Classroom of the Elite: Checkmate

Chapter 2 - Second Player

On the second day overall, which was technically the first day of school, we went through all the course objectives with our teachers. Sudou slept during most of the day and other students like Yamauchi, Ike and a girl called Karuizawa Kei were spending their time primarily on their phones.

I heard the two boys refer to her as 'gyaru', whatever that meant. It was a term I was not familiar with, so I figured that I should look it up later to broaden my horizon. Those four weren't the only ones who were disturbing the lessons, of course. But compared to the others, they were piling up their misbehavior count much quicker than anyone else.

Contrary to my expectations, the teachers didn't seem to mind. Not even the strict Chabashira-sensei, also dubbed Sae-chan-sensei by the likes of Ike and Yamauchi, showed any signs of being bothered by their total disregard of social norms and school rules. This struck me as odd, since she was the one who told us about our worth just yesterday. I already had a rough idea about what this was about, but I saw no reason to inform my classmates at that current point in time.

Our homeroom teacher bored us to death with Japanese history. I doubted that most of them would survive a quiz if she were to give us one, but that was just me. Since nothing of note had happened during our previous lessons, and I was growing tired, I took matters into my own hands.

"Yes, Ayanokouji?" Chabashira-sensei asked after I raised my hand.

My name rang nicely through her smoky tone, and I enjoyed listening to her quite a lot. She had one of those voices where one could listen forever without becoming annoyed of it. A tranquil, yet mysterious and strangely attractive one.

"Could I go to the restroom?"

Some people turned around upon hearing my question, while others were occupied with themselves or cared little about my situation. I should have chosen a good time, since I asked at the exact half-point through our lesson. Kouenji smirked, which irked me somewhat, but I had to let it go for now. My neighbor peeked at me and shook her head, as if disappointed by my inability to hold it in.

Did I do something wrong? Was there some sort of unwritten rule I was unaware of?

"Of course." Chabashira-sensei nodded before resuming her lecture in a soothing tone of voice.

Could she be able to read minds as well? Which question did she answer?

I made my way through the school building and went to the toilet. After taking care of my business inside, I strolled back toward our classroom. Due to our placement in Class D, it was on the far end of the corridor. The first room I passed was Class A's. The way I took to reach the toilet was rather roundabout. There would have been a much quicker one, but I took my time admiring the architecture and interior design of this unfamiliar place.

Due to my indifference about today's lessons, I placed an imaginary coin in my hand and flung it upwards. It spun around for a while until it landed back inside of my palm. Unfortunately, I didn't have a real one, but it was no problem to simulate the rise and fall of an average yen coin which was hurled with a certain force. With some lingering excitement, I peered into my hands, which held said theoretical object.

Heads, huh?

I took a deep breath to prepare myself. People did this kind of thing before resolving themselves, apparently. What I was about to do was borderline insane, at least for someone like me. After bracing myself, I grabbed the door and slid it open. Someone might say, 'Ayanokouji-kun, that's out of character for you,' but I'd have to disagree.

Besides the fact that no one would even notice, I didn't have a character I could be out of just yet. I was gradually forming the vessel I would inhabit during the time I would spend in this school. I wasn't sure how it would end up in the long run, but there were a few traits that I'd like to build up while I had the chance.