I woke up at 4am as usual and did my regular physical routine. Today I need to scout out other classes. I thought about skipping the first 10 minutes of homeroom to do it. Yes, as you think, it might cost me some class points. On the grand scheme of things, it was necessary.
I needed to expand my information network too. *Sigh* It seems like I have a lot on my plate. Maybe I should reconsider making Kushida as my tool. Let's put those thoughts aside for now. I was walking towards the school and people were gazing me more than usual.
Even more than when the video of me exercising was posted. I knew why, it was because of my piano skills. I was already well known among the whole school. If someone doesn't know me, then they are living under a rock. It was understandable though.
I aced a never aced exam of an elite school. I ran at an abnormal speed and had a training regime which was more rigorous than most professional athletes. I played piano at professional level.
People already consider me a genius. But they don't know that this is just the tip of an ice berg. Today will be a very important day for my plans. After today I can finally rest and focus me time to improve my hacking skills and wait for May 1st.
I arrived at the school building exactly at 8:31. It's been a minute since classes started. I went across class C. Everybody was present and were listening the class, though some were chatting without any worry. I didn't observe too much. I only glanced at the class, and I didn't even stop.
One can never be too careful. Since I am well know in the school. If there was any formidable student in the class, they can guess my actions to an extent, or rather they will be vigilant about me. They might figure out I am observing other classes and collecting information. So in order to avoid that I didn't even stop for a second.
People won't figure out that a monster like me would exist unless they see me in action. A monster which can analyse 40 students just in mere seconds and that too in her peripheral vision.
Interesting. As I was walking towards class B, I was summarising my processed information.
Ryuen Kakeru. It was that magenta hair coloured boy's name. Seeing me he started smirking, but soon lost interest. He even had bruises on his face. Judging from the damage he acquired.
It's safe to assume that he lost in a fight. But his expression screams excitement for someone who lost. There were also other injured boys and a girl in the class. But they were depressed.
I concluded that Ryuen enforced violence and those boys namely Ichizaki Daichi, Komiya Kogo, Kondo Reo and the girl Ibuki Mio, all had rebelled. But seeing their depressed state and Ibuki's irritated face, they must have lost.
Ryuen lost too, for now. So the only possibility is, he lost to Yamada Albert, that foreign guy with sun glasses.
Interesting. Ryuen understood about the S-system. He knew that even though there were cameras in the class, if the affected party doesn't report it to the school, then the school itself doesn't take action or intervene the aforementioned issue.
He must have used this to his advantage, added with the fact that if his class reports him, they too will suffer from the consequences of repercussion. Either they understood this fact, or Ryuen himself must have mentioned it.
He seems to be a big fan of violence, and has enough brain to understand some parts of the S-system in couple of days.
If this is the case, then he will see through my acting. No that's not it, even if he doesn't see through it, he will consider the other possibilities. But he can't conclude decisively. I will be under his radar.
That won't matter, even if I didn't do this scouting mission, I would have been already under his radar. Due to that training video. But that comes handy for my plans.
*Ryuen's POV*
Kukuku. The classes were going as usual. This old hag Sakagami was boring af. But I am glad I got into this so called prestigious school. This school is interesting.
The S-system and the 100,000 points this month was suspicious af. Yesterday after school, I beat up some wannabe senpais to gather information. How much ever I beat them up, none opened their mouth about the S-system.
I concluded that the punishment for telling your kouhais about S-system must be severe that they withstood my beating. It is probably expulsion.
I also announced myself as the leader for this dipshit of a class. Kukuku. Some shits rebelled, but I beat them up. There was this one girl who mentioned about raising a complain about me to the school.
What a moron. They didn't even grasp the basic of this school. It functioned just like society. That's the first impression I got. Cameras everywhere, but nobody rushed here when I beat these poor kids.
Kukuku. It was a risky move, but a necessary one. I explained them about these cameras. Dumb-wits widened their eyes in shock. I also explained my theories about the S-system. Did the school think I won't notice the obvious hints? A to D hierarchy. I observed in the entrance ceremony.
But I don't need to say that it was my observation that got these results. I mentioned I beat up a senpai to gather that information. That made it more believable.
