Felix cote

by vamer

ok

1. 1-55

Chapter 1: #1 Felix's bloody tears 2

"HAHAHAHA" self-loathing laugh 1

Here I am, laughing at my own immature behavior, my stupidity, naiveness.

AT MY OWN VERY EXISTENCE!!!

Here I am, lying in a pool of blood with no help, with no family, with none to trust.

I am slowly but surely dying. I am seeing my entire life before me, that hell called life began with… 5

--10 YEARS AGO--

"Mommy! I want to go to that new indoor ZOO, I want to see tigers, lions, and all other big animals!" I, 6 years old kid, was screaming inside the car at a beautiful mature lady who was my mom. She had a nice black smooth hair and very pale skin like she was a vampire or had an allergy against the sun. 11

"Don't worry Felix, we will be there quickly. Your papa will speed up a bit and we will arrive before you will be able to blink." My mother said gently while caressing my hair, I was sitting on her lap. It wasn't really safe for me to sit there because she was sitting on the co-driver seat, but my parents allowed it. I was really spoiled child who knew the only selfishness and fun. But I guess that's how kids are, aren't they? 2

" HAHA I will try my best, but we cannot break the law by speeding too much." My father laughed and replied upon hearing my mother's words. He had no exceptional looks, however, he was probably the most kind-hearted person I knew, always helping others, even strangers. He indeed increased speed a bit but his speed didn't exceed maximum permitted speed on the road. It was winter so it was dangerous to drive even within permitted speed. 1

Of course, we had to be unlucky and our car seemed to "slipped" on the frozen road and began to shake and be unsteady. 2

"AAAAAA!!!" I was screaming like a normal kid would in that situation. Thankfully my father was better than the average driver and could stabilize the car and stop in the middle of the road. Of course, such a thing created a lot of panic and cars behind us started to decrease their speed to not bump into our car.

It was at that moment when everything seemed fine and my father closed his eyes for a second to take a breath, I screamed: "PAPA!!!"

My scream startled both my parents and they looked at the front window which was still covered with a little bit of snow. Their faces immediately changed to worst and they instantly tried to shield me with their bodies against a truck that was speeding towards us. Did that truck "slip" on the frozen road too or was it another reason? At that time I had no idea, I also had no idea that this "peaceful" day would change my life into a living hell. 8

--1 YEAR LATER--

"..m..o..m" I said weakly while trying my best to open my eyes. When I finally opened my eyes and adjusted them to a strong light, I didn't see my mom or father. I only saw a white ceiling.

"You are finally awake?!" I heard a happy voice that belonged to a lady who was standing right beside the bed I was lying on. 5

"Where..Am..I?" I asked quietly, I was scared by being in a room with a random lady I didn't recognize.

"You are in hospital sweety, you were in a coma for almost 1 year." Lady beside me answered my question as gently as she could, perhaps to make me more comfortable.

"Hospital?... Coma?... Where is mommy and papa? UGH!" I was confused so I asked more questions however when I tried to remember something my head was in extreme pain, so I grabbed my head with my hands.

"Easy there… You are still weak if you will try to forcefully remember something it could end really badly for you sweety, just relax for now." Lady said with a gentle smile and tried to help me by distracting me from thinking.

3 weeks after waking up from my coma I was strong enough to remember a few fragments of my memories what actually happened. I didn't believe it, I couldn't believe it. I was deceiving myself. 1

Lady who was taking care of me came into my room. I wasn't sharing it with anyone because of my parents being a little bit richer than the average people.

"Hello, nurse Alice" I greeted her with a weak and fake smile.

"Good morning, Felix. I have extremely good news for you" Alice greeted me with her usual kind smile.

What kind of news could be considered good in my situation? Even though I sarcastically smiled inside I still answered with curiosity: "What news?" At this time I already didn't try to deceive myself, I fully knew what happened from my memories and no one told me about the situation of my parents which only strengthened my sadness.

"Your aunt and uncle want to take care of you and since you are already strong enough to leave, they want to take you home with them!" Alice delivered so-called "good news" to me with an excited face.

Aunt and uncle… I met them only a few times, I knew almost nothing about them. How could it be good news? But despite that, I still agreed, after all I had no place to go and I couldn't take care of myself. 2

--

My aunt and uncle took good care of me even though I isolated myself from others including them. I had no friends because of that so I could only read books all day, not like I hated it. To be honest I liked a quiet life without annoying energetic people. 9

When I was 15 years old, the situation escalated and classmates began to bully me, not as I cared because most of it was only little pranks, however, one day few boys from the upper class tried to verbally bully me and made few remarks about my mom and father which crossed my bottom line. I got into a fight with them, even though I didn't know any martial arts, rage, and hatred gave me all the power I needed to beat them. Of course, I also got injured but I didn't care as long as their injuries were worse than mine. At that day, the darkness consumed me, I got to know how fights can get me free of my depression and even made me genuinely smile a little. Since that day I got into more and more fights. Anyone who mentioned my parents met my wrath. 1

When I turned 16, I realized that uncle and aunt were always supporting me even though I did such bad things and I started to change once again and opened up more to my uncle and aunt. I was slowly accepting them as my new "parents". I would probably accept them if not for that one ominous day.

--

It was already 9 PM and I was planning to do some homework for school and then go to sleep but first, I wanted to ask aunt something so I went from the 2nd floor where my room was located down to the 1st floor. When I arrived near the kitchen I heard an angry voice of uncle: "Why did we have to take care of that shit?!" 6

"Keep it down!! Felix might hear you!" Aunt immediately tried to calm him down.

shit? Felix? Are they talking about me?! I hesitated to show myself but in the end, I hid behind the corner and eavesdropped on them.

"You know that his parents were rich, he is the sole heir. If he would have died back then we would be able to get our hands on their money but since he was able to survive we had to change our strategy. By taking care of him, we will be able to control him in the future." Aunt patiently explained to uncle.

?!!! I almost couldn't believe words I just heard. I peeked into the kitchen while leaning onto the corner and I saw a lot of alcohol bottles on the table. At first, I thought that it was just alcohol that made them say those words but then I recalled words "Drunk person is the most truthful person you can find." I panicked and didn't know what to do, so I moved a few steps back but I forgot about a vase with a flower behind me and I knocked it down on the ground. The vase shattered and sound, of course, attracted the attention of people next door. 3

"Felix?!" Aunt panicked a bit but still called my name out.

Since my presence was discovered, I showed myself.

Aunt and uncle probably already guessed that I heard everything from my disappointed face and my lifeless eyes.

"Felix, I thought you were already asleep" Aunt said with her usual smile acting as nothing happened. She was probably trying to salvage the situation, however, uncle was too drunk to even try to salvage it. He probably lost it and grabbed a knife from the kitchen table and run towards me.

"Don't!!!" Aunt tried to calm him down but he already lost it and thought that this was the only solution to get the money, to get rid of me.

I never expected my uncle to actually attack me so my reaction was moderately slowed down and I moved only when I saw the knife in front of me. I jumped back but it was already too late and the knife made large wound on my hand.

"Agh!!" I groaned aloud but didn't scream out of pain, not like it would help, our house..no, their house was in the wildness and just to go shopping for daily necessities would take 40 minutes by car. 6

Uncle was nearing me once again and I had no time to think of what to do so I did the first thing that came into my mind, I kicked him into his genitals which immediately made him lose consciousness. 6

I have to run away, I thought so I instantly run towards the front door and kicked them open. I didn't have time to take anything useful from the house. Although I knocked down uncle, there was still aunt, woman or not, with a weapon even kid can be dangerous and I didn't have any military training to actually go against someone with weapon. 6

I run far away from that house until I could no longer run due to the loss of blood. For the first time, I checked how bad my wound was when I saw it my face turned pale. It wasn't just a light wound, even my bone was visible. I knew that even if I was able to perform First aid and slowed down bleeding, an ambulance wouldn't be able to make it here fast enough. 2

I laid down on the ground and looked at stars for a little while before fishing out my phone from the pocket. I looked at the contacts and saw 1 person who I could still trust, nice and kind Alice from the hospital. I decided to press the call button and waited until she accepts the call.

"Yes, who is calling?" Alice's voice could be heard within a matter of seconds, yet it sounded a little bit cold.

"It's me, Felix…" I answered her weakly.

"...I see…and? What do you want?" Her reply got even colder than before.

"...Do you have a bit of time to spare?" I wasn't affected by her cold answer, I thought that she was probably in a bad mood.

"...Felix, sorry but no" (Alice)

"Even if its matter of life and death?" I asked her in a serious voice.

"I am sorry but we are nothing but strangers…" (Alice)

"Then why did you gave me your phone number back in the hospital?!" I asked her in a confused voice.

"I was at my work, I had to be nice towards you. I am sorry but I have no interest in talking to you any longer so I will hang up now." (Alice)

"A- beep" Even before I had a chance to say something, she already hung up.

"FUCK!" I cursed and threw my phone away into the woods. 19

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"HAHAHAHA" self-loathing laugh

Here I am, laughing at my own immature behavior, my stupidity, naiveness.

AT MY OWN VERY EXISTENCE!!!

Here I am, lying in a pool of blood with no help, with no family, with none to trust.

--PRESENT--

While looking at stars I am thinking… I don't want any revenge, because I know that I can't have any. 12

I want a second chance, I want a second life. I want to live a life where I am powerful, where I can decide other people's life and death, where I am a manipulator and not a puppet!!! Only then I will be able to live happily smiling, with everything on the palm of my hand! If only I was given that chance, I would forget past regrets, revenge and live another life. 6

Just in those 2 minutes staring at the stars made me fascinated by them. I never knew that stars could look so beautiful. My vision is getting blurry, I guess its coming. For the last time, I imagined my mom and father looking at me.

"I am sorry…" I said aloud into a quiet and calm night. I closed my eyes and 1 bloody tear escaped from them. 12

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Chapter 2: #2 First time in the Town

heavy breathing I was gasping for breath, and only after 3 seconds, it struck me. I can breathe?

I instinctively opened my eyes but I was instantly forced to close them by strong sunlight. After a few attempts to open my eyes, I was able to clearly see what was in front of me. Blue sky without any clouds, I am lying on the ground but I don't even know a reason why. My memories are all cloudy and blurry, I have a problem to remember who I am.

Who Am I? Where Am I? These were my first questions, yet I couldn't even answer such simple questions.

It took me around 15 minutes of lying on the ground digging in my blurry memories to finally remember who I am. I can remember my name, Felix and that also started a chain of "few" painful memories. I recalled how my family had a car accident, how I changed into a cold introvert, I skipped school a lot and got into fights. Then I recalled all the hatred after I was betrayed and killed by my own uncle and aunt.

I took a while to regulate my breathing, after all, I swore that I will let past be past. I won't get any chance for revenge so there is no need to live by the past. Since I am alive it means that I got my chance, I looked down on my own body but what I saw wasn't a body of the newborn, neither it was my old body. My body was quite tiny if I were to guess my own age it would be around 6 years old. 8

Unfortunately, I had no memories of this new body which was quite a scary experience for me, after all, everyone fears unknown. 1

" sigh I am sure I will remember sooner or later" I reassured myself by saying this aloud.

I got up and finally took a look at my surroundings.

"Nothing but trees huh?" My expression became a bit ugly. I have no idea where I am and civilization nowhere to seen, JUST GREAT. I showed a sarcastic smile.

First of all, I have to find food and water, then I will be able to think further about this problem.

-- FEW HOURS LATER"

It was already getting dark and I was fortunate enough to catch a sleeping wild hare. After I apologized for the appearance's sake, I forcefully twisted it's neck without any hesitation. I had no problem finding a river. I set my "camp" near it and created a campfire to roast the hare. 17

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"Ehh, this is an awful taste." I complained aloud, I had no spices or sauce and to be honest my culinary skills weren't the best. Awful but at least edible, I said to myself while swallowing tasteless meat.

-- NEXT MORNING--

I opened my eyes and saw that I was still in one piece. I had a dream where I saw a lot of memories, most of them were mine but some of them weren't mine, they probably belonged to this body. 2

I learned that this body was indeed 6 years old, also that I am somewhere in Japan but where exactly? I will probably have to wait to recover more memories.

I went to the river to freshen up myself but when I saw myself in the water's reflection I stopped for a second. Why do I look like the small "Accelerator" from "A Certain Magical Index" anime show? And why I can remember some random anime show, yet yesterday I couldn't even remember my name clearly. My memories are truly fucked up. I tried to make an excited smile I used to wear in fights and I truly looked a lot like the "Accelerator". 4

Am I in the "A Certain Magical Index" universe? Nah, that's bullshit, I would have some kind of superpower if it was true. For now, I will throw away all thoughts on my appearance away, I have to start training my body if I want to stay alive for some time in this wildness.

Like that, my daily life started. Jogging, stretching, meditating. I did everything I could to strengthen my body and mind. Meditating even helped me with the recovery of my memories, I learned a lot of a different kind of martial arts. For now, I only practiced a few common moves, after all, my body was still 6 years old so it might not be able to bear it. 18

I also started to explore surroundings and after 2 hours of walking straight, I finally discovered civilization but I decided against the idea to go explore the town. I had no experience in living within Japan civilization, what would they thought if they saw 6 years old kid wandering around the town all alone? I heard that Japanese people were mostly kind and polite so I am afraid they would try to talk to me and find my "parents" plus I don't even have any ID card or something to show my identity. At least now I know where the town is. 4

I went back to my camp and resumed my daily life of training.

--1 YEAR LATER-- 8

It was already 1 year since I came into this "world" and I was able to recover most of my memories of my past life but there seemed few memories that were locked away from me. I was able to deduce why my memories were so messy, It was perhaps because of 2 kinds of memories fusing into 1 and also because I seem to have obtained photographic memory. 12

Today I turned 7 years old and last night I had a dream about the really strange breathing technique. It reminded me a bit about the cultivation techniques from novels and all that shit but I doubted it had such effect, however, I still tried it in the afternoon, I had to get into very strange and embarrassing position and just breath in regular intervals. By no means it was easy, if I didn't stretch my body for the entire year I wouldn't be able to even get into that position and even then it was very hard to maintain it for a long time while breathing slowly and silently. 7

After an hour of training that breathing technique I collapsed on the ground while heavily panting. I was drenched in sweat. 4

"What to hell is that?" I complained aloud because my stamina should be really high thanks to my daily jogging, yet I was still dead tired after an hour of practice. I was able to feel little difference in my body like I had better control over my muscles but it was only imagination, I had no proof.

After a long rest that continued even through the entire night, I was able to feel energetic once again.

I should make some money, I hunted almost all hares in my surroundings and it's getting harder to find food. I will also need some money to make a fake ID card or something, I still have close to none memories of this body so I don't have any idea what kind of family he had if he had any that is. 5

I decided that if I want to live I have to make contact with the outer world, which means going to the city. I run in the direction where the city was located even after an hour of running I wasn't heavily breathing.

At least that breathing technique helped with something. I went towards a nice-looking neighborhood and resolved myself to knock on the door.

knock knock Just when I knocked on the door I recalled that I don't even know how to speak Japanese, I panicked a little but I was still confident in my English.

When the door opened, they revealed a lady that looked kind and mature.

"Oh? What is it, little boy are you here to play with my daughter?" When the lady saw me she smiled kindly and asked me a question that caught me a bit off guard, however, the good news was that I was able to understand japanese. 5

Me play with your daughter? How could I play with little kids but I guess I look like one too.

"Hello, big sister don't you have any light work for me?" I asked with beaming smile while trying to sound as innocently as I could.

Of course, no matter how innocently I looked she still got suspicious.

"If you need money why don't you go to your parents, little boy?" She asked me with a patient smile.

"Ah, my parents said that this is a test or something like that. Something about socializing, I didn't really understand it but they said that with the money I will get from work I will be able to buy a lot of candies!" I answered her while showing her happy and naive smile that showed my white teeth. 7

"I see, you must have a really strict yet loving parents. Hmmm, how about you help me with a few small things in the house and then you can play a bit with my daughter? You will definitely take a liking to her, unfortunately, she doesn't have many friends." She asked me once again to play with her daughter which made my lips twitch a bit.

Why do you want me to play with your daughter so much..ugh, not like I have many options. At least she offered to pay me without any further questions about my parents. 1

"Please take a good care of me!" I lightly bowed while saying that. I still have no idea about Japanese culture so I hope it was polite enough.

"Don't be so polite and come in already, hihi" Lady invited me in while chuckling upon seeing my unnecessary politeness. 4

While I was taking my shoes off, I noticed a sign on the door with name on it: "Karuizawa" 7

Japanese people really have strange names… 1

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Felix9713 Felix9713

I will be glad for any comments. Be it about some grammar errors or some advice. I will appreciate it.

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Chapter 3: #3 Kei Karuizawa

"What's your name, little boy? I don't really mind calling you like that but knowing the name of the boy that will play with my daughter will be very useful for the future." Lady asked me while I was helping her with some household chores.

Did it sound only to me like that or did she just tease me? No way, I am after all 7 years old, maybe she is just playful in nature and teased me out of habit. It's not like a 7 years old kid would get such a deep meaning in her words.

"Where are my manners, my parents told me to always introduce myself first. I am Felix" I said trying to look embarrassed while extending my hand for a handshake. 3

--(Lady's POV)--

Felix? That's quite an unusual name and what about his surname? I guess he is shy, however, asking for it would probably put him into an even more embarrassing situation. 15

--(Lady's POV end)--

"Hihi, no need to be so polite… Felix-kun. You can call me Aiko-Neesan." Aiko introduced herself with a light laugh while forcing my small body into a hug which caught me off guard.

I tensed up a bit, however, I couldn't detect any bad intentions from her so I eased up a bit. I promised myself not to trust anyone anymore but I guess I can put a bit of trust in someone while having my guard up for unexpected situations. 6

But these honorifics… I don't know how to actually use them. I used to watch some anime in the past but I can hardly remember anything from it. Let's just pray that it will play out somehow. 8

"I can't breathe Aiko-Neesan" Since she was taller than me, she was actually suffocating me with her melons. Now I understand how they almost suffocated in anime in situations like this one. 2

"Sorry, sorry, shall we continue in cleaning?" Aiko asked me and I simply nodded while I was trying to catch some breath. What a deadly weapon, I thought while cautiously looking at her chest. 4

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While I was dusting the kitchen table I noticed a newspaper. I couldn't care any less about some random newspaper, however, 1 article caught my attention. Its headline was ADVANCED NURTURING HIGH SCHOOL.

" ADVANCED NURTURING HIGH SCHOOL – One of the most prestigious and biggest High schools, established by the government to nurture the young people who will support the country in the future. Until now it proved that graduates have 100% employment and college entry rate.

100% rate? It must be really prestigious, I will have to find more information about this school online. 2

However, if I want to go to a high school I would have to attend middle school or somehow bypass the education system if I want to apply for this high school. I will decide after I find out more information about it.

"Felix-kun, you were a great help. You can take a break and if you want I can introduce my daughter to you." Aiko said to me with a smile that was full of expectations.

Why are you so desperate to introduce your daughter to me? I should be considered just as a stranger no? You know me for only around an hour but I guess kids normally don't really have any evil intentions. 1

"It would be my pleasure" I answered with happy like smile but my lips still twitched a bit at the imagination of playing around with the kid. It wasn't like I could reject, it would be too rude and probably created awkward situation.

Aiko led me to a door on the 2nd floor and knocked on it lightly.

"Kei-chan, I want to introduce someone to you, I will come in ok?" Aiko said aloud

She must really love her daughter, she even respects her privacy while she is still a kid.

"Eh? O-ok mom" Quiet voice came from the other side of the door. If I wasn't focusing I wouldn't even be able to hear it.

Aiko opened the door and the first thing I saw was a kid. To be more precise a girl around "my" age with purple eyes and medium-long blonde hair tied into a ponytail. It was apparent that when she grows up she would become a beautiful lady… well not like I cared. 12

"Kei-chan this is Felix-kun. Felix-kun this is Kei-chan." Aiko said with a big smile while forcing both of us to shake each other hands.

"Felix-kun? That's really unusual name and what is your surname?" Kei asked me in a pretty rude way but I didn't really care, however, someone next to me clearly cared. 5

"Kei-chan you can't ask so rudely! And even if his name is unusual it is still beautiful don't you think so?!" Aiko scolded Kei and asked her a question in a quite threatening voice which made even me shudder.

"Sorry and I guess it's not bad…" Kei was still a bit rebellious but didn't want to be scolded again so she agreed with her mother's statement.

"Alright, kids I will let you alone so you can play. Felix-kun, don't mind her attitude, she is very shy." Aiko said so and quickly run away from the room and closed the door before I could say anything.

I will probably die… I just hope Aiko will come before my death for a rescue, I never wanted to do chores around the house so much in my life as now. 3

"You are thinking about something rude right now right?!" Kei said to me while frowning.

Ugh, does this kid have some kind of superpowers or is this legendary "woman" intuition? I can't really call 8 years old kid a woman. I guess its something that runs deeply inside her family. 1

"I am sorry but I am not interested in playing with you, I would rather study so I can make my mom proud of me." Kei refused to play with me even before I said something to her.

But to think that she would rather study than play at her age… It's truly fascinating but better for me, I would rather "study" with her then play some childish games, well in my case I would be teaching her. Although my memories are a bit messy and I can't remember my life memories, on the other hand, it seems that "educational" memories are intact, no they were even strengthened. 4

"Then how about you show me what you want to study and if you won't understand anything I will help you ok?" I offered to help her with her studying. 2

"Aren't you of same age as me?" Kei gave me suspicious look but that was it.

"You will never know who is smarted if you won't try." I provoked her just for fun. 3

"Hmpf, fine we will see who is actually smarter" (Kei) It seems that fish caught a bait. I smiled evilly inside. Even if this girl is a genius she doesn't stand a chance, now the question is whether to win by a large margin or make it look like I won by a hair. 3

I like this girl and I feel quite generous, I guess a close win will make her study harder. 3

--(Kei's POV)--

This boy irritates me so much. I have no friends but I doubt this arrogant boy has any too. I will teach him a lesson and then we will never see each other again. I will definitely complain to mom about this later.

--(Kei's POV end)-- 1

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Chapter 4: #4 Uneasiness

--(Kei's POV)--

"How…? How can you be so lucky to win every competition only by 1 point?!!" I was angrily swinging with my hands all around me. I didn't want to accept this kind of defeat! 4

We both competed in grammar, mathematics, basics of English and basics of physics.

I myself was really sure about my win in mathematics because I was studying it a lot with my mom whenever she had free time. But that boy named Felix was able to beat me only by 1 point which is even more frustrating! 1

There was also no way to cheat since we were actually giving each other questions. 1 was solving the questions and another person was keeping an eye on him.

--(Kei's POV end)--

"Maybe I wasn't just lucky, who knows?" I said with a slightly provoking smile. She was really behaving like a kid, not knowing how to take a defeat gracefully, however, I must admit that she looked a bit cute, of course, It was meant in a way you would say to your pet. I had no intentions or feelings towards a little girl. 14

"You-! Don't you dare tease me like that, you only won by 1 point in each competition!" (Kei) I guess my provocation worked better than I wanted to. Maybe it's because of my appearance, if I remember correctly then Accelerator had best smiles, they all looked wicked and provocative for the other side. 5

"Win is a win no matter what, you should remember that. And also one more thing, losing is not something shameful, no person is perfect, every person is different and somehow unique. What matters the most is when you lose, you have to lose with grace. If others will judge you for losing let them do so. You need to find true tranquility." I gave her advice that came from the bottom of my heart.

I will have to maintain a good relationship with Kei and Aiko so I can "work" here more often. I will have to get my hands on a lot of money if I want to somehow bypass the education system, plus having too much money never hurt anyone. 9

It seemed that Kei understood my words and looked at me with more admiration in her eyes.

--(Kei's POV)--

His words really woke me up. My mom used to tell me the same thing but she never used such deep words. Where did he learn all of it? 9

I took a better and closer look at him and he had a very smooth complexion, however, he looked a bit more fit than other kids. His muscles were visible under his shirt that looked a bit small for him. His white hair wasn't long enough to cover his red eyes that emitted a threatening feeling. I think I am able to feel his uniqueness, his unique aura, however, such savage and wild aura shouldn't belong to a kid right? 4

--(Kei's POV end)--

I heard creak sound and looked towards the door where Aiko stood while seriously observing us.

Was she eavesdropping on us? What is wrong with you woman…eavesdropping on little kids.

"Felix-kun, it's getting late it would be better if you could get home before sunset." Aiko reminded me to go "home" early.

"Ok, Aiko-Neesan" It still feels weird to call her like that, I would prefer madam.

"Wait for me at the front door please." Aiko said and I simply nodded and went down on the 1st floor. I went towards the front door, however, before that, I quickly took a smaller kitchen knife from the kitchen table and some bandages from a cupboard. 3

I am sorry but I might find a use for these items in the future. I will repay it by making Kei more mature and clever. I couldn't really ask for these things, so there was no other way than steal them.

I doubt they will notice 1 missing kitchen knife and a few bandages and even if they would notice, I highly doubt that I, 7 years old kid would become a suspect.

--(Kei's POV)--

Mom sent Felix-kun to the front door but she didn't follow after him.

"So? How is he? What game did you play with him Kei-chan?" Mom asked me this with a teasing smile.

"I guess he is a nice person and we didn't play but had serious competition instead" My face was a bit red from seeing her teasing smile but I still tried to calmly answer her questions.

"Competition? Don't tell me it was about studying again?! I already said to you that you won't make many friends this way. Studying is a good thing but you need to know how to balance it with your personal life." I got scolded again but now I tried to fight back.

"But he didn't mind it, mom!"

"He is a visitor, of course, he wouldn't disagree. His parents did really good job raising him. So how competition ended?" My mom sighed and asked for details.

"He only g-" I stopped myself from saying that sentence after recalling Felix-kun words. Lose with grace. I took a deep breath and continued.

"He won."

My mom's expression changed to surprised one, however, I didn't know if it was because she didn't think that Felix-kun could defeat me or because of my non-existent excuses.

--(Kei's POV end)--

If I heard Kei calling me a nice person I would probably laugh aloud.

I know how to recognize kindness and I will also repay kindness with kindness. If you respect me I will respect your existence. If you annoy or try to make a move against me, I will make you suffer. 9

I thought about those things while coldly gazing out of the window. I am quite fond of Kei and Aiko however, I promised myself that I will never ever blindly trust someone again. I will keep our relationship on the level where I will be able to cut any attachment towards them anytime needed. 6

Finally, after 3 minutes of waiting, both Aiko and Kei came down to the 1st floor. Aiko gave me quite a sum of money for such an easy job but I won't complain. We said goodbye to each other and they saw me off.

When I was planning to go back I spotted sign that said: "Internet Cafe"

It's getting late but I guess I could still check out that "Advanced Nurturing High School" I saw in the newspaper.

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I was able to gather basic information online:

- The area of the campus is about 600,000 square meters which also means that it is isolated from the outer world

- There are currently 4 types of classes. Class A which is considered best. Class B, means probably competent but with faults. Class C, many faults but still somehow capable students. Class D, worst of all, many faults, a small number of capable students. 1

- As for the school complex, it probably has everything, even karaoke, and arcade. There is also a large mall named Keyaki Mall.

!!!One can apply to the school only with a recommendation letter!!!

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It's almost sunset, I should go back or someone might stop me for wandering the streets at night. I will make a stop at the supermarket on the way back.

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I was already close to my camp but something caught my attention.

Did I just see 10 or more hares in the surroundings? I thought I already ate most of them in this area… I am starting to have a bad feeling about it. I tightened up my guard and resumed walking towards my camp. 4

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

Sorry for my English, hopefully, it's readable. Only 1-2 more chapters before the canon

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Chapter 5: #5 Koudo Ikusei High School

-- NIGHT time--

loud howling

I immediately opened my eyes and got up due to howling sounds.

Here goes my bad feeling… I already guessed that those hares I saw a while ago run away from something. It's just that there was no other way than to wait for that danger. I had no time to move my camp, even though it's surprising I actually have quite a lot of things here, however, I have no backpack, only a small bag from the convenience store. And if comes to the worst I can always run away, I am pretty confident that my stamina exceeds stamina of wolf, after all that training and breathing technique it should be really high. 3

I also learned a lot of different martial arts from memories that probably belonged to this body, that also included military's lethal and vicious moves, I know how to properly use a weapon, in my case knife I "stole" from Karuizawa family but I guess they wouldn't mind it if I told them that it might save my life today. 5

After 2 minutes of waiting, observing my surroundings and hearing a loud howling sounds I was finally able to spot 3 wolves moving together in a pack. I guess they were trying to use time itself against me. Most of the people in such a situation where they had to wait would probably start to panic and tried to run away or did something stupid which would give wolves advantage without risking any members of the pack.

It's not like I am totally calm, I can feel the tension of the situation, however, instead of being afraid it would be more appropriate to say that I am excited. I don't even know why I feel that way, I indeed enjoyed fights in my past but none of them were life-threatening.

Now how to do this? I thought while watching 3 wolves slowly and cautiously closing in distance between us.

They probably see me as small and easy prey. I should show some fear so they will grow more confident.

My entire body started to tremble and my legs were shaking. Wolves probably smelled my "fear" and got a little more confident and dropped their guard but still moved in to encircle me.

That's not good… I can't get myself surrounded. I wanted one of them to lunge at me and caught him off guard. They must have lost a few members of pack recently or there would be no reason for them to be so cautious. They were slowly encircling me.

It's now or never!

I made up my mind and my body stopped shaking, I firmly gripped the knife in my right hand and dashed towards wolf that was positioned closest to me. Full of adrenalin, my speed was even further enhanced, which caught them off guard and wolf I chose as a target tried to jump back by solely relying on its instinct but he still hesitated which gave me enough time to eliminate him but I discovered 1 problem. I sensed incoming danger behind me, the wolves should hesitate a little before making any sudden move…unless it's a leader.

I should have targeted the leader first but how should I know which one is the leader?

If I won't eliminate at least 1 of them they can get me surrounded which would only place me in a much more dangerous situation.

It seemed like time has slowed down. My mind was working at 100%.

I decided to ignore the incoming danger for now. I jumped at my target and deeply buried my knife into its neck after that I quickly retrieved it and tried to retreat but the leader was faster than I anticipated, he was able to bury its claws into my back and tried to bite me, however, I instantly responded by kicking him into the neck. 2

I retreated and I was able to make some distance between us.

The wound on my back wasn't deep but I will still have to attend to it in time or it will turn worse. 1

Fuck. My back hurts. I looked at the leader of the pack with a pained expression and hate within my eyes. My red eyes started to glow a bit and I could hear a voice in my head.

' KILL IT. SLAUGHTER IT. BUTCHER IT.' 7

My vision was getting blurry but it shouldn't be caused by loss of blood.

My pained expression was replaced with a wicked smile and I released a low evil laugh

"Kukuku" 4

That was the last thing I could remember.

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I regained my vision and first thing I noticed was 3 dead wolves around me. I looked at the knife that was fully covered in blood and still in my hands. I got an intense desire to lick that blood but I stopped myself before I could do it.

What the hell just happened? I am not any beast to lick the blood. Even if it's just wolf's blood, it might start here but where will it end? Human blood? I don't know what happened but I must keep my rationality intact. 2

I took a deep breath and bandaged my back. The wound wasn't deep enough to endanger my life but it will probably leave a scar.

I remained in the woods for the entire week without going out just to be sure I won't start murdering random people on the streets. After that, I once again started visiting the Karuizawa family. Aiko asked me why I didn't visit them for the entire week but I just made up a random excuse. But I don't get why they even expected me to visit, after all, I was there only once.

--8 YEARS LATER-- 12

I was lying on the ground with my eyes closed, relaxing after my intense training like any other day.

I was able to find someone who was an acquaintance of an official who could make me a new ID card without any problems. I only had to state my reason for it and pay a certain sum of money. As for where I got money. I was regularly visiting the Karuizawa family and helping them with chores but I eventually stopped coming because I felt that I was getting too attached to them. The other 7 years I had all kinds of jobs, most of them weren't legal because I couldn't sign a contract without the ID card.

I am also going to take an entrance exam for Advanced Nurturing High School today. How I was able to get a recommendation without going to middle school? These days, society is mostly ruled by money. The sum I was able to save over those years wasn't by any means small. Of course, not everything can be bypassed with money and if it could I had no such money. I had to choose a different approach. I was collecting information about the headmasters of middle schools all around the city. Then I found the one who was probably the kindest one and who had no qualms about bending the rules for a good reason. 2

I invited him to a cafe and explained to him my difficulties in childhood and requested him if I can take the final exam in his school. I didn't forget to say that I will also pay for any difficulties and since he had nothing to lose and wanted to give me a chance, he immediately accepted but he said that I have to score at least 65% instead of 50% that was required from students in that school.

I scored 90-100% at every subject to amaze him, of course, I could get 100% in everything but it would make me look too suspicious. I asked him about the recommendation letter and he immediately agreed to send one after seeing the results of my exam. 5

However, I find quite funny how almost all the money I saved up disappeared within a few days. Just the idea of working for more than 8 years and then spending everything within a few days makes me laugh in a depressing manner.

I opened my eyes and they started glowing in a threatening manner for a few seconds. Ever since that day, when I lost control over myself I was forced to fight those emotions every day and I succeeded and got a bit of peace in the end but since I forced it all out of my head all these emotions came into a surface which made my body emit wild and savage aura on its own. I can just hope that it will weaken over time. 7

I got up from the ground and took a few things that I would need for an exam. I wanted to go and meet up with the headmaster but I stopped for a moment when I saw a few wolves in the distance. I had many problems with them but ever since my body started to emit dangerous aura they stopped bothering me. It looked like they even admired me. I guess its law of the jungle, strongest deserves the most respect, but if they all attacked me at the same time I would be forced to flee. I am not a superhuman, after all of that training I might be able to dodge a bullet with great difficulty but dodging more of them at the same time is a big NO. 18

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"Felix-kun, you came. Remember, you have to score at least 50% in every subject." Headmaster said with a bit of sweat visible on his face. He probably thought I would be late but I came just in time for the exam.

"Of course I came, I wouldn't miss such an opportunity" I said to a headmaster and sat down on my seat.

After I got exam papers and I thoughtfully read them I came to the conclusion.

I am able to answer almost all of these questions with 100% reassurance. The problem is that I am probably already destinated to be in Class D. Headmaster told me that I won't get sorted into a class just by this exam. He also needs to send a complete report about me My ability to work in a team, athletics, and other things. He said that he can make it deliberately lower but if he tried to make it higher he would have problems with the government, so he told me that he will send a report with average results.

A high score on this exam can get me to a Class B at most if not only Class C. And getting a high score while having minimal teamwork and athletics would make a lot of students and teachers focus on me. I am aware that keeping a low profile is probably the best course of action.

Fuck it, I will score 50, 51, 52, 53… 14

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Time flew by and it was already April. Today is the entrance ceremony and first day at the new school.

I am currently waiting for the bus.

"Ah, how I hate the school uniform" I mumbled and adjusted the position of my tie. I was here all alone so no one even heard my complaining.

Finally, after what it seemed like 10 minutes, the bus arrived and I got in. I immediately searched for empty seats and I was able to find only one empty seat next to a well-built young man with long blonde hair. He was also wearing the same uniform as me so I assumed he was a 1st-year student too.

As I walked towards that seat my eyes met with the eyes of one of the passengers. He was also wearing the school uniform and had short brown hair.

What a lifeless eyes… I thought after I redirected my gaze towards the empty seat.

As I came before the seat I discovered that it wasn't empty but was blocked by the bag. It was probably bag of that blonde-haired guy.

"Can you please take your bag away? I want to sit down." I said with an expressionless face.

"..."

Boy didn't say anything and totally ignored me. I also noticed that a few passengers that were standing near me shook their heads when I started talking towards the guy.

I see so you want to do it this way.

I took his bag into my hands and threw it into his face. He managed to catch it before it could hit him but I didn't care about it and sat down on the now unoccupied seat. He finally looked at me and I "kindly" smiled and said with a big smile

"Thank you" 1

"Whatever…" Maybe my smile made him feel uneasy or perhaps no passenger chose this approach with him but he didn't pursue the situation that just happened. 1

After a few bus-stops, the bus got even more crowded and I simply folded my hands and closed my eyes, however, my rest was shortly interrupted by a voice that belonged to a woman.

"Don't you think you should give up your seat? You are sitting at the priority seat and the elderly is standing right next to you!"

It was quite near me but I was too comfortable to open my eyes and maybe if they thought that I am asleep they would stop talking.

"Why should I give up my seat? Even if it's a priority seat, there is no obligation for me to move. I am not breaking a law."

Guy next to me started to talk back so the woman was talking to him. No need to open my eyes, however, what he said is indeed true. He didn't even have to let me sit next to him even though it was just his bag that was blocking it. There is indeed no law against these things because society already does it on its own. But he will definitely attract the hatred and disgust of the entire society. It's the same with the teenagers these days, "You don't have a girlfriend or boyfriend?" "You never had one?" "You are still a virgin?" They will look at you differently if you answer wrongly to these questions. 3

After a while, their barking stopped and I was finally able to relax. If it continued even for a minute longer I would get annoyed. But it seemed that I was wrong and it was just the new beginning of the barking event.

"I also think that the lady is right, by helping the elderly we contribute to society"

Who is it this time?! I opened my eyes and I spotted a beautiful short-haired girl in school uniform.

They will never stop coming, they want to destroy my peace. Beautiful or not I don't care, you will not disturb me. I thought with furrowed brows.

They were barking for a few seconds but after a while, it seemed that even the elderly accepted her "fate"

Please…

"Everyone, could you please listen to me for a little bit? Can anyone give up their seat for this elderly, please?"

For fuck's sake. This ride should only take around 30 minutes yet it already feels like 5 hours.

I decided and got up.

"Ah, thank you!" The girl said to me with a big smile and her head down. I didn't even look at her, because she was the reason for my annoyance, however, I saw from the corner of my eyes that guy trying to give his bag back on the seat instead of letting the elderly sit down. I could only imagine another annoying situation and I immediately glared at him with my red eyes which emitted a threatening aura right at him.

The guy saw my eyes and hesitated a bit which gave the elderly time to sit down. 2

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I got off the bus

"Finally…" I mumbled, just the road was exhausting enough. Hopefully, speech at the entrance ceremony won't make me fall asleep.

I thought while passing through the big gate with the sign "Koudo Ikusei High School"

This is where I will truly start my life. I started to walk towards the hall where the entrance ceremony should be held.

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Chapter 6: #6 Arisu Sakayanagi 4

Too many people in here… These were my first thoughts when I arrived at the entrance ceremony.

A lot of students scattered all around the large hall but strangely it was relatively quiet. I guess it was because students didn't know which class others belong to. Introducing yourself to someone here is meaningless since they might become your enemies for the next 3 years.

I went to the most remote place in the hall, at least I tried to. When I arrived, there was still standing a short petite girl with lilac colored hair not far away from me. I noticed that she also had a cane in her hands.

She must have some health problems. I thought while looking at the cane in her hands but she probably noticed me looking and asked

"Curious?"

Not really, It's just a habit to check out my surroundings and that includes people but I probably shouldn't say this aloud.

"Sorry if my staring made you uncomfortable" I said politely and redirected my gaze at the podium before me.

However, instead of dropping the conversation, the girl looked at me more closely and asked me with a light laugh

"Fufufu, not Japanese are we?"

Why do you even care?

"I am not, isn't it simple enough to see?" I found this girl quite interesting and by her playful, calm and confident demeanor, I would guess she is from class B or A.

"Of course it is, you will probably attract a lot of attention just based on that. fufufu"

I talked with the girl for a while until the entrance ceremony officially started.

The speech was delivered by the principal and the last words of the speech were delivered by the student council president, Manabu Horikita. After that, we were ordered to go to our respective classrooms and wait there for 30 minutes before the teacher would arrive.

Of course, I had no intention to go immediately to my classroom, after all, these 30 minutes are probably to let students introduce to each other. I walked around the school and found classrooms of other classes. When I walked past the classroom that belonged to class A, the door got abruptly opened and I bumped into someone small, it was the girl from the entrance ceremony. Fortunately, my reflexes were fast enough to catch her before she fell on the ground.

"Sorry about that" I gave her some time to regain balance then I bent down to pick up her cane from the ground and gave it to her.

"Fufufu, you have quite good reflexes and nothing happened so it's ok. Thank you for the cane" She just laughed off that incident.

"Are perhaps lost? Why aren't you in your classroom?" She asked me playfully after adjusting her uniform

She really is playful but that doesn't mean I can drop my guard down around her. And if you want to question why I am not in my classroom then why did you go out of your own classroom?

"I had it in the plan, to go there before this incident happened…" I explained myself even though I had no obligation to do so.

Anyway, it seems that she is really from Class A.

"This is already our 2nd meeting today so I guess the introduction is in order. Sakayanagi Arisu" She said and playfully bowed down while using her hands to hold her skirt out from her body.

This girl is really funny but I guess it won't hurt to play along.

"Walker Felix" I said while keeping my right hand to my heart and bowed down. I didn't know how to perform it in right way but I still played along. 7

"Fufufu, Walker as to always tread forward? Nice to meet you, Walker-kun. But I think you should already go to your classroom or you might get into trouble." She said so and I fully agreed, I spent too much time here already. 3

"See you later, Sakayanagi-san" I said my goodbye and went towards my classroom.

--(Arisu's POV)-- 1

What an interesting boy, I couldn't see through him at all. I guess I might even drop that incident after seeing how he played along with me, fufufu. 5

I hope you will entertain me even more in the future, Felix Walker. 18

--(Arisu's POV end)--

Sign 1 – D 2

Found it, I opened the door and walked in. It seemed that everyone stopped talking and looked in my direction. I scanned the entire classroom and I was surprised to see my old acquaintance. I looked into Karuizawa's eyes but she averted her gaze.

It seems that she doesn't want others to know that we are old acquaintances. I went to my seat that was located in the 2nd row from behind near the window. On my way, I could hear some whispers but I couldn't care any less about it.

--(Kei's POV)-- 1

I was talking with a few girls, trying to fit in a group. We couldn't introduce ourselves formally since one of us was still missing and it would be rude if we started without him. Suddenly the door to the classroom got open and everyone stopped talking and looked towards the person that just came in. I couldn't believe my own eyes. It was my old friend who abandoned me. I had complicated feelings since I didn't know the reason for his betrayal, I couldn't just bring myself to fully hate him. 7

He also noticed me and looked at me but I was afraid of his gaze, of what others would think if they knew we used to be friends. It seemed like he noticed my discomfort and didn't call my name out and just casually sit down on his seat. 1

All the girls around me started to whisper among themselves.

" He doesn't look like a Japanese"

" Is his hair dyed or do you think it's natural?"

" Have you seen his eyes? They were glowing!"

" He could be considered the most handsome guy in our classroom but he has that dangerous vibe around him"

" What do you think about him Karuizawa-san? You were oddly quiet since he came in."

One of the girls asked me a question and I finally woke up from my trance.

" Well appearance isn't everything maybe he is socially awkward or like someone already mentioned, he could be a dangerous person."

I joined in the conversation not to stand out. I never want to go through the same thing I did in middle school. I thought while rubbing my torso with my right hand.

--(Kei's POV end)--

I noticed that behind me sat down the student I saw on the bus, one with emotionless eyes.

On his right, I noticed a girl who looked like an arrogant prima-donna with long black hair. 1

Oh no, please kill me… I thought when I noticed that annoying girl and the blonde-haired guy from the bus. 6

"Ehm, since everyone is already here, how about we start with introductions?" One student suggested with a friendly smile and everyone else agreed since they already lost around 15 minutes of waiting for me.

"Since I suggested it, I will start first. My name is Hirata Yousuke. In my middle school, I was often called by my first name, so feel free to use my first name too. I like to play all kinds of sports but I plan to join soccer club. Please take care of me." He finished his self-introduction with a friendly smile. 1

Definitely leader type, he is overly friendly with everyone but I guess girls like guys who are nice, friendly and athletic.

Soon after his introduction, another person stood up, girl to be more precise.

"...My name is Inogashira Kokoro…" She continued with her hobbies and like that everyone introduced themselves until it was my turn. Everyone looked at me expectantly, probably because I haven't talked yet since coming here.

Hello, my name is Walker Felix and I like to live on the edge, live in the wildness, I like to train and kill wild beasts. How can I say something like that to teenagers? Now that I think about it, I have no other hobbies. 5

I released a sigh and stood up. I saw how everyone's eyes were on me, some of them even looked at me with expectations. What do you expect me to do? Do you expect me to take out a white rabbit from my uniform?

"My name is Walker Felix, as some of you might have noticed I am not native. As for what I like… jogging early in the morning. Please take care of me."

"Nice to meet you Walker-kun, I hope we will become good friends" Hirata said to me and I just nodded.

Then it was the turn for the guy behind me to introduce himself.

"...Um, my name is Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. ...er, there aren't many interesting things about me. I will do my best to get along with everyone….., nice to meet you."

Heh, that was even plainer than my introduction, however, he is probably the last guy who will annoy me in this classroom. 1

When it was someone's else turn door got opened and a woman wearing a suit walked into the classroom.

She looks around 30 years old, my real age should be quite close to hers. Her long brown hair is tied in a ponytail. 13

"Good morning new students. My name is Chabashira Sae and I am in charge of class D. We will be seeing each other for the next 3 years so let's get along. For now, I will hand out a list of special rules of this school, be sure to thoughtfully read it. After I will get you familiar with rules and the school system you are free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day. 1

I received the list of rules and I already read most of them when I was gathering information about this school.

"I will also hand out student ID cards which will work exactly like a credit card. You will be using points instead of money. Be careful of the way you spend your points. There is nothing you can't buy at school, as long as it is on school grounds, it's purchasable." She emphasized the last sentence.

Does it also include you? ...Oops, that definitely sounded bad. It sounds like a joke told by a teenager. 3

"The points will be automatically allocated on the first day of the month. Everyone should already have 100.000 points on their card, you can check it out on your phone. Also, 1 point equals 1 yen. 6

Of course, hearing such a sum of money, the class got loud, filled with surprised voices of students.

However, I wasn't surprised but more suspicious, after all, at least 100.000 yen for all students each month is too much, even if it is financed by the government. There must be something hidden in the system. I highly doubt that school will give you monthly 100.000 points points for your merits 1

"Of course, you should use those points and not save them since they can't be exchanged for cash after graduation. Use them on what you like or need" Chabashira-sensei explained.

I am getting even more suspicious due to her baiting us to use our points. Shouldn't you as a teacher not care how your students spend money/points? Yet you are telling us to use them? I will get my answer after going to a convenience store. 1

After a few minutes, she was done with the explanation and we were finally allowed to leave.

Most of the students went to the dorms and some of them formed groups and went explore school grounds.

As I planned I went to a convenience store and after looking around for a bit I smiled.

As I thought, there are expensive items, items with average price and also items for FREE.

Why would the store had items for free if students get at least 100.000 points monthly? That doesn't make sense.

I decided to take a few items for free and a few necessary items for an average price. When I was planning to go pay I noticed 2 students from my class. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, was it? As for the other person, it was the arrogant prima-donna. They were talking about something, I would have never imagined Ayanokoji-kun being a friend with that girl.

It seemed that Ayanokoji-kun noticed my presence and looked at me. I too looked at him and simply nodded, in response, he nodded too. I can imagine myself getting along with that guy. 6

After paying for items I went back to the dorms, I took an elevator to the 4th floor and I stopped before the door to my room. Room number 402.

I swiped my ID card and the door got unlocked. I entered and looked around the plain and small room.

"Well, this is much better than my old camp." I said aloud with a wide smile.

Private points: 98.500

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Chapter 7: #7 Ayanokoji Kiyotaka

It was the first day of the school, well… the second day but the first day of actual classes. Most of the people were either playing with their phones or taking a nap and the teacher didn't even care which doesn't make any sense. This should be a prestigious school.

No wonder that class D is considered the worst class, this even enhanced my belief that we won't be getting another 100.000 points next month. What kind of idiotic government would pay money for such lazy idiots? Even when you are at work and you already did your job for the day, you are still required to be there fully awake in case of some unexpected situation. The teacher herself said that points are allocated based on merits but who said that they won't take away our points based on demerits? 2

I already heard some students boasting about the things they bought during the break. It's the same with little children, you will offer them a handful of sweets instantly or if they can wait for a few days they will get 10 times more. Of course, most of them will take them immediately. This school is probably using a similar tactic to train students.

It was currently a break and I was approached by one girl. She has long brown hair and blue eyes, average height. If I remember correctly her name is Matsushita Chiaki. 1

"Walker-kun, can I ask you a bit personal question?" Matsushita asked me with an insecure smile. 4

I still can't get used to these honorifics…plus it seems that she is a bit afraid of me, I guess I should make her more comfortable before she starts crying and I will become public enemy number 1.

"We are classmates so there is no need to be so polite. Ask right away, please" I said with a light smile because if I showed her my wide and "friendly" smile, she would perhaps piss herself. My appearance was still the same, "Accelerator" like appearance and his smiles were best at intimidating people not comforting them that's also the reason why I usually wore a poker face. 11

"The thing is, we are interested in getting to know you better and we wanted to ask about your origin or parents, you don't have to answer if you think it's too personal."

We? So you are just a representative of your "we" group. I guess it won't hurt telling them, after all, it's fake information anyway.

"No problem… My mom is Japanese and dad is from England. They met each other when dad was on a business trip and in the end, he stayed here. I was born in Japan." That should cover it.

"I see…to be honest with you Walker-kun, I thought of you as someone dangerous but I guess you are the same as us, please don't be offended by me for thinking like that." Matsushita perhaps got more comfortable and confessed that she thought of me rudely. 2

Well, not like I care anyway.

"None taken. I am glad I was able to clear that misunderstanding" I thought for a while if I should tell her about points but I gave up on that idea. I will need to make contact with Karuizawa, I don't want to attract too much attention, at least not yet. Even though it seems pretty easy to understand, these students from class D would look at me as someone smart to be able to deduce that we won't be getting full 100.000 points.

Matsushita sent me a last smile before walking away to a group of girls. I guess that's the "we" group, I could hear them giggling and whispering but I couldn't understand what they were talking about.

I looked around the class to find Karuizawa but when I found her I was disappointed, she was within the group of girls. There goes my chance to help you and class, stupid girl. I was able to notice how much she has changed since her childhood. She was no longer that hardworking and confident girl. Something big must have happened to her in the past but now I have no time to deal with her.

I need to somehow tell others not to spend too many points. I can leave a message on each student's seat but the thing is, how many of them would take it seriously? Plus I would have to do it tomorrow which would give them 1 more day to spend their points. 6

I folded my hands and closed my eyes to think more efficiently. Think… who should I talk to? Who could help me without any questioning… Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Hirata Yosuke.

These two names appeared in my mind, however, I immediately eliminated Hirata as an option, because of his ability to attract attention, if I went to him it would be the same as saying aloud:

!Fellow classmates please don't use your points recklessly!

I could hear Ayanokoji-kun speaking with prima-donna named Suzune Horikita. They are on quite good terms with each other, I could make use of it.

I waited until they stopped talking and got up.

"Yo" I simply said to Ayanokoji-kun to attract his attention.

"Huh?" He seemed quite out of it that someone even wanted to talk to him.

"Cafeteria?" With people like Ayanokoji-kun, it's best to use simple phrases. Loners are able to talk through silence and small talk. 1

I didn't even wait for his answer and I started to walk slowly towards the classroom door. After a small delay, he got up and followed after me.

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"You are named Walker-kun, right? Is there something you wanted to discuss with me?"

"Thanks for remembering my name Ayanokoji-kun and yes, I have indeed something to discuss with you" I answered him with a smile while handing to him a sandwich.

"Thanks… I don't remember cafeteria having these kinds of sandwiches" Ayanokoji-kun looked curiously at the sandwich from all sides but his expression still remained stoic.

"Heh, don't worry it's not poisoned. I made these myself since it can save more points." I looked amusedly at him and reassured him.

"Why do you want to save points?" He asked me in a confused voice but I already knew he was faking it.

"To tell you the truth, I think you already know why…" I said to him in a teasing way.

"I think you really overestimate me" I already expected that he would deny it so I didn't pursue it.

As for why I thought he knew? He had different air, an aura around him than other students, he was too calm and many other examples. Of course, it was just an assumption and I had no proof but after living in the wildness for more than 9 years I developed a lot of skills that can't be taught in normal situations. For example alarm in my head that was ringing whenever I was in the danger. 3

"Well, I don't expect you to reveal your secrets so let me explain it to you. Don't you think that 100.000 points for every student monthly are too much? Even if it's financed by the government, they wouldn't pay money to lazy bastards. Chabashira-sensei even said that you can get points based on your merits, however, do you really think that they would give even more than 100.000 points to students? But if merits can't get you more than 100.000 points why would you need any merits at all… because she didn't mention demerits." I explained in a simple way but I had a hunch that Ayanokoji-kun already deduced it. 4

"I see your point… and it also makes sense but what do you want me to do?" Ayanokoji-kun asked me with a confused voice but his face still remained stoic.

"Your prima-donna friend…"

"My what?" This time he sounded really confused without faking it.

"Horikita Suzune." I said with a smile so wide that it showed my white teeth. 2

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

I tried to write a shorter chapter, I hope you don't mind it since it seems that it's better this way for me.

When there are more than 2k words I start to get confused.

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Chapter 8: #8 Garbage

"So do we have an agreement?" I asked Ayanokoji-kun

"...I will try" After a while, I got my answer.

"Good, we should start eating before our break period ends." I said while handing him another sandwich. If he is at least a bit knowledgeable about social things, he would be able to deduce that the first sandwich was for bothering him and second as a sign of recognition. 3

After a little hesitation, he took the second sandwich from my hand and thanked me. We ate in silence but it wasn't an awkward silence, we were both loners so this suited us. 7

.

It was already the last class of today and I was finally able to hear some rumors about points. Someone asked a senior from a higher class and got information about points or something like that.

"Good job, I knew you could do it" I said while watching our homeroom teacher speaking about Japanese history.

"I tried, it wasn't that hard" I got an answer right from behind me.

Now hopefully these idiots will take it seriously. Of course, I don't expect everyone to follow this rumor but they might get more careful and at least save 10.000 points for necessities.

The last bell rang and our homeroom teacher reminded us to go through today's material thoughtfully.

I sighed and got up. I took my bag, ready to go to dorms, however, I wasn't even able to exit the classroom before someone stopped me. I was once again Matsushita Chiaki.

"Hey, Walker-kun don't you want to go with us to karaoke? Hirata is coming too." She asked me a question I dreaded the most

Ugh, karaoke… I would rather have a fight to death barehanded against bear than to sing. 1

"Sorry Matsushita-san but I already have plans for the rest of the day." I declined her offer with an apologetic smile.

"Ah, I am sorry, I didn't even consider if you have any plans but I will make sure to ask you next time" Matsushita smiled and winked at me.

Please don't…

When I exited the school building I was once again stopped.

"Walker-kun!!! Wait for a minute." I heard someone call out my name.

What is it now? Ugh. It was that annoying girl from the bus, her name is Kushida Kikyo, I think. She was even walking towards me along with another girl I never saw. She must be from another class, what is Kushida doing by making friends with people from another class? 1

"What is it?" I simply asked her when she came to me.

"You see, I am trying to get contact information from everyone in our class, plus I wanted to thank you for that thing on the bus for the last time." 3

I have no problem giving you my phone number but why are you still trying to thank me for that incident on the bus? I only gave up my seat, I didn't save anyone's life…

"No problem." I gave her my phone number and redirected my gaze to the girl next to her. Kushida probably noticed that I was curious.

