Kiyo POV
It's been a few hours since the announcement of the results, and now classes are back in session.
Following the announcement was Tsukishiro's call, which went pretty smoothly to say the least. Whether he bit into my fake displeasure would remain a mystery. However, it's always a good idea to concoct illusions to trick your opponent to take the wrong action.
I am well aware of my weaknesses and any exploitable blind spots, which makes it all the easier to defend against. If he believed he was able to get me by using such a mundane trick as provocation, he would be completely mistaken. But it'll remain a very conceivable option in his mind.
And as long as he has too many options, picking the right one would be the hardest course of action.
I tapped my tablet, scrolling through the next chapter as I raised my head and looked at my surroundings, mostly surveying Chabashira-sensei's movements before inconspicuously dropping my gaze back and picking up where I left off.
Of course, I was keeping up with my usual habit of Manga consumption since it was the most enjoyable method for me to spend time during those torturous classes. It's not like a teacher could hold me accountable for this, right? In fact, I somehow feel even more justified in doing so after the results this morning.
Speaking of the results, I was genuinely surprised at my classmates' reactions to them ever since I came back from Tsukishiro's office this morning. For a day that my life took a major turn, the class seemed to be pretty normal, and I wasn't subjected to as much scrutiny as I expected I would be. Of course, this obviously had to do with something Honami orchestrated.
I feel compelled to give her a reward for the amazing work she's done. I was certainly not expecting that outcome. She'll feed me the details later on to keep me updated. But for now, checking out our new dorm-room takes top priority.
The evening bell is slowly approaching, which is the time scheduled for us to check out our brand new room. Honami was so excited about it this morning, so we decided to do it as soon as possible. Our friends would also be accompanying us, which was something she welcomed with open arms
Personally, I didn't have any problems with this arrangement aside from the cheeky grins the girls gave one another. I have spent more than a year in this class and I am fully aware of what this indicates. Believe me, I learned it the hard wa-
Hmm ?
Instinctively, I abruptly cut through my reading session and lifted my head to meet Chabashira-sensei, who was momentarily staring at me from the top of the podium. Just as I caught it, she immediately averted her eyes towards her desk in a slightly awkward manner
When I said that the class was normal, I pretty much meant my classmates. I couldn't help but notice the teachers scrutinize me from time to time during the sessions. I was slowly getting agitated by it, but thankfully, the afternoon bell came to the rescue.
"Mmmmnyaaaaah~" As Chabashira-sensei left the classroom with her tail between her knees, Honami puffed up her chest and began to stretch her hands in the air while making some adorable noises. She let out a happy sigh, looked around, and then fixed her eyes on me while smiling brightly. "Ready for our little adventure~?"
I didn't vocally respond and simply nodded back at her with a smile of my own, which she seemed to reciprocate. She smiled even more widely before getting up on her feet and taking the lead, while simultaneously gripping her pockets and taking out the golden keycard while I was slowly trailing behind her.
I decided to let her hold onto the keycard since she already seemed to be in love with it and kept pressing me to keep it, just like a little child pressing their parents for some candy. She already installed the mini-version of me in it as if she was already claiming ownership, which was quite quick to say the least
However, I couldn't help but notice the doll becoming damp as if a faint shadow was being cast over it. It appeared a little darker since the colors were slightly washed away, which triggered my curiosity since its condition wasn't supposed to deteriorate this quickly..
"Hon-"
"Oh? Fancy bumping into you here, Ayanokouji-senpai ! " Just as I was about to ask her, a group of individuals appeared right by the entrance of the hallway and abruptly interrupted us. Leading me to pause and look towards the direction of the caller, to find a familiar white-haired boy with green eyes approaching us, with his group lacking behind as he smiled widely at us.
"Oh, Takahashi-kun ! Good afternoon " Honami greeted him back the instance she recognized him, with a smile of her own.
( A/N : Yep, I'm on drugs. I keep on changing his hair colors [Well this is the only time I did it] But this is the last time )
"Good afternoon to you too as well, Ichinose-senpai" Takahashi slightly bowed his head at Honami, who responded with the same. Before shifting his eyes towards me
"So, how may we help you today ?" Honami decided to take the initiative in the conversation and talk to Takahashi, who yet again, shifted his gaze from me towards her with his smile slightly extending.
