As I walked towards the staff room numerous scenarios played through my mind. Considering who I would be speaking with, and how much trouble I was in for spreading my theories. Due to the quick response, and how the school was likely to react, it probably wasn't anything serious. More likely Chabashira was panicking, trying to figure out how I had solved the schools secret so quickly, whether I had help, and if she herself was in trouble.
Obviously, since the teachers had been given a script specially worded to give these hints, it was clear that the school expected students to partially figure out the S-System however, I found it unlikely that anyone had ever solved it to the extent I had, let alone on the first day. In consideration of this, it was completely reasonable that the administration would blame Chabashira herself for leaking the information to me. And due to the nature of the school inviting students to discover this themselves, any action taken by teachers to interfere would likely be frowned upon.
Whilst considering these thoughts, I had made it all the way to the staff room. Thanks to the honestly ludicrous amount of spending that went into this school, there was plenty of accurate signage around, making locating the room rather easy.
Reaching it, I knocked on the door, and upon receiving a quiet "come in" I opened it and entered the room.
Waiting inside, not far from the door was Chabashira-sensei. Standing up from the wall, she motioned for me to follow her and walked through the main room, which seemed more like a common room than anything, and entered through a door on the side wall. Following her in, I found myself in a private office, presumably hers.
It was a rather empty room, with not many belongings in it, cold and empty much like the teacher who owned it.
"Take a seat." Gesturing at one of the chairs in front of her desk, she sat in the leather one behind it. Neither of us spoke for a minute, both waiting for the other to be the first. Eventually, though she cracked and broke the silence first. "How did you figure it out?"
"The system? It was rather easy. You gave us quite a few hints in your obviously scripted introduction, and I made my post vague enough that anyone knowledgeable in the situation could fill in the blanks, and eventually confirm whether my suspicions are correct. So, thank you." This response seemed to upset her greatly, her expression souring at falling into my trap, although Kiryuuin had already confirmed everything, so I gained nothing from her response.
"No student has ever figured out the system to that extent before, let alone on the first day, so clearly it wasn't as easy as you said." Saying this, she reached into a draw on her desk and pulled out some papers. "Based on your entrance exam, it seemed you just wanted to be left alone to live a quiet life. Yet you made a scene in front of the class, befriended the narcissist, and not only exposed the system to your fellow classmates but the entire grade. Knowing it's a competition, I can't see the benefit in you doing so?"
"True, I was going to live a quiet life." I explained my reasoning as I looked over the exams. 50 in every subject working from the hardest to easiest, just as intended. "But that was before I saw the level on my classmates. Living a quiet life with them would be excruciatingly painful, let alone boring. So, I decided to have some fun instead." I handed back the exams. I remembered every question still, there was no real benefit to looking at them, besides to prove sensei's point.
"The school has me under investigation, claiming I may have informed you about the S-System. Of course, when they look at the cameras it will be obvious I didn't, but you've caused problems, for everyone in the school."
"You're welcome for making life interesting, sensei. I'm sure you can understand my desire to not deal with such defective students." At my last remark, she finally cracked a smile. It seems I had read her, and the class, correctly.
"I suppose you are correct there. Very well, Ayanokouji, you may go. Do try to stay out of trouble, won't you?" I stood up from the desk and walked back to the door, stopping as I opened it, and turning back to face her.
"I suppose I can try sensei. But where's the fun in that?"
After leaving the staff room, I noticed I had a message on my phone. Kiryuuin had asked me to come to the student council room as soon as possible. This wasn't unexpected either, as I'm sure they would love to investigate an interesting student like myself, evident from the number of texts she had received, and it should be much more interesting than my previous conversation, not to mention a lot more fun.
The surprising thing was that she had messaged me herself. From what I had gotten out of Chabashira, she didn't seem the student to do something like that herself. Possibly the student council president had asked her to, but he ordinarily would have made an announcement over the loudspeaker, the same as sensei.
No, from what I knew, Kiryuuin probably messaged me without asking, pre-empting that they would want to see me. Even if they didn't, she may have invited me anyway, just to bring together interesting people and cause some chaos.
Who am I to turn down such an opportunity?
The student council room was located on the third floor of the school, along with all the third year classrooms. A prestigious spot, with windows that overlook most of the school grounds, although it was impossible to see everything on a 660,000 square meter campus. As I knocked on the door, it was opened rather quickly, as if they had been waiting there for me. Well, I suppose they had been. The door was answered by a shortish girl with purple hair tied in two buns.
"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, correct? Please come in, the President and Vice President are waiting for you." A very formal greeting, more formal than even sensei had given, yet behind it there was a sense of curiosity, and possibly a hint of fear. I suppose that was warranted, meeting a new student who seemed to understand the school faster than anyone else.
"Thank you. It's an honour to be invited to meet such important people." A small smile formed on her face, hidden in it a smirk of superiority. Clearly, she valued the student council very highly, most likely since she was a member. Since she specifically mentioned the President and Vice President, the most likely title for her was secretary, as the other role of treasurer wouldn't be one to open the door to an invited guest.
She opened the door fully and stood to the side, allowing me to walk in. There were three other people waiting inside, all looking at me with keen interest, intelligent gazes boring into me, analysing me at a personal level. Or trying to, at least. I had not yet come across someone who could read me, even the last remaining students of my generation before they too inevitably failed.
