All or Nothing
By : rainy26541
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V3 Chapter 1
Intro
The inside of a limousine omitted a sense of richness, an aroma usually present when spending greatly to reserve a top-luxury restaurant, such as the Sky Garden. Once in a lifetime, a common folk would get a chance to sit in a luxury vehicle built by Bentley, Rolls Royce, Range Rover and Mercedes in Europe, and in Japan it was Lexus. It was an experience to always remember.
"******-sama. It is lunch time now. Do you require some refreshments to build up your system again?"
However, for the girl sitting in the luxurious passenger compartment of a MPV styled to be like a limo, such a sight was a daily occurrence for her. The Lexus LM350 was not a limo, but an MPV with luxury inside that felt like a limo. This vehicle had become her personal assistant for travelling around the compact and densely populated streets of Tokyo and beyond the wider country.
The burgundy leather seats, the obvious luxurious minifridge, the small TV and tablet available for entertainment. Everything in this vehicle was beyond what even Yatei Ayatouji's personal Mercedes S Class car was capable of. And yet, not only was it much smaller, it all belonged to the young girl sitting in the passenger compartment.
But that never really mattered to the girl.
Her attention was brought away from her Apple Macbook Pro to the front of the vehicle, where her chauffeur was in the driver's seat, speaking through the intercom. If there was any way to describe what this driver looked like, it was a man wearing a stereotypical black tuxedo, bow tie and cufflinks. It would be safe to assume the man formerly worked at a very expensive hotel aimed at housing only the extremely wealthy citizens and even it's politicians, driving them to their respective destinations.
The man was clearly focused on driving the vehicle they currently resided in, but it was apparent to the girl that he was waiting for an answer. With that in mind, she responded.
"Hm? Well, I would like to go to that restaurant again. The one in Chiyoda. If you don't mind."
Despite her monotone, the man seemed to pick up even the tiniest bit of anticipation and excitement hidden behind it. He couldn't help but smile and nod, indicating his agreement to his master's request.
The Lexus LM350 kept traversing through the tight streets of Tokyo with ease. Had she been riding in a stretched vehicle, the journey would have taken much longer as it would have struggled to make the tight turns along the narrow but busy Tokyo streets. It would be fair to say there would be a lot of annoyed and impatient drivers. Constant honking, screams of fury, swearing, the girl and her chauffeur wouldn't hear the end of it. But even if they did, the vehicle had been built with integrated noise cancelling technology usually found on headphones.
Riding in such a vehicle truly felt like a luxury.
The man was constantly focused on the road in front of him, driving safely around the cramped streets of Tokyo. However, his attention occasionally turned behind him to see the girl in the leather seats doing whatever when the chance arised.
"I know it's not my place to ask too much ******-sama. But what are you doing on your laptop? You seem really focused there on something? Is it work related?" He couldn't help but ask after observing the girl for a while.
Said girl barely looked up after being asked such a question. In fact, her apathetic expression remained the same. Instead of being surprised, she seemed continually calm and composed, as if either this was normal to her or she just didn't care.
"Hm? Work related? I guess you could say that this is work related in a way..." She answered, but paused for a moment after looking again at her laptop.
On her laptop was a chat app. No. It was probably more accurate to say that the girl was on a forum app and she just happened to be using the comment section of a specific forum. Her account and name was visible alongside another person's. It appeared the girl was conversing with another person.
What caught the girl by surprise was not the name of the holder's account, rather what they were conveying in their message.
"Yagami Takuya-kun has entered a slump and is cursing for revenge on Ayanokouji Kiyotaka-senpai. It looks like he still intends to go after Ayanokouji-senpai even after losing and hearing your warnings. Meanwhile, Nagumo Miyabi-senpai has lost his position as the Student Council President after a huge scandal involving him got exposed. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka-senpai is also aware of me being in contact with you, but still doesn't know who you are." was what the first message that caught her attention said.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't keep this contact a secret for longer. But will this information suffice for you this week?" was what the second message said.
Unwillingly, the girl's mouth gaped a little before it closed and later formed a smirk. It appeared the girl found this news amusing, especially so after an imaginary lightbulb formed on top of her head.
"Yes. That information is perfect, Tsubaki-san. Please don't worry about Ayanokouji Kiyotaka-kun knowing about this. In fact, it works out better this way. Continue on relaying any more information before the cultural festival and do not bother with Yagami-kun for the time being. I shall relay you some new orders in due time." was what the girl sent back.
After that, she put her phone away and turned to see her chauffeur looking back at her with a smile.
"We're here, *******-sama. The restaurant you wanted to eat at. We can't stay here too long though. I need some time to get you to your next meeting."
The girl nodded and exited the vehicle, salivating her mouth for what would become a buffet session until her next meeting. However, her thoughts went back to the message she read earlier and the idea that formed in her head around the same time.
[Things may get interesting for the Cultural Festival. Perhaps I can use Yagami-kun and this Nagumo-kun to my advantage and make this more amusing. If I play my cards right, the extra information I received from Atsuomi-sama about Karuizawa Kei-san combined with this newfound information from Tsubaki-chan...]
The smirk on her face widened into a grin, something unbefitting for a girl such as herself. However, she did not let it last long as she tried to keep her image up.
[Just you wait, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka-kun. The Cultural Festival will be your biggest challenge yet before you face me.]
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Part 1
Testosterone is an androgen hormone found in both the testes/balls of men and the ovaries of women. Their main purpose is contributing towards puberty, in other words developing of pubic hair, deepening of voice and growth spurts. Testosterone also contributed to the development to a man and woman's sex drive.
Such a hormone is associated most with men, because it is seen to develop more in growing teenage boys. Testosterone is mostly used to also develop sperm in a man's sperm banks in order to conduct reproduction activity.
