Wednesday, April 10th. The day after Yamauchi's expulsion was made official.
Just like yesterday, the students kept quiet and listened to the teachers. Sudou seemed to struggle with staying awake, but he somehow managed due to the fear of being the next one who might get suspended.
My gaze wandered over to Hirata, who looked better than yesterday, but still depressed overall.
Matsushita had told me that Karuizawa and Mii-chan invited Hirata to visit the karaoke parlor with the Class B and D students, but he declined, saying that he didn't feel like celebrating that day. Both of them were frustrated after his rejection, but their moods were elevated by the many Class B students who had created a cheerful atmosphere by themselves.
Thanks to their efforts, everyone had a great time, even taking into consideration the tarnished moods from the Class D girls who longed for Hirata's presence. According to Matsushita, there were a lot of great guys in Class B who wouldn't lose out to Hirata by much. This encouraged most of the young maidens, except for Karuizawa and Mii-chan.
All of this hadn't changed one important fact, however.
Hirata was worthless.
He had shown some pleasant expressions today, which was a leap of progress from yesterday's point of view, but he was still an unacceptable piece for me if things were to stay this way. From here on out, I had multiple routes to choose from. For instance, I could act myself. But this would be my last resort in case Hirata was about to self-destruct due to the lingering regrets he held for Yamauchi.
At the moment, Hirata was troubled, but still stable, which led me to multiple other possibilities on how to handle him. Since I would only act myself if there was no other hope, I managed to narrow my options down to two final paths that were available to me.
One, leave Hirata alone for now and see where his thoughts took him.
This would be interesting from an emotional standpoint. How would Hirata handle this school from now on? Would he change the way he talked to people? Close himself off? Get violent, perhaps? It would fascinate me to dissect his psyche until nothing was left and build him from the ground up. But that was too much work for a little reward, since Hirata was excellent the way he was before our classmate was expelled.
Another negative point was that I wouldn't be able to use him for the foreseeable future. He might also derail much worse than assumed, which would render him worthless until I was done reeducating him. I ran multiple simulations which revealed that he might collapse due to the stress and anxiety, depending on the exact circumstances of his past that led him to develop his savior complex.
Possibility number two was to reintegrate him into the class and show him that not all was lost.
This was needed to be handled with skill. Another one of my future pieces would be a perfect candidate to fix my bad bishop and turn him into a viable one. I didn't have full control over said piece, but it would follow my pleas without thinking twice if it was to Hirata's benefit.
I was ready to sacrifice all of my pieces if it meant winning, so this game was bound to get ugly somewhere down the line. If my bishop lost his mind every time someone got expelled, I wouldn't be able to use him properly, which would render him useless in the long run. He might even become a hindrance, which was something I'd like to avoid since he was a very useful piece.
With my plans for Hirata decided upon, I delved deeper into the mysteries of this school.
The classes were in a competition with each other, so there would need to be some kind of special tests in store for us, which meant that fights between our classes would break out. It was impossible to know what sort of exams would be held, but I was sure that they would differ from the ones a normal school would take, or this whole system wouldn't make any sense.
Since the classes were already ranked as soon as we students got here, there was no way for a lower class to fight their way up without the use of other exams aside from written ones, which I will call special exams for now. For example, if the class standing was calculated by academics and behavior alone, then we wouldn't have any chance to overcome the hurdle called Class B.
Besides that, the placements in the classes seemed balanced. Meaning someone like Kouenji, no matter how big his narcissism was, shouldn't have been placed in Class D due to his other abilities. The same went for someone like Yamauchi, however. There was not a single good quality about him, yet he made it into an elite school for the students that will supposedly lead japan into the future.
If my guess was right, there should be a written mock exam rather soon. This would lead the class to remember that they were not on a holiday. Due to the way this school was structured, most of my classmates forgot that a school wasn't supposed to be fun and games.
This mock exam will presumably be held near the end of April.
Come May, the next bomb would be dropped on this class, or rather, the whole school year. Since it was impossible that we would receive all of our points, the students would have questions. This would be the case in all classes, no matter how hard they tried, so the teachers wouldn't have any excuse not to answer them. Because of this, the school's true colors would be revealed.
I wouldn't be surprised if they were to reveal the results of our mock exam around this time to increase the psychological impact on the students. We will probably be informed that the students who hadn't passed the exam would have been expelled if it were a real one, which would place even more emphasis on the gravity of their situation.
