In this timeline, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka will attend the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School with the goal of living a high school peaceful. However, he also wants to test himself after finding out the truth about the S-System. Now, he'll...
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I woke at 4:30 in the morning to get ready. I met up with the Ayanokouji Group-- Airi, Haruka, Akito, and Ken.
"Good morning..." Akito greeted us with a sleepy expression.
"Are you not a morning person, Miyacchi?" Haruka asked with a smirk.
"I don't know... I just didn't get enough sleep, I think," answered Akito.
After all of us got reunited with everyone in the class, Chabashira-sensei started a roll call. I immediately noticed that one of us was missing. Just before Chabashira-sensei could utter her name, Horikita finally arrived with her things. She wasn't really late, but she was still the last one to arrive in our class.
"Good morning, Horikita," I greeted. "It's strange for us to be ahead of you."
"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun. You don't have to mind it. A minor setback happened when I was arranging my things-- nothing to worry about," she replied.
"I see..."
I wasn't really worried or anything.
"Alright, head inside the bus for your class. We'll have to be in Tokyo Bay as soon as possible." Chabashira-sensei instructed.
The students of Class B loaded the bus. I sat three seats forward from the ones at the very back. Akito and Ken sat together behind me while Haruka and Airi sat together across them.
"Can I take this seat?" A cute girl with brown hair asked. It was my classmate and friend, Matsushita Chiaki.
"Sure, go ahead," I replied.
"Alright." Her gentle smile never fails to mesmerize me. It's one of the main reasons why a lot of the boys, even the ones outside of Class B, have a huge crush on her.
"Wow, you're pretty shrewd, Chiaki." The head of Satou poked out from the sear in front of us.
"Ohh, this is quite the pair." Beside her was Shinohara.
"You two went ahead and sat together. I had no choice but to find another seat, right?" shrugged Matsushita.
To her classmates' surprise, Karuizawa chose to sit with one of her female friends. Her group was a little bit to our front, with a lot of the girls in our class surrounding them.
Meanwhile, I saw Hirata talking with Yukimura, who became his seatmate.
"Alright, everyone. All classes are ready. The buses will depart now. We're expected to reach our destination a little after 6:00 AM. For now, just buckle up and relax during the ride," Chabashira announced before sitting at the front-most area.
I initially planned to take a nap during this hour-long journey, but engaging in conversations with my classmates was pretty fun, especially with my seatmate.
"We did really well in the finals, didn't we? Too bad we couldn't do your previous strategy with the old test questions," she said.
"Yeah... Sensei called me out and told me that she knew about it. Even if I wasn't reprimanded, we might get in trouble if I do it again," I replied.
"Everyone still worked hard, though. Sudou-kun came in last, as usual, but he didn't do as bad as we predicted him to. You're quite the tutor, Ayanokouji-kun," she chuckled.
"Nah, I might've just found it a bit easier to teach him because he's my friend." Ken was audibly having fun with Akito with their own conversation so I doubt he can hear my considerably embarrassing words.
"I still haven't forgiven you for making me one of the tutors, you know?" she smiled.
"You'll have to suffer with me, as someone who dislikes trouble, too," I joked.
"Hmph, I originally planned to live a laid-back high school life, you know? I didn't have the immediate expectations of my parents this time, after all."
Her calm and mature demeanor immediately tells me that she's just poking fun at me. I guess treating her words like a joke and trying to follow up on them was the right choice.
"The S-System rained on your parade, huh?"
"It certainly did. But considering how we're Class B now, I guess working hard for the class isn't a bad thing to do." Matsushita's expression turned somber. "The whole class talked about this last night. Every one of us believes you, Ayanokouji-kun. If your hunch turns out to be right, at least we won't get caught off guard."
"We're the only class who's aware. That's a considerable advantage." I replied.
"You think we can do anything to turn the tables on Class A?" she asked.
"I'm not sure, to be honest. If something does happen, I'm sure we'll all be starting on equal grounds. Depending on Class A's capabilities, we might not even shorten the gap."
"T-That's true... They were way ahead of us in terms of class average in the finals. Your strategy put us at the top during the midterms, but that's not the case this time."
"You're right. However, I still think we did really well even if we were a bit behind Class C. Everyone will improve if we keep this up, and you, with the other tutors, did your best to help the class."
"You should give yourself some credit, too, Ayanokouji-kun. You're not just a tutor, after all. You're back to being the class's leader, aren't you?"
"Who did you hear it from?"
"I noticed that something was odd with how Horikita-san was acting recently compared to the week when you announced to step down, so I asked both her and Hirata-kun about it. They told me that you're back on the forefront." Matsushita tilted her head before asking. "Why didn't you announce it to the class."
"There really wasn't any need for it. It's fine if everyone found it out themselves."
"That's true. I'm glad you're back, though. Not just me-- I'm sure anyone in Class B would feel reassured if they hear about it."
"You overestimate me."
"With your flawless academic abilities and overwhelming athletic abilities, you can't blame anyone for looking up to you."
"I can't deny that."
After a very cute chuckle, Matsushita got called out by some of her friends. I closed my eyes and waited for the rest of the ride.
We arrived at 6:03 AM. The luxury liner, Speranza, left all of us in awe. It had nine decks and a rooftop, equipped with different facilities from pools to restaurants. The guys proceeded down to the third deck which housed their rooms, while the girls were expected to be on the fourth.
"It's a pleasure to become roommates with you, Ayanokouji-kun, Yukimura-kun, and Kouenji-kun," said Hirata.
"Yeah," I replied.
"Same here," Yukimura responded with a nod.
"I look forward to this wonderful luxury life as well. Please don't hesitate to admire my perfect beauty while we're at it." Kouenji announced, not even looking at Hirata.
Well then, I guess it's time to be settled.
Chabashira-sensei told us that we'd arrive a little before 8:00 AM. We have a lot of time to familiarize this cruise ship while waiting.
