two false genius

by vamer

ok

The two false geniuses (Cote x oc)
Zero

Published: 2022
Source: https/

Info before starting

In this story, there will be an oc but Ayanokoji will also be part of the story. They will be the two protagonists even if in the end, the oc will have more screen time. The character will look like me but not 100%. Ayanokoji will look a bit like the one in my other fanfic but it will also look a bit like the one in Ln. (A mix of both if you want.)

I think I said everything. So, here is the introduction of the character.

Character introduction:

Name: Nozera Zero

Age: 16

Birthday: March 23

Likes: listening to music (really a lot, so much so that he always has his earphones with him), reading, video games, horror movies, being alone sometimes, having fun

Dislikes: bully, morning, annoying people, boredom, studying

Personality: calm, half-emotional, thinker, rational, does what his conscience tells him, sometimes likes to tease, curious, realists, mature, friendly to his friends, sometimes manipulative, a bit crazy sometimes,depending on the situation can be cruel or cold

Appearance:

he will have the face like this and the hair color. (I'm talking about the one below)

And finally, he will have dark green eyes.

That's it, now let's start his story.And to begin, here is a little monologue.

Monologue

I would like to ask you something. I imagine that it must be equal to you or that you have never asked yourself these questions but...I would like to have your honesty on this.

Have you ever asked yourself what the meaning of your existence was? What does your life mean to you? Do you even know what the meaning of life is?

I have been asking myself these questions for quite some time and I have not been able to find an answer that would suit me. You might think that I am one of those famous people who turn out to be very thoughtful about the questions towards humanity but I am not. I ask myself these questions because I am lost. I am lost on why I was born. Why was I actually born? Is there really a reason for this? Am I supposed to accomplish something? Does my life really have a meaning?

As I search for answers to these questions, it increases the number of questions. It's a more or less vicious cycle that keeps on going. I continue to wander in this world looking for answers to satisfy my thirst for curiosity.

You may wonder why I put myself through all this instead of just enjoying life without thinking about it? Because I can't get past it. Not knowing the meaning of my life, I can't fully enjoy life and fully understand the being I am. These emotions, these desires, these thoughts... everything that forms the human being. If I could know the meaning of my life and the meaning of life, I could surely understand an even deeper step of what really characterizes a human being and maybe really understand what it means to be happy.

The beginning of my high school life

Zero POV

It's the first of April.

I'm actually on the bus to my school. To pass the time, I was listening to music. If I can say something about myself then it would be that I really like listening to music. There are many reasons for this but if I had to name a few then, the music allows me to relax and to feel emotions. Maybe some people don't know it but music has a more powerful force than you might think. In any case, it has a special effect on me.

https/youtu.be/pOKTwXyp_l4

It's been a while since I got on this bus so I hope it won't take us long to get to our destination

because I'm getting a little bored. To pass the time, I started to observe the surroundings. I could see young people wearing the same uniform as me. I continued my observation until I stopped at a guy with brown hair and golden eyes. He also had a blank face.

I looked at the person next to him and it was a girl with black hair. She was really beautiful but had an expressionless face or rather I would say an icy face. I had to say that it gave her a certain charm.

I turned my gaze to look out the window. Sigh...I hope we get there soon.

--

I was looking at the landscape but was disturbed by an argument between two people.

"Excuse me, but shouldn't you offer up your seat?"

A young, well-built blond man of high school age had sit down in one of the priority seats. The elderly woman stood right next to him, and another woman stood beside her. This second, younger lady appeared to be an office worker.

???:"Hey, you there. Can't you see that this elderly is having trouble" the office lady said.

She seemed to want the young man to offer up his seat. Her voice carried quite well throughout the quiet bus, attracting several people's attention.

???: "That's a really crazy question, lady" the boy said.

I wondered whether was angry, unobservant, or just painfully honest. In any case, he grinned broadly and crossed his legs.

???: "Why should i offer up my seat? There's no reason for me to do so."

Seriously, you can't agree?

Please tell me there is someone who is willing to give up their seat.

...

What a bunch of egotistical people!

I say that but I'm the same way. I looked again at the two who were in the other seat on the other side. This time the guy looked at me with his poker face.

As we looked at each other, I could feel that we shared the same opinion.

We didn't want to give up our seats.

Anyway, I'm not going to keep thinking that. I put my music back on and turned up the volume.

Their quarrel went on for a while until one person decided to give up his seat. And into the argument stepped a young girl with short hair who helped to settle the situation. Without even hearing her, I could see that she exuded a kindness that was hard to resist.

Some time later, we finally arrived at our destination and all the high school students began to disembark.

As i got off the bus, i saw a gate formed from natural rock waiting just ahead. all the young boys and girls dressed in school uniforms were passing through this gate.

The japanese government had created the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School with the express purpose of developing future leaders. This would be my school from now on.

I was about to head for the entrance when I heard a voice calling near me.

???: "Wait"

I turned around to see if I was the one calling. But it wasn't me who was called but the guy from earlier at the bus and it was the girl who was next to him on the bus who called him. Since I was near them, I could hear their conversation.

???: "You were looking at me. Why?" she asked.

???: "I was looking at your book. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.

???: "Really? You were looking at me intensely, so what was the real reason?"

???: "Okay. I guess I can't escape your question. I just thought you were beautiful, that's all."

???: "What?"

He goes straight there. The girl blushed at his answer. She was cute blushing at that.

???: "Why are you telling me this."

???: "I was just answering your question. But don't get me wrong, I didn't fall in love with you or anything. I was stating a fact by looking."

"But I did!"

I wasn't originally planning to intrude on their conversation, not even that I was thinking of doing this honestly, because it's not my personality at all. But I could see that this girl was starting to be irritating so I decided to give him a helping hand and then, why not tease her a little. They turned their attention to me.

"I've seen you before on the bus but looking at you again and again you, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met. Would you like to go out with me and make me happy forever?"

I'm not going to lie that I'm a little disgusted with myself for acting like this. It was a little embarrassing.

???: "H-huh? What? What are you talking about? You...you..."

She blushed. Good, because now I can finish this.

"Pfft..."

I started to pretend to laugh.

???: "?"

She showed a confused look.

"Hahahahaha...you should have seen your face. It was all red. I have to say it was cute too." For the record, I wasn't lying. I found her cute when she blushed. "Oh and also, happy April Fools."

Today was the first of April and so, also the famous April fool's day. Right after I said that, I felt a murderous intent. The girl quickly pulled an object out of her bag and prepared to stab me with it. I dodged her blow without much difficulty.

Wait. Is that a compass she's holding? Does she want to kill me or what?

"Wow, wow, calm down. I was just kidding."I think the situation has taken a different turn than I thought.

???: Oh yeah? me too.

liar!

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that, okay?"

???: You're sorry? Well you see I want to laugh too so let me just stab you up a hundred times.

What the hell is this first day of school that just started?

"Well okay I shouldn't have, but you have to admit it was funny, right? Even he thought it was funny."I tried to calm the situation somewhat and I turned my attention to the guy with us.

???: I agree with him on that one. It was pretty funny to see.

...

???: I guess now it's 100 shots each.

Oops...I got him into trouble.

She attacked me again but I dodged again. After that, I quickly walked over to him and said.

"How about we get out of here?"

He nodded in agreement. We ran towards the entrance and escaped several dozen meters from her. After we got inside, we started to walk, but at a fast pace so she wouldn't catch us.

"I'm sorry I caused that. I didn't think she would react like that."

???: "That's okay. It was even funny to see."

"Ahaha right? Oh and by the way, my name is Nozera Zero. Nice to meet you...hmm."

Ayanokoji: "Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. That's my name."

"Then it's nice to meet you Ayanokoji."

Ayanokoji: "Likewise, Nozera."

Classroom

Zero POV

I disliked the entrance cerenomy and imagined that many first-year students probably felt the same. The principal and the students exchanged excessive words of gratitude, there was far too much time spent standing in lines, and, with so many irritating things to deal with, it all felt like a huge pain in the butt. But those weren't my only complaints.

The entrance ceremonies for elementary school, junior high, and high school all mean the same thing: the start of another major trial for children. In order for students to enjoy their time at school, they must make friends, and there are only few key days after the entrance ceremony to properly do that. Failure to do so signals the beginning of a rather tragic three years.

I was walking to my classroom when I saw a familiar person, and he noticed me too.

"Hey Ayanokoji. Looks like we're in the same class."

Ayanokoji: "Yeah, it sure looks like it."

We walked to our classroom and looked for our seats. Coincidentally we were next to each other. He was at the back on the window side and I was right in front of him.

As looked around, we saw that the room was already halfway filled with students.

"Do you want to go and meet the others?"I proposed to him

Ayanokoji: "I'm not social enough to do that. I was just planning to maybe go meet just one person."

"Don't worry, I'm the same, but sometimes you have to outdo yourself. And since we're the same, we can support each other and go together" I said.

"Well, I don't want to force you to do it if you don't want to."

Ayanokoji: "No it's ok, you convinced me."

"Okay good, so let's go." I said.

Even though we just met, we got along pretty well. It's true that we both have a face with little expression even though I'm only 50% like that. Following his agreement, we started to talk with the others.

We decided to meet just a few people because we would have time later if we wanted to talk to others. We met 3 girls named Mori Nene, Inogashira Kokoro, Matsushita Chiaki. And then with 2 guys called, Miyake Akito, Yukimura Teruhiko. Besides this last one didn't seem to be enthusiastic to talk with the others.

We returned to our place and decided to discuss to pass the time but heard a sigh near us.

???: "*Sigh* you again."

We turned around to see who it was and it was a pleasant surprise. It was the black-haired girl on the bus. What a funny coincidence.

"It seems that fate doesn't want to let go of us, does it?"

Ayanokoji: "I guess so."

???: "Do you really believe in fate? I would say it's pure bad luck.

"You can interpret it as you want but humans are fragile beings and remain powerless in front of things that are beyond them. I'm not saying that fate necessarily exists or even a supreme being that people would call a god would exist too. But you must have seen that in the world, there are things that happen and you ask yourself sometimes, is there really something that plays with us? I also think that luck plays a role in this, but sometimes you don't think that maybe it was decided this way?" I paused for a few seconds and then continued.

"Anyway, whether fate exists or not doesn't mean that it can't be diverted. On the other hand, those who absolutely believe that something exists without having seen it, are idiots in my opinion. You have the right to believe in what you want, but to believe 100% without having seen it with your own eyes means that you are not able to make your own judgement based on the existing facts and therefore there is no logic behind it that would approve your opinion.

I finished and looked at the two. She looked surprised by what I said and Ayanokoji remained Ayanokoji. I think I spoke too much.

"Sorry if I lost you with what I said. I was just saying what I thought."

Ayanokoji: "No don't worry. I found your point of view interesting."

???: "Yeah, I must say it was pretty full of interesting things to say. It looks like you are not an idiot" she said.

Nice of you to say that about me but I don't care.

"By the way, we don't know your name. My name is Nozera Zero, nice to meet you. And this is Ayanokoji Kiyotaka."I said and then introduced Ayanokoji

Ayanokoji: "Nice to meet you."

???: "Do you mind if i refuse?" she asked.

Is she still mad at us for before?

"Why not? this the second time that we've spoken. We're in the same class, so if we don't know your name, it might be uncomfortable."

"I disagree."

Shooting me a glance, she placed her bag on her desk. Apparently, she's not going to tell us her name. I looked at Ayanokoji who did the same and we shared the same opinion.

If she takes it like that...

"Say ayanokoji, do you have an idea of a name for our dear black-haired classmate?"

Ayanokoji: "I think about seatmate-chan and you?"

"Hmm...not bad but it suits you better since you're sitting next to each other. I'm thinking, I'm thinking...I know" A light bulb appeared above my head.

"Since she came out before her compass, why not call her compass-chan"

???: Are you kidding me?

"What do you think Ayanokoji?"

Ayanokoji: "I like it."

???: "Hey!"

"Okay then your name will be compass-chan."

???: Are you really serious?

"Nice to meet you again compass-chan."

Ayanokoji: "Likewise."

???: You really think I'm going to accept this?

""/Ayanokoji: "Yes" we said at the same time.

???: Oh yes? And why is that?

"Otherwise we'll tell the others and you'll be called compass-chan for the rest of your high school life." I said. From her point of view, it was a threat from me.

...

Horikita: "Horikita Suzune. That's my name."

"Well, it wasn't difficult."

Horikita: "Shut up."

"Oh and by the way Horikita, you didn't have to say your name. We could know your name by looking at your nameplate."Indeed, you could know the name of who you wanted just by looking at her nameplate but she didn't know it so she fell into my trap.

Horikita: "Just fuck off."

She doesn't go easy on the insults from what I can see.

"Ugh! My heart! Why do you have to say such terrible words! Look what you did, now Ayanokoji is crying!" I said. Ayanokoji tried to clean up the fake tears.

Horikita: "I swear that one day I will kill both of you.

""/Ayanokoji: "Impossible." we said.

Horikita: "Grrrrrrrr" she growled like a rabid animal.

I really have to say that teasing her was really fun.

After a few minutes, the first bell rang. At that precise moment, a woman entered the classroom. When I first saw her, my initial impression was that she firmly believed in discipline. If I had to guess, I would have placed her age at mid-twenty. She wore a suit and had delicate features. Her hair seemed long, and she'd tied it into a ponytail.

"Ahem. Good morning to you, students. I'm the instructor for Class D.My name is Chiyabashira Sae. I usually teach Japanese history. However, at this school, we do not change classrooms for each grade. For the next three years, I will be acting as your homeroom teacher, so I hope to get to know all of you. It's a pleasure to meet you. The entrance ceremony will be in the gymnasium one hour from now, but first, I will distribute written materials with information about this school's special rules. I will also hand out the admissions guide."

The students in the front seats passed back the familiar documents I'd received after being accepted.

This school differed from the multitude of other Japanese high schools in a few key ways. Here, all students were required to live in dormitories located on school premises. Also, except for special cases, such as studying abroad, students were forbidden to contact anyone outside the school. Even contact with your immediate family was forbidden without authorization. Naturally, leaving school grounds without permission was also strictly forbidden. However, the campus also came equipped with many excellent facilities. With its own karaoke spot, theater, café, boutique, and more, you could easily compare this school to a small city. The campus spread over more than 600,000 square meters.

This school boasted another unique feature: the S System.

"I will now hand out your student ID cards. By using your card, you can access any of the facilities on campus, purchase goods from the store, and so on. It acts like a credit card. However, it is imperative that you pay attention to the points that you spend. At this school, you can use your points to buy anything. Anything located on the school premises is available for purchase." Our points, loaded onto our student ID cards, acted as a kind of currency. The lack of paper money would prevent many students' financial troubles. However, students needed to keep a watchful eye on their spending habits. At any rate, the school provided these points free of charge.

"Your student cards can be used simply by swiping them through the machine scanner. The method is simple, so you shouldn't get confused. Points are automatically deposited into your account on the first of every month. You should all have received 100,000 points already. Keep in mind that one point is worth one yen. No further explanation should be necessary."

The classroom erupted.

In other words, we had received a 100,000-yen monthly allowance from the school upon admission. I'd expect nothing less from a massive institution run by the Japanese government. 100,000 yen is a rather large sum of money for a high schooler.

"Shocked by the amount of points you've been given? This school evaluates its students' talents. Everyone here has passed the entrance examination, which itself speaks to your value and potential. The amount you've received reflects the evaluation of your worth. You can use your points without restraint. After graduation, however, all of your points return to the school. Because it's impossible to exchange your points for cash, there's no advantage to saving them. Once points have been deposited into your account, it's up to you how to spend them. Do as you like. In the event that you don't want to spend your points, you may transfer them to someone else. However, extorting money from your peers is not allowed. This school monitors bullying very carefully."

As bewilderment spread among the students, Chiyabashira-sensei looked over the room.

Did the others notice? I turned around to see Horikita and Ayanokoji's reaction. Horikita seemed surprised by the information given and Ayanokoji still had his poker face on. Well, since I'm curious, I'll go ask.

"Well, it appears no one has any questions. I hope that you enjoy your time here as students." She said and headed for the door to leave.

She was getting ready to leave the room but I raised my hand. "I have a question, Chabashira-sensei" I said.

The sound of her heels stopped dead in her tracks and she turned to look in my direction. She narrowed her beautiful eyes at me.

Chabashira-sensei: "Nozera Zero, right? I'm listening to you. What is your question?"

"How many points will we get in the next month?" Chabashira-sensei's eyes widened after I said that.

...

Before she answered, a laugh broke out.

???: "Hahahaha...are you stupid or what? She said that we will receive 100'000 points every month. You have to learn to listen my guy...hahahaha."

I waited for him to finish laughing before continuing. The atmosphere had become awkward.

"Are you done? Because if you are, please stop wasting time."

???: "Huh? Me wasting time? you're the one wasting time with your stupid question."

"There's nothing stupid about my question. Now shut up and listen carefully." I say the last part with a cold voice.

He stopped talking in fear. The class was now silent. I looked at Chabashira-sensei again as a sign that she could resume.

Chabashira-sensei: To answer you, Nozera. I can't answer your question.

Can't answer my question, huh?

"Then may I know why?"I tried to dig deeper.

Chabashira-sensei: "It is beyond my authority to answer."

"Exceeds your authority to answer? From school?"

Chabashira-sensei: "Yes."

"So this is a rule that the school imposes. So, would it be possible for this rule to be involved throughout our lives as high school students or will we be able to find out at some point?"

Chabashira-sensei: "I can't answer that either."

"I see. Thanks anyway for answering."

This confirms what I thought. This school is not a normal school. Things were starting to get interesting. I felt that we were not likely to get bored.

Presentation

Zero POV

After answering my questions, Chabashira-sensei left the classroom with one last message, "Be careful". Once the teacher was gone, the newly rich students began to grow restless.

???: "Hey, hey! Do you want to check out a store with me on our way back? Let's do some shopping!" one girl cried.

???: "Sure. With this much, we can buy anything. I'm so glad I got into this school!" another said.

Seriously? Even after the conversation with Chabashira-sensei, they don't question that something is wrong with this school.

Anyway, let's not waste time thinking about them. Let's summarize the information I have. Besides, I could have gone further in my questions but no need to rush. I could always ask Chabashira-sensei later for more information.

First, I asked her, how many points will we receive next month? She said that she could not answer. This means that either she knows but she can't tell because of the authority of the school or she doesn't know but she can't disclose information about how our points will be decided. But one thing is for sure.

We will not receive 100'000 points. At least not for free like this for our first month.

Besides this idiot and most probably the others just stayed focused on the fact that we would receive our points at the beginning of the month but she never said that it would be 100'000 points. I don't even understand how it's possible to miss that, you just have to pay attention. Anyway, let's move on to how they would decide how many points we get.

Hmm...I remember her saying that we would be judged by our value. That our points mean the worth we deserve.I don't know if the other classes got 100,000 points too, but let's assume they did. If by our behavior and results we provide is the way to decide our value then...that means they will watch us. But just with the teacher would not be enough to track everything that happens in and out of class.

So that would mean that...

I raised my head and looked around the classroom. I didn't notice anything until I came across what I was looking for.

So I was right...

This time I looked at my classmates.

It looks like they didn't notice it. It's going to be funny when they find out.

Should I tell them? Nah. I don't care what happens to them, but it would bother me a little if it affected me because the whole class would be affected. So maybe I should just give them hints. Besides, did Ayanokoji really not notice anything?

I turned to look at him. As usual he has this poker face so I can't really tell what he's thinking but to me he's thinking too. Should I tell him or does he know it too?

???: "Everyone, can you please listen to me for a moment?"

A student with the air of an upstanding young man quickly raised his hand. His hair wasn't dyed. He looked like an honors student. Based on his appearance, I got the impression he wasn't a delinquent.

???: "Starting today, we're all going to be classmates. Therefore, I think it'd be good for us to introduce ourselves and become friends as soon as possible. We still have some time until the entrance ceremony. What do you say?"

He'd just done something incredible. The majority of students were lost in thought, unable to speak up.

???: "Agreed! After all, we still don't know a thing about each other, not even our names," someone shouted.

After the ice had broken, the previously hesitant students began tospeak.

Hirata: "My name's Hirata Yousuke. Back in junior high, lots of people called me Yousuke. Feel free to use my first name! I guess my hobby is sports in general, but I especially like soccer. I'm planning on playing soccer here, too. Nice to meet you!"

This guy is sure to be popular.

Several minutes later...

a/n: this is not the same order as in Ln.

Well, we've got a different set of people. A shy one, one who likes to brag about false things, one who wants a girlfriend, one who has the attitude of a delinquent for not wanting to introduce himself and one who likes to talk about himself, in short a narcissist.

Now the next one is...hmm?

???: "Well then, I'm next, aren't I?"

She was the same girl who'd helped out the elderly woman on the bus that morning.

Kushida: "My name is Kushida Kikyou. None of my friends from junior high made it to this school, so I'm alone here. I'd like to get to know all of your names and faces right away and become friends as soon as possible!"

While most of the students had only said a few words of introduction, Kushida continued to talk.

Kushida: "My first goal is to become friends with everyone. So, after we're finished with introductions, I'd love for you to share your contact information with me!"

Want to be friends with everyone? Something is wrong.

First of all, there are most likely people she would not want to be friends with. Secondly, not that I don't want to believe in the existence of someone who is purely kind and non-judgmental with others, but to say it like that and to show it so clearly seems to me to be wrong. Now, listening to her, I have the impression that it is forced. I'm not someone who can totally see through people but I can still see if something sounds forced. I've spent a lot of time in my life observing people and their emotions so I can see if it's a mask.

Anyway, I could be wrong but I should be careful with her. It's probably best to avoid contact.

Hirata: "Well then, time for the next person. Can you please introduce yourself?"

Well, who's next...

???: "Huh?"

Huh? Ayanokoji?

Clack!

The chair rattled as he stood.

"Um. Well, my name is Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. And, uh, I don't really have any special skills or anything. I'll do my best to get along with all of you. It's, uh, nice to meet you."

Oh no...he completely missed in his introduction.

He told me that he wasn't really comfortable but that he had prepared his introduction in advance. I guess he was in his thoughts and didn't notice that his turn was coming so in a panic he said everything wrong.

Hirata answered him nicely for his introduction and the others applauded but as if out of pity.Honestly, I feel pity too.

Aahh...I can't let this go. Since we get along well and I think we can say we're friends so...

"Wait!"

All: "?"

"Let him do his introduction again. I do think he was caught off guard so he couldn't present himself well."

Random girl: "Huh! He's already had his turn. Besides, there's no reason why he can't present himself properly later on."

Hirata: "Relax. I think we can let him do it again."

Random Girl 2: "But Hirata, there's only a few minutes left before the entrance ceremony and not everyone has passed."

Hirata: "Ah...well...we could..."

"I'll let my turn."

All: "Huh?"

"Anyway, we're just wasting our time talking about nothing. I'll pass on introducing myself" I said and turned back to Ayanokoji. I nodded to him that he could do it again.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds and then opened them again.

"Well, my name is Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. I like reading, playing chess and playing piano. I'm not especially into sports but I'm a bit faster than average. I'll do my best to get along with all of you. Nice to meet you."

Following this, the others were surprised that his presentation was really good. In addition to correcting himself, he said in a tone that was less monotonous. He must have made a better overall impression. Good for him.

The presentations followed and the time came to go to the entrance ceremony. I was the only one who couldn't introduce myself. Surely the others must be wondering why in quotes I had to sacrifice myself to let him do it again.

I already said one reason above but another reason would be that it is what I wanted to do. I just do what I want to do. And besides, I don't mind not being able to introduce myself.

/

Even though people said this place was tough, the entrance ceremony was the same as any other school's. Some important people offered words of thanks, and the ceremony concluded without incident. Then, it was noon. After we received some general information about the campus, the crowd dispersed.

A large portion of the students headed for the dorms. The rest quickly formed groups. Some headed to cafes, while the loudest went to karaoke. The hubbub and agitation quickly subsided.

i decided to go for a little walk. while i was thinking about everything and anything with music in my ears, i heard a voice calling me.

???: "Nozera."

I turned around to see that it was Ayanokoji.

"Hey Ayanokoji. Is there something you want to talk to me about?"

Ayanokoji: "Yes, you already know what it is.

"Is this about the presentations before?"

Ayanokoji: "Yeah. I wanted to thank you and tell you that you really didn't need to do that."

"Don't worry about it. I just did what I wanted to do and I have no regrets. Anyway, it's only a presentation so don't stay on it. "

Ayanokoji: "I see. What are you going to do now?"

"Go for a little walk. What about you?"

Ayanokoji: "I was going to go to the convenience store. Do you want to come with me?"

"Hmm...that counts as a short walk so okay."

/

We went to the convenience store. We ran into Horikita who was not happy to see us. He also happened to notice a new information related to what the school is hiding. And finally, Ayanokoji went to help a guy named Sudo. Sudo almost went to fight with some senpais, but during their quarrel, the senpais said some intriguing things.

At the moment, we are heading to Ayanokoji's room. He invited me to eat together to thank me again. I didn't really have a reason to refuse so I accepted.

Ayanokoji POV

We arrived at my place. I told Nozera to make himself comfortable while I finished preparing dinner.

He lay down in my bed.

Sigh...I think he is getting a little too comfortable.

About twenty minutes later...

"It's ready."

Nozera: "Okay."

We sat down and started to eat.

Nozera: It's really good!

"Thank you."

/

We finished eating. Now he wants to talk to me about something.Nozera: "Ayanokoji, what do you think about ANHS?"

"What I think?"

Nozera: "Hmm."

"This school doesn't seem as strict as I thought but with your questions from before, it seems that this school is not as simple as we think." I said.

Nozera: "Ayanokoji."

He said my name with a serious look.

Nozera: "I'll be direct. You already knew something was wrong without me even asking, didn't you?"

...

I told myself that he was not a simple person, but here he was suspicious that I knew something was wrong too. I could keep denying it but I think he'll find out sooner or later so I think I might as well tell the truth.

"Yes, I realized it too. How did you know?"

Nozera: " In reality, I wasn't sure if you knew."

"You weren't sure?"

Nozera: "After the information given, I looked at you. It's hard to know what you're thinking with your poker face but for me, you were too calm. So I thought maybe you knew."

I was reckless...

He wasn't sure but he got the information out of me because I fell into his trap. Even though we became friends, I don't know anything about him. I have to be on my guard. He is not like the others...

I think he's also pretty much an abnormal existence like me.

Nozera: "Do you mind telling me what you found out?"

"No it's okay."

But for now, let's stay on good terms with him. He can surely be useful to me, maybe even an ally...

/

I told him what I thought about the school.

Nozera: "We have almost the same findings. And if you add the free items and the fact that the senpais from before told us that we would soon be in hell because we are in class D."

"Yeah. "

Nozera: "There's still some grey area but yeah."

""/Nozera: "Our class will fall into the despair of the reality of this school."

"Are you going to tell our class?"

Nozera: "Well...basically, their fate doesn't concern me but it sure as hell is going to impact all of us. I'm not going to tell them directly but I'll pass on some clues and if they can't find it then we can definitely dismiss them as possible allies. I imagine that on your side, you intend to stay in the shadows?"

"Hmm."

Nozera: "I see."

"Can I ask you a question?"

Nozera: "Yes."

"You always have your earphones on. Do you like to listen to music a lot?"

Nozera: "Yeah, you have no idea. I listen to music for many reasons but one of the main reasons is that it makes me feel more alive."

"Make you feel more alive?"

Nozera: "Yeah, it's a little hard to explain. I'll tell you another time if you want."

"Okay."

Nozera: "Well, I think I'll go. But before I go, do you want to hear some music I'm listening to?"

"I'm curious actually so if you want."

Nozera: "Okay, I'll think of something for you to listen to."

...

Nozera: "Ah...I don't know, I listen to a lot of music. At least listen to this one. It's an old opening of a popular show."

https/youtu.be/fAMYgISKYXM

"It's a good music but I'd like to know why you like it?"

Nozera: "I like music that gives me goosebumps in the emotions it brings.And I like this one too because one of the lines in the music reminds me of something that happened with me."

"Something that happened? which one?"

Nozera: "That' s for you to find out. It wouldn't be fun if I gave you the answer directly."

"You're not nice."

Nozera: "Haha I know. Oh yeah, before I forget, let's exchange contacts. That way, I'll send you the music if you want to listen to it or others."

We exchanged contacts and then he left. I went to my bed.

I had fun with his company, I must say. But...

what he told me about something happening with him, intrigued me. What exactly did he mean and what happened?

Zero POV

I was heading to my room.

Surely, Ayanokoji must have wondered why I said that something happened with me and what part of the music was about that.

We'll see if he can figure out my intentions. But anyway, the line in question is...

Yami ga mou hitori no jibun wo tsukuru.

It means...

the darkness created anotherpart of mypersonality in me.

Club fair

Zero POV

Second day of school.

The morning classes ended and lunchtime arrived. I wondered where I was going to eat something. While I was thinking, I heard Ayanokoji calling me.

Ayanokoji: "Nozera. Do you want to go eat with me at the cafeteria?"

"Okay, I'll go."

We proceeded to go but were stopped by a voice. It was Hirata's voice.

Hirata: "Wait!"

"Hmm? A problem, Hirata?"

Hirata: "Not at all, but I wanted to see if you wanted to eat with us." He said and behind him with his Harem.

His group consisted of Karuizawa, Matsushita, Sato, Mori, Onedera and Mei-yu wang.

Honestly, I feel sorry for him. It must be really annoying to be surrounded by girls all the time and so that's why he mainly asks if we want to join him. You can pretend that it doesn't bother you with your bright smile but it's obvious that he would also like to spend time with the guys. Unfortunately for him, since he has become the popular guy with the girls, the boys avoid him.

"I don't mind but for Ayanokoji I don't know and the real question, do they mind?" I said, referring to the girls.

Hirata: "It's ok, they agree."

Karuizawa: "We agree so hurry up and decide. Besides, you are lucky to be able to eat with us since you are loners. Be grateful. "

Karuizawa huh? I already want to hit her. But let's respect gender equality in the meantime.

Hirata: "Karuizawa, don't be rough with them."

Karuizawa: "Hmph."

Sigh...I already regret my decision.

Hirata: "And you, Ayanokoji-kun?"

Ayanokoji: "Okay, I accept."

Hirata: "Okay then, we can go."

/

We went to the cafeteria and chose our food. While we were eating, Mei-yu wang asked me a question.

Mei-yu wang: "Um...what is your name? We don't know your name since you didn't introduce yourself."

"Nozera Zero."

Mei-yu wang: "I thought it was cool what you did yesterday for Ayanokoji-kun, Nozera-kun."

Hirata: "I agree with Mii-chan, it was really nice of you. I want to thank you for that, Nozera-kun."

"I just did what I wanted to do."

Karuizawa: "I still don't understand why you did that? You had no reason to do it. Without being mean, it was Ayanokoji's fault for failing to present. Why did you let your introduction to the class go by for him?"

"Not to be mean either, but I didn't ask for your opinion."

Karuizawa: "Hah? I'm asking nicely why to help a gloomy guy like him? Who do you think you are to talk to me like that? "

"Nozera Zero."

Matsushita: "Pfff."

Karuizawa: "I'm dreaming or you're laughing"

Matsushita: "No, I'm not."

Karuizawa: "Then why do you have your hand in front of your mouth?"

Matsushita: "Because a piece of food fell down so I swallowed it."

Karuizawa: "If you say so...but let's get back to the subject" she said looking at me again.

Karuizawa: "Actually, you did that to make yourself look good, right? A loner like you probably wants to be popular but you can't do it like Hirata so you thought that helping Ayanokoji by sacrificing your introduction would make you look like a good guy, right?"

Hirata: "Karuizawa."

Karuizawa: "I'm right, aren't I?"

I didn't answer. I continued to eat without even glancing at her. A long silence that lasted about a minute was stopped.

Karuizawa: "Don't ignore me!"

Again I did not answer anything.

Karuizawa: "STOP IGNORING ME" she shouted. She really has a problem this girl. Now, her shouting attracted the attention of everyone in the cafeteria.

Hirata: "Karuizawa, calm down. No need to go and shout at him."

Karuizawa: "But he ignores me!"

Hirata: "I also think that you should not be so rough on him. He helped because he wanted to, so let him."

Karuizawa: "But why are you on his side?!"

Hirata: "I'm not on his side. I'm just saying that there's no need to get angry. Let's eat and talk in peace, okay?"

Karuizawa: "Okay" she said but she glared at me.

Sato: "Nozera-kun, since you couldn't do your presentation yesterday, you could do it now right? We don't know much about you except your name."

She's not wrong and I don't really have a reason to refuse. I stood up.

"My name is Nozera Zero. I like to listen to music and read. Nice to meet you." I said with a small smile at the end. The girls blushed a little.

Karuizawa: "You know that's not much for a presentation?"

Again I ignored her. I could see a look of anger towards me from her.

Hirata: "Nozera-kun, I think you should make peace with her too.

Karuizawa: "Yeah, listen to Hirata!"

Make peace, huh?

"Wait a second Hirata."

Hirata: "?"

I slapped my ear with my hand several times. The others looked at me strangely, not understanding why I was doing this.

"Sorry, I had a buzzing in my ear, that's why I wasn't answering, but now it's gone."

Mori: "Buzzing? "

"Yeah, it was like a fly busting your balls you know."

As a result of what I said, Matsushita spit out his drink. The others were holding back like crazy not to laugh but it failed. They laughed for a good ten seconds.

I looked at Ayanokoji. His expression didn't change, but he gave me a look that said.

'Good job, buddy.'

I answered him with a eye contact.

'Thanks man.'

I came back to the girls and they had stopped laughing. Karuizawa gave a murderous look at me.

"As you said Hirata, I also think we should make peace. Here's a message from me for that."

They looked at me curiously at what I was going to say.

"Zzzzzzzzzz."

Again the girls started to laugh but with tears of laughter. Ayanokoji was still Ayanokoji, but he let out a chuckle. And then Hirata is...

huh? Hirata had both hands over his mouth. He was trying to keep himself from laughing.

I looked at Karuizawa who was muttering words. She took a knife and stood up.

Karuizawa: "I'm going to kill you" she said but Hirata went behind her and grabbed both her arms.

Hirata: "Calm down, Karuizawa!"

Karuizawa: "Haaaah! let me go!"

Well, I think I'll go. I had enough fun with her.

"Well, I'll go."

Sato: "Huh? Already? "

"Yeah. Thanks for the invitation anyway."

Sato: "Okay...so you don't mind if we invite you next time."

Matsushita: "You were very funny, Nozera-kun."

Mori: Yeah, on top of that you're handsome, right girls?

All girls: "Yeah."

"It makes me pleased if I made you laugh. And then to answer you Sato, not all the time but yes it does not bother me to go hang out with you."

Sato: "Great" she says with a little blush.

I got up to leave and saw Ayanokoji doing the same.

"Ayanokoji, you can stay with them."

Ayanokoji: "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it." I said and then left where they were.

I know he originally wanted to hang out with me so that's why he wanted to follow me but it's better if he stays with them. That way he can get to know the others and try to integrate with them. He knows that's why I did it so he didn't insist.

As I walked to class, I heard music played through the speakers.

"At five PM Japan Standard Time today, we will be holding a student club fair in Gymnasium No. 1. Students interested in joining a club, please gather in Gymnasium No. 1. I repeat, at-"

A girl with a sweet voice continued the announcement. Club activities, huh? I don't think I'd join one, but why not check it out.

/

The day's classes ended. Well, let's check out this club fair. That's what I thought I was doing before I was interrupted by Hirata as I was one step away from leaving the classroom.

Hirata: "Nozera-kun, me and the others are going to go see the fair club. Do you want to come with us?"

I was thinking of going there alone but I changed my mind.

"Okay I'm coming. Who will be there?"

Hirata: "The same as at lunch." He said. I could see that Ayanokoji was coming too.

Hirata: "If everything is okay, then we can go."