The mock exam would appear as a blessing from the heavens after all those bad news and prompt them to work harder for their place in this school, since the one who had failed would have one last chance to get a grip and better themselves. After these warnings, there was still enough time to fix their grades until the real exam, even in severe cases. Said exam would follow around the end of the semester, as per usual.
This was to weed out everyone who wasn't able to prove their worth. A preliminary round, so to speak.
At the same time as our points will be revealed, doubts are going to appear in the students' minds.
'How do we get to catch up to the other classes?', 'How are we earning points to buy food and necessities?'
The answer to those questions would be the special exams, which will probably reward large amounts of points for the winning classes. These events would close the circle that would repeat for our three years at this school, which was the only way that this school's system could be explained.
A competition between the four classes on who would come out on top.
So far, I was confident in my theory. This meant that I needed to make sure that all my pieces would stay intact until after the written exam near the end of the semester. At the moment, one of my pieces was weakened, and I had to get it back in line before anything big happened.
♙♘♗♖♕♔ 🄲🅷🄴🅲🄺🅼🄰🆃🄴 ♚♛♜♝♞♟
Our lesson ended, and most of my classmates left the room.
Ike glanced at the empty desk that had once belonged to Yamauchi with a depressed expression. For some strange reason, it was back in the classroom this morning.
I assumed that it was taken outside for the shock value that would follow such a discovery. After the initial impact, it was much better to place it back inside the classroom for the other students to see what they had lost day after day. A reminder that they might be the ones to leave behind the next empty seat.
This school sure was cruel...
Horikita stuffed the materials into her bag and stood before nodding in goodbye. I returned her kind gesture with a bored expression and supported my heavy head with my palm. Sudou said his farewell to Ike before leaving for his basketball training.
The lone idiot trudged out of the classroom with a sullen expression after having lost his best friend.
There was no reason to be concerned about Ike. He was almost as useless as Yamauchi, so even if he dropped out, it wouldn't be a problem I couldn't work with. I didn't know what the implications for the class were if students were expelled, but there shouldn't be problems this early on as I had enough time to remedy them.
Matsushita, Karuizawa and Satou walked over to Hirata and invited him to grab a bite. He agreed with a smile, but his poor act didn't go unnoticed by both me and a certain girl. After the boy was done packing up, the group strode outside. The three girls waved me goodbye before vanishing from my view.
I had already informed them that I was occupied and couldn't join them today, so they didn't go through the trouble of asking. Hirata hadn't even noticed me, as he was too distracted with his jumbled up feelings.
Sometimes, even heroes needed saving.
Kushida was still in the classroom, packing up her materials while talking to her friends. It seemed like they wanted to grab a bite together as well, which wasn't anything out of the ordinary for their group. Just like Karuizawa, she had a standard crowd which she hung out with but she also wormed her way into remaining groups to keep her social interactions with the others high.
As expected of our social butterfly.
I gathered up my stuff and waited outside of the room at a nearby window. The breeze felt nice as the wind caressed my neck, while I waited for the girl I wanted to have a chat with. She and her company soon arrived and our eyes met. The class angel seemed to have understood that I wanted to talk to her, as was to be expected of Kushida's top-notch social skills.
She apologized to the girls surrounding her before striding over to me.
"Ayanokouji-kun? Can I do something for you?"
She asked in a cute voice while resting her index finger on her chin. Her rather short hair waved in the fresh breeze as the smell of her shampoo drifted into my nostrils, which made this day already worth getting up for. Her enticing appearance was too much for me to handle, so I got to the gist of what I wanted to convey rather quick.
"Yeah, could we talk somewhere more private?"
Even though a sentence like this could be taken in hundreds if not thousands of different ways, Kushida didn't seem bothered by it and complied with a happy expression after signaling her friends that she'd spend some time with me. They frowned visibly, and I couldn't help but swallow after receiving their chilling glares.
"Yeah, sure. Let's take a walk."
My heartbeat sped up, and I nodded in thanks before she took the lead. We wandered through the school, which felt somewhat uncomfortable. Due to Kushida's company, tons of people glanced or peeked at us on their way. It almost felt like we were a couple.
After a few twists and turns, we settled down on a lone bench overlooking the sea. She sat with a bright smile and gasped at the beauty of this place, while tapping on the spot right next to her. According to her expression, this was also her first time at this place. After I sat down as well, she shot me a questioning look.
