Ayanokouji POV
"Going for the Najdorf, aren't you?" Sakayanagi said, chuckling
"Woah! I had no Idea Ayanokouji-kun was good at chess."
"You also play too, Ichinose?"
"Not really, I only know the basics. Its just that a couple of people in our class were playing at an online platform. I also once asked him if we could use chess as an event in the commanding tower exam but they said they were not confident in their skills."
"Then you ended up deciding against it."
"Umu." She replied cutely. The match aside, Ichinose is watching us play with attention as if trying to figure out the intentions and mindset behind a certain move.
Chess might be in someway a method to explore the mindset of the person you're playing. Some play in an attacking manner, some prefer defensive moves. Everyone looks for possible traps and other moves that might throw-off your opponent. More than a game, sometimes chess can become a psychological warfare.
Najdorf is a well researched line in the sicillian defense named after a polish Grand master. Many GMs play it today. In the modern chess world, the invention of chess engines have allowed people to intensively search for new variations for both white and black and the complexity of the game has skyrocketed.
We are currently playing the English attack of the Najdorf which is considered as the modern main line and has been intensively played and analyzed. Sakayanagi seems to me quite well aware of the theory in this. The same goes for me as well.
As opposed to the attacking mentality that she held during our game in the special exam, she is playing calm and positional moves. Moves you would expect from a human perspective rather than a machine.
It is impossible for humans to analyze an ongoing game the same way as a machine. We do not possess the same calculating or memory power. That is the reason people develop principles that guide them to make a move in certain positions while at the same time they develop some sort of 'intuition' as to which moves are better than others.
This is more of an informal game. My opponent is not focused on winning at all. If anything, she's trying to enjoy the game to its best. And looking at how the game is proceeding, it may be a good mental exercise for me to do the same. I'd like to enjoy the game as well because it seems a bit fun in some way.
"I don't understand the moves at all. This is high-level stuff." Ichinose was looking at our game and was a bit stressed.
It was only natural. For someone who is not well-versed with chess, it would be hard to find the possible motive behind a move that was played while keeping in mind the next 7 or 8 moves of the game.
"Oh my! Look how I am enjoying this. Fufufu"
If Kamuro was here, she would have called that laugh creepy and I can't deny that.
But I can sense her excitement while playing this. I would be the same if not for the many gazes all around the cafe that are slowly starting to concentrate towards us.
I am sitting with the leaders of two classes at this table. Even if you don't consider those videos, this situation itself ins conspicuous. Normally I would do anything to avoid being in this situation but it is thanks to those videos that I can meet with some people without being labelled as a traitor by my class.
From the corner of my eye, I looked over at the table where the girls from my class were sitting. Even though I am not in the range where I can listen their conversation, I can feel some tension in the air around them.
Matsushita POV
Alright things are getting scary over here.
Karuizawa's silence would be taken as a 'YES' by anyone. She looks like she is completely smitten with that guy.
Onodera-san texted me
[I understand that Karuizawa-san likes him but why is Sato-san so angry? I fell like we are missing some context here.]
[During the winter break, Sato-san confessed to Ayanokouji-kun but she got rejected. She thinks Karuizawa-san got close to him behind her back but did not tell her anything about it.]
"As expected....you weren't satisfied just with hirata-kun right? You never even thought about telling me anything even though you knew about my feelings."
Sato-san's anger was justifiable. She thinks Ayanokouji-kun rejected her because he liked Karuizawa-san because she got closer to him behind her back. But I don't think it's that simple.
"Calm down Maya-chan. Let her explain." I said to dispel the atmosphere here.
"It's fine. I understand why she's angry. I knew a day like this would come so I guess it is better if I tell you honestly." karuizawa-san said
She took a deep breath before continuing
"I associated with Kiyotaka from the first semester. And I confess that over time I started liking him a bit. I mean who wouldn't? Once you get to know him, it is hard to avoid his charms."
This was a totally different version of her. She never talked in such a way. The gyaru personality of her was gone and all the remained here was....a cute little kitten. She was blushing hard from her declaration of love and the other girls also were facing some second hand embarrassment from her.
"W-well I can't deny that. I have to say he's really cool" Sato san seems to have calmed down as well
"Right?? No matter what the situation is... he's always calm and collected. Gives off a really reliable aura." Kei
"I know. And he was so cool racing the former SCP" Sato
"And he's really strong too, it was in the video!!" Kei
Before we realized, the two maidens have started praising their crush without paying a mind to their surroundings.
"This is quite the surprise" Onodera-san said and the two girls were brought back to their senses.
