A Liquid Inspiration
Summary: (A re-telling of Classroom of the Elite sparked by a certain conversation between Masterpiece and Professor.)
One day, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka receives a surprising invitation from his father, Ayanokouji Atsuomi, to join him for a drink. It was unusual for Kiyotaka, who normally wouldn't be summoned by his father without a hidden agenda.
That's why even the emotionless Kiyotaka was surprised when his father began to open up about his own experiences with love and relationships.
For the emotionally distant "masterpiece," this conversation is a rare moment of connection with his father, and it sparked a curiosity within him to explore the world of human relationships, to be more specific: romance and intimacy.
It was that spark that pushed Kiyotaka to demand something from his father:
"Father, teach me everything about human relationships."
This then begins a ripple that changes how Ayanokouji Kiyotaka would approach the world in the foreseeable future.
Do check out this fic on Wattpad. It has the same title and content, but we do have illustrations there to increase immersion for the fic. Thanks, and here's the chapter!
Vol 1. Chapter 10 - Classroom of the Elite
Ayanokōji Kiyotaka
I let out a sigh and leaned back against the headboard of my bed. May 1st had arrived, which only meant one thing: the game had officially begun.
The true colors of ANHS would slowly begin to unravel, and the first veil to be removed would be the existence of Class Competition.
Let's have a brief rundown, shall we?
ANHS had a unique system, where each year level was sorted into four sections, labeled as A, B, C, and D. While this may seem like a simple grouping of students, ANHS was far from a normal school.
As I had hypothesized and eventually confirmed, the four classes represented a hierarchy, with Class A being the supposedly best class of the entire batch and Class D being home to the school's supposed "defective products," often ridiculed by students in higher classes.
I, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka, was sorted into Class D.
But that's not because of my incompetence. Rather, it was by design. No doubt, a machination of my ever-so meddling father.
I do not have concrete proof of my accusations, but I am pretty sure my father had a hand in my placement in this class, a decision that he had made in order to test my ability to lead a group of designated failures—which is hardly a challenge for me, all things considered.
Carrying a group of misfits to glory is child's play, and with my machinations over the last month, I'm pretty sure that our class had done enough to overthrow the higher classes. However, given the collective abilities and attitude of the class, jumping straight to Class A will have to wait a little longer.
But it's not like I'm in a rush to reach Class A. What I'm most concerned with right now is ensuring that I would be able to guide these misfits and nurture them to be the best versions of themselves.
What use was there in jumping straight to the top when all the assets I had were a bunch of defects, right?
That said, I picked up my phone that was lying on top of the headboard and immediately checked how many points had been deposited into my account.
+92,000 Points
Just as I thought, the points we've received this month had decreased, but it's not like it's a massive loss—92,000 was still plenty of money to go around.
Considering the math, where we'll assume that 1 Class Point (CP) is equal to 100 Private Points (PP), that must have meant that we have kept 920 Class Points this month, and if I were being honest, it's a significantly higher figure than what I had imagined, which makes one of my plans more feasible.
After asking Horikita-senpai about it, he confirmed that the expulsion of a classmate would cost the class 300 Class Points. He did have a rather wary look on his face when I asked him about it, but he did not bother hiding the information.
It was obvious why he was wary, and it was because of Nagumo-senpai and his apparent strategy of eliminating anyone who opposes his will. The thought of me employing the same tactic might have crossed Horikita-senpai's mind.
That being said, his suspicions weren't too far off the mark. I was planning a similar ploy, but with a different rationale. I'm not going to intentionally expel someone because they're openly opposing my ideals—that's just childish.
I'll only do it if they're harmful to my class, and considering the information Horikita-senpai gave me, as well as the points Class D had managed to keep, it's a card that I can potentially use.
I suppose it was pretty cutthroat of me, but I had never fancied myself to be a good person. While I do actually want to nurture the people in Class D to be the best versions of themselves, I don't exactly share the same patience with people who'd end up doing more harm than good.
If it comes to it, I'll get rid of them.
After all, going from 920 to 620 or even 320 doesn't mean the game is unwinnable. In fact, I'm more than confident that I could make this class graduate in Class A even if we started out with zero points.
Three years is a rather long time, and a lot of things could happen.
"Go back to sleep, Kiyotaka."
Looking to my left, I let out a small smile. I almost forgot that Yuki had asked to come over and sleep in my dorm room.
And it wasn't just her.
My eyes darted to my right and looked at the sleeping form of Chiaki, who had a very content look on her sleeping face. For some reason, she had now decided to lay her head on my lap, shifting ever so slightly.
"It's already six in the morning, Yuki," I replied, my voice laced with a hint of amusement.
"I don't care. Go back to sleep," she grumbled, sounding like a petulant child. "I want to cuddle more."
I shook my head and pushed myself up to a sitting position. "You're impossible. You know that?" I said, looking at her with amusement.
Yuki grinned at me, her eyes still closed. "That's why you love me."
"You're so delusional, Yuki-chan," came Chiaki's voice from my right, her arms now wrapped around my waist.
"I'm not!" Yuki said in protest, her purple orbs now open and glaring at the brown-haired girl.
"So you were awake this whole time," I said dryly to Chiaki, raising an eyebrow in question.
Chiaki's blue eyes slowly opened, revealing a mischievous glint. "Mhm, it gave me an excuse to sleep on your lap," she replied with a small smile playing on her lips.
I rolled my eyes at her but didn't do anything. It wasn't like I had anything better to do at the moment, and the school day didn't start until 8:30 AM anyway.
I shook my head, a small smile forming on my lips. "You're both ridiculous," I said, but I didn't push them away. Instead, I let them stay there.
After all, what kind of guy pushes away two beautiful girls intent on cuddling with you? I'm not a dense harem protagonist.
"Your words certainly don't match your actions, Kiyotaka," Yuki said with a teasing smirk.
Chiaki giggled. "He's a boy, after all. There's no way he'll let go of a chance to cuddle with two beautiful girls like us," she added.
I shrugged, unable to deny the truth in her words. "I can't argue with that," I said. "In fact, I'm even contemplating kissing the two of you right now," I joked, which I eventually regretted.