"Oh, I came here to congratulate Ayanokouji-senpai on taking first place in the exam. I was certainly not expecting that." Takahashi expressed his motives through his words, before shifting his head towards me and grinning. "So congratulations, Ayanokouji-senpai."
It was by this time our friends finished packing and approached us as a group, casting curious glances at Takahashi and his group over our shoulders. Contrary to Takahashi's expression, everyone in his group gave me wary looks while displaying some small hints of hostility in their eyes. However, I couldn't focus much on that, since the person below me had a similar yet distinct expression of his own
Takahashi's smile wasn't his usual cozy one, it was an eerie expression hidden behind a calculative gaze in a halfhearted manner, seemingly not intending to hide it in the first place. Honami looked perplexed as she stared at him, her expression becoming solemn as the atmosphere descended into tense silence. However...
"Thanks" I replied monotonously, unfazed by this whole ordeal, which resulted in Takahashi cocking his brow. "You didn't do badly yourself. Congratulations on being second to me."
".....Thank you, Senpai" Takahashi's eyebrow twitched in annoyance at my words. However, he managed to keep his tone in check and continued speaking. "However, doesn't that bring us to our main question for the day ?
"How did you do it, Ayanokouji-senpai ?"
Takahashi's question echoed through the quiet hallways, as it traveled the distances. The class was quiet, the moment they noticed our contact they joined the audience and silently spectated. Takahashi's expression remained unchanging. However, his voice sounded persuasive and stern, as if commanding me to spill the answers for him.
"Do what ?" My answer However, was playing dumb
His group of admirers started getting frustrated at me as their rage slowly became more apparent. However, it quickly faded as Takahashi began speaking
"Don't take me for a fool, Ayanokouji-senpai. How did you manage to do it ?" Takahashi inquired sternly, not budging against my obvious ruse and strengthening his tone, seemingly having enough of it. "Did you perhaps cheat ? Or maybe you knew the exam questions in advance ? It wouldn't be farfetched, given that your partner also scored as high"
It wouldn't be farfetched to think that way since sharing the exam sheets with my partner is a pretty plausible thought. However, it's not foolproof either.
"If that's the case, wouldn't it be best if I shared the questions with my classmates and earned a better ranking ?"
"Yes, but you couldn't do that. Since you'll make it too obvious that you obtained the questions beforehand" Takahashi argued, trying to unravel the truth by throwing me to a corner.
"If you're insisting that I got the questions in advance. Then can you tell me how did I obtain them ?" I raised an eye, humoring his thoughts for the time being.
However
"Oh my, this is quite the commotion."
Takahashi's jaw hung open when a sudden voice interrupted the both of us, stopping him from speaking. His eyes immediately darted towards the end of the hallway in a slight fierce manner, where he was greeted by a smug from none other than the queen of Class B herself.
"Sakayanagi..." muttered one of Takahashi's henchmen. Sakayanagi appeared right before our eyes with her usual entourage, consisting of Hashimoto, Kito, and Kumoro. They were all standing firmly behind her with stern expressions, while Sakayanagi herself was staring smugly at the both of us.
A tense silence enveloped the hallway as the three parties engaged in a stare down, glaring at each other with solemn expressions. The audience slowly built up as most of my classmates stayed in the class, watching this exchange as soon as they caught wind of it. The bystanders stared at us with interest as they stayed motionless in their positions. When I realized this, I sighed internally.
Too much for a fun evening
"Is there anything you want from us, Sakayanagi-senpai ?" Takahashi opened his mouth first and asked, with a sweet smile, seemingly regaining his usual composure. This drew Sakayanagi's attention and fixed on him.
"Ah no, I just came here in hopes of catching Ayanokouji-kun so I could congratulate him on a very well-deserved victory" Sakayanagi slightly lifted her head as she spoke to Takahashi, showing a small glimmer of confidence as her smug widened, before bouncing it back towards me. "I must say, that was a very impressive display of skills, Ayanokouji-kun. It appears that I have lost this one."