"So, Ayanokouji-kun, what do you want to talk about?"
"It's about Hirata."
"Hirata-kun, huh? Is it because he's been feeling down ever since Yamauchi-kun got expelled?"
As expected of someone at the top of the social hierarchy. She immediately assessed the most likely scenario and focused on the point I was trying to make. It was almost impossible that Kushida hadn't noticed his struggles after all.
I nodded. "Yeah. I've been worrying about him for a few days now, because... Can you keep a secret?"
Kushida perked up upon hearing this. She grabbed my hands and faced me with a brilliant smile. This comforting attitude made it easy to open up to her, even if the topic was a difficult one. It was undeniable that people wanted to share their thoughts and feelings with someone, and Kushida was the safest person to open up to due to the warm and pleasant atmosphere she gave off.
"Of course, Ayanokouji-kun! Leave it to me."
I took a deep breath and talked about what had happened when I spoke to Hirata in the locker room.
"On that day... you know, when Yamauchi was found with the underwear in his bag, Hirata stayed behind after everyone was done changing. He had to endure a verbal beatdown by Sudou who had lost his temper, so I tried to console him that it wasn't really his fault. Hirata kept saying that it was fine, that the problem wasn't Sudou, but Yamauchi's situation. Hirata... he didn't believe that Yamauchi stole the girl's underwear."
I was curious about her opinion and her other thoughts about all of this. For this reason, I stopped my narration for a moment to let everything sink in. Kushida was a smart and talented girl, but I needed to know the precise extent of her abilities.
"Mhm. To be honest, I also found it weird. Yamauchi-kun wouldn't do something like this, I thought. I tried talking to the teachers, but they said as long as I couldn't prove that it wasn't Yamauchi-kun who stole the underwear, their hands were tied. I reached out to a few friends, but no one could help since they were swimming or on the observation deck. In the end, I couldn't do anything for Yamauchi-kun..."
She lowered her head and clenched her little fists in frustration. Her touch felt strangely satisfying and even though she was grieving, she tried her best to cheer me up with a small smile.
Our angel was affected by this, just like everyone else. She even went out of her way to plead for Yamauchi's innocence and asked around for clues. Her actions from the bus hadn't changed at all. Even though the scale was smaller, she did the same for the elderly woman back then.
Kushida Kikyou was a genuinely kind and caring girl. She was wonderful to be around and would be one of the biggest reasons that our class would stay coherent in the future.
"Hirata was worried that the class would split apart if this kept going. His fears weren't ungrounded, as most of the girls don't even talk to the boys and vice versa. He then asked me what I thought would happen to Yamauchi. I answered him honestly, and ever since that time... I felt that I shouldn't have been honest."
Kushida looked down at my hands, gripping my palms tighter.
She was excellent at making people feel comfortable around her. It wasn't much, but a light, yet honest touch like this could fry a guy's brain in seconds. She had me firmly in her grasp. The girl peeked at me with an uneasy expression and turned her stunning eyes upwards.
"You told him that Yamauchi-kun is likely going to be expelled, right?"
I nodded while looking down, indicating that I felt horrible about what had happened.
Kushida had used the same method before to get me to agree with her plan, so it was bound to be effective. Hirata also stared downwards when Yamauchi was in trouble, so I figured that this would be a powerful move to show my concern for his current condition.
"Hirata thought the same, but couldn't accept it. He wanted to do something, anything in his power to help him..."
"But he couldn't, right?"
This time, I shook my head in denial.
"There was a way... he... I told him not to do anything stupid... and he didn't... but ever since then, he hasn't really been Hirata, if that makes any sense."
"Ayanokouji-kun..."
Her sweet voice reverberated in my ear. Her crimson eyes pleaded at me as she moved closer. I could almost feel Kushida's gentle breaths tickling my lips as she peered at me with worry.
"What did Hirata-kun plan on doing?"
I clenched my fists, just like Hirata did when he was in a difficult situation. Unlike him, I took care not to clutch too hard since it would hurt Kushida, who was still holding onto my hands. I put just enough pressure into my grip to convey the conflicting emotions I should have been going through, according to my research.
"He wanted to take the blame in Yamauchi's stead."
Kushida's eyes opened wide in surprise. She truly didn't expect an answer as shocking as this.
"Hirata-kun..." She lowered her gaze and closed her eyes.
I sensed a wet sensation as small tear droplets made their way onto my hands.