Because these girls would take it seriously.
"W-wha?! Fine, but kiss me first!" Yuki all but demanded, her eyes snapping open.
Chiaki giggled. "So long as I get my share, I don't care who goes first," she added playfully.
Is this what the memes called "mission failed successfully?" Well, don't mind if I do.
I leaned in and gave Yuki a gentle peck on the lips, savoring the softness and warmth of her mouth. Then, I turned my attention to Chiaki, giving her the same treatment.
As I pulled away, both girls wore dazed expressions, and I couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Satisfied?" I asked, looking at them with amusement.
They both nodded, their faces still flushed. "Y-yeah," Yuki replied, her eyes unfocused.
"Definitely," Chiaki added, a dreamy look on her face. "Morning kisses are the best," she said, still sounding dazed.
Yuki then pulled me by the cheek and gave me another kiss. I raised an eyebrow, surprised by her actions. "I'm only letting you kiss Chiaki-chan if I get an extra kiss," she explained with a cheeky grin.
"So you better thank me for my benevolence, Kiyotaka," she finished, sticking a tongue out at me.
"Thanks, Yuki. You're too kind," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
Yuki pouted. "Hey, don't take that tone with me," she complained.
Chiaki, meanwhile, snuggled closer to me, burying her head in my chest. "Can we stay like this forever?" she murmured sleepily.
I wrapped an arm around her, enjoying the feel of her soft hair against my skin. "As much as I'd love to, we do have school in a couple of hours," I reminded her gently.
Chiaki pouted but didn't argue. "Fine," she said with a sigh.
Yuki stretched lazily, her limbs entangled with mine and Chiaki's. "Well, we still have time for a quick nap, don't we?" she suggested.
Well, I suppose we can go to school later than usual. I'm certainly not in the mood to take a bath now, considering how a... certain appendage of mine reacted after kissing the two of them, and they'd definitely notice it if I did stand up now.
It's simply proof of me being a healthy teenage boy, alright?
"Are you hard, Kiyotaka?" Yuki curiously asked, her eyes focusing on a certain thing poking on the blanket.
I sighed inwardly. Sometimes, I underestimate the size of little Kiyotaka. Down, boy!
"Yes, but it's not like I have any control over it. It's just a natural reaction after kissing two beautiful girls," I added, shrugging nonchalantly.
Chiaki looked at me with a mixture of amusement and disbelief. "Only you could make morning wood sound like a medical condition, Kiyotaka," she remarked, shaking her head in amusement.
After a while, the brown-haired girl spoke again, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "That said, want me to do something to fix your medical condition?"
Yuki glared at her. "No way! If anything, it should be me who takes care of Kiyotaka," she complained.
Seeing as the two of them were about to argue, I immediately began my escape to take a cold, cold shower.
10.1
The sound of the morning bell ringing crisp and clear signaled the start of class. As if on cue, the door swung open, and Chabashira-sensei's slender figure entered the room, holding a tube firmly in her hand. Her usual stern expression was even more severe than usual, indicating that she was serious.
But as I observed her more closely, it became clear that her mood was different today. She seemed to be in a good mood, which might have been a result of how well Class D (or whatever we are called now) had performed over the last month.
The silence was deafening. Chabashira-sensei simply stood at the teacher's podium, keenly observing the class, crafting a rather uneasy atmosphere.
I shifted my gaze toward my classmates, noticing how each of them seemed to be at the edge of their seats, waiting for Chabashira-sensei's next move. It was clear that no one wanted to be the first to break the silence.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Chabashira-sensei broke the silence. "Class D, I have an announcement to make," she said in a calm and measured tone.
She coughed, and then, to everyone's surprise, a smirk emerged on her face. "Or should I say... Class B?"
As Chabashira-sensei announced the class's new ranking, there was a sudden outburst of excitement and celebration from my classmates.
The girls smiled at one another, while the boys who sat near one another exchanged fist bumps or, in Yamauchi and Ike's case, loudly cheered.
"Fuck yeah! With the great Yamauchi Haruki at the helm, this is simply the natural outcome," Yamauchi cheered, a smug grin on his face.
He couldn't be any more wrong, but the class simply let him be because of our collective good mood.
After letting the class cheer for a while, Chabashira-sensei spoke once again. "That said, it's time for us to cut to the chase."
The dark-haired teacher then opened the tube she was carrying and took out a white rolled-up poster, which she spread open. She then stuck the poster to the blackboard with some magnets.
The poster, from what we could see, reflected the performances of Class A through D, and to the side was a row of numbers that went up to a maximum of four digits.
Class A (A) 940 Class Points
Class B (D) 920 Class Points
Class C (B) 650 Class Points
Class D (C) 490 Class Points
"Damn!" The red-haired effeminate boy, Okitani, exclaimed. "They're really Class A for a reason, huh?"
"We've been following Ayanokōji-kun's instructions the entire month," another student, Nishimura Ryūko, added. "But wow, to think he was right all along!"
Of course, I knew I was right.
"Class A is scary, though!" Sato piped up. "I doubt they figured things out as fast as Ayanokōji-kun and the others, but they still managed to do so well!"
"Well, they're supposed to be filled with model students, after all," Okitani replied.
That's a common assumption to make. With Class D seemingly prepared and equipped with the knowledge of how this school worked to some degree, the fact that Class A kept its standing in the hierarchy indicated that they were filled with superior students that are easier to lead.
However, that's not the only factor at play here. Let's think of Ichinose's Class B (now Class C), for example. She was able to rally their class to unite under her leadership, and they still managed to lose 350 Class Points.
Granted, they didn't have the information that Class D had, but that should be enough indicator that a leader superior to Ichinose had emerged in Class A and pretty much kept them in line, just as I had done with Class D.
I inwardly sighed. Whoever was leading Class A probably had an easier time than I did, considering the disparity in the quality of students between our classes.
For Class D, I had to meticulously set out a series of schemes where I tapped the likes of Hirata, Karuizawa, Yuki, Chiaki, Mori, Sato, and even Kushida, to condition the class into working toward our shared goals. The intricate weaving, while effective, is quite the hassle to keep up, especially with some of the troublesome students in the class being harder to keep in line.
