Ayanokōji's POV
"What a ridiculous strategy!"
Lelouch placed his hand against the wall to steady himself – he looked like he was in danger of collapsing from laughing too much. Right now, I was standing outside Class E with Sora, Shiro, Lelouch and Light. We had gone around to check how the other classes fared in the midterm exam, which was what lead to this situation.
"Do you not find this funny, Ayanokōji?" Sora asked me.
"I do."
"You don't look very amused."
"I'm just bad at expressing myself." I responded truthfully.
After a minute or so, the laughter echoing through the halls subsided.
"But honestly, who would've thought Class E would be so bold?" Light said with a grin.
"That's gotta be the riskiest thing I've ever seen a group of people do." Sora said, his sly grin even more prominent than usual.
"Mhm. All it would take is one traitor and their entire class would've been expelled." Lelouch said, returning his gaze to the Class E scoresheet.
"It's a good strategy if you're unified though. They probably felt kinship after being mocked so much by the other classes. A common enemy or goal will bring a group together no matter how distant they initially are." I replied.
If someone were to repeatedly mock a group of people, those people would target their hostility towards that person, overriding any grudges that may be held within the group. Such was basic human nature.
"So, someone in Class E found a loophole in the rules, huh?" Sora scanned his eyes through the window at the Class E students.
"Yeah. They found a loophole that even we didn't think of." Lelouch said.
"Well, we didn't really try to find one. Our class is very good at academics, after all." Light replied.
If all of our class was bad at academics, we would've probably spotted this loophole as well. For a Class E student to find it, though...
"The thing that sets the exams in this school apart from exams at normal schools is the way that they decide whether you pass or fail." I analysed stoically.
"Yeah. You don't fail at this school by scoring below a set threshold. You fail by scoring noticeably low relative to your classmates." Sora continued for me.
"Which means that no one will fail if the entire class gets the same score, no matter what that score is." Light added.
"And the easiest score to get is zero. If your whole class scores zero out of one hundred then that makes the class average, and therefore the passing grade, also zero, doesn't it?" Lelouch finished with a laugh.
"But what would've happened if someone like Kōenji didn't play along? Even if he just scored ninety like on the pop-quiz, that would singlehandedly bump the average up to 2.25 and the passing grade up to 1. Every single one of them except for Kōenji would've failed and been expelled." I said.
Your entire class scoring zero, thus causing the passing grade to also become zero. It was a sure-fire way to make everyone pass, but if just one person decided to take the test normally then it would've been disastrous.
"That's why it's risky. How exciting! Class E could provide us with some entertainment after all!" Sora exclaimed, completely overrun with glee.
"Say, who do you think it was that came up with the idea?" Light posed an important question.
"Kōenji probably could've but I don't think he'd be the type of person to help his class out like this." Lelouch responded.
"But Kōenji did play along with the strategy, even though it would risk him facing expulsion." Sora pointed out.
"Apart from Kōenji, though, who in there could've possibly come up with such a wild plan?"
"Horikita?" I guessed.
"Horikita? She's way too serious to ever think of something like this, isn't she?" Lelouch rejected the idea.
"I don't know. On the second day here, I beat her by proposing a game to her wherein the apparent main focus of the game was not actually what should've been focused on – it was the rules, which never stated that the deck was shuffled." Sora disagreed with Lelouch.
"Yeah, so what?"
"Well, if she took anything away from that and also took what I told her two weeks ago seriously, she could've applied the same line of thinking to this exam and realized that the only reason anyone fails the midterms is because the class has a great discrepancy in the range of scores."
Everyone went quiet and began mulling it over. The passing grade was always half of the class average. This meant that, as long as the lowest scoring student scored at least half of the highest scoring student, everybody would be guaranteed to pass.
For people that've been sitting exams at regular schools their whole lives, then, the logical step would be to study in order to raise the grades of the lowest scorers to meet half of the class' average. However, lowering the scores of your top scorers to be level with the lowest scorers achieves the same outcome, but is much easier to pull off.
Having their entire class score zero on every paper might look a bit extreme, but they probably weren't confident that their entire class could successfully manipulate their scores to something like thirty. To do that, you had to be confident that every single answer you write is correct.
"Well, there's one easy way to find out for sure." Lelouch said as he walked over to the door.
He kicked the door open and waltzed into the Class E room, immediately silencing all of the students in there. Everybody turned to stare at him, but he simply shrugged of the gazes and asked one question.
