♛
TODAY MARKS THE FIRST day of the Annual Brotherhood Reranking. Compared to the other days, this was supposed to be the easiest day since the brotherhoods didn't have to engage in any physical battles. But it wasn't that at all because Day 01 is considered to be the most nerve-wracking day, unlike the other four, because all the brotherhoods can do is wait and hope for the best.
From the first day of school to this very moment, the association will be evaluating everything that a brotherhood has done. They will be scoring and assessing their group performances, their previous battles, and their violations. But at the same time, they will be individually scored, which is why brotherhoods have to look after their brothers as well since this will reflect their overall score.
Other brotherhoods are obviously afraid as this is the first elimination. The fact that you will be eliminated on the first day is already embarrassing enough. But what's more humiliating is that you weren't even able to show your real strength despite training so hard for the real battles.
"Who do you think will get demoted?" Max overhears a student ask.
All the white uniforms were at the Great Hall eating lunch. After the opening ceremony, the other brotherhoods went back to their own houses, while Busters and the rest were at the stadium with their underlings, along with the members of the Elites. This means that Max was eating alone at their long table.
The others couldn't help but look at Max. They weren't making fun of him like what some might expect, but instead, they couldn't help but look at him with pity. They don't even know when it started, but the students of J.S High began to see Max as someone like an idol. They respected him, and his achievement brought them great pride. He was like the dark horse of the House of Kings, a horse that protected and strengthened their dying foundation.
If Max ends up losing his protectors, the others would definitely be sad about it too.
"Max," someone called out, making Max lift his head up to see who it was.
Max wasn't expecting anyone, so when he saw the previous members of J.S High's top 10— Thomas Anderson Woods, Antonio Fernández de la Paz, and Justin Griffiths—holding their lunches, Max couldn't help but be surprised.
"Is it alright if we sit with you?" Antonio asked, making Max's eyes widen in shock because he wasn't expecting them to approach him like this. "Of course, if you don't want to, then we'll—"
"No, please, join me," Max quickly says, making the three of them look at each other before taking a seat to accompany Max on the empty table.
Thomas and the others started eating in silence, making the rest of the white uniforms steal glances at them, especially since they're still technically known as ranks 6 to 10. The new student ranking still hasn't been announced yet, but their best bet is that it will be announced after the Brotherhood Reranking. By then, Max will finally know what rank he's really in now.
"Aren't you all mad at me?" Max finally asked, looking at the three higher-year students in front of him.
"Mad at you? Is it because you exposed us and got us kicked out of the ranks?" Thomas asks, making the table awkward.
Max tries to think of a response. Of course, he didn't do it with any ill intentions. It wasn't just because he wanted to rank high and bring them down. Honestly, when PHD gave him the three tasks for the Banquet, he didn't even know that they were the students involved in it. Max only wanted to give everyone a fair shot, and that was what he did.
"If it is an apology that you need, then I have nothing to give you. I still stand firm with my beliefs that what you all did was wrong, and I will not be sorry about that," Max finally says, making Thomas, Antonio, and Justin look at each other again before looking back at Max.
They were all quiet for a while, but then they eventually started laughing, confusing the young heir.
"Max, relax," Antonio finally says. "None of us are mad at you. Of course, we were a bit disappointed, but because of you, we were finally able to take pride in our achievements without burden or guilt. And besides, you're my benefactor, after all. Why on earth would I be mad at you?"
"I was also disappointed that Hans removed me as his underling, and I had to let go of my title as a leader in the Alpha Society, but at the same time, through this new beginning, I get to prove to everyone that I am not my brother," Thomas then added.
"We're all doing well on our own. And to be honest with you, I'm glad you exposed us. I've been really guilty about buying those points. I'm also glad that President Janus didn't expel us like what he did to Kenzo (previous rank seven)," Justin says right after, and everyone nods their heads to agree with him.
Max looks at the three of them with surprise, but then he smiles and nods his head, glad that this is how it all ended. It would have been very troublesome if they held a grudge. He already got in trouble with Paradox after those tasks, he can't have these white uniforms coming after his throat too.
"Anyway, J.S High has been very gloomy since this reranking started. We were all excited during the opening ceremony, but now everyone is just quiet," Justin says before taking a bite of his roast beef. "But my twin brother told me that we shouldn't be so nervous about useless things and just patiently wait for the results."
"That's such a Dustin thing to say," Thomas commented with a chuckle.
"But I kinda understand why everyone's on their toes right now. In five days, the brotherhoods in this house might change. Busters and the other brotherhoods have not changed for three years. It's definitely nerve-racking," Antonio then explains, which was something that Max couldn't help but agree on.
