Lelouch's POV
Before the students knew it, August 31 rolled around, the final day of summer vacation. Tomorrow, classes would start again, and we would all fall back into the school routine. I'd decided to spend the day with my childhood friend, Suzaku Kururugi, because it felt like despite all the opportunities, we haven't hung out nearly enough since enrolling at this school. We were sat at the table furthest back in the crowded café 'Palette'.
Currently, I was being told about the day Suzaku had experienced, after being dragged around by Kōenji Rokusuke.
"I don't know... Just this one girl, Amano-senpai, seemed really upset the whole time. I'm pretty sure it was all because of Kōenji."
Such a thing is what was reiterated by the soft-hearted boy next to me.
"Okay. So?" I asked.
"I thought perhaps I could do something to help, but Kōenji didn't seem to care. Really, what kind of person can be like that?"
A typical Suzaku line.
"It simply sounds like an immature girl who's upset that her friends are starting to move on and take interest in romance, while she isn't. You can't fault the man they decide to go for," I said.
"Both at the same time?" He asked in bewilderment.
"Some people are into that, who knows?"
To be honest, I didn't care in the slightest about the story I'd heard. However, I still had to listen, otherwise Suzaku may catch on to that very fact.
"By the way, did we ever end up figuring out the pattern for the last exam?"
Ah, the Zodiac special examination. Aboard the ship, Ryūen Kakeru had deduced the VIP selection method by joining hands with Class B and Class E.
It was a shrewd strategy, but what surprised me the most was that the lovey-dovey Class B had trusted Ryūen at all. I couldn't picture Ichinose Honami as the type to do such a thing.
As it turned out, the pattern was to do with the students' names. In the first zodiac group, the student who is first when the names are organised alphabetically is assigned the VIP. A simple pattern, but not one that can be easily spotted when you don't know what it is. When I explained it, Suzaku seemed to understand.
"Ah... despite all the weirdness of this school, it's pleasant, isn't it?" Suzaku commented idly.
"I agree," I replied, taking a sip of my warm drink.
Ordinary life had been extremely dull, to say the least. I had enrolled here expecting to attend your average, boring school, so the surprise had certainly been a welcome one.
"So," Suzaku began in a wary voice. "What happened, Lelouch? I didn't think I'd see you again after you and Nunnally fled."
I raised my eyebrow. Suzaku was clearly apprehensive about bringing up the past. I didn't find it particularly traumatic, per se, but the memory of walking through that field of rotting bodies was carved into my soul itself.
"I sought the help of the Ashford family. They were allies of my mother's, before..." I trailed off.
Suzaku nodded sympathetically, as if recalling the story himself.
"I was going to stay in the Ashford Academy, but Nunnally convinced me to enrol here instead. That girl..."
"I'm sure the Ashfords are taking great care of her." Suzaku smiled.
"Yeah," I let out a bemused laugh. "Perhaps next year, when she has to choose a high school to attend, she'll follow me here."
Suzaku's eyes visibly lit up a little. "That would be great! I haven't seen Nunnally in years! It'd be lovely for the three of us to all reunite, wouldn't it?"
"That it would."
The Ashford family is one of only two Britannian families which still exist as prominent figures today.
Their abandoning of Britannia had earned them some serious animosity from that scumbag, my father. However, once they had established themselves in Japan, that so-called dad of mine was unable to do anything to enact the comeuppance he lusted for so badly.
Despite all the power he and Britannia wielded, it was not enough to surmount the strength of Japan and all its allies.
I mean, really, what kind of idiot would launch an invasion in this day and age? Declaring a hostile takeover of another country nowadays would be considered national suicide by just about anyone; civilization is past that now, alliances and international organisations have been formed.
Of course, Britannia was never a part of any of these during its existence, likely due to pride. However, to think that he could take on the world by himself, that man must've been seriously deluded.