"This is definitely a very interesting strategy. In fact, it wouldn't have worked if even one person had decided not to go along with it. Who was it that came up with such an idea?"
Everyone was silent for a few seconds, but then a gyaru girl near the front of the room spoke up, challenging Lelouch. Karuizawa Kei, I think her name was.
"And why the hell do you think we'd tell you?"
"You're quite the feisty one, aren't you? You'll make a lot of enemies acting like that, you know. I just asked a genuine question, there's no need for such hostility."
Karuizawa's expression faltered slightly, but quickly reformed into the confident, headstrong look from before. Lelouch was certainly right, though. Someone who constantly belittles others and acts aggressively off the bat is bound to become hated by quite a lot of people, especially other girls in Karuizawa's case.
"Are you trying to lecture me?" Karuizawa shot back, her tone laced with venom. "And besides, if I do make any enemies my boyfriend will protect me. Right, Hirata-kun?"
Hirata and Karuizawa were the main attraction as far as couples go at the moment. Normally, us in Class D would be isolated from such information since we aren't heavily involved in any social circles – the only real connection I had outside of my own class was my friendship with Sudō. However, now that I had Kushida under my control, I had free access to a vast well of information about the first-year students.
Lelouch looked away from Karuizawa, apparently disinterested. "So, you're not going to tell me, then?"
"I hope you can understand. We don't want to freely reveal information to other classes at this stage." The reliable Class E representative, Hirata Yōsuke, spoke up on behalf of his classmates.
"Acceptable, for now. Well, class is starting soon so I'd better take my leave, then."
Lelouch re-joined us in the corridor and we began walked back towards our classroom.
"That Karuizawa is quite interesting, isn't she?" Light mused.
"She's dating Hirata, but they don't seem particularly close to me." Sora responded thoughtfully.
"Popular people like Hirata and Karuizawa are like that though. They attract to each other just for status." Lelouch said apathetically, as if anything to do with romance didn't interest him at all.
"Oh yeah, you know a lot about that don't you?" Light teased him. Lelouch didn't give a reaction, though.
As we silently ascended the stairs, a thought popped into my head.
"Say, we're meant to be gaining up to a hundred class points from this exam, right? Nobody from any of the classes failed, so does that mean every class is gaining one hundred class points?" I asked, curious as to what my classmates think.
"The class points given out right now are most likely just to reward all the students with a bonus 10,000 private points to their allowance for passing the midterms, as opposed to a method to close the gap to the next class." Our representative gave us his interpretation.
Sora nodded in response. "Yeah. In this 'contest,' we were all competing against the school. In the future, though, I bet there'll be some kind of contest where we will compete directly against other classes. It'll probably be the main way that classes get promoted."
Competing against the other classes, huh? I wondered what kind of trials that could entail. At the very least, it would be something interesting.
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Light's POV
"Who do those idiots think they're dealing with, anyway?"
Sora complained from beside me, motioning towards a group of three boys who were staring at us from across the cafeteria.
Right now, I was eating lunch with Sora, Shiro and Ryuzaki. Sora was complaining about three boys who, for a few days now, had been harassing us regularly. Things like blocking our way as we walked and spouting provocations. Childish stuff like that.
"According to Ayanokōji, Class C students have been doing the same thing to some students of all the other classes as well." Ryuzaki said, perched in his immensely odd seating position.
"There's no reason to doubt him, but where the hell does that guy get all his intel from?" I wondered out loud.
"I've seen him with that Kushida Kikyō a few times recently. Maybe from her?" Sora guessed.
"You don't think they have a... special relationship, do you?" I said mockingly.
"Who knows? Perhaps our boy has turned into a man already."
I couldn't help but laugh at Sora's mocking speculation. Ayanokōji and Kushida, huh? If they had a thing going on, then good for them, I guess. Personally though, I've never had even the slightest interest in romance and I didn't plan to start now at this school, either.
"Getting back on topic, though," Ryuzaki interjected. "If what Ayanokōji said is true, then that means that it's likely that Class C is trying to provoke a reaction out of someone. They're probably targeting some of the more hot-tempered students, if I had to guess."
"Ryūen Kakeru is trying to start a fight? What else did I expect from that guy who only rules through violence?" I sighed exasperatedly. Really, how mundane.
"Aha, that might not be it. What if he's trying to conduct an experiment?" Sora proposed an intriguing idea.
"Oh? An experiment?" Ryuzaki looked surprised, which was a rare sight to behold.
