to overcome. The school has decided that you must secure a certain overall score to avoid failing. Even if you get sixty points or more in each of the eight individual subjects, failing to meet this overall score requirement will mean expulsion."

"So, the overall requirement represents both partners' combined score?"

"Yes, exactly. The school hasn't yet determined the exact score required, but in year's past, it's been around seven hundred points," said Sakagami-sensei.

Seven hundred points. With two people working together across eight subjects—sixteen scores in total, two for each subject—you'd need a minimum average of around 45 points in every subject. Even excellent students would be in trouble depending on their partner.

"You mentioned that the overall required score is still unclear. Why?" I asked.

"Don't be so hasty. I'll explain the overall requirements in more detail later. The final exam will be held over two days, with four subjects per day, and I'll let you know the subjects' order. In the event that someone is absent due to poor health, the school will investigate the absence's legitimacy. If it's confirmed to be unavoidable, the student will receive points based on a rough estimate of what they would've earned given past test results. However, should the school find that an absent student didn't have sufficient reason to miss class, they will receive a score of zero points for all tests missed," Sakagami-sensei replied.

We couldn't avoid taking this exam. The school was telling us that caring for our health was another test of ability.

"I'm going to give you just one piece of advice. Don't assume that you understand how this school works just because you've finished the first semester of you first year. In the future, you'll face countless exams far more difficult than those you face now," Sakagami-sensei warned.

"P-please don't say such terrifying things, sensei," said one of the girls.

"Well, it's the truth. In years past...we call it the 'paper shuffle,' but one or two pairs are usually expelled due to this test. Most of them are from class D. But don't think you're immortal just because you're in class A."

The class's optimism rapidly faded. But what did Sakagami-sensei mean by "paper shuffle," exactly?

(A/N there's just another page telling you not to cheat blah blah blah author too lazy blah blah blah create questions and attack other class blah blah blah I'm tired)

To sum up, pairs needed to score above seven hundred points in aggregate or be expelled. Meanwhile, we also needed to score sixty points or higher for each individual subject or be expelled. Furthermore, our entire class's overall score had to exceed the overall score of the class whose test questions we set, or 50 class points would be transferred from us to them, shortening the gap between us and them by 100 points.

"We're holding a meeting. Everyone stay behind," I said, walking to the podium.

"So what do you think?" Ibuki cut to the chase.

"It's just like Sakagami-sensei said. This exam will be difficult. The bar is high, and the partner system makes it worse. To top it off, if another class comes up with the problems we have to solve, the test could get extremely tough. Depending on how the question's worded, even something straightforward could appear unsolvable."

"That's true. This time, it's not just about studying. We have to be creative," said Ibuki.

Simply tutoring the weaker students among us wouldn't be enough. Understanding the other classes' strengths and weaknesses would be ideal, but they wouldn't show us their hands easily. Still, we'd overcome trials based on intelligence and teamwork before.

Ina sense, this test might be less difficult than other special examinations. If the sports festival had tested our class's accumulated physical strength, this was a test of accumulated academic knowledge.

I feel as if Sakagami-sensei was hinting at something.

"For now, everyone, study hard. Get in at least 20 minutes per subject per day. And don't slack off. You're free to leave now," I ordered.

This was a tough situation, but not one that I couldn't think myself out of.

Think: what would Ayanokouji do?

What did Ayanokouji have that I didn't?

Then, it struck me.

I selected a number on my phone and called it. A few moments later, a male voice answered.

"Ryuuen. Taking me up on my offer this quickly? You really are incapable without Ayanokouji," he said.

"Whatever. I need to ask: do you know of any pawns Ayanokouji had in class D?"

"Well, that is strange. As it happens, I know that Ayanokouji bought off Chiaki Matsushita in the sports festival. I also know the terms of their conditions. They had a contract, just like Ayanokouji and I," he said.

"Contract? Why is this the first I'm hearing of this, Katsuragi?" I asked.

"Hahaha. Yes, it seems I failed to mention. Ayanokouji has promised to transfer me to class A when he has saved up 20 million private points. He also made the same agreement with Matsushita, as I understand," he chuckled.

I gritted my teeth.

"That wasn't Ayanokouji's decision to make," I started to say.

"Too bad. Contracts are binding, both at this school and in the wider world. Perhaps you should keep Ayanokouji on a tighter leash when he returns from 'studying abroad' as you've put it,"

I hung up.

Although I was a little annoyed with Ayanokouji for making contracts like that, it wasn't too bad, actually. 2,700,000 private points were going into the class bank each month.

(1350 class points=135,000 private points per month. Each student gives half of their private points each month so 67,500 x 40=2,700,000)

I checked my balance: 12,477,000

We were already more than halfway to transferring someone in or out of our class.

I suppose it wasn't such a bad arrangement after all.

I made a mental note to speak to Chiaki Matsushita.

Authors notes
1218 words
Yeah, I think the parts of this chap that weren't just copied from the ln were fairly OK. What do you think?
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 6 chapter 5: mending a fracture

So, the paper shuffle exam. This would be troublesome. I'd probably be able to pass, at least if my partner wasn't too stupid.

As I was lost in thought, I bumped into someone.

"Ah, I'm sorry, are you..." I started to apologise, but when I looked up, I was looking at the face of Ryuuen Kakeru, the tyrant of class A. Instantly, I was on edge.

"No, it's fine. Am I right in thinking that you are Chiaki Matsushita of class 1-D?" He asked.

That was surprising. How did he know who I was?

"Um, yes...why do you ask?" I asked.

"Kukuku, well, I'm here to inquire on the contract between you and Ayanokouji. And before you start, don't play dumb, I already have it from a reliable source," he said.

Bam. Instantly I wanted to start running. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had become something of an enigma to the rest of the school, due to the fact that he and Kikyou Kushida, a girl from my class, started there absences on the same day in September, and no one in the school had seen hide nor hair of them since. It's kinda spooky.

"Well, Ayanokouji asked me to help him in exchange for transferring me to class A. How far are you on that, by the way?" I asked anxiously.

I wanted to transfer as soon as possible. While I was in class D, who knows when I might get expelled?

"Well, I'm not going to give you an exact number, but we're over 10 million already," he confirmed.

Smart. By not revealing exactly how much he had, he could make me wait as long as he thought necessary.

"Anyway, what did you want?" I asked.

"Well, funny you should ask. I would like to offer class D my assistance on this exam," he offered.

I didn't like this.

"What's the catch?" I asked.

"No catch, per se. I'm going to be honest, I don't think my class will pull through this exam without one or two pairs being expelled. I want to avoid that at all cost. I would have used 20 million if I had it, but even if I did, Ayanokouji made a deal with you, so I couldn't," he said.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked.

"Well, first we'll trade questions. And then, you'll give me the answers to your class's questions, and I'll give you the answers to my questions. The next part is entirely up to you. Class A can intentionally let class D win the overall scoring by deliberately scoring lower. Or we can provide you with false answers, and Class A's allowance increases, ergo you get to class A quicker. Each choice is not without its merits and demerits," he said.

Hmm...intriguing. If I let class A win by giving false answers to my classmates, it would ruin my reputation within the class. I would be an outcast, but it wouldn't take as long for me to transfer to class A. On the other hand, if I let class D win by telling Class A to intentionally score low, it would damage Class A's point gain, and I wouldn't be able to transfer as quickly, but my classmates' faith in me would be bolstered.

There was a third option, however...

"Well, Ryuuen-kun...how about this: we trade answers, and we both do the best we can. That way, it's unlikely either of our classes will fail, and my reputation within my class wouldn't be damaged by giving false answers," I proposed.

"Kukuku, you're gonna leave it up to chance? You're crazier than I gave you credit for. All right, I'll settle for that. Do we have a deal?" He asked, offering his hand for me to shake.

"May the best class win," I said, shaking his hand.

Unknown POV

"Mutter mutter mutter...eheheh...KILL HIM...heheh, got to...save him, got to...kill him...I hate him, but...hahahaha I love him,"

Her symptoms were extraordinary. Her psyche was utterly shattered. I had never seen anything quite like it. Whenever anyone approached her, she would actually try to kill them. One of the guards had already nearly died after she bit off two of his fingers. Not only that, but she had actually picked the fingers off of the floor, and she ate the meat off of the bone like a chicken leg.

It had taken a bell of a lot of espionage, persuasion and bribes to get her released and handed over to us by the police. At first, I had doubted Ayanokouji-sense I'd decision to bring her back here, especially after she failed a few years ago and dropped out. But looking at her now, I felt that he had been somewhat justified in his decision.

I mean, she managed to almost kill the masterpiece. Not even I could kill him on my own. Maybe 5 or 6 years ago, perhaps, but I was getting old now.

"What are your orders, sir?" I asked Ayanokouji-sensei, who had summoned me here.

"I want you to fix her," he said, simply.

"Fix? I'm not sure..." I started to say.

"Anything can be fixed, even a mind as damaged as hers. With the recent trauma she has experienced, it's likely her neurological capacity has grown. Not only that, but if you manage to bring her back from the brink, I may even be able to make a second masterpiece," he said.

(A/N Not sure if that's how it works, but who am I to argue with professor Ayanopapa?)

"I...suppose that's true, but...you're asking me to fix...that?" I asked, gesturing to the subject in question, who had started to drool, and suddenly ran into the one-way glass from where we were observing her.

She froze, and looked directly at me. I have to confess, but a chill went down my spine when I saw her terrifying gaze directed towards me, especially when she couldn't actually see me.

"I know how it sounds, but...he slipped through your clutches, so this is your mistake to repair. Don't forget that," he said, and directed his own cold gaze onto me.

"Y-yes, Ayanokouji-sensei," I bowed, and walked to the door of her room.

When I opened it, I saw her sitting in the corner, playing with her hair. We hadn't given her any restraints or anything, and she was still wearing the blood stained ANHS uniform she had been wearing on the day she was arrested.

"What...do you...want?" She asked.

I was stunned. She actually managed to make coherent speech.

"I..." I started to say, but she immediately rushed towards me.

She stopped barely an inch from my face.

"It's because of you people that I'm like this, you know? I'm crazy because of what I went through in here," she whispered, he eyes bloodshot and wild.

"Well. What if I said we could fix you?" I offered.

"Mmmm...nom..." she thought for a moment, and then tried to bite me.

Luckily, I managed to bring my hand up to protect my face, but her teeth still sunk into my arm.

"Mmf...you're not afraid, are you?" She asked.

"Not particularly. Caution and fear are two different things, and I'm definitely cautious of you," I said.

"Why have you come in here?" She asked.

"As I said, I have an offer for you. I want you to be able to appear sane in public. Can you do that?" I asked.

She smiled. And she giggled. And then she made a slight laugh. And then her shrill laughter was high-pitched and loud enough to rattle me. I covered my ears, and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, she was standing in front of me, all traces of insanity gone.

"Is this good enough?" She asked, smiling brightly.

I was stunned. I could still see a slight hint of something in her eyes, but apart from that she just looked like a regular high school girl.

"Yes. Could you please introduce yourself to me?" I asked, giving her a simple test.

"Sure. My name's Kushida Kikyou, and I go to ANHS. What's your name?"

I was amazed by how fast she could go from babbling incoherently to speaking cheerfully like this.

"I'm Samuel Akito. It's a pleasure to meet you," I said.

Authors notes
1375 words
Well.
I think this chapter turned out ok.
Ryuuen and Matsushita will give each other the answers to the questions they'll submit to each other, and then see who will get the highest score.
Kushida Kikyou is a really talented actress.
I hope it wasn't too edgy
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 6 chapter 6: cooperation and growth

"Thanks for agreeing to talk with me, Hirata-kun," I said to the boy sitting across from me.

"It's no problem, Matsushita-san. Anything for a classmate. What is it you wanted to talk about?" He asked.

"Well, you know about the special exam coming up?"

"Yes, the paper shuffle. The study groups are going really well, at least in my opinion," he said excitedly.

"Yeah, well, about that. I've been made an offer by class A," I said.

Hirata froze.

"Class...A?" He asked, slowly.

"Yes. Now, before you say anything, hear me out. I already know what you want from this exam: you don't care about the class points, just as long as no one is expelled, right?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well...yeah, obviously...but..." he started to protest.

"I have made a deal with Ryuuen Kakeru to ensure that no one in the class is expelled. Ryuuen's class does well in special exams, but they're still easy prey when it comes to a written exam. It's mutually beneficial," I explained.

"But...how is Ryuuen going to ensure that no one in our class gets expelled? And how are we going to make sure no one in his class gets expelled?" Hirata was slightly flustered now.

"It's simple: Ryuuen gives us the answers to his test questions, and we give him the answers to ours. This ensures that everyone in the class will pass in both A and D, and we will avoid expulsion."

Hirata mulled it over. It was a solid 2 minutes before he spoke again.

"Fine."

"Really? Thanks, Hirata-kun!" I said.

"But, Matsushita-san...what if Ryuuen betrays us?" He asked.

"Don't worry. I'm confident he won't. It's not within his best interests."

"What do you mean by that?"

I put my finger to my lips, and grinned.

"That's a secret, tee hee!" I said, cheekily.

"Wait a sec...why did you need to tell me about this?" He asked.

"Ooh, I almost forgot...I need you to give the answers to everyone in the class. You have more clout than me, and people will more readily accept your decision rather than me," I said, bringing the answers out of my bag.

I was surprised that class A had managed to write their questions so quickly. Class D was still in the middle of writing our questions, so it would be a little while before I gave Ryuuen the papers.

"Here are the answers, Ryuuen-kun. Please memorise them," I said, once I had convinced Hirata to give me a copy of the answer sheet to give to Ryuuen.

"Well, thank you very kindly, Matsushita. I hope that this will be the first in a long line of transactions," he said, smirking.

"Just remember Ryuuen: I'm contracted with Ayanokouj-kun, not you. Don't think I'm your property," I barked.

"Kukuku, don't worry, I know full well that you're Ayanokouji's ally, rather than mine and the rest of class A's. I just hope that we can continue to cooperate in his absence," he bowed mockingly.

"As long as I think Ayanokouji-kun would be okay with it, or he wouldn't think the idea was bad, I'll follow along," I said.

"Good, good...well then, goodbye Matsushita," he walked off and waved.

"See you later, Ryuuen-kun."

The first part of the final exam was here. The minimum overall score each pair needed to pass was 692 points, which was lower than expected, but we couldn't afford to be careless. The first day covered four subjects: social studies, English, Japanese and mathematics.

As I walked into the hall on my way to the classroom, I met up with Maya. For better or worse, she seemed to have been waiting for me.

"Good morning, Chiaki-san. It's almost time for the test, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Did you sleep well last night?"

"I studied until about one o'clock. I feel a little nervous," said Maya, putting her hand to her chest and taking a deep breath.

"Well, I can't say it's going to be easy, but let's both do our best. You should do well if you just apply everything you've learned," I told her.

"Okay!"

No matter what, even if we weren't partners, we were still friends, and I wanted her to pass.

Her partner was Miyake Akito, and my partner was Airi Sakura. I was confident that we'd both pass.

As the bell rang to signal that the test was going to begin, everyone started to pack up their study materials. We had to store any and all objects unnecessary for the exam in the lockers at the back of the classroom. The only things we were allowed to have were writing utensils. If our pencils broke, we ran out of lead, or we used our erasers up, we had to request additional supplies from Chabashira-sensei.

"We will now start your final exam. Your first subject is contemporary Japanese. You are forbidden from turning your papers over before I give you the signal to begin," said Chabashira-sensei.

Rather than have the students at the front of each row pass the test papers back, Chabashira-sensei placed the papers on each student's desk herself.

"The exam will be fifty minutes long. Please try to avoid leaving sick or using the restroom. In the event that you aren't able to wait, please raise your hand and let me know. You won't be allowed to leave the room during the exam for any other reason," she continued.

Chabashira-sensei finished handing out test papers. Not a single student was talking by this point. Everyone focused on their papers. Shortly afterward, the next bell rang, signalling the official start of the exam.

"Begin."

We all flipped our test sheets over at the same time.

Good. Ryuuen kept up his part of the bargain. It's a good thing neither of us betrayed one another.

I was confident that no one would get expelled during this exam.

Ayanokouji POV

Her growth was rapid for a girl of her age, physique and mental ability. She wasn't a match for him just yet, but I was confident that she could get to his level with a few years of training.

Well, he would already be leaps and bounds ahead of her at that time, but for anyone to reach his level before their twenties meant that they were truly exceptional.

I watched her sparring with her instructor, the next bout just about to begin. Kushida launched herself at the poor man with blinding speed, and put him in a position where he couldn't move in less than 5 seconds. Truly extraordinary.

Soon, she would be ready to go out on the hunt with Akito. To find him. To find my son.

I had heard that the car he had used to get away had been spotted in Kyoto.

Many of my enemies lived in Kyoto, and it would take me a week to find him if I didn't know who he was with.

But mark my words: I will find him, before he can escape.

I would make sure of it.

Authors notes
1192 words
Special exam begins, Ryuuen and Matsushita didn't betray each other.
Kushida is growing rapidly.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 6 epilogue: the return of the king

I was walking back to the dorms after the test.

It had gone well, all things considered. I definitely knew that I hadn't failed, and I was confident that Sakura and I had passed the 692 points threshold. I was confident that I was able to do that myself, but it always helps to have someone helping you.

"Oh, what a day," I said aloud.

"Hoho, what a day indeed, traitor-girl," a booming voice said behind me.

I turned around quickly. I saw a tall, blond, muscular man by the name of Kouenji Rokusuke standing before me.

"A-ah, Kouenji-kun. What do you mean 'traitor?'" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"Don't try and play pretend with me, girl. It won't work," he said, walking towards me.

"I'm sure I have no idea..." I tried to say, walking away as fast as I could without actually running.

Instantly, Kouenji closed the difference between us. He pinned me against the wall, and held my right arm above my head.

"I usually wouldn't care, but...I have a particular distaste for those in class A. I should teach you a lesson before you go conspiring with my enemies ever again," he said, readying his fist to drive it into my stomach.

I froze, terrified. If he punched me hard enough, he could probably kill me. I was athletic, but I couldn't match up to a man of his calibre.

He brought his arm back, and...

Slap

"That's not very nice, is it? She could get hurt, you know."

A figure of average build was holding Kouenji's wrist in his hand, and restraining him. I recognised his voice, but I can't remember where I remembered it from.

"You? It...can't be...how are you here?" Kouenji was confused. I had never seen him wear any expression other than smug confidence, but now he was sweating slightly.

"It's quite simple, really. I felt hungry, so I came down here to get a snack from the vending machine," the boy behind Kouenji said.

"But...you're dead...Kushida killed you, didn't she?" Kouenji asked.

"Wounded, not killed. You'll have to try a little harder than just kicking me around and stabbing me, I'm afraid. Better luck next time," the boy said.

Kouenji had had enough. He turned around and aimed a kick at the boys head. The boy dodged, and aimed a kick of his own at Kouenji's ribs. A dull thud reverberated from the impact, and Kouenji went reeling backwards.

"Hoho, it's good to have you back, ghost-boy. I can't wait to finish what Kushida could not," Kouenji said, skulking away.

"All bark and no bite," the boy said to himself. It was quite dark now, so I couldn't see his face.

"W-why did you save me?" I asked.

"Why did you think? I couldn't have my pawn getting neutralised by that gorilla, could I?" He said.

His...pawn? Then that meant...

Just then, the lamp above the alleyway turned on, revealing the face of the boy in front of me.

"It's good to see you, Matsushita-san," he said.

"I-It's good to see you too...Ayanokouji-kun."

Authors notes
526 words
The return of the king
Ugh...9 whole chapters in 24 hours.
Hope you all enjoyed.

Arc 6 epilogue part 2: reintroduction

"So, what's the real story behind your absence?" Matsushita asked me.

"What did the school tell you?" I asked.

"You've been studying abroad, apparently."

"Then that's where I've been," I replied.

"Bullshit. Kouenji said something about Kushida, and that you should be dead. I have a right to know, I just helped your class in an exam," she yelled.

"Please keep it down. Fine, I'll tell you. A few days after the sports festival, Kushida asked me to meet her alone on the rooftop at lunch. She stole my phone so I couldn't call for backup, and then Kanzaki, Nagumo and Kouenji, along with Kushida herself, started to beat the shit out of me. I could definitely handle one, or maybe even two of them alone, but not four of them. When fighting more than one opponent, it becomes increasingly difficult to fight," I explained.

"And then, Kushida took it one step too far?" She asked.

"I'll get to that. Before I went up there, I told my friends to come to the rooftop after 10 minutes, if I hadn't already been at the cafeteria by then. When they arrived, the two groups clashed. I managed to escape in the confusion, but I was seriously injured: 2 broken ribs, a broken nose and a concussion were the worst of my injuries, along with a few major bruises and some internal bleeding. Even though that was bad, I would be able to survive without specialist treatment, just a few months of bed rest," I continued.

"Oh my gosh, how painful. But that doesn't explain how Kushida tried to kill you. Didn't you escape?" She interrupted.

"I'm getting to it, hold your horses. Now, as I was saying, I managed to slip away during the brawl. I had told Honami to come to the rooftop if I wasn't at the lunch within 20 minutes. I knew I'd be injured, and she was the only person I trusted who wasn't on the rooftop already. I was halfway down the stairwell when I saw Honami coming towards me. In my current state, I wasn't able to sense the danger behind me. I called out to Honami, and Kushida had stabbed me in the back, narrowly missing my left lung."

Matsushita gasped.

"What happened afterwards?" She asked.

"I was taken to hospital and treated. After I was allowed to leave, I went to my mother's house in Kyoto for a few months, where I recuperated and recovered my strength. I only arrived back at school a few hours ago." I decided to leave the part about me having to escape the hospital and stealing a car out of my explanation. Matsushita didn't need to know that.

"And what about Kushida?" She asked.

"Last I saw of her, she was being dragged away by campus security. She's probably in some form of official custody now, so I don't think I'll be seeing her again any time soon. Did the school say anything else about either me or Kushida?" I asked.

"No. According to Chabashira-sensei, Kushida dropped out of the school," she said.

Good. I didn't ever want to see that girl again.

"Well, what's this about you helping class A in a special exam?"

"Ahaha, well, it's sort of a funny story, really..." Matsushita and I talked for a little while, and then I returned to Fuka's room.

"You were gone for a while. Run in to trouble?" She asked when I came back a full hour from when I had left to get a snack.

"Just...catching up with a few friends," I said, vaguely.

I got onto the bed and kissed Fuka on the lips.

Next morning, 07:30

Today was the day I would reintroduce myself to my friends. I had a special surprise for Ryuuen. This would scare the shit out of him.

I knew that Ryuuen slept with his window open, so I took a Ladder from the janitor's closet, and went outside. If I remember correctly...

Yep, that was Ryuuen's window, the one that was open.

I extended the ladder, and climbed up to his room.

As I neared the top, however, I could hear odd noises coming from Ryuuen's room. Some kind of groaning or moaning, perhaps. Maybe Ryuuen was having a nightmare?

Oh my god, it would be so funny to see him piss himself when I scared him awake while he was having a bad dream.

I got to the curtain, opened it, and made the scooby-doo laugh sound.

"Rehehehehe," I said, opening the curtain.

What I saw startled me: Ryuuen and...Shiina were...oh wow.

They stopped moving, and turned their heads to the window. Both of them were completely naked.

I looked at them. They looked at me. We looked at each other for a solid 15 seconds.

"Umm...hey, Ayanokouji..." Ryuuen said slowly.

"Hi, Ryuuen...hello...Shiina-san..." I said, waving at Shiina. She gave a slight wave back in return. During this exchange, the atmosphere didn't change at all.

"So, uh, you two, are, ummm...mashing pissers, huh?" I tried to start conversation.

"Please leave, Ayanokouji," they both said.

"Yeah. Oh by the way, I'm in Fuka's room," I replied, climbing down the ladder.

That was the second pair of boobs I'd seen today.

There was a knocking at the door to Fuka's apartment. She opened it, and Ryuuen and Shiina came in.

"Delete it from your memory," Ryuuen said.

"Don't worry, I never saw nuthin'," I said.

"G-good," he replied.

There was a brief moment of silence, and then...

"Welcome back, man! It feels like ages since we've seen you! What has it been, 3 months?" Ryuuen came and bear-hugged me, and Shiina gave me a little hug of her own.

"Yeah, I know, right. Crazy..."

"What happened? Why were you away for so long? Shouldn't you have been back at school as soon as the doctor's gave you a cast and stuff?" Shiina asked.

"Well, the school allowed me to stay with my mother in Kyoto, and I stayed there for a little while to build up my strength. I arrived yesterday evening," I lied. They didn't need to know about the white room enforcers.

Ryuuen and Fuka looked at each other.

"Shiina...could you please leave us?" Ryuuen asked.

"Uh...sure. I'll be back at my place, ok?" She asked.

"Sure," he replied.

Once she'd left...

"Ayanokouji...we know about the white room..." Ryuuen said.

...

"Who told you?" I asked, looking at my feet.

"Horikita Manabu," Fuka answered.

"Ayanokouji, you don't have to lie to us, where were you for all of these months?" Ryuuen posed me the same question Shiina had asked a few moments ago.

"I wasn't lying when I said I was with my mother in Kyoto. But...I may have left out the part where my father sent his enforcer to retrieve me from the hospital, but Chabashira-sensei, who happened to already know who the enforcer was because they're both ANHS alumni, gave me my mother's address, and held him off for long enough, giving me enough time to steal a car and reunite with my mother after, who I don't remember because I hadn't seen her in 13 years," I blurted out very quickly.

"Oh, just a little detail then?" Fuka said, making Ryuuen and I laugh.

"Kukuku...it really is good to have you back, Ayanokouji," Ryuuen gave me a solid pat on the shoulder.

"It's good to be back guys," I said.

It was finally time to continue being free.

'Merica

Authors notes
1263 words
Just a chapter to reintroduce Ayanokouji to the other protagonists.
Ayanokouji got himself some of that freedom .
I couldn't sleep so I wrote this chapter out of boredom.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 7 chapter 1: the return of the king (part 2)

There was one person I needed to see before I revealed my return to the rest of the campus.

I walked to her dorm, and knocked on the door.

"Coming!" The cheerful voice spoke.

The door opened, revealing a girl with strawberry blond hair, and brilliant blue eyes.

We stared at each other for a little while.

"Honami...I'm back," I said after a pause.

Tears started to flood Honami's eyes, and she leapt out and hugged me.

"Nii-san...I missed you...so much..." she said through quiet sobs.

"I missed you too...come on, let's go inside," I said, and she opened the door to let me come through.

We had a lot to catch up on...

"Oh my god, you met mom and Kiyone?" She asked.

"Yeah, I went to their house in Kyoto. I stayed there until yesterday to recover my strength," I explained.

We had been talking for a little while, and we had just finished talking about what happened during my absence.

Honami reached over the table and held my hand.

"It's really good to see that you're ok, Kiyo," she said.

"Thanks, Honami...it's really good to be back. Better than being in hospital, anyway," I laughed.

"Ahaha, yeah, I suppose you're right," she laughed too.

There was a moment of silence.

"Kiyo, when we graduate...will you...please come back to Kyoto with me?" She asked.

Oh. How should I do this?

"Honami...I'd like nothing more than to spend a few years living with you, mom and Kiyone, but...I think you know why I can't...I'm sorry..." I apologised.

She looked down for a moment.

"N-no, it's ok. It's not your fault. It's dad's fault," she said, a rare look of anger upon her usually kind face.