"Ah, Walker-kun this is Ichinose Honami from class B, Honami-chan this is Walker Felix from my class." She introduced us to each other but I wasn't really interested in her name but why they were together. 1

"Nice to meet you Walker-kun, even though we are in a different class, I still hope we can become friends if you ever need anything you can come to me. I already know what you have done on the bus and how you helped Kikyo-chan." She was really talkative and seemed like a kind person but if just someone seems like a kind person, they don't have to truly be one.

"Nice to meet you too Ichinose-san, if you girls could excuse me for now, I have to go." 1

"Sure and sorry for taking your time Walker-kun!" (Kushida)

"See you later Walker-kun." (Ichinose)

I just waved my hand that I didn't mind it.

I was finally able to get into my room without any other problems. Tomorrow will probably be some small exam since the teacher especially reminded us to study material from today's lesson. I already knew everything from today's lesson by carefully listening to the teacher so I didn't have to study anything.

Anyway, that girl, Kushida Kikyo. I don't know why but I don't like her, it can't be just because of the bus incident. It feels like she stinks but I don't mean her body odor or perfume, more like her true inner self. Everyone has a side they want to hide, it is only about how bad that side is. I have to be careful around that girl, she is making herself a lot of friends even befriending people from other classes, they could be used as an army in this school. 1

I looked at my phone and saw it was only 4 PM. I guess I will spend my time training for the rest of the day.

.

.

.

As I thought the next day we had a small exam from Japanese history. I scored only above-average not to stand out. When the lesson ended, I went to the cafeteria since I got an idea which I had to verify if it was false or true. 5

I looked around the cafeteria for senior students from class D. I was able to spot a girl from 2nd year sitting all alone. Target found, now to persuade the target.

"Hello, can I sit with you?" I came to her and asked her with the most charming smile I could form

"...ah! Be my guest…" She reacted with little delay and motioned with her hand for me to sit down right in front of her.

"You are from class 2 – D, right?"

"Yes, you are from 1 – D, is there something you need from me?"

"To be honest, yes. But first of all, let me invite you to a better meal than what you are eating right now."

I bought her a meal for 1.000 points and continued talking 2

"Do you still have all the tests from your 1st year, to be more precise the first one?"

"Yes I kept all of them stored on my phone." She looked suspiciously at me but she still accepted the meal I bought her.

"Can you show me the first test?"

"...Didn't you have your first test today? Why would you need it now?"

"I just want to see if I got some answers right. It shouldn't be a problem to show me since we already wrote it no?"

"..."

The girl hesitated for a bit but she still showed me her first test in the end. With that, I could confirm one thing, class D has the same questions in tests, now just to pray that same applies to a bigger exam. Well, it's not like I will be using this method but few students from my class would definitely appreciate it. 6

After the small exam, nothing noteworthy happened and the entire month flew by. Students were mostly sleeping in classes or even absent. Simply put, it was like a paradise-like school for teenagers.

But 1st May arrived quickly and with this new month also arrived new troubles.

"Huh, did you also get no points at all?" I could hear a lot of complaints from the students in my class

"Quiet down and take your seats" Ou homeroom said when she entered the classroom.

"Teacher, shouldn't we get points on the first day of the month?" One boy asked the teacher

"But you already got your points, there is no way school overlooked this class" Chabashira-sensei said aloud.

"But…we didn't get any points at all." Another boy mentioned.

"Heh, you lot are really a bunch of idiots" Chabashira-sensei said aloud with a smile which made me form my own smile.

She started to recite how many absences we had, how many times someone was sleeping, how many times we used the phone over the entire month.

"At this school, your grades and performance are reflected in the monthly points you are given. And you managed to lose all 100.000 points you were to be given. The points you are receiving this month is…zero!" After Chabashira-sensei said this it caused classroom to grow noisy 2

"What?!"

"But no one told us about this…"

"I did a really good job by believing that rumor…"

Some students who didn't believe rumor were complaining while others who had at least made some reserves of the points sighed with relief.

Chabashira-sensei seemed a little bit surprised by a few students not complaining but she still answered to those few complaints

"Do you really think that mere high school student like you was going to be given 100.000 yen each month without a catch? Heh, use your common sense. I told you on your first day that this school judges students on merits, this only means that you are worth nothing…you are garbage." Chabashira-sensei said with a smile. 1

HAHAHA, I had such a hard time holding my laughter in when I heard the teacher dissing entire class but I was able to not create any sound, however, it still made my smile wider and it seemed that even Chabashira-sensei noticed me having problems not to laugh aloud. Her expression was between confused and curious but she still smiled at me.

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Chapter 9: #9 Competition

sigh Why do we have swimming classes? I sighed while thinking about useless things. It was already a few days since Chabashira-sensei dissed the entire class. She also explained a bit about S-system, of course, she couldn't reveal any useful information but she said that we will be able to get up to 100 Class-points in the upcoming midterms. She didn't forget to show us the results of our first small test and when I saw the results of most students my lips twitched a bit. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry… For now, our class-points were exactly 0, even Class C had 490 CP. I won't even mention Class A and B

In the upcoming midterms… if someone gets failing score they will be expelled. It would be good to eliminate the weakest cell of the class under normal circumstances, however, if someone will get expelled entire class will suffer. This is really good system that focuses a lot on teamwork but if someone is loner then even if he is genius there is almost nothing he can do alone. 5

I am trying to think of a good plan on how to survive in this school in the changing room that is connected to the swimming pool. Why I was thinking instead of changing? Because I was waiting for everyone to go out, my back doesn't look family-friendly. I have quite a few scars and I even had to ask the teacher if I could wear a t-shirt while swimming. She had confused look since most boys of my age like to show their built body but I made up some random excuse and she immediately lost interest so she agreed.

"Walker-kun, why are you not changing. Could it be that you are shy?" A boy asked me in a teasing voice. If I remember correctly he is Ike Kanji, his intelligence has a few problems but it seems that his communication skills are ok.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something. You can go first, I will be there soon." I said to him and started to take off my pants to make it clear that I was truly just thinking.

"Ok, but you should hurry up or you will miss your chance to feast your eyes on the girls." Ike said and exited the changing room.

He is also a pervert… I looked at him with pity in my eyes. 2

I was finally alone so I quickly changed into swimming trunks and a casual white T-shirt.

I also had a few scars on my legs but no one would be able to notice them without close inspection.

I exited the changing room and looked around the swimming pool…

They are splashing water at each other… My lips twitched when I saw that scene. We have 0 CP and they are playing around instead of thinking what to do… I guess I can't actually blame them since I am older than them, if it was me in the past I would play around too.

I noticed 2 girls not wearing a school swimsuit. It was Airi Sakura and Haruka Hasebe. I don't understand why I had to explain myself to the teacher just because of the t-shirt, they are not even wearing a swimsuit.

I saw Ayanokoji-kun sitting together with Horikita-san so I sat down some distance from them not wanting to ruin the atmosphere.

"Hey, Walker-kun! Do you want to join us?!" One who shouted at me was no other than Matsushita Chiaki…

She is overly friendly with me, I wonder why but now thanks to her shout everyone noticed me wearing a t-shirt. It definitely looked bad as an only male student wearing a t-shirt. 1

"I am fine out here, I feel a little bit tired today." I refused because I don't really want to play with them… more like I don't know HOW to play with them. 5

"But even if you aren't feeling very well you don't need to wear a t-shirt right?" This time person who spoke out was Koenji Rokusuke, a guy from the bus. I guess he noticed something was amiss and wanted to use it to get back at me for that incident.

"I don't need it but it doesn't mean that I can't have it on, does it?" I argued back since everyone's attention was on our conversation.

"Of course you can have it Walker-boy but I can see that you have quite refined muscles through your t-shirt." Koenji said

"And? What's your point?" I narrowed my eyes, it seems that he already knows.

"Why would a healthy male student try to hide his trained body? Are you perhaps shy?" Koenji teased me and some smarter students already started to notice that I was hiding something.

"Koenji-kun, if you don't like my t-shirt so much how about a little competition? I asked him. 3

"Hmm, what do you have in mind?" He asked me a bit intrigued by my proposal.

"There is no real reason why I would want to hide my body. But I quite hate being ordered by other people, that's why I don't want to take off my t-shirt, however, if you really want to see my body so badly we can have a race…if I lose I will take it off." I said with ease and students who thought I was hiding something were already having doubts about it. 3

For them, maybe it looked like I was hiding something, however, only a "fool" would still think like that after seeing how I wasn't aggressively defending it and even offered to take it off under the condition.

"Hmm, it's an interesting offer but I don't desire to see your body that much Walker-boy. Plus it would be too much of a bother, however, I am giving my position to anyone who wants to compete instead of me." Koenji said aloud to everyone present in the swimming pool.

But that wasn't part of the offer…

"No one? What about you Sudo-boy? Are you afraid of losing perhaps?" Koenji tried to provoke a delinquent-like looking boy named Ken Sudo.

Tch, of all people he has to provoke Sudo. I saw him how he almost got into a fight with upperclassmen when they said a few mean words to him a few days ago.

"Ha?! Who is afraid?!"

And here we go… He is really too easily provoked, this could be used by other classes against our class.

They were arguing for a while but Sudo gave up first because arguing with Koenji was really tiring.

"I will take his place just to make him shut up." Sudo said to me.

sigh I guess it can't be helped since I was the one who suggested it. 1

"How do you want to do it? The first one to complete 10 laps around the entire pool is the winner?" I asked Sudo while walking to the edge of the pool. 1

"Fine by me…" Sudo angrily answered.

"Can someone start it for us?" I asked.

"I will do it!" Chiaki offered to help.

"Thanks, Chiaki-san"

"Don't worry about it and good luck Walker-kun, I will be rooting for you!" Chiaki said and playfully winked at me but I didn't really comprehend that wink.

"3…2…1…GO!" We both jumped in and started to do laps around the pool. Sudo was swimming really fast but I was able to keep up. I could speed up a bit but there was no need, if Sudo kept swimming at this speed he would get tired after 7 laps. And as I thought he slowed down a bit after the start of 4th lap. We were evenly matched until the 9th lap where I overtook him. I won with a few seconds lead.

We both got out of the pool, Sudo was heavily breathing and I was trying my best to look tired too. My t-shirt got all wet and became see-through and my muscles were clearly visible but it wasn't transparent enough to see the scars which served its purpose.

I sighed and went back to sit down.

"Nice race Walker-kun, have you ever been in any sports club in the middle school?" Chiaki came to me and handed to me a bottle of water after she congratulated me on my win with a happy smile.

Aren't you really too friendly with me? Aren't you afraid of creating some rumors by being so friendly with me? And if I remember correctly I didn't do anything special to receive such treatment.

"Thank you Chiaki-san, I wasn't in any club like I already said in my introduction, I only run every morning." I responded to her friendliness with a light smile.

After a small talk, she went back to her friends.

"You are quite popular." Ayanokoji approached me and sat down next to me, maybe Horikita already abandoned him.

"...I would rather be invisible" I told him while watching Chiaki and her friends play around. 4

"That quite hurt" He probably misunderstood my words and thought that I think of him as invisible.

"You misunderstood my words. But if you really think of yourself as invisible then you will never become visible, not until you recognize your own existence. You are indeed bad at communicating with people but I personally think that you don't really want to communicate with them and get attached to someone." I told him and we spent the rest of the class with small talk or in silence.

"Everyone, could you please listen to me for a while? We got 0 points this month and I would like to discuss with everyone our next course of action…" Hirata was trying to talk some sense into our classmates, however, Sudo just shoved him away and left.

If I want this classroom to move forward I will have to do something about Sudo first. Violence is not an option since he is still my classmate and there are strict rules in this school for us to follow. I would have to find a loophole to actually force him to do something about his attitude. I can always try to find his weakness or attack his emotions and mind but that would probably break him. 5

sigh What a problematic class. 7

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Chapter 10: #10 Manabu Horikita

Another boring day in school…

"Hey, Walker-kun tell me, what girl looked best in a swimsuit in your opinion?" Ike asked me aloud.

"Huh?" I looked at him with strange expression since he didn't even bother to whisper. As I feared, his question attracted a lot of attention and disgust from girls but mostly disgust.

"We are gathering every male student's opinions. We thought that Hasebe-san would take a lead but she wasn't wearing a swimsuit the other day so right now Kushida-san is winning." Ike continued talking even though he was receiving disgusted glares.

I already memorized all the student's faces and names. When I thought of the name Hasabe I immediately understood why she should be first. These guys were actually rating boobs size and not actual girl…

It's already rude to rate girls like that but he even shamelessly mention it aloud. Is he trying to bury me alive? How can I answer that question… When I say no one then girls might secretly get mad and guys will think that I have a problem with my orientation. If I will vote for Kushida, girls will think that I chose her for her boobs and they will throw me disgusted glares. There is simply no right answer. Sometimes I think that these guys should make test questions, the failure rate will increase up to 50%. Think…what answer wouldn't make girls angry while make other guys accept my opinion. 1

"Eh… I think Matsushita-san looked cute." I am sorry for mentioning your name. I closed my eyes and apologized to Chiaki inside my head. Why I chose her? It's simple, she is an average girl in this class, no one will think I chose her for the size of her boobs and guys will probably accept that I might like average girls like her, however, my answer started a loud discussion inside the classroom and one who probably received the greatest surprise was no other than Chiaki. 4

"Eeeeh?!" Chiaki shrieked out aloud.

"Are you ok Matsushita-san? You seem a little red." Kushida showed her concern for Chiaki when she heard her shriek out.

I thought it was a good answer, however, it only started another annoying situation. At least girls weren't looking at me with disgust, some of them even looked at me with a bit of admiration. Of course, I wasn't aware of the reason behind it. 3

I was teased for my answer by the boys in my class for the rest of the day.

I received a message on my phone while I was walking towards dorms. I stopped for a second to read the message.

Kushida wants to hold a study session with others? I don't really need to go there but if I won't be seen studying then I might become suspicious, plus I might be able to exploit more information about my classmates. Names of people who will be joining are Haruki Yamauchi, Kanji Ike, Ken Sudo, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, Suzune Horikita and of course Kushida. 1

I guess it won't hurt to join, I wanted to do something about Sudo a few days ago and I can always talk with Ayanokoji-kun if it gets boring. I feel like he is the most mature person in the entire class so I can easily get along with him.

I sent a message to Kushida that I will join in.

.

.

.

I should have remained in my room. The 3 idiots Yamauchi, Ike, and Sudo had problems with solving quite easy questions which wouldn't be a problem in itself but Horikita just kept on looking down on them and had few rude remarks. Sudo couldn't take it anymore, he got up and tried to get hold of Horikita's collar, however, I caught his hand before he could do that.

"Sudo-kun, aren't you ashamed by getting angry because of the girl talking down to you?" I said to him after catching his hand.

"How is that your problem?!" He said aloud with a bit of force and tried to escape my grip. I narrowed my eyes before tightening my grip so he couldn't escape.

"I heard you play basketball, do you really think you will be able to play basketball without any studying? Do you really think that you will become a professional player without any hardships? This is only a fool's dream, no matter how good you are, in this age, no club will accept you if you have only middle school education." I criticized his attitude towards studying.

"Fine! I will give it another try but do something about her attitude too." Sudo said and pointed with his finger at Horikita. 2

"Horikita-san I also think that it's no good to talk down to someone when they try their best." Kushida joined in to help.

We were somehow able to survive most of the evening without any further incident. When the 3 idiots left Horikita started complaining.

"If they will hold the entire class back due to their attitudes, it would be better if they get expelled"

I would agree under the normal circumstances, however, at this school, this kind of thinking would only hurt you. If someone fucks something up, the entire class will suffer. If someone gets expelled, the entire class will suffer even more. This school is built by the government, they wouldn't teach us how to abandon our "friends" because it could backfire them. A person should know when to abandon someone for a greater good of the state. This is not one of these situations, Horikita is only trying to make her life easier by abandoning the weights. You have to learn how to carry those weights and how to turn them into a weapon.

"Walker-kun, Ayanokoji-kun, you both are average but at least you have some common knowledge." That was probably a "praise" from Horikita.

"I try…" I and Ayanokoji both answered the same way at the same time. We both looked at each other. 1

"You both are really similar with an exception Walker-kun being more sociable than Ayanokoji-kun." This time Horikita attacked Ayanokoji with her words.

"I will try to talk to them more maybe they will dedicate more of their time to studying." Kushida tried to reassure Horikita.

"Whatever…" Horikita got up and started to leave the library.

sigh "I will go too, I am pretty tired today." I got up from my seat too.

--At night--

I wasn't able to get much information about these idiots in the end… What a waste of time. Now I can't sleep. I thought of the last thing I saw before my death in the past. I guess I will go outside to stargaze for a while.

When I walked out of the dorms I saw Ayanokoji stand near a vending machine. I should at least say hi. I came to him and nodded at him, however, it seemed that his attention was somewhere else. I kept quiet and looked in the same direction as him.

2 people were arguing there, it was Horikita and student council president, Horikita Manabu.

Well, it was more like him criticizing Horikita. So they are really related huh?

He pinned Horikita against the wall and she shuddered. I guess I discovered one of her weaknesses. 2

"My own little sister, assigned to class D. I am the one bearing all the shame. Leave This School, right now." Manabu said aloud

It started to look a bit dangerous… He even started to get ready to drive his hand into her stomach. At that moment Ayanokoji sprinted towards them and caught Manabu's arm before he could hurt Horikita.

Nice save, however, I doubt it will end with that. I can't see any security cameras in that alley. Might as well record a good show.

I took out my phone and started recording.

"Ayanokoji-kun… stop it." Horikita told him in a weak voice.

Ayanokoji did as she told and let go of Manabu's hand, however, that gave an opportunity to Manabu to swing with that hand towards Ayanokoji's head. He was able to dodge with ease but it was an only distraction and a high kick was coming towards his face but he once again to dodged the high kick by a hair.

It looked like he dodged by a hair but I was able to see that he had no problem of dodging that. Seeing them fight made my blood boil and seeing the skill Ayanokoji showed furthered my desire to fight him. Hehe, I knew you weren't just an average guy without social skills.

Hmm, should I show myself? Should I blackmail student council president? Should I make him owe me a favor? 4

It would definitely look bad if I didn't show myself since Ayanokoji already knows I am here. As for blackmail idea… it would probably backfire at me, he is after all still student council president and I have little to none information about S-system.

clap clap clap I started clapping to get their attention.

"Walker-kun too?" Horikita definitely didn't expect me to be here too.

"Student council president pinning a girl against the wall and then attacks a student, even a junior. Tch, tch I don't think that's a good example for students don't you think so senpai?" I ignored Horikita's question and continued to walk closer.

When I was close enough I showed Manabu display of my phone which was showing a video of him attacking Ayanokoji.

Perhaps he had still some adrenalin in him left from fighting Ayanokoji. He tried to take my phone but I quickly evaded his hand, then he tried to kick me into the stomach. I caught his leg with my right hand, however, I still felt a bit of pain from stopping it with only one hand. Heh, the power behind that kick wasn't small. If it was me in the past I would be happy if I stopped it with both hands without them being broken in the process. 7

"Heh, now it is already 3 students…" I said with a wide smile.

"What do you two practice?"

Well, almost every martial art.

"Piano and calligraphy." Ayanokoji said with his stoic face

Really?

"I am not focused on anything particular." I practically told him the truth.

"You perhaps don't want this video to be spread right? How about I delete it before you and you will owe me one?"

"Are you not afraid I will go against my promise?" Manabu asked me which made my smile even wider.

"You must know what it means if I don't really care right?" I asked him.

"You are that confident huh?" Manabu was able to comprehend meaning in my words.

I deleted a video right before him and he eased up a bit.

"Anyway, I heard that there is a new 1st-year student who scored exactly 50 in every subject on his entrance exam. You got 50 points on the first exam, too. Was it intentional?" Manabu asked Ayanokoji

Really? If you want to stay low profile at least score different points like me.

"Coincidences can be scary sometimes." Ayanokoji said without any change in his expression.

"I heard that there is a 1st-year student who scored 50,51,52,53.. on his entrance exam. I also read your report from your middle school but your physical ability doesn't match your body, we tried to investigate you a bit further but it looked like you didn't even exist before going to that middle school" This time he started talking about me. 1

Why do you even read reports of students that go to class D? And what is suspicious about scoring 1 point more on each subject? This can at least be explained as coincidence…

"Well, I am not native as you can see and I don't see any problems in my entrance exam results" I spread out my hands.

"Hmm, Suzune, I am genuinely surprised that you were able to make friends."

Hey, don't drag me in. I am not her friend…

This night was pretty good, I was able to get student council president to owe me a favor.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

There won't be a chapter tomorrow. I am too busy with university

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Chapter 11: #11 Matsushita Chiaki's feelings

Midterms exam is slowly approaching and not many people seem to be bothered by it. I have yet to make contact with that girl from the upper class. I am pretty sure I would be able to buy exam questions from her. She shouldn't have many points to spend, looking at how easily she accepted my meal, so it shouldn't cost much.

The problem is… how to tell the entire class? 3

I turned around and asked Ayanokoji-kun.

"Ayanokoji-kun, do you think that our senior class had the same questions on exams as us in their 1st year?"

However, before he could respond to my question, prima-donna joined in the conversation. 1

"I think that's pretty stupid question Walker-kun. How could school allow this to happen?"

Yeah, changing a questions each year is something common for "normal" school, however, this isn't normal school. Would the government bother to build a "normal" school? The answer is of course no. We are supposed to become the pillars of the country in the future, they won't try to teach us in normal way. We are practically being forced to break rules and find loopholes because that's exactly how the adult world works

"Horikita-san, your way of thinking is too flawed. You are trying to succeed just with your academic ability. You will only become a puppet by doing so in the future. You are looking down on everyone who was placed into class D, however, you missed one small detail. YOU are in class D too, you are the same as me and as everyone else, trash. I bet you are smarter than a lot of people in class C, B or even A, yet you were placed into class D, why?" I criticized Horikita for her naive thinking.

When she heard my words she seemed upset for a second but then she looked towards Ayanokoji-kun with a surprised expression. I guess he told her something similar.

"Really… what the hell is up with you two?" Horikita already knows that we aren't simple students from yesterday's conflict with her brother.

"Hey, hey, people did you know that Karuizawa-san is dating Hirata-kun?! Someone saw them holding hands yesterday!" Ike came to us and interrupted our conversation with the news. He didn't even keep his voice down since both of them weren't in the classroom. 2

Well, I am happy for Karuizawa but why are you telling us this while looking at me?

"Hmm, I see…" I still responded to him with a bit of confused expression.

"Maybe you are wondering why I am telling you this especially Walker-kun. It is because we boys noticed how Karuizawa was occasionally checking you out. I guess she changed her target since you have quite a good relationship with Matsushita-san."

Hey, hey, I don't even know myself that I have a good relationship with Matsushita-san, As for Karuizawa, I noticed how she was sometimes looking at me but it was only because of our past. This became too complicated because of small actions.

"Wh- what do you me- mean Ike-kun?! We are jus- just friends" Matsushita-san overheard Ike-kun's words and her face became a bit red but she still didn't look upset from his words.

Now that he mentioned Karuizawa, I had close to none contact with her… I guess she hates me for my disappearing but why do I think that there is more than it seems? Why does she occasionally look at her abdomen? Heh, it definitely doesn't look like she is pregnant. 4

I guess I will arrange a meeting with that senior girl, however, I might need a help with spreading the questions.

I looked towards Matsushita-san, she was planning what to do after school with other girls. I guess I could use her but if I want her to go with me today I should ask her before she makes up her plans for today.

I got up and came to her group.

--(Matsushita Chiaki's POV)--

I am quite an average girl in this class. There are many girls who have a better body and appearance than me. I have already accepted that all the best guys will be taken by other girls. When I first saw Hirata-kun on the first day of school, I was captivated by his looks and social skills. He would be the ideal boyfriend material, however, I knew I had little to none chance to be his girlfriend.

But there was still one boy who piqued my interest. He didn't lose to Hirata-kun in terms of looks but he definitely wasn't as sociable as Hirata-kun, however, he had a special aura around him, which made me both curious and afraid of him at the same time.

I noticed that he was a bit of loner which meant it could be my only chance so I resolved myself to go talk to him. I was surprised by how easy it was to talk to him. At first, I was afraid, however, when he smiled at me it made me lose all that fear towards him.

We talked to each other from time to time and I noticed how a few girls from my group of friends were starting to notice him after the competition in swimming class but I was still confident since he didn't look like a guy who was impatient to find a girlfriend and I was ahead of every girl.

I thought I liked him… I myself wasn't sure if I liked him as a person or because he seemed like a decent boyfriend material. However, everything changed after I heard him call me a cute aloud before the entire class. He chose me instead of girls like Kushida-san or Horikita-san. At that time my heartbeat sped up and I couldn't respond to anyone. I was happy yet I was a bit upset…He said I was cute, however, cute are children. I would be perhaps more happy if he used a more aggressive expression.

Ever since that day, I have been feeling very weird when I was standing close to him. I felt so nervous while also safe. I have never experienced this, I don't know what it is.

I have been thinking only about him lately. 1

I was planning where to go with my friends but our conversation was interrupted by a voice I knew too well.

"Matsushita-san, I am sorry for interrupting but could I talk to you for a minute?" 5

--(Matsushita Chiaki's POV end)--

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

I was able to squeeze in some time to write so here is at least this short chapter. There is no progression in canon.

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Chapter 12: #12 Plans for midterm exam

When I openly asked Matsushita-san if she had time to spare, girls in her group looked at me with a surprised expression, however, one who was surprised the most was Matsushita herself. I guess it was because it was the first time I approached her myself.

She agreed and we went out of the classroom to find a quiet place to talk.

I guess this place is good enough. I thought as I checked our surroundings.

"Matsushita-san, can I trust you?" I narrowed my eyes and I didn't even bother to hide my wild and savage aura.

When she heard my question she appeared to be confused, however, when she saw my eyes and felt how aura around me drastically changed she trembled in fear. She couldn't even look at me.

I guess I went too far… She is, after all, just a teenage girl. I am being too paranoid from my past mistakes. 2

sigh "I am sorry about that, Matsushita-san. I didn't want to scare you." I quickly apologized to her because it looked like she would start crying sooner or later. 2

deep breathing "It's ok, I- I was just surprised" She told me while clutching her heart. There was still some fear visible in her eyes.

I lightly smiled, brought my face closer to hers and she became a bit red. It seems that this action made her fear completely disappear. I think I know how she feels about me but I don't think I can do it, at least not now. My current goal is to secure a good future and to ensure that I won't become someone's puppet. Romance is something I never experienced and I am still not ready for it even though my real age is already around 30. I might even feel weird by dating a teenager if I had to choose right now who to date I would rather go for our homeroom teacher than students from my class. 5

I wonder what would my parents think of me after seeing me intimidate a teenage girl. They would perhaps understand my coldhearted thoughts towards people but I doubt they would be happy seeing me bully weak people. 1

"The thing I wanted to ask you is… Do you think that our class won't have any problems completing the midterm exam?" I calmed myself and asked her with a smile.

"Huh? Hmm, I don't think it will be easy but if we will study enough for it, I am confident that no one will drop out." Matsushita-san told me her honest thoughts about our class.

"Yes, if everyone will give their all to studying then no one will drop out. But do you really think everyone will study for it seriously? Even if you are under pressure of being expelled there are some people who won't learn anything until they are taught a lesson, however, it would already be too late at that time." I told her while looking out of the window.

"You think that there will be students with no motivation to study?" (Matsushita)

"That's right plus don't you think that it's always better to be prepared for the worst?"

"I guess you are right but what should we do if they don't want to study?" (Matsushita)

We? Hmm, I guess I could trust her a bit with this plan.

"I already thought about something, if we can't force them to study we will simply make it so that they don't have to study."

"What? How?" Matsushita-san's expression was full of confusion.

"Come with me after school and you will naturally learn how." I told her and went back to the classroom.

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--(Horikita's POV)--

I shouldn't have been placed in class D. Everyone there is simply too childish and can't take the school seriously, well exception of Ayanokoji-kun and Walker-kun but that's probably only because they are loners. At least that's what I thought so until my last encounter with brother. After that incident, I got to know that Ayanokoji-kun is someone who even rigged his entrance exam just to get into class D. I can't understand how anyone would want to be placed into that class. Walker-kun also doesn't look simple, however, what is interesting aren't his academic results but his physical ability and unknown background.

These two also had few objections about my attitude. I don't really understand why we shouldn't let people who slow us down get expelled. I resolved myself to go talk to Chabashira-sensei.

--Guidance room--

"Well, do you have anything to say to me? Horikita." Chabashira-sensei asked me with a confident smile like she was already expecting me.

"I want to ask you why I was put into class D. Sensei kept mentioning that classes are divided by superiority and I don't really see a real reason why I should be in class D, the lowest collection of leftovers." I told her frankly.

"Hmm, so you consider yourself as a superior person? You are definitely smart for a student from class D and your entrance exam's scores were high, however, being able to study won't get you sorted into higher classes." (Chabashira)

"But shouldn't I be sorted at least into class C and not D? You yourself said that I had a high score on the entrance exam. This is just common sense." I was feeling hopeless, how can they sort smart person into class D?

"Like I already told you, just being able to study won't get you anywhere. This school's goal is to produce excellent people and not just smart people. Everyone can study hard to become smarter but there are things they won't be able to get better at with just studying alone. Just look into your class, do you think that everyone would be able to make it into this school solely by studying? Plus I don't get why are you so against being sorted into class D. Do you think that for example, class A has no worries at all? They are constantly being under pressure from other classes therefore there also exists students who are fine by being sorted into lower classes." Chabashira-sensei gave me a long lesson before allowing me to talk once again.

"You are joking, right? Why would anyone want to be placed in lower class?" I asked her but then I remembered Ayanokoji-kun's rigged exam and Walker-kun's mysteriousness. I can't really understand why he did that.

"Really? I think there are a few students like that in class D. What is important is their reason for doing so, some of them could do it for low pressure or some could do it just for fun."

"I shouldn't tell you this but since it's only you, I don't think there is any problem with it. Do you know anything about Felix Walker from your class?" Chabashira-sensei asked me about Walker-kun which made me a bit surprised.

"I had minimal interaction with him so I don't know much, only that his academic ability is above average and his physical ability is quite high"

"Heh, if he was an only average student then why was he all smiles when I was criticizing your entire class for your incompetence." Chabashira-sensei lightly laughed.

"Wait, then that rumor in our class was from him?!" I blurted out without thinking.

--(Horikita's POV end)--

"Please make it quick if you have something to talk about with me." The girl said aloud.

I was currently talking with the senior girl who showed me her exam questions before. Of course this time, there was also Matsushita-san beside me.

"I want to buy the midterm exam's questions from your 1st year." I frankly mentioned my reason for this meeting which greatly surprised Matsushita-san.

"How much are you willing to offer?" The girl asked me with her voice down.

I simply showed her 2 fingers.

"What?! You can't expect me to sell them for 2.000 points. I could get into trouble because of this." The girl screamed out but she immediately covered her mouth and checked our surroundings.

"I am offering you 2.000 points for showing these questions to me for a mere 3 minutes. No photos, no notes." I calmly told her completely unfazed by her earlier scream. 1

"WHAT?!" This time even Matsushita-san screamed out.

For fuck's sake do you have to scream out every time I speak out?

" Walker-kun, why do you want to waste your 2.000 points like this?" Matsushita-san whispered to me, trying to change my mind, however, I simply ignored her.

"Deal or no? We can even record this conversation if you are insecure about my promise. You have 10 seconds to decide." I told her

"I…" The girl was hesitating a bit

"5 seconds."

"OK!" She screamed out, afraid to lose free 2.000 points

She borrowed her phone to me for 3 minutes which was more than enough for me to remember all the questions.

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I was walking with Matsushita-san towards dorms.

"I don't understand why you wasted your points like that." Matsushita-san still felt what I did was a waste, if only she knew I have a photographic memory.

"Don't worry about it but tell me, do you want to become center of attention in class or would you rather avoid that?" I asked her

"Huh? It would depend on what kind of attention would it be." (Matsushita)

"It would be mostly positive attention."

"Then I guess I wouldn't mind it." (Matsushita)

"Great, I will tell you about my plan tomorrow, goodnight."

"Although I don't really understand what happened today I will put my trust in you Walker-kun, sweet dreams to you!" Matsushita-san stuck out her tongue and winked at me before running away to her dorms.

"This girl…ugh" I murmured while scratching my head.

Private points: 95.500 points

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Chapter 13: #13 "Sae-chan"

I spent half of the night by writing down exam questions and answers and the next day I went to the school library to copy and print those questions and answers. I and Matsushita-san met up in my room early in the morning and I gave her papers I printed and instructed her what she should do. She had a quite surprised expression when she saw all the papers filled with questions and answers.

I guess she already figured out that I have a slightly better memory than others but if I want someone to trust and be loyal to me I need to show that I have a bit of trust in them too. Showing her part of my abilities served the purpose very well. 1

--After school--

Everyone was getting ready to leave.

"Everyone, could you give me a minute?!" Matsushita-san said aloud and everyone stopped doing their things and looked towards her with questioning faces.

"..." She appeared to be nervous before so many eyes so she looked at me and I nodded at her with a smile. She took a deep breath and started talking.

"I have something very important to give to every one of you." She said and waved with papers in her hand.

"Hmm, what is that Matsushita-san?" One of her friends asked her.

"These papers contain questions and answers for the upcoming midterm exam." (Matsushita)

"What?!!" Everyone was extremely surprised and the class turned into chaos for the next few seconds.

"Won't we get into trouble by doing this? And are you sure that these questions are legit?" Hirata asked her right after the commotion stopped.

"Of course they are. I bought them from a 2nd-year student and they weren't really surprised by our request so I think that doing such a thing is normal at this school." Matsushita-san answered every question from her classmates without any problems.

It seems that I made the right choice by choosing Matsushita-san as my helper. I could use someone like Kushida-san which would make it easier for others to believe her words but I don't like her and I don't want her popularity to go even higher. Matsushita-san might be an average girl in this class but they won't be able to just ignore these questions without looking at them. They will give them chance and once the midterm exam is over, all the glory will go to Matsushita-san, making her more popular and even more useful in the future.

Matsushita-san handed the papers over to everyone except for Koenji-kun who said that he has no need for that. I already told her that if someone rejects, then leave them be.

"Thanks, Matsushita-san!" Everyone thanked her but obviously they had their doubts.

I also got up, took my bag and I was ready to leave but before I could exit the classroom someone called out to me.

"Walker-kun, do you have any idea from whom these questions are?" It was Horikita-san who was looking at me with suspicion

"Huh, why would you think I know such information?" I asked her with a confused look

"I know that you are hiding something and I also know that you have been getting along with Matsushita-san recently." Horikita frankly told me reasons for her suspicion.

"So you think I have hands in this just based on my relationship with Matsushita-san?" I asked her without showing any signs of nervousness.

"...So it wasn't you?" It was apparent that Horikita started to doubt her suspicion.

"Look Horikita-san, I don't mind you being suspicious of me… To tell the truth, I don't care at all so you can think whatever you want. Now if you will excuse me I am leaving." I told her about my disinterest in what she thinks about me and I started walking towards exit once again.

"Wait!"

"What is it?" I turned around and asked her.

"Chabashira-sensei wants you to meet her in the guidance room" She said and left the classroom before me.

She always needs to have the last word but I wonder what does that woman wants to talk about with me…I guess I should go meet her before it's too late

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.

.

I was feeling pretty frustrated by the conversation I had with Chabashira-sensei so I decided to take a walk around the school grounds. I was walking near the tennis courts where the tennis club was currently practicing. I wanted to watch for a while but then I noticed that most of the members of the club were girls. They weren't wearing shorts but skirts so every time they served the ball their panties became visible.

How can school even allow this…? I didn't want to be considered as pervert so I started to leave but I stopped due to a commotion near me.

There were 4 students arguing. I didn't know 3 of them but I knew very well the last one.

It was Sudo and it seemed that he was being provoked by those 3 unknown students.

I don't think this is going to end well… I should go hold Sudo back in case he would decide to do something stupid.

I sighed and started to walk slowly towards them.

Why do I feel like a nanny in this school? 5

2 students grabbed Sudo's hands and made him kneel and the 3rd one started talking about how he can't wait to see how many from our class will get expelled.

I guess he is the leader of the group and also a quite arrogant one seeing his stance. This is getting too out of hand…

I coldly glared at that guy and he seemed to notice someone looking at him. When our eyes met he appeared a bit startled but he immediately smiled.

"I guess your savior is here, let him go" The guy said to Sudo and then ordered his lackeys to let Sudo go.

"You!" Sudo screamed and wanted to start a fight with them but I quickly caught his shoulder and shook my head.

"Walker-kun what do you want?!" Sudo asked me with a displeased expression

"First, I want you to calm down…" I said

"Alright, both sides please stop or I will be forced to report this fight to school" a girl who appeared out of nowhere ordered us to stop. She was also someone I knew.

"Ichinose, this can't be considered a fight, we were just playing around and this guy tried to jump at us. We are the victims here." The leader of the group said and pointed his finger at Sudo, he didn't even bother with honorifics.

"Really? To me, it looks more like you provoked him to do it, Ryuen-kun" Ichinose said.

So this guy's name is Ryuen.

"Whatever… Hey you, what is your name?" Ryuen just brushed off her comment and asked me for my name while looking at me.

"Walker"

"Walker huh? You have good eyes, it's a pity you weren't sorted into class C. We could have a lot of fun." The way Ryuen said this with his arrogant smile made me think of it as a challenge.

When Ryuen left, Ichinose came to us and tried to talk some sense into Sudo but I doubt it will help him.

"I didn't expect you to be here too, Walker-kun. It's been quite a time since our last encounter."

"It's nice to see you too, Ichinose-san. If you will excuse me I should go back." I said to her and turned around.

"Wait! Are you going to the dorms?" Ichinose asked me a bit weird question.

Why do you want to know where I go?

"Yes, is there some kind of problem?" I asked her with a confused expression.

"No, no but would you mind if I tag along?" Ichinose waved her hands.

I don't care what you do as long as it doesn't bother me. 3

"Do whatever you want…" I answered her shortly and started walking towards the dorms.

Ichinose quickly caught up with me and she started talking about various things. It wasn't annoying but to say I enjoyed it, that was far away from it. I couldn't figure out the reason for her friendliness.

--Day after the midterm exam--

When Chabashira-sensei showed us our results from the midterm exam I almost became deaf.

Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs. A lot of people achieved great score but there were still average scores. How can you even score average when you know questions and answers beforehand. 5

"I truly didn't expect such high scores from you, however" She came near Sudo-kun's name and draw a red line above his name.

You got to be kidding me… How can you score so low?

"You didn't get enough points, Sudo" She said aloud, making the entire classroom quiet.

"Although we knew each other for a short time, I still appreciate the effort you made in my class. I already brought papers for your expulsion here." Chabashira-sensei mercilessly said and showed papers in her hands.

"Wait, isn't there anything we can do?!" Hirata immediately got up and tried to save Sudo from expulsion. Soon enough, even Kushida got up and pleaded the Chabashira-sensei

"Rules are rules… accept it" (Chabashira)

Wait, why did she bring expulsion papers here… Why not solve that after the lesson?

?! THAT WOMAN!!! I gritted my teeth as I thought about the last talk I had with Chabashira-sensei.

--(Start of Flashback)--

"I heard you wanted to meet me Chabashira-sensei." I walked into the guidance room.

"That's true, I have some bad news for you." (Chabashira)

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know that school investigated your background but they couldn't find anything. The school determined that you are harmless, however, if anyone powerful would want you to get expelled, the school wouldn't protect you since you have no backer." Chabashira-sensei said to me with a sly smile.

"I see… What's your point?"

"You see, every class wants to advance to a higher one and the same can be said about us, teachers. I know that you are quite smart, you aren't taking any notes during the classes and you still have average scores at exams." (Chabashira)

"I always remember the topic and then I find the book about it in the library."

"That would be fine if you didn't solve a few hard questions while having wrong answers for easier questions. You also had an average score in this midterm exam while others had much better than their standard" (Chabashira)

"I just happened to see those hard questions in the book. I still don't get your point in this…"

"I know that the rumor that spread out in your classroom at the start of the school originated from you I also had a small talk about you with your classmate Horikita." (Chabashira)

"..." I stayed quiet but my expression was slowly becoming colder and colder. I looked around the room for any cameras and I couldn't find any.

"You see, I want you to help class D climb up into class A. I know that you have already done a few things but I also know that you aren't doing your best. If you knew that your class will be losing points by demerits then why haven't you done something to stop these demerits from appearing?" Chabashira-sensei continued talking without minding my expression.

I narrowed my eyes and stomped my feet, with an almost inhuman speed I appeared right before Chabashira. Our noses were touching each other and our lips were just a few centimeters apart, however, there was no romantic atmosphere around us.

She seemed surprised by my action but she didn't move a bit. She didn't want to show any weakness before me.

"...If you will help the class I can become your backer" (Chabashira)

I glared straightly into her eyes.

"Are you threatening me?" I asked her in a toneless voice

"I don't know what you mean… I am just offering you protection" (Chabashira)

I ignored her words and took some distance from her.

"If you have nothing else to discuss I would like to leave"

"I will give you some time to consider my offer, Walker" (Chabashira)

I turned around to leave but I stopped for a moment right before the door.

"Sae-chan, you are playing with fire, please be careful" I sarcastically told her without any respect in my voice, I even used her first name. 5

I took the last glance at her and she appeared to be frozen by how I called her earlier.

--(End of Flashback)--

I quickly took out my phone and send a message to Matsushita-san. She noticed that she got a message, however, she didn't want to look at it in this situation. So I had to fake cough for her to notice it was from me. A few people looked at me but nothing more happened.

"Wait for a minute, please" Matsushita-san said and got up from her seat, I didn't have time to type a long message so hopefully, she will be able to improvise.

Everyone looked at her with a bit of hope in their eyes, after all, they were able to get through this exam with her help so they naturally thought that she has a plan.

"Chabashira-sensei, you said that we can buy anything with points right? How about we buy Sudo-kun's expulsion off." 1

"Ooh!" Everyone looked with hope in their eyes towards the teacher after hearing Matsushita-san's words.

She looked at me and slightly smiled.

"You can buy anything, that includes this, however, you don't have enough points to buy it"(Chabashira)

"And what if we buy only 1 point?" Horikita got up and asked the teacher.

"Hmm, that's also possible. 1 point equals 100.000 points"

"What? 100.000 points?" A slight commotion started in class but the entire class was able to put together 100.000 points in the end. Students weren't happy with parting with their points but Hirata and Kushida were able to persuade everyone. I only lost 5.000 points which was all thanks to that rumor at the beginning of school, if students had no savings at all I would be forced to pay much more. 1

We all were able to avoid the expulsion for the price but this price might even bring us more together as a class.

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Chapter 14: #14 Confession

Hmm…My points are slowly decreasing even though we managed to get some class points from the midterm exam, it isn't enough. Maybe I should start buying even cheaper items at the convenience store.

I was thinking about how effectively save up points but I was interrupted from my thoughts by my phone. I looked at the screen and saw a message from an unknown number.

'Hi, this is Ichinose, I am sorry about writing to you like this Walker-kun but I couldn't find you anywhere after school. I would like to talk to you a bit can you come to this location…?'

Hmm, I guess she got my phone number from Kushida but should I go? It could be anyone else, of course, I am not afraid of any trap but avoiding troublesome situations is the best way to live. 4

After a few seconds of deciding what to do, I sent my reply

'Ok.' 1

When I came to the location that was mentioned in the message and I could already see Ichinose waiting for me.

"Walker-kun, I am sorry to call you out here out of nowhere but you are probably the boy I am most comfortable to be around out of my class." (Ichinose)

"Hmm, so this matter is about your class since you are talking to me and not to boys from your class."

"Yes, you are quite sharp Walker-kun" Ichinose praised me with a smile.

"It's pretty easy to deduce. So? What do you want to talk about?" I don't really want to talk to students from other classes, however, it could also serve as getting to know your enemy and since I am already here I can't just run away.

"Umm, it's maybe a bit personal question but have you ever confessed to anyone or has anyone ever confessed to you?" Ichinose asked me a little bit weird question but whatever. Since she can't talk about this to anyone from her class then there is high chance that she is going to confess to someone or someone will confess to her at this place.

"Er…I think I have never experienced any of these situations." I simply told her truth, I see no harm in telling her.

"Really?! I mean… I already heard a few girls in my class mentioning that there is a handsome boy with white hair in class D. I thought that you are already in a relationship, however, no one even confessed to you yet?!" Ichinose seemed really suspicious if I was telling the truth or not.

"That's the first time I have ever heard that… Either way, I have nothing to gain by lying here." I just shrugged my shoulders at her words.

"Ok, I will trust that you are the same as me, inexperienced. What would you do if someone confessed to you but you didn't feel the same way?" Ichinose asked me with a bit red in her face.

So it is someone confessing to her huh? Even if you will ask me what would I do… There is no other way than to say that you don't feel the same way, or not? If you trust me that I am inexperienced then why are you even asking me something like that? 2

"Er…I think that saying that you don't feel the same way is the only and the best way."

"But won't that hurt them? I don't want to hurt anybody so I was thinking if we could pretend to be a couple." I marveled at Ichinose's naiveness

"Heh, I am indeed inexperienced but I know that where are the feelings there is also pain. No matter what you do, pretend to have a boyfriend, ignore them, accept them while having no feelings towards them, you will always end up hurting them. "Best way" to hurt them is to say the truth and not to be a lier. Plus have you ever thought about consequences if we were pretending to be a couple? Rumors would spread by themselves and in the end, you would be forced to say truth or we would be forced to become an actual couple." I lightly chuckled at her naiveness and earnestly told her my thoughts. 1

"Walker-kun…Are you really inexperienced?" Ichinose started to have doubts again.

"This is not about experience, Ichinose-san. This is about understanding human emotions. Love, Envy, Anger, Fear and many others. What I think is that love is the most dangerous out of all of them because love can cause you to feel all other emotions like envy and anger." I told her

"Walker-kun, are you really-" Ichinose wanted to say something but she was interrupted by a voice behind us.

"Ichinose-san…who is that?" I turned around and saw a girl with short blonde hair.

Don't tell…it's a confession from the girl? 4

"Ah, Chihiro-chan, I am sorry that I bought someone you don't even know. He is-"

"Felix Walker, nice to meet you. I had something important to discuss with Ichinose-san, sorry for taking her time. I will be leaving now." I didn't want to stand in this awkward situation any longer so I left them alone but before I went away I firmly nodded at Ichinose.

Should I wait for her to solve this? But why should I? There is nothing I will gain from doing this. Am I perhaps trying too hard to see value in every action I do? Tch, if it is as I think then I am nothing more than a slave to this new life. I got the second chance to enjoy my life but until now all I have been doing was calculating merits and demerits. 3

I am thinking too much about this…fuck it. I was standing not far away from that location. 1

Let's see what will you do Ichinose. After a few minutes, I saw that Chihiro girl run away while crying.

... sigh Love is the most painful thing in this world especially when that someone betrays you.

"Ichinose-san" I called out to her and she turned to face me.

"Walker-kun, you waited for me?" Ichinose asked me with a surprised expression.

"Since it was your first confession and you don't like to hurt other people, I thought that you might want to talk to someone afterward." I just shrugged it off as nothing worth to mention.

"You see, we said that we would try to go back to normal tomorrow. Do you think it will work out?" Ichinose asked me with a sad expression.

"...I am sorry but if her feelings towards you were true then it will take some time. If you would just act as nothing happened it would be disrespectful towards her feelings." I frankly told her what I think even if it will make her feel worse.

"I see…You are really kind person, Walker kun. I am sorry for dragging you into this, I owe you one" Ichinose said something that really surprised me. 1

Why does she think that I am a kind person after saying something not nice to her instead of comforting her?

"I have a question. Why do you think that I am a kind person? I didn't even comfort you, you could even say that all I said were mean things."

"Hihi, because you are telling the truth, you aren't trying to make me feel better by telling me lies. Let's go together back to the dorms!" Ichinose chuckled at my confusion and dragged me along by my hand.

sigh Maybe I shouldn't wait for her… I thought so but there was a little smile on my face.

Is this what normal school life feels like? 2

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

Ugh, it's really hard to fit Ayanokoji in the story since he doesn't have to do anything. Would you like to see more interactions with Ayanokoji? And do you mind these kinds of scenes where Felix practically just replace Ayanokoji?

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Chapter 15: #15 Class D's trouble

The next morning when I came to class I noticed some people arguing.

"What happened?" I put my bag beside my seat and asked Ayanokoji who was sitting behind me.

"Apparently Sudo got into trouble with other class." He answered me briefly.

When I heard Sudo and trouble with the other class, all I could think of was that day when he almost started a fight. If it wasn't for me or Ichinose then he would definitely start a fight. Even though Sudo looks and behaves like a delinquent, I don't think he would beat up just anyone without any reason. It must be work of that Ryuen guy since he already knows about Sudo's temper.

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"Basketball club members from class C made a complaint against a Sudo. They claim that after practice, Sudo attacked them and injured them without a reason." Chabashira-sensei informed everyone about the situation.

"What?! That was self-defense! They started a fight, not me!" Sudo got angry and slammed his desk with his fist.

"There is no evidence, it would be different if there was any witness, however, the thing is that they are injured and you aren't" Chabashira-sensei coldly said to Sudo.

Sometimes I don't even understand her, she wants our class to advance higher yet she is cold towards us. As for the reason why she wants our class to advance… I thought about it a bit. It could be a higher salary but I don't think that's all. Maybe the thing that applies to classes, applies to teachers too. She is probably at the lowest place in the hierarchy since she is a class D homeroom teacher. 3

"Did anyone happen to see Sudo-kun's fight?" Kushida got up and asked everyone in class which gave me the opportunity to observe everyone's expression and actions. Everyone started looking at each other with questioning expression.

I didn't notice anyone act unusually except for one girl. Her name is Sakura Airi, she is usually quiet and doesn't involve herself in any class activity, however this time she was looking at the floor with a bit of guilt in her eyes. She was afraid to look at anyone, of course, I knew that she was shy and she wouldn't want to look at anyone anyway but she was fidgeting with her hands. But if she knows something why not say it aloud? Is this just because she is shy? I highly doubt that she would risk expulsion of a classmate because of her shyness. 1

"Perhaps, it would be better for you if you got expelled. Your presence is not beautiful at all" Koenji said aloud while looking into his hand mirror. I am starting to feel nauseous.

"What did yo-" Sudo got up and tried to say something but was interrupted.

"In 1 week's time, there will be a discussion with class C , with a student council present to oversee the process. Depending on results, class D might lose class points and there will be heavy punishment for Sudo. I hope you can find any witnesses in the meantime." Chabashira-sensei said right before the bell rang indicating the end of class.

Hmm, so if worse comes to worst I can always use Horikita Manabu's favor, however, I would like to avoid such a situation. I took my phone out of my pocket and started typing a message.

'Do you have time to spare after school?' I sent the message to Matsushita-san

'Sure, what's the matter? Want me to look for witnesses?' After a few seconds, I got a reply.

'I have a favor to ask of you. Do you think you could investigate and follow Sakura-san after school?'

'I don't see any problem with it but why? Do you suspect her that she knows something?' (Matsushita)

'I am not sure but it's better to be safe than sorry. Can you do it for me?'

' OK but I expect you to take me out for lunch or something after this matter ;)' (Matsushita)

'Will do' After sending my last message someone came to me.

"Walker-kun and Ayanokoji-kun, would you come with me after school to hunt for witnesses, please?" It was Kushida who came to our seats.

I don't have anything particular to do after school so I guess I could help out for the appearance's sake. I don't really expect to find any witness, after all, who would just offer to help us if he wasn't from our class but I could try if Ichinose is willing to help. I could see in that Chihiro girl's eyes respect she had for Ichinose. She must be quite popular among the 1st-year students so with her help we might be able to find a clue. 1

"Sure, I don't mind helping out" I said and looked behind me at Ayanokoji. He looked at me for a while and then he sighed out.

"Guess I can come too…" He gave his answer to Kushida.

"Really?! Thanks! Let's meet up after school" Kushida said and run away.

"Do you really want to help?" I asked Ayanokoji who seemed totally disinterested in this matter.

"...And you?" Instead of answering he asked me a question.

"I see…well, see you after school" He was able to see that I wasn't really interested either that's the reason why he asked me this question instead of answering. I got up and left the classroom. 2

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'Hi Ichinose-san, can you help me with something? You should already know about the incident we had with class C. I would like to borrow your help with finding clues and I would appreciate it if you could find and send me a few videos of those involved playing basketball.'

I sent a message to Ichinose while I was waiting for others to arrive.

'Hi Walker-kun, It's no problem, give me a few hours. Can you also message me the location where can I find you later?' The reply came almost immediately.

You don't really need to come here personally, you just need to send it in the message but whatever.

'Ok, I will send you location right after you will find the videos' I sent the message and put my phone in my pocket.

After a few minutes, everyone came to the meeting place. We set out to ask around the school about any clues or witnesses, however, even after a few hours we didn't find anything.

"We couldn't find anything… sigh" Kushida's spirit was extremely low.

"Hey! Everyone!" Ichinose was running towards us while waving at us.

"Ichinose-san?" Kushida was a bit surprised by her presence.

"I came to help you all, Kushida-san. Ah, I tried to send you the videos you requested but their size was too big so I can only show you them on my phone, Walker-kun" Ichinose said and everyone looked at me with a strange expression.

"Thank you and sorry for making you come here because of it" I didn't think of video's size so I apologized for the trouble.

"No need to apologize, I owe you after all" Ichinose said with a bright smile and everyone looked at me with even stranger expression than before.

We watched the videos Ichinose got.

"Why did you want these videos, Walker-kun?" Kushida asked me filled with curiosity.

"Hmm, so it is scheme after all…" I ignored her and said aloud with a thoughtful expression.

"Why do you think so?" Ayanokoji unexpectedly asked me this question.

You should already know…are you perhaps trying to join in the conversation?

"Just by looking at their posture, speed, reflexes, the way they are holding the ball it is more than apparent that they are experienced fighters plus I and Ichinose also saw 1 of them provoking Sudo some time ago. There is no way for Sudo-kun to beat all 3 of them without sustaining any injuries." I explained to them.

"Have you ever practiced any martial arts, Walker-kun?" Kushida seemed surprised by my deduction that came just from watching a video.

"No, I used to live in a dangerous district so I have a somewhat good eye for this kind of thing" When I said this, Ayanokoji gave me a look but I returned it right at him. We both knew each other physical ability but we both are trying to hide it so there is no chance that we would betray each other in this matter. 1

"But even if we know that it is a scheme to damage class D, how can you prove your innocence, after all, Sudo-kun wasn't injured" Ichinose's words made everyone present lose hope once again.

We decided to pause the investigating for today.

"How about we hang out in Ayanokoji-kun's room once again?" Ike suggested like it was his own room which made Ayanokoji's lips to twitch a bit.

"If it's ok with Ayanokoji-kun. Would you like to come with us, Walker-kun?" Kushida invited me even though it wasn't her room, well at least she made it sound more softly than Ike.

"Sorry Kushida-san but I already have plans" I quickly gave Ayanokoji pitying look and separated from their group and not long after that I received a message.

'I did what you wanted from me and I didn't find anything suspicious except her being sometimes absent-minded plus she was looking quite a lot at her camera. I didn't even know that she owns the camera. Also when I was trying to find something about her I found some photos of a girl that looks almost like Sakura-san.' It was from a Matsushita-san and she even sent me a few photos

I looked at the photos she sent me and I became speechless because it wasn't just some girl similar to Sakura. It was Sakura herself, however, in those photos she was making very daring poses, it was nothing you would expect from a shy girl. No wonder she believes that that's not Sakura. 1

'Good job, thank you and sorry for wasting your entire day with such a selfish request. Good night.' I didn't mention that the girl on the photos is actually Sakura.