"It's the only way to explain Class C's behaviour. They're clearly trying to provoke someone into attacking them so that they can test what level of punishment will be dealt to students who commit acts of violence."
I felt some anger swell up within me. Ryūen Kakeru is trying to use me as a lab rat? Who does he think he is? I composed myself before I spoke up.
"If that's the case, then I have a little idea of my own I'd like to try. I'll make Class C into an example of why you shouldn't mess with us." I declared with a smirk.
Sora, Shiro and Ryuzaki were momentarily stunned, but Sora shortly snapped out of it and laughed, which freed the other two as well.
"Do you mind if I join your plan, Light?" Surprisingly, Ryuzaki wanted in on the action.
Until now, Ryuzaki had been a bystander to just about everything that has happened - I never expected him to make an active move to get involved. I saw no reason to refuse his offer. In fact, having someone with me might make it a whole lot easier to execute.
Besides, I've been wanting to find out a bit about who Ryuzaki is and what he can do, anyway. He's felt off to me ever since the second day, where he tagged along with me to investigate Class A. I felt like he didn't accompany me just to help the class or get to know me better. No, he definitely had some kind of ulterior motive.
"Sure, feel free to help me. May I ask your reasoning, though?" I inquired, masking my inner thoughts.
"Let's just say that working within the justice system is a speciality of mine."
Is that right? Could it be that Ryuzaki, like me, values justice over all else? He did mention that he solved crimes before enrolling here, but doing so at such a young age that must mean he does it for another reason than money. What could that reason be, I wonder?
I'm going to unravel your secrets, Rue Ryuzaki. You'd better be prepared.
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Shiro's POV
"What do you think, Shiro?"
Nii asked me as we walked through the school corridor after our final class had ended, hands interlocked comfortably.
"About Light's plan?" I asked quietly.
"Yeah." Nii nodded affirmatively.
"I think it'll only work because Ryūen's henchmen are too stupid to make adjustments to the plan themselves, even if the situation calls for it."
I gave him a surface level assessment. Ryūen Kakeru, based on the knowledge I had obtained, was much smarter than he initially appeared. He was a violent dictator who also had brains to back his violence. In fact, if he was more mature about his methods, I thought he could easily fit into my class.
"Ryūen is certainly smart, but his mistake here is that he assumed anyone that would fall for his provocations would also be an idiot. He hasn't considered that someone might fall for them on purpose." Nii responded as we climbed up the stairs.
Ryūen himself would probably be able to manipulate the situation once he figured out that it was a set up, but the people who were working for him wouldn't have the same level of keen insight and flexibility.
"Say, Nii, are you enjoying this school?" I inquired, changing the subject.
"Yeah, it's definitely far better than most places in this rotten world. It's just missing that extra flair, though."
"You mean the flair of playing against opponents?"
"Yeah. I'm hoping we'll get the chance to really have some fun when we fight the other classes. I'll be thoroughly disappointed if the contests here are dull."
Blank's number one principle is to have fun. If we can't do that here, we will probably drop out. Originally, I didn't even want to enrol here - I was scared to leave the place I'd grown to feel safe in behind. But I trusted Nii's decision to enter this school because if I couldn't even do that, then what was I even good for?
"And what about our classmates? Do you think that we can live among this society, which is separated from the rest of the world?" I asked, my voice almost a whisper.
Nii's smug expression that I adore so much vanished, and his face became serious.
"Society is repulsive. It's an evil that I refuse to be a part of. But this school, which is like an entire world of its own, separated from society... Perhaps, I will be able to accept it."
Whether Nii decides to accept this school or reject it, I will follow him blindly. That is the promise that I made, all those years ago.
"We're here." Nii said, stopping in front of a door.
"Yes," I replied flatly.
Nii reached out and gripped the door handle. He gave my hand a squeeze before pushing the door open and calmly entering the room it revealed.
"I'm here for my appointment~" he said jovially, adorning his lovable smirk once more.
There was an additional person in the student council room this time. A beautiful girl with long pink hair. Ichinose Honami, first year, Class B, student council first year representative, most popular girl in the first year, excessively kind, hopelessly naive. Enormous breasts.
I felt a jealous frustration building up as I stared at her well-endowed figure with hostility. Where is my chest? Will I ever develop beyond this pitiful figure? No matter how many times Nii called me beautiful, I couldn't help but feel inadequate.
"Hmm, this is odd. I was under the impression that the student council interviews were one-on-one." Nii said perplexed as he seated himself on a couch.