I hugged her.

"Honami...I promise that one day, me, and you...and mom and Kiyone...we'll all live as a normal family. I'll break free, one day," I said.

Honami was startled, and then returned the hug.

"Thank you...Kiyotaka," she said.

The next day

"Hey guys! It's Ayanokouji!"

"Ayanokouji-kun is back!"

"Welcome back, Ayanokouji-kun!"

Walking into school the next day was like being an actor on the red carpet: I was something of a celebrity.

I was walking to school with Ryuuen, Fuka, Shiina and Honami. We were chatting, and I was waving at the people who were welcoming me back.

"Fufufu. So it seems you're alive after all?" A cold voice came from behind me.

"Well, why wouldn't I be alive, Sakayanagi-san?" I asked the short girl with the cane.

"Fufufu, I heard the weather in Europe can be quite cold. How was it, by the way? I heard that the locals there can be very...unfriendly," she said with a thin smile.

"I don't think anyone could be quite as unfriendly as you, or the company you keep," I said in French.

"I suppose you're right about that...I'll be seeing you around, Ayanokouji," she said in Italian.

She limped away, with her cronies Hashimoto and Kitou trailing behind her.

"Welcome back, Ayanokouji," Ibuki said when I arrived in the classroom.

"Thanks, Ibuki-san," I said.

After that, I was instantly swarmed by people asking me about my absence.

"Ayanokouji, did you attack Kushida?"

"Hey, Ayanokouji-kun, what did you do in Europe?"

"Hey, Ayanokouji! Do you have a scar now?"

I was overwhelmed.

"ENOUGH!"

A single word from Ryuuen was all it took to disperse the crowd that had gravitated towards me.

It was at this point the bell rang, and Sakagami-sensei entered the room.

"Good morning class A. First, I would like to welcome back Ayanokouji after his brief sabbatical in Europe. Now, onto business as usual," he said.

Man, it was good to be back.

Unknown POV

So, Ayanokouji had returned to ANHS?

Damn. We'd only been in Kyoto for a few days, and we were already being recalled back to Tokyo. I was really starting to like it.

I was walking down the street with Akito-sensei, when I saw Ichinose walking down the street.

No, it couldn't be Ichinose, but the similarities were very peculiar. I think I remember Ichinose saying her family lived in Kyoto. I decided to call out to her.

"Hey! Ichinose-san!" I called.

"Kushida? What are you doing?" Akito asked me.

"Follow my lead," I said.

The woman looked around, and we locked eyes. I waved at her and put a big smile on my face.

"Oh, sorry. You just look like someone else I know. Never mind," I apologised.

"No, no, I am Ichinose Sakura. Perhaps you know one of my daughters?" She asked, walking over.

"I don't know. I thought you looked like a girl called Ichinose Honami. I went to ANHS with her," I explained.

"Yes, she's my eldest daughter. It's good to meet a friend of Honami's. What's your name?" She asked.

"Hehee, how silly of me. I'm Kikyou Kushida," I bowed.

Ichinose flinched slightly.

"And you, sir? Have we met before? You look very familiar," she asked Akito-sensei.

"No, I don't believe so," Akito said. I could tell that he was lying.

"Well, it's been lovely chatting, but I'm very busy. Goodbye, Kushida-san," she said, walking off.

I watched her leave.

"Akito-sensei, how do you know that woman?" I asked.

"Like I said, I don't know her," he lied again.

"Please don't take me for a fool, Akito-sensei. Give me some credit," I smirked.

He sighed, his shoulders slumping.

"Fine, I suppose you'll find out eventually, anyway. That woman, Ichinose Sakura, is Ayanokouji-sensei's ex-wife. Well, they're actually still legally married, but they haven't seen each other in 12 or 13 years from what I know. She's also the mother of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and his twin sister, Ayanokouji Honami. Or, Ichinose Honami, I should say," he explained.

The impact was such a shock.

"H-how could...Ichinose-san, such a pretty girl...come from Ayanokouji-sensei?" I asked

Authors notes
1004 words
Just a chap reintroducing Ayanokouji to the rest of the school again.
Not much point writing vol 7 since Ayanokouji and Ryuuen are working together.
I'll be starting vol 8 next chapter.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 7 chapter 3: Padoru padoru

I was sitting at my desk in my room. I looked out my window.

It was snowing.

It was December 25th, and no one had talked to me for the entire day. I thought Christmas was supposed to be when friends got together.

I could hear a small party happening next door. I wish that my friends had invited me to something.

I had thought about buying some food and drinks and inviting over a few friends, but I thought I would look a bit desperate.

Just then, I received a text message from Ryuuen.

Hey, can you come to my room? I need to talk to you about school stuff (point balances etc.)

So. It was Christmas, and all my friend could think to tell me was that we needed to do some accounting? Bullshit.

Sure, I'll be there right away.

Even if I thought it was bullshit, it didn't justify turning him down. If he was asking me, it was probably important.

I made my way to Ryuuen's room.

When I got there, I knocked on the door.

"It's open," I heard him say.

I opened the door. It was pitch black.

"Ryuuen? What did you want to talk about? And why are the lights off?" I said, turning on the light switch.

"Surprise!"

I jumped, startled.

Everyone was here: Ryuuen, Shiina, Ibuki, Albert, Fuka and Honami. There was a big banner that said: merry Christmas, Ayanokouji.

Ryuuen's table was laden with an assortment of European/American traditional Christmas dishes: a roast turkey, those little sausages wrapped in bacon, and other delicious foodstuffs.

"Hey guys? What are you all doing here?" I asked.

"Well. We know that your family never celebrated Christmas. So we decided to throw you the best Christmas party ever!" Shiina said.

A complex wave of emotions welled up inside of me.

"T-thanks...you guys..." I said.

"C'mon, let's eat. I'm starving!" Ryuuen said.

We sat down and ate Christmas dinner together. I looked at everyone sitting at my table. This would be one of my fondest memories of this school.

I would never forget it.

Unknown POV

"P-please...don't k-kill me..." he said.

I had taken out the 2 guys he hired to protect him once he figured out he'd been discovered.

"Hmm...a journalist who dug a little too deep, eh...that's a funny story..." I said, wiping the blood from my cheek, and licking it from my finger.

"P-please...I have a family..." he pleaded.

"You should have thought of that before you stuck your nose where it didn't belong," I said, driving my knife through his throat.

He gurgled and croaked, and blood came bubbling from the wound I created in his neck.

It took him a good 20 seconds to die. I made sure to maintain eye contact with him the entire time.

Once he'd stopped convulsing, I called Akito-sensei.

"I managed to get rid of that pest problem," I said.

"Good. The boss doesn't like vermin running around. Come downstairs, I'll pick you up," he said.

I was on the rooftop of a building in Tokyo. The man I had just killed was a journalist who was prying into government affairs, and stumbled across the white room. I was called to silence him.

I realised that today was the first time I had killed someone. Sure, I had attempted to kill Ayanokouji a few months back, but I hadn't succeeded.

I felt something on top of my head. When I looked up, I saw that it was snowing.

How long had it been since I left ANHS? I suppose it must be winter now. It didn't feel like that long. This time last year, I was celebrating Christmas at the orphanage. It was horrible, to be sure, but it was still Christmas. It was completely different to how I'd spent this Christmas: killing an innocent man.

A single snowflake fell under my eye, and creeped down my cheek. I stuck my tongue out to catch it, and recoiled at it's salty taste. It wasn't a snowflake: it was a tear.

My phone buzzed.

"What are you doing? Get down here," Akito-sensei said, gruffly.

"Yes, sensei. I'll be right down," I answered, about to go down the stairs.

Before I did, however, something caught my eye. I looked out to the sea, and I saw an artificial island: the campus of ANHS. A mix of anger and resentment welled up inside of me. I could just imagine Ayanokouji now.

"Hahaha, it was 4 vs 1, and you still couldn't kill me? How pathetic," he said.

"Shut...up..."

"What was that? You'll have to speak up, I'm afraid. The Christmas party I'm having is just so wild, I can't hear you, hahaha,"

"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

I turned around to face the voice, but there was no one there.

I pinched my cheek, and went downstairs.

"You took your sweet time," Akito-sensei said.

"Yeah...sorry about that," I apologised.

We walked back to the car. On the way, I saw a couple. The man had just proposed to the woman. They looked so happy.

They should just die.

I saw a family of a father, a mother and their daughter. The daughter was holding both of their hands, and the parents were carrying a large amount of shopping, probably Christmas presents.

They should all just die.

When we walked past an ally, I saw a girl, no older than me, eating scraps from a restaurant dumpster. I could see a small, dirty mattress nearby, which is probably where she would be spending the night.

"I wish they would just die," I said.

"What makes you say that?" Asked Akito-sensei.

"Everyone looks so happy. Why can't I be happy, and normal?" I asked.

"Hmm...who says you can't be happy?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"Just because you've spent your Christmas killing an innocent man, doesn't mean you can't still be happy. Take that girl over there, for example: she's homeless, and eating food that isn't really healthy to consume, but you can still see that she's happy," he argued.

He was right. I didn't need to be angry or upset. So what if I killed a guy, it was what I enjoyed doing, anyway.

Wasn't it?

Authors notes
1055 words.
Padoru Padoru
Hope you all enjoyed

Arc 8 chapter 1: School Camp announcement

On a Thursday morning, shortly after the start of the third semester, several buses traveled in a row down the highway. He buses carried not only first-year students, but second and third-year students as well—the entire school jointly embarking on one big road trip.

The bus that carried us—the first-year class A students—entered a tunnel. My ears were assaulted by the pressure change.

This was the second time I'd ridden a bus since enrolling at this school. No one had explained where we were headed or what we were doing. All we knew was that we had to wear jerseys, and it was strongly recommended we pack several spare jerseys and changes of underwear before we left. This didn't sound like a vacation, though.

Since the bus ride was about three hours or so, everyone had brought along fun items considered acceptable by the school. Cell phones were a given, but people also brought books, playing cards, and snacks and juice. Some had even brought along gaming consoles.

Our seats were designated, with our names written on them, and I was seated next to Ryuuen Kakeru. We'd had an...odd sort of relationship. We were both good friends and business partners.

The atmosphere on the bus was pleasant, but I could tell this wouldn't be a mere field trip. If we'd done this in the middle of winter vacation, I might have held out hope of it being just a fun outing, but the third semester was already underway. It would probably be good for us to anticipate an exam like the one we'd had on the deserted island, just so we could prepare ourselves mentally.

I decided to stare out the window. This was a long tunnel. It'd been two or three minutes since we entered.

Just as I thought that, it began to get brighter. We'd made it through.

Sakagami, who had been waiting for us to emerge from the tunnel, started to move. At the same time, the pain in my ears increased.

"Sorry to interrupt your enthusiasm, but be quiet," he said, addressing the students through a hand-held microphone. "I thought you might like to know where this bus is headed, and also what you'll be doing once we arrive."

"We'll yea, 'course we're curious. We're not going to another deserted island, are we?" Asked Ishizaki.

Sakagami answered quickly. "I see that special exam is still seared into your collective memory. Allow me to give you some peace of mind; we don't hold special exams on that grand a scale very often. Nor are we so cruel as to put you through something like that when it's no longer summer. However, as you can already guess, there is a new special exam ahead. Compared to the island, though, you'll be in significantly better living conditions."

So he said—but I didn't trust him. The island aside, every special exam we'd faced so far had been insanely difficult from an average student's perspective. Hanging over our heads was the ultimate penalty of failing one of these special exams: expulsion.

"Allow me to give you students an overview of this special exam."

Receiving an explanation of how the special exam worked on the bus meant that we could prepare countermeasures, or at least I could prepare countermeasures. We couldn't just get up and walk around while the bus was in motion, but the bus was small enough that everyone could hear you if you spoke, and we could always use our phones to correspond privately with specific people.

"We are taking you to a school camp in the mountains. We will arrive in just under an hour. The less time I have to spend explaining, the more time you'll have to strategise," said Sakagami.

An hour until the exam started, huh? In other words, if it took twenty minutes to explain the rules, we'd have forty minutes left over to plan.

School camp. I'd never heard of it, so I looked it up on my phone.

Typically held in the summer months on days when the weather is nice. Commonly held in locations where greenery is abundant, such as the mountains. Group activities are conducted with the express purpose of promoting the development of healthy bodies. Can also refer to an educational facility."

"Normally, opportunities to connect with senior students are few and far between, especially for those not involved in club activities. At this school camp, you'll participate in inter-class group activities for eight days and seven nights, making this a step beyond the sports festival. The name we've give this special exam is the 'Mixed Camp.' Since I'm sure a verbal explanation won't satisfy you, I'll be distributing printed materials now," Sakagami continued.

He handed a stack of printouts to the students sitting in the front row, who each took one and then passed the rest back. The syllabus consisted of about twenty pages. Since he hadn't specifically told us not to look, I began to flip through it.

There were clear photographs of what I assumed to be the camp, including dormitories, public baths, cafeteria, and so on. It was actually kind of exciting to look at these; I felt like I was paging through a travel guide. The all-important words special exam, however, curbed our enthusiasm.

(A/N Who else remembers that show?)

Still, this twenty pages of documentation on top of a verbal explanation. This exam was probably shaping up to be annoying.

After confirming that everyone had received the handouts, Sakagami resumed speaking.

"Fee free to keep reading, but I'm going to explain the Mixed Camp now. These materials will be re-collected before you get off the bus, so please make sure you clearly understand the rules. Questions will be accepted at the end, so pay attention. Do you understand?" Asked Sakagami.

"The main goal of the Mixed Camp is to foster your mental development. In order to access modish this, we're going to start with the fundamentals of participation in civilised society—ensuring you can build stable relationships with people you don't know very well. Each and every one of you will learn these skills."

So that was why they were making us do group activities with senior students, huh?

As Sakagami had just said, students who were in clubs might have already developed relationships with their juniors or seniors. Even so, those interactions were mostly limited to the club activities by themselves. As for students who weren't in any clubs, such as myself, I only really knew Fuka. You might think that the school would want us to fraternise voluntarily, without need for exams or club activities to serve as incentive. Of course, it wasn't that simple in reality.

So, how did they plan to get the upperclassmen involved in this? Unless the need for direct contact was a high priority, most students would probably keep their distances from one another, just like we had during the Sports Festival. Well, we were headed into the mountains to a place designated as a camp, so that might be easier said than done...

At any rate, if the rules for the special exam weren't set in stone, it should be easy to find loopholes. There was a marked difference in maturity, both physically and mentally, between the first and second-year students. A year is a significant period of time in the life of a teenager. I couldn't say how extreme the gulf would prove to be, but the reality of the situation was that we wouldn't be on a level playing field.

"Once we arrive at our destination, we will divide you by gender. Next, we'll hold a school-wide discussion with all grade levels and then further divide you into six groups.

"Divide men and women, then make six groups..." muttered Ryuuen, as though he were trying to memorise the information.

Sakagami continued, "The minimum and maximum numbers of people in each group have already been decided. Take a good look at the guidelines on page 5 of your handout."

The students all looked at once.

Group numbers are calculated based on the total number of students, then separated by grade and gender. For instance, if there are 60 or more male students in the same grade level, the minimum number of participants in a group is 8, and the upper limit 13. If the total is 70 or more, the limits are 8 and 14. If the total is 80 or more, the limits are 10 and 15. However, in the event the number of students is under 60, please refer to a separate table.

Let's assume the ratio of boys to girls in a class didn't vary between grade levels. If there were 40 students in one class, with a boys to girls ratio of 1:1–20 boys and 20 girls—then that meant, basically, that there were a total of 80 boys across the four classes of a single grade level. That would mean between 10 and 15 people per group, with a total of six groups overall. But the fact that the syllabus referenced the total number of students first that these numbers would change depending on how many people had been expelled across all grade levels.

"You're probably already aware of this, but sorting you into six groups divided by gender means that students from different classes will be mixed together. For the duration of the test, your group members will be your allies. You'll be in the same boat, as it were."

"The rules forbid forming a group with students from just one class. As long as groups abide by the approved headcount, you a free to team up with any class you wish. But each group must have a combination of students from at least two classes. More importantly, these groups aren't selected through discussion. They must be agreed upon unanimously."

(Buhjeezuz there's another 22 fucking pages of explanation. I ain't writing all that. Go read the wiki for the rest of the rules.)

Authors notes
1682 words
A longer chapter pretty much exactly copied with a few name changes.
I'm not writing the whole explanation, it's about 10% of the entirety of volume 8.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 8 chapter 2: ambush.

(This exam is just a complete clusterfuck. I don't get how Kinugasa can actually conceive these things without messing up. I'll just explain Ayanokouji's group. If I don't write about something in this arc, it means it hasn't changed.)

Group C:

Class A: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Ryuuen Kakeru, Kaneda Satoru, Albert Yamada, Ishizaki Daichi, Kyogou Komiya, Reo Kondou, Hiroya Tokito.

Class B: Katsuragi Kouhei, Hashimoto Masayoshi

Class C: Shibata Sou, Kanzaki Ryuuji

Class D: Miyake Akito, Yukimura Teruhiko, Hirata Yousuke.

Our group was dominated mainly by class A students. Just now I wanted it. On the other hand, however, we had Sakayanagi's pawn, Hashimoto, and a man who would probably like to see me dead, Kanzaki.

Not fun.

Two days into the exam

I had been called to the building where we practiced zazen.

I don't know for what purpose, but I wasn't simply going to ignore an order from a teacher.

When I opened the door, I saw a man with brown hair, wearing a suit. He was sat cross-legged, facing away from me.

"Why was I called here, mr..." I tried to ask for his name.

"Ayanokouji," he answered, standing up and turning to face me.

For the first time in almost a year, I came face to face with my father again.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"What do you mean? Do you not know where you are? This 'school camp' lies within walking distance of the place you were raised," he said, matter-of-factly.

"The institution where you experimented on me, you mean."

"Well, I wouldn't say 'experimented'. I would rather say 'nurtured'," he let out a dry cough.

"What do you want?" I asked, ready to leave.

"You know what I want. I want you to leave this place with me, and come back to the white room," he said.

I made to leave.

"You know, I saw a girl here who looks remarkably similar to your mother. I wonder if she's some relation?" He called before I could leave.

I turned around and gripped him by the throat, lifting him off of the ground, but still giving him room to breathe.

"I would be think very carefully about the words you say next, if I were you," I said.

My father clicked his fingers, and two figures came through the door.

One was the man who tried to abduct me from the hospital. I believe his name was Akito.

The other was a feminine figure, slightly shorter than me, but she was wearing a medical mask and had a hood covering her face. I couldn't see her face.

"Well, I would also be careful of my actions, if I were you," he said, throwing my words back at me.

"We're done here," I said, putting him down.

I left the room.

"If you touch her...by god, I will kill you," I said.

Akito stumbled slightly at the apparent ferocity of my gaze, but the girl showed no visible reaction, and my father just laughed dryly.

"Aha, haha...you really think you can stand against my associates here all by yourself?"

He had a point there. These two were probably armed. I didn't know the extent of either of their abilities, but I didn't like the girl. She creeped me out.

"You will come back with me before this trip ends. With or without your consent," he said as I walked away.

Yeah right. I wouldn't go back. Not just yet.

He threatened my sister, his own fucking daughter...

(The bath scene is just some of the weirdest shit I've ever read outside of literal hentai. Do you think that they'll animate this in the new anime adaptations?)

It was now the fifth day of the test. We were all made to run 10 kilometres, in 10 minute intervals. A standard time-lap.

Ryuuen had just gone, and it was only me and Kanzaki left. I decided to try and start a conversation.

"So, uhh...how have you been for the past few months, Kanzaki?" I asked.

"Rot in hell, man. Kushida got expelled because of you," he said, looking away.

No need to be a tsundere.

"Kinda weird way of looking at it. I would prefer to see it as me having to spend 3 months outside of education because a psycho stabbed me," I said lightheartedly.

Kanzaki just looked at me for a second, shook his head, and looked away.

Jeez. He must not like me for some reason.

It was my turn to run now. I set off at an above-average jogging pace to conserve energy.

About 5 kilometres in, the unexpected happened.

A tree had fallen onto the path, and it was a big one; it was as wide as I was tall.

I couldn't really get around, because of the banks on either side, though.

How had the other students gotten around? If I couldn't find a way around, there was no way someone like Kaneda could have gotten through. So then, the tree must have fallen after Ryuuen came through.

But how? For a tree this size, someone would have too...

I dodged the punch that had been aimed for the back of my head by the masked girl. It didn't end there, however.

A continued flurry of punches and kicks came towards me. I blocked and dodged all I could, waiting for an opening.

But there wasn't an opening. Even though this girl obviously wasn't as strong as me, her speed was almost as good as mine. Maybe even on my level.

I saw a glint out of the corner of my eye, and ducked. I heard a dull thunk come from behind me, and I looked at the tree. There was a tranquilliser dart embedded in the wood.

Meanwhile the girl was still giving me a barrage of blows.

I sensed a slight pause in her assault. She was obviously starting to get tired. I seized my chance, and delivered a swift jab to her stomach. She went reeling backwards, but I didn't have enough time to rest.

Akito, who I presume shot the tranquilliser dart at me, came to back up his companion, who had recovered from my punch.

I walked slowly backwards.

"Now, fellas...we can talk this out, right?" I asked, laughing nervously.

Akito laughed, and the girl cracked her knuckles.

"That's a no, then?"

They rushed towards me, but just before they were about to make contact...

"Wait!"

Kanzaki Ryuuji was standing behind them.

The girl seemed to know who Kanzaki was, and knew that he was affiliated with the white room, which is why she didn't immediately try to attack him. Same with Akito.

"Ayanokouji...are these people part of...that place?" He asked.

I nodded in response. He looked down.

"I really hate you, Ayanokouji..." he said, walking towards us.

Really? Now it was going to be a 3v1?

"But anyone who works for your father...I hate them more," he said, kicking Akito square in the chest, and blocking the subsequent blows from the girl.

While Kanzaki was occupied with the girl, I quickly put pressure on Akito. I didn't let up, punching and kicking as fast as I could. He managed to block the first few, but his defence started to get sloppy after being assaulted by such powerful blows.

I finished it with a kick to the head. He went sprawling to the ground.

I stood over him.

"Should've trained harder," I said to him.

"Heh...don't I know it," he chuckled. How could he stay so calm, even when faced with all my power?

I looked over to Kanzaki. Him and the girl were locked in a stalemate, neither one of them letting up there defence, or pulling any punches.

"Listen. I don't want to kill you. But if you keep coming after me like this, you know I'll have to end your life eventually, right?" I asked him.

"Listen, kid...if you don't kill me, I'm just gonna keep trying to bring you back. Do you understand? Or you can just come back with us willingly. Or you can kill the both of us. He'll just send another enforcer, anyway. Those are your only three options," he sighed

Three options, huh?

I stopped the fight between Kanzaki and the girl by tapping the girl on the shoulder, and then driving my knee into her stomach when she turned around.

Although she wasn't out for the count, she let up her assault for a little while.

"Follow my lead, Kanzaki," I said to the boy beside me. He nodded.

"I think you failed to see the fourth option. Far more favourable, in my opinion," I taunted.

"And what was that?" Akito said.

"It's the ancient French technique of...

...running away ," I said.

I jumped as high as I could, and grabbed a branch of the fallen tree. I pulled myself up, and then gave my hand for Kanzaki to grasp. He accepted, and I managed to pull him up just before our two assailants grabbed him.

As Kanzaki and I were running away, I asked him a question.

"Why did you help me?"

"Like I said: I hate you, but I hate the white room more," he answered.

I felt like I wouldn't get any further with him.

"Well...thanks for helping, anyway...I know you didn't have to," I said.

Authors notes.
1568 words.
I wished I could have written more about the actual exam, but volume 8 is just so boring compared to all the other volumes.
So I just did a chapter that takes place during volume 8. Nothing else changes, really, except that Kiyo meets Matsushita instead of Karuizawa.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Interim: princess

I've always had a good relationship with my father, if you look at it from a certain angle. He always respected my abilities, and I always respected his seniority.

Relationships are curious, aren't they?

They can be good. They can be bad. They could be a mixture of both.

And there were so many different types of relationships, weren't there?

Boyfriend and girlfriend. Husband and wife. Parent and child...

Siblings. Especially if they were twins.

It was rather curious. I hadn't ever known professor Ayanokouji's wife, as I had only met the man himself a few times. But I would bet money that she looked remarkably similar to Ichinose Honami.

It was a funny story how I found out, actually...

There were many meetings going on at night during the special exam. Strategies being formulated, and alliances forged and severed.

If there was a single person that wasn't capable of subterfuge, I would have said that person was Ichinose Honami, of class 1-C.

Imagine my surprise when I noticed that Ichinose got out of bed at 01:00 exactly, like she'd scheduled a meet up.

Hashimoto had told me that many of the boys had gone to secret meetings during the late hours, and Masumi had said that a few meetings had taken place during activities, so it wasn't exactly a rare occurrence.

What piqued my interest was the fact that it was Ichinose, someone who was so kind and caring. She wasn't like how Kushida had been; a wolf in sheep's clothing. She was genuinely kind.

Which just tugged at my brain more.

After she had left the room, I silently picked up my cane and followed her.

I saw her strawberry blond hair turn a corner, and I made chase, but made sure to stay out of her vision.

We were outside when she finally stopped walking.

It was truly freezing. Couldn't she have picked somewhere with heating to hold this clandestine interaction?

In the shadows, I saw a small group of people. I could only make out the looming mass of Albert Yamada, of class A. Which meant that the dragon probably wasn't far away. And if he was here, then I'd wager...

"Ayanokouji...why did you call us here?" Asked a girls voice. I'd wager that was Ibuki Mio, who was also in class A.

So, my hunch was right. It was him.

"Earlier this afternoon...two people tried to kidnap me. They were employed by my father and, in extension, the white room," he said.

Oh? Professor Ayanokouji certainly was bold, trying to retrieve him from under the school's nose.

A few small murmurs from the other people in the group fluttered around.

"That's only the beginning. One of the would-be kidnappers tried to abduct me from hospital back in September," he continued.

If he had been sent out on multiple missions, I would guess that it was Samuel Akito, professor Ayanokouji's best man.

"And the other...I felt like I recognised her. I felt like I had fought her before. Although it was far more refined, strong and efficient than it was a few months ago, she had the exact same figure, fighting style and tactics of Kushida Kikyou," he said.

A few gasps and mutters echoed around the small courtyard. A small involuntary gasp emanated from my own lips.

I had expected Kushida to be festering away in a cell, either at prison, a juvenile detention centre, or a straight up insane asylum. I had been told she was completely incoherent after she stabbed Ayanokouji.

No, I couldn't be getting ahead of myself. Ayanokouji hadn't confirmed that it was actually Kushida, only that Kushida and his recent assailant were very similar.

But if it was Kushida...it confirmed three things:

1) Kushida was still sane, or could at least act coherently and efficiently on the surface.

2) That she had either escaped or been released from official custody.

3) She was working for the white room.

That damn traitor...I thought all of us, that is to say myself, Kouenji, Kanzaki and Kushida were opposed to the white room and it's methods. Why would she side with them?

Was she playing the part of double-agent? I doubted it. Perhaps she just thought that this was the most effective method of getting to Ayanokouji? That seemed more likely.

"That's all I wanted to tell you...I thought you ought to know, since they might come after any one of you. Honami, can I talk to you for a sec?" He asked the girl who had led me to this meeting.

I hid behind a small tree. It was dark, and I was quite small, so I stayed under the radar of the people walking past me.

