Sora's POV:
"Oi, Takahashi Kun!" Yamauchi San suddenly called me despite me never having an actual conversation with him. "You're smart, right? So, you'll definitely have points. I'll sell you my console for the grand discounted price of 18,000. Will you buy it please?" He asked me though I wasn't really aware of a console's original price, this one sounded expensive. "No, thanks Yamauchi San. I don't play games on consoles." I rejected his sales but he didn't give up.
"Please, Takahashi Kun! I don't have enough points." He practically begged me making me more uncomfortable. "Then, how about 3000? I don't even know how to play with it..." I trailed off not knowing a thing about this console he had in his hand. "No way! I'm not going below 18,000!" He screamed at me making me want to shut my ears as his voice was too loud for me. After done with throwing his fit, he went towards Kouji San and increased the price to 20,000. He's unbelievable...Why is he this desperate? Did he use up these new points as well? Or is the money getting to him? "I'll buy it if you lower the price to 1000 points." Kouji San tried to bargain. The situation didn't look like one though. So... the console's only 1000 points?
___
There was currently an insight inside the classroom. The girls were blaming the boys for acting like fools excluding Hirata San, me, Yukimura San, and Kouji San. Kouenji San had already left the classroom. And I had enough of all this excess noise today. My ears were too sensitive and I wanted to leave but the way to the outside of the class was mostly blocked by students who were arguing. I forgot to bring my headphones today which made the situation far more worse. I whimpered silently to myself as I tried to shut down the sound by closing my ears. Hirata San excused himself from the girls he was trying to calm down and came toward me.
"Are you alright, Takahashi Kun? You don't seem to be doing well." He asked leaning a bit towards the desk with concern. I shook my head lightly at him. He gave me a worried smile. "Don't worry. I'll settle them down soon." He said with reassurance and walked towards the front of the class. "Everyone, please settle down. I don't think it's wise to panic and run around. We must stay calm and think about how we can increase our CP in the next month." Hirata San grabbed everyone's attention as the class's noise went down to whispers.
"Let's start from the same point again. We must maintain our behavior and be regular in attendance to the class. We have done it before and maybe that was the reason our CP didn't drop down to zero. And let's focus on dealing with the current situation at hand." Some students shuddered at the thought of zero CP but everyone agreed to Hirata San's opinion. "What do you mean by the current situation, Hirata?" Miyake San, who I didn't know much about aside from that he was in the archery club, asked him.
Hirata San held a grim expression as he got worried about the exams. "The upcoming Midterms. We must perform well in this exam. Or there might be chances of students dropping off because of not meeting the threshold." He explained and the students who got the lowest scores started panicking. "What should we do then, Hirata?! I'm absolutely screwed in this exam!" Ike San shouted yet again and Yamauchi San joined in. "Yeah! Same here."
"Please calm down. I think we should start study groups. Everyone who scored well on the test can help by tutoring a few students if they would like to take responsibility. I think this will be the best way to study for Midterms." Many of them agreed to the idea and nodded in agreement. I, on the other hand, was okay with the idea too but wanted to escape since I'm one of those he just mentioned.
As if my deduction was correct again, Hirata San turned towards me. "Takahashi Kun, Would you mind leading a study group? You seem to have the perfect score on the surprise test." He asked me out of the blue and many of the students glanced at me again. I gave a nervous expression and that was when he realized what was wrong. "Oh. My bad, please don't worry. You can help only a few students as you deem comfortable. Only if you're willing to." Hirata San requested me again leaving me no choice. I just nodded at him in silence and some of the girls sighed in relief.
"Great! Thank you. Also, Mii-chan, Yukimura Kun, and Horikita San, would you be willing to help lead a study group too? I can lead a study group as well." Everyone except Horikita San agreed with him. "Count me out of it, Hirata Kun. I have no intention of helping others in their studies. They can try doing it themselves." She declined him right off the bat.
"But, Horikita San. You scored well on the test. Surely, helping a few students would help the class too, right?" Hirata San tried to reason with her. But she rejected his idea again. "No, leave me out of it." Her crisp and sharp answer made Hirata San leave her alone. "Well, please do inform us if you change your mind, Horikita San." With that final sentence, he ended the discussion and Horikita San walked away out of the class immediately.
"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka of class 1-D. Please report to the faculty room immediately." There was suddenly an announcement from the speaker. I looked behind to see Kouji San grabbing his bag and left the class before nodding at me as a greeting. The class watched him as he walked out of the class. Most of the students gradually started leaving the class too and I picked my bag up to my shoulder wanting to leave as well.