However, there was another development that testosterone contributed to in boys. Sleep is a very important stage for the human body to ensure it stays healthy. When a person sleeps, after a certain time, they begin to enter deep sleep and, when they begin to dream, rapid eye-movement sleep, otherwise known as REM sleep.
However, as soon as the boy wakes up in the morning from REM sleep, and sometimes deep sleep, they begin to feel something. Testosterone levels are at its highest in the male body when they wake up from REM sleep. This increase in testosterone results in the crotch area feeling a growth in length. In other words, a morning erection as soon as the man would wake up, also called "morning wood".
There was nothing wrong with a morning erection. It was a common thing to have, especially for boys around the teenage ages, just like Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. But morning erections needed to be dealt with to ensure it wasn't uncomfortable for the male as they began their day. There were three ways of dealing with morning woods.
Method #1: Just ignore it as it would subside after a certain amount of time as long as your thoughts and brain was pure and not sexually frustrated.
Method #2: Deal with it yourself and indulge in some self-pleasure.
Method #3: Make as much love as possible with your partner. In other words, have sex.
In Kiyotaka's case today, when he woke up this morning, he immediately felt the effects of morning wood. And since he happened to be cuddling together with his girlfriend Karuizawa Kei, as soon as she woke up, she immediately felt it prodding her lower region too.
When she saw it in person, Kiyotaka inevitably chose method #3 to deal with his morning wood, leading them to the sexual activity that had just finished between the pair.
Kei, having rid the afterglow for sometime, caught her breath and tried to pull herself up. But her legs were still wobbly. Kiyotaka exhaled seeing this, perhaps they had gone too far.
"Kei, you should probably take your pill now before you actually get pregnant. You still need to after yesterday's activity since you made me release more than you probably intended."
"Eh? Ah... Well it was your birthday so I wanted to give you an extra special gift alongside the picture frame of us I got you."
Yesterday happened to have been Kiyotaka's birthday - Tuesday October 20th. To celebrate it, a party was held at Kiyotaka's dorm room led by Kei and Ishizaki despite the small size. Surprisingly, it was also Ryuuen's birthday too so it was decided that a large group from Kei's birthday plans and Ishizaki's birthday plans would merge together and they would all celebrate both Kiyotaka and Ryuuen's birthdays.
After the party, Kiyotaka and Kei spent the rest of the night having extremely intense sex. It wasn't just a one time activity. The two of them continued all throughout the night until both of them had hit heaven at least 4 times. Adding today, that made 5 times. They were probably really horny to keep going that long.
"Either way, you should take the pill now to be on the safe side. All of those times, we never used a condom once and I'm a little worried about how that will affect you. Speaking of which, since we've been more sexually active than ever, I think we should slow down on the pills at least and either revert back to condoms or reduce me ejaculating inside you."
She was just about to take the birth control pills with a glass of water when Kiyotaka spoke. She stopped for a moment before taking the pill quickly and then replying to his request.
"Eh? Why's that?"
"I read something about the pills affecting your fertility over the long term if they are used constantly. I know we only just managed to get you prescribed on these pills by a clinic here after a lot of deliberation, but I also want to be on the safe side for the both of us."
Japan was one of the few countries that rarely had people using birth control pills in the modern day instead of condoms. This was because many of its citizens were still worried about the side effects and mental stress of taking pills, especially after research stating it could affect women's fertility rate if they are consistently used long-term.
Of course, this was slowly changing, but there were still people who were worried. Kiyotaka, who probably read a few of these articles, was taking in that information and using it wisely to protect their relationship.
"You really are a caring boyfriend, Kiyotaka," Kei smiled, nodding her head in understanding. "Ok. I'll slow down a little bit on the pills for you and we'll figure something out from there."
Kei was about to put on her bra and panties, but stopped as she came to a realisation.
"I'm going to go take a shower first. I need to wash my crotch a bit to clean after the last couple of hours. I'll be back soon."
She then sauntered over to the bathroom with her underwear in tow. Kiyotaka watched the door close behind her before turning to his bedside table. He picked up a specific item on the bedside table, bringing it closer to him to view.
It was a picture frame with a picture of him and Kei in it. This was the item Kiyotaka requested Kei to get for him on his birthday when they were window shopping before the sports festival. It was one of the only decorations he had for his room and he preciously kept it close to him and his bed at all times.
The photo inside the frame had Kiyotaka forming one of the most genuine smiles he could muster alongside Kei giving the happiest smile she could give. The two were hugging each other and it appeared Kei was sitting on his lap when they took this photo in Keyaki Mall's photobooth.
This was a very important item for him and he was glad, despite it maybe seeming like a tiny birthday gift compared to what many other girlfriends would buy for their boyfriend on their birthday, that he requested such an item from Kei.
[I really do love Kei more than I believe. To think an experiment, an emotionless masterpiece for a government project, could feel emotions like happiness and love. I guess maybe Shizuku was right back then. I have to make sure I keep my relationship with Kei. I'll do anything and everything I can to make sure we stay together.] He thought as he placed the picture frame back down on the bedside table, changed into his underwear and made his way to the kitchen to cook breakfast for the two of them.
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Part 2
"Good morning, Kiyotaka-kun. Karuizawa-san."
Leaving the second year dorms at around 8:45am, Kiyotaka and Kei bumped into Hirata, who was waiting just by the entrance, leaning on the pillar holding the concrete canopy. He smiled and waved at the two as they approached.
"Morning Yousuke-kun!" Kei beamed.
"Good morning Yousuke. Were you waiting for us?" Kiyotaka then asked.
"Yes. I actually wanted to talk with you, Kiyotaka-kun. About our class matters."