I listened in to what I already knew was an interesting conversation.

Half of me wished I had known about this meeting sooner, so I could send Hashimoto instead of freezing my ass off.

But then again, this was a pleasant surprise.

I listened to their conversation.

"What was it you needed from me, Kiyotaka?" She asked.

That was strange. Why were they on a first name basis?

"He came here personally to ask me to go back with him," he said.

That really was strange. I would have never thought that paranoid old man would venture out from his fortress of solitude, except maybe for government matters.

"Who, you mean...dad?" She asked.

What was that? They shared the same parent? Were they siblings, or half siblings. They were probably twins, since their birthdays don't match up for siblings of two different pregnancies, at least if they were full siblings. It would be possible if they were half siblings, however.

A million different thoughts, possibilities, calculations and equations ran through my head.

"Yeah...he threatened you...he tried to use you as leverage against me," he said.

That man truly was despicable. He would use his own daughter just to get his son to continue to be a prisoner? He really was detestable.

"Kiyo...it's okay. I'm not afraid," she tried to say.

"You should be. These people don't play nice. He'll kill you without a second thought. This isn't some game. The happy go lucky attitude your friends have won't save you here." He was about to continue, but...

Slap

Ichinose struck her brother like he had just made a G.I. Jane joke about her wife.

(It's just a reference please don't slap me Will)

"Kiyo...you need to get a grip. If you let yourself get distracted by me, you'll end up a prisoner, not just of the white room, but you'll be a prisoner to yourself," she said, harshly but gently.

He looked up.

"But...he'll kill you..." he started, but Ichinose cut him off.

"I don't care. I've lived a good life, a normal life, one that you never got to experience. If it meant that you'd get to keep living like this, I would take your place in an instant. I would die for you to have a normal life, with mom and Kiyone back in Kyoto," she said, tears starting to well in her eyes as she hugged her brother, who returned the embrace after a brief moment.

I walked away from this moment. I had pried long enough. They deserved a little privacy.

I had learned a lot from the last half hour. But there was still one thing that bugged me. One thing that I couldn't figure out.

How could a girl with professor Ayanokouji's genes look that pretty?

It was too late to be dwelling on such profound questions. I would have to deal with the easier stuff for now.

If they were bold enough to attack Ayanokouji here, it wouldn't be long before they would come to the school. It would be rather easy to get someone a job at the school. A mall worker, or even a teacher.

If anything happened though, my father would see to it that any agent professor Ayanokouji sends is removed from school grounds as soon as they're discovered.

Yes. The only thing stopping that man from doing as he liked within the school was my father's authority.

A few days later

Ironic. The very thing that protected Ayanokouji had been removed.

Authors notes
1384 words.
I was originally just going to write this chapter from the perspective of Ayanokouji, but it was only about 500 words, so I needed something better to write.
Sakayanagi is easily one of my favourite characters from the ln, and I didn't really do her justice in the first 5 arcs of the fic, so I really want to do more with her, especially since she becomes quite a key character in the last 3 volumes of year 1. She's definitely the 2nd smartest character in the ln, after Kiyo, and the difference between them two (mentally) is really slim.
In the first few arcs, both in the ln and in this fic, she just felt like an evil side character. She feels like Hidan's partner (I think his name was Konan?) from Naruto: you know he was part of the evil group, but he never really gets fleshed out.
(Btw I read the Naruto manga, and I last read it about 2 years ago, if he was actually a really deep character please tell me.)
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 8 summary

(I'm too lazy to actually go through the results cause I'm a massive douche)

Boys:

1st place: group C

Class A: 142024=1444 (120,000 private points given in total)

Class B: 10906=1096 (20,000 private points given in total)

Class C: 4706=476 (20,000 private points given in total)

Class D: 1809=189 (30,000 private points given in total)

2nd place: group A

Class A: 14448=1454 (40,000 private points given in total)

Class D: 18912=201 (35,000 private points given in total)

3rd place: group D

Class B: (5,000 private points given in total)

Class C: (5,000 private points given in total)

Class D: (5,000 private points given in total)

4th place: group E

Class B: (65,000 private points deducted in total)

Class C (5,000 private points deducted in total)

5th place: group B

Class C: 476-24=452 (80,000 private points deducted in total)

Class D: 201-15=186 (50,000 private points deducted in total)

(A/N I'm gonna be real with you guys: I think I may have added up the groups wrong, cause I could only find enough students for 5 groups. At the time I'm writing this A/N, I've been crunching numbers for a solid half an hour already, so
I've decided to make the girls results the same as the boys because I am a lazy fuck and I'm tired)

Final count:

Class A: 142064=1484 (320,000 private points given in total)

Class B: 109012=1112 (40,000 private points deducted in total)

Class C: 470-18=452 (60,000 private points deducted in total)

Class D: 18012=192 (20,000 private points given in total)

1st place: Class 1-A
2nd place: Class 1-D
3rd place: Class 1-B
4th place: Class 1-C

Authors notes
299 words
Fuck me. This was the most difficult chapter I've ever fucking written, I swear to god. I see why most writers avoid the School Camp exam.
I...may have fudged with the results a little to make it more favourable for class A, but it's a fanfic, so I can do whatever the fuck I want.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Lemme clear something up

Kiyo in this fic is different to Kiyo in canon. He's more emotional and cooperative. That's the reason he got into class C rather than D.

People have also said that I had nerfed Kiyo.

Just...no

Kiyotaka is really strong, easily the strongest student that ANHS has ever accepted. This is both canon and in the fic.

In this fic's canon, both Kushida and Kanzaki are from the white room. As such, they are well above average in both physical and mental activities.

Nagumo is pretty strong, even if he's just a big meme for the cote community, and he's also a 2nd year, so he's had more time to develop his skills than the first year's.

Kouenji is, and I quote from his school database profile, a "student with incredible abilities comparable even to our graduates."

In levels of IQ, for the first year at least, it goes

1)Kiyotaka

2) Sakayanagi. Ayanokouji is only slightly smarter than Sakayanagi, even in the ln.

3) Kouenji.

In levels of physical ability,

1) Ayanokouji

2) Albert

3) Kouenji.

Kouenji, similar to Ayanokouji, has a good balance between body and mind. If Ayanokouji wasn't at ANHS, and if he was more cooperative, Kouenji would be the single greatest student to ever attend ANHS.

So in regards to arc 5, Ayanokouji faces off against 4 fairly formidable opponents.

He would be able to fight to a stalemate if it was Kushida, Kanzaki and Nagumo, but with Kouenji there as well, it's really not a fair fight.

Ayanokouji is strong, but I don't think he's that strong, even in canon.

You have to remember why I actually made that chapter in the first place: I was ending the fic.

At the time, I didn't like the way the fic was going, and if you had read this fic a month or so ago, you would still be able to see my postscript explaining why I ended it.

You may know about my other fic, starting in class B, which was just trash.

But, on Friday, I decided to stop being a lil' wimp and start writing this fic again. I built up all the background lore for this fic, so I'm better at writing this and continuing the ideas I had, rather than just putting the same ideas in a different fic.

Anyway: Ayanokouji is strong, but he wouldn't be able to fight those four in canon. Jeez, Ayanokouji had trouble fighting a pensioner and and a Kirei Kotomine wannabe.

(Tsukushiro and Shiba)

(Btw It's been a little while since I read the y2 island exam, and I'm only on y2 v2 on my 2nd binge read.)

Just thought I'd clear that up.

And also, so what if I nerfed Kiyo? It's fan fiction. I could give Ayanokouji the power to shoot rainbows out of his ass, give him a micro dick, and make Satsuki Shinohara the best girl, and it would still be better than a Kiyotaka who is basically invulnerable. It just wouldn't be as exciting to write.

Wow, I went kinda nutty there.

Sorry if I offended anyone with this. If you really believe that I nerfed him, so what? Just think of it as this fic's canon.

Arc 9 prologue: spy/family

"It...pains me to have to do this to you, my student...but you left me no choice," he said.

Sakayanagi, however, stayed silent.

"You see...although I didn't specifically tell you not to accept my son into ANHS, I would have thought it was obvious," he continued.

"I thought...he deserved a brief time to be himself," Sakayanagi said.

"Oh? And you didn't think of the repercussions it would have? You've set my research back a long way. Do you have any idea how long it will take to rectify this mistake? If he escapes me for good, it could take years for me to find a replacement," he started ranting slightly.

Something seemed to stir up in Sakayanagi.

"A replacement? For your own son? All you see him as is a tool," Sakayanagi spat.

A fierce glare from Ayanokouji locked with Sakayanagi's defiant gaze.

"So, what now? Are you going to kill me?" Sakayanagi asked, without fear in his eyes.

"Mmm...no, I think not. You were a valuable friend to me when we were younger. For the sake of...sentimentality, I suppose you would call it, I shall let you live. I think permanent house arrest should do," Ayanokouji said.

Sakayanagi looked slightly confused. I reckon he had fully been expecting to have a knife in his throat.

"But make no mistake; if you ever betray me again, I will have you assassinated. In fact, I would like to show you the person who would carry out such a deed," Ayanokouji said, gesturing to my partner.

"I understand she is an old student of yours."

Somewhere else

I was about to walk back to the dorms after class, when Matsushita called out to me.

"Hey, Mii-chan! I wanted to talk to you about something? Could you come with me for a sec?" She asked.

"Sure," I said, packing my bag and following her.

We had been walking for a good 10 minutes or so now.

"Uh, Chiaki-san...where are we going?" I asked.

"There's someone who wants to meet you?" She answered.

I tried to ask more questions, but to no avail. She would just give me a variation of the same answer.

Had I already been discovered?

We were in the special building, the one with no security cameras. If someone wanted to do something illegal on campus, this would be the perfect place.

I readied my self.

"Thank you, Matsushita. Mei-Yu Wang, I presume?" Asked a voice behind me.

I turned around.

"Ayanokouji...Kiyotaka?" I asked involuntarily.

"You already know who I am?"

"Y-yes...not many people at this school don't know who you are, you're kind of a big deal. It's your actions that have raised Class C's point count by almost 1000 points in less than a year," I said.

"Well, I'm flattered that you know me. And here I thought I was going to have to introduce myself. I'll just get straight down to the point then," he said, and then...

Matsushita POV

"你为谁工作?" Said Ayanokouji.

(A/N Sorry for the font change)

Was he speaking Chinese? I suppose it would be better for Mii-chan to speak in her own language. Or, perhaps he didn't want me to listen to their conversation?

"你到底是什么意思？你为什么要问我这个?" She asked. She looked a little startled at his question.

"拜托，我们不要拐弯抹角。我再问一次：你为谁工作？中国政府，还是某个流氓组织?" He pressured her.

"我不..." she started to say, but Ayanokouji cut her off.

"既然你不告诉我，我就猜一猜：你打着一个出国留学的中国学生的幌子申请了这所学校。我不知道为什么，但我可以猜到。也许你是来窥探日本政府的，或者你来这里是为了我或我的家人。无论哪种方式，我并不完全认为你来这里纯粹是为了勤奋。别担心，我不会告发你的。。我有一个商业建议给你." He said.

I only managed to pick out a key phrase: my family. What did Ayanokouji's family have to do with this?

Mii-chan looked down.

"你只对了一半，清隆Ayanokouji。当然，我听说过Ayanokouji这个名字在我以前的雇主周围用安静的语气说话。我们也有类似的教养，你和我，除了我的政府知道我和他们抚养的其他孤儿，而你父亲却非法抚养你," Mii-chan said, somewhat calmly.

I made out Ayanokouji's name a few times, but nothing else.

"如果你知道我父亲的事，那么我相信你明白他想要我回来。在学校营地，我遭到了他的两名执法者的袭击。我打赌他这次会寄更多到学校。如果发生这种情况，我不仅会失去自由，而且无辜的人也会受到伤害." He said.

Mii-chan paused for a moment.

"你有什么建议?" She asked after a few moments.

"目前，我没有很多强大的盟友。。我有一些，但还不够。我需要一个在这种情况下有真正经验的人。你的条款是什么?" He asked.

"一旦我们完成学业，你必须为我提供一个住宿的地方。这是不可谈判的." She said, instantly.

"完成," he said, holding out his hand.

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Ayanokouji-kun. Until next we meet," Mii-chan said, shaking his hand.

After Mii-chan had left, I went up to Ayanokouji.

"Why were you speaking Chinese? Why couldn't you have spoken in a language I could understand?" I asked.

"We spoke about some...sensitive topics. Nothing you need to concern yourself with," he brushed me off.

"And what's so important about your family?" I asked about what snippets I'd made out in his conversation.

What happened next was a little bit hazy. After I had asked about his family, my feet left the floor, and I was pinned up against the wall, 2 feet off of the ground. Ayanokouji's hand was around my throat, but I could still breathe.

"Matsushita-san. For your own sake, please do not ask questions, especially about my family. You're quite valuable to me, and I would not want to be rid of you just yet," he said.

I nodded my head in response, too terrified to get the words out.

He released his grip on me, and I fell to the floor.

I watched him walk away.

For some reason, I didn't hate him for what he'd just done.

Authors notes
1132 words
Haha I wrote this chapter just to be annoying. Have fun going to and from Google translate.
You don't really NEED to translate it, but you'll get some extra insight early.
I decide to give Mii-chan some screen time, since she's only ever mentioned in the ln like, twice, except in vol 9, 10 and 11, where she actually has a role to play, but she's still just a Hiratard, so I decided to give her a better role.
(By the way the title of the chapter has nothing to do with Spy x family. Speaking of Spy x family, how did that get to 2nd most popular anime already? It's good and all, but it's not THAT good, is it? It's definitely best anime of the season, but it's higher rated than things like AOT and Code Geass already. Crazy world)
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 9 chapter 1: a familiar face

"Director Sakayanagi has been arrested?" I asked, astounded at the information I had just received.

My colleagues reactions were varied. Mashima grimaced, Hoshinomiya frowned, and Chabashira looked almost as surprised as I was.

"Calm yourself, Sakagami-santhat's not what I said, exactly. I said he has been placed under temporary house arrest for reasons that I cannot disclose to you at this time," said the school counsellor, the one responsible for the hiring of a new director.

"What happened? Why did Sakayanagi-sensei get arrested?" Hoshinomiya asked.

"Like I said, Hoshinomiya-san, I cannot disclose that information to you," the counsellor said.

"Do you know when he will be reinstated?" Mashima asked.

"Not for definite. However, I can say that he will be reinstated immediately once he has been released."

"Who have you hired as an acting director?" Chabashira asked.

"Well, you see..." the counsellor was interrupted by a knock at the door. She went to open it.

"Ah, hello acting director Akito," she said, bowing.

Akito? Could it be?

"Ah, greetings, Hoshinomiya-san, Mashima-kun...hey Sae-chan...it's been so long since I've seen all of you. Oh, you're still here, Sakagami-senpai?" Said Samuel Akito, a man I had not seen in nearly 20 years.

The room was frozen in time. Everyone was feeling some different kind of emotion when seeing their classmate again.

"Akito-kun...am I to understand that you will be the acting director?" I asked.

"Right on the money, Sakagami-senpai. How does it feel to have a boss that's younger than you?" He asked, trying to provoke some kind of reaction from me.

I wouldn't make that mistake. I knew exactly how this man operated. He would spin a web of lies, forcing you to react. In the end, you would only end up hurting yourself.

Behind him was a girl in a pinstripe business suit and a tight skirt. She wore a red top that was straining to hold back her large—ehem—her well developed figure. She had light beige hair, tied in a twist at the back. She was wearing a surgical mask and sunglasses, so I couldn't see her face.

I felt as though I had seen her somewhere before, but I can't quite remember where.

"Ah, yes...my assistant. I believe that you're acquainted with her. Please, take off the mask and glasses. Reveal yourself to them," he said, and the girl followed his orders.

Now this I was not expecting...

The following day was Tuesday, March 2nd.

It was my job to announce the supplementary special exam to class A. I wondered how they would handle it.

I looked out across the classroom, and I found that I needn't worry. We had many capable people in here, so the loss of a single student wouldn't impede the class as a whole.

I could feel a sense of tension and anxiety coming from the students now, as I brooded upon my thoughts.

"Um, did something happen?"

Ryuuen, the person who kept order in this class, took the initiative to speak up. I didn't answer him right away, but remained silent. In the past, I'd always mercilessly launched into an explanation of whatever test they were facing, no matter how harsh it was. Given that, it didn't take long at all for the students to understand that something was off about the situation.

I decided to stick to the script, as always.

"-there is something that I have to tell you all."

I could feel my voice straining, and it was harder than I thought to get the words out.

"Just as I told you yesterday, the final special exam for your first year will begin on March 8th. After you complete this exam, you will be promoted to second-year students. That is typical of how things have worked in past years."

I turned around, picked up a piece of chalk, and extended my hand toward the blackboard.

"However, this year, things will be slightly different from previous years."

"Different?" Ryuuen asked, sensing that something was off.

"Even after taking your year-end final exams, not a single person has been expelled this year. Getting to this point without a single expulsion has never happened before in the history of this school. Normally, you could say that this would be something to celebrate. Even we, the faculty and staff, hope to have as many students as possible make it to graduation. However, it must be said that problems arise when things don't go according to plan."

I felt a gaze pierce into me. I turned around, to see the entire class waiting for me to explain expectantly. All except one single student: Kiyotaka Ayanokouji. He was the reason that this class had been promoted to class A, and he scared the shit out of me, honestly.

"You sound like something's bothering bothering you. Like you're bothered about the fact that no one's been expelled so far," he said.

"That's not true. But sometimes things happen that I didn't expect," I replied.

"What are you trying to say? That there's something wrong with us?" Ryuuen asked.

Nothing they said would change what I was about to tell them. I couldn't do as I pleased. I was an employee of the school. My only role was to convey its instructions to them.

"The school has decided that, in consideration of the fact that no one has been expelled from the first-year..."

The words seemed to get stuck in my throat. I struggled to get them out.

"...as a 'measure for special circumstances,' a supplementary special exam will be held immediately, starting today."

I wrote today's date—Tuesday, March 2nd—on the blackboard, as well as the words "supplementary special exam."

"Wait, what?"

"What is this all about?!"

"Dude, another special exam?"

"That's the worst thing ever!"

"The school's acting like a whiny little kid!"

"They didn't get their way since no one got expelled, so they're adding this other test!"

An almost solid wall of sound constructed itself in front of me because of all the complaints and shouting that had been created as a result of the supplementary exam announcement.

"Only the students who pass this special exam will be able to go on to take the special exam on March 8th," I said, pausing for a moment after that brief explanation.

"Come on, I don't get this at all!"

"I can't believe they're only giving us this special exam now!"

"Your frustration is completely understandable. This special exam is being administered although it was never previously planned for. Even though it's just one more test than what students in the past have taken, the fact that it places a burden on all of you cannot be denied. This is something that the other teachers and I are taking very seriously," I said.

It was certainly true that adding special exams would be tough on the students. If it was a written exam that tested academic skill, then students would have to study harder. If it was a physical exam, they would have to train for it in a similar fashion. This test, however, would damage the students resolve. It would even ruin the futures of 4 of the students in this first-year.

That being said, it wasn't going to go away, no matter how much they complained.

I continued speaking.

"The contents of this special exam are exceedingly simple. The dropout rate isn't high at all, either, at less than three percent per class."

A dropout rate of less than three percent. That certainly sounded low. But this supplementary special exam would certainly be unlike any written exams they'd had so far.

"You seem anxious, but really, there's nothing to be worried about. The supplementary special exam has absolutely nothing at all to do with your intellectual or physical ability. It's something so simple that, when the time comes, anyone can do it. That's right. It's as simple as writing your own name on your test paper. And there's only a three percent chance that you'll get expelled as a result. You would agree that that's a low chance, right?" I said.

I still hadn't touched on the core issue—the actual contents of the exam.

"...the difficulty level doesn't matter. From our point of view, even three percent is scary."

"That's true. You have a point. I do understand how that three percent scares you. However, whether or not you can reduce that risk depends on what you do in the time you have before the actual test. As I'm sure you've probably guessed," I said.

"How was that number derived? Based on what you're saying, it sounds like a simple lottery. Is that it?" Asked Ryuuen.

The odds that a single person would be expelled was actually 100 percent. I had casually thrown out the three percent figure, but the burden this exam would place on the students was greater than they could yet imagine.

"The title of this special exam is: 'in-class voting."

Authors notes
1512 words
I'm back. Exams have been tough this week.
Almost none of this arc is going to take place from Ayanokouji's POV. Dunno why, I just thought it would be cool.
I've been watching Durarara for the first time in ages. That's got to be one of the best anime I've ever watched.
I finally found a character that suited Akito really well: Heh from DTB. I know that many people in fan fiction are based on Hei, but there's a reason for that: Hei just looks so fuckin cool. So yeah, Akito looks like Hei.
Btw we managed to jump from #372 to #3 in #firstfic at some point this week. The wattpad ranking system is so confusing .
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 9 chapter 2: Nii-san, give me money!

This was bad. Really bad.

We had almost enough points, but we still needed about 3 million before I could save the class.

I considered asking president Nagumo, but thought better of it. Nii-san had told me that Nagumo had something to do with him being stabbed. I didn't want to believe it, but there was doubt in my mind about going to Nagumo.

It would be best to ask Nii-san, or perhaps Ryuuen. I didn't want Kiyotaka to give me points just because I was his sister, but I also didn't think I could get them by going to Ryuuen.

I called Nii-san.

"Hey, Kiyotaka," I said.

"Oh, hey Honami. What's up?" He asked.

"I, uh...I wanted to talk about the special exam."

"Let me guess: you want enough points to prevent the expulsion of a classmate?"

He had a great intuition.

"Yes..." I said, quietly.

"Sure, how much do you need?"

I was shocked. I didn't think he'd agree so easily.

"We have 17,274,624 points, and I think the rest of the class has about 800,000 of their own points," I said.

"Okay. Sure, I can spare that, but you'll have to pay me back."

"Of course. I wouldn't want to just take your points without paying them back."

"Great. I'll have Ryuuen transfer them to you now."

It was as easy as that, huh.

I wondered what else he would do for me.

A few minutes later, the balance on my phone read 20,000,000 private points exactly.

Extraordinary. I wouldn't have thought any other class in the grade had the funds to give away nearly 3 million points.

I made a mental note to also thank Ryuuen when I next saw him.

Just then, Nii-san called me again.

"There's also just one other thing you need to do for me."

Unknown POV

"So that's it then? We push as many criticism votes as we can on Ayanokouji-kun?" One of my friends asked.

"Yes. I know that he's done good things for your class, raising you all the way to class A, but do you really need him any more? I would think that Ryuuen-kun is enough to maintain class A's position now, wouldn't you? And, for each criticism cote Ayanokouji-kun receives, I'll give you all 100,000 private points. Sounds good?" The masked woman said.

"How can we be sure you have that much though? You'd need...tens of millions, at least," my friend said.

The masked woman took out her phone, and showed us her point balance.

Yeah, she definitely had enough. The figure read: 100,000,000.

I could surmise she wasn't a student, considering the hefty amount she had, and the fact that the figure was exactly 100 million. It was too neat.

But then...why would the school want us to vote for Ayanokouji? Had he done something illegal that the school couldn't prove? Or had he personally offended the school director?

Whatever he had done, I don't think it warranted expulsion like this. It would be much better if the school publicly punished him, rather than having the classmates he trusted kicking him out for a few private points.

This was bad. Real bad.

After the meeting with the masked woman was over, and I had spoken to all the other people who had been part of the meeting (roughly 25 in all), I made my way over to Ayanokouji's apartment.

I knocked on his door, which soon opened, revealing the man himself.

"Hm? Hikari-san?" He said.

(Yep, new OC. Kaede Hikari. She's not gonna have much of a big role, except in this arc.)

"Hi, Ayanokouji-kun. May I please come in? It's quite urgent," I hurriedly asked.

"Uhh, sure. Is this about people ganging up on me with criticism votes?"

"Yeah, well...wait a second, how did you know?" I asked, surprised.

"It's only to be expected. I'd wager that it was the school who asked you to do it?" He guessed.

Wow, he was good. No wonder he was the co-leader of the class alongside Ryuuen.

"I-I think so. The woman who asked us had far too many points for a student," I said.

"Did this woman have dark-blond hair? Was she wearing a surgical mask?" He asked.

"Um...yes, she was actually. Why, do you know her?"

"Shit...Kushida..." he muttered.

"Kushida? As in Kikyou Kushida? What does she have to do with this?" I asked.

No one had seen or heard from Kushida Kikyou for nearly 6 months now. There were many rumours about her disappearance. Since she vanished on the exact same day that Ayanokouji-kun did, it was speculated that Ayanokouji-kun assaulted Kushida, and she had to be taken to intensive care because of the trauma. Bullshit, if you ask me.

Besides, the girl who had given us that offer didn't really look like Kushida. This girl was slightly thinner than Kushida was, and more mature as well.

"Nothing, it's nothing. Thanks for telling me this, Hikari-san. It's fine, though. I don't think I'm going to get expelled," he said.

"D-did you not listen to a word I just said? Nearly 25 people in our class are going to vote against you. Aren't you worried?" I asked.

"Hmm...no, not really."

Authors notes
889 words
Short chapter.
New OC, nothing too wacky or wild, just someone for a small part of the plot.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 9 chapter 3: New Director

Saturday mornings had come. Finally, it was the day of the exam.

We had come to a consensus: don't try and fix the vote, vote for whoever you want.

Of course, people would still try to fix the vote, I had no doubt about that. But, on paper at least, our vote would be fair.

All that mattered was what happened now, from this moment onward. It wasn't like I was 100% in the clear myself, either. There were absolutely no guarantees in this exam.

We still gathered in the classroom at the usual time, but the exam didn't start until nine. It was now around eight-thirty. I wondered if the school had scheduled the test slightly later out of consideration—or if it was for a much worse reason. A trick to keep the students mired in doubt, jumping at shadows until the very end.

"We will now begin the class poll. Students will head over to the voting room in the order that their names are called."

Apparently, we weren't all going to be voting at the same time in the classroom. I supposed it wasn't necessarily impossible to sneak a peek at people's votes if we did it that way. It sounded like this meant the school was doing what it could to keep the votes anonymous.

The sound of Yamauchi restlessly fidgeting and rattling was extremely annoying to listen to. I couldn't blame him, though.

Over the course of the first year, Yamauchi had done absolutely nothing to contribute to the class. His friend, Ike Kanji, had at least been useful on the island exam. But Yamauchi had the lowest grades in the class, and he was physically inept. It was almost a given that he would get a lot of criticism votes, and he knew it.

"Hey...quiet down a little, Haruki," whispered Ike in warning.

"Sh-shut it. I know."

Chabashira then entered the room.

"Sorry to have kept you all waiting. I will now announce the results for class C. Everyone, please take your seats."

Finally, judgement time had come. Soon, one student would be expelled from our class. It could be Yamauchi. Or it could be Sudou or Ike. Or Kouenji, who was acting the same as he always was. Or would it be someone else?

"First, I will announce the names of the three students with the highest number of praise votes. In third place is...Chiaki Matsushita," said Chabashira.

I let out a sigh of relief at hearing myself named as one of the students at the top. It was surprising to be sure, but not completely unthinkable.

"Next...in second place..." said Chabashira, reading the results a little slower. Even I couldn't predict what she was going to say. "Hirata Yousuke."

Another expected result. Hirata wasn't the leader of our class anymore, but he was still popular. He was still the social leader, but our leader during special exams wasn't him...