A girl named Ibuki Mio started attacking me. Kukuku. What a fierce woman. I like them this way. She knew some martial arts it seems. But I was able to land a decisive blow. Seeing me not stopping anytime soon. The final boss approached.
It was that foreign guy. He beat me yesterday. But I won't give up. I will make him submit to me.
As I was thinking about it. The Monstrous chick from yesterday walked across our class. I noticed she look at us in a split second. Kukuku, what is this girl doing here. She was fidgeting while walking around.
She seems lost. But I am not someone who falls for this. Her expressions seems geniune, but I won't believe it. She is a monster. That training regime was insane and she aced that fuvking exam.
And the piano skills she displayed yesterday was professional level. And she is in class D. Kukuku, this school is blind. But that means she got a weakness, maybe she is a sadist like me?
Kukuku. Again I am glad I got in this shit school. There were many interesting individuals waiting to be dominated by me.
But I am not sure if she was observing our class. It was too much less of a time to observe anything. But I don't know what else she is capable of . Nothing wrong with being vigilant.
Thinking about observation, it might take a week for me to control this class, after that I need to obtain information about the other classes.
*Back to Kiyone's POV*
As I was thinking about this, I reached class B. Again I did the same, just glancing their class, fidgeting like I was nervous so that in the off chance if people notice me it would make them believe I am just a lost student. It's a believable lie, since it's technically only the second day.
Class B was the power of friendship class. There were too much positivity in the atmosphere. Everyone had happy smile plastered in their faces except a girl named Himeno Yuki and Kanzaki Ryuji. The former had an 'I want to get out of here' face, while the latter just had a serious expression.
So the girl I saw at the club who was surrounded by people like a celebrity was Ichinose Honami. She was that naive girl I saw at the entrance ceremony.
She didn't try to apply for any clubs, but was rather eyeing where Horikita-senpai and bun-bun senpai were present. Was it a coincidence? I think not. Maybe she wanted to apply for student council.
How am I sure? She was one of the few people who wasn't much affected by the tense atmosphere in the gymnasium.
She perked up at the sentence where Horikita-senpai mentioning about them recruiting 1st years.
Finally I arrived at class A. Perfect, they were simply perfect honour students except maybe one or two students. Sakayanagi Arisu huh?.
The one had dominating presence yet cute posture. She excluded confidence. She seems to carry a cane and a hat. Maybe she suffers from a condition.
So she is the Chairman Sakayanagi's daughter huh. After seeing me crossing her class, her smile widened like she saw an prey. It seems she took an interest in me.
The question is, it it entirely because of what I did in these past two days? Or rather for completely some other reason.
From Matsuo's input, I knew that Chairman Sakayanagi knew my father, and about WR too. It wouldn't be far-fetched to think that his daughter knows about it.
Who in the right mind would visit a torture facility with their daughter? Or even talk about it to their children. So I shouldn't assume that's the case. But as I said, one can never be too careful.
(Note : Since Kiyone didn't walk around at break time, she didn't find out about the factions)
I went towards my class. So I got names of all the students including their appearance. And I got walking pattern, mannerisms, and many more things of about 45 percentage of the students.
It was worth the class points that I am losing right now by bunking the class. I entered the class asking permission.
"Excuse me Sensei, can I enter the class? ".
"Yes you can Ayanokouji. But don't be late again." Sensei warned me.
Heh, it doesn't matter. My classmates' eyes were on me while I was walking towards my seat. Matsushita looked at me suspiciously, and so does Horikita. Koenji was smirking seeing me. He might have guessed what I did.
After sitting in my seat, I started looking out the window. The scenery never gets old. It was refreshing, it was something new than that all-white-shitty-room. As I was enjoying my time, the period ended.
---Time skip---
Finally lunch break came. While I was waiting for Karuizawa's group to call me so that I can further proceed with my plans for Matsushita and Karuizawa, Horikita called me.
"Ayanokouji-san, can we talk for a moment?. It won't take more than a few minutes". She asked politely.
Wow that was great improvement from yesterday.
When Horikita asked this, Hirata and his harem were already near me. They widened their eyes seeing the Ice queen of our class pleading. They didn't even ask me to join them.