If anyone were to see this situation, I wouldn't survive the next few seconds. My school life would be over. I could already feel Ike's cold hands strangling me, while I wished he wouldn't touch me. Only god knew what he did with those hands after all.
A few moments later, just as expected, Kushida Kikyou reacted exactly as I had planned. Even though she wasn't one of the pieces, which I could use as I pleased, I only needed to twist everything in a way that made her think that she needed to save one of her friends.
Our angel wouldn't let them down, after all.
"Ayanokouji-kun, we have to help Hirata-kun!"
Her gaze met mine, tears still glittering on her cheek due to the sun's warm and comfortable rays.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I think Hirata needs your help. If anyone can save Hirata, then it's you, Kushida."
The girl let go of my hands and wiped the tears off her face. Her gaze changed into one of determination as she clenched her hands into fists to encourage me and herself.
"Leave it to me, Ayanokouji-kun. I'll do everything in my power to save Hirata-kun."
Yes.
There she was.
My queen.
The most powerful piece in my arsenal.
♙♘♗♖♕♔ 🄲🅷🄴🅲🄺🅼🄰🆃🄴 ♚♛♜♝♞♟
We kept talking for a bit more before Kushida excused herself to make a plan to save Hirata. She was dead set on doing anything she could to make him smile again so that everyone could be friends.
What a sweet, gullible child.
I heaved a heavy sigh and leaned my back against the bench I sat on.
"Beautiful."
Those words weren't meant for anyone in particular. I was simply gazing over the horizon with a relaxed expression. In the White Room, I hadn't seen such a scene after all. The fresh breeze, the clean, blue ocean which reflected the sun's lustrous rays and the light hint of salt in the air. The bright reflections on the ocean's surface were blinding, which is why I shut my eyes.
It was quite soothing to spend my time like this and I hoped to enjoy such peace for a while longer.
"I am. Thank you for noticing."
A girl's statement broke the calming silence. I almost thought that I heard Kouenji's voice, but this one was far more pleasant to the ears. Even though it was just as arrogant, it had a certain charm to it. One I couldn't deny.
I opened my eyes and gazed towards the left, where the voice originated from.
A beautiful, platinum blonde-haired girl sat on a nearby bench. I noticed her presence after my initial muttering, but I didn't expect her to pick up on my rumblings. Her crimson eyes gazed into mine, as if she was trying to extract information. I hadn't seen her before, but her overall posture and confidence made her seem like an upperclassman who spent her time here often.
"I didn't notice you there. Are you a first year as well? I'm Ayanokouji Kiyotaka from class 1-D. Nice to meet you."
This introduction was much better than the first time I tried to present myself. My voice had a much more natural flow opposed to when I talked to Horikita on our first day. I was almost a little proud of my accomplishments, but I still had a long way to go.
The girl's eyes narrowed, and her smile formed into a vicious sneer.
"Kiryuin Fuka, 2-B. Call me Fuka, Kouhai-kun."
My first impression of her was neither good nor bad. Kiryuin's attitude made her feel like a female Kouenji. Even though this was the case, she was charming and her looks were nothing short of bewitching. I wondered if some girls had the same thoughts about Kouenji, but I couldn't wrap my head around it and gave up.
"Nice to meet you, Kiryuin-senpai. What brings you here?"
I saw this as an opportunity to learn more about conversations with new people and tried to make some small talk to ease the weird atmosphere she had created. Due to my repeated conversations with other students, I felt comfortable that I could handle talking to one person and wouldn't fail outright.
To my dismay, however, Kiryuin had other plans.
"Fuka."
"Senpai?" I tilted my head.
"Fuka."
Was she a broken record or something?
"Fuka?"
"Yes, Kouhai-kun?"
I was confused. Women were scary creatures. Ever since I had arrived here, they troubled me more times than I could count.
It was respectful to call a senpai, senpai. Not only did she deny that immediately, she wanted me to call her by her first name. From what I had learned, this was a sign of intimacy between two people. How in the world did I manage to get intimate with this girl in a matter of thirty seconds?
"What brings you here?"
"Peace, quiet and a beautiful scenery."
Why is she looking at me like that? Was she teasing me?
"Ah, yes. Same for me."
"Is that so?" She asked with a smirk on her face.
I was sure that she hadn't seen Kushida. She came from another direction as well, so the possibility that they ran into each other with multiple buildings between them was non-existent.