I'd imagine that the leader or leaders of Class A didn't have to go through what I did, and to be honest, I'm a little jealous of that.
Chabashira-sensei's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "As you can see, Class A has maintained its position at the top of the rankings," she said, pointing to the poster on the board.
"But," she continued, turning to face us. "It's not over yet. The semester isn't even halfway done, and there are still plenty of opportunities for you all to improve your standings."
She paused for a moment before adding, "Or to fall behind."
A sinister smirk crept onto her face as she observed the class's reaction.
"After all, this result of yours is what I'd call a fluke. Don't forget that Ayanokōji singlehandedly brought you here by using his intuition and perception to figure out how this school worked," she paused, sighing.
"If not for him, as well as Tsubaki, Hirata, and the others, you lot would probably score in the low hundreds. Don't forget that you were all sorted in Class D because the school deemed you as defects who aren't suitable for higher classes," Chabashira-sensei finished.
Her words hit my classmates like a ton of bricks, causing many of them to stiffen up.
You're quite cruel, aren't you, Chabashira-sensei?
But it did serve its intended effect, as Chabashira-sensei's harsh and unfiltered words managed to ground some of our more rambunctious classmates.
To drive home her point, Chabashira-sensei affixed another sheet of paper to the blackboard. The paper listed the names of everyone in the class, along with numbers written beside them. These numbers were most likely the results of the surprise test we had taken the previous week.
Adding all the scores and dividing them by 40 gave us an average of 72.
"While your class had performed significantly better compared to the previous incarnations of Class D, there are still quite a bunch of idiots in this class," she said, turning her head in our direction. "Just as expected, I suppose," she sighed.
"That being said, here's more unfortunate news for you. In this school, if one fails in even one subject on a midterm or end-of-term examination, they'll be immediately expelled. In other words, if this were a real test, anyone who scored below 36 points would have been expelled."
So that's how it worked, huh? The formula for determining the failing score would be the class average divided by two, which means that the failing score isn't always linear.
Chabashira-sensei drew a red line across the bottom part, separating six names from the rest of the class. Among them, Sudo scored the highest, with 35 points, which should be celebrated considering how bad the redhead was in academics. Hell, just a couple of weeks ago, the boy even struggled with middle-school math problems.
Not to toot my own horn, but I'm a pretty good teacher.
Well... I did also use Onodera to help him out, but that's just semantics.
"It seems like there's a bunch of morons in this class," Kōenji cackled, earning him the ire of the failing students. "Well, at least the red-haired gorilla is trying to improve, but the rest of you hopeless failures? Ha Ha Ha!"
Good thing you noticed Sudo's improvement, or I would have kicked your ass myself, Kōenji. I was rather proud of how he had progressed as my student, after all.
"Who are ya calling a gorilla, you freak?" Sudo exclaimed.
"What did you just say, Kōenji? Since all you do in class is brush your hair, you probably scored below the red line yourself!" Yamauchi barked back.
"Fu? Where are your eyes at, trash-boy? Behold!" Kōenji raised both of his arms as if presenting the class with something majestic.
"Huh? Kōenji is...huh?"
Starting from the bottom of the page, Yamauchi scanned upward, and there he found Kōenji Rokosuke's name. To the pervert's surprise, Kōenji had tied for the third spot, alongside Yukimura and Chiaki, scoring 90 points. That meant that the three of them were able to solve one of the three difficult questions.
Obviously, I got the highest score in the class, followed by Yuki, who scored 95.
"Well, this should serve as a reality check for you fools. Don't get full of yourself. You lot are still far from being Class A material."
The class remained silent as Chabashira-sensei stabbed us with another dagger, knowing it was the absolute truth. While technically, we were only trailing Class A by twenty points, that wasn't a good indicator of our comparative qualities. Class D still lagged behind Class A in terms of overall ability.
"Your midterm exams are in three weeks. Please think things over, and be careful not to drop out. I can say for certain that there's a way for you guys to get through this without anyone failing," Chabashira-sensei said before turning her eyes to her watch.
"It's a bit early, but that's all for homeroom. You're free to use the left-over time as you please," she finished, eyes firmly locking with my own.
I inwardly sighed. After all, Chabashira-sensei, despite lambasting the class, was extremely happy with the results we've yielded and, thus, expected me, the de-facto leader of the class, to align everyone.
As Chabashira-sensei left, the gloomy atmosphere remained in the room. Many of our classmates hung their heads low, especially those who had failed the test.
Well... except Sudo, who was proud of the fact that he almost passed.
"As I said, a proud idiot," Horikita muttered as she observed the redhead, who was sporting a grin on his face.
"Stop antagonizing Sudo. He's doing his best to do better," I chided the dark-haired girl, who huffed in response.
She was obviously still ticked off at Sudo's words.
"But to think that failure constitutes instant expulsion. This school truly is harsh," Horikita mused, mulling over the words Chabashira-sensei had said.
"It is what it is. But that simply means we'll have to make sure nobody fails," I said before standing up.
Just like last week, I headed to the front of the classroom, stopping at the teacher's podium.
Noticing everyone's eyes on me, I finally spoke. "Don't worry, everyone. Chabashira-sensei sure didn't mince words, but she's probably just looking out for the class and making sure we know what's at stake here. Just as I've said before, this school is more than what it seems to be, which means it's important for us to step up and not waste chances."
Hirata stood up from his seat and clasped his hands. "Ayanokōji-kun is right! That's why we'll take full advantage of the study groups and make sure that everyone in the class passes the midterm exams," he said, sending our classmates a reassuring smile.
As Yuki was preparing to stand up to speak her spiel, Kushida beat her to the punch, with the beige-haired girl speaking practically the same message Hirata sent.
"As long as we work together, we'll get by this!" She said, voice laced with encouragement.
Despite her well-meaning words, I couldn't shake off the suspicion that Kushida was motivated by something else. Was it perhaps her desire to outshine Yuki as the most popular girl in class?
Well, that's not important for now. There are more pressing matters in front of us.