"O-Oh , we will be waiting in the cafeteria then. Come on guys let's go". Karuizawa stutteringly replied
That was funny, understanding Horikita's desperation they left us alone.
"I am all ears Horikita, what did you want to talk about". I spoke in a call manner.
"I admit, you are someone superior to me-" I cut her off.
"Horikita, I am not here to listen something that I already know" I taunted her. She gritted her teeth.
"What I wanted to say was, I am ok with working with you, only because you are capable. Don't expect me to work with others" Horikita was back to her stern voice .
*Sigh* I predicted that yesterday wasn't enough to make this girl change. But progress was still progress.
It seems I am getting greedy here. Instead of settling for Matsushita, I already devised plans to conquere all the powerfull ones in this class.
"That's enough for now. So you will be present in the meeting that takes place at my dorm tomorrow". I asked her.
"Y-yes that's right" Tsunderikita answered.
"Ok then thanks for considering the offer. And bye, it seems Hirata and his harem will be waiting for me". Horikita nodded understandingly.
I made my way to cafeteria and spotted Hirata and his harem, he waved at me signaling me to come.
"Hello guys, thanks for waiting for me". I smiled.
"It's ok Ayanokouji-san, it wasn't that long" Hirata returned a smile of his own.
"Geez, what's with that stuck-up girl, suddenly she became meek. Hmph, so her Ice queen attitude was all farce?" Karuizawa who herself faking her character pointed Horikita out. What an Hypocrite.
"Is is related to whatever work you had yesterday?". Matsushita connected the dots. The dots that I laid out.
"Yes, yesterday I have her a reality check. She was stubborn to accept her defect". I purposely mentioned the word defect.
"Huh, what is she , an idiot? Doesn't matter if she is book smart or whatever, we don't even know that too, with that attitude no company will hire her". Karuizawa slipped up.
She forgot her air-head attitude. She made a valid point. Matsushita noticed this and had a puzzled look. Matsushita's evaluation on Karuizawa was ,Air-head, Gyaru, fashion freak and strong headed. But this changes things a little.
Before Matsushita gets more suspicious, I intervened.
"Oh it seems you made a good point for an idiot Karuizawa-chan" I said playfully.
"H-hu who are you calling an idiot?. I just said what I thought in my mind. Hmph". She humphed. Cute.
"Speaking of which, what's your defect Ayanokouji-san, Ah I don't mean to be rude. In my eyes, you are a class A student for sure. You are both academically gifted and athletic too. Also you have great observation, memory and reasoning skills too". Hirata asked me.
"Yea yea, I was wondering that too." Sato joined in.
Nice he asked exactly what I wanted. Matsushita's focus was on me, she forgot that small slip up from Karuizawa. When Hirata complimented me, I saw Shinohara glaring at me from the corner of my eyes.
"I- ", I paused for a second. Matsushita's gears on her head turned. She had a look of pity. Good. She must have realised that my defect is related to my past from our conversation yesterday. But just the word past could mean a lot of things.
Something like mourning for a death of family member, even that could be a defect if that emotions drag you down. It could be even a crime you committed and the guilty conscious slowly swallowing you down. It could be many other things.
But, I helped Matsushita to narrow it down to PTSD or something like loneliness or emotional issues. She will soon figure out that the school won't have any way to access my emotional condition from an single interview and won't have any records on me since I was home schooled.
She will reach a conclusion, and that is PTSD. Which is what I precisely want. This is the way I deemed effective to make Matsushita into my pawn.
She will pity me, she would see me struggling to drag our class to class A, I will make her see it, she would want to help me.
This will be her motivation. Matsushita's defect is her unmotivated nature. I will give her something to hold on. Something she can work for.
It is simply well known that humans are creatures of greed. They work for their own benefits, but the reverse is also true. If it was for a loved one, they will go an extra step to help them. Our laziness vanishes if it was for someone dear to us.
That someone could be your dear best friend, your family or even your significant other. I will be that dear best friend to Matsushita.
Seeing me struggling to respond to Hirata's question, Matsushita assisted me.
"Guys let's talk about it later. It might be something sensitive to her right? Let's buy eat first". Matsushita diverted them.