"Yes, I found that place just now. It's really comforting."
"Mhh, agreed. So how's the school, Kouhai-kun?"
"It's different from before, that's for sure, but relaxing."
She scrutinized me while I responded to her question. It felt uncomfortable, as if I was being dissected and peered into until she found what she was looking for.
"Mhh, it is different, isn't it? Relaxing, yes, but also treacherous."
"Treacherous? What is?"
She smirked before shaking her head in denial.
I decided to leave this woman alone. Associating with her felt like jumping into a pool of magma; not only life threatening, but assured death. She gave me subtle hints about the school to check my reactions, but I wanted nothing more but to be left alone.
"Well, it was nice meeting you senp —"
"Fuka."
"Ehrm. Well, it was nice meeting you... Fuka, but I should go back now."
"Do you, now? Where are you going?"
"A friend of mine is in the basketball club. I wanted to see how he's doing."
"Mhh... alright. You may leave, Kouhai-kun."
Wait, what would have happened if she said that I couldn't leave?
"Thanks. I guess? I'll see you around Fuka-senp —"
"Just Fuka."
I knew little about this woman, but I experienced enough to realize that she would be a lot of trouble in the future. I stood and walked past her. As I did, she smirked before pulling out her phone. After unlocking it, she opened up a chat and typed some words. Since I was leaving the area, I couldn't make them out, but I felt that trouble was brewing.
♙♘♗♖♕♔ 🄲🅷🄴🅲🄺🅼🄰🆃🄴 ♚♛♜♝♞♟
After escaping from this lioness' entrapment, I wandered around campus toward the basketball club's training area. I was interested to see how capable Sudou was in his element. He said that he'd been playing since grade school, so it should be safe to assume that he was at least a half decent player. If we add his physique to that, he might be above just good.
From the initial trio, Sudou was the person whom I couldn't lose, no matter what. Even if he wasn't that gifted academically, his physical abilities should make up for these shortcomings in the long run. He also joined the basketball club, which might influence our points depending on his performance in real games or tournaments. I didn't believe for a second that this school would have competitive clubs such as this one just for fun.
Due to his hot-headed attitude, it was easy for him to screw up, which is why I decided to check on him and the people he was surrounding himself with. This included the people in the basketball club. I also needed to take care of his anger management issues, but I hadn't decided on how I would go about them. Just like Hirata, there were multiple ways to bind Sudou. I just had to determine the proper way for him individually.
Upon concluding my thoughts, I arrived at the basketball training hall and stepped inside. The sound of running and sports shoes squeaking over the floor was the first thing that my ears picked up on. The basketball, hitting the ground and loud cheers, rang out shortly after.
The voices and sounds increased in volume the closer I got to the court. The players yelled at their mates; the ball hit the backboard and a round of roars spread through the team like a wildfire after someone scored a three pointer.
I took a seat on one of the many benches near the court and began to observe the players on the field. I had seen none of them before, but most of the players seemed like second and third years, which was to be expected so early in the year.
"LET'S GO!"
Sudou was as loud as ever as he scored another three pointer. He celebrated with his team before the game continued, with little time in between. After a whistle, one of his teammates got hold of the ball and passed it onto him after a well-executed feint.
It was easy to study people, even strangers, in situations like this. For example, one could easily recognize who was used to playing with one another and who wasn't. As far as I could tell, each team was composed of two first years and three seniors. They were still feeling out the new students, but from what I had seen, Sudou seemed plenty promising, according to their wordless conversations.
There was also a second set of teams which rested on the benches beside the court. The players were drenched in sweat and gulped down water like it was the last thing left on earth. It wasn't as easy to pick the first years out in those groups, but definitely doable. I once again narrowed their presence down to two first years and three seniors per team. Since there were too many players for one lineup, it would be quite a fierce competition for the regular positions in future tournaments.
My classmate wiped the sweat off his face with his basketball jersey and stretched his arm while the enemy team was occupied with getting the ball back after a missed pass. His gaze drifted towards the spectator terraces where our eyes met. He seemed surprised before a grin overshadowed his exhausted expression. The boy shot me a quick wave before the game resumed.
Time passed, and the team featuring Sudou won the match. His teammates slapped him on the back and congratulated him for a job well done, so my initial impressions about him weren't off. This, however, lead to dismay between the other first years. I noticed some glances being exchanged before they were hidden behind a gentle facade. The students in question congratulated him and patted his back, just like the others did.