'Don't mention it, I will be awaiting your invitation to lunch. Good night ;)'

...What's up with those emoticons. 4

Sakura is probably hiding this side of hers for very good reason. I guess I found her weakness, now the question is if I should go try to talk to Sakura or if I should take some drastic action…

Hehe, class C huh? Trying to use the scheme combined with violence not a bad idea. How about I do the same thing to you lot? I was unknowingly smiling while thinking about what to do to class C.

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Chapter 16: #16 Trial

I was sitting at my seat and listening to Hirata and Kushida exchanging all the information they could find about Sudo's incident.

"So you are saying that the entire incident is class C's scheme?" Hirata said with a slightly angry expression.

"That's right, Walker-kun was the one who was able to deduce it" Kushida tried to praise me before one of the leaders of the class.

Hopefully, Kushida's praising won't cause me any troubles but right after I thought that, Hirata came to my seat.

"Walker-kun, thank you for helping out with investigating" Hirata said with a grateful expression

"Well, we are classmates so it is only expected that I help out a little" I answered him briefly without trying to continue the conversation, after all, this conversation between us could attract a bit of attention, especially from girls.

Hirata sensed that I didn't want to continue the conversation so he said thank you for the last time and went away.

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After the last bell rang indicating the end of the last class for today, everyone went their way, however, I stayed behind since Sakura was absentmindedly looking from the window.

"Sakura-san" I came to her and tried to wake her up from her thoughts.

"Eh? Y-yes Walker-kun?" She answered in a very low and weak voice. She is really shy and doesn't like to be around the people she doesn't know.

"Can we talk for a bit?" I asked her

" I-I should-" I already anticipated that she will try to refuse so I interrupted her.

"It's about Sudo-kun. I think it's in your own interest to talk to me" I told her with a light threat.

" I-I am sorry-" She tried to run away from the classroom. Since no one was in the classroom anymore I caught her wrist and pinned her against the wall.

"Ah!" She was shaking in fear but she didn't scream. She couldn't even look at me.

"Look me in the eyes!" I said aloud with strong voice. She was still shaking but she still did as I said unconsciously. 5

"Do you see any ill intent in my eyes towards you?" I asked her and she focused on looking right into my eyes. After a few seconds, she shook her head and started to calm down so I released her.

"I know you witnessed the Sudo-kun's fight but I have no intention of telling anyone."

"W-why?" She seemed surprised by the fact that I won't tell anyone about her.

"You must have your own reason for doing so… I won't force you to say anything, you have no obligation to help your classmates but if you will remain the way you are now you will never evolve as a person. There is nothing wrong with not wanting to get involved in trouble or with other people but you won't be able to always run away once you step into the world of adults. I just wanted to help you with your weakness and not to force trouble onto you." 1

"...But why would you want to help me?" Sakura asked me.

"Good question. I won't be like Kushida-san and say that I want to be your friend or that I pity you. I will be completely honest with you. We don't talk to each other much, I couldn't care any less about your personal life or how you want to live, however, we are now classmates and we will be for the next 3 years so we should at least try to help each other if we want to move forward"

This was probably the best answer for a person like Sakura. People like her tend to not trust overly friendly people like Kushida so the best way is to tell her your honest thoughts.

"...So what should I do?" She asked me with moist eyes

"Why are you asking me that? You should do whatever you want to do… I tried to help you just because I felt like it, you don't have to do the same thing for Sudo-kun. This is your life and you should live it the way you want to so you won't have any regrets. Call me if you ever need anything, I won't say that I will help you with everything but I might at least consider it." I threw a paper with my phone number at her and walked out of the classroom, leaving confused Sakura behind.

--2 days later--

It was already after school when my phone started nonstop vibrating which indicated that someone was calling me. I took out my phone and saw an unknown number. I wanted to ignore it but then I remembered I gave Sakura my phone number a few days ago so I accepted the call.

"Yes? Who is it?"

"Umm… I- It's me Sakura" Weak voice came from the other side.

"Ah, Sakura-san. Is there something you need from me?"

"You see… I- I have a little problem. Could you please meet me at the mall?"

"Hmm, I can go, I will be there right away" I hung up and changed my destination.

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When I came to our meeting place I saw Sakura looking with a sad expression at her camera in her hands. I guess she broke it yesterday when she accidentally stumbled over when she tried to run away from Kushida.

"Did your camera broke yesterday when Kushida-san tried to talk to you?" I frankly asked.

"Ah! Walker-kun, you actually saw that?" She jumped up, surprised by my sudden appearance.

You should pay more attention to your surroundings…

"Yes, so is it actually broken or for what reason did you call me?"

"I tried to talk to her but in the end, I just couldn't do it. As for the reason why I called for your help… I- I would like you to come with me to an electronics store if you don't mind…" She couldn't even look at me while saying that. I guess she is too uncomfortable being here with only me.

"Well, I don't mind going with you but don't you want me to call one more person? You seem to feel rather uncomfortable being here all alone with me"

"Wha- No! no! no! Th- that's not it, please this is just misunderstanding"

It seems like I made her even more uncomfortable…

"Don't worry but are you sure you don't want 1 more person to come?"

"Well…there might be 1 more person who I wouldn't mind being here but I wouldn't want you to wait for them since I am already taking your free time by coming here to help me" Sakura said while firmly clutching her skirt with her hands.

"Alright, but if you want me to help you, at least look me in the eyes when you speak with me. Do you think you can do that?" I asked her with a small smile.

"I- I think I can…" She said this while trying her best to look in my eyes.

"Ok, let's not waste time standing here" I said and started to walk towards the electronics store.

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"Hmm, it's no good. Do you have a warranty?" An employee asked Sakura for her warranty and she shivered a bit when she saw him look at her but she still gave it to him.

...Now I understand why she wanted someone to come with her. This piece of shit was checking her boobs out while trying to make it look like he was checking the warranty period. I don't like the look in his eyes. Perverts like Ike are fine since they are just idiots who are actually harmless, however, this guy is probably the type to do something illegal and harmful. These kinds of perverts should just die. I am not trying to play a hero but I fucking despise people like that. For me, * is a much worse crime than murder. 6

"It's still within the warranty period. You are really lucky, the damaged parts will be replaced by new ones for free. Could you please fill out this form? We will need your personal information including contact information…"

He gave Sakura the form about repairs and she started to tremble.

Could you at least wipe off that drool when you are looking at her? Should I help her?

sigh What am I even thinking about, this can't be used as a test for her. That guy is really dangerous, this is no time to boost her confidence.

I took the pen Sakura was holding and filled out the form with my personal information.

"Since you are planning to lend me that camera, they can directly send it to me after it is repaired, no?" I told Sakura with an encouraging smile.

"Huh? Ah, y- yes" She was able to play along.

"But sir, isn't this camera hers?" The employee clearly didn't like what I did but I couldn't care any less.

"Indeed, the camera belongs to her but since she also agreed with this there shouldn't be any problem with it or is there some kind of problem?" I narrowed my eyes and asked him.

"Eh, no there isn't any problem" He flinched when he saw the look in my eyes and let the matter go.

"Ok, Airi-chan you can go ahead I want to ask more about repairs details, I will quickly catch up to you" I said with a helpless smile hoping that she will play along.

"Eeeh?! O- ok…" She immediately blushed when she heard me call her by her first name but after seeing my expression she decided to play along and after that, she left me and the employee alone"

"Could you lend me your ear for a bit?" I said to him with a friendly smile. He seemed confused but he still leaned forward.

" Look pal, I saw how you were checking out her boobs. If you will try to make a move on my girlfriend…I WILL KILL YOU " I whispered into his ear with a frosty cold voice. He wanted to laugh it off but when he saw my emotionless expression he stopped himself from laughing.

"I hope you will stay out of trouble, thank you for the trouble" I told him and followed after Sakura.

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"Sorry about calling you by your first name like that without your permission" I apologized after catching up to Sakura.

"N- no it's ok. I know that you had your reasons…"

"Anyway, today's matter got resolved so I should head back to dorms. You should be careful and pay attention to your surroundings if something happens don't hesitate to call me" I told her and went my way.

I don't know if that threat was enough to scare him but I should pay more attention to Sakura for now. I am not a hero, however, I definitely am not a scum who would let his classmate get raped. I got myself involved in this so I will protect her with everything I got. 2

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--Student council room--

"We will now hold the trial regarding the violent incident involving class D and class C…" The girl beside Horikita Manabu continued talking and explaining the rules of the trial. I was almost put to sleep after hearing all that formal bullshit, at least I got to know that she is student council secretary, Akane Tachibana. 1

The ones who were participating in this trial from class D were Ayanokoji, Horikita, Sakura and me, of course, there was also our homeroom teacher.

"Now I will read aloud the stories from both sides" Tachibana said and started to read aloud from her papers.

Not long after that Sudo started to cause a commotion, telling how their story is fake. On the other side, the only one who was defending their story was class C's homeroom teacher which was quite strange for others. The 3 injured students didn't even try to defend themselves, however, it was still a fact that Sudo injured them and he sustained no injuries.

On our side, Horikita had problems speaking out because of her brother's presence and Sudo had no way to defend himself. I didn't bother to say anything aloud because I already knew how this trial will end.

Ayanokoji also noticed Horikita's silence and he tried to tickle her to force her out of her uncomfortable zone. He succeeded and Horikita finally started to defend Sudo's actions. She started explaining how Sudo wouldn't be able to beat all of them without even sustaining injuries and the next round of barking began. 1

"It is still a word against word. Without any evidence, your class is most likely to take the blame. It would be good for this matter to be resolved before it will drag out too long and I will be forced to issue an expulsion for the loser of the trial." The student council president told us while adjusting his glasses, it was apparent that he didn't want to waste any more time with this matter.

"I- I would-" Sakura tried to say something, perhaps she wanted to say that she has evidence but she was interrupted by one of the guys from class C.

"We are at fault here…"

I grinned right after hearing his words and it seemed that Chabashira-sensei looked at me.

Everyone looked at him with a surprised expression, even their own homeroom teacher wasn't an exception.

After the matter got resolved, the 3 students from class C got a suspension for 1 week and all of us were ordered to leave the room. However, when I was about to leave, Horikita Manabu requested me to remain.

"What have you done?" He asked me with narrowed eyes right after the only 3 of us remained in the room.

"What do you mean?" I asked him in a playful manner.

"I saw you grinning when they confessed, the rest of the people became surprised yet you were calm from the start to the end of the trial. I also noticed that those 3 students couldn't even look at you" He explained

"Wow! As expected of student council president, always so aware of his surroundings" I said with hands in my pockets.

"So are you going to tell me?" Horikita Manabu asked me with narrowed eyes.

...

--(Start of Flashback)--

I am currently waiting in some random storage room.

I was getting bored by waiting but door suddenly opened and 3 students came in.

"Huh? What are you doing here and where is Kushida-san?" They were exactly the 3 injured students from class C.

"Sorry boys for destroying your fantasies with Kushida-san. She won't be coming here today"

"Tch, there is nothing for us to do, let's go back" One guy said to others and tried to open the door but I stopped him before he could touch the handle.

"I recommend you not to run away before you will hear me out. You might get expelled and even worse"

"Huh? What do you mean" (class C)

"It's about Sudo-kun. I already know that it's just your stupid scheme. I also sent your picture to Sudo-kun and he said that he didn't beat you up so much."

"I don't know what you are talking about…" (class C)

"Haha, don't worry I am not recording this conversation" I said with a light laugh and showed them my phone that was turned off.

"...And? Even if you know all these things, you have no evidence." (class C)

"Wrong, we have evidence but I don't feel like using it. I want you to taste the defeat by your own tactic" I said aloud and started to equip the gloves I borrowed from someone.

I also took out scissors from my pocket and started playing with them.

"What are you trying to do?!" (class C)

"Don't worry these aren't for you. What do you think the school would do if they got a complaint from a stabbed student? Would they just expelled attackers or would even police got involved?"

"If you think that your threats will work, you are extremely wrong" One of the guys said and tried to leave once again.

"Security camera already saw you walking in here. Do you think I would need any more evidence that you stabbed me? This would be more than enough"

"haha, don't make me laugh, who would believe you that you are willing to stab yourself for this kind of matter" He said with a little uncertainty.

What is the worst enemy to face? Strong one? Clever one? All of them have some kind of weakness. However, no one wants to fight with a crazy person.

I grabbed the scissors and stabbed my leg, of course, not too deep I am not someone who enjoys physical pain. This much would be enough to actually scare them. 1

"?! Y-you?!" They were too scared to even talk after seeing how I stabbed myself without any hesitation with a smiling expression.

"So? Should I make a complaint that students from class C tried to take revenge on class D by attacking and stabbing a student from class D? I don't think this will end with just expulsion… hehe" I started to laugh to make them even more scared.

"Y-you, there is no way you can just throw the blame at us, it will be our word against yours" They were still trying to fight back but it was apparent that they were scared.

"Like I already said…security camera saw you coming in and even if I didn't wear gloves and left fingerprints on scissors, do you think anyone would believe that someone would deliberately stab themselves to frame someone? They would believe someone with serious injuries rather than to believe students who could even have the motive to take revenge. It's exactly the same situation how you are trying to frame Sudo-kun"

"...What do you want?"

"Isn't it clear? I want you to confess that it's all your fault before the student council president during the trial and don't talk about what happened in this room to anyone if I will find out that you betrayed me…I will make sure that you and your whole family will suffer" I said with an emotionless expression.

"W-we will do it and we won't talk about this…" He said while looking downwards.

"I will bandage my leg and then you will clean the blood on the floor" I bandaged my leg and also changed the trousers since there was a hole in them and blood.

"I hope you will make a plausible excuse for your failure to Ryuen" I said before walking out of the room.

--(End of Flashback)--

"And what do I get from telling you, student council president?" I shoved my hands into my pockets.

He remained quiet for a while but then he started talking again.

"I owe you one, however, I never said that I will do everything in my power to help you"

"Huh?!" His statement surprised his secretary, Tachibana.

"Heh, so you are saying that if I tell you, you will help me no matter what as long as it is within your power?" I asked him and he just nodded in response.

Hmm, I guess there is no demerit in telling him.

I rolled up my trousers and showed him my bandaged leg.

"?! You…" This was probably for the first time I saw him with a shocked expression. He is really something else, he was able to deduce what I did just by seeing my injury, however, Tachibana probably didn't get it, seeing her confused expression.

"Don't forget about our deal. Now if you will excuse me I have to go back" I said with a smile and left.

--(Horikita Manabu's POV)--

"What was that injury?" Tachibana asked me after Walker closed the door behind him.

"...You don't need to know, however, I will give you small advice. Don't provoke that guy without any reason"

"Huh? President, are you saying I have to be careful around the 1st-year student from class D?"

"That's right and it would be better for you not to regard him as normal student from class D"

There is no way he is just 15 years old, a teenager wouldn't be able to do such a thing. There is also no information about his background… I will have to observe him until my graduation, hopefully, he isn't dangerous to this school.

--(Horikita Manabu's POV end)--

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Chapter 17: #17 After the Trial

"How did the trial end?!" Hirata quickly came to Horikita and asked her.

"...we won" She said with a complex expression, perhaps she was too confused why class C withdrew the complaint.

"That's great! Sudo-kun won't be expelled" Kushida said aloud with a bright smile.

"But why the long face, Horikita-san?" Hirata asked her with a worried expression.

"It's nothing…I am just a little confused" Horikita said and started to stare out of the window.

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I was walking around the school grounds without any destination. I still didn't explore it entirely, after all, it is an extremely large school. My phone vibrated a few times so I took it out and saw a new message from Matsushita.

'I am still waiting for that invitation to lunch :P'

Crap, I almost forgot about it…

'How about we meet up on the roof tomorrow during the lunch break? Is that ok with you?' I sent the message and it started to rain. I am really unlucky.

I hid under some random roof and then looked at what Matsushita sent me as a reply to my idea.

'You know, I thought that you will buy me a meal in the cafeteria…'

Well, I don't want to spend my points on useless things plus I think that my homemade food won't lose out to the food from the cafeteria.

'I will bring some homemade food with me so you won't have to pay for anything, isn't that enough?'

Nice, the rain is getting heavier and I won't make it to the dorms without getting soaking wet now.

'Homemade food? Will I survive this lunch?' When I read her reply, a vein appeared on my forehead and I almost crushed the phone in my hand. 1

'Haha, you are really funny Chiaki-chan, but if you send me one more message of similar type I might as well make it so that you won't survive :)' I sent the message and not even after 6 seconds I got a reply.

'Dont call melike thatt!' I guess she was frustrated when she was typing that. She couldn't even type it correctly. I put my phone back into my pocket. 2

sigh What now? I don't really want to wait here until the rain stops. I guess I will just continue with exploring the school grounds without an umbrella. It's not like I could go and get it from my room, by that time I would already get soaking wet so the best way is to simply ignore it. There is no reason to fear the water plus I like rain anyway, it always helps me clear my mind and think of hard things. A lot of people tell that rain represents depressive emotions but I don't think so. I think that it represents life, after all, our bodies are mostly water, without the water, nothing would exist. 4

I continued exploring the school grounds, however, after traveling a distance of a few hundred meters, I happened to see a relatively big group of people, of course, all of them had an umbrella.

Am I really the only one who doesn't have one?

Since I was curious about what they were doing, I approached them and noticed that they were people from class C and class A. Really strange combination if you ask me. Sakayanagi and Ryuen were also present. Both sides look like they are ready for any unexpected situation.

"Playing a queen of the school already huh?" Ryuen said with a light laugh.

"That was hardly my intent" Sakayanagi just smiled and said without paying any intention to Ryuen provocative laugh.

"I am gonna crush class D, then-" I was able to hear few sentences before they noticed my presence. Well, it wasn't like I was trying to hide anyway. I didn't really care about the animosity or conversation between them but the last thing Ryuen said before he stopped talking really intrigued me.

Crush class D huh? Hehe, you can try.

"Oh? Walker-kun, I didn't notice you, it's good to see you again." Sakayanagi playfully smiled upon noticing my presence.

"Yeah, it's good to see you too" I answered her politely.

"What are you doing here anyway?" She asked me.

"Nothing much, just wandering around the school grounds"

"Without an umbrella? Do you want to borrow one from me?" When she heard my answer she looked at me with a confused expression, after all, who would be walking around in the rain without an umbrella. An ordinary person can catch a cold really easily but I am anything but ordinary after living in the wildness for years.

I really wonder why Sakayanagi has 2 umbrellas but I guess there is no meaning in thinking about it. Well, I don't think that there is any need for the umbrella since I am already soaking wet but I guess I should accept not to appear as a weird person, however, I guess they already think of me as weirdo since I said that I was walking around without the umbrella.

"Thank you, Sakayanagi-san" I nodded with a smile and went to their group, however, I was stopped by Ryuen's group who had been only listening to my conversation with Sakayanagi until now.

"We meet again. I heard you participated in the trial today and that the student council president requested you to remain there after the trial ended"

"Hmm? What about it?"

"I want to know why did he want you to remain there? It sounds quite absurd that the student council president requested for the student from class D to remain" (Ryuen)

"And don't you want to also know my amount of points? I don't see any reason for me to tell you the contents of my private conversations"

"You know, there are no security cameras in the vicinity. Do you know what does that means?" Ryuen narrowed his eyes and threatened me.

"That I can beat you up and I won't face any punishment?" I asked with a silly smile and I could already see high kick aiming for my head. I dodged it and retreated a few meters to the back.

"Heh, can't you take a small joke?" I asked him in a playful manner.

"As I thought, you are good" Ryuen said with an excited smile.

"Stop it Ryuen or do you think that we can't record you using violence against the fellow student?" Sakayanagi tried to help me but I couldn't understand a reason behind it.

"Oh? So the queen has already found her king?" Ryuen asked with a provocative smile.

"Are you perhaps jealous?" Instead of declining his questions, Sakayanagi played along and tried to irritate him.

"Jealous? Instead of being jealous, I quite pity him" Ryuen said and looked at her small body with disinterest.

"Well…I think I better go my way now" I didn't want to spend any more time in this situation where people are using sexual insults.

"Wait! I have one more question for you, Walker-kun" Sakayanagi said and I started to fear what kind of question it is. I just hope she won't ask me if I agree with Ryuen's statement.

"What about the umbrella?" She asked me and I sighed in relief.

"It's ok, I am already soaking wet so it doesn't really matter, see you later" I wanted to leave them, however, I stopped for a second when I heard Ryuen's voice

"Walker, I know that someone from your class made 3 students from my class betray me. Even after "asking" them they didn't tell me anything. I am going to find that person and crush him!"

"Hmm? Why are you telling me this anyway? Do you want me to warn my class in advance?" I asked him but I didn't even wait for his answer before leaving.

I should visit the convenience store on my way to the dorms, I will have to make something special since I gave Matsushita my word.

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Chapter 18: #18 Rooftop lunch

"Hey, hey, do you want to go to the cafeteria?"

I could hear how students were planning on how to spend their lunch break.

"Hey Chiaki-san, let's grab lunch too" Lately a lot of girls were spending their time with Matsushita. In this class, Hirata is the leader of boys and Karuizawa who is his girlfriend became a central figure of girls to some extent, however, It could be said that Matsushita is partly a leader of both boys and girls. The main difference between her and Karuizawa was that she was nice to boys and Karuizawa was mostly throwing them a disgusted expression. As for Kushida…well, she is liked by everyone but she isn't considered as a leader. She is like our class's mascot.

"Sorry girls but I can't go with you today, I already have plans for lunch break"

"Eeeh? I hope you aren't ditching us for a boy, Chiaki-san"

"Wha-? Of course not!" Matsushita blushed a little but denied it.

"Hmm…suspicious" All girls said at once.

What a synergy.

"Look, it's just one lunch, you can survive it without me" Matsushita said to girls and looked towards me and winked at me before leaving the classroom.

After 5 minutes passed since Matsushita left the classroom, I grabbed my bag and walked out of the classroom.

When I opened the door of the roof, I noticed Matsushita already sitting on one of the benches. She waved at me and I came to her.

"What took you so long?!" Matsushita asked me with a displeased expression

"Did you want me to go right after you? If yes, It would be easier to simply tell everyone that we are having lunch together here"

"Hmph! Alright, I will forgive you if I will enjoy the rest of the lunch break" (Matsushita)

Huh? I heard that women can be sometimes unreasonable but this is a whole new level. Is she angry because I took 5 minutes from our lunch break time?

"Come-on, Chiaki-chan don't be angry" I said with a teasing smile. If she thought I will become afraid of her then she is greatly mistaken. Might as well make her even angrier.

"Just sit down already! And stop calling me like that" She blushed when she heard my words but instead of getting angrier she calmed down her anger.

"Alright, your wish is my command" I chuckled a bit after seeing her reaction.

"Here you go" I handed her big bento box, however when she tried to take it from me our hands touched.

"Th-thank you!" She quickly took the box and blushed even more than before. I didn't really mind such a small accident but I guess it's different for girls.

"Why can you be so composed?" She asked me a question which made me a bit confused.

"What do you mean? Do you mean that small accident? I don't see any problem with it, don't friends sometimes touch each other by accident or intentionally?" I asked her with confused expression but my question made her become absent-minded for a while. 4

"Are you ok?" I tried to wake her up from her thoughts by waving my hand before her face.

"Ah! I am sorry, I just got a little shocked when you mentioned that we are friends" She panicked a little but covered it with a light laugh. 1

"What? You don't like to be called my friend? Haha" I laughed a little.

"It's not that…" " however it could be something more than friends" She denied it and then mumbled something which I didn't really understand. All I could hear was 'however' and 'more'

"What was that?"

"What do you mean?!" She panicked a little maybe she didn't want me to hear it but I will ask regardless.

"The sentence you mumbled, I didn't hear it clearly"

"It was nothing, don't worry about it. Can I ask you something?" She smiled and tried to change the subject.

"Ask away!" I answered her without thinking about it and started eating.

"What do you think about the girls from our class?"

cough I almost choked on food when I heard her question.

What the hell do you mean by that?

I almost had an impulse to say that I think nothing of them but I guess that answer wouldn't satisfy her curiosity.

"Er…...I don't know how to answer your question. Could you specify the question?"

Even if I thought that saying I think nothing of them is the wrong response I still didn't know what to say. I guess I sounded a bit pathetic. I should have answered as Ike would, 'A lot of cute girls with big boobs'...Nah maybe my response wasn't that bad. Thank you, Ike, for giving me more confidence.

"Eh? Well, what do you think of Kushida-san for example?"

Devil inside little girl…that's how I feel about her, there is no specific reason I simply dislike her by instinct.

"She has good grades and is liked by everyone so she could also become a good leader"

"Ugh! I didn't ask about this! I wanted to know what do you think of her appearance and behavior" My answer frustrated her a little.

"...Will you believe me if I say nothing?" I didn't even like Kushida so there was no need to even think about her in such a way.

When she heard my answer she looked a bit surprised but then she started observing me with a suspicious look. I didn't falter in front of her glaring since I had nothing to hide anyway.

"...maybe…Do you really think nothing of her? What about the other girls?" (Matsushita)

"I really think nothing of her and as for other girls…I don't really know them well enough to make any opinion about them"

"Then what about me?" She asked with a weak voice.

"Hmm…I think that you are a cute girl with big potential. But I personally don't think you should care about what others think about you all the time or you might become a different person. By the way, you complained that I took away 5 minutes from your lunch break but you still haven't opened my box. You should start eating, lunch break ends in 10 minutes" 1

"Ah! You are right… and thank you" She blushed a little and started to eat.

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.

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After 8 minutes

"Wow, you are a really good cook, where did you learn that? It was even better than more expensive food from the cafeteria! Although it feels kinda weird to me" Matsushita praised my cooking skill while rubbing her belly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, shouldn't our roles be reversed? Isn't it usually a woman that wins over the man's heart through his stomach?" Matsushita said something interesting so I decided to tease her a bit.

"Does that mean that I won over your heart at the moment you ate my food?"

"Wha-what? Of course not! You will have to make more food of this quality and even better to win my heart! Hmph!" Matsushita looked in a different direction, trying to look angry. 1

Are you even aware of how many points I spent on this food? I heard that girlfriends are expensive to keep around but she isn't even my girlfriend and yet I already bled because of her. 7

"Right, right, but we should get moving if we don't want to miss a lesson." I reminded her of the time remaining of the lunch break.

"Ok, but could we meet up someday like today once again?" She asked me with a low voice.

Hmm, I don't see any problem with that but you won't make me bleed like this time.

"No problem, I personally think that it was a very refreshing experience, eating with someone" I agreed with a smile.

"Good! Don't forget your words, I will go ahead!" She said quickly and aloud and run away while covering her face with her hands.

I guess she got a bit embarrassed… I thought while scratching back of my head.

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Chapter 19: #19 Pool

"Hey! Walker-kun, here!" Kushida waved at me and shouted full of energy.

When I saw her and most of my classmates waving at me I felt truly helpless.

Why have I agreed to this? 2

We, class D already somehow finished finals and it was currently summer vacation. Our class's leaders decided it would be good to go to celebrate with the entire class so they were planning it for some time before they could get everyone to agree, of course, I had no choice but to agree when entire class will be participating. However, I had no idea that we will be going to the pool until a few days before the event. Once again troublesome pool, hopefully, this time no one will ask me to take off my shirt or I might actually do it since it is already annoying. In the first place, I didn't want my classmates to know about my scars just because we didn't know each other well enough and it could scare some people. I didn't really care about them being afraid of me but it would definitely ruin the atmosphere of the entire class which was unacceptable.

As for events before our finals…Nothing much happened, there was only one incident with Sakura and her stalker. She contacted me that she was getting all kinds of mails and had a feeling that she was being followed by someone. I already had a guess that it was the employee from before so I contacted Ichinose, Ayanokoji and we were able to frame and report him to the police. In this school, they have security instead of police but they are practically the same,they just had to get him outside of the school grounds and report his crimes to the real police.

"Mornin…" I answered with no energy. I didn't stop training since coming to this school but I really destroyed myself yesterday which made me exhausted even after sleeping for 8 hours.

"Huh? Did you have a bad night?" Matsushita asked me with a concerned expression.

Matsushita… ever since our first meal on the rooftop we had a few more meals together and I was able to understand her more. She probably has some feelings for me but I can't say for sure or how serious it is. If it is true…Hopefully, it is nothing serious because I don't really feel anything special to her. She is certainly a nice girl and classmate but I have never thought about her that way. Maybe I was leading her on a bit but it wasn't my intention, mostly it was because it was my only way out. That certainly doesn't mean that I dislike her, I just can't bring myself to think about her as someone more than a classmate. Well, I probably wouldn't be able to think that way about anyone.

"Nah, I just had to get up earlier for morning exercising and now I am a bit exhausted, nothing serious" I forced myself to answer with more energy than before.

"Well, I guess you just had a shower, seeing your wet hair. hihi" One girl said and chuckled a bit.

"I was running late so I had no time to dry it plus it's hot outside so it will dry quickly and we are even going to pool so I would say that it doesn't really matter" The truth was that I actually overslept after that exhausting practice.

"Alright, ~ Let's not tease Walker-kun anymore. We should get going, there is the rest of the boys" Kushida said and pointed towards the idiot trio, Sudo, Ike, and Yamauchi.

Why are they coming from the direction of the pool?

I got a little suspicious of them after they even mentioned that they overslept. It didn't look like the overslept, it even looked like they were excited about something. Are they excited about seeing girls in their bikinis? If that was true I doubt they would oversleep this "big" event. Knowing them I was expecting them to be here first and not last.

"Let's go to the pool!!!" Ike shouted out and took the lead of the entire class.

...idiot

On the way, we even met Ichinose and her class. sigh I wouldn't be surprised if we meet every class today…

--(Girl's changing room)--

"Ichinose-san, how do you do it?" Matsushita asked aloud and everyone's attention was focused on Ichinose.

"What do you mean?" Ichinose asked with a confused expression.

"THAT!" Matsushita shouted and pointed at Ichinose's chest.

"Huh? I think there was no change for year or two already" Ichinose said while looking at her well-developed chest.

"By the way, Honami-chan, you seem to be close to that Walker-kun. What's the deal?" One of the girls from class B asked Ichinose with teasing expression.

"What?!" One who shrieked out wasn't Ichinose but Matsushita.

"I am sorry, don't mind it" Matsushita got embarrassed by her own reaction.

"Now that we talk about Walker-kun. Matsushita, you seem pretty close to him too" One of the girls from Matsushita's group mentioned.

"Wha- what?" Matsushita blushed a little but she was trying to hide it.

"Did you think we wouldn't notice?"

"Hahaha, I don't know what do you mean. I wonder if Walker-kun will once again wear a t-shirt, he doesn't seem to like going to the pool" Matsushita tried to laugh off her embarrassment and change the topic but instead of changing the topic she blurted out aloud her thoughts which made most of the girls look at her in amazement.

"Well, he doesn't seem to like the pool even though he has a good body. He is a little bit strange, isn't he? Most of the boys would want to show off their well-built body, hihi" Kushida saw how Matsushita was getting redder and redder so she decided to help her out a bit.

"This discussion is getting out of hand, we should just change quickly and go" Horikita said out of nowhere.

"I- I agree!" Matsushita shouted.

"And what about you and Ayanokoji-kun, Horikita-san?" Kushida teased Horikita but she simply ignored it.

--(Girl's changing room END)--

I once again changed into swim trunks when no one was around. I thought for a while if I should bother wearing a t-shirt but in the end, I took it anyway.

When I came out of the changing room and came to our group I sensed a few disappointed looks from girls but I ignored it.

"Hey, how about we play beach volleyball?!" Sudo asked while pointing towards the empty court.

"But shouldn't we wait for everyone? I can't see Yamauchi-kun anywhere" Kushida asked with a concerned expression.

"Haha, don't worry about it, he probably went to the bathroom. He will be able to spot us playing on that court" Ike laughed nervously and tried to persuade Kushida.

"Ok… Hey Ichinose-san, how about we make it class D vs class B match?!" Kushida asked with an excited face.

"Fine by me!" Ichinose instantly accepted.

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.

.

Match between class D and class B ended in a draw so we decided to change teams and mix both classes together. On my team was: Karuizawa, Horikita, Ayanokoji from my class and Ichinose with Shiranami from class B.

On the enemy team was: Sudo, Kushida, Hirata, Ike from our class and Kanzaki with Amikura from class B.

Both teams were evenly matched, however, Sudo was a good hitter and Hirata as a leader was an even better setter. We weren't really playing by official rules so we weren't changing positions by the rules.

However, when I was at the defensive position at the back something happened. Sudo who got a perfect pass from Hirata hit a ball from bad angle, however, his power wasn't affected and the ball was sent in extreme speed towards Karuizawa who was standing right next to me.

"Ah!!" She closed her eyes and she barely had any time to cover her head but nothing happened to her which surprised her so she decided to open her eyes.

"Fe- Felix-kun?" When she opened her eyes she saw my hand clutching the ball right before her.

Ugh, did you really have to call me by my first name at this place with so many people around?!

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Chapter 20: #20 Class A vs Class C

...

"Wow! How did you catch Sudo's ball so effortlessly?!" There was a silence for a while before Ike started to yell in full surprise.

"What do you mean by effortlessly? My hand hurts" Seeing how Ike didn't even pay attention to Karuizawa's words, I immediately answered him and acted like my hand hurt a bit.

"You are amazing Walker-kun! You have to go to the front as a blocker, it will be an easy win with you blocking Sudo!" Ichinose said with excited expression and fire in her eyes. She really wants to win.

"I think we should stop playing for now before anyone gets injured. Thank you, Walker-kun" Hirata said with a worried expression and thanked me for protecting Karuizawa.

Although no one has questions about Karuizawa's words, I am pretty sure a few people have a lot of questions inside their heads. If someone will ask about it then the best way to cover this is to simply be honest and tell the truth.

"No, no, no! We can still play a few games with special rules so no one will get injured!" Ike screamed aloud when he heard Hirata's words.

Why does he want to play volleyball so much and where is Yamauchi? What are you guys up to?

I couldn't help but frown after noticing Sotomura spying on our group from the window of building in the opposite direction of the court.

I had a feeling that we were being observed but I didn't pay any attention to it since it could be anyone in this public place but now I am getting really suspicious.

"But Yamauchi-kun still didn't come, shouldn't we go look for him? What if something bad happened to him?" Kushida said with a concerned expression. 1

"!!! I- You are right" Ike couldn't say no to Kushida.

"Alright, how about we go-" Before Kushida could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by someone.

"Hey! I am back!" It was Yamauchi who was running towards us and when everyone's attention was on him, I noticed someone pulling my shirt. When I turned around, I saw Karuizawa with her head down.

" Th-thank you" She whispered and let go of my shirt.

" No problem, if you will ever find yourself in a troublesome situation, don't hesitate to ask me for help" ...It's the least I can do for you after disappearing without telling anyone.

When she heard my words she looked up with widened eyes but when our eyes met she once again looked down and lightly nodded.

"Ok, since Yamauchi-kun is already here maybe we can-"

"Ah! Guys, my stomach hurt! I gotta go to the toilet!" Ike interrupted Hirata and run away while clutching his stomach.

"Will he be ok?" Kushida asked while watching Ike's back.

"Don't worry about him Kushida-san, let's play a few more games, haha" Sudo released a nervous laugh.

We continued playing for a while with better rules so no one would get injured, however, after a few minutes Sudo screamed out that he got a leg cramp and run away…

If I am not mistaken if you get a leg cramp you should just stretch your muscles instead of running around… Well, if you really get a leg cramp you would probably be unable to run anyway.

This is getting really annoying, I also noticed Sotomura contacting Sudo from the window. If I am not mistaken it was a call for help but why would he just call him? I should follow them, if they cause any trouble then we will definitely lose class points, after all, this pool is on school grounds and we are being monitored the entire time.

"Guys, I will go check on them if they are ok" I said and started to leave

"I will go with you" Kushida declared but I declined her offer to help and told them to wait.

When I caught up to Sudo, I noticed that there were 2 more groups.

It was once again Class A with Sakayanagi as a leader and Class C with Ryuen as a leader.

"Oh? Well, if it isn't Walker-kun, did the "king" come to retrieve his arrogant "queen"?"

"Well, well… Don't we meet quite often in this set-up, Walker-kun?" Sakayanagi chuckled a bit after seeing me but she totally ignored Ryuen's words

This is getting old…

"Walker-kun, what are you doing here?" Sudo asked me with a confused expression and I am not surprised that he got confused after hearing Ryuen's words.

I should be the one asking you… Why are you standing before changing rooms?

...Don't tell me, you guys…

"I came to check on you if you are ok" I answered him and nodded towards Sakayanagi.

"What's the fuss about? Even if this is a leisure facility, we are still within the school. Do you understand what does it mean?" The one who said this was no other than Horikita Manabu who came from the upper floor.

"Hmm? You are here too, Walker?" He looked strangely at me for a moment after noticing my shirt but he didn't mention it.

"What a coincidence student council president, wouldn't you say so?" I said with a slight smile

A really unpleasant coincidence… I was already having trouble thinking of a way how to distract Class A and Class C, now I also have to distract Horikita Manabu.

"Indeed, is your leg healed already?" He asked aloud while looking at my leg.

"Oh? What happened, Walker-kun?" Sakayanagi immediately asked with a curious expression after hearing Manabu's question.

"It was nothing, just a small injury when I was exercising" I answered to both of them at the same time.

"If you say so… Anyway, what's going on here?" Manabu turned at Sudo.

"I heard that changing rooms are being cleaned right now. Sudo-kun got a leg cramp so he probably wanted to go to changing room but he was apparently sent back by a cleaner" I answered in Sudo's stead.

"Cleaner?" Manabu looked once at changing room's doors and then back at me.

Well, it is pretty normal for him to be suspicious.

"There were even signs before Ryuen decided that they were in his way, fufu" Sakayanagi said.

Is she trying to help me or just to cause trouble for Ryuen? Perhaps both at the same time, seeing how she is looking at me with a playful smile.

"I also wanted to go change myself but since I can't, in the meantime, how about a small competition to make everybody busy before cleaning is finished?" I said aloud while looking at Manabu.

"Hmm? What do you have in mind?" He answered and both Sakayanagi and Ryuen looked at me.

Ryuen is someone extremely arrogant, he won't give up a chance to crush someone while making a profit from it. Now I just have to hope that Sakayanagi will agree with my plan, she is too unpredictable.

"How about beach volleyball? No one needs to change clothes for that. And to spice it up, the loser will give 10.000 points for each player in their team to the winner. Class A vs Class C"

"What about two of us and him?" Manabu asked while pointing at Sudo behind him.

"We will naturally join Class A or Class C with the same rules. As for Sudo, he can't play since he just had a leg cramp. What do you think, Sakayanagi-san and Ryuen-kun?" I asked them with a smile.

"Fufu, sounds fun but I want Walker-kun in my team since I can't play he will become a leader instead of me" Sakayanagi laughed a bit, amused by my idea.

Huh? You will just let the fate of your Class in my hands? Well, it works good for me since I wanted to make Ryuen bleed a little after he tried to sabotage our Class.

"What?! Are you sure?" The one who questioned Sakayanagi's decision was a girl with purple hair I already met before, it seems that she is loyally following Sakayanagi everywhere she goes.

"I know that we are already at a disadvantage, Kamuro" Sakayanagi said to the girl.

"Heh, fine by me, just don't come crying to us later that teams are unbalanced" Ryuen said this with provocative smile.

With everything decided we started to walk towards the court.

"Walker-kun, you don't mind being a leader, right?" Sakayanagi asked me.

"Of course not, it was my idea in the first place. I am more surprised that you can trust me with this so easily" I answered

"Fufu, that's because you are a very interesting individual. Let me get you familiar with your team members" Sakayanagi started to introduce the team members to me.

I remembered just 3 interesting people: Masumi Kamuro, Masayoshi Hashimoto and Hayato Kito. With 2 more girls from Class A, we were the team with 6 members.

As for Ryuen's team, I need to be careful of Ryuen himself, Manabu and one more large guy who definitely didn't look like a native.

"What are the rules?" Manabu asked me.

"Let's keep it simple, shall we? We can change our positions by how we want and team to first score 21 wins. I think playing only 1 set will be enough. Of course, winning team must win by 2 points and every team has only 3 contacts" I proposed the simple rules and everyone agreed.

"So how will we do it, leader" Kamuro asked me with a sarcastic tone.

"Hashimoto-kun will be a setter, Kito-kun and Kamuro-san will be at blocker position. I will do serving and receiving.

.

.

We started playing and on the enemy team, Manabu played as a setter, Ryuen and the large guy were at the front. They had a better front-line than us but they had a weaker receiver and server.

We should be a weaker team but our positions compensated it. Overall we were evenly matched. I was able to receive most of the balls and I scored a lot of points as a server.

It was already 21:20 for us and we needed just one more point to win. Our match also attracted a lot of people since most of the people know how Class C is aggressive and everyone likes to watch conflicts, of course, having the student council president participate attracted a lot of attention too.

It was my turn to serve and a lot of people were watching me since I can win the entire game.

"Go for it, Walker-kun!" I didn't even need to look who shouted this.

Already done with the peeping session? They changed the positions and former enemy front-line is at the back, waiting to receive my ball.

"It was a good experience, playing against you, student council president" I took a deep breath and told Manabu which made him narrow his eyes.

"You are talking like it's your win already" Ryuen said aloud

"We will see" I said and served the ball in a serious manner for the first time.

Precision is the best weapon. I aimed for the corner of the court but even if it was a great ball, Manabu was still able to receive it by jumping after it. Although he received it badly, it still surprised me a bit but I had no time to be surprised since the ball was right above the net. It was a time for the contest of strength between blockers. But how could I put my trust into someone I don't even know while on the other side the large guy was waiting for the ball to fall down.

"Let me!" I shouted and run towards the net.

"Huh?" The 3 at the front-line were surprised but still followed my instructions. They already accepted me as a leader, even Kamuro who wasn't happy about it at first.

Let's test your strength, big guy. I was too excited to even care about his health, I just wanted to win. I formed a vicious smile and jumped up, we both hit the ball at the same time, however, I didn't hold back at all this time. Everyone thought that the large guy will win, however, when they saw him fall on the ground on his ass, they simply remained silent.

"OOH!!! Walker-kun!!!!!" Ike was the first to shout out.

What an awkward situation. But thanks to Ike's shout everyone woke up and started to clap with disbelieving faces.

When I looked at the guy who was on the ground I couldn't help but smile.

That felt good, to crush someone in something he is totally confident in.

"How did you win that exchange?" Even everyone from my team was asking me questions.

Crap, I lost myself in excitement and forgot that I was being watched by a lot of people.

"Just got lucky, my angle was better" I quickly answered all kinds of questions.

"Fufu, thank you Walker-kun, for winning points for our Class" Sakayanagi came to us.

"No need to thank me, it was fun. Plus you had to put your trust in me, I bet that wasn't an easy decision" Even though I said this, I knew that Class A probably had a lot of points and they wouldn't mind losing a "few" points.

I said goodbye to Sakayanagi and let her group collect the points from Class C and Manabu. I sensed Ryuen's glare at me but I ignored it and left. When I came to our class's group Ike immediately started to ask me a lot of questions but I made him shut up by mentioning the changing rooms.

In the end, no one had too many questions but I guess I made those sharper students a little suspicious of me. Main thing is that I made Class C bleed a bit. As for Class A… I will worry about them when we become Class B. And I wouldn't be the first athletic person in our class so people will be a little wary of me, at most.

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Chapter 21: #21 Survival Test

Everywhere I looked, I could only see the endless sea with the comfortable wind on my face. Why I was in the middle of the sea?

The school had arranged a 2 weeks trip on the extravagant cruise ship. Well, it didn't seem much like a reward to me since participation was a must. This made me think about what is the school exactly thinking…Rewarding us with 2 weeks on the luxurious ship yet we must participate. What kind of joke is that? Is that our reward or punishment? I don't really mind a nice week or two on the sea but what about others? 2

"WHOOOA!!!! This is amazing!!! There is everything on this ship!" Ike started shouting and I wouldn't be surprised if he awoke the kraken with his annoying shouting.

I take back my words, I guess kids won't mind being anywhere as long as there are luxurious facilities and of course, free of charge.

The ship is definitely really big and luxurious. There is everything one might need, from luxurious restaurants to karaoke and cinema.

According to the schedule handed over to us by the school. We will spend 1 week at the luxurious lodge on the deserted island which already stinks to me. Everything is promised to be luxurious, but why only us 1st-years are here? As for the other week, we will spend it on this boat.

"But I have to say that this scene really clears your mind of worries" I muttered while watching the endless sea with the clear blue sky from the deck.

"This is really romantic scene isn't it?!" Girls from my class were admiring the scene while talking about useless things. Well, at least useless from my point of view.

"Students please assemble on the deck. You will be able to see the island very soon" The announcement came from captain of the ship and immediately after that the deck was overflowing with students from various classes.

It also started a fight for the positions on the deck.

"Class D should just give up their positions. You are defects, you should be glad that you have a human-rights" One student said.

"Huh?! What did you say?!" Sudo immediately fired back.

I couldn't care any less about the war of words and I kept admiring the view while thinking about the happiest moments in my past life which made me even form a genuine smile.

"Hey, defects should go to the back. Class A should have positions at the front" A student from Class A said while he touched my shoulder and tried to shove me away which woke me up from my happy thoughts.

"DON'T-TOUCH-ME" I said coldly without even sparing him a glance but he could tell the situation by the extremely cold aura around my body which made him shiver even though it was summer. I was extremely irritated by how he invaded my personal space and touched me without permission and he even interrupted me in one of my happy moments, not like there were many of them. There was no way I could control myself in such a situation. 1

"You-!" He tried to say something but he was interrupted by a voice I already heard many times.

"Oh? If it isn't Walker-kun, fufu"

"I never thought that even your class would host a few animals within it, Sakayanagi-san" I answered normally but I couldn't bring myself to smile which clearly showed her that I was really irritated.

"Well, well, I apologize on behalf of my class"

"No need, I was planning to go back to my class anyway if he was a little civilized and asked me first, I might give up my position to him without any problems" I nodded towards Hashimoto and Kamuro who was near Sakayanagi but before I left I could hear Sakayanagi's voice behind me.

"Walker-kun, let's meet up at the restaurant 1 week from now on"

Why not just say that after we will finish our vacation on the island?

"We will disembark shortly, please hand your phones to your homeroom teacher in the meantime" Another announcement came.

Huh? Why would they need our phones if we are on vacation?

When we were disembarking, they were even checking the personal possessions we had with us.

We got off the boat and we were greeted by Class A's homeroom teacher, Tomonari Mashima.

"First, I would like to say that I am happy we have all arrived safely. Unfortunately, one of you won't be able to participate due to a special condition and will remain on the boat"

"Poor guy… even though the boat is extremely luxurious, how can it compare to the beach with all the girls in bikinis?" Ike pitied the mentioned person aloud, thankfully only us, Class D heard him.

Do you still think that this will be normal vacation after seeing this setup? I must say that I am amazed plus that "poor guy" of yours is probably a girl. I noticed that Sakayanagi was wearing her uniform unlike us who had sports clothes.

After a few minutes of silence, Mashima-sensei started talking with a serious face.

"Alright, we will begin the current academic's year first special test"

After his words, there was a silence for a while before everyone started whispering to each other.

"The test begins now and lasts for one week. This test will determine if you can live on the deserted island together as a group. From now on you will be making a decisions how your entire group will live" Mashima-sensei ignored whispers and continued explaining.

"Wait, we won't be staying on the ship?!"

"Correct, you won't be allowed to board a ship without a justified reason. Each class will be given 2 tents, 2 flashlights, and a box of matches, in addition…" Mashima-sensei started to explain rules.

"This is some kind of joke, right?" Ike asked with an idiotic face and started to complain about how it is all without warning.

Do you think that life will warn you before everything?

"Do you think you will be prepared for everything in your life? This is just a light training for you to adapt to the harsh situations" Chabashira-sensei couldn't take any more of Ike's comments

We were given the items necessary for our survival and wristwatches instead of our phones and we were forbidden to take them off.

I guess there is some kind of GPS in them. They can't have a students dying here after all.

"I don't get why you are so unsatisfied. You are free to do whatever you want… be it holding a barbecue, swimming, talking with your friends around the campfire, you can do whatever you want" Mashima-sensei sarcastically said.

We were also given some kind of catalog where we could buy a lot of different things necessary for our survival but those things cost special test S-points and we were given only 300 of them. The remaining S-points after the week pass by will be added to our class points.

When I looked towards the "jungle" on the island I couldn't help but smile coldly.

Playing survival game with the king of wildness, hehe. I have lived in the wildness within the constant danger for years, this is my territory. As for those 2 tents? I couldn't care any less, I can sleep on the branches of trees with one eye open in case of the danger. 5

This will be funny week, I can even sabotage all other classes at the same time, hehe.

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Chapter 22: #22 Felix's searching group

"Absence at morning and evening roll calls, stealing or using violence against other classes. Pollution of surrounding areas, illness, injury… For everything mentioned we can lose our S-points. Also if we can find and secure certain spots we gain points" Hirata read out the list of rules.

"Wow, we can gain class points equal to 30.000 private points each month!" Ike said excitedly, he is one of the idiots who almost spent all his points even though he was given a warning, so it was inevitable that he will be excited about this.

"But aren't we free to use those points? I think that we girls won't be able to use the basic toilet we were given" Karuizawa said with a worried expression.

"We can't! This is our chance to get more class points, we can't spend our S-points on unnecessary things" The guy named Yukimura said aloud. I didn't have much contact with him but he is someone with good academic abilities but he has poor athletic ability. He has ragged breath when just walking.

While they kept arguing about what should we buy and not, I was having my entire attention focused on my wristwatch. I used to do a lot of things with computers and I even studied telecom engineering a bit. But I would need a lot of time and tools to break this wristwatch's functions. I guess I will simply damage it in water, even though we were told that they are waterproof, nothing working on electricity is truly waterproof. I could at least pair my watches with Matsushita's to know my class's location when I will go scout out the entire island. As for the rules about stealing and violence…They only apply if you are caught and there are no cameras on this island, with damaged watches I will have some time before I will need to report it to the school and change them for new ones. I will be able to damage my wristwatches at most 2 times, I can't make the school too suspicious. If there will be a great opportunity to damage any class I might even risk the third time.

"We also have to take care of a problem who will be our class leader, then there is a problem with guessing other leaders. A reward is surely pleasant, 50 points for each leader but if we guess wrong then we lose 50 points" Hirata mentioned other problems we will have to face.

"I think we should first find the mentioned "spots" and make them our base before we decide our leader or how to spend our S-points" Hirata suggested and everyone agreed.

Everyone entered the forest and started searching for the spots, few of the students went alone but most of them went together as group. I was part of the group led my Hirata but I stopped for a while to check something under my clothes.

"Walker-kun, is something the matter?" Hirata asked me with a confused expression once he noticed that I stopped walking.

"It's nothing…" I resumed walking and lightly smiled at Hirata. When he turned around to continue the search, I smirked.

It's still there, these clothes are actually so light that I almost forgot I had them on. I wasn't thinking about the clothes we got from school but the clothes I wore under them. I was able to smuggle in one set of clothes, if Ike or someone else knew this they wouldn't be surprised at all, after all, it was just one set of clothes. But for me, it was a treasure that would help me in my action to damage other classes. It was like a "ninja" outfit, pitch black, light and thin, covering entire body except for eyes. I bought it in the past just because I thought that training in it would be much more comfortable. I never thought that it would come in handy but it will become extremely valuable at night.

"This is taking forever, how about we split up into smaller groups?" Yukimura suggested

"Alright! I want to go with Hirata-kun!" Karuizawa shout out and raised her hand up.

"Me too!" Girls started to fight for a position in Hirata's group.

"We should split up evenly. We should name a few leaders of these small groups and then others can decide who they want to join. How about it?" Hirata suggested with helpless smile.

"Then let's start, who will volunteer to be a leader?" Hirata asked after no one had any objections

...

...

Nothing but silence.

"Hirata-kun, just name a few people, they won't volunteer anyway" Karuizawa said.

sigh "Alright, we can't waste our time here. Ayanokoji-kun, Yukimura-kun will you do it?" Hirata asked

"...Ok"

"No problem"

Both of them answered.

"Shouldn't we make at least one more group? I think that 3 groups are too little" Karuizawa said

"Then how about…?" Hirata started to look at every student in our class but when he saw me he suddenly stopped.

Please no, I don't want to do any babysitting… I wanted to go scout out the area alone, walking with someone else will take much more time since they won't be able to keep up with my speed and I won't even mention stamina.

"Walker-kun, are you perhaps accustomed to these kinds of situations?" When Hirata asked me this everyone turned to look at me.

"What do you mean? Surviving in the wildness?" I asked him with a little confused expression.

"No, I mean… Ever since we entered the forest you seemed extremely calm maybe occasionally even happy" Hirata said with a bit of hope in eyes.

"I simply like nature… but I guess you can say that I am a little bit experienced" There was no need to lie and make Hirata suspicious of me. Better say that I know a thing or two about surviving.

"Would you mind being a leader of one of the groups?" Hirata asked me with a pleading face.

Yes, I would mind. That's what I would like to say but I guess I won't be able to.

"Of course not but I wonder if anyone would even want to join my group…" I said aloud and looked around the students. 2

"I will go!" Matsushita instantly raised her hand up.

Well, at least I will be able to pair up our watches.

"Anyone else?" Hirata asked.

Silence again…

I guess no one really trusts me since I am a little bit hard to approach. That's at least what I thought until I saw one of the girls raising her thumb towards Matsushita… Do they want us to be alone? That would put me in a pretty awkward situation.

I looked at Hirata with a helpless expression that said 'help requested'

"Karuizawa-san, how about you go?" Hirata said with a smile.

"Eeeeh?!" Hirata's words made Karuizawa flustered

I noticed how Matsushita frowned and had a bit sad expression.

Well now it will be even more awkward, thank you for your help Hirata, much appreciated 1

"Now that we have leaders and groups, we can go search for the "spots" Let's meet up here once again after 1 hour from now" Hirata said and left with his group

.

.

.

"I guess we should go too" I said with a helpless smile after watching everyone leave except for Karuizawa and Matsushita.

"Hmph!" Karuizawa acted like a spoiled brat that didn't get any sweets.

"Hmph!" Matsushita looked at Karuizawa for a moment and then turned her head to another direction.

Huh? Even you, Matsushita? My god, this will be really annoying.

We left the meeting place and started our search.

.

.

After around 15 minutes of walking around.

I raised my hand indicating for them to stop.

"What?" Karuizawa asked me.

"Ssh!" I raised my finger to my lips to tell them to be quiet.

When they looked in the same direction as me they were surprised.

" Deer?!" Both of them "screamed" out in a whisper.

" What do you want to do, Walker-kun?" Matsushita asked me with a confused face.

" What do you mean? Don't you see that walking food right before your eyes?" I asked her with face 'Are you serious?'

" WHAT?! We don't have any weapons and even if we had I doubt we would be able to catch it!" Karuizawa almost shouted out in surprise from my words

" Walker-kun, this time I agree with Karuizawa-san…" Matsushita said in not too pleasant tone.

" Oh, shut up you love-struck girl" Karuizawa didn't like her tone so she returned fire.

" Wha-what do you me-mean by that?!" Matsushita turned red and threw me a secret glace if I was looking at her but I didn't care about their conversation. Well, maybe I did but not in subject of their talk.

" Shut up, both of you" I said in an annoyed tone.

"..."

"..."

Thank you, I might even fall in love with both of you if you can keep your mouths shut for the rest of our searching time together. 1

" Girls…Wait here and promise me that you won't be looking at me or deer, simply just turn around to be safe" I turned at them and told them my request.

" What? Why?" Karuizawa asked me with a suspicious face.

" Trust me… it will be better for all of us if you won't be watching" I said with a serious expression I rarely had which surprised both of them.