"Wait."

Hirata: "Hmm? Is there a problem?"

"No, but do you mind if I invite someone else?"

Hirata: "No, it's okay with me. I don't think the others will say no."

"Okay then just wait 30 seconds." I said and called the person concerned.

"Horikita." My voice went through the class and I drew attention to myself and to her.

Horikita: "Huh?" She was confused as to why I called her out loud.

"We're going to go see the club fair. Would you like to join us?"

Horikita: "No thanks."

"I see...Horikita."

Horikita: "What else?" She says with an irritated tone.

"Come or else I'll tell the others."

This time it was not a request but an order. She can still refuse but there will be consequences.

Hirata: "Wait Nozera-kun, you shouldn't force-"

Horikita: "Okay, I'm going." She says while packing her things.

"Then it's settled. We can go, Hirata."

Hirata: "But-"

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad. It's just that her pride will be hurt if she doesn't come. And besides, I'm doing it for her own good."

I didn't need to explain any further. Hirata understood why I was doing this and I could tell by his expression.

Hirata: "Okay then let's go."

/

After the day's classes ended, the others and I went to the gym. Almost all the students gathered there were freshmen. There were about 100 people waiting. We stood in the back of the room and waited for the fair to start. While we waited, we took a look at the flyer that students received when they entered the gym. The flyer contained detailed information about the clubs' activities.

While waiting for it to start, Hirata and the others went to talk with other people from other classes. That left me, Ayanokoji, Sato and Horikita. While we were waiting, Sato started a discussion with me.

Sato: "Nozera-kun, do you know which club you want to join?"

"No I don't. I'm not even sure if I will join a club yet."

Sato: "Oh I see." she said and turned to Ayanokoji.

Sato: "What about you, Ayanokoji-kun?"

Ayanokoji: "The same. Do you already know which club you want to join, Sato?"

Sato: "Honestly, I'm the same as you guys. I think I'd rather spend time with my friends than go to a club...but I'm not criticizing those who want to go, I mean it can be cool to be in a club, I think."

She wasn't wrong in what she said. If you were to go to a club then it would take time away from you and your free time. Some people put their heart and soul into their clubs and some people just put in the minimum because to them it's just a club. No one is right or wrong in this, everyone is free to do what they want and how much effort they put in.

Sato: "And you, Horikita-san? Do you have any idea which club you want to join?" she asked but Horikita didn't even look at her.

Horikita: "No, I'm not interested in joining a club."

Sato: "I see..."

"Horikita, why are you cold towards her? She didn't do anything to you, did she?"

Horikita: "I answered her no? And what does it matter to you?"

"Sigh...you won't get far with that attitude."

Horikita: "Hah? Do you want to provoke me or what?"

"Horikita, I know that I've upset you because I brought you with us, but I did it for you."

Horikita: "Did it for me? What did you do for me? No, why are you even doing it for me?" she says with a growing anger.

Sato: "Nozera-kun, it's okay." she said to calm down the situation but I continued.

"Because you won't get far on your own. You'll need friends and especially to change your mind."

Horikita: "Who are you to tell me what to do?" she said and I moved closer to her, enough to speak to her that only her ear could hear.

"Someone far superior to you."

Horikita: "Huh?"

"And I'm not the only one, by the way. Horikita I'm not saying that you have to change your person but your thinking. I can understand if you were acting like that because you don't like someone but as far as I know, she didn't do anything to you so be a little less cold towards her you want."

Horikita looked me in the eye after that. She was not happy with what I said but she didn't answer anything and then a few seconds later she answered.

Horikita: "Very well, but I don't do it because you are right. I'm doing it because I realize that I went a little too far, that's all."

"If you say so." I said and Horikita went to Sato.

Horikita: "Sato-san, I apologize for before" she said looking at her.

Sato: "It's okay, Horikita-san."

Horikita: "I see."

Sato: "Say, say Horikita-san, do you..." Sato asked Horikita several questions to get to know her better. Of course, Horikita was not happy about that, as she gave me a glare but I answered her with a thumbs up and a little smirk.

The others joined us at that moment. Ah, it looks like it's starting.

Tachibana-senpai: "Thank you all for waiting, first-year students. We will now begin the club fair. A representative from each club will explain their function. My name is Tachibana, the student council secretary and the club fair's organizer. It's nice to meet you all."

After Tachibana delivered the opening remarks, representatives from each club quickly lined up on a stage. It was quite a diverse crowd. The club representatives included everything from burly athletes in judo uniforms to students dressed in beautiful kimonos.

As each representative of each club passed by, Ayanokoji came up to me to talk to me.

Ayanokoji: "I've been listening from afar, but it looks like you want to change Horikita, right?

I noticed that he was listening to our discussion.

"To be honest, I would like her to change because she is a pain in the ass with her attitude that everyone is a burden to her and she feels superior. You wish she would change too, right?"

Ayanokoji: "...you can say that."

"I see" I said and turned my gaze to Horikita.

"Hmm?" Why did she look tense? Her face was really pale and her gaze was directed at the stage.

I tried to see what was bothering her but I couldn't figure it out.

The last representative finished his passage and then all the representatives left the stage and went to their area. That was the case except for one person who stayed. By the way, he hasn't passed yet. Turning back to Horikita, I could see that this person was the cause of his tense look.

He was slender, with sleek black hair. He wore sharp glasses and had a piercing, calculating gaze. Standing in front of the microphone, he calmly looked around at the first-year students. What was his club, and what in the world was he going to say? My interest had been piqued.

Hmm? He said nothing. Did he forget what he was supposed to say? Or maybe he was too nervous to speak? But his face said the exact opposite. Maybe he was good at hiding his nervousness?

...no...it's not that, he...haha...looks like there are some really big people here.

???: "Do your best!"

???: "Did you forget to bring your notecards?"

???: "Ha ha ha ha ha!"

The first-year students hurled comments at him. However, the upperclassman stood on the stage calmly, without trembling. The laughter and comments didn't seem to faze him. When the laughter had reached a crescendo, it suddenly died. He wore an apathetic expression.

Idiots...He is not ordinary like you.

"What's with this guy?" remarked an astonished student. The gymnasium buzzed with people talking, yet the boy on the stage still did not move. He simply stood there, quiet and motionless, staring fixedly at the crowd. Horikita stared back at the student with an intense gaze, not breaking her line of sight even for a second.

This atmosphere really makes me want to yawn. I haven't really slept enough so if this continues...

The relaxed atmosphere gradually changed, and things took an unexpected turn. It was as if some chemical reaction had taken place. An unbelievably tense, quiet mood gripped the entire gymnasium. Even though no orders had been given, the silence was so terrible that it seemed to have gagged everyone. Not a single student looked able to open his or her mouth. The silence continued for about thirty seconds...

damn, start your speech!

Then, the student started his speech, slowly scanning the crowd.

Horikita-senpai: "I'm the student council president. My name is Horikita Manabu," he said.

Horikita-senpai: "The student council is looking to recruit potential candidates-"

"Yawn..." sorry, but if you speak with a soft voice too, it makes me want to yawn even more. I finished yawning and went back to listening, but I didn't hear any more noise.

Huh? I opened my eyes to see that everyone was staring at me. I looked at Ayanokoji, who gave me a message through eye contact and said,

'You screwed up...'

Ah...my yawn was stronger than I thought. I felt the tension I had created. Well, let's say sorry.

"Um, sorry about the yawn. I didn't get enough sleep. You can pick up where you left off." I said to the president, looking at him. But before he could say anything, I heard the girl from before named Tachibana yelling at me.

Tachibana-senpai: "Kouhai! Who do you think you are yawning like that while the president is talking! Do you understand the concept of respect when someone speaks?!"

"Yes and it was not meant to be. I already apologized so we can move on, right?"

That's what I thought but I was wrong...

Tachibana-senpai: "Do you really think that just saying sorry is going to apologize for your behavior? "

Yes. Because I don't think I insulted him or anything.

Tachibana-senpai: "I'm telling you right now that you're not going to get away with it."

"So, what else do you want me to do besides saying sorry?"

Tachibana-senpai: "You're going to go on the stage and apologize to the president. Ah and bend down too while you apologize."

...

"Hehe..."

Tachibana-senpai: "Hey! Stop standing there and go-"

"Hahahahahaha" I cut her off and burst out laughing.

Tachibana-senpai: "What are you laughing like that for? You're really a little brat without any manners or even respect! You're going to apologize now and stop wasting everyone's time, you want!"

"Hahahaha..." I finished laughing but didn't move.

Tachibana-senpai: "President, say something! He refuses to go and apologize to you!"

" Tachibana-senpai" I said but my voice was cold.

Tachibana-senpai: "Huh?" she said surprised by my voice.

" If I don't do what you say...then what are you going to do?"

Tachibana-senpai: "I-I...I." she couldn't speak. In addition to the change in my voice, my eyes were also changed and looked at her.

Horikita-senpai: "Enough!" He said in a voice that carried through the whole gym. I looked at him to see what he would say.

Horikita-senpai: "I apologize for her behavior."

Tachibana-senpai: "P-president?"

Horikita-senpai: "Enough, Tachibana. He already apologized so there's no need to go any further."

Tachibana-senpai: "But-"

Horikita-senpai: "Tachibana," he said with his sharp eyes.

Tachibana-senpai: "Yes."

Horikita-senpai put his attention back to the first year and restarted his speech.

Horikita-senpai: "The student council is looking to recruit potential candidates among the first-year students to replace the graduating third years. Although no special qualifications are required for candidacy, we humbly ask that those considering application not be involved in other club activities. We generally do not accept students involved elsewhere."

Horikita-senpai: "Furthermore, we in the student council do not wish to appoint anyone who possesses a naive outlook. Not only would such a person not be elected, he or she would sully the sanctity of this school. It is the student council's right and duty to enforce and amend the rules, but the school expects more than that. We gladly welcome those of you who understand this."

He didn't pause even once during his eloquent speech. Immediatelyafter finishing, he hopped off the stage and left the gymnasium.

Tachibana-senpai: "Thank you all for coming. The club fair has ended. We will now open the reception area to anyone interested in signing up. Also, registration will be open until the end of April, so if any student wishes to join at a later date, we ask that you please bring the application form directly to the club you wish to join" she said and left the stage. She glared at me but I glared back. She got scared and left the gymnasium.

...I'll go. I'm tired and I don't think there's anything worth staying for.Besides, seeing that people keep staring at me because of the scene before makes me uncomfortable. I started to leave but was stopped by Horikita who stood in front of me.

"What?"

Horikita: "Do you realize how you were acting before? Go and apologize while there is still time."

"Sigh...Horikita, are you going to be a pain in the ass after Tachibana-senpai too?" I said but Horikita seemed irritated by that.

Horikita: "Go and apologize!" she said in a more threatening tone.

"Why?"

Horikita: "Huh? What do you mean why?"

"Why should I?"

Horikita: "Because you cut him off during his speech. Even if you didn't do it on purpose, you have to go apologize."

"I already did."

Horikita: "Because you think that kind of apology is enough? And besides, you didn't seem that sorry."

"Horikita, I already apologized and that was more than enough. And just because I didn't show it on my face doesn't mean I wasn't sorry."

Horikita: "But even-"

"Horikita" I cut her off. "I can understand that you want us to respect your brother, but I think he's old enough to make up his own mind about that." Horikita's eyes widened at that.

Horikita: "Y-you know?"

"Who wouldn't be able to make the connection. The same last name and your focus on him, made it clear that you were related in some way, but the most logical one is that you are siblings."

Horikita: "..." she remained silent. It looks like there is something going on between them but anyway, I'm not going to go investigate to find out.

"He said I already apologized so that means he accepted my apology. If he didn't then he would have said. Sigh...you really do take it too personally when it comes from him." I said and left where she was.

Hirata: "Nozera-kun! Wait!" I thought I could leave quietly, but it looks like it's not going to happen.

Hirata: "Hirata, you also want to tell me that I should go apologize to the president again?"

Hirata: "No, just that...know if you were leaving already?"

"Yeah."

Hirata: "I see." he said and Sato intervened in the discussion with the others behind her.

Sato: "Nozera-kun that was amazing!"

"Huh?"

Sato: "When you were against Tachibana-senpai, you didn't back down and you were firm in your words. You were so sexy!"

"Huh?"

All: "Huh?"

Sato: "H-huh?" Sato realized what she said and blushed a little. "...Hehe" but she laughed anyway.

Matsushita: "Maya, I didn't think you were that bold" she said to tease her.

Sato: "Hehe...you talk but you thought the same."

Matsushita: "Huh? What? Not at all." she retorted with a blush.

They seemed to get along very well. I looked behind them to see Karuizawa glaring at me. Sigh...it looks like she's still mad at me but she asked for it.

Hirata: "You don't plan to join a club then?" he said and continued the discussion with me.

"Yeah, I'm not interested in any club and I'd rather have some time to myself."

Hirata: "I see...but Nozera-kun, don't you think you might have gone too far? I'm not saying you weren't right but...you were scary."

I don't think they saw my face since I was turning around when I was talking to Tachibana-senpai but just my voice was scary for them. not for Sato anyway, maybe also Matsushita.

"Maybe you are right. I have a little trouble with annoying people. Anyway, I'll go."

Hirata: "Nozera-kun, I didn't want to tell you anything-"

"Don't worry, I know. "I said, slapping his shoulder with a smile and headed for the exit. "Well, see you later," I told them and with a wave of my hand.

Sato: "See you later!"

Matsushita: "See you later, Nozera-kun."

The other girls: "See you later."

Karuizawa: "Hmph!"

Hirata: "See you later, Nozera-kun." he said with his smile and waved his hand. Last thing I saw before leaving the gymnasium.

...

I still have to say that it wasn't such a bad day after all.

"*Smile*" I wonder what is in store for me in the future? I continued to walk but I stopped and then turned around.

"I thought you forgot to say goodbye but it looks like you have something to say to me first, Ayanokoji."

Ayanokoji: "..."

"If you don't have anything to say to me then I'll g-."

Ayanokoji: "Who are you?" He said.

...

None of us moved an inch. We looked at each other as the wind blew over us.

Somewhere else at school:

Horikita Manabu POV

"..."

it was not the look of a normal student. The way he didn't let Tachibana walk over him...

He wasn't afraid of her or of me. In reality, it was us who were afraid. And it wasn't just him who was reacting in an abnormal way. The guy next to him with his expressionless face.

"*Smirk*" it looks like this year's freshmen will be far from ordinary.

/

Somewhere else on campus:

??? POV

wind*

Beautiful sunset with the wind blowing on me.

???: "Say, you know what?"

???: "What?"

Hmm? I heard two people talking not far from me.

???: "Something happened during the club fair."

???: " Tell me what happened. "

???: "Apparently, a freshman yawned during the president's speech."

???: "Seriously?"

???: "Yeah, and that's not all. Tachibana would have reprimanded him for that but he would have said that he wasn't going to apologize in the way she wanted since he had already apologized."

???: "And what happened next?"

???: "That would have enraged Tachibana but he shut her up with his words. Apparently, he was scary. Like he didn't care that there was the president there."

???: "Wow, he's got guts."

???: "I'd say more like he's crazy. Oh and by the way..." the two of them walked away from the place.

...

I lost my interest with this school and people for months now. I thought it would continue for this year as well,

But...

"*Smirk* Looks like it probably won't."

- PROLOGUE END -

a/n: Prologue completed. I will now focus on my other fanfic. I don't know if I'll continue to write this one but here it is for now, it will be on break.I do not know in which direction it will go but it is possible that it completely changes atmosphere and that it is not any closer at all to the Ln.

I would like all the same that if possible, you give your opinion of what you thought of it. You can say whatever you want if it was good or it was crap. I would like to have your opinions to see if I will continue this fanfic. Because yes, I wrote it for fun but if you liked it then it would make me want to continue it even more but if it didn't then maybe I wouldn't continue it. Anyway, I'll see.

Well, I'll be honest, I may change my mind at any time and refocus on this one. Because even though I did it for fun, I have so far enjoyed writing the prologue to this fanfic.

Bye.

SS - Nozera Zero: The reason for my existence?

I was born into this world seemingly out of nothingness. My consciousness awakened out of nowhere and is here now. Am I born just to die? Is life meaningless? Are these emotions, is this heartbeat, is this pain, this drive for life, freedom, love! Is it all for me to just die? For me to be erased into that nothingness I was before I was born?

Is this really the meaning of life? Is there even a real meaning?

Really, what is the meaning of my existence?

...

At first, I didn't think about this kind of thing. I was just living a life of a living being who was living his life but...

that was until I learned about the reality that incorporated the world. I learned that the world was much more complicated than it seemed. I didn't hate anyone, I was just living my life and discovering the thousand and one things it had. I thought at that time that everyone had the right to happiness, that we should live together in harmony.

But I was naive.

The world was much more cruel than I could have imagined, especially human beings. I suffered a lot and knew despair because of other people. I came to a point where I asked myself, "Was it really the meaning of my existence to know this? Wasn't it better to end my life? To finally end this suffering, to be able to really rest, to have this peace.

That's what I was going to do but I couldn't bring myself to do it, because I wasn't able to end my life. To put it simply, I was afraid to die.

Pathetic, isn't it?

I wanted to end this suffering but I was not able to do it. And then there was another reason why I didn't want to die. As time went by, I started to ask myself some questions. I wanted to know the meaning of my existence and of life itself.

In fact, it became my reason to live. Searching for the answers to my questions.

Apart from that, I also continued to live because I still wanted to know and learn what life could offer. I continued on my quest as time went by. Gradually, the number of questions increased, but it didn't matter because I was a curious person, but...

I started to lose my emotions more and more. Because of my different experiences, I was losing more and more what it meant to be human. I did my best to try to lose the less emotions but it was quite complicated. If I had to compare myself to the old me then...

the difference is huge. At the same time, it wasn't strange at all for someone to change as they grew up. It was what every human in their life would have to go through...

Change. Some would not change but it was a stage of life that could not be avoided. One day or the other, we will experience this change. I became stronger with this change but I lost something in return. Despite this, I continued to live my life.

And then, one day, I died. I was no longer afraid of death but I hoped that I would live a little longer to answer my questions but it seems that life decided otherwise.

Or so I thought.

I don't know why or how but I was reincarnated in another world. At the beginning, it had surprised me but I quickly adapted to my new life. Of course, a few things happened before I got there but that's another story for another time.

Now I am living my life as a student at ANHS. I wonder what is in store for me in the future?

I was really curious about that,

you too, right?

SS - Ayanokoji Kiyotaka : His wish

Ayanokoji POV

Nozera Zero.

After the president's speech was over, I saw him say goodbye to the others and leave the gymnasium. He drew attention to himself by yawning during the president's speech. But, something stood out to me.

When he answered Tachibana-senpai, I knew right away that he looked like me.

That darkness he has...

The question I asked myself directly, who is he?

Because I don't remember to have seen him in the withroom and then, it's too fast. I mean, that man couldn't have prepared to send someone from the room so quickly. Matsuo made sure to be as discreet as possible to send me here.

Speaking of that, how is Matsuo doing? Matsuo was the butler this man decided to send me. He's the one who suggested and helped me get here.

I imagine he is still fine but as soon as that man finds out about his betrayal then...

Sigh...He told me he was prepared for that but I'm not sure that man will punish just him. He's going to go after everyone he cares about, like the person he cares most about, his son Eichiro.

Matsuo, I can't thank you enough for everything you've done so far. You have treated me as if I were your son and given me what I wanted most.

Freedom.

But, are you sure it was worth it for someone like me? I'm a horrible human being who only wants to win. I only think of others as tools to achieve victory. By the way Matsuo, you were also a tool to help me get what I want but...

Why do I feel a sense of discomfort?

Is that what sadness is? Am I sad about what will happen to Matsuo?

I don't know. Apart from emotions, I don't even know what it means to be human.

...

Matsuo, I'm sorry but I can not help you to what will happen to you. I hope you can hide, but I don't think you can get away from him. All I can do is respect your wishes.

Live a high school life. To have friends, to have a girlfriend, to learn joy and happiness.

I would do anything to be able to enjoy these three years that you have given me.

Once again Matsuo, thank you.

Now back to my present goal, I was going to find out who Nozera Zero really is. To know if he was an enemy or not. After he left the gym, I went to join him.

I found him walking, probably on his way home? Hearing me coming, he turned around and asked me what I wanted. I didn't answer and he thought about leaving but I said the following words.

"Who are you?"

Who are you?

Ayanokoji POV

"Who am I? What do you mean by that, Ayanokoji?" Nozera said to me with confusion on her face.

"Exactly what it means. I ask again, who are you really?" He is not an ordinary person, what happened before proves it. I need to know if he is an enemy or not. Besides, he really intrigues me.

"Hmm...listen, I'm Nozera Zero. You already know that. I don't know what you're looking for but I don't know what else to say. He answered me still pretending not to know what I wanted to learn.

"Sigh...then let it go." If he didn't want to tell me then there was no point in continuing to insist. After saying that, I started to walk past him to the dormitory.

"Ayanokoji." After passing him, he said my name.

"What?" I turned to stare at him.

"Can I ask you a question too?" He asked me. Very cheeky of him when he didn't answer my question. But well, maybe he'll answer me if I answer his question. Let's give it a try.

"Go ahead. If it's within my capabilities then I'll answer." Obviously, if he asks a question I don't want to answer then I won't answer. After all I don't know if I can trust him.

"All right then..." He looked at the scenery before staring back into my eyes. "Don't you remember me?"

Huh? Don't you remember me? Does he know me? Does that mean I know him too?

"I don't think I've ever seen you before but why do you ask?" I replied. I wasn't expecting that question. What was he getting at? He started to look at the landscape again.

"Because, you may not know it, but we share something in common."

Something in common?

"What's that?" The mood had changed. I could sense that what he wanted to tell me was something serious.

"To be precise, it's a place. A place you know well."

A place? Don't tell me...

"A place known by the name of the whiteroom." He says straight to my eyes with no apparent expression.

"!" I had this theory in my head. I was prepared for it to be possible, but this sentence was enough to crack my composure. In reality, I didn't want it to happen, because it would change the whole plan for my 3 years of freedom. I couldn't help but wonder how this man could find out so quickly that I was there and what I should do now?If he's here to bring me back then I'll fight him if I have to, even eliminate him if necessary but we are in a school so I can't do anything or I'll get caught. The only thing I can think of is this theory I have with this school. So by some means or another, I had to exp-

"Hello earth, Ayanokoji are you still there?" That was enough to take me out of my thoughts. He was standing in front of me waving his hand. "I guess it must have surprised you to hear that and you must have been thinking about a lot of things at the same time, but I wish you would listen to me a little first. I have more to tell you."

"What else do you have to say to me?" Something surprised me, and it was his attitude. He didn't seem to want to hurt me or anything against me.

"So already, I know you have this thought in your mind but I'm telling you right now, I'm not an enemy." He tells me.

"You are not an enemy? So I'm to understand that you're not here to take me back to the whiteroom?"

"Yes. I escaped from that place just like you I guess?"

"I see. Indeed, I escaped too." I said, looking at the landscape in front of me before looking him in the eye, "But how do I know you're not really an enemy? You could very well be telling me all this right now to make me let my guard down."

"Indeed, you are not wrong. But, you know that if you were right then I wouldn't have said that to you."

"That's not enough reason to trust you." I replied.

"Just come to what I wanted to tell you more. With this you should more or less believe me and trust me a little." He said to me with the same expression since the beginning. "But it is better to continue the discussion in a place out of sight. Who knows if anyone would hear what we are talking about." He said while checking the surroundings. For the time being, I agreed with him. I prefer to continue this discussion somewhere else.

"If you don't mind, let's go to my place? Or your place, if you prefer." He offered. Honestly, it didn't really make a difference if it was his place or mine. Yes, someone in my position would say that it would be dangerous to go to his place, but I don't think he had anything planned or anything. Besides, we're in this school so I don't think he's going to try anything risky.

"We can go to your place, I don't mind."

"Okay then. Let's get going without delay." He says as he takes the lead for me to follow him.

/

We arrived at his place. On the way, we didn't meet anyone, so there was little chance that anyone would know our location. It was a good and bad thing. It was unlikely that anyone would spy on what was going to be said, but it also meant that if he did something like kidnap me then no one would know. But of course, unless there was a big operation planned, I didn't really have much reason to worry because I couldn't see him doing it without getting caught.

"Make yourself at home." He said as he opened his door. I went inside and looked around. Just like me, there wasn't much in his house.

"You want something to drink?" He asked me as he closed the door behind him.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

"Okay." he said and headed to his bed. "Haaa...it feels good to be on his bed, right Ayanokoji?" He said lying on his bed.

If you could avoid going to enjoy other people's beds then yes, it would feel good. Nozera, I didn't forget that you were squatting my bed when we went to my place.

"Yes, I agree."

...

Silence reigned for a few minutes.

I was about to say something but Nozera did it first.

"Ayanokji. What I'm about to tell you is my past. It will help you to know more about me and why I am here.

His past, huh? I was curious, I had to say. But first, I wanted to ask him something.

"Okay but I want to ask you something first."

"What?"

"You knew who I was from the beginning, didn't you?"

"You mean since the bus?"

"Yes."

"...Well, yes. As soon as I got on and saw you, you reminded me of someone. After a few minutes, I remembered you. I had to say I was surprised to see you here. Your father would never have sent you here without a good reason, but I rather thought that you escaped and come here because of a special reason. A special reason that this school offers."

"Because this school does not allow outside contact."

"Bingo. That's what made me say why you came here." He replied.

"Besides, since you knew who I was, you knew about my abilities, didn't you? That also means that you were playing with me, making me think that maybe I thought I knew, but in reality, you were sure.

"Hah...that's right. I totally pretended not to know you."

"I see, but there's something else I'm curious about."

"What?" He says to me as he gets up for sitting on his bed.

"How do you know me since the whiteroom?"

"Heh...I don't think I need to say, do I? You already know the answer, right?"

"I guess like me, you were part of the generation but I don't know which one. The thing is, I don't know if you were in the older ones or the newer ones." I'm not even sure if they allowed the other generations to see each other, because as far as I know, I haven't met the children of the other generations. At least not the ones who were still in condition.

"Ayanokoji." He said with a serious face. "I'm the same age as you. You know what that means, right?"

"...Yes, I know what it means, but it doesn't make sense to me for two reasons. I don't recognize you from my generation, And I know that I was the only one who survived." I know that very well. Moreover, I have been nicknamed the masterpiece of the demonic fourth generation. "I don't think that those who were failed were left alive. So, I find it hard to believe that you are part of my generation."

"That's understandable, but that' s the case. We weren't called by name so you didn't know each other's names. To help you remember, I was one of the last five who survived until then."

"!"

"Does this remind you of anything?"

"Yes." Yes, it does remind me of something. I remember it well because that day, three of the last five failed on the same day.

"So you were one of them?"

"Yes. You might not recognize me but I was there. It's just that I've changed a bit since I was a kid. If you remember, I was the one with a little long hair."

"I see. Now that you mention it, I remember you." I had his image in mind. indeed, he had changed a bit.

"This is how I know you. Now I'll tell you about what happened after that."

"After the instructors took you away after you failed the program?"

"Yes. I'll tell you how I survived. But first, let's start at the beginning." He said and stood up. He walked to the balcony and stopped in front of the window. "I'll tell you how it all started and how I ended up in the whiteroom."

To be continued

Past

a/n: Warning, some scenes in this chapter may be violent or disturbing. If you are young or sensitive to such things then I advise you not to read it. That's it.

Nozera POV

Flashback

11 years ago

"Mom, where are we going?" I said as I looked out the car window at the payoff.

...

"Mom?"

"Are you sure you want to follow me?" My mother replied. Her face was filled with sadness. I had read that in a book that when someone looks unhappy then they must be sad. But I didn't know why she was sad.

Ah...maybe it was because of my father. But now he was gone so it should be okay.

"Mhn mhn. I want to be with mom." I replied. As long as I was with her then we would be fine.

"I see." She said without looking at me. Why was she like that, I wonder?

/

The car dropped us off in front of an apartment. My mother told me to follow her, and I did.

We arrived at a door. My mother took out a pair of keys and opened it. She went inside and I followed her inside. Was this our new home? I guess it was. As long as we're together then we'll be fine. My dad will never hurt us again.

"Oh? ...You're here already~?" I heard a voice but I didn't recognize it. I came up behind my mother who was standing in front of the man.

Huh? Why did he look bad? Eh? What's that thing he's holding in his hand and putting on his arm?

"Hehehe..." He chuckled and threw the object on the ground. "That should do for a while." I looked at the object in question. There was some kind of needle.

"I see you brought your child." The man said.

"Yes." My mother replied.

"Well...I don't care as long as he doesn't piss me off."

"N-nishiya-san...please..." My mother began to tremble."It's been a long time since the last time, I need another one...do you have any more?" "It's been a long time since the last time, I need another one...do you have any more?" After she said that, the man took out a kind of bag from his pocket.

"Do you want some?"

"Hah..hah..hah" My mother approached him and knelt down in front of the bag.

"M-mom?" I said worriedly. I didn't understand why she wasn't feeling well and what was that bag and who was that mister.

She looked at me with a totally frightened look on her face.

"You know what you have to do if you want it." He said.

"Yes..." My mother said and began to unzip his pants...she took them off and pulled them down to his knees. She reached between his legs and began to wiggle her head back and forth.

"Oh...hahaha! You're really sucking me off in front of your kid, amazing."

...

"S-stop it." I don't know what was going on but my mom didn't look good. I had to do something.

"Huh? Stop it?" He said to me with a terrified face. "Didn't I tell you I don't give a shit as long as you don't piss me off?" He stood in front of me.

Bam

"Urgh!" He hit me hard in the stomach with his leg and sent me slamming into a piece of furniture.

"Kids need to stay away and shut up. Don't you know that? I wonder." he said. He went and got a pot and put water in it. There was smoke in it so it must have been hot.

"Here's a punishment for you. He said and took my shirt. He lifted it up and threw the water on me.

"Wahhhhhhhhhh!" Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! It hurts! It hurts! Stop it! Please! STOP!

...

"H-hah..." The violent pain stopped since there was no more water but I was still in pain.

"Did you understand the lesson now? If you piss me off again, you're dead!" He said and left the room.

"Hah..." I turned to see my mother in a state I didn't know. She quickly grabbed the bag and went into another room.

"M-mom, why?" I said in a small voice. I thought about what she said earlier.

Are you sure you want to follow me?

"!"

...

Was it going to be like this every day? I-I can stay here. If I stay here then...

I'll be killed! I have to escape.

*Clack*

"!" I reacted to the sound.

It was the sound of a key opening a door. It was that guy. He was about to get out. I had to get away!

"Guh!" I stood up with all the strength I had left and ran to the front door. I got to the front but...

"...Hmm? Oh? You want to escape? Try me." He said, blocking the way.

H-how do I do it?

"Come here!" He said as he raised his hand to me. I couldn't dodge it and was caught in his hand.

"Let go of me!" I tried to free myself but couldn't.

"You're really annoying you know..."

"Gah!" He slammed me to the ground still in his grip. I was starting to not be able to breathe.

"I really think I'm going to kill you...hehehe" He said with a terrifying smile.

He lifted me off the ground. At that moment I saw an object on a piece of furniture and I grabbed it. I was next to the piece of furniture so I could take the object without much difficulty and I did

the following action.

Bam

I hit him in the head with all my strength.

"Gahhhh! Little bastard!" He let go of me after the blow. After that I took the opportunity to run away.

"COME BACK!" He shouted.

"Ha..hah...hah..." I ran without stopping. I was running down the stairs as fast as I could but I fell a lot, but I didn't care, I had to get out of here.

"Hurry!" I said to myself. I reached the bottom of the building and got out. I hurried as far as I could but I was in pain, really in pain. I went to a passage between two buildings and hid by the garbage cans. I stayed still and then I lost how much time passed.

/

How long did it take? I don't know, but I can't stay here. I have to leave. I decided to get up to leave but...

"Gah!" When I tried to get up, a pain appeared. Not just a pain, but it hurt almost everywhere.

"Hah...ha..." I was starting to see trouble.

I moved from my hiding place and tried to move forward but it hurt too much. I managed to move forward a few feet but I couldn't take it anymore. Just as I felt like I was going to pass out, I saw two men approach me.

"Help" I whispered and everything went black after that.

.

.

.

"...Hmm?" I opened my eyes. "H-huh? Where am I?" I said. I remembered fainting and then nothing. But now I was in a car?

"I see you're awake." I heard a voice I didn't know.

"!" I turned to see a man sitting next to me. He was dressed in a black suit and looked scary.

"Who are you?"

"You don't need to know my name, but you can call me Mister One."

Mister One? What a strange name.

"Um...mister One, are you the one who saved me?"

"Yes, me and my colleague saw you collapse while we were walking. You looked pretty bad but we administered first aid. You don't have to worry anymore." I looked ahead and saw another guy driving the car. He must be the colleague in whom he is speaking.

"Thank you for saving me, mister One...but can I ask a question?"

"I'm listening." He answered me.

"Where are we going? And why are we in a car?"

"I see you're smart enough to care about that." He said with a smirk. For some reason I couldn't explain it to myself, I had a feeling of worry. Does he want to hurt me too?

"Oh, I'm sorry if I scared you, that wasn't the point. Well...we're going where I'm going to work."

"Work?"

"Yes. I'm supposed to start today. That's where we're headed."

"What about me? I'm not supposed to go with you, right?"

"You are, but you see...my job is to take care of kids like you, so since I found you, I decided to take you with me."

Taking care of children like me?

"Huh? Are you a teacher?"

"Yeah, you could say that." He replied.

Mister One is a teacher? He doesn't look like one. I wonder what he teaches.

...

"Wait!" I said as soon as I remembered something.

"What's wrong?"

"Mister One, I thank you very much for saving me but I can't go with you. I have to find my mother and then save her from the other man." Even though I ran away out of fear, I didn't forget that I wanted to save her from that guy.

"Save her, huh? And how are you going to do that?"

"Well...I have to get help. I just need to get some people to help me." After I said that, Mr. One sighed.

" Forget it kid. She doesn't want you anyway."

What?

"What do you mean by that?"

"You know, after we picked you up from there, we went to investigate who you were and then we went to your mother to tell her that we had found you."

"She said what?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? What do you mean nothing?"

"Exactly what it means. She wasn't interested in the fact that we found you. But his partner was."

"*Gulp*"

"Don't worry, we didn't let him hurt you."

"I-I see." I still have this image of him wanting to kill me. "And then, what happened next?"
"Well, he wanted to kill you, that was clear as day. Of course, we didn't let him, but we wondered what to do with you and then we came up with a solution."

"A solution?"

"Yes. I told you before that the nature of my job was going to be to take care of children. Well, I decided to take you with me since your family situation was too complicated for you."

"I see...but...they agreed?"

"Yes, it was convenient for them. Sorry for you kid. You really didn't have good parents."

"Yeah...I can see that now." I said. The tears were starting to well up.

Pat*

"Don't worry, now you'll be fine." He said, patting my head.

"Mhn." I replied to him.

"Look, this is it, your new home." He said to me while looking at the window.

I looked up to see a big mountain. Is this my new home? I wonder what it looks like up close.

...

I didn't know it yet, but this place would be the apotheosis of my suffering. I was about to experience, hell itself.

5 years later

"Subject 408, 457, 4150, you have failed. Now you will be removed from the program.

"I-I...failed? No...not after all that.

*clack*

A door opened and 3 instructors, came to pick us up.

"Hehe...too bad for you kid but it looks like you reached your limit. The withroom doesn't need incompetents like you." He said the last part with a cold voice and look.

Was this really the end?

"Come here." One of the instructors said and took the white robe I was wearing. He dragged me like a piece of trash to be thrown away.

"Why?...Why am I so weak?" I muttered. Before we were led out of the room, I saw the last two people left. The last two who are still here to live another day. It was a girl and a guy.