"Yeah!! you two are completely smitten with him aren't you?"
Sato and Karuizawa flushed realizing what all they said a minute ago.
"Hey but that's good news for you right, Karuizawa-san? A while ago there were rumors about Ayanokouji-kun having a crush on you. And you are also calling him by his first name." Shinohara-san said.
"I don't think that's the case at all. I know for sure that he doesn't like anyone romantically."
That was rather peculiar. Ayanokouji-kun told me that day that he had confessed to Karuizawa-san. But I think that was a total lie and I believed him. He really got in my head didn't he?
"He doesn't like anyone?" I voiced my question
"He is pretty clueless when it comes to things like love. For how smart he is, his actions towards romance and girls suggest he knows nothing."
"I'd like you to elaborate." Mori-san said. The discussion seems to be going towards an interesting topic. I'd like this sort of information on him as well.
"Yeah. What do mean he's clueless?" Shinohara-san
"On valentine's day he called me to a deserted place...I really had my hopes up you know" She started with a bomb
"WHAT??!!!!" This time it was Sato-san who raised her voice earning the glares of other people.
"oooh....what happened next?" Shinohara
"Nothing. He just asked me to check on a number he received a call from. That's it."
"I would be mad at him for leading a girl like that" Onodera
"What did you do next?" I asked her
"I hit him with a box of chocolates"
"Pfft...well he sort of asked for it"
"But he must have realized after that right?" I said it but felt my chest tightening a bit. I don't know why.
"No.......that's the sad part. He didn't realize even after all that." her face showed disappointment.
"Wow....he's really a dense one" Sato
"And then he gave me a heart shaped necklace on white day"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Wait for it Chiaki...wait for it...I know it's not a confession...
"HE CONFESSED!!!" Sato
"THAT'S A ROLLER-COASTER!!!!!" Shinohara
"WAIT DOES THAT MEAN YOU'RE DATING?!!" Onodera
"No...he did not confess."
Even though I knew perfectly that he is not the type to do so...I felt a bit relieved.
"Eh?"
"I asked him to give me a pricey gift...that love-dead idiot researched on the internet and gave me a heart-shaped necklace worth 20,000 yen."
I wonder what would have happened if he said that to me. At least I had discovered that I was interested in knowing more about him. It is only for helping the class...don't get any weird ideas.
"I never knew he was like this." Sato-san
"As dense as he is...I think it is a bit cute" I said in a low voice
"hoooh....you think it's him being cute, Matsushita-san. Don't tell me you also have fallen for him." Mori-san tried to tease me.
Any reply would be bad here. I had no idea what to do. I feel like Ayanokouji-kun has been in similar situation so many times before. I finally realize what he felt even if a little. To get out of this...
"Who knows" I answered in a monotone flat voice
I tried my best to pull-off an Ayanokouji-kun here.
She wanted to tease me more, but couldn't find the proper words. Woah! Even his words can work wonders. I'll have to remind myself later to thank him.
Ayanokouji POV
The match seems to be nearing its end now. I honestly found it fun. In the next 8 moves, it is going to be a draw by insufficient material.
"Ah, how disappointing." Sakayanagi said.
It was a classical game played with extremely high accuracy. Sakayanagi was Indeed a tough opponent. I wasn't going easy by any means in this game.
"I hope you're feeling satisfied."
"Of course I am"
"Ayanokouji-kun was evenly matched with Sakayanagi-san at chess. Its super amazing" Ichinose clapped lightly as she gave her opinion on the match.
"But I believe she was holding back, even if a little bit. After all I lost during the special exam." I said
"You really like to sell yourself short don't you, Ayanokouji-kun?" Ichinose
"I am only stating facts here"
"Well the match is over now. Please put your request forward."
"Aahh! I almost forgot the reason why were we here."
"I need your help with something. It is not related to the class conflict."
"What is it?"
"I want to order some gym equipment for myself which doesn't seem to be present here. That's all. I know it would be expensive so I need to know if Sakayanagi could help me with points. And since I'm not exactly friends with the SCP, I'd like Ichinose to help me on putting this request in the student council."
"Of course. You just had to message me you know. I would have complied without a second thought."
"Thank you Ichinose"
"Alright. But in return, I have a very small favor to ask"
I had expected this
"What is it?"
"Ichinose-san, could you give us some privacy for a few minutes. Some friends of Ayanokouji-kun have been looking here repeatedly for quite some time. I would like if you could join them for a few minutes"
I did not want to say it, but the stares were getting creepy with more time passing by.
"Okay. Please take your time." with that, Ichinose left us and went to Kei and others for a few minutes.