I gave her a thankful look and smiled at her. This will further confirm that I was indeed struggling to respond. We chatted more and then Hirata brought another topic of interest.
"Ayanokouji-san, I wanted to ask this in the morning but you came late to the class, but why did you send this message to me yesterday, saying it was something for class". Hirata asked me about the meeting for the future of our class that I am planning to conduct.
"Yea even the goddess is late to school " karuizawa chuckled " And now that Hirata asked, you sent it to me too". Karuizawa showed her message.
"Yea, I was thinking about a metting regarding the future of the class. And I deemed you guys to the pillar of the class in the future". After I started explaining.
Karuizawa, Hirata and Matsushita had an understanding look. While Sato was puzzled. Shinohara doesn't even know what is going on but refrained herself from asking.
It seems like even Shinohara is making her moves against me huh? What a tragic life I have.
But she is easy to read. Now I need to connect the three viruses together. You will see in the future what I mean.
"Huh I don't understand." Karuizawa asked the obvious.
I can understand the act of strong headed-ness. But is it really necessary for her to act like an air-head? I get it though. By appearing like an idiot, she will also appear innocent. Innocent in the sense that, she won't be considered as a girl who wants to stand in the top of social chain to be safe from bullying.
People will divert from that thought process, they won't consider her smart enough that she is using the social ranking as a protection. That's what she want, she is using the 'idiot-ness' as a cover.
It seems before coming to this school, she thought a lot about this. This makes me wonder how much deep does her trauma goes? . No use thinking about it, if necessary I will find it out when the time comes.
"You will understand in the meeting Karuizawa-chan". I replied.
"Ayanokouji-san, not that I mind or anything. But yesterday you were using the -san honorific but today you changed it into -chan. Why is that? " Karuizawa asked by raising her eyebrows.
"Oh, Internet-sensei taught me that people who are close as friends will call each other by -chan honorific " I exclaimed happily.
Silence ensued. Suddenly everyone started laughing. Karuizawa was laughing her ass off. Even Hirata was amused and chuckled a little.
"What, pfttt ahhahaha, Internet Sensei?? Holy shit that is funny" Karuizawa mocked me.
"I never knew you relied on your internet pft ahah Sensei for such small things" even Matsushita mocked my Sensei.
These guys have the audacity to mock Internet Sensei. Anyway, today's luch break tasks are accomplished.
I appeared innocent in matters such as friendship related stuffs. This will further add credibility when Matsushita thinks about me and my abilities. I am not as innocent as I make out to be. This much is obvious for anyone who knows a fraction of my abilities.
My abilities naturally creates a distrust in me among my peers. Humans don't trust the unknown. They avoid it, fear it.
That's why I need to create fake vulnerabilities for myself. So that I become more trustable, more reliable and more believable.
Now Matsushita will believe that I am a little bit clueless when it comes to friendship and stuffs. I laid out everything necessary for her to think like that.
So she will naturally conclude that I follow stuffs such as internet and books to have a healthy relationship with my friends.
No books or internet says that you can consider your friends as tools or use them for your advantage and throw them away.
So even though if I appear cold and ruthless, or I did once purposefully, Matsushita will still believe that I won't be like that to my friends.
Everything fits into place perfectly. I am even paranoid that my plans flow smoothly. Maybe the Gods of fortune are on my side today? Who knows?.
"Hmph, you can tease me however you want, but don't mock Internet Sensei". I fake angered.
"Gomen gomen. But it was hilarious" Karuizawa laughed again. And the lunch break was over.
Classes continued as usual. But now the number of girls using cell phone reduced drastically. Infact only Shinohara was using. She is digging her own grave.
The classes got over and went towards the dorm. But I suddenly met Ichinose Honami and her friends. They consists of Amikura Mako, Shiranami Chichiro, Kobashi Yume, Ando Sayo and Minamikata Kozue and some other mobs.
Wow that's a large group. Seeing me Ichinose waved. In order to make sure she waved at me, I turned around to check if there were other students in the vicinity.
Ichinose approached me and started the conversation.