The girl looked like she was really tired from the task we were ordered to do. She had passed the task but she was not going to last very long like that either, because the tasks were going to get harder and harder. But this guy, on the other hand...

He wasn't tired at all or very little. His face showed no apparent expression. He just looked dead, as if his emotions were completely gone. Almost all of us have lost most of our emotions but not to the point where we don't feel anything. He on the other hand, looked like he had become the nothingness. It really looks like he doesn't feel anything anymore. Honestly, if you looked at him closely during his tasks, then you would be afraid of him because of how calm he was. Even the instructors were afraid of him. They said he was a demon.

I remember that in the beginning he was not at that level but as time went by he became much stronger. So strong that no one could reach him. I didn't know his name but...

I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He was going to have to live like this again without being able to really live. This place was a real hell that would most likely kill us all in the end. I wonder how long he would last?

/

After getting us out of the room, me and the 2 others who failed found themselves in another room.

I guess it's the end.

*clack*

"I have to say I'm disappointed Zero. When I took you with me, I thought you were going to show me something great but you didn't."

"!" I turned around to see who it was that had just walked in and it was Mister One.

"You were only five years old but you were already proving to be a smart kid. You had shown that you had potential to be a genius but as the years went by, it turned out that you had your limits."

"Mister One. I..."

"You want to know why I named you Zero?"

"Huh? Well..."

"*sigh* I named you that because people think that the number 1 means to be on top, but it doesn't. There is a number before the 1 and it's 0. I thought you would surpass me who has become an excellent being in many fields but it seems I was wrong. I really thought you were going to be perfect, Zero.

"..." I remained silent.

"Since I'm the one who brought you here, it's my responsibility to finish you off." He said as he pulled a gun from his pocket.

I closed my eyes and waited for him to finish me off.

"Zero, run!"

"!"I opened my eyes to see one of the two with me grabbing Mister One's arm and pulling him away.

"Run! We'll hold him back!" Said the other one with me. He grabbed his neck from behind and tried to get in his way.

"Why?Why are you doing this Ryo, Sei?" I said.

Here at the withroom, we were taught that friendship and love were useless and distracted us from being excellent. But despite this, I sympathized with some of the children in my group. Ryo and Sei were among the friends I made in this hellhole.

"You have to survive. For you and for us." said Ryo.

"Yeah, he's right. We're not going to let them get every last one of us." said Sei.

"Ugh! Let me go you brats!" Said mister One as he tried to free himself.

"I-I can't leave you here. We'll get through this together. The three of us will get out of here."

"Heh...you know that's not possible. Just go! We're not going to be able to hold him for long." Said Ryo.

"But-"

"Just go! Get out of here! Hurry!" Said Sei.

...Fuck!

"Thanks and sorry." I say as I turn around. I was getting ready to run when...

"Zero. Please live your life freely and be happy. Live the life we all dreamed of." I turned to see Ryo smiling. I hadn't seen him smile in a long time.

"We count on you to survive. You can do it." Said Sei with a smile too.

"...I promise you. Goodbye." I whispered the last part and left the room.

/

I ran without stopping but being careful not to be seen. I have to find an exit and fast.

...Huh? What's that?

I was running through the corridors looking for an exit but I saw at the end of a room on my left a kind of trap door? No, it wasn't a trap door but a kind of conduit or tunnel? Could it be an exit?

*Alarm sound*

Shit! I have to hurry or else it's the end.

*Footsteps*

They're coming!...Sigh...nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

I decided to take this passage but I didn't know where it would lead me.

...

"Whoa!" It was like a toboggan, the thing. "I think I can see the end! I saw the end but... "Oh shit!"

*Crash*

"Hmm? It hurt less than I thought. Besides, what did I land on?" I turned to look but it was one of the most traumatic images I could have seen.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! FUCK!" What I saw were the dead bodies of the other children in the whitroom.

"Hah...fucking-*vomits* h-hah..." I stepped away from the piles of bodies to go throw up. I thought I had seen the most horrible thing here but I hadn't. What the hell...They were really monsters. Doing this to us, treating us like guinea pigs and then throwing us away like garbage. I hated them. All of them without exception but especially one in particular.

The founder of this place. Professor Ayanokoji. That guy was just crazy as hell.

Anyway, this is not the time to think about that. I've got to get away. They'll be looking for me everywhere. Besides being filled with bodies, what else is in the room?

...Huh? A staircase? It has to lead somewhere.

I took it to see that it led to a long tunnel of about 50 meters. I hurriedly ran to the end and then, I arrived at a door. I grabbed the handle to open it but it didn't work. I looked more carefully to see that I needed something to confirm the opening of the door.

Damn! I don't have anything that would-...wait...this might do the trick. I pulled out a badge.

I got this badge from someone who works here. As I was running before I got here, I ran into someone and had to knock him out to prevent him from calling the others. I saw his badge and had the idea to take it thinking that maybe it could be used to escape me. Let's see, let's put the badge here and then open it.

*clack*

It worked!

*Wind*

As soon as I opened the door, I felt a breeze. I opened the door fully to see...

the outside world and mostly bushes. They must be using them to hide this door. I took a few steps forward to get a better look at the landscape.

...

It must be 5 years since I last saw this landscape, or even felt the pure air of nature. Does it mean that I am finally free? No...further, I have to go further. Nothing stops them from stopping me here, especially since we are near a mountain in the middle of nature. I have to find help and people, especially people.

/

I must have been running and walking for an hour. I must be not far from arriving outside of here. I kept walking until I reached the top of a waterfall.

Where do I go from here?

*gunshot*

"Gah! Aaaah! What the...what?" I turned to see my injured left shoulder. Who shot me?

"I finally caught up with you, Zero." That voice. No, don't say...

I turned around behind me to see the shooter who was none other than "Mister One!" He managed to catch me. Damn, what a pain in the ass!

"You made me sweat but it's over. Let yourself go and join your comrades in peace."

"...If you're here then that means..."

"Yes. You two friends were annoying but I was able to get rid of them. Too bad for them, their death will be in vain."

Ryo, Sei...

"Hehe...I guess it's game over for me." I say with a laugh. "Go ahead, let's finish this." I turned to face him.

"Do you give up that easily?" Mister One says to me.

"...So tell me what I can do in this situation. You have a gun and my left arm is out. I can't do anything, it's game over for me." I said in a depressive way.

"In the end, you disappoint me more than I thought, Zero. I expected too much from you."

"Maybe so. In any case, I wanted to thank you, Mister One."

"Thank you?" A face of confusion appeared.

"Yes. As much as I hate you and the guys for helping and working on this project. If it wasn't for you, then I'd probably be dead long ago already."

"You realize that in the end, you're going to die in a few moments and by me at that. I don't understand why you thank me in this situation."

"Because it's what I had on my heart, that's all. I just thank you for allowing me to live a little longer."

"...There's no telling what an idiot you are...hehe...hahahahaha, really what an idiot you are." He started to laugh. "Hahaha...since you made me laugh, I'll tell you something else."

"Hmm?" I narrowed my eyes at that. What did he want to tell me?

"You know the day I took you in. I went to your mother and her boyfriend to tell them about you, that I wanted to take you with me."

"Yes, I remember that."

"You know, he wouldn't let you go. He only had one desire and that was to kill you. Of course, I didn't let him because I put my gun to his head and told him it wasn't going to happen."

"I see but what are you getting at?" Why is he telling me this?

"Obviously, there was nothing to stop me from taking you without their consent but it would have been problematic if it came out that I had taken you. I had two options, either kill them or make a proposal to them to make sure there was no problem with you. And what do you think happened?"

"..."

"Indeed, since they were drug addicts then I gave them what they wanted. I didn't have any drugs on me or anything but you know money is capable of turning any man towards you. You just have to give them the price they want."

"So that means..."

"Yeah, they sold you to me. I gave them a good price and they accepted. Your mother was right there during the exchange. She did give her confirmation to sell you. She did say that she was no longer interested in you."

I didn't say anything, I remained silent looking at him.

"So...how does it feel to know that your mother has sold you? Oh, and you know what else, whether it was her or your father, they didn't want you. You were just a problem for them. That's why your father beat you and your mother, to take out his frustrations. In the end, he killed himself because of his increasing debts...hahahaha...really what a loser he was. Ah...and also your mother for being a slut willing to sell her body to get her little fix of drugs, haha. Really, what a great set of parents you had" He laughed and made fun of my parents. Normally, I would be angry, but this was the truth. And then I agreed with him. My father was a loser and my mother...was a bitch. He's right, my parents didn't want me, I was just an extra mouth to feed. In the end, they didn't love me, in fact I don't think they ever did.

Sigh...I've learned to realize that over time. Now I don't need them anymore.

"Hahahaha...ah, it's been a long time since I've been laughing like this. Well, it's time to go join your loser parents and friends." He says ready to shoot me. "I named you zero thinking you were going to be on top of everything but in the end you're just a zero. A failure."

"...Heh." I started to smile.

"? What are you smiling about? "

"Nothing. I was just thinking that you took me under your wing and brought me here. You became an instructor and taught the other kids, but you took care of me first. I was kind of like your disciple. Now I've failed the program and I'm going to get killed as a failure. I just figure that in the end, having taken and caring for a failure makes you a failure too."

"...What? What did you say? Me a failure?" Said Mister One with a face that was beginning to show anger.

"Yeah, a failure. You're no better than me."

"Hahaha...Zero, Zero, Zero...Do you want to die horribly or what?" this time, the anger was clearly present on his face.

"Say, mister One. What do you think is going to happen after you kill me and go back to the whiteroom?"

"What do you think will happen? What are you-"

"Do you really think they're going to cheer you for killing me? It's the opposite that's going to happen." I cut him off.

"The opposite? What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on mister One, you who pretend to be an excellent being, can't you see what I'm getting at?" I say with a smug smile. " You think this is all because of who? Everything that happened today?"

"You and your friends, of course."

"Really Mr. One? In your opinion, who was supposed to get rid of us? Who brought me here, to the whiteroom?"

"!" Mister One understood what I was getting at.

"Yes, mister One. It was your responsibility all along.In fact, everything that happened today happened because of you. You and you alone."

"...Hehe...no you're talking nonsense. They're not going to hold me responsible for this."

"Are you sure about that? Are you forgetting what the purpose of the whiteroom is?"

"To create geniuses of course."

"You think it's just us kids that have to do the work? That's not the real purpose of the whiteroom."

"What do you mean?"

"The real purpose of the whiteroom is that this project and the rest of it is excellent...no it has to be perfect, whether it's us kids or you instructors. There must be no failure. Failure is not allowed and even less mistakes. Do you remember who said that?"

"...It was-"

"Yes, Professor Ayanokoji himself. So do you understand what I'm getting at?"

"No, they won't hold me responsible, I'm sure. I'm sure..." He started to panic.

"No, Mr. One. If I were them, I would hold you directly responsible for this. You know very well how strict the whiteroom is. For potentially endangering the whiteroom, they will punish you but I think they will get rid of you. It's not like they won't be able to find another instructor. "

"So...what? If it's true what you say then what am I supposed to do?"

"Escape with me. Can you think of anything else?"

"You really want to escape with someone who tried to kill you?"

"With two of us, we have a better chance of getting away. I'm not that vindictive, you know mister One."

"I see...very well then, I'll escape with you."

"Thank you for your good sense, mister One. Let's go without delay." I said as I turned around. "Gah!" I put one knee and one hand on the ground where there was water.

"Zero, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I wish you hadn't shot me though."

"Hehehe...sorry. To forgive me, let me help you..." He approached me and came up behind me. "To finish you off."

*splash*

I dodged his shooting path and threw water on his eyes.

"My eyes! Damn kid!"

Bam

"Gah!" Without waiting, I swept his leg and knocked him to the ground. With my arm I went to his arm to try to immobilize him.

"I knew you'd go and kill me all the way. All that talk was just to distract you and let you get close to me. I have to say that for the record, you disappoint me mister One."

"Don't speak too soon, Zero." He pulled out a knife with his right hand. Shit I can't dodge it.

*stabbing*

"GAAAAAAH!" He stabbed me in my left collarbone. Damn, after a bullet now a knife.

"You're gonna die you hear me!"

"You first!" I said and I headbutted him. Without waiting, I took the knife stuck in me and stabbed his left arm. I then tried to take his gun but he had more strength than I expected. I was lying on top of him with my back to block his arm. He slowly turned the gun towards me. I tried with all my strength to immobilize him with my right hand but I could not.

"You're going to die, Zero!" the gun was turned all the way in my direction, on my head. I couldn't change its trajectory. "Die!"

"Speak for yourself." I said as I made my last attempt to end it.

*gunshot*

...

"Hah...hah...is it finally over?" I said as I stepped away from mister One's body. At the last second, I dodged by moving my head away and the bullet landed on his head instead. If I hadn't dodged, I would have died but the bullet might have gone through my head and landed on him. He really wanted to kill me even if he had to die too. After 5 years in the program, I became much stronger but I was no match for someone as trained as him, he was still superior. But if I hadn't gone through that training then I would never have survived against someone like him, even if I was lucky. Sigh...I have to thank the whiteroom for that even though it disgusts me.

But it also means that I killed someone. I never killed anyone before, although there were times when I thought I should have, but they didn't go that far, at least not yet. I wasn't naive enough to think that they wouldn't try to include that in their program. Even though we've lost most of our emotions, killing is still something that is not easy for everyone.

But the fact is, I became a murderer. I thought I would be more disgusted by this but to my surprise, I was not. I killed to survive, nothing more. I turned to look at his body.

You looked for your death too. I don't have to feel bad about it. Anyway, let's get out of here.

"Gah!" I had forgotten how badly I was hurt. Because of the adrelaline, I hardly felt any pain, but now it's coming on strong and I'm bleeding a lot too. " Damn! I can't die here. I have to get...help." I fell to the ground. I didn't have the strength to get up. "Fuck..."

With my arm and my legs, I slowly made my way to the top of the waterfall. I was now in front of the huge height that separated the top from the bottom.

"...Heh...maybe my path will end here but I would have done everything I could. Now, let's hope my good star continues to guide me." I said and decided to fall into the waterfall. As I fell, my vision became dark and I lost consciousness.

End of the flashback

"This is what happened." I said.

"And what happened next?" asked Ayanokoji.

"I was lucky. I was found on the bank of a river and was able to get treatment. The whiteroom didn't look for me after that, probably because they think I'm dead or because even if I did escape, they think it wouldn't put them in danger." because they know that if I say a word about it then they could locate me and finish me off.

"I see. You were indeed lucky." He said to me.

Right? I would tell you the rest but it's getting late so I don't want to take up any more of your time than that, unless you want to hear the rest." I said as I watched the sun go down.

"Don't worry, you've told me enough. I don't need to hear the rest. I was just curious about the whiteroom." He said as he stood up.

"I see. Say, I'm planning to go to the convenience store. Do you want to come with me?"

"No thanks, I'll go back to my room. "

"Okay then, have a nice evening." I said.

"You too." He answered me and headed for the door.

"Ayanokoji."

"Hmm?"

"Do you consider me an enemy or not, after all this?" I asked him because I was curious.

"...No. I know you didn't lie and you don't want to take me back there. After that, whether I can consider you an ally remains to be seen."

"I see. Say Ayanokoji, may I call you by your first name?"

"I don't mind, but why?"

"I would like to be your friend, and you to be my friend too. "

" ' _ ' "

"Nice the joy you show me."

"Oh hum...sorry. I was just a little surprised. So I'll call you Zero."

"Kiyotaka. I hope we get along well" I said as I raised my hand to shake his.

"Yeah." He shook my hand in return. "Well, I'm going to go. See you later."

"Yeah, see you later." I told him and then he left my room.

Sigh...it was a long day, wasn't it. I laid down on my bed for a bit.

...

I should go now before I get lazy.

/

I was now in the convenience store picking up some stuff. There was nobody else there but me. I heard the door open and saw a person enter.

Hmm? This person was wearing a hoodie that made it difficult to see him from far. Anyway, it's none of my business to judge others on how they present themselves in a convenience store. I went back to my things but something caught my eye.

My attention returned to this person. This person was probably a student, I would say a girl by the height of her. What caught my attention was that she was standing in front of cans of beer. Nothing wrong for a student to see a beer can but she was placed in the blind spot of the camera. She started to look around and then picked up a can.

Ok I see. I don't know why she's doing this but it's a big risk if she gets caught. Should I help her? Hmm...ok, I'm curious as to why she's doing this.

I grabbed my things and went to the register. I said goodnight to the cashier and started to pay. Right after I paid, I said. "Say, what's that behind you?" At that moment, this person started to walk towards the exit.

"Oh well, they're condoms." The cashier replied. Still turned around, he didn't see the person coming out.

"Oh I see. Thanks for the information." I said as I grabbed my things and went to the door before it slammed shut so he wouldn't realize what was happening.

"You want to take some? I must say you are fast. Just the second day and you already have a girlfriend."

"No, no.I was just curious and then no, it's a little too fast for me to already have a girlfriend, haha." I was really curious though. I didn't know they were condoms. After I got out, I started to go towards this person. Luckily, she was not far away.

"Wait!" I said.

"What? What do you want from me?" She turned around and said with a voice not really filled with joy. She looked like she totally hated me even though it was the first time I was talking to her. Besides, I could see her face a little bit.

"I just want to know why you stole that beer can."

"!" His body reacted a tiny bit. "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't steal anything."

"Unfortunately, you don't know how to lie and then you've already betrayed yourself. And anyway, I saw you do it and I have the proof." I took out my phone and showed her the video. I took the video while she was doing it.

"I see...so go ahead and report me to the school."

"Why?" I replied.

"What do you mean why? You saw me do it and you have proof. You should report me. I committed a crime."

"Because you committed a crime according to the law, does that mean you should be punished?"

"Huh? I don't understand what you're getting at."

"Tell me why you did it instead."

"Well...for the thrill."

"For the thrill?" I widened my eyes.

"Yeah. You probably don't understand but I need to feel some kind of pleasure. The pleasure of doing something forbidden and feeling the thrill around it. I know I'm weird for doing it for that."

"So it's just for that?"

"...Yeah." She answered me but she didn't understand what I was getting at.

"I see so if it's just for that then there's absolutely nothing wrong."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean there's nothing wrong with doing that. You're just doing what makes you feel more alive. I don't see the harm in it. If stealing helps you feel that way then you can't help it. You just are what you are, that's all."

"Um...th-thanks? But it's still a crime what I did."

"In the eyes of the law, yes. But it's not like you did it in order to hurt someone, so to me it's not that big of a deal."

"Even so, I got caught so report me."

" You want to be punished or even risk expulsion that much?"

"No, of course not, but I lost, so..."

Sigh...I have to say she's stubborn but interesting.

"You know I have no obligation to report you and besides, I don't want to." I said and erased the video in front of her. "Here you go."

"What!? Why are you doing this?" she said totally shocked by my action. At the same time, it was understandable to be shocked.

"Because I do what I want, that's all. Here, look in my phone to confirm that I didn't make a copy. I'm holding my phone up to her. She seemed to hesitate but did it anyway and checked it. She gave it back to me when she was done.

"I don't understand...or rather, I don't understand you. Why did you do this if you're not going to report me?

" Don't know."

"Huh? What do you mean you don't know?"

"I told you before, I just do what I want to do even though sometimes I don't really know why I do it."

"There's no telling, you're really weird.

"Yeah, you can say that." I said with a little smile at the end. After that, she put her head to the side and avoided looking at me but I could see that she had blushed. Don't tell me I made her blush because I smiled. I know I'm far from ugly but still. "Let's just say I did it because I found you interesting and I didn't want to report you just for something like that."

"I see." She answered me.

"Say, what are you going to do with that can?"

"Well...I haven't thought about it."

"Huh? You want to tell me you stole it not knowing what to do with it. I thought you might want to drink it."

"That might be an idea. I'm curious what it tastes like."

"You want to drink it together?" I proposed.

"H-huh? Don't tell me you're planning to take advantage of me. I didn't think you were like that." She said with a look on her face like she was disgusted with me.

"No, no. I'm not like that. I just offered because drinking it all alone might not be a good idea if you can't hold your beer." I had no evil intent toward her. I really swear.

...

"I see...well why not then. Let's go to your room. I don't want to be seen bringing a boy back to the girls' dorm and creating rumors." She quickly changed her mind and then, how is not coming to your room and going to mine instead, not going to create rumors? Girls are really complicated.

"Oh and by the way, my name is Kamuro Masumi." She introduces herself.

"Nozera Zero. Nice to meet you, Kamuro."

/

We gathered in my room. She started to drink first.

*gulp*

"I must say it tastes weird but not bad." She said while taking another sip. Wait calm Kamuro! Don't tell me you're already addicted to beer.

"Let me drink a little too." I was curious about the taste and the effect on the body.

"Okay her-..." She stopped in mid-stride to give it to me.

"What's wrong, Kamuro?"

"I hadn't thought about it, but are you going to drink from the can too?"

"Yes, why?"

"..." She started to blush.

"Wait, don't tell me you're embarrassed because it would be an indirect kiss?"

"I'm not embarrassed."

"Your face says otherwise."

"Shut up."

"Well, can I have it? If not, I'll get a glass and drink it in here if it's bothering you too much."

"No, it's fine. It's just an indirect kiss anyway. Nothing to be embarrassed about." She said, the one who was embarrassed at first. She passed me the can and I drank.

*gulp*

"...yeah. It doesn't taste great, but I guess that's how it is with other liquors."

"Pass it to me if you finish your sip." Kamuro says to me.

"Says Kamuro, are you already addicted to beer?"

"No."

"Why do I feel that it's a lie."

"It's none of your business. Hand it over."

Sigh... if you put it that way.

"If you want, you can have it all, but on one condition."

"What?"

"Kiss me."

"Okay."

"Seriously!?"

"Of course not, you freak!" She stood up and threw my pillow over my head.

"That was a joke." I said as I grabbed it with my other hand.

"Well that's not funny." She said as she snatched the can from my hand.

*gulp*

"Here." she handed me the can again.

"You can have it all. I was just curious about the taste."

"No, go ahead, take it."

"It's okay, I'm telling you."

"No, take it!" she said, trying to force it down my throat.

"Stop it, Kamuro!"

"No!"

She's completely insane, this girl. She must not drink beer very often, otherwise I can't imagine what could happen.

" Okay, I get it." I said and took a sip.

After finishing the can, we lay down on my bed and started talking about everything and nothing.

"Say, I have a question." She said to me.

"What?"

"I didn't ask this before but you have a strange name. Why Zero?"

"Because that's my value."

"Your value? What does that mean?"

"Exactly what it means."

"Hmph! Just tell me if you don't want to talk about it." she said and turned on her side.

"...Kamuro."

"What?"

"You want to know why?"

"Don't talk about it if you don't want to tell."

"No it's okay. To put it simply, my parents never gave me a name. I named myself that."

"What? Why?"

"Well..." I told her what happened with my parents. Of course, I didn't tell her about the whiteroom events and replaced them with lies.

"I see...I-I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't worry. It's all in the past now."

"You must have suffered, right?"

"A little but I'm fine now, don't worry."

"But are you sure you want to stick with the name Zero? You're not a failure, you know."

"Yeah I know. But I found the name cool so I decided to keep it in the end."

"I see. So good for you." she said.

/

For an hour, we talked and got to know each other. Until...

"And then I did this and then this. Hahaha, you should have seen his face."

...

"Kamuro?" I turned around to see that she was sleeping. I've been talking for 10 minutes, so it's normal that she'll eventually get tired of it and fall asleep. "Wait...how do I get her back to her room now since she's sleeping?" Should I wake her up?

*look*

Sigh...no let's let her sleep.

I moved her silently and put her in my bed in a good position. Well, now what do I do? Should I go to sleep too?

*Yawn*

Yeah, I should go to sleep. Well sorry Kamuro but I'm not going to sleep on the floor because you're sleeping in my bed. Anyway, there's enough space in the bed so it should be fine. She'll probably get mad and embarrassed because I slept with her in the same bed but well, there's not that much to be embarrassed about. We just sleep, that's all.

"Good night Kamuro." I said and I started to sink into the deep obscurity of sleep.

Wake up

Zero POV

"...Hmm?" I opened my eyes slowly to see the ceiling. I turned around and picked up my phone.

*Yawn*

So...it's 6:55 in the morning. School starts at 8:15, so there's still an hour and 20 minutes to get ready and everything. "Hmm?" My hand touched something I didn't recognize. It was something soft and thin. I turned around to see that I was idly touching the hair of the girl I slept with last night.

It's true that she stayed there. I looked at her more closely and I had to say that she was really cute, even asleep.

Kamuro Masumi.

A girl who steals for the thrill. You don't see that every day, do you? I have to say that she's not the kind of girl you'd think would stay in your room by her attitude. She gave the impression that she wasn't really approachable but if you got to know her a little bit then you would learn that this is not the case. I could tell that we got a little closer during our evening last night.

I got up from my bed and went to the bathroom. After washing my face, I went to my window and looked at the landscape. The sun was up but you could still see it rising high in the sky. Well, let's listen to some music to relax me while I wait.

Kamuro POV

I opened my eyes slightly and got up from my lying position.

*Yawn*

I stretched my arms while yawning. I slept well but I feel like I am forgetting something. I started to look around and noticed that this was not my room.

Wait...whose room am I in now?

I turned to my right to see a boy watching the landscape through his balcony window. He was sitting on a chair listening to music through his headphones. I didn't know why but he gave me the impression that...he was sad. You wouldn't think so because he didn't have an expression that showed it but his eyes. His eyes...they looked empty and sad at the same time. Finally noticing that I was watching him, he turned to see me and said. "Good morning Kamuro, did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thanks for askin-...eh?" I had just realized what was happening. "Kyaaaaaaaaa. What the hell am I doing in your room?" I shouted in embarrassment. Don't tell me we slept together? No no no no, we didn't, did we?

"Could you not scream? If anyone hears, they'll think I was attacking you." He answered me with a calm face.

"Then explain to me what I'm doing here?"

"Do you remember what happened yesterday?" He asked me.

What happened yesterday? ... Ah! yes, I remember. I do remember getting caught stealing a beer can and this person was a student like me. He didn't report me and he suggested that we drink the can together. This boy is the one I spent last night with. We then went to his room.

After drinking that beer, we talked and then, I don't remember the rest. A thought crossed my mind immediately.

"Don't tell me that we slept together and that we..."

"I'll stop you right there. Yes, we slept together, but that's it. Nothing else happened. You just fell asleep and I did the same." He replied, trying to calm me down.

"I see...but why did you sleep in the same bed as me?"

"Because it's my bed."

"Huh?" I exclaimed in confusion.

"I didn't want you to sleep on the floor so I made you sleep in my bed but that didn't mean I had to go sleep on the floor either. it's just sleeping together, there's nothing wrong with that."

"I don't believe this. Don't you realize what it means to sleep together?" I said putting my hand over my face in dismay at what he said.

"Sigh...whether it's kids or adults in general, you take things way too personally."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's just sleeping together. There's nothing to take seriously in this situation. I can assure you that I didn't have any obscene thoughts or anything about you while you were sleeping."

"I want to believe you but..." We still slept together.

"Sigh...you don't have to take any responsibility or even be my girlfriend, the same goes for me."

"I see..." I didn't know if I should be happy or not.

"Obviously, we're not going to tell anyone to avoid rumors. And it was just this one night because it happened, we're not going to do it again because it happened once. You don't need to worry about it. I don't want you to feel bad about it."

"Thank you." I said to thank him for being so comprehensive about it. I've only known him since yesterday but I have to say he's very mature.

"You don't need to thank me. Anyway, this happened because I'm the one who caused this situation." He didn't need to feel guilty about it, it's my fault too.

"It's going to be time to go to school soon. I guess you want to go on back home?"

"Yes, I should go."I looked at the time on my phone to see that it was still 45 minutes before class.

"I'm going to go change in the bathroom, so you can change in peace. Don't worry, I won't look." He said and went into his bathroom. He closed the door behind him.

He was very mature and attentive I must say. There are few boys like him nowadays. Because usually, they would have taken advantage of me in this situation or even the one before. He was really nice.

I finished changing and went to the door. "Well, I'm going to go." I said to him.

"Okay, go ahead. I'm going to get my shirt from my closet so I'll be shirtless." He said to warn me that he was going to be shirtless.

I walked out of the room slowly looking both ways to see if anyone was there. Luckily, there was no one there. I walked out of his place and got ready to close the door.

...

I wonder how he is shirtless.

Wait wait wait. Don't tell me I'm curious to see him naked. I'm not that perverse, am I?

Well, it's just a quick peek. Even though he said he didn't have any lewd ideas about me, he must have gotten a good look at me. He was still a boy.

With the door almost completely closed, I tried to see him. I saw him already putting on his shirt.

No Kamuro! You were too slow!

As I went to take my eyes off him, something caught my eye. "What the...is that a scar?" I whispered.

"Hmm? Are you still there Kamuro?" He said suddenly, turning his head a little in my direction. Did he hear me whisper?

"E-eh? Yes. Sorry, I was just thinking about something. I'll be going now. Have a good day." I said as I quickly closed the door and headed for the elevator.

I couldn't believe he heard me. It was so embarrassing. He probably thought I wanted to look at him half-naked. Aaaaahhhh why did I have to be curious about this? I'm sure I'm going to look like a pervert to him.

...

But something surprised me when I looked at his back. I was not mistaken, I saw a scar. You can tell me that it happens that people have scars because they have accidents in their lives but...This scar was big and then I think I saw other scars on him. I didn't have time to get a good look at it but it must have been different scars. He told me that he had a difficult childhood with his parents but to have so many scars. He didn't tell me the details but to hear him tell it, it must have been horrible. I wonder what he went through?

/

Zero POV

After Kamuro left, I finished changing and left the dormitory. There was still some time left before classes started so I went for a walk around the school campus.

"I haven't been here yet." I said. This school was really big so I haven't visited everything yet. While I was walking with my headphones on listening to music, I thought of something.

I suddenly stopped and looked at my hand. I didn't ask the question yet today but it's still the same answer. Even today, I still feel empty.

That empty feeling. It's like I'm dead. I can't seem to feel alive through a new day. As soon as I wake up, I feel nothing. I don't feel that feeling of living through the day. Except for listening to music or something else, I can't feel alive. At the moment, I don't feel happy or unhappy. I live the days without really being complete as a human being.

Sigh...am I really going to find this answer? I've been like this for a long time now. And then, I feel that as time goes by, my heart becomes more and more consumed by darkness. I feel that my emotions are slowly fading away. I am starting to think more and more logically than letting my emotions speak for me.

Kamuro had the right to be embarrassed and to say the implication of sleeping together. Even if in reality, I think there is no need to take it seriously, she was not really wrong to think about it. After all, we were living our youth so questions could be asked. We couldn't always say that nothing happened.

Anyway, I talked to her about it, so there's no need to rethink it. After taking stock of my thoughts, I decided to go to my class.

"!" As I got ready to leave, I felt a gaze upon me. After years of living in the whiteroom, I gained the sense of being able to feel when someone was watching me.
I turned to see where it was coming from. I saw no one else but a girl sitting on a bench about 30-40 meters away from me. This girl had long platinum blonde hair and crimson eyes. She was staring at me without changing direction. I don't know what she wanted but I stared back to see her reaction.

After 10 seconds of intense staring battle, she smirked. I don't know what she wanted but it looked like I had her attention. I wasn't close to her but just by looking at her from this distance, she looked like she had peerless beauty.

I turned to leave but at the end, I gave her a smirk. After that, I made my way to my classroom.I didn't recognize her from the first year so she must have been a senpai. I could have gone to talk to her to learn more but I am not in a hurry. I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again soon.

Well, I must say that she looked like a very extraordinary person. That piercing look she had, the aura she gave off even from a distance. Just by exchanging glances, she managed to make me feel something.

Excitement.

Besides feeling empty, I was also bored out of my mind. When I came to this school, I started to be more and more excited by the turn of events. It looks like I will definitely not be bored.

Maybe this school and the people here will provide the answers I'm looking for. Maybe I will find the meaning of my existence here. Maybe I will finally be happy.

Who knows? We will see. Now let's start this new day.

SS - Kiryuin Fuka : The mysterious kouhai

...

How bored I am. There is nothing interesting to watch these days. My second year here started a few days ago but I'm bored out of my mind. Is it going to be like this all year or even until my 3rd year? I don't know.

I got up from my bed and got ready to go out. It was pretty early before school started but sitting here doing nothing was not going to help me pass the time. Going outside to sit quietly would relax me and enjoy the scenery.

After leaving the dormitory, I went to a place not really frequented by students. It was a quiet place where you could admire the landscape. Just feeling the wind touching you and hearing the sea in the distance made the time pass. I sat down on the usual bench and stayed like that.

I have been asked many times, why don't you hang out with the others or why do you want to be alone? You might think so, but no, I don't hate being with other people. The reason why I act like this is simply because I don't hang out with uninteresting people. Uninteresting people or just too normal, just make me nauseous to be with. I was someone who needed to have company that could make me feel something. This feeling would tell me that this person is interesting to know and to spend time with. I've been like that since I was a kid, as I remember.

During my first year, I met 2 interesting people. 2 people where I was clearly interested in them, but it didn't last long. In the end, they became too easy to read and didn't bring any fun into my day. At least they had the chance to make me interested in them for a while.

One of them is really starting to piss me off more and more. I was impressed with his accomplishments during his first year but he has become more and more arrogant to the point of thinking that nothing can compare to him. He really thinks he's above everyone else but he's not even on my level or the other guy's level. I admit he was far from the normal guy you would see but he was also far from a genius. He was just a little cunning but nothing else interesting to keep on him.

Sigh...I wish someone or something could spice up my boring life. But this time, I want it to last a long time...no...I want it to last forever.

While I was thinking, I saw someone in my field of vision. It was a student but I don't remember seeing him before. He must have been an uninteresting student that I didn't bother to remember or..., he was a first year.

Speaking of freshmen, I remember hearing something very interesting yesterday. Apparently, a freshman yawned during the president's speech. You might think that this is nothing out of the ordinary, but you are completely wrong. I know how competent the president is. During our first year, he did the same to us. The others were affected by his aura, while I was not affected but I must admit that I was very interested in him afterward.

There is no way that a student who was affected by his pressure would have yawned at him. And there is also no way that he would have even raised his tone to his secretary because she asked him for a sincere apology. There was no way he was a normal student.

I wish I could have been there and seen the reactions of the others, it would have been hilarious. And then another unfortunate fact, I didn't know his name or even what he looked like. I could get that information from the president but that would be using up the favor he owes me. I wasn't really sure if he was worth my full interest. I was already disappointed so I didn't know if I should bet again.

Hmm?

While I was thinking, he stopped and started looking at his hand. I didn't know what he was thinking, but just looking at it, it must have been something deep. But something drew my attention to him. For some reason, I felt some kind of pressure coming from him. There was something that seemed to be coming off of him but I didn't know what. He didn't even seem to notice my presence or that I was looking at him. He was completely caught up in his thoughts.

He finally noticed that I was staring at him and turned in my direction. After that, I couldn't help but stare at him with an increasingly sharp eye, trying to see through him. I wasn't close to him so it didn't help me but I could feel that I couldn't see through him.
We looked at each other for at least ten seconds and his expression did not change. He was not at all afraid or even impressed by the aura I was giving off.

Interesting...really interesting.

I couldn't help but let out a smirk. It seemed that I had found someone very interesting.

Could it be him? This famous mysterious kouhai.

I wished I could have learned more but he seemed to want to leave. He turned to leave but gave me a smirk just before he left.

Oh? He seemed to be as interested as I was. I must have made a good impression on him with my gaze and all.

...

"We'll see each other again soon, very soon. But in the meantime, I should go do what I have to do." I said as I stood up.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and went to my contacts. I selected a number and pressed the button to call.

"...Kiryuin? Could you please tell me why you are calling me before the class starts?"

"Oh don't be so tense or anything, president. I'm just calling to tell you that I would like to use the favor you owe me. "

"I see. So could you tell me what you want?"