Since there was only 15 minutes left until homeroom began, the couple and the wingman immediately began making their way to the main building, conversing on what appeared to be something important as they walked on.
"Class matters?"
Hirata smiled bitterly as he began to explain.
"Yes. Just yesterday, the class was only starting to feel the results of Kushida-san's expulsion. Everyone is beginning to feel a little more comfortable now that Kushida-san is gone, but Horikita-san has been very quiet ever since. I know people don't trust her much anymore, but in a way, she's still technically our class's leader. If she's not going to take charge again, I'm afraid of how the class will continue since I can't do too much on my own."
It was a valid worry. Hirata was not the type to become a fully fledged leader. Rather he was the type to support the actual leader, a sub leader if you will. This was what Kiyotaka had understood after being around this class for too long. It was for that reason he always pushed Hirata to support Horikita in leading the class, and it was the same for Kei.
However, Horikita's position as the class's leader was faltering. In fact, just like Icarus, she had fallen before she could continue to fly by. Ironic since Chabashira Sae had used this exact same comparison to describe Kiyotaka's situation.
Due to that fall from power, it was leaving Class B without a leader, in a situation where Ryuuen's Class C was now less than 50 points behind them and Ichinose's Class D less than 100 points. In order to move forward, power needed to be returned to someone to lead Class B. Hirata was asking Kiyotaka if he had a plan for that.
Hirata's worries were warranted. Luckily for him, Kiyotaka had already seen this coming and planned for it. Remembering that, Kei smiled, staying silent for Kiyotaka to answer.
"I see. I understand Yousuke. But you don't need to worry. I plan to fix that after homeroom. In fact, I'll need both yours and Kei's help in order to do that."
He began to explain what he was going to do, causing Hirata to be a little shocked. But he smiled in the end and nodded, agreeing to Kiyotaka's request.
Nearly 10 minutes later, the group of three arrived at the door of the classroom. Kiyotaka opened the door and found everyone in the class already in their seats. They all immediately turned towards the door upon hearing it open, seeing the couple and their other leader enter the classroom.
Stares and silence. That's all the three received, though it was more aimed towards Kiyotaka than Kei and Hirata. Those stares mostly contained fear from a lot of the body. It was easy to understand why.
Just 2 days prior to today, Kushida Kikyou was expelled from the school thanks to Kiyotaka using the School Request Ticket he won from the sports festival as part of the Commander Rewards. Right before Kushida left the classroom, just as she was getting ready to expose the rest of the hidden secrets she had left in her arsenal, Kiyotaka had used his greatest weapon, the one secret he kept from everyone except very few.
His darkness.
If Kushida's true nature, her true expression, her true eyes, were enough to scare Class B like a wolf hiding in the shadows, then Kiyotaka revealing his own darkness through his eyes in front of his class for the very first time was like a roaring lion biding its time, finally deciding to hunt its prey now.
It was terrifying for the class, so much that it changed part of their views of Kiyotaka more. Most of the class was not sure how to approach Kiyotaka now, but they still looked up to him for expelling Kushida. It was quite the predicament.
Kiyotaka sat down in his chair at the back, ignoring all the stares of his classmates being sown onto him. About a minute later, Chabashira entered the classroom and stood at the podium at the front of the classroom.
"Good morning class. Looks like all of you are here so no need for registration. I just have two reminder announcements for you all so please listen carefully."
There was still another minute or two until homeroom began, yet Chabashira didn't even wait to get started on the announcements. The class was probably thankful for this as the tense and awkward atmosphere was hard to bear for a little longer.
"Firstly, I hope you all haven't forgotten that the cultural festival is happening next month. If you need a reminder as to what the rules are, you can always check the school's email we sent a while ago. I believe you all already have an idea set upon but I won't say too much since it's all for you to decide. Now that the sports festival is over, you have more time to plan and practise for the cultural festival so please use your time wisely."
A reminder. Indeed, the cultural festival was just weeks away, set to begin in November, the month of many Japanese Autumn festivals. It was perfectly timed with the season, especially when considered November was also the month of many bonfire nights. In other words, fireworks.
The students of Class B slowly got excited. However, most began to realise that they still didn't have a plan as of yet. There was only a couple of weeks left, which meant they needed to have a plan as soon as possible. Some of them began to remember that Horikita was in charge of doing so, and scoffed at the thought.
"Secondly. I would just like to remind you that you are still students of a school. I think you all know where this is going. I hope you've all been taking the time to study all the things you've been learning since being at this school. Midterms are coming up next week so I expect you all to do well in them."
Most sighed in dejection. Of course, it was important to remember that they were still students at a school. Normal midterms and end of term exams were still important to conduct in a school such as Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School. Students couldn't forget that.
However, it wasn't like they weren't keeping up with their content material. Since the start of second year, most people have been doing their best to study as much as possible in time for the inevitable tests. Sudou Ken was the best example as someone who was almost expelled for not passing the midterms in first year.
"On the midterms though, I shall be displaying what topics you should be revising in time for your midterms. You can take a picture on your phones or tablets for reference. Like I said, the midterms are next week. So do what you can to prepare and pass them. After that, your absolute focus can be on the cultural festival again."
Chabashira ended her announcement there and began walking towards the door, leaving quickly through it. Class B stayed silent, likely contemplating their plan for studying. Seeing an opportunity, Kiyotaka turned his gaze towards Hirata and Kei, who both instantly caught it and understood what it meant, nodding.
"Everyone. Can I have your attention before we start our next lesson?"
Hirata and Kei immediately got up and ran to the front, the former calling out and gaining the attention of the class. They all turned towards the two class leaders at the front of the class. With all the attention on him, Hirata continued on.