At Sakayanagi's words, I gave her a nod, which sealed the deal for one unexpectedly long war. This goes back to paper shuffle, when I called Sakayanagi for a secret meeting to ignite the revolution in Ryuuen's class. We've been on this for months, and have finally managed to outscore her after so many ties.
"Impressive skills ? Well-deserved ? What are you on about ?" Takahashi exclaimed, confusingly narrowing his eyes at the both of us, seemingly not catching on our conversation.
"That should be my line Takahashi-kun, what are you on about ?" Sakayanagi stressed her words as she scowled at Takahashi questions, while glaring at him with a slightly annoyed expression.
"How is it impressive when the way it's achieved is by cheatin-
"You must be really stupid if you think that Ayanokouji-kun cheated on the exam."
"What ?" Takahashi exclaimed loudly, slightly glaring at Sakayanagi who let a sigh upon receiving his reaction.
"The way Ayanokouji-kun achieved perfect scores is purely by his own abilities, nothing more, nothing less."
"There is no way-"
"If you don't have any evidence to back up your claims then simply refrain from making any assertions. Considering it would be regarded as a defamatory act." Sakayanagi ignored Takahashi's protests and kept rebuking him, with her smug reappearing in her face. Takahashi's group glared at her. However, Takahashi himself started chuckling.
"I see, I see what this is all about" Takahashi smirked at Sakayanagi, who stared back at him with an unwavering smugness, anticipating his next words. He threw a quick glance at me before fixating his eyes on her and beginning his blabbering. "If I recall correctly, isn't your father in charge of everything at this school, Sakayanagi-senpai ?"
Sakayanagi's smugness dissipated the instant her father's name was mentioned, as it was replaced by a frown. Seeing this, Takahashi smirked widely as everyone saw the direction this was going.
"Unfortunately, he is currently placed under house arrest, for some 'unknown' reasons, so he cannot carry on with his duties. But maybe, just maybe, he still has access to the school's private data, where all the exams are stored." Takahashi took multiple pauses during his accusation, allowing his words to slowly sink into our heads. With a taunting grin, he gazed at both of us while demonstrating with his hands. "It would also make sense why Sakayanagi-senpai is defending hi-"
"Oh just shut up will ya ?" Sakayanagi's blood was boiling, to the point it became more apparent as Takahashi kept ranting about her and her father. However, just as she was about to snap, a voice chimed in, which majorly disrupted the flow of the conversation, drawing everyone's gaze towards the other side of the hallway. "Take your bullshit somewhere else. No one here wants to hear any of your retarded statements."
The expressions of those around us shifted when a fourth party entered the rapidly growing commotion. Ryuuen approached us from the open side of the hallway with his own gang lacking behind him, grinning amusedly and looking as intimidating as ever. Just as he completed our circle, Takahashi looked at him with a glare.
"Now what do you want ?" Takahashi annoyingly asked.
"For you to fuck off." With his hands shoved deep in his pockets, Ryuuen stood in front of Takahashi and emitted, almost as if kicking him out by his gaze and words alone. Takahashi's group apprehensively retreated behind him, hiding behind Takahashi while fixating their glares on Ryuuen, who was unfazed by them all. "I have some important shit to get with those two, way more important than your asspulls"
"So you need both Ayanokouji-senpai and Sakayanagi-senpai ? Can't you talk with them while I'm here ?"
"No, because we're talking about things kids don't understand"
"Did you just call me a kid ?" Takahashi snapped.
"Kuku Yeah, what of it ?" Ryuuen nonchalantly taunted Takahashi with an unwavering smirk that got wider the more he talked. Takahashi seemingly getting infuriated, glared at Ryuuen intimidatingly, which seemed to shake off the audience. However, Ryuuen was unfazed and he seemed ready to butt heads with him any time now.