"I'll come to tell you afterward in your office. I just wanted to know if it was okay for today that I use this favor."

"...Why ask when you know very well that even if it wasn't, you would still come to me for your request."

"Hahahahahaha...you know me very well president."

"That's the least we can say...well..., couldn't you tell me your request now?"

"Oh don't be in such a hurry to know president. It's a surprise."

"Sigh...you're really a case apart, Kiryuin."

"I take it as a compliment, president. Don't worry, it's not a very complicated thing to get and I'm sure you'll be very interested to know."

"Hmm? For the moment, you have my attention. I hope it's as interesting as you say it is."

"Don't worry about it. If I trust my instincts, I have a feeling it will be very interesting." I said and cut the call. I turned my head up to see the sky.

I feel like this boring life is going to take a fun turn.

Hehe...I am eager to see it.

A more interesting lunch than expected

Zero POV

It was time for the lunch break. I received several invitations but I refused them because today I wanted to eat alone. I left the classroom and headed to my destination. I walked straight down the hallway thinking about what I was going to eat, but I didn't notice that there was an intersection and then...

Bam

I was heading to the cafeteria but I bumped into someone while I had my head elsewhere. This person was so slight that I didn't move an inch during the impact.

"Sorry, are you okay?" I said as I held out my hand. I could see that it was a girl with some sort of head covering.

"I'm fine, thank you." My eyes widened a little as I looked at her and helped her up. She had a cane on her that seemed to help her walk. She must have had a problem with her body.

"Sorry again, my mind was on something else." And another thing I noticed was that she was small. You'd think she was 2-3 years younger than a high school student, but it must have had something to do with genetics that she was short.

"No need to apologize. I can understand that you didn't see me because of my height." She said to me. that wasn't the real reason but let's just let it go and not argue.

"I see then..." I prepared to leave but she stopped me wanting to say something.

"Hmm...wait...oh it's you. Fufu, sorry I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Sakayanagi Arisu and I'm in class A." She said to me with a smug smile. Class A, huh?

"My name is Nozera Zero and I'm in class D. Nice to meet you Sakayanagi." She seemed to know me.

"Likewise, Nozera-kun."

...

We just stared at each other without saying anything until...

"Say, where were you planning to go? If I may ask, of course." I asked.

"I was going to go and buy something around here, why?"

"Would you like to go to the cafeteria to eat together?" I suggested to Sakayanagi. Originally, I wanted to go eat alone but I changed my mind.

"Oh...fufu, why not." She replied with a laugh. "But why this sudden invitation?" She then asked.

"To apologize for pushing you around." I said but that wasn't the real reason. I had other intentions behind this invitation.

"I already told you it was okay but if you insist."

"Then let's go." After that, we walked towards the cafeteria.

"I'm sorry for walking so slowly." She said to me because I was adjusting to her pace.

"No, no need to apologize. But we might run out of time to eat." At the speed we were moving, we were going to run out of time to eat and since she had to get back to her class afterward, she wasn't going to be able to make it on time. "To remedy this, I would have a solution." I proposed.

"A solution?" She said, trying to figure out what it would be.

"First of all, I would like to ask your permission. Will you give it to me?"

"Um...okay." She said with a puzzled face. "But what is this solution you propose?"

"You have two choices. Do you prefer the back or the chest?"

"Huh?" She was totally lost until her face showed an emotion of surprise. "...Wait...don't tell me that's what I think."

"I need an answer, Sakayanagi. We're running out of time."

"Then by the back." She chose.

"Okay." I said and lowered myself in front of her facing my back.

"Thanks a lot." She said and got on my back. As I had felt before, she was really light. "...So this is what it's like to see the world from above, huh?" She murmured but I could hear her.

"Sakayanagi."

"Hmm?"

"I advise you to hold on, it might shake you up."

"Fufufu. Are you going to run a race?" She seemed amused by what I said.

"No, but I'm going to go a little fast so hold on tight." I said and got ready to leave. She put her arms on my neck to hold on better and I made sure I was holding her legs.

Here we go!

I took off from the ground and ran towards the cafeteria.

"Huh?" She exclaimed as I ran. I wasn't at full speed but I was going pretty fast. After a minute, we arrived at the cafeteria.

After we arrived, all the attention turned to us. Obviously, because I was heard running and carrying a girl on my back.

Sigh...I feel like I'm going to be questioned about this. It's going to be annoying...Anyway, we'll see about that later. After arriving, I bent down again so that she could get off.

"Oh it's a shame it's over, I still wanted to be on your back to feel tall."

"Even though you're not heavy at all, that doesn't mean I want to carry you around all the time. Besides, I think you've had enough fun, right?"

"Fufufu, that's true. I shouldn't push the fun any further than I have to."

We went to take our meals and sat down at a table nearby.

"So? Why this sudden invitation, Nozera-kun?" She said to me while I was eating.

*swallowing*

"I already told you before, didn't I? It was to apologize for pushing you around. I felt bad for leaving you like that." I answered her question.

"I know that's not the real reason. At least not the most important one, right...fufu?" She answered me with a smug smile.

That's what I thought. She is not to be underestimated at all. You might think she's a fragile girl with her physical problem, but her intelligence and the way she sees through things makes her a terrifying one.

"...Well, since you found out, there's no point in beating around the bush. I didn't totally lie when I said I was sorry for pushing you, but as you said, I had an ulterior motive for inviting you." Following this, she smiled more deeply. "But to answer that, I would like to know an answer from your side."

"Oh...I'm listening." She said and seemed eager to know what I was going to say.

"You seemed to have recognized me before, right? But from your reaction, it wasn't just recognizing someone you'd seen like that. You seemed to recognize me via a situation that was not ordinary, I guess?" She continued to smile and look at me without blinking. "So my question is, from where did you recognize me?" The most likely answer would be from yesterday at the club fair when I yawned at the president's speech and coldly answered his secretary. But the thing is, I kind of watched everyone while I was there and I didn't see her, so it didn't seem like that was where I got her attention.

"Fufufufufufu." She started to laugh. "Excuse me, it's not to mock you or anything. It's just that you say something very interesting."

"Then may I have your answer?"

"I guess you've been thinking about what happened at the club fair but it's not that. Do you remember what you did afterward, specifically at night?"

What I did last night? ...Now I see. That's when she saw me. Last night, while I was talking with Kamuro, I felt that someone was watching us. I didn't pay any more attention to it because afterward, this person didn't follow us.

"I must say I was disappointed that you stole my target. I was planning to threaten her about her stealing and having her work for me."

"Sorry for messing up your plan." I said as I sipped my drink.

"Fufufu, you don't look that sorry, do you?"

"Indeed, it was just to be polite."

"Fufufufu." She continued to laugh. I have to say that her laughter can be a little terrifying at times but not enough to really scare me.

"You could still try to go threaten her and have her as a pawn on your side, right?"

"Fufu, that's true but hey, you got your hands on her so I shouldn't push it. Besides, I was able to find someone to work for me so no need." I already feel sorry for the person who had to become a pawn for her.

"Who says I put my hands on her? And even if I did, she's in your class, right? Are you sure it's okay for you? I could use her against you, you know?" She widened her eyes and then laughed out loud. Now everyone was looking at us to see why she was laughing so hard. After she finished laughing, a silence between me and her appeared but she still kept her smile. And then the attention we were generating on us disappeared little by little.

"You say some really interesting things, Nozera-kun. Why do you come to the conclusion that it might not be beneficial for my class if you were to make her work for you? Why do you think classes would be enemies to each other?"

"Just a hunch."

"Only just a hunch? Fufu, are you sure Nozera-kun?"

"Who knows? We'll see when the time comes." I said.

"Indeed, we'll see." She said and that was the end of our discussion. After we finished eating, I walked her back to her classroom and then went back to mine.

Anyway, this discussion with Sakayanagi brought me some answers and information. This lunch turned out to be more interesting than expected.

Sakayanagi Arisu, huh?

I smirked inside. She was going to be a very interesting person to fight these boring days.

a/n: Thanks for reading!

How did you find this chapter? feel free to give me feedback.

This chapter was mainly about introducing Sakayanagi. I'm planning to do a SS with her very soon so be sure to check it out.

The next chapter will be: "A body filled with scars"

A body filled with scars - part 1

Zero POV

"Good morning, Yamauchi!"

"Good morning, Ike!"

Arriving to class, Ike wore a broad grin as he called out to Yamauchi. It was rather unusual for them to get here so early. It'd been four days since the entrance ceremony, and Ike and Yamauchi would always make it to class right before the bell rang.

"Whew, man! I was looking forward to today so much that I barely slept last night!"

"Ah haha! This school is just the best! I can't believe that it's almost time for swimming! And when I say swimming, I mean girls. And when I say girls, I mean girls in school swimsuits!"

"Yeah, you said it. Hey, Professor! Come here for a sec!"

"Uh, you called?"

A chubby boy, apparently nicknamed "The Professor," approached them slowly. If I remembered correctly, his name was Sotomura or something like that.

"Professor, can you record the girls wearing their swimsuits for us?"Ike asked.

"Leave it to me. I'll pretend to be sick so that I can skip class and observe."

Sigh...I can't stop them from being teenagers in puberty and having a strong interest in women but here...they go too far. I got up from my chair and walked towards them.

"Hey guys."

"Oh...Nozera. How are you?"

"May I ask what you're up to?" I pretended I wasn't listening to their conversation.

" H-hum... we were going to make a bet on who has the biggest boobs." Ike replied.

"And for that you're going to take pictures or film them while they're in their bathing suits, right?"

"Yes. We'd love your help on this one."

"Ike." I say in a firm voice.

"Huh?"

"You realize you're planning to do this without their consent?"

"Yes, but don't worry, we'll make sure we don't get caught."

"Ike, that's not the problem. Say, you know that women are not toys made to satisfy your sexual desires, right? I can understand that at our age, we're interested in that but that doesn't mean we shouldn't respect them."

"Y-yes of course. It's just a little bet. There's nothing wrong with it."

"Sigh...well I'll let it slide this time." I told him.

"Really? Thanks, Nozera! I knew you were a real bro!" He said, slapping my shoulder.

Who do you call your bro? And then...don't touch me.

"Yes, yes." I said and took his hand off my shoulder. I went back to my seat.

"Say, you weren't planning on joining them in their fantasies, were you?" I said to Kiyotaka.

"What makes you say that?" He answered me.

"Because to see you looking at them, you seemed to want to join them. I know you want to make friends but there will be nothing good about joining their group. You're not like them anyway."

"Who's telling you that? I can be like that, you never know." He tells me with his poker face.

"..."

"..."

"So now, should I call you Hornytaka?" I say to him, moving my head to one side.

"Why do you call me with a nickname like that. I was just kidding."

"And I wasn't." I say with smirk.

"Oi, don't call me that or people will think I'm a pervert."

"Aren't you? Don't worry, at our age we have interests in this kind of thing, even for me. It's just...I didn't think you were that bold about it, Hornytaka."

"Stop it or I'll get really mad."

"Then go ahead and get mad. I'm waiting."

...

"Sigh...you're really a person who can be very troublesome, you know that?"

"Coming from you, I take that as a compliment." He sighed again. "Haha, okay I'll stop teasing you. I know you're not like that. If you were to join them then it would only be to learn about teenage conversations these days and try to make friends."

"That's true. But right now, I don't need to go join them for that. I have you so that's enough until then."

I'd be lying if I said it didn't affect me. I'm glad he can think like that...wait.

"Oi, am I dreaming or are you taking me as some kind of book to teach you some things."

"Hmm...that's not really wrong." He said while scratching his cheek.

"So you!" I said with a more or less angry voice but I wasn't really.

"What are you doing?" A voice asked.

We turned to see Horikita standing there, looking at us.

"Hi Horikita. We're talking, can't you tell?"

"I can see it, but what are you talking about?" She asked us. She is really curious from what I can see.

"Nothing interesting for our Horikita." I answered by looking at the window. I thought she would change the subject but she didn't.

"Why not? I'm curious to know what you talk about with each other." She's not going to let go of the case, is she?

"Sigh...if you really want to know then..." I paused before letting out a small smirk. "Smile at us with your best smile and we'll tell you what we were discussing."

After that, she looked at me with a dark look, as if I had just asked her the most insane thing she could do.

"You're dreaming." She replied without a smile on the horizon.

"Then forget it. Anyway, it's a boys' thing. You probably won't like to hear." After that, she looked at us with a disgusted look.

"You're right, I better not hear." She said and sat down in her seat. She took a book out of her bag and started to read it.

"Did you hear what I heard, Ayanokoji?"

"Um...yes?" He didn't know what I was referring to.

"Horikita. Our dear Horikita. That beautiful, icy-faced girl with a huge superiority complex just said I was right. Don't you understand what that means?"

"Ah...yes I see...I think so?" Ayanokoji replied. He didn't seem to understand what I was getting at, but it didn't matter.
"Indeed, she is slowly but surely starting to change. I almost have tears in my eyes." I say, wiping away fake tears.

"You know I can hear everything, Nozera-kun?" Horikita said to me but with a more or less angry expression.

"That's the point."

"So it's also your goal that I kill you?"

"Sorry, but that's not part of my goal."

"Nozera-kun, would you rather repent in pain or despair?" she offered me a choice.

"Hmm...if I have to choose...it would be neither."

"So, are you prepared to take responsibility?" She said with sharp eyes.

"I don't remember us going all that far...wait" I paused and looked seriously at Horikita. "Don't tell me you drugged me and took my virginity? No...I'm not ready to take on that responsibility and fuck it, I don't even remember it." I said, putting my hands on my head as I recounted my misery. I saw from the corner of my eye, Horikita's face had an expression that could define anger to the point of wanting to kill.

After that, she took her compass from her bag and tried to stab me with it. I took her wrist and blocked her attack.

"You know it can be dangerous to attack someone with that."

"Oh...Really? I'm thinking you should be fine, you're tough right? I just need to stab you a hundred-no a thousand times so let it be, will you?"

"Sorry, but I don't want to."

"That wasn't a suggestion."

"Then why ask the question?"

"Whatever. Just let it happen, will you?"

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!"

"Horikita, do you love me?"

"YES!" She said but with a louder voice. After that, Horikita froze on the spot.

...

After that, all the people who had arrived in class looked at us and wondered, what we were talking about to make her raise her voice. Horikita was still frozen, trying to figure out what she had just said.

"You see Kiyotaka, this is how to make a girl love you. I tell him with a proud face.

"Soka...I must say that it is very effective. Thank you for this lesson." He says to me with a thumbs up.

"No problemo." I answered with a thumbs up too.

"Hey." Suddenly, I felt Horikita's arm try to move more ferociously. "I'm really going to hit you." She said with a totally cold look in her eyes.

"Sorry but I'm not a masochist." I said while continuing to block her wrist. "On the other hand, we're in class so, no horny!" I tell her as I hit her on the head with my karate-like hand.

After that, I used my other hand to pull her compass out of her hand.

"Give it back!" She exclaimed.

"Then go get it." I said and opened the window. And then I threw it out.

Horikita glared at me and then walked out of the classroom to get her compass.

"This will keep her busy for a little while." I said as I sat back down in my chair.

"You didn't throw away her compass." Kiyotaka said to me.

"Oh you noticed?"

"Yeah. After taking it from his hand, you prepared to throw it away but for a split second, you slipped it into your sleeve and pretended to throw it away."

"Indeed." I say, pulling the compass out of my sleeve. I position myself well from behind so she doesn't notice.

"Are you planning to give it back to her?"

I looked at her compass for a second and said, "Would you give it back to her?" I asked.

"Honestly, no. She'd be a pain in the ass with that compass."

"Hmm...you're not wrong. I, on the other hand, would only give it back to her when she has changed a bit more." I say as I go to put her compass in my bag.

"I don't think you're really going to let it go like you told them before. He says to me as he takes aim at Ike and the other guys.

"Well...let's just say they're not going to have their little fun during swim class." I say as I stare at my phone.

--

"All right! The pool!"

After lunch had ended, it was finally time for swim class. Finally, the moment Ike and the others had so desperately been waiting for. Without even trying to hide his excitement, Ike leapt up and headed with the others toward the indoor pool.

We arrived at the locker room. Sudou promptly removed his uniform and started to change, showing off his physique.

He built his body through his years of playing basketball as he told or rather what Kiyotaka told me when he asked him what interested him in his life.

He quickly finished changing and went to the pool. I took my time to change while playing a game on my phone. The others finished changing and went to the pool. I was the only one left.

I can't imagine how excited Ike and the others must be to see the girls in their bathing suits. For them, it was a dream that was worth more than anything.

Yeah...well in the end it will remain a dream for them.

Kiyotaka POV
I arrived with the others in front of the pool. Upon seeing the fifty-meter pool, Ike cried out, "Whoa, this school is something else! It's even better than the city pool, don't you think?" Thewater was clear and beautiful, and because it was indoors, we didn't have toworry about the weather. The perfect environment.

"What about the girls? Aren't they here yet?"

Ike looked around, sniffing the air like a dog."They take a while to change, so they're probably not ready," I said.

"Hey, I wonder would what happen if I just suddenly jumped into the girls' locker room?" Ike said.

"They'd gang up on you, beat the crap out of you, and then file charges, probably."

"Don't give me such a realistic, deadpan answer and ruin my fun!" Ikebegan to tremble with fright as he played that scenario in his head.

"If the girls sense you staring at them in their swimsuits, they'll probably hate you."

"Come on, like there's a guy out there who wouldn't stare! Agh. Whatam I gonna do if I get a boner?"

If that happened, they'd probably hate Ike from that moment all the way until the day of our graduation.

"Wow! It's so spacious! It's so much bigger than the pool at my juniorhigh school."

A few minutes after the boys had arrived, a girl's voice could be heard.

"A-are they here?!"

Ike looked ready to strike. If you were that obvious about it, the girls were bound to hate you. Even so, I was curious, too. However, it turned out that all of the boys' wishes were dashed by an unexpected turn of events.

"Hasebe isn't here! Wh-what's going on, Professor?!" Ike cried.Hasebe was one of the most bet ones so they expected to see her but it was not the case.

The Professor, who had been watching the class, was now in a panic.

Standing on the second-floor observation deck, he scanned the room. Ike andthe others also looked around. At this height, the Professor's beady,bespectacled eyes should have spotted his prey instantly. However...

He couldn't find the girls anywhere. He looked to his right and left, as if in disbelief. Could they still be changing? Or could...

"B-behind you, Professor!"

"What?!"

Ike pointed and shouted. The situation had become clear. Hasebe stoodbehind the Professor on the observation deck. One by one, the girls appeared, until they'd all emerged onto the second floor.All the girls were there. Even Kushida and Horikita.

"Wh-what's going on? How did this happen?"

Ike slumped to the ground and buried his face in his hands, shaken bythis unbelievable turn of events. Hasebe seemed to be self-conscious aboutbeing considered a beautiful girl. Furthermore, she seemed to dislike gettingcurious looks from the boys. She was not amused at their attempts to ogle.

"Aw, but I thought I'd get to see big tits! Big tits! I thought this was my chance!"

Ike appeared to be contemplating suicide. His wails of agony reachedHasebe.

"Gross," the girls muttered among themselves. Ike was being far too obvious, so it wasn't surprising that the girls hated him...

"Why did all the girls decide to skip swim class. WHY!" Ike shouted in desperation.

"Well, I told them about your bet so naturally, they canceled to participate in the swim class."

"Who?!" Ike turned around to see that the one who said that was Zero. He was standing in the shadows of the hallway with his back against the wall.

"Don't tell me it was you who..." Ike tried to say.

"Indeed, it' me." Zero replied.

"Why? Why did you do that? And how did you convince all of them not to do the swimming lesson? You couldn't convince them all just by telling them with words." Ike said with a line of anger on his face.

"That's right, I couldn't just convince them with my word alone. I needed to show them the evidence itself so I recorded our conversation from before."

"W-what?!" Ike exclaimed in bewilderment. "You recorded us?"

"Yes. I recorded you and sent them our conversation. I stressed to them that if she didn't want to be looked at like a meatball, she shouldn't go to that swim class." Ike paused with his knees on the ground. Bewildered by what happened.

"I thought you were planning to let it go. Why man? Why? Just why? I thought you were a bro." Ike said. He was almost crying.

"Oh Ike, I didn't lie to you when I said I was going to let it go this time. It's just that you didn't understand what I meant by that."

"So what did you mean by that?"

"I said it in relation to sending it to the school, like for example the student council. I wonder how they would have reacted when they heard what you were planning to do."

Ike and the others could not refute what he was saying. If he wanted to, he could definitely destroy their school life.

"You sought him out so consider yourself grateful that I didn't go beyond that. Now go enjoy the lesson itself." He said to finish them off.

"All right, everyone, line up!"

A macho-looking middle-aged man, the kind of guy who apparently devoted himself to sports, gathered everyone together and started the class. He looked like a PE teacher, but also seemed like the kind of guy who was attractive to men and women alike.

"Hey you, are you coming?" He said to Zero who was still in the same place.

"Yes, I'm coming." He said and walked towards us.

But the moment he stepped out of the shadows of the hallway, something startled and terrified both the boys and the girls on the second floor. Even I was surprised and might even say a little shocked at what I saw.

"W-what is this?!"

"Oh my god!"

"Kyaaaaaa! That's horrible!"

"What the hell happened to you?! How did you get so many scars?"

Our classmates couldn't help but exclaim about what they saw in front of them. We couldn't see because he was in the shadows, but now that he was in the light and shirtless in his swimsuit, we could see that his body was full of scars.

I know a little bit about his past so I shouldn't be really surprised to see that and then especially with my own past but...

For a reason I don't know, his body made me realize again that the person named Zero really didn't have what you would call a normal life.

To be continued

A body filled with scars - part 2

Zero POV

I walked out of the hallway to join the class, but of course, I was expecting the reactions of my classmates who saw my scars on my body. I just hope they will just move on and not make a big deal about it.

"S-say, what are those scars you have on your body?" Said the teacher who was horrified at the sight of my scars.

"It's nothing, just a few accidents here and there. No need for you to stay focused on it."

"It doesn't bother me much but..."

"What?"

"Well..." He turned to my classmates with his eyes.

I could see the horrified faces of the boys looking at me. Hirata who was horrified by my scars but at the same time looked sad for me turned to our classmates and said.

"I know this must be shocking to you but I think we should not stay focused on this. Nozera-kun is still a classmate so we should be respectful to him and not talk about it." Hirata defended me and tried to tell them not to judge me or feel pity for me. I've only known him for a short time, but Hirata seems like someone you could define as kind and respectful to others.

"For once I agree with him. He should not be judged or even avoided." The one who said this was Sudo surprisingly.

"Yeah, not everyone has gone days without having an accident so there's no reason to be so mean to him." I think his name was Miyake? Looking at him, I could see that he also had a muscular body even if it wasn't at Sudo's level.

" Even if it's true that those scars are terrifying, I don't think there's any reason not to let him stay." Said a guy with glasses. His name was Yukimura.Some people took my defense but that would probably not change the opinion of the others.

"It's not that I don't want to, but..." one of the guys replied.

"Sorry Hirata but it's really disturbing to watch him. I can understand that he had some horrible moments but..." Ike said.

"Yeah sorry Hirata." replied another guy.

"Sorry..." Another guy replied.

"It's better if he doesn't stay there."

"Guys! You can't be serious!" Hirata exclaimed, but in his voice, you could hear a little anger.Sigh...I strongly suspected that it would happen like this.

"Well, if I'm going to cause discomfort among you, then I'll just go away, so I won't bother anyone." I'd better not stay here. Anyway, if it's to look at me disgusted with my scars or just avoid me then no thanks. I'm not someone who cares about other people's looks, but I know it's going to be a pain in the ass in the long run and it would start to get really uncomfortable so I'd better leave.

"Wait, we could make you put on a rash guard if you want. You don't have to leave the class if you don't want to." The teacher offered. Honestly, I would have agreed but now I'd rather go relax instead. Anyway, I already got what I wanted by depriving Ike and the others of their fun so that's enough for me.

"Thanks for offering, but I'll be fine. It's not a big deal if I don't take the class, is it? I can more or less assure that I can swim pretty much."

"Sigh...if that's what you want then I won't go back on it."

"Nozera-kun..." Hirata showed a sad face after I strayed from the class.

"Don't worry." I said to assure him that it was really not that serious.I walked away from them and went to the second floor where the girls were. I didn't go to them since I knew they wouldn't want me to go near them. I went to sit in a corner on the other side.Several minutes passed. As I watched the class from a distance, I heard someone approach me. I turned to see that it was Horikita and she decided to sit down next to me.

"What do you want Horikita?"

"What? Am I not allowed to sit next to you?"

"...No, do as you like." I answered and after that, a moment of silence reigned between us.

...

"I'm surprised that you decided to skip class." I said to break the silence.

"Huh? I remind you that it was you who told me that it was better not to take this class because of the boys." She was obviously talking about Ike and the other perverted guys. Before we had that class, I went to tell Kushida about the boys' plans. Of course, I made her listen to the recording to prove my words. After that, I advised her to do what I thought she should do and she went to warn the other girls and managed to convince them not to do the swimming class. I went to tell Horikita on my side but I didn't expect her to follow what I proposed.
"I only said that it was better for you and the other girls not to do this class but I didn't force you or anything. In reality, I thought you would still do this lesson despite knowing what he was up to."

"What kind of girl do you think I am? You think I'd like to be taken in a picture or filmed without my consent for some perverse purpose?"

"I guess not."

"To tell you the truth, I thought I was still going to do this class but quite honestly, the idea of being watched by their perverted eyes, was really going to make me uncomfortable. so in the end, I decided to listen to you, as I did to all the other girls. I'm amazed too that you managed to convince them all."

"That's thanks to Kushida. Without her to get the message across and be persuasive, I probably wouldn't have made it."

"Indeed, you managed to totally prevent their plans. As much as it pains me to say it,...t...ha...you" She said the last part so softly that I didn't get the whole word.

"I didn't understand what you said at the end. Can you say it again?" After I said that, she turned her head away from me.

"Don't tell me you're embarrassed?"

"Me embarrassed? I don't know what you're talking about." She said as she put her pride on display.

"Then forget it. I'll pretend I didn't hear that." After that, I could see that she was looking at me with a hesitant look.

"I said...t-thank you, thanks for warning me. Are you happy now?"

"Not really, actually."

"What?! What else did you want me to say?"

"Nothing. I just don't see what's embarrassing about saying thank you so I don't see how it would make me happy to hear you say thank you."

"So you don't care if I thank you?"

"I didn't say that. I take into account that you said thank you but it's not like I won the best thing in the world. I don't understand why I should just be happy about it?"

"You know Nozera-kun, sometimes you're really weird. I really can't figure you out."

" You too, I can tell that you are also weird."

"I didn't ask for your opinion."

"Me neither."

She looked at me with a little glare and turned her gaze elsewhere.

...

I thought she wouldn't talk anymore, but it looks like she didn't.

"Well, what do you want to say to me again?" I could see that she was glancing from time to time but mostly at my body.

"... Did it hurt?" She said in regards to my scars. I didn't get changed so of course my scars were visible.

"Oh...well, I'd be lying if I said it didn't but it wasn't that bad. It hurt a little at first and then it went away."

"You know I can see that you're lying to me since I can see your body pretty well. Those wounds must have hurt a lot, to the point where I couldn't imagine being able to handle them."

"Don't worry, it wasn't that bad."

"Why are you lying? Besides, it's not in my nature to pry into other people's pasts or anything, but what happened to leave you with so many horrible scars."Sigh...she doesn't seem to want to let go of the case, does she?

"Why are you so interested in this?"

"Because...I..."She seemed reluctant to tell. I guess she was just curious and didn't want to say it like that without any respect for the person.

"I can tell you about it if you want." Obviously, I wasn't going to say anything about the whiteroom but I could tell her about my parents. Anyway, she can know about it I don't care.

I told her everything about what happened with my parents.I told her that my father used to beat my mother and me. After my father committed suicide, my mother got into an unhealthy relationship with a guy and got into drugs. This guy also beat me and after that, I ran away and went to an orphanage.

When she heard this, she wore a shocked face.

"My god...I'm sorry. I didn't think it was that bad."

"Don't worry, it's all in the past. Now I'm no longer affected or anything by it."

"I see...but, there's something I want to know."

"What?"

"I want to believe that everything you just told me isn't a lie but it doesn't explain all those other scars you have."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. You can explain to me what those scars are there, there and there!" She pointed to different spots.

"Scars." I answered her without waiting. Obviously, she didn't like me beating around the bush so she proceeded to say with some hesitation her suspicions.

"Nozera-kun...am I wrong or is that knife scars? And also...this one by bullet?"

"So you recognize this kind of scar?"

"So you admit that I'm right?"

"No, but you seem to know a lot about it so I'm curious."

"I don't know anything about it but, it's not like I've never watched a movie in my life so I've seen those kind of scars even if it was on purpose for the staging and stuff. It's just that your scars look a lot like that."

Indeed, even if it was for fake, those scars were inspired by real scars so his logical reasoning is totally right. But despite that, I wasn't going to give her what she wanted.
"Think what you want Horikita. I won't answer that."

"Then let me ask you another question. Who are you?"

Horikita...did you hit your head or something? Of course I'm not going to answer that since I know what you're looking for.

"Nozera Zero."

"I'm not kidding, Nozera-kun."

"Me neither. Why are you so curious about me?"

"To me, you look like a soldier who just got back from long years in dangerous fields. Besides, I can see that your muscles look well developed. Whether it's that or your demeanor, you don't look like a simple person."

"So what?"

"So I'm curious to know who you are but since I can see you're not going to answer me so I will let it go." She said and paid no more attention to me.

"Horikita."

"What? You're going to tell me-"

"No."

"Hmph!" She looked like she was pouting. I have to say, she was cute pouting.

"Horikita, I'm sorry but I won't tell you what you're looking for but let me tell you something to compensate you." She looked at me interested in what I was going to say. "You said before that I must have been in real pain, so much so that you don't think you could have handled it yourself, but know one thing, Horikita," I paused and looked her firmly in the eye. "No matter how much physical pain you may receive, nothing is more painful than here." I said, pointing to my heart.

"What do you mean?" Horikita asked perplexed.

"The human being is a fragile being, Horikita. No matter how strong you are physically, we are still fragile beings who can get hurt easily and even die from nothing. This is the reality of the world we live in." I paused and then continued. "In spite of that, we continue to live in spite of knowing that we will die one day because of our physical condition. But..."

"But?"

"In spite of everything, we try to live our lives with as little regret as possible but there is something that scares us a lot, much more scary than death itself. Do you know what it is?"

"N-no." My voice had changed to a more serious tone, which startled Horikita.

"Our heart Horikita. Human beings are afraid to have their hearts hurt because it directly affects our emotions, which directly affects what defines us. The feeling of having your heart hurt is much more painful than any pain because it is what keeps us alive both physically and psychologically. This is the greatest weakness of every human being, Horikita.

"To have our heart hurt is the most horrible thing to have?

"Yes. So that's what I'm getting at, Horikita. Make sure that in the future, you can get through this or else... you will experience something worse than death." I finished saying what I had to say and went back to watching the class. I could see out of the corner of my eye that after what I said, Horikita was deep in thought but I could see that she was a little scared by what I said.

This is all from my experience, Horikita. You will understand one day.

Well no, I rather expect sooner, because otherwise, you won't survive here. Because this is an elite school, right?

I thought as I turned around at the end to see the camera behind me.

Discussion

a/n: I forgot I wanted to show this. These are approximately the scars he has. (this does not come from me, I specify)

Zero POV

A few days had passed since then. With all the other girls, we did not participate in the swimming class. This did not have any repercussion except that we had to take the class afterwards to be tested if we could swim. The teacher told us that swimming would probably be a necessary skill in the future.

This implied that knowing how to swim would be useful for some kind of test. This further reinforced my doubts about the true nature of this school.

And anyway, nothing really extraordinary has happened so far. The only funny thing that happened was that I stopped Ike and the others from having their fun with the girls. During the swimming class, they were disgusted as hell and it was fun to watch. Kiyotaka on the other hand did not stand out during the class. He just showed himself as a guy who was average despite the fact that there was a competition at the end of the class where he could win private points.

He had the right to do what he wanted but does he know that in the long run, it wouldn't do much use? Anyway, I'll see with him about that later.

Now it was lunchtime. As the students were leaving, Hirata made an announcement.

"Mina, I would like to have your attention for something that concerns the school and it's very important. This only took a few minutes." After that, everyone stopped in their tracks and listened to Hirata. "Thank you." He said and bowed his head in thanks. "I know you want to go eat so I'll make this quick." He went to stand on the podium.

"What I have to talk to you about is the school's point system. First of all, these are just theories so nothing is absolutely verified but if it turns out to be true then it could greatly threaten our school life." After that, murmurs could be heard from others wondering what these theories were? "Sensei already told us that about this system but didn't you think that something was wrong?"

"What is it?" One of the boys asked.

"Oh seriously, what's there to explain? We were told that we would receive 100,000 points per month. I don't understand why we have to be suspicious or anything." Ike exclaimed.

"Hey! Let Hirata explain! Maybe he found out so it's better to listen to him." Said one of the girls who was following Hirata around.

"I can understand your opinions and I have to say that I wasn't as suspicious at first but I have discovered several things that make me think that this school is far from being what we thought it was. I think there is something wrong with the distribution of these 100000 points. I'll tell you what I found out."

Hirata then told everything he had discovered. He talked about the lack of discipline of the teachers, that the senpai of class C and D eat the free meals, that we were allowed to take three free things from the convenience store during the month, that there were cameras in the classroom and finally that the senpai did not answer the questions about the system and that as sensei on the first day they told us to be careful.

"And then? it's just a theory so there's probably nothing to worry about. Again, Ike continued to say that there was no problem. I really wonder if he has a brain? Because either he does or he doesn't know how to use it, because he was really a complete idiot.

"Well yes, these are just theories but I'm afraid they're going to turn out to be true and I think we should be prepared for that." He explained that surely we were being evaluated on our test scores and our attitude in class. "I would like each of you to have good behavior in class. Don't be late, don't sleep in class, and don't use your phone. I want us to be as focused as possible listening to the class."

"Why should we listen to you, huh? There's nothing that says you're right and that it would be helpful to us." Ike raised his voice to show his displeasure. Like him, several other guys were expressing their displeasure. On the girls' side, it was more divided but they didn't seem to mind Hirata's suggestion even though they were somewhat recitative.

"I know I'm asking for a lot, but please. He said as he lowered his head. "Until the first of May, I would like you to do what I suggested. If it turns out that I was wrong then I won't go back on it for our three years here."

Our classmates looked at each other puzzled. They wondered if they should really listen to Hirata on just theories.

"I would advise you to listen to him. If you do what he says then we would be in a better situation." I said, breaking the silence that reigned.

"You know something, right?" Said one girl. I tried to remember her name...hmm...Matsushita, huh? Interesting, looks like there's someone else who doesn't seem to be as simple as she claims.

I got up from my chair and walked towards the entrance. "Who knows, maybe it is?" I said as I walked out of the classroom leaving my classmates confused.

In any case, Hirata did what I asked him to do.

Flashback

Two days ago.

I was in my room reading a manga when my doorbell rang.

*knock, knock, knock*

I went to open the door and greeted the expected person. " Hey Hirata. Thank you for coming. I hope I didn't bother you for that." I said with a small smile.

" Hey Nozera-kun. No, don't worry, you didn't bother me at all."

"I see, so make yourself comfortable. Do you want something to drink?"

"No thanks, I'm fine. Thanks for offering." He said and went to sit on the carpet.

"You can go sit on my bed, you know? I don't mind."

"Okay then." He said and went to sit on my bed. As for me, I went to sit on a chair but on the opposite side. I crossed my arms and let them fall into the void.

"Hirata, do you know why I asked you to meet me?" I said, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Well...I have no idea so I hope you can enlighten me." He said while scratching his cheek with a smile.

...