"I know we just came back from the sports festival last week, and we're still getting over the fact that Kushida-san was expelled just two days ago. But I would like you all to pay close attention now as there is someone who has a couple of things to say to you all and I believe it's really important for us all moving forward."
That was his signal to move. Kiyotaka immediately stood up from his chair. Since the classroom was silent after Hirata's announcement, everyone immediately noticed Kiyotaka walking to the front of the classroom.
Tension began to roam throughout most of the students. The memory of the cold-hearted person they happened to witness during Kushida's expulsion clouded their minds. Even if that was what they wanted, they still couldn't quite believe what they saw out of the growing quiet boy who happened to have a very cute and popular girlfriend and was friends with all the leaders.
Kiyotaka stopped at the front of the classroom, Hirata and Kei respectively standing on both his sides. He turned to face Class B slowly, intentionally doing so to test his class's perception of him.
Firstly he turned towards the black haired girl who had been completely silent since the day of reckoning.
"Horikita. Do you intend to stand back on your feet again and lead the class again after I betrayed our agreement? You look pathetic right now with how cooped up you are."
The girl in question stiffened at her name being called out. It appeared what Hirata said was true. Horikita had been very quiet up until this point, probably still trying to get over the fact that Kiyotaka had expelled Kushida, breaking their agreement like he had said. Horikita wanted to say something about it, but she knew she couldn't since she too betrayed by expelling one of his friends.
Understanding that she didn't want to say anything, Kiyotaka nodded and faced the class again.
"From now on, instead of going to Horikita when you are in trouble or have something related to class matters, you are to come to me instead. Because from this point onward, I will be leading this class through these midterms, the cultural festival and onwards. Yousuke, Kei and even Horikita will continue to be leaders in their own right, however, getting this class through this school will be left to me," He announced to everyone.
His serious expression, one which he never really projected on his face in front of everyone, captivated the eyes of students. Kiyotaka's two companions, Hirata and Kei, also wore serious expressions, indicating they were in on this.
"If anyone has any complaints with me taking charge, you are free to speak them now."
No one raised their hand even if they did have complaints. Kiyotaka still wore his serious expression, but he didn't reveal any darkness from them, so he was making it easier for the class to be vocal about any qualms they may have.
And yet, not a single soul raised their hand to speak. Like lost lambs unsure of what to say and feel, Class B just sat there with the flock and stayed silent.
"Those that do have complaints later on, or just don't want to speak about them now, are free to say them to me at any time, or you can speak to Kei or Yousuke. You can even speak to Horikita about them too. But I promise you all that I will lead this class to Class A. I won't be a tyrant like Ryuuen or Sakayanagi, but I also won't be overly supportive and nice like Ichinose. You all must work hard to earn Class A, and those that don't will be left behind. That's how society works. I expect the best from you all and will lead you to ensure that it happens, but it isn't just a one way contribution. You all need to support yourselves too, starting with these midterms."
Every man is for himself, but support is always on the table as long as you earn it. This was the ideology Kiyotaka was proposing to the class. In a way, it wasn't that much different to how Horikita led the class. The bigger difference was maybe Kiyotaka's strictness by mentioning Ryuuen and Arisu's methods, and the fact that he had the power to expel Kushida in one go and without hesitation or fear.
"Before the next lesson begins, I would like to first announce that I would like those who do not have club activities after school today to please stay in the classroom. I would like us to have a discussion regarding these upcoming midterms and the cultural festival next month. It will be in your best interests to stay, otherwise it might end up badly for you."
Even though he meant no harm with the last comment, it was enough to stiffen up most of Class B into agreeing with him. The trio at the front finally made their way back to their seats, ready to begin the first lesson of the day. Hoshinomiya entered the classroom and Class B's day went on as normal until the end of the day.
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Part 3
The end of a school day meant freedom for those without club activities. For most students, that meant it was time to hang out with friends in Keyaki Mall or Pallet Cafe. For other students, it meant going home to relax and watch the latest episode of a popular Netflix or anime series.
However for Class B, those without clubs for the day were forced to stay in the classroom upon Kiyotaka's orders. Even Kouenji stayed. Seeing the obedient classmates in their seats, Kiyotaka immediately stood up and walked to the front of the classroom. This time, Kei and Hirata sat in their seats with the rest, likely on orders from Kiyotaka too. As supporters, it was best the two stayed with the pack of students so that in the likelihood they would need to convince them, the pair would do so better being closer to them.
If Kiyotaka was to name this effect. He would likely dub it as the sheep shepherd effect. A very charismatic and trustworthy supporter would generate an effect where if they agree with something, the people around them would too, like sheep. Hirata and Kei were sole generators of this kind of effect.
Now standing at the front desk where the teachers usually would stand, Kiyotaka turned to face his class again, authority in his position as he peered over the desk.
"If I have all of your attention, then I will begin." He started. "The midterms next week will be very important. However, I can tell from the past exams you've all been facing, you are all doing better than previously before. To be on the safe side though, Yousuke and Ke- sorry, I mean Yukimura, will be holding two main study groups over the next week to ensure everyone is kept up to date with their studies. I too will be holding one with a few people too. However, while these study groups are important, it will be you all who will need to study by yourselves or with a pair in any freetime you can spare."
Most of Class B didn't even need to be told that. Quite a few of them already predicted it would come to this, so to ease it upon themselves, they took the time to study in between freetime and school. The best example of this was Sudou Ken, who originally was the lowest academically in the class. In between school and clubs, he took the time to study past materials in order to increase his OAA standing.
The same could be said for Kiyotaka and Kei, who took a bit of time in their indoor dates to study together, effectively making it a better kind of date since the two would use it to play around too.
Hirata and Yukimura nodded, indicating they were onboard with the idea of hosting the study sessions. In another case, Horikita would also be the one to host a study session too, but with her reputation in shambles at the moment, it was safer to not include her for now. And there was nothing else to be said about Kushida, who would have been the final person to hold a study group if she was still here.