After a few seconds, they gently nodded and turned around.

sigh Finally, I am surprised that deer is still there after so much time wasted with talking.

I took a deep breath, crouched and slowly approached the deer. When I was about 3 meters from it I stopped.

I guess that's the nearest place I can get to without it noticing me. I could simply sprint after it from the start but I was a little worried that girls would break their promise and see me run faster than a deer which would cause a lot of problems for me.

I positioned my body so I could catch it in instant I kick off the ground.

I took another deep breath and used entire power in my leg to kick off the ground. I leaped at the deer so fast that it had no time to even react. I locked my arms around the deer's neck and with a swift motion, I broke it's neck.

It's weight was around 40 kilograms but I raised it from the ground easily with just one hand. Of course, I had to act like it is heavy because of girls so I loaded the dead deer on my back and went back to girls.

"Yo!" I called out to them and they turned around.

"WHAT?!" They both cried out at the same time when they saw me smiling with a deer over my shoulders.

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Chapter 23: #23 Leader?

"Ho-how?!" Both Karuizawa and Matsushita had shocked expression when they saw me with a calm smile with dead deer over my shoulders

"I was lucky and was able to sneak up on it" I said

"But-" Matsushita tried to say something but was interrupted by Karuizawa's voice

"Even if you could sneak up on it, how did you k-kill it without any weapon?!" Karuizawa asked suspiciously and when she said 'kill' she looked at the dead deer and shivered a little bit.

That's also one more reason why I didn't want them to look. She still shivered even though she didn't see me kill it.

"Heh, my uncle used to be a hunter and he taught me a bit about wild animals and their weak spots. You don't even need to be strong to kill them, after all, life is a fragile thing. That applies to every living being" I made up an excuse and hoped that they will let this matter go.

"Hmm…I want to hear more about what you did when you left without any notice" Karuizawa frowned and looked at me suspiciously.

I will probably have the hardest time fooling Karuizawa, after all, she already knows me for more than 1 year.

"Eh? What do you mean by 'leaving without any notice'? Did you two already know each other before school?" Matsushita panicked a little.

sigh "I will explain all I can after we finish this job" I said with a heavy sigh.

"So are we going back to the meeting place?" Matsushita calmed herself and asked with her usual smile.

"Nope, we still have quite a lot of time to explore" I said, betraying her expectations.

"What?! Isn't that thing heavy?" Karuizawa said as she looked at the relatively big deer.

"Not much, I can carry it for a bit since it isn't mature deer yet or it would be impossible for me to carry it" I said a plain lie but they wouldn't even believe me if I said the truth so it didn't matter.

After a bit of arguing we kept on exploring the area for a while with little breaks for me to rest. I didn't want them to become even more suspicious so that's the reason for little breaks between our exploring.

We didn't find much, only a lot of different kinds of fruits. If any of them is at least a little bit poisonous, I might find a use for them. I will have to examine them later.

After that, we went back to our meeting place and when we came, everyone else was already there waiting for us.

"What the hell?!!" Ike immediately screamed out with a few more students when they saw us but it was most likely because of the dead deer I carried with me.

"We didn't find much, except for this beauty" I said and dropped the deer on the ground.

"But we don't have any spices or even salt" Sudo said with a worried expression

"Do you even know where we are? There are more than millions of liters of saltwater all around us. As for spices, we can gather some herbs from the island, that will have to do" I explained to him like to an idiot.

"Good idea, Walker-kun! We can take some seawater with us after we check out the 'spot' Ike-kun and others found" Hirata brightly smiled at our luck.

When we arrived at the spot, everyone was surprised by how good the location was.

It even has a river right next to it with bright clear water but the area is quite open and anyone would be able to spy on us. The so-called 'spot' is also quite visible from all sides and the leader needs to regularly reclaim it. This spot might look good but it is double-edged.

"This area is pretty good but should we really claim it? After all, the leader must reclaim it regularly and everyone would be able to see it" Hirata was able to see the disadvantage of this "good" spot.

"We have quite a lot of people, we could just surround them and form a ring around them" Yamauchi suggested.

Not a bad idea but then anyone spying on us could exclude people who definitely aren't the leader.

"Not a bad idea but the question is who should be our leader?" Hirata asked with a low voice.

"Hirata-kun and Karuizawa-san stand out too much but we need someone responsible. I nominate Horikita-san for the position of leader" Kushida suggested and no one had any objections so everyone looked at Horikita.

"I-" sigh "I will do it" Horikita accepted the role of the leader with a little difficulty.

"Good! Now we only need to report to Chabashira-sensei who is our leader and get the card that can be used to claim spots like these. Who will go?" Hirata asked with enthusiasm.

"I should go since I am the leader" Horikita said

"I will go with you" I raised my hand and Horikita looked at me with a bit surprised expression.

.

.

When we arrived at the beach near the large tent set up by the school, I noticed Chabashira-sensei talking with Class B's homeroom teacher, Chie Hoshinomiya.

"Oh? You finally showed up…" Chabashira-sensei stopped conversation with Hoshinomiya-sensei and turned at us.

"We would like to declare our lea-" Horikita wanted to inform our teacher about the leader but I stopped her by placing my hand on her shoulder.

"Hmm?" Chabashira-sensei seemed a little surprised by my sudden interruption.

"What is it, Walker-kun?" Horikita asked me with a bit annoyed and confused expression.

I didn't say anything but only glanced at Hoshinomiya-sensei which surprised her.

"What?"

" HAHAHA, it seems that my student doesn't trust you" Chabashira-sensei laughed aloud.

"I-" sigh "I guess I have to leave…You aren't friendly at all but maybe that's the type of boys Sae-chan likes" Chabashira-sensei gave me a look and then stick out her tongue towards Chabashira-sensei as she run away.

What a childish behavior for a teacher. Even Horikita seems surprised by her actions.

"...Now, what is it? Walker, are you aware that teachers can't help their students with tests? This applies for this special test too"

"I am fully aware of that"

"Then why did you want her to leave?" She asked me with a bit confused expression.

"They might be forbidden to help students during the test but what about after the test? Hoshinomiya-sensei seems to be very friendly towards her students. I wouldn't be surprised if she spent some time off the work with them. Of course, you, teachers are probably forbidden to help students too much even off the work but what about side information?"

"She definitely is more friendly than she should be but what side information do you mean?" She asked me with a genuine smile.

"Information on who they should be careful around, that kind of information" I said with a serious expression.

"Hmm, you are indeed right. We aren't forbidden to say such things. Why do I always get feeling like I am not talking to a teenager when talking with you, Walker?" Chabashira-sensei was probably amused by talking with me.

Horikita who just watched our exchange entire time had extremely confused expression. Our chat certainly didn't seem like a chat between a student and a teacher.

"Well, that doesn't matter. Horikita, what did you want to say?" Chabashira-sensei changed the subject by asking Horikita what she wanted.

"I wanted to declare our class's leader" Horikita said

"I am listening…"

"It will be m-"

"me" I finished the end of Horikita's sentence myself.

"What?!" Horikita immediately looked at me with angry expression since it wasn't what class agreed on.

"Oh? So you are the leader, Walker? I take it that it isn't what you agreed on with class, right?" She asked me after seeing Horikita's reaction.

"To fool your enemies, first, you must fool your allies" I said this to both, our teacher and Horikita at the same time with a small smile.

Chabashira-sensei looked at Horikita but she had no complaints and only thoughtful expression could be seen on her face so Chabashira-sensei went for a card with my name on it.

"Chabashira-sensei, I have one more question, if you please" I asked her with a smirk when I received the leader's card from her.

"Heh, ask right away" She had an amused smile with an expectant expression.

"Can we buy other basic things that aren't mentioned in the catalog we received?"

"Hmm? What do you have in mind?" (Chabashira)

"Can we buy the same card without it's original functions?"

"Haha, you are really amusing student, Walker!" Chabashira-sensei praised me from the bottom of her heart.

"Thank you for the compliment" I said with a little arrogant smile.

Heh, I quite like this teacher when I overlook her attempt to blackmail me, at least she is much better than a teacher like Hoshinomiya-sensei.

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Chapter 24: #24 Scouting

"Here you go" I said as I gave Horikita her fake card.

"Why did you buy it for 40 S-points?! You could just buy a plain one, without my name on it for much cheaper" Horikita asked me with an angry expression.

"I have my reasons and it is also better to be prepared for anything, right?"

"Are you saying that someone from our class might betray us?" Horikita asked with a bit surprised expression.

"There are many benefits other classes could offer, why would someone with absolutely no faith in advancing to a higher class decline a good offer? Not to say that they might even do it without being discovered, the temptation is pretty big"

"But still, spending 40 S-points right off the bat is a little bit of…waste" Horikita understood my reasoning but she still wasn't happy about it.

I didn't say anything else and just kept walking towards our camp.

"Hey, you want our class to advance to Class A right?" Horikita asked out of nowhere.

"Isn't that pretty obvious?" I answered her with a calm face.

"Why? What is the fuel that keeps you fighting for a better class?" Horikita frowned and asked me with a serious expression.

I guess to have fun? To experience school life I completely skipped in my previous life? Maybe because I think that my parents would perhaps want me to try my best? I am not quite sure of a reason myself.

"Isn't the 100% chance of employment or enrollment in the university tempting enough?" I answered with a slight delay.

"Is that truly your only reason?" Horikita asked me with a doubting look.

"Yes" I answered without any hesitation.

After that, Horikita stopped talking but she was occasionally glancing at me.

"What?" I tried to ignore her glances but it was growing to be more annoying so I simply asked her.

"How about cooperation?" Horikita said with uneasy expression, I guess she isn't used to asking for help.

"Between us?"

"Yes, we both want to reach Class A. Your academic abilities are average but I already know that you are only making it seem like that" Horikita said with a firm expression.

"Are you saying that just because we share the same goals we should cooperate?" I asked her while completely ignoring her last statement.

"Yes, that's what I meant"

"...I will think about it" I said with a slight delay to show her that I actually "thought" about her offer.

...

When we came back, everyone was already waiting around the 'spot' we had to claim by scanning the card.

"Alright, I think that it will be best if everyone will form a circle around the leader and a few people that will be near him" Horikita suggested and everyone formed a circle around Horikita, Hirata and me with their backs facing us.

Hirata was on the right side of Horikita and I was on the left side, he was looking intensively at the terminal which would make it harder for me to scan my card without being discovered.

"Hirata-kun?" I called him which surprised him and he immediately looked at me with his usual friendly smile.

"Yes, Walker-kun?" He smiled and I used this chance to scan the card from the dead angle. Only Horikita was able to see my action since she was standing right before the terminal.

beep

The terminal produced a short sound and on display, we were able to see our class and a timer.

I guess I will have to reclaim it at night which is pretty good since most of the students will be asleep.

When we began with setting up the tents, I overheard Hirata's conversation with Ayanokoji.

"Ayanokoji, could you please help us by gathering a few branches we can use for a campfire?"

"...No problem. I will find some" Ayanokoji answered with a stoic expression

"Don't forget to take someone with you, it's dangerous to go alone!" Hirata reminded him.

"Hey, Hirata-kun, I will go get these bottles filled with seawater, ok?" I came to him right after Ayanokoji left and showed him plastic bottles inside my small bag

"Oh? I almost forgot about that. Thank you, Walker-kun" Hirata smiled, however, he didn't forget to remind me to take someone with me. Unfortunately, going with someone wasn't within my plan.

I told him that I already know the way and that I am experienced enough and after a few minutes of arguing he let me go alone.

..

Somewhere in the forest

sigh Finally alone.

But I must say that this certainly brings back memories. I smiled while looking all around me.

I quickly came to the beach and filled up the battles with seawater and then I left but instead of going to the direction of our camp, I went a different way.

Tch, I can't run too quickly, these wristwatches are constantly checking our pulse and if I run too fast without my pulse increasing then they will definitely get suspicious. My speed is one thing but I have almost unlimited stamina when it comes to running, so even my pulse is quite stable while exercising or running.

I adjusted my running speed to average speed and started to breath more frequently to speed up my pulse. This is probably the hardest thing I had to do since arriving here.

After running for only around 15 minutes I was able to spot the cave's entrance covered by a tarp and one student standing right before it. He is probably on the lookout for any students from other classes.

If I am right, he is from Class A but I am not sure about the name.

I moved as close as I could without being noticed by him. I observed him for a while but after a while, I decided to go ahead but just when I planned to leave, someone walked out of the cave.

Hmm? Isn't that Kohei Katsuragi? He is the one that opposes Sakayanagi to be a leader. I heard that there were 2 factions in Class A but most of the students support Sakayanagi. Maybe he will get more support after this survival test since Sakayanagi isn't here, that of course, under the circumstances that nothing bad will happen to them. I couldn't help but widely smile at that thought.

I personally don't really want to help Sakayanagi to get even more power but fighting someone strong is always more enjoyable than fighting a weak opponent.

Hm? Is that the card in his hand? Why would he show it like that in the open area? There is no way that he didn't think of others spying on them, that means that he probably isn't a leader but he could also want others to think that way. I bet that he isn't the leader, there is simply too much risk play it that way and I don't really need to think about it that hard since I will visit them later.

I left the place and went to find the other 2 classes. After a while, I was able to locate Class B's camp, their camp was on a pretty good spot and they also seemed pretty organized, not like our class but one thing surprised me. There was a student I didn't recognize which meant that he is from class A or C.

When I found Class C, I couldn't help but frown.

They are all playing around, they probably already spent all their points which is quite confusing. Why would you give up class points for free? Do they want to enjoy a few days here and then go back on the ship? After all, there is no mention of negative points and they can also guess leaders without any risk but I don't think that's the strategy Ryuen would choose without a proper reason. No reason thinking about it now but if I want to make a move against them then I should do it tonight.

I should return back, it's getting dark already.

On the way, I collected even more fruits with negative effects when eaten.

When I came back I noticed one person that didn't belong to our class.

Isn't that girl from Class C who usually hangs around with Ryuen? Why does she have a swollen face? What are you thinking, Ryuen? This girl and there is also that guy inside the Class B camp…

In the first place, why would anyone even take her in our camp?

"Walker-kun, you are finally here! I was getting worried that something happened to you" Hirata immediately called out to me when he saw me.

"Sorry, I lost a sense of time. By the way, who is she?" I apologized and asked about information on the girl from Class C.

Hirata explained a situation to me and everything became clear to me.

Most likely, she is here to cause trouble, same with that other guy but I don't really care since I can at least make use of that fake card I bought for Horikita.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

Seems like I fell ill and I don't know if I will update chapters regularly like before. Every time I write for some time I get a big headache so I will try my best to write at least a few chapters.

I also have an important question to ask you.

Do you want me to continue with this fan-fic when this arc ends? (where anime ends)

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Chapter 25: #25 Karuizawa's secret

"There is no possible way we girls are gonna share our tent with a boy!" Shinohara started yelling at Ike.

"But we have only 2 tents and there are more boys than girls so where will we sleep?!" Ike fought back

Satsuki Shinohara, short blue hair, average academic ability, and average physical ability. She is quite cooperative and has good teamwork skills but she is a bit distrusting towards the boys of our class.

"What is going on?" Hirata came and tried to calm the situation.

"It's Shinohara-san again! She already disagreed with drinking water from the river and now she wants us boys to sleep outside!" Ike shouted and pointed at Shinohara.

"I just don't want to share our tent with a boy!" Shinohara yelled

"We can buy an additional tent but I think we should be able to fit in" Hirata was trying to save as many points as he could.

"But there is simply too much of boys to fit in one tent. If we will really try to fit in then I still think that one boy will have to sleep outside" Ike tried to fight for the rights of all boys in our class.

sigh I should say something before we will be forced to buy an additional tent just for one person.

"I don't mind sleeping outside" I raised my hand with an apathetic expression.

"Walker-kun? We can't just let anyone sleep outside, even though it is summer, the nights tend to be cold" Hirata tried to disagree with my idea.

"I don't really mind. I already experienced this a few times so there is no need to buy an additional tent" I said with determined expression to convince the Hirata.

"See? Ike-kun, why can't you be more gentleman like Walker-kun?!" 2

I don't really want to share a tent with a lot of people and sleeping outside will actually be more advantageous for me since I will have better view of the entire camp but it seems that girls misunderstand me…

"What?!" Ike's face turned red from anger but Hirata immediately tried to calm everyone.

"Guys, how about 1 boy and 1 girl will stay on watch at night, that would free 1 place for a person in each tent. We would be rotating shifts every hour. What do you say?" Hirata suggested with a smile.

"That's good idea, Hirata-kun. This way we will have more space and girls can watch over the boys in case they try something" Shinohara instantly agreed with his idea.

"What do you mean by that?! What do you think we are?!" This time it was Yamauchi who shouted at Shinohara.

"You are boys! That's all I need to know" Shinohara said.

That's one pretty shallow view on boys.

They kept arguing until someone came with shocking news.

"Koenji-kun dropped out! He said that he fell ill and boarded the ship"

"WHAT?!!! He just wasted 30 points like that?! I bet that he just didn't want to suffer here with us" Sudo was cursing aloud and a few students joined in.

"Everyone, please calm down! We have just lost 30 points but we can still make a lot of points by finding food instead of buying it. We already bought a portable toilet but we also saved a few points for one meal today thanks to Walker-kun. If we will minimize our expenses then we can still have around 150 points without guessing the leaders at the end of the test" Hirata's leadership really makes wonders. Everyone calmed down and became even excited about the number of points.

Having around 150 points equals 15.000 private points each month which isn't bad but for me, it isn't nearly enough. As for Koenji…he is really troublesome fellow but at least he is academically better than most of our class. You could say that he earned these 30 points he just wasted by his test scores.

While Hirata and others were discussing how to proceed I made my way towards Ayanokoji.

"I heard that you were the one who found Ibuki-san, Ayanokoji-kun" I said in a low voice.

"Hm? Yes" Ayanokoji answered shortly.

"Will you show me a place where you found her?" I asked with a small smile

"...It's pretty dark already. It will be dangerous to go now" Ayanokoji didn't want to go anywhere.

"It's either you or Yamauchi-kun or Sakura-san. But I still want to talk to you about something else so it would be convenient if you could show me the way" I said, unbothered by his uncooperativeness.

sigh "Shouldn't we at least inform someone?" He asked me

"No need, I already did it" I said and indicated with my hand for him to lead the way.

..

"Ayanokoji-kun, are you going to do something during this test or do I have to do all the work alone?"

"What do you mean?" He asked me with a confused expression.

When he noticed that I stopped walking after hearing his answer, he stopped too.

"You can fool people like Horikita but don't even try to play a fool before me" My eyes became cold when I stared at him.

"...I still don't ge-" Before he could finish that sentence he had to use his hands to block my elbow that was aiming for his stomach. When he blocked my elbow attack with slight difficulty, I immediately executed roundhouse kick aimed at his ribs but he retreated and my shin met with the tree but instead of injuring myself, tree cracked a bit and swayed a little but didn't fall down in the end.

"What is the meaning of this?" He asked me but instead of his stoic expression, he had a bit surprised expression when he saw the cracked tree.

"Your footwork, your blocking technique. They are all part of the military moves, why does the student know such moves? Are you still going to play the fool? There aren't many things that can make me violent but unfortunately for you, trying to make a fool out of me is one of them" I already felt great desire to fight someone skillful like Ayanokoji, but this way, he was only giving me more reason to get into a fight with him which definitely wasn't a good thing since we both were from the same class.

"...I just want to lead a peaceful life but I think you aren't really normal yourself" He said while looking at the cracked tree

"I didn't say that I am normal and I don't really care how you want to live your life. It's your life so do what you want but at least give me an honest answer to my question next time. So? Are you going to do something?"

"...Maybe"

"Still not honest but much better than trying to fool me. But why would you try to help class when you want to lead a peaceful life while avoiding troubles? Let me take a guess, were you perhaps blackmailed by Sae-chan?" I asked him with an amused smile.

"Sae-chan?" He asked me with a confused and little surprised expression.

"Heh, so I was right. She is really one greedy woman. Tell me, what did she use against you?" I chuckled when I recalled how she tried to blackmail me. Unfortunately for Ayanokoji, he doesn't care about Class D or A, yet he is being forced to help our class. She tried to blackmail me but she probably realized that what I am doing is enough and she shouldn't push me too hard or it might end badly for her.

"..."

"I guess it's a bit personal so I will drop that question for now. You don't really have to worry about me as long as you won't turn against me. I also don't care about your secrets, all I wanted to know is if you will take action during this test" With this said, we resumed walking towards the spot where they found Ibuki.

"This is the place where we found her" He pointed at one tree.

I examined the area around that tree and found that there was a spot without any grass on it. I looked around a bit more but I couldn't find any tool for digging.

"Were her hands dirty when you found her?" I asked and he just nodded with a sigh.

I started to dig at the area without any grass and after a few seconds I dug out one object

"You already knew about this, didn't you?" I asked but all I received was silence.

"Well, doesn't matter. Do whatever you want, I won't interfere with your plans but we should head back before they will notice that we are gone" I put the thing back into the hole and covered it with dirt once again.

..

At night

"How did I end up here with you of all people?!" Karuizawa said to me with a hint of anger on her face. 1

"Why ask me? How should I know?" I answered with a blank expression and threw another branch into the campfire.

"Hmph!" Karuizawa turned around to show that she doesn't care about me.

"Still as childish as before, aren't you Kei-chan?" I poured fuel on the fire and waited for an explosion.

"D-d-d- DON'T CALL ME THAT!" She almost shouted aloud but I was able to cover her mouth in time.

"Sorry, I didn't think it would make you so embarrassed but you should be more conscious of your surroundings" I smiled at her embarrassment.

I will probably never get used to this. Calling someone with the first name is apparently something special here. Back in my past life when someone was calling his friend by surname then it could even appear as rude or indicated that you aren't actual friends. 3

"Hey, can I ask you something? She asked after she regained her composure.

"It's not like I can shut your mouth, neither I have to answer that question" I said indifferently

"...Why not just say yes?"

"Why not just ask the question?" I answered with a question and enjoyed the view of Karuizawa getting flustered.

"Ugh!... What is the reason?" She asked me with a sharp glare like she was staring right into my soul.

"It's about why I never came back, right?" I asked her with a little but genuine sad smile. 1

"Yes, I want to know the reason! Also why you never said anything or sent us a letter!" She raised her voice but instantly covered her mouth.

"...I will tell you the truth if you will answer one of my questions honestly" I said with a small delay and she nodded with a determined expression.

"What are you hiding? What happened to old Kei-chan I once knew? Why are you so conscious of the area around the torso on your body?" When I asked her this she started to shiver.

"You were bullied, right?" My statement made her look at me with a surprised expression.

"N-no, you are wrong" She tried to deny it but the truth was more than visible.

What kind of bullying had she gone through? There also must be a scar in that region. Girls are more conscious of their bodies and if they have a scar they will begin to think that they are ugly.

I checked our surroundings just to be sure no one is watching and then I sat right next to her.

"Life is unpredictable and unfair to most of the "good" people. But people adapt and learn from mistakes and misfortunes. Just because you were bullied doesn't mean you are destinated to be a weak person, pray." I put my hand on her back and after she calmed down a little, I rolled up her shirt out of nowhere and a relatively big scar appeared before me.

"?!!! What are y-?!"

"Is this that "big" secret of yours?" I interrupted her with a light smile and she instantly slapped my hand away from her shirt.

"You aren't disgusted?" She asked me with a glare

"How can I be disgusted by a small Kei-chan? To be honest with you, I think that scar is beautiful, it might sound weird but at least it proves that you are a woman that can endure tough situations and suffering"

"How do I know that you aren't just lying to me?" She asked me suspiciously.

"How? Because I have a collection of scars myself, haha" I laughed a little and showed her my bare back.

gasp She drew a sharp breath when she saw my back.

"H-how? What happened to you?" She had moistened eyes when she asked me.

"That's a long story maybe we can tell about our past to each other another time as for your question about my reason why I never contacted you or your mom…I simply felt that I was getting too attached to you two. I promised myself-... sigh That's all" 5

I should prepare a few things before I will make a move tonight.

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Chapter 26: #26 Class C's camp

Karuizawa didn't say much for the rest of the time we spent together near the campfire.

"Hey, it's time to switch" Miyake and Hasebe came to us.

Average academic abilities but pretty good athletic prowess. A straightforward, honest and quite a humble person. That was my opinion on a person named Akito Miyake.

Again average academic and athletic abilities but a good judgment ability and can use her head better than most of the class. She talks with a small number of people and is more of an introvert but still different than Sakura who just can't talk with anyone even if she wants to. She tends to avoid contact with other boys from our class. She is viewed by the boys as a part of the more attractive girls in our class, maybe she just doesn't like the attention from boys. That was my opinion on Haruka Hasebe.

This woke up the Karuizawa from her thoughts

"Ah?! Yes, thank you…and good luck" She said and hurriedly left back to the girl's tent.

"Have we interrupted something?" Miyake asked me with an awkward expression.

"No, thanks and good luck" I got up and started to slowly walk towards the boy's tent

"Are you sure? She seemed a little bit off" Hasabe asked me with a concerned expression and I stopped for a moment.

"...She needs some time to think about something. Don't worry about her, she will be fine by tomorrow" I answered and resumed walking.

..

(--Hasabe's POV start--)

"What do you think they talked about before we interrupted them?" I asked Miyake after watching Walker's back disappear inside the boy's tent.

"Huh? How should I know?" He answered with a confused expression.

I haven't talked with Miyake too much but I have a feeling that he is a decent person. That's why I don't mind talking to him.

"What do you think about Hirata's and Karuizawa's relationship?" I asked him, trying to hold a normal conversation.

"What do I think? Well…I guess nothing much, I am not really interested in other's lives. Wait…you aren't suspecting Karuizawa-san and Walker-kun, right?" He asked me with a surprised expression.

"Well, for me it seems that Karuizawa-san doesn't actually like Hirata-kun. Of course, I don't suspect her having something with Walker-kun but she might be interested in him. His appearance isn't inferior to Hirata's and he also seems to be an athletic type of guy. Moreover, I noticed that Karuizawa was occasionally glancing at him" I told him my suspicion.

"Sounds reasonable but I don't get one thing. If his looks doesn't lose to Hirata's, then why would Karuizawa-san even try to go after him since she is already with Hirata-kun?" He got hooked up into conversation and asked me with a confused yet interested expression.

"Call it woman's intuition but I don't think that Karuizawa-san and Hirata-kun are actually dating. I have no evidence but at least they don't act like that"

But why would they fake their relationship? Does Walker know about it? I couldn't help but grow more curious as I looked towards the boy's tent.

(--Hasabe's POV end--)

I quietly entered our tent not to wake up anyone and after a 10 minutes of waiting, I looked outside and saw both Hasabe and Miyake sitting near the campfire with their backs facing the tents.

I silently slipped out and approached our pile of luggage. While I was quietly searching for my bag I spotted one bag that stood out from others.

Isn't that Ibuki's bag? Heh, let's check what have you got prepared for us.

When I opened her bag I saw usual stuff like a towel and underwear but one thing caught my attention.

Digital camera, huh? I took it into my hands and started to think while I was observing it.

Should I get rid of it?...No, that would alert her.

First, why does she have it? Does she want to take a picture of our leader's card? But why would she need to take a picture? I doubt that Ryuen is that distrustful towards his own people, he would probably believe someone from his own class but who wouldn't?... OTHER CLASS!

So that's the reason why Ryuen is spending all his points. He must have made some kind of contract with the other class. But as for conditions, that's still a mystery but they must have made it formal contract on paper with signatures and other shit. That means, there is still a chance for me to find it but which class has it? Class A or B? I highly doubt that it is Class B, considering Ichinose's personality plus she doesn't have a good relationship with Ryuen. I was racking my brain when Katsugari's image appeared inside my head ?!

HAHAHA, now it all makes sense. Katsuragi needs to gain more support in his class or he might lose his position to Sakayanagi and what is the best chance for that? Of course, without Sakayanagi's presence but I doubt that with her abilities she wouldn't be able to predict Katsuragi's tactic. So that means that someone in Class A might turn against his own class.

And Ryuen isn't someone that plays by the rules, he will definitely somehow betray Katsuragi. I shouldn't think about it too much right now.

Should I at least damage its memory card?

I looked back at the boy's tent and then shook my head.

He will probably do it for me and if not then I don't care, she definitely won't take a picture of my card. As for Horikita's card, I told her to take care of it like it was the original so no one would get suspicious. It seems that the 40 points I spent at the beginning will turn out to be useful in the end.

I put Ibuki's bag back and took my own bag and then I quietly sneaked out of the camp.

I didn't travel too far away from camp because I still had to take care of those wristwatches.

I simply took a small stone from the ground and made a crack with it on my wristwatches.

This won't be enough.

I took a bottle of seawater from my bag and poured it all over it.

The display started randomly flashing and after a few seconds, display turned off.

As for why I did it so close to my camp…The school probably installed a function on it to show the last location before it broke down. If they saw that my wristwatches broke down somewhere in the middle of the forest they might go immediately look after me but if they will see that it happened inside or close to the camp they will think of it as an accident and wait until the morning.

I took off my clothes and stuffed them inside my bag and put on my pitch-black ninja-like outfit.

Now that all trouble is gone… I stood up and widely smiled.

For the first time since coming here…I can finally run with everything I got!

I started to jump from one branch to another with incredible speed but instead of getting tired I was getting more excited and speeded up even more.

It's really comfortable and easy to move in these clothes.

After only 1 minute of running at full speed, I was able to spot Class C's camp.

They have too many tents but it is clearly visible which one belongs to Ryuen, heh.

But I must say that I am quite disappointed, I thought that they will have someone on watch at night.

There was absolutely no visible light inside the camp except for the moonlight.

sigh I guess I will make just "small" damage for now.

I took out a small glass bottle with a purplish liquid inside. It was the liquid I made from combining water with all kinds of fruits with negative effects.

This liquid should make people have a headache and stomach ache at most after being consumed.

Now to find the place where they stored all the stuff they bought.

I started the search with the biggest tents, of course it is also possible that all stuff is inside Ryuen's tent but I skipped it for the time being.

After a while, I was able to find a tent with a few boxes with food and water in it. There was also one person sleeping inside that tent.

He is the guy that lost to me during our volleyball match back at the pool. I asked around about him after that match and learned that everyone calls him Albert.

I silently opened all the boxes and started poisoning all the food and water.

When I was done I looked at the sleeping person.

He is probably the one responsible for guarding this stuff. Albert, I already feel bad for you, if Ryuen gets the grip on what happened then your future will be miserable.

I left the tent and made my way towards the biggest tent and when I took a peek inside I spotted Ryuen sleeping on a big bed with opened mouth and hand on his stomach.

HAHA. I was having a hard time holding in my laughter, after seeing him like that. I took a quick look around the tent and noticed the radio on the nightstand.

I won't risk looking for the contract with him sleeping here. What I saw today is more than enough for me but before I leave… I took out my phone from the bag and took a quick picture of a sleeping Ryuen. Hehe, sometimes I ask myself, Am I too evil? 6

I decided to leave their camp but I didn't forget to silently break a few other things on my way out.

"Sweet dreams, Class C" I mumbled while I was looking down on their camp from the highest branch of the tree. Seeing the scene of their camp being illuminated only by moonlight, I couldn't help but form a maniacal smile.

I will visit Class A for sure but the question is…Should I visit Class B too? Horikita told me that we will cooperate with them but I didn't give her my word. Well, I will at least go there to find out their leader if not to cause trouble.

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Chapter 27: #27 Class B's camp

When I arrived near the place occupied by Class B, I immediately spotted a campfire with 2 people sitting around it.

Ichinose and Kanzaki…

Tch, this will be much harder than I thought. I don't really want to use violence against them since I have no grudges against them plus our classes might cooperate with each other during this test.

If they were from Class C I would have just knocked them out but I will have to sneak in if I don't want to injure them.

Before I do anything, I should think about who could be their leader.

Ichinose…she stands out too much and it would be a great risk to name her a leader.

Kanzaki…he is one of the suspects since Ichinose seems to trust him a lot and he himself is a quite clever individual

There are also 2 girls who are pretty close to Ichinose.

The first one is Chihiro Shiranami, who previously confessed to Ichinose and the second girl is Mako Amikura who played volleyball with us before. Both of them seemed really close to Ichinose so I should start by searching the girl's tent and if it's none of them then it is probably Kanzaki but I won't vote for him without clear evidence.

"Do you think we should take a risk and try to name leaders from other classes?" Ichinose asked Kanzaki with a worried expression.

"I think it will be safest if we just do it straightforwardly without any risks. We have a water source nearby and we can gather the food for ourselves, this way we can save up a lot of points"

They were too engrossed in the conversation and this gave me the opportunity to easily sneak in and peek into the closest tent.

Bingo! The girl's tent, now to find those two.

I silently entered the tent and looked around for Shiranami and Akimura.

There is Akimura…I quietly approached her and when I noticed a bag near her I immediately opened it.

Nothing… Let's hope that Shiranami has the card inside her bag or I will be forced to search the clothes they are currently wearing. This already makes me look enough like a creep, I don't want to spend more time than needed here. I put Akimura's bag back and looked around for Shiranami.

There she is…I approached her and grabbed her bag.

Please be there, please be there. I silently prayed as I was searching for a card inside her bag.

?!

Yes! I took out the card that looked exactly the same as the one I received from Chabashira-sensei.

I checked the name on it and then put it back.

Nice, finally I can leave this hell overflowing with sleeping girls. At least that's what I thought before I heard Ichinose's voice.

"Aah, it's already time to switch. It was nice to talk to you, Kanzaki-kun, see you tomorrow" Ichinose said with a yawn.

Fuck…What to do?

My first thought was to just silently knock her out after she would enter the tent but I shook my head and abandoned that idea since I already said I won't use violence against Class B unless necessary. 1

I quickly looked around the tent for a good hiding spot but there was simply no place to hide.

...Sorry. I apologized in my mind and quickly hid under the blanket right next to Shiranami.

Please don't be the one who needs to go switch with Ichinose.

" Hey, Mako-chan?!" Ichinose whispered and lightly shook Akimura's shoulder.

" Hmm? Is it already my turn?"

" Yup, I am sorry" Ichinose apologized with helpless smile.

" It's alright, don't apologize Honami-chan" Akimura got up and left the tent.

sigh "I feel guilty about suggesting this idea but it's much safer this way…Ah, forget it, I should go sleep to be ready for tomorrow*" Ichinose quietly mumbled and then I heard low slapping sound. I guess she slapped herself to get rid of those gloomy thoughts.

I waited for 15 minutes under the blanket until Ichinose fall asleep.

I carefully got up and covered Shiranami with the blanket.

I apologize for the intrusion. I lightly bowed to her and then left the tent. 3

..

So I have the name of Class B's leader, now it's Class A's turn but I already think that Class A's leader is that guy named Yahiko who previously held a conversation with Katsuragi right in front of their cave. I noticed that he hold Katsuragi in high regard and Katsuragi probably trust him the most since he is in bad position where anyone could turn against him inside his class.

I looked at the position of the moon and decided to delay the visit of Class A for another night. I still had some time but I can't be gone entire night plus they have a good location with only 1 entrance which would take me some time to sneak in.

I will at least use this spare time to claim a lot of spots.

I started to freely run through the forest while looking for any spots.

1 hour later…

I changed back to my normal clothes and arrived back at our camp. I was a little bit sweaty from all the running so I took off my clothes except for the underwear and decided to jump into the river to refresh myself.

"Walker-kun, is that you?" Someone came to check on the river and when I turned around I found out that it was Hirata with a flashlight in his hand.

Hmm, even though I made a noise, it wasn't that loud, he has quite a good hearing.

"Yep, I needed some clear air and I decided to also freshen up while I was here." I told him

"...I didn't see you in the tent even when I got up to go on the watch…I decided not to make a scene considering your words that you are experienced but I was really worried that something happened to you" He said with revealed expression without any hint of suspicion.

"Aren't you suspicious where I went?" I asked him with a smile.

"No, I believe that you wouldn't do anything that would damage our class" He answered with a smile.

"...Hirata-kun, having full trust in the people you know can be a powerful thing but you also trust people that you don't know, I think you should be at least a bit cautious. I bet that if I said that someone in our class is traitor you wouldn't believe me at all, right?" I asked him with a serious expression.

"I-...That's a too difficult question, I would need more time to decide on what to do. But I guess I really tend to trust most of the people"

"I am not saying it's wrong but kind people like you are easy to control. Let me ask you something. Do you believe in Ibuki-san's story?"

"...I- I want to trust her" He said while looking downwards.

But what is the reason? Why do you want to trust her? Why are you forcing yourself to trust her?

"Then forget it, can you please throw my towel at me?" I asked him to do something useful instead of just watching me.

"Ah! Sure" He threw my towel precisely at me.

"By the way… Would you mind if I asked about those scars on your back?" He asked with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"I have already told you. I am a bit experienced in this kind of life" I dried myself with a towel, dressed up and then went back to the boy's tent to get some rest.

..

--The second day--

When the sun came out I immediately went to visit the large tent on the beach constructed for the teachers.

"Hm? Walker, I wonder what brings you here so early?" Chabashira-sensei was already awake and greeted me with a small smile.

"My wristwatches somehow broke at night so I came here to get a new one" I gave her my broken wristwatches and she started to inspect them.

"This little crack wouldn't destroy them completely…" She said to me with an amused smile.

"Well, I didn't know about the crack on them and went to refresh myself into river previous night. I guess they aren't as waterproof as you mentioned, teach" I teased her a bit.

"Oh? I apologize for the false information I gave you"

"No need, you compensate for it by being a good homeroom teacher" I said with a smirk.

"...Here you go and just between us. Do you have hands in the current Class A's situation?" She handed me a new wristwatch after a slight delay and then asked me with a suspicious expression.

"What? What do you mean" I asked her with a genuine confused expression

"...Forget it then, you can go" She said while cautiously observing changes in my expression

"Ok, bye-bye, teach" I waved at her and then went back to our camp.

I didn't do much after that but Horikita and Ayanokoji decided to go to Class B's camp to form a cooperation pact with them.

When they came back they told us that they also decided to visit other classes. When I heard how Class C was spending their points I wasn't surprised but they said nothing else about them which quite surprised me…

Didn't they drink or eat anything from those boxes?!

When I asked what kind of things they bought, Horikita told me that they bought a lot of sodas and meat.

There weren't any sodas in those boxes, only bottles of clean water and canned food…

They continued with the report and when they mentioned Class A, I finally understood it. Apparently Class A was having some problems and no one knew why not even school. 1

I guess that's why Chabashira-sensei asked me if I don't know anything about Class A's situation.

Upps, shit happens but that means that Ryuen bought that stuff for Class A so I guess I already know one of the conditions of their contract.

In the evening…

"Hey, I saw Class C guys returning to the ship today. Doesn't anyone know anything about it?" Ike asked everyone sitting around the campfire.

"No…" Everyone just shook their heads and started to assume that they got sick of life on the island.

"Did you see everyone board the ship?" I asked Ike.

"Well, no…but there were simply too many people to count them all" He answered with a confused expression.

I guess Ryuen already started the second stage of his plan… 1

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Chapter 28: #28 Theft

--Third day--

I woke up and went near the river to wash my face.

"I thought about what you told me before…" Hirata came to me and started washing his face with me.

"And?" I asked indifferently without looking at him.

"Do you really think that Ibuki's story is just a big lie?" He asked me with an uncertain face.

"You perhaps didn't understand my previous words. I am not trying to convince you to trust my words or to trust Ibuki's story. It's all good that you can make your own decision but what I am trying to say is that you should learn from your mistakes. Let's say that Ibuki is really here just to damage us but you still believed in her. What would you do? Would you just be more careful around her next time and then waited for someone else to betray you again or would you be more careful around all people you know nothing about?"

"...Even though I am not happy to admit it, I would perhaps be careful just around her…I wouldn't be able to show distrust towards other people just because one person did wrong" Hirata said with a weak and sad smile.

"Anyway, Walker-kun, you are a really amazing person…" He said with his usual enthusiastic smile.

"What do you mean?" I asked him with one of my brows raised.

"You always seem so calm and talking with you always makes me feel reassured about the entire situation on this island. It might sound weird but you are like a teacher who knows what to say to calm down everyone around him" Hirata laughed a little after saying that.

"I think that you are much better in this aspect-"

"Mornin'!!!" Someone shouted and jumped on my back.

I almost had an impulse to catch their arm and throw them by the collar to the river but I controlled myself.

"What do you think you are doing, Matsushita-san? If I lost my balance back then, both of us would be swimming in the river right now" I said without minding something soft touching my back.

Are all girls careless like this?

"I put my trust in you, Walker-kun. And you didn't betray it just as I expected from someone like you!" She said with a happy smile but didn't get off me.

There was only a small number of people awake at this time but we were still gathering the attention pretty fast.

What's gotten into her? She wasn't so forceful before.

"Matsushita-san, could you please get off me? Your hair tickles me"

And I can also feel your assets on my back…but I better not say that aloud.

But I must admit that for a teenage girl, her body is quite developed but of course, she loses out to a few girls in our class and I won't even mention our homeroom teacher… 2

I shook my head to get rid of unnecessary thoughts.

"Sorry, Walker-kun, but I must say that you are quite strong to be able to catch me without losing your balance" She said with a laugh

You saw me carrying that deer before…I don't think you are much heavier than that.

I immediately started hearing whispers all around us

" Are they a thing?"

" Is Matsushita-san dating with Walker-kun or are they only good friends?"

" They indeed talk to each other very often at school"

Tch, another troublesome situation.

"I will go, for now, see you later" She waved at me and run off to the other side of the camp.

I sensed a hostile glare on my back so I turned around and saw Karuizawa looking at me with an angry expression.

"Hmph!" When our eyes met she turned around and left in an angry manner.

What the hell? Have I done something wrong?

I turned back to Hirata and saw him looking at me with a slightly teasing smile.

"What?"

"How do you feel about Matsushita-san if you don't mind me asking, Walker-kun?" He asked me with an awkward smile, perhaps embarrassed to ask such a question.

"...She is a good friend" I looked around us before answering his question.

"...I see" His awkward smile changed into a slightly sad one, he understood my meaning in my words and perhaps felt pity for Matsushita.

"Well, see you later" I said and prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Hirata quickly said to stop me from leaving.

"What is it?"

"...It's…nothing, sorry" He hesitated but didn't tell me anything in the end.

Weird… I left him there and went to help others with some manual labor.

..

That night I also went to visit Class A and even though their base had only 1 entrance it was pretty easy to sneak in thanks to the mistake I made in Class C's camp.

They simply had no strength to keep on watch during the nights, they were already happy to be on watch during the day time. Some students couldn't even endure it any longer and returned to the ship, making Class A lose quite a lot of points. And as I guessed, their leader really was a guy named Yahiko.

I haven't really intended to damage Class A this much but I guess it already doesn't matter.

I also kept on claiming the spots on my way back to the camp but sometimes I was too slow and saw already Class C on the display.

It seems that Ryuen hasn't really left the island but he keeps on taking my bonus points. He should have just left, he will suffer here all alone for nothing since I already know who is their leader which means that they will get zero bonus points.

--Fifth day--

I watched a group of girls marching towards the boy's tent with only one opened eye while quietly resting on the tree branch.

"Hey, boys! Wake up!" Shinohara yelled, standing right in front of the tent's entrance.

"Eh? What's wrong?" Hirata peeked out and asked with sleepy eyes.

"Hirata-kun. Can you please gather all boys? Something terrible happened" Shinohara said with apologetic face after seeing Hirata's tired expression. 3

"...I understand" Hirata said with serious expression after seeing other girls with unusually scared faces.

After 5 minutes…

"So, what's going on?" Hirata asked as representative of boys.

"Sorry, Hirata-kun but this doesn't involve you. We want to confirm something but before that, isn't someone missing?" Shinohara asked with a suspicious expression.

"Huh? Now that you mentioned it…" Hirata said with a surprised expression, looking all around to find out who is missing.

"I am up here" I finally said while raising my hand for them to see me lying on the branch.

"Walker-kun? Don't tell me you slept there entire night?" Hirata asked me with a guilty face, he was perhaps blaming himself for my "suffering" but I would suffer much more by sleeping with numerous guys within one tent.

sigh "Let's skip that for now, we should listen to what Shinohara has to say first" I felt uncomfortable after seeing Hirata's guilty face like it was his own fault.

"...Alright, this morning…Karuizawa-san's underwear went missing. Do you know what this means?!" She said and looked at all of the boys except Hirata with contempt in her eyes.

"What?! U-underwear?" Hirata appeared visibly shaken by this information.

Eww, that's pretty creepy and disgusting. Now that she mentioned Karuizawa…I can't see her anywhere, I guess she is inside the tent with a few more missing girls. 1

"Karuizawa-san is currently crying inside the tent. Kushida-san and others are comforting her right now, but…" She glared at all boys with quite cold eyes.

"Huh? What? Are you saying we did it?" Sudo, Ike and Yamauchi immediately fought back against such false accusations.

"Isn't that obvious?! Who else would do it if not boys?!"

"What about that girl from Class C?!" Sudo bought out pretty good point but it was immediately shot down by Shinohara

"She wouldn't do such a thing!"

Blindly trusting someone from the other class over your own classmates…That's pretty bad.

"I know that you aren't culprit, Hirata-kun. But we want to search the boy's luggage" Shinohara said

Hirata tried to defend our innocence but girls weren't going to give up in this matter.

A few boys started to accuse Ike of stealing Karuizawa's underwear.

I happened to see the person who did it that night since they didn't think I would be awake at that hour but I didn't stop them since I would only alert them and no matter what will they do, everything will go according to my plans.

I licked my lips while I was counting how many points we will get at the end of this test.

"Walker-kun, you were outside for the entire night right?!" Shinohara said with a harsh tone which made me frown.

"Umm..I don't think-" Matsushita tried to say something but I didn't give her opportunity.

"Are you accusing me of stealing Karuizawa-san's underwear?" I easily jumped from the 4 meters height and narrowed my eyes at Shinohara while I was slowly approaching her.

"...O-of course! You were all alone here and no one knew about it…" She panicked a bit but still showed a determined face.

"Walker-kun!" Hirata called out to me when I came close enough to Shinohara.

I stopped right in front of her and looked down at her with cold eyes.

"Let me just say that I feel disgusted by being accused of a crime like this one. First, I don't know if it was used or clean underwear but if it was the former case then I can tell you that I feel that stealing such thing is fucking disgusting and if it was the latter case then I don't see any meaning in stealing a thing anyone can buy in any store nowadays" I said with a disgusted expression.

"Stop accusing other boys while ignoring Hirata" I calmed down a bit after saying that.

"Yeah! Walker-kun is right!" Ike immediately agreed with me but he instantly regretted it when he heard my next sentence.

"I admit that there might be some perverts among the boys but mostly it is because of puberty or because they want to attract attention. Nevertheless, I highly doubt that they would do such thing that would damage and hurt their own classmate" I calmly explained to Shinohara.

"...I-fine. You boys can solve this problem among yourselves but we still want to find that underwear!" Shinohara softened up and let the boys do the searching themselves.

Girls immediately started to whisper after the tension was gone

"He was a bit scary don't you think?"

"For a moment, I thought that he was going to hit Shinohara-san"

"And how did he jump from that height so easily?"

"I don't think you would be happy if I accused you of stealing boy's underwear either…" I said aloud which was meant for all girls, including Shinohara.

Their reaction was the same as mine…disgusted.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

I am having less time to write due to my university but I will try my best to update regularly

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Chapter 29: #29 Solving the theft

"Alright, since there are only us boys here, I want everyone to tell the truth" Hirata said to all of us inside our tent.

"Hirata-kun, you really think that someone of us did it?!" Ike said with a frantic face.

"I want to believe in everyone but the truth is that there is still Karuizawa's missing underwear. I want to check everyone's bags, I hope you will allow me to do it since there are no girls around to see what you have in there." Hirata said with an apologetic smile towards Ike.

"You can't be thinking that we really did it, right? There is still that girl from Class C who might want to make us fight each other" Sudo said that he would rather suspect Ibuki than his own classmates and friends.

"I know that she can be suspect too but why would she do it when her Class already gave up. I just want to check everyone's belongings, please don't make it even harder for me…" Hirata said with a guilty face, it was apparent that he didn't like this idea but he still had to do it for the sake of girls and of course, his "girlfriend"

"You know if we find the missing underwear inside someone's bag then it doesn't have to necessarily mean that they are the culprit…" I calmly pointed out with folded arms.

"? What do you mean, Walker-kun?" Hirata-kun asked me, a little bit startled by my words. Most of the boys looked at me with confused looks, waiting for me to continue.

"Everyone was sleeping during the night and anyone could steal it. But why would you assume that thief would keep it? Although our class doesn't have the best academic results out of all classes, I doubt that anyone would be so dumb to actually steal something and then keep it inside his bag. If you steal something important as underwear then it is inevitable that the victim is going to notice. And there is also one more thing…Karuizawa-san is actually Hirata-kun's girlfriend so I don't think that any of the boys would actually try to steal especially her underwear" I calmly explained with my eyes closed. Constantly running around at night took a toll on me so I was resting my eyes whenever I could, of course, it wasn't anything serious. I just grew accustomed to getting enough sleep every day after coming to this school.

"...That sounds reasonable but what should we do?" Hirata mumbled aloud while holding his chin with a thoughtful expression. 1

"That's easy…We will show our belongings to everyone here and if anyone will have the underwear in their bag then we can definitely say that they are innocent" I said with a smile.

"Wha-?" Hirata seemed a bit surprised and probably thought that it was unreasonable but he didn't complain in the end.

Everyone went to grab their bags and in the meanwhile, Hirata came closer to me.

"You seem to have great trust in your friends" He said to me with a happy smile.

"I would rather say that I used logic instead of blind trust…" My expression didn't change a bit after he said word "friends"

"...I see" Hirata said with a bit sad smile and the awkward atmosphere was slowly invading the tent but it didn't last for long before everyone returned with their bags.

Everyone formed a circle and started to show our belongings to others.

When it was my turn I was slightly surprised since I thought that I would be the one getting framed but it seems that I was wrong. There was nothing much to show since I already got rid off the bottles with poisonous liquid and my outfit for the night time was on me under my casual clothes.

Almost everyone was done showing their belongings and it was Ike's turn now.

When he opened the bag for everyone to see, he froze and most of the guys had wide-opened mouth while looking at the white unfamiliar underwear, definitely not man's underwear.

Well, it was pretty obvious that it will be someone, it was just a question who.

"GUYS! I swear I didn't do it!!" Ike immediately screamed out and I quickly moved to cover his lousy mouth.

"Guys? Is everything alright? Did you already find the culprit, Hirata-kun?" Girls started to question us through the thin blanket of the tent.

"Ah, not yet!" Hirata immediately reacted to save the situation.

I threw Ike an annoyed look and he instantly nodded his head numerous times so I moved my hand to free his ability to talk.

"Well, this makes things even easier…" I said aloud for everyone to hear.

"What do you mean, Walker-kun?" Hirata immediately asked, expecting me to have some kind of plan already.

"It's nothing personal but everyone here knows about Ike-kun's intelligence right?" I asked quite a rude question but instead of being bothered by it, everyone nodded in unison.

"Hey! That's a pretty rude question and why is everyone nodding?!!" Ike immediately yelled but this time he controlled his voice not to be too loud. 1

"...Do you really think that Ike-kun would be able to show us his belongings if he knew that he has the missing underwear? We already agreed that anyone who would have them would be innocent yet he screamed out like a freak, worrying about his innocence. I think that clearly shows that he is by no means the culprit"

"But even if he is innocent…we still have no idea who is the culprit or why they tried to frame Ike-kun plus it is still a fact that the missing underwear is here with us. I doubt that girls will actually believe your theory, Walker-kun. You know how they can be impulsive" Yukimura was the one who joined the conversation.

"True enough…I guess the best way how to avoid raising the uproar within the class is in Hirata-kun's hands" I said while looking at Hirata and everyone followed after me.

"...I guess I can save the situation since I am her boyfriend and no one will blame anyone" Hirata said with a small smile.

"You don't have to do it, no one is forcing you, Hirata-kun. You should do whatever you want to do" I crossed my arms and said in a serious tone.

"Whatever I want to do…huh?" He mumbled but then he put on his usual encouraging smile.

"I want to do it. I don't think that there is the culprit here among us"

After our discussion was over, Hirata took care of the problem and said that he perhaps took it by a mistake. No one really doubted his words since they were a couple and he had no need to do such a thing intentionally.

"Thank you very much, Walker-kun. I don't know what I would have done without you…" Ike came to me and sighed in relief.

"No need, this wasn't your fault and it would only disrupted our class's teamwork and trust" I plainly told him my thoughts.

"You know, I always thought that you are someone hard to approach but now after this incident, I think that you would make a great friend, what do you think?" Ike said with a confident smile as he lightly hit my shoulder with his fist.

"..." I just looked at his actions with a weird expression but I didn't say anything in the end.

"But I really "wonder" who is the culprit" Sudo came to us and joined the conversation. The way he sarcastically said "wonder" it was pretty obvious that he already suspects someone.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

I never thought that I will have spare time today to write this chapter but I am fast af. Just kidding, there are only 1277 words so it's not much but better something than nothing, right?

The next chapter will be probably the last one of the survival test.

I am having a bit of a problem to show more of the original MC so I want to ask if you mind not seeing much of him or not.

Also if you happen to see any major grammar errors please let me know.

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Chapter 30: #30 Tension between boys and girls

The same day the underwear incident happened…

"Walker-kun, can we talk in private, please?" Hirata came to rescue me from Ike's gang so I happily nodded my head. Ike and Sudo just looked at two of us weirdly but didn't say anything since we just had prevented the calamity and we perhaps had to discuss something important.

When we moved to a more secluded location, Hirata turned at me with a slightly serious expression.

"Walker-kun, I will be completely honest with you. I need your help…"

"...You want me to find the real culprit?" He was surprised by my question so I knew that I was right.

"You know, even if I find out the real culprit then I doubt I would be able to find solid evidence for you to believe me. Plus, why me?" I said with an apathetic expression.

"I don't know if Ike-kun is the real culprit or not but one thing is certain. There is still the culprit among us and I am afraid that boys might not be able to keep our earlier discussion in the tent secret, that's why I think we need to find the real culprit. As for why you…I noticed how you handled the situation with calmness and I believe that you aren't the culprit for sure" He explained his reasons with a determined expression. 2

"And what if it was really some of the boys? What would you do then?" I asked him, a bit amused by his determination.

"...I would take care of it in secret, if such thing came out on light then our class would be thrown into an uproar" Hirata was a bit startled by my question but after he calmed down, he answered with a strong voice.

"Since we are all alone here, let me ask you one thing too. Are you really dating Karuizawa-san?" I asked with a curious expression if my suspicion was right.

"...I-" He had a problem answering that question since I already made it sound like I was doubting them.

"No need to say anything anymore…I understand. Let me ask you a different question. Do you know about her past?" I asked with a bit more serious expression.

"I am sorry but I can't answer that question, Walker-kun" Hirata said with an apologetic face since he was asking for my help yet he couldn't even answer my question.

I guess she told him about her past and him being the "nice guy" accepted to be her boyfriend to protect her. What a fucked-up situation… 2

"...I will try but don't expect much from me, you should also ask for help from Horikita-san. She might be a girl but I think she would choose to keep it a secret rather than throw our class into an uproar and destroy our class's unity" I agreed to his request and added advice for him.

"Thank you! But I don't think Horikita-san would agree to my request, she is a bit distant from most of the people and only a few people talk to her regularly. I know I am already asking much but could you help me with this matter too?" Hirata was happy after I agreed but then his expression became helpless when he mentioned Horikita.