The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, huh?
I wasn't sure if anyone aside from me had noticed their discontent, but that wasn't important right now. There were two students from Class B, which narrowed the rest of them down to A and C. As a member of the club, Sudou should know more about them, so there was no use in mulling over this any longer.
According to the clock on the opposite side of the spectator seats, their training had ended around five minutes ago, which meant that they should get changed and leave the hall soon. I stood, put my hands in my pockets and strolled outside, where I waited for Sudou's arrival.
"Yo, Ayanokouji."
"You are pretty good Sudou. If even I can tell that, it has to mean something."
He scratched his nose with a proud smile.
"Thanks. I poured in a shit ton of work over the years, so it's always nice to hear that it paid off."
"Yeah, you really showed those upperclassmen. Was that a normal training session?"
"No, the seniors wanted to see how capable we were, so I went all-out on them."
"You've definitely done a good job with that."
"I know, right? They didn't know what hit them."
He jabbed the air before turning towards me with a grin.
"Let's grab something to eat. I'm hungry as hell."
I nodded and followed beside him as we made our way back to the shopping area. I was sure that he'd go for cup noodles again, but I didn't really mind. I could try another flavor this time.
"Are you the only first year in the basketball club?"
"No, one of eight, actually. Three of them are from Class C, but I forgot their names. And another two from Class A and B, respectively."
"You didn't forget their names?"
I asked with a smile, whereupon he scratched his neck and cleared his throat in embarrassment.
"A-anyway. What brought you to the court? Did you decide to join as well?"
"Me? No. Just had the urge to see how you were doing. That's all."
Sudou stopped dead in his tracks, face paling.
"Say, Ayanokouji."
"Mh?"
I turned to him with a quizzical look. He was completely serious about this.
"Do you have a crush on anyone in class?"
It seemed to be quite an important question, given the tense atmosphere. Did he have one and wanted to make sure that we wouldn't have the same? Wasn't this something friends would do? It should have been something like that. He could also swing the other way, of course, but he didn't seem like someone who did, so I quickly scratched that from my list of reasons.
Putting all of that aside, I decided to answer him honestly.
"Not really, no."
His face regained some of his color after my short but concise answer. He fell into deep contemplation before he once again glanced at me.
"I see. But if you had to choose anyone in class you could go out with, who would it be?"
At first, I thought this question would be more difficult to answer than the last, but before I could even start to think about the positive and negative points of each of our female classmates, a certain girl's face appeared in my field of view.
After this short but weird coincidence, I applied myself to the task at hand.
There were multiple girls I had contact with frequently. I also enjoyed all of their companies, which was one of the most important aspects to consider while brooding over such a question. The girls swirling around in my mind were Matsushita, Karuizawa, Kushida, Satou, and Horikita.
The latter's name could be scratched from that list with a clear conscience, however. Even though I enjoyed her company for some unknown reason, I would die by a thousand stabs if this conversation was leaked and her name came up as someone I'd considered.
Satou was nice, but other than that, I didn't really have much of an impression about her. She was basically one of Karuizawa's followers, nothing more, nothing less. She was cute and I probably wouldn't say no if she were to ask me out, but there was little hope of this happening.
What would we even talk about if she were my girlfriend?
Kushida was great and wanted to be friends with everyone. Since I didn't want to ruin her goal with my selfish desire, she could be scratched as well. Even though her hands felt pretty nice.
What a shame...
Karuizawa seemed to have her eyes on Hirata, so she was out of the picture as well, which would leave Matsushita. Aside from being the only person who was left, she was also kind and beautiful. I didn't have any problems to keep a conversation going when I was talking to her either, which I wasn't so sure about with the other girls on my list.
All of them were charming, really, but Matsushita had this grown-up aura, which couldn't be found on the others. Horikita was similar, but she was too cold to play in the same ballpark as her.
"Matsushita, I guess."
"Her? Hmm. You are hanging out with her quite a lot, aren't you?"
He threw me a suspicious glance.
"From time to time. But never alone, so stop thinking about weird things."
It was nice talking to a friend about such trivial topics. I wasn't sure if we were friends in an official capacity, but our chats felt similar to the ones I had with Karuizawa and her group, just somewhat different since we were both guys here.
"I wasn't. Just relieved by your answer."
"That so? Who do you have in mind then?"
"Eh?"
He seemed taken aback.