"Thank you for that, Hirata, Kushida," I said in acknowledgment before facing the rest of the class. "That said, now that the results are out, we are able to see who are suitable to be selected as tutors."
"I want to be tutored by Tsubaki-chan!"
"Well, good luck with that! I want to live, so I'll go with Kushida-chan instead!"
"I prefer Kushida-chan anyways, so put me in her group!"
"Me too!"
"I want to be in Hirata-kun's group!"
"Let Ayanokōji-kun tutor me! He can teach me other things too!"
What the hell?
After shaking my head at the ridiculousness of our classmates, I turned my head around and examined the sheet that remained on the blackboard.
Aside from myself, Yuki, Kōenji, Chiaki, and Yukimura, the rest of the class who scored above 80 points were Horikita, Wang, Kushida, and Hirata.
That gives us eight potential tutors, given there was no way Kōenji would want to teach idiots.
"Well, it seems like everyone's excited," I dryly said. "Considering we'll be having our exams in three weeks, Hirata, Yuki, and I will be working overtime on assigning you guys to a compatible tutor. So expect a new group chat to pop up in more or less two days."
There are plenty of factors to consider, after all. For example, guys like Yamauchi and Ike wouldn't be compatible with being assigned to Horikita, given the inevitable clash between them. The same applies to putting them in the same study group with girls like Hasebe and Karuizawa, who are known to hate perverts.
Time to piece together the puzzle of sorting the class, I suppose.
Now that our advantage over the other classes had been negated through the reveal of the S-System to the entirety of the year, it's time for Class B to be upskilled.
And for me to begin extending my control over our year.
10.2
The following day, Yuki and I walked down the hallway, our footsteps tapping against the polished floor. As we strolled down the hallway, colorful posters and flyers caught our attention, announcing a variety of club meetings and events happening throughout the school.
The two of us were making our way toward the classroom of the now-Class C to enact one of my plans ever since I was appointed as the Second Vice President of the Student Council—vetoing the rejection of Ichinose Honami's application to the Student Council.
Honestly, Horikita-senpai should have just approved her application in the first place, as Ichinose had a strong passion for public service. However, the cunning Student Council President saw an opportunity to use Ichinose's vulnerability to his advantage and further his fight against Nagumo-senpai.
His plan... well, our plan was to secure the loyalty and support of Ichinose Honami, who wielded significant clout in the school owing to her beauty and natural charisma.
But before that, Yuki and I stopped in the middle of the hallway, eating sandwiches. We have to wait for a certain trigger, after all.
"Since when did you become so theatrical, Kiyotaka?" Yuki questioned me in a dry tone.
"I guess I do have a bit of a flair for the dramatic," I admitted. "But sometimes a little showmanship can go a long way. Eiichiro always said it was cool, and I'm inclined to agree."
"I should have kept you away from Eiichiro once I noticed how bad of an influence he was on you," she said, shaking her head in amusement.
"Don't be like that," I replied, a small smile playing on my lips. "Eiichiro may be Eiichiro, but he's awesome and a true 'bro,' as he put it."
I looked at my watch and saw that it was about time for Tachibana-senpai to make her announcement.
As if on cue, music played through the speakers before a familiar feminine voice made itself known.
"Good day, students of ANHS. After careful consideration and thorough deliberation, the Student Council is pleased to announce the addition of two new members to our esteemed team. We are proud to welcome Second Vice President Ayanokōji Kiyotaka from Class 1-B and First-Year Representative Tsubaki Yuki from Class 1-B. We firmly believe that their leadership skills and dedication will serve the best interests of our institution as we move forward.
With that, we extend our warmest congratulations to Ayanokōji Kiyotaka and Tsubaki Yuki and look forward to their contributions to our council.
Thank you for your attention, and we look forward to working together towards a brighter future for ANHS."
"Honami-chan is going to be so surprised when she hears what we have planned," Yuki said through a mouthful of sandwich.
"And extremely happy once she realizes what we're going to do," I replied
Yuki nodded. "Well, that's true. Poor Honami-chan is probably feeling inadequate right now, knowing the two other people who applied got accepted, and well... she got rejected."
I nodded in agreement with Yuki's observation. "But once we make this move, an idea will be planted in her mind: that we believe in her abilities to make something out of her position. This would really make things easier for us moving forward."
Yuki's face lit up. "I think I love this Student Council gig way more than the boring Class Competition. I mean, we're probably going to be Class A next month, so it's not that much of a challenge anymore. Politics is where it's at!"
I flicked her on the forehead. "You sound like a sociopath."
"Well, I love the strategy and maneuvering involved in politics. It's like a chess game with real people," Yuki said, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Plus, I want to see how far Nagumo-senpai would go in this battle. I'd imagine that he'd soon see you as a major player."
I rolled my eyes, "You really do make it sound like we're sociopaths playing with people's lives."
Yuki shrugged, "Because that's exactly what we're doing, Kiyotaka. I doubt normal people would survive in this school, now that I have thought about it. I'd say people like us who came from that place have a tremendous advantage in this school."
I'd rather not have you be proud of showing sociopathic tendencies, Yuki. We're here to blend in with normal people, you know?
But it wasn't like she was wrong. The White Room's advanced curriculum gave us a heavy advantage in ANHS, with all the learnings from psychology to politics, which would be useful in this school.
"Do what you want, but just don't forget about your humanity, I guess. That's the one thing I disliked about that place—it stopped me from feeling human," I said while idly counting the number of tiles on the floor.
Yuki sighed, "I know, I know," the blonde's face was then engulfed by a wide grin. "But you have to admit, being in the Student Council makes things more fun for us!"
"You mean for you, right? I'm not exactly stoked about being part of the Student Council," I dryly said.
"But you went along with my idea anyways. Just admit that you love me, Kiyotaka," Yuki cheekily said.
"You wish," I said, but the corners of my lips turned up in a small smile.
Yuki giggled and leaned her head on my shoulder. "I know you love me deep down," she said playfully.
"I do, just not romantically," I replied.
"I'm patient, Kiyotaka. It'll happen soon enough."
I raised an eyebrow at that. "You? Patient?"