Of course, like his other children, I knew that he was still out there somewhere. He had lost his throne in Britannia, but thrones can be replaced. Whether he was manipulating world figures from the shadows, or something even more insane like plotting to bring his dead country back, I had no idea. I merely hoped to never see the bastard's face again.
I finished my coffee, and my mind drifted back into reality after reminiscing about the past.
"Feel like going for a walk?" I asked Suzaku.
"Sure. Where do you want to go?"
"Hmm. I haven't visited the pool yet. It's the last day. We could check it out?"
Suzaku gave a happy nod, and so the two of us got up. "Do you have a swimming outfit with you?" he asked.
I paused. "Yes, of course, I actually carry three of them with me everywhere I go, just in case."
"Really?"
"........."
His expectant look drilled a pair of holes into me - the response almost making me feel bad.
"L-Let's just go buy some. You still need one, after all."
Before long, Suzaku and I had purchased a pair of swimming trunks each. The regular ones that Suzaku bought were priced at 1500 points, but I had spent 2500 on my pair.
Not only did they have a cool blue and white gradient pattern on them, but they also had pockets, a feature the regular ones sorely lacked. All good clothing needs pockets, I say, especially for us boys.
Suzaku's suspicion of me had seemed to have grown, though. After all, why would I spend so much money on swimming trunks when I already had multiple pairs? He must think I'm some kind of weird swimming trunks enthusiast. Or that I'd deluded myself into thinking I'm one of those rich guys that only wear an item of clothing once before throwing it away.
Anyway, I digress. The two of us waltzed into the empty boys changing room. There was nobody here, the multitude of closed lockers indicated that a lot of people had been. Apparently, we were simply late.
Unsurprising, given I'd decided to venture here midday on a whim.
"I wonder if this is a low or high traffic day," Suzaku thought aloud as he stripped his top off unabashed.
Sigh, is this what the military does to a man? At least show some dignity, you started removing clothing a bit too quickly there...
In an attempt to ignore the boy who was setting the world record for naked any% right in my peripheral vision, I focused on the only other thing present in the situation: Suzaku's idle pondering.
"There's a rule that each student can only visit the pool on one of the three days its open, so it's natural to think that all the people who actively wanted to come would've done so already, leaving today as the quietest day. But..."
"There will also be a sizeable chunk who'll realise the same thing, and intentionally go on the quieter day, huh?" Suzaku continued, in more ways than one, as he whipped off his trousers and stood proudly dressed in nothing but his underwear.
I gulped, and forced my eyes to avert themselves once more; it wasn't an easy task, as what remained of Suzaku's nearly non-existent garments seemed to possess an almost gravitational presence.
I mean, I'm sure every man can relate to fighting the urge to glance, right. Right?!
I coughed intentionally to distract my thoughts. "Uh, yes, indeed. That might actually cause today to rise in activity, perhaps even beyond the others."
There are also those who don't have a tangible interest in coming, but who will think along the lines of, 'It's the last day, we might as well check it out,'. While not a massive group by any means, it certainly adds to the pool's body count of today.
"If you're looking for the quietest day to have the pool to yourself, perhaps yesterday, the second day, would've been the best. All the excited students rushed in on day one, and today all the planners and last-minute-whims are attending. I think Day Two is our winner." Suzaku deduced, an impressive line of thinking indeed.
"I agree. Actually, I think Light came with Hirata's group yesterday. Maybe he'd thought about it and-WHAT THE HELL?"
In the time it took for me to recall a memory, the last valiant survivor of Suzaku's attire had done a vanishing act! The man, now fully nude, was talking to the fully-clothed me as if such circumstances were completely normal for casual conversation!
I stared intensely into the pair of jewels he called, 'eyes,' not letting my gaze wander anywhere else. However, it was futile.
In the corner of my eye, I could still see it. Although, thank God, it was not currently 'standing tall', it certainly stood proud, simply oozing confidence as it got a fresh breath of dirty, sweaty, changing room air.
It reminded me of a great sword, standing out prominently even among a collection of other swords. Smaller, less impressive, swords.
No wonder he can just-!