"...You know, I am not really closer to Horikita-san than you are. I can try but maybe you would do better if you asked Ayanokoji-kun" So many problems… It makes me tired. Who would ever think that solving a theft of the underwear would be so complicated…

"Alright, thank you once again!" Hirata bowed a little to show his appreciation.

"Stop it, we are classmates and this matter involves entire class so it's normal that I help"

"We should head back, the girls said that they have something to discuss with all of us" Hirata smiled at me and suggested.

Ah, another problem…I can already feel it.

When we came back, everyone was waiting there for us.

I noticed that there was also Karuizawa who was absent during the morning. She was trembling with anger and her eyes were red. It was pretty hard to say if it was because she has just cried or because she wanted to see the blood of the culprit. But she looked pretty cute when she was trembling like that… Ugh, I hope this doesn't make me a sadist. 1

Karuizawa also noticed me and I gently smiled at her which probably made her regain her composure since she stopped trembling and looked more embarrassed than angered.

"...So, what's the matter?" Hirata also noticed strange change in Karuizawa's behavior but he decided to ignore it.

"I know that matter got already resolved but I am not feeling safe while sleeping in the same place as boys and it's not just me but the majority of girls in our class agreed to this. We will draw a dividing line between boys and girls. And boys are prohibited to cross that line" Shinohara said while looking at us with contempt.

"Huh? If you want to do it then it's ok but we aren't moving our tent, move your own tent! Do it yourselves, you are the ones who want to leave" Sudo fired at her rude comment.

"We don't even need your help, you would have just fished through our luggage while doing it anyway…Hirata-kun? You will help us, right?" Shinohara fired back at Sudo but she still turned her head at Hirata to ask for his help.

"Okay, I will help but it will take some time for one person to move the entire tent, is that alright?" Hirata agreed with a helpless smile. He knew that dividing boys and girls will make it worse for our class.

Helping to unify this class will be a real challenge…

"You know, if we do this then the same thing will apply for the girls…" I calmly stated and this made Shinohara turn at me.

"What do you mean?" She asked in a different tone than when she addressed all boys. I found quite strange that she didn't hold any contempt or disgust while looking at me even after what happened between us.

"If you draw a dividing line between us and prohibit us to enter then same rules must apply to girls or it would be just complete tyranny…" I also changed my tone since she wasn't harsh with me, I had no reason to be mean to her.

"We are fine with it. And could we ask you to help Hirata-kun with moving our tent, please?" She asked me a question which quite surprised me.

"Me? Why?"

"We discussed it earlier when you were busy fishing through your belongings and 2 girls nominated you and most of the girls agreed while Karuizawa-san herself gave her approval too"

sigh "...I see, I will help" I agreed upon seeing Hirata's pleading face.

At least it will be faster this way.

"Thank you, both of you" Shinohara thanked me and Hirata with a small smile.

Why do I have a feeling that time flies slower when you have to solve stupid problems. 4

..

I and Hirata started to move the tent

"...Sorry, it feels like I keep bothering you" Hirata said with a guilty face.

"This time it wasn't you who asked for my help so you don't have to think like that" I didn't act overly friendly by telling him that he doesn't bother me and I neither told him anything harsh.

"Hirata-kun?! Can you please help us here with something?" The girl named Mei-Yu Wang called out. 3

"Huh? I-" He looked at me and then back to her, ready to refuse her I interrupted him.

"I am almost done here, just go there before any other problem arises" I said with an indifferent face.

He lightly bowed to me to show his gratefulness and left.

Horikita came to me once Hirata left to help the girls.

"Were you the one who nominated me?" I asked before she could say anything.

"Matsushita was the one who nominated you and I just joined in.

"Why? You don't even know me…" I asked another question to fill the boredom of building a tent.

"I already observed you a few times in the past and I believe that you aren't the culprit. You are too indifferent and disinterested to do that. I also observed you when you had that argument with Shinohara-san and I could positively say that you were genuinely disgusted by the idea of you being the underwear thief" Horikita explained her reasons.

"I see, you are really smart…So, why have you come here?" My expression didn't change a bit after listening to her reasons.

"To ask you if you know who is the culprit and inform you that a few girls bought a few items and reported it only to Hirata-kun while he had yet to tell me this"

"What good will it do if I know but have no evidence? As for your information…The leader is just trying to lead his group and control their desires but the leader isn't by any means a tyrant who is the only one who can spend points. We can't do anything about it, I think that Hirata-kun already warned them and didn't report it because he didn't want another problem to arise"

"You seem to really believe Hirata-kun. You also answered me with a question…Does it mean that you know the culprit but you don't have any evidence?

"Isn't it pretty obvious who is the culprit?" I asked her with a little annoyed expression.

"So it really was Ibuki-san? What should we do about her?" Horikita was also suspecting Ibuki but wasn't sure about it.

"Nothing" I answered with a smile.

"What do you mean nothing?! After what she did?"

"Kicking her out right now will only make the situation worse. We can still use her, she is probably here to find out our leader so we will give her what she wants" I explained and grinned evilly.

"You want her to find my fake card?" Horikita said weakly.

It seems that her condition is getting worse and worse. I noticed the second day that she was acting a bit weirdly and came to the conclusion that she is sick. Even though I would like to tell her that she should retire, I can't because she still has that fake card with her name.

Sorry, but you must fulfill your role.

"Yes but don't try to act or give her chances to do so. It would be better if everything played out naturally. Try your best to defend that card so it would be more believable that you are the leader"

"...Are you saying that she will take it even if I try my best to keep it safe?!" She appeared a bit angered by my statement.

That's right, at least in your current condition.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

Alright, the next chapter will be the last one of the survival test…hopefully.

BTW, thank you for your positive comments and reviews!

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Chapter 31: #31 Results

Finally, the last day of the survival test arrived and we will be guessing the leaders of other classes the next morning.

There weren't many people inside the camp so Karuizawa decided to approach me.

"Hey, I heard what you said when you were arguing with Shinohara-san" She said with a slightly angered expression.

I guess she means how I kinda ended up insulting her, well…more like insulting her underwear.

"What about it? I simply said aloud my honest thoughts" I calmly responded.

"You-! sigh Forget it…I will forgive you if you will tell me how the hell did you get into Class D. You used to be really smart and I don't get how you ended up here" She asked me in a domineering tone but for me, it felt more playfully than bossy.

sigh "Kei-chan, you used to be smart too, so why were you assigned to this Class?" I playfully answered with a question.

"...You already know the reason. And stop calling me like that, it's too embarrassing and it could cause misunderstanding…" She said with a small delay and then looked around if someone could hear our conversation.

"So I am allowed to call you like that when we are all alone. Am I right?" I said with a teasing smile.

"Of course n-" I stopped her before she could finish and frowned because of what I saw before me.

Horikita, Ayanokoji, Yamauchi, Sakura, and Ibuki came back to camp much earlier than I anticipated but that wasn't the reason why I frowned. Horikita's head was fully covered in mud which definitely didn't feel good combined with her fever.

Karuizawa noticed the situation and wanted to add salt into injury by saying something rude but she stopped herself and turned at me for a little while then she left and went to join a line for a shower.

This girl really doesn't like Horikita…I guess she is a bit jealous. Although she didn't say anything, she still wanted to make it worse for her by making the line for a shower much longer.

I got up and approached the group

"What happened?" I asked Horikita who looked really bad and I don't mean her appearance.

"Some idiot decided that he wants to play with mud" She said with an angered expression.

I immediately looked at Yamauchi and he looked downwards upon meeting my eyes.

He wouldn't do such thing without a reason… After all, he is one of the little perverts in this class and Horikita is still considered a beautiful girl. Unless someone asked him to do that and offered a good reward… I redirected my gaze at Ayanokoji and he calmly met my eyes.

What's your plan?

"I don't think you will be able to use a shower unless you ask them very nicely" I pointed at fairly long line for the shower

Although there aren't that many people, they are still girls and they tend to spend a lot of time inside the shower and Horikita wasn't the most popular one inside the class so I guess they wouldn't let her go first unless she would do something for them. Knowing her personality, she wouldn't want to show any weakness before them.

"How about the river? You still have the swimsuit with you, no?" Ayanokoji asked

Even though it is summer, the river is quite cold, not to mention her fever.

"You should definitely clean yourself up as soon as possible" I told her and went back to our tent.

What are you up to, Ayanokoji? Ibuki said that she will use the river too if we will give her our permission. This is the last day before the voting, she will probably make a move tonight or during Horikita's "bath"

She probably already guessed that Horikita is our "leader" but she still needs the evidence. I can't also wait for what will happen between Ryuen and Katsuragi since their agreement got fucked up a little bit because of me. But there is no clear evidence that Ryuen is the one behind it, so I guess he won't get into trouble with school.

There isn't much to do now so I guess I can just lie down for the rest of the day and then go for some spot hunting during the night.

..

After 20 minutes passed, Hirata entered the tent and looked at me.

"Horikita-san wants to talk to you"

Why didn't she come here? Ah, yes…We have that dividing line between boys and girls rule.

"Okay, thanks for letting me know"

"No problem" He smiled and left to help some girls.

..

"What's the matter?" I said with a low voice.

"It's gone…" Horikita said with an embarrassed and angry expression.

"I see…" I wasn't surprised at all since I was expecting that.

"What do you mean "I see"? What s-"

"Have you forgotten the fact that your card is fake?" I said to calm her down, I guess she was a little slow due to her fever worsening each second.

"Sorry, I got a little carried away" She calmed down but she was breathing heavily.

"You did your job, you should just go back to ship" I said gently

"But that would mean 30 points less for our Class. It's only 1 more day, I won't give up!" She said with almost fire visible inside her eyes.

sigh I guess I won't be able to convince her.

"Do what you want, I won't force you to retire. By the way, does Ayanokoji-kun know about you being the fake leader?"

"No, I haven't told him yet. Why?"

"If you are planning to go tell him about the lost card then don't mention that it is a fake card"

"Why do you think that I want to go tell him?" She frowned

"Because you trust that he is a capable person and even though it's just a fake card, you probably feel pretty humiliated right now and want to get that card back. I don't mind you doing so but you should be aware of your condition before taking any action" She seemed pretty surprised after I described how she felt right at that moment.

"I promise that I won't tell him about the fake card but I will do whatever I think is best" She was preparing to leave.

"Before you go…be so kind and give this paper to Hirata-kun and let him do the voting the next morning" I handed her a paper with names.

"This is…" She was too surprised to even speak for a while.

"Are you sure about Class C's leader? And why do you want to guess Class B's leader too?"

"I am sure about every one of them. As for Class B and our cooperation, their leader will be guessed by the different class so there is no need for us not to use them as our bonus points. Their bonus points will be nulled anyway. Don't ask any questions right now…I will explain everything when you get better and your head won't be muddled"

"...Fine but you owe me one" She said with a dissatisfied expression.

Huh? I am the one helping you get closer to Class A. If someone owes to someone then it is you who owe me.

..

Later in the evening, I was resting in the tent when I heard a commotion outside. I got up to check out what it was about and when I exited the tent I saw fire right behind the toilet.

I came closer and immediately searched for Ibuki with my eyes. When I saw her on the scene with a surprised face I already knew that it wasn't her handiwork. If she did it, she wouldn't wait here but instead of asking who did it. I am more confused about why she didn't just take a chance and run away. Was she so surprised that she forgot that she needs to sneak out? Heh.

We quickly extinguished the fire.

"Isn't this our catalog?" Horikita asked

"Well, at least used to be…" Ike muttered when he looked at the mostly burned catalog.

"Why? One thing after another. Why can't we just get along!" Hirata was slowly losing it.

I guess being a leader and peacemaker is tiresome.

Ayanokoji tried to calm him down but I saw that he wasn't able to see us or hear us…He was in a completely different dimension with his thoughts.

Everyone started to argue, guessing who is the traitor and this gave Ibuki a chance to run off.

It also started to rain so I quickly hid my luggage inside the tent but when I came back, I noticed that Ike was asking Hirata what should we do but he wasn't answering. He just stood there like a statue with a pale face and lifeless eyes.

"Hey, Hirata?!" Everyone seemed a bit surprised by this but no one dared to approach him and shake with him to wake him up. The atmosphere was getting heavier, same with the rain

SLAP Everyone gasped aloud

Hirata woke up from his thoughts and touched his right cheek that was swollen and then looked at me with his lifeless eyes.

My eyes became lifeless too, exactly the same as the few moments before I died.

"Life is a shitty thing and sometimes more of a torture than life. But the essential thing is that you keep going forward, no matter how shitty your life becomes. Be tortured by your mistakes and use them to your advantage, not to repeat the same mistakes ever again" I said with emotionless face in low voice but that didn't really matter because everyone was extremely quiet from what just happened so they could hear everything. 1

"...I am sorry everyone" Hirata bowed to everyone and they quickly apologized to him for making him carry too much burden alone.

"Thank you for waking me up, Walker-kun" He thanked me with a sympathetic smile.

Hopefully, this helped him a bit. After that everyone calmed down and most of them even forgot that I actually slapped Hirata. 1

"Where is Horikita-san, Ayanokoji-kun and Ibuki-san?" Yamauchi asked aloud.

"Now that you mention it, wasn't it Ibuki who started the fire?" Sudo added.

"They probably went to find Ibuki-san, let's forget about them for now. We should take care of our luggage before it gets soaked" Hirata said with his usual smile and started to move our things inside the tents and others followed after him.

--(Ayanokoji's POV)--

Right after Horikita lost consciousness

I am sorry Horikita but I never thought of you as my friend or as an ally. The same applies to all of my classmates. All people are nothing but a tool and winning is everything in this world. I don't care about the method as long as I win, I am ready to sacrifice anything or anyone. You were useful to me Horikita

"What happened, Ayanokoji?!" Chabashira-sensei asked with surprised expression when she saw unconsciousness Horikita in my hands.

"She has passed out due to a high fever. Please take her back to ship."

"...Are you alright with her retiring though? Your class will lose points" She asked me with a serious expression while checking Horikita's condition.

"Yes, here you go" I tried to give her Horikita's card but she didn't accept. 1

"? What's the matter? Shouldn't changing of the leaders be allowed under the special conditions?" I asked with a slightly confused expression since she didn't want to take the card.

"It is allowed but you can keep that toy…" She said with an amused smile, it almost felt like she was mocking me.

toy?

" HAHA, it seems that he was able to fool everyone in the end. Anyway, your class loses 30 points for Horikita's retirement" She laughed upon seeing my confused expression.

30? Penalty for losing a leader is 50…if Horikita isn't the leader then why did she try so hard to get that card back? 1

...Felix Walker, huh?

--(Ayanokoji's POV END)--

sneeze Is someone thinking about me? I thought while wiping my nose with a tissue.

"Walker-kun, I am a bit worried about them" Hirata said with a worried expression. It was already a few hours since Ayanokoji, Horikita and Ibuki disappeared.

"They will be fine, this island isn't that big to get lost anyway. You should just focus on getting enough rest after what happened today" I suggested and he thought for a while before nodding.

--Next morning--

I noticed that Ayanokoji was intensively looking at me like he was trying to see through me.

He came back to the camp yesterday in the evening without Horikita and explained how she had to drop out due to fever.

We already voted for other class leaders on the paper given to us by Chabashira-sensei.

"The survival test ended and I will now declare the points gained by each class!" Class A's homeroom teacher Tomonari Mashima announced.

"Hey, don't end it without me!" Ryuen said in an arrogant and mocking tone.

Everyone was surprised when they saw him because they thought that entire Class C retired but Katsuragi just glared at Ryuen with an angry expression. Who wouldn't be angry…a lot of his classmates retired so he lost a lot of points and he thought that it was all Ryuen's fault. 1

...Mashima-sensei started to announce the points after the commotion calmed down.

"Class C…zero points!"

"Next, in the third place, Class A with 30 points!"

"In the second place, Class B with 140 points!"

"And, in the first place, Class D with 335 points!"

Everyone was completely shocked, not just because of the Class D taking the first place but because of the amount of the points gained.

I had to place my palm over my face to hide an evil creepy smile that crept on my face. 1

I also noticed how Chabashira-sensei was looking at me with a wide smile.

--

Class A – 1034 points

Class B – 803 points

Class C – 492 points

Class D – 422 points

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

The survival test arc finally finished. I hope there weren't many plot holes in this arc.

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Chapter 32: #32 Aftermath

"Haha, good job everyone!" The one who first greeted us when we returned to ship was none other than Koenji.

"Koenji! Just because of you we lost 30 points!" Sudo and Ike started to yell at him since he didn't look or sound like a sick person.

"Calm down, it doesn't really matter, no? After all, you were able to gain 335 points. 30 points here and there won't hurt" Koenji said with a teasing smile.

They kept on arguing until Horikita finally appeared, she still looked a bit pale but much better than before.

"Horikita-san! We heard what happened and I want to apologize for my behavior" Karuizawa said with her eyes downwards.

"Suzune, It's really incredible how you were able to guess all leaders but how were you able to gather so many bonus points?!" Sudo blurted out, excited after seeing healthy Horikita before him.

She was too surprised by Sudo's question to even answer. After all, she still didn't know how I was able to gather so many points.

Horikita turned at me and angrily glared at me since she was in a pinch because of me but I just averted my eyes and ignored her.

I believe you will make some kind of excuse…

I couldn't help but notice that Chabashira-sensei was looking at me. Our eyes met and we kept on looking at each other for a while until she left.

Does she want me to follow her? sigh I have no obligation to go after her but I guess it won't hurt to escape from my classmates for a while.

"Huh? Where is Walker-kun?" Hirata-kun asked

"Hmm? He was still here just a few seconds ago…"

..

When I arrived on the bow, I noticed Chabashira-sensei holding onto a railing. She was looking at the vast sea, her hair blowing in the wind. Combined with sunrays that were shining at her body, made her look literally "stunning" 1

I came right beside her and started to gaze at the almost nonexistent clouds.

"I am honestly shocked by the number of points you were able to gather" After a few minutes of calm and comfortable silence, Chabashira-sensei stated.

"It could have been better but I would have to become a tyrant who would control each of his classmates. Although this school is different than other schools, they can still experience a peaceful and happy school life and I don't want to take it from them just for a few more points" I said lightly while observing a few clouds moving on the blue sky.

"Heh, you sound like you aren't the same as them"

"Maybe I am not" I said and Chabashira-sensei turned at me with a slightly surprised expression. She was probably expecting me to say more but I already said more than I wanted due to this calming atmosphere that made you want to open to other people.

"Heh, just kidding" I turned at her and sent her a fake smile.

She frowned upon seeing my fake smile but she noticed that I didn't look like I was planning to talk about it any further.

"How about you reward me for my hard work?" I jokingly said to change the subject.

"Oh? I am not really obligated to do so but do tell me what you have in mind" An amused smile formed on her face.

"How about you treat me to lunch, I didn't even have breakfast so I am quite hungry" I asked with an innocent smile. Of course, I lied about not having breakfast but I wanted to save my points whenever possible and she practically owes me this.

"...I don't think that's appropriate" She appeared slightly surprised by my request but not long after that her expression became more serious but I could still notice a little bit of red on her face.

"? What's inappropriate? Teacher and student having lunch together? You are the one making it sound like a date" I leaned on the railing and joked a bit.

"...Even so…I don't think it will have a good impact on you if you will appear in the restaurant with me. You should be more considerate of your image" She tried to refuse but it was pretty visible that she was hesitating. I guess she wants to appear professional.

"Then let's change the approach. You still remember how you TRIED to blackmail me right?" I said and emphasized the word TRY in a teasing manner.

"...What about it?" She appeared a bit uneasy.

"I think it's just fair for me to do the same. If you won't treat me to lunch then I will stop helping the class. I know that you can still use Ayanokoji-kun but I will make sure that all of his plans will fail if you refuse" The words I said would normally appear a very hostile if I hadn't said them in jokingly manner.

sigh "...Fine, when do you want to go?" Although her expression looked like she experienced humiliating defeat I knew that she was faking that. She just needed a good reason to accept.

As for my image or reputation? I couldn't care any less what will people whisper about me. It's a good chance to save points, eat a lot of food and most importantly get to know Chabashira-sensei more. Even though I won't be able to discover her weakness in 1 lunch, but I have to at least start somewhere.

"Let's meet-" I was interrupted by my vibrating phone. I quickly looked what's the matter and saw that Horikita was calling me. I declined the call but she kept on calling me whenever I declined.

"I think you should accept it, sounds like it's important" Chabashira-sensei suggested. trying to escape, perhaps she was already regretting that she accepted my request but I won't back down in front of a free luxurious lunch.

"Let's meet in 2 hours from now in that restaurant across the pool" I quickly said and accepted Horikita's call

"Wait! That's the most expensive restaurant and a lot of students will be there since the survival test just ended" She called out to me but I pretended that I didn't hear her.

Yes, the most expensive and also the most luxurious… I licked my lips in anticipation.

"What is it?" I asked a little annoyed.

"I have been calling you for a while. Why were you declining them and was the voice I just heard from Chabashira-sensei?" Horikita bombarded me with a lot of questions.

"I was a little busy, can't you just leave a message when I decline your call?" I said while walking towards my room.

"It's important. You promised that you would explain to me everything you have done during the survival test"

"I did?" I asked and unlocked the door of my room.

"Yes! I might have been a little slow due to a fever but my memory was and is very good!" She almost damaged my eardrum with her shouting.

"Ok, I will explain a few things but you will have to wait till the evening"

"Why?"

"Heh, I have an important date" I joked

"I don't care…" I could almost feel her indifference just from the phone call

"Then why do you bother asking?"

After I said that, I heard a beeping sound.

Huh? She hung up…

I put my phone on my bed and opened my wardrobe to change my clothes.

...I almost forgot that I bought this. I looked at a newly bought white suit with a slightly sad smile.

My father used to wear suits like this one a lot. He and my mother always wanted to get me to wear one but I didn't find them comfortable as a kid. Then I somehow forgot about it and never even tried one ever since that accident.

Heh, let's fulfill one of their old wishes. Unfortunately, I no longer have my old looks but I think it doesn't really matter.

I took hold of the suit and shook my head to get rid of these thoughts. There were happy memories but it always leads to me being sad. Fortunately, I always think about my parents when no one can see me.

At least, by having different looks and being in a different world is making me almost without any weakness. My old looks would be holding me back by constantly making me think about my parents and this being a different world is making me totally unknown to others.

My only weakness could be said to be my past and truth about me not being the original owner of this body but I will make sure not to tell anyone about it.

My mother used to tell me about how she was always informing my father about everything without any secrets just because of a thing called "love"

I don't really know how does the "love" feel but I will absolutely never tell anyone about my past. 3

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

Sorry guys for not uploading as regularly as before but school is simply taking too much of my time right now and I still have many other hobbies.

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Chapter 33: #33 A date

"White hair combined with a white suit looks a bit weird but overall not bad" I mumbled when I was fixing my clothes before the mirror.

It's already time to meet up with Chabashira-sensei. I am really hungry, I will make her bleed a bit today.

On the way to the restaurant, I received a lot of stares, mostly they were from the girls or from the boys who were probably wondering why I was wearing the suit in hot summer.

Immediately after I arrived, I spotted Chabashira sitting at the table for 2 people. She didn't change her clothes and still had her regular suit she usually wears inside the school. Of course, even though she was wearing a school suit, her cleavage was still massive.

And you told me that having lunch with a student is inappropriate? What about your cleavage? I wonder who is she trying to tempt. 1

"Hm? Why the suit? I thought this will be just a regular lunch between teacher and student" She immediately said after noticing my clothes.

"Personal reason but why can't I wear a suit when you wear one yourself. Moreover, this is quite a luxurious restaurant, I ought to dress myself up" I explained with a smile and sat down across from her.

"Sir, would you like to place an order?" The neatly dressed waitress came to me and asked.

I looked towards Chabashira-sensei and showed her a teasing smile and her expression instantly changed to uneasy.

"Yes, please get me your 3 best dishes and also if you have any specialty for today then I will take that too" I said with a big happy smile across my face, it almost made me look like a naive and innocent teenager.

"...Ah, yes! And for your…lady?" She stared at me in a daze for a while before she turned at Chabashira-sensei and then back at me with an embarrassed expression.

"I am no-"

"My lady will have something light and as for a drinks…water will do. Thank you" I said with a wide grin and I immediately noticed Chabashira's unsatisfied expression but she didn't say anything.

When the waitress left with a blushing face.

"Why did you say that? Haven't I told you that just having lunch together will make a lot of misunderstandings, yet you even dared to say that" Chabashira-sensei frowned but she didn't sound angry at all

"Haven't you noticed her expression? I thought that the continuation of her misunderstanding would be funny. You shouldn't worry too much, no one was near enough to hear us and she perhaps doesn't even know you. You must admit that when she noticed our slight age difference, her expression turned to a really funny one" I said with a playful smile.

"Heh, I don't think it was our age difference that made her embarrassed" She said with a light smile while sipping her wine she ordered while waiting for me.

Hm? Was it me? No, I am not that narcissistic. Although my looks aren't bad, I wouldn't say that I can send a random woman to a daze just by my appearance alone. I frowned while thinking about it. 1

"It's probably your suit. Maybe it looks a bit weird combined with your hair at the first look but if you look more closely, you will notice that it is quite a unique combination that makes you stand out and looks quite dashing. You also have red eyes that make that combination even better and of course, that naive fake smile helped you a lot to send that woman to a daze" She said while playing with her glass of wine.

Did she just compliment my appearance or was it just a simple explanation? If it was meant as the compliment, should I return it?

Forget it…I am not sure so I will just return it when the next chance to tease her appears.

"Eh? What do you mean by a fake smile?" I asked as innocently as I could.

"Don't try it on me…I think we already know each other well enough to know a few things about each other. Don't you think so?" She completely saw through me.

"I don't think it sounds like an appropriate thing to say, teach…" I tried to tease her.

"..." She opened her mouth, ready to say something but she stopped herself when she noticed the waitress coming to us with our food. 1

...

"Teach, there is still something I want to ask you" I said as I grabbed the fork.

"I bought you a meal yet you want to ask an additional question?" She said with a dissatisfied tone.

"It can't be helped…When will the next test begin? Tomorrow? Maybe even today in the evening?" I casually asked and started tasting the restaurant's specialties.

Her expression turned to a surprised one for a while before she regained her calmness.

That was all I needed…There is still another test waiting, although it didn't tell me when, I reckon that it will be within a few days.

We ate in complete silence after that, however, it wasn't an awkward silence. It was calm and very comfortable silence and it was pretty visible that both of us enjoyed it.

"I am honestly impressed that you were able to focus on your meal without being in a daze while looking towards the pool" She said with a light laugh.

I looked from the window towards the pool's direction and noticed a lot of girls in bikinis. They were probably relaxing, considering that the survival test had just ended today and girls were extremely tired from living in such bad conditions.

Hmm? Isn't this a good chance to tease her and return the compliment? Perhaps she tries to tease me back for what I have done to her so far but she doesn't even know that she is helping me. Hehe. I evilly laughed inside my mind.

"That's only natural when there is even more charming and elegant woman right in front of me" I disinterestedly looked towards the pool and then turned back at her with a wide grin.

"..." Her mouth opened slightly but a cat caught her tongue and no word came out. Instead, she blushed but not only a little like previous times, this time her face became almost completely red including her ears. Maybe it was also because of a shame since her attempt to tease me ended up as failure once again. 10

Heh, you won't win against me but you are free to try. I will welcome your challenge anytime.

...

When it came to paying for the meal I stopped her and paid for everything myself, including her meal.

"Why?" She was suspicious of me

"Originally I just came for free lunch but I quite enjoyed talking with you teach and I am in a good mood right now, consider it my goodwill" I waved at her while walking away. 4

--(Chabashira's POV)--

Was this really alright? I thought while watching his back slowly disappear.

This definitely felt like a date but he seemed to be ok with it. Is he perhaps into an older woman?

I don't know what to think about him…he wasn't aggressive when he was teasing me. He was always looking straight into my eyes even though I had bigger cleavage than usually just to tease him. But I couldn't even win like that. It almost feels like he isn't just some horny teenager. 3

It feels even more humiliating and shameful that I even tried such a tactic and couldn't even win. What was I thinking? I always lose my professional attitude while I am being around him…

--(Chabashira's POV END)--

When I was walking back to my room I received a message.

[What the hell was that?!!] It was a message from the unknown number…

[What do you mean and who are you?] I thought about not replying but I decided against it.

[It's me Karuizawa, I got your phone number from Hirata-kun. I saw you not long ago in the restaurant]

[I see… and why do you seem to be angry?] I wasn't really surprised since all the boys in our class already knew my phone number.

[I AM ANGRY! Why did you have lunch with our homeroom teacher?!]

[So you were spying on me?] I replied

[That's not the POINT! From my and others perspective, it sure looked like you were on a date with her]

[Was there anyone else with you at that time?]

[Fortunately no but what were you thinking?]

[Then it's fine. It wasn't even a date. We just had lunch together, that's all]

[Yeah, in other words- a DATE!]

Why is she making such a fuss about it?

I shook my head and put my phone back into my pocket but after a while, it started nonstop vibrating.

Probably the messages like… [Hey, don't ignore me!]

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Chapter 34: #34 Incoming trouble?

--(Ryuen's POV)--

Random karaoke room:

Fuck! How could this happen?! I was humiliated by someone from Class D for sure and I am not planning to accept it quietly. I grabbed an apple from the table and started playing with it while thinking who could be the one who destroyed my plans.

"This time, your tactic caused us a lot and Class D is right behind our backs. If we won't do anything we will soon switch positions with Class D…" Ibuki interrupted me from my thoughts with a cold tone.

"Shut up, Ibuki. I am thinking who could it be. The one who destroyed everything. I am pretty sure that he is also the one responsible for Class A's incident.

"But how? We stole Horikita's card and both of us and Katsuragi confirmed that it was a genuine card, yet they didn't receive any penalty for the guessed leader" She frowned and had confused look on her face.

"Leader can be changed if requirements are met…But someone had to work together with Horikita or more like he was manipulating and using her. Have you noticed someone who had an extremely sleepy expression or perhaps eye bags from the lack of sleep?"

"? They all appeared to be sleepy, it even hurts me when I recall the sleepy expressions of those idiots who somehow ended up in the first place. But why do you ask?"

"When I was busy capturing spots inside the deep parts of the forest on the island every night then sometimes I was too slow and noticed that some spots were already occupied by Class D. And deducing from the timer, they were all claimed during the night and it wasn't an only one-time experience. They did it numerous times"

"..." Ibuki didn't say anything after she noticed my angry and annoyed expression.

The one who claimed these spots had to be athletically strong. There aren't that many people in Class D that are athletic type. And that person is also surely connected to Horikita.

There aren't that many suspects but it's only because of the insufficient amount of information on students from Class D. I was extremely cautious, there is only a small chance that someone actually saw me staying on that island which means that person also must have figured out my way of thinking. He knew that I wouldn't just throw away class points and he was probably proven right when Ibuki entered their camp. He also knew that I wouldn't trust anyone with something too important so he deduced that neither Ibuki or Kaneda is Class C's leader. Only one face kept appearing inside my mind that made me uneasy, or should I say his eyes make me feel uneasy.

"...Have you noticed anything strange about Walker during your stay inside the Class D's camp?"

"Not really…He didn't appear to be hostile or suspicious of me but he wasn't overly friendly either. But I noticed that Karuizawa and Walker seem to be quite close to each other. What? Is he one of your suspects?" Ibuki answered with a thoughtful expression.

"It could be him but I am not sure yet, however, that is pretty useful information you just gave me. If I am not wrong she is currently dating Hirata boy from her class, yet she is close to Walker. Tsk, tsk tsk"

"Anyway…" My eyes turned cold and I was slowly exerting pressure on the apple in my hand.

"Whoever it is…I will find it out and then I will CRUSH him" In the imagination of me crushing that person, I unconsciously completely crushed the apple. 5

--(Ryuen's POV END)--

[Walker-kun, do you have spare time to meet?] I received another message from Hirata. It has been already 3 days since the survival test ended yet there was still no indication of another test incoming. These 3 days I was constantly being bombarded by Hirata's messages. He was probably worried about that time when I slapped him. He indeed looked a bit guilty when he noticed my lifeless eyes back then.

[I have some free time but if it is about what I think it is then I won't meet up with you, just so you know.] The message might look a bit too cold but I was totally fed up with him trying to help me or forcing himself to be my friend. Well, it could be said that Hirata is everyone's friend which is fine but he is being too friendly with me which isn't ok with me.

[No, no! I realized that what I was doing was probably bad and too forceful. I wanted to apologize to you and invite you to lunch] Well…I certainly won't refuse a free meal since I already spent a fair amount of points for my lunch with Chabashira-sensei but I still better ask for more information instead of blindly accepting his offer.

[Just two of us?] I questioned, after all, Hirata is extremely popular, be it students from my class or even senior students, everyone likes him or at least have a positive opinion about him. 2

[...There will be also Karuizawa-san and a few more girls] As expected…But it's not like I am antisocial and by accepting his offer I will also be able to save a few points. We have big discounts on meals on this luxurious ship but they are still fairly expensive due to their extravagantness.

[Fine…I hope my presence won't make it inconvenient for you]

[Nice! You have nothing to worry about, I am sure they will accept you easily. I will send you the name of the restaurant later. There are still 2 hours before lunch]

sigh I guess he also has something to ask me because he wouldn't invite me to lunch just as a mere apology.

..

When I arrived at the restaurant Hirata mentioned in the message I immediately noticed him with a few girls sitting at the table.

"Walker-kun?" Karuizawa was surprised by seeing me so Hirata didn't inform them. Maybe he did it to prevent the disagreement. After all, most of the people wouldn't show their disapproval towards the person who was currently present before them.

"I was the one who invited him, I hope you all don't mind" Hirata apologized with a warm smile.

"No problem"

"Of course we don't mind, Hirata-kun"

Girls answered without any hesitation so I guess they have positive or at least neutral opinion on me. However, Karuizawa had a weird expression that didn't say much. She was probably thinking about the time when she saw me with Chabashira-sensei.

"Karuizawa-san? Are you ok?" One of the girls asked her.

"Ah…sorry, I was just…thinking about something. Of course, I don't mind it since Hirata-kun invited him" She quickly regained her posture and said without any friendliness. I guess she just doesn't want to appear to be too friendly with me. After all, no one knows about us being childhood friends and if she just started being too friendly with me out of nowhere, girls might start calling her bitch or something and that could lead to another bullying. She indeed has it hard.

Lunch passed by without any problems or arguing and everyone left with a happy look on their faces. I stayed behind since it seemed that Hirata wasn't planning to leave either.

"Walker-kun? How close are you with Horikita-san?" It's finally here…is it what he wanted to ask the entire time?

"Not much, I wouldn't say I am her friend but we don't have a problem talking to each other" I answered honestly.

"...I see. Do you think there is any way for me to be friendly with her? I want to cooperate with her because I have a feeling that she will be an irreplaceable person for our advancement to higher classes. Of course, I want Walker-kun to cooperate with us too"

Now I see his goal. Considering how Horikita is usually cold towards everyone, this would be quite hard to achieve, however, after returning to ship I noticed that she changed a bit. She was still cold but she didn't wear an annoyed look while talking with someone.

"I don't think I can help you with that. If you want to talk to someone who is close to her then you should call Ayanokoji-kun. He is the only person who was talking with Horikita-san from the beginning of the school. By the way, what do you mean by wanting my cooperation too? Is it another attempt?" I frowned

"No, no! Although Walker-kun's academic results are average, I noticed that you are very clever and you know how to apply your intelligence and knowledge in critical situations where most people would panic. You know how to get out of the difficult situations" Hirata shook his head in a panic to deny it. Then he started praising me, it almost felt like he was admiring me…

sigh "I understand so please stop praising me…I will try to talk to Horikita-san but I think most of it will depend on you. At most I will arrange for you a chance to have a serious talk with her. Just a piece of advice…Don't act overly friendly around her, it will only annoy her. Just tell her that you want to cooperate with her to get into Class A and friendship between you two should naturally form over time"

We talked for a bit and then Hirata paid a bill for lunch.

..

When I was relaxing on my bed inside my room, my phone started to ring even though I had it set on silent mode. I frowned because such a thing could only happen if the school itself sent something important to us.

[A special examination will be starting soon. Gather at your assigned time and rooms. Students who will be more than 10 minutes late for the meeting will receive a penalty. The room assigned to you is room 204 by 18:00 today. We recommend to keep your phone in silent mode or turn it off entirely before entering the room.] It's finally here, I almost thought that my guess was wrong.

There are only 30 minutes before the meeting begins.

I dressed up and meanwhile I received another message.

[What room was assigned to you?] I smiled when I noticed the sender was Karuizawa.

[204 at 18:00. You?] I replied shortly.

[Oh? It seems that we are on the same team. At least I won't be alone with some creeps around] I wonder who she refers to by the word creeps.

[Don't worry Kei-chan, I will protect you from those creeps] I replied, slightly teasing and slightly serious response. Of course, I didn't forget to send biceps emoji at the end of the message.

[It's always a pain to speak with you but I had no idea that it's the same with the messaging…] She was probably embarrassed by what she wrote earlier.

[Yet you still put up with it. I wonder why, haha] Teasing her was quite funny, same as teasing Chabashira-sensei.

[...Do you want to meet up before the meeting time?]

[Sure, I will be waiting by the stairs leading to second floor]

I wonder what kind of test it is this time… I smiled and went to meet up with Karuizawa.

.

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Chapter 35: #35 Rabbit group

"You are finally here…What took you so long?" I immediately said after noticing Karuizawa. There were only 3 minutes left before the meeting time, I was already thinking about going without her.

"Sorry, I spent too much time applying make-up" She said with an apologetic smile but didn't seem to be bothered with our remaining 3 minutes to get there.

"If we won't run we will be late for the meeting. Couldn't you at least walk faster to get here?" I asked her with a little annoyed expression.

"Not good, I don't want to be all sweaty after I took shower and applied my make-up" It felt like she was reprimanding me for not being considerate enough of her needs.

I won't t let me or her be penalized for being late…

The decent idea came into my mind and I grinned while looking at Karuizawa.

"What?" She asked me with a confused and slightly uneasy expression.

"Either you run with me or I will princess carry you there" I smiled evilly, thinking that Karuizawa would rather run than risking being seen intimate with the other boy than Hirata. Although there weren't that many people around, there was still a chance to be seen.

"Eh? I already told you I won't run…" She answered almost without any hesitation which caught me off guard. This is certainly surprising but if you think that I won't do as I said then you are greatly mistaken.

"...Well, it's your choice, princess Kei-chan" I looked around, took off my school jacket and approached her.

"Huh? Wh-what are you doing?" She probably thought that I wouldn't dare to do it.

"You should be thankful to me for being considerate of your reputation" I threw my jacket over her head to cover her face and picked up her into a princess carry position.

"W-w-wait! I will run! I will run!" She almost screamed aloud but I didn't notice any dislike in her voice so I decided to continue.

"Too late, you can't just change your opinion. You must face the consequences of your actions, princess Kei-chan. Please hold on tight" I said with a wide smile and started running towards the room 204.

"AAH! I HATE YOU, FELIX!" Karuizawa shouted but she was still careful not to gather too much attention by being too loud. She put her hands behind my neck and tightly hugged me.

Hm? Maybe it was overkill. I hope she won't be too angry.

After running for only 20 seconds, we arrived before room 204 and I put her down but she didn't stop hugging me.

"...Hey, we are already here" I told her after seeing how she didn't stop the hug after her legs touched the ground. It was a pretty embarrassing situation since my hands were free and I had no idea if I should hug her too or not.

Not being sure what to do, I just neutrally placed my hands on top of her shoulders not to offend her any more than needed.

After a few seconds, she took off my jacket from her head and looked straight into my eyes.

Wow…She had a slightly angered expression with puffed cheeks and one visible tear in her eye.

I have to admit, even though I don't really care much about the romance or opposite sex, she definitely looked adorable. 4

"Come on, don't be angry, at least we aren't late, haha" I said and wiped away her tear with my thumb but she still appeared to be angry.

"Alright alright, I will make it up to you after the test, is it alright princess Kei-chan?"

"HMPH!" She finally stopped hugging me and turned away from me, to prevent me from seeing her fully red face.

"There is still some time for you to calm down, we can enter after you will get better" I said out of consideration.

She nodded and after a minute I knocked on the door and reply came almost immediately.

"Enter"

We both entered and saw Class A's homeroom teacher sitting on the chair and another 2 students sitting before him.

When they turned around to look at us I immediately got a headache.

Ugh, why does it have to be him again? I thought while looking at a slightly surprised face of Ayanokoji.

Another student was Yukimura, who had not a few arguments with several girls in the previous test. Karuizawa definitely doesn't like him. This team…I already know that it will be hard.

"You two took your time…a few seconds later and you would be penalized for coming too late. Sit down so we can finally start with an explanation" Mashima-sensei said and instructed us to sit down but there were only 2 vacant seats. One beside the Ayanokoji and one beside the Yukimura.

Karuizawa also noticed this and frowned while looking at both of them.

Don't worry Kei-chan! I will save you! I thought and sat down beside the Yukimura.

Upon seeing me sit down, Karuizawa redirected her anger at me…

Huh? What? Was I supposed to say: ("Sorry guys but two of us want to sit together, could you please move?")

At least be thankful that you don't have to sit beside the person you don't like…

..

"Now that everyone is here we can finally begin with the explanation"

"In this special exam, all the 1st year students will be divided up into groups based on their zodiac signs. The purpose of the test is to assess your 'thinking ability'" Mashima-sensei started explaining the meaning of the test, I closed my eyes and started quietly absorbing the information.

"What do you mean by 'thinking ability'?" Karuizawa who was quiet the entire time since we entered the room suddenly asked.

Mashima-sensei frowned upon being interrupted.

"I will explain only what I have to, I won't answer any additional questions during the explanation so you better quietly listen to everything I say" He said with a stern look.

Karuizawa had a dissatisfied expression but when she looked at me, I motion to her to be quiet by placing my index finger near my mouth with a comforting smile.

"...Anyway, there are three required attributes that people who function well in society are required to master: ACTION, THINKING and TEAMWORK. These skills are necessary for you all to become successful adults. The last test on the island emphasized teamwork quite heavily, however, this one will emphasize your thinking. The ability to critically think, analyze the situation at hand and resolve the problem given. The ability to work creatively with your imagination and work determinedly towards resolving the problem, these traits will become vital for you to complete this test flawlessly. That should be all"

"Can I ask why are there 12 groups but only 4 of us are here? Shouldn't there be more of us?" Yukimura asked quite an important question.

"The 4 of you here will be considered as a team for the remainder of the exam. There are also other groups of students receiving the same explanation as you. Some of them might later even become part of your team and-"

"If that's the case, why don't you gather all the members here and explain it all at once? Furthermore…" Karuizawa interrupted sensei once again and looked with a dissatisfied expression at Yukimura and Ayanokoji.

Yukimura seemed to notice her look and he didn't plan to take it quietly.

"Shut up for a while and just listen, will you? Mashima-sensei was still explaining the things and you once again interrupted him. And stop looking at us with such eyes…you will probably be the one dragging us down like during the survival test" Yukimura said with a cold tone.

"Huh? I just asked the simple question and I can look at you however I want! And what do you mean by dragging you down? When the hell did I drag the class down?!" Karuizawa retorted back.

I noticed how Mashima-sensei was staring at us like we were a bunch of small kids arguing for the

new toy.

"Karuizawa-san" I lightly said with a bit domineering tone.

"...hpmh!" Upon hearing me call her name out, she turned away from Yukimura and stopped arguing with him.

Mashima-sensei's expression changed to a slightly surprised one after seeing this and Yukimura wasn't an exception.

"Your class isn't the only one being divided into groups…Meaning that your allies will become students from other classes" Mashima-sensei continued with the explanation.

"Wait, we will be on the same team with the different classes? Why? Shouldn't we be competing with them instead of befriending them?" Karuizawa asked with a confused expression.

"I agree with her this time…" Yukimura also wanted to know the reason behind this.

"You shouldn't always think about competing…" Mashima-sensei said with full of wisdom.

"..."

"..." Both Karuizawa and Yukimura were quiet after what sensei said.

"Right now you don't need to think about 'understanding' but simply to 'think'. The group you are assigned to is the zodiac sign 'Rabbit'. Here's the list of all the members assigned to this group. You will be required to return the list when you leave the room so I recommend you to memorize the list before leaving"

We were given a list of the members of our 'Rabbit' team.

A-Class: Takemoto Shigeru, Machida Kouji, Morishige Takuro

B-Class: Ichinose Honami, Hamaguchi Tetsuya, Beppu Ryouta

C-Class: Ibuki Mio, Manabe Shiho, Yabu Nanami, Yamashita Saki

D-Class: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Karuizawa Kei, Walker Felix, Yukimura Teruhiko 2

Ibuki and even Ichinose…huh?

"In this exam, you are required to completely ignore any differences between classes A to D. If you can do so, it will definitely be easier for you to clear this exam. From this point onwards, you guys no longer belong to class D but rather to the 'Rabbit' team. Further instructions on what to do in this exam are printed on the list I just gave you, however, you can't take a photo so you better read them thoughtfully"

Time to use my "camera" inside my eyes. I am really lucky to have a photographic memory. 5

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

I don't know if I should just skip some of the boring parts of the explanation but on the other hand, I don't know how many people read the light novel. I decided to make it this way this time but suggest how I should do it next time. Also, I hope you guys don't expect too many romantic moments because I have absolutely no idea how to write romance.

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Chapter 36: #36 Strengthening the bonds

I took a look at the list and saw only a few basic rules:

In this test, the cornerstone will be a "target" student that is chosen from each group. By using your critical thinking skills, you will achieve one of the four possible outcomes by the end of the exam.

- 8 AM on the day the exam starts, you will need to mail the other groups of the fact that you have chosen a "target" student from amongst you.

- The exam itself will mostly take place between 4 PM and 9 PM tomorrow.

- For one hour each day, twice, you will need to gather together with your assigned groups and talk.

- The content of the talk will be left up to the discretion of each group.

- At the end of the exam, you will need to identify the "target" students of other groups. This will be done between 9:30 and 10:00 PM. Only one answer can be submitted from each group.

- The answers must be sent to faculty members through a certain address that will be provided to your mobile phones.

- The "target" student cannot be the one to send the answers.

- You must only answer the identity of the "target" student of the group you are assigned. Any other answer will be marked as invalid.

- Details of the results of the exam will be mailed to students by 11:00 PM of the same day.

I memorized the rules and then read the second page of the list where the first and second result of the exam was mentioned.

- Result 1: If the answers of the "target" student as well as the other group members are all correct, they will all receive private points.

- Result 2: If there are incorrect answers or unanswered questions by people other than the "target" student, only the "target" student will receive 500,000 private points.

"Let's say that Yukimura was chosen as the "target". Once you know this, you can simply tell all of the members of your group and all students who will submit their answers with name "Yukimura" will receive 500,000 private points and the "target" himself will get 1 million private points for guiding everyone to the right answer" Mashima-sensei explained when he saw Yukimura and Karuizawa eyeing the first and second result with slight confusion.

Both of them were extremely surprised by the number of points.

Hmm? If it's so easy then there is no reason for the target to actually stay hidden. The other 2 results are on the third page… I took the list and wanted to flip the page but Mashima-sensei stopped me.

"Wait a few seconds before looking at the remaining two results"

...Whatever, it's not like they will run away. I waited for him to explain the 2nd result.

"...Now for the 2nd outcome, if the target would be uncovered by the end of the exam then only the target would receive 500,000 private points"

These two outcomes are similar but second is more useful to use when the target is the student from your class. I still don't know how exactly powerful are private points but it would definitely be better to win only 500,000 for the entire class then win 2,5 million. Why?

Let's say that someone of us 4 would be the target and he would cooperate with everyone. We would definitely have 2,5 million more points but other classes would also receive 1,5-2 million.

The difference of points might be the same as the second outcome but it is too dangerous to give other classes more points than they already have. They are already ahead of us and they might also have better information about private points. Why giving them even more points? I won't even speak about how our class lacks trust and cooperation. Therefore, those won points would be used selfishly. Better to spend selfishly 500,000 points and let other classes have 0. Furthermore, there is still no mention of class points which I believe is far more important than private points.

"The position of the "target" looks really appealing" Karuizawa mumbled but everyone was able to hear it.

"Not really" I said aloud with folded arms.

"Huh? What do you mean, Walker-kun?" Yukimura asked me with a confused expression and Karuizawa looked at me the same way as him.

"We still don't know other results. Just because you see nice things at the beginning doesn't have to mean that it will be nice for the rest of the time. Would you sign the job contract if you saw amazing pay and actually amazing working hours? No, you would also check the other things like the period of employment and place of the working position" I said and looked towards the sensei if I can finally take a look at the remaining results.

"I see…" Yukimura mumbled while holding his chin with a thoughtful expression.

Sensei showed me to go ahead with his hand and I finally took a look at the rest of the exam.

The answers to these two results will be accepted anytime during the exam.

- Result 3: In the case that someone other than the "target" answers the question before waiting for the allocated time and answers correctly, the class the answerer belongs to will receive 50 points and the answerer will receive 500,000 private points. On the other hand, classes whose "target" have been identified will receive a penalty of -50 points for their whole class. Once this has been achieved, the test will be over for the group. However, if a member that belongs to the class of the "target" answers correctly, the previous result will be made invalid and the examination for that group will continue.

- Result 4: In the case that someone other than the "target" answers the question before waiting for the allocated time and answers incorrectly, the class the answerer belongs to will receive a penalty of -50 points but the "target" will still receive 50,000 private points. At the same time, the class in which the target belongs also obtains 50 class points. If the answer is given incorrectly, the group's exam will end. However, if a member belonging to the class of the "target" is the one who answered incorrectly, the answer will be considered invalid and will not be accepted.

Finally the appearance of the class points. So here is the problem. If the target wants to achieve the first result and cooperate with everyone then anyone can betray him. It seems that even results are divided into 2 groups.

The first one is guessing at the end of the exam without any penalty if answered wrongly and the second one is guessing before the allocated time with the risk of penalty if answered wrongly.

"I recommend you to read what is prohibited during the exam on the last page" Mashima-sensei said and we looked at the rules on the last page.

Pretty simple rules like prohibited stealing of other student's phones or sending the answers from someone's else phone. Of course, violence to intimidate someone to reveal the "target" is also prohibited and even communication between students of different groups is also forbidden for a certain period of time. Rules are quite simple but the penalty for breaking those rules is the same for all cases…expulsion.

Mashima-sensei then explained when our first group meeting will be and which room.

...

sigh "Even though it might seem impossible, we are still part of the same group. How about we deepen our unity as a group since we are all from the same class? Although the target will be selected tomorrow, we can still talk a bit before leaving…" Yukimura suggested with a helpless look.

He certainly takes it seriously if he even wants to spend more time than needed with Karuizawa…

Karuizawa was getting ready to decline but she stopped and suddenly turned to look at me.

sigh What do you want me to say? If you don't want to be here then go, I won't force you to be here.

Her act was unnoticed by Yukimura but Ayanokoji was a different case. He was probably already suspicious of me arriving here together with Karuizawa and her actions didn't help it.

"I don't mind but what about others? Ayanokoji-kun, Karuizawa-san?" I showed my indifference to this matter.

"...I have 20 minutes" Karuizawa accepted with a slightly annoyed expression which greatly surprised Yukimura. It also seems that he changed his opinion of her just a little bit.

"What about you Ayanokoji-kun? You have been pretty quiet the entire time, I hope you don't have any problems with understanding this exam"

"I understood most of it and since everyone is staying I have no reason to leave…" Ayanokoji answered with an aloof expression.

...

We formed a small circle with chairs and started to talk to each other about ourselves and the strategies we could use during the exam.

...

"20 minutes are up. I will go back to my room" Karuizawa said and stood up and she was getting ready to leave but Yukimura stopped her before she could open the door.

"Wait"

"Hm? What is it? I already said that I have only 20 minutes…" Karuizawa turned around with an annoyed expression.

"That's not it…I just- I just wanted to apologize for what I have said to you. You might not be the brightest when it comes to academic things but at least you stayed here with us and actually tried to talk to us" Yukimura said with an embarrassed face. Well, it's never easy to apologize and realize your own mistakes. It seems that he is slowly accepting Karuizawa as a classmate. Please, just don't fuck it up, Karuizawa.

"...Maybe I have been a little bit childish during the survival test and even now…so I apologize too. Now we are even, aren't we?" She looked a bit surprised by his words but she also realized her previous behavior. Well, it's not like she totally changed her way of looking at Yukimura but at least now there was less of the disgust in her eyes. I would say a good start. There are simply people who needs friends and require their protection or at least support to be able to live a fairly good life. I believe that Karuizawa is one of them, however, she chose a different path by staying close to the most popular boy.

She exited the room and closed the door behind her.

"I guess this group won't be so bad in the end" Yukimura mumbled and adjusted his glasses with a hint of a smile on his face.

"By the way, Walker-kun, I believe your academic results are just above average but man…your information processing ability is amazing. You were able to understand the outcomes of this test almost immediately" Yukimura turned at me with a light smile. I guess he is serious type of guy who can also appear to be cold but once you show him your ability or at least your effort, he will accept you.

"Nothing of the kind. I just understood the surface of the exam, that's all" I said honestly. I still had no idea about the inside of the exam. There must be a lot of ways to clear this exam but I will first have to collect more information. I guess it's time to make contact with Horikita…

"I will go back too if there is nothing else. See you tomorrow" I said and waved at them before leaving the room.

Ayanokoji… I thought at the time when I noticed him looking at Karuizawa with an interest visible in his eyes.

I hope you won't do anything stupid because she is the first person that became my friend in this world. Of course, the way she is right now I wouldn't trust her with anything too important but I could have stayed behind and prevent her from getting traumatized from bullying but I left without caring for her emotions. I was getting too attached to her and was starting to view her as my little sister, however, I selfishly thought only about my emotions and left anyway. If I can't view her as a friend anymore then I will at least try to protect her.

...These thoughts make me feel like I am some kind of hero…disgusting. I am slowly forgetting human's true nature by being among the naive teenagers. But it is said that baby can't be born corrupted, it can only be corrupted by society or parents and I don't think Aiko is that kind of person. I will protect her for now and if she can become as hardworking as in the past then I might think about getting closer to her and accepting her as a true friend.

...

[Do you want to meet up?] I sent a message to Horikita.

[We are on the first floor, near the cafe] She almost immediately replied.

We?

[Are you perhaps with Ayanokoji-kun?] 1

[Huh? How did you know?] Sounds like she was surprised by my guess.

[He is the only one you spend time with…nevermind, I will join you shortly] I sent the last message and hid my phone. 2

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Chapter 37: #37 Trouble is brewing

"Yo!" I said and raised my hand as a greeting when I arrived near Horikita and Ayanokoji.

"You are finally here, Ayanokoji-kun already told me about your Rabbit group" Horikita said with a neutral expression.

"Good, so you already know the gist of the exam. When is your meeting time?" I asked her and sat on the chair.

"20:40 and I already know that Kushida-san and Hirata-kun will be on the same team as me"

Kushida…huh?

I don't know why but I keep getting a bad feeling about her. I don't trust her and it would be best if someone from the other class would become the "target"

"What is it?" She asked me, perhaps she noticed how I frowned upon hearing Kushida's name.

"I have been meaning to ask you this for some time…Did you know Kushida-san before coming to this school?" I asked with a serious expression and Ayanokoji looked expectantly at Horikita too. He probably wanted to ask this too.

"W-what do you mean? Why would you think that?" She seemed a bit surprised by my question but she quickly regained her calm.

"She is always saying how she wants to make friends with everyone but you are clearly telling her that you have no intention of becoming friends with her by your cold personality. Yet, she still tries to talk to you warmly at the public…meaning that other people might view you as a distrustful or awful person"

"...That doesn't mean anything. I think you are just too delusional" She said some pretty sharp words but she kept her eyes downwards.