Yuki pouted. "Don't make fun of me! You know what? It's time for us to go! Hurry, hurry!"
I finished my sandwich and tossed the wrapper in the bin, "You're definitely cuter when you're flustered," I pointed out.
"Ugh, shut up!" Yuki exclaimed, blushing bright red.
As we made our way to the classroom, Yuki's fingers deftly navigated her phone's screen, her blonde hair swaying with each step.
"Anything important?" I asked.
"No, just a few messages from our classmates," Yuki replied, putting her phone back in her pocket.
After a couple of minutes, we finally arrived at the classroom of the now-Class C. As we approached the door, Yuki stopped me and had a cheeky grin on her face.
"Do you want to kick the door down?" She joked.
Again, I flicked her on the forehead. "You're becoming too cheeky lately, Yuki," I said, sighing.
The blonde-haired girl raised an eyebrow. "Would you rather have me just be jealous all the time? You're literally using one of your powers as Vice President to earn a favor from a beautiful girl, you know?" Yuki rhetorically asked.
"Be as cheeky as you want," I relented.
"Good boy!" Yuki exclaimed, patting my head before knocking on the door.
Seeing as it was currently the homeroom period, the door was opened by Class C's adviser, Hoshinomiya-sensei.
"Hoshinomiya-sensei, good morning," I greeted with a nod, forcing a smile to hide my unease with her presence.
This was an SSR-Tier succubus, after all.
"Ooh! If it isn't the newly-appointed Vice President and Year-Rep! How can I help you guys?" Hoshinomiya-sensei beamed, her eyes scanning us from head to toe.
"Hoshinomiya-sensei, would it be possible for us to borrow Ichinose for a moment? It's for Student Council business," I asked, trying to keep my tone respectful.
"Alrighty then! Anything for a cutie like you," Hoshinomiya-sensei then pulled the door away, letting the rest of the now-Class C see us standing outside their door.
My eyes scanned across the room, observing the demoted class. Ichinose sat in the middle row but was unable to notice us as she was visibly downcast, no doubt a byproduct of the rejection of her application.
But that's not what caught my full attention, as my eyes stopped at the familiar face of Kanzaki Ryūji.
How come he didn't tell me he was enrolling here?
"To think you're actually here, Ryūji," I said at a louder volume than usual, catching the violet-haired boy's attention, as well as the rest of his class.
"I was planning to tell you I enrolled here, but you weren't home when I dropped by," he explained with a smile.
"Eh? When did you even go there?" I asked, curious.
"March 25," Ryūji replied.
"Oh, makes sense. I was out buying ice cream the entire day that day," I said, my mind flashing back to the tastiest cookies and cream ice cream that I had tasted.
"You and your ice cream, Kiyotaka," Ryūji shook his head in amusement.
Hoshinomiya-sensei coughed, getting our attention. "It seems you're quite close with Kanzaki-kun, ne, Ayanokōji-kun?"
I nodded my head. "Yeah, we get along."
Hoshinomiya-sensei giggled. "Well, anyways, Ichinose-saaan! Ayanokōji-kun and Tsubaki-san here were asking for you," she said, getting the attention of the pink-haired girl.
"Yuki-chan? Ayanokōji-kun?" She asked.
"Come with us, Ichinose. We've gotten permission from Hoshinomiya-sensei already, so don't worry about your attendance," I said.
"Yeah, come with us, Honami-chan. It'll be fun! I promise," Yuki chimed in before walking up to Ichinose's seat and dragging her out. Some of Ichinose's classmates giggled at the sight of their class leader being treated like a ragdoll.
"Quite the fun girlfriend you have there, Ayanokōji-kun. No wonder you're indifferent to your very cute Chie-chan-sensei," Hoshinomiya-sensei joked as she looked at the scene in front of us.
I shrugged, not bothering to deny her accusation because I'd rather not have her attempt to flirt with me at all. If Yuki would serve as an effective foil to keep this succubus away from me, I'll take it.
Also, student-teacher relationships are strictly forbidden, Hoshinomiya-sensei.
But I was never one to ignore an opportunity to "troll" someone. "Chabashira-sensei is just better," I joked.
"I have to disagree with you there, Ayanokōji-kun," Hoshinomiya-sensei said, giggling. "I think I have some skills that would impress you."
I couldn't help but feel a sense of unease at her flirtatious tone, and I silently cursed myself for engaging with her.
Those skills are highly suspicious, Hoshinomiya-sensei.
With that, I made a beeline for the door, eager to put some distance between myself and Hoshinomiya-sensei.
As I stepped into the hallway, I leaned against the wall and let out a deep breath.
An SSR-Tier succubus really is a terrifying monster.
10.3
After the short fiasco in the Class C classroom, Yuki and I ushered Ichinose out and led her down the hallway toward the Student Council office. Our footsteps echoed through the hallways as we made our way toward the Student Council office.
As we continued walking, Yuki and I exchanged knowing glances, neither of us wanting to reveal our true intentions to Ichinose just yet. That would kill the surprise, after all.
Speaking of the pink-haired girl, Ichinose seemed lost in thought, her usual vivaciousness replaced with a quiet sadness. We walked in companionable silence, the only sound being the soft click of our shoes on the polished floors. I didn't mind the quiet; the past couple of days had been hectic and demanding, after all.
"A-ah!" Ichinose exclaimed, her eyes widening as if she remembered something. "I just realized that I haven't congratulated the two of you yet!"
Yuki chuckled. "It's fine, Honami-chan. We both prefer if you held your congratulations back for a few more moments, anyway," she said, a sly smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
Ichinose looked puzzled by Yuki's response. "What do you mean?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
"You'll know soon enough," I replied, idly noting that we're close to the Student Council office.
As we made our way to the Student Council office, Ichinose's expression shifted from nervousness to curiosity and anticipation. When we arrived, I turned to the girls and said, "Ready?" before opening the door and leading them inside, where we were welcomed by Horikita-senpai and Tachibana-senpai.
Unlike the first time that we stepped foot in the Student Council office, Horikita-senpai didn't meet us with his normal cold and piercing eyes. This time, a small smirk made its way to his face.