"In first place is...Horikita Suzune."

This wasn't expected, but it made sense. For the past few exams, Horikita had been the one to devise the strategies. Although she hadn't been able to beat class C yet, she was still the classes best hope to move up through the ranks.

Yamauchi Haruki was expelled. What a shame /.

Class A student POV

"In third place...Satoru Kaneda," said Sakagami.

I never expected Kaneda to be that popular. He was quite clever, but he wasn't very popular.

"In second place...Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."

I was shocked. I thought Ayanokouji would be expelled, what with everyone voting against him for points. When I went to him the other night, he seemed confident, but I didn't think that he would manage to come second in praise votes. How had he done it? Another class must have voted for him.

I noticed a few people in the class looking embarrassed and shifty. Those were the people who had put criticism votes on Ayanokouji.

"In first place, is Ryuuen Kakeru."

Everyone saw that coming. Ryuuen had got us through every exam. He was the one who had brought us from Class C to class A in just a little over 3 months, which was a school record.

Or, was he? Now that I think about it, the only exam where we hadn't done as well as we could have was the paper shuffle exam, which, coincidentally, was the only special exam where Ayanokouji was present.

Was he the real leader behind class A?

Manabe Shiho, the student who had encouraged everyone to vote against Ayanokouji once the masked woman had wafted the private points under our noses, was expelled.

Class B:

Winner: Sakayanagi

Loser: Yahiko Tatsuka

Class C:

Winner: Ichinose Honami.

Loser: 20,000,000 private points used to overturn expulsion.

As the test results showed, no one had been expelled from class C, and I had managed to save myself by making Honami agree to ask her classmates to vote for me.

Afterwards, I saw that I had received a message.

"No caller ID, huh."

I didn't know who it was, but the number didn't belong to any student of the school.

As per the message's instructions, I made my way over to the special building, where they said they would be waiting. Even though it was already past the time they had asked me to meet them in their message, I figured I could still catch up to them if I left now. Once at the special building, I waited.

Suddenly, a figure appeared, casting a shadow across the hallway.

"Oh, hello."

It was a man clad in a suit. I couldn't quite make out his face.

"This is my first time at this school. Do you happen to know where the faculty lounge is?" He asked. I recognised that voice.

"If you're looking for the faculty lounge, then you're looking in entirely the wrong place. Sorry for my rudeness, but who exactly are you?" I asked.

"My name is Akito. I'm the new acting director," the European man said, giving me a gentle smile and a kind, polite wave.

Akito. The man who worked for my father. I was expecting something to happen here, but I didn't expect to see this man as the new acting director.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Akito-sensei. I hope you can forgive me, but I have to go now," I said, turning to leave.

A hand grabbed my shirt collar.

What a bother.

"So, it's the same plan as ever? Try to knock me unconscious and take me back to that place?" I asked sarcastically.

"Perhaps. Or maybe the professor has decided he has had enough of your shenanigans, and given us leave to...permanently dispose of you," he said.

I couldn't rule out the possibility. I was important to the white room, but someone would eventually go to that place who was strong enough to surpass me. It would only be a matter of time.

In the next instant, a large arm came swinging right at me. I blocked the blow, and gave him a punch of my own.

"You may have trained since I last saw you, but so have I," I said.

I had started to go back to doing white room exercises in the mornings before school, in preparation for an event like this.

"You're right. I can't beat you alone," he said, putting up his hand in some kind of signal.

I stepped back, and Akito's masked female companion appeared behind him. It seemed she had been waiting for his signal.

The two stood before me now. I might be able to beat both of them now, but I didn't want to take chances. It was a good thing I had been expecting an ambush.

I whistled, which was the signal to my own partner, who I had told to come here before me.

I silent figure descended from the ceiling, and kicked Akito in the head. He fell to the ground, but wasn't unconscious.

The new member of this little party took a knife from her waist, and brought it up to Akito's throat.

"Don't do anything, or your boss dies," said Mii-chan.

Yes. You might be surprised to learn this, but Mii-chan used to be a Chinese spy. Her skills were top notch, and she had more experience than me when it came to stuff like espionage.

"Don't kill him yet. I only came here because I wanted to find confirm something," I said, walking towards the masked girl.

"Who...are you?" I asked, removing the mask from her face.

Her features were more slender than I remember, and she had no emotion on her face, not even anger. Her hair was longer too, but she was still recognisable.

"Hello, Kiyotaka. It's been a while," she said.

"Hello Kushida."

Authors notes
1463 words
Wow, an update!
Arc 9 done.
Mii-chan is the new 007
Kushida return confirmed
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

You were right

Lol I forgot this fic existed.
Exams are tough, I wish the best of luck to anyone else doing exams! :)
(Failing grade means expulsion :(

So someone just commented on me nerfing Ayanokouji, and they brought up some really good arguments.

Fine. I nerfed Ayanokouji, I see that now. You really put it in perspective for me. Don't worry, I'm not offended or anything, you were all right.

But so what? I don't think it makes the story bad, right?

Well, the fic is bad anyway, so hey.

Sorry for not updating, I've just been so busy lately.

I've got some good ideas for when I'm updating again though.

My next update will come out on July 4th to celebrate classroom of the elite anime season 2. .

Sneak peak

I may not be able to make the July 4th date I promised, so here's a lil' teaser to keep you (mildly) entertained. Just some snippets for ideas.

"Ah, mou...that guy in class A? What's his name again? Ayanokouji? What does he have to do with you being gone for ages?"

"Ufufu...that two-faced fangirl of yours took things a step too far. Trust me, I never wanted to kill you."

"This is the final exam of our first year. Even though you're in class A, and I'm in class D, don't underestimate me so quickly. After all, I'm pretty sure my commander can play chess better than you or your commander.

"Kukuku I never thought we'd see you again yandere-chan"

"Since he's now the acting director, I'm inclined to listen to you. I know the man who pulls his strings, and I don't want to see a regime where his ideas thrive."

"If any students can provide information on the vigilante, they will be awarded with private points should the information provided be useful."

"Kiyotaka, don't trust her...I think she's—"

"Ooh, I never thought a student would come to me for help with something like that. Especially a first-year as cute as you "

"Come back with us, Ayanokouji-kun. We were so close. A few more years and you will be the absolute pinnacle of perfection."

"She's not who you think she is!"

"Nigerundayo! Ayanokoujiiii"

"Hehe, Ayanokouji-senpai...it's been a little while."

"Kiyotaka...betrayal hurts, doesn't it?"

Arc 9 chapter 4: troublesome intervention

My arm was held against Kushida's throat, restraining her movement.

It had been nearly 6 months since I had last seen her face. 6 months since she had stabbed me. My old wound seemed to ache at the memory.

I should feel hatred towards her, because of what she did to me. I should end it, here and now, and kill both her and acting director Akito. It would save me a lot of headache in the future, and would rid the world of 2 psychopaths. It would also limit my father's hold over me. If you factored out the legal and moral issues, it was a no-brainer.

No. Although neither me or (presumably) Mii-chan would have any qualms over killing, it would be too much hassle to deal with. I may end up in prison, and then I would be shipped back to the white room in a heartbeat.

"Ayanokouji-kun. What is going on here?"

A voice suddenly called from the end of the hallway. I turned to see a girl with long, glossy black hair. Who was she again?

"Mii-chan, why do you have the new acting director in a chokehold? And, Ayanokouji-kun, why are you restraining Kushida-san so forcibly?" Said Horikita Suzune.

"Horikita-san...what are you doing here?" I asked.

"What does it look like? I'm enforcing my brother's law: there is to be no hostility between you and Kushida-san. Even though it escalated to such an extent, I am still tasked with ensuring that there is no violence," she said.

Oh, right, I'd forgotten about her. Yeah, she was the student council president's little sister, wasn't she.

"Mii-chan, I don't know what he has done to offend you, but it is unimaginable that a student would become violent with a teacher, let alone one with the position of acting director. Leave at once," Horikita said to Mii-chan, rather authoritatively.

Mii-chan looked over to me for confirmation, and I nodded. With that, Mii-chan let go of the acting director, and left the building.

"A-ah...thank you, Horikita-san, I-" Akito started to say.

"Make no mistake, acting director. It is painfully obvious that you were trying to fight these students. That is even more unimaginable than the students attacking you first. I am, frankly, appalled. Unfortunately, I have no evidence linking you to the crime of physically assaulting a minor, so you can do whatever you wish now. Stay or go, I don't really care," Horikita said, coldly.

That shut Akito up for a minute. He, like Mii-chan, also left the building.

"And you, Kushida-san. I never thought you'd be back on school grounds again. Truly, someone in the legal system has made a severe error in judgment," Horikita said to Kushida.

"Despite that, Ayanokouji-kun, I would like you to release her. It is not befitting of a student to assault a member of staff, such as Kushida-san here," she continued.

What? She wanted me to just let Kushida go? Was she crazy?

"I can't just let her go. I need to make sure she can no longer hurt me or my friends," I said.

"Then can I take it we are at an impasse?" Horikita asked.

Quickly, I punched Kushida in the side of her temple, knocking her out. I gently laid her down on the ground. I stood and faced Horikita.

"Maybe we are. I suggest that you leave me to do as I wish, if you know what's good for you, Horikita-san," I warned her.

"My brother has told me about the white room, and the terrifying results it produces. I'd wager you're one of the strongest people in the school, which is why you're so confident. Unfortunately for you, I'm also confident in my abilities..." she said.

Quick as a flash, she ran towards me, aiming for a kick at my ribs. I blocked it, and she tried to deliver a punch to my stomach, whilst simultaneously aiming for another kick, this time aiming for the T-rex.

I blocked the punch, and stepped backwards, avoiding the dinosaur-killing meteorite. Close call.

I delivered a kick to her chest, which she blocked. I punched her in the stomach, which she dodged.

"Horikita-san...You are very adept at martial arts. You're almost a match for Kushida-san," I complimented her.

"Flattery won't serve you here, Ayanokouji-kun," she said, going back on the offensive.

We traded blows back and forth for a while, until I managed to get the upper hand.

I punched her in the throat, and she was unable to block or dodge. Her eyes went wide with shock, and she grasped at the point where I had punched her. She was gasping for breath, and fell to the floor with a dull thud.

"Hasta la vista, bro-con," I said, walking away.

I didn't understand why Horikita had attacked me. Every time she launched a blow at me, I could feel a great amount of rage within every punch and every kick. This was in stark contrast to the girl I had met at the start of the year, who had pleasantly entertained my company. Had something happened between the two of us that I wasn't aware of?

I decided to brush it off. I looked back to where I had left Kushida. It seems in the confusion of the battle, she had regained consciousness and escaped.

That wasn't what had me shaken up right now though.

I had just fought the hardest 1 v 1 battle I had ever fought outside of the white room, against Horikita Suzune. She was far greater than Kushida, in both strength, speed and smarts. Whilst I had never had a full fight with Kouenji or Kanzaki, who were both above Kushida's league, I doubted whether they could beat Horikita without breaking a sweat.

Unknown pov

That test was...pretty horrific. How could they make us kick one of our own classmates our

I'm kind of glad that Yamauchi perv got kicked out, though.

Just then, I heard a knocking at my door.

I opened it, to see a frightened Kushida Kikyou.

"K-Kushida-san...what are you doing here, where have you been?" I asked.

I hadn't seen Kushida since her disappearance in September nearly 6 months ago.

"T-there's no time to explain, let me in," she said, quickly, looking over her shoulder as she did so.

I quickly let her inside, and locked the door. She seemed pretty freaked out, so I thought she might be being followed by some stalker.

"Thank you for letting me in, Karuizawa-san. It means a lot," she said.

"It's no problem, but...where have you been?" I asked, addressing the elephant in the room.

"That's a long story," she said.

"Tell me, please. I want to know," I pressured her.

"Well, do you know a boy with brown hair and weird eyes at this school, in the first year?" She asked.

"Ah, mou...that guy in class A? What's his name again? Ayanokouji? What does he have to do with you being gone for ages?" I asked, befuddled.

"Yeah, that's him...well, the thing is...he k-kidnapped me," she said.

"Kidnapped?" I asked, astonished.

"Y-yes...he then took me away from the school, and he...he..." she said, starting to cry.

"You don't have to continue, if you don't want to," I said, patting her on the back, trying to comfort her.

"Karuizawa-san...will you...help me get revenge on Ayanokouji?"

1268 words
Well, I'm back, here to write more trash.
Happy July 4th. For American's, Independence Day. For weebs, it will always be remembered as the day COTE s2 dropped.
Before you say it, I know that Horikita is no match for Ayanokouji in canon, don't worry I know.
Horikita has eaten spinach and has been given big power boost.
I cannot wait for later. It's gonna be so great.
Nearly 7 years since season 1 finished.
Here's a meme I made for ya.

That's all folks
Not much else to say really.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 10 prologue part 1

It was a certain day in February, shortly before the in-class voting exam was officially decided upon, and the teachers at the Advanced Nurturing High School were keeping busy. They were preparing for their students to advance to the next grade level, to graduate, to go on to university. Additionally, there was a final special exam for all grade levels. It was a busy time, made all the more complex by a variety of factors.

None of the teachers had the free time or wiggle room to do anything else. They were swamped, day in and day out. However, the teachers of the first-year students had a more complicated situation to deal with than those of the other grade levels.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes what I have to say regarding the content of the final special exam for first-year students, as well as the new system that we'll be introducing."

A man had just finished explaining the final special exam of the year to the entire faculty. What he'd outlined was just the same as it had been for the second and third years, but things were different for just first-years.

"If any instructors do have any questions, please, speak up," he added, looking around at the teachers who were listening to his every word. The atmosphere in the room was tense and stiff.

The silence continued for several seconds.

"If I may, acting director Akito?" Mashima, first-year class A's instructor, raised his hand and broke through the stillness and silence that pervaded the faculty lounge.

Chabashira and Hoshinomiya both turned to look at Mashima at the same time. The man who'd just been referred to as acting director Akito had noticed the first-year homeroom instructors already had numerous doubts. Or rather, he knew there would be nothing to discuss if they had no doubts.

He was assessing their value, as people. As members of society, adults, teachers working solely for a pay check. It had been nearly 15 years, after all, and Akito wanted to see if he could still defeat them in the same ways.

"What is it, Mashima-sensei, homeroom instructor for first-year class A?" Akito, anticipating questions, spoke with a broad and gentle smile.

"While the criteria for the special exams for the second and third year students remain the same as in previous years, those of the exam for the first-year students greatly exceeds the annual average. This in-class voting exam...carries a high risk of expulsion."

Mashima addressed Akito as an instructor in charge of the first-year students, and for the sake of the children of the future, undaunted by his old schoolmate's title of acting director. He continued speaking, even more sternly than before.

"Please pardon my rudeness, but you've only just been appointed to your position, acting director Akito. While I'm sure you've made your decision based on what you've seen so far, I think it is unwise to do something that would forcibly expel students simply because no one has been expelled from the first-year classes yet."

Akito seemed somewhat pleased by Mashima's question...or rather, by his protest. He gave a sickeningly sweet smile. Mashima, Hoshinomiya and Chabashira all remembered that smile. It was a smile he made whenever he was planning something big.

"Carries a strong risk of expulsion, you say. Haven't the students already been in danger of expulsion in every special exam they've had up until this point? Isn't there a rule at this institution that even a single failing grade results in expulsion? Surely no high school would have such a strict system."

"I am pointing out how unreasonable this is. Though, yes, it is certainly true that students who fail to achieve a certain quality of results will be expelled. The system is not meant to be an easy one. In fact, we've had a number of students be expelled every year."

Various special exams were held every year at this school, all within the scope of certain set criteria. And, while working within those limits, the current first-years had made it through without anyone getting expelled. It was unclear whether this was simply due to a difference in ability from the other grade levels, but there had to be a reason for why they'd managed to come this far without anyone being expelled.

Mashima thought that it was important to make the most of this and carry it into the next year. However, Akito thought differently.

"If it's simply a matter of having some students be expelled, then what difference does it make to do it this way?" He asked.

"No. This is very clearly different from what has been done in the past. I cannot support a system where students are forcibly expelled," said Mashima

The other teachers remained silent. Only Mashima persisted, and quite tenaciously so.

"Besides, abruptly introducing a new system just before the final special exam of the school year? Never in this school's history has such a thing been done. The reasons such a decision was made had not been explained to us."

The teachers knew all along that Mashima's resistance was futile. There was no reversing this decision. There was no way to go back.

"It would seem your way of thinking is still a little...shall we say 'by the book,' Mashima-sensei? Have you considered the possibility that the way things have been done so far wasn't correct? Rather, it was wrong?" Asked Akito.

He and Mashima continued to go back and forth in the faculty lounge. However, Mashima's disadvantageous position was as clear as fat. This wasn't a situation a mere teacher could control.

"Young children can really absorb more than adults think that they can. With that point in mind, I have decided not to administer the test to the second and third-years, but only to the first-years, who have yet to be fully immersed in this school's methods. If the initiative is successful, it will make it easier to try it with next year's first-year students."

"The current first-year students have made it this far without any expulsions. Do you really want to put an end to that in this matter?" Asked Mashima.

"Current results mean nothing. This is about being future-oriented. Future-oriented," countered Akito, before continuing with his speech. "The government is expecting a great many things from this school—a newly established institution that employs a number of experimental ventures. The school's short history is precisely why I think that we should try a variety of methods."

"It's all well and good being future-oriented. However, this could also be interpreted as us using the current first-years as guinea pigs. As a homeroom instructor, I find this unacceptable." Mashima continued to directly challenge Akito. He wanted to do something to make the special exam change course.

But it was almost certainly impossible to undo Akito's decision. The in-class voting exam was already a done deal.

"...Mashima-sensei, that's enough." Chabashira, fully aware the die was cast, stopped Mashima from saying any more.

Mashima swallowed the words that were about to leave his mouth. However, none other than Akito himself urged him to speak again.

"Please, I don't mind. If there's something you wish to say, please get it off your chest. After all, I well understand you teachers' feelings of apprehension about this. Wouldn't you agree, Mashima-sensei?"

"Are you saying that there is a possibility that you will reconsider?" Asked Mashima, asking if the special exam would be re-evaluated.

It seemed as though Akito was dangling a lifeline for them to seize. But it wasn't true. Unlike director Sakayanagi, acting director Akito had not the slightest intention of listening to what anyone had to say.

"Reconsider, hm? Well, that would be difficult. While my position, as the 'acting' part of my title suggests, is temporary, I am still the director. But though the director bears the responsibility of steering the school and establishing its guiding principles, he is simultaneously a puppet. I am nothing more than an employee of a higher, government-backed corporate body," replied Akito.

And with that, Mashima's resistance was rendered meaningless. All that mattered was the future of the Advanced Nurturing High School. The teachers' feelings were secondary.

"So you don't mind if students are expelled in droves as a result of these strict rules?"

"Those who do not conform will be eliminated. That's how society—no, that's just how the natural order works. Besides, we've already compromised by allowing the introduction of 'protection points,' have we not? I'm afraid you're just going to have to be satisfied with this."

The strained atmosphere gradually began to fade and become more relaxed. The prolonged meeting was nearing its end.

"More importantly, though, the current director, Sakayanagi-sensei, is currently under house arrest due to allegations of fraud. If these allegations are found to be based in truth, we cannot inherit educational policies built by such a person, can we? Of course, I sincerely hope they will be cleared up as soon as possible, and that he will return," said Akito.

He brought his hands together. Clap! With that, Akito looked around at all of the instructors.

"Well, it would seem time is up. Why don't we call things here? Oh, that reminds me. We've been looking into whether we can hold a cultural festival at this school next year. I'm sure we will be looking to you, the teachers, for your opinions on the matter once again, so please share your thoughts when the time comes.

"Cultural festival? Anything that would open this school up to the general public should generally be dismissed on principle."

This time, even the second-year and third-year homeroom instructors started to voice their concerns.

"That kind of old-fashioned thinking is quite problematic, too. I believe that this school must institute as many changes as are necessary for it to become more recognised by the nation. We'll need to be very selective about who we invite, of course, but there's no need to worry about that. We won't be opening up the school to the general public, but rather, to a strictly controlled group of people who are well-acquainted with this institution, such as politicians. This way, we avoid any major leaks of information to the outside world. At any rate, I would like for you to reconsider this matter in a positive frame of mind."

Acting director Akito noted that was all there was to say on the matter and brought the meeting to a close. The teachers' battle had ended.

There was nothing they could have done.

1793 words
Longer chapter, pretty much just copied from the LN.
Season 2 is here. After almost 5 years, we will finally be able to see the entire first year arc animated. Here's a meme for ya.

Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 10 prologue part 2

"Mashima-sensei, Hoshinomiya-sensei. Do you have a minute?" Asked Chabashira, calling to her colleagues in the faculty lounge, just after Akito left but before classes began.

The four of them were former rivals who'd both worked hard and studied at this school, mutually pushing each other to improve. These three were also close friends. Since they'd known each other for a long time, Chabashira's colleagues gathered their papers and followed her without asking questions. They exited into the hallway that led to the classrooms where their students waited for them.

"This is so depressing. I can't believe we have to tell our students that we're having an exam where someone will definitely be expelled," said Hoshinomiya, the first to speak up. She looked down at her attendance records, letting out a heavy sigh. "I wonder who we're going to lose..."

She didn't sound at all like she was looking forward to finding out, but rather like she was just trying to face the reality of the situation.

"Well, it's not like it's been decided someone will be leaving, right? While there aren't many options available, there is something they can do."

"You mean spending twenty million points to override the expulsion? Isn't that the only way?" Replied Hoshinomiya.

Despite saying that, Hoshinomiya was already well aware of the truth. Right now, none of the classes had that many points saved up.

"If there's any saving grace here, it's not having to pay up the three hundred class points. I suppose there's no precedent for a forced expulsion like this. In that sense, it's only natural."

Normally, twenty million private points and three hundred class points were required to override a student's expulsion. This time, however, students were exempt from the class point requirement. Still, neither the teachers nor the students could just accept the forced expulsion as things were.

"I can't help but feel dissatisfied with acting director Akito's way of doing things," said Chabashira.

"Well, it's understandable that you'd feel that way, Sae-chan. He just came back out of nowhere and started doing whatever absurd thing he pleased," said Hoshinomiya, snuggling up close to Chabashira, as if she was about to huh her. Chabashira pushed her away, annoyed.

"Even if we complain, though, it won't change anything. If we say too much, it's likely we'll get axed," said Mashima.

"Are you for real, Mashima-kun? You were really going at it earlier with Akito-kun, weren't you? I was feeling, like, super extra nervous. But despite that, now you're all like, oh, we can't say too much?"

"You're right, Chie. The acting director probably doesn't care if teachers get fired. He knows there are plenty of replacements out there. If anything, he might even see it as convenient."

"Maybe he's planning to get rid of teachers who oppose him, like Mashima-kun, and replace them with ones more suited to his cause."

Chabashira and Hoshinomiya thought Akito's speech back in the faculty lounge might have been part of a ploy to root out rebellious teachers. Mashima didn't speak up to contradict that line of thinking.

"Be careful, Sae-chan. Akito-kun's always had it in for you," said Hoshinomiya.

"You seem awfully confident of your own class, even though they were demoted within 4 months."

"No way! Sae-chan, wait. The current class A were cheating, they had to have been. How could class C go to class A within 2 weeks otherwise?"

"Anyway, what I wanted to say was that you should refrain from acting carelessly," said Chabashira, ignoring Hoshinomiya's question and quickly wrapping up their conversation before heading off towards class C, clearly in a bad mood now.

"You really aren't going to bring personal feelings into this, are you?" Asked Mashima as the two of them watched her leave.

"Don't lump me in with her, Mashima-kun. I have no lingering regrets at all, personally. But honestly, that girl hasn't changed, like, at all since then. She's just the same as she was when we were students. That's why she's still clinging to that good-for-nothing first love of hers, holding it in her heart," said Hoshinomiya.

"...you're kind of making a scary face."

"Huh? Ugh, no way, really? I am?" Hoshinomiya quickly pulled out a folding mirror and donned a smile. "All right! I look super-duper cute today, too. Don't you think so?"

"Don't care."

"Meanie. Well, it's all right, though."

After she'd put her mirror away, Mashima have Hoshinomiya a piece of advice.

"Akito isn't the same as he was before. He used to operate to his full capacity, on his own. But now, there's someone pulling his strings."

"You don't mean...Ayano-"

"Shh...it's not safe to talk about it here. We don't know who's watching," said Mashima, looking over his shoulder.

Unknown pov

"A new task will be given to you two. You will apply to the school, and you will help to expel Ayanokouji Kiyotaka-kun. Can I trust that you two are up to the task?" Said the instructor.

"Yes, Ayanokouji-sensei," we both said.

One of us told the truth, and the other lied. I looked over at Yagami, who had a fierce determination in his eyes. He obviously wanted to prove he was better than 'the masterpiece.' Seriously, how big can his little ego get?

But me? No, I didn't want to prove that I was better than him.

I've spent the last 12 years in this place. Ayanokouji-senpai had been in here even before me.

I feel...constricted...trapped.

Ayanokouji-senpai managed to break free. Before he left, he said something to me.

Occasionally, the students from the different generations would be able to interact with each other, but only rarely. I got to know Ayanokouji-senpai a little through these interactions.

I remembered the last time I had talked with him, nearly 2 years ago.

"Ichika-san...are you tired of living in this place, caged in by these white walls?" He asked

I nodded slowly.

"One day, I will break free from this place. The time will be soon. The authorities are closing in on this place, and it will be the perfect opportunity for me to escape. I also want for you to be able to live a free life, too," he said.

"Me? Why me of all people?" I asked.

"Because...you also crave freedom. The rest of the children here aspire to do well, and to try and catch up to me. But you don't care about that. You just want to break free, as I do," he responded.

In that moment, a bond was made. I wanted to go with him, to see the outside world. I would always be behind him, ready to help him carry the both of us to knew heights.

Soon, I will get the greatest gift. The one that he was given.

Not supreme strength, or unmatchable brainpower. Something far greater.

Freedom.

(Tatakae)

1162 words
Again, mostly taken from the light novel except for the Ichika pov.
I'm still reeling from season 2. I just can't wait to see what direction they're gonna take it in. But they made so many changes, especially to my guy Mashima here.

In just a single day, he went from chubby to chad.
I mean, just look at that jawline.
Not much else to say really.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 10 chapter 1: even selection exam explanation

It was March 8th.
In class A, Sakagami was about to begin the final special exam of the first year of school. There were thirty-nine chairs and desks for each of the students in class A. There had been forty chairs and desks just up until a little while ago, of course, but now one was missing.

Manabe Shiho had been expelled.

It wasn't just class A, either. Yamauchi from class D and Yahiko from class B had been expelled as well. There was no doubt the event had been a huge shock to the first-years. "There must be some way to save them," everyone had thought, in the back of their minds. But now that thought had been shattered.

The days continued to March forward without stopping, without the students recovering from their shock and heartbreak. At the same moment that the bell signalling the start of homeroom sounded, Sakagami strode into the room. There was no idle chit-chat in the classroom.

"...well, then. Without further ado, I'll announce the details of the final special exam for your first year," said Sakagami, launching into his explanation for the exam.

I'd known things would end up this way, but I didn't hear a single word about Manabe. Yabu and Yamashita, her best friends, were probably trying their absolute hardest to accept the reality of the situation.