"Now now kids, please calm down and refrain from fighting inside the school's premises." Before things could escalate, a teacher appeared behind Sakayanagi with a wry smile and attempted to diffuse the situation. However, I couldn't help but pay them extra attention as I instantly recognized them. "You're making a big scene here, so I'ma have to have to ask you to stop it here and break up."
"Tsk." Takahashi clicked his tongue at the appearance of a staff member and felt compelled to leave. However, he shifted his glare at both me and Honami before he could do so. "Ayanokouji, this isn't over yet. I refuse to admit defeat to a liar like you. I'm going to flesh you out and bring the truth to light, that you're nothing but a fraud."
"Fufufufufuufufufufufufufu/Kukukukukukukukuku" Both of the lunatics laughing maniacally. Which caused Takahashi's brow to irk a little. However, his gaze remained latched at me.
"......Okay, good luck." I didn't know how to exactly respond so I simply wished him luck since it is always a pleasant thing to say. However, it seems to have enraged him even further.
With an annoyed huff, Takahashi brushed past the black haired instructor and walked away from the scene, with the two maniacs laughed hysterically behind his back. However, before he could walk past the corner, he gradually slowed down and scanned my Class, including my friends behind me, before slowly fading to the corner
His crew gradually followed behind him, not before sending us a mixture of glares varying from hostile to weird ones. Sakayanagi and Ryuuen slowly calmed down, as tears formed to both of their eyes.
"Kukuku Fraud he said, I can't." Ryuuen sneered, before laughing once more.
"Alright, you three should also-"
"Don't worry Shiba-sensei, we aren't going to cause any more problems." Sakayanagi cut through the black haired instructor apparently named Shiba and assured him. He gave her an indicative nod before turning around his heels and leaving the scene as well.
Shiba huh ? I wonder what's his relationship with Tsukishiro
I wondered while peering at the back of his head as he calmly walked straight ahead without taking any turns. He was the same person who was with Tsukishiro during spring break and caught both mine and Hashimoto's gaze at that time. He is a new staff member who is working as a teacher, which definitely calls for some concern.
"Alright, shall we go, Ayanokouji-kun ?" Sakayanagi called out to me after the situation quieted down, which snapped me out of my thoughts and caused me to look at her.
"Oh, right" I turned around to face my friends behind me, who all looked at me expectantly. "Can you guys wait outside the school for me ? I won't take too long."
"That's fine. See you there, Kiyotaka-kun !" Yousuke reassured me before walking off with my friends towards the entrance. Honami turned around and gave me a wave, which I reciprocated, before turning towards the smirking duo behind me and facing them apathetically.
"Let's go." With Sakayanagi in between, the three of us marched together in the hallway, keeping up with each other's paces as we walked past the bystanders into a more deserted place. Both of Ryuuen and Sakayanagi's entourages also spread out, leaving us to our own devices.
"Ryuuen-kun, why did you come here ?" When the space was deserted enough, Sakayanagi initiated the conversation with a small question, while glaring at Ryuuen with a glimmer of annoyance.
"Don't talk to me like that, Arisu. Because if I hadn't appeared, you would have lost it just because Papi was getting insulted Kukukukuku" Ryuuen poked fun at Sakayanagi with a snicker, which caused her to get more irate.
"So, what did you two want to talk to me about ?" I stopped walking and faced ahead, where the two of them took a sharp turn and parked right in front of me. With just myself and the two smirking figures in front of me, the corridor was essentially safe to hold a secret meeting.
Almost as if they were in sync, they both threw glances at each other before grinning even more smugly, seemingly understanding each other's intention by their mere gazes, which intrigued my curiosity and caused me to raise an eyebrow. They both landed their gazes on mine as Sakayanagi opened her mouth
"So Ayanokouji-kun, who is Amasawa-san ?" Sakayanagi posed the million dollar question with her usual smug tone of voice. However, her eyes were scrutinizing me, eyeing me closely for any slips ups in my body language.
"Kuku, you completely read my intentions." Ryuuen seemingly on the same page as Sakayanagi, snickered before eyeing me as well, adding more peer pressure on my shoulders.