"Hirata." I said breaking the silence.

"Y-yes?" Hirata was surprised that I called out of the blue.

"What do you think of this school?"

"What do I think?" I replied with a nod. "Well, I must say it's quite different from the schools I went to but..."

"But?"

"Something tells me there's something weird about it. I can't exactly put my finger on what but I have a bad feeling."

So Hirata more or less manages to sense that something is wrong. It wasn't impressive at all that he was able to notice that, but coming from him, it wasn't bad at all. He's not as pathetic as the others anyway.

"Do you remember when I asked Chabashira-sensei some questions the first day? "

"Yes, I remember. In fact, it was from that moment on that I thought there was something strange. The questions you asked got to me and I started to think about it."

"Did you find out anything?"

"Well,...indeed I did find something more or less odd."

"Go ahead, I'm listening." I urged him to continue.

"You might know this, but I joined the soccer club. There I asked some senpai some questions about the school and this system but I didn't really get a clear answer. They told me that they couldn't tell me anything and that I should be careful."

"I see. Hirata, did you understand where this is going?"

"Well...I'm still thinking about it so not really."

"Sigh...then let me explain." I decided to explain my thoughts on this directly to him.

I explained all my findings and theories about it. Hirata's face was getting more and more shocked as I explained.

"...Seriously? If it's really that then..."

"Yes, I haven't discovered everything yet but I can more or less predict that we're going to be in an alarming situation. There are too many clues for it to be nothing."

"Yes...we risk being in an unpleasant situation."

"Now, do you see what I'm getting at?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain why you're only explaining it to me? Why don't you go explain it to the others?"

Sigh...Hirata, don't tell me you can't figure out why I'm doing this.

" What do you think?" I didn't give him the answer. If he can't even figure it out, then this class really wouldn't be worth trying to help.

"...Well, the only thing I can think of is do you need me to convince them?"

"Yes, but not only that. I also want you to explain that you're the one who found all this and that you're trying your best to convince them, no matter what you have to say."

"Wait, why are you asking that? Why do you want to lie about it coming from you?" I stood up at his question.

"Hirata." I said and lowered my head. "Please, I know you can convince them. I don't have the ability to do that, and I'm not sure they want to hear anything from someone like me.

Hirata's face changed expression. "If it's about the swimming class then I-"

"Don't worry, I don't blame them and I don't care about that. I just want us to escape from this situation so we have to optimize as best as possible so there's no better person for this role than you."

"Nozera-kun..."

"Can I count on you Hirata?" I say, looking him straight in the eye.

"...Very well, I'll do my best." He says to me with a resolute look.

First step of the plan succeeded.

End of the flashback

Now, let's see where this goes.

--

Kiyotaka POV

For the third period of the afternoon, we had history class with Chiyabashira-sensei.

When the bell rang, Chiyabashira-sensei walked into the noisy classroom. Her entrance didn't alter the students' behavior.

"Quiet down a little, please. Today's lesson will be a bit serious."

"What do you mean, Sae-chan-sensei?"

They already had a pet name for the teacher.

"It's the end of the month, so we're going to have a short test. Please pass these to the back."

She handed out the papers to the students in the front row. Eventually, the single-sheet test reached my desk. It contained questions in the five main subjects. With only a few questions per subject, it really was short.

"Huh? I wasn't listening, though. This is so unfair!" a student cried.

"Don't say that. This test is just for future reference. It won't be reflected in your report cards. There is no risk involved, so don't worry. Of course, cheating is prohibited."

Her phrasing struck me as odd. Normally, only general grades were reflected in your report card. But the way Chiyabashira-sensei said they wouldn't be reflected in our report cards made me think that the grade could be reflected in some other way.

As soon as the pop quiz began, I scanned the questions. There were four questions per subject, for a total of twenty. Each question was worth five points, for a total of one hundred points. Most of the questions were extraordinarily easy, to the point where it was almost a letdown. In fact, the questions seemed to be about two levels less difficult than the ones on the entrance examination. It appeared far too easy.

However, just as I thought that, I reached the end of the test. The final three questions were an order of magnitude higher in terms of difficulty. The final math problem couldn't be solved without complex formulae.

"No way. These questions are seriously way too hard..." A student says in despair by these questions.

These questions couldn't be geared toward a first-year high school student. The final three questions were clearly of a different quality than the others, so it was possible they'd been put on the test by mistake. Even though the results wouldn't be reflected in our grades, what in the hell were they evaluating with this?

Well, I guess I'll just solve these problems the same way I did on the entrance exam.

Chabashira-sensei monitored us. As she slowly patrolled the classroom, she kept a watchful eye to dissuade us from cheating. I quickly glanced at Horikita, who would never even think of cheating. Her pen danced across the paper as she filled in all of the answers. It looked like she was easily going to get a perfect score.

I thought of continuing to look at my test to pass the time but it was not the idea of a certain person.

"Chabashira-sensei, I'm done." said a student. This surprised the others because it had not even been 10 minutes since the test started. I could see Horikita's face was mixed with many emotions because it was Zero.

"You still have about twenty minutes left, are you sure you want to hand in the test?"

"Yes, here." He got up and went to give the test to Chabashira-sensei. He went back to his seat but stopped in the middle of the road. "Would it be possible for me to leave the class since I'm done?" He asked.

"Well no, you're supposed to stay here until everyone is finished even if you handed in your test."

"I see, but since I'm done, can I still go to the bathroom or not?" He says this time.

"I wouldn't normally allow it but since you finished the test then okay, you can go." She decided to grant his request.

"Thanks." He says to her. Right after that, he looked at me and made a gesture with his head. After that, he left the classroom.

I understood his message. Sigh...I hope he has a good reason to do this now.

"Sensei, I finished my test too." I said and went to hand in my test. "Can I go to the bathroom too?"

"Fine, but you have a few minutes." She said as if she knew we weren't going to the bathroom for the main reason.

I left the classroom and went to the bathroom. I saw Zero standing against the wall.

"It could have waited until after class, don't you think?"

"Yeah but I wanted to talk about it now."

"Alright...so what do you want to talk to me about?" I was curious to know.

"You held back on the test, right? Just like all the others for that matter." He asked me. I didn't answer him, but my silence confirmed that it was true.

"Sigh...that's what I'm saying, it could have waited for later. Why do you want to talk about this?"

"Because I think it's necessary. Kiyotaka, I have no right to force you to do what I want but I advise you to listen to me and think about it." He paused and then resumed. "You told me you wanted to live an ordinary high school life, right?" I replied with a nod. "Then let me tell you straight out that you certainly won't be able to live that ordinary life. This school is way too special for you to make it."

"In what sense?"

"You already know that without me even telling you. Anyway, we'll find out soon enough." He said and headed for the exit. "I'll let you think about it but whatever your decision is, I'll respect it and help you if you need help but I don't think you need to hold back that much. After all, we're not at the whiteroom anymore and this guy can't do anything here against us...at least for now." He says and leaves the bathroom.

He had a point. I had to think more seriously about what I wanted to do with this new life I have now. Even though he didn't explain all the details, I understood what he was getting at. Should I really try to live this high school life as a normal person? I was starting to think that this school was going to be more and more problematic to live this quiet school life...

Maybe I should go for the second option? maybe I should not hold back or just a little bit and live my life here to the fullest without needing to hide or anything. maybe this option will help me answer this question more effectively.

Are humans equal or not?

Kabedon

Zero POV

I returned to class after my little discussion with Kiyotaka. Kiyotaka also arrived a few moments later and we waited for the class to end while the others finished their tests.

The class was about to end and Chabashira-sensei went to collect all the test papers. She put the tests in her things and was getting ready to leave the classroom but stopped and turned back to us.

She looked at me and said. "Nozera."

"Yes?" I replied, wondering what she wanted.

"Come see me after class in the faculty office. I have to talk to you." She said and left the classroom.

She had to talk to me? What could it be? Anyway, I'll see when the time comes.

--

The day's classes ended. I thought about going back to the dorm room but I had to go see Chabashira-sensei first.

I went to the faculty office and went inside. Chabashira-sensei was there, probably checking on some school-related business. "You're here already? You got here fast." She took her eyes off it and said after I got her attention.

"You're the one who told me to be here after school."

"I did, but it's only been a few minutes since today's classes ended. You got here pretty fast. I thought you'd take longer."

Well, that's because I didn't have anything else important to do so I wanted to take care of it first.

"If I got here too fast and you're busy, I'll come back later." I was getting ready to leave but Chabashira-sensei stopped me.

"No, it's okay. Since you're here then there's no need to put it off until later."

"So are you going to tell me why I'm here? What do you have to say to me?"

Did I do something to get in trouble? I don't think I've done anything to get into trouble.

"Don't worry, you didn't make any trouble or anything but I got a report about something."

"About what?"

"About your scars."

"Ah..."

"Your swimming teacher came to tell me about your scars. He told me it wasn't normal for a young boy to have so many scars and especially abnormal scars."

"..." I said nothing.

"And then, one of your classmates also came and told me about it."

"Hirata I guess?" Chabashira-sensei widened his eyes at my guess.

"You already knew?" She was surprised that I guessed so quickly so she assumed that I knew it before.

"Well, after you told me to go see you, Hirata looked at me in a more or less sad way as if he already knew why I was summoned so I thought maybe he knew. And then, knowing Hirata more or less, I wasn't surprised that he would talk to you about it because he was worried about me." After a few days, you could tell that he was someone who was worried about everyone. He gave the impression that everyone was more or less important to him. So you could define him as a totally kind and respectful person towards others.

"I see. Well, I did get their report on that but before I say anything, I'd like you to show me your scars."

"Why? Don't you believe them?"

"It's not necessarily that I don't believe them but I need to see for myself before I make a judgment."

"You really want to see them?"

"Yes if you want to. I wouldn't force you to show them to me but I guess you don't mind so much since you posted with them during swim class without any anxiety about being seen with them."

"Heh. You're right but, why should I show them to you? To satisfy your curiosity? And besides, even if I don't mind being seen like that, I don't necessarily want to be filmed."

"No, because as your teacher, I have a duty to be there for you if you have a problem, whether it's with the school or personally. And in regards to your concern, there are no cameras here. You can show me without anyone seeing you."

"I see, but what makes you think I have a problem? It has clearly disturbed and shocked the others, but that doesn't mean I'm not okay. It's just scars from the past so there's no need for you to stay focused on it."

"You're not wrong but it depends on how bad those scars are in themselves. If I were to override this and someone goes and reports it to the director or it even gets out of here, it could be a problem. Apparently, he and Hirata were very insistent that it wasn't normal at all to have the scars you have. So, I'd like to check it out myself since I'm your homeroom teacher and also because I'm worried about it myself."

"You know, you definitely don't give off the air of a teacher who cares about his students."
"Believe what you want. Well, will you show me those scars?"

"If that's what you want then here you go." I say while taking off the top of my clothes.

"...What...my god...what are these?" Chabashira-sensei said totally shocked at the sight of my scars. She always wore an icy and serious face but this was the first time she changed her expression. "What happened to you to make you have that?" She said after a few seconds.

"Accidents here and there." I said in a nonchalant way.

"Sigh...I understand why they insisted on this. Nozera, I'll be honest, it's not at all normal at your age to have these kinds of scars and to have so many of them."

"I can understand your point of view and so? What are you going to do now after seeing this?"

"...To tell you the truth, I should tell the director and have you go see someone who can help you because right now... "

"But Chabashira-sensei, I'm telling you that I'm fine."

"I want to believe you but it would be hard for others to believe it. Anyway, what do your parents think about this?"

"What do they think?"

"Yes, do they know that you're okay despite everything that's happened to you?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't know because it's difficult to ask them. My father committed suicide and my mother sold me after she abandoned me. She went off with a guy to get her drugs so I can't answer you about that."

Chabashira-sensei didn't say anything, because she was probably shocked by what I said.

"...I'm sorry to hear that."

"Oh don't worry, I don't care anymore."

"How can you be so-"

"So calm about it? That's a good question, but if I had to answer, it's because it's pointless to be continually infected by it and remain weak. I decided to live my life on the path I chose, plain and simple."

"...I see. It must have been hard." She said and seemed to sympathize with me.

"I'm not going to lie to you that it wasn't, but now it's hard in the past. I'm fine now."

"I see but Nozera, if you need to talk, you can come to me or if not, we can try to find someone who can listen to you."

"Chabashira-sensei, I already told you that I'm fine. Maybe I don't look it but I'm pretty mature about this for my age."

"That's the impression I get." She says with a small smile.

Thump

I felt my heart pounding at this.

"Nozera?" She said as I moved closer to her. I moved closer and closer to her. She backed up until she hit the wall behind her.

Boom

I hit the wall with my hand.

"What are you doing?" She asked confused. I was now facing her with my hand against the wall looking at her.

"A kabedon."

"A what?"

"Anyway Chabashira-sensei, you said that you would be there to listen to me if I needed, right?" I said as I moved my face closer to hers.

"Y-yes."

"...You know Chabashira-sensei but you are really beautiful."

"What? Stop joking and step aside. I'm your teacher and you're my student so stop it right now." She looked me straight in the eye.

"Stop what?"

"What you're doing."

"The kabedon?"

"Kabedon or whatever. Can you please step away?"

"What if I don't want to?"After that, she tried to leave from the other side of where I put my hand but I blocked her way with my other hand.

"Chabashira-sensei, you have an icy and serious side but it gives charm to your beauty. After seeing you smile, I felt my heart beat. I haven't felt that kind of heartbeat for a long time." I said and my lips were just a few inches from her. She blushed at my action. She didn't seem to reject what I was about to do even though she seemed hesitant.

I was almost two centimeters away from her but I stopped in my tracks. "You are right. I should stop this." I said and backed away from her with a smile. "Excuse me but I wanted to tease you a little. I hope it didn't bother you too much?"

"Y-you..."

"Yes?"

" No nothing. I hope you won't make that kind of joke again. There are limits to teasing people." She resumed her icy look around her.

"I know, I know." I say, scratching my head with a wry smile. "Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?"

"No that's okay, I don't have anything else to tell you. You can go."

"Then I'll take my leave." I said and headed for the door. I took the handle but before I turned it, I looked back at her. "Chabashira-sensei."

"Do you have something to tell me?"

"I apologize again for teasing you so far."

"It's okay I get it. I just don't want it to happen again, do we agree?"

"..."

"Are we in agreement, Nozera?"

"Chabashira-sensei, I want to correct something."

"What?" She asked curiously.

"What I did was indeed a tease but not a joke as you said."

"What do you mean?"

"Who told you I wasn't serious just before?"

"No...don't tell me that-"

"Have a nice day Chabashira-sensei." I said and walked out of the room.

"Hey wa-" She wanted to say something but I closed the door behind me and headed for the dormitory.

SS - Sakayanagi Arisu : My wish

"...Hmm." I slowly opened my eyes. "Yawn" I yawned.

I slowly got up from my laying position and looked at the time on my phone. Class doesn't begin for another 45 minutes. I sent a message to the one I consider my employee of sorts.

I picked up my cane that was lying next to me and stood up. I walked slowly to the window and opened it. "The sun is already coming up. What a beautiful view." I said.

I continued to admire the beautiful landscape. "The view at its place must be really amazing." As I said this, I was reminded of a moment that happened a short time ago.

"...So this is what it's like to see the world from above, huh?"

"...Fufufufu...it's true that I experienced it a bit thanks to him." I still continued to observe the payment while murmuring. "Nozera Zero, huh?" I stopped my observation and went to rest on the bed.

"I think I may have found someone as interesting as you, my dearest childhood friend. I said as I stared out the window to the outside world. "I wonder what you are up to? I would love to see you again." I said this into the void hoping that my request would be heard.

"You have no idea how bored I've been these past few years. No one has been able to give me a challenge anymore. By coming to this place that my father is the director of, I hope to live a fun and interesting life." I then turned my gaze to the phone and looked at my points.

"So far, the things I've seen here are promising so I should be able to manage to be satisfied but it would be nice if you were here."

I still remember going to visit this place and seeing you. Seeing you crush your opponents, my heart began to beat with desire. That desire to confront you...and destroy you came in and stayed there ever since. You are the one who gave me a new lease on my life. You somehow changed my life and allowed me to see things in a deeper aspect.

That's why to thank you, I would like to...destroy the existence of the masterpiece. That way, you will be mine.

...

"Fufufufu...is this the wishful thinking of a maiden in love? I wonder." I laughed with a smile.

I then went to change my clothes. Because of my physical problem, it wasn't easy for me to change my clothes, but with time, I was able to do it more or less. I went to put my hat on when I heard the door knocking.

*knock, knock, knock*

I walked to my door, leaned on my cane, and went to open it.

"Good morning, hime. Did you sleep well?" Said the boy in front of me.

"Yes, thank you for asking Hashimoto-kun." I said.

"Glad to hear it, so does that mean you're not mad at me anymore?"

"What are you talking about Hashimoto-kun? Do I still look angry?" I said with my smile.

"Well...looking at you it seems like you are."

"If you know that then there's no need to ask, isn't it?" I say still with a smile but a slightly different tone.

"...Yes."

"Fufu, glad to hear it. Now, let's hurry to class. you don't mind taking my bag with you, right?" I asked him with my bag in my other hand.

"Yes, hime." He said and took my bag.

"That's nice of you, Hashimoto-kun. You're a real gentlemen."

"I thank you for your compliment." He moved closer to me. "Does this mean that now I am forgiven?" He said to me with his snake-like smile.

Boom

I closed my door violently. "Did you say something?" I turned to face him with my smile.

"No, nothing at all."

"Fufu, then let's go."

We took the elevator and left the dormitory.

"...Um, hime?" He said to me as we walked.

"Yes, Hashimoto-kun?"

"I know I screwed up and you have every right to be angry. I can understand that, but I've said I'm sorry many times-"

"Hashimoto-kun." I cut him off and stopped walking.

"Yes!"

"Do I have to remind you what you did that day."

"N-no."

"Well, it looks like you do. What happened is that a few days ago I told you that I wanted to go to the cafeteria for lunch and I wanted you to come with me but you went off with your friends and left me all alone at my expense."

"I know, I know. I admit I had totally forgotten about that and then I had also forgotten to charge my phone so I couldn't get your calls. I know I screwed up but please, it won't happen again."

"you really expect me to forgive you, huh?" I say, looking at him with piercing eyes. I could see him sweating with fear as he looked at me.

"My name is Nozera Zero and I'm in class D. Nice to meet you Sakayanagi."

...

"Okay. I forgive you since something interesting happened because you forgot."

"Huh? Really?"

"You want me to say it again?"

"No, no. Thank you for forgiving me." He said and we resumed our walk towards the classroom.

"I'm curious, Hime, what happened that day due to my forgetting?"

"Oh...fufu, I met someone very interesting with whom I had lunch."

"In our class?"

"No."

"Someone very interesting you say? Are you talking about Ichinose? Or Ryueen."

"Fufu, no. The one I met is from class D."

"From the class D? Hmm...so that would be Hirata?"

"Not that one either. His name is Nozera Zero whom I ate with during lunch break."

"Nozera Zero? That name sounds familiar...ah! He's the one who yawned while the president was talking during the club fair."

"Fufu indeed. I must say he is very interesting."

"In what way?" Hashimoto-kun asked me visibly curious about him.

"You'll see him in due time. Even I haven't found out everything about him yet, but in any case, he's someone to watch out for."

" At this point? "

"Who knows? We'll see, Fufu."

I have a feeling that with him, things are going to get a lot more interesting. If in addition to him, he was there then I think I couldn't ask for anything better.

--

a/n: Here is the SS of Sakayanagi. How did you find it?

There will be another SS before the chapters resume.

Here are the next titles of the next chapters. The titles might change but normally it will be this.

"The aura of an empress"

"First May"

"Behind the mask"

"Confrontation against the president"

SS - Chabashira Sae : Regret

I was packing up my things since it was the end of my work schedule. A person came into the room and sat down on the chair next to me.

"Hey Sae-chan! How was your day?" asked the person next to me, who was none other than Hoshinomiya Chie the homeroom teacher of class B and my friend since high school.

"The same as usual. A normal day for a teacher." I replied.

"Oh Sae-chan, you're always like this, being so unenthusiastic. You should smile a little more, you know? Kind of like me." She said as she showed me her face with the sign of a smile.

"If that' s going to act like a teenager then no thanks."

"How can being smiley act like that?"

"I don't know, maybe you should ask the person involved."

"Who?"

"Your guess." I said as I took my clipboard and smacked her on the head. "You."

"Itai! Why do you always have to hit me, huh!" she said as she touched her head.

"Because you deserve it."

"Hmph, mean!" She said and turned her head pouting.

As usual, I want to say.

"Sae-chan."

"What, Chie?"

"You're still focused on 'it', right?"

"..."

"Sae-chan, it's about time you start moving on. Continuing to lament is not good."

"I know."

"You know that but you keep being like that." She stood up and headed for the door. She stopped facing the door and kept her back to me. "But deep down, maybe that's what you deserve. After all, because of you, our dreams and hopes are gone because of your decision. Even the one you loved went away because of it." She turned around and gave her usual smile. "But really, apart from that Sae-chan, if you continue to be so disinterested in your life apart from work, you'll never get a boyfriend you know."

Surely, people will tell me that Chie has a dual personality but that's not the case. It's just that despite the past, she still sees me as a friend but deep down, she still holds on to her animosity towards me through her past sorrows. She has hated me since that day and will continue to hate me deep inside.

"I have no interest in these things." I replied.

"Oh come on Sae-chan, you are beautiful and have a nice figure. If you continue to push away then you'll be old before you know it. You have to enjoy your youth! Come on, do you have anyone who catches your eye?"

"No."

"Really? Hmm...and among the students in your class, no one?"

"Chie! Do you realize what you're saying?"

"What?"

"It's not possible to have that kind of relationship with a student."

"Why not? The society has become so boring with this that it seems that we have no freedom to love whoever we want."

"Because we can't love whoever we want. There's a limit to that."

"I agree that there is a limit, but if it's just about ten years apart, then it's no big deal." She answered me that naturally.

"Because maybe it's in your goals, by chance?" I asked suspiciously.

"Hmm...who knows, if I see a handsome student that I like then why not."

"You're really not an example as a teacher." I say as I put my hand to my forehead in dismay.

"Hehe but at least I'm having the time of my life." She tells me with her cheerful look.

Sigh...sometimes I wonder how I can stand her.

"Say Sae-chan, you still haven't answered my question from before."

"What question?"

"Oh don't change the subject! I asked you if a student in your class caught your eye."

"Of course n-."

"...You know Chabashira-sensei but you are really beautiful."

blushed*

"Hmm? Oh well, if it' s not what I think. There is definitely a student who caught your eye."

"No, there isn't."

"Your blush can't lie to me. Come on, tell me who is it?"

"Nobody, I tell you."

"Come on, tell me."

"No since there's no one."

"Hmph! You're really not nice." She went to pout again.

Sigh...I wonder how her parents manage to take care of her. By the time I thought of that, she came to the charge again.

"Come on tell me!" she said while moving her hands up and down like she was a 5 year old girl.

"But give me a break since I'm telling you he has no one."

"Why are you so embarrassed when it's just telling me who got into your eye."

"I'm not embarrassed." I said but blushed again.

"Look! You're clearly embarrassed. You don't need to be embarrassed unless...wait." She said as she put her hand on her chin, caught in her thoughts.

Why do I feel like she's going to misinterpret things.

"...Sae-chan." She snapped out of her train of thought and looked at me with a serious look.

"What?"

"Don't tell me you've already done it and that's why you're so embarrassed to talk about it?"

...
".et...out." I muttered.

"Huh? I can't hear what you're saying, can you say it again?"She said as she came closer to me with her ear wide open.

"GET OUT OR ELSE!" I yelled at her and raised my clipboard ready to hit her.

"Aaaaaah! A demon!" she screamed and escaped through the door.

Finally some peace...or so I thought.

"I know you're embarrassed Sae-chan but I assure you it's like this at first and then you go further and then..." She said hiding behind the door with only her head and hands visible and she made gestures with her hands.

"Stop it, I don't want to hear anything." I said as I threw my clipboard at her.

Boom

She closed the door before she was hit. "Do you want to kill me or what?" She opened the door again to show her displeasure.

"I wish I did."

"How can you say that to your best friend." She said with tears in her eyes.

I also wonder why she didn't become an actress when she has acting skills instead of being a teacher.

"If you're done then please get out of here." I said as I went back to packing my things.

"Don't worry, with me your secret will be safe." She said to me.

I turned around again but just with my head and looked at her with one eye. " I didn't hear you right, can you say that again?" I said in a cold voice.

"N-nothing at all. Have a nice evening Sae-chan." She said as she closed the door.

Finally quiet.

I finished getting my things and went back to my apartment. I went to take a shower and made myself something to eat. After that, I went to the balcony and looked at the night landscape in front of me. I lit a cigarette and started to smoke.

...

Yes, it is because of my decision that he left. It is because of my decision that Chie hates me. It's because of my decision that I crushed the dreams and hopes of my classmates.

All of this is because of my decision...

This regret that I have will not go away until I get over it. And for that, I would do anything to get over it.

I will reach class A and erase this regret.

That way, they will forgive me, he will forgive me and finally, I will be able to forgive myself.

"Chabashira-sensei, you have an icy and serious side but it gives charm to your beauty. After seeing you smile, I felt my heart beat. I haven't felt that kind of heartbeat for a long time."

*blushed*

"Why am I thinking about him all of a sudden? He's just my student, that's all. There's nothing else." I said to reassure myself. "But why, I didn't wanted to resist desperately when he wanted to kiss me." I wondered.

"I must admit that he is quite handsome, but from there to the point that he hit me in the eye."

...

"No Sae, don't let Chie influence you. She's the one who rates for that kind of thing, not me."

"Excuse me but I wanted to tease you a little. I hope it didn't bother you too much?"

Why was I disappointed at that moment?

"Aaaaahhh what's wrong with me." I said while scratching my head for a second. "...It doesn't matter, I'm just a woman with a lot of regrets in her life anyway. Eventually, he'll figure it out and let it go."

I turned my head up and could see the stars. "The sky is beautiful at night." I murmured. "Well, let's go to sleep. I have a busy day tomorrow." I turned off my cigarette and went to my room. I got into my bed and waited for sleep to come but mostly I was waiting...

That nightmare.

I waited for that nightmare to remind me over and over again that... this regret would follow me to the end.

The aura of an empress

Zero POV

After my conversation with Chabashira-sensei, I returned to the dormitory. I arrived at my place and went to slump down on my bed. "...What am I doing?" I said, remembering what had happened just before.

"Am I really falling for her? I was this close to kissing her." I was so close to her lips that I could feel her breathing. "I know I'm more into mature women but in this case, I was ready to really kiss her. With just that smile, she managed to seduce me."

Did I really fall in love with her?

...

I don't really know. It's just that I had a moment of confusion and for some reason her smile warmed my heart. At that point, I had no control over what I was saying and doing. "I still told her I was more or less serious about going after her but frankly, I don't see her accepting her student's confession."

Yeah...I shouldn't get my hopes up.

Sigh...relationships between human beings are really complicated.

--

It was the next day and it was a morning as usual. I still noticed on the way to school that the students were looking at me. I guess some of my classmates said that I was the one who yawned at the president. They may have even mentioned my scars.

Sigh...I don't imagine many people would want to get near me if they found out about this but honestly, I don't care. As long as I have some friends who will stay anyway then I'll be satisfied.

The last class of the morning ended and it was time for a lunch break. I was about to leave the classroom but a voice called me. "Nozera-kun!" I obviously recognized that it was a girl.

I turned around to see who it was and it was Sato Maya. "Hey Sato, do you need something?" I asked her.

"Well...I wanted to know if you wanted to eat with us." Behind her, I could see Matsushita, Mori, Onedera, Karuizawa, Mei-yu wang and Hirata. It was the same group as the second day.

"Are you sure you want to eat with me after seeing my scars?" I said to the group.

"It's true that it was scary to see his scars but deep down, it doesn't mean that you are a scary person." Sato answered me.

"Yeah, she's right." replied Onedera.

"Indeed, having gotten to know you a little, I think you're not a scary person." Masushita replied.

"Y-yes they are right." Mei-yu wang replied a little timidly.

"Yeah, and since we can't see them under your clothes, there's really nothing to be afraid of." Mori answered me honestly.

"Mori, that's not something to say!" Hirata said, not liking what Mori said.

"Don't worry Hirata, she's not wrong you know."I replied.

"I know but..."

"I said don't worry." I say as I put my hand on his shoulder. "I thank you for defending me so much but I assure you it's ok. It's not the first time I've been judged on my scars and besides, I'm mature enough to move on."

"You say that but in swim class you-"

"I did that because otherwise, it would have made for a bad atmosphere during class. Anyway, it's my fault too. I should have worn a rashguard and then there wouldn't have been any drama."

"I...sigh, if you say you're okay with it then I won't go over it again."

"Thanks Hirata." I thanked him for being so comprehensive.

Hmm? I saw Karuizawa give me a few second glances before looking away.

"Karuizawa." I called to her.

"Y-yes!" why was she shy now?

"Do you have something to tell me? Because I can see you glancing at me before you look away."

"Ah...um...how to say...uh...hmm...I'd like to apologize."

"Apologize?"

"Yes. I wasn't very nice to you at first so I thought I should apologize."

...What's going on? Why is Karuizawa behaving like this? Not that I don't want her to apologize but something was weird. I didn't feel that her apology was insincere but I wonder why she changed her behavior towards me?

"Didn't you hate me, Karuizawa?" after all, I wasn't very nice to her even though she deserved it.

"Oh...well...it's true that I didn't like you very much at first but I think I was too hard on you, especially seeing you...well there you go, you understood me." She said but turned her gaze at the end of her sentence.
She would have changed her view of me after seeing my scars? I can understand this development but I thought something was strange. Her behavior now, was totally different from what she showed from the beginning.

It may seem like I am too guarded but I don't see a person like Karuizawa admitting to wrongdoing so quickly even after seeing my scars. Besides, I thought that she would have had disgust towards me after that and would have used this opportunity to try to either take revenge on me by saying nasty things about me or just stay away from me.

But surprisingly, she didn't. At the time, I couldn't help but find it weird and thought that maybe...

"Nozera-kun." My thoughts were interrupted by Hirata.

"Yes?"

"As Sato-san suggested before, are you joining us?" Hirata asked me.

"Okay. Let me just..." I looked around the classroom to see Kiyotaka but I couldn't find him. He must have already left.

"If you're looking for Ayanokoji-kun then he's already left with Miyake-kun and Hasabe-san." Hirata said seeing me looking around the room and guessing it was Kiyotaka.

"Okay I see. Well then, we can go now if that's okay." I offered. They accepted my proposal and we headed to the cafeteria.

So Kiyotaka left with Miyake, huh? I wasn't surprised because me and Kiyotaka talked a little bit with Miyake in the first day and we got along well. What surprised me a little bit was Hasabe. I didn't know that she got along well with them. I thought that she would not like to be with the boys but it seems that it is not all the boys because of what is happening. Anyway, let's put that aside and go eat.

The meal went well. We talked about anything and everything while we ate and it was good.

--

A week and a few days went by since then. Again today I was with the same group and we finished eating. After we finished eating, we headed to class. On the way, Hirata called me.

"Nozera-kun, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yes, no problem."

"Okay, you can go ahead already, we'll catch up with you in a minute." He told them. The others nodded and continued on their way to the classroom.

Hirata waited until they were far enough away before he started talking. "Nozera-kun, do you think everything will be okay tomorrow?"

"Are you worried?"

"I'm not going to hide it that I am a little. Because we'll normally know the answer in relation to the system and I hope we'll have managed to get ourselves into a situation that's not too compromising."

Indeed, tomorrow would be May 1. We will receive our monthly points of the month and a lot of questions will be answered.

"I don't think you need to worry so much but we'll see tomorrow how things go." I said to reassure him.

"I see...yeah you're right, we'll see tomorrow what happens. Sorry to bother you with this." Hirata replied, putting his hand behind his head to scratch himself and smiling.

"Don't worry, you're not bothering me with it because after all, I'm the one who told you about it."

"Yes, but I think you did the right thing by telling me about it. This way I was able to help the class so I'm glad." Hirata said with a smile.

I think I can clearly say that Hirata is really a good person and has a big heart to help others but...that is also his weakness. I wonder if he will realize later that he is easily manipulable.

--

The last class ended as the final bell rang. While I was putting my things away, I saw Kiyotaka approach me and say. " Do you want to go back together?" He proposed.

"Yeah if you want." I said and finished putting my things away. "Hmm...do you want to hang out for a bit before we head back to the dorm?" I offered. I wanted to go hang out outside for a bit.

"Okay. Do you have a place in mind?" He replied.

"Hmm...we'll see on the way." I said, not having a specific place in mind.

After accepting my proposal, we left the classroom and walked I don't know where before we decided to go to a particular place. On the way, we talked about everything and anything until we heard a voice calling us.
"Oya oya, if it isn't that mysterious kohai-kun from last time." A female voice said.

We turned around to see a girl sitting on a bench about ten meters away. She had long platinum blonde hair and crimson eyes. "It's you." It was the same person I had seen three weeks ago.

When I saw her up close, I could see that she was extremely beautiful. To a point where I would have taken her for a princess...no, given her aura, the most accurate term would be a queen. My heart pounded at this.

"Hmm? Why are you standing there staring at me? Are you dazzled by my beauty?" She said in what sounded like a narcissistic way.

"Yeah." Kiyotaka replied.

"Honestly yes. And also because the aura you give off is very interesting."

"Hahahahahaha...my aura you say? I see, I see." She seemed amused by what I said. "I must say that you also give off a very interesting aura. "

"So? What do you want from us?" Kiyotaka said without waiting.

"Straight to what I see." She said, still keeping her smirk. "Why don't you sit next to me? That way, our discussion will be even better." She said, tapping the bench with her two hands on either side.

We looked at each other wondering what the other was thinking. Without taking more time, we sat down next to her because for him as for me, we were curious about what she had to say.

"We are listening to you." I turned to look her straight in the eye.

"You two seem to be in a hurry, am I right?" She said with a wide open smirk. I couldn't help but think that I was the prey and she was a predator.

"No not really, we were just hanging out thinking about what to do. We're just, very curious as to why you approached us." I said unperturbed by her gaze on me.

"Do you have any idea about that?" She said pushing our question away and instead asked a question.

Seeing that Kiyotaka didn't seem very motivated to answer, I decided to answer her question myself. "In my opinion, I think that you are very interested in us, am I wrong?

She kept her smirk and said. "Go on." She didn't deny what I said.

"I don't know you personally and your intentions, but just by seeing you for the second time, I came to a conclusion about your motivation."

"Oh? What did you find out?" She was curious about what I would say.

"You seem to be someone who is very interested in individuals who are interesting."

"Indeed, you said so. I am interested in people who are very interesting and 'not ordinary.'" She emphasized the last part of the sentence.

"I see. So? You want to know some information about us?"

"Yes, I would be very interested in learning more about you. I must say that your scores on the entrance exam really caught my eye."

"!" Me and Kiyotaka widened a little our eyes at what she just threw out.

"How do you know about our scores?" Kiyotaka said.

"Yeah, how do you have access to that? I have knowledge that this kind of thing was not accessible to students." I added after him.

"I guess you don't know this, but the student council here has a lot of power. They have certain rights and can do things directly related to the school."

"So I understand, the council has access to our data?" I asked.

"Yes, that's right." She replied.

"So does that mean you're on the council?" Kiyotaka asked.

"Hahaha...do I look like I'm on the council?" She said laughing by her question.

"Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if you were on the council but looking at you closely, you don't seem like someone who would be part of such a group." I said.

"Hmm." She had a big smirk. "You claim to know what kind of person I am exactly?"

"No, that's just my guess. I'm not someone who can really read a person but I can kind of make up my own opinion by observing them a bit."