I stared at Sakayanagi, who seems to be enjoying herself.
"You think the director's behind this?"
"Of course."
"I wonder what he would do next. He seems to be forcing you to take steps in the upcoming special exams of the second year. And it looks like you are not in a position to avoid it."
With my role as a mastermind behind class D's success being revealed to everyone, it would be hard to avoid not participating at all. I have to participate atleast to some degree. And there's the competition with Horikita as well. The enforcers as well. *Sigh* How troublesome.
"You already know, don't you?" I asked, more like confirmed from her
"That more students of the white room will be present in this year's incoming batch."
"You seem to be quite happy about it."
"I am"
She said with the innocent smile of a child
"I also want to confirm something with you, Ayanokouji-kun."
"What?"
"Have you thought about my words from before?"
Words? Oh.
"I haven't experienced such thing in my life, so I would like to. But I need to prepare before it."
"Well it's good that you are thinking about it. I feel glad I could give you something to ponder over."
"If I manage to understand this sort of a feeling, I would be grateful to you for making me aware of what I had to do."
Matsushita POV
The match between Ayanokouji-kun and Sakayanagi-san seems to have reached it's end. After a few moments, we could see that Ichinose san stood up from there and came to our table. Even if I am a girl, I find myself a little bit vulnerable to her charms. I feel sorry for the boys she comes across with.
"Hello everyone." She said cheerfully.
"Konnichiwa Ichinose-san, what are you doing here?"
"Nothing much. Just strolling around as you can see."
"What were you doing with Sakayanagi-san and Ayanokouji-kun?"
"Ah that is nothing much. Ayanokouji-kun just asked us out for a small request. I think they are discussing the same right now."
"How was the match? Who won?" I asked curiously
"It was a draw. Honestly I couldn't even understand what was going on the board throughout the game. Both of them are really good at it."
"If I remember correctly, Sakayanagi-san beat him in chess during the special exam right?"
"Yeah. It was a close match as horikita-san had said"
"Ayanokouji-kun seems to be very good at chess also"
"Looks like it"
"But since we lost, starting tomorrow we are back to class D right?"
"Yeah it sucks"
"I don't look it that way."
"What do you mean Matsushita-san?"
"She has a point after all. If we are looking at the results, you indeed haven't improved in your standing but if you guys take a look at the class points, it's clear that the one class who has made the most progress is yours. I believe you are as much of a threat as other classes." Ichinose san seems to be praising us.
"Well that's thanks to our leaders. And we have a new addition in that squad today" She probably was referring to the videos and Ayaokouji-kun
"Ne Ichinose-san, did you knew about Ayanokouji-kun from before?"
"Well to be honest I knew that he had some sort of a role. My intuitions aid that he was always perfectly in a situation but I had no idea of what he'd done. Guess I know now. But why were you asking that to me?"
"I thought you and Ayanokouji-kun were close"
"Ehh!!! I-I'm not that close with him. We're just friends"
"What's with that reaction, and why is your face red?"
What the hell is happening? She's red as a tomato from embarrassment. As cute as she looks the more important issue is the other part. Why is she acting like this?
"N-Nothing you see. I just think that question was a bit weird"
"I think there's more to it than that. Please spill the beans for us. What exactly were you thinking?"
For someone who's totally dense to his surroundings, Ayanokouji-kun seems to attract be close with a lot of ladies. Even now he's talking with Sakayanagi-san like they are very close.
I'm not jealous, not jealous at all. I just want to know what is that guy's deal.
"Well it's just that even though we are in different classes, Ayanokouji-kun has helped me quite a lot. Like he talked to me when there were rumors about me. He also gave me some advice during the vacation and all."
"Heh...you guys are really close after all. We didn't know that, you know?"
I doubt even Horikita-san would know that as well. It seems just like him his plans and actions disappear in thin air. The only difference is now I mean to say that as a compliment.
The boy in question and Sakayanagi-san stood up from their table and seem to do something on their phones. he then called out Ichinose-san and after a couple of minutes, both of the girls left him to exit the cafe. He watched their backs as they left and came over to us. Probably because it would be a bit rude otherwise. He seems to be struggling to find a conversation starter
Ayanokouji POV
Alright, finished my business with Ichinose and Sakayanagi but I could still feel the glances of my girl classmates. It would be rude to ignore them after this so I approached them. How should I talk? what are they doing here in first place? Should I bring up today's videos? Casual talk? In the first place I was not friends with any of these girls. We were just classmates. I had to rely on my instincts.