"Good. The three of us will divide everyone up into each group and announce them tomorrow. In the meantime, please use your time effectively and study carefully and thoroughly. I'm expecting a good class average from this class."
Kiyotaka paused for a moment, turning to glance at a few people before continuing.
"Now for the cultural festival. Due to the last special exam and the sports festival getting in the way of our planning, we were not able to progress as far as we would like with the cultural festival plan. However, now that we only have a few weeks left until the cultural festival, minus the midterms, there isn't anything that will get in our way in planning our booth."
He then turned towards Horikita sitting at the front of the classroom.
"Has anyone else come to you with any better ideas since Satou's proposition?" He asked her. All eyes turned toward the isolated cold princess. Of course, some were cold anger, others were cold indifference, others were just worried.
"...N-no... Not since then..."
She stuttered when answering, likely because she was more prone to noticing all the gazes on her. It appeared that Kushida's expulsion really affected Horikita Suzune more than Kiyotaka thought it would. If he wanted to continue to control this class as much as he could, he needed Horikita to be back to normal, even if her reputation was lower than that of a Nigerian prince.
[I might need to work on that] He thought.
"I see. Keisei. Mii-chan. How is the budgeting coming along with the slight altercations I gave you?" Kiyotaka then turned away from Horikita and then to Yukimura and Mei-Yu. The two in question were a little surprised to be called out, but they quickly answered Kiyotaka.
"Ah. Yeah. We managed to get the budget right now, especially after what happened on Monday. We'll have a little bit left over too if it all goes to plan." Yukimura answered, Mei-Yu nodding in agreement.
For the cultural festival, a class of 40 students were given a budget of 200,000 points to spend on equipment, venue location, costumes and the like. However, a class under 40 students would receive less since one student equaled 5000 points each. Since Class B had only 37 students, losing two students very recently, that meant they only had a budget of 185,000 points to use for the sports festival. Yukimura and Mei-Yu, with some help from Kiyotaka, had to keep their cultural festival plan within a tighter budget, which in a way was a problem.
"Good." He paused for a moment before facing the class again. "Since nothing else has been proposed by anyone, I will officially announce now that for our cultural festival booth, we will be holding a maid cafe, serving food to customers, and adding additional touches such as arcade machines and the KiyoKei band (god I hate that name) playing in the cafe too. We have a few delegated roles already and I will announce them tomorrow. Does anyone have any questions or objections to the plan?"
Once again, the class was silent. However, their expressions still indicated that they wanted to ask a few questions, probably not related to the cultural festival or the midterms. Sensing that, Kiyotaka inwardly sighed as he could probably guess what they wanted to ask.
"In that case, are there any questions you have not related to either the maid cafe or the midterms?"
Instantly as he finished that sentence, almost everyone who didn't know Kiyotaka that well raised their hands. About nearly half the class had their hands raised, which was bad enough because Kiyotaka didn't know where to start.
Luckily for him, it seemed Hirata stood up from his seat and asked the class to lower their hands, to which they obliged easily. From Kiyotaka's point of view, it appeared Hirata would act as the arbiter for the class, probably knowing what they all wanted to ask. He then turned to Kiyotaka and spoke on behalf of the class.
"Kiyotaka-kun. During the sports festival, the Commander Events specifically, Ryuuen came up to us and announced something to everyone that they've been wondering about ever since. He said that Horikita-san is hiding the truth about the class from us all and mentioned she should explain everything. Ryuuen even said that you told him to tell her to tell the truth. Could that be what you and Ryuuen were talking about when you two and Katsuragi went out for a meeting?"
The class nodded in agreement with Hirata's explanation of the situation to Kiyotaka. That was exactly what they were all thinking and being wary about.
[So that's what it's all about.] Kiyotaka thought in his head.
Kiyotaka had met with Ryuuen and Katsuragi before the sports festival, which was very unusual since Class B didn't know that the three of them were on "good" terms to be meeting up together. Understandably, Class B was afraid Kiyotaka would face the wrath of Ryuuen since their view of him wasn't a good one, especially since around Christmas time last year.
However, Class B had nothing to worry about since the meeting itself was to discuss something of utter importance. Although, it wasn't about Class B's situation, rather it was about Ryuuen's own one and how he wanted Kiyotaka to "crush" Yagami Takuya.
Regardless of this fact, Class B did not know about this so they couldn't come to the conclusion Kiyotaka had come to. Furthermore, it appeared Ryuuen had cornered Class B completely by goading Horikita to reveal all the secrets they had, something which Ryuuen claims Kiyotaka had asked Ryuuen to do as well.
...It wouldn't be wrong to say Kiyotaka asked Ryuuen to do such a thing, but it wouldn't be right to say that either.
"I see. Well to answer your second question, my meeting with Ryuuen and Katsuragi was about something a little more personal. Nothing to really do with the class secrets so do not worry about that. I can guarantee that."
It was just a baseless statement. Most believed him, but even he knew that it wasn't enough to calm the thoughts of everyone in the classroom. They were still seeking the answer to Hirata's first question - The truth. The very thing that Horikita and Kiyotaka had been keeping secret from everyone minus a select few.
[I have been aiming to get to this situation. It's a dangerous position to be in. Horikita's reputation is already destroyed, but this will likely destroy it more, and it could affect mine too. Horikita herself is still useful, so I can try to limit the amount of backlash against her. Yousuke and Kei can help me out with this too so let's hope for that.]
"But you're still wondering what the truth is right?" When the class nodded, Kiyotaka continued. "Are you sure you're all willing to learn the truth? Depending on what it is, it could hurt your own view of the class and its leaders. We're only just getting back after finally ridding ourselves from Kushida Kikyou. Are you all ready to face another challenge?"