Wasn't it only natural to return such a question after answering it? I was pretty sure that conversations like these followed a certain pattern. I thought this was a good time to test out something I've learned over the past days: teasing.
"Come on, you can tell me. I won't judge even if it's a guy."
"Huh?! You... a damn. Forget it."
He exhaled in exasperation and fell into a deep contemplation.
I didn't know what he was thinking so deeply about, since he hadn't really spoken to any girl in class since school had begun. His choice should boil down to appearance and preference. I was rather interested in the answer, so it was good that he started the topic, which meant I could just play along with him.
"The only thing on my mind is basketball, so I haven't really thought about it much, to be honest."
"That's a cheap out, Sudou."
I faced him with the best 'disappointment-face' I could manage. I wasn't very good at it, but it seemed to be enough for Sudou.
"Damn you!"
His sudden outburst frightened some students who were roaming around the area. Upon noticing that a few of them ran off, he looked somewhat apologetic. He heaved another deep sigh before throwing the towel.
"I don't know, honestly. I mean, some of them look great, but I wouldn't be able to tell you who I'd want to date."
"So you are still not ready to share a name, huh? I wonder what Horikita would say if I told her you said hers."
I responded to his indecisiveness with a smug grin. Due to my dirty reaction, I was ready to receive a smack, but the answer I got differed from what I had expected.
"You what? Do you want me to get killed? That devil is ruthless!"
He massaged the back of his left hand and spaced out. It looked like as if he remembered a traumatic experience and was still dealing with the aftereffects.
Did something happen between them? I was interested, but I'd rather stay clear of that minefield. She was damn scary, after all.
"Haaa, fine. You want a name? I'll just say Kushida then. No wait, Ike is crazy for her, so I can't do that. I don't even know many of them. Uhh, how about that girl that won the swimming contest? Onodera or something? Yeah, I'll go with her."
Poor Kushida. I couldn't imagine what a nightmare this situation must be for her.
Sudou's choice, however, wasn't even that bad considering that he had just thought of someone. At least she was athletic, so they already had that in common. Their respective sports couldn't be further apart, but the connection still stood. I knew too little about her to run consistent simulations on the two of them. But the information I lacked could be supplemented in time.
I also wondered what other types of people could be helpful for Sudou.
For example, if he were to go out with Horikita, she would surely keep his demeanor in check. Looking at the other end of the spectrum would be someone like Sakura. How would they fare together? I couldn't help but let a few simulations play out in my head with the little knowledge I possessed about the both of them. I knew more about Horikita and Sakura than Onodera, which is why some preliminary ones were possible.
"Onodera, huh?"
"Well, I really didn't do too much thinking about my choice. It could turn out entirely different if I get to know some girls better. It's just that she's a sports girl, so I guess it kinda fits, you know?"
"Fair point."
Our conversation reached a low point as we arrived at the store. We went inside and Sudou went straight towards the cup noodles as expected. As per my previous decision, I took another flavor today, and was going to prepare a proper dinner later. Sudou bought the largest size while I went with a smaller option.
Did he prefer bigger ones, perhaps?
We both stood in line, waiting for our turn, when Sudou remembered something.
"Oi, Ayanokouji. Gimme that."
"You want my cup noodles?"
"Yeah."
He held out his empty palm.
"Why don't you get that flavor yourself? It's not like it's the last one. I'll keep your spot warm."
"Don't be an idiot and gimme your damn noodles."
A few guys turned around with annoyed faces. As soon as they noticed Sudou, they spun around as if nothing had ever happened. I didn't really know why Sudou wanted my cup, so I decided that I just wouldn't ask and get myself another one since we were still in the store. With a somewhat torn expression, I handed him noodles and turned around to get a fresh cup for me.
"Hey! Where are you going now?"
I stopped and tilted my head in confusion upon hearing his puzzled tone.
"Ehm, I'm getting myself another cup since you wanted mine."
He gazed at me with an empty look in his eyes. Sudou sighed and faced me with a serious expression.
"Ayanokouji. Are you a moron?"
"Huh? Where did that come from?"
He pinched his brow with his fingers while shaking his head in disappointment.
"Dude. You remember how you paid for me the last time? I owe you. So this is me paying you back."
Ohh. That made sense...
Why didn't he just say so? I thought he wanted to rob me due to his incredibly poor choice of words.
"I knew that. I was just messing with you."
"You..."
He didn't finish his sentence as we were next in line.