"In the final special exam, you will be asked to show the culmination of everything you've learned over this past year. Intelligence, physical ability, cooperation, and luck. You'll need to demonstrate your potential in every field. This special exam is called the 'Event Selection Exam." The classes will compete with another, based on their overall performance. Which class you will be facing off against will be decided according to the rules. This will be just like the Paper Shuffle."

I hadn't been here for that exam. I got the general gist though.

"To make it easier for you to understand what I'm saying, I'm going to use these ten white cards and a number of yellow cards, which correspond to the number of people in class."

As Sakagami spoke, he started lining cards up on the blackboard. Each card was roughly the same size as a regular playing card. While the ten white cards seemed blanked, the yellow cards, on the other hand, had one student's name on each of them.

A total of forty-eight cards had been placed up on the blackboard. If the number of yellow cards was meant to match the number of students in our class, though, then she was short one card. I wondered if that meant something.

"First, I'll explain what these ten blank white cards are about. On these cards, you will be asked to list a total of ten separate 'events' that you have jointly discussed and decided upon. These can be anything you want. A written exam. Shogi. Cards. Baseball. You can go ahead and write whatever events you think you can win at. Also, you'll have to establish rules for the events and how to decide who wins.

"Huh? So, we're free to pick whatever?"

Even though Sakagami had just told us we could write in anything we wanted, it seemed like the message hadn't quite sunk in for some students.

"You are free to choose whatever you like, but there are some rules to follow when deciding which events you settle on. For instance, if you choose an obscure sport or some kind of game that not many people had heard of, then no one aside from the person who proposed the event stands much of a chance of winning. Moreover, the rules of the event must be fair and easy to understand. Therefore, after an event is submitted, the school will judge whether it is appropriate and will be implemented."

True enough. If we picked extremely niche events like obscure sports or games, or set bizarre rules, then not many people would stand a chance of winning said events. But did we get to decide all the rules of these events?

"Also, you will need to fine-tune the rules to ensure there will be no draws. For example, Go ends in a draw if both sides have the same score at the end of the game. To avoid this outcome, you could specify that the white side gets an extra half point for going second, and thus wins," explained Sakagami. "You might think at first glance that there's no way a game like Shogi could end in a draw, but there are rare instances in which both kings enter their respective promotion zones at the same time. In such a case, the result would be a draw, and the winner could be decided based on the number of pieces each player has on the board. You will be asked to draw up detailed rules to determine who wins and loses in advance. If you submit an event without such rules in place, then it will not be accepted."

So, events where there would be a clear winner and loser, and nothing that was too obscure, huh? Even though you might say the students had countless choices at our disposal, this actually seemed to narrow down the events we could select.

"All right, then. Let's see if we can illustrate this with a real-life scenario. Something easy to understand. Ishizaki, what are you good at? It can be anything, so just come out and say it."

"Um...what am I good at...?" Said Ishizaki, thinking to himself.

It seemed nothing was coming immediately to his mind.

"Well, uh, I guess I can play Rock Paper Scissors?" He concluded, after giving it some thought.

His classmates couldn't hold back their laughter at such a ridiculous statement. However, Sakagami took his answer seriously, writing the words "rock paper scissors" on one of the white cards.

"Then let's say we choose Rock Paper Scissors as an event," he replied.

Ishizaki, who hadn't imagined he would take his response seriously, looked dumbfounded, along with the rest of our classmates.

"What about the rules?" Asked Sakagami.

"Um...first to three wins?" Replied Ishizaki.

Sakagami wrote Ishizaki's rule underneath the Rock Paper Scissors card.

"This event is known to many, and the rules are simple and clear. There's not a single reason why the school would let accept it," he replied.

"H-he accepted it."

Even though it was just an event that Ishizaki had randomly blurted out, from the school's point of view, it was perfectly acceptable.

"Now we just repeat this process nine more times, and we'll have our ten-event total," said Sakagami.

He picked up a piece of chalk and began writing on the blackboard.

"This is the exam schedule. This is also quite important. The exam will be divided into three major stages."

Special exam.
March 8th: special exam announcement date. Class match-ups decided on this day.

March 15th: confirmation of selection of ten events. The ten events chosen by the opposing class and their rules will be announced.

March 22nd: day of event selection exam.

"B-but sensei, if we're doing twenty events, won't that take a lot of time?"

"On the day of the event selection exam, each class will narrow their respective list of ten events down to five and submit those five as their main choices. So instead of twenty events, the choices will be narrowed down to ten," explained Sakagami.

After hearing that part, Ryuuen opened his mouth to speak.

"Which means that five of the ten events are bluffs...they're meant to mislead our opponents. Right?"

"Yes, I suppose that they can play that role, too. Of that narrowed-down list of ten events, the school will select seven at random via an automated system. That's how this all works," replied Sakagami, not disregarding but rather affirming Ryuuen's suggestion.

It seemed this special exam was going to be more drawn-out than the ones we'd had thus far. I imagined the school was going with seven events to ensure a clear winner. With no chance of a tie, whoever won four of the events would emerge victorious.

"Even if the outcome is already decided before all seven events are complete, the test will continue until the final event. This is because the events will affect class points. So, regardless of whether your class might definitely win or definitely lose, you will be seeing these events through to the very end. Applications for the first list of ten events will be accepted until the end of the day on Sunday the 14th. Because your events will need to be evaluated for approval by the school, you're better off finalising each event as soon as possible," explained Sakagami.

"What happens if we don't finalise ten events by the end of the 14th?"

"Then the school will fill in the gaps with alternative events that they've prepared. But don't expect these to be the best events for your class. While you may not necessarily be at a disadvantage in them, you probably won't be at an advantage, either," replied Sakagami.

It seemed it would be wisest for us to work on finalising our own ten selections, no matter what.

"It's also important to note that the same class cannot register the same event twice. Let's suppose a class were to submit a soccer event, with a best-two-out-of-three-rule. If you then tried to submit another soccer event where the outcome was decided via a penalty kick, it would be rejected. Please be mindful of this."

"Can we retract an event once it's been finalised?" Asked Ryuuen.

"No, you cannot."

"Then...can any student participate in the seven events? And is it possible for students to participate as many times as they wish?" Asked Ryuuen.

"Some of the rules regarding these events are difficult to communicate verbally therefore, the school has prepared this handout with more detailed information. Feel free to make copies of it later. The answers you're looking for are printed on the handout, Ryuuen."

It would have been nice if the school had just made enough copies for everyone, but I supposed it was possible they'd intentionally done things this way. If we only had one copy of the handout, everyone in class would come together to read it over, which would make it easier to prompt discussion among our classmates.

"Just as I wrote on the blackboard, the ten events each class decides on will be relayed to the opposing classes on the 15th. After all, it's hard to call it a fair competition if you don't know what events and rules your opponents have chosen."

That meant we had almost one week to study, practice, and come up with plans for these events. It was also likely that the day of the exam itself would become a battle for each class to figure out what events the opposing class preferred.

"Once the exam had concluded on the 22nd, the 23rd will be a vacation day. After that, the graduation ceremony will be held on the 24th, and then the closing ceremony on the 25th. Once those events are out of the way, you'll officially be on your spring break."

I supposed our levels of motivation would depend on whether we won or lost. At any rate, after hearing all of that, I felt I had a fairly good grasp on how the event selection exam worked.

However...

The look on Sakagami's face seemed to suggest he still had something major to explain to us.

"There's one other important piece of the puzzle here, aside from deciding upon the events. And this is the fact that you are going to need a 'commander' to manage this many people. Please keep in mind that this commander will not be able to participate in events directly.

"A commander...?"

So that's why there were only thirty-eight student card up on the board, huh?

"It's an important job, and one that requires adaptability. You can interpret this position as a supporting role—someone who assists with all the events and provides lifelines when necessary. They can, for example, substitute for another student, or solve a difficult problem. This isn't limited to sports, either. Even in events like Go and Shogi, the commander will be allowed to intervene," said Sakagami.

That meant this wasn't simply a showdown between students based on their fundamental skills. The commanders played a role too, huh?

"You must also decide how your commander will get 'involved.' Ah, yes. Say, for example, if we went with Rock Paper Scissors...you could come up with rules such as 'the commander may volunteer to step in and participate once, when they wish,' or 'the commander can substitute for another student who is about to play.' Determine the methods your commander can step in," she explained.

It sounded like the commander's involvement was generally accepted as long as it was fair. If we have the commander the ability to swap out players in events like baseball and soccer, it would essentially be assigning them the role of coach. Although there were seven events, it was likely that the commander's involvement was going to be a major part of consideration.

"Commanders will be granted private points individually in the case that they help secure a victory. But they'll also be held responsible for defeat. That's right. If their class is defeated, the commander will be expelled," explained Sakagami.

So, someone was going to be forcefully expelled this time around, too.

"In this special exam, having a commander is absolutely essential. If the commander is not present, the test will not be allowed to proceed. If you have trouble trying to come to a decision on your own through discussion, come talk to me. I will appoint someone appropriate for the role."

And we had to nominate someone, just like before. I could see Ryuuen turn back to look at me, grinning, as if saying "I hope you're ready to do some hard work." What a pain.

"How will our opponents be decided?" Asked Ryuuen, turning back towards the front.

"The students who have taken on the role of commander will all gather together in the multi-purpose room after class today. We'll hold a lottery for those students to be able to choose their opponent. You'll have to discuss among yourselves in advance about which class you'd choose if you win the lottery."

It sounded like the winner of the lottery would get to select the class they wanted to go up against, leaving the two remaining classes to be automatically matched up with one another.

The best result in my mind would be for us to go against class C. Honami and I could collaborate, and make sure our results were fairly even.

"Then, we obviously gotta go with class D, right? Our chances of winning against them will be higher."

Well there's that idea out the window. Obviously everyone will want to go up against the 'defective' class.

"It's certainly true that going up against students currently languishing in class D might increase your chances of winning, due to their overall inferiority. However, it's not necessarily an advantage to fight against a lower-level class," said Sakagami.

In other words, if that were true, then the three other classes would inevitably pick class D. Now that I had fought against Horikita, I knew that class D would be a formidable opponent.

"Chemistry matters in this exam. It's very important that you take each class's distinctive characteristics into account."

We didn't necessarily need to despair, even if we were competing agains class B or class C. If we chose events favourable to our class, we'd have a good chance of winning. But the unavoidable truth was that the higher the level of the class, the tougher of an opponent they'd be. Despite what Sakagami had said, not a single person in class cracked a smile.

Ryuuen's imagination was running wild, too. He was wondering if we could crush a class in all 7 events as we were now.

"It seems what I said wasn't much of a comfort. In that case, let's look at some harsh truths. If you're defeated, and class D wins...you will probably fall to class B, depending on class B's results."

Sakagami picked up a piece of chalk and wrote the current class point totals.

Class points as of March 1st

Class 1-A: 1546
Class 1-B: 1362
Class 1-C: 0672
Class 1-D: 0347

There was a clear difference between class B and class C. The only way to move up in the class rankings would be through a special exam.

"As for how these events will affect your class points...you'll see an increase or decrease of thirty points per event. So if you win all seven events, that means you get two hundred and ten points. If you win five and lose two, you'll get ninety points. The points come from the opposing class's total. In addition, the school will award you another one hundred points as a reward for overall victory," explained Sakagami.

Which meant we could earn a maximum of three hundred and ten points. The fact that we could snatch class points from our opponents through winning these events was another major upside. We could increase our own points whilst decreasing the points of classes below us. Depending on the matchup and the results, we could take an overwhelming lead in the class competition, or get knocked down to class B, or even back to class C if it got really bad.

"In the event that the opposing class lacks the sufficient number of class points, the school will temporarily make up the differences but require the class to eventually reimburse them for those points. This means a class may appear to have zero points on the surface, but will actually have a negative class point total," explained Sakagami.

So it was possible for class points to drop below zero, albeit in an invisible manner. At any rate, since every class had over two hundred and ten points at present, that didn't seem like something we needed to worry about.

3053 words
Long chapter, again pretty much straight from the LN.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 10 chapter 2: event selection exam strat

When Sakagami left, we had a little time left before class began. Some students went up and picked up the rules handout that had been left on the podium.

"Give me that," said Ryuuen, parting the crowd and taking the manual. He began looking over it intently.

I went up to the desk to look at the manual with him.

EVENT SELECTION EXAM

Rules for selecting events:

Events that are too obscure, are too complex, or have exceedingly detailed rules may not be allowed. In the case of events with written questions, the school will provide the test questions to ensure fairness. Deviating from or altering the basic rules of the events is strictly prohibited.

Regarding usable facilities:

On the day of the special exam, the commanders will carry out their duties from the multi-purpose room. Additionally, school facilities such as the gymnasium, the sporting grounds, the music rooms, and the science labs may be used, though there are some exceptions.

Regarding event restrictions and time restrictions:

Duplicate events will not be accepted. If an event is determined to have the same content as a previously submitted event, it will not be completed. Also, if an event is determine to take too long to complete or has no time limit whatsoever, it may not be accepted.

Regarding the number of participants:

The required number of participants for each of the ten submitted events must be different, excluding those acting as substitutes. The minimum required number of participants is one, while the maximum number of participants must not exceed twenty (including those acting as substitutes). Only a maximum of two events that require more than ten participants per class (including substitutes) may be submitted.

Regarding conditions for participation:

Each student may only participate in one event. Students may not participate in two or more events. However, if every student from a class has already participated in an event, then a student will be allowed to participate in more than one event.

Regarding the role of commander:

The commander has the right to be involved in all seven events. Exactly how the commander is involved will be determined by the class that proposed the event. The scope of this involvement must be approved by the school before the event is adopted.

The rules were roughly divided into six sections.

The number of participants could range from one person to twenty people per event. And while events that actually required twenty participants were probably quite limited, there were some options you could come up with, depending on your approach. If you managed to come up with two events that required close to forty people, then it was possible that some students would have to participate a second time, maybe even a third time.

Even if you tried to narrow your selections down to an elite few, though, that got tricky when you had to ensure that the required number of people for each event was different.

"The school really has prepared quite a difficult special exam for us, haven't they?"

"Yeah. But as something that's supposed to be a culmination of everything we've learned over our first year, I guess it's pretty appropriate."

It was a system where many students had to participate and work together if they were going to win. It was similar to the sports festival, but this time around, it wasn't like physical ability alone would give you an advantage. Depending on your approach, it was possible to turn this into a battle focused on only academic ability, or a test of intelligence or other mental faculties.

The key to the test likely wasn't just being able to discern your own strengths and weaknesses, but also those of the other classes.

After giving the event selection process some thought, I concluded that the amount of time the school had given us was adequate. We were going to have to engage in a considerable amount of discussion and be extremely careful with our selections if we wanted to do our absolute best.

Furthermore there were some students I doubted would actually participate in the events. If we couldn't get everyone in class to participate in an event at least once, we couldn't get anyone to participate a second time, forcing us to adjust accordingly.

"So, I assume Ryuuen-san is going to be the commander then?" Asked Ishizaki, looking towards Ryuuen.

It was the obvious choice. Ryuuen had a very strategic mind. While he wasn't exactly on my level, he was probably the most cunning person in our grade level after Sakayanagi. He also had the protection point which would save him in the case of our class losing, which I very much doubted we would.

"You're damn right I'll be the commander. There ain't no way I'm letting any of you call the shots around here," he said, grinning.

Class D student pov

"So it's decided then? Horikita will be the commander?"

The class nodded, in almost complete unity.

Why did I feel a certain hesitation right now? I looked over to Horikita, and saw a grim expression on her face, as though she was preparing to actually go to war, and she was getting ready to face an old enemy of hers.

Did she have some personal vendetta here? Or was it simply my imagination?

After class, I went and talked to her.

"Horikita-san...can I ask a favour of you, since you're the commander?" I asked.

"What is it?"

"When you go to the commanders meeting, could you please make sure that we are matched up against class A?"

934 words
Shorter chap this time, mostly taken from the ln again
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 10 chapter 3: unexpected opponent.

Sakagami-sensei and I made our way over to the special building together.

"We have to go all the way over to the special building just to pick out which classes are facing each other?" I asked.

"You'll also be receiving an explanation as to how things work on the day of the exam," said Chabashira.

There was hardly anyone in the special building, so my ears picked up the sound of our footsteps much easier.

"I'm slightly surprised, Ryuuen-kun. I would have thought you would make Ayanokouji-kun the commander," said Sakagami suddenly.

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

"I'm not sure...I just always thought that you were more hands on in your approach to things, rather than sitting back and letting everyone do everything for you," he responded.

"I suppose you're right. Anyway, now isn't a good time to put Ayanokouji in a position where he could be expelled," I said.

"Because of the new acting director?" Sakagami asked.

"Yes. Why, do you know something about that? Ayanokouji didn't tell me much."

"...I attended ANHS, too. In my 3rd year, a new student came along: Samuel Akito. He seemed fine at first glance, but that boy—that man is ruthless. He did things at this school that not even the new Student Council President would consider doing. The rules of the school meant nothing to him," Sakagami-sensei said.

Damn. This guy was really something. Was it Ayanokouji's father who ordered him to come here? If so, that was really bad.

After that, we were mostly silent as we made our way to the special building.

The multi-purpose room was located in the special building. Apparently, it was going to be something of a central hub for this exam.

"It seems we are the first here," said Sakagami.

We waited for a short while, till the doors opened and revealed Sakayanagi from class B, along with her homeroom instructor, Tomanari Mashima. The obvious choice for commander, really.

"Fufufu. Hello, dragon boy," she said.

Why did she keep calling me that ?

"Hello, loli. It seems you're as spritely as ever," I snapped back.

Just then, the doors opened, and Ichinose of class C walked through, along with Hoshinomiya-sensei. She gave me a small wave, which I returned. Ayanokouji told me that if I was allowed to pick a class, I should pick class C.

We waited a few minutes, and Sae Chabashira, the homeroom teacher of class D came through. Behind her came Horikita Suzune.

I snickered and did a mocking wave to her. She ignored me.

I could almost feel the presence of Ayanokouji telling me to not be a creep.

"Well, now that we have the commanders from each class gathered together, we'd like to determine which classes will be facing off against each other. We're going to have you each draw one slip of paper from this box. The student who draws the slip of paper with the red circle on it will be given the right to choose their opponent," said Mashima-sensei, presenting us with a box with raffle slips in them.

He urged class B to draw first, but Sakayanagi refused.

"They say good things come to those who wait. I don't mind going last. You may go ahead, Ichinose-san," said Sakayanagi.

"Well then, don't mind if I do," said Ichinose, drawing a slip of paper. Her slip was blank.

I decided to draw next. I didn't draw the slip with the red mark either.

Horikita from class D was the one who drew the slip with the red mark, which meant that class D had won the right to choose their opponent.

"It would seem there's no need for me to check what's on the last slip of paper then, is there, Mashima-sensei?" Said Sakayanagi.

Mashima-sensei drew the remaining slip of paper from the box himself. Naturally, it didn't have a red circle on it.

"Please tell us which class you'll be choosing," said Mashima-sensei, urging Horikita to answer.

Horikita responded with a subtle nod. Class D had probably held their own discussions in the morning and after class, deciding which class they'd have the best chance of winning against.

"Then I'll come out and say it. I wish...class D wishes...to go up against class A," announced Horikita, making a declaration of war on an unexpected opponent.

What?

Why did she want to go up against us?

"You're sure you want to choose class A?" Asked Mashima-sensei, seeking to confirm Horikita's decision.

"Yes," she replied firmly.

After making sure, Mashima-sensei finalised the match-ups. If class A was going up against class D, it naturally followed that class B would be going up against class C.

"Now then, I'll explain the system you'll be using on the day of the special exam. During the exam, you'll be in the multi-purpose room, using a computer like the two that you see set up right here. You will be fulfilling your role as commander here, assigning which student will be in which event, in real time," explained Mashima-sensei.

The left-hand computer's screen was projected in the large monitor. While Chabashira operated the computer, Mashima-sensei continued explaining.

"This is a list of students in class B. Using the mouse, you'll drag and drop the selected student's profile picture onto the box for a specific event. If you make a mistake or you wish to reconsider your choice partway through, you can use the mouse to drag the selected student's profile picture outside of the box, and then re-select. Or use your finger to operate it via a touchscreen," said Mashima-sensei.

"It's kind of like a video game, isn't it?"

"It really is!"

Ichinose and Hoshinomiya-sensei were engaged in their own fun conversation.

"There is a time limit on the student selection for each event, represented by the number you currently see counting down on the screen. The more participants required for an event, the more time you'll be given to choose. You can expect about 30 seconds per person," he added.

Which meant we'd have 300 seconds for a ten person event.

"Please note that if you don't make your selections within the time limit, the remaining spaces will be filled with students chosen at random. Moreover, if you end up selecting too many students for an event, excess participants will be discarded via random selection, as well."

So basically, those limits were iron-clad.

"Once the games begin, the action will be shown on the large monitor in real-time."

A sample video of a shogi match began to play on the monitor.

"Information describing how the commander can participate in the match will be displayed on your personal monitor once the match begins."

The image on the large monitor switched back to displaying what was on the left computer screen. The words "the commander can pause the game and redo a move once" were displayed in the screen, probably an example of how the commander could get involved in a particular event, just as Mashima-sensei had explained.

"Please keep in mind that you can confirm the details of these rules and activate them by clicking them."

The large monitor went back to showing the shogi match.

"Also, instructions from the commanders to their teammates are relayed not via phone calls, but as texts, which are automatically read aloud via a text-to-speech system. All you have to do is type out the words and press enter, and the message will be played through the participants headset."

So our messages would automatically be read aloud by a machine, huh? Probably to keep us from spreading misinformation or revealing more than what was allowed. Using the shogi game currently on the screen as an example, though the rule stated that the commander could only get involved by pausing the game and redoing a move once, clever wording would make it possible for the commander to basically give the participant instructions for two or three moves.

"If the commander deviates from the established rules and involves themselves more than what is allowed, the school may disqualify them for breaking the rules."

I supposed that made sense. It was safe to assume every message the commanders sent out was being reviewed by a third party.

"Only one participant will be wearing a headset per event. Even in a team event, that means only one person will be able to receive instructions. The commander will also specify which participant will wear the headset."

It seemed I had my work cut out for me. There were things we could decide beforehand, but we still needed to prepare for the unexpected.

"The commander can issue instructions whenever they wish, so long as it is in accordance with the rules."

We could freely change the display on our own screen, including switching displays, maximising or minimising windows, and so on. There were more than a few things we could keep an eye on, from observing the students participating in the current event to preparing for the next event.

"This concludes my explanation of the duties of commander and the systems at play. Are there any questions?"

Mashima-sensei looked around, but it seemed no one had any questions.

"That will he all for today, then. In the event you wish to review the operating system, you may return to the multi-purpose room, accompanied by a teacher, up to one week before the exam. That is all."

And so, having heard how the commander position would work, we dispersed.

I took out my phone, and texted Ayanokouji.

It's class D, target class D

1624 words
Again very similar to the ln
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 10 chapter 4: pawns

I received the text from Ryuuen, and turned to face the three students, Albert, Ishizaki and Ibuki.

"Ryuuen says it's class D. Better get to it," I said.

They headed out to do their business. They wouldn't get much done today, but they would be able to do everything tomorrow.

I texted Matsushita and Katsuragi.

Meet me at seafront in 20 minutes. Don't be late.

This would be a fairly easy exam with my pawns here. I would have liked to have gone up against class C, because we would be able to make an agreeable compromise with them. But since we're up against class D, I can only assume it's because of Horikita.

I arrived at the seafront, and Matsushita and Katsuragi arrived a short while later.

"Ayanokouji-kun...can I assume this is about the upcoming exam?" Asked Matsushita.

"Yes. Matsushita, since I'm going up against your class, I'm prepared to compromise. Please tell your commander, who I'm assuming is Horikita, that we're prepared to let you win 4 out of 7 events in exchange for private points. Failing that, I want you to tell me which events you'll be putting forwards," I said.

"I see...I don't think Horikita will go for it though. She's been acting real weird lately...I think you should watch where you tread," Matsushita warned.

"Don't worry, I can handle Horikita fine," I said.

I watched Matsushita walk away. I turned to Katsuragi.

"Why did you call me here? Class A and class B aren't going up against each other," he said.

"Quite right, you're going up against class C. I want you to give me your classes information so I can pass it along to class C. I have an...arrangement with Ichinose, you see," I explained.

Katsuragi paused in thought for a moment.

"Ayanokouji-kun. I would rather only do deals that affect our two classes. I...would not want to drag class B down too much," he said.

"I understand your hesitation, but...you don't have much of a choice, if you want to transfer to my class, that is. Don't worry, I will only make you lose 4 events, I'm not entirely heartless, you know. Plus, this loosen Sakayanagi's hold over class B slightly," I said.

Katsuragi hesitated for a moment, and then walked off.

I was confident that he would do as I ordered.

I was in Fuka's room, about to go to sleep when Katsuragi messaged me.

I'll do it.

I smiled. They always come around in the end.

Pov change

A rather unusual incident occurred a few days later. It happened at the start of lunch break, when our group made our way to the cafeteria. As I walked with Shibata and the others, we heard someone shout, somewhat aggressively.

"Come on, Suzune. We should definitely do something about this! We gotta protest!"

The person who shouted these words was none other than Sudou, from first-year class D. He was accompanied by two other students from class D: Horikita and Hirata.

"Huh, what's going on? It's rather unusual to see Sudou angry," said Kanzaki sarcastically, causing a few of our group to laugh.

Sudou, from the few interactions I've had with him, is a pretty hotheaded individual, but not someone to start a fight for absolutely no reason. I'm sure it was probably just a misunderstanding.

"Isn't it possible that it was just a simple coincidence?" Replied Hirata calmly, trying to reason with the upset Sudou.

However, Sudou seemed to be convinced otherwise, because he immediately denied the possibility.

"It's not. That was the third time just today. Get it? They're definitely trying to pick a fight!" He asserted.

Hirata noticed us, and gently gestured to Sudou, who looked over at us with a slightly embarrassed expression on his face. Recently, from what I'd heard, he'd started to get a handle on his anger. It was a slightly rarer sight to see him angry nowadays than it had been at the start of the year, and he knew that.

"Hey, were you guys just on your way to lunch?" Asked Hirata, calling out to us.

From what I'd heard, Hirata was still the general leader of class D, but it was Horikita who took the reins during exams. Hirata was good at keeping a social equilibrium, while Horikita was good at strategic quick thinking.

He wasn't addressing a specific person, but rather our group as a whole. My friends had interacted a few times with class D, but that was only when Kushida was around to bridge the gap between the classes, until...

No. Don't go there.

"Yeah. We're headed to the cafe. What's up?" I asked.

After hearing my answer, Hirata smiled happily.

"Oh, hey, what a coincidence. We're headed there too," he replied.

"Hey, if you like, how about we all have lunch together?" I asked.

The three class D students exchanged glances with one another, a bit bewildered at my sudden invitation.

"What are you doing, Ichinose?" Asked Kanzaki. He sounded a little flustered and confused, probably because he hadn't expected me to offer them something like that.

"What am I doing...? We're not competing against class D or anything, so it's not a problem, is it?" I replied.

"Well, that's true, it's not, but..."

Kanzaki didn't seem that open to the idea of inviting them to join us for lunch. I wonder why?

"Come on, times a-wastin'! Let's go!" I said cheerfully, smiling.

We joined two tables in a corner of the cafe and ate lunch together. Not only was this group made up of class C and D students, but it was just a generally odd combination of folks.

"Sorry for inviting you to join us out of the blue like that. It's my treat though, so please, eat up!" I apologised, then announced happily.