"Hahaha, you are very funny Ayanokouji-san, I was waving at you, you didn't need to look behind you to confirm".
"Excuse me, how would I know you would call me? We don't even know each other. Would you go with a stranger if they called you. And how do you know my name? Are you a stalker? If you are one, then I will call the cops" I talked faster than usual and in a tone with some hostility.
"Geez, we didn't know the goddess was an ice queen. We saw you talking with your friends in cafeteria with a huge smile, why are you hostile to us now? Are you a tsuntdere? ." Amikura Mako playfully asked me, not at all bothered by my tone.
"Mako-chan, don't be rude like that. I am very sorry Ayanokouji-san, it was my bad. And I think everybody in the school knows your name by now. So I am not a stalker." Ichinose's smile never wavered by my tone.
"Oh, I am sorry then. And how does everyone knows about me? I don't think just because they announced my name doesn't mean people saw my face. I also don't think I gave my name when playing the piano yesterday". I asked looking clueless.
"What? You don't know?. Someone posted your insane training video in the school forum and so does your piano video. Everyone in the school named you as goddess". Ichinose was reprimanded me like a mother does.
"Oh so that's how? But why goddess?" Again I asked clueless.
"It's because of your godly curves ..." Ichinose muttered,
" Oh that's because you have everything, beauty, brains and brawns. I think that's why. Don't tell me you know that? As Mako-chan said, you were talking to your friends right, didn't they mention it?". Ichinose continued.
"No they didn't, they asked me about my exercise, but I didn't know how they knew about my training. I answered normally and our conversation steered into different directions. I didn't think much about it . Anyways thankyou for informing me. And speaking of which , what do you think about this school Ichinose-san". I emphasized her name.
"I have my suspicions, it seems too lenient don't you think? ". Ichinose responded.
I think she was focused on my question to notice the abnormality of me knowing her name. I mean she could already be famous, so it won't be a suprise to know her name. But for someone who doesn't even checked the school forum post, it is certainly a small anomaly to take into note.
"Yea I thought so too. Either way we will know next month right?" I gave her a small clue.
I concluded she probably thought about it. One of the obvious clues were 'this month' in the scripted speech of teachers.
"Yea I hope so..." She muttered.
"Anyways I will be going, I am a bit tired from all the socializing. Bye". I replied and started walking.
"Wait. We didn't even introduce ourselves, even though you some how know my name". Ichinose still had a smile in her face.
*Ichinose POV*
---few minutes before meeting Kiyone---
I had my suspicions regarding this school the moment our homeroom teacher mentioned 100,000 points. It was an absurd amount. I am not from a wealthy family and even if I am from one, 100,000 still seems absurd allowance for a highschool kid.
Turns out I was wrong. Yesterday I noticed the free items in the grocery shop. This further rose my suspicions. During the lunch break, we saw many senpais eating free meals which doesn't look tasty at all.
It was the second day of the month. Did they spend all the points in one day. No, that seems absurd. And suddenly sensei's words clicked in my mind. "100,000 points got deposited this month".
How can I over look such an important clue. I wanted my classmates about it as soon as possible as I don't want them to suffer like those senpais.
But I withheld other information. It was the hierarchy of classes. I didn't want them to panic and also I am not sure about this theory. But the senpais who were eating free meals were all from class D.
I don't believe in such coincidences. I asked them about it. And every senpai I asked doughed the question. I spent yesterday night fully to come up with a possible conclusion And it was two things.
Class hierarchy and class competitions. But I am not sure fully why or how?. I need to discuss this with Kanzaki-kun in the following days to come to an conclusion.
I still have my doubts regarding hierarchy as there was an anomaly. Yes it was a girl named Ayanokouji Kiyone. She was multi-talented, a musical genius. She even aced the entrance exam and has insane training routine.
How come someone like her be in class D? I wondered. This even made me re-think my theory about hierarchy.
Today I got a lead. Some senpais told that they will give me information if I meet them right here. So right now I am with my friends to meet them. They were nowhere to be seen. Me and my friends waited for 10 minutes.
I got a message from that senpai saying that he won't be able to come today, and he won't be able to give me information as he promised.