Everyone was anxious about the results, but compared to them, Max was even more terrified. There have been rumors going on about a certain brotherhood failing and getting demoted. Max doesn't know who it might be yet, but one thing's for sure...
The House of Kings isn't gonna let that happen.
Whatever the results may be, all Max could do is trust in them. He knows that his protectors won't fail, even the Royals, who he has yet to conquer. They won't let anyone toy them around. Like Max, they will definitely make the impossible possible.
"In ten minutes, the first ranks for the Annual Brotherhood Reranking will be announced," a voice suddenly says throughout the Great Hall, making everyone talk amongst each other.
Max couldn't help but touch his empty collar before taking a deep breath. "Thank you for accompanying me," Max says as he looks at Thomas, Antonio, and Justin. "Having to watch the reranking alone is a bit too much, so having you all here is assuring."
Thomas acted like he didn't care and just shrugged his shoulders, but Antonio and Justin reached out to touch Max's hand to encourage him.
"We're here for you, Max," Justin says with a smile.
"You don't have to worry about anything because...We're definitely going to win this battle!" Antonio suddenly shouted this time, startling the other white uniforms. Soon after, he got up on the other empty table and looked at everyone in the hall.
"Looks like the theater kid in him took over," Thomas then says, taking a sip of his tea before looking back at Antonio, who was standing on top of a table like he was in some musical.
"We are the school that hosted the best Elites Convention in the world. We battle each day in order to survive and rank up. We are the House of Kings. We have done the impossible possible. No one will be able to defeat us because in J.S High..."
"We shall conquer!" The white uniforms shouted in unison, making everyone in the Great Hall start standing from their seats to cheer.
Max looks around, a smile on his face as he stares at everyone in the hall. This is the J.S High that he has been dreaming of. This is the J.S High that he wants to hone when he becomes the Elites' President.
Everyone was united as one, and this made Max hopeful too.
Like what their house motto said, they shall definitely conquer all.
...
Back at the Stadium, all the brotherhoods were standing in groups while their underlings sat on the bleachers.
On the left bleachers were the underlings of Jokers and Cigarettes, Jacks and Lighters. Cigarettes had a handful of them, so they occupied most of the seats while the Ashes stood in front. There were also a dozen of Jacks, but like the Ashes, their Master Jack, Ervin Walker, stood in front as their main representative.
On the right side, there were BND's 14 strong Roses. Ari was among them, but Secretary Richard Young stood in front.
Crazy 8 didn't have any underlings, but all their members were in the middle with the rest of the brotherhoods, which included their executive no. 7, Felix Campbell.
And lastly, for the Royals, there were only two students standing for them. PHD's underling, Dynasty, which only includes Kawanishi Keigo. And then Busters' The Clan, which was only vice president Gavriil Alexeev.
The Elites were also there, standing on stage, except for Gavriil and Richard, who were given permission to stand beside their brotherhoods.
Everyone in the stadium was nervous, even President Ian. This was a big deal for him as much as this was for the brotherhoods. It may not look like it, but Ian might as well consider the brotherhoods his sons. He couldn't imagine handling a better group of men apart from them.
"In ten minutes, the first ranks for the Annual Brotherhood Reranking will be announced," a voice announces throughout the stadium, making some of the Brotherhood members gulp.
This first ranking is purely based on performance, so Busters and BND looked confident as they made sure to keep their records spotless. The members of PHD were all quiet too, but most of them didn't really have any expressions. Jokers had a mix of excitement and nervousness. While the members of Cigarettes looked completely bored.
Crazy 8, on the other hand, felt a lot more nervous than the others, and the reason is because of their previous leader, Payton Wolfe, better known as the previous Siren. Payton is still counted as their ex-leader, and having him expelled can drastically lower their evaluation.
Siren practically expects that they'll rank low.
"Siren, it's okay," Felix comforted, reaching out to grab their leader's shoulder when he noticed how anxious she was. "As long as we're not lower than rank 22, we'll be fine. It's alright if we don't rank high here. We can make up for it on the other battles."
Siren takes a deep breath, and then she holds onto Felix's hand that's on her shoulder and squeezes it.
"Alright, any time now..." Marcus whispers under his breath before looking at his watch for the hundredth time. Khian reaches out to him and pats him back to help him relax. Everyone in the stadium was just on edge. But as they were waiting, they suddenly heard a noise coming from the Great Hall.
"We shall conquer!" The voices of the white uniforms shouted, surprising everyone in the stadium.