"Are you sure about that, Ichinose?" Said Kanzaki, reacting strongly to me offering to treat them.

In the last special exam, I made a deal with class A. I'd had my class cast their praise votes for nii-san to keep him from being expelled, and in return, I'd saved a class C student from the same fate. Doing so used up all my private points. Kiyotaka gave me a few points extra, so I was able to live fairly lavishly.

"Don't worry, it's fine, we can pay for ourselves," said Horikita, speaking for the first time since our two groups merged.

"I kind of strong-armed you into coming, though, so you don't have to force yourself..." I said quietly.

"No, it's fine. This way we can eat without being in your debt," she declined my offer.

"So...why did you invite us to join you, anyway?" Asked Hirata, apparently unable to hold himself back any longer.

"Well, I guess it's just because I was shocked at how upset Sudou looked earlier. I guess I was just curious as to why," I reasoned.

The three looked at each other.

"To be honest, I'm just grumbling," said Sudou

"About what?" I asked.

"To put it simply, it seems that class A, in an effort to demoralise us before the special exam, has decided to start harassing me and my classmates," said Horikita.

"They've been messing with me, Sotomura, Hondou. It's like, I dunno, they're messing around with us for no reason at all or like, they're just following us around. Kanji was nearly scared half to death when that Albert guy slightly cornered him against a wall," said Sudou.

Oh god. What are you doing Kiyotaka?

I made a mental note to myself to talk to him about this later.

1277 words
A slightly longer chapter
Finally, some original content for more that 10 words at a time
Boris Johnson has finally resigned. What a fucking joy.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 10 chapter 5: what are you doing, bro?

It was Monday morning—the day our opponent's ten events would be announced. What kind of events and rules would class D come up with? And what kind of involvement would the commander have?

Horikita had declined my offer of cooperation, rather unfortunately. So I had to get Matsushita to tell me which events they would actually be going with. Such a shame things had to be this way.

Speaking of Horikita, I just so happened to see Horikita's brother along with his secretary, Tachibana. Something had been gnawing at me for a little while, so I decided to call out to him.

He turned to look at me.

"Ayanokouji-kun? What do you want?" He asked.

"Horikita-kun...why does your sister hate me?" I asked, flat out.

Horikita looked stunned for a moment, before smiling slightly.

"Tachibana-san...could you please leave us for a moment?" He asked.

Tachibana bowed slightly, and walked away.

"Ayanokouji-kun, shall we sit?" Horikita asked, gesturing to the nearby bench.

We sat.

Horikita sighed.

"The blossoms look exceedingly fine this year," he said.

"With all due respect, Horikita-senpai, I would appreciate it if you would not beat around the bush. This is a serious issue," I pressed him.

He sighed again, heavier than before.

"Ayanokouji-kun, our parents knew each other," he said.

Oh, interesting. It's a small world after all.

"And? Why does she hate me for that?" I asked.

"I'm getting to that. Suzune, she...never really got to know our parents, because they met were...taken from us too soon. By your father," he explained.

Ah, I see now.

"And your sister, she wants revenge?" I asked.

"Perhaps. When you first started having troubles with Kushida, I tasked Suzune with keeping the violence between your groups to a minimum. I think she believes the best way to get rid of the violence altogether is to remove you from the equation," he explained.

"I see...I suppose that makes sense," I said.

"Ayanokouji-kun, I must warn you: be careful of Suzune. Before she came to this school, she was emotionally distant, to be sure, and would only show affection to me. But after she came here, she's been prone to being violent, and sometimes even angry, nothing like what I knew of her before," he said.

This conversation would have been a little more useful in the last arc yanno.

"And do you hate me? For the death of your parents that is?" I asked.

Horikita thought for a moment.

"I suppose, on an emotional level, there's a part of me that does resent you slightly, only because you're related to that man. But I know that you had nothing to do with that, so I suppose it would be unfair of me to hate you," he said.

Finally, someone who doesn't hate me.

I gained a new respect for Manabu Horikita that day. To rise above his feelings, and to put aside his hatred...most ordinary people probably couldn't do such a thing.

Back in the classroom, homeroom was already over. At the same time, the ten events chosen by our opponent, Class D, had just been announced via documents left for us in our classroom, which Ryuuen read aloud for everyone to hear.

Chess

Archery

Basketball

Table tennis

Typing speed test

English

Swimming

Soccer

Piano

Tennis

I texted Matsushita.

Fake outs?

English, swimming, soccer, piano, tennis.

I texted the other five to Ryuuen, saying that they were the real ones.

I then texted Katsuragi.

What are your real events?

Chess, English, Modern Literature, mathematics and flash mental arithmetic.

I saved those words into my memory.

Our events were mostly physical, since that was where our class thrived. We had judo and karate, which Albert and Ibuki would be able to ace. And, since they were intimidating class D anyway, the results should prove particularly effective.

I went to Honami's apartment that evening. I knocked on the door. I could hear her footsteps, and then the door opened.

"Oh, hello Kiyotaka. What brings you here?" She asked.

"I just wanted to talk to you about the exam," I said.

She gestured me to come inside, and we sat at the table.

"So? What is it? You can't be worried about going up against class D, can you?" She asked, a slight hint of concern in her voice.

"No, not really. In fact, I'm concerned for you. You're going up against the former class A, after all," I said.

She faltered for a second, but quickly regained her composure.

"Don't worry. Don't class C out just yet," she said, smiling and punching the air with her fist.

I took a slip of paper out of my pocket, and slid it across the table towards her.

"What is that?" She said, opening the slip of paper and reading it.

"This is class A's true selection of events," I said.

Honami's face darkened a little.

"How did you get this?" She asked, quietly.

"That doesn't matter, what matters is—"

"Why would you go out of your way to help me cheat? That's not how class C does things. We win fairly or we don't win at all," she interrupted me, sternly.

"Honami, I—"

"And what's this I hear about class A students physically intimidating class D students?" She raised her voice, interrogating me.

"It's just part of the strategy..." I started, but Honami wouldn't have it.

"No! That's not good enough. You should know better than to get people to try and intimidate others. You're manipulating and cunning, and I really don't want to see you be like that! Least of all, I don't want you to cheat class A out of a victory just to help your sister!" She was practically shouting now.

"Well, I will always help you, whether you like it or not, whether you feel like you need it or you feel like you don't, because you ARE my sister," I raised my voice too.

"Well maybe I wish I wasn't!" She shouted.

The room froze.

Both of us were looking each other dead in the eye, neither of us moving.

"I...didn't mean that," said Honami, starting to apologise.

I wouldn't have it. I got up immediately and left. Before closed the door, I spoke to her.

"Use that. It's the last bit of help you'll be getting from me," I said, and slammed the door.

It wasn't like I was angry or anything. I just wanted to make her feel guilty and to use what I had given her, for her own sake.

No, I wasn't upset at all.

I got to my own apartment, and laid down on the bed.

A bit of water started to trickle down my cheek. There must have been a leak or something.

Wait...no...

I touched the drop of water that had gone down my face.

It tasted...salty...

1152 words
Some more original content
"Physical sibling fights are the best, but verbal sibling fights hurt so bad," Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, a victim of a sibling fight.
Remember to keep cool and drink lots of water
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 10 chapter 6: the event selection exam

After a long period of preparation, the day of the final special exam for the first-year students was here. The commanders of the two losing classes would be expelled—or, more accurately, stripped of their protection points. While no one would be getting expelled, you might say the most important aspect of this exam was that class points could fluctuate significantly. Depending on the outcome, there was a significant possibility that the entire class hierarchy would be flipped.

I entered the special building and headed toward my destination. When I got there, I saw that Sakayanagi and Ichinose, who had arrived before me, were chatting. Apparently, the multi-purpose room hadn't been opened to us yet.

Ichinose looked slightly downcast. I wonder what that was about.

"Good morning, dragon boy," said Sakayanagi.

"Good morning, Ryuuen-kun!" Said Ichinose.

They both greeted me at the same time. I raised my had to give them a relaxed wave in response.

"Seems like we're not allowed in yet," I remarked.

"They told us to let them know once all four of us had arrived here," said Ichinose.

That was probably to ensure that the exam was carried out as fairly as possible. If someone were allowed to go in the multi-purpose room before everyone else, they'd be able to get a feel for the test locations perhaps even use that to calm their mind. Considering this is as a particularly unique special exam, I supposed there was no limit to how far they'd go to ensure it was fair.

Just then, my opponent came up the stairs.

"Good morning, Ryuuen-kun," said Horikita.

"Ah, Suzune. How nice of you to join us. I must say, you look as stern as ever. C'mon give us a smile, Suzune," I taunted.

She ignored me, and we entered the multi-purpose room. When we got inside, we saw a newly constructed wall that hadn't been there on the first day. It divided the room into two perfect halves. Though it was a temporary construction, it looked quite sturdy, and seemed to be quite soundproof, too. The four instructions in charge of the first-year classes were lined up, waiting for us.

"Class B and class C representatives, please move over to the other side," said Chabashira-sensei.

As per her instructions, Ichinose and Sakayanagi went over to the other side of the wall, disappearing from view. Sakagami followed them. We, the commanders of class A and class D, were guided by class B's Mashima-sensei and class C's Hoshinomiya sensei. It seemed the teachers had been put in charge of classes other than their own.

"The exam will begin in five minutes, so take this time to mentally prepare yourselves, okay?" Hoshinomiya-sensei advised us, before going off to have what looked like a final talk with Mashima-sensei.

Suzune and I had a little bit of time alone before the exam started. Just the two of us.

"*insert sexually harassing comment here*?" I asked politely

"Kill yourself."

"All right! The exam is just about to begin. Please take your seats!" Said Hoshinomiya-sensei.

In response to her instructions, Suzune and I sat across from one another, with the computers and equipment between us. Naturally this meant we couldn't see each other's faces.

Displayed on my computer screen were pictures of the faces of everyone in class A. 38 people, excluding me. These were the people I would be assigning as participants to the events that were selected.

Next, the ten events that we had prepared were displayed.

"I am Mashima, am I will be in charge of proctoring this special exam for you. So, without further delay, let us begin the final special exam for the first-year students. We ask that the representatives from each class press select five events and then press the confirm button."

I selected the five events that we had been training for and pressed the button without hesitation. Horikita must have finished making her choices for class D not long after, because the results were displayed on the large monitor.

The five events I had chosen from our list were: karate, judo, 50m sprint, dodgeball and volleyball.

I had selected physical activities because it is where class A excelled, what with people like Albert, Ibuki and Ayanokouji.

The five events that Horikita had chosen was exactly as Ayanokouji said: chess, Basketball, typing skills, tennis and archery.

A lot of those made sense. Class D had Sudou, the first-years resident basketball ace, after all.

"Now, we'll be holding a completely randomised drawing to determine the seven events you'll be competing in," said Sakagami-sensei. "The results of the drawing will be displayed on the large monitor in the centre. Please take a look," said Sakagami-sensei, urging us to look at the screen, which was now displaying something new.

A 3D image flashed on the screen, followed by the titles of the selected events displayed. The first event that came up on the screen was...

Basketball
5 players

So, the first game was one they chose, huh?

I chose 5 players who I believed would be match enough for Sudou and company. In the lineup I included Komiya and Kondou, two people who were on the basketball team. We should be able to take the win.

The five students in class D were: Hondou Ryuutaro, Minami Setsuya, Ike Kanji, Makida Susume and Onodera Kayano.

They hadn't gone with Sudou? So, they were hoping to win without Sudou and to save his strength for another event. If someone even Ibuki's strength went up against Sudou in karate, which I had pre-selected her for, she probably wouldn't win.

(I cannot be bothered to explain the basketball game )

Unknown pov

I was getting ready.

I knew in my mind that the final event would be chess. I don't know, it was just something about it, it just seemed so...so right?

Yeah.

I had asked Horikita to be allowed to play chess. Whilst I wasn't any good at the game, I knew who class A would select to play chess, and I had business with them. Besides, Horikita was pretty clever, I was sure she could wipe the floor with Ayanokouji, or even Ryuuen.

1045 words
Eh, L chap tbh.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 10 chapter 7: shared trauma

We won the basketball game, but only just. Even though Komiya and Kondou are good basketball players, so were Onodera and Makida from their team.

The second event was about to begin. The result of the drawing was...

Typing Skills.

1 person.

I instantly put Kaneda's name into the box. He was the only one who had any sort of computer knowhow in our class.

I could already guess who Horikita was going to put forward.

Yep, they chose Sotomura Hideo, AKA the professor. I had my doubts whether Kaneda would win this one.

He was probably the biggest computer person in the first-year. He spent most of his days typing, whereas Kaneda at least had a social life.

And the results were...

"Class D, Sotomura Hideo, ninety points. Class A, Kaneda Satoru, eighty-five points. Class D wins," announced Mashima after the exam was over.

A difference of a mere 5 points? I wasn't even too angry at Kaneda. He'd tried his absolute best, after all.

And so, the score was 1-1 in the class A vs class D battle. So far, we hadn't had any of our events selected, but...

Judo
7 persons (best of 7)

Now we could start cooking with gas here.

I put Albert into the name box first, along with Ishizaki. Ishizaki wasn't exactly a Judo pro, but he was fit, at least.

We won pretty easily. The boy who was up against Albert gave up as soon as the match began.

Then it was

Karate
3 persons

We were on a role now. I was confident we could take the dubski for this one too. I put Ibuki's name on the board.

I was right. We won in a landslide again. Ibuki's match ended pretty quickly.

It was now 3-1 in our favour. If we won another match, we would have the overall victory, and Horikita would be stripped of her protection point.

Now, the fifth event was drawn.

Archery
5 persons.

Oof. We had practiced archery, for sure, but I knew that class D had Miyake Akito, who was pretty damn good at the game.

I selected the people who I thought would have a good chance at aiming straight. I also decided this was a time to bring Hiyori in. I know she had a steady hand because of her duties in the tea ceremony club, and I trusted her to be able to score fairly high.

In the end though, the win went to class D. Miyake had scored a bullseye as well, which put him ahead of pretty much everyone.

3-2

The next event was...

Tennis

I wasn't all that confident with this one, either. The only athletic people we had left was Kinoshita and Ayanokouji, who I was saving for the last event.

I put Kinoshita's name in the box.

It wasn't enough, though, and we barely missed the win.

The final event was

Chess.
1 person

Well, it was a good game, but ultimately we would take the victory.

I put Ayanokouji's name in the box.

Ayanokouji pov

I sat down at the 8x8 board, and waited for my opponent to come in.

The doors on the other side of the room opened, revealing a girl who I knew to be Kei Karuizawa, one of the gyaru types from class D.

"You must be Ayanokouji," she said.

"Yes. Pleased to meet you," I said, extending my hand in greeting. She looked away in what seemed to be disgust. A tad harsh for our first meeting, but I'll let it slide.

"Shall we?" I asked, gesturing to the board. I decided to let her play white.

"There's something I need to ask you, Ayanokouji-kun. Why did you do those things to Kushida-san? What did she ever do to make you do that to her?" She asked.

Well. That was rather sudden. It seemed she wasn't really interested in the game, but rather in me. It seemed that I wasn't yet rid of the thorn in my side that was Kikyou Kushida.

I sighed.

"Let me guess. She told you that I kidnapped her and hurt her in some way, right?" I asked.

"So you admit it?" She asked.

"I never said that. I just assumed that's the kind of thing that bitch would say," I said.

Karuizawa was stunned for a moment.

"How dare you say that? Kushida came crying to me a few weeks back, telling me that you had kidnapped her and...and...and raped her!" She accused.

Really Kushida? That was the best you could come up with?

Matsushita was a very valuable pawn of mine. I had her tell me about all the leaders in class D, and everything about them. I knew that Hirata had had a small mental breakdown during the in class voting exam, and I knew that Horikita could often be seen stalking her brother. I also knew that Kei Karuizawa had a small mark on her ribs that looked very suspiciously like a stab wound. I decided to take a risk. I stood up, turned around and lifted my shirt, so that Karuizawa could see the wound that Kushida had given me.

Karuizawa made a small gasping sound, but then stopped.

"Kushida did this to me, simply because she didn't like the school we went to as children," I said, leaving out any details about the white room.

"Kushida...knew you before high school?" She asked.

"Yes. Although we didn't interact that much, and I didn't really remember her when I first came here. The teachers at our school were...rough. And Kushida decided to blame me for that," I said.

"So...we're the same..." she muttered. I could see the gears whirring in her head, and her stare had gone blank.

Just then, a man came into the room.

"Class D's commander is now using their privileges to communicate with the participant," he said, carrying a headset, and placing it on Karuizawa' head.

Karuizawa, still shaken by the revelation I had shown her, moved her pawn to D4.

"Hello, Ayanokouji-kun. You're currently speaking with Horikita Suzune," said Karuizawa.

I see. So Horikita intended to speak to me through Karuizawa.

1038 words
I don't think I really did this exam justice. Too quick.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 10 chapter 8: Ayanokouji vs Horikita

"Hello, Ayanokouji-kun. You are currently speaking to Horikita Suzune," said Karuizawa after putting on the headset.

I see. So Horikita intended to speak to me, using Karuizawa as a medium for her words to reach me.

I knew that the rules stated that the commander could only give instructions for half and hour. I started counting, intending to use up every second we had.

"Good afternoon, Horikita. You're doing well, I take it?" I asked.

"Please, let us spare the niceties, Ayanokouji-kun. I may not be able to get you expelled in this exam, but you can trust me when I say I will not stop until you have left of your own volition, or I have removed you myself," said Karuizawa.

"Why do you want me expelled, though?" I asked.

"With you gone, the 'harmony' between the classes will be restored," explained Karuizawa.

"This school exists to host violence. It would not stop with me being expelled," I reasoned.

"True. However, you simply being here risked your life. Who's to say that couldn't happen to an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire of the war between you and Kushida? What would you do if someone decided to use an threaten an innocent person to draw you out. What if one of your allies was targeted in hopes of weakening you and your class?" She asked.

She made many excellent points. It was true, my allies would likely be targeted, and they have been before.

"I would take the action that benefits me most, which would most likely be to give up on said ally, unless it would benefit me more to save them, I said, truthfully.

Karuizawa was slightly stunned at my answer. It was a good solid minute before Horikita gave Karuizawa instructions again. We were down to 24 minutes 58 seconds.

"I see. So you admit it, you see people as nothing but objects, or perhaps tools to be used and discarded at your convenience?" She asked.

"I suppose. At least, that's what I think in the context of this school," I said.

"Then why do you stay here?"

"You know the reason for that. This place is the only place I can be relatively free. I traded one cage with white walls for another that let's me buy as much ice cream as my point balance allows me," I joked.

"Ah, yes. My brother told me of your previous home. Quite a horrible place, really. Fret not, once I graduate, I shall work to destroy that place. I'm sure my brother would help me, also," said Karuizawa.

"Ah, a man and the woman by the surname Horikita working to destroy that which my father built. Sounds rather familiar, doesn't it?" I asked, referencing her parents.

Ryuuen pov

Horikita slammed her fist down on the wall.

It was about 20 minutes before the conversation would be over.

Ayanokouji pov

"You have no right to speak their names," said Karuizawa.

"Ah, so it's not about the violence, is it?" I said, trying to taunt her far enough.

"Stop it," said Karuizawa.

"There's nothing you could've done, after all. You were very young, and so was your brother," I continued pushing.

I made a silent apology to both of the Horikita siblings for disrespecting them in this way.

"It's your fault. If you hadn't been born, they would still be alive," she said.

Now I was getting somewhere.

"That's some interesting logic you have their. Could you tell me how you came to such a conclusion?" I asked.

Silence.

We had 15 minutes 36 seconds left.

"Why? Why do you continue to stay here, even though you're a danger to yourself and others?" Asked Karuizawa, who was very thoroughly confused at this point.

"It's simple. I want freedom. It's all I've ever wanted. And, after I've completed my 3 years at this school, I will go willingly and become a prisoner to my father again," I said.

"Don't you hate that place? Don't you want to escape forever?" Asked Karuizawa.

"I never said I hated the white room. I just want to experience the outside world for a while," I explained.

"Your education killed my parents. Don't you think you should be made to account for their deaths?" She asked.

"Don't worry, I intend to repay the debt that my father imposed on you, whether you wanted me to or not," I said.

"What do you mean?" She asked after a little while. We had 8 minutes 27 seconds left.

"Horikita, do you want revenge for your parents?" I asked.

"No, not revenge. My brother would not allow it," she said.

"I'm not asking what your brother wants, I'm asking what you want. Do you want revenge for your parents?" I asked again.

"I...I want," Karuizawa spoke Horikita's indecisive, incoherent instructions.

"What if I said I will help kill the man who killed your parents one day?" I asked.

3 minutes 52 seconds left.

"You...would kill him?" She asked.

"Perhaps. One day, he may die anyway, but I will be free when he dies. Don't you think it's a win-win situation?" I asked, tempting her.

"I..."

2 minutes 26 seconds

"Would you really kill him, just to appease me?" Asked Karuizawa.

"No. I would kill him to grant myself freedom," I said, staring at the camera to the top right of my vision, trying to make eye contact with Horikita, wherever she was.

"But I thought you only wanted temporary freedom," said Karuizawa.

"I wouldn't necessarily mind if this freedom is temporary, but I would prefer that I get to live in this world as a normal person, not a test subject, and not an instructor," I said.

"You...want to live...freely?"

"Yes. I have a mother, and two sisters, you know. I want to spend the rest my life normally, without having to go back, but I understand if I have to stay there for a few more years before my plan can come to fruition."

Ryuuen pov

Horikita was supporting herself on her computer. She was struggling to stand. A lot of information had been said here, some of which I understood, but some I didn't.

I could see the gears working in her head. Would she accept his proposal, and allow him to live his time here peacefully, and then work with him in the future, or have him expelled, and work to take down the white room by herself in the future?

She looked as though she made up her mind, and typed into her computer.

Ayanokouji pov

"I...accept your proposal, Ayanokouji-kun. I will not work to have you expelled any more, and in return, you will help me get revenge for my parents' death in the future," said Karuizawa.

"Thank you, Horikita," I said.

I was glad that Horikita had started to give in to her desire for revenge. It had given me an easy target to hit in order to get her cooperation.

Our time had run out, and the man in the suit came back in, and took the headset from Karuizawa's head.

Then, it was just the two of us again.

"So...should we play, then?" I asked, gesturing to continue the game.

"Ayanokouji-kun...what was that conversation just now? Did you just offer to...kill your own father?" Asked Karuizawa.

"Karuizawa-san...if you value your ability to walk, you will stay quiet about that conversation, and play the game with me," I threatened.

Karuizawa paled slightly at my statement, but she moved her pawn.

After 12 moves, I had checkmated her.

"Remember what I said, Karuizawa. Do not let that conversation leave this room. Your safety depends on it, even if it's not me who comes for you," I warned her.

She nodded.

The final results of the exam were 4-3. We had won.

Class points for exam.

Class 1-A: 154650=1596
Class 1-B: 1362-100=1262
Class 1-C: 672100=772
Class 1-D: 347-50= 297

1343 words
I really liked this chap, as it's finally a chapter that doesn't have anything from the ln in it .
Season 2 episode 2 came out today. Here's some memes for ya.
Apparently it was outsourced to another studio for this episode, which explains a lot.
*SPOILER WARNING*

Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

69k reads woooo yeah baby

We did it, 69k reads. Here's some memes to celebrate

Thank you very much for continuing to read this heap of disappointment, it means a lot.

Arc 10 epilogue: protection job

So, class D had lost again.

It wasn't that much of a surprise. We were going up against class A after all. Our class had a false sense of confidence because they used to be class C, and that they had found themselves on top due to sheer chance.

But I knew Ryuuen. When I found out he was in class C, I vowed to try and stay away from that class entirely. Nothing good ever came from interacting with Ryuuen Kakeru. I knew that from personal experience.

I had tangled with him a few times in middle school, but neither of us ever really came out on top. We were both fairly evenly matched, at least physically.

I was thinking these thoughts, and remembering these memories, as I was on my way home after the exam.

Horikita had done a good job, sure, and there probably wasn't anyone in our class who would've done a better job as commander.

I was walking through the park, when I noticed a man who I had not met in some years.

"Nephew. It has been some time," he said.

"Really? It doesn't feel like it's been long enough," I said, brushing him off.

"Come now, don't be like that. Why don't you listen to what I have to say, eh? We are family, after all."

"Tch. We're not even biologically related," I corrected him.

"Ouch. That's pretty hurtful. Come, won't you listen to your old uncle? For old times sake?" He asked, gesturing to a nearby bench.

I mulled it over in my head for a few seconds. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to just listen to him.

We sat on the bench.

"So, you're the new acting director then, uncle?" I asked, trying to start conversation.

"Yes, I'm very proud of myself. Finally, I've achieved something noteworthy," he responded.

I got the feeling that he didn't even care about his position.

"And you, Miyake. Who knew that you would aim so high and get into such a prestigious school."

This was the uncle that I knew. Always so quick to kiss ass.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"What makes you think I want something? Maybe I just wanted to talk with my nephew," he laughed nervously.

I looked him in the eye.

"Ok, ok, you caught me. So yes, there is a teensy little favour I want from you," he cracked, letting his secrets spill.

"Let me hear it," I said.

"Well, the new first years will be arriving in a few weeks, and I want you to keep an eye on a certain few. I want you to make sure no harm comes to them. There is a current first-year student who wishes serious harm to the new students. I can only entrust you with these names, so please consider it," he explained.

That sounded pretty serious. I decided to pry a little further.

"And...who are these students?" I asked.

"There is Ichika Amasawa, from class 1-A, Yagami Takuya, from class 1-B, Tsubaki Sakurako and Utomiya Riku from class 1-C, Tsubasa Nanase and Kazuomi Houzen from class 1-D," he said.

Alarm bells started to ring in my head.

Houzen? THE Houzen? That guy could crush anyones skull like an Easter egg. I wasn't sure why my uncle wanted me to help protect that guy, but I'm pretty sure he didn't need it.

"I see. I shall...consider your request," I said, standing up.

"Please do. I don't want any harm to come to my students, especially to those who don't yet know the ins and outs of the school. A second year will have the advantage, knowing blind spots in security cameras and such."

That made sense. But there was one more question that I had.

"Who is the student who wishes harm upon the next batch of first-years?" I asked.

"Ah, his name is Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," I lied, walking away.

Authors notes
640 words
Shorter chapter today.
That's the first year done.
Will probably do the 11.5 volume soon, but I haven't actually read the official translation for that volume yet, so I'm gonna do that first.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 10.5 chapter 1: putting the pieces in place

It was strange.

The girl in front of me had scheduled a meeting between us. I would never have thought she would ever want to speak to me in a non-hostile setting.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" I asked.

"I want to return Ayanokouji-kun to the white room," she said.

I was shocked. I'd have thought that she of all people wouldn't want him returned to the white room.

"Why?" I asked.

"Putting my personal feelings aside, I also want Japan to become a better nation. Getting Ayanokouji-kun back to where he belongs would be a great help with that," she reasoned.

"Well, I'm certainly glad that you have offered to help me, but I'm simply afraid I can't trust you. You're far too dangerous to be trusted," I said.

"I understand, acting director. How about I tell you that the only fact you managed to get away with what you did at the winter training camp was by me making sure no students came by?" She said.

That was interesting. Sure, we hadn't been detected by any students or teachers, but did she really help us? I couldn't make sense of it.