"Ah, just the people I've been waiting for," Horikita-senpai said with a smile as he greeted us. "Good morning, Vice President Ayanokōji, Year-Rep Tsubaki, and Year-Rep Ichinose."
Ichinose's eyes widened in surprise. "Y-Year rep? But wasn't I rejected?" she asked, confusion etched on her face.
Horikita-senpai nodded. "Yes, unfortunately, your application was rejected. But there is a provision in the Student Council Constitution that allows the Vice President to veto such decisions. Vice President Ayanokōji exercised this power to overturn the rejection of your application," he explained.
Ichinose turned to me, her expression one of disbelief. "You did that for me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Ayanokōji-kun, I don't know how to thank you."
"It was the right thing to do," I replied with a small smile. "I believe in your abilities and passion for serving the students. That alone makes you deserving of a spot in the Student Council, even if Grumpikita-senpai over here didn't see it that way," I said, attempting to lighten up the mood with a joke.
Horikita-senpai, on the other hand, was not amused with my "Grumpikita-senpai" joke. "Please refrain from making jokes at my expense, Ayanokōji-kun," he said, his tone stern but his eyes betraying a hint of amusement.
"Sorry about that, Grumpikita-senpai," I said, trying my best to keep a straight face.
Tachibana-senpai, who was sitting beside Horikita-senpai, looked like she was about to explode at my comment. "That's no way to talk to our Student Council President, Ayanokōji-kun!" she exclaimed in an incredulous tone.
"Relax, Tachibana," Horikita-senpai said, trying to placate her. "You know Ayanokōji-kun has a penchant for unconventional jokes."
"Uh-huh," Tachibana-senpai said, still looking like she was ready to burst.
Horikita-senpai shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips. "Let's focus on the task at hand, shall we?" he said, gesturing for us to follow him as he headed toward his desk.
As Horikita-senpai went to his desk, he took out a stack of papers, which he offered to Ichinose.
"Here's a brief overview of what's expected from your position, Ichinose. I wouldn't be enumerating them one by one, as that would be a waste of time. Instead, read the contents of the paper and raise questions when you have any concerns. Is that understood?"
Ichinose smiled at Horikita-senpai. "Thank you so much, Horikita-senpai. I'll make sure to read this thoroughly," she said.
"What the hell, Horikita-senpai? That's some serious special treatment. Yuki and I had to suffer through 45 minutes of your boring lecture, and here you are, saving Ichinose from the torture," I joked.
Horikita-senpai turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "Special treatment? I thought you'd be relieved to be spared from hearing another of my lectures, Ayanokōji-kun."
I shrugged. "Touché. I guess I should thank you for saving us all from a snore fest."
Taking a look at Tachibana-senpai, it looked like she wanted to slice me open for continuously teasing Horikita-senpai.
Sorry, senpai, it just seemed like I'm genetically coded to make fun of people surnamed Horikita for some reason.
Horikita-senpai smirked. "You're welcome, Ayanokōji-kun. Just don't get used to it. This is a one-time thing."
"Can I have a copy of what you gave Ichinose?" I asked.
Horikita-senpai shrugged and gave me a copy. "Good thing I expected you to ask for a copy and decided to print out another one," he said.
After ten or so minutes, Ichinose and I were done reading the short manual that this madman Horikita Manabu probably wrote overnight.
It was... extremely detailed yet straightforward. I really would have preferred this over his 45-minute lecture.
"Since it looked like you have finished going over the material, do you have any questions?" Horikita-senpai said, his eyes directed at Ichinose as he said this.
Ichinose shook her head. "It was really detailed, Horikita-senpai. In fact, your manual answered some of my initial questions," she replied, smiling.
Horikita-senpai nodded in approval. "Good, good. That being said, since the three of you are first-years, I will be assigning the three of you to work together in managing the affairs of your year-level. Of course, as Vice President, you'll be taking a more supervisory role, Ayanokōji-kun," he announced.
"Sure, I'm up for that," I agreed with a nod. "I think we'll make a great team, right girls?" I turned to Ichinose and Yuki, who both nodded in agreement.
Horikita-senpai smiled at our eagerness. "Great to see that you're all on board. Just remember to communicate and coordinate with each other, and don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it," he advised kindly.
"Hai, Horikita-senpai," the three of us chorused.
"With that out of the way, you're all free to go," Horikita-senpai said, ending the impromptu meeting.
10.4
"I still can't believe it," Ichinose said, shaking her head at everything that had transpired. "I-I'm really thankful for what you did, Ayanokōji-kun."
Yuki patted the pink-haired girl's back. "What did I say, Honami-chan? I told you things were going to end up well," she said, smiling.
"But, I do have one thing to ask," Ichinose paused, a small smile on her lips. "How long were you guys planning this?"
Turning my head to Ichinose, I couldn't help but nod in approval. To have picked up on the fact that we had planned out her acceptance into the council is an indicator of her intelligence.
"Ever since I found out I was going to be made Vice President," I cooly answered.
"You guys really should have told me, you know?" Ichinose said, pouting.
Yuki giggled. "That would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it? Fufu, I had fun with how Kiyotaka and I entered your class earlier," she said.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me! You were really mean earlier, Yuki-chan. You treated me like a ragdoll," Ichinose complained, but her face told me that she was simply enjoying the banter.
"I couldn't resist! You looked like a sad teddy bear earlier," Yuki reasoned.
A teddy bear? While Ichinose is indeed cuddly, she doesn't look like a teddy bear. You say the weirdest things, Yuki.
"That said, your class really is impressive, huh?" Ichinose said, a ghost of a smile present on her face. "Chie-sensei said it was the first time that any class risen in rank during the first month. But knowing that the two of you are there, I guess that's to be expected."
"To be expected?" Yuki asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ichinose looked at Yuki, this time facing the blonde with a bright smile. "Mhm. It's something that came to my mind during the Student Council interviews. You and Ayanokōji-kun really made me think that you both belonged on another level with how you guys answered Horikita-senpai's questions. That's why, I wouldn't be surprised if either of you figured out the S-System early on," she replied.