"Is something wrong?" Suzaku's questioning tone nearly broke my concentration. "Also, why aren't you getting changed? Are you planning to swim in normal clothes?"
"... No, you're right. Why don't I just get changed? Silly me..."
Muttering those words, I reluctantly tugged at the collar of my shirt, and began to undress. I tried my best to deflect the weird look sent at me from Suzaku, who shrugged his shoulders and tossed his clothes into an unused locker, substituting them for his newly purchased swimming gear.
I watched as he shut his locker, and twisted the small key that hung from the lock, sealing it. Attached to the key was a red band made of rubber. It was waterproof, and designed to stretch to fit comfortably around one's wrist - that way, they could forget about they key while enjoying their swim, and it couldn't get misplaced. For added comfort, the bands had an additional small loop incorporated into their design, which you could tuck the blade of the key under. This would prevent the key from hanging loosely from your wrist and causing an annoyance during activity.
I suddenly came to the realisation that I'd been staring at the stupid key for way longer than one could consider normal. Probably to distract myself from the prospect of removing any more clothes while this guy was still around.
"Suggesting this was a mistake," I murmured.
"What?"
"Nothing."
I took a deep breath. Right, Lelouch, just imagine you're dressing after getting out of the shower. On your own. With no childhood friends watching. Easy, right?
Apparently not.
△▼△▼△▼△
Finally, after a long and drawn-out internal battle, I emerged from the boys' changing rooms with a special key-holding wristband of my own. Suzaku, looking a little bit like a lost puppy, followed diligently behind, completely oblivious to the suffering he'd caused.
"Whoa!"
As soon as I stepped out onto the busy poolside deck, I immediately had to dodge backwards to avoid colliding with someone.
"Oi, watch where you're go-huh? Lelouch?"
That person was none other than Class C's very own Ibuki Mio.
"Lelouch and..."
Her voice trailed off as she glared over my shoulder. I turned to see what she was staring at; turned out her gaze had met Suzaku's. She did not look happy to see him.
"Oh, uh, Ibuki... Hey," Suzaku gave possibly the most awkward greeting in recorded history.
"Bastard," Ibuki muttered, averting her eyes.
Am I missing something here? Why does Ibuki seem to hate Suzaku? Did something happen?
"Is something wrong, Ibuki?" I asked.
"Why are you hanging out with that guy?"
I was not exempt from Ibuki's prickly exterior. Seeing Suzaku had clearly soured her mood for whatever reason, and she had no qualms with directing that energy towards anyone and everyone.
"He's, uh. He's my childhood friend." I told her.
"Wha-Seriously?" Ibuki couldn't hide her astonishment. "You're like, complete opposites!"
Ibuki violently waved her hand, vaguely indicating in Suzaku's direction.
"He's like, a dumb softie, while you're some Ryūen-esque calculating strategist! Right?! Not to mention you're all weak and skinny, while he's..."
'Weak and skinny'. Ouch. Accurate, but still. Ouch.
"I'm what?" Suzaku asked in confusion.
"You know what!"
Suzaku did, in fact, not know what.
"Actually, while you're here..." A competitive glint appeared in Ibuki's sharp glare. "I demand a rematch, Kururugi! Right now!"
A rematch?
"Suzaku... what is she talking about?"
The emerald-eyed boy let out an exasperated sigh, the kind that wordlessly speaks 'This is troublesome'.
"It was an incident that took place back during the shipboard special exam. Ayanokōji asked me to act as a bouncer, pretty much, to stop interference with business he had to attend to. I ended up having a little skirmish with Ryūen's gang, including Ibuki, I guess," Suzaku let out a small laugh and scratched the back of his head.
"Ayanokōji did, did he...?" I murmured under my breath.
Now he's using Suzaku as well, is he? That-
"Yeah, and I'm not satisfied with it! At all!" Ibuki poked her finger into Suzaku's sculpted chest. "It was obvious you were still holding back. I want to spar you seriously."