15 years of my training in white room...my blood and sweat
"Hello there"
...is completely useless. Damn my poker face and emotionless tone
For five whole seconds there was complete silence
"You look like you had a rough day" Thanks Matsushita
"Indeed"
"What exactly were you doing with them?" Onodera
"Just a selfish request. Nothing related to class matters if that's what are you worried about."
They moved to make space for me. I sat between Kei and Shinohara with Sato and stalker-chan in front.
"Where's Yousuke?"
"He would be joining us in some time. We are just killing time until then." Shinohara
Silence again. I really feel like me being here is rude to these girls. I felt very awkward in here.
"That's because of you"
I know...wait what?
"Well we find it hard to talk to you since we don't know much about you to begin with."
Did she just read my mind?
"For some strange reason it is easy to talk about you when you're not here compared to when you are present" Mori
"Well I thought it would be rude if I just ignored and left so I guess it was better to come here."
"See, I didn't knew you think like that. I think you would make a good impression if you would talk more" Shinohara
Shinohara Satsuki. My first impressions of her aside, she really seems to be a nice girl. Earlier I thought that she might hate me or something for keeping secrets but that doesn't seem to be the case. Although that can also be due to Kei and Yousuke on my side.
"Social interactions are not my forte"
"Alright then, let's take you to shopping with us"
"Eh?"
"Don't 'Eh' us...you're coming,right everyone?"
The six girls here were all looking at me. Sensing danger I tried to move back out of their reach but Kei and Shinohara grabbed me
"Oh no you're not running away, we also need evidence for an event later"
Evidence? As much as I wanted to ask what did they mean by it, my priority is to escape this predicament
"Hirata-kun is also coming. You won't feel so uncomfortable with him" Matsushita
Thanks for looking out for me but that doesn't solve the problem
Timeskip
There are different kinds of hell. Dante's inferno describes 9 circles of hell. In hell you suffer for your actions and you alone are responsible for it.
I feel like I have discovered a new one, and surprisingly you don't need to do anything to be in this hell.
I am walking beside Yousuke, my partner in suffering.
"Is it always like this?"
He just nodded
"How do you escape?"
"You can't"
I saw 360 degrees around me to find an escape. Yeah, no way out.
We were surrounded by girls on all sides, and all of them seem to oblivious of the suffering we are going through.
"Girls are ruthless"
"Why am I not surprised at us agreeing on our views?" was he asking me? I had an answer
"Well, the sun rises in the east"
"I get it now"
Universal truths are what you can't deny. Unless you're a member of 'flat earth society'
Back to the trouble at hand...Girls are far too perceptive when it comes to shopping.
I can see sato sniffing. It looked cute but what was she trying to smell?
She then gave a gesture that seemed to convey she had found what she wanted to. She turned towards a shop where I could see a lined display of...Nail-polishes.
If people have supernatural abilities like this...the hell I have been doing at the white room?
In a trip that should have been 15 to 20 minutes at maximum, we have been here for more than an hour now.
Shinohara and Onodera, and Mori were visiting every shop in our path. Though they were not buying something. Kei was with sato. Meanwhile Matsushita is...
"You have a problem?"
"I can't say that I am comfortable"
She is walking in front of me. I am carrying four bags in my hand. How many points does she have to buy all these things? And why is she making me carry all this?
"If you are worried about the points, I'll have you know that I am a veteran. I have already scouted all the shops here and I know what to get and the prices have all been taken into account."
"How much does this all cost?"
"35,000 points."
"How long did you prepare for this?"
"A few months"
"If you could share that information with others I would be grateful"
"Even if I told them it wouldn't mean anything unless they check it out themselves."
"How often does this happen?"
"We come here often to check out the selections but we only buy when we are prepared"
I understand why they shop only when they are prepared to spare points, but I don't get the reason why is she so proud.
This girl has been ordering me around all this time. I feel like I'm her butler or something.
If just carrying bags would fetch me points then I wouldn't mind...but I'm not getting anything for this now, am I?
"This is a chance for you to learn something Ayanokouji-kun, you should be paying attention all around"
Oh I learned about you girls all right. Too much if you ask me.
At least I have Yousuke...Wait Where is he?
"Are you looking for Hirata-kun? Apparently some senior of his club called him when he was with karuizawa-san. He left a few minutes ago."
Oh hell no! You traitor. What happened to 'Not abandoning your classmates'
"Something bothering you?"
"Nothing"
I get he wanted to share his burden. But he didn't share, he passed all of it to me
Sigh
A rough day indeed
Matsushita POV
After a few minutes of walking, we are finally here. I signaled Ayanokouji-kun to follow me into the store. It's a shop for men and I am here for a purpose. Right now all the girls are busy with themselves and I am alone to do what needed to be done.