Kiyotaka was ready to tell them the truth. He was willing to reveal enough to them so that he could continue to do what he wanted. However, he didn't want to do so if the class itself wasn't ready to listen. Despite what the class said about wanting to learn the truth, similarly to how Kushida told her own truths about people, Class B might change their view if it would change everything about their own original and more recent views.
Getting Class B to realise that was what Kiyotaka was trying to do here. In other words, he was testing them. He was going to see whether they would pass or fail.
A few students, namely Hirata, Sudou, Akito, Yukimura, Shinohara, Satou, Mei-Yu, Matsushita and Mori, already made their decisions, while people like Kei and Haruka didn't need to since they already knew the truth. The rest of the class looked a little uncomfortable at having to make such a decision.
It was a difficult decision of course. However, as the arbiter for the class, Hirata turned to everyone, watched their expressions and then turned back to face Kiyotaka and spoke once again.
"Kiyotaka-kun. Our class has gone through a lot lately, especially with the Kushida-san incident. This class shouldn't be able to fall further with what you might be about to say, so I believe we're all ready to listen to the truth."
That was the exact answer he was looking for. It was unsurprising that Hirata would be the one who would speak it, however, Kiyotaka at least wanted to hear such an answer from his other classmates who were undecided at the moment.
But since the rest of Class B nodded to Hirata's own answer, Kiyotaka decided that was enough. In his view, they passed the test he set for them, so it was enough to give them the answer they wanted.
Kiyotaka walked towards the window overseeing the front of the school, looking out of it. This confused the class, but they immediately paid attention and more notably paid attention to his distant look as he stared outside while speaking.
"How many of you found Ryuuen's step down from last year suspicious? Did anything not seem right to any of you? Ryuuen, the all-powerful brute of Class C, beaten by Ishizaki because they didn't agree with his ideals. Was that really believable?"
Ryuuen had fallen from his leadership position last year around Christmas time, citing that he found no reason to continue being the tyrant he once was after losing to Kiyotaka and not being expelled. Since he stood down, everyone wondered why such a tyrant did not continue his reign and it was discovered that apparently Ishizaki led a battle coalition against Ryuuen and took back Class C from him.
However, looking at Ishizaki and Ryuuen nowadays, it didn't seem to make sense that Ishizaki was the one to take down Ryuuen last year. Now, he appeared to be very loyal to Ryuuen and even back then, it was the same. When Class B thought about it, they began to understand the strangeness of the situation.
"But what does that have to do with our secrets?"
Despite that though, some still struggled to create the chained link between Ryuuen's downfall and their class's secret. Seeing that, one student decided to lend her classmates a hand.
"If I recall, Ryuuen-kun was siccing people to watch a lot of us because he believed that someone called 'X' was hiding behind Horikita-san as a shadow leader. He was building up the pressure on all of us, and then just decided to stand down randomly after gaining some injuries. If the explanation doesn't have to do with Ishizaki-kun and the others, then wouldn't that mean...?"
Matsushita carefully planted this explanation into everyone's mind, causing widespread realisation at the fact before they all turned towards Kiyotaka.
"You can't mean-"
"Wait, so that means-"
"It can't be-"
They muttered in disbelief. Kiyotaka couldn't blame them. Even though his image was only just improving bit by bit as he continued moving forward into his second year, Kiyotaka's image was still that of a gloomy, average loner student who barely cared about class matters. With such an image, it was easy to assume that Kiyotaka wasn't involved with the leadership of the class in first year and the development of tactics to raise their class up to the point they were at now.
"From the very moment we blasted through all of our class points to the very bottom, a shadow leader had been born, working behind even Horikita herself to ensure this class's success. Sudou's rebounded expulsion and his protection from the fight case against him. Those weren't just Horikita, in fact, she never fully started them. While she helped out a lot, the Horikita of back then couldn't come up with something like that. She needed a push from someone more powerful and smarter than her."
And that someone was none other than Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. He didn't need to say these words as his own classmates finished them for him.
"W-what about the island exam from last year? A-and all the other exams after that?" Miyamoto, probably a firm believer of the Horikita era before her downfall from leadership, asked.
The whole class was wondering the same question too. Luckily for them, Kiyotaka gave them the answer they were looking for.
"Horikita and even Hirata had nothing to do with our win in that island exam. Everything was planned and executed by me. The naming of Ryuuen and Katsuragi's lakey Yahiko as the leaders of their classes at the time. Ibuki stealing the keycard from Horikita and causing widespread disruption to us. Horikita retiring so I could change the leader to myself and prevent us losing points. Absolutely everything was calculated and choreographed by me." He said with his cold eyes returning again.
But they immediately dissipated as he continued his next explanation.
"However, the exams after that Horikita had done everything by herself. Of course, I still made moves behind the scenes to make sure she was even more successful - something which she herself didn't know. The rest was just done by her and I sat back and watched. At least, until now."
He kept things vague for now. Inputting too much information about his leadership and what he did to make sure they won back in first year would be too much for a class rebuilding itself. Plus, even if the class asked him for further details, it wasn't like he would tell them anyway. The main thing they needed to understand was that they would be in good hands with their old shadow leader taking charge now instead of Horikita.
"Are there any other questions?"
Silence. They were still processing all the information they had to take in just now. It appeared there were no problems with Kiyotaka taking charge, the issue was just all this information was a lot to take in.
"In that case, everyone should go back home now and starting tomorrow, I shall begin to explain to you what I plan to do with the cultural festival moving forward."
Not knowing what else to do, Kiyotaka's classmates listened to his order and began dispersing. From today onwards, they were to get used to a new leadership style, likely moving from a little democratic and more bureaucratic to absolutely bureaucratic and almost at the level of autocratic.