"I see." She said and turned to Kiyotaka. She looked at him unplugged for a good ten seconds. Then it was my turn. She looked at me in a way as if she wanted to discover the person I am. She also gave off an aura with a lot of pressure. It could be defined as that of an empress.

After a good ten seconds also on my side, she said with a big smirk. "You are really very interesting. She then looked away from us. "You can go, I have discussed and seen what I wanted.
If she had nothing more to say to us then there was no need for us to stay. I got up with Kiyotaka to leave but my arm was pulled back.

"Before you leave, I have something I would like to discuss with you, just between the two of us."

"Why? Kiyotaka can listen, right?"

"Well, yes, he can listen, but I really want to talk to you, but just between us. You don't mind, do you? Anyway, I don't give you a choice or I won't tell you anything." She seemed to be asking for my opinion, but then directly refuted it, to break my hope.

"I really don't have a choice, do I?" She nodded at my question.

"Are you going to be okay?" Kiyotaka asked me. He was worried about me...what a true brother.

"Yeah, I should be fine. It's like not if she's going to eat me."

"Who knows?~" She said in a seductive voice close to my ear.

...fuck a man's pride.

"Sorry, but I think I'll go. I won't leave him alone." I said to get away.

"You mean him who's already 20 meters away?" She pointed at Kiyotaka who was already leaving.

"You bastard! How can you leave me here!" I shouted.

Beep

My phone vibrated because I received a message. I went to check and saw that he sent me a message.

[Good luck and see you later ] Kiyotaka

[I thought we were brothers! (＃'Д')]

[ヽ(ー_ー )ノ ] Kiyotaka

I can see he's taken a liking to emojis this bastard.

"Alright, stop doing this comedy. I know you don't mind at all and you're not afraid." She noticed that I wasn't serious.

"Okay then let's get started." I say as I put on my usual expression. "What do you want to talk to me about."

"I was just curious about the smirk you threw at me last time. What were you thinking at the time?"

"Can't you tell?" She smiled even more and indicated that she wanted me to say it. "I found you interesting, that's what."

"Interesting how?"

"That you seem to be a fun person and with whom there is no time to be bored."

"I see." She put her arm behind my neck and pulled me towards her. She was almost within a few inches of me. "What about you? How interesting would you say you are? Because I can tell you that so far, no one has really managed to keep me interested in them until the end. Do you think you can?" She says to me.

...

There was silence as we looked at each other eye to eye.

"To answer honestly, I don't know. I don't know what your expectations are and I don't know how interesting the others were to you but I'm me. However..." I say as I stand up. "I think I can be interesting enough for you to keep watching me." I say with a smirk.

She closed her eyes for a brief instant and stood up. Wooah...she is tall, almost my height and her body look quite athletic. And then, her body was quite...attractive. Honestly, she was as hot as Chabashira-sensei.

"Kiryuin Fuka." She said while holding her hand in front of me.

"Hmm?"

"That's my name. Remember it well."

"I don't think I would forget the name of such a pretty and interesting girl like you." I say as I take her hand.

"Ara ara~ are you trying to seduce me?" She said but didn't seem at all bothered by what I said.

"I'm just stating the facts." I naturally replied with my usual expression.

"You are almost as expressionless as your friend. I guess you've got your emotions under control.

"Hmm...you could say that."

"Even if I do this?" She said and with a sudden move, she put close to my ear. She blew a little to provoke a reaction.

"Sorry but you'll have to do more if you want a reaction." I said, unperturbed by her attempt.

"I see, it is noted." She said and stepped back a little. "Could I have your phone for a second?"

"My phone? What for?"

"You'll find out." She didn't want to tell me without doing it. But being curious, I passed it to her. She gave it back to me and I saw in my contacts, a person had been added. "This is my number. If you are bored, don't hesitate to call me and we can go somewhere to have fun."

"I guess it goes the other way too." Following this, his smirk widened.

"Indeed, prepare yourself because you won't be able to refuse my invitations." She says while adding my number on her phone. "Well, I'm going to go." Being presumably satisfied, she turned to leave. "See you later Kohai-kun." She said before leaving until I couldn't see her anymore.

I sent a message to Kiyotaka and I moved to join him. I could feel that things were about to get more and more interesting.

First May

Zero POV

On May 1, the morning bell rang for our very first day of class. Soon afterward, Chiyabashira-sensei strode into the room, holding a rolled-upposter. Her expression today was even more stern than usual.

"Hey, sensei, did you start menopause or something?"

Unbelievably, Ike actually let that joke fly.

"All right, your morning homeroom is about to begin. Before we get started, does anyone have any questions? If so, now is the time to speak." Chiyabashira-sensei completely ignored Ike's sexual harassment. She appeared totally convinced that the students had questions they wanted answered. Immediately, several students raised their hands.

"Um, I checked my point balance this morning, But I did not receive the 100,000 points. We agree that we receive our points on the first day of every month, right?"

"Hondou, I already explained this before, didn't I? Points are deposited on the first day of the month. I've confirmed that points were wired this month without any issues."

"Um, but...Not all the points were deposited in my account, though."

Hondou and Yamauchi exchanged glances. Ike appeared too shocked to notice them looking at each other. I'd checked my point balance that morning as well, But I saw that the number deposited was 42000 points. No more points were added to my account. This confirms my theory about what I thought.

"Are you kids really that dumb?"

Was she angry or delighted? I was getting an ominous vibe from Chiyabashira-sensei.

"Dumb? What?"

As Hondou stupidly repeated her words, Chiyabashira-sensei looked at him sharply.

"Sit down, Hondou. I'll explain once more," she said.

"S-Sae-chan-sensei?"

Hondou, taken aback by her unusually strict tone, slumped in his seat.

"Points were deposited. That much I know for certain. There is absolutely no chance that we forgot about anyone in this class. To think so is ludicrous. Understood?"

"Well, even if I tell you that we understand, We haven't received all our points..."

Hondou, still perplexed, began to look dissatisfied.

Here it is, the real appearance of this school.

"Ha ha ha! I see. So, it's like that then, teacher? I think I've solved the mystery."

Kouenji boomed, laughing. He propped his feet up on his desk and smugly pointed toward Hondou.

"It's simple. We're in Class D, so we didn't receive a single point."

"No." My voice caught the attention of the class and everyone turned in my direction. "It's not just for that reason." I said with my arms crossed.

"Oh? Then you might know the other reason, Nozera-boy?" Said Koenji who seemed curious about what I was thinking.

"Can't you find it? For someone who claims to be perfect, I find you quite disappointing." I say.

There was silence for a few seconds until Koenji continued to speak. "You find me disappointing, you say? Your evaluation of me is worthless you know. My perfection cannot be measured by ordinary people.

"You really think I'm ordinary? I think you should reconsider your ability to evaluate people because this is far from perfection..."

"Heh. If you think I don't know what you're looking for then you're very much mistaken. I still admire your courage to have tried." He said as he put his legs up on his table and combed his hair.

He is indeed not to be underestimated. I tried to provoke him but he read me well.

"The real reason why we received this number of points is not because we are in class D but because this is the number of points we deserve as a class." I said to complete Chabashira-sensei's explanation.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Hondou said, still confused.

"Sigh...fifty-two absences and late arrivals. One hundred eighty-four incidences of talking or using a cell phone in class. With that many infractions committed, do you really think we'd get 100,000 points? I remind you that she said on the first day that we would be evaluated on our worth. That means they were judging us on attitude and merit."

The class fell silent after my explanation.

"Wait...don't tell me those are the real numbers, right sensei?" Said a student in the class.

"Yes, those are the real numbers of your infractions." She said with the same emotionless expression but seemed surprised for a little while after I finished my explanation.

I heard a pencil moving against paper. I turned my head back to see Horikita writing something on her paper. She seemed to be tallying the number of absences, tardy arrivals, and instances of talking in class down in her notebook, perhaps trying to make sense of the situation.

"...So that means..."

"Indeed, I counted the number of infractions committed during the month." I said in a nonchalant way as I put my hands behind my head and lowered my head back a little.

"You counted??? Why would you do that?"

"Because I was bored." I replied.

"You were bored?"

"I guess my classes were boring then." Chabashira-sensei said but didn't seem to be angry about it by the look on her face.

"No Chabashira-sensei, your classes weren't boring because you taught badly or because you didn't make people want to learn."

"Then why were you bored?" She asked with a furrowed brow.

"Because I had already learned all of this so understand that it's hard not to get bored."

"HUH?" The class reacted with loud exclamations of surprise.

"Y-you...you really already learned everything?" Said a person who hadn't spoken until now, and it was Yukimura, one of those who excelled in academics.

"Yeah." I answered naturally.

"H-how is that possible? Learning all the subjects..." Yukimura said totally bewildered by my sudden revelation. "You must be joking, right?"

"No, from the beginning of school there is no question that I couldn't answer, at least at the academic level." I answered him.

"...So that means the last three questions on the last test, you were able to answer them?"

"Yeah."

"I don't believe it. Those questions were way too high level for freshmen like us. I can totally say I'm very good academically but those questions were too hard. Even if you were better than me, I don't believe that you could answer all the questions correctly." Yukimura said as he put his glasses back on.

"It's normal that you find it hard to believe. Anyway, you will see the results later if I am right or not."

"...Yeah, we'll see." He said while turning back to Chabashira-sensei's direction.

I turned to Chabshira-sensei and gestured with my head for her to go back to where she was. She understood the message and resumed the explanations.

"Indeed, as Nozera said, fifty-two absences and late arrivals. One hundred eighty-four incidences of talking or using a cell phone in class. That's a lot of infractions for one month only. In this school, your class's results are reflected in the points that you receive. As a result, you have wasted a good number of your 100000 points. But well, be glad anyway because you still have some points left." She said with a more or less sadistic smile of our situation. "I told you more or less in a way understandable to you, This school measures its students' true abilities. This time, you were judged not totally at nothing but remained of a defective value anyway. That's all." Her expression and tone changed, appearing robotic, devoid of any emotion.

"But sensei, I don't remember you saying anything about that." Hirata said.

"What? Are you incapable of understanding something unless it's explained in detail?"

Hirata did not continue to argue. He knew that it would be useless. When I told him about my theories, I also told him that Chabashira-sensei would counter-argue why it was not explained in detail because it was something basic so there was no need to explain it again. Whether they understood the rule of point distribution or not, having a good behavior and attitude in class was always a good thing and it was explained since we went to school for the first time in our lives.

And then, she would have totally kicked his ass in terms of argument. Don't thank me Hirata.

Chabashira-sensei understood Hirata's attitude and didn't go further in his arguments. I guess the others did too, more or less, except for those who had to get their brains working.

"Sigh...having just entered your first year of high school, did you honestly think you'd receive 100,000 points every month with no strings attached? Ata school established by the Japanese government for the express purposes of training gifted people? That's unthinkable. Try using some common sense. Why would you leave it to chance?"

"Well then, could you at least explain in detail how points are added or deducted? We can keep that in mind for future reference." Hirata looked her straight in the eye.

"I cannot tell you. We cannot disclose the methods behind our student evaluation. It's the same as any other organization. When you enter a company, it is the company's choice whether or not to tell you how it evaluates its employees. However, I'm not cruel, and I'm not trying to becold. In fact, this situation is so pathetic that I will give you one bit of guidance." She smiled slightly. "Let's say that you stop being late to class and have no more absences... Even though zero points will be deducted from you this month, that doesn't mean that your points will increase, either. This means that you will stay at the same number of points. After that, if you continue to drop your points then you will reach zero and at that moment, you will not receive any points for your next month. If we were to take this perspective then you could say no matter how times you're late or absent to class, it doesn't matter. So, you're not really at a loss, are you?"

*chuckle*

I tried not to laugh but I couldn't help myself. "Hahahaha..." Everyone looked at me to see why I was laughing in this situation and most of them were showing an angry face.

"Can you explain to us why you are laughing? I remind you that we are all in the same situation. Said Yukimura who was angry that I was taking the situation not too seriously.

"Gome gome. It's just that the way Chabashira-sensei says it makes me laugh. She enjoys our situation and likes to be sadistic towards us." I say.

"Nozera-kun, I don't think this is really the time." Said Hirata who wasn't enjoying our situation.

"Don't worry, our situation is not without solution." I replied to him.

"What do you mean by-?" Just as he was about to say his sentence, The bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom.

"It looks like we spent too much time yammering. I hope that you understood the gist of it. Well, it's about time that we switch to our main topic." Chabashira-sensei said.

From the tube she carried, she removed a white rolled-up poster and spread it out. She stuck the poster to the blackboard with some magnets. The still-confused students stared blankly at the poster.

"Are these...the results for each class?" Horikita tentatively took a guess. She was right. Class A through Class D were listed. To the side was a row of numbers that went up to a maximum of four digits. Class D had 420. Class C had 490. Class B had 650. And at the top was Class A, with a total of 940. In this case, 1000 points would mean 100,000 yen. Every class had lost points.

"Isn't something about this odd?"

"Yeah. The numbers in the other classes are really high."

Most of them had to start noticing that something was strange.

"You've all been doing whatever you pleased this past month. The school has no intention of preventing you from doing what you want. Your actions, such as being late or talking during class, only affect the points you receive. The same goes for how you use your points. How you choose to spend is entirely up to you. We have not put any restrictions on point usage."She said while crossing her arms, which revealed more and more her big breasts.

Hum, hum...anyway.

"This isn't fair, though! We can't enjoy our student lives like this!" shouted Ike, who'd stayed quiet until now.

Yamauchi wailed in incredible agony.He must have used up all his points. But look, we still have points left so it wasn't really a time to be in despair but I imagine the fact that for them, not to receive the 100,000 points they were expecting must have come as a shock to them.

"Look here, morons. Every other class got points. The amount of points we gave you for the first month should be plenty for you to live on."

"B-but, how do the other classes still have points left? That's weird..."

"I've already told you, there's nothing unfair about it. All of the classes were scored using the

same rules. Despite that, they didn't lose as many as you. That's the truth."

"But...why is there a difference in our point values?"Hirata noticed that there was a noticeable difference with the B and A class.

"Do you finally understand now? Do you see why you were placed inClass D?"

"The reason why we were placed in Class D? Weren't we simply accepted into this school?"

"Huh? But classes are normally divided up like this, right?"

Students exchanged glances.

"That's because most of you are stupid." I said. After that, all eyes were on me. Oh stop, I know I have a handsome face but there's no need to stare at me so much.

"What did you say?!" Said Ike seemingly annoyed by what I said.

"You want me to say it again? Okay, then I'll say it again..." I say while taking a moment to pause.

"Most of you, you're idiots."

"What right do you have to judge us like that? You're in the same boat as us."Said another student.

"Because I'm not an idiot like most of you."

Bam

Saying the word idiot again seemed to really piss Sudo off. After tapping his table, he stood up and told me. "Repeat a little to see if I am an idiot?"

"I can't help it if it's the truth." I said shrugging my shoulders.

"I'm not going to let you keep insulting me like that." He says as he walks towards me furiously.

"Hey Sudo-kun, calm down!" Said Hirata who stood up panicking about what could happen.

"You already know that Sudo, but we're in class D. Did you know that the letter D can stand for 'dumb' or 'debile' in French?" I said, and the next second, he arrived in front of my seat. He violently grabbed my collar and held me up.

"Wooah, you've got a lot of strength. I said.

"Sudo-kun stop!" Hirata said with a totally panicked face.

"Sudo-kun, please calm down." Kushida also said with a face of panic at the situation.

The others were also panicked and stood there not knowing what to do.

I turned my gaze towards Sudo. He couldn't seem to contain himself anymore and was about to hit me. I looked to the side for Chabashira-sensei but she didn't seem to want to intervene.Your student is about to get hit and you're standing there doing nothing? You are very cruel Chabashira-sensei.

"Sudo-kun stop!" Hirata ran towards our direction.

Is she acting like this from when I teased her? I wonder.

"Take this!" Sudo says while throwing a punch towards me.

...

"Huh?" Sudo exclaimed confused that his blow did not hit me.

"Well Sudo, how about we talk calmly, what do you say?" I said while stopping his fist with my hand.

"This is not over!" He said while trying to free his fist from my hand.

Sigh...

I took my hand away from his fist to grab his arm and hold it. "Say Sudo...do you want to know what it feels like to have a broken arm?" I tightened my grip a little more.

"Guh." Sudo looked at me terrified at my look. After a few seconds, he calmly put my feet on the ground. I in turn released my grip on his arm. He looked at me with a complicated look and then returned to his seat.

"That's it, are you done?" I turned my head towards Chabashira-sensei who said that.

"Yes it's finished. Sorry for disturbing the class. You can continue where you left off." I said as I sat back down in my chair. I could see Horikita's face looking at me for a short while and then she changed direction.

Chabashira-sensei went back to where she was. "In this school, students are sorted by their level of excellence. The superior students are sorted into Class A, the least capable in Class D. It's the same system you'd find in the major cram schools. In other words, Class D is akin to the last bastion for failures. You are the worst of the worst. You're defective. This is just the result of you being defective."

A silence fell in the classroom. The students of class D could not deny the terrible truth of our class.

"Does this mean that we will stay in this situation until the end?Asked a few seconds later, one of the girls.

"Yes. You'll stay like this until you graduate, trying not to lose the rest of your remaining points. But don't worry, even if you fall to zero points, you can still have a room in the dorms and free meals. You won't die."

Depends for whom, I'd like to say.

"Won't the other classes make fun of us?"

Sudou kicked the legs of his desk with a loud thwack. After hearing that the classes were divided based on merit, everyone else would probably believe that Class D was full of morons.

"What? You're still worried about your dignity, Sudou? Well then, work to make your class into the best one."

"Huh?"

"Your class's points aren't just linked to the amount of money that you receive each month. They're also indicative of your class rank."

So, if we get more points than the C class then we will become the new C class.

"Now then, I have one more bit of bad news to share with you all."

She stuck another sheet of paper up on the board. It listed the names of everyone in class. A number stood next to everyone's name.

"Judging from these, I can see that we've quite a few idiots in this class." As her heels clacked against the floor, she glanced at us. "These are the results of the short test you took a while ago. Your sensei was so happy after your excellent performance. Come on, what in the world did you all study when you were in junior high?"

Nothing I guess?

Well, I make fun of them but I don't like to study either. I can thank the fact that I have already learned all this. Besides, my brain is able to learn very quickly and retain very easily so I have no problem studying even though I don't like it.

With the exception of a few high scores, almost everyone tested below a sixty. Even if you ignored Sudou's wonderful score of fourteen points, there was Ike, scoring a little above him at twenty-four points. The average score was sixty-five.

"I'm so glad. If this were an actual test, then seven of you would've had to drop out."

"D-drop out? What do you mean?"

"Oh, what, did I not explain this to you? If you fail on a midterm or final exam in this school, then you have to drop out. If we applied that rule to this test, anyone who scored below thirty-two points would be out. You guys really are stupid, aren't you?"

It's not for fault of having said the truth.

"Wh-what?!" wailed Ike and the other failures.

There was a red line drawn on the paper, separating the seven people in question from the rest of the class. Among those seven people, Kikuchi had scored highest, with thirty-one points. Anyone with a score equal to or lower than Kikuchi's had failed.

"Hey, don't jerk us around, Sae-chan-sensei! Don't joke about kicking us out!"

"Frankly, I'm also at a loss," the teacher said. "These are the school rules. You should prepare for the worst."

"The teacher's right. There do seem to be a lot of morons here."

Kouenji wore a smug grin while he polished his nails, his legs propped on thedesk.

"What the hell, Kouenji? You scored below the red line, too!"

"Pah. Where exactly are you looking, boy? Look again."

"Huh? Kouenji is...huh?"

Starting from the bottom of the page, Sudou scanned upward, and there he found Kouenji Rokosuke's name. Unbelievably, Kouenji had tied for the second top spot, scoring ninety points. That meant he'd been able to solve one of those super difficult problems.

"I never thought that Sudou was an idiot like me!" cried Ike, a mixture of wonder and sarcasm in his voice.

I was hesitant to tell Ike that the fact that Sudo was an idiot like him didn't change his situation in any way.

"...look up, the one who is first is..."Said one of the students in the class.

"...That's nozera-kun."

"H-he made a perfect score." Said another guy in the class totally shocked at my result.

After that, everyone looked at me filled with different expressions. Some were filled with admiration, for others with frustration and for others, uh...hearts in their eyes.

If I was a jojo fan then I would have done a jojo pose but since I'm not one then I wasn't going to do one.

"...He really got a perfect score." Yukimura said in a not so loud voice but I heard it anyway.His face was filled with incomprehension wondering how I managed to get a perfect score. Or maybe he was wondering that my revelation from before was not as unimaginable as he thought.

"Oh, one more thing. This school, which operates under government supervision, boasts a high rate of advancement into elite education andworkforce placement. That is a well-known fact. It's very likely that most of you have chosen a college or future workplace." Chabashira-sensei said.

Well, naturally. This school boasted the highest rates of advancement in the whole country. There were rumors that it was possible to get into a highly competitive school or company just by graduating. Rumors even suggested that graduation from this school was like receiving a recommendation to Tokyo University, the most prestigious of Japan's institutes of higher learning.

"However, nothing comes easy in this world. Mediocre people such as yourselves would have to be naive to think that you could easily get into the college or workplace of your choice." Chiyabashira-sensei's words carried throughout the room.

"In other words, you're saying that if we want to get into the company or college of our choice, we must, at minimum, surpass Class C?" Hirata asked.

"You're wrong. To make your dreams of a bright future come true, your only option is to overtake Class A. This school guarantees nothing for any other students."

"Th-that's...absurd! We didn't hear anything about that!"Said Yukimura who once again witnessed a situation that he never thought possible.Besides, looking at his score, he was tied for second place with Koenji. This indicated well that he excelled in his academic abilities.

"How disgraceful. There's nothing more pitiful than men losing their cool." As if prompted by Yukimura's words, Kouenji let out a sigh.

"Don't you feel dissatisfied being in Class D, Kouenji?" Yukimura asked.

"Dissatisfied? Why would I feel dissatisfied? I don't understand."

"Because the school says we're so low that we're basically delinquents and failures. We've been told that there's no guarantee whatsoever that we'll advance into higher education or get a job!"

"Pah. Utter nonsense. That's so marvelously stupid that I can't even find the words." Kouenji didn't even stop polishing his nails or turn to face Yukimura as he spoke. "The school simply hasn't seen my potential yet. I pride myself on being great, and I valu-"

I stopped listening to their conversation because I was not interested. I looked at the score list again and saw Kiyotaka's score. He really decided to play the student just in the average. I wonder how long he will continue to pretend but we'll see.

This time I went to look at the list containing the points of the classes. We are very close to the C class and we could pass them in a very short time. For the other classes, there was a bigger gap, especially with the A class. I guess they are really 'elite students'.

My thoughts were interrupted by Chabashira-sensei who was preparing to leave. "It looks like your bubbles have been burst. If you had simply understood the harsh reality of the situation from the start, then this long homeroom period might have meant something. Your midterm exams are in three weeks. Please think things over, and be careful not to drop out. I have confidence that you can find a way to avoid getting red marks on your report cards. If at all possible, challenge yourself to act in a way befitting a skilled individual."

Chiyabashira-sensei exited the room, closing the door with some force for added emphasis. The students marked in red were left dejected. Even the normally proud Sudou clicked his tongue and hung his head in shame.

...

Sate, sate...a competition between classes to see who the elite students really are, huh? I have to say it's interesting. I feel like a lot is going to happen.

But for now, let's focus on the present. Because starting today, the war between the classes was launched.

After the revelations

Zero POV

"If we don't get any more points, what I am gonna do?"

"I used up all of my points yesterday..."

During the break, the classroom erupted into an uproar...or rather, chaos.

"Forget about the points. What the hell about this class? Why was I put into Class D?!" Yukimura cried resentfully. A thin layer of sweat covered his forehead.

"Wait, does this mean that we can't get into college now? Why did we even go to this school? Does Sae-chan-sensei hate us or something?"

None of the other students could hide their confusion.

"I understand that you're all confused right now, but everyone needs to calm down." Hirata, sensing the classroom tipping toward crisis, stood and attempted to rein everyone in.

"How are we supposed to calm down? Aren't you frustrated that she called us a bunch of failures?!" Yukimura said.

"Even if I was, isn't it better for us to band together so we can turn things around?" Hirata asked.

"Turn things around? I don't even agree with how we were sorted in the first place!"

"I understand. However, sitting here whining won't help us right now."

"What did you say?" Yukimura quickly went to Hirata and forcefully grasped his collar.

"Calm down, you two, okay? I'm sure that the teacher talked to us harshly so we'd be inspired to do better, right?" That was Kushida. She slipped between the two and separated them, gently taking Yukimura's balled fist. Just as anyone would expect, Yukimura didn't try to hurt her and reflexively took half a step back.

"Besides, it's only been one month since we started here, right? Like Hirata-kun said, it's better if we all do our best together. Do you think that I'm wrong about that?"

"N-no, it's... Well, I certainly wouldn't say you're wrong, but..."

Yukimura's anger had almost completely vanished. Kushida looked at everyone in class, and it was almost as if her eyes reflected a sincere wish for us to work together.

"Yeah, it's better for us to band together. Right? There's no need foryou to fight, Yukimura. Hirata."

"I'm sorry. I lost my cool," Yukimura said.

"It's all right. I should have chosen my words a little more carefully."

Kushida Kikyou's presence brought everyone together.

"Hey." I heard a voice calling to me from the side.

"Hmm?" I turned to see Horikita standing towards me.

"You've known about this for a while, haven't you?" She asked me with her usual icy stare.

"About what?" I asked pretending not to know what she was talking about

"Don't play dumb. You weren't surprised at all by Chabashira-sensei's revelation, like you were expecting it." She said to me with a piercing look.

"...That's right. I was expecting it." I stopped hiding the truth from her.

"How long has it been?...Don't tell me it's been since day one...so that's why you asked those questions."

She's referring to the questions I asked in the first days.

"I clearly had doubts since the first day and I already had scenarios in mind but let's just say that after a few days, I was more or less set on what was going to happen. "

"So why didn't you tell the others?" She asked suspiciously.

"Why don't you guess? You can figure it out for yourself, Horikita." I gave her pause for thought.

"Hmm...I guess it's because those idiots in our class wouldn't believe you, but by not saying anything, you let the situation happen as it is.If it wasn't for Hirata making an announcement to be careful then we would have been in a situa- wait..." She cut herself off in sentence as if she had a revelation. "Would it be you who told Hirata to warn us, because you knew that most would have listened to him..."

"Not bad Horikita, well thought out. Indeed, it was me who was behind it. Hirata just did what I asked him to do."

"I see..."She did not continue the conversation and returned to her seat. She was probably thinking about something.

A voice came and drew everyone's attention. "Attention, everyone. Before class begins, I want you to listen seriously for a moment. Especially you, Sudou-kun." The class was still in an uproar, but Hirata claimed everyone's attention when he stood at the teacher's podium.

"Tch, what is it?" Sudou grumbled.

"we did not get the points we expected. This is a pretty serious issue and will impact our daily life here. If we drop to zero points then it would be impossible for us to make it to graduation, right?"

"You're absolutely right!" shouted one of the female students, her voice full of despair.

Hirata gave a kind nod in response, sympathizing with her.

"Of course. Therefore, we must earn points next month. To do that, we all need to cooperate with each other. So, please, take care not to be late to class or to talk during the lecture. Also, the use of cell phones during class is prohibited, of course."

"Huh? And why do you get to tell us what to do? Besides, that's supposing our points will increase. If they don't change at all, then it's useless."

"As long as we continue talking during class and being late, our points won't increase for sure. Even if we dropped to zero points, disruption will, without a doubt, count as strikes against us."

"I'm still not convinced. Besides, even if we get serious and work hard in class, our points won't necessarily go up." Sudou snorted and crossed his arms in defiance. Kushida took notice of this and commented on it.

"Well, the teacher did say that the being late and talking in class were obviously bad, right?"

"Yeah, I agree with Kushida-san. It's only natural to avoid doing those things."

"That's just your own selfish interpretation. Besides, you don't know how to increase our points. Try talking to me after you figure that out."

"I don't think that there's anything particularly wrong with what you said, Sudou-kun. I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable." Hirata bowed his head politely toward the disgruntled Sudou. "However, Sudou-kun, it's a fact that unless we all cooperate, we won't get any more points."

"Do whatever you want. It doesn't matter. Just don't involve me in it. Understand?" Sudou snapped.As if being in the room made him feel uncomfortable, he turned to the entrance and prepared to leave.

"Sudo." My voice carried to him.

"What now?"He said angrily, still facing the entrance.

"Stay here." I ordered him.

"Hah? You want me to hit you-...huh?" He was about to get angry but calmed down immediately when he saw that it was me who said that.

"Sudo, walking away isn't going to help you calm down. Stay here and no one will come to bother you about this. Like you said, we'll come back and talk to you about it when we know how to increase our points, is that okay?" I offered.

"...It's okay, I got it." He said a little annoyed as he returned to his seat and sat back down in his chair.

With that, the heavy situation calmed down for the class. Hirata looked at me and smiled to express his gratitude to me for getting Sudo to stay. I nodded and went back to getting my stuff ready for the next class.

--

Class had ended for the day. Hirata stood at the podium, using the blackboard to prepare for our big discussion. Because of Hirata's powerful charisma, almost everyone in our class had shown, with the exception of a few like Horikita and Sudou. When I looked around, I noticed that they'd

already left the room.

I was getting ready to leave too when Hirata noticed and quickly came towards me. "Nozera-kun."

"Yes?"

"Are you leaving already?" He asked me.

"As you can see." I said, showing my bag in my hand.

"Could you stay a little longer, I'd like to talk to you about how to increase our points.

"Sorry Hirata, but I have something to do and it's better if I take care of it now."

"Ah...I see." He said. Obviously, he was disappointed. "Then I hope for tomorrow if it is possible." He offered.

"If it's about how to increase our points, then I'm sorry to say that I don't have a clear idea about it. I don't think tomorrow we'll know either."

"But you said before that there was a solution to our situation."

"Yes and I didn't lie about that. There is obviously a way to increase our points otherwise this system doesn't make sense. Like I said, I have some ideas in mind but nothing really concrete so we shouldn't focus on that mainly in the meantime. Anyway, I have a feeling we'll find out soon enough."

"I see...you're right. We should focus on not losing more points and prepare for our midterm exams." Hirata agreed with me on the approach to take. "Oh, and speaking of which, I think it would be good to have study groups to prepare. I was thinking of making several small groups of 5 people, where one person would be the one to teach the other 4."

"Yeah, good idea." I agreed with his idea.

"Since you're good at academics, it would be nice if you could teach the others. Of course, if you don't mind."

"Okay, I don't have any objections but..."

"But?" He asked puzzled as to what I would ask as a condition.

"I'll choose who I tutor. I don't think you're going to complain about that?"

"No, I have nothing to say about that." He told me with a smile convinced that the condition was not a problem.

" All right then I' ll tell you tomorrow. " I said and started walking out of the classroom.

"See you tomorrow Nozera-kun." He said to me.

"See you tomorrow." I said and waved my hand at him while standing with my back to him.

SS - Sudo Ken : My anger

As soon as the bell announced the end of class, I got up, grabbed my things and left the classroom.

"Better leave before they piss me off again with this." I muttered.

I went and sat down in a place not far from the dormitory. I sat down on a bench and just relaxed. "Sigh...why are they being such a pain in the ass about this. Besides, it's not my problem." I spoke to myself.

After I took advantage of the peace and quiet I had, I checked my phone to see that about ten minutes had passed. I shouldn't hang around too long, I have basketball activities right after. I was about to get up but a voice called me.

"Sudo."

I turned to see who it was but I had more or less already guessed the voice in question. "You again." This guy, Nozera I think, came to talk to me again. "What do you want now?" I told him a little angry. But in reality, I was afraid of him.

Before in class, when I almost fought with him, I felt a great fear in front of him. First, he stopped my punch like nothing. Secondly, he was not at all afraid or stressed by the situation. Third, when I saw the look on his face when he threatened to break my arm, there was something extremely terrifying about it. I felt that if I continued, he would actually break my arm and he wasn't kidding at all.

"I would like to have a little chat with you, do you mind? He said.

"...I have a practice basketball in a little while, so I'm sorry, but it's better if I leave now." I say as I stand up. I didn't really want to talk to him so it was convenient that I had my club activity.

"It will only take a few minutes." He said to me as I started to walk away from the place.

I turned around and said to him. "Oi, I just told you that-" Without realizing it, he came at me at great speed and threw a punch. I had absolutely no time to dodge.

...

I didn't have time to blink because it was so fast. I thought he was going to hit me but his fist stopped a few inches from my face. " *heavy breathing* *heavy breathing*...shit." I fell backwards to sit on the floor. It was really scary and I thought I was going to shit myself.

"Are you okay?" He raised his hand and held it out to me.

"What the hell are you playing at?"I raised my voice in anger at what had happened.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you or anything, but I figured if I was a little more insistent then it would be more effective."

"So for you, being this close to hitting someone is being insistent?" I was obviously annoyedby his action.

"You know, I'm not someone who necessarily wants to hit people."

"Yeah yeah right, like I'm going to believe you."

"You're not really in a position to talk since before in class you went so far as to hit me. Think of it as just payback." He said to me.

...I can't deny that.

"That's true but it doesn't give you the right to call me an idiot." I said while taking his hand.

He pulled me and said. "It's not false but you know, you have to tell others things they don't want to hear." After that he sat down on the bench and I did the same.

"And so for you, you had to call us idiots?" I said staring at the floor.

"Say Sudo, what is it that pisses you off the most about this? The fact that I insulted you? Or that I told the truth?"

"...I think it's both." I tell him.

"That's a good start if you know it."

"A good start to what?"

"Acting like a better class D and more importantly a better person. You need to know this Sudo but if you keep up this kind of behavior then trouble will come your way."

...

"You don't have to tell me what to do Okay? I do what I want to do and fuck the others if they come and mess with me." I say as I clench my fist. I know he was right and for proof, this has already happened but I couldn't help but not accept this truth.

"You didn't have an easy life, did you?" He said to me.

"So what? That's none of your business." I turned to look at him with a more angry tone.

"You know, I didn't have an easy life either." He said while looking up at the sky.

"!" After that, I remembered the episode at the pool where I saw his scars. It was obvious that his life must have been more terrible than mine.

"I can understand you Sudo. I can understand that anger in you." He turned to look at me. "But tell me, are you really okay with this attitude you have? Are you okay with letting your anger control you so easily? Is that really what defines you, Sudo Ken? A guy who can't help but have a hot temper? Is that really the human being you are?"

"...I..." I tried to say something but I couldn't.

I couldn't say what I was feeling right now. I didn't feel angry even though I didn't like to hear that.

"Say Sudo, do you have a dream?" He asked me.

"Huh? A dream?" I was surprised that he asked me that out of the blue.

"Yes, something you wish you could accomplish."

"Well, I want to play basketball. I want to turn pro and play with the best players in the world."

"I see. But tell me, do you think that just tying up all your effort in there is going to get you to that dream?"

"What do you mean?" I was confused.

"If you can't get your grades up to at least average then it's going to be very difficult for you."

"Why is that?"I still didn't understand what he was getting at.

"Sigh... have you forgotten? If you don't get the grades you need then you'll be expelled from school."

"...Shit, that's right!" I say loudly and with wide eyes. "What am I going to do! I'm absolutely terrible at studying." I said as I stood up and put my hands on my head to express my despair.

"Well, Hirata is planning to do study groups. Join one and you can probably pass the midterm." He proposed me as a solution.

"Is that true? Okay then I have a chance but...I've never really studied seriously in my life. will I really make it?" I say with uncertainty as I sit back down.

"It's up to you. If you really want it then it's probably possible. A lot of people will tell you that putting the efforts and work into it got them there, so why can't you?"

"...That's right. If they can do it then why can't I?" I turned to him and said. "I have made up my mind. I will do anything to fulfill my dream, even if I have to study even though I don't like it. I said to him with a serious look.