I don't understand what changed his mind? Was this a set up? But why? I didn't understand. But I saw Ayanokouji Kiyone-san at a distance.
She was walking lonely towards the dorm. Today I saw her with her friends in the cafeteria, then why is she walking alone? Is it a coincidence? I didn't think much about it.
I approached her and started talking.
She spoke with hostility, she was genuinely irritated I think. Maybe people were pestering her about her abilities? I wouldn't blame them. Even I was very much interested to talk to her.
She purposefully said my name. Now I get it. She was lying about not seeing the school forum. But why make it obvious by telling my name? Is it a trap? I began to question myself. Can I even read her? If she can fake such geniune reactions?
Then I remembered something peculiar. Class competitions were a possible thing, did she realised it and is trying to evaluate me?? I mean it is possible for her to figure out things given how smart she it.
But then how should I respond to it? I can't seem to from an idea on how to respond? Should I ask about it straight? Then she will find out that I was able to spot such an anomaly while talking about completely different topic. It will give an outline of my abilities.
But before I can think about the other options, she started walking away. I don't have to think this deeply. So I stopped and approached her directly. I introduced ourselves and then she left. She also got out contact information.
*Kiyone's POV*
But the atmosphere became tense. Only for the two of us though. She was asking why did I lie just through her expression. Good she caught on to it. Now I have an understanding of her abilities and ideology to an extent.
I purposely spoke with hostility in the beginning. It is no doubt she wouldn't be able to figure out if my expressions are genuine or not. Then I made myself look like someone who is not well knowledgeable in current affairs by being clueless about me being famous.
Anybody with brain could easily tell it's a lie. Ichinose could probably conclude I might have been embarrassed or not comfortable to talk about it, so that I diverted the topic.
But this time even though I lied, she would find my expressions geniune. Now she will question her capabilities of reading through me by my facial expressions or micro movements of my body.
Simply put, she doubts herself and myself. She became wary. I knew for a fact that she noticed that small anomaly or slip up I made.
Now this arises a question. Some one who could fake their expressions to an extent where she couldn't find out the difference between real and fake, would that person make an obvious slip up.
She must have realised it was a trap to gauge her ability. But here is the thing. Should she accept the trap and fall for it? Should she not?
She was in a dilemma on how to respond. Even though she was able to conclude this much in such a short time, she couldn't formulate further. I cut her time off by walking away precisely for this reason.
I wanted an accurate measurements of her thinking capabilities. She stopped me so that she can think this through, she needed time. Ichinose was impressive nonetheless. She could have even faked all this. By faking her struggling to give me a false reading of her abilities.
But that is not the case. I confirmed it. If something made people inside that facility call me a monster. It was my ability to see through people.
So from this conversation I got what I needed. Ichinose is by no means naive. She is sharp and cunning. But she is still a kind hearted person, there's no doubt about it.
But the impression now I got from her was, if you hurt her friends, she will hurt you back. But it will be fair and square, probably.
She even has some ideas about class competitions, that's why she was thinking deeply about how to respond to me. Soon she will uncover the S-system in 3 or 4 days time.
(AN : I made Ichinose a little less naive and more cunning. She will also be at the levels Ryuen and Sakayanagi. And as from Ryuen's monologue you might have guess, Yes I buffed many people. Like class D is not fully morons, and the other leaders are more formidable).
"I don't think I need to introduce myself, but her I go. My name is Ayanokouji Kiyone. There is nothing particular about be. But I love playing chess and piano". I introduced myself.
"Nothing particular, don't be humble Ayanokouji-san. Anyways you do you. Anyways, may name is Ichinose Honami, and this is Amikura Mako, Shiranami Chichiro, Kobashi Yume, Ando Sayo and Minamikata Kozue. We all are from class B".
"Ok then, it was nice meeting you, but as I said I am tired. If you guys give me your contact information then I will be on my way" I spoke in a little bit tired tone.
After that I got their contact information. And after exchanging it, I went to the dorm room. It was already 4:30 pm. The meeting is in 6:00pm. So I reminded everyone about the meeting and thought about taking a nap.
Today is not over yet. But it was very productive. There are many capable students in these schools. I can't wait for these special exams.
Now I need to lay the foundations.