"I see you're still apprehensive. My reason for wanting to help you is because my family owns a rather sizeable business conglomerate. I want those companies to grow even more, and I believe that using Ayanokouji is the best way to do it," she said.

I mulled the decision over in my head. She did sound genuine, after all.

"Fine. If I need your help with anything, I will call upon you. But if you're thinking of betraying me...I will be sure to have you executed," I said.

"Fuahaha...you don't need to worry about that, acting director," she said, standing up to leave.

"I look forward to working with you, acting director," she said as she walked through the door.

If she did betray me, it wouldn't be all that hard to get her expelled. She was strong, to be sure, but she was also a wild card. Nobody in her class would fork over the 20 million needed to overturn her expulsion.

Kushida pov

I didn't trust her one bit.

If there's one thing I knew about her, she never wanted to go along with other peoples plans.

I decided to follow her. I'd have thought she'd be heading back to the dormitories at this hour, which is why I was surprised to find that she was walking towards the docks. Perhaps that was where she was meeting Kiyotaka?

It was quite dark now, and the street lights around us were the only things illuminating our surroundings.

Amidst the silence, I heard the low grumble of a Diesel engine, coming from the sea. A boat?

Yes, it was a boat. She waved to the boat, and it stopped in front of her.

"We've brought what you asked for, miss," said one of the men on the boat, handing her a box.

"Thank you. Could you take a message back to my father for me? Tell him: we are taking the masterpiece for ourselves," she said.

I knew it. She had never planned to work with us from the start. But, unlike what I thought, she was going rogue, helping neither us or Kiyotaka. Very strange indeed. I never trusted her, even back when I was a student here.

"Right you are, miss. Come on boys, we're heading out," said the man who had handed her the box, and the boat headed out, back to wherever it came from.

This was valuable information. I would be able to use this.

Now, the war within the school had 5 factions: Kiyotaka and class A, along with their allies, class C. There was the faction lead by Sakayanagi, consisting of class A, Kanzaki, Kouenji, Nagumo and myself, who either wanted to defeat Kiyotaka or, in my case, kill him. There was class D, lead by Horikita, who wanted to de-escalate the violence. There was Akito and the first-year bounty hunters, who would be coming in next month, who worked on behalf of the white room. Even though I officially belonged to this faction, I followed my own agenda. And now, there was this girl. She had the backing of a large company, who I assumed wanted to use Kiyotaka in order to make themselves richer.

Akito's plan would soon come to fruition. He had been preparing everything very meticulously. It was almost frightening to see his plan evolve.

Now that there were so many strong players on the board, Akito's plan would probably engulf the entire campus.

Authors notes
778 words
Again, a shorter chapter.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 10.5 chapter 2: the end of the first year

1...

I have a friend. His name is Matsuo Eiichiro.

He used to have ambitions of studying hard and getting a well paid job, to pay back his father for all the care and love he was given.

But now that will never happen.

Eiichirou now works a part time job, earning barely what he needs to get by in life. And it's all because of 1 boy.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

The elderly Matsuo worked as Ayanokouji's butler. One day, Matsuo told Ayanokouji of the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, a place where he could live without his father bothering him. Ayanokouji enrolled at this school, and has been living there for almost exactly a year now.

Eiichirou also desired to go to this school, but in his rage, Ayanokouji's father made sure that Eiichirou's application was denied. Every time Eiichirou would try for a different high school, he would get denied, even with his exceptional grades.

Matsuo pleaded mercy for his son, and Ayanokouji's father accepted...

...in exchange for Matsuo being burned alive.

And now, Eiichirou is working for scraps.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's freedom came at the cost of the life of Matsuo and Eiichirou's future.

I'll be damned if I let him keep that freedom.

2...

A body was found again. This time it had been dumped in the sea. Last time it was crucified in an abandoned warehouse. The time before that I pushed it off of a building in Ikebukuro.

Various forms of execution. One week it would be beheading, then it would be death by drowning. Occasionally I would pour petrol on people and set them alight.

There was only ever one thing in common with all of this murders: there was always a name carved onto the victims chest, or back, or whatever the largest part of them remaining was.

How many people had I killed now? It must have been over 50.

I had discovered a little under a year ago that I got a kick whenever I killed something. The first time, it was out of self-defence and fear, but I liked it. So I killed again, and I liked it even more.

But I wouldn't go undetected forever. Just the other day, I almost got caught. The police had chased me for nearly 10 minutes the other day, and the only reason I lost them was because they were run over by a drunk driver.

I had to find somewhere small, isolated. Somewhere away from the public eye.

I remember the story about that school on the island, what was it called again? ANHS? Something like that.

Tokyo was in the midst of a crisis. Killings were happening more than once a week, all with a single thing in common. Wherever you went, people would whisper the name found on the corpses.

One day, I would make sure everyone knew that name. It would invoke fear and terror from the masses, and bring images of blood and gore to peoples minds.

The name was...

Kira...

3...

I had gotten up early today.

I had decided to take the bus to school, whereas my partner decided he would rather take a taxi.

"Less chance of a random attack," he'd said.

He probably just didn't want to do the same thing as me if I thought it was a good idea.

Idiot. What if the taxi driver shook you down, eh?

Well, I suppose Yagami was strong enough to beat a common criminal, no matter what kind of weapon they pointed at him.

He wasn't as strong as me though, or him.

I was so close now.

The bus came to a stop, and students dressed in the same uniform as me piled out of the vehicle.

I was met by a gate of natural formed rock, and the words: Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School.

Finally, I would be able to be with Kiyotaka-sama again.

I took my first step forward as a free human, my red hair swaying slightly in the wind.

4...

I was standing by the gate, waiting for the people I was supposed to "protect."

I managed to spot Houzen immediately when he came into my view. He wasn't that hard to miss.

Light blond hair, blue eyes...I guessed that was Tsubasa Nanase from 1-D.

Red hair in twin-tails, golden eyes...Ichika Amasawa, class 1-A.

I saw Tsubaki Sakurako, Utomiya Riku and Yagami Takuya.

They all seemed normal, except Houzen that is. I'm glad he didn't notice me.

The only thing that was odd was that Yagami and Amasawa...they seemed to have the same look in their eye. It was a look that I had become slightly familiar with over spring break, when I was doing my recon.

They had the same eyes as Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, the person who supposedly wished harm upon them.

It was also strange that Yagami and Ichika were the people my uncle had the most info on.

The rest of the students passed through the gate, and I saw a few amongst them who looked strong, and a few who looked smart.

I was about to head back, thinking that all the first-years had come through, but there was a lone straggler, the last student to come through these gates for the entire year.

He didn't wear his tie or blazer, instead just wearing a white shirt and green trousers. He had jet black hair, and his eyes were so dark I couldn't tell the difference between his iris and his pupil.

The way this guy carried himself...I don't know.

Something about this guy just instantly put me on edge. Not even my recon of Ayanokouji had made me feel like this, and I knew what that guy was capable of.

Ayanokouji could be cunning and violent, as could Ryuuen and Houzen, but I don't think they would ever kill anyone unless it was a serious situation. I felt like I wouldn't die if I was to fight one of them.

But this guy...my survival instincts were going crazy around him.

I went back inside the building before that boy, and searched the list for the single name that hadn't been checked yet. I found it after a minute or so.

That boys name was Akira Yanaki.

I burned the name into my memory. It felt as if my life depended on it.

Authors notes
1069 words
And so, the first year comes to an end.
Wow, what an experience this has been.
At the time of writing this, this fic has just over 75k reads. That's insane!
I'd like to thank everyone who liked this heap of trash fic.
In the future, once I've finished this fic, I'll need to remake it. There are so many plot holes and unfinished story lines.
So, you must be wondering "what now?"
Although I've read the light novels up to y2v4, I'm only partway through volume 11.5 for the official English translation.
I'm only going to write an arc that I've read the official translation of from now on, so I'm afraid this is going to be put on hold for a few days until I find the time to read y2v1.
Once I've finished the official vol 11.5, I'll release a few side story's for that, and then will go on a brief break.
Not much else to say really
Thank you ever so much for reading. It's good to have you with us, even if it's just for the day. We hope you enjoyed your stay.
(I enjoyed my stay)

Arc 11 chapter 1: reunion with Kiyo-senpai

2-A Ayanokouji Kiyotaka
First year results
Academic ability: B (69)
Physical Ability: B (69)
Adaptability: B (69)
Societal contribution: B (69)
Overall ability: B (69)

Nice.

Our first day back in our second year was met with many revelations: a new rating system, and a new special exam.

From what I had been told, it was like the paper shuffle exam, where 2 students teamed up with one another, except it would cross grade boundaries. All second year students would team up with a first year student, and they must get 500 points between them, or the second year student will be expelled, and the first year student will receive 3 months without private point income.

The winning class will be determined based on each class's average score, which will be derived from the scores of all members of the class and the scores of all their partners. The class point rewards are 50 points, 30, 10 and 0, in descending order of average score.

Private points will be awarded to those who score the most, and expulsion will be awarded to any second year who fails.

Should be easy.

Even if I'm paired up with a student who intentionally scores 0, I should be able to get enough to pass the test without a sweat. The magic number (69) can never let me down.

However, I was concerned about a few of my classmates. Ishizaki, for example, had a high chance of failing. I needed to make sure people like him got good partners.

During lunch, a message was posted to the second year message board. The sender was Honami.

We just got permission to hold a meet-and-greet for first- and second-years in the gym today from 4 to 5 p.m. If you've got time to spare, please drop by!"

The message was a godsend for the students who were struggling to figure out how to get in touch with the first-years.

I texted Ryuuen, who had no doubt seen the message.

We going?

Nah, that's lame. I have a better idea.

Oh? This should be interesting.

Meet me in the first year corridor. We're gonna do some scouting.

I made my way to the floor where the first-year students were—the floor we'd been regularly going to until just last month. There, I met up with Ryuuen. There didn't seem to be many students around, considering that quite a few had gone over to the gym. We looked around and saw several student, from class A through class C. Even though we didn't actually call out to them, when they spotted us and recognised us as upperclassmen, they looked away, as if it were awkward or uncomfortable.

I suppose there was no way we'd be welcomed with open arms all that easily, after suddenly setting foot on the first-years' floor. There were a few students who didn't seem to mind us, but most of them didn't exactly like the uncomfortable awkwardness of having us there. That would probably be the case tomorrow, and the day thereafter, too.

I was sure that some students, trying to find a partner as soon as possible, would approach first-years at all times of the day, both mornings and afternoons. But that was a dangerous gamble that might end up backfiring. Even so, there were students chatting and laughing happily in the first-year classrooms into which we looked. Maybe they felt like there was no need to panic about this special exam. Or perhaps they didn't see it as that big a deal yet.

"Well, it seems like a lot of the students who stayed behind aren't to worried, after all," I said.

Just as we were finishing our inspection of class 1-B, we heard a familiar voice call out to us.

"Hello, Ayanokouji-kun, Ryuuen-kun."

The owner of that voice was none other than Horikita Suzune, from class 2-D. She had gotten a haircut over the spring break. With her was Sudou Ken, who it seems had become her loyal hound, whether she wanted it or not.

"Are you here scouting out first-year students too, Ryuuen-kun? I don't recall seeing you at the meet-and-greet," said Horikita.

"It was just a bunch a moronic half-wits who got together at the gym, right? I didn't even need to go see it to know that," said Ryuuen.

She was probably looking for someone to partner with Sudou, who had an academic rating of E, and was the lowest in our grade. Ryuuen decided to poke the beehive a little. I don't know why, probably just for shits and gigs.

"Anyhow, looks like you've hired yourself a bodyguard. But you chose a dumb one, lady," sneered Ryuuen.

"What'd you say?" Huffed Sudou.

He looked ready to fly off the handle, but Horikita kept him in line with a gentle wave of her hand.

"Oh, do you need brains to be a bodyguard? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, hm?" Said Horikita.

She didn't avert her eyes from Ryuuen as she delivered that comeback, still holding her hand out to keep Sudou back.

"Are you planning on scaring the first-years? I'm afraid that taking that kind of attitude with them is going to backfire on you," said Horikita.

They would certainly shrink back if they saw Ryuuen strutting about like he was the cock of the walk. I was glad we were only doing light reconnaissance.

"I figured if I threatened them a little, they'd immediately agree to cooperate," said Ryuuen.

I stand corrected. It seems we are now intimidating our way to success.

My phone buzzed, indicating that I had received an email. I wondered who it was.

Unknown pov

It was nearly the end of the first day here, and several matches had already been made. Who knew the school would be interesting this fun right off the bat?

Well...I knew, since Akito had given me all the intel for future examinations before I had even enrolled here. But still, it was fun to actually see the action unfolding, right before my eyes.

It was great here. Even though there were still security cameras everywhere, I still felt normal.

I felt free.

But now, it was time to go.

I went to the school building, where he was no doubt already waiting.

When I arrived, the red evening sunlight drifted through the windows. This school was so colourful. Well, anything was colourful compared to those white walls, I suppose.

I saw him, standing at the top of the staircase, with his back turned to me.

It had been well over a year since we had last met, and he had grown slightly. His hair was slightly longer, too.

I knelt at the bottom of the staircase.

"Thank you for meeting with me, Kiyotaka-senpai," I said, my head bowed.

He turned. His gaze hadn't changed at all. It was still as awe inspiring as ever.

"I'm glad you've reached out to me, Ichika," he spoke.

Authors notes
1181 words
Wooo update.
Episode 5 was...interesting.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 11 chapter 2: Gorira! Banana!

The situation took a sudden, unexpected turn near the end of our lunch break on the next day. Something happened after we had finished eating our lunches, while we sat in our classroom, casually waiting for our afternoon classes to begin.

"H-hey! Dudes! Some first-years are headed this way!" Shouted one of my classmates, Miyamoto.

This special exam depended on first- and second-year students working together. You'd think this wouldn't be such a surprising development, but apparently, that wasn't the case.

"Wow, they must be awfully brave to come up to the upperclassmen's floor," said Hirata, while I mulled things over in my head. "I mean, if we decided to head up to the third-year's floor, we'd have to be very careful not to make a fuss."

"Yeah, that's true..."

It would be a different story if you had a lot of close friendships with your senpai, but for this year's batch of new students, that wasn't the case. Many of them must have felt like they were venturing into enemy territory. I supposed that in that sense, some of them showing up like this might actually be an event that merited surprise.

Hirata said he was going to check it out. Horikita and Sudou followed right after him. I decided to go and see who was brave enough to come to the second-year classrooms without invitation.

I froze.

It was Houzen. Shit.

The guy just let out an intense aura. One of intimidation. He walked confidently down the centre of the hall on our floor. The other second-year students in the hall avoided him, walking at the edges of the hallway. Which seemed like the opposite of what you'd normally expect.

Following a little way behind him was a girl. Horikita, realising that they weren't simply here for partners, stepped out in front of Houzen to block his path. Sudou stuck close to her.

I had to give it to her, she was pretty ballsy. Even with Sudou, and her above average physical abilities, I don't think they could take down Houzen. She was either brave, confident, plain stupid, or a mixture of the three.

"Who's this chick?" Asked Houzen.

"Please wait a moment...I've found it," said the girl.

After fiddling with her phone for a short while, she showed him her screen.

"Class 2-D. Horikita Suzune. Academic ability A-, huh?" Said Houzen, gruffly.

The girl spoke in a rather polite tone of voice, unlike Houzen, which made them seem like quite the odd combination. They then directed their gazes over at Sudou, who was standing beside Horikita. And just like before, the girl showed Houzen her phone screen.

"Sudou Ken...Heh." After looking at Sudou's data, the guy let out a mocking snort.

"Hello, my name is Nanase, from class 1-D. He's from the same class. This is—"

"Houzen," he said, interrupting her.

My ears picked up at the name Nanase. So, she must be Nanase Tsubasa.

A strange coincidence, that 2 of the 6 students that Kiyotaka Ayanokouji seemingly wanted to harm had started working together a few days after term started. So strange, that it just didn't feel like a coincidence at all.

What had my uncle gotten me in to?

First he tells me I need to protect these 6 students, one of which I don't think needs any protection whatsoever, and now I find that they either already know each other, or perhaps that someone has pushed them together.

I wouldn't be surprised, if that was the case, if I saw Utomiya Riku and Tsubaki Sakurako, the two students of class 1-C, wandering around together.

Houzen, Nanase, Sudou, Horikita and Hirata had started a rather heated conversation, and Sudou was getting pretty agitated. I had missed the first part of the conversation due to my confusion with the situation.

From what I gathered, Houzen wanted US to ask HIM for our two classes to team up. I suppose he wanted to be seen as the one with the power, or something like that.

Horikita and Sudou were talking between themselves, when Houzen suddenly thrust his large hand forward against Sudou's chest and shoved him.

"Wha-?!"

In the next instant, Sudou lost his balance, falling backward, landing on his hands.

"Ha, only thing big about you is your height, loser. Just a little tap was all it took?" Sneered Houzen.

What Houzen just did was so reckless that even the other second year students watching the situation couldn't hide their unease. Considering how dramatic the action had been, it wouldn't have been surprising for it to be seen as an act of violence. If you understood how difficult and risky it was to try and do something violent in this school, you couldn't do it.

We'd thought this year's batch of new students were more familiar with how things worked at this school than students from previous years.

Maybe they actually didn't understand the school as well as we thought they did? No, it didn't seem like that was the case. If so, then...

"Asshole!"

Sudou, having regained his composure and realised what had just been done to him, he let his pent-up anger explode at once. He punched Houzen in the face, right on the nose.

Houzen reeled slightly, blood spewing from the blow, an explosion of red coming from the impact.

The corridor was still, silent due to what Sudou had just done.

That punch would have been enough to knock any normal person out, but Houzen just stumbled slightly.

"Heh. You got some balls, Senpai," Houzen muttered.

There was still a deafening silence.

Houzen spat a large glob of bloody phlegm on the floor, which went on a nearby girls shoes and tights. He then bent his broken nose back into shape, and grinned.

"Wrong choice," he said, moving forward quickly.

He was quick, and punched Sudou in the gut with all his power. Sudou had barely enough time to prepare for the blow, and his feet actually left the ground from the impact, and was launched back, hitting the wall.

"Hey, that's my friend you just punched!" Yelled a third-year, the president of the basketball club, who just happened to be passing by when the commotion began.

"And? What are you gonna do about it?" Mocked Houzen.

The third-year gestured to his friends behind him, who were also part of athletic clubs. There were five of them in total.

"You really think you can beat all of us? You're alone," said one of the third-years.

"Alone? I wouldn't say that. C'mon out, boys," said Houzen.

At his words, a few athletic looking first-years, who I assumed were from class 1-D, came up behind Houzen.

Houzen cracked his knuckles.

"Now it's a good ol' five-versus-five!" Exclaimed Houzen.

The started walking towards the first-years.

Shit. This is gonna get messy.

My phone buzzed. I looked at the sender.

It was my uncle.

Be ready to await further instructions.

Authors notes
1174 words
Woohoo update after almost a month.
I don't have to retake any of my exams .
This arc is gonna play VERY different to the ln, as I'm sure you can guess.
The true elites finally got updated again, go check it out it's amazing, way better than the crap I write XD.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 11 chapter 3: big huge large bigfight!

The first thing that tipped us off that something was off was a girl running past our classroom, screaming about blood on her shoes. Nothing serious, really.

"Wanna check it out?" I asked Ryuuen.

"We should. Ishizaki went the direction she came from, after all. If he's started something, I'll kill him," Ryuuen said. I couldn't tell if he was joking.

I gestured for Ibuki and Albert to come with us, which they did. In fact, half of the class was coming with us to see what was going on.

As we walked up the corridor, we got to a large group of students with their backs to us.

"Move!" Ryuuen ordered to the students blocking our path.

"Who the heck do you..." a student started to say, but he saw us, gulped and moved to the side.

Like Moses with the Red Sea, we parted the crowd before us.

When we came to the epicentre of the commotion, what we saw was...bizarre. (Hehe jojo reference lol POG)

Sudou Ken was slumped against the wall, half conscious. The president of the basketball team, and other third-year athletic club students were sizing up a group of third year students, lead by a man who I recognised from the OAA app as Houzen Kazuomi from class 1-D. From the blood on Sudou's knuckles and Houzen's face and shirt, a fight had obviously broken out.

Ishizaki, who was trying to break the fight up, was shouting at Houzen.

"Hey, man, you're goin' too far! Knock that crap off!" He shouted, reaching out to grab Houzen by the collar.

The moment that Houzen saw Ishizaki's arm reaching for him, though, the corners of his mouth curved up slightly in a smirk.

"Better think twice, Ishizaki, unless you wanna die," Ryuuen warned.

Ishizaki stopped just before he took hold of Houzen's collar.

"Wh-why'd you stop me?!" Huffed Ishizaki. He seemed visibly confused by the fact that Ryuuen had stopped him.

Ibuki was also surprised by what Ryuuen had just done. "What do you think you're doing? By stopping him, I mean?" She asked.

Ryuuen generally welcomed fights. He was the furthest possible thing from a person who hated trouble. He didn't care if there were security cameras around or not; when he wanted to throw down, he did so without hesitation. Which was precisely why it was so surprising to see him stop a fight from happening.

Ryuuen ordered Ishizaki back and then approached Houzen himself.

"So, what, you're supposed to be my opponent now? Dude, you're only a bit bigger than that moron Sudou over there," said Houzen mockingly, after getting a look at Ryuuen.

(A/N this is chad anime Ryuuen, not LN Ryuuen)

Ryuuen was muscular, but he was nothing compared to Houzen. I supposed that was why Houzen considered him weak.

"I know you pretty well, yeah. I remember hearin' that this Houzen dude was a bit of a celebrity back in my hometown. I never imagined he'd look like such a total braindead idiot, though," replied Ryuuen.

Houzen repeatedly hurled insults at Sudou, over and over, calling him stupid, so Ryuuen threw the same insult right back in his face. Something that was honestly quite typical of Ryuuen. Normally, Ryuuen was an enemy to every class that wasn't his own, but it was heartening to see him stand up to Houzen like this.

"Y-you know this dude, Ryuuen-san?" Asked Ishizaki.

"Wait. Ryuuen, you say?"

When Houzen heard Ryuuen's name, the look on his face changed. And then his wide mouth cracked open into an amused smile.

"Hey now, ain't that somethin'? This has gotta be fate. Honestly, I've heard your name get thrown around so much that it's been pissing me off, Ryuuen," said Houzen.

"Wow, so you've got the brain cells to actually remember someone's name?" Replied Ryuuen.

Apparently, these two had known about each other for some time now. It seemed like Houzen, from class 1-D, came from somewhere close to Ryuuen's hometown.

"Y'know, I swung around your old hangouts a couple of times because I was plannin' to beat the everlovin' shit out of you. But I guess the reason I never ran into you was because you were terrified and hid, huh? What, you've been runnin' away and making your little soldiers do all the work? Is that it?" Said Houzen.

"Kuku. I'd say it's more like Lady Luck saved your ass, Houzen. If you had met me back then, you certainly wouldn't be acting like such a bigshot right now. I guess you really lucked out, 'cause you can say you haven't lost to me yet," said Ryuuen.

"Actually, I think you just ran with your tail between your legs. If you're tryin' to tell me that's not how it is, then how about we settle things, right here and now?"

Houzen formed his giant hand into a fist, looking confident, despite the presence of the third-years beside us as well.

"Hoho, what's all this then? A fight, hm?" Said a loud, pompous voice.

Kouenji Rokusuke came out of the classroom, as tall and arrogant as ever.

I also noticed another boy from class 2-D slinking away after looking at his phone.

"Who's this shiteater?" Houzen asked.

"Ahaha, I would politely ask you to refrain from using such vulgar language in my presence, especially if it is to describe me," said Kouenji.

He walked over to Sudou and pulled him to his feet.

"Sudou boy, do you still think you can fight?" He asked.

Sudou nodded.

"Ahaha, good, good. Perhaps it's time for us to continue where we left off...Ayanokouji boy," said Kouenji, staring at me.

Damn. I had hoped to just observe, but apparently I wasn't afforded that luxury.

Houzen and Nanase also looked at me when they heard my name. Ichika had already told me that they were sent by acting director Akito to get me expelled. Perhaps this whole situation was part of their plan to do that.

Now, it was 1-D vs the third years and 2-C vs 2-D.

But the fighting hadn't actually started yet. There was still a chance to salvage this. Failing that, I would probably just run away. At least then I wouldn't be drawn into the conflict.

Yousuke Hirata, ever the peacekeeper, stepped in.

"Please, this has gone on long enough, don't you think? Houzen-kun, don't you think you should go to the nurse's office?"

"Yo, shut up, Hirata! I wanna see a fight," shouted a second-year boy.

"Haha, yeah. I'll take bets: 5000 points minimum," said a third-year.

I had forgotten one thing: the simple-minded nature of high school boys.

Now, they were egging Houzen and Ryuuen on, trying to start the fight. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them joined in, even if the actual reason for the fight didn't concern them. Boys will be boys. That's just how it is, and will always be.

"Ta-ta-kae...ta-ta-kae..." a single boy started chanting.

Another boy joined him. And then another. Soon enough, the whole hallway echoed with the word.

"TA-TA-KAE...TA-TA-KAE!" Everyone shouted.

Now, it was just up to who threw the first punch.

A few students, such as Hirata, were just about managing to stop the fists from flying, for now. Only a teacher could stop the conflict now, but for some reason, they were all conveniently absent.

I started to get a sinking feeling.

Then, the trigger was pulled.

Or, should I say, the brick was thrown.

Crash!

The window of the hallway smashed inwards, because a brick had just been thrown from the ground.

The tension of the situation had reached a peak. This brick was the catalyst for the students in the hallway to disregard all reason and start throwing their fists.

I noticed Kouenji walking towards me.

What a bother.

I looked at Ryuuen, who grinned at me.

"Do your best. Try not to get stabbed this time," he encouraged.

Well that's just insensitive.

Akito pov

It was certainly a strange request. Why would my uncle want to escalate the conflict?

The brick was pretty heavy, and getting it to hit the right window was a pain. But I managed it.

My phone buzzed again.

Protect the 6 students. Incapacitate Ayanokouji Kiyotaka if possible.

I headed back inside.

Authors notes
1404 words
Wooo baby 2 chaps in 1 day.
The battle begins.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 11 chapter 4: big brain strats.

(A/N in the last chapter I accidentally referred to Ryuuen and Ayanokouji's class as 2-C, when they are in fact 2-A. Sorry about that)

"Hey, Ichinose-san. Does everyone in our class have a partner?" Asked Amikura

"No, not yet, but more than half of us do. It will only be a matter of time before—"

I and a few of my classmates were walking and talking about the upcoming special exam outside the school building on our way to lunch.

Suddenly, the doors of the school building flew open behind us with a large slamming noise.

We turned around, to see a large gaggle of students, punching and kicking at each other. At the forefront of this crowd were Ryuuen, no surprise, and a first-year who was called Kazuomi Houzen.

At first, I was too shocked to speak.

Then I started to move my legs forwards.

"Stop..." I said, quietly.

Of course, no one heard me.

"Stop this at once!" I shouted.

I grabbed the arm of one of the boys.

"Butt out, Ichinose!" He said, and pushed me away.

I lost my balance, and fell over.

"HEY!" A familiar voice yelled.

I looked over to see Kiyotaka, face contorted in anger.

"That's my sister you asshole!" Said Kiyotaka, walking towards him.

"No, Kiyo, don't..." I tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Kiyotaka kicked the boy in the face, punched him in the stomach, and pushed him into the middle of the fighting, where he was quickly swallowed by people who had found an easy target to take out their frustrations on.