The new class leader was formed.
.
.
.
Part 4
Autumn in Tokyo was a bit of a mixed season. Coming into September, the heat from the August and July months would stick to the air particles, resulting in the outside temperatures still being a little high. The wind was, surprisingly, nowhere to be felt today.
For Kiyotaka, who was not used to this heat, all he could do was resist the urge to constantly complain about it. Even though it wasn't as hot as it was during the months of July and August, Kiyotaka just wasn't a summer weather person, being someone who had been stuck in a cold sterile room for his childhood.
Though, it came to him that it was closer to November now, which meant the start of the colder environments in the city of Tokyo was meant to have already begun at this point. And yet, it still felt like it was July and August. Kiyotaka couldn't help but wonder if this was caused by what society dubbed "global warming".
"Oh? You're here already, Ayanokouji? You're quite early aren't you?"
After his meeting with his class, Kiyotaka left the classroom and moved to wait in an area around the school that overlooked part of the lake that isolated the school from the city. It was a small park terrace, with a few oak trees in the greenery areas and a few benches nearby. It was the perfect place to wait for someone, either to discuss class matters or to just have a tiny date with your partner.
Fortunately for Kiyotaka, the person who he was meeting here was for neither of those things. He turned around finding a tall girl with platinum blonde hair running down to the hem of her skirt and crimson red eyes. Kiyotaka easily recognised her as a third year senpai and it was none other than Kiryuuin Fuka.
"Senpai. I got here on time and it's been nearly 5 minutes since that has passed. If anything, I think you're the one that's late instead of me being early."
It was just 4:35pm in the afternoon, about half an hour since classes had ended for the day. The meeting time Kiyotaka had set for him and Kiryuuin was 4:30pm. Understanding this, Kiryuuin laughed before giving her answer.
"I'm never late, Ayanokouji. Maybe when I'm fashionably late like I am today, but I plan for that so that doesn't count."
The way she emphasised that response was akin to how someone would do so if they were quoting their favourite TV show or movie. Was she expecting him to get the reference?
Kiryuuin laughed again, likely due to the expression Kiyotaka was making, even though he didn't know what expression he was making.
"Anyway. You said you wanted little old me to do you a favour back during the Commander Events of the sports festival. Is that what you wanted to talk to me about now? Something very interesting?"
"Yes. That's correct."
It had only been a week and a half since the sports festival. At the moment, classes had progressed as normal, with some classes seeing the results they gained from the sports festival making some sort of a difference. For Kiryuuin, the class competition never really mattered to her.
Kiryuuin walked up to the railing Kiyotaka was leaning on, overseeing the lake the school structure stood on in the middle of Tokyo City Centre. The scenery provided a calm, silent and content nature to this meeting. It was the perfect place to have a couples date, especially if the sun was setting over the horizon. Kiyotaka mentally noted this location for a place to bring Kei to when they wanted to have a date. But that was a thought for later.
"I want information on a certain student in your class," Kiyotaka said, still looking out towards the river.
Her smirk indicated her interest in the matter. She probably wasn't expecting him to ask for information on a classmate.
"Oh? I thought you were going to ask me to do something lewd. I am a sexy senpai right in front of you who just accepted a private meeting, after all."
Was this her way of constantly teasing him ever since news of him and Kei dating spread across the school? Kiryuuin used similar teasing methods during the sports festival too. He was really glad he didn't bring Kei with him, otherwise he wouldn't hear the end of it. Kiyotaka ignored the teasing and continued.
"Although they've not been ordered to anymore, every third year had to keep a watch on me 24/7 if they ever saw. Before you ask, while I never liked the idea of people constantly staring at me, it's not like I'm not used to it. Anyway, in between those stares, I've noticed a specific person stand out more when she has been watching me, more so than the other third years."
Kiyotaka stopped leaning on the railing and walked towards the nearby bench, sitting down on it immediately.
"Secretary Tonokawa."
Tonokawa was part of Nagumo's Student Council as one of his secretaries, chosen specifically by Nagumo himself when he was elected as the Student Council President. Tonokawa was a third year Class B student, same as Kiryuuin here and Kiriyama, the Vice President.
"Tonokawa, huh? I do remember seeing her glare at Nagumo quite a few times in secret and stare at you more often than not. I see, I see. So that's why you want me to find information on her. Hahaha. I can already see your plan in motion," Kiryuuin laughed as turned to face Kiyotaka. "Very well. I will investigate Tonokawa and give you information about her. I'm assuming you want to meet with her at some point, right?"
Kiyotaka didn't say anything. He didn't even give a nod to her either to indicate she was right. However, that silence was enough for Kiryuuin to confirm that she was indeed right.
"You don't want anything in return?" He asked after hearing nothing about wanting to be rewarded, despite it being a favour.
"Do you want me to ask for something in return?"
"Preferably, no. Because I feel like you'll ask for something that will be out of my reach or just outrageous."
From the way she teased him about kissing and doing lewd things, Kiyotaka couldn't help but think that she'll end up requesting such a thing from him as a serious repayment for the favour. He was afraid how that would affect his plans and time here.
"Have you no faith in me?" Kiryuuin asked, chuckling. "Well you have no need to worry about that. But if you really care about fairness, all I want as repayment is for you to make this school more interesting than it currently is. It's not as fun as it used to be ever since Nagumo took charge. So I hope you can make it better with what you're aiming for."
"I see..."
"Fufufu. If that is all you want then I need to go do what you want. I'll text you details within the next couple days if that's alright."
Kiyotaka nodded, acknowledging that it would take some time. In all honesty, he didn't need the information yet. But it wouldn't be a problem if he got it earlier than expected. In fact, it would be quite beneficial to him.