Ibuki was surprisingly blunt. Apparently, she took pride in her fighting skills, and her competitive side couldn't stand Suzaku beating her so easily.
"Wait, you said Ryūen's gang?" I spoke. "You mean like, all of them?"
"Yeah, Ryūen, Ibuki, Albert and Ishizaki. What of it?" Suzaku replied.
"Huh? Albert?! You beat them all? You can do that?!"
"I-I guess I can..."
I knew Suzaku had been enlisted into the Britannian military as an honorary citizen after we were forced to leave our home, and I knew he was trained to the elite level both in fitness and combat. However, I had no idea to what extent that actually was.
Four people, at the same time? Even including that monstrosity of a high-schooler, Albert? Ibuki even mentioned he'd 'obviously' been holding back!
I suppose that answered the long-standing mystery of why exactly Suzaku Kururugi was deemed worthy of Class E assignment, but that answer only brought more questions.
Like... how exactly was the school aware of this skillset of his to make the judgement in the first place?
Actually, how the hell did they know mine?
I've been told numerous times before that if I applied myself, I could do amazingly in school, but I've never once in my life been interested in studying, or doing well in exams, or anything like that. As a result, my scores on the entrance exam weren't anything extraordinary; good, sure, but nothing close to being worthy of a 'genius' title.
My interview was pretty generic as far as interviews go, as well. And as for the physical evaluation, well... we don't mention that.
Basically, long story short, looking at how I appeared during the admittance process, the school really shouldn't have seen me as anything more than a decently smart, lazy student. But despite that, they'd evaluated me as being a genius too strong to be allotted fairly to any of the standard class brackets.
"Anyway, I demand a fight! Right now!" Ibuki's excessively loud challenge pierced my eardrums like a knife.
A number of students looked over to us in bewilderment, trying to figure out what exactly was going on, and Ibuki withdrew sheepishly. Her disdain for public attention was clear in her body language.
"M-Maybe not right now..." she said in a quiet voice.
I couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. Ibuki and social situations mixed about as well as water and oil; it was amusing, but also in a weird way, a little endearing.
"Anyway, can you swim very well?"
Would it be weird if I came to a pool without actually having much swimming ability at all?
Well, not everybody goes to pools with the objective of swimming. Many people came simply to play in the water.
"I'm actually pretty bad, but Suzaku is amazing! I had no idea he could swim until we had our first swimming class, where... he lost... to Ayanokōji..."
Unconsciously, my fist tightened. For some unknown reason, his name had been getting on my nerves recently. I couldn't explain it, but I found myself observing every different kind of contest we participated in just hoping that he'd be bad at it. He never was.
"What's up, Lelouch? You look a little annoyed," If not for Suzaku's hesitant voice, I might've stood there scowling all day.
"Are you pissed off that you got embarrassed in swimming class, or something?" Ibuki asked.
"You've seen right through me," I scratched the back of my head and mustered up a half-hearted smile.
"I'm pretty sure everyone has memories they cringe when they think about," Ibuki told me. I'm pretty sure this was some type of attempted comforting. "Right?" Ibuki sought Suzaku's confirmation.
"Sure," he answered.
"Don't joke around! This guy has no shame!"
Neither of them seemed to know what the hell I was referring to. Actually, it was probably better kept that way.
After that, our group of three hung around for the rest of the day.
Sometimes, tensions were high between Suzaku and Ibuki, and I felt like glue, the only thing holding everything together.
However, overall, the experience was enjoyable, and Ibuki's presence added a unique dynamic to the conversation. She reminded me of a cactus. Prickly on the outside, for sure, but if you were to ignore that and look deeper, you would find something much more appealing. Truly a one-of-a-kind existence.
△▼△▼△▼△
Horikita's POV
Late in the evening, the eternal protector of day that shone brilliantly in the sky had begun to fall, allowing the cold embrace of night to start slowly seeping into the landscape like a blanket.