Viktor, who was staring at the floor the entire time, looks up and grins as he hears the voice of his schoolmates echo in the stadium. Even Ian and the other leaders couldn't help but smile.
The chant took out their worries away. If the white uniforms believe in them this much, then there is no reason for them not to trust them too.
"The ranking will now be announced," the voice finally says, and the shouts from the Great Hall continues to echo in the stadium, making their nervousness change into excitement.
"The ranks will be posted in ten...nine...eight..."
All the screens from all the houses started showing the countdown. Not only the students of J.S High were nervous, but also everyone else in the other houses. This was the first ranking. The first elimination.
"Seven...six...five...four..."
"Here we go. This is it. The first fucking ranking," Viktor says, clenching his fists as his eyes stare into the screen, making sure he doesn't miss a single rank.
"Three...two..."
And then, at that moment, the cheers stopped.
And everyone and everything became completely silent.
"One."
The screens that showed the Brotherhood Association's logo suddenly turned black, and a second after, the new ranking was revealed, making everyone widen their mouths in shock.
LEGEND:
↑ PROMOTED
↓ DEMOTED
= RANK DID NOT CHANGE
* NEW
RANKS FOR DAY 01: (March 11, 2024)
RANK 01: BUSTERS =
RANK 02: PRETTY, HOT & DANGEROUS =
RANK 03: GALLANTS ↑11
RANK 04: GOLDEN LIONS ↑23
RANK 05: RED TIGERS ↑4
RANK 06: BOYS NEXT DOOR ↓6
RANK 07: CHECKMATE =
RANK 08: ARCHERS =
RANK 09: ABLAZE ↑8
RANK 10: SCARLET LETTER =
RANK 11: BLUE RAVENS ↑1
RANK 12: THE CLAN *
RANK 13: JOKERS ↓7
RANK 14: LUCKY 7 ↑7
RANK 15: DYNASTIES *
RANK 16: JACK OF ALL TRADES ↑2
RANK 17: NIGHTMARE ↓6
RANK 18: CIGARETTES ↓13
RANK 19: LOCK & KEY ↓3
RANK 20: REVELS *
RANK 21: GODFATHERS ↑9
RANK 22: CRAZY 8 ↓18
RANK 23: THE COMPASS ↑3
RANK 24: PYTHONS ↑4
RANK 25: OLYMPUS *
RANK 26: REAPERS ↓13
RANK 27: TITANS ↓4
RANK 28: ASSASINS ↓9
RANK 29: MERCENARIES *
RANK 30: YOUNG WILD N' FREE ↓8
"No fucking way. The ranks changed this much?" Brave, Krist's right-hand man, asks in shock as they stare at the new ranking.
Everyone in the stadium was quiet, all in disbelief.
Siren cried the moment she saw the ranks, but her brotherhood immediately comforted her. They were just a rank away from falling back to the House of Pawns. She was definitely mixed with both happiness and disappointment.
Cigarettes and Jokers were surprised that they ranked down, but they weren't disappointed like Siren was. They somehow expected that they'd get demoted, considering how they did shitty things to Max in the past and broke a few rules. And the fact that CJ got suspended was probably why they got that low too.
Another brotherhood that was in shock was BND. They knew for a fact that they did well, but then Arjun reminded them of what happened to Thomas Anderson Woods, a previous underling who got involved in some serious cases. It seems like that got factored in during their evaluation.
Hans wasn't mad because he took full responsibility for not being able to see Thomas's injustice. It just goes to show that even underlings should be taken seriously.
"We apologize, BND!" The 14 Roses suddenly say, making BND look at them with smiles.
"What are you apologizing for? Aren't you glad we're still in the top 6?" Marcus then asks, and the Roses look at each other before getting influenced by BND's optimism.
But as the other brotherhoods discussed amongst each other, talking about why they could have been ranked like that, there were two brotherhoods who didn't even move a muscle.
The Royals, PHD and Busters.
Jokers and the others weren't really surprised that they had perfected their evaluation, but the students in the other houses were dumbfounded. Looks like they hold their titles seriously.
"These are the new and temporary ranks for Day 1 of the Annual Brotherhood Reranking," the female voice announces throughout the campus.
Everyone in the stadium was still quiet, but after a while, loud cheers were heard from the Great Hall, instantly making Busters, PHD, BND, Crazy 8, Cigarettes, and Jokers start smiling and grinning.
"House of Kings," President Ian says with a proud smile. "Looks like you will all move to the next round."
As soon as Ian said those words, all the underlings started cheering. Everyone was jumping up and down, hugging each other like they won a football game. It was an amazing moment for all of them. Despite how the ranks went, what's important is that they still have a chance.