"I think I am a totally sane person. Take Sakura-san for example…she isn't Kushida-san's friend, yet Kushida-san isn't even trying to approach her. Why is she trying to befriend you when you are even less approachable than Sakura?"

"..." Horikita couldn't argue against solid logic and facts.

"I am not asking you about her or your past. I just wanted to ask you a simple question, yet you turned it into a super important one. I should head back to my room but I think you should be extremely careful around Kushida-san, that's all I wanted to say" I said and got up, ready to leave.

"...Will you meet up with us the next morning too?" Horikita quickly asked me before I could disappear.

"I will but I am not quite sure when I will show up" Tomorrow at 8 AM, I will finally know if I am the 'target' or not.

...

The next morning right at 8 AM, my phone rang, indicating a new message from the school.

[After a period of thoughtful consideration, you have been chosen as 'target'. Act as you deem fit during the exam…...] 1

Hmm? I am actually the 'target'?

sigh I will have to do something about the mail though…I think Horikita and others will want to see it with their own eyes or they might not trust me. The school forbid us to manipulate with the mail but I might be able to make an image from it and change the content of the mail. It might not be able to actually fool everyone but everything counts but I still need to know the content of the mail sent to non-target students to change it to a believable one.

...Now to choose between Matsushita or Karuizawa. I guess Karuizawa is a better call since she is on the same team as me so it's granted that she isn't the 'target' and she can also prove herself to me while at it. I don't really care about this exam much. I already got a lot of points from the survival test and it might not be the best idea to constantly grow at a fast pace.

I texted Karuizawa and got what I wanted even though she was a bit skeptical at the beginning.

..

Done…I should go and meet up with Horikita since I gave her my word that I will show up. I am already 15 minutes late from the designated time.

When I arrived at the cafe located in the back of the ship, I noticed that it was almost deserted without any students around, except for 4 people.

"I really wonder how did you manage to achieve that result in the survival test" Ryuen said with his arrogant and provocative smile.

"I have nothing to tell you. Why should I even tell you the strategy I used?" Horikita answered with a cold expression without any fear visible inside her eyes.

"Kuku, you see, according to her report you did nothing notable during the test. I already know that someone is pulling the strings behind the scenes" Ryuen only laughed at her unfriendly behavior and pointed at Ibuki next to him.

Ever since the survival test, Ryuen got interested in Horikita but I don't know if it's because of her performance, body or because she is connected to the one who fucked up his plan.

"Do you actually think I would do anything stupid to get figured by someone like her?" Horikita said with full confidence while looking sharply at Ibuki.

Horikita's act ignited Ibuki's rage and she started spewing fire from her mouth until they finally noticed me.

"Oho, if it isn't Walker. What, are you here for a cup of coffee too?" Ryuen said with scorn hidden inside his words.

It's not surprising that he is suspicious of me since this is a hardly popular cafe.

"Hello. Why the sour face, Ryuen-kun? Just got enough confidence to confess and received the rejection in the end?" I said with a mocking smile, hoping to make him mad.

Everyone was surprised by my comment but after a few seconds of silence, Ryuen brightly smiled which was out of my expectations but I could see in Ibuki's face that she was holding her laugh inside.

"I do not confess, they come themselves" He proudly said with a wide grin while eyeing Horikita.

You make me disgusted…

"Isn't it the same with you, Walker? With that pretty face of yours and well-built body, I guess even girls with boyfriends might come to you, haha" Ryuen said with a strange smile.

I narrowed my eyes upon hearing his words… Is he referring to Karuizawa? It's not really an important secret because anyone could see us talking to each other but the one who most likely saw us was Ibuki herself.

"Did I touch the sensitive spot?" Ryuen asked with an amused smile.

"Haha, of course not, I just wanted to see your reaction if it was the truth. I am not like you, after all, I am quite unpopular in my class but you…you are 'VERY' popular inside yours, right?" I said with a slight laugh.

"...Whatever" He said and turned back at Horikita.

"Remember, I will find whoever is pulling the strings behind you and entirely crush them. Everyone is just prey before me" Ryuen with a taunting tone and observed us with a suspicious look. When he saw that we had no plans to react to his words, he turned around, ready to leave.

When he walked past me, he whispered to me: " I hope you will carefully protect your girl"

I had an urge to unleash my bloodlust at him after hearing his words but I controlled myself.

There is no need to get agitated, if I do so, I will only play into his cards.

" Thanks for the advice" I quickly answered with a calm face which Ryuen didn't expect so he just

dejectedly clicked his tongue and left.

"What was he talking about?" Horikita immediately asked me after Ryuen left.

"I don't know…he was probably just kidding" I shrugged my shoulders with a confused expression.

Horikita looked at me suspiciously but she gave up after a while but Ayanokoji was a different case. He was clearly looking at me knowingly.

...

We shared a little bit of information we were able to gather and after we said everything we could, we left to get ready since the exam was starting very soon.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

Sorry for the shorter chapter but I had hardly any time to write. I am hoping to have some time during the weekend but I won't promise anything…

If you have any advice or if you see any major grammar errors please do tell me in comments/paragraph comments

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Chapter 38: #38 First discussion

When Karuizawa, Ayanokoji, Yukimura and I entered the room, we already saw students from the other classes sitting and waiting for us. Guessing by the number of free chairs, we were probably the last group to arrive.

All of them turned at us but no one voiced out any complain since we arrived at the arranged time.

There were only two girls I recognized, Ibuki and Ichinose. As for others, I didn't know any of them.

Even though I know names, I wouldn't be able to pinpoint the name to the right person.

We, students from Class D moved to sit down on the empty chairs which were positioned close to each other. Students seated here already sat down based on their Classes which wasn't that surprising. They probably felt awkward about the entire exam…cooperating with other classes.

I noticed that Ibuki was sitting even further from her own class.

It seems that she is a loner inside her class.

She immediately smiled at me upon seeing Karuizawa take a seat beside me.

I frowned but my train of thoughts was interrupted by an announcement that came from the speakers installed in the room.

"From this point onwards, we will begin the first group discussion"

It seems that they will also record the contents of our talks.

What arrived after the short announcement was awkward silence since no one knew anyone and no one was willing to take an initiative to start the conversation.

I mean, I could start it but it would be safer not to say anything since I am the target. They might think that I am definitely not a target for starting the conversation but it could be also the opposite. The one who starts the conversation is the least suspected and also the most suspected at the same time. The safest way is to stay silent for now.

After the awkwardness was getting thicker and thicker, Ichinose stood up with a bright smile on her face.

I knew that she will be the one who will take the initiative…

"I think if we want to get rid of this block of ice between us, it would be best to start with the introductions. I myself know almost everyone in this room but not everyone might be familiar with each other" She said with her hand resting on her chest.

Someone from Class A voiced their objection to this ridiculous situation. They didn't want to cooperate with others to find out the leader.

"If you don't want to cooperate then I can't force you but you should at least introduce yourselves. The school could be recording our conversation so what do you think will happen if you won't even start the discussion?" Ichinose replied to their objections with reasonable facts.

Upon hearing her reasons, Class A's students could only sigh and start with the introduction of themselves.

After that, everyone said a thing or two about themselves.

"Yaa~ho Walker-kun and Ayanokoji-kun. It seems we were placed in the same group" After the self-introductions were over, Ichinose said with a wide smile and friendly voice.

"Now that we have done what the school requested from us. How would everyone like to proceed? I myself would like to clear this exam with the first result option" Ichinose said to all of us, it was apparent that she wants to take leadership and she even let the room for the objections but who would even want to take a lead with all Classes cramped up together.

"Isn't it obvious that the first outcome is the best?" Karuizawa was first to reply. She probably understood that the one who speaks out their mind first will have a better standing in the group.

"I agree, the first outcome is the most desirable one" Yukimura joined in the conversation.

A student from Class B named Hamaguchi Tetsuya raised his hand and also agreed with his class leader, Ichinose.

What I find disturbing is the way students were divided into groups…

Horikita is part of the 'Dragon' group where students like Ryuen, Katsuragi, Hirata and even Kushida were placed. Every one of them can be called a representative of their Class but why is Ichinose here if 'Dragon' group is practically gathering of important students.

I woke up from my thoughts after Ayanokoji also agreed, probably out of concern for appearing suspicious.

"What about you, Walker-kun? You were pretty quiet the entire time" Ichinose asked me with a friendly voice without showing any suspicion towards me even though she was probably suspecting me already.

"Unfortunately, I have to disagree with your ideal first outcome, Ichinose-san" I said with a slight smile and my answer made everyone turn at me with a surprised expression.

"Why do you think so?" She asked me with a thoughtful expression and finger pressing on her lower lip.

"It might be an ideal outcome for us as individuals but before being the members of the 'Rabbit' group, we are members of our respective class. Everyone wants to earn Class Points for their class. Do you think that if the 'target' would reveal themselves, no one would betray us? Let's take for example Class A, they don't want to cooperate which is a fairly defensive move. Now let's say that the 'target' is not among them and they just want the outcome where no class gains any Class Points. Do you think that once the 'target' would be revealed they wouldn't betray us for free Class Points?"

"Huh? Are you saying that we aren't trustworthy?!" A guy named Machida from Class A was the one who replied in anger at my statement.

"You are the ones who don't want to cooperate…We can't force you to talk during the discussion then you can't force us to trust you" I threw him an uninterested look and then redirected my gaze at Ichinose who seemed to be in deep thoughts.

"I guess there is some truth in your words, Walker-kun…" Ichinose said after a while with a bitter smile.

"I guess we will have to be most suspicious of people who refuse to answer questions and then we can name the 'target'" Ichinose's aid Hamaguchi said with a dejected expression.

"Not necessarily" I shortly said which ignited his curiosity and even Ichinose looked at me, interested in what I have to say.

"Although Class A suffered crushing defeat the previous test, they are still ahead of other classes by a fair sum of Class Points. If the 'target' is among them they don't have to do anything and if the 'target' is someone else then they can act like what they are doing right now to mislead us. If they can't find the 'target' themselves then make others more confused so no one will be able to gain any Class Points" After I explained, I noticed that faces of all the students from Class A looked very grim.

"That could be the thing but if that's the case then how are we supposed to find the 'target'?" Yukimura asked while looking at me with a bit of respect visible in his eyes.

Did I go a bit overboard? I think that what I just said was perfectly normal, no earth-shaking explanation.

"We can simply talk to each other and if we won't discover the target by the end of the exam then we can only make the majority vote. But I believe that we will be able to discover the 'target' eventually" Ichinose was the one who answered Yukimura's question.

"Do whatever you want but we of Class A will stick to our strategy not to talk to anyone" Machida pointed out his Class's standing and snorted.

"Won't it be exceeding difficult to find the 'target' without the cooperation of Class A?" Yukimura asked Ichinose with a slightly worried expression.

"I think it will be even easier since there will be only 3 classes holding the discussion. Also, why focus on 'who', just by knowing 'where' the exam will become much easier" Ichinose said with a confident smile.

"And what if you are the 'target'? I can't just blindly trust you…" Yukimura pointed out and a few students from Class C agreed with his statement.

"You are free to suspect me too, that's why we will be holding a conversation between each other, to find the 'target'" Ichinose said without any change in her expression.

If I wouldn't be the 'target' I would definitely think that she isn't the one either.

...

"You are Karuizawa-san, right? There is something I want to confirm" The girl from Class C named Manabe called out to Karuizawa.

Class C… I frowned a bit after hearing that Class C want to discuss something with Karuizawa.

"Hm? What is it?" Karuizawa answered with a combination of confused and annoyed expression.

"Maybe it's just a misunderstanding but over the summer holiday, did you have a quarrel with a girl from our Class named Rika?" She asked Karuizawa with a serious expression.

"Huh? I don't know anyone named Rika…" Karuizawa answered with a confused expression which almost made me believe that she doesn't know that girl but something tells me that they wouldn't just make up such a thing.

"Are you sure? Because we heard something else from our friend. If it's the truth then we want you to go and apologize to her"

"...I have no idea what you are talking about" Karuizawa answered with a small delay which made her quite suspicious.

Manabe took out her phone and pointed the camera towards Karuizawa but when she took a photo, the one on the photo wasn't Karuizawa but my body instead.

"I think that taking a photos of someone without their permission isn't a nice thing to do" I narrowed my eyes at the girl Manabe and she shivered a bit under my glare.

"This doesn't concern you! We just want to take her photo so Rika can confirm if it's her or not!" The one who shouted that was none other than Manabe's friends.

I redirected my glare at them which made them retreat a bit.

"How does it not concern me when you are trying to take a photo of my classmate without her permission?" I asked while looking down on them.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

If you have any advice or if you notice any major grammar errors please do tell me in comments/paragraph comments

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Chapter 39: #39 Karuizawa's decision

"I bet you just have a little crush on her…That's the only reason why you protect her!" Manabe said with a mischievous smile. I noticed that even Ibuki who seemed uninterested in the entire conflict, look towards us with a slightly curious expression upon hearing Manabe's statement.

She seems like a person who hates Ryuen but she still hangs around him, I wonder if she will report this matter to him if he already doesn't know about it.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Karuizawa was the first to reply to her provocation with a slightly red face. Fortunately, she blushed only a little or it would become even more complicated. The best thing would be if you could show your disgusted expression, Karuizawa…

"Isn't that a good thing for you, Karuizawa-san? The only thing that's bad is that you already have a boyfriend…" Manabe said to provoke me even.

"Pfft, hahaha" I laughed aloud upon seeing her little provocations.

"What's so funny?!" She asked me with an angered expression.

"You are from Class C, of course, It's only logical that I would choose to protect someone from my Class from you without any emotional reason and even if I had feelings for Karuizawa-san then I don't think you have any say in this matter" I answered with a smile while wiping away tears from my laughing.

Everyone was greatly surprised by my confidence…

I guess normal teenagers are usually embarrassed by these things but I didn't actually agree with her statement either.

" Is that true, Walker-kun?" Yukimura came to me and whispered.

" What? Don't tell me you don't understand the meaning of 'even if' words" I whispered back while looking weirdly at him.

" I understand but to just openly say it like that might not have been the best thing to do. You know Karuizawa's attitude to such things, don't you?" He quietly said with a worried expression.

"1 hour passed, you are free to do whatever you want to until the next meeting time" The announcement came probably at the best time and Karuizawa also realized it.

"I am going!" Karuizawa said and was getting ready to leave but I noticed that the entire matter made her feel uneasy and her legs were shaking. I put my hand on her shoulder before she could leave and she turned around at me in panic.

I calmly stared into her eyes and she did the same for a few seconds before she took a deep breath and with a slightly red face, she started walking towards the exit without any problems like this entire conflict never happened.

"Hey, wait! Damn it!" Manabe yelled at Karuizawa but she never turned at her. She just steadily walked towards the exit and left the room.

"If you are so adamant about defending her then tell her that this matter won't end like this!" Manabe stomped her foot angrily and left with her friends.

What a childish attitude… I thought while watching their backs slowly disappear behind the door.

Ibuki also stood up and left after her classmates…

Will she report this to Ryuen? I guess only time will tell.

I turned back at Yukimura who seemed to have a surprised expression on his face.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"When did you become so close to Karuizawa-san? To think that she didn't even respond to the words you said…" Yukimura seemed to think about it pretty hard, maybe even too hard.

"I guess around 10 years ago" I said in low voice.

"What?!" He shouted in surprise and it attracted Class A's students who were slowly leaving the room.

"It's nothing, sorry to surprise you!" Yukimura quickly apologized to them and then turned back at me.

" What does it mean, Walker-kun?" Yukimura started to whisper maybe he thought that I didn't want others to know that fact. What a considerate classmate, he can be serious yet friendly at the same time, he has good academic ability but he isn't aware of his own weaknesses. Well…maybe he is aware of them but he is still rejecting the idea that school isn't only about academic results.

" It's exactly what I said. I know her from my childhood but we got separated after a while so it took us some time to start talking to each other once again" I whispered back.

With this, I will know if I can trust Yukimura or not. Either he will tell this information to some of his friends and rumors will slowly form about me and Karuizawa being childhood friends or he will keep this information to himself. It actually doesn't matter to me what will happen, either way, I will profit from both of them.

Rumors will make it easier for me to speak with Karuizawa less secretly. If he will keep it secret then I will know that I can trust him a bit.

After that, all of us left the room and I frowned upon noticing the Manabe's group. Well, it wasn't exactly Manabe's group which made me frown but Ayanokoji who seemed to walk towards their direction. He wasn't walking exactly towards them but there wasn't any reason for him to go there. He was a roommate with Yukimura, yet he walked in the opposite direction. I didn't even notice him taking out his phone so no one sent him a message to meet up there.

When I was wondering whether to follow him or not, my phone vibrated so I took a look at it and saw a message from Karuizawa.

[Can you meet me at the cafe?]

I don't know why but it almost seemed like she typed that message in panic. She is probably still shaken from the entire matter.

sigh She started changing a bit by bit after our serious talk during the survival test but the matter Manabe mentioned happened way before it. I perhaps wouldn't care so much about it if it happened after our serious talk but since I already started curing her and she has yet to make any mistake, I will take care of her till the end.

[Anything for you, Kei-chan!] I replied in an idiotic way just to make her feel slightly better.

[...baka] Reply came almost immediately and it seemed that my message helped her to relax a bit. 1

...

"So? What's the matter?" I sat down in front of Karuizawa and asked her.

"Walker-kun, thank you very much for protecting me back then but what should I do now? They probably won't leave this matter without resolving it." She asked me in a depressed voice, looking downwards while holding her cup of coffee that seemed to be already cold by now.

"So the matter what they talked about is true?" I asked her just to confirm it.

"...Yes" She seemed to be a bit ashamed by her own actions. It looks like she is really slowly changing her attitude.

I would like to help her resolve it easily but if I do everything on my own then she might change her attitude but her trauma from bullying won't disappear. It would only make her more dependent on me.

"Karuizawa-san, I can't always be there to protect you. You have to learn how to protect yourself" I said in a slightly cold tone and she also noticed it. She looked at me with fear visible in her eyes.

"I- I know that b-but-" She was stuttering so I decided to interrupt her.

"I know you are weak but if you won't even have the desire to become strong then there is no need for you to even fight back. You can choose to endure it like you used to do it" I coldly said and stood up, ready to leave which surprised Karuizawa.

"W-wait!" She also stood up and I stopped for a moment and looked at her from the corner of my eye.

"If you only want me to protect you without becoming stronger yourself then I deem you unworthy of my protection. I don't mind you being weak but I hate people without any resolve. If you fucking hate being bullied then do something about it and don't just endure it!" With that said, I started leaving. 1

This bet is dangerous one but if she will be able to overcome it then it will be her win. If she won't, I will resolve this conflict between her and Manabe but I won't protect her from any other small matters like this one in the future.

I secretly observed her reaction while leaving.

She looked shocked by my words, she extended her shaking hand towards my back as if she wanted to take a hold of me but she still had a frightened expression on her face. After a little while, she bit her lip and showed determined expression which quite surprised me but I didn't stop moving since I wanted to see what she would do next.

She started running towards me which made me frown a bit but I didn't react in any way, still, I was ready in a case she wanted to do something malicious to me. But what she did next totally surprised me.

She actually hugged me from behind in public place, although this location wasn't crowded, there was still a fair amount of students who could see us.

I guess it was stupid to even think that she would try to do something malicious to me…

"I don't want to be bullied ever again! I want to become strong enough to protect myself!" She started crying, making my back wet but her voice was still firm even though she was crying.

"Alright, we can talk a bit more about it but first, I think you should let me go, this is not really secluded location" I used a friendly tone to make her calm a bit.

"I don't care anymore!" She firmly said but her crying didn't stop.

I hope I didn't break her… I looked around and noticed that none of the students were looking at us yet but that could change within a few seconds.

I tried to gently take her hands away but I got surprised how firmly she was gripping my clothes. Of course, I could take her hands away if I used a bit of my strength but her firm grip still surprised me.

"Alright, alright, I am convinced of your determination but you still have to let go of me. If you let other students see you hugging another boy while having a boyfriend, it will become even harder to protect you. Do you understand?" I quickly said and she finally stopped hugging me.

"If that's the case, can you do the same thing as before?" She asked me instantly after I turned around to face her.

Does she mean the time when I carried her to the room 204?

"..." She was looking downwards so I couldn't see her expression.

sigh I took off my jacket and put it over her head, even her hair wasn't visible under my jacket so no one would be able to recognize her now.

After she received my jacket she immediately hugged me back and buried her head in my chest.

Great…now even my shirt will get wet but I guess I can let her cry for as long as she wants this time. 1

After a while even a few students noticed us but they only threw us a weird look before looking away.

I returned the hug and I could feel her fairly big breasts touching me but I was thinking about completely different things.

Why was Ayanokoji walking towards Manabe? I doubt he wanted to help Karuizawa and resolve the matter…

"Kei-chan, if that determination of yours won't disappear any time soon then I promise to help you get stronger" I patted her head and she only nodded in response.

I wonder for how long will I be stuck here… I thought while looking at the sky with a helpless smile.

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Chapter 40: #40 Stargazing

--(Karuizawa's POV)--

"Karuizawa-san, I can't always be there to protect you"

"I deem you unworthy of my protection"

When I heard his words I didn't know what to do. I started violently shaking in fear from the coldness he showed towards me.

I used to blame him for the bullying I had to suffer but later I discovered that it was just me blaming him for leaving me without any notice. He was a smartass who liked to tease me and I hated it yet it made me feel somehow happy. I didn't know what I actually felt before because I was only 7 years old back then but I think I understand now at least a little bit.

When I saw his back slowly distancing from me I couldn't take it anymore and thought to myself

Will I let him disappear from my life once again?!

I quickly ran to him and hugged him which wasn't the best idea since we were still in public and I was still "dating" Hirata but I couldn't care any less at that time.

Fortunately, I was able to convince him somehow but I am not sure if I am ready to fight against my past. What I was certain of was that I will become stronger just for him, he doesn't like to be around weak-willed people so I will become strong for the sake of being with him. It might sound weird…Why am I not trying to become strong for my own sake? I am sure that I wouldn't be able to fight my past on my own but I might have some confidence if I can be with him. As long as he doesn't abandon me again, I will try my best. 3

--(Karuizawa's POV END)--

That day, I also received mail from the school saying that the "Monkey" group already completed the exam.

Isn't that the group where Koenji is? I was starting to have a headache just thinking about that arrogant and spoilt brat but he indeed has some ability to back his arrogance. Although I still don't know if this has something to do with him, something tells me that nobody would be so crazy to make a move so quickly. And of course, he probably doesn't even care about this exam. But with that said, I am not thinking that he just threw random guess to end the exam. He might be arrogant but he is very observant and this is what you need during this exam.

Some people react in a different way than normally when given great responsibility or in other terms being the "target". Of course, he can't be sure of how they normally behave if he doesn't know them personally but he can still observe their tone of voice, body language, how they cooperate with others and lastly, observing their classmates.

One of the many reasons why I didn't tell anyone about me being the "leader" is that it's not just about my acting. It's about the acting of the entire Class and even Ichinose herself wants to first figure out "where" is the target instead of "who". If I revealed myself to my classmates they might try too hard to cooperate with others or they might have slightly lazy expressions or aura since they wouldn't be able to do anything at that moment. There is only a handful of people who could actually act like they don't know anything while being aware of who is the "target". Other people would just be too obvious. I myself am not totally confident in staying hidden during the entire exam.

I was slowly realizing that trying to gather a lot of class points during this exam is almost impossible. I would have to be part of all groups to actually find out the targets.

I am no god, esper or even genius to find out who is the target from other groups with just a bit of information…I might have a photographic memory and slightly supernatural strength but that doesn't mean I can use the information I memorized in the right way. I never thought of myself as a genius and I never will. I am only slightly more experienced in life than other students, which makes me only slightly more intelligent. I will have to try harder if I actually want to overcome some students of my age who are actually "geniuses". I clenched my fist while lying on the bed and thinking about the future. 1

Tch, I need some fresh air. I clicked my tongue and prepared to leave my room but I was stopped by my roommate.

"Walker-kun? Why are you leaving when it's already so late at night?" Ike-kun asked me while playing some games on his phone.

"I need to get some fresh air and why are you still awake playing the games?" I stopped right in front of the door and turned at him while gripping the handle.

"Haaa? What do you mean WHY? This is the newest RPG game and it's truly addictive. I am already playing it for numerous hours, I even wanted to stop and get some sleep but I just can't beat this dungeon!!! It's too frustrating to stop right now without beating it" Ike enthusiastically 3

showed the screen of his phone to me and I saw a few mobs with a red name.

Ghosts, demons, and undead?

"Open your character menu and show me your gear" I said casually.

"Oh? Are you thinking about playing this game too?" Ike asked me with a happy expression, seeing that there is yet another gamer.

He showed me his gear and I noticed most of them were resistant to water or increased water-based attacks. I threw him a weird look and opened the door to leave.

"Hey! Wait, why did you want to see my gear?" He quickly asked when he saw me leaving.

I just looked at him and smirked.

"Use fire or light-based equipment you dumbass" With that I closed the door and left him there alone with a bewildered expression on his face.

I am not really a "gamer" but these facts are pretty obvious even to people without any experience with games. It seems that he isn't an idiot only in real life.

I was taking a walk on the ship's deck for a while until I came across something really interesting.

"Chie, how about you? What happened to your last boyfriend?" Mashima-sensei asked Class B's homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya-sensei.

What a great first thing to hear while eavesdropping on your teachers… I thought sarcastically.

Class A's Mashima-sensei, Class B's Hoshinomiya-sensei, and even my Sae-chan is there. I joked inside my head while observing who actually was standing near the vending machine.

"Haha, I broke up with him after 2 weeks. You know, I am that type of girl who does it with a man and end it before the relationship gets serious" Hoshinomiya-sensei laughed a bit after replying.

...This woman makes me want to leave. Does she perhaps know that I am here and this is her strategy to get rid of me? I thought while looking at her weirdly.

"That's usually the man's line, you know…" Mashima-sensei replied with a strange expression.

"Haha, but I am not doing it with Mashima-kun. I would hate to ruin our friendship" Hoshinomiya-sensei again stupidly laughed, I guess she is a bit drunk.

"And speaking of the relationships. Sae-chan, what do you have to say to your defense?" Hoshinomiya-sensei quickly changed her target.

"What do you mean?" Chabashira-sensei replied with a frown while slowly sipping some kind of alcohol.

"About that date of yours~"

Chabashira-sensei looked a bit surprised after hearing her words but she quickly returned to her normal plain expression.

"Haha, you can't hide anything that happens on this ship. Both of us already know about your date. I am really happy for you as your friend but isn't this forbidden love? Kiyaa~ it sounds even more romantic since it's forbidden" Hoshinomiya-sensei placed both of her hands on her red cheeks as if her friend did something scandalous.

sigh Chabashira-sensei just sighed and shook her head, seeing her drunk friend's acting.

What kind of fetishes does that woman have? Alright, I won't listen to this rubbish and only pay attention when they say something actually interesting.

..

"More importantly, what are you thinking, Chie? Generally, the policy was to put all the representatives of each class in the "Dragon" group" Mashima-sensei asked a pretty interesting question so I paid attention to this part of their conversation.

"In terms of attitude and grades, Ichinose-san is definitely the top of my class but that doesn't necessarily mean success in society…" Hoshinomiya-sensei then continued speaking how Ichinose belongs to the Rabbit group just based on cuteness but I wasn't buying it.

"Is that really the only reason?" Chabashira-sensei asked her friend with a suspicious look.

"I genuinely thought Ichinose-san shouldn't be in the Dragon group. By the way, why wasn't Walker from your class placed there, Sae-chan? I don't really know what exactly happened during the Survival test but I know that at least portion of it was his work" Hoshinomiya-sensei responded with an attack.

"Did you forget that only representatives of class are sent there? Walker-kun is by no means representative of my class" Chabashira-sensei said with a calm expression

"Ohhhh!" Hoshinomiya-sensei gasped aloud with a shocked expression that surprised both of her friends.

"What is it?"

"You are still on second-name basis with him?!" Hoshinomiya-sensei asked with a shocked face, it was really hard to tell if she was joking or she was genuinely surprised.

...

I waited until they split up and I followed after Chabashira-sensei and when she finally stopped on the deck, I came to her and greeted her.

"Oh? Are you here to stargaze too? What a coincidence, teach" I said lightly with a grin.

She turned at me and showed a bit surprised expression but then frowned and asked me.

"How much have you heard?"

Hehe, I guess she isn't stupid.

"What do you mean, teach?" I asked with a confused expression.

She narrowed her eyes but after a while, she threw me a small smile.

"Heh, whatever. It doesn't matter even if you have heard everything. You probably knew most of the things already"

"Well, you indeed have a very interesting friend. I wonder how many fetishes she has" I said with a wide grin.

"Watch it…you are still talking about your teacher" She reprimanded me with a light smile.

"Yes, yes. Did she place Ichinose in the Rabbit group to observe only me or even Ayanokoji?" I asked her with a serious expression.

sigh "...Probably both, I am not sure" She took out a cigarette to ease her nerves but when she lighted it up, I took it from her hands before she could put it in her mouth.

"What are you doing?" She raised her brow while expecting my reply.

"Smoking cigarettes isn't healthy you know, teach?"

"What is it to you?" She frowned upon hearing my words, she probably already heard it many times.

"I care about my sensei's health. If you need to ease your nerves then how about watching the stars with me and if you will need it even after that, I might reconsider giving you half of it" I said with a playful smile.

"What do you mean 'half'?"

Without replying to her question, I put the cigarette into my mouth and started to inhale.

"Wait! You can't smoke!" Chabashira-sensei tried to take it away but I easily evaded her hand.

"Calm down, no one is around here to see me and I also have a hood on" I reassured her.

"Haven't you said that smoking isn't healthy?"

"Well, if you ain't gonna stop smoking I might as well help you a bit by sharing the suffering" I said with a chuckle.

She threw me a suspicious look when she saw me smoking without any problems or coughing.

"What can I say? I am a bit of hypocrite, haha" I awkwardly laughed at her suspicion.

I used to smoke a bit in my past life when I was having a hard time so I still remember the sensation.

"How nice it would be to just fly freely through space without any goals or worries" I mumbled while observing the Milky Way on the sky with a nostalgic face. 1

"...How old are you?" Chabashira-sensei asked me with a serious look which surprised me a bit.

"I will turn 16 very soon. Are you perhaps planning to buy me a present, teach?" I joked a bit.

"...sure" She looked like she was deep in thoughts and answered without even thinking.

We spent a big part of the night watching the stars visible on a clear night sky while chatting from time to time. 2

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Chapter 41: #41 Seducing me?

The next day I arrived at the meeting place much earlier but it seemed that Ayanokoji and Yukimura arrived even earlier than me. The only one who was missing from our class was Karuizawa, not like it mattered since we were the first class to arrive. Not even Ichinose was here and she is the type of person who comes earlier than others.

"Good morning" I greeted them and sat down.

"Oh, good morning, Walker-kun" Yukimura seemed to be startled by my sudden greeting. I guess he didn't hear me enter the room.

Ayanokoji just nodded at me.

I would like to ask him about yesterday's thing with Manabe but I guess I should wait until we are alone.

"Can I ask you something, Walker-kun?" After a few minutes of silence, Yukimura spoke out to me.

"Ask right away" I replied with a polite smile.

"You seem to be closer to Karuizawa-san than me or Ayanokoji-kun. Can you tell me if we can actually expect her cooperation?" Yukimura was still skeptic about Karuizawa but he paid attention to how to formulate the question. He was careful not to give any necessary information to Ayanokoji-kun. I guess I can trust this guy a bit but I won't hasten my decision yet.

"Hmm…that's a good question but I don't think I am able to answer for her. But there is a good chance that she will cooperate with you even if you aren't her favorite classmate" I answered with a thoughtful expression while holding my chin.

"What makes you think like that?" He asked with a slightly surprised expression due to my answer.

"Didn't you notice small changes in her attitude since the survival test?"

"Well…yes but-" Yukimura was interrupted by the sound of the opening door.

Karuizawa walked in and looked at three of us sitting near each other.

"...Mornin" She said shortly and then sat down next to us.

Yukimura had confused expression since he expected her to at least throw a few disgusted looks at him or totally ignore him at best however he still returned the greeting.

After a few minutes, students from Class B arrived together and then Class A with Class C.

The discussion wasn't really getting us anywhere so Ichinose suggested that we play cards and Class A once again decided to not play or even talk, however, this time Ichinose was able to taunt some responses from them. She is getting closer and closer to figuring out who is the target. If she will be able to determine that the target isn't among the Class A then it will be much easier for her to find it. And here comes the strategy of not telling anyone of me being the "target", if no one knows then no one will act suspiciously.

Class C continued to lightly harass Karuizawa but she simply ignored their presence. This fact made them extremely angry but whenever it looked like they will make it physical, I just coldly glared at them which made them calm down a bit. Of course, I don't expect them to behave nicely when I am not around Karuizawa but that's her problem. Even if it sounds cold, I have no way to protect her when I am not around her and I don't plan to constantly worry about her every time I am not around.

1 hour quickly passed and Ichinose with Ayanokoji decided to go meet Katsuragi. Ichinose was probably already fed up with them not cooperating.

I left the meeting room and went to grab some lunch but on my way, I kept having a feeling that someone's tailing me. I tried to take a secretly look around me by using reflections in windows and such. I was able to spot one pretty suspicious student.

Isn't that Yahiko Totsuka aka Katsuragi's lackey from Class A? Is he the one tailing me?

I decided to take a few laps around the entire ship while occasionally checking my surroundings and Totsuka really followed me anywhere I went.

I don't know him very well personally but just from a few meetings, I know that he is really loyal to Katsuragi and he won't do anything without telling him first which quite surprise me how he could get into Class A with such an attitude. Katsuragi probably instructed him to tail me, but why?

I don't remember having any close contact with him… I moved closer to the railing and looked at the vast sea.

sigh Ryuen, isn't it? He definitely has nothing to lose by informing Katsuragi about me being suspicious during the survival test. Katsuragi wouldn't believe him after what happened but he is still a cautious man and sudden Class D's increase of class points made him probably feel uneasy.

Now, what to do about him? It's not like I can just go to him and tell him to fuck off since he is free to follow me as long as he isn't invading my personal space…

After a while of thinking, I took my phone out of the pocket and texted to Hirata.

[Hey, can I ask you for a favor, Hirata-kun?]

[Oh? Sure! How about we meet up and grab a bite?] Reply came almost immediately and it seemed like he was even eager to help me. I wonder in what kind of light does he see me… 1

[No problem, where do you want to meet?] I am the one asking for a favor, of course, I will agree.

[How about you just text me your location and I come to you? It seems that in front of the "Dragon" room is a pretty heated discussion, I will tell you about that later]

It seems that Ichinose and Ayanokoji are the cause of that heated discussion. It's pretty good that Hirata was there, I will be able to know what exactly happened without being actually there. Making "friends" is surely profitable.

Even though I wanted to ask Hirata for a favor through the phone, it probably doesn't matter. I will just have to be aware of our distance between us and Totsuka. He can't really get suspicious of me for just having lunch with a friend.

...

"You finally came, Hirata-kun" I instantly waved to him after I spotted him. I was already sitting at the table with my meal ready to eat but I decided to wait for Hirata. Thankfully I chose just salad with meat so there was no need to eat it quickly since it was a cold lunch. 1

"Sorry about that, the discussion delayed me a bit more than I anticipated but I have pretty interesting information thanks to that" Hirata threw me an apologetic smile when he saw my still intact lunch.

"It's ok, just sit down and order something" I just waved my hand at his apology.

While we were waiting for Hirata's meal, he told me what exactly happened.

"I see, so Ryuen apparently already knows all the "targets" from Class C" I mumbled while having a bit skeptic face just for appearance's sake. It was pretty obvious that he already knows that, he is known as a tyrant in his Class so even though he can't force anyone to show their phones, they still know what will happen after the exam if they refuse.

"That's right he also wanted to form an alliance but no one accepted it" Hirata nodded at me with a serious face.

..

I occasionally used reflection in my spoon to look behind me, checking our distance from Totsuka but it was getting on my nerves since I wasn't even able to eat peacefully.

"Hirata-kun, do you see that student sitting at the table around 7 meters behind me?"

"Hm? Yes, isn't that student from Class A? Is there something wrong with him?" Hirata had confused expression after hearing my question but he still looked carefully behind me.

"He has been following me for a while now. I just want you to be careful what you speak about with him around"

"What?! Why would someone from Class A follow you?" He asked in a low voice with a surprised face and he looked more vigilant than before.

"I don't know but I think he is acting according to Katsuragi's orders"

"Why is Katsuragi interested in you?" Hirata looked shocked upon hearing me mention one of the leading figures in Class A. 1

"You are asking me?" I lightly chuckled and shrugged my shoulders to show that his attention on me didn't bother me. It also served as showing that I have nothing important to hide from him.

"...Ok Oh- I almost forgot about the main reason why we met up. What can I do for you?" Hirata asked me with an eager smile.

"I wanted to ask you if you know the "targets" from our class" I said casually while calmly enjoying my meal but Hirata stopped eating when he heard my words.

"...I know" He said with a slightly hesitating face.

"I see…I wanted to ask you if you could tell me who are they but I guess you wouldn't tell me right?" I asked with a neutral smile.

"..." Hirata looked like he was considering it for a while, he also occasionally checked my expression but I was just calmly enjoying my meal, waiting for his answer.

" sigh They told me because they trust me so I don't think I can tell just anybody-" After saying that he quickly checked for any changes in my expression but nothing changed and I still appeared calm as if I was expecting him to say it.

"... BUT, I think that Walker-kun isn't just anybody. I trust you so I don't mind telling you but I guess I should text you their names later with your stalker around" Hirata continued with a slight delay between his first sentence.

"Thank you for trusting me" I said with a big smile.

I thanked him for his trust and not for the information. Hirata is a smart person and he would get from the context that I actually value his trust more than the information which is practically true but not for the same reason as he thinks.

...

So Kushida is the "target" of the Dragon group, huh? I will have to investigate her a bit more since I practically don't like her for no reason except for my instincts telling me to do so.

I was currently sitting in the Rabbit group's meeting room, this was the second meeting today.

The door got opened and girls from Class C came in but instead of sitting down great distance from me, they actually sat down right next to me where usually Karuizawa sat down.

"Walker-kun?" Manabe called out to me in a cute voice.

"What is it?" I replied neutrally without expressing any hostility or friendliness.

"We would like to apologize to you for everything we said to you. We didn't really mean it and all of it happened because we care for our friend so we were acting out of the anger without thinking rationally" Manabe and other girls looked at me with puppy eyes and guilty faces.

Hehe, what are you thinking girls?

"It's fine, no offense taken" I decided to play along with them so I replied with a friendly smile.

After a while, Karuizawa entered the room and Manabe quickly made her move.

"You know, due to our conflict I have never noticed that you are so handsome. Would you like to go out to play with us after this meeting ends?" Manabe said cutely with a blushing face while holding my hand.

Hahaha, do I appear to you that I think with my dick?

Yukimura shook his head after seeing their act and boys from Class A appeared to be slightly jealous.

Before I could reply to her question, Karuizawa who perfectly heard everything quickly came to us.

"Hey. That's my seat!"

"I know, wait a minute, will you? I just want to hear Walker-kun's answer!" Manabe said while gripping my hand.

Karuizawa's eyes widened in fear upon seeing this.

"By the way, why is your hand so cold, Walker-kun?" She got her face closer to mine as if she wanted to inspect me.

While I had a neutral smile on the outside, inside I was cringing after seeing her half-assed flirting/seducing. If you want to flirt or at least have a slight chance to seduce me then go and take on Sae-chan's appearance. You are still a little kid, literally… I thought while throwing indifferent glace at her small cleavage.

Manabe also seemed to notice my glace but the indifference in it avoided her detection. She put on a proud smile and stood up.

"Nevermind, I don't want to cause another conflict. Karuizawa-san, you seem to be shaking are you ok?"

Karuizawa didn't reply to her and just sat down next to me with a blank expression.

" sigh Walker-kun, we will be waiting for your answer after the meeting" Manabe sighed upon seeing Karuizawa's attitude and threw me enchanting smile.

Manabe and other girls went back to their usual spot.

" Do you really think that I would be seduced by them, Kei-chan?" I whispered to Karuizawa after seeing her blank expression.

"Huh?" She finally woke up and looked at me with a confused face.

" You should worry just about yourself getting stronger. You can't let such small things to affect your state of mind. I know that you have it hard after what happened to you but you could at least put more trust in me" I reassured her for the last time.

" ...I am sorry!" She clenched her fist and bit her lip in frustration.

I guess she is at least trying.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

Sorry for not updating as frequently as before but I am currently having a hard time at school and I am writing this only for fun so my school has priority.

I also want to ask you what do you think about the pace? Do you think I should skip some conversations like the one with Hirata? (I already skipped some of them when they weren't really important or interesting enough.)

I myself don't really want to skip those because they show the character's reaction/opinion on Felix and they also show slow changes in their personalities. But tell me your opinion on this anyway, maybe I will change it.

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Chapter 42: #42 Troublesome situation

"Thank you for accepting our offer, Walker-kun!" Manabe said while holding my hand.

We were currently sitting at the table and she was sitting right in front of me while her friends were next to my right and left. Definitely harem dream for most of the teenagers, however, unfortunately, I am not a teenager anymore, if it was past me I would perhaps get embarrassed. After all, if one overlooked their personalities then they could be considered as beauties, of course, they still paled in comparison with girls like Ichinose, Horikita and even Karuizawa.

Now that I think about it, I never saw in this school any plain/ugly looking girl. It almost feels like this school was built by the perverted government. Or maybe they are geniuses and this is all part of the plan to train those teenage boys some restraint.

"Walker-kun?" Manabe called out to me. I guess I spent too much time in my thoughts but it will at least make me look like I am being overwhelmed by this entire situation.

"Oh- sorry, I was thinking about something" I gave them apologetic smile while scratching back of my head with my free hand.

"Hmm, Meanie, thinking about something else when you have 3 girls around you…" Manabe said while pouting, trying to look sexier.

"Who said I wasn't thinking about you girls?" I threw them a light smile and all 3 of them genuinely blushed which left me bewildered.

Aren't you the ones who are trying to seduce me? Why are you acting all embarrassed like that…

"Umm Felix-kun, we would like to solve the problem between us and Karuizawa peacefully but she doesn't even want to confront us. I know that we were pretty harsh on her before but she could at least give us a chance" Manabe said while caressing my hand.

"I see…" I nodded at her words.

"You see, we want to know who Karuizawa-san is to you and if you can help us solve this problem. Oh! I hope you don't mind me calling you by your first name. I just wanted to say it aloud since it's a pretty cool name."

"I see, Karuizawa-san is just my classmate and you are free to call me however you want. If you really want to apologize to her and solve this conflict with a sophisticated method then I might be able to help you"

"Really?!! Could you do that for us and Karuizawa-san, please~?" Manabe stood up, locked my hand in her both hands and leaned closer to me with sparkling eyes.

"Oh- o- of course. There is no problem. I can leave you a message when I will think of a plan how to get Karuizawa to confront you" I intentionally staggered while talking and even loudly gulped when I saw her so close to me. I didn't forget to wear a silly-embarrassed smile while saying that.

"Nice! Here you have my contact information. We will have to go back to our rooms but you can contact us anytime you want if you ever have a desire to hang out with us" Manabe handed me a paper with her contact, stood up with her friends and winked at me as they were slowly leaving.

I waved at them with a friendly smile but immediately after they turned around and their backs were facing me, the smile I previously had completely disappeared and was replaced by cold expression.

Before they completely disappeared from my view I saw them giggling about something. If I were to take a wild guess it would be something 'Men are so simple, hihi'.

If I play my cards right, I can kill two birds with one stone. Making Karuizawa mentally much stronger and blackmail Manabe and others. Although I still don't know how useful they will be, but having a few eyes inside the other class is always a good thing.

But for that to happen I will have to make some changes to Karuizawa. If Manabe and the other 2 girls group up to bully her, she won't stand a chance even if she will have the resolve to fight back, not to say that there is still that Rika girl who could make it 4 against 1 in the worst scenario.

I started to go back to my room while thinking about this issue.

Seeing how they didn't mind getting a little bit more intimate with me shows that they really hate Karuizawa to the core.

I arrived at my destination and entered my room, I saw that no one was inside. Recalling who are my roommates made me think that they are probably playing games at the arcade and they probably won't return until late at night.

With that in mind, I took my phone and I dialed Karuizawa's number.

"...Yes?" It took her some time to accept my call and even then, she answered with a slight delay.

"Hi, would you like to come to my room, Kei-chan?" I went straight to the business.

"WHA-! Y- your room?! Why?!" She started shouting in embarrassment.

"Why is it that you always yell during the call? Yes, my room. My roommates aren't here and I would like to discuss something with you, it's about Manabe and others" I complained while taking off my school jacket.

"...Alright, I will come" I heard her take a deep breath before answering.

"Good, come here in 30 minutes. I still have something to do. Oh- and by the way, take a towel with you, you might find it useful."

"What?! Why towel?! What do yo-" She started yelling again but this time I was fast enough to end the call before my eardrums popped off.

Hirata would definitely dislike what I am about to do but I am not a nice person. I believe in words an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It might create some kind of cycle of hatred but I am no benevolent person to try actually stop that. My opinion is that everyone who has enormous hatred for someone should make their own judgment and not to let others influence them. As long as it will make them happier or satisfied then I think that violence is good. Why think about others when your own life is so short? As long as you don't regret your actions, you made a good decision, no matter what other people think.

I took off all of my clothes and went to take a shower. That's the main reason why I also told her to come in 30 minutes.

After 20 minutes, I finally exited the bathroom with only a towel covering my lower part of the body.

sigh I can't help myself from taking long baths since it always refreshes my mind. I sighed in relief and then got ready to dry my hair but I was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

It's been only 20 minutes, Karuizawa shouldn't be here so early. Did my roommates come back? I thought while walking towards the door.

When I opened the door just a little to look who it was, that person swiftly wide opened the door and quickly entered my room and then even more quickly closed the door behind them. Thanks to my reflexes I was able to avoid having my nose broken by the door.

" sigh Do you have any idea how hard it was to get here without getting noticed by others?!" Karuizawa complained to me aloud with her eyes closed while leaning her back on the door.

"You are here earlier than I said…" I completely ignored her complaints and said in an annoyed tone.

She also noticed my tone so she opened her eyes and turned at me and it was at that moment…

"Aaaah! Why are you half-naked?!" She screamed while covering her eyes, her entire face was covered in red.

"Because I just took a bath? That's why I said to you to come in 30 minutes. You are here 10 minutes earlier and you are still screaming at me" I said without showing any embarrassment.

"Sorry, I will wait outside!" She quickly bowed down and wanted to leave but I stopped her before she could open the door.

"Why leaving when you are already here? Wasn't it hard to get here without getting noticed?" I said and turned around to go take my clothes from the wardrobe.

She was absent-mindedly looking at my back for a few seconds before she woke up.

"Now that I see your scars much closer and in a better light…They don't look like man-made scars." She asked with a curious expression.

"You have good eyes" I shortly said while dressing up my t-shirt.

...

"...Are you going to keep watching or will I have to finish dressing up at the bathroom?" Although I wasn't feeling any shame being around her half-naked, her steady gaze still made me feel uncomfortable.

"Ah! Sorry!" She blushed even more and finally turned around.

...

"So…Why am I here?" She asked me, still with a slightly red face.

"Manabe and others want to take it to another level with you… That means the physical level" I said and watched her changes in expression.

Upon hearing my words, she looked shocked but she didn't seem shaken too much by this information, at least compared to her old self a few days ago.

"W- what do you think I should do?" She asked me with pleading eyes.

"You should do whatever you want as long as you won't regret it. I didn't call you here just to tell you this information, if that was the case I could just send it in a message."

"...do whatever I want?" She mumbled and then looked up at me and I continued explaining.

"If you want to solve it with violence or peacefully…that's your decision but you are here right now to learn at least basics of the basics of self-defense" I explained.

"What? Wait, you want me to use violence? Isn't that forbidden by the school? And even if I somehow could, how can I learn anything within a few hours at most?" She immediately bombarded me with questions.

"I am not forcing you to use violence but saying that it's forbidden is laughable. Weren't you bullied at the school where bullying was forbidden too? Also, I said "basics of the basics", you will be able to learn that in a few minutes and if you are talentless then 1 hour at most but it will still be enough to protect yourself against them. I also recommend that we start with your 'training' as soon as possible because I have no idea when my roommates will come back."

"..." She remained quiet and just resolutely nodded her head.

We started with a few counter-attacks in case she would be at a disadvantageous position. For example: When being restricted by someone from behind, stomp on his feet or jump and hit his chin with your head.

I also showed her how to properly throw a punch or kick someone without hurting yourself. Sometimes she had a problem to follow my movements out of fear, perhaps it reminded her of her past but she still continued trying and overall she wasn't really bad.

...

After around an hour, we were finally finished with our training and even though it was only an hour, she was all sweaty and had problems with breathing. Should I teach her bits of that weird technique for stamina training? I will think about it after seeing how she deals with Manabe.

"As I said…isn't that towel useful now? I joked a bit while watching her catching her breath.

"haaah…shut up, I can't go…anywhere like this. I will…take a shower here" She looked at me hatefully and she even had to take pauses between her words.

"I don't think that's a good idea. My roommates can come back at any time, we are already lucky that we were able to finish the training but what will happen if they will come back while you will be bathing? Don't you think that it will be pretty hard to explain? After all, they still all think that you are dating Hirata-kun." I said with an uneasy expression.

"I don't care! It will be your problem to solve!" She quickly grabbed her towel and went to the bathroom but before she closed the door she looked at me suspiciously and said

"Don't you dare peek!" With that said, she slammed the door shut.

I just watched all of that with a weird expression. I just helplessly smiled and shook my head.

...

"Can you lend me your spare clothes?" I heard her voice behind the doors

"Huh? Why?" I asked her.

"My clothes are all sweaty, how can I use them when I just bathed?" I had a feeling that she had rude thoughts about me after hearing my question.

"Tsk, fine but don't forget to give them back" I said and took some random clothes from my wardrobe.

I knocked on the bathroom's door and she lightly opened the door and I put my hand with clothes into the little gap left between door and wall.

"Thanks" She quickly took the clothes from my hand and closed the door, almost crushing my hand in the process. What the hell…Is she still angry at me for this training? I thought while circling my wrist.

After a minute she exited the bathroom, fully dressed in my clothes but it was still visible that she just had a bath from her wet hair.

"Can you go now?" I quickly asked, I kept having a bad feeling and it wasn't going away, instead, it was only nearing, that's why I was urging her to leave.

"Hmph! I hope you didn't peek" She was suspicious after seeing my uneasy expression.

"Don't worry about it. I swear but you should already leave, I have very bad feeli-" Before I was able to finish my sentence I was interrupted by the sound of the unlocking door.

For fuck's sake. I threw an annoyed look towards the door and I saw that Karuizawa started to panic a bit.

The person opened the door and Ike was the only one who walked in.

"Hi, Walker-kun! I have just tried what you sai-" When he saw me he greeted me but he froze when he saw the unexpected visitor.

"Karuizawa-san?!" He looked at her wet hair and then he kept on looking between us with a bewildered face. 2

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

If you have any advice or if you notice any major grammar errors please let me know in comments/paragraph comments

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Chapter 43: #43 Hirata's past

"Anyway, I should already go back! See you!" Karuizawa quickly run to the door and before she left the room she threw me a mischievous smile that totally said 'Let's see how you will deal with this situation'

When I saw this I couldn't help but curse inside. This is also your problem! To be honest, this is more of your problem than mine! If we will train together ever again in the future, I will make sure that she suffers much more than this time but I guess she will suffer enough very soon so I can let it go this time.

Ike immediately woke up from the shock after Karuizawa left.

"W- what were you two doing here?" He asked me with a complicated expression while taking a few glances at my bed.

"Get real, will you?! Do you really think I would ever do something like that with a girl who has a boyfriend?!" I instantly replied when I noticed where he was looking.

"...I know that it's none of my business but what's the real reason for Karuizawa-san being here?" He seriously looked at me and probably decided to trust me for now.

What should I say?... I was racking my brain until a pretty decent idea hit me

" sigh You know how women can be insecure about their weight and body right?"I asked him with a serious expression and he immediately nodded his head in understanding.

"I just showed her a few exercises she could do to keep her figure. She also complained about not being much useful during the survival test so I decided to help her with building up some stamina." I continued explaining.

"I see…but why was her hair wet and why was she wearing men's clothes" His expression eased up when he heard my explanation.

"She was apparently too sweaty to go back without taking a shower… I tried to stop her but you know how women can be when it comes to these things. As for clothes, they were mine but she more like forced me to lend her those since her clothes were all sweaty." I put on a miserable expression.

"I see…you have endured great hardships but tell me truthfully-" He put his hands on my shoulders and dramatically stopped in the middle of the sentence for a few seconds before continuing.

" DID YOU AT LEAST TAKE A PEEK?!" After I heard his words I immediately hit his head with my fist for building such suspense just for idiotic words.

"Ouch! What was that for?!" He clutched his head and he looked at me with a genuinely confused expression.

"Dunno, maybe my hand moved on its own" I said while looking at my right hand closely if there was something wrong with it. 1

I was stupid for even trying to seriously explain the situation to an idiot like Ike… 1

...

In the middle of the night, my phone vibrated just for a while but it was enough to wake me up.

[Walker-kun, are you asleep?]

Hirata? What does he want at this hour?

[Still alive] I texted him back, wondering what's his reason for contacting me. 1

[I am sorry if I woke you up but could we meet up right now? There is something that has been bothering me for a while now and I think that you might be able to help me…] His message almost looked like a desperate plea for help which slightly surprised me.

[Don't worry about that, where do you want to meet up?]

...

"I've had nightmares a few nights in the row. I would like to consult something with you…about me" Hirata told me with a forced smile.

We both sat down at the table.

"I am no therapist but I will try my best to hear you out. But why me?" I asked him what puzzled me a bit. I would say that I have a decently good relationship with Hirata but I don't think it's on the level where he could just casually tell me about his life problems.

"As I said before…talking with you always calms my mind and because you seem to have a lot of experience in this, always solving any conflicts that arise inside our class" He said with a light smile.

When I heard his words, my face went blank for a while.

A lot of experience in what? Life? Don't make me laugh. 1

" I also think that you are giving me too much credit, you were always the one solving the conflicts and not me. I just solved a few of them at most"

"Yes, and all of them were the ones I couldn't solve. That's also one of the reasons why I want Walker-kun to listen to my story but before I start to pour my heart out to you…I heard that there are some problems within your group concerning Karuizawa-san. To be more exact, I heard it from Yukimura-kun."

Even though it's completely visible that he is depressed, he still chose to solve other people's problems before solving his problems. Is he really that stupidly kind or is it something else…?

I just closed my eyes and nodded to show that it's the truth.

"...I am sorry for asking such a personal question but what kind of relationship is between Walker-kun and Karuizawa-san?" He asked me with a curious expression. Maybe he thought that we are close and thinks that he is being obstacle between me and Karuizawa.

"We are friends, well…to be more exact, we are childhood friends" I truthfully replied since I had no reason to hide it anymore.

This information completely shocked Hirata but he was able to recover after a few seconds. But that was still genuine expression so Yukimura really kept it secret. His relationship with Hirata wasn't the best but he is still able to set aside any differences for bigger goals or solving the trouble, I honestly thought that he would inform him about this.

"Then I guess I can leave this matter in your hands?" He asked me with a revealed smile.

He really has great trust in me…

"We should hurry it up so let's stop talking about others and let's focus on your problem for now." I said while looking up at the bright moon.