I turned around to take a good look at him. What would be the best? I don't plan on buying anything for him, all I need is a photo.
Tonight is the day we vote again for the hottest guys in our year. Ayanokouji-kun was ranked 5th at start of the year but it is clear he's gonna jump in rankings. We can't let class A win here.
I took a two-piece suit with matching pants and a tie
"Here"
Ayanokouji POV
She offered me a dress
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Wear it and come fast, we don't have much time"
"For what?"
"Don't ask questions, just do it"
"Do I have an option?"
"Did I give you one?"
She said so with a smile and scary eyes. I swear I'm going to return the favor one day. But I need this to be over now.
"I'm not going to buy it"
"I'm not asking you to, just try it and we'll be done"
"Alright."
I went into the changing rooms. Outside I could hear Kei and others now. Matsushita seems to be explaining the situation to others.
As soon as I got out all eyes turned to me
"..."
"..."
"..."
Matsushita POV
Everyone gasped as he stepped out of the changing room. He looked good...I mean really handsome. I felt my cheeks reddening a bit
"Wow! you're really handsome Ayanokouji-kun" Onodera -san
"You look really good" Shinohara
"I think you look even better than Hirata-kun" Mori
"Hot as hell" I heard Sato-san muttering
I spoke nothing just kept looking at him. But when his gaze met mine, I averted my gaze. I realized what I came here for, I took out my phone and took a picture. I sent the picture to all the girls present here for safety and with that we were prepared for the contest tonight.
"All right let's go. We have troubled him enough"
"Do you really find beautiful girls troubling?"
He didn't reply at which girls started to giggle
I think this was a not-so-good new experience for him. He was bad with crowds after all.
After he left we also came back to the dorms in the lobby where we were waiting for the voting to start
A total of 64 voters in this chatroom were there.
The voting system goes like this. We first vote for the first place, then the second and so on. Last time Satonaka-kun beat Hirata-kun for the first place by 5 votes.
Well this time things are different, people of our class might not be considering Hirata-kun for the first place. Maybe Ayanokouji-kun. And given that Satonaka-kun is already in a relationship with a senior, his chances to win are a bit lower.
We prepare a profile for every guy ourselves. Ayanokouji-kun's picture will come handy now. Since the accounts were anonymous, I posted the picture without hesitation with a request to update his profile. I could see the thirst in their comments
"Kya!!!! So hot"
"Thanks for the meal"
"How was he off the grid this whole time. Is he single?"
"Who knows"
"Hot as hell"
I feel like I know who posted the last comment. Another request came in the group
"After today's videos...I feel like this guy should be removed from the gloominess list"
"Totally"
"He's in the leaders rankings now"
"Hot as hell"
It would be bad if we left Sato-san and Ayanokouji-kun in the same room. Her thirst would take over her cute side which we call as Nekomaya-chan.
"Alright time for the election"
"
The top contenders for the first place are: Ayanokouji-kun, Hirata-kun and Satonaka-kun
Please vote your pick. You have 5 minutes.
"
I voted. Of course for him. This time I think its going to be a competition between Hirata-kun and him.
Soon the results were out.
First place: Hirata-kun with 20 votes
Second place: Ayanokouji-kun with 19 votes
Third place: Satonaka-kun with 11 votes
Fourth place: RD1 with 10 votes
Fifth place: RD2 with 4 votes
...
I feel like Ayanokouji-kun should just seduce Mii-chan and we would have world peace.
Anyway onto the main mater. I have to prepare before I approach him regarding the class conflict.
*Timeskip*
"Phew. Took some time but I finally prepared the questions"
First is why would we bother scoring exactly 50% If he did not like attention? Apart from that the matter with Kushida-san. And one of the most important, How did he deal with Ryuen? In today's gathering, I could feel Ryuen was not surprised at all when he was exposed as the mastermind. I'd like to know how he dealt with him.
Alright. Time to go. When I reached the fourth floor, I could see Karuizawa-san outside his room.
What are they planning to do now?
I slowly moved towards his room without making any sound. I could not stand in front as my shadow would be visible from under the door. So I was not able to hear properly the conversation inside. But after a couple of minutes I heard one thing properly,
"Kiyotaka I like you. Please go out with me!"
A/N:
You guys can probably guess what is going to happen and who is the best girl.
I just want to do it because other girls deserve love too
After the next chapter, I will make another fanfic which will have Sato as best girl. I will probably take a break from this one to plan things out.
Thank you
BTW can you guys recommend a few stories where Kiyo is in class C?