Class-E, The Experiments

Chapter XIX: Slow Tick

"No, no. Even if the Role System didn't exist, he still would have aligned with me. While I dislike being assigned an advisor, he's smart enough to recognize that, between me, Katsuragi, and Shigoku, I'm the most likely to win."

Kamuro didn't look entirely convinced, but she held her tongue. There was no point in antagonizing her 'master' any further.

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Ayanokouji Kiyotaka POV.

Ah, the tranquility of sleep. When I was younger, I never gave it much thought. But now? If given the choice, I'd sleep straight through to the ripe old age of 80. No power-hungry father, no idiotic classmates, no sadistic teachers, just peace, the way life is meant to be.

Unfortunately, reality doesn't grant me such a luxury. The alarm, which has been blaring for the past half hour, is still going. Ignoring it won't make it stop, and the moment I move, I'll have no choice but to wake up. If I leave it on, though, I might get a noise complaint...

Fine. Reality wins this time.

I slowly open my eyes and glance at the time. 07:10. Ah, so it's actually been 40 minutes, not 30. Oh well. I turn my head toward the calendar—Saturday. Good. At least I won't have to deal with anyone's nonsense today.

I finally shut off the alarm and get out of bed, going through the usual motions—shower, breakfast, and some light exercise. Is it stupid to shower before exercising, rendering the shower pointless? Yes. Do I care? No.

Once I'm done, I look at my casual clothes- or rather, the lack of variety. A few pairs of blue jeans, plain white shirts, and a couple of dull hoodies. The only thing that stands out is the school uniform, which says a lot about my fashion sense- namely, that I have none.

...I'll just wear the uniform. It's not like I have anything special planned. I'll just go for a walk or something.

A few minutes pass as I finish getting dressed, adjusting my necktie just enough to avoid drawing any complaints from passing teachers about "proper uniform etiquette."

As I reach for the doorknob, my phone buzzes with a notification. I glance at the screen... Akifumi. Hm, could be worse.

I open the message.

("Come meet me at these coords, thanks.")

...That's it? No greeting, no context, no basic manners? Well, I suppose I can't judge. Messaging me is probably about as enjoyable as eating worms.

I sigh, slipping my phone back into my pocket before stepping out of my room. Looks like that morning walk will have to wait.

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I glance at the tea simmering in front of me before locking eyes with Akifumi.

"Why exactly did you call me here?" I attempt to keep my tone neutral, but I don't bother trying too hard.

"Oh, no particular reason. I simply wanted to discuss some things with you, that's all," he replies in that friendly yet condescending tone. It's like he goes out of his way to be a walking contradiction. And knowing him, he probably does.

I exhale through my nose. "What's there even to discuss? Oh yeah, maybe how you completely failed to make an encrypted account, since my teacher traced the old test papers back to me through you."