Kiyotaka Ayanōkoji made his way wearily through the corridors of the school dormitory. He was preparing to retire to his room, where he intended to stay for the remainder of the evening - regardless of what was so special about today for him.
It had been yet another exhausting day at school for the emotionless boy. He had struggled his way through the brutal lessons Sae Chabashira had put Class D through. He had used what little academic skills he had to the best of his ability - as did the rest of his underperforming classmates. However much effort they had put into their schoolwork that day, not one of them was any closer to reaching their goal - which was to achieve higher grades than Class C.
Now the lessons had finished for the day. As soon as the final bell had run, not a single student had wasted a second in leaving the classroom. Ayanōkoji had watched his classmates depart without saying a word to him. He wasn't a bit surprised. He hadn't expected a single one of them to spend their free time with him...
...even if today was his birthday.
Reaching the door to his room, Ayanōkoji stopped outside it. He rested his hand against the wood, letting off a deep exhale as he prepared to spend the remainder of his special day all by himself.
"Finally, I can just kick back and relax," he muttered to himself. "No more use for my classmates; I won't be seeing anymore of them today."
Unlocking the door, Ayanōkoji stepped into his dark bedroom. He stood on the spot and stretched his arms tiredly. As soon as he heard the door shut behind him, he flipped the nearby light switch.
"SURPRISE!"
The boy's golden eyes widened, filling with great astonishment over what he had just found waiting for him in his bedroom.
"What the-?"
"Happy birthday, Ayanōkoji!"
The three words which Ayanōkoji had not expected to hear all day were chorused from the crowd in front of him. He was bewildered to find his schoolmates gather in his bedroom. Hanging above them was a large white banner which displayed their greeting towards him in red letters. The room was also filled with bunting and balloons. It was clear that everyone standing in front of Ayanōkoji had been working hard to decorate his room for his special day.
"What's all this for?" he asked.
"Why, it's for your birthday, Ayanōkoji!" Kikyōu Kushida smiled up at the brunette as she spoke in her usual sweet manner - which was as fake as always. "You didn't think we'd all forget, did you?"
"We just had to throw you a party for your special day!" Honami Ichinose added in her genuine cheerful nature. "We were afraid we wouldn't get it ready in time for you! It was sure hard to juggle with our school work!"
"We also got you a present!" Yousuke Hirata added, holding out a box covered in golden wrapping paper towards Ayanōkoji. "We all chipped in some of our points to get you this!"
Ayanōkoji took the gift from the other boy. He gazed around at all the young people filling his room. They had gone out of their way to mark his special day by throwing him a party and spending their precious points on a present for him - and yet it was still not enough to bring out any emotion from him. The deadpan boy's expression was as blank as always as he looked around at his schoolmates without a hint of a smile.
"Don't act all surprised and grateful..." Suzanne Horikita grumbled. The aloof girl folded her arms as she frowned icy at the boy who she was always butting heads with.
"C'mon, dude!" Ken Sudo urged impatiently. "I spent two whole points on chipping in for your gift! Open it already!"
With all eyes on him, Ayanōkoji lowered his gaze to the gift in his hands. He began to open it, tearing off the wrapping paper to reveal a cardboard container underneath. If he was curious to find out what his birthday present was, his blank expression gave away no signs of such interest.
Pulling back the lid of the container, Ayanōkoji dove his hand inside. He felt something and grabbed hold of it to lift it out into clear view. He held it up where everyone could see it, his golden eyes observing what his gift was.
It was a large red toolbox.
"We thought long and hard about what to get you," Haruki Yachuchi explained. "But we couldn't figure out what you like. So we decided to get you something you might at least make use of."
Ayanōkoji lowered the toolbox. He stared around at all of the students who had purchased it together for him. None of them had any idea that their present for him was not the only thing in the room which the birthday boy planned to make use of.
"Do you like your present, Ayanōkoji?" Kanji Ike asked. "Is it of any use to you?"
Oh yes, this gift is very useful to me... Ayanōkoji thought as he gazed around at his schoolmates. Just like every single one of you in this room is useful to help me reach my goals!
All of the other pupils looked at Ayanōkoji. They could see he was still facing them with the same poker-faced expression. Not even by treating him on his birthday had they succeeded to bring a smile to his face.
How little any of them were aware of the twisted way Ayanōkoji was thinking about all of them, let alone that he viewed them all as his pawns.
It's a shame you can't make this toolbox any bigger; I would gladly store each and every one of you inside and take with me wherever I go, Ayanōkoji continued to think darkly. After all, I never know when I'm going to need to use my tools!