"Well, I'm not the only one who's brought company." The President said, motioning towards me as I sat on Nii's lap.
Ichinose Honami looked surprised. Clearly, she hadn't been told that students could still be interviewed even after she got accepted as first year representative.
"The only position left in the student council is the vice-president seat, isn't it?" Nii pondered aloud as he began stroking my hair.
"Don't get any funny ideas, kōhai. I'm the student council vice-president here. Right, Horikita-senpai?" Nagumo Miyabi spoke up, warning Nii. Nii was unfazed, though.
"There can be two vice-presidents in the student council, even though it's unusual for such a thing to happen." Horikita-senpai responded calmly.
"It's unusual, huh? That means you're going to reject the kōhai, right?"
"I've actually been wondering about that too," Nii interjected, claiming the attention of both senpais. "Why didn't you just tell me that the student council wasn't accepting new members after a first-year representative had been chosen?"
"There is still a seat open, and it would look bad if I flat out refused to even hear out a first-year." Horikita-senpai replied.
"But you're going to reject me no matter what I say here, right? Why not just skip the formalities and do it now?"
Horikita-senpai's eyes widened a fraction. He did his best to compose himself immediately to hide it, but I'm sure that Nii caught it as well.
"What makes you think that I'm going to reject you?"
"It's obvious. You can drop the act." Nii said confidently.
"I see... You heard it from somewhere, then?"
Ichinose looked surprised once more at Nii's words. However, she wasn't prepared for what was about to be said next.
"No, I just guessed. You just confirmed my suspicions though, so thank you!"
"You were bluffing?" Horikita-senpai looked genuinely impressed this time.
"Yeah. After I found out that you rejected Ichinose's application, I crafted a little theory. And you've just confirmed that theory of mine, Horikita-senpai."
"As I thought, you really are an interesting student. Go on, then. What exactly is your theory?"
"Ichinose Honami should've been the perfect candidate for the student council," Ichinose became slightly flustered as Nii began his explanation by praising her. "However, I found out that she was rejected by the student council president, quite quickly mind you."
Everybody listened attentively to Nii as he spoke. No matter how many times I hear them, his deductions never fail to impress me and make me interested. It's just one of the many things that I love about Nii.
"Now, why could this be? Let's start with Question One! Why did Horikita-senpai reject arguably the best candidate for the student council among all of the first years without much thought?"
"Because he didn't plan on accepting any first-years into the student council, no matter how suitable they were." I answered from Nii's lap.
Ichinose looked shocked. It's understandable, I suppose. She was probably under the impression that she just wasn't good enough in the president's eyes. To hear that he had rejected her for a different reason would surprise anyone.
"And that leads us on to Question Two!" Nii continued, now possessing complete control over the attention of all four student council members. "Why did the student council change its mind so quickly, and accept Ichinose's application during the third week?"
"Because she was accepted by someone other than the President, behind his back." I once again answered the question as Nii patted my head.
Everyone now looked thoroughly baffled about how Nii had managed to deduce this much based off of little scraps of information. They'd better prepare themselves, then, because we're not nearly done yet.
"And so, Question Three is logical! Who was it that accepted Ichinose Honami into the student council?"
"Nagumo Miyabi. Not only does he seem to view Horikita-senpai as a rival, but he's also the vice-president, which is most likely the only other seat in the student council with the authority to accept new members."
Everything was silent as Nii's crimson eyes scanned the room. He was probably gleaming mountains of information just by observing the various reactions and expressions worn by the senpais in the room.
"Question Four! For what reason did the student council president not want to accept any first-years into the student council?"
"To protect them from Nagumo-senpai, who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals, as proven when he went behind his superior's back to accept a previously rejected council member." I replied in monotone.
Even I, with my sub-par human reading ability, was able to notice Nagumo's discomfort as Nii and I dissected every little truth about the student council. From now on, he would probably be very wary of Blank.
"Knowing that Nagumo-senpai is manipulative and cunning, that only leads to one last question, a question that I have yet to discover the answer to." Nii leaned forward, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Question Five! What did Nagumo-senpai ask Ichinose to do in return for admission to the student council?"
Nii reclined in the sofa once again as everyone's eyes widened in shock. It appeared that nobody was prepared for that question, but Horikita-senpai was probably surprised for a different reason than everyone else. Tachibana-senpai looked more confused than surprised. It seemed like she wasn't able to follow at all.