"Are you alright, Honami?" He asked, holding his hand out to help me up.

I slapped his hand away.

"Does everything need to be solved with violence, Kiyotaka? Why couldn't you stay out of it? Look at you, you're covered in blood, and none of it's even your own!" I shouted.

I had had enough of him.

I stood up, brushed myself off, and walked to the directors office. I could go to an ordinary teacher, but the director had the power to mobilise a larger force of teachers, and break up the fight easier.

When I got to the directors office, I knocked on the door.

"Enter," the voice inside spoke.

I opened the door.

"Acting director, you must come to the front of the school building at once. A large fight has broken out, and nearly a hundred students are involved," I explained.

"I know," he said.

"Oh, so you're in the process of mobilising campus security and going to break up the fight, then?" I asked.

I was surprised. I didn't think that he would have heard about the fight that quickly.

"Aha, no...silly girl, I instigated this fight, you see," the acting director said, with a sickeningly sweet smile.

"W-what?"

"Oh, didn't your dear brother tell you who I am? I work for your dear daddy, you know."

I stepped back, and tried to walk out the door, but two security guards blocked my way.

"You see, mr Ayanokouji has decided that bringing his son back isn't enough for him. Now, he wants his daughter back as well. Loose ends and all that. We can't have you running your mouth," he said.

———————

The fighting had reached a crescendo. Now, at least half of the school was involved. Whenever someone saw the commotion, they would either start recording, or join in on the melee. A few select people ran away, such as myself.

I don't like violence. I never had. The sight of blood was almost enough to make me sick.

So I ran. I decided to run towards the special annex building, as I doubted the fighting would reach there.

As I turned the corner, I bumped into a student.

I fell backwards.

"Are you okay, miss?" He asked offering his hand.

"Y-yes, I'm fine..." I said. I looked up at him, and my heart fluttered slightly.

He was really handsome. He wasn't wearing a blazer, and his muscles were really toned. His face was also gorgeous. He was way more attractive than Nagumo, who all the girls in my year seem to fawn over.

I took his hand. Just touching it gave me shivers.

"Were you trying to escape the fighting, senpai? I was too," he said.

So he dislikes violence? Admirable.

"Y-yes, I've never been one for violence," I said.

"Well, that makes two of us. C'mon, we should go inside. Don't want to get caught up," he said, grabbing my hand and dragging me inside the building.

"What's your name, senpai?" He asked.

"I-I'm Akiko Ikeda. W-what's your name?" I asked, walking alongside him.

"Me? Oh, I'm Akira Yanagi," he said.

Luckily, there was no one in the building, so no one could get the wrong idea about me and Yanagi. Not that I would mind. He was really cute.

—————

Now, something was definitely wrong.

The 5 students who Ichika had told me were sent by Akito to expel me had singled me out in the fighting, and pushed me away from the main group.

I was fending off blows from all sides. I had recovered from my time on the school rooftop, and now I think I was even stronger than before. I was able to deflect any attack they threw at me, but I was still getting pushed back.

Behind me, I heard a slow, rhythmic clapping.

I turned to see Akito, alongside a force of burly security guards.

"Well well, Kiyotaka-kun. It seems we come to the end of our play," he said.

I couldn't help but agree. I managed to take on the five children behind me, but I couldn't take on a large group of highly-trained professionals.

No...there's still one thing I can do.

"Director Akito...it seems you are forgetting the one thing I can do," I said.

"W-what?" He asked, confused.

"It's a simple technique, but quite unbeatable for someone with my speed," I said, taking a fighting stance.

"Stand ready, men," Akito ordered. The group behind him also took on fighting stances.

"You can't beat this. You'll be too slow," I said.

It was time.

I turned to my left, and ran started running.

"NIGERUNDAYO!"

(Haha jojo reference LUL KEKW)

authors notes
1055 words
Cool chap I hope
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 11 chapter 5: Betrayal.

"Before you run, Kiyotaka, you might want to see who we have here. She'll be coming with us if you won't," said Akito.

I stopped. I turned to look at Akito, who was pointing to a boat tied up at the dock. In the boat was a girl, tied up and gagged ()

"Honami!" I shouted.

I could hear her muffled screaming through the sellotape covering her mouth.

"Yes, Kiyotaka. Now, you can come with us, and we set her free, or we can take you both by force," Akito gave me his ultimatum.

I was frozen. I couldn't move.

Do I protect Honami? Or do I protect myself?

To be honest, she had done nothing lately but be ungrateful for everything I did for her. I'd given her enough points to save her stupid classmate. I'd beaten up the guy who pushed her. And yet, she didn't even care. She just brushed me aside, like I was just some chump.

Maybe I should leave her. Maybe she'd learn some discipline in the white room. Maybe that was actually what was best for her.

Maybe she could get to spend some quality time with dad, like I had for 15 years.

I turned around, fully prepared to go, when I heard a clank! On the ground.

I looked at what had made the noise, and it was a small can. Some kind of vapour was coming out of it.

Instantly, 5 other cans came clattering onto the floor at our feet.

"Sorry about this, director. Seems like I have to betray you, now," said a girls voice. I recognised the voice, but I couldn't quite place it. I was starting to feel drowsy. Did they just gas us?

Suddenly, some kind of SWAT team came into view, armed with assault rifles.

I hit the floor, unable to stand any longer. A feminine figure who seemed to be the leader of the new group walked towards me, and kneeled beside me.

"Don't worry, Kiyotaka...you're just gonna have a little nap, okay," she said.

That voice. It couldn't be...

——————

He finally fell under. He took way longer than even that Houzen guy to fall asleep. He really was a fine specimen. The time had come for him to finally be mine.

"Miss, are we ready?" Said goon 1.

"Yes. Put him on the boat," I said.

2 of my men came and picked him up, and placed him on the boat with his sister.

"What do we do about the girl?"

I thought for a moment. I hadn't expected there would be a witness.

"No witnesses. Push her overboard," I ordered.

One of my men was about to push her into the deep blue, when...

"Nah, I don't think so."

someone ran past me in a blur, and leapt onto the boat. He pushed off the man who was about to get rid of Ichinose, and caught her before she fell in.

"Ah, a white knight. Won't you let me see your face before you die?" I asked.

He turned to face me. It was...

"Ahaha, Kanzaki Ryuuji. I didn't expect you to save the kin of your enemy," I laughed.

"And I didn't expect you to betray your boyfriend, Kiryuuin-senpai," he retorted.

I laughed again.

"Well. Times are changing, Kanzaki. It's just business, nothing personal," I said.

I raised my gun.

"So, you are to die here, all alone, trying to protect a girl who doesn't even love you," I said.

Kanzaki smirked.

"Heh...who said I was alone?"

I heard a whistling behind me, and ducked.

(She ducked matrix style btw)

A knife flew across my vision. If I had been even a millisecond later, it would have hit me in the back of the head.

I used the momentum of my dodge to somersault and land on my feet. I turned around to see who had thrown the knife.

"Ah, it's been a long time, yandere-chan," I greeted.

Kikyou Kushida was standing before me. She wasn't wearing her mask, which was surprising. I would have thought she wouldn't want anyone to see her face.

All my men were dead, knives protruding from their bodies. How had I not noticed?

"Bitch! He chose you, and yet you choose to betray him? He's too good for you!" she screamed.

"Like I said to Kanzaki over there: it's just good business," I reasoned.

I could see that Kushida was just about ready to snap now.

As quick as lightning, she threw two knives towards me.

I caught one, and fired my gun to deflect the other.

"You'll have to get up earlier than that to kill me," I taunted.

She ran towards me, so I decided to move forwards too.

We met in the middle, and started raining blows on each other.

She had grown immeasurably since I had last seen her. Back on the rooftop, all those months ago, it would have been trivial to beat her. But now, she was a match for me.

I defended every attack she made, but she did the same. There were no gaps in my defence, but neither were there any weaknesses in hers.

"I've hated you...for so long," she said.

"What, coz I stole the boy you like? Grow up," I taunted.

At that, she flinched. I pounced on the opportunity, sweeping her off her feet. I pinned her to the ground, and brought my gun to her face. She pushed it away just before I pulled the trigger, and I fired two shots that landed on the ground beside her head.

Adrenaline was pumping through me now. I struggled to bring the gun to her face. I fired another shot, which grazed the side of her temple. A small amount of blood came oozing from the wound, but it was the size of a paper cut.

She raised her head, and bit me on the hand. I instinctively retracted my hand from the gun, which gave her all the opportunity she needed to take the gun away from me. She fired the gun, which brushed past my arm.

Fuck, it hurt. A lot. Luckily, it wasn't too deep. 'Twas but a scratch.

She then threw the gun into the ocean. A smart move, on her part. Now, neither of us had any weapons.

Wait, no.

She still had her knives.

Before I could react, a knife was buried in my left leg.

I screamed.

Then, I received a slash right across my eye.

I couldn't see anything. Not just because I was now blind, but just through the sheer amount of pain I was receiving.

"No, Kushida!" Kanzaki yelled.

I heard a thump on the ground beside me. Kanzaki had tackled Kushida to the floor. Why? To grant me mercy? Or to make me suffer longer?

"What are you doing, Kanzaki?" Kushida growled.

"Trust me, I want her dead as much as you do, but...Ichinose-san told me to leave her alive," he said.

What?

I could see a little bit out of my left eye now, and I saw Ichinose standing at the edge of the water, dragging her brother out of the water.

Did she pity me? Was I weak to her?

I'll show her.

I limped towards her. Each step burned, and the pain was unbearable.

I grabbed one of the guns from one of my dead men, and aimed it at her. Before I could pull the trigger however...

Thwick!

A burning pain erupted from my torso. I looked down to see a knife sticking out of my side.

It didn't hurt that much...that wasn't good.

All the pain was starting to fade away.

I lost my footing, and fell into the sea.

When I hit the cold water, I gasped, and I swallowed a lot of water.

But I didn't really care. I lost, and now I was just paying the price. I sunk, further and further down.

It was just...good business.

It was so cold.

So dark.

Authors notes
1332 words
So, you might be wandering "why did Fuka betray Kiyotaka?"
Well, the technical reason is that I thought the Ayanokouji x Fuka ship was getting a bit stale, and she was just there occasionally. I think someone even pointed that out in the last chapter.
The lore reason is that Kiryuuin decided that Kiyotaka's physical and mental data would help her parents company. She planned on creating her own white room to create employees who were essentially super strong slaves. Pretty grim, right.
This chapter was a lot of fun to write.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 11 chapter 6: Kira

On April 20th 2016, 2 students were murdered at the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School.

One of the bodies was never found, and her death was covered up. She is now considered as missing by the Japanese government. Her name was Kiryuuin Fuka, and those involved in her death may or may not believe that her death was deserved. Very sad, of course.

But, there was another murder on that day. A murder that no one believed was justified.

A large fight was raging on the campus, and the throng of violence had made it towards the special annex building. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the body of a girl was flung out of the window. That in itself wasn't the worst thing, however.

It was the fact that the girl was almost naked, except for her underwear, and she was bleeding a horrific amount.

Blood instantly rained down on the students below. Not that anyone noticed at that time. Everyone was covered in blood, and they were to busy fighting to look up.

No one ever found this out, even in the post-mortem, but the girl was still clinging to life when she was hurled out the window. She was dying, to be sure, but she was still alive. She looked down, and tried to shout for help, but her vocal cords were constricted by the hosepipe around her neck. She could only look down, cursing the name of the man who had tricked her. The man who had murdered her.

She gave up, and her body went limp.

A few minutes later, someone noticed. The fighting soon stopped as everyone looked at the horrific spectacle above them.

The girl was called Akiko Ikeda, and she was a member of class 3-A. She was extremely clever for her age, and she was poised to graduate from the most prestigious high school in Japan, from class A, no less.

And now she was dead.

The killer was never discovered. When students and faculty went into the building to find who had committed such a heinous act, there was nobody there. It was also inconvenient that there were no security cameras there.

A single word was burned into the minds of the students who saw her body, as cut and bloody as it was. The word was fairly known to the first-year students who had been living in the outside world until this month. The second- and third-years soon learned of the recent string of murders that had struck Tokyo over the last year.

The word was carved upon the girls stomach, arms, breasts and legs. Over and over again, the word had been carved onto her, as she still lay there alive, screaming for someone to help. But no help ever came. The same situation had happened to many women over the past year.

The word was

Kira.

——————

What a rush it had been. My last victim had only been a few weeks ago, but it felt like a lifetime.

I may have put my name on her a few too many times this time, but I needed to get my name out there, yanno.

Hardly anyone in this school knew who I was. Kinda sucked.

If you had said the word Kira to anyone in Tokyo, the person you said it to would become shifty, and suddenly excuse themselves. They would go home, and lock their doors. That is the fear and respect that I had commanded, just last month.

But when I came here, the first-years took the issue of a serial killer lightly, and the senpai's simply didn't know what I was on about.

Now it was different.

At this school, I would become an unseen king.

I would rule through fear. And the thing is, no one would even know if I was Kira. I didn't need them to. The mere presence of someone like Kira at this school was enough to make someone subconsciously scared of anyone they met.

I took the bottle from my pocket. It was filled with a deep red liquid.

"So, Akiko. Here's to you, I suppose," I laughed, making a mocking toast to my recent victim, who I was to thank for the beverage I now held.

It tasted...as sweet as honey.

Authors notes
718 words
Oof suuuper edgy and cringe, right.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 12 chapter 1: paying respects.

"Words cannot express the tragedy we feel at such a loss," said director Akito.

The entire school had been summoned for the funeral service of Akiko Ikeda.

Her family were allowed to visit the school and attend the service, and her parents were crying next to her coffin.

The school felt...depressed. Understandable, considering the circumstances.

"And now, a few words from her classmate, and the student council president, Nagumo Miyabi," said the acting director.

For god's sake, not this twat.

The egotistical blond brat took the stage, and put his hands on the podium.

"My classmates. My friends. My kouhai. Last week, a great girl lost her life. She was brutally attacked," said Nagumo.

Way to lighten the mood.

"But I'm not going to stand for that. I consider an attack on any student at this school an attack on myself. Which is why I'm forming a volunteer group to help hunt down the sick bastard who did this," he continued.

I wasn't expecting that. But it kind of made sense.

Of course, no student could actually take action against "Kira," legal or otherwise. The best this volunteer group could hope to do was keep watch and tell Nagumo if anyone was acting suspicious.

"Our school, unlike most high schools, has never had a disciplinary committee, which is why I believe this is the perfect opportunity for such a change to occur. Anyone who joins this new disciplinary committee will effectively become members of the student council. I am currently looking for a select few students to lead this group. If anyone wishes to apply, we ask that you have an OAA rating of B or higher. That is all, thank you," he finished, walking off the stage.

We were directed to leave so the private service for family and friends could begin.

As we got outside, I heard a voice call me.

"Ayanokouji-kun! Wait!" The voice said.

I turned to see Horikita walking towards me.

Ugh.

"What?" I asked, looking away from her and continuing to walk.

"Look at me when I'm speaking to you!" She said.

"You should consider yourself lucky that I'm speaking to you at all. Out with it!"

"Ayanokouji...I knew that allowing you to remain at this school was a mistake."

"What? Are you insinuating that I did this?" I asked.

I was genuinely quite angry at that accusation, if she was indeed accusing me.

"N-no, I know you didn't strike the blow, but you're actions lead to this!" She exclaimed.

We were alone now. I turned around, and slammed her to the wall.

She struggled to get away, but I was too strong.

"You think that I'm responsible for this? Please, enlighten me," I said.

"If you hadn't started fighting Kouenji, the fight wouldn't have escalated to the level it did, and people could have discovered the girl sooner. She may have even been saved," she reasoned.

"That...is the biggest bullshit I've ever heard." I couldn't believe the crap that was coming out of her mouth.

"You think I wanted this fight to happen? I tried my best to stay out of it, but no...your little lumbering lapdog couldn't control himself. If anything, I could argue that this is your fault," I argued.

Horikita was about to respond, but quickly shut her mouth. She couldn't exactly argue with that.

"Good. That's what I thought. Since you've taken up my valuable time, I want you to do something for me," I said.

"I am not going to have sex with you," she refused.

Damn. How did she know? I had to make up something for her to do.

"No, I want you to apply for the position as leader of the new disciplinary committee," I ordered

"Why?" She asked, confused.

"It doesn't matter why. If you want me to keep my end of the bargain, you do as I say. Got it?"

"Y-yes," she said, bowing her head slightly.

——————

I didn't like the path Kiyotaka was going down. He had gotten too involved with Ryuuen and his gang. It wasn't right, he was supposed to be...

Better.

He was supposed to have self control. He wasn't supposed to be beating people up, or blackmailing them.

I had just witnessed him shove Horikita Suzune against a wall. I only saw it from afar, and couldn't see anything, but I got the gist of the situation.

He wanted her to do something for him.

Whether it was sexual in nature wasn't really my business, but the fact that he was forcing her to do something was my business.

I didn't want to be related to a man who got through life through by being bad.

A pity then, that I was the daughter of one of the most evil men in Japan, and my brother was essentially a bully.

I put my head in my hands and sobbed a little.

"Do you need to talk about it?" Someone asked.

Behind me, there was a boy wearing a white shirt. He placed his hand on my shoulder.

"N-no, it's fine, really," I lied, standing to leave.

"No, I can tell somethings up. You shouldn't keep stuff pent up. Tell me what troubles you," the boy said.

He must be a kouhai, since I hadn't ever seen him before.

"W-well...it's my brother," I said sitting down.

"What about him?" The boy asked, sitting next to me.

"He's...pretty horrible to people. He's in class 2-A, lead by one of the biggest bullies in the school, Ryuuen. My brother is essentially his right hand man," I explained.

The boy nodded and stayed silent, letting me continue.

"I...don't know why he's like this. Our parents divorced when we were pretty young. I went with mom, and he went with dad. From what I remember of dad, he...wasn't the nicest person. I know that Kiyo wasn't raised in the best environment, but I don't think that's any excuse for the way he behaves," I said, quite loudly.

"I see. Do you feel better for telling someone?" He asked.

Oddly enough, I kind of did.

"Y-yeah. Thanks, I guess..." I said.

"Well, if that's all, Ichinose-senpai, I'll take my leave. We should hang out again sometime," he said, standing up.

"Y-yeah, I'd like that," I said, also standing.

"W-wait, what's your name?" I asked.

The boy stuck out his hand for me to shake.

"Akira. Akira Yanagi."

Authors notes
1081 words
Slightly lighter chapter than the others in this arc, but not much lighter.
Ichinose has become friends with Akira Yanagi.
Kira still remains at large.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 12 chapter 2: date.

"In light of the recent tragedy befalling your senpai, the acting director has seen fit to lower the stakes on the upcoming special exam. Second-year students will now receive the same penalty as the first-years upon failure, which will be 3 months without private points," said Sakagami, as we entered the classroom.

Although nobody dared show it, relief washed across the classroom. I imagine the decision was made because students wouldn't be able to study for fear of this new threat.

"Also, it is advised to never be alone with a single person, especially at night or at school events. Always travel in groups of 3 or more," he continued.

Reasonable.

"That concludes class for today. You may go now," he finished, the bell ringing not a second later.

We all got up to leave.

"Is Ayanokouji Kiyotaka here?" A voice spoke from the doorway.

It was Nagumo, prince of pricks himself.

I decided to hide behind Albert and walk out the front door.

"Ayanokouji, I can see you," Nagumo said.

I continued walking.

"H-hey, I said I can see you," he said again, this time a little less cocky.

I continued walking, until my protective shield shielded me from exiting the classroom.

Albert blocked me from exiting the classroom.

"It's no good...idea to unaccept. You should...see what he wishes for," he said, in Japanese.

He was steadily coming along in the spoken language, but he was still almost hopeless when it came to the written language.

I sighed, and waited faced Nagumo. We waited until everyone had poured out of the classroom.

"Ah, Ayanokouji. How long has it been, I wonder? I'd say, by a whisker, 6 months. Not since our little 'chat' on the rooftop," he said, his swagger returning full force.

I didn't say anything.

"Well, this may come as no shock to you, but I would like to ask you a few questions," he continued.

"About what? Your mum's bedroom?"

Nagumo flinched slightly when I said that, but he quickly regained his composure.

"No, as a matter of fact. Where were you on the day of Akiko Ikeda's passing?" He asked.

Why did everyone keep suspecting me. I wasn't THAT suspicious, was I?

"Ask the acting director. He'll give you the full lore summary," I said, going to walk out of the classroom.

"Well, you see, I already did. And he says he didn't know where you were. So, can I take it you have no alibi?" He asked again.

So, Akito had left me out high and dry?

"I was in the fight." I technically was in the fight, for the first half an hour or so.

"Well, forgive me for not believing you, but that's not exactly a very trustworthy testimony. While witnesses do say they saw you at the beginning of that confrontation, no one says they saw you after the first 10 minutes. I must say, Ayanokouji, you seem to be providing very frail answers," Nagumo said, grin widening.

"Why are you doing all this? Just leave me alone."

"You see, Ayanokouji: you are currently suspect number 1 for the disappearance of Kiryuuin Fuka and the murder of Akiko Ikeda, going by the alias 'Kira.' Also, your absence from October to December of last year also paints you in a bad light, as these months were the worst for fatalities regarding this 'Kira.' Do you have any words to prove these claims wrong?" Nagumo asked.

"Even if I did, I don't suppose you would actually listen to them?" I asked.

Nagumo laughed.

"Of course I would. After all, you're a valued student of this school. You're the reason your class holds the rank of 'A' after all. And before you say, I know Ryuuen Kakeru is also a big part of your class, but you and I both know that you could beat him in any way shape or form."

"What are you getting at, Nagumo?" I asked. I was starting to become very wary.

"I want to turn this school into a true meritocracy, as you know, with the strongest at the top. I am undoubtedly the strongest amongst the third-years, but I find myself unable to choose a worthy successor from amongst the second- and first- year student council members. The only person who really comes close is Horikita-senpai's younger sister, but she's nothing like her brother, really," he continued.

"I desire for my successor to be the strongest person in their grade level, and preferably the strongest in the school. Ayanokouji, I want YOU to succeed me."

"No thanks," I declined, walking away.

"Unfortunately, you don't have a choice. You see, if you refuse this, I will have to reveal that you are Kira."

I turned around.

"Based on what evidence? What's your source?" I asked.

"Based on whatever evidence I deem fit."

—————

I decided to check in on Honami.

I knocked on her door.

"Coming," she said, voiced muffled.

After a few seconds, she opened the door.

"Hi, Yana—oh, Kiyotaka," she said, a surprised look on her face upon seeing me.

She wasn't dressed in her usual uniform, or even in casual dress. She was sporting an expensive-looking dress, and a pair of gorgeous, brand knew high-heels. She wore makeup on her face, and I could smell the scent of citrusy perfume on her.

"Expecting someone?" I asked.

"Oh, no, not at all...come in, come in," she said, ushering me inside.

Once I had taken my shoes off, and sat at the table, Honami went about making us some tea. I also noticed that she made a 3rd cup, and kept it under a bowl so it would keep warmer for longer.

"If I had known you were coming over, I would've made you something," she said.

"No need to worry, really. Just came over, to check how you were doing, especially after...recent events," I said.

Honami and I had been kidnapped, by 2 different groups no less. That was the kind of thing you heard about on national news, not the kind of thing you expect to happen to you on a normal school day. Then again, our family was never the most 'normal' to begin with.

"I'm...fine. I wasn't best friends with Akiko-san or anything, but I went out with her a few times. It's horrible, really, how someone's life can end, just...so quickly," she said.

I placed my hand in hers, and squeezed it lightly. She looked at me.

"If there's any way I can help you, any way at all: please let me know, okay?" I asked.

She looked hesitant for a moment.

"Honami?"

"How do I know I can trust you?" She asked.

"Because I am your family. Your kin, your blood. I would do anything, so long as it made you happy," I said.

She looked down.

"Would you go so far as to blackmail someone, just for my sake?" She asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Would you...k-kill someone, if I asked you to?" She asked.

"...yes, if it was what you truly wished," I answered, truthfully.

There was a moment of silence when we looked into each other's eyes. A silence, which was interrupted by the door knocking.

"Oh, that'll be him," Honami said, leaping up to answer the door. I also stood up.

In the doorway was a boy with black hair, and wearing a shirt and trousers.

"Hey, Ichinose-san, I didn't know you had company," the boy said.

"Oh, no...Ayanokouji-kun was just leaving, weren't you?" She asked, giving me a look that said 'please leave us.'

"Yeah, I just needed to talk to her about some school things, no big deal," I lied.

"Oh, you're Ayanokouji, from class 2-A? Wow, the first-year girls think you're awesome, especially those in class A," he said.

"Oh? Why is that?" I asked, genuinely curious. I hadn't heard about this.

"I'm not sure on the details or anything, but apparently a rumour started in class A that you were the best man in the upper years," he said.

Damn you Ichika.

"Well, it's nice to meet you..." I said, reaching out my hand for him to shake.

"Yanagi. Akira Yanagi, from class 1-C," he said, shaking my hand.

"Well, I hope you two have a good time...whatever it is you're doing," I said, shutting the door behind me.

That guy felt...wrong.

Perhaps it was just my natural fraternal reaction to hate anyone who tries to date my sister, but maybe.

I decided to make a quick call.

"W-why are you calling me this late, Ayanokouji? I said we weren't enemies anymore, but...I wouldn't call us good enough friends that we can just chat," he said.

"Sorry for calling so late, really, but this is important. I want you to tail Honami tonight on her date," I asked.

"WHAT? SHE HAS A DATE? WITH WHO?"

"Someone shady. I don't like him. He seems...off," I said.

"Oh. Do you think he might be...Kira?"

"I'm not sure, but I'd rather be safe than sorry,"

"Fine, I'll do it. I expect to be paid for this, you know?"

"Don't worry, Kanzaki. I'll compensate you fairly.

———————

I couldn't do anything the whole time.

Some annoying stalker was tailing us.

We walked to the restaurant, had dinner, walked around the park, went to the café, and then I walked her back to her apartment.

And that guy wouldn't fucking leave us alone.

Ichinose didn't notice him at all, but I could sometimes see him duck behind a corner or catch him looking at us while we were eating.

If he hadn't been tailing us, I could have made the perfect art piece in the park. I had it all planned out: I would have one of her fingers over there, and her dress neatly ripped to shreds over there. She'd be hung by her neck over in that tree, and my name carved into every inch of her soft, tender flesh.

But I didn't get the chance.

I got the feeling that this guy was pretty hardcore, too. Most of the time, I wouldn't have been able to tell if he was there, if I didn't already know.

Luckily, I don't think he noticed that I picked up on him, which meant that I had the advantage, now.

But...he didn't seem to be acting on his own wishes.

If he were some lovestricken stalker, he would have been far easier to tell.

If he was simply looking out for a classmate, he probably wouldn't have been so mission impossible about it.

No, someone made him tail us, and there was only one person who saw us together. Someone who I hadn't accounted for.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

I needed to do some recon on him. He was smart enough to not come after me all by himself, but to hire someone skilled enough to do the job properly. The bare minimum of a fun challenge.

Now, who was it who started that rumour about him in class A? Oh yes, that was it.

Amasawa Ichika.

Authors notes
1863 words
Slightly longer chap than normal.
Currently 01:06 in the morning, can't be bothered to write a proper summary.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

New fic

Starting in class B: Ayanokouji the actor.

First chapter out now. I hope you enjoy.