"I see so I wish you good luck. Like you, I don't like to study and I totally understand you on that."

"..."

"...What, I have something on my face?" He asked me confused about why I was looking at him strangely.

"You say you understand me but did you see your score on the last test?! I don't think anyone who doesn't like to study can do a perfect score." I say doubtfully.

"Well, I do."

"Bullshit. I don't believe you asshole." I tell him as I turn around.

"Sigh...okay then believe what you want. But I'd like to ask you one more thing."

"What?" I turned to look at him.

"You know when I made you stay in class when you were going to leave. I didn't specify it, but I'd still like you to follow what Hirata said." he said, looking me straight in the eye.

"Not to be late and not to sleep in class?" I say.

"And to follow the lecture." He added.

"Sigh...okay, okay I get it. I'll work on that. I promise nothing though. I'm going to make an effort on this because of what you said, that's all."

"At least making an effort is the most important thing." He turned to look at the scenery.

"If you say so." I did the same.

"Good thing you're being reasonable about this."

"I'm not that stubborn."

"Yeah I could see that, hahaha..." He said to me with a laugh.

"Sudo." After he finished laughing, he said my name.

"What?"

"I want to apologize for calling you an idiot in class. It's true that I don't have a right to do that but I felt it was necessary. But I apologize anyway. I hope you didn't take it too hard."

"...I was this close to fighting with you, you know." I say, looking at him.

"Yeah but I was this close to breaking your arm in return. He looked back at me.

...

"Hahahahaha." I burst out laughing and he did the same.

After laughing for a good ten seconds, I asked him. "Say, were you really going to break my arm?" I asked him seriously.

"It was all fake."

"Huh? Seriously?" I asked confused.

" Of course baka. If I had really done it, I would have been punished with sections, even expelled. You too, if you'd gone further."

"ah...that's right." I say a little embarrassed while scratching my head.

But still, I had a feeling he was really going to do it. My instincts were telling me. Hmm...I must have been imagining it.

...Wait...why do I feel like I'm forgetting something here?

I checked my phone and saw the time. "Shit! I'm going to be late."

"Oh yeah that's right you have your club activities. Sorry we talked more than I thought."He apologized.

"You could have been more careful...anyway." I say as I grab my things. "In any case, thanks for talking with me. I was able to understand some things from you." I thanked him.

"No problem. I hope that from everything we talked about before, you will also be able to control your anger better."

" I got it, I got it. I'll make an effort on that too." I said a little exasperated by all the things I had to pay attention to.

"Alright then, I'll let you go to your basketball practice. Sorry again that it took longer than expected."

"That's okay, no need to apologize again." Then I turned from him and said. "See you later."

"See you later." He replied in return.

After saying "See you later", I started running to hurry up to be on time.

"Sudo!" I heard Nozera calling me again.

"What?" I raised my voice since we were about twenty meters away.

"You have my full support for your dream." He said and I could see he had a little smile on his face.

"...Thank you!" I told him with a smile and then continued my way.

Even if he remains a bit of a bastard, he is much more friendly than I would have thought. Now, let's hurry up instead of thinking.I said to myself as I ran to my destination.

SS - Kamuro Masumi : The mystery behind a friend

*Ringing*

It was the ringing of the bell at the end of class and the lunch break. I got up to leave the classroom.

After a few steps, I heard. "Fufufufu...things are going to be very very interesting soon." The one who said was none other than Sakayanagi, the one who wants to be our leader. I couldn't help but be scared to hear her creepy laugh.

We received an unexpected and shocking revelation about the school but she seemed excited to hear it.

I left the classroom and went to my destination. As soon as I arrived, I saw the person I was going to spend my lunch break with. "Oh hey Kamuro." He was sitting on a bench. He noticed me coming and greeted me with his hand.

"Hey Nozera." I said to my turn and went to sit next to him.

There was a silence between us. After a few seconds he said to me. "Here." He handed me a box.

"Is it a lunch box?" I asked curiously about the box.

"Yeah, I made it this morning." He replied, pulling out his own for him.

"You didn't have to, you know? I could have bought something." I said.

"Since I invited you to eat with me, I figured the least I could do was make you something to eat or buy you something." He said to me.

"You're very gallant I must say. You seem to know how to handle the atmosphere with the girls."

"You think so? I learned it from a book called 'how to handle a girl during a one-on-one for losers'"

"..."

"...I was just kidding..." He says to me as he sees my face.

*chuckle* "I know idiot. I can't see you reading something like that, Hahahaha" I started to laugh. "Well, let's see this lunch box." I say as I open the box.

"Woah...this looks appetizing." I say as I look at the contents. It was well organized and prepared. "Now that I think about it, can you cook?"

"If I didn't then I wouldn't have been able to make a lunchbox."

"You say that but you could have asked someone who knows how to do it." I say, narrowing my eyes to show him my doubts.

"That's true, you have a point." He says as he puts his hand on his chin. "But I assure you, I made them."

"So you're doing well in the kitchen then?"

"I wouldn't say I'm a chef, but I get by."

"Then I'll be the judge." I say as I pick up the chopsticks. "Idatakimasu" I said as I took a piece and swallowed it.

*Chew*...*Chew*...Swallow*

...

"...This is really good!" My eyes widened. "I don't think I've eaten anything this good in a very long time."

" Well good then if you like it." He said as he ate his share.We continued to eat while talking about everything and anything. After finishing, we sat down to look at the landscape without saying anything.

"Say, Kamuro." He said.

"Hmm?"

"How was your morning?"

"...If I had to answer then it would be exhausting and unexpected. I didn't expect the system to be like this."

"Knowing that we are facing each other class?"

"...Yes. Is their school really a school? Why do they make a competition between us? I really don't understand."

"It's normal for you to think that, society is complicated or should I say the world itself."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Nothing, you don't need to focus on that." He says to me, shaking his head from side to side. "And if not, she didn't do anything to you?" He changed the subject.

"You mean Sakayanagi?" He nodded. "Hmm...no, she didn't do anything to me that I could notice."

"I see." He said as he stood up. "If she did anything to you then tell me." He looked me straight in the eye.

"She could do something to me?"

"...All I can say is that she can. She is someone not to be underestimated."

"You think you can fight her? Even though she's weird and scary at the same time, she's proven to be very smart. No one in the class really wants to go up against her, even Katsuragi who has his own faction in the class, has trouble with her."

"Well, that's not for nothing. She's really quite strong in her kind and even though I don't know Katsuragi personally, I don't think he'll be able to defeat her for the leadership position."

"I see." I said.

"But to answer you, if she and I were to face each other then..." He turned his head toward the horizon. "I wouldn't hesitate to give it all up, no matter if she was a girl or if she was physically handicapped. She can be smarter, she can be anything she wants to be more than me, but I wouldn't give up. I know myself better than anyone else, I know what I am capable of and I can say that I am not really inferior to her." He said with a serious look on his face, but I couldn't help but be terrified. "Ah...wari wari, I didn't mean to scare you."

"...Why would you go so far? To the point of even confronting her? I'm in class A and you're in class D." I say, looking at the ground in front of me.

"Because you're my friend." After that, I turned to him.

"..." I didn't say anything, I just stared at him with my eyes open.

"Kamuro?" He called out to me to see why I didn't say anything.

"Y-yes? ...I mean yes uh..I-I...sigh...no nothing" I stammered like hell.

"If you say so." He didn't continue the subject but I blushed in shame.

...

"...Say, Nozera."

"Yes?"

"Now that we know we're enemies between classes, does that change anything? I-I mean between...us."

"Hmm? I just said-"

"I know, but I'm talking about in relation to class matters. We'll be in competition so obviously if I'm seen to be too much with you then I'll be thought to be working with your class as well as the opposite with you."

"...I'm repeating myself but it won't change anything, you'll still be my friend. If they ever ask you about this, then you can tell them that I won't ask you for information related to your class." He sat back down on the bench. "You know, I never forced you to tell me in relation to your class situation. I was just curious about it but I could have investigated it myself."

"I know you weren't forcing anything on me. I told you because I didn't see the harm in telling you but now I can't say everything I want to. Not because I care about this competition but because if Sakayanagi finds out then-" I was about to continue but he cut me off by putting his finger in front of my mouth.

"I know, no need to say more. Anyway, I don't need this if I want to win against your class." He let out a small, confident smile.

"You look pretty damn confident. I'll remind you that those in class A are ranked as the best students in the school." I say.

"I know and I'm not afraid." He says naturally.

"I can see that, but quite honestly Nozera, I don't know your ability, but I think you're overestimating yourself." I was worried about him.

"I'm sorry, I forgot that I'm standing in front of a superior student." He turned to the side.

"Wait, I didn't mean to be arrogant or anything. I don't even understand why they put me in class A. I didn't mean to..." I thought he was mad at me.

"Just kidding." He turned and told me. "Don't worry, you'll soon see what I'm really capable of."

"Sigh..." I couldn't help but worry.

After that we continued to enjoy the beautiful landscape that lay before us.

--

We went back to our classrooms together since classes were about to start. We reached about 20 meters from my classroom but I stopped walking.

"Nozera." I said.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"Why?"

"For saying I'm your friend."

"Why do you thank me for that?" He asked confused.

"Well...because I never really had any friends before.I didn't get along with others." I explained.

"Well, that's not surprising.I mean you often display an angry or disgusted expression so it's easy to believe that you wish you weren't around others."

"...I didn't need that remark..." I say quietly.

It's not my fault if I' m like this. Most people are really annoying.

"Wari wari but you see, as I got to know you better, I discovered behind those expressions, a beautiful face to watch." He said while touching my face which I blushed.

Am I dreaming or is he hitting on me?

"Okay okay I get it." I said while removing his hand. "...Say, I want to ask you something."

"I'm listening."

"I noticed that you listen to music a lot, even to the point that you wear this all the time." I said, pointing to his earphones.

"Yes, I do like it." He says as he touches his headphones.

"I'm curious, why do you like to listen to it so much?"

"Well...because it makes me forget."

"It helps you forget?" I asked confused?

"If you want, forget the existence of this world. I feel I can forget everything when I listen to music." He walked a few steps. "It relieves me too, even if it only lasts a moment."

"Relieve you of what?"

"...From the darkness of my heart where I wander endlessly in search of a light." He looked me straight in the eyes.

"Huh? I don't understand too well." I couldn't understand.

"Nothing, forget it. I was just saying something stylish out of a book, I wasn't serious." He said as he walked away from me. "See you later Kamuro." He said to me.

"See you later." I said, and then he went to his class.

...
Nozera, why do you still have that glint of sadness in your eyes? Why do I feel a great mystery behind you? And then, why can't I understand you?

After getting these thoughts into my mind, I went back to my classroom.

--

a/n: Hey, how are you? I'm fine on my side.

It was probably the last SS until the end of volume 1 where I am the LN. On this occasion, I would like to ask you what was your favorite SS? Which one did you find the best? I would love to hear your opinion on it.

Next, I would like to say I'm taking a break. We're close to the end of volume 1 but I'm reaching a stage where I feel it's better to stop writing. I'm starting to feel that I'm really blocking on some parts so I'd rather rest and enjoy my vacations quietly. On top of that, I have a lot of things to do for the return to work and stuff so I'll be very busy these next weeks.

We have reached 5k views on this fanfic and I would like to say thank you. Thank you for reading my fanfic. I know it's far from amazing but thank you for supporting it.

Oh and last thing, I'm also currently reviewing my chapters and thinking about rewriting some of them. I'm planning to add some things like details or change some things but it wouldn't have a big change in my fanfic but if it does then I'll let you know. I'm starting out slowly so it's far from finished but as soon as I get the hang of it I'll let you know to check it out. I'm doing this because I notice sometimes that I could have added this or that, that I could have done better. I have a problem that separates me from other well written fanfics and that I clearly lack in adding details. I clearly lack imagination and it is noticeable. I don't manage to be as precise and explanatory about details, whether it's conversations between characters or whatever. It's a big flaw I have.

So for that, if you have any tips or tricks then I'd love to hear them. I would like to get better so I can write better stories.

There, I think I've said it all. Have a good holiday and see you next time.

A seductive teacher

Zero Pov

"I'd like your attention, everyone."

That was the end of the last class of the day. Hirata took this moment to stand on the podium and make a general announcement. "With yesterday's announcements, I know you must be in a state of stress of worry. With the mid-term exams coming up, this makes it even more stressful. To prepare for that, I have a suggestion for you." He posed and looked around the class. "It's to do study groups."

"Study groups?"

"Yeah, that's a great idea."

"Hmm...yeah why not."

"I'm in! It could totally save us."

"I don't like to study but well, with groups it might be more enjoyable."

Different reactions could be heard but the majority was more in favor of this idea.

"Thank you for your approval, everyone." Hirata bent down to thank the class. "So that we don't waste too much time, I've already discussed with the most capable teachers among us and I already have the group list. They will be groups of 5 where there will be one tutor and 4 students."

a/n: Honestly, I'm too lazy to make the list but it would be basically the same as in the fanfic "Unconfined genius". The changes are that Zero will be one of the tutors and Inogashira will replace Eichiro (I have no idea how good she is academically. I just picked randomly but let's say she is good academically in this fanfic). Oh and also Sudo will be in Horikita's group, that's it.

Nozera Zero's Study Group: Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Hasabe Haruka, Miyake Akito, Sakura Airi.

As I said to Hirata yesterday, I will be the one to choose who I will tutor. I obviously chose Kiyotaka for several reasons but it's useless to list them now. I chose the others because I was quite curious about them.

After the announcement, the groups gathered among themselves. I went to my group and announced the following. "Nice to meet you for those who I don't know, it will be me who will be your tutor. For today, there will be no session as I have to go and make test sheets for you. We will meet tomorrow for the session. Any questions?"

Miyake raised his hand. "Yes Miyake?"

"Just to say that I have my club's activities at 3 p.m. and it lasts until 5 p.m. So I won't be able to go to our study session if we do it at that time..."

"No problem then we set it for 5:30 p.m. Does anyone have a problem with that time?" I suggested to my group.

"No, I don't." Hasabe replied.

"N-no either" replied Sakura shyly.

"That's fine with me." Kiyotaka replied.

"Okay then, it's decided. I'll tell you tomorrow where to meet. I'd just like to have your phone numbers so I can create a group." They agreed and gave me their phone numbers. "You can go, I won't keep you any longer than that." I told them.

"Everyone!" We turned to Hirata who was again at the podium. "I'd like to say one more thing and then I'll leave you alone." He said.

He waited for the silence to return. "Regarding when I said about my theories on the system, I have to tell you something about this." Everyone stared at Hirata, curious as to what he would say. "It wasn't me who came up with all this. I just relayed it."

"Huh?" exclaimed many of our classmates.

"Really, Hirata?" Said a girl.

"Seriously? then who was it?" said a guy.

Hirata looked in my direction. He wanted to know if it bothered me. I told him with an eye contact that it was okay.

He understood my message and opened his mouth. "The person who found all this information is not me but Nozera-kun.

"HUH?" Everyone exclaimed and turned to face me.

"You're the one who found all this?" Yukimura said.

"Yeah." I replied nonchalantly.

I could see Horikita looking at me in shock out of the corner of my eye. I was about to take my things but suddenly, the loudspeaker sounded and made an announcement.

"Nozera-kun, Ayanokouji-kun, from first-year Class D. Please come seeChabashira-sensei in the faculty office."

Hmm? Chabashira-sensei wants to see me and Kiyotaka?

I turned to Kiyotaka and he did the same. We didn't know why we were summoned, but it was a good thing, because now I wasn't going to have to deal with other people's questions about why I didn't tell them that I was the one who found the informations. I looked at Hirata with an eye contact so that he could tell them for me. He understood my message and I could leave comfortably. We walked out of the classroom with curious looks from our classmates. We arrived at our destination a few minutes later and entered the faculty office.

"Where is she?" I looked all around, but I didn't find Chabashira-sensei anywhere.

"Let's go ask her." Kiyotaka said pointing me in the direction of a sensei inspecting her appearance before a mirror.

"Excuse me, is Chabashira-sensei here?" I asked as I approached her.

"Hmm? Sae-chan? Oh, she was just here a moment ago."

The teacher had wavy, shoulder-length hair, which made her look mature. The way she said Chabashira-sensei's name made them sound close. They were near in age and probably friends.

"She must have stepped away for a minute. Do you want to wait here?"

"Okay." I replied.

"No, thank you. I'll wait in the hall." Unlike me, Kiyotaka did not want to stay here. He really doesn't like to have the attention on him.

"Why doesn't your classmate want to wait here?" She asked curiously.

"Oh...well, let's just say he feels uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable? Is it because we're in the faculty office? Or is it because...I'm the cause?" She said as she put her thin hand in front of her mouth.

"You didn't do anything wrong, it's just...sigh, he's been through a traumatic event for him as a kid and he's scared of women, especially older ones." I said.

"Really? That must be hard for him." She said with a sympathetic look.

"Indeed very hard. He lives in fear every day." I said as I clenched my fist and closed my eyes to sympathize with his suffering.

"I hope he can get over this." she said.

"I hope so too."

"...Oh by the way, I'm Hoshinomiya Chie, in charge of Class B. Sae and I have been best friends since high school. That's why we call each other Sae-chan and Chie-chan."

"Nice to meet you Hoshinomiya-sensei." I say with a small smile. "My name is Nozera Zero."

"Nozera Zero, huh? That's a cool mysterious name! You must be really popular, right?"

"Sort of."

If we take the club fair event into account then yes, we can say I'm popular for that.

"Hey, do you already have a girlfriend?" she asked.

"No not yet."

She grabbed my arms with slender, delicate hands. "Hmm? How unexpected since you're incredibly handsome. If we were in the same class, I'd never leave you alone. Perhaps because you're so innocent? Or do you like playing hard to get?" She said while caressing my cheek.

I didn't expect to meet such a friendly and seductive teacher.

"I find you quite different from what I expected from a teacher here." I say.

"That's not the first time I've been told that." She brought her face close to mine and said. "Do you like my personality?" I could feel her breathing.

I took a quick look around. We weren't in the camera's view. That's why she's allowed to act like this with a student.

"I think you are very pretty and funny but..."

*Thud*

I slapped her butt. "I'm not someone who gets seduced that easily." She took off her embrace after that.

"Ouch! You really slapped my butt." She said as she touched the spot where I hit her. "I just thought about teasing you."

Come practice 100 years before you talk to me about teasing someone.

"Well, you'll have to do better to tease me."

"Ara ara~ you really don't look like a simple student going through his puberty. So I should do better then?" She said with a big smile. "So what do you think of this?" She said while grabbing her bra and letting her boob out a little.

...

"Even if you were naked, it wouldn't work." I say as I look at her without having changed my expression.

"Heh?" She put on a face filled with great confusion. "H-how can you stay so calm?"

"Because I can. Besides, it's not like you have a dream body that would attract even the most resistant of men."

"..." She said nothing. She just looked at me. "I see." She walked over to me and embraced my arm again with her arms. "It's decided, you're mine."

Huh?

"I've never had a man resist me so much and make a fool of me too. I'll come at you again and seduce you no matter what. I will make you mine!" She said with great determination and you could see flames in her eyes.

Yabe...I really met a crazy woman for this time.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, I was just kidding. I apologize if you took it the wrong way but please don't make decisions like that." I said hoping to calm her down.

"No, I decided that you will be mine so you will be mine." She said.

"You at least know that you are a teacher and I am a student, right? We can't have that kind of relationship." I'm hoping this will change her mind.

"Who cares? I've decided that's all. Nobody's going to stop me."

Okay, I take it all back. She's beyond crazy.

"Sorry Hoshinomiya-sensei but you can't force me to like you."

"I'll make it don't worry. I have my strengths after all." She said while lightly slapping her boobs.

"Sorry but if I have to compare you then Chabashira-sensei is a thousand times more gorgeous than you." Trying to put her down again until she hates me.

"Oh so you prefer a woman like Sae-chan?"

"Yeah."

"...I see but I won't lose! I'll make you-"

"What are you doing, Chie?"

Chiyabashira-sensei appeared out of nowhere with Kiyotaka behind her. With a loud thud, she smacked Hoshinomiya-sensei on the head with her clipboard. Hoshinomiya-sensei crouched and gripped her skull in apparent pain.

"Ouch! What was that for?" she cried.

"For getting involved with one of my students."

"I was only keeping him company while he waited for you, Sae-chan."

"It would have been better if you just left him alone. Thanks for waiting, Nozera. Let's go into the office."

"Okay." I replied.

I followed Chabashira-sensei while noticing that Hoshinomiya was following us and stayed next to me, smiling widely. Chabashira-sensei noticed and turned, her face much like a demon's.

"You stay," she ordered.

"Come on, don't be so cold! It won't be the end of the world if I listen, right? Besides Sae-chan, you're definitely not the type to give one-on-one or one-on-two guidance. Pulling new students like Nozera-kun and the other boy into the guidance room out of nowhere... Are you after something, I wonder?" Grinning, Hoshinomiya-sensei took my arm with her own.

"Let him go, Chie."

"Why? I'm not doing anything wrong, right Nozera-kun?"

Before I could answer, Chabashira said. "Whatever, it's my student so I don't allow you to touch him like that."

"Oh I get it, you're jealous, right?"

"What? Don't talk nonsense. I'm just pointing out that you are behaving indecently with a student."

"You say that, but I saw it clearly when you watched me take his arm. Your eyes gave off a glint of animosity."

"Sigh...well that's enough. I don't have time to play with your nonsense." Chabashira-sensei turned around to continue to our destination.

Hoshinomiya-sensei seemed to be in his thoughts for a second and then turned to me. She seemed to make light of something and turned to Chabashira-sensei. "Could it be that he is the one we were talking about last time? The one who hit you in the eye.

Huh? What do you mean I was the one who hit her in the eye? She means that...

"Chie." Chabashira-sensei stopped suddenly. "I'm not kidding. If you dare to say something like that again." She took her clipboard firmly in her hands. "I'll give you at least a hundred spankings."

*gulp*

It wasn't me or Kiyotaka who made that noise but Hoshinomiya-sensei. But she quickly regained her composure. "Excuse me for being curious but seeing you take two boys like that, makes me wonder who you're planning to do?

"It concerns a problem with class D. I don't need to remind you that it doesn't involve you." Chabashira-sensei replied.

"But I think I can give advice if needed."

"No, that's fine, no need." Chabashira-sensei folded coldly. She turned around.

"...Say Sae-chan, you wouldn't by any chance be looking to be dominated by a younger man? But seeing those two, I must say I didn't think you would go for two."

I can't believe that Hoshinomiya-sensei would go so far to tease her. But that didn't stop me from thinking that she was extremely annoying when she was like that.

"What does she mean by being dominated by a younger man?" Kiyotaka said.

Oh yes, that's right, I had forgotten that he didn't know about that kind of thing. Living all your life at the whiteroom makes your knowledge of the world very underdeveloped.

"Well that's-" I was about to explain but was cut off by an object coming in my direction at high speed. I had time to catch it in midair. The object in question was a... clipboard.

"Hey what's up with you Sae-chan! Do you really want to hurt me or what?" Hoshinomiya-sensei said angrily, hiding behind me.

"You speak but you're hiding behind a student instead of taking responsibility for what you say. Is that the example of a teacher?" Chabashira-sensei's gaze was piercing on her.

"I'm a woman first of all and then, I don't want to die like this, hmph!" She pouted.

"Sigh...whatever, now leave us, will you?" Chabashira-sensei said exasperated by her.

While they were talking, a female student came up to us, a beautiful girl with light-pink hair. I never saw her but I guess she is the famous Ichinose. There are not many girls with pink hair and just by looking at her, I could immediately determine her identity. After all, she was very popular so I obviously heard about her, especially about her aura and her incredible beauty.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, do you have a moment? The student council wishes to discuss something with you." She glanced at me and Kiyotaka, but quickly returned her attention to Hoshinomiya-sensei.

"All right, you have someone who needs you. Get to it."

*Slap!*

Chiyabashira-sensei smacked Hoshinomiya-sensei on the butt with her clipboard.

"Aw! She'll get mad at me if I hang around any longer. See you later, Nozera-kun!" She was getting ready to leave but suddenly turned around. "Oh yes, Sae-chan, make sure you take it easy on that boy." She said while pointing at Kiyotaka. "Since he's afraid of women because of his trauma, then try not to make him uncomfortable. All right, Ichinose-san. Let's go to the faculty office." Then, she finally left with this Ichinose.

"...Scared of women?" Chabashira said confused as she looked at Kiyotaka.

Kiyotaka on the other hand, turned to me and looked at me. His look said 'WTF? What did you tell her?' He still kept his usual expression but I could tell he was confused about what she said.

"I don't know what she's talking about either." I said while shrugging my shoulders. "Well, how about we go?" I said.

After that, we entered the guidance room, which stood beside the faculty office.

"Can we know now, why you called us?" I said.

"Well, about that... Before we begin, please come here." She briefly glanced at a clock hanging on the wall, which gave the time as nine o'clock, and opened the door. Inside was a small office kitchenette. She placed a kettle on top of a stove.

"I'm going to make tea. Is roasted green okay?" she asked.

Kiyotaka picked up the container with the tea powder.

"Don't make any unnecessary moves. Shut up and get in here. Understand? Don't make a sound and stay until I tell you it's okay to come out. If you don't do as I say, you'll be expelled." she said.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Said Kiyotaka.

"You know, you can just ask nicely-" She closed the door before I could finish. What is she up to?

I turned to look at Kiyotaka. Without saying anything, we understood each other that we were going to wait for this whole plan to occur.

Soon after, I heard the outer door to the guidance room open.

"Ah, come in. So, what did you want to talk to me about, Horikita?" We heard Chiyabashira-sensei say.

"I will be frank. Why was I sorted into Class D?"

"That's quite frank."

"Pffft-" I let out a little chuckle.

Shit, that made me laugh.

"I thought I heard a noise." Horikita said.

"You did? I didn't hear anything on my end. I think it's just your imagination." Said Chabashira-sensei.

"If you say so." Horikita let go of the case. "I was going to say, Today, you told us that the school sorted superior students into Class A. You said that Class D was filled with the leftovers, the last bastion of delinquents."

"That's true. You-"

some minute later...

"Oh, that reminds me. I've summoned two person to the guidanceroom. It's someone relevant to you."

"Relevant to me? No, you can't mean... bro—"

"Come on out, Nozera and Ayanokouji," the teacher said.

...

"If you don't come out, I'll have you expelled."

...

"How long do you intend to keep me waiting?"

...

"I asked you to come!" Chabashira-sensei said and moved closer to our location. She opened the door. "Huh? What are you doing?"

"This is my thirty win. That makes us thirty each." I said as I pointed to my move facing him, and then turned to her. "Oh, we were playing rock, paper, scissors."

"...Get out." She said and we did.

"Hi Horikita, how are you?" I said as we entered the room. Naturally, Horikita appeared surprised and perplexed.

"Were you two listening to our conversation?" she asked us.

"Listening? We know you guys were talking, but we didn't really hear anything. The walls are surprisingly thick." Kiyotaka said.

"That's not true. Voices carry pretty well into the kitchen." Apparently, Chiyabashira-sensei wanted to drag us into the action.

"We were concentred on our game so we really don't listen."I said to try to get us out of there.

"It's obvious that you've been listening so stop finding alternatives." But Chabashira-sensei had other plans for us.

Well, it looks like there's no point in hiding it if she's going to get us into it. "Sigh...Okay we admit we listened to you." I sighed. "We heard all about how you weren't happy about your placement in class D."

"Sensei, why would you do this?" Horikita noticed that this had all been planned and was clearly angry.

"Because I deemed it necessary. Now then, Ayanokouji, Nozera, I'll explain why I called you here." Chiyabashira-sensei dismissed Horikita's concerns and shifted her attention to me.

"Well then, if you'll excuse me..." Horikita muttered.

"Wait, Horikita. It would be in your best interest to stay and listen. It may provide you with a hint on how to reach Class A." Horikita stopped dead in her tracks and sat back down.

"Please keep it brief," she said.

Chiyabashira-sensei chuckled as she glanced over her clipboard."You two are interesting students, Ayanokoji, Nozera."

"Not at all. I'm certainly not as interesting as a teacher with a strange surname like

Chiyabashira."

"Pffft-"Again, I was this close to laughing.

"I guess that's funny, Nozera?" Chabashira-sensei said.

"Not at all. I just didn't expect him to say that. I think Chabashira is a really beautiful nickname." I said with little smile.

...

"Anyway, when I read over the entrance exam's results, your scores piqued my interest. I was shocked."She changed the subject.

"Let's start with Ayanokoji."On her clipboard, I saw an answer sheet.

"Fifty points in Japanese. Fifty points in mathematics. Fifty points inEnglish. Fifty points in social studies. Fifty points in science. You evenscored Fifty points on the recent short test. Do you know what this means?"

A stunned Horikita looked over my test paper and then shifted her focus to me. "This is a rather frightening coincidence," she said.

"Oh? You believe that getting 50s all across the board was a coincidence? He did it intentionally."

"It's a coincidence. There's no evidence that it's not. Besides, what would I gain by manipulating my scores in the first place? If I were intelligent enough to achieve high marks, I would've tried to get perfect scores."

"Kiyotaka, leave it." He turned to me. "You won't convince anyone who has the ability to use their brain. I'm sorry to say, but it was the worst thing you could do to score 50/100 on every test if you didn't want to get noticed."

He sighed at what I said and did not continue to lie. He knows I'm right and that there's no point in beating around the bush. "Okay I admit it."

I know he wouldn't have wanted to confess but for the time being, he can only blame himself. It's not possible to pretend you didn't intentionally do his scores.

"Like Nozera said, you wouldn't have convinced anyone with a minimum of common sense but thanks for admitting it." Chabashira-sensei says. "Well, now let's move on to Nozera." She said while looking at me.

"For you, it was less simple to find but with a little bit of logic then we find it easily."

She showed me my answer sheet. "eighty points in Japanese. sixty points in mathematics. ninty points in English. Fifty points in social studies. Forty points in science. And finally, You scored hundred points on the recent short test." She then turned to Horikita with a smirk. "There's a common point to all this. Since you think of yourself as an intelligent person then you should be able to find out what is surprising about his scores."

To be continued

The angel who loved to read

Horikita Suzune POV

"eighty points in Japanese. sixty points in mathematics. ninty points in English. Fifty points in social studies. Forty points in science. And finally, You scored hundred points on the recent short test." She then turned to me with a smirk. "There's a common point to all this. Since you think of yourself as an intelligent person then you should be able to find out what is surprising about his scores."

Who does she think she is? She knows that I was one of the highest scoring students on the entrance exam. She thinks I can't find the pattern he chose? First of all, did he really choose a pattern for the exam? Because at first glance, it just looks like he has normal scores. I stared at his results trying to find any pattern.

"So Horikita? Can you find it?" Chabashira-sensei said with a little smirk. She's really starting to piss me off.

"Are you sure he manipulated his scores too? Because I don't see anything extraordinary. Except that..."

"Except what?" Chabashira-sensei seemed to be pushing me to say my reasoning.

"That the only common point I see on his scores is that he has each time a result that has zero with. But that doesn't mean he necessarily manipulated his scores or anything. I think it's possible for a student to get those scores by pure coincidence."I really think that she was mistaken and that he did not manipulate anything.

After my answer, she crossed her arms with still a smile on her face. "I agree with you that it can be a coincidence but Horikita..." she fixed her eyes on me. "You really don't find anything weird?"

"Weird?" I said.

"Sigh...think about it Horikita. What do you know about Nozera?" She said while looking at Nozera-kun.

What do I know about him? I already know that his name is Nozera Zero. I also know that I don't really like him because I find him quite irritating when he makes fun of me. Other than that, I don't really know him. What does she mean by weird? What's weird about him that has a link to his scores?

...

Wait...Nozera Zero? So...that would be that?

I turned to look at him. "You..."

"Hmm?" He also turned to look at me.

"So Horikita?" Chabashira-sensei said.

"...The common point of all his scores is that there is a zero in them. You would think it was a

coincidence if you didn't pay attention to his name. Nozera Zero...Zero." I say in a lighter tone.

Clap

"Indeed Horikita, congratulations for finding it." Chabashira-sensei applauded. Her clapping didn't have the expected effect on me. I felt more like she was mocking me.

I was getting ready to say something but Nozera was the first one. "Yes I also manipulated my scores. If I had a reason then it would be because I was curious if someone would be able to figure it out even if it was, there was nothing complicated about it." He says as he thought to anticipate the question. I had noticed since the first day that he was very different from the other students but now he shows that he is really different. Ayanokoji too.

Nozera Zero POV

"You want to tell us something else, Chabashira-sensei?" I say while looking at her.

"No I said everything I wanted to say. I have to go to a meeting so I would like to ask you to leave the place." She said while gesturing with her hand that we should leave.

Horikita and Kiyotaka were the first to leave while I stayed in place without moving and looking at her.

Seeing me standing there, Chabashira-sensei frowned a little. "Do you have something to tell me, Nozera?"

I said nothing and just looked at her for a few seconds. "No nothing. Good day to you Chabashira-sensei." I gave a small smile before turning and leaving the room.

When I reached the hallway, I saw Kiyotaka and Horikita waiting against the wall. "I'm going to the library, do you want to come with me?" I said as I turned to Kiyotaka. He answered me with a nod and we started to leave.

"Wait!" I turned to see Horikita who wanted to tell us something.

"What?" I answered her.

"I need your help." She said, looking at us with a determined look.

"Our help for what?" I said but I already knew what.

"To get into class A." She said.

"Why do you want to go to class A?" Kiyotaka asked her.

"...I have my own reasons but I know we are in a problematic situation with the midterms coming up so I would need your help to help the failures in our class."

"What if we say no?" Says kiyotaka.

"Then I would be powerless to deal with our situation."

"Well good luck then." Says Kiyotaka as he turns to leave.

After that, he was no longer visible and there was not a sound of his footsteps on the horizon. Only me and Horikita were left.

"What about you? Are you going to help me or not?"

I looked her straight in the eyes. "..." I looked at her without saying anything.

"Nozera?" Horikita expressed her confusion at my silence.

I turned around. "Not at the moment. I haven't decided if I really want to take part in this competition. But in the meantime, here's an advice from me. First of all, before solving the

current problem, solve what you are lacking." I say before I leave for my next destination.

After that, I arrived at the library. It was the first time I visited it to be honest. I like to read but I usually read on the internet so I didn't spend my time in the library.

I took my time to visit it since I noticed that it was big. At the same time, since it's a school with the reputation of having the largest facilities, it didn't surprise me that much. Kiyotaka should have arrived by now too.

I continued to visit the shelves until I saw a girl in front of a row of books. She seemed to be reaching for a book that was one floor above her but the book was too high for her. I decided to go and help her or she wouldn't make it. At that moment, I heard a person approaching but I focused my attention on the book. Just as I put my hand on the book, another hand did the same. I looked to the side to see who it was and it was Kiyotaka.

...

We looked at each other to understand each other's intention.

"Hum...ano..." It was the girl who was silent until now and who was stuck between us.

"Oh sorry, you seemed to want to take this book." I said but surprisingly, Kiyotaka said word for word the same time as I did and we passed the book to her.

We looked at each other again. What a strange and surprising syncronization.

The girl chuckled slightly. "Thank you both." She said and took the book.

"No problem." I replied and so did Kiyotaka.

"My name is Shiina Hiyori from class C, nice to meet you." She said with a nice smile.

"My name is Ayanokoji Kiyotaka from classe D, nice to meet you Shiina." Kiyotaka introduced himself.

"Nozera Zero from classe D, nice to meet you Shiina." I also introduced myself.

"Hmm?" Shiina expressed and looked confused.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Ah no no...it's just that I was surprised by your name."she waved her arms while saying.

"By my name?" I said.

"Yes, um how can I put it...it's just that I thought it was cool."

"Cool?"

"Hmm hmm, sounds like a secret agent name or something." She expressed with illuminated eyes.