Clad in my school uniform, I stepped foot out of the dorm building. To enter the school premises, one must be wearing the appropriate attire, even during non-school days like this.
Wearing your school uniform when it wasn't necessary would definitely draw me a couple of looks, but just like always, I simply didn't care what anyone thought.
It was chilly - not uncomfortably so, but the cold air was hard to not notice. In preparation for the coming fall, the weather had begun to shift.
I got to the school building and switched to the indoor shoes that every student kept in their on-grounds lockers. After that, I walked up several flights of stairs, before finally finding myself stood in front of a closed door.
I took a deep breath, and rapped my fist against it.
"Come in," said the voice on the other side.
After being welcomed, I pushed open the door and stepped inside. It was lit only by a couple of lamps in the corners of the room, creating a dim, almost romantic ambient hue. A vending machine was situated right by the door, and there was a dedicated kitchen equipped with a microwave and coffee machine.
On one of the two long sofas that faced each other on opposite sides of a mature-looking mahogany table sat Chabashira-sensei, who wore her signature professional attire.
To think that the teacher's lounge was this luxurious. Well, it wasn't hard to imagine that working at this school came with its own perks that regular teachers could only dream of.
"Horikita. Have a seat," Chabashira-sensei indicated to the sofa opposite her own.
"Thank you for taking the time out of your evening to see me on such an inconvenient day, sensei," I bowed my head a little, to show respect.
Indeed, it was myself that requested this appointment, not the other way around.
She gave me a curt nod of acknowledgement. Chabashira-sensei and I were similar people, not the type to talk about an excess of unnecessary things beyond basic formalities.
"I have an idea of what you wish to talk about, but still, tell me. Why did you ask me to see you?"
"I've... come to realise that my previous mindset was flawed. Numerous defeats have made that clear to me," I said.
Those words were difficult to get out.
"A change is needed, that much is certain. However, in order to make that change in preparation for the future of Class E, I need to know about the things that have occurred behind the scenes."
From Kōenji-kun's involvement in the island exam and success in the zodiac exam, to even the miraculous strategy of scoring all zeroes on our midterm exams that Hirata-kun conjured from nothing, there were many things that had happened around me that I simply haven't known about.
I was naïve to think that I knew it all, that I stood above the actions of everybody else.
"I see how it is," Chabashira-sensei took a sip of the drink she had on the table in front of her. "To tell you about that, I first need to tell you about my story."
I was surprised at how easily Chabashira-sensei agreed to tell me everything, and even more so at her eagerness to share a 'story'.
"You have started to grow, Horikita. I believe that in the future, you may become an important part of the class. That's why I'm telling you everything now."
Like a psychic, she answered the question lingering at the back of my mind.
"Compared to the other homeroom teachers, what is your perception of me?"
An unexpected question arose. I wonder how this is relevant.
"Chabashira-sensei is uncaring, and cold towards the students. That's why you even went as far as making us study the wrong midterm topics, no?"
This was an undeniable fact. In this school, built on the premises of fairness and equal footing, Chabashira-sensei personally intervened in order to disadvantage her own class.
"That's a reasonable assessment," she said. "But the truth is that it was not always like that."
"One time, I was a student of Class D at this school, just like yourself."
Huh? Chabashira-sensei also attended this school? And was allocated to Class D, too. Could it be that, to this day, she was bitter about her assignment?
"Come the end of our three years, the race for Class A was as close as it can possibly be. The gap between Class A and Class D was less than 100 points."
Such a story was difficult to believe. I mean, if you look at the Class A and Class D of this year, the difference is like night and day; one which barely lost any class points in the first month, and the other which managed to lose all 1000 of them. To think that a Class D which can keep up with Class A existed is an alien concept to current students like me.
I sat quietly, and waited for Chabashira-sensei to continue her story.
"In the end, our class, Class C, plummeted to rock bottom because of my mistake. The dream of graduating as Class A was crushed."
I felt like I now understood the meaning of this story. My intuition told me that said 'dream' had never truly died.