Hirata nodded and started to recount his story about his best friend Sugimura-kun. How he forgot about his friend and how he was unaware of his best friend being bullied. And when he reunited with him later he noticed it but it was already too late and he was too afraid to help him, afraid of becoming a new target. So he started to pretend that he didn't see him in hopes that bullies will get bored one day. And the last thing that was probably the hardest thing for Hirata to say…how his best friend attempted to suicide by jumping out of the window right before him in the classroom.

What the hell is with everyone getting bullied? Bullying was pretty daily activity even in my past but it wasn't anything too harsh at most it would be called 'making fun out of someone', no physical. 3

It seems that he didn't die since he said 'attempted'. 1

Hirata is someone who is a smart and good leader who can solve a lot of conflicts but he has one weakness, and it's his kindness. He is kind even to his enemies which is an incredibly foolish act. Now I know why he is so kind. With that I might try to change his personality a bit, if I were to be successful our class would become much stronger.

"I know that what I do won't help Sugimura-kun but I want to repent by helping others in front of me" He said to me with a resolute expression.

I opened my eyes after he was done with his story.

"Hirata-kun…I think that you are one big hypocrite" I calmly said while watching his confused expression. He probably expected me to comfort him or something.

"What you are doing isn't called repenting but cowardness." I supported my chin with my hands to get into a more comfortable position.

"W- what do you mean, Walker-kun?" It was a combination of panic and confusion that took place in his head.

"You can't help him but you can at least go to him and his parents to kowtow to them and say aloud all of your sins but I bet that you never even went to see him or his parents right? Everyone can make mistakes, even big like this, what is the main thing is to know how to recognize and correct your mistakes. Don't be mistaken, what you are doing is not repenting, you are just trying to push the guiltless you feel away with a 'kind' acts. You think that you were selfish back then but you are even more selfish right now, you are helping others just so you can feel better. You will never find true salvation if you keep on going like this." I took a deep breath after saying that.

"B-but…." He had nothing to say, I saw one tear to fall out of his eye, perhaps he even unconsciously agreed with me on some of the parts I said. He was really mentally unstable right now.

"Listen to me Hirata-kun, you-" I stopped talking when I saw his blank face, he probably wasn't even paying attention to what I just said right now. I got up and gave him light slap to wake him up.

"Listen…You won't help him or repent by being kind to everyone. I am not saying that it's a bad thing to care for your classmates but stop caring for strangers and students from other classes! I don't even understand how you can care for the strangers and other classes in the same way you care for your friends. You have to set your priorities straight or you will end up hurting your friends by not choosing any side once again" This time I referred to Karuizawa's case since I was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to actually solve this conflict. I wonder what would he do in the end if it would come to violence…

"There is nothing as kindness without an ulterior motive behind it. It just depends on how easy it is to see that motive. In your case, it's pretty hard to see but it is still there." With that said I got up and left him sitting there with a blank expression. I am not even sure if he heard those last words I said before leaving.

The only thing I believe that doesn't have any ulterior motive is the whim.

Some might argue about the situation where you show kindness towards your friend but you still feel deep inside the hope that he will do the same for you or that he won't abandon you once you will find yourself in a troublesome situation.

Let's see if Hirata will change a bit or stay the same old Hirata. He might also take some drastic actions, seeing his mental state of mind today.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

Sorry about this probably boring chapter but I quite like Hirata as a character so I think he deserves more attention.

Also sorry about this psychology crap, I don't study it so some of the sentences might not make any sense. It was pretty hard writing it down in language I don't really control very well.

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Chapter 44: #44 Karuizawa's change?

The next day, the meeting passed by pretty quickly without anything notable happening except for Manabe's attempts to flirt with me.

While having lunch, I received a message.

[Do you have any idea what happened to Hirata-kun?] It was from Horikita for the change.

[Are you worried about him?] Instead of answering her question, I asked her my own question.

[Don't be stupid, I am just curious since I heard that he shut himself inside his room without leaving except for the meetings. He also behaved really weird during today's meeting, this has never happened before.] sigh Tsundere alert here.

[Look Tsundere-san, you don't have to worry about him. He will overcome this by himself and if not…] I didn't finish the entire sentence to make her more serious about this situation.

[Who the hell is tsundere?! Does that mean it's your fault and what will happen if he fails?] It was easy to see even from the message that she was angry for a moment before switching to her serious side. 4

[Maybe…well, we better hope that won't happen. That's how I would explain it.]

[What really happened to him? What have you done?] She immediately replied after seeing the seriousness of the situation.

[I can't really tell you because it's not only about me but it also involves Hirata-kun. I can tell you a few outcomes…The best outcome is that when certain time passes he will become probably one of your biggest allies and helpers and the neutral outcome is that when certain time passes he will return to his old self. As for the worst outcome… you don't really want to know, believe me]

[...Ok, I will trust you this time and let you handle him.] Handle him? I already handled him, now it all depends on him.

Stick to your own beliefs.

Accept the guiltiness you feel or be consumed by it entirely.

I really look forward to your development, Hirata-kun. I thought while coldly smiling at the vast sea illuminated by the sun rays.

[Just focus on your group and don't worry about him too much. By the way, have you noticed any suspicious behavior or moves from Kushida-san?] I still had no time to investigate Kushida due to investigating a lot of different spots on this ship for my plan with Karuizawa, so I asked Horikita who is with her inside the group.

[Ugh, I already told you that I am not worried about him and I never noticed Kushida-san doing anything suspicious]

(Horikita's POV)

Who the hell does he call tsundere?! I thought while gripping my phone with more force. I will teach him a lesson next time I see him.

But what really happened to Hirata… I looked up at the sky and my thoughts drifted into a recent past.

2 hours ago…

"Good morning, everyone" Someone entered the room and said with a dry voice.

I knew the person's voice but it was still hard for me to turn at that person after hearing such a dull voice without any emotions behind it.

I braced myself and turned at that person and saw Hirata stand there with big dark circles under his bloodshot eyes.

"Hirata-kun? Are you alright?" With a concerned face, I thoughtlessly asked him a question that I never thought I would ever ask anyone.

"It's ok, I can't drag down our group by missing out one of our meetings…" He said with an extremely ugly and forced smile. No…it couldn't even be called a smile.

He, the one who is always positive and has cheerful disposition actually said 'It's ok'. I know a few things about him just from observing him and he would say that he is alright or behave in an almost no different way than usually even if he was feeling truly depressed. That's who a student named Hirata is in my image.

Although Hirata said that he didn't want to drag our group down, during the meeting he was mostly absent-mindedly looking through the window.

Who could have caused him to be in such a state? Ayanokoji?

No, no, no. I immediately shook my head since he wasn't the one who would actively engage in conversations with his classmates.

It could be also someone from the other class but that doesn't make any sense since he looks like he is going through a lot inside his mind and I think that only someone close to him could cause something like that.

But who to ask for additional information…

It was at that moment… A certain white-haired student with a cold ruby red eyes popped up inside my mind.

(Horikita's POV END)

This should be probably the best place where to lure both Manabe's group and Karuizawa. I investigate this place very carefully and after a few minutes of consideration, I decided to use it. It was the room located on the lower levels of the ship where students weren't really "allowed" but it was more like an unspoken rule because there was really nothing to do down here for us students and only crew of the ship had things to do here.

I also investigated how frequently crew comes into this room and I learned that they visit this room only in the evening. Of course, I don't take it for granted but every plan has its risks. In case they are discovered they can always make up an excuse, the crew isn't someone from the school after all. They have no responsibility to actually report small things like this to the school. I also chose this location because the signal here was extremely bad but it was only a small bonus, this bonus is more for Manabe's group rather than for Karuizawa.

sigh It is time.

[I am ready to arrange your meeting with Karuizawa-san] After a few minutes of hesitation I sent Manabe a message.

[Really?! Thank you a lot! Will you come too? ;) ] Reply came in a few minutes.

This was probably the first smart thing she did ever since she tried to seduce me. To ask me in the way that almost looks like inviting me…if I reply that I am too busy she will take my absence for granted. However, it seems that even though she tried to seduce me, she still doesn't fully trust me even after showing a few positive reactions to her advances.

[I would like to but I already promised my friends to go with them and this is the only day Karuizawa-san has some spare time. By the way, she won't be expecting you so take it slowly and give her time to adapt to the situation] This should be believable enough.

[I see…it's unfortunate that you won't be joining us but hopefully we will solve this conflict today]

After that, I sent her a message containing information about the place where they will meet Karuizawa.

I also contacted Karuizawa and she easily accepted to meet me there, unfortunately for her, she didn't know that the one who she meets there won't be me. It might look like I am heartless bastard betraying girl's trust in me but it's all for her well being in the future. Even I, myself have to force myself to actually do this but if this can truly help her for the price of her hatred towards me…I will gladly accept it. I am already prepared to be hated by her, I could make up a lie or excuse very easily but I won't because Karuizawa is one of the very few people I actually care about and I don't want her to think about me as a benevolent person when I am not.

...

I waited for them, hidden behind a few boxes right in front of the door to the room where everything will begin. Karuizawa already arrived there, much earlier than I actually asked her which only made me feel worse but I quickly pushed that feeling away.

"Haha, finally we will be able to take revenge for our Rika-chan" One of Manabe's friends said.

"Umm, you don't have to-" The girl spoke in a low voice. I never saw her with Manabe's group which must mean that she is Rika.

"Still, that guy named Walker is actually quite handsome, the only downside to him is that he is too stupid and behaves like most of the men." Another Manabe's friend interrupted Rika. 1

"Take it the way that you can make him your boyfriend and at least show around his appearance. That might raise your status a bit, haha" Manabe replied.

Disgusting. I spit on the ground next to me and any guiltiness I felt until now disappeared and was replaced by a hope that Karuizawa will actually teach them a lesson but even I knew that it was an only mere wish. I already know that she won't be able to use violence against them but as long as there will be any sign of struggling or resolve I will help her out. I didn't plan this to cure her trauma. Trauma can't be cured so quickly but there can still be shortcuts with great risks of course. But that doesn't mean that shortcuts only speed up the process, in this case, they can make her even stronger.

I noticed that her 'core' is extremely tough. Take for example Hirata's friend who attempted suicide after a few years of bullying. Karuizawa has a nasty scar on the right side of her torso which already tells that she suffered much more yet she endured it. I am not really someone who pities anyone and she might even be slightly at fault for being bullied, I don't really know her full story but I know that I can at least admire her for endurance. She even slightly resembles old me in some aspects.

...

I quietly followed after Manabe's group and started peeking and recording through the slightly opened door to be aware of the situation.

"Hello, Karuizawa-san, please meet Rika-chan, our friend here" Manabe introduced them with a cold smile.

"...W- what are you doing here?" Karuizawa was surprised when she saw them and her voice was slowly getting weaker.

"Rika-chan, is that the girl who pushed you?" One of the girls asked Rika, completely disregarding Karuizawa's question.

"...Y-yes" She said in a low voice, she was probably slightly scared because she knew what her friends intended to do.

"Why did you lie to us Karuizawa-san, huh? Are you actually enjoying bullying others?" Manabe bombarded her with questions as she kept on slowly walking towards her.

Karuizawa had anxiousness written all over her face.

They kept on talking for a while until Manabe finally mentioned me.

"What if I told you that the one who planned all of this is your good friend Walker-kun?" Manabe had a playful smile on her face.

"What? He- he would never-" Karuizawa kneeled upon learning this fact. Even I was surprised by this reaction. It seems that she trusted me even more than I thought.

After seeing her reaction, Manabe had a satisfied smile on her face but it didn't seem like she was planning to stop anytime soon.

She forcefully grabbed Karuizawa's hair and shoved her to the wall.

"Agh!" Karuizawa groaned in pain when her back hit the wall, clutching her head to protect herself.

"Please…" She said in a low voice.

"What? I don't hear you!" One of the girls said and kicked Karuizawa into her breast. Upon seeing this my eyes started to glow in threatening manner, I was slowly losing control so I had to bit my tongue. The pain finally woke me up. It's not like I want her to suffer but this is necessary for her development. I can just hope that she finds some strength in herself. Moreover, this is not the only test for her but also a test for me!

"How does it feel to be betrayed by your own friend, huh?" Manabe once again grabbed Karuizawa's hair and forced her to stand up.

There was only silence for a short time but I noticed a strange thing…She wasn't sobbing or groaning in pain anymore.

"shut up" Karuizawa quietly said while looking downwards so her expression wasn't clearly visible.

"Huh? What did you say?!" Manabe forcefully pulled her hair and asked in anger.

"I said SHUT UP!" Karuizawa shouted and looked straight into Manabe's eyes and then slapped her hand that was holding her hair.

"He wouldn't betray me! I don't trust you!" Karuizawa started shouting in a resolute voice.

"Y- You….bitch!" Manabe was startled by her determined face but she was still angry for Karuizawa slapping her hand away. She couldn't control herself and actually threw a punch towards Karuizawa's face.

After seeing the nearing punch, Karuizawa closed her eyes and put her hands before her face to stop that punch. But the punch never hit her.

"Walker-kun?!" Manabe shouted when she saw me standing right in front of her while holding her hand.

Upon hearing her shout, Karuizawa opened her eyes and when she saw me, they started to get wet.

Tch, shouting how you trust me and even crying when you see me despite guessing that I truly betrayed you is so….dumb.

But right now my focus was on somebody else…

I started to apply more strength to my grip and Manabe's face changed immediately to an ugly expression.

"Agh!! Stop it!! You are going to break it!" She started screaming while kneeling down.

"Don't worry, I will use just enough strength not to break your arm" I coldly said while showing them ruthless smile.

"Don't you have any shame?!! Hurting a girl!" One of Manabe's friends said with a scared expression.

"Shame? Girl? I am not discriminating…anyone who has the strength to physically hurt others should be capable of enduring a beating or two. And in case you have any thoughts about reporting this to school I would recommend you to stop them immediately" I said while showing them a video of them bullying Karuizawa. 2

"Yo- you recorded it?!" Manabe said in a pained voice.

"What a smart girl you are, Manabe" I mockingly said.

"Now get the hell out of here but remember…we aren't done yet!" I forcefully said and lightly kicked Manabe into the stomach but instead of clutching her stomach in pain, she clutched her hand I almost broke.

When they run out of the room while sobbing, I took a deep breath and turned around at Karuizawa.

"What they said…was it the truth?" She asked me while looking downwards but her voice was steady.

This is it…Maybe it would be better if she hates me after this. She was able to stand up against her assailants which is already great progress. If she will actually forgive me I might become even more attached to her and I am not sure if that's a good thing or bad…

"Yes, I used both of you. Manabe and you." I didn't bother to say things like 'I did it for you', they are only excuses, it won't change the fact that I betrayed her.

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Chapter 45: #45 "Thank you" from all sides

"Hate me all you want" I calmly closed my eyes after saying this to Karuizawa.

But instead of hearing curses or slaps nearing my face, I felt hands wrapped around me.

"thank you…" She whispered and this caused me to open my eyes in shock. This was probably the first time in this life I was so surprised. I expected her to throw a few curses at me and I even considered an extremely low chance of her forgiving me but I never expected her to actually thank me.

"You did it for me…Didn't you?" She asked me while looking straight into my eyes with a determined face. Her expression also surprised me because just looking into her eyes made it hard to lie, well not like I had any intentions to lie to her in the first place.

"That doesn't matter. I betrayed you and that's a fact!" I said with slight anger. I was too confused…

Why is she thanking me?!

What's up with that trust in your eyes while looking at me?!

I betrayed you, let you suffer yet it seems that you trust me even more?!

My breathing started to become unsteady with all the confusion I felt but I quickly closed my eyes to calm myself.

"Maybe you 'betrayed' me but thanks to that I was able to do something I was never capable of…standing up against the bullies. Even now, I can still feel my heart fastly beating due to adrenaline. I don't know if what I felt back then was what strong people feel but I really liked it. And all of it is only thanks to you, if you wouldn't force this situation on me I would keep on being a coward" She quickly explained when she saw me totally confused.

" sigh I did it for you but there was no way I could know that you are going to stand up against them…it was dangerous bet and I still planned it all out despite knowing this." I reprimanded her with a sad smile.

"You would have still saved me in case I failed…" She resolutely said. Was this blind trust or something else?

Tch, this girl… sigh I sighed and decided that this is not the best time to argue about such things. She was squeezing me so hard that it felt like she didn't want any gap between our bodies to exist…I could feel her heart beating extremely fast, perhaps from fear and adrenaline all combined. I embraced her and ruffled her hair with a genuine smile.

"Maybe…but you shouldn't trust me that much you dumb girl! By the way, is your heart really beating only due to adrenaline?" I teased her to ease the mood. After hearing this she immediately blushed and turned her head away from me.

"of course….baka" She whispered in cute voice while burying her face in my chest. Her heart started beating even faster and it almost made me feel worried if I didn't know the reason behind it.

Seeing her reaction I couldn't help but chuckle. I set aside bangs covering her forehead and gave her quick peck there.

"We should leave this place before anyone else comes here" I broke the hug and walked to the door but I noticed that she wasn't following me.

I turned around and saw her standing there absent-mindedly with a fully red face.

Was it too much for her to take?

"Are you coming?" I asked her and an affectionate smile formed on my face without me being conscious of it.

"Ahh?! Y-yes, wait for me!" My voice woke her up and she run to me, she also almost tripped when she looked at me…

When she caught up to me she took hold of my hand and said with a bright and almost naive smile.

"Hihi, let's go back!"

When I saw her childish attitude I couldn't help but shake my head with a warm smile on my face, I didn't try to shake her off.

I am still a bit skeptic about the entire situation but I think that Karuizawa is one of the few people I can truly trust. I am able to blackmail Manabe's group right now but I shouldn't push them too far because I don't want the school to investigate the entire situation. The video I recorded is also double-edged weapon since it also shows how Karuizawa was beaten and showed her weak side. I don't think they figured the secret behind Karuizawa but if they report this to Ryuen then it will be an entirely different matter. He is already eyeing Karuizawa because of me…well, it doesn't really matter because I already decided that if anyone even touches Karuizawa's hair, then I will crush that person! I clenched my fist while thinking about dangers awaiting for Karuizawa in the near future. 3

Also if I ever get to know who is the cause of that nasty scar on her torso then I am going to kill that person with my own hands. Be it a girl or boy, I don't care. 4

...

"Thank you for accepting my invitation, Walker-kun" Hirata said with a genuine smile but dark circles were still slightly visible under his eyes.

After helping Karuizawa I was invited by Hirata to have lunch together and I immediately accepted because I wanted to know the result of his 'suffering' these days. He looked much better now so it was apparent that he won't do anything drastic which could already be called good outcome but I still have hopes for his 'evolution'. The old Hirata won't be of any use to me…let's see if he returned or turned over a new leaf.

"No problem but let's cut the chase shall we? What is your answer?" I lightly asked with my eyes closed.

"I have been thinking about what you told me without any sleep. No…I couldn't sleep because I always woke up due to a nightmare. I couldn't really find the answer no matter how hard I thought about it until I started having hallucinations from the lack of sleep. In those hallucinations, I started seeing Sugimura-kun. After some time I finally decided that I want to keep helping others and spreading kindness…" He said with a sad, nostalgic smile

I was a bit disappointed after hearing him say this.

"...but I also want to prioritize my friends over strangers. I don't even know what I have been thinking about treating my friends on the same level as strangers. I realized that even if I returned to the past I still wouldn't be able to save Sugimura-kun without prioritizing him over his bullies. The way I am right now I would try to solve that conflict without violence but that wouldn't save him, no, he would perhaps suffer even more." He continued explaining with a sad smile on his face.

It seems that he finally realized his weakness.

"Thank you for waking me up, Walker-kun!" Hirata bowed to me.

"Stop that…" I shook my head.

"I did nothing notable, you are the one who reached the answer" It felt pretty weird to be thanked for nothing and not to mention him bowing to me in public place.

"You did more than you even think… sigh As I thought…you are really amazing person. I don't get how they could place you in Class D but I will be selfish and say that I am happy they did so, I am really happy to be Walker-kun's classmate and friend" Hirata changed his sad smile back into his cheerful one.

"I think you are really overestimating me, it's always better not to have high expectations. And even you are smarter than me yet you were placed in Class D too." I said modestly and smiled at him upon hearing his 'selfish' words. If Hirata will keep on advancing with this mentality he might become someone very useful. He has a lot of potential.

Then he kept on arguing with me how he might be academically smarter but I am more mature and know much better human nature than him which slightly startled me. I will have to be more careful around him, he has talent in reading people's nature. It was already getting closer to our last meeting and I had to take some measures no to be discovered very last day of the exam. Ichinose is definitely someone who won't stay silent, she wants to clear this exam by uniting the entire group, which means that she doesn't need to quickly find the target but if she won't have any idea who might be target then she will definitely take more forceful action.

The only thing that can actually give my identity as target away is the mail on my phone. I already created a believable picture of the mail, me not being the target but that will only work if they won't take my phone from my hands. If they will want me to give it to them I will have a hard time convincing them. I can alternate the mail, although teachers said that we can't do that unless we want to be expelled but I won't exactly be alternating. I can do much more sophisticated things with it but I don't know if there is still a chance of being expelled.

Should I risk it? Should I try a different strategy? I could switch phones with Karuizawa but I already inspected the phones given to us by the school and even though you can switch SIMs, they won't work properly and knowing how smart and cautious Ichinose is, she will definitely make use of that. Simply put, the phone doesn't even need your own SIM inside to be able to receive calls.

I am pretty sure that inside this school, this can be resolved with private points but I guess it would be quite expensive plus I don't want to spend my points on something I can resolve myself.

I will just have to make a few changes on my and Karuizawa's phones and after the last meeting ends, I can quickly switch it back. I don't know if there is a risk of expulsion for tempering with your phone but I guess I will have to take a risk. Hopefully, everything will work as it should do.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

The next chapter will be probably the last one from the 4th volume (original)

If you have any complaints or suggestions concerning the story, please write them into comments.

I would also like to thank everyone for supporting me and this fan-fic :3

I just started it for fun and never thought to even get that far…

Thank you! (This almost sounds like I am dropping this but don't worry it's just me being too much emotional)

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Chapter 46: #46 The target

I did everything I could… I thought when I modified my and Karuizawa's phones. I never told her about me being the target but I guess she already realized it from my actions.

...

I went to Karuizawa's room and knocked on the door.

"Oh? You are already done?" Thankfully, the one who opened the door was none other than Karuizawa and not one of her roommates.

"Yep, here you go. I also copied all applications and mails so no one would be able to recognize which phone is whose, if I forget about it then even I won't be able to tell the difference." I threw her my phone which now became hers for a certain amount of time.

She caught it and then put it aside.

" sigh To think it was you, yet you didn't tell me anything" She peeked out of the room to check if anyone was currently in the hallway before pouting her lips and complaining to me.

"Sorry, will you forgive me if I give you a share of my prize?" I said in a teasing tone.

"Hmph! If you think you can buy my forgiveness then you are wrong…Do you want to go inside? My roommates aren't here and the last meeting is still 40 minutes away." She turned her head to the side to show her dissatisfaction and then invited me in a whispering voice.

"And you want to repeat the previous situation with Ike-kun? To be honest, maybe it's not a bad idea, at least it will be your turn to explain it to your roommates" I hold my chin and said with a mischievous smile.

After hearing this and seeing my smile she shivered a bit and had panicked look on her face. 2

"Hihi, it was just a joke! After all, you must have things to do before the meeting begins right?!" Karuizawa awkwardly laughed and started waving her hand from right to left.

"It's indeed better for me to go before anyone spots us but I still haven't paid you back for that thing with Ike-kun" I tilted my head to the side and with a kind smile I started to ruffle her hair. But I guess it looked more like a smile of the demon rather than a kind smile to her because she shivered a bit once again when I started to ruffle her hair.

"Please spare me, Felix-kun! I won't request any shares from the prize you will win from this exam!" She said with pleading puppy eyes.

This girl… Didn't she said that she won't accept any points a while ago?!

I started to ruffle her hair with more force, of course not to hurt her but to make it uncomfortable for her.

"Ouch, ouch! Ok, I get it!" It seems that she also realized the reason behind it and apologized.

"I should go now, see you soon. By the way, I hope you can act as usual during the meeting because everyone will be much more focused during this last meeting…" I retracted my hand and waved at her before leaving.

Would it be anyone else, I would perhaps be more worried but I think Karuizawa won't change her behavior just because she knows I am the target. Everyone also knows that she usually sits next to me so even if she started talking to me out of nervousness it wouldn't be that suspicious. Either way, there is nothing more for me to do…

...

It was still 30 minutes until the meeting begins but I already did everything I could and I had nothing better to do so I decided to arrive much earlier.

When I arrived in front of the door and opened it, extremely weird sight welcomed me.

Sleeping Ichinose and Ayanokoji suspiciously too near her. I noticed a phone lying right beside her which gave me an idea of why was he sneaking around like that. But if it was anyone else who would come in then he would be definitely regarded as a pervert.

He also looked at me with a surprised expression when he heard a quiet sound of the opening door.

"I am sorry for the intrusion!" I said quietly not to wake up Ichinose with an amusing smile on my face.

"Hello" Ayanokoji greeted me with an extremely awkward expression but after he saw that I wasn't interested in what I just witnessed, his expression returned to his casual one.

"Stealing isn't an admirable act, you know?" I teasingly said.

He just nodded his head, I don't know if he realized that what I just said was a joke or if he really thought that I was lecturing him…

I looked towards the sleeping Ichinose and my eyes twitched a bit after seeing her pose. Her smooth thighs fully on display, her skirt just long enough to cover the important parts yet if someone looked from a good angle he could see everything. Her big chest moving every time she breathes, her sleeping face full of naivety… This pose is simply saying 'Please take me'.

I am impressed that Ayanokoji didn't react to this. I thought while redirecting my gaze at him.

Even though I didn't show much of reaction towards her sleeping pose, I am still a man and I feel lust, it's just that I don't want to be controlled by that emotion. I don't mind anger/hatred but lust is disgusting if you feel it towards someone you have no feelings for. 1

I walked up to her and she didn't react a bit which surprised Ayanokoji. It seems that he already tried to take her phone a few times but in vain.

I can see that she is definitely light-sleeper but if you have no ill intention towards her then no matter how light-sleeper she is, she won't wake up just from you standing beside her. I could take her phone right now but even if I tried to mask my ill intent I wouldn't be able to erase it completely…

"Oi." I poked her cheek with my finger.

"5 more minutes…" She mumbled and turned around which left me baffled.

A vein appeared on my forehead.

Light-sleeper my ass!

"Hey, Ichinose-san!" I decided to call her name aloud.

"Hmm? Walker-kun?! And Ayanokoji?" She rubbed her eyes and when she saw me standing practically right beside her, she panicked slightly but she calmed down in a matter of seconds.

"You shouldn't be sleeping here…" I lightly reprimanded her while taking a seat near the window.

"Hehe, I know but I wanted to collect my thoughts and I happened to fall asleep. Both of you arrived quite early too." She released an awkward laugh while scratching the back of her head.

"Ayanokoji-kun was already here when I arrived…" I answered and I noticed from the corner of my eye that Ayanokoji tensed up when I mentioned him being here before me.

"I see~ You should have just woke me up, Ayanokoji-kun!" She didn't seem to be bothered that he was here alone with her while she was asleep.

"Sorry" He shortly replied with his stoic expression.

"Oh- now that only 3 of us are here it makes it a good opportunity for me to ask Walker-kun something that was bothering me for a while. Of course, if you don't mind that is." Ichinose redirected her gaze at me.

"Ask whatever you want…I will answer if it won't be inconvenient" I replied while looking through the window.

"Walker-kun seems to be close to Karuizawa-san. I was wondering if…" She didn't finish her sentence, instead, she was observing my changes in expression.

Her statement didn't surprise me a bit. As for her reason, maybe she was asking me because she noticed her changes and it made it harder for her to actually discover who is the target.

"There is nothing between us" I said in a disinterested voice to show that I wasn't able to guess what she wanted to ask. I have to be careful when I speak with a person named Honami Ichinose.

"Oh…I didn't mean that…I was wondering if you noticed changes in her attitude and if you know something." She corrected me with slightly red cheeks.

"I see, I indeed noticed it but I have no idea why. But why bother thinking about it when the changes are actually for the better rather than worse." I shrugged my shoulders.

We kept on talking until everyone arrived.

Karuizawa sat down right next to me as usual.

"Honestly, we weren't even able to hold proper discussion until the last day, so I would like to propose something." Hamaguchi, from Class B, said with a determined expression.

If they won't actually propose to check everyone's phones as the last resolve, I will have to make that proposal myself which could be slightly troublesome for me. The one who proposes the plan to discover the target is the most suspicious and also the least suspicious person. Anyone could risk it by writing my name down which I wouldn't want to risk even if there is a low chance for that to happen.

"Oh? please go ahead" Ichinose seemed that she also wanted to propose something but she let her classmate go first.

"There is almost no chance for us to discover the target just by talking when it's already the last day. I propose that everyone shows their phone. I will be the first one." Thankfully, he proposed the strategy I wanted to use.

I noticed that Karuizawa stiffened for a bit when she heard his words but quickly recovered. However, this didn't go unnoticed by Ichinose. If I could I would already be smiling.

"This is stupid. Why should we show our mails when anyone can betray us the moment the target is discovered?!" Machida from Class A was the first one to complain about this strategy.

I glared at Manabe and when she noticed my glare she shivered a bit.

"I- I think it's a good idea. After all, there is not much we can do since the exam is ending very soon." Manabe was the one who supported Hamaguchi's strategy.

"So you want to make it game who betrays faster wins?" Machida asked her.

"I also support this strategy. I will show my phone right after Hamaguchi." Ichinose agreed too and soon entire Class B followed her.

"What about Class D?" Ichinose turned at me and I had slightly uneasy expression, I "uncounciously" took a peek at Karuizawa which didn't go unnoticed.

"If everyone except for Class A agrees then we agree too" Yukimura was the one who replied to her with a hesitant expression.

After that everyone started showing their phones and when it was my turn…

I gave Ichinose "my" phone and she quickly checked it and smiled at me.

"It seems that Walker-kun isn't the target"

When it came to Karuizawa's turn, she was hesitating.

"Why should we show our phones to everyone?! I have some private mails there too, I don't want anyone to read them!" She tried to reason with Ichinose.

"But you are the last one to show their phone except for Class A…You can't be so selfish after seeing other people's phones. It's only given that you will follow their lead." Hamaguchi was the one who answered with furrowed brows.

"Then I want everyone to take out their phones and put it on the table, including Class A!" She said while pointing at them.

" sigh Can you do at least this?" Hamaguchi was probably tired just from this small exchange with Karuizawa so he pleaded Class A.

They just shrugged their shoulders and did what was asked of them without any complaints. It's not like they could vote only during the meeting so it didn't matter.

sigh Karuizawa sighed and gave her phone to Ichinose who showed the display to everyone.

"Looks like Karuizawa-san was target all along…" Ichinose said without any surprise in her voice.

All of us from Class D looked surprised when we learned that Karuizawa is the target.

"Since we were able to discover the target, I hope everyone will cooperate to achieve the first outcome." Hamaguchi said while looking towards Class A.

"You don't have to worry-" Machida wanted to say something but was interrupted by the ringing sound.

I recognized that it was "my" phone so I got up and picked up "my" phone from the table and saw on the display name of the caller 'Ichinose'. I looked with a confused expression towards Ichinose who had surprised expression.

"...I am sorry, Walker-kun" She apologized to me and I just had confused expression but I shrugged it off.

The last meeting passed extremely fast and we had some time to betray our group before we would be all forced to answer.

Not even after a minute after the meeting ended and most of the students left, my phone vibrated numerous times. Basically almost all groups turned to have "traitor" even our (Rabbit) group wasn't an exception.

"Walker-kun, wait!" Ichinose run up to me when I wanted to leave the room.

"What is it?" I turned at her with a patient expression on my face.

"Since it seems that someone already betrayed our group I wanted to ask you something. Was Karuizawa-san really the target?" She frowned and asked me with a serious expression.

I guess it wasn't enough to totally fool her.

"Well, she showed her phone with a mail stating that she is the target… But I wasn't aware of that beforehand." I told her.

"You already knew about her being the target, right? I noticed how you were occasionally looking at her when Hamaguchi proposed that strategy. You also know the reason for her changes…" She calmly said without any hint of anger even though I just lied to her.

sigh I sighed and just nodded. I didn't want to tell her more than necessary.

"I am not blaming you for lying to me or anything like that, I know where you are coming from…" Ichinose mentioned when she saw that I wasn't answering. She probably thought that I was feeling guilty.

...

I left the room.

Hehehe, that should do it. I chuckled inside while having a creepy smile across my face.

During this exam, I noticed how small a circle of people I have around myself. I will have to make more "friends" if I want to make a bigger impact during the similar exams.

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Chapter 47: #47 Aftermath

(Manabe's POV)

"Are we really going to do whatever he tells us to do?! Are we really going to just take it like that?!"

She looks really frustrated by the entire situation but it is our fault for being so naive…Of course, that doesn't mean that I will just take it without doing anything. I will make him pay even if I will have to rely on someone like Ryuen… When I thought about Ryuen I inwardly shivered but I still wasn't sure who I feared more…Walker or Ryuen? Both of them are cruel, they don't even care about gender when it comes to violence.

"Of course not. But it will be better if we stay put for a while or do you really want to rely on Ryuen?!" I said to my friends who had a dissatisfied expression on their faces but that immediately changed to fearful one when they heard name 'Ryuen'

"But what about Rika-chan? Are we going to let that prostitute Karuizawa go so easily?" Even though they had uneasy and slightly afraid expressions, they were still feeling pretty dissatisfied.

"I don't know about you but I won't rely on Ryuen unless there is no choice." Even though I said that, I was still feeling really skeptic about the entire situation we were in.

I don't really think we can do anything against him if Ryuen won't be the one to make a move… I thought about that time when he almost broke my arm while looking at me with such cold eyes devoid of any emotions…I couldn't help but shiver again.

Ryuen and Walker are both just monsters but if I had to choose who is crueler then even though I want to choose Ryuen because I already know few things about him, I can't help it but my intuition is telling me it's Walker…

I really wonder what kind of relationship he has with Karuizawa. And now that I think about Karuizawa… wasn't she acting really weird back then? Acting all weak and then it was like she became a different person…there is something wrong with that girl but what? 1

(Manabe's POV END)

I checked my phone while I was waiting for Karuizawa near the cafe. We already switched our phones back and I restored the changes to default to destroy any evidence of the tampering with the device

Class A – -200 Class Points

Class B – No change in Class Points

Class C – 150 Class Points

Class D – 50 Class Points

Class A really fucked up this time… But to think that Class C would be placed first.

Those 50 points we got are probably from the traitor in our Rabbit group. Just looking at the numbers it seems that Class C guessed 3 Class A's targets which made them lose 150 points. Therefore the traitor was probably from Class A but it's not certain.

Now what remains to discover is whether they guessed it from their behavior or if it's due to Class A's infighting between Katsuragi's faction and Sakayanagi's faction. This could be Sakayanagi's strategy to make Katsuragi's influence much smaller which was already quite successful after the survival test. If I assume that there were at least 3 traitors in Class A then it's already 150 Class Points…would it be really worth it to destroy Katsuragi this way? Or is it that Sakayanagi is really confident to gain those lost points back? Class B is right behind their backs but I guess it doesn't matter that much since this is only the end of the first semester.

"Good morning! I am planning to make you bleed really bad this time" Karuizawa appeared and instantly claimed with a naughty smile.

"Please spare me, I didn't even win that much" I rolled my eyes and said in low voice.

Someone betrayed our group and they guessed it wrongly which meant outcome number 4. This outcome gave our class 50 class points but only 50.000 private points to the target, me.

As of lately I also noticed that Karuizawa was getting more and more comfortable around me, to the point where she acts like a spoilt girlfriend…

"I know that you want to celebrate the end of this exam but we should still be careful… After all, Hirata-kun is still known as your boyfriend and you haven't spent much time with him lately, yet you are leisurely spending time with me right now." I reminded her of the fact that Hirata is still her boyfriend and when she heard me, she had a slightly sad look in her eyes but that lasted only for a while before she returned to her cheerful mood.

"Alright, let's go inside unless you want to stand here all day?" I said and entered the cafe, Karuizawa followed right after me with a satisfied smile like a tail.

You kidding me, right? What kind of coincidence is this? I thought when the first people I saw in the cafe were Ayanokoji, Horikita, Yukimura, Sudo and even Hirata. But it turned even worse when I noticed that Ibuki and Ryuen were talking with them.

I just want to relax for one day, why is it that I always meet such annoying pest during the time when I want to relax? I even though about leaving before they notice us.

"Hey! Walker-kun, Karuizawa-san, come to join us!" Hirata waved at us with a wide smile when he noticed us. For others, it might look pretty weird that he wasn't suspicious of us since Karuizawa is still his "girlfriend"

Any thoughts of escaping were immediately destroyed. It would look pretty bad if I just ignored him and just left, I guess I will have to face this situation.

I also noticed that Karuizawa wore complicated expressions when they called out to us. I guess she really planned to make me bleed so joining them might not be a bad thing after all.

"Let's go" I said to her and walked up to their group. Sorry Kei-chan, it seems that I can even change a misfortunate situation to my advantage.

She looked pretty dissatisfied when I accepted their invitation so easily like that but I couldn't really refuse.

"Hey" I greeted them and they returned the greeting. Horikita and Sudo were the only ones who threw me a weird look when they saw Karuizawa right behind me.

"Taking out a taken girl on a date. Tsk, tsk, tsk…you fear nothing don't you, Walker?" Ryuen immediately commented with an amused smile when he saw me with Karuizawa.

"Thanks! You are doing pretty good yourself" I tilted my head to the side and said with an arrogant smile while throwing a look at Ibuki. Instead of denying and amusing him, I immediately switched to the offense.

Everyone here except for Yukimura and Sudo already knew about my and Ryuen's bickering wherever we see each other. It was like a competition who can be more shameless.

"Hey! That's between you two, don't drag me in!" Ibuki noticed my gaze and immediately snapped back at me with a disgusted expression.

"What is going on? Walker-kun, why are you on a date with Karuizawa?" Sudo immediately asked after he heard us arguing. He indeed didn't know that we were just playing around but it seems that even Yukimura was able to notice that…

"Sudo-kun, shut up…" Horikita looked at him like on idiot and he looked depressed after noticing it.

Now that I think about it…What is he doing here with Horikita? And why is he looking like some kind of bodyguard for her?

...Hehe, I even want to tease her but I guess I shouldn't since that tsundere can't take it without making a scene.

"Then let's ask what her boyfriend thinks about this. What do you say Hirata?" Ryuen looked amused when he saw Sudo's behavior and how he got scolded but he quickly redirected all this to Karuizawa's "boyfriend".

"Haha, let's not make this unpleasant situation shall we?" Hirata said with a friendly smile and closed eyes but I could feel the slightly threatening tone in his voice that you wouldn't normally notice but I noticed it thanks to talking to him quite often recently. 2

Haha, I like this new Hirata. If I could I would have laughed aloud but everyone would probably look at me like on the madman.

"You are no fun…" Ryuen said and immediately lost interest in us when he saw that Hirata wasn't worried about it.

It seems that Manabe and others didn't inform him of what happened yet…

He said a few more perverted things to Horikita before leaving, of course, Sudo didn't like it and tried to intimidate him but Ryuen just ignored him.

"Sudo-kun, it's nice to see that you want to protect your classmate but be careful who you antagonize" I gave him advice just because I didn't want him to make Ryuen angry. We already saw what happened when he offended Ryuen and I honestly don't want to do more than I have to. I already anticipate Manabe informing him, after that he will surely make a move and if he will involve Karuizawa in it then it will be much easier to teach him a lesson. He is the type of person who likes to involve violence and make his enemies submit or humiliate them. Unfortunately, he picked up a fight with the wrong person.

I coldly thought about what exactly should I do to him when that time comes.

"Huh?! Do you mean to say that I am weaker than him?!" Sudo grabbed me by my collar in anger but it was understandable considering his temper and how he was just ignored.

"Sudo-kun, let him go!" One would think that the first person to defend me would be Hirata but it was Karuizawa who was looking at Sudo like she was ready to bite him.

She really looks like a loyal puppy following me around… 3

"Why are you defending him like that?! Isn't Hirata-kun your boyfriend? Ryuen was right, you two are really suspicious…" Sudo angrily snapped at Karuizawa.

"Sudo-kun, forget it…" Hirata tried to calm him down peacefully.

"Pfft" I lightly chuckled, not bothered by him still holding me by my collar.

"What's so funny?" Sudo frowned when he heard me.

"Like I already said Sudo-kun…You should be careful who you antagonize" I said while looking down on him with extremely cold eyes.

Maybe I can use this chance to reveal my connection to Karuizawa which would make it easier for me to contact her in the future. Yukimura and Hirata are the only ones who know about it, if others especially Sudo knows about it, rumors will definitely start spreading.

I easily slapped Sudo's hand away without any problems and he looked pretty surprised for a moment.

"By the way, Do you think that Karuizawa is forbidden to hang out with her childhood friend?!" I said with a smile.

"WHAT?!" Sudo was the only one who shouted out in surprise but I could also see surprised expression on Horikita's face, while Ayanokoji's expression remained almost the same except for small changes. He probably already expected something like this.

"Childhood friends…Is that really the truth?" Sudo asked with a complicated expression.

"Of cour-" Karuizawa wanted to reply first with her head high but I placed my hand on top of her head and started to ruffle her hair once again.

"Of course! She is like a little sister to me!" I said with a big smile while ruffling her hair to tease her before everyone.

"Stop it!" She quickly moved away from my hand's reach and everyone watched this scene with dumbfounded expressions.

" Little sister…HMPH!" Karuizawa mumbled and then snorted with an angry expression while looking at me.

She looks angry instead of embarrassed. Perhaps I fucked up?

Well, I will worry about it later…I thought while cautiously observing Karuizawa in case she wanted to approach me to bite me.

" Should I tell them that I broke up with Hirata-kun?" She whispered to me when no one was paying any attention to us.

I looked a bit surprised by this but I quickly recovered.

" If you think you are ready to endure all kinds of rumors then be my guest…but I definitely don't recommend you to do it right now…It would look pretty bad, don't you think so? By the way, you don't need to ask me every single thing, I am not your parent to decide for you but I can still be your Niisan if you want to." I winked at her when I whispered the last sentence and I immediately received elbow to my ribs. 1

"Ouch!" I pretended that it hurt me a bit just to satisfie her and her expression surely turned to better when she saw me in "pain"

"Hey, what are you two whispering there?" Yukimura looked suspiciously at us.

"Nothing at all" I waved my hand. 1

Class C is once again ahead of us but there is no such a big gap between us anymore. I don't know when the next special exam occurs but I will make sure to make my class advance once there will be an opportunity.

I have feeling that there will be a few peaceful days before another storm starts

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

I will once again have less time to write due to school but I will try my best to update as frequently as possible!

As for this chapter…I know it's practically just one conversation but I wanted to write it down as aftermath for the second exam.

Just a quick question…Do you guys want Felix to participate in some of the events from Volume 4.5 (like the fortune-teller)

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Chapter 48: #48 Shoplifting (short)

We finally returned from the cruise ship. To be honest, it felt much better, feeling of the solid ground under my legs.

With those special exams gone, the first semester ended and we have only 7 days free before the second semester starts.

Well, it's not like I complain because I don't really need any spare time except for my daily training. I also postponed my meeting with Sakayanagi so I can use these 7 days to resolve that but I have no contact on her…

"Aah…this sucks" I mumbled while lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling.

I guess I will go for a stroll through the park since I already finished my daily training. After that, I can ask a few people who could know Sakayanagi's contact information. Kushida is probably the one option but I don't really want to go and ask her.

I will think about it later, anything can happen during my stroll and I still have 7 days to resolve that problem.

I got up from my bed and took some casual black jeans and a gray T-shirt from my wardrobe.

...

After walking through the park for 30 minutes in pretty hot weather, I was thirsty so I decided to stop at the convenience store near the park.

That's where I met the person I just needed to solve my problem with Sakayanagi's contact information.

Masumi Kamuro from Class A who is always around Sakayanagi.

But before calling out to her, I noticed her strange behavior. It almost looked like she was sneaking around so I decided against calling her name aloud. I quietly entered the store and hid behind some shelves with products on them. I was occasionally checking out what she was doing and noticed her hiding something under her clothes.

After a few minutes of browsing the shelves, she decided to leave the store…

What the hell is she thinking? I frowned while watching her slowly leaving the store with steady steps.

I followed right behind her and when we were far enough away from the store I called out to her.

"Hey, Kamuro-san"

When she heard someone call out her name, she turned around.

"Oh, Walker-kun…What are you doing here? By the way, Sakayanagi-san was already complaining to me about you not fulfilling your promise.

She wasn't even startled when I called her out not too long after her shoplifting…she must be really experienced in this.

"I am just walking around"

"Alone? Without any friends?" She threw me a weird look

"I don't really see any around you either…" I threw the same weird look right back at her.

"You really have an answer for everything, right? If there is nothing else I might as well go back to Sakayanagi-san" She said and wanted to leave but I stopped her.

"Wait, I didn't stop you just to have a small chat with you." After she heard my words she stopped and turned at me once again and waited for me to continue.

"You know…I saw what you did back there" I told her with a casual smile and when she heard my words, her expression turned serious.

"What do you mean?" She still tried her luck, to be sure she didn't misunderstand me.

"Don't worry, you didn't misunderstand my meaning. Shoplifting" I looked towards the location where she hid the stolen product.

She shivered a bit but she quickly calmed down and took out the can of beer from under her clothes.

She cautiously observed my expression for a while but when she saw no change in my smile or brows position, she just sighed in defeat.

"Don't worry, I have no evidence I just wanted to verify if what I saw was the truth"

She didn't look like she believed my words.

"Throw me that can" I casually said and she appeared to be confused for a few seconds before throwing that can to me.

I quickly opened it and gulp it all down in one go.

"Aaah, I needed that" I formed a satisfied smile when I quenched my thirst with a nice cold beer.

"What are you doing?" She asked me, totally confused about the entire situation. Shoplifting, drinking alcohol, both of it was naturally forbidden at this school.

"You looked like you didn't trust me so now we are both partners in crime." I said and winked at her.

"Why did you do that? Don't you think of me as a weird person?" She asked in a confused voice.

"Well, I have a little favor to ask of you and thanks to you I was able to quench my thirst without paying for anything. Not to mention, I wouldn't be able to buy such nice cold beer even if I wanted to." I genuinely thanked her and continued.

"And weird person? I don't really care, there are even worse crimes to do than simple shoplifting…You must have your reasons and I can't afford to judge every single person based on one action they did." I answered totally disinterested in what she did.

It took her a few minutes to absorb everything from this weird situation. After all, we aren't really friends and we talked to each other only a few times and now we became "partners in crime".

"...What kind of favor?" She took a deep breath before asking. She probably thought I had some bizarre or weird request for her.

"Can you give me Sakayanagi's contact information?" I asked her.

"Huh? Is that…your request?" She looked like she was pitying herself that she was so cautious over nothing, pretty amusing sight.

"Yes, so my partner in crime, if you can give me her phone number I would be very grateful" I had an amused smile while saying that.

She facepalmed and showed me 2 different numbers on her phone's display.

"Why are there 2 different numbers?" I asked slightly confused.

"The first one is Sakayanagi's, and second one is mine in case you need something…" When she mentioned her phone number she turned her head slightly away from me. 4

I had no problem with having more contacts so I copied both of the numbers to my phone.

I thanked her and we parted ways.

sigh I sighed while looking at the picture of Kamuro in the store on my phone's display while strolling through the park back to the school dorms.

I don't think I will ever find a use for this picture but I will at least keep it within my phone.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

If any of you have a question why is this chapter so short- I planned to include fortune-teller or appointment with Sakayanagi in this chapter but I realized I would need much more than 1k words for these events and this is already 1k words long… and I want to make chapters 1k-2k words.

2,5k words at most if needed.

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Chapter 49: #49 Competition and Bet

When I came back to my room I decided to call Sakayanagi.

"Hello, who is calling?" After a few seconds, she accepted the call and I was already able to hear her usual playful voice.

"Hi, it's Walker, in case you didn't guess it already." I had a hunch that she already knew it's me.

"I wouldn't say I guessed it…I just heard of your fateful encounter with Kamuro-san. Partners in crime, fufu" Only when she mentioned it and laughed a bit, I realized how stupid it sounds… I just hope Kamuro didn't think I was hitting on her.

"I needed to get your contact information from her so you can't really expect me to ask her when she is so suspicious of me…" She really got me with her previous words but I didn't want to let her know so I just explained why I said those words to Kamuro.

"Fufu, it definitely worked…You are a really interesting individual, Walker-kun" She said mysteriously and in a pretty quiet voice but I guess she just didn't say it directly to microphone. She is probably together with Kamuro right now, which isn't really surprising.

"I am pretty sure that Kamuro-san wouldn't agree with your words. Anyway, what about that dinner? Do you still want to do it?" I referred to me strolling around all alone but it was more like a defending myself with someone's else name.

"Maybe she thought so before but what about now hm? And of course, I still want to meet up with you for dinner, you promised after all." It seems my only way to flee was closed down. To be honest, I don't really want to meet up with someone like Sakayanagi. I will have to be careful when talking with her face to face.

Sometimes even I make pretty ridiculous promises…

"Alright, is tonight ok with you?" I asked her, resigned to my fate.

"I will make time for you any day" She probably said this with a straight face.

"...Ok? Do I have to…like wear something formal?" I had no idea what should I wear… The last time I wore a suit was during my lunch with Sae-chan but I didn't wear it because I thought about it as a date. I just wore it because I felt like it but we are speaking here about Sakayanagi…She has that princess vibe around her…

"Fufu, are you perhaps thinking about something rude? Of course, you have to wear formal clothes, dummy." I heard her quietly chuckle when she said that last sentence.

Jesus, what's up with woman's intuition?! 6

"Ok, see you tonight" I said and after she said her goodbye, I ended the call.

Why does it seem like she was joking around when she mentioned formal clothes…

But there is no escape for me now… If she was really serious and she takes some dress too then I will look like an idiot if I will come there with just a casual T-shirt and jeans. Whatever…

...

Later that day, I went to the restaurant near the Keyaki Mall to meet up with Sakayanagi.

I sat down at the empty table and waited for her.

While I was browsing the menu I heard the sound of cane hitting the floor so I looked up from the menu and saw Sakayanagi wearing light blue dress.

I unconsciously smiled at her due to my desire to laugh aloud even though I hold it in.

She also noticed my weird smile so she frowned.

"You are thinking about something rude once again, right?!" She said with furrowed brows.

You can't really blame me…

Your petite body and that dress make you look like a doll.. Pfft

"Not at all, please…" I stood up, took her cane and helped her to sit down. I also noticed that she had a small bag in her other hand but I didn't dare to touch it since I wasn't aware of what's in there.

"You have good manners but shouldn't you say something?" She said with an amused smile.

"Umm… You look good in that dress?" I decided to play a little dense. It's not like I helped her because I am 'gentleman'. I helped her because I never noticed her whining about her health condition. That alone makes me admire her strong will.

"Do you really mean it? Who would look better in this dress, me or Karuizawa" She said with a light smile.

I see, it seems that she investigated me a bit.

Should I say: 'That dress would be pretty small for Karuizawa, especially in chest's location.'

...Nah, I still want my head to remain intact. She probably has a sword hidden inside that cane, like Kisuke Urahara. Now that I think about it, she is like his incarnation. She is smart and playful but when she is angry she looks pretty dangerous even with that petite body of hers. 4

"I see you've made your research. I think it suits you better since light blue isn't really Karuizawa's color." I used color as my shield and didn't dare to compare their bodies.

"Oh? What kind of color would suit her?" She asked me with a curious expression.

"I always thought that girls dislike when boys start talking about another woman while being with them…You didn't invite me here to actually speak about Karuizawa, right?"

"Well, not especially about her but I didn't invite you with any special intention in mind. I just wanted to talk to you face to face in a quiet place because you piqued my interest."

"Then even more reason to quickly stop…Don't you know what is the saying? Interest can quickly change into love without you even being aware of that." Even though it sounds a bit narcissistic, I might be able to shake her off me.

"Fufu, I definitely heard about that but why is it necessarily a bad thing?" She chuckled a bit with her hand covering her lips.

...Whatever, she won't let me off.

...

"Can you tell me what's so interesting about me? I asked when we received our meal.

"Of course, it is your origin" She said with her usual playful smile but when I heard her words, my smile disappeared and I narrowed my eyes at her.

"What do you know?" I asked her while looking straight into her eyes without blinking.

"Don't worry, I don't know much because 'he' wouldn't tell me more. I just know the reason for you being in Class D is your origin" She said while lightly waving her hand in denial. She sounded sincere, maybe she didn't want to ruin the mood.

Also, the way she said 'he', it sounded like that person is really dear to her. Therefore I doubt it's Class A's homeroom teacher, she must have a connection with someone from higher-ups, maybe even someone from the government.

Anyway, that person probably didn't say more than necessary or he might lose his position.

"I understand now but there is nothing interesting in my origin, no, I would say it is a polar opposite of the word interesting." I honestly said because even I didn't think that my origin (living out of the civilization) is anything but interesting, unless…that person knows my or rather this body's true origin. That would definitely make it a more complicated matter.

"Well, I actually didn't need him to tell me that information because you already somewhat piqued my interest the first day we met at this school. Also, conversations with you are always interesting and fun" She said with a genuine smile and when I heard her, I couldn't help but remember the scene how I bumped into her.

After that, we enjoyed our meal and talked from time to time about everyday things.

When the waiter took away our dishes, Sakayanagi bought something from her bag and start to set it up on the table.

"Shall we play a few games?" She asked me with an excited smile when she was done setting up the chessboard. 1

When I saw that I had a complicated expression on my face.

"You don't want to?" She also noticed my expression and immediately asked me with a slightly sad expression.

I must admit she looked quite adorable with that sad expression.

"It's not like I don't want to, more like I don't know how. I have never played chess in my life" In both of them which is pretty pathetic, now that I think about it. But I can't help it, I never thought about it as fun… 1

"Then I can teach you. I feel honored to be the first to play with you, fufu." She said with a smile.

Ok…that sounded weird but whatever.

"The ultimate aim in the chess game is delivering a checkmate, in other words trapping your opponent's king…." She started explaining rules but we had only time for basic rules or we would have no time to play at all… 1

"Alright, I think I can play a bit. I will learn as a game progresses" I said with a thoughtful expression while watching the chessboard.

"Alright, you have white pieces so you start first. I will go easy on you." She said with a kind smile and motioned me with her hand to start.

...

—First game—

How would I describe the first game? Only one word – Disaster

I lost even before I knew it but I still carefully observed and memorized every move she made.

She had a casual smile like she was expecting me to lose miserably even though she went easy on me.

"Let's play another, this time don't go easy on me" She looked surprised by my words but she immediately formed a satisfied smile

"Fufu, that's the spirit"

Even though I said her not to go easy on me, I am pretty sure she will hold back even if she will make better moves than before.

—Second game—

The second game once again ended with my defeat but I wasn't disheartened, instead, I was feeling more and more confident while observing every move she made to ensure my doom.

Of course, even though she played much better than before, I was still able to retaliate a bit before my defeat.

"You played better than last time by a considerable margin. Maybe you have a talent for chess" She said with a happy smile.

I didn't even let her see everything but I am still skeptic whether I should try to really win or not. It's pretty obvious that she is professional in chess and she likes to play it a lot. I am not sure if I can win but I am slightly confident to end the game in a draw. But if I do this then she will only turn to be more vigilant against me and I will just reveal things while gaining nothing at all… 1

"Sakayanagi-san, how about a bet?" I asked her with a serious expression.