I couldn't lie and pretend that I didn't know her since Ryuuen had clearly spotted me strolling the school with her back on the very first day of the exam. I also can't sell any half-baked lies because they already have a strong impression of our connection, especially Sakayanagi, who has probably figured out Amasawa Ichika's true identity.
Nevertheless, if anything Honami said during my absence would circulate around the school, the lie I came up with here would pretty much come back to bite me in the ass. Which would be a long-term inconvenience for me
"I don't have any obligations to answer that." I refrained from saying anything and rejected their question. However, they seem to have expected that.
"That's fine, I already thought you wouldn't give as much of a response" Sakayanagi mused. However, she slightly tilted her head and eyed me suspiciously again. "But Ayanokouji-kun, is she what I think she is ?"
"I'll leave that to your own imagination." As I expected from Sakayanagi, she seems to already have an idea about her true identity, which is most likely true. However, I refrained from confirming anything.
"Kuku 'What do you think she is ?' Loli you gotta tell me about that one later." Ryuuen snickered as he addressed Sakayanagi with her most dreadful nickname. However, she didn't seem to mind it since she had her full attention on me.
"Now that you asked one of your questions, I'll ask one of mine too." I spoke up, which snapped Sakayanagi out of her daze and she curiously looked at me as well as Ryuuen. Having both of their attention, I eyed both of them closely before continuing. "Are you two working together ?"
There weren't many signs indicating that Ryuuen and Sakayanagi were cooperating behind the scenes, since even their classmates seemed to be unaware of this. However, those small cues I picked up made me question it and inquire about it.
"Kuku, we don't have any obligation to answer that."
"Fair enough." I said, before turning around and preparing to leave. "This has been a very productive conversation, Ryuuen, Sakayanagi. If there is nothing else then I'll be taking my leave."
"No, that's all Ayanokouji-kun. Have a nice evening." Sakayanagi dismissed me with a small smug, which I nodded at before I turned to face Ryuuen.
"Kuku, yeah." Ryuuen emitted before waving me off.
"You too." With that, we bid our farewells as we each walked to our separate directions, each left with his space.
This conversation has been pretty productive indeed, since I have pretty much confirmed my suspicions. However, it seems that it went both ways, as Ryuuen and Sakayanagi has harvest something from this as well.
It seems that I have become a major incentive for these two to actually try in an environment they deemed as boring from the start. Sakayanagi was only interested in competing with me, while Ryuuen was only seeking his own satisfaction and wasn't taking the competition very seriously. There is no doubt that those two would have clashed together in a normal environment. However, it seems that my existence brought their similarities together and united them for one goal, which is to defeat me.
Even if I win countless times against them, it would be far from over since they'll be coming back at me with everything they've got, until I eventually crumble and fall. However, even when that happens, they'll come back and beat me until I have no life left within me, and they'll probably continue afterwards. That is how strong their fighting spirit truly is.
I wonder if the white room student possesses a similar kind of spirit too. However, my attention would always remain on those two since observing their growth is much more interesting.
Honami shouldn't be forgotten either, since she is my pride and joy. It's a shame I can't compete with her like those two, because her input would add a whole new level of ambiguity. However, this isn't too bad either.....
I feel excited, somewhat impatient, to face the future. There are 2 years left in our high school life, which means a lot of challenges to come ahead. It's been quite a while since the last time I felt excited about a challenge, since they wer-
Vrrrt
Hmm ?
My train of thought was interrupted by a text message received on my phone, which I immediately picked up and opened. I was slowly getting over the contents, and as I was done, I lifted my head to look ahead.
An unknown number.... huh ?
Oh god, this chapter was awfully hard to complete
even after I took a small hiatus, it was still hand. But thankfully, idk what happened and I manage to finish the last part quite easily, so Ws for that.
AND YES, I'M NOT DEAD, YOU'RE DEAD.
Jk, I'm losing my mind cuz it's midnight.
Well yeah, I made Takahashi a clown, I know, but I need more clowns
He has more to his character tho, I recommend you just read next
School started, which means I won't be able to upload frequently, so expect at max weekly updates.
Love you guys, my back hurts and I don't want to be here anymore
Love you