"You shouldn't blame yourself eternally for making one mistake,"
To my response, Chabashira-sensei simply shook her head.
"You don't understand... when you destroy all hopes of achieving your own ambition with one silly decision, it's impossible not to be plagued by thoughts such as, 'What if I had done something different?'"
Regret was clear in her tone. For Chabashira-sensei, this incident was something that she couldn't move on from.
"Horikita, Class E contains a wealth of talent. If I had to say, aside from the unique case of Class D, it has the most of any class."
This kind of bold claim temporarily shocked me. No, it was more like, this kind of sentiment coming from Chabashira-sensei felt too uncharacteristic.
"However, it is the original Class D. As I'm sure you're aware of by now, the students of this class come with a certain amount of baggage and eccentric personalities."
Even though I myself was one of these students, the statement itself was hard to deny. Compared to the level-headed nature of Class A, Class E could be described as complete and utter chaos.
"There needs to be a counter-balance in order for the class to function as a unit."
"You think I can play that role?"
"I certainly don't think it's unfeasible."
Chabashira-sensei placed a considerable amount of responsibility on my shoulders. Class E was far too unpredictable for one person to simply control.
"Now, about what has happened behind the scenes..." My ears perked up. This was the real interest I'd been waiting for.
"As you've probably guessed, my ambition of reaching Class A never truly left. Every time I was assigned a new Class D, and I saw how pitifully helpless they all were, I could only bite my lip and don a mask of cold-heartedness."
But this year was different. There was dormant potential lying within a sizeable number of the students.
"This year, there is a particular student who possesses an incredible number of accolades in both academics and athletics from middle-school. You should know who I'm referring to; pretty much the only person you've talked to during your time here."
I had guessed that mention of this mysterious existence would come up during this conversation.
Of course, I knew who she was talking about. My neighbour, who sat at the very back of the classroom next to the window. Despite his face, which was always stoic and emotionless, I had picked up the sense that he always knew a lot more than he let on.
"Well, do you remember when you came to see me right after the S-System was fully explained? I had originally planned to have him eavesdrop on us, and use his entrance exam scores among other things to expose his plan to seemingly remain in the background. However, he managed to convince me to take a different approach."
Chabashira-sensei did not seem like someone who is easily convinced. Something substantial must have made her change her mind.
"Apparently, he has a connection to Kōenji."
"Eh? To Kōenji-kun?"
"Yes. He seems to know him from before they enrolled at this school."
Why did I find it impossible to imagine anybody actually knowing Kōenji? Especially from the past. It just... defied all logic.
"Anyway, he told me about Kōenji: what he wanted and how I could coerce him into working for the class. When it came time for the island exam, I put his advice to the test, and it worked perfectly, as you well know."
Kōenji-kun had told me that Chabashira-sensei had threatened him with expulsion, and that's why he had cooperated. However, now that I look back on it, it's strange.
Surely somebody with Kōenji-kun's reputation could simply put on the airs and act like they don't care about the prospect of dropping out? Following that logic, it only makes sense that Chabashira-sensei must have possessed more knowledge about what makes Kōenji-kun tick in order to gain his cooperation.
But wait, one thing didn't make sense...
"You only started to use Kōenji-kun right before the island exam? But I was under the impression that he was the one that orchestrated Class E's tactic to score all zeroes to guarantee everybody passes their midterms."
A grin crept its way onto Chabashira-sensei's elegant features. "Well, I'm sure now you know who it was that was actually pulling the strings behind that one."
I let out a sigh, and rubbed my temples. It seemed like moves had been made behind my back even within my own class. And I had been ignorant to it all.
"I see... That's everything I wanted to know, thank you, Sensei. I need to go and think everything over before I decide on how to move forward," I told her.
"Haha, right. I look forward to seeing how you, and everybody else, develops. Perhaps, against all odds, this class does have the capability to graduate as Class A."
Taking Chabashira-sensei's parting words as a rare compliment, I got up from my seat, and went to exit the room.