For someone who had just found out that our classes were supposed to be pitted against one another in a battle to determine who'd graduate top of the batch, Ichinose sure seemed nonchalant about it. In fact, it seemed like all she cared about was knowing that her friends were thriving.
"You sure do have a lot of faith in us, Ichinose. Who knows? It might be Kushida who figured that out," I joked.
To her credit, the pink-haired girl wasn't offended at my deflection. "Horikita-senpai was right. You have a weird sense of humor, Ayanokōji-kun," she said, giggling.
"That's tame compared to his usual jokes, Honami-chan. I swear, Kiyotaka feeds off the misery of other people who had to listen to his corny jokes," Yuki chimed in, glaring at me playfully.
Give me a break. I'm learning to make funny jokes that don't involve dick jokes, okay?
"It makes me sad, though, that we have to be rivals simply because of how this school worked," Ichinose said, a sad smile on her face.
"There's an easy way to fix that: transfer to our class!" Yuki suggested, catching both me and Ichinose off-guard.
"W-what are you saying, Yuki-chan?"
Yuki shrugged. "If you don't want to be our rival, you can just go to our class. I'm pretty sure we'll be Class A by next month," she answered.
Yuki's self-confidence and cockiness really were on another level, even if there was a justified reason for her behaving like that.
So I decided to flick her on the forehead for the third time today. "Don't be insensitive to Ichinose. She's doing her best to lead her class, you know?" I chided the blonde, who simply giggled.
"I'm sure she simply wants the three of us to be classmates, Ayanokōji-kun," Ichinose said in defense of the cheeky queen of passive-aggressiveness.
"Well, I'll be the first to tell you that I really do not care if you're in a different class, Ichinose. If we get along, we get along. It's as simple as that," I said in an attempt to ease her worries.
I could tell that Ichinose was sad at the thought of our classes being pitted against each other, as she simply wanted to get along and make memories with her friends.
With that, the competitive nature encouraged by the S-System posed a direct threat to her wishes.
"I'd love that, Ayanokōji-kun," Ichinose replied, smiling. "If possible, I want us to maintain our good relationship despite the class rivalry that we'd have to deal with."
I shrugged. "That's just natural. We're going to work together in the Student Council, so it'd be awkward if we treated each other as enemies. Don't you agree, Yuki?" I turned my head to the blonde, who earnestly nodded.
"That's right! Besides, I could never look at you as an enemy, Honami-chan!" Yuki exclaimed, capturing the bustier girl in a hug.
"Well, it looks like we're here," I said, stopping as we found ourselves arriving at Ichinose's homeroom. "Take it easy for today, Ichinose. Feel free to inform your class about the news."
Ichinose smiled at us. "Thank you so much, Ayanokōji-kun, Yuki-chan!"
"Chat me later, okay, Honami-chan?" Yuki asked with a smile.
"I will!" Ichinose replied before entering her classroom.
As Ichinose disappeared from view, Yuki turned her head to me.
"You were never one for pep talks," she pointed out. "Have you fallen for Honami-chan or something?" She accused.
"I've always been good at pep talks. But that said, no, I haven't fallen for Ichinose. That's just ridiculous," I replied, shaking my head.
"I know. I'm just making sure," Yuki retorted. "But that said, you're really starting to show your true self, Kiyotaka."
I raised an eyebrow at Yuki's accusations but said nothing.
The blonde then took it as her sign to continue. "You're trying to earn Honami-chan's trust just so you could have a cushy meat shield against the new Class D, who'd no doubt go on the offensive to regain their footing," she pointed out.
"That's a rather harsh way of putting it, Yuki," I said, sighing. "I'm not leaving Ichinose to the wolves. I'll be helping them out in some way. After all, with how well we performed this month, the new Class D wouldn't think of doing anything against us."
"That's true. But if it comes to it, I honestly don't mind if you use Class C as a meat shield. I wasn't kidding when I said I wanted Honami-chan in our class, you know? She can replace Kushida or something," Yuki replied with a shrug.
I raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you calling her Kikyō-chan?"
Yuki scoffed. "You think I wouldn't be able to pick up on her behavior? I'm simply keeping her close to properly observe her. I don't see her as a friend. You're not the only one capable of crafting plans, Kiyotaka."
Now, that's news.
"Is she worth keeping in the class?" I asked.
"Fuck no," Yuki replied without any hesitation. "In fact, I dislike her even more than I dislike Horikita. The bitch is as fake as fake could get and seemed oddly obsessed with Horikita."
That makes things easier, then. If Yuki, who's normally a good judge of character and ability, believes that Kushida isn't worth saving, then she probably isn't.
"Do you feel the same about Horikita?" I asked, a curious tone evident in my question.
Yuki looked at me for a few seconds and then sighed. "Not really. I only dislike her because she likes you and sits next to you. You weren't wrong when you said she had potential," she answered.
"I don't think she likes me," I replied.
"You're not a girl, Kiyotaka. We sense these things better than boys. I can tell that Horikita-san likes you but just doesn't know it yet."
For my sake, I hope you're wrong, Yuki. I'd rather not have Horikita-senpai bothering me about dating his sister or something.
Last week was a major red flag, you know?
"You're a master at psychology and human feelings, huh?" I said, my voice dripping in sarcasm.
Yuki huffed. "You'd be sorry once you realize I was right!"
"Let's put that aside for now. We have bigger things to plan for," I replied, downplaying Yuki's theories.
The Midterm Exams, the Student Council, the Class Competition, and perhaps, even Nagumo-senpai.
This month has just started, and it seems like there are already plenty of things for me to deal with.
What a pain.
End of Chapter
Or so it was supposed to be.
End Credit Scene (Consider this as an actual part of the story)
Unknown POV
Advanced Nurturing High School was an interesting school, to say the least.
During my first day in this school, I immediately noticed something amiss with our teacher's orientation on how the school worked.
These led to me formulating several questions in my mind:
1. What's the point of Private Points, and how does the school calculate how much of these we'd get in the following months?
After all, as generous as ANHS had presented itself to be, I found it unlikely for the school to willingly give up 48 million yen per month across all 12 classes, as that would be financially unsustainable and impractical.