He thought that would be the end of it, considering information on Tonokawa was all he called her for. However, Kiryuuin stayed in place, staring at Kiyotaka with her signature smirk. It appeared she wasn't done yet and that appeared even more so when her smirk widened when Kiyotaka raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"I truly believe you are very entertaining, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. I wish I was placed in your year instead of being in a year filled with a bunch of lambs and a circus clown. I shall be taking my leave now if you do not require anything else then."
Deducting those actions from Kiryuuin, it was inevitable he thought she would say something else, something important. Something like changing her mind on the deal the two now had or asking for her very own favour since she had an opportunity to do so. However, she only spoke about Kiyotaka being amusing and then left, leaving Kiyotaka confused on how he should feel about such a thing.
As he watched her leave, Kiyotaka didn't fail to notice Kiryuuin looking in a certain direction and smirking. He tracked that gaze and found the reason why, sighing internally at an extra thing he was probably about to deal with. Getting his belongings, he began walking in the direction of the dorms, not wanting to leave Kei waiting any longer in his dorm room.
But he knew she would have to wait just a little longer as the "thing" he noticed earlier finally approached him.
"Is there something you need, Kiriyama-senpai?"
It was a third year boy who had generic and short black hair complimented by boring brown eyes. His height was a little taller than Kiyotaka, who already stood nearly 186cm tall. The unimpressed expression he wore was normal for the boy. This description was enough to say that it was none other than Kiriyama Ikuto, a Class 3B student and the current Student Council Vice-President.
The last time Kiyotaka saw the Vice-President of the Student Council was during the little few days the school had on the cruise ship just after the second uninhabited island exam. During that time, Kiriyama had made it clear to Kiyotaka that he should stop trying to cause trouble with Nagumo for selfish reasons of wanting to have Class A guaranteed. It honestly disgusted Kiyotaka how easily Kiriyama switched, but it's not like he cared that much about it anyway.
Kiriyama approached Kiyotaka slowly, appearing as cautious as he was on the day of Christmas just last year when they met, along with Kei.
"I'll keep this brief, since I have places I need to be too." He started, staring directly at Kiyotaka with what appeared to be some sort of a glare to Kiyotaka. "What were you talking to Kiryuuin about?"
"Should that be something of your concern?" Kiyotaka retorted back.
From his point of view, Kiriyama was probably only asking that question not because he was a curious-self, but because he believed that whatever Kiyotaka and Kiryuuin were talking about was going to affect his ticket opportunity to graduate from Class A. Kiriyama wanted to make sure that wasn't the case, and if it was the case, put a stop to it immediately.
Despite not saying anything, Kiyotaka knew he wasn't far off with that thinking. And in return, what Kiriyama was worrying about wasn't far off from the truth either. But he kept that to himself.
Kiriyama sighed before replying.
"Nonsensical answers as I keep hearing. Well whatever. I want to talk to you about your actions during the sports festival."
"My actions?"
Kiyotaka could already see where this was going to go. He internally sighed and wished for this to be dealt with. The longer he stayed here, the less time he had to plan for his class's cultural festival, alongside other things. It was a little far-fetched to be thinking this, but Kiyotaka thought that maybe Kiriyama was doing this on purpose to ensure Kiyotaka wouldn't have much time to plan for the cultural festival.
"Nagumo challenged you before the sports festival began and you accepted his challenge. During the sports festival, the two of you, alongside that first year, battled it out to see who was better. And in the end, you destroyed Nagumo. Last year, I would've welcomed such a feat, but now I must ask you to stop getting involved with Nagumo and stop drawing his attention to you. You will be ruining the chance for all of us to graduate well if you continue to get involved with third year matters such as fighting Nagumo."
In other words, from Kiyotaka's point of view, Kiriyama was just spouting some butthurt nonsense about how he won't get what he wants if Kiyotaka continues to do what he needs to do. Kiyotaka knew that was such a stupid thing for Kiriyama to tell him, but it was because Kiriyama was a desperate loser that he was telling Kiyotaka such a warning...
...A warning he was not going to heed.
"..." Kiyotaka stayed silent, but his expression was losing its apathetic nature and leaning more towards his White Room glaring persona. He luckily controlled it before it got too out of hand.
"Seems you intend to stay silent. You may have won against Nagumo. But I'm warning you. Do not get involved further, otherwise you will face more than just Nagumo. You seem to have a lot of skills, as well as the blessing of Horikita-senpai's approval, but even you can't win against 100 other students."
1 man vs 100 children. Even in the gameshow of a similar name, very few contestants ever won against such a number. By that logic, Kiriyama believed that Kiyotaka can't win if the whole of third year, even without Nagumo's orders, goes after him. But that was stupid thinking.
"I've said what I've needed to say. I have places to be so I'll be going. Don't get in our way any longer," Kiriyama said before finally leaving, Kiyotaka watching his back as he left.
Kiyotaka exhaled before continuing his journey back towards the second year dorms. Along the way, he thought about the warning Kiriyama gave him.
[Kiriyama is just another example of a selfish creature. Even I myself am too selfish. But if he's going to use the entire third year as a stopgap to ensure I don't get in his way, then he's underestimated me. After all... What's going to happen soon will affect the entire third year. I don't care what they do, I'll take them all down to ensure I achieve my goal and protect the people around me. That's all that matters to me after all, especially now that I've taken the class leader position.]
Before Kiyotaka knew it, he was directly in front of his dorm room again. Not wanting to leave Kei waiting any longer, he opened the door and was greeted to a surplus surprise that went beyond even his own expectations of his girlfriend.
...The evening turned out to be more than just a meeting about class matters, studying and an indoor date once again...
End of Chapter 1...