Sudou paid for us before handing me my cup back. We filled them with water and waited while chatting about basketball and other such things. As we were eating our meal, I couldn't help but marvel at the person called Sudou Ken.
Even though he had a temper, he was a good guy, all things considered. He could be pretty nice even, seen as he paid me back without me ever asking. His ways were clumsy, but he had a good heart, I was sure of that.
After our meal, we went back towards the dorms, where we met some of the Class D boys. Except Ike, all of them were filler characters I hadn't really paid much attention to. They invited us to join them to blow off some steam, so we did.
Hanging out with a bunch of guys felt different from spending time with the girls. The environment was strange, yet familiar. It seemed there wasn't really a goal in our venture as we just kept walking, talking and laughing. Some guys bought balloons and filled them with liquid before throwing them at each other, hoping they would rip and splash the receiving end full with water. I was sure their yells could be heard over half the campus, since they wouldn't shut up.
Nothing exciting happened, but I finally felt like your normal run-of-the-mill highschool student for the first time in my life. Just walking around, wasting my time doing nothing. It was pointless, but I couldn't help but feel happy at the thought of this new normal.
Near the end of our trip, as we were on our way back towards the dorms, my phone vibrated.
[07:49:22 PM][Kushida] I had a chat with Hirata-kun. I didn't tell him anything about what you told me, but he confided in me as well. It was good that you noticed that he was in trouble. I think I could help him a bit. ＼(٥⁀▽⁀ )／
[07:49:34 PM][Kushida] I'll still keep an eye on him to make sure he's getting better.
[07:50:21 PM] Thanks Kushida. I knew it was the right decision to reveal everything to you. ( ' ▽ ' )
It was a good thing that I learned what these emojis meant, since this knowledge had proven helpful rather quick. Kushida handled everything perfectly, just as expected. I thought our chat was over with that short info dump, but she seemed to have more to say as my phone once again vibrated.
[07:51:01 PM][Kushida] Do we still have our date tomorrow? (ᵔ.ᵔ)
[07:51:49 PM] Hey, don't write something like that out of context. If someone read that, I could have been stabbed to death. (/ω＼)
[07:52:00 PM] But yes, I'll invite Horikita to the Palate tomorrow.
[07:51:01 PM][Kushida] Sorry, sorry. I just felt like teasing you. (シ. .)シ
[07:52:41 PM] It's fine as long as you protect me from Ike's wrath.
[07:52:59 PM][Kushida] Ike-kun wouldn't hurt you. I think...
[07:52:59 PM][Kushida] Well anyway, see you tomorrow, Ayanokouji-kun!
Since I kept glancing at my phone the whole time, Ike got curious and tried to wrestle my phone away. It ended as most would have probably expected — he failed.
[07:54:12 PM] See you tomorrow, Kushida.
Tomorrow would be a dangerous day. I needed to dodge Horikita's wrath as skillfully as possible. She wasn't stupid, after all. She will see through the ruse Kushida and I came up with since it wasn't a very good one. In the end, their dispute was none of my concern, but I really didn't want to know what Sudou went through.
Our group split after reaching the dorm and everyone went back to their rooms for the day, myself included. I prepared a light meal, showered, ate and cleaned the dishes before I was done for today.
As always, I visited the board in a corner of my room. I took two red pieces, a bishop and a rook, and placed them on their respective fields on the lower right side of the board. Afterwards, I grabbed two green pawns and placed them near the other green pawn, which was still waiting on k4.
I was quite intrigued about how Class C would act come next month. Would Ryuuen be a fun opponent? Or would he just be another moron who thought with his fists?
I was also curious about Class A, since I knew nothing about them. As of now, not a single yellow piece has made its way onto my board, which was exciting. Were they just careful? Were they running a defensive strategy for the first month to verify their thoughts and hypothesis about this school?
I couldn't help but anticipate a worthy adversary.
Class B was also in the race, but they were no threat from what I had seen so far because of Ichinose's influence. She was too kind for her own good and therefore not a risk that needed to be taken into consideration.
I decided that it was time to buy two more boards just to be on the safe side, since I already ran into a second year that seemed to take an interest in me for some unknown reason. I didn't know how or if the boards would interact with each other, but if I could control some second- or third-years, I could influence my year as well as the other ones. A small but discernable smile crept on my face as I was thinking about the next three years in this school.
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- Word Count: 7621 / 33920 Characters
Released 16.04.2022