Classroom of the Elite: Legacy

Vol.1: Prologue

I was inside the third-year school building, walking up the stairs to the second floor, entering a hallway where I saw a familiar girl, standing there, watching everyone else through the windows.

"Not going to celebrate with them?" I asked her.

Horikita turned and her face lit up. "Ayanokoji..."

I walked up and stood next to her, turning to look outside as well. "Congratulations. You and everyone else did it. You reached Class A, just like you wanted."

"Yeah, we did," she said. "It took a long time, but we all managed to make it. I'm proud of all of us."

I looked down to see my former classmates talking to each other. I saw Ike and Shinohara clinging onto each other, overfilled with joy. I saw Sudo, hanging around with Onodera, smiling and laughing together. On the side, I saw Satou, Matsushida, and Kei gossiping with each other. My former class was happy, and they all had bright futures ahead of them.

"Ayanokoji-kun," she said. "Why did you leave our class? You would have joined us had you stayed."

"I had no intention of being in Class A in the end. I only wanted to hang back and stay away from trouble, remember?"

She chuckled. "Yeah, I remember." There was a brief pause and a moment of silence between us. "I couldn't find Sakayanagi after the graduation ceremony, and it seems like she's also gone today. Have any idea where she's at?"

"You don't know?"

"Know what?" she asked.

"About a week ago, after the graduation ceremony, Sakayanagi left our class due to an unexpected family emergency."

"I see...so that's why you suddenly became the leader of the class..." Horikita gave a weak smile. "I will say, Ayanokoji-kun, you were quite incredible when we fought. Your skills and ability to support Sakayanagi was impressive. You held her class together well. Had you been like that from the start, we would've gotten to Class A a lot sooner..."

That's certainly true. However, if I had done that, things would've never had ended like I wanted it to. I looked away from the window and turned to look at her. That's when I noticed something about her body. "You seem different," I said.

She glared at me. "You must be delusional. Also, look at my body again, and you'll suffer the consequences."

How scary... Ignoring her threat, I confirmed that she was indeed different. She wore multiple loose clothing, and both her face and body features seemed much more feminine than usual. It seemed quite unusual for her to look like this.

"Hey Ayanokoji-kun," she said. "Now that it's all over, what do you plan to do now?"

"Hm...I suppose I'll leave with my Otou-san and move somewhere else. Maybe out of town, or even out of the country. Once I do that, I'll probably go on from there." This was a lie of course. My father would no doubt send me back to the White Room, and under maximum security no less. My freedom, which I fought so hard to have, would be ripped away from me. I would go back to being the old Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"I see..." Horikita said in such a quiet tone.

I looked back at her and for some reason, I saw a small frown on her face. She didn't look at me, but I could see the sadness in her eyes. A girl, so stern and cold, feeling down because of my departure. I could hardly believe it.

*slam*

I turned back to look outside and saw my father coming out of a limo, passing through the school gate. His bodyguards in black suits stood and waited at the doors of the vehicle as he scouted around the school looking for me.