"What could you possibly be talking about, kōhai? I merely accepted a candidate that I deemed suitable for the student council using my own judgement." Nagumo-senpai said, composed and calm.
"Trying to play dumb, are we? Ichinose's expression of discomfort tells me that there was some truth in my speculation, though." Nii nodded towards Ichinose, who was leaning against the wall with her eyes still wide.
Nagumo turned to look at her, playing right into Nii's hands. When it comes to reading people and situations, Nii has no match. I couldn't fault Nagumo for falling into his trap.
"That was a lie. Ichinose actually still just looks dumbfounded. However, you were very hasty to check her expression yourself, weren't you? An innocent man wouldn't be as panicked as you just were. You're guilty!" Nii accused Nagumo arrogantly as he played with my hair.
"Nagumo. Is it true? Did you demand something from Ichinose in return for her acceptance here?" Horikita-senpai asked sternly. It seemed like he wasn't very happy with this discovery.
"N-no, senpai, he's just talking nonsense."
"You're just digging yourself a deeper hole, you know?" Nii chided him smugly.
"I think we're going to have to have a talk later, Nagumo." The student council president looked a bit angry.
According to my sources, he rarely loses his composure. That meant that this is an especially aggravating situation for him. Good to know.
"So, there's a civil war within the student council which the president wanted to keep the first years away from, huh? How intriguing." Nii and I stood up and turned towards the door.
"You're leaving? What about your interview?" Horikita-senpai surprisingly was concerned about Nii's interview.
"Not interested. I got what I came here for. Knowledge is power, as they say." Nii tapped the side of his head as he opened the door.
Nagumo glowered at us as we made for the exit. He was obviously not happy that Nii had spilled his secret to the student council president. Nii must've noticed this, because he stopped just before leaving and turned to him.
"Try not to take advantage of any more girls while our backs are turned, Nagumo-senpai."
With that, Nii and I left the room without looking back and shut the door. As we walked down the corridor and back towards the dorms, I couldn't help but ask a question.
"Nii, would Nagumo really use Ichinose's wish to join the student council to take advantage of her?"
I tried my best to hide my anxieties, but Nii saw right through me.
"I wouldn't put it past him. Unfortunately, Shiro, there are some people out there who're like that. Don't worry, though." Nii placed his hand on top of my head." I wouldn't let something like that happen to you."
I felt reassured, but...
"Are you going to help Ichinose?"
"Help her? Do you want to intervene, Shiro?"
"I can't help but feel bad for her..."
"I see. Well, if my cute little sister wants to help her, then I suppose I have no choice." Nii smiled warmly at me. I really do love him. "As of right now, there isn't really much for us to do. However, if a time comes in the future where Ichinose is in danger of being exploited by Nagumo, Blank will lend a hand."
I nodded appreciatively. Maybe it was just because of my own past experiences, but I felt that I couldn't just stand by and watch something like this. Nii took my hand in his and gave it a squeeze.
As long as I was with him, I was confident that Blank would forever be invincible.
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Ayanokōji's POV
Mornings in Class D were surprisingly relaxed, considering that we were high school students. But then again, the students of Class D were no normal high schoolers.
I took out my school-provided cell phone, launched the pre-installed school app, and logged in using my student ID and password. I then selected the option "Balance Inquiry" from the menu. From here, you could do many things. You could check your current personal balance, or you could see how many collective points the class had. There was also a function that enabled you to send points to another student.
There were two types of points listed. One of them was marked with a "cl" at the end, which was short for "class." These were also referred to as "class points" – not points that an individual student possessed, but rather, the points that the class had accumulated together. The other points were marked with a "pr" at the end, which stood for "private." These were our individual points.
On the first day of every month, they multiplied the cl points, or class points, by 100, then deposited that amount into our private point accounts. We used these private points to purchase daily necessities, meals, even electrical appliances. At this school, points are currency. They are very important.
"Good morning~"
Ishihara-sensei casually strolled into the classroom as the homeroom bell rang, looking as carefree as ever.
"Sensei, did we lose our class points?" Kururugi asked as she walked to the podium.
"Ah, well. I might as well just stick up this month's totals, huh."
She put up a paper on the board that listed the point values. It was similar to the one from last month, except now we were listed as Class D rather than Class E. The paper read:
Class Point Standings:
Class A - 1004
Class B - 735
Class C - 500
Class D - 408
Class E – 87
"Hmm, we have 408 class points this month. That means we gained 98 since May 1. The other classes have seen similar increases, like I thought." Sora mused as he looked over the paper.