Ah I see. That's right, it could hint at a code name.

"I see. Thanks for the compliment i guess?" I wasn't sure what to say about that.

"A-ah uh I apologize if I made you uncomfortable." She snapped out of her happy state and quickly apologized thinking that she would have bothered me with it.

"No, don't worry about it." I reassured her.

"Ah, I see." She said while scratching her cheek.

After that, a silence reigned. The situation was getting more and more awkward. I should change the subject.

"I can see it's a Bronte book. Do you like it?" Kiyotaka changed the subject.

"Personally, I neither like nor dislike anything. But the book was in the wrong place, genre wise, so I just thought to return it toits proper position." she replied.

"It's just a guess but I think you must like the book a lot, right?" Kiyotaka said.

"Hai! I really like books and being able to read them. And you are the same?" She said in a happy but at the same time excited way. Her eyes were even brighter than before and she wore a smile that could break anyone's heart.

"Yeah, I can say I appreciate reading." Said Kiyotaka.

"Really? Then that's great, we share the same love for reading." She says again in a cheerful way.

Yeah...she really looks like an angel. I can't help but be dazzled by the aura she gives off. I could feel that she held an immeasurable love for books. It is rare these days to have such a love for a passion. I am somehow envious of her for being able to express such a beautiful emotion. Compared to me where I can only define myself as empty.

Sigh...anyway, let's not think about that in the mean time.

"Yeah, I like to read too but I'm more into manga or light novels." I said.

"Ah I see but I think it's great too. I thought I should try to read some but with all the books I read, I ended up forgetting, hehe."She said with an embarrassed look on her face. At first glance, she seemed to be a quiet person, but for a few minutes now, the aura and expression she gave off, swept all that away.

"If you don't mind, would you like me to recommend a book?" I proposed.

"No no, you can. It would be nice to try to read some so I'll take your advice." She said.

"I see so just give me a few minutes. You can go sit at a table while you wait." I told them and went to the section I was looking for.

After a few minutes, I went back to where we were. I looked around to find them sitting in a corner of the library.

"Here Shiina." I handed her the book I had chosen.

"Eighty-...six?" She was confused by the name.

"Yeah, an unusual title, right? But trust me it's better as a short one than a long one." I said in relation to those who had a long title that I don't know how long. I don't have anything against them, but how to say that the authors don't really make any effort on the title and just make a sentence that tells pretty much already what's going to happen.

"Hmm..." Shiina seemed to be focused on the book cover.

"Intrigued, aren't you?" I said.

"Yes you can say that. I get the impression from the way they are dressed that it's about military combat."

"Yeah, you can tell. I'm not going to spoil you but I think Eighty-six's story is amazing. Maybe you won't like the themes that will be introduced but I think it's worth a look."

"I see. All right, I'll read it in the next few days." She says as she tucks it into her bag.

"When you finish Shiina, I'd like to be able to read it too." Says Kioytaka.

"You don't have to wait. You can watch the anime adaptation." I turned around and looked at him.

"The anime adaptation?" He said.

"Yes, I told you about it the last time I was watching anime in my spare time too."

"It's true that you mentioned it. I had said that I would probably take a look at it."

"Then why not watch Eighty-six? You seemed interested in the story when I was talking to Shiina." I proposed to him. I noticed from the corner of my eye that he seemed interested in the book.

Kiyotaka thought for a moment and then said. "Okay, you've convinced me. I'll check it out tonight or tomorrow."

"Great! Let me know what you think. You too Shiina, if you ever want to watch the anime adaptation of Eighty-six then go for it. They did a good job of adapting the light novel."

"Okay, I'll think about it." She said with a smile.

After that, we started talking about everything and anything, but mostly about books. Time passed slowly until the sun disappeared from the horizon and the night came. We went back together to the dormitory and then we parted to go to our rooms.

I went into my room. I put my things down and went to my computer. "Well, I should go do those questions for tomorrow." I turned on my computer and started typing on the keyboard.

Study group

Nozera Zero POV

"Excuse me for being late." I say as I get to the front of the study group I'm supposed to help.

"No worries, I mean, you're just a minute late." Says Miyake sitting with the others.

"So we're late? What are we going to do if the guy who's supposed to be helping us with our exams forgets to do it? I didn't think you were like that." Hasabe said as he played with his pen.

"Hey Haruka!" Miyake said to her. He wasn't happy that she was reacting like that.

"That's right. I apologize again." I apologized again since I was the one at fault in the story.

Hasabe seemed to be surprised to see me apologize again.

"Um...you know, I was kidding. I don't hold that against you at all. I guess you must be busy to be late." She said scratching her cheek. "Sorry about that, I was just kidding.

"No, it's okay, don't worry about it. Well, if there's no problem then we can get started. Here is an exercise sheet that will allow me to judge your level as closely as possible. I ask you to do it seriously so that I can help you where you need it." I say while distributing the sheets to each one of them.

Well, I know that Kiyotaka doesn't need any help or review but I will have to play the game with him so that the others don't suspect anything otherwise, they will wonder why he needs help for the studies when he could totally teach them.

After a good thirty minutes, they finished all the exercises I gave them.

"Give me a few minutes to look at your answers. I carefully scrutinized every answer to every test.

Hmm?

"A problem Nozera-kun?" Said Sakura who seemed to be looking at me.

"No, there's no problem." I replied.

"But you frowned for a moment." She replied.

"Oh...it's nothing, I was just surprised by something." I said.

"Let me guess! You were surprised that one of us excelled in your test. And I guess that person is me." Haruka said proudly as she stood up and jiggled her...gigantic breasts.

"Please don't throw flowers at yourself." Miyake replied.

"Ha?! I'm not throwing flowers at myself! I'm just saying that I might have done well on the test." She replied.

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying." He said with a little smirk on his face.

"You then! I'm sure you're like this because you didn't pass and you have to take extra classes." she pointed at him.

"It's got nothing to do with that."

"Yeah yeah, it does."

Sssssssshhhhhhh

"Oh um...sorry." Haruka replied softly after someone asked for silence.

"We're sorry." Miyake said and bent down taking Haruka as well to apologize.

I waited a few seconds for the silence to subside completely and said in a calm and composed voice. "Well, I was able to look at your tests. If I have to say a general opinion then it's far from being very good but it's still about right."

"Ah...so it's not that bad." Haruka said with a slightly deprecated look on her face.

"Well, Kiyotaka, considering your grades, you don't really need help."

"Huh? What do you mean by that? Isn't he supposed to be having trouble with studies?" Haruka asked curiously.

"Who told you that? We just decided to put the ones with the best grades as tutors. Just because he wasn't in the top grades doesn't mean he needs help. I can say since I know him a little, that he just needs to put in the effort. He doesn't get consistent grades because depending on how much effort he puts in, those grades change."

"So you mean..."

"Yes, if he really wanted to, he could be one of the best and get an excellent grade."

"Huh?! Really!"

"Yeah."

"But then he really doesn't need to be here if he can really do it without help."

"Indeed, but as I said before it depends on how much effort he puts in. If I don't watch that he doesn't work hard enough then he'll just laze around when he feels like it. Kiyotaka is a bit of a slacker so I have to make sure he studies." I praised Kiyotaka for being a good student while being a big slacker.

I could see him giving me a little look that meant 'couldn't you find something else?

I'm sorry, but there's a little bit of truth in that. I mean, sometimes you really are a big slacker.

"Oh, I see. So Ayanokoji, are we lazy?" Haruka turned to him and tried to tease him.

"A little." He replied in a monotone voice that no one can copy.

"You know there's nothing wrong with that, I mean I'm also a bit of a slacker sometimes." she said with a smile.

"I'm not sure that's something you should be proud of." replied Miyake.

"Hah? You talk the talk, but you're just like us. I know you're a big slacker too!" She turned and answered him.

"No I...I mean...um...I'm not that much." He said, sounding a little embarrassed.

Their little interaction was both fun and funny but I changed the subject so I wouldn't lose them. "Well, you can discuss who is the laziest later. I'll continue." I then turned to Sakura.

"Sakura." I called to her.

"Y-yes!" She stuttered back. Am I that scary or is she just way too shy? I wonder.

"Calm down, I'm not going to lecture you or anything." I said.

"Yes...I'm sorry." she replied, lowering her head.

"So anyway, about your result. I'm going to be very honest Sakura that right now you're the one who's in the most danger in this group. You really need me to help you because if you don't I'm afraid you'll be expelled."

She froze and swallowed her saliva.

"Don't be so uptight. You've got some point or you're getting out of it so you just need to get help where it's stuck and you'll be fine. I'll make sure you don't fail."

"Yes, thank you very much."

"Well, that leaves you two." I turned to the two who I don't have their results yet. "I must say that your results surprised me a little."

"In what way?"

"You both made the same number of points."

"Huh? Did we? What a coincidence then."

"Yes, but there's something even more surprising. You made the same mistakes in the same place." I said.

...

"Nozera we didn't-" Haruka wanted to say something but I cut her off.

"I know, you don't need to say it. I was watching you while you did your paper. You couldn't have cheated at that moment."

"But isn't it surprising that our scores are the same?" Miyake asked.

"Yes it is surprising. It must be very rare but it looks like you have exactly the same strengths and weaknesses in terms of academic ability. I don't know how much you did on the admissions test but I imagine it must be very similar."

"Well that's very surprising." Said Haruka looking at Miyake surprised.

"After there is another factor to take into account, the fact that how and how long you study too but I guess it must also look similar. If I had to guess then I would say that you study from time to time but you spend very little time on it."

"...That's right."

"...Same as her."

"Well then, congratulations on being a perfect match since you look so much alike."

... there was silence after that.

"Hah! You must be kidding!" Haruka said angrily.

"Just because we're the same in terms of studies, doesn't mean we're made for each other Nozera." Miyake said to me with a little blush on her cheeks.

"Yes yes I was kidding, don't get caught up in my teasing." I said to calm the atmosphere.

"Anyway, you need to work on some of the math and English but otherwise the rest should be fine for you but don't neglect it anyway." I warned them and they nodded.

"Well I'm done with your results. I'll ask you to stay for another 30 minutes to review and then you can go." I told them.

~30 minutes later~

"You have done your work well, go and rest and we will see you tomorrow at the same time." I gave them permission to go home.

"Phew...it's very demanding on the brain to revise but it was cool to have this session with you." Haruka said as she spread her arms in the air.

"Yeah I agree with her." Miyake said.

"Yes I agree. Thank you for helping us Nozera-kun." Said Sakura thanking me.

"You're welcome." I said with a small smile. "Have a nice evening."

"Good evening!" Said Haruka and the others as they left.

Only me and Kiyotaka were left.

"Aren't you going home?" I asked him.

"Yes I am." He said and stood up from his chair. "What about you? Are you going home too?"

"Yes, but I'm going to go first to see how the group is doing with Horikita, they should finish in the next few minutes after that."

"I see. Do you mind if I come too? I'm curious to know how it goes with them." Kiyotaka asked me.

"Yup zero problem."

I wonder how it went on that first day of study group with Horikita's group. She needs to make an effort to get along with others but I guess it should be fine with her group. There is just one person she should be careful with her words but it should be fine...yes it should be fine.

~3 minutes later~

"My patience is running out, I don't accept you telling me I'm a complete idiot!"

"You can't solve such a simple problem so what else do you want to be called?"

...

"Sigh...it's worse than I thought." I say to myself, tapping my hand on my forehead.

Behind the mask

Nozera Zero POV

With Kiyotaka, we went to check the other side of the library to see how Horikita was doing with his group. I thought that it should go well except that...

"My patience is running out, I don't accept you telling me I'm a complete idiot!" Sudo shouted as he held Horikita's collar and held her up.

"You can't solve such a simple problem so what else do you want to be called?" Despite being caught in the air by Sudo, Horikita was not disturbed and kept on provoking him.

...

"Sigh...it's worse than I thought." I say to myself, tapping my hand on my forehead.

"That's enough." I tell them as I approach them.

"Oi Nozera don't you dare -"

"I said that's enough, now let her go." I said in a serious tone

"Guh...okay I get it." He said and released her.

Horikita rearranged her collar but I didn't let her finish.

"Come here." I said as I took her arm.

"Hey what are you-"

"Shut up and follow me." I say to her. "And you Sudo we will talk about this later so go back to your room."

"Huh...okay" he says.

After that me and Horikita left the library. I took her a little further behind a building, where few people usually go.

"Can you let go of me? I'm old enough to go without you-" Again I didn't let her finish and pulled her arm to push her against a nearby wall.

"Are you out of your mind or what Nozera-kun!"

Bam

I hit the wall and looked her straight in the eyes.

"N-nozera-kun?" Horikita was terrified, I could see it in her eyes, even a drop of sweat was present on her face.

"Can you explain to me earlier with Sudo?" I asked him.

"I..." She turned her gaze.

"Horikita" My voice drew her eyes back to me. "I thought you wanted to go to class A but maybe I was wrong about you."

"No I-"

"No? So tell me, was everything you said to Chabashira-sensei fake? Is your desire to move up to class A really real?"

"O-of course it is."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think it is because of your behavior with Sudo. Do you realize that it could have turned into a drama if I or Kiyotaka didn't come? Do you realize that it could have really caused harm to the class with the attitude you had?"

"I..."

"Honestly Horikita you're getting on my nerves." I stepped away from her and turned around. "If this is really how you plan to get into class A then you can handle it on your own. I was debating whether or not to take part in this, but seeing the person you are, I don't want to waste my time with this."

"Wai-"

"You disappointed me Horikita." I turned to one side as I told her that.

"Wait Nozera-kun..." I heard her call out to me but I didn't turn around and left the place.

Now Horikita...it's up to you. Show me really your motivation.

~Timeskip~

Several days have passed since my discussion with Horikita. I could see that she was staring at me from time to time and clearly wanted to talk to me but I acted to ignore her completely.We were in class but I wasn't really paying attention and was deep in thought.

'Midterms are coming up. I wonder how it will go for our class ?' I wore a small smile as I thought about it.

After class, I continued to teach my group. I slipped away before the end, telling them I had something to do and leaving them to get on with it. I didn't really have to worry about it since I could see that they were making progress and that they should be fine.

I headed to where Horikita's group was meeting to revise. I could see Horikita had a serious look around her while helping the others with the subjects. I could also see Sudo doing his best to keep up.

She managed to bring him back. After my discussion with Horikita a few days ago, I went to talk with Sudo. I just told him to be careful with his temper but otherwise I didn't force him to come back to the group because I could see that he didn't want to come back because of Horikita.

I didn't do anything about it because it was Horikita's job to apologize and bring him back. But, it seems that she succeeded. Our discussion must have made a good change in her ideas. That' s what I was hoping to do by making her believe that I was totally disappointed with her and her behavior with the others. I was hoping that it would cause her to question herself and it seemed to be paying off.

But something was bothering me to tell the truth while watching them. Why does Kushida want to be Horikita's friend so much? I say that because she was there with them. She let her group get on with it and now she was helping Horikita to teach them and that seemed to upset Horikita but she refrained from saying anything.

I could see how much Kushida was trying to get closer to her. She even asked me once to help her to become friends with her but I refused saying that because of Horikita's character, it would make her more angry than anything else and I advised her that she should go small steps with Horikita.

But that doesn't stop me from thinking that there was something strange about it. Why is she so obsessed with Horikita? If I were her, I would have given up ages ago. It's not the first time I think this but Kushida is clearly a strange girl and seems to hide something.

For some reason, I felt that everything she said sounded like it was forced. She said she wanted to be friends with everyone but...is that really the case?

I stayed to watch them until the end. When we finished our session, the group split up and went home. Kushida seemed to want to go with Horikita but Horikita refused and went his own way. Kushida stood there for a few seconds watching Horikita leave and did nothing. Finally she decided to leave.

I decided to follow her. I stayed far enough away so that she wouldn't hear me following her. I continued to follow her and noticed that she was not heading for the dormitories. She entered the building where the club activities were held. She climbed floor after floor to the roof.

'Did she have a meeting with someone? But if so, why here on the roof? Well, whatever the reason, she didn't really have to be here unless she didn't want to be seen? Because no one would go up here to the roof at this time,' I thought as I pondered.

I got as close as I could without making any noise and stood behind the door. I opened it as delicately as possible and left a few inches open so that I could see. In this small gap I could see Kushida standing near the edge, looking at the horizon.

'Maybe she wanted to be alone and didn't want to be disturbed so she went to the roof? If she's just going to stand there for a few minutes watching the horizon, then I should go back or I'll be seen.' I thought about going back, but Kushida dropped her bag to the ground in one fell swoop.

And then...

"Ahhh, so annoying!"

Her voice was so low that it didn't sound at all like Kushida. I took my phone and activated a function on it.

"She's seriously annoying! God, how irritating. It'd be better if she just died..." She grumbled to herself, as if chanting the words to some kind of spell or curse.

"Ugh, I hate stuck-up, snobby girls who think they're so cute. Why is she such a harpy? A rotten girl like her couldn't possibly tutor the others."

Was Kushida annoyed with...Horikita?

"Ah, she's the worst! She's just the worst, the worst, the worst! Horikita, you're so annoying! You're so damn annoying!"

I felt like I'd glimpsed another side of this gentle girl, the most popular person in our class. She probably didn't want anyone else to see this darker side.

Yeah...except I have other plans.

Kushida POV

"Ah...if she could just go die that bitch Horikita! If she wasn't here then I wouldn't need to-"

Thump!

"Huh?" I heard a heavy noise behind me. I turned around to see the door to the roof wide open. I could also see someone's leg outside the shadow of the night that prevented me from seeing the person completely. This person retracted his leg and walked towards me. Step by step, the person became visible until I saw his face and stopped moving.

"You...Nozera-kun?"

"Yo Kushida, how are you?" He said but was wearing a strange smile.

No, there's more important things than that. "Did you see?" My voice was cold and serious. I looked at him as if his answer would decide what I was going to do.

"What do you think? I think you already know the answer." He said.

"I see." I took a few quick steps towards him and pushed him against the wall. I put my left arm against the base of his throat.

"Wow...I didn't think you were the domineering type, I must say I'm surprised."

"Shut up! ...If you tell anyone what you just heard, I won't forgive you."

"And if I did tell?"

"In that case, I would tell everyone that you raped me." I said.

"That's a false charge, you know."

"That's okay. It wouldn't be false."As I said this, I took his right wrist and opened his hand fully. I was prepared for him to touch my breast, but in one swift, clean motion, he removed my grip from his wrist.

"Sorry but I don't want the first time I touch breasts to be with a girl I don't like and especially... who will end up behind the bars" He said.

"What?"

He took out his phone and went to his records. He pressed one of them and...

"Ahhh, so annoying!"

"She's seriously annoying! God, how irritating. It'd be better if she just died..."

"Ugh, I hate stuck-up, snobby girls who think they're so cute. Why is she such a harpy? A rotten girl like her couldn't possibly tutor the others."

He made me listen to everything I had said a few minutes ago...

"Oh wait, it's not over." He said to me and let the recording continue.

"Shut up! ...If you tell anyone what you just heard, I won't forgive you."

"And if I did tell?"

"In that case, I would tell everyone that you raped me."

"That's a false charge, you know."

"That's okay. It wouldn't be false."

And the recording stopped there.

"...no...why? ...No I...no I do not want to, ...HAAAAAH!" I screamed in rage and tried to take his phone away.

"Huh?" I jumped on him but he dodged but suddenly my vision was redirected to the sky. I felt like time had stopped but it resumed its normal course when I felt his hand grab my neck and felt my head violently hit something.

"Gah!" I exclaimed, following a horrible pain in the back of my head.

...

Itai!

Itai!

ITAI!

He swept me off my feet and slammed my head hard against the floor. It hurt...I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

"Don't worry, you won't die from this." He tells me.

"...W-why did you..." I tried to say despite the pain.

"Hey Kushida, look at me." I turned my eyes towards him and...

I think that was the moment I saw the most terrifying thing I have ever seen.

"Are you okay, Kushida? Why do you have such a terrified expression? You look like you've seen a ghost." He said in a voice without any emotion in it.

But what frightened me the most was his eyes...his eyes bore no trace of light that could be seen. You could only see the darkness in them. These darknesses that I felt like they could

swallow me up and I would never be able to get out of their entrails.

Please...tell me this is a nightmare and I'm going to wake up?

"Listen Kushida, I have now the proof of your secret. With a simple gesture I can send it to the school forum. Do you know what it means to you if this is known?"

I tried to say something but I couldn't. My lips moved but refused to make a sound.

"Indeed, the end, quite simply. You will fall into a total despair from which you will never be able to escape. That will be the end for you Kushida...unless you."

Unless I what?

He moved closer to my face, specifically my ear, and said. "That you do exactly what I tell you from now on.

Trapped

Nozera Zero POV

I moved closer to her ear and said. "That you do exactly what i tell you from now on."

"..."

"Should I take your silence as an acceptance?...or maybe you don't want to after all." I say as I spank my phone in front of his eyes.

"W-wait...it's agreed..." She replied reluctantly.

"Alright, I already have an assignment for you."

"What?" She said and I moved closer to her face. Only a few inches separated us.

"...Open your leg."

"...W-what?"

"Kushida, open your fucking leg." I ordered.

"...N-no please."

"You have no choice." I said, showing her my phone.

"I...I hate you...I hate you Nozera...I HATE you!" She screamed angrily with tears streaming down her face.

She opened her legs but with the greatest reluctance that she showed me now. Her tears only flowed and seemed to increase with each passing second. She kept whispering "I hate you" and I could tell it was coming from deep in her heart. She had no choice if she didn't want me to screw up her life but the fact that she was going to be raped here now was disgusting to her and seemed to tear her up inside.

I could totally imagine what she was thinking at that moment. She just wanted to get out of this nightmare, hoping that this was just a bad dream and that she would wake up, but unfortunately for her it is real and she can't escape.

I moved closer to her and started touching her thigh. I could feel her small, soft skin. I gently moved my hand until I got close to her private part. I stopped to hear that she couldn't stop crying and looked ready to cry for at least an hour. She had both arms over her face so she couldn't see what I was going to do to her. She didn't want to watch this humiliation.

Well...I think I've done enough.

"It's okay you can breathe, I'm not going to rape you." I said as I removed my hand from her and stood up.

"What?"

"I just wanted to test how far you were willing to go to protect your secret. I also wanted to test what a human being you were in this situation."

I wanted to see who I was really dealing with and in the end, despite the big secret she has, she remains above all a girl but also a human being. You could totally define her as a horrible person just for her secret but I think she's not that horrible.

"Hahaha...I hate you with all my heart Nozera-kun." The pressure she must have been under was finally released and she could afford to laugh while hating me.

"I can't say I don't deserve it...after all I put you through a lot."

"Yeah...you swept me off my feet and slammed my head against the floor...and made me think you were going to rape me...there's no telling, you're really a horrible person, Nozera-kun."

"I know that." I replied in agreement with her.

It's true, I am a horrible person.

"Well, I'll text you when I need you, but in the meantime, you should go rest. Can you get up?"

She finally opened her eyes and looked at me. "No...the shock to my head is still having an effect. I don't feel well and I don't think I'll be able to get back to the dorm on my own."
Ah...I think I went too hard on her.

"Sorry, I went too hard."

"I don't care about your apology. Right now I'm really hurting because of you."

"I know. I'm going to take responsibility for this and get you back to the dorm." I moved closer to her, turned around and bent down. "Come on upstairs unless you want to spend the night here?" I said.

She gathered her last bit of strength and clung to me by my neck. I grabbed her legs to support her so she wouldn't fall.

I took the shortest way back to the dormitory but before we got in, something was wrong. What do I do if someone sees us? I can make up a different lie to explain why I'm bringing her back on my back but it will create attention and rumors about us and I'd like it if possible not to be the case.

Could I go to the girls' floor without being noticed? Very little chance, honestly. What do I do?Hmm...I could ask a girl from our class to help us...for example Horikita, because I know she wouldn't say anything about it but...no let's drop that idea. It's better for Kushida and me if nobody suspects anything about us.

Sigh...I wish I didn't have to do this but okay. I'll take her back to my room in the meantime and we'll see.

But anyway, before I go. "Hey Kushida." I was going to tell her before we went so she wouldn't get any ideas about it.

...

"Hey Kushida!" I said again.

Something was wrong. I hope she doesn't...

"Hey, are you asleep or something?" I went to check her neck and put my fingers to where I could feel her pulse.

Phew...there was a pulse. Probably because of the stress and pain in her head, she finally passed out and fell into a sleep.

Having confirmed how she was doing, I hurried back to my room. I didn't take the elevator but the stairs to avoid being seen even if the risk was still present. Luckily, I didn't run into anyone and I was able to get back to my room quickly.

I put Kushida on my bed and checked her condition in more detail. She looked fine except for the back of her head where she had a small bump on it. I don't think she is in danger of anything but it would be better not to underestimate this kind of injury and take precautions.

I went to my fridge to get a cold compress, that should help her head to get better. I took the compress and put it behind his head. As a result, it woke up Kushida.

"AH! It's cold!" She stood up and said with the surprise of the compress.

"Put your head on it and stay still. The cold will ease your head." I said as I laid her back down on my bed.

"...Okay." She replied and lay still. "Are we in your room?" She looked around the room scanning from left to right.

"Yeah. Before you tell me why I didn't take you back to yours, it's because we might get seen." I didn't need to keep explaining my raissonement, since she knew what would happen if she was seen that I was carrying her on my back in an unconscious state.

"I see..."

"I guess you want to get into yours don't you? So as soon as you feel better go quickly so you don't get seen."

"Okay." She replied.

After that I went into the bathroom and took a shower. I finished drying my hair and came back to the main room after changing. I sat down on my bed where Kushida was lying with the compress and looked at my phone for a bit.

"Hey."

"Yes?"

"I could see from the swimming class that you had quite a bit of scarring. I was curious...how did you get them?"

I turned my attention from my phone to her. "Do you really want to know?" I asked, looking her straight in the eye.

"Yeah, I'd like to know." She answered me without flinching.

"...If you think I don't know what you're thinking right now then you're very much mistaken." I knew what she was trying to do.

"I would have at least tried."

"Would you like to see them up close?" I offered.

"I've seen them before but not this close so yes I would like to."

I took off my shirt and showed myself naked with my scars.

"I could see it was horrible but this is...even more shocking up close. How did you get these and how did you even stand them? Because it looks like you've been in a battlefield for years." She said and moved in for a closer look. She brought her hand up and touched one of my scars.

"Um..." I could feel the softness of her small hand.

"Oh sorry, I was just curious to feel a scar." She said as she retracted her hand.

You seem very curious to me with someone who swept you off your feet and threatened to rape you.

"It's ok don't worry, I was surprised you would even touch it." I went to put my shirt back on. "I've been having trouble with my parents." I decided to tell her.Anyway, she can't do anything with this information that would put me in a delicate position

"You're parents?"

"Yeah."

"Did they do this to you?"

"It was my father and my mother's partner who gave me some scars. My father beat me when I was little and after he committed suicide. Then my mom found another guy and...he almost killed me." I didn't tell the whole truth but she doesn't need to know the rest.

...

"I'm sorry I asked you that, I shouldn't have." She said.

"...I didn't think you would apologize for that, especially with your true nature." I was amazed by this.

"Is it because you think I'm a horrible person?" She said with a small laugh.

...

"I am no one to say that someone is definitely horrible or not. A person could say that a certain person is horrible but does that mean that it is necessarily true? If one person says it, does that mean the others have to follow? Can we even...say who is right or wrong because we think we have the absolute truth about everything?" I turned to look at her. "Are you even a horrible person? I don't know your history or really your motives so I can't say for sure that you are a horrible person."

"I'm supposed to understand that you're the kind of person who doesn't care if someone lies about their true personality?" She asked me.

"Indeed, I don't care because that person has the right to do as they please, I'm no one to judge them, And besides, just because they lie about their true personality doesn't make them a horrible person." I told her my honest feelings.

"I can't figure out if you're an idiot or just weird." She said with a suspicious eye.

"It's okay if you don't understand my way of thinking or seeing things."

"...Yeah...you're a really weird guy." She said as she turned her gaze elsewhere.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"I'll go." She stood up and walked to the front door

"Are you going to be okay on the way back? You should go get checked out tomorrow at the nursery to make sure there's no problem."

"I'll think about it."

"Kushida." I said before she left.

"What?"

"In the future, if you need to destress then come vent here. I'll listen to what you have to say."

She knew that after tonight, she would be bothered to find a place where she could be sure she could vent. It was obvious that she didn't want that situation where she was caught in the middle of a crime to happen again.

"Okay, thanks." She says.

"Okay so good night to you and you can keep the compress with you."

"..." She looked at me for a few seconds and then walked away saying nothing.

She seemed to have calmed down but I know she was feeling a huge anger towards me because of what I did to her on the roof earlier. I can't say that she won't betray me at some point. I will have to keep an eye on her and keep her under my control.

But then again...if she has the slightest inclination to betray me and tries anything against me then I will be merciless.

--

One day passed and nothing extraordinary happened. I was bored as usual at the class, except for Chabashira-sensei's class where I paid attention even though I already knew everything. And then there was also the fact that when it was Hoshimiya-sensei's class, I could see that she would glance at me from time to time in an attempt to get my attention but I ignored her, so she left the class pouting. Kushida acted as usual without pointing out anything strange that happened with her.

Anyway, the day continued to go by until evening arrived.

Kiyotaka POV

I couldn't get to sleep, so I got up and left. I bought some juice from the lobby's vending machine and headed back for the elevator.

"Hmm?"

I could see that the elevator had stopped on the seventh floor. Curious, I decided to check out the CCTV, which showed what was happening inside the elevator car. I saw Horikita, still dressed in her school uniform.

"Well, I don't really need to hide, but..." Seeing her might be awkward right now, so I hid behind the vending machine. Horikita arrived at the first floor. Looking wary of her surroundings, she exited the building. After she'd vanished into the night, I decided to follow after her. However, I instinctively hid again after I turned the corner.

Horikita stopped in her tracks. I sensed another person was with her.

"Suzune. I didn't think you'd follow me this far," he said.

Had she left in the dead of night to rendezvous with some guy?

"Hmph. I'm far different from the useless girl you once knew, niisan. I came here to catch you."

"Catch me, hmm?"

Niisan? In the dark, I couldn't see the person she was talking to. But this person was probably the president Horikita Manabu.

"I heard you were placed in Class D. I suppose nothing has really changed in the last three years. You've always been fixated on following me, and as a result you don't notice your own flaws. Choosing to come to this school was a mistake."

"That's... You're wrong about that. I'll show you. I'll reach Class A right away, then—"

"It's pointless. You will never reach Class A. In fact, your class will fall apart soon enough. Things at this school aren't as simple as you think."

"I will definitely, definitely reach—"

"I told you, it's pointless. You really are a disobedient little sister." Horikita's brother stepped closer to her. From my hiding spot, I could see him plainly.

He displayed no hint of emotion. It was like he was staring at an uninteresting object. He grabbed his younger sister by the wrist—she offered no resistance—and pushed her against the wall.

"No matter how I try to avoid you, the fact remains that you're my little sister. If people around here learned the truth, I would be humiliated. Leave this school immediately."

"I-I can't do that... I will definitely reach Class A. I'll show you!"

"How incredibly stupid. Do you want to relive the pain of the past?"

"Niisan, I..."

"You possess neither the abilities nor the qualities needed to reach Class A. Get that through your head." He moved forward, as if about to act. The situation looked fraught with danger. Resigned to facing Horikita's anger, I leapt out from my hiding space and went after her brother.

Before he knew I was there, I grabbed his right arm, which he was using to pin his sister.

"What? You..." He stared at his arm and slowly turned to me with a sharp gleam in his eye.

"A-Ayanokouji-kun?!" Horikita cried.

"You were about to throw your sister to the ground, weren't you? You do realize the floor here is concrete, right? You might be siblings, but you should know the difference between right and wrong."

"Eavesdropping is not an admirable quality," he said.

"Fine. Then let go."

"That's my line."

We glared at each other in complete silence.

"Stop it, Ayanokouji-kun," said Horikita, her voice strained. I'd never heard her voice like that before. Reluctantly, I released her brother. Instantly, he tried to backhand me in the face. I instinctively took a step back to avoid it. For such a lightly built guy, he was a nasty attacker. He then aimed a sharp kick at my unguarded spot.

"Watch it!"

He had enough power to knock me out with one blow. Looking slightly confused, he exhaled deeply, extended his right arm, and opened his hand. If I grabbed his hand, he'd probably throw me to the ground. Instead, I slapped his hand away.

"Good reflexes. I didn't imagine you could evade all of my blows so quickly. Also, you seemed to understand quite well what I was trying to do. Have you been taught?"

After the attacks stopped, the questions began.

"Yes, I was taught piano and calligraphy. Also, when I was in elementary school, I won a national music competition," I said.

"You're in Class D, too, aren't you? What a unique boy, Suzune." After he let go of his younger sister, he turned to face me.

I was about to continue talking but the sound of someone's footsteps interrupted the discussion. The footsteps were just close by so it was sure that he or she hadn't just arrived now by chance. The person had probably been hiding and wanted to show himself or herself.

I turned around to see the person behind me and as I thought, it was Zero. It was very likely that it was him because he was one of those people who was very good at discretion because like me, he came from the whiteroom.

"You...Nozera Zero." Said president Horikita who was surprised to see someone else present too.

"I must say that I am surprised Horikita Manabu or maybe I should call you president Horikita or rather Horikita senpai? Anyway, I didn't expect you to attack your own sister and even attack a first year. Could this be the real face of the so-called president Horikita?" He walked over and joined where we were.

"Sigh...this story does not concern you, so I would ask you not to go any further." He warned.

"Or else what? You'll attack me like you did Kiyotaka in order to hurt me so I'll shut up?"

"Hurt you? Why should I go that far? Hurt or not, you have no proof of anything against me. That little exchange with him was just a warning." He replied serenely, looking him straight in the eye.

"I would add in that you wanted to test him, right?" Said Zero.

"...I have to say that since what happened in the club fair, I'm very curious about you Nozera Zero and you too Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. You two are really quite unique boys." He said and walked away. But before He left, he turned back to Horikita.

"I'm surprised you made friends, Suzune."

"I...they're just classmates." She replied shyly.

"You continue to confuse independence with solitude. And you, Nozera, Ayanokouji. With you around, things might get interesting." He said and walked away.

"You know Horikita, it's not cool what you say. And I thought we were friends." Zero said sadly and President Horikita passed us by.

"This is really not the time for Nozera-kun. I-"

"Sorry to interrupt Horikita but we're not done yet. I still have something to discuss with you president." He called out to President Horikita before he left.

President Horikita stopped walking and turned around, "If you have something to do with me then I'll make a note of it and probably give you an availability for tomorrow. Right now, it's late, so you should go back to the dormitory." He was getting ready to leave but-

"No, I want to see this with you now." Zero insisted.

"Can we do this tomorrow, because I don't really want to deal with this right now. I'm usually pretty busy but I might have some availability for you tomorrow so I'll ask you to save that for later." President Horikita insisted in turn that he didn't want to see this right now.

"I know you're busy, and I know you're tired from the day, but I want to see it with you now. Besides, I'm not really giving you a choice."

"What are you-" Nozera pulled his phone from his pocket and pressed a video.

...

He showed the video of what happened before with Horikita and me. He must have been there before me, but that also means that I didn't realize that he was hiding right next to me. I know I'm less guarded because I'm in a school but I started to realize more and more that Zero was not below me in terms of ability and skill.

"So? Are you now willing to listen to me?"

a/n: Hi, it's been a while hasn't it?

I don't really have an excuse except that I was very busy with things and then let's say I didn't really feel like writing. I'm enjoying the vacation I have right now so I'll probably write a bit more for my fanfics but I won't promise anything.Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and then for my return, here is a drawing I made of my oc, I wanted to draw it. He looks like what I had shown by a picture of a character so not much change.

(you can tell me what you think if you want)