In a large chair behind a central desk at the end of the room sat who I presumed to be the student council president. A well-built young man, with short dark hair, and glasses covering his eyes, with a stare that could come close to 'that man'. A stern, serious look covered his face as he took the situation in with the dignity and composure expected of someone in such an esteemed position.
On the couch next to the desk sat a blond. Unlike the president, he had a smile on his face, and seemed to be taking the situation as something incredibly fun, an exciting development in the dull life of the Vice President. He wasn't as well built as the President, but still had an appearance and aura of power, similar to the President but less of a respectful existence, and in a more dangerous, underhanded sense.
The last student I had already met, being the girl who had called me here. Kiryuuin Fuuka had somehow managed to worm her way into this meeting, despite not being on the student council. While she hadn't directly confirmed this, her disregard for boring and time-consuming things, along with her disinterest at interacting with boring people was essentially a guarantee that she wouldn't be a member.
"Welcome, Ayanokouji. Please, take a seat." Gesturing towards the other couch, opposite from the Vice President and Kiryuuin, the President gave his greeting. "My name is Horikita Manabu, Student Council President. With me here is second year Vice President Nagumo Miyabi, the Vice President, third year Secretary Tachibana Akane, and I believe you have already met Kiryuuin Fuuka." My suspicions on each of their roles had been correct.
I sat down on the luxurious couch. It seemed the student council had quite a large budget, or at least had spent a large amount on this room. Tachibana then proceeded to close the door and moved to stand behind the President, either very dedicated to her role as secretary, or to him. It wasn't clear, but their relationship was something worth figuring out.
"What can I do for you, Horikita-senpai. It's my first day here and I would like the chance to explore the school a bit this afternoon." It really was a large school. This wasn't even an excuse, I did want to explore and get my bearings, to figure out the weaknesses in the school, particularly the security cameras and how to exploit them.
"Don't worry, we won't keep you for long. I simply wanted to meet the most interesting student to ever come through this school." Ah. So just like with Chabashira it was an interrogation. Not unexpected, but annoying. The less they know about me the better. "To figure out the system on the first day is exceptional. Not only that, but if you understand how it works, posting it for all the classes to read goes against the concept of the class battles in the future, something else I see you predicted."
"What's so interesting about this? Would it not be considered kind to help out my fellow students in not losing their income?" Playing it off as simple kindness due to a lack of info was an impossible task to accomplish, but significantly it would make him more likely to divulge any information I had not yet gleamed. Obviously acting foolish as a pretext to hide what I know, when really, I don't know much more at all. This conversation had the potential to prove incredibly valuable.
"Don't bother with this charade. I know you know everything, Kiryuuin informed me that she confirmed your statements earlier. Normally that sort of thing would be forbidden but this situation is unprecedented. Even I didn't make as many connections as you did on the first day, or even during the first month."
"Neither did I. Perhaps you too, can entertain me." Now Nagumo's grin had shifted into something more predatory, as if I was a new toy for him to destroy. Unfortunately for him, I wasn't someone he was capable of defeating. At least if he did try, it would make life more interesting. To fight against someone in a position of power, now that is a fun challenge.
"Nagumo. Leave him alone for now. You'll have plenty of chances later in the year to see his potential, but you know first years are rather isolated in most of their competitions." So, there would be inter-year challenges. Good to know. Turning back to me after that little interruption, he continued "can I take it that you were bored then? I understand completely, someone with your potential placed in class D would of course chafe against their classmates, but to ignore the purpose of the school completely, it seems you simply wanted to cause trouble." He saw right through me instantly, not taking any opportunities to give me extra information. Horikita Manabu was a formidable student, and someone I would be quite interested in facing. Time to shift the conversation.
"You seem much more capable than your sister. Or at least you aren't hampered with a crippling defect like her."
"So, she really did follow me after all." Thank you for confirming my theory, Manabu. "It seems she hasn't changed in the last two years. Very well then, Ayanokouji, you may go. It was a pleasure to meet you. I'm expecting great things from you over the next few years. Please don't disappoint me."
With that said I got up from my chair. "This conversation has been extremely useful. I appreciate you taking time for me. And don't expect too much. I will simply do what I want to make life fun. Whether that is to your liking or not I don't particularly care." Finally, Manabu showed a smile.
"Enjoy your time here Ayanokouji. And feel free to teach my sister a lesson. Someone needs to." What a cruel brother, although from what I had seen of Horikita so far it was not a simple thing to do. Clearly he'd been trying to break her out of her shell for a long time, but so far was unsuccessful, and hence outsourcing the task to me. Nodding once in response I left the room. Stopping just outside the door I waited for a moment, trying to hear their next conversation, although it turned out to not be of any use.
"He really didn't change his face at all did he? Kinda creepy if you ask me, Horikita-san." That was Tachibana.
"It's impressive. His self-control along with his quick intellect, he is a student I can respect." Manabu.
"Oh, is that the case? Then I will definitely have fun battling him." Nagumo.
I share the sentiment, Nagumo. You are far more interesting than anyone else in my class, and possibly my grade. Please make our battle interesting. Otherwise, everything will be much too boring for my liking.
Authors Notes
I spent quite a while fiddling with this chapter, but I'm still not overly happy with it. No idea what it needs to fix it, just a sense of dissapointment when reading back over it. Oh well such is life.