As I did, and I stepped out into the dark and gloomy corridor, I almost recoiled with surprise. There stood a lone, shadowy figure.
Despite the fact that I couldn't make out their features, I just knew. It was him, the very person I'd just been talking about.
"W-What are you doing here?!"
My voice went surprisingly high, and I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
"Is it so surprising?" A monotone answer, as always.
"Who comes to the school grounds after dark during vacation?!"
A light chuckle. "You do, as it seems."
"Were you following me?"
"It was just a coincidence."
Sceptical would be an understatement. There is absolutely no reason for a student to be here right now.
The boy stepped forward, enough such that light from the rising moon illuminated his features.
His oddly-coloured eyes studied me, like how a chess player would study the pieces on the board.
"I take it you know what I was here for," I muttered to myself.
Despite the status I liked to give myself, I found myself averting my eyes away from his gaze. He was somebody I truly could not understand, and it caused an indescribable unrest.
"I have a general idea."
I looked back toward him and narrowed my eyes. "What are you up to? Chabashira-sensei sung praises about your alleged abilities, so why go as far as getting her to use Kōenji-kun instead of simply acting yourself?"
It couldn't be that he didn't care about the class at all, like Kōenji-kun, else he wouldn't have gone out of his way to help with the midterms. However, he was also reluctant to step up and try to lead the class himself. What were his motives in all of this?
"It was something I came up with on the fly once I realised that we would have enemies."
"Enemies?"
"If you paid attention, even back during our first month, you could observe how the upperclassmen treated students of the other classes with hostility. Between the 'free necessities' that some of them actually took, and the 'us versus them' mentality that everybody seemed to carry, it was not hard to sense something was amiss. I thought it would be advantageous to lay low and wait for more information; who in our year was there to worry about? And how does the school function as a whole?"
It took me a moment to digest this explanation. To be honest, I was a little confused why he was telling me this at all - he was never usually so open.
"I guess it's a good thing you did, given the existence of the extra class that nobody knew about," I murmured. "Why are you being so honest all of a sudden?"
"Rokusuke did well for Class E, but it now seems that he has freed himself from our sensei's shackles. But it doesn't matter; he has already given me everything that I needed."
"And what might that be?" I asked him, trying to get as much out of this unique conversation as possible.
"The ability to bide my time, and the opportunity to observe how the other classes operate. I have been able to analyse our enemies, while they know nothing about my existence."
He had intentionally resigned himself to the background in order to give himself the advantage in terms of knowledge. From the start, he had planned for something like this. However...
"You make it sound like the phase of "biding your time" is in the past."
A smirk found its way onto his otherwise emotionless visage. "Indeed, maybe now it is time for me to come out of hiding. Without Rokusuke leading the class from behind the scenes, Class E won't be able to stand a fighting chance unless I intervene."
Saying that, he unexpectedly started walking again. He went shoulder to shoulder with me, and then continued walking past.
It was a wordless gesture to indicate that he'd let me know everything that he'd wanted me to know.
However, amongst the swarm of questions I had rebounding around my brain, one thing stood out as something urgent that I had to ask, having been beaten down repeatedly while trying to fight myself.
"Do you really think you can win? Against Class D, particularly. They're... incredibly strong."
The lone sound of footsteps stopped momentarily, almost as if he'd expected me to ask that very thing.
"I do not know the thing you call 'defeat'. Indeed, Class D is certainly strong. But it doesn't matter. In the end, they will fall alongside everyone else."
A/N: 5620 words, way more than I intended to write tbh lmao. Did you guys miss me?
I always seem to struggle with motivation when it comes to periods of less eventful chapters. However, without trying to falsely get anyones hopes up, with the sports festival about to kick off I should hopefully be able to start updating this fic regularly again.
Also, after ages of contemplation, I finally decided on what to do with the 40th student of the original Class D now that Kiyotaka isn't there, and started to introduce them in this chapter.
I'm happy to answer any questions if people have any.
Other than that, thanks for reading <3