2. What is the agenda behind the intentional vagueness of the orientation when hints are thrown all throughout the speech?
Were the teachers tasked to guide the students to attempt and find the bigger picture of this entire setup?
And lastly,
3. What is the point of these intricate scheming and mysteries?
With those three important questions making their way into my mind, I began to turn the wheels and began forming hypotheses to make sense of all of these oddities.
And a week after the start of classes, it began to sink in.
Class Competitions.
That's the driving force behind everything here at ANHS. The school is deliberately pitting all four classes against each other for a reason yet to be explained to us, and I find the prospect of competition to be intriguing...
And I've always enjoyed interesting situations.
Now, we're a month into the school year, and the true nature of the school has been revealed to the rest of our year.
As expected, my suspicions were right, and we stood at the top of the hierarchy, just like how it was supposed to be.
But just because I expected our victory didn't mean the competition had gotten boring.
After all, it would seem like another one of the first-year classes had figured out the game: Class 1-B.
To think that the class of supposed defects was able to jump two classes within the first month.
How preposterous...
But also extremely interesting because this simply meant that another individual of my caliber had managed to find their way in this school.
Just as I was about to get even more lost in my thoughts, music emanated from the speakers, and a feminine voice began speaking through it.
"Good day, students of ANHS. After careful consideration and thorough deliberation, the Student Council is pleased to announce the addition of two new members to our esteemed team. We are proud to welcome Second Vice President Ayanokōji Kiyotaka from Class 1-B and First-Year Representative Tsubaki Yuki from Class 1-B. We firmly believe that their leadership skills and dedication will serve the best interests of our institution as we move forward.
With that, we extend our warmest congratulations to Ayanokōji Kiyotaka and Tsubaki Yuki and look forward to their contributions to our council.
Thank you for your attention, and we look forward to working together towards a brighter future for ANHS."
Ara? Did I just hear that right?
Ayanokōji Kiyotaka?
And before I knew it, a smirk appeared on my face.
"Ugh. What's with the creepy look on your face, Sakayanagi?"
I turned my head to my right, seeing a certain beer can thief with a look of disdain on her face. It was adorable if I were being honest.
For all the disdain she showed for being ordered to follow me, she sure does seem not to mind following orders.
"Fufufu... nothing for you to worry about, Kamuro-san," I replied, keeping a smile on my face. "But I suppose I could let you in on a secret."
Kamuro raised an eyebrow at my cryptic words.
"Things are about to be interesting."
End of the End Credit Scene.
A/N: It seems like I'm back in my old 1 chapter/day routine, LMAO. Don't expect for this to be the case all the time, but there really would be times when I'd just upload a chapter per day simply because I felt like it.
Before anything else, I'd like to ask if you guys think my set-up for future events was executed fine or if there are parts that need to be tweaked. If there are, please do comment about them, and I'll adjust it when I believe it fits the overall narrative.
To make things easier, here are some of the set-ups presented here:
1. The Kushida Problem - In Chapter 7, Kiyotaka set out a plan that sought to kill two birds with one stone, where he would be able to evaluate Kushida and Horikita without lifting a finger. There wasn't any progress to this plan aside from Horikita being more amiable towards Kushida.
In this chapter, Yuki randomly mentioned how she'd willingly have Honami replace Kushida, saying that she actually disliked Kushida all this time, only keeping her close to observe her. This then made Kiyo see how Kushida might be more expendable than he initially thought. (Also, Yuki's finally showing why she's the best girl by making plans right under Kiyo's nose. jk)
2. Potential Expulsions - With Class D (now Class B) having 920 points, Kiyotaka feels more liberal in the likelihood of potentially eliminating a "cancerous" classmate, as he found out from Manabu how much CP an expulsion would cost.
I'm not going to say if Kiyo's actually going to expel someone from the class, but he now has one more card in his arsenal.
3. Class C and Kanzaki - After 12(?) chapters, Kanzaki has made his return to the story, with Kiyo finally knowing that he was actually in ANHS. I think I kinda half-assed the explanation of why Kiyo didn't know why he was there, but hopefully, the short interaction wasn't too underwhelming.
That said, Ichinose is now a Student Council member early in the story because of Kiyo's appointment as VP and the plan that our boi and Manabu-nii had constructed.
As you'd expect, Class C (Ichinose and the Fairy Tail Guild) and Class B (Kiyo's Sociopath Harem and Failures) would be working together. It's also implied that Ryuuen wouldn't attempt a blatant challenge to Class B, but there's a chance that Kiyo could be wrong in his guess.
Now, onto some extra stuff.
1. Why wasn't Sudo the one with the lowest score on the surprise test?
It was touched upon that Kiyotaka, due to his whimsical desire to help out Sudo (caused by Sudo's indirect assist in Chapter 3), had decided to tutor the brash redhead. While Sudo's still dumb as bricks, he's substantially better here because Kiyo's apparently a good teacher.
2. Why did they get 920 points? Isn't that too high?
Yes, it's high. But it's also touched upon in this chapter and the previous ones that Kiyotaka took on a more hands-on approach to keep Class D in line, which included using the influential figures in the class to basically control the class. I think that if in Self-Test, arguably one of the more realistic COTE fics there is, they were only able to lose 80 points, it should also be possible here, with a more proactive Kiyotaka and another strong leader in Yuki taking charge.
But hey, I could be wrong in my assessment, you know?
That said, I'd say the only reason they weren't Class A was primarily because of the mentioned The Four Horsemen of Stupidity (Hondo, Miyamoto, Yamauchi, and Ike), which made them lose some points.
3. How the hell is Yuki suddenly cooler in the last two chapters?
I just got tired of showing off her Yandere side all the time and wanted to show people how badass another fourth-gen product is.
People are starting to dislike her, and I'm just trying to remind people why most of you wanted her to be the main girl from Vol 0.
4. Is Honami part of the main crew now?
YES.
If you guys have questions that I haven't addressed, just send me a PM, and please be nice in doing so. I've been pretty responsive to PMs, in case you peeps didn't know.
See you in the next chapter!