"Thomas L. High School...House of Pawns...let me welcome you, your new Top 8 Soldiers..." The voice then announces as the logos of 8 brotherhoods flash on the screen.
RANK 23: THE COMPASS
RANK 24: PYTHONS
RANK 25: OLYMPUS
RANK 26: REAPERS
RANK 27: TITANS
RANK 28: ASSASINS
RANK 29: MERCENARIES
RANK 30: YOUNG WILD N' FREE
"I can't believe the Reapers got demoted from the House of Bishops to the House of Pawns. They must be devastated," Rome says, staring at the brotherhoods with a sad look on his face.
"They probably did something so crazy that got them demoted like that. Maybe set the campus on fire or something," Cj manages to joke, making Hans glare at him.
"Seriously, show a little empathy," BND's leader says, and Cj just shrugs his shoulders.
"Brotherhoods who were not able to rank and will automatically transfer to Thomas L. High School are as follows..."
Previous rank 15, PIRATES.
Previous rank 20, VICTORS.
Previous rank 24, BOMBERS.
Previous rank 25, ANGELS.
Previous rank 29, FULL MOON.
"Damn! Pirates got kicked off?! What the hell did they do?!" Krist then asks in shock as the logos of the demoted brotherhoods are shown on screen. Their logos were also in black and white, indicating that they have failed to join the top 30.
"Please give a round of applause to the five brotherhoods from the House of Pawns who have earned their way up and secured a rank. Additionally, let's acknowledge the three new brotherhoods among them and wish them the best in their upcoming battles to rank higher..."
New rank 12, THE CLAN.
New rank 15, DYNASTIES.
New rank 20, REVELS.
New rank 25, OLYMPUS.
New rank 29, MERCENARIES.
As the new brotherhood logos were shown, BND and the others at the stadium couldn't help but clap their hands for them. It was a great achievement to get ranked, especially when you rank higher than 23. It is true that there are five new brotherhoods on the list, but it is also true that BND and the others now have five new brothers.
After all, without the ranks, they're all just one big brotherhood.
"Five new brotherhoods huh? They must have trained well," Ervin says while staring at the screen.
Everyone continued to cheer at this unforgettable moment. But as Krist and the others were clapping, Master Joker stared at the screen for a couple more seconds before finally stopping in shock.
"B-Brave...the brotherhood ranking higher than us..."
"Higher than us? Do you mean The Clan? Yeah, that's the new brotherhood that got ranked. I'm pretty excited to meet them tomorrow," Brave casually explains, but Krist shakes his head before slowly turning to Keigo and Gavriil.
"T-Those two," he asks while pointing at them. "What the fuck are their underling titles?"
The moment Krist asked that question, everyone in the stadium became quiet. Even the Elites were looking at him now. They all stared at what Master Joker was pointing at in confusion. But as soon as they saw that it was Keigo and Gavriil, Brave immediately covered his mouth in shock, and the rest of the brotherhoods finally understood what this meant.
"Keigo and Gavriil! Their titles are the Clan and Dynasties!" Ari shouts in shock, instantly making the other underlings gasp in shock too.
"What is the meaning of this?" President Ian confusingly asks, staring at the two new brotherhoods on screen before finally looking at Viktor and Hee-joon.
The two leaders were quiet for a while, but then Viktor started laughing, his waves of laughter echoing inside the stadium as if he had officially lost it.
"Looks like they did well. I can't help but feel proud," Vikor says with a grin, confusing everyone even more.
"Weren't you all worried that I'd graduate without leaving anything behind?" He asks before slowly looking at Krist and the others. "I already said it, didn't I? During the Brotherhood Ball...six months ago, I said that we would choose our underlings, train them under our wing, and make them a brotherhood who will inherit our titles."
"Are you saying—" Before Siren could even finish her sentence, Hee-joon turned to the leaders. After being silent the entire time, a grin suddenly appears on his face as he says, "J.S High, we present to you your future kings and princes."
Everyone looked at Viktor and Joon in shock.
All this time, they weren't bluffing about making their own brotherhoods. They just didn't expect that they'd actually recruit them from another house.
When did they even have the time to prepare all this?
"Those royals...they actually trained little monsters of their own?! And they even ranked higher than us on the Day 01 ranks?!" Krist angrily asks while his jesters try calming him down.
"He never stops surprising me," President Ian then says as Viktor continues laughing after finally revealing this master plan. But as everyone stares at their 'mad king' with disbelief, Ian then turns his head to the screen before touching his rapidly beating chest.
"One day down...four more to go."
- END -