But Hirata San walked back towards me again. "Sorry about that, Takahashi Kun. Your cooperation would really help the class." He tried to apologize for what he did earlier and I chose to accept his apology this time. "However, Hirata San, I do have a request." He nodded at me asking me to continue. "Would you please combine yours and my group? That way... I won't be having any issues while communicating. I can just clear their doubts instead."
He thought for a while and eventually agreed. "That seems quite effective. And sorry, I should have really considered your uneasiness around groups." Our conversation was cut off when there was another announcement again and this time, it was about me. "Will the student, Takahashi Sora, from class 1-D please proceed to the faculty guidance room? I repeat_" That announcement was different from the previous one. Were they trying to be more polite to me? I bid farewell to Hirata San and walked out of the class towards the faculty room. I don't want to go there actually... I gulped remembering the scary Sensei that always leaned a bit too close to me. And why was Kouji San called before me?
After reaching the faculty room, I knocked on the door twice and waited for a response. "Is that you, Takahashi Kun?" The door opened revealing Shira Sensei. She opened it wide enough for me to walk in and closed the door behind me. I looked around cautiously looking for a certain light brown mop and hair. "Don't worry. She's in the staff room. The guidance room is clear." It seems Sensei noticed my worries. I just nodded and followed her to the desk. I noticed Horikita San near the desk and she was standing across from Kouji San. "It seems Hoshinomiya Sensei scared him quite a lot. He does hate physical touch." Kouji San said taking me by surprise. Sensei nodded along with him as if she agreed with him.
"Um... Sensei, is there any reason you called me here?" I asked as I really didn't want to stay there. "Yes. Take a look at this." She showed me a piece of paper with marking on it. "It's my entrance exam." I stated calmly not understanding the situation. She nodded at me. "Yes. Quite impressive of you. Don't you think? a 95 and 99s all across the board including two 100s." Horikita San looked shocked and Kouji San started staring at me.
"If you think it's impressive, that is up to you. Is that why I was called for here, Sensei?" I asked her wanting to leave this place as soon as possible. I wasn't in my best condition today. My social bar might hit zero anytime soon and Sensei had that mysterious aura around her again. She nodded at me.
"These are Ayanokouji's test scores. Please take a look at this too." She handed me his test form, which I already had a copy of before, and I took a glance at him. There was a slight change in his face. Is that surprise? There is a chance that it is. "Interesting. He got all 50s across the board. The exact 'half'..." I tried to find any changes in his expression while saying that. Horikita San stepped closer and looked at the test form too.
"What a frightening coincidence." Kouji San tried to defend himself but I cut him off. "You don't say..." I replied glancing at him from the side of my eyes. I'm just taking revenge on you back from the swimming class. Horikita San turned towards him after he said that. "Huh? You're going to claim that your results are a coincidence to the very end? It's clearly intentional." She argued back with him. I was actually interested in a conversation for the first time. I just wanted to see his reaction, that was all.
"It was a coincidence. Why would I manipulate my own results? If I had a brain to score high like that, I would have aimed for perfect scores in all subjects like Takahashi here." Though he was defending himself, there was no need for him to involve me in his claims. Shira Sensei thought of interfering too. "Honestly, you're a weird student. The math problem you solved was only solved by 3 percent of all students this year. Additionally, you included a complex formula and used it flawlessly." She paused and looked for his response and continued again. "On the other hand, you made a mistake in the problem that 76 percent of students answered correctly. How exactly is that a coincidence?" I laughed at the situation internally as Kouji San's claims were being obliterated right off the bat.
"And which is why, you're more than capable of manipulating your results, Kouji San. And I don't intend to care about your motive behind it." I said my final sentence and stood to a side letting them talk. "No, like I said. It's a coincidence." Kouji San kept insisting which felt quite weird to me. Is he trying to be obvious about it?
"Good grief. I admire your attitude but it may cause you trouble in the future." She kind of mocked Kouji San. Horikita San finally came to her senses when Sensei glanced at her. "Why do you... pretend not to know?" Horikita San directed the question at Kouji San as the latter insisted that it was all a coincidence. "What do you think, Horikita? He might be more intelligent than you are." Horikita San flinched at that remark and I wouldn't say I liked where this conversation was heading. She's gonna ask me next...
Sensei looked at me right at the moment. "What do you think little young one? Isn't he?" She asked me using a rather weird nickname. "What... do you mean by little?