COTE: What If - Alternative

Average Student vs Class A (1/?)

"Did she just-"

"So they really meant anything? "

"5000 yen just for that? Maybe she has a mental disability too." A purple haired girl with purple eyes and an annoyed expression sitting in front of me muttered in, well, annoyance. Sakayanagi's smug smile strained, having apparently heard it. Not a wise move, Purple-san.

"Awww, love at first sight is sooooo cute!" A blonde haired girl, whose desk still had a nameplate that read 'Riko Nakajima', swooned.

"What was that, Sakayanagi?" I finally broke my vow of silence.

"Nothing at all, Ayanokouji-kun. I was just testing a theory, fufu."

I lowered my voice "You looked bored when I walked in. As soon as you saw me, your eyes widened and the grip on your cane loosened. Why is that? I'm just an ordinary student."

"Ah, I see. Ordinary? My apologies. I mistook you for this genius I saw a few years ago, defeating grandmaster level chess players, one by one, as a mere child." She matched my whisper with her own.

"Whoa, that's crazy. I can't imagine anyone doing that."

"Actually, that's not true. Just 6 years ago, a 9 year old did the same feat. Earlier this year, a 16 year old beat the current world chess champion. But you already knew that, didn't you? You look bored."

"No, no. That's not it. I was just born this way." She smiled smugly at me and mouthed two words. White Room. So, she had seen me through the one way mirror or the security camera. How annoying.

"I won't expose your true talents anymore than this. I would like to bury the 'false genius' myself. So please indulge my requests. You can stay neutral for now, if you wish."

"Thank you, I appreciate it. What do you mean neutral?"

She pointed at the large, bald man that stood in front of the blackboard - like a teacher wearing a student uniform - and encouraged everyone to introduce themselves. He was Kohei Katsuragi, suffering from a congenital disease that damaged his hair follicles. However, he was confident in his academic and leadership abilities and wanted to be our Class Representative. He cited his experience as middle school Student Council President as evidence of his experience.

Neutral, huh?  Then, she must want to be the leader and would challenge Katsuragi. No, she had already begun her challenge. With a single move, she had caught my attention while establishing intellectual superiority to the rest of the class. Well played.

Seeing this little girl head the entire class would be interesting. I could already tell her play style would be offensive and include mind games and plenty of psychological warfare. Finally, it was her turn.

"My name is Arisu Sakayanagi. As you can see, I probably won't be of much use in sports events." She smiled as if she felt no embarrassment whatsoever. Many smiled wryly at her. "However, my academics and intelligence are second to none. Well, maybe second to one." She glanced at me. Oh, come on. The class followed her glance with interest.

"And I would like to lead our class." She finished with a curtsey.

Katsuragi stiffened slightly. He probably didn't expect this. With his stature and confidence in his abilities, he must have been the top student of his high school. However, this was Japan's #1 school. With a 100% employment guarantee, I had no doubt these students were the elite of the elite. 

I tried to forget the hierarchy in behavior I had noticed at the entrance ceremony, as well as the resigned look on Class D's homeroom teacher and the sharp smile on Class B's teacher when she looked at her colleague. There was definitely something going on there.

Some students looked at her with interest. Moments prior, she had exhibited great observational abilities. It wouldn't have gone unnoticed that she deduced all this while staring at me. Katsuragi had spoken about his abilities but Sakayanagi had shown hers. 

At that moment, Mashima-sensei entered the class and put the papers on the desk. I wasn't sure whether to be pleased or disappointed that the only thing people would know about me today was my name and my average academics.

"Mashima-sensei, how many private points would it take to hide those papers?" I gave one last desperate attempt to protect my peace.

"I'm sorry. I can't do that right now." He smiled apologetically at me. So there was an established set of things you could buy? This was valuable information.

"50,50,50,50, what the..?" Katsuragi was the closest and he couldn't hide his shock. It was ironic that because of her handicap, the one who paid for this would be the last to see it. Many people crowded around after hearing that.

"The easy questions are done wrong?"

"Wha? He did even the insane ones?"

"Pfft, average. He really wasn't lying!"

"How'd he get accepted? If they checked the marks.." Well, my secret was out. And the school's as well. Apparently the scores themselves weren't important.

"I didn't want to leave my family, even if they were eager for me to join this school, so I rigged my results. I didn't expect to get selected at all, but I guess the person checking the paper wasn't fooled." A perfect explanation, right? I felt pleased with myself. For someone who had little experience in lies, this was perfectly delivered.

"Fufu, I had heard of Ayanokouji-kun as an academic genius. He's kind of a local celebrity where I come from. Sorry, I couldn't help myself." I guess I could count these words as my introduction?

With that, she cleared up the doubts among the class. I could hear some compliments but there were also a few disappointed looks, especially from the girl who was fantasizing about a possible romance earlier. Girlfriend, huh? I'd focus on making friends, first.

"Well, now you've arrive here and are part of our class. I hope you'll go all out here, Ayanokouji-kun." Katsuragi nodded at me in apparent respect. Perhaps he wasn't able to solve the difficult problems? The green haired boy who had been gazing at him with respect all this while nodded at me too. 

His first follower. Should I go neutral or join either Katsuragi or Sakayanagi? Wherever I go will determine my close friends for the next three years.

It was a shame. In any other class, Katsuragi would have flourished. But seeing his shocked face when Sakayanagi used the S system to her advantage made me think he would probably lose.

I nodded back. "Yeah, I definitely won't."

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A/N: The first two chapters are slice-of-life and the actual plot starts developing from ch3 onwards