"Oh? What do you have in mind?" She asked me with a curious expression.

"8 more games. If I can defeat you in our 10th game then I want to form a truce between Class A and Class D for the rest of our first year" I said with a smile seeing her curiosity.

"Fufu, you really know how to make everything more interesting. Why not… and if you fail to win then I don't even want anything, after all, it's your first day playing the chess" She said with a smile, she probably thought that I am overly confident to the point of being arrogant.

"I can't really call that a bet if you won't win anything…How about I tell you a few things about my origin you are so interested in? If I lose that is." I honestly didn't like to make bets without betting anything at all… It won't give me enough adrenaline and desire to win.

"Sure, let's do it your way. In case you win, do you want to specify what kind of truce? And do you want to make it official bet on paper?" She easily accepted and asked for more information.

She isn't arrogant…even though she is confident in winning easily she still asks me for more information…she is good, hehe.

"In case there will be a special exam that will force our two classes to compete with each other then there is nothing to do but I want us to compete without any schemes. Competing with just our abilities alone. And I will just trust your word to follow the rules of bet in case you lose"

"Alright, I have no problems with conditions" She said with a confident smile.

Even though I said I will trust her word and I think that she will honor our bet, I still like to have insurance, I was recording our conversation on my phone ever since I asked her about the bet. 1

—Fifth game—

We were currently in the middle of the game and no one would still be able to tell who will win.

It was my turn to make a move but I closed my eyes for a while before opening them and instead of making a move, I turned at Sakayanagi.

"It's your win, let us start the sixth game" I said with a smile and if anyone was watching our game he would have thought that I just gave up but Sakayanagi instead looked surprised and then she frowned. She probably didn't think that I would just give up a game without any reason.

—Tenth and last game—

"This is the last chance for you to win, Walker-kun. But I must say that you perhaps have a talent comparable to me when it comes to chess" She kindly reminded me with a very kind smile. I noticed that every time I improved she started playing even better and with an excited smile. After the game, she looked at me with more and more friendliness visible in her eyes.

I was once again first to make a move but I instead closed my eyes and cupped my fingers just to make it look more mysterious.

If I, myself can't win against you then what if it will be YOU playing against you?! 2

I started to visualize all kinds of moves Sakayanagi used today and started using them while also predicting her counter moves. Like this, I imagined several thousands of different moves but I was still unable to find the right way to win. After all, we didn't have enough time for her to show me all of her moves.

When I reopened my eyes I realized only around 5 seconds passed by while I was thinking of a strategy. 2

Sakayanagi was looking at me with a patient smile while supporting her chin with her hands.

My eyes became similar to hers, full of cunningness hidden behind the playfulness.

She became slightly startled when she saw her 'own eyes'.

I made my first move based on what she would do and this didn't make her expression any different, however, when my 10th move was the same as what she would do, she frowned. I was making the counter-moves she would have thought as the best option. She was practically playing against herself right now.

It was visible that she was having a harder time playing than before because she was taking longer breaks before making her move while I already had my hand ready on which piece I wanted to move even before she moved hers.

But in the end, I wasn't able to win and I had to end this game by a draw.

She went really easy on me back then…she was much stronger than I anticipated. I thought that I would be able to win but it seems that she was hiding most of her strength.

"Fufu, you are really something else, Walker-kun. Was this really your first time playing chess?" She laughed in relief but she was still aware that we played only 10 games… She probably didn't even want to know what would happen if I had more experience in playing chess.

"It seems that bet is invalid." I formed a forced smile. I showed her my talent to quickly pick up on the new things without winning anything. Tsk, if I knew that she was so good then I wouldn't bother to bet. Hopefully, she will only think of it as me having great talent in chess.

"No, it's you win…You were able to end the game in a draw while I was playing with all I've got. Even if you would lose but would be able to make me this serious, it would be your win…

I had no problems with accepting that because she was really hiding most of her strength.

It was already pretty late and we decided to go back to the dorms. Since it was already so late, there was no one waiting for Sakayanagi, not even Kamuro. I decided to walk with her back to the dorms but in the middle of the way there I had to stop and clunch my head.

Shit! What kind of headache is that? Is it because of overusing my brain during my competition with Sakayanagi?

Sakayanagi also stopped when she noticed me stopping and when she saw me clutching my head she turned a bit worried.

"Are you ok? Do you need something to drink?" She approached me so fast that I wasn't even aware that she could move so fast considering her health condition.

"I am fine…just a usual migraine, nothing serious." I said with a forced smiled.

I bit my tongue to force myself to walk Sakayanagi home. The faster it will be done, the faster I can tend to my problem.

When we finally arrived at her dorms, I was able to leave for my own dorms but I wasn't aware that she stayed there for a while even after I left.

"Walker-kun…" Sakayanagi mumbled with a guilty face. 4

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

I wonder if you guys will be able to guess the references to two characters I included in Felix's competition with Sakayanagi, hehe.

In the previous chapter, I mentioned how I wanted to make chapters 1-2k words or 2,5k words at most if needed.

So what else to do than write a chapter with 3k words right after mentioning that. ?

I can already see the fortune-teller event being even longer. _

Hope you like it!

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Chapter 50: #50 The fortune-teller 1

When I opened my eyes, I realized that it was already 8 AM. I remembered the last night and I couldn't help but touch my forehead. The last night was like a living hell for me, the headache was only getting more painful each minute passed and it didn't end until 5 AM, well that's at least what I remember before I passed out on my bed from feeling the constant pain for numerous hours.

But I felt extremely different right now…it wasn't my body that changed but it was like my head cleared up a lot. I got up and decided to freshen up myself with cold water but when I looked more distinctly into the mirror I noticed that my eyes looked much calmer than normal. Usually, it was apparent that I was thinking some schemes or was worried about something just by looking into my eyes but right now I couldn't see anything inside. Right now they looked like a surface of the calm lake without any disturbances. Well, in my case, they looked more like a pond of blood. I am not sure but maybe even the shade turned a bit darker.

"Haha, I thought that I was going to die" I laughed aloud while falling down back on my bed.

I definitely trained my body a lot but I can't believe I actually neglect the training of the mind. No…I didn't forget, I was just too arrogant and thought that I don't need it with my experience and me being practically around 25 years old. 2

While I was thinking about all kinds of different things, I was interrupted by the ringing sound of my phone.

I looked at the display and saw that the caller was 'Kei-chan'.

"Good morning!" I said with a happy tone since I was feeling really good with no headache.

"Don't 'good morning' me! Where were you yesterday?! I sent you numerous messages in the evening!" Once again I heard Karuizawa's angry voice.

Messages? I quickly checked my phone and saw 5 messages sent at different times but every one of them was sent when I had that headache…

"Sorry about that…I will explain it to you later, I don't want to discuss it over the phone" I said casually but I had no intention to mention the headache to her. I will just make some excuse.

"Did something bad happened to you?" She asked in a worried voice.

"Are you perhaps worried about me? That's sweet…You know, I will tell you what I did last night." I stopped for a while but it seemed that she had no intention to interrupt me.

"I had a date last night" I said with a teasing tone.

"What?! Ugh, you are the worst!" She immediately replied in an angry tone with a bit of regret in her voice, like she regretted that she was worried about me.

"I am just joking with you so calm down" I choose to calm her down before she ends the call in frustration.

"...Since you weren't even aware of my messages from yesterday then I guess it would be best just to ask you right now. You aren't part of any club right?" She took a deep breath to calm herself down and then she asked me a pretty weird question.

Hmm, now that she mentioned it I never even considered joining one. Sudo is part of the basketball club, isn't he? I couldn't help but remember one of my favorite animes 'Kuroko No Basket'. Hehe, that would be fun but I don't think I will be able to join any club right now if I won't consult it with my homeroom teacher. 1

"I am not, is there any specific reason why you asked?" I replied to her.

"Well, I heard that people attending the clubs are pretty busy lately but I guess it won't be a problem in your case. Have you heard of the pretty accurate fortune-teller appearing at Keyaki Mall?" She asked me in a pretty exciting voice.

"I've heard a few rumors but I don't know any details" I honestly answered.

"Nice! How about going with me?!" She sounded even more excited when I said I am not aware of any details. Or was it just my imagination?

Anyway…fortune-teller? I don't know if I want to even try if it's a scam or not. But I don't really have anything else planned so I might as well get some fresh air while going with Karuizawa to that fortune-teller.

"Sure, I don't mind, when is it?" I asked her.

"It starts at 10 AM but we should go there much earlier, like 9 AM" She explained while I was drinking my morning coffee and her sentence caught me off guard.

" cough cough What?! That's like not even 1 hour from now on. Why so early?" I asked in confusion why should we actually wait there for more than 1 hour.

"That's a secret…Let's meet there, ok?" She said and quickly ended the call.

I could just dumbfoundedly look at the display.

She didn't even give me a chance to tell my opinion…

...

When I arrived at Keyaki Mall, I noticed there were already many more people around than normal.

"Felix-kun!" I heard a distant voice calling out my name.

When I turned around I noticed Karuizawa waving to me while running up to me.

She was wearing a green t-shirt with a mini skirt, making almost her smooth milky tights fully on display. 1

It seems that her skirt is enhanced with some kind of magic. It's covering only important parts but it looks like it's glued to her. Not even her running makes it reveal parts that shouldn't be revealed. 3

And since when did she start calling me by my first name anyway? Well, it's not like I care about such small detail. 3

"Yo, Kei-chan. It seems like you take this fortune-teller really seriously" I greeted her and referred to the light make-up on her face, it seems that she also used lipstick…

"Hm? You seem somehow different…Are you perhaps wearing contact lenses?" She asked me with a curious expression while leaning forward to take a better look. She was practically a few centimeters away from my face but I let her take a good look even though it surprised me that she was able to tell such small detail just from the first glance. She realized what she was doing and quickly backed up with a red face.

"I used to wear them before so they made the shade of my eyes slightly different but I am not wearing them anymore." I didn't want to explain it to her, well, more like I couldn't explain it even if I wanted.

"Hmm? Really? Well, whatever your eyes look even more captivating than before so you should keep them like that." She looked at me with a thoughtful expression at first but maybe she sensed that I didn't want to talk about it so she dropped it.

She took some distance from me and said with a confident smile:

"Hehe, do I look good?" She quickly spun around, giving me full view of her. Her skirt also danced in wind but it never revealed anything important once again… How is that even possible? 1

I am starting to think that there is really magic involved here. 1

I had a thoughtful expression with a hand on my chin while looking at her for a moment but I quickly recovered when I saw Karuizawa looking at me with an inquiring gaze.

"Kei-chan always looks beautiful so there is no need to judge you by your clothes or make-up you applied and I don't think you needed to exert such effort just for the fortune-teller…" I nodded at her in appreciation but I still didn't really understand why she tried so hard… It's usual to see girls with make-up but she looked much more excited about the entire fortune-teller thing than she should be. Maybe she really likes to hang out with me even though what happened between us on that cruise ship.

"Of course it's not for the fortune-teller but we will make a few stops at the various shops before going to the main event of the day." She said excitedly.

"Wait!" I motioned with my hand for her to stop.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked her with an uneasy expression.

"Well, we still have around 30 minutes so I want to use that time to try various clothes. There are big discounts today so I have to use this chance." She earnestly smiled at me.

Wait, wait…something doesn't add up. Why wouldn't she go with her friends and why wouldn't she just use the afternoon for that? Why now?

"Is that really all you want to do?" I asked her with a suspicious look.

"Well, I also want you to be my judge for today" She said with a slightly embarrassed face but I didn't think that it was all and kept looking at her with a suspicious gaze. 1

"well…and to spend more time with you" She mumbled while looking downwards with a red face but I was still able to hear her. But I guess she didn't want me to hear it.

I couldn't help but smile at her behavior…she is the first person I became slightly attached to in this life, but that attachment is still rapidly growing. If she just wanted to spend some time with me, she didn't have to be so sneaky about it.

" sigh Then let's go, I will do my best to be a fair judge" I said with an affectionate smile and offered her my hand.

I didn't care about people being able to see us together since there were already rumors around in our class that Karuizawa broke up with Hirata.

Her eyes widened in surprise but she quickly caught my hand and tightly held it with a happy smile on her face.

I hope I will be able to use that hand by the end of the day, judging by how tightly she is holding it.

-- END OF THE CHAPTER--

Please like one of my comments below, based on what you want.

I am not saying that I will ultimately decide based on that but it will give me a good view of what you want. But like I said anything can change and happen so don't take it for granted.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

I wanted to write the entire Fortune-teller event in one go but I am too busy with school again.

I also realized that I had no idea how to write good romance which is a pretty bad situation considering the genre of this novel…

I have a very important question for you.

Harem or Romance?

I don't really have any opinion about it since I don't care about it that much. But if it is Harem then 3 girls AT MOST and Ichinose is big no since I don't see any situation how Felix could get along with her on a romantic level.

If you want romance then tell me your opinion: who?

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Chapter 51: #51 Fortune-teller: Interrupted

I and Karuizawa were currently exploring all kinds of different shops at Keyaki Mall.

I was already regretting that I accepted this. It took so much time just for her to choose what to try out and even after so much time she sometimes decided against buying it. Well, it's not like it took so much time but it was extremely boring. If it wouldn't be Karuizawa who is dragging me around the shops like that then I would have already left.

"You know, you are sometimes really bad at giving compliments, Felix-kun." Karuizawa complained to me with a dissatisfied expression while dragging me to yet another shop.

"How so?" I asked with a confused expression. I guess it's not all about saying beautiful that and cute that. I've never realized that playing the 'role' of a boyfriend is so frustrating and exhausting… Not like I am her boyfriend but that's what I think couples usually do. Just by thinking about sparing some time with a woman while shopping is making me afraid to become anyone's boyfriend.

"Although you probably tell me your honest thoughts about the clothes, I still think that your compliments are too plain. It's hard to choose what you actually like when you say that it looks good to almost every set of clothes I wore." Karuizawa puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

"Well, clothes can definitely make you more beautiful but I think that you are already beautiful enough even without-" I stopped myself from finishing the sentence when I realized how bad it would sound but it seems that Karuizawa was able to understand what I wanted to say.

"Pervert!" She blushed a lot and then yelled to my ear.

"Wait, I didn't mean it tha-" I wanted to explain it because I thought that she was angry however when I noticed a small shy smile on her face I stopped myself once again.

...

"This is our last stop before going to that fortune-teller!" Karuizawa took a few steps from me and turned around with her widely spread hands and her mischievous smile to represent the last shop.

My eyes twitched just from seeing the entrance.

It was simply women's heaven and men's hell. I just took a quick peek through the windows and saw nothing else other than swimsuits, bikinis, women's underwear and I spotted even a few of those famous 'sexy lingerie'.

What the hell, how is that even allowed here?! Isn't this just a high school with mostly teenagers around? I can understand that they must have some stuff for a staff working here but why did they have to make it available for everyone?

"You are kidding, right? You can't actually expect me to go there with you." I said with a twitching smile.

"Come on, don't be like that. It's a normal clothes shop just like the others" She said with a fake confused expression.

It might be normal for you but for us men, it's forbidden territory. Only perverts and the bravest of the men are able to survive there… 5

"If someone asks you what you are doing there, I will say that you are with me." She said with a genuine pleading expression when she saw that I was really hesitating.

I gritted my teeth and took a look at what time it is.

"If we aren't out of this shop in 10 minutes then I will leave on my own. Do you understand?!" I said in a strict voice.

I don't even know why I agreed to such an unreasonable request…

...

When we entered the shop, a few female clerks threw me a weird look but it soon disappeared when they noticed my uneasy expression along with Karuizawa's happy expression right next to me.

I can swear that they even started to giggle.

I will get you for this, Kei-chan! Just you wait! I thought while gritting my teeth.

Karuizawa quickly took something without me noticing and told me to wait for her right in front of the changing room.

...

It was already around 5 minutes since Karuizawa went there and I was starting to feel quite uneasy with all the stares I was receiving from female clerks. But I knew that they only wanted to make fun out of me…I would never look embarrassed or shy just from the pressure of a few clerks. 1

I turned at one of the clerks and smiled at her and when she saw this, she actually turned around with a red face from the shame.

"Um, Felix-kun?" I heard Karuizawa's slightly awkward voice behind the cover.

"Hm? I am still here, don't worry" I returned my attention to the changing room and reassured her.

"That's not it…Can you come in? I can't walk out looking like that…" She asked me in a really low voice, I was lucky to be able to hear her.

Is she wearing something more revealing and she doesn't want others to see her scar? 1

"Are you sure?" I asked just in case but when there was no answer for more than 5 seconds I decided to enter the changing room.

"Coming in-" I said while I was entering the room but I was a bit stunned by what I saw.

Karuizawa was standing there wearing only a red bikini, looking to the side with completely red cheeks while trying to cover her scar with her hand.

I wasn't stunned by what she was wearing since I already anticipated that she was wearing something revealing, after all, there were no normal clothes in this 'indecent' shop. I was stunned by her reaction…Why is she so embarrassed? Isn't it a normal swimsuit that girls are wearing at the pool?

"So?" She asked in a really low voice, not daring to look at me.

"Kei-chan, if you want me to make a fair judgment you should move that hand away…" I pointed at the hand she was using to cover her scar.

"...But-" She hesitated for a while but she still removed it and closed her eyes, not wanting to see my reaction.

When I saw her action I couldn't help but frown. I quietly approached her and placed my usually cold hand on her cheek that was hot as on fire.

She quickly opened her eyes in surprise.

"Who cares about the thoughts of other people? What's important is that you have someone close to you who has a different opinion than other people. I am not saying that you should go and show that scar to everyone but you should at least be able to show it to me without any shame. Because no matter what happens to you, you will always be my-...you will always be beautiful to me." I said with a warm smile while wiping away her tear with my thumb. 6

I don't even know what I was actually going to tell her earlier but I somehow stopped myself. These words weren't actually what I wanted to say but they still came out themselves almost naturally…

"...Felix-kun" She was gazing into my eyes with full of affection and leaned forward.

Even though it looked like I was calmly looking at her, my heart still started beating faster than usual.

I didn't feel any impulse to draw back away from her so I leaned forward too and slightly tilted my head to the side.

She placed her hands on my shoulders and made herself taller by standing on tiptoes.

When our lips were only a few centimeters away from each other, we were interrupted by the voice.

"Miss, is everything ok?" 8

We quickly backed away from each other in surprise.

Even I couldn't help but blush a little in this awkward situation.

It's probably the clerk, maybe she saw me entering the changing room and when she noticed I was here too long, she couldn't help but check on us.

"Karuizawa?" I quietly said to wake her up, if she won't respond here it can cause a few problems.

"Ah?! Y- yes! Everything is f-fine!" She quickly responded, even though in a panicked voice, the clerk didn't mind it and just apologized for disturbing.

"...I think I should quickly disappear from here. And you should change quickly too, we don't want to be late for that fortune-teller." I released an awkward laugh, trying to ease the mood.

She just quietly nodded in response so I left the changing room.

I noticed that female clerks were giving me a knowing look but I just kept my poker face under their pressure.

I also decided to quickly go to the restroom and freshen up my face with cold water.

When we went to the counter and it was time to pay, I quickly used my card to pay for it. Karuizawa gave me a surprised look but I just smiled at her. Thankfully, she understood my meaning and just simply thanked me. I didn't want to explain myself here…

When we were on our way to the 'main event' I noticed one small and humble store that piqued my interest.

Maybe I can bye it here… Might as well make a quick stop here.

"Kei-chan, do you mind if we stop here for a while" I pointed to the store.

"I don't mind" She answered with her usual smile…no, maybe she looked even happier while annoyed at the same time but it didn't look like she was annoyed because of me. Anyway, it seems that what happened back in the changing room no longer bothers her which is a good thing.

...

I quickly bought what I wanted but there was one more thing on the counter that caught my eye. It was a necklace with a bloody red half-moon design hanging from the chains.

I am not sure if it would look good on her, neither I know if she will appreciate it but I guess I can come here later without her to take more detailed look at that necklace.

"Why the chessboard? Are you planning to join the chess club?" She asked me and giggled a bit when we left the store.

"Do we even have a chess club?" I mumbled with a doubtful expression.

"Don't ask me…" She shrugged her shoulders and didn't mind me not telling her my reason for buying it.

I didn't want to explain how it can help me train my mind.

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Chapter 52: #52 Fortune-teller: Boy of Misfortune

--(Karuizawa's POV)--

Aaah! What was I thinking?! I shook my head after Felix left the changing room.

It just came to me so naturally…but it didn't look like he minded it. I couldn't help but touch my hot cheeks with a small smile across my face.

He actually leaned forward. Hehe,... I started to fantasize about what would happen if we weren't interrupted but I quickly shook my head again.

No! I can't fantasize about it!

I already learned that he didn't mind it, therefore I can make that reality and not just fantasy!

I clenched my hand as hard as I could.

I can't hasten it. When he was comforting me, he wanted to say something but he stopped himself. It seems that he is still hesitating a bit.

It doesn't matter, the foundation is there! That's what matters, I will keep on strengthening that foundation until he won't be able to live without me! Hehe…Once again I started to fantasize while changing my clothes.

But I couldn't help but furrow my brows when I remembered one problem.

Although I don't want to hasten the process, he is indeed handsome and even though he isn't as sociable as Hirata, he can still hold a pretty nice conversation. It's just that most of the girls have sights set on Hirata but there can still be some girls who will go for him since his looks doesn't lose to Hirata's. And if that happens, they might actually fall in love with him. One can discover his real charm only when talking with him, that's pretty ironic considering how much he looks unapproachable.

Now that I think about it, there is still Matsushita who might like him. She indeed spent quite a lot of time with him in the past. I must be careful.

After a while of thinking about all kinds of things and forming strategies on how to steal Felix's heart, I finally made up my mind.

Until Valentine's day, I will keep on strengthening the foundation until that day and I will steal his heart right on Valentine's day!

Well…I wouldn't mind it if it would be even earlier but just the imagination of having a nice romantic date with Felix right on Valentine's day is simply…Hehe, my mind once again faded into my fantasies.

"Are you ready, Kei-chan?"

I was surprised when I heard Felix's voice right behind the cover and he also woke me up from my fantasies.

"Ah! Y-yes, just- give me a second" I answered in panic when I noticed that I was still just in my underwear.

Wait for me, Felix! I will definitely make you say those words you once hesitated to say! If you think that you can just make this lady fall in love with you and then disappear then you are absolutely wrong. You have to take responsibility! I swore to myself with a beaming smile while I was quickly dressing myself up. 1

--(Karuizawa's POV END)--

The fortune-teller event was apparently hosted on the higher floor so we decided to take an elevator but when we arrived near it, there was already crowd formed in front of the elevator.

"Should we use the stairs instead?" I asked her with a concerned smile. I don't mind taking the elevator with more people but I noticed that most of them were guys so I asked how Kei feels about it.

"Sure, we are already on the 4th floor anyway…" She smiled and her eyes softened up when she noticed my intention.

When we arrived on the 5th floor, it was pretty easy to find where the event was being held.

"Are you kidding?" I couldn't help but mumble when I saw the number of people waiting in the queue. I also noticed that most of these people were lined up in pairs, to be more precise they looked like couples.

"You knew about it, right?" I asked her when I also noticed a sign saying 'Fortune-telling, couples only'

"Hehe, you can't blame me. I was really interested in it and wanted to try it. I wasn't sure if you would have accepted if you knew this detail" She smiled at me in a silly way and I could only shake my head upon seeing it.

"Aren't you worried about rumors? I know that you broke up with Hirata-kun just recently but if someone sees us here they might start spreading some nasty rumors about you" I asked her if she was sure about this.

"I wouldn't invite you in the first place if I minded some rumors but I appreciate your concern. If I am not afraid of any rumors then you should have nothing to be afraid too, right?" She said with a sly smile.

I hope she won't regret her words in the future… 2

We went to join the queue but we were called out by the woman who stood at the beginning of the queue, managing it.

"Hello, are you two here to get your fortune divined?" She asked us with a smile.

"Yes!" Kei excitedly answered.

The lady responsible for managing the queue just quickly looked at both of us before she gave us tickets. I guess they can't really limit this for couples only.

"See? No one will be able to tell that we aren't a real couple." Kei said while waving with the ticket right in front of my face.

"That wasn't really my concern, after all, they have no way how to confirm it. They can't actually force us to kiss in the public. What I am worried about is this long queue…" I answered while throwing an annoying look at the people in front of us.

"Come on, don't be like that. We can use this time to get to know each other even more…" She said with a comforting smile.

"Well, I have nothing against your idea but I think we already know each other quite a lot" I replied to her idea neutrally.

"Really? How is it possible that I don't even know what is your favorite meal or what you like to do in your spare time, huh?" She asked in a slightly angered voice.

I guess we actually know each other's personalities but we have no idea about such regular things.

"I guess that actually sounds like a good plan on how to spend time waiting in this infinite queue"

We started talking about regular and boring things but somehow I wasn't bored when I was talking with Kei.

The time flew by quickly and it was already our turn to go. It looked like each couple took around 10 minutes.

"Next person please" We heard the voice inviting us in behind the curtain.

When we entered, I already saw a sight I was expecting. Large wooden table with a crystal ball and thick book lying on it. Even the lighting inside looked 'poor' but I guess it was just to create a good atmosphere.

I couldn't help but smile at this sight, however, when I looked at the so-called fortune-teller, I frowned and took a small step closer to Kei.

The fortune-teller was actually an old woman with a hood so I couldn't see her expression, neither her eyes but I was feeling a weird aura coming from her.

The 'working' place definitely looks like what you would expect from 'fortune-telling', perfect to use for a person with an actual skill who doesn't want to be discovered.

These were my thoughts when I first saw that old woman.

"Oh? Please come forward, no need to be afraid" She looked straight into my eyes and was slightly surprised before telling us to come closer with a chuckle.

We stepped closer but I kept my guard on.

"Normally, I ask for the money first but you, boy, made me slightly interested so I will decide if I should charge you or not after we will be done." She said with a hollow laugh.

Kei looked confusedly at both of us but she didn't say anything.

"Hm? What have I done to deserve your interest?" I asked her with a polite smile.

"Come and lend me your hand, no, both of you come closer" She didn't answer me and completely ignored my question. She kept on observing my expression but I still had my polite smile on. She probably thought that I would get angry over such a small thing. But I guess normal teenagers would get upset after being totally ignored.

We both sat down in front of the fortune-teller and both of us put out our hand for her.

"What can you divine for us?" Kei asked with a curious expression.

"Work, love, whatever you want me to…" She quickly answered and started palm reading from both of us at the same time.

The old woman smirked when she saw how Kei's eyes shined for a little when she heard 'love'.

"You two aren't really a couple, right?" She let go of our hands and asked us with a smile.

Oh? Interesting… Did she guess it by our hand's temperature? Couples usually hold hands so their hands tend to be warmer but it's still quite a blind guess.

"What? Of course we are, right darling?" Kei slightly panicked but I stopped her. I had a feeling that she really knew but I wasn't sure what method she used.

"She already knows. If she wanted to throw us out she would have already done it." I reassured her and made her stop the act. Trying to make a fool out of this woman will only anger her.

"How?" Kei couldn't help but ask aloud with a confused expression.

Good question, Kei-chan.

"From him" She pointed her finger at me which surprised me.

"Don't underestimate old woman like me, I have a lot of experience. I would tell you the reason but it would be better if we could talk just face to face alone." She said and threw a quick glance at Kei.

I see…

"Alright, I appreciate your honesty and I don't really care about you not being a couple as of right now, after all, it won't take long before- ups, hehe." She stopped herself from finishing the sentence with a laugh but it made Kei even more curious.

"I will divine fortune for both of you for free, you can even choose whatever you want me to divine for you" She offered to do this for free

"It's not for free. You will gain something from doing this, right?" I coldly said. I didn't believe that she would do this for free for absolutely no reason.

"...You are right, boy. My biggest gain here will be divining fortune for you" She calmly explained without being bothered that I saw through her plan.

I would like to ask why but I have a feeling that she wouldn't answer.

"Then if you have nothing against it…The lady first, please"

She asked Kei for her name and asked her if she doesn't mind her being able to see her secrets and private things. She tensed up a bit but she still agreed.

"Then I would like to…" Kei wanted to choose but she kept looking on me.

"No need to tell me, I already know what you want" The old lady replied and started her 'work'

After only a few seconds…

"Hehe, I see…" The old lady said mysteriously with a light laugh.

"What is it?" Kei asked nervously.

"You don't have to worry, just follow your heart and you will get what you want" 4

I thought that her job was just to tell us if we will have any luck or misfortune with something but why is she giving Kei advice? Is this some kind of bonus?

After she was done with Kei, it was my turn, she asked for my name and also warned me. As for her warning that she can see some of my private things… I simply don't believe that she would be able to tell that I am not the original owner of this body.

"You won't ask me what I want to have divined?" I asked her with a confused expression since she didn't ask me what I want. But she was already too immersed in reading from my palm to answer me.

"Hm? You are really interesting, Felix boy" She said after what it seemed like 5 minutes. It took a much longer compared to Kei's turn.

I didn't answer her and only continued observing her so she decided to continue.

"If I didn't see you right in front of me, I would have thought that you are living misfortune itself"

"What does that exactly mean?" I asked since I no longer felt like I have any misfortune in life ever since possessing this body.

"When I tried to see anything, all I saw was you being shrouded in the black fog, in other words, misfortune. I have already divined fortune for a person who wanted to run away from great misfortune and also a person who accepted misfortune as part of his life. But you are still different from them."

"What do you mean?!" Kei almost shouted with a concerned expression.

"Heh, you don't have to worry. If he was one of those two cases then it could end up badly for him but fortunately, he isn't." She reassured her with a smirk when she saw her concerned expression.

"Then what does it exactly mean? Will he face any big difficulties in life?" Kei asked, with a pleading expression.

She is getting too immersed in this. But I must admit that the old lady definitely isn't a scammer. But I am not too surprised since I also knew that strange breathing technique that improved my stamina and could exceed human limits in body strength. It's not that surprising that someone can divine someone's fortune with a slight accuracy. 1

"Of course he will… But he is different from a person who already accepted misfortune as part of their life. That person might have accepted it but he is still suffering from it and enduring it deep inside. Felix boy here, he isn't enduring it, he is ignoring it. He no longer perceives the misfortune as misfortune. You are the first person I've met who actually decided to ignore their misfortune."

"Ignore the misfortune?" Kei mumbled with a thoughtful expression.

"Don't you even think that anyone can just ignore their misfortune. Misfortune isn't just slightly bad things happening in your life, great misfortune also involves loss of the loved ones. Therefore, a person who can have such a mindset must have suffered hardships unimaginable for us." She explained further with a serious expression and when Kei heard her words she sent me a sad look.

"...People with such misfortune tend to run away from it by ending it all" She added causing Kei to have frightened expression.

"Alright, let's stop with all this scary stuff. Don't you see what you are doing to Kei-chan?" I frowned at her and told her to stop this nonsense.

If what she said is the truth then it's possible that I don't feel any misfortune in my life just because I stopped perceiving it.

"Felix-kun, is it the truth?" Kei asked me with tears threatening to come out of her eyes.

"Not at all, I was orphan ever since I could remember, therefore I have never even seen my parents. I will explain everything later…" I honestly told her because I felt that my friendship with Kei was already on this level.

Her expression became shocked when she heard me but I stopped her from speaking anymore. She perhaps still remembers how I lied to her mom about my parents…I will explain it later to her…

"Well, I am sorry for scaring you but it simply shows that you won't succumb to any misfortune. I also want to inform you that inside that black fog I could see quite a strong shining light." She apologized and when she mentioned the light she glanced at Kei which didn't go unnoticed by me. 1

"I found this quite strange and so I thought…aren't you actually keeping that misfortune around you, yourself? As a form of defense? But this is only my just made-up theory…You can go back, thank you boy, for expanding my experience" She didn't require any payment from us and she also gave me her contact information if I ever need help with anything, I should contact her.

Keeping the misfortune around myself? If I could keep it around myself wouldn't that make me a God of Misfortune? I shook my head with a smile but I couldn't help but think about the words the old lady said.

Is Kei-chan actually my light? 16

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Chapter 53: #53 The old lady's advices

"Kei girl, can you stay for a minute?" The old lady asked when we were ready to leave.

"Huh? Me?" Kei pointed her finger at her own confused face and then she looked at me for advice.

She probably won't do anything bad to Kei… I thought and nodded at her before leaving the room.

The couple who were previously behind us were looking at me with confused expressions but they didn't say anything when they saw me waiting right in front of the curtain since they knew that there was still my 'partner' inside.

--(Right behind the curtain)--

"Do you need me for something else?" Kei asked nervously.

"Haha, don't be so nervous. I just want to discuss with you what I divined for you earlier. But you should come closer if you don't want anyone to hear us, just in case" The old lady said with an amused smile when she saw Kei behaving like that.

When Kei heard the reason she quickly came closer in fright that someone might hear their conversation.

"I thought that it would be better to talk about this without Felix boy around. I hope it was a good decision from my side." She said with a teasing smile.

"O-of course. But…how? How did you know what I wanted you to divine for me?" Kei asked with a confused expression.

" HAHAHA, Why do younglings think that we, old people know nothing about love? You know…I used to be like you, in love. Of course, I am going to recognize when someone is in love." She released hearty laugher before she had a nostalgic look on her face.

Hearing all her words, Kei couldn't help but blush even though she already knew that the old lady was aware of that fact.

But this also served to ease up Kei's nerves. She felt more comfortable around the old lady.

'Maybe this is a good chance but it's so embarrassing… BUT I can't miss this chance!' Kei thought and gritted her teeth.

"Senior, can you please give me advice?!" Kei said and sincerely bowed to the old lady with a completely red face.

"No need to do such a thing…" She waved her hand to make Kei stop bowing.

"I am also helping you because that Felix boy is a very interesting individual. He gives me a feeling of an extremely calm lake with a dangerous beast residing deep inside. It's really hard to believe that he is just a teenager."

"Does Senior mean that he is dangerous?" Kei asked with a doubtful expression.

'It seems that this girl really has absolute trust in him…' The old lady thought with a smile when she saw Kei's disbelieving expression.

"Yes, that's how I personally feel but I don't think that the beast inside him can wake up in any normal situation. It would need something in the form of a stimulant to be woken up." The old lady said while giving Kei a particular look.

"...A-are you saying that-" Kei also noticed her look so she asked just to be sure but she was immediately interrupted by her.

"When I saw his eyes when he walked in for the first time, I thought: 'What an extremely cold eyes'. He probably doesn't trust many people, however, whenever he looked at you, his eyes completely changed. I also noticed when you two first walked in, he moved a bit closer to you"

After hearing her words, Kei just placed her hand on her chest to feel her rapidly beating heart with a happy yet shy smile across her face.

"But don't become overly confident." The old lady said with a stern expression.

Hearing this, Kei immediately woke up and focused at the old lady once again.

"Before I tell you more. Tell me…how much do you love him? Do you really mean it? Would you be willing to marry him?" The old lady bombarded Kei with more and more questions.

"M-m-m-marry?!! I-I don't know…t-this is too much to answer right now." Kei was totally caught off guard when she heard such a question.

Kei calmed down a bit and started to recall all of her memories together with Felix. From their first meeting, how her mother was teasing her because of Felix, until today's scene in the changing room where they almost kissed.

She took a deep breath and started speaking with a genuine smile.

"I don't know about marriage but I can tell Senior, I think that I really love him" Kei blushed and said with her hand on her chest with closed eyes.

"You think? I guess this must be your first love… I will give you small advice. If you really mean it then he is your best choice!" The old lady said with an extremely serious expression.

Kei looked happy by her statement but she still appeared a bit confused.

"You want to know the reason why he is the best choice, don't you? I couldn't divine fortune for him but that doesn't mean I didn't see at least a bit of his true personality."

'True personality?' Kei thought.

"His mind has no tainted thoughts. He is the type of man who is extremely hard to fall in love and I won't lie to you, a lot of relationships are also built on lust, however, he is different if you understand what I meant by this. Of course, he is a normal human who feels such emotion as lust but his mind is rejecting to be controlled by it. If you can make him fall in love with you then you don't have to be afraid of him being unfaithful to you or him leaving you." The old lady explained to Kei, however when she was her nodding with a confident smile she was slightly surprised. 2

'It seems that she already has undeniable trust in him, that's why she wasn't surprised by all of this' The old lady thought with a warm smile while looking at Kei.

"You can go now…don't make him wait for too long" The old lady was shooing Kei away with a warm smile on her face.

"Senior wait! Don't you have any other advice on what I should do to make his heart mine? Please!" Kei once again bowed with a sincere expression.

"Stop it already! He already likes you, you can't force him to love you immediately so it will take some time but I can tell you that it will be worth the wait, just let it develop naturally don't make any forceful moves. Also, be careful of any potential rivals. These types of men tend to attract quite a lot of attention from girls." The old lady gave her last advice before saying for other people to come. 3

"Thank you for everything, Senior!" Kei quickly bowed and left the room.

'This girl…she bowed again sigh. I hope you will do better than me' The old lady thought with a nostalgic face while looking out of the window. 7

--(Right behind the curtain END)--

It took more than 5 minutes before Kei came out of the room, the other people were already looking at me with an angry expression and it was annoying me.

"What did you two talk about?" I couldn't help but ask her out of curiosity. But I had a hunch that it was about me. Why else would she wanted me to leave and talk with Kei all alone? But it could also be Kei's personal problems…who knows.

"Hehe, that's a secret! Will you walk me to the dorms?" She said with a playful smile.

Is she aware that our dorms are located in the same place? Does she actually want me to walk her to her room's door?

Whatever…

"Sure" I simply answered while slowly leaving and she quickly joined right beside me. Maybe even too close, our shoulders were practically touching each other.

When we were able to get through the crowded queue, we spotted two familiar faces.

Ayanokoji and Ibuki.

It seems that those two are also here because of the fortune-teller.

They also noticed our presence and looked at us with a slightly surprised expression.

"Hello…" I greeted them 1

"Good morning…" The only one who returned the greeting was Ayanokoji.

It seemed like Ibuki and Kei started their staring contest.

Maan, what an awkward situation plus it also has to be Ibuki of all the people…

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Chapter 54: #54 Miyabi Nagumo

"What are you two doing here?" Kei asked a pretty stupid question but I guess she just wanted to make this situation more uncomfortable for Ibuki who previously stole her underwear during the survival test.

"I could ask you the same question. Why should I answer you?" Ibuki immediately replied with a strong voice.

"And are you stupid or something? Asking someone what they are doing at the fortune-teller event?" Ibuki didn't even let her respond before attacking her with harsh words.

"Huh?! Perhaps you are stupid if you weren't even able to understand what I actually meant by that question." Kei didn't even spend a few seconds of thinking before commencing her counter attack.

I thought that Ibuki dislikes Horikita the most but I am starting to think that Kei is on her list on the same level.

Both I and Ayanokoji watched them arguing before looking at each other with hopeless expressions.

"Did you have your fortune divined already?" Ayanokoji asked me and when Ibuki heard his words she stopped her arguing with Kei and also focused her attention on me.

Is she so curious about fortune-telling? He probably said those words to stop them from starting a cat-fight here.

"Yeah, it was pretty good but quite expensive." I honestly said and when Kei heard me say expensive, she secretly gave me a look but she never said anything.

I don't see any reason for them to know the fact that we weren't required to pay plus it would only make the situation worse for the old lady rather than us. Although she is a self-employed person, it could incite the dissatisfaction of the people who came here and fairly paid for her service. I don't really care about her but since she did nothing bad to us, why should I make it harder for her if I can prevent it by saying fewer words? This way I will even warm my 'lovely' classmates that it's quite expensive…aah I am really kind person, ain't I?

I thought and snickered inwardly.

"How much?" Ayanokoji asked me with a slightly curious expression.

"At least 5.000″ Immediately after I answered, I could hear a hissing sound coming from him while checking something on his phone with a hesitating expression. I guess he was checking his balance of the private points. 1

"Come on, don't tell me you can't afford it!" Ibuki was the one who said this with an angry expression. I guess she really wants to try it.

" sigh I can…" Faced against Ibuki's angry expression, he was forced to tell her the truth.

We quickly said our goodbyes since there was still a long queue waiting for them to join in.

...

I noticed that on our way back to the dorms Kei had slightly confused expression as if she was thinking about something.

"Are you perhaps curious about why they were together?" I asked her and she jumped a bit after hearing my question.

"And you aren't? Why was Ayanokoji-kun from our class hanging out with Ibuki-san from Class C?" She said with a suspicious look.

She is starting to be more vigilant of everyone around and no longer plays it cool like before when she first came to this school.

"I don't think that Ayanokoji-kun would try to do something that would harm our class. They probably met there and were forced to go together since it is 'couples only'." I emphasized the words 'couples only' and gave her a particular look.

"Hehe, I am sorry for not telling you everything." She released an awkward laugh while scratching her head with innocent puppy eyes.

"However you weren't very honest with me and my mom neither…" She said with a serious expression but she didn't look a bit angry. I guess she thinks that I had my reasons.

" sigh I am sorry for lying, however, it's quite a long story…" I sincerely apologized for deceiving her.

"Hehe, I don't mind spending more time with you…" When she saw that I had no complicated expression, she insisted on hearing my story.

I quickly made up some story, after all, I couldn't tell her that I wasn't even born here…

Before I finished my made-up story, we were already walking around the soccer field. It seemed that the soccer club was currently practicing. 1

We decided to stop here for a bit and look at the students practicing.

If I remember correctly, Hirata should be part of the soccer club.

"I see…What about your guardians? Granma, aunt?" She asked with a sad expression when she listened to my story.

When I heard the word 'aunt', my expression became extremely cold and I couldn't help but grit my teeth while generating pressure on the railing, I was holding onto. The metal railing started making a weird sound and it actually slightly bent under the pressure.

"Felix-kun?!" When I heard Kei's voice, I was finally able to wake up.

I turned at her with a confused expression and saw that she had a concerned expression with moist eyes.

"I am sorry, I lost my posture" I apologized, this time I was really ashamed for losing it. 1

How can just image of that bitch make me lose my cool? She is beneath me, I don't need to care about that talking ant. 2

With those thoughts in mind, I quickly calmed down and returned to my usual self.

"Are you really feeling al-" Kei wanted to make sure if I was alright but she was interrupted by a distant loud voice shouting at us.

"Walker-kun, Karuizawa-san!" Both of us turned at the location of the soccer field and we saw Hirata waving to us with a smile.

"Let's go see what he wants." I said and Kei nodded and went first. I took a glance at the bent railing and quickly applied pressure from the opposite side to restore it to its original state. 1

...

We came closer to Hirata and greeted him and started talking, after a while, someone approached us.

"Oi, Hirata-kun. Are you slacking off?" The one who approached us was a student with blond hair and light blue eyes. It was apparent that he was joking but I could see that he was extremely arrogant.

"Oh, Nagumo-senpai. These two are my classmates, Felix Walker and Kei Karuizawa." Hirata introduced us to that guy who seemed to be our senior.

"Hm? Nice to meet you two. I am Miyabi Nagumo, the second year from Class A" Nagumo redirected his gaze at me and then at Kei. He stopped when his gaze rested on her and he gave her particular look before turning back to Hirata.

I don't like his eyes. I frowned and my eyes became sharper.

I already knew that he was planning to make some trouble.

"Hirata-kun, isn't that your ex? How come she already found someone else?" Nagumo asked in a low voice with a curious expression but everyone was able to hear his question. I also noticed the ugly smile under his curious expression.

"Umm…Not a while ago, they told me that they were together just because of the fortune-teller event." Hirata answered with quite an awkward expression. He knew that if this would spread, Kei would become the center of rumors.

"I see, so that's how it is, I see… Walker-kun, is it? How about helping us with our practice? We are currently missing 1 person and we don't want to play 10v10 game." Nagumo asked me with a 'friendly' smile but for me, it looked more like a taunting smile.

What's this guy's problem? I have never met him before.

Is it because of her? I thought and took a glance at my right side where Kei was standing.

"I am sorry senpai but I will have to kindly decline your offer. I have no experience with soccer, neither I have the right clothes on me to practice." I didn't want to pick up a fight with the guy I knew nothing about. But if he will really insist then I won't have much choice.

He looks too arrogant to be just a normal student so it will be better for me to play it safe.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about having no experience with it… you can just play defense and basic rules are really easy to understand. As for clothes, we have a lot of spare clothes for practice in the changing room. How about it?" Nagumo asked me with a smile.

I guess I should entertain him just this time. I will investigate him later but I have to be careful who to talk to…maybe this is the right time for me to contact Horikita-senpai once again.

" sigh Alright but don't expect much from me…" I said with a helpless smile.

I turned at Kei and said: "You can go back without me"

"I will wait and watch the practice game" She said with a resolute expression.

I guess she really wants to go back with me but this must be also what that guy wants. I don't know if he wants to humiliate me before her or if it's something else…

...

I quickly changed my clothes and joined them. To make it fair for me, I got into my team 2 best 1st years, Hirata and another guy from Class B.

"Hello, my name is So Shibata, let's have fun while we play. Just don't be nervous and everything will be alright." Shibata extended his hand for a handshake and reassured me with a friendly smile. I guess everyone from Class B is like that.

"Felix Walker, I will be in your care" I politely replied and accepted his handshake.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS

Felix9713 Felix9713

Guys, would you want me to add characters from Kuroko no Basket to this fan-fic and make MC join the basketball club? Just to spice it up but it wouldn't be anything serious, just light-hearted. My focus would still be mainly on CotE.

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Chapter 55: #55 Match…?

Although I said that I had no experience with soccer, I still played it a bit during my school days in my past life.

I quickly stretched myself and we were ready to start the practice game.

"I am sorry about this, Walker-kun" Hirata approached me and apologized with a guilty expression.

"It's not your fault, but since you think that you dragged me into this, let's win this match" I said jokingly with a confident smile.

"Of course! By the way, was what you said to Nagumo-senpai the truth? About having no experience with soccer." Hirata asked me with a suspicious yet friendly smile. 3

"Are you perhaps judging it from my physical appearance? Well, whatever, maybe I lied a bit hehe. But don't expect too much alright? I highly doubt that I am better than you." I laughed a bit after seeing his suspicious look.

"Since it's like that, how about you play Central Midfielder?" You will be able to quickly return to defense and it will also allow more teamwork between two of us since you will also be able to go more forward. Oh…do you know the positions?"

"I think I vaguely remember but I will quickly recall everything once the match starts. You are the striker, right?" I asked just to be sure.

"Yep and Shibata-kun is usually the striker too but that's because we are usually against each other. since we are on the same team now, he will be together with me playing offense so all 3 of us can make use of the good teamwork." Hirata said with an excited smile.

"Is everyone ready?" Nagumo asked all of us but it was more directed at me.

"Yes!" Everyone shouted in unison.

"Before we start, can you quickly tell me how strong our defense is?" I quickly asked Hirata before he could move to his position.

"Hmm, I think we have average defense while they have a much better defense than us but we have better offense so I would say it's pretty balanced. But be careful of Nagumo-senpai, considering your position, you will be mostly playing against him." He threw a quick glance at our team and explained.

"Ok, thanks" I thanked him and he nodded at me with a confident smile.

...

It was as Hirata said, the person who was always against me was Nagumo. Whether it was defense or offense, he was there to stop me and my job was exactly the same.

"You quite surprised me by playing the center." Nagumo said when I stopped him from advancing any further.

"I am a fast learner." I said with a confident smile.

"Good! You said that girl who is currently watching isn't your girlfriend, right?" I didn't like the way he emphasized the word 'your'. As if he was talking about her as a thing or some toy.

"What about it?" I asked with sharp eyes.

"Nothing much, I am just interested and I must know if there is any free flower waiting to be plucked." He said this while acting like he wanted to get past me. He was observing my expression.

"I see" To the opposite of his expectations, I threw him a calm mocking smile.

He was slightly surprised by my reaction.

Now! I tried to steal the ball from him, of course, I wasn't using my full speed.

"Tch!" He clicked his tongue and quickly passed the ball behind him, making me fail to steal the ball from him.

His teammates gave him a surprised look, they were distracted only for a few seconds but that still gave enough time for Shibata to steal the ball from them.

When Nagumo saw this he wanted to turn around at me so he can properly hinder me, unfortunately for him, I wasn't there because I was already a few meters behind him.

I used his blind angle when he was turning around so he didn't see me when I run past him.

"What?!" I was still able to hear his surprised voice behind me.

I threw a quick look behind me and saw him running after me. I sneered at him and focused on what was happening before me.

Although Hirata said that he was usually playing against Shibata, I couldn't help but commend their teamwork inwardly when I saw them almost in synchronization with each other.

But even if their teamwork was extremely good, the defense wasn't bad at all and hindering just 2 players wasn't hard task no matter how their teamwork was good.

Hirata had currently the ball but he was having a hard time keeping it since there were 2 guys trying to steal it from him. And passing it to Shibata was an even more impossible task than just breaking through alone.

"?! Walker-kun!" He shouted and passed the ball to me when he saw that I was all alone with just Nagumo a few meters behind me.

I was at most 30 meters away from the goalkeeper so I thought that it was good enough position so I kicked the ball but just when I was about to kick it, my expression changed to a bit worried one. I should have at least tried to kick the ball before the match started. I don't know how much I need to hold back my strength…

I thought while gritting my teeth but it was already too late for me to do anything so I just used barely half of my strength in my legs to kick it.

The ball flew extremely fast and hit the crossbar and got deflected high into the sky.

Maaan, what an embarrassing situation. I thought while looking at the rapidly rotating ball in the sky.

Hm? Is it coming back? I moved a bit forward so it won't hit me.

"Huh?" The goalkeeper barely had any time to react and when he looked at where the sound came from he didn't see the ball. He was looking all around himself with a confused expression to find the ball but in vain.

It was a sunny day so no one was able to find the ball high in the sky with the strong sun-rays bombarding the soccer pitch, well except for me. My eyes were somehow more resistant to it but if I stare for too long then I start to feel stinging pain.

Those who were able to register what exactly happened immediately protected their heads with their hands but Nagumo who just caught up to me didn't imitate them. But he was still surprised by my speed and strength of my legs.

"Where is the ball?" He asked with a slightly confused expression while looking around, he probably didn't see what happened and felt confused about what was everyone doing.

Just when he finished his sentence something hard hit his head, knocking him on his butt.

...Just…Don't…Laugh… 3

This was probably even harder then suppressing my killing intent while talking about my aunt and uncle. This is good training. If I can overcome this, I will be qualified to turn to a completely emotionless person.

"Ugh" He groaned in pain while clutching his head.

Well, I didn't want to make him my enemy without investigating him first but I guess misfortune is all around me…Pfft.

"Nagumo-senpai?!" Shibata ran to him and helped him to stand up.

Hirata came to me and looked at me with a surprised expression.

"Well…that was something else. What now?" He asked everyone around while looking at Nagumo who was being lead away from the field with Shibata's support.

"That must have hurt a lot, considering the time the ball took to fall down…" One guy muttered but everyone was able to hear it.

Everyone was looking at each other with confused expressions, having no idea what to do now.

Now we are back at 21 players…

"Well, I am an outsider so I should leave and let you at least play 10v10″ I said with an apologetic smile.

"Don't say that, we can somehow work it out" The senior from my team said that and Hirata nodded too.

"Even though I would like to play with you guys, I still have a job to walk someone 'home'" Soccer isn't really my favorite sport and if I don't have to be here, then I don't see any reason to remain.

When they heard my words, they redirected their gaze at Kei who was sitting on the bench the entire time.

When she saw so many people look at her at the same time she tilted her head to the side with a confused expression and slight blush.

Everyone except Hirata threw me a hateful look.

"I understand, do what you must!" The same senior patted me on my shoulder and said with a serious expression and tear coming out of his eye. 2

He is the same idiot as Ike…

"Hahaha" Hirata released helpless laugh while scratching back of his head when he saw his club member's behavior.

"I am going back, good luck with the practice. Can you also apologize to Nagumo-senpai for me?" I was getting ready to leave but I didn't forget to ask them to apologize, however, I doubt that it would change anything. I don't know that guy much but just a few minutes around him told me how arrogant he is and he probably won't take this humiliation silently.

"No problem here plus it wasn't really your fault."

Everyone waved to me and I went to the changing room to quickly change my clothes and return to Kei's side.

...

"Hehe, you did that on purpose, right?" She giggled.

"What? Why are you suspecting me? And how would I be able to calculate and predict all of that? You are accusing me of the crimes I never did." I had an impulse to defend my innocence.

"But you weren't sorry for what happened, right? You don't like that guy." She said with confidence in her voice.

I was slightly surprised by this…She knows me better than I thought.

"Maybe…" I gave her a half-assed reply.

...

When we were going through the park, I spotted an interesting person sitting on the bench but since I was with Kei now, I decided to first walk her to the dorms before coming back to join that person.

Hopefully, she will still be here when I return.

"See you tomorrow?" Kei asked me when we arrived at our destination.

"Well, I don't have anything to do but you should consider studying for a bit." I mercilessly told her right to her face.

"Hey! I am smart I just need a bit of time to catch up to people like Hirata. I will have much more points on the exams than you in a few weeks, just watch me!" She stuck out her tongue at me before turning around and running up the stairs.

I chuckled at her behavior.

Now, let's make a small stop at my room so I can leave there the things I bought today and then I can return to the park.

...

When I returned to the park I noticed that person still sitting there.

I approached that person and casually sat down right next to her.

"What a fine afternoon, wouldn't you say, teach?"

"Hm? Oh, it's you, Walker" She didn't even notice me sit next to her until I talked to her.

"Is something bothering you? Perhaps it's someone?"

"Please don't be like Chie…And when have we started talking to each other like friends? Even if I am not your teacher right now, I am still older than you." She said with a strict expression. 1

Come on, I am even older than you so stop lecturing me. How much I would like to say it aloud but I guess no one would believe me.

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" She asked me while drinking her coffee.

"I noticed an interesting person sitting here and I couldn't help but approach." I answered with a smile.

"Hm? How am I interesting?" She asked me with a dull expression.

"Well, you are a beautiful teacher, how are you not interesting?" I grinned when I said this.

"If you are looking for a beautiful teacher to talk to, you could just go to Chie who is usually more friendly due to her being constantly drunk." She frowned but she still blushed a bit which made her only cuter.

"And that's exactly what I like about you, teach. Your professional attitude." I honestly admitted with a genuine smile.

She glanced at me with a surprised expression.

sigh She sighed and took out a cigarette from her pocket.

"You shouldn't do this, teach. Don't you remember the last time we were together and you tried to smoke? Don't you remember my warning?" I said with a wide smile across my face.

"You know, I can report you and expel you for smoking." She tried to intimidate me but I noticed a small smile on her face.

"You can't, it would be you who would lose the job. They are your cigarettes after all." I replied with a confident smile.

"You took it right from my hand. I didn't give it to you." She was referring to our last meeting on the cruise ship.

"Heh, but you never said anything, neither you resisted. If I were to suddenly kiss you and you wouldn't resist, would you consider it as sexual assault?" I said with a playful grin.

"What?!" She exclaimed in surprise with her cheeks fully red.

I guess it's enough of teasing for today…

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you if I can still join the club."

"Hm? You actually want to join the club right now? It wouldn't be impossible if you can get my and coach's approval of the mentioned club. What kind of club piqued your interest? She asked me with a curious expression.

" I still don't know if I will join but I am considering the basketball club. But if I decide to join it seems that I only need to get a coach's approval, right?" I asked her with a confident smile.

When she heard my words, especially the part how I only need the coach's permission, she frowned.

"... sigh I guess I wouldn't make it harder for you but you still need to show a good performance to gain the coach's approval."

Now the question is whether I should join or not. I guess I will ask Sudo for more information. He already participated in a few tournaments and practice matches against the other schools.