"Never mind that! In that case, 40,800 points should've been given to all of us, right? Why did our point totals not change this month?" Kururugi said exasperatedly.
"The first-years' point distribution has been delayed due to a little trouble, you see. Once it's resolved, you'll get your points."
"Ara ara, it seems like your little plan seems to have affected the entire year, delinquent-kun." Lelouch mocked, shooting a look across the room.
"I don't mind waiting a few days for 40,800 points if it means justice will be rightfully enacted." Light responded, folding his arms.
"Justice?"
"That's right, justice. What Ryūen Kakeru and, by extension, Class C are trying to do can be called nothing but an act of evil. An evil that I must vanquish from this school."
"What are you, some kind of vigilante?"
"If you want to call it that, feel free."
Everyone observed the exchange between our class representative and our proclaimed vigilante of justice. Ishihara-sensei, who was out of the loop on our class affairs, looked confused, her finger pressing into her cheek as if deep in thought. She looked quite cute.
"I'm not going to say that having a sense of justice is a bad thing. That being said, however..." Ryuzaki began, narrowing his pitch-black eyes. "That mentality of yours could easily end up leading you astray."
"Are you saying that you think I'm the kind of person to become corrupted by my own principles?" Light responded calmly.
"Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying. The point I'm trying to make is that you should be careful."
"Be careful?"
"He's basically saying that you should keep your justice-boner in check." Sora interjected rather crudely.
"Hmm, I see. I'll bear that in mind, then."
Somehow, I got the feeling that Light didn't plan on bearing that in mind at all. I just hoped that this wouldn't develop into something troublesome.
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Suzaku's POV
I ate lunch with Sora and Shiro. I had eaten lunch alone with Lelouch mostly since enrolling here, but decided that I also wanted to get to know my other classmates better as well, which is why I was now tagging along with the siblings.
We ate with a silent, yet not awkward, atmosphere. It was quite peaceful. That was, until it was torn down, that is.
"Do you mind if we sit here? All the other tables are full."
A boy with a blonde/green gradient hair colour and brown eyes politely asked us. Behind him was a group of seven girls. Judging by that fact alone, this guy was probably Hirata Yōsuke, one of the most well-liked boys in the entire first year.
"Go ahead." Sora responded indifferently.
"Thank you. Sora of class 1-D, was it?" Hirata said warmly as he sat down opposite Sora.
"That's right. Hirata of 1-E? That's quite the fan club you've got there."
Sora motioned to the group of seven girls who began sitting down, which earned a few scowls. It looked like they didn't appreciate being labelled as a "fan club," even though that's essentially what they are.
"If you think that's bad, you should see Lelouch's." I added jokingly.
"Did he really gain that much popularity just from being in Class D? Where's my popularity?" Sora whined childishly.
"Well, Lelouch was already pretty popular before May 1. You were still unknown." I pointed out, which earned a pout from Sora.
"You may not have what you'd conventionally call "popularity," but you guys in Class D are quite famous right now. You're especially infamous in our class after that stunt you pulled, Sora." Hirata joined the conversation.
"Is that so..." Sora murmured in reply.
The pleasant, idle chatter continuing throughout most of our lunch, but eventually the topic turned to something a bit more sinister. The girls who were with Hirata began talking about Horikita, a classmate of theirs that they'd apparently taken quite a disliking to.
"I seriously hate that stuck-up, too-serious attitude she has."
"Yeah, and the way she talks as if she's better than everyone."
"Honestly, who does she think she is? Just because she has better grades than us, she thinks she has the right to look down on us?"
"Hey, how about we teach her a lesson?" One girl suggested.
I began to feel uncomfortable because of the direction this conversation was headed. The atmosphere now was thick, and a veil surrounded the Class E girls that seemed to vehemently oppose any input from outside their clique. Hirata, as well as us in Class D, could only listen.
"What do you mean?"
"Like, mess with her a bit. You know, as punishment for being so bitchy."
"Ooh, that sounds like a good idea!"
"Yeah, we could like, hide her shoes and stuff."
To me, this aura was suffocating, and I wanted nothing more than to escape. I could see that Hirata was visibly uncomfortable as well. I can understand him, since him and I are quite alike. Unexpectedly, the intervention came from someone different. A mocking laughter echoed out from beside me.
"How stupid. You people are the reason why I refuse to accept this world."
"What are you on about?" One of the girls, Maezono I believe her name was, shot a glare at Sora.
"Obviously, I'm talking about you. Just because you don't like someone, you want to bully them? Your thought process is disgusting." Sora denounced the Class E girls pretty loudly.
Hirata looked quite shocked, and I'm sure that I had a pretty surprised expression as well. I never expected Sora of all people to get angered by things like this.
"Bullying? What are you talking about? It would just be a harmless joke."
"Such a thing would only be funny for you. And you wouldn't stop there, either. You'd probably do it again after the first time because you found it amusing, and it would eventually escalate beyond petty things like stealing their possessions." Sora narrowed his eyes as he spoke.
"We'd just be teaching her a lesso—"
"Every day when you wake up, all you can think about is everything you'll have to put up with until schools over. Even so-called 'harmless jokes' will add up and do serious damage to your psyche eventually. Your only aspirations are to make it to the end of the day without breaking down, and when you finally finish you feel such an abnormal amount of relief."
Sora spoke in a low voice, laced with a hint of rage. I'd never seen Sora act like this before, even after knowing him for two months. He never spoke about his past, but did Sora possibly have experiences with bullying in the past?
"That is what will inevitably happen if you start down that path, even if now you just say it'll be "one harmless joke." And it will be all your fault."
Sora stared into the eyes of Maezono, the girl who'd originally suggested the idea. She looked lost for words. Honestly, it made me happy that Sora shared my opinion, and wasn't afraid to stand up for it even if it meant he'd be singled out.
"W-we wouldn't go that far..." Maezono mumbled quietly.
"I bet everyone says that. But I've seen it all before." Sora stood up from his chair, leaving his lunch on the table. "Let's go, Shiro."
Sora and Shiro left the cafeteria, hand in hand, not bothering to take their food with them. Hirata and I just watched them leave while all of the girls wore various expressions. Some of them looked guilty, whereas the others looked annoyed.
"W-who the hell does he think he is?" Maezono exclaimed angrily.
"Maezono." Hirata said in an unexpectedly stern voice.
Hirata speaking like this was clearly not a common occurrence, because all of the girls looked surprised too.
"I think Sora-kun was right. Bullying someone just because you don't like them is wrong."
Even though Sora had said the exact same thing, the girls only seemed to listen after hearing it from Hirata's mouth. I felt a sense of irritation at seeing their hypocrisy and bias, but kept my composure.
"B-but Hirata-kun, it's not really that big of a deal, is it?"
Hirata looked like he was about to reply strictly, but a different voice interjected instead, one that only just now started to speak. I found it strange that this girl had been silent the entire time even though she's allegedly the leader of the Class E girls clique, but didn't put too much thought into it. Unlike Sora, I couldn't read people beyond the surface level.
"I also think it's wrong to do anything like that to Horikita-san." Karuizawa said, rather quietly by her standards.
"K-Karuizawa-san?"
Some of the girls who were more annoyed with Sora than guilty looked surprised, whereas the rest just looked towards Karuizawa with an appreciative look. It seemed like they were glad Karuizawa was speaking up on their behalf.
"If you don't like someone, you should just stay away from them. There's no need to go out of your way to bully them," she said resolutely.
Karuizawa's input combined with Hirata's seemed to have convinced the girls, because now they just hung their heads in apparent guilt. Apparently, if you want to make a change, you need to be popular and well-liked.
"The world would be a much better place if there was no conflict, don't you think?" I asked nobody in particular.
"Yes. If everybody just got along, then much more people would be able to live happily." Hirata agreed enthusiastically.
"I know that such a world is idealistic, but I believe that we should strive for that ideal nevertheless."
"Kururugi-kun, was it? Can I have your contact information? I think I'd like to eat with you again sometime." Hirata asked me, a sense of kinship in his voice.
Hirata and I were very similar in our ideals and way of thinking, so it made sense that he felt some kind of affinity with me. I traded contact information with Hirata while all the girls simply watched in silence.
"Well, I'm going to go and try to find Sora. He seemed pretty upset; I hope he's okay." I said, standing up with my lunch.
"Right. Can you apologize to him for me when you see him?"
"You have nothing to apologize for, Hirata."
Saying that, I turned to leave the table and chased after Sora. I genuinely believed that Hirata had done nothing wrong, and I knew that Sora would just become angrier if Hirata apologized to him.
Sora really was remarkable, I thought. Even when faced with the oppressive atmosphere of the Class E girls that even Hirata couldn't speak up in, Sora didn't falter and openly said his opinion. It was quite strange – he claimed to be a shut-in his whole life, but his social skills were definitely above average.
The school had labelled Hirata's class as defective, which I had vehemently refused to accept. At least, until now. The behaviour that the Class E girls just showed is something that even I couldn't defend – it can be called nothing but a major character flaw. As I walked, I wondered: Can a defective person change? I really do hope so.
△▼△▼△▼△
Light's POV
"All the preparations are now complete. Now all we have to do is wait for the trial." I said to Ryuzaki as we ate lunch in the classroom.
I handed an important piece of paper to Ryuzaki so that he could read it and placed a vegetable in my mouth with my free hand.
Why am I eating the free vegetable set even though I still have 98,670 private points left? It's simple. If I indulged myself every day, not only would my physique worsen but I would get used to indulgent eating, which would only cause my eating habits to spiral out of control exponentially.
"Do you really not mind paying the full amount for that, Ryuzaki?" I asked, motioning toward the device on his desk.
"I don't mind. I'll probably use this quite a lot in the future anyway, so it makes sense that I paid for it," he replied in monotone.
"I see."
In two days was my trial against Class C. Right at the end of the last month, they'd called me out to the special annex and started a fight with me, which I had easily won. They didn't even try to fight back, which pretty much confirmed my suspicions. I also didn't really hit them hard at all, but they went down heavily nonetheless.
Sigh.
If you're going to try a scheme like that, Ryūen Kakeru, at least pick some talented actors to execute it. These idiots don't even have a place in society, they were that incompetent.
Trying to provoke students of other classes into hitting your students is undoubtedly an act of evil. It is my duty to crush such evil. I glanced over to the messy boy who had warned me that my mindset was dangerous.
It's dangerous to enact rightful justice? How preposterous. I, along with many other people, want nothing more than to eradicate people like Ryūen from the world so that the rest of us can live in harmony.
Unfortunately, though, that isn't feasible. I suppose I can settle for crushing him utterly instead, then. You'll regret trying to make me your guinea pig, Ryūen.
"What were you like in middle school, Light?" Ryuzaki asked an unrelated question out of nowhere.
"Hm? I was just a pretty normal honour student, I suppose." I replied. "I played tennis quite a lot, I guess."
I felt like my response was lacking, so I tacked on the bit about tennis onto the end. Thinking about it, though...
"Ryuzaki, didn't you mention that you played tennis?"
"That's right. I was British Junior Champion in tennis at one point."
"We should play a game sometime. There are tennis courts in this school."
This school has all sorts of facilities for all kinds of sports and equipment for all kinds of athletes – tennis was no exception. I thought myself to be very proficient at tennis, so I couldn't help but wonder who was better out of Ryuzaki and me.
"Yes. I would like that."
A silence once again enveloped us after Ryuzaki replied. I took the opportunity to fall deep into thought. This was the second time Ryuzaki had asked me a seemingly random question out of nowhere. He only does it when we're alone, too.
He was probably, no, definitely probing me for information. There was no other explanation for why he took opportunities to get me alone before asking me more personal questions. He wasn't doing anything to hide it, either. He was being pretty open about it.
Just what was he up to? Why did he want information about me and my past? Was I the only one, or was he doing similar things with my other classmates as well? Who is Ryuzaki really? And did he come to this school for a reason other than education?
I will unravel the mysteries behind all of these questions eventually. Now that I think about it, I've been focused on Ryuzaki because he's been focused on me, but everyone in Class D is similar, aren't they?
Sora and Shiro, the pair of geniuses who are apparently shut-ins and who seemed to have experienced something very dark in the past. They avoid talking about their past.
Lelouch Lamperouge, an apathetic boy who used to gamble frequently. There's definitely more to him than he lets on. He avoids talking about his past.
Suzaku Kururugi, a very idealistic boy who hates all kinds of conflict. Even though he was in the military, he hates conflict? That doesn't make sense.
Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, he excels at both academics and athletics and is eternally stoic. He is purposely vague about his past and refuses to tell anyone how he gained his abilities.
There are a multitude of mysteries lying behind each and every one of my classmates. And it's only a matter of time until I learn the truth. When that happens, I just hope that none of them become a target of my justice. That would certainly be troublesome.
A/N: 7385 words hhhh
Pretty uneventful chapter, mainly based around interaction and set-up than action. All the action will be happening next chapter with Light's trial, after all. And then after that comes the island exam!
I'm excited to get into the action, but I have to write the parts like this as well so the story flows together.
Thanks for reading <3