𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒

iii. a game

You hated the Emperor. You hated Saito Kousuke. You hated every single thing about him.

And as you sat on the infirmary bed with the nurse patching up your arm, the only thing that ran through your mind was the hate you loathed for Kousuke.

"Ouch," you winced when the nurse, Fujikari Suzume, finished bandaging your wound, tightly securing it.

She stood up, her big breasts bouncing as she did so through the white uniform she wore.

You instinctively wrapped your arms over your own chest, peeling your eyes away from the grown woman's boobs. The uniform she had on wasn't much help either.

"This should teach you a lesson," Suzume lectured blankly, "to not break another one of the Emperor's rules."

You stayed silent, fearing if you say something rude about Kousuke, the nurse, along with several other girls, would have your head.

"In this academy," the woman continued, "the headmaster doesn't control the school. It's Saito Kousuke, his devilishly handsome nephew."

She pushed up her glasses. "I don't expect new students to know what I'm talking about, but transfers such as yourself should learn from this mistake," she said. "You got into Tanren by your grades; you could easily be taken out."

"Even if you aced all of your tests, but still broke the Emperor's rules, you'd be expelled in an instance," Suzume continued. "That's how important he is."

Your curiosity got the better of you, and the question at the tip of your tongue escaped your lips effortlessly.

"Why?"

Your whole body stiffened when Suzume shot you a look, forcing your head to hang low. The nurse walked over to you, stopping in front of your body.

She bent her knees a little, putting two fingers under your chin to lift your head so your eyes could meet those violet irises of hers.

"Saito Kousuke is the great-grandson of Tanren Academy's famous founder," Suzume rasped. "In the few years Tanren Academy became a school, it was immediately recognized as a prestigious place amongst other schools. And do you know why that is?"

You shook your head, finding it rather hard to in the nurse's clutches.

Suzume hissed, "It's because of rules, girly. Rules are what makes Tanren Academy special. By your lack of knowledge, I'll provide you with special information about this school. Hopefully, you'll survive with what I tell you."

She removed her fingers from under your chin, standing upright with her hands on her hips.

"Listen well," she demanded, "if you want to survive all your years here."

You gulped, nodding your head.

"For as long as anybody knows, the Saito family has always owned Tanren Academy. With headmasters bearing the last name of Saito, our school rose to fame extremely easy. Students who graduated from our academy became successful because of the system here.

"Our school system consists of a hierarchy designed to make sure people know their place while attending Tanren Academy. It's like a competition to the students."

Suzume paced back and forth in front of you, waving her fingers in the air. She continued her lecture.

"Here's how the system goes; every six months, Tanren Academy's school board will release a game of rules. The object of each game is to break as many rules as you can without any of the teachers noticing.

"The teachers don't have access to new rules, but if they suspect something is off and goes to the headmaster about it, you'll immediately get eliminated from the competition and put into the lowest ranking class ever; the Pawns Class.

"Anyway, students are given one week to break multiple academy rules, keeping track of what they broke. At the end of the week, the headmaster will announce the points of each rule broken. The higher your points are, the higher your rank is."

The nurse tied her hair up into a bun, watching your reaction from the peripheral vision of her eyes.

You had on a blank expression at most, causing the woman to raise her brows.

She wasn't expecting that kind of look from someone who was given so much information to process in such little time.

"Spies from the headmaster are sent out to make sure no one cheats the game. If a student lies about breaking rules they weren't involved with, and a spy knows they're lying, punishments for that could be very deadly.

"Now, onto the ranks and classes. The highest rank and class in Tanren Academy is the Royal Class. Students who've scored the highest in breaking rules attend there and are treated like actual royalty. Their academic and athletic abilities are already good, so they're rewarded more here.

"The next rank and class are the Noble Class. They are inferior to the Royals but far superior to the other classes. Students in the Noble Class are taught to excel in many subjects. While their chances of succeeding are lower than the Royals, they are still likely to be as successful.

"The rank and class after that are the Knight Class. The Knights are students who are mainly taught athletically. They are equal in level with the Nobles, but their points for breaking rules are lower, so they're consider inferior to the Nobles.

"Next, we have the Minor Class, in other words, your class. These students are just average high-schoolers. They're not much special, so they're like extras in a TV show.

"The Pawns Class, the lowest ranking class, is right after the Minor Class. They have classes in the basement and are isolated from the rest of the students. Because of how low they scored on breaking rules, their punishments consist of elementary school lessons.

"Finally, there is the term 'target'. A target is someone from the Pawns Class who is chosen each week to fulfill a request. If they succeed in the request they are given, they won't be a target for the rest of their school years. However, if they fail, their punishment consist of running around the school naked for a week."

Suzume clasped her hands together, facing you with a neutral look in her eyes.

You looked up at her, staring into her violet shaded orbs with your [e/c] irises.

"Saito Kousuke began attending Tanren Academy without anyone knowing he was a Saito. Even his uncle didn't know he was here," the nurse told you. "In the month we held the game of rules, Kousuke broke the rules with the highest scores. And when it was revealed he was a Saito, he gained the nickname 'Emperor' while he attended the Royal Class."

You pursed your lips as Suzume studied your face.

"Kousuke started a game of his own just last month. Because he had the advantage of being a Saito, everybody easily played along. No one knows what the purpose of Kousuke's game is, but rumors circulated that it was another game of rules."

The voice of a bell rung loudly, echoing throughout the school with its sound. Suzume ignored it, choosing to talk over the noise.

"In Tanren Academy, rules are meant to be broken," the nurse smiled rather sadly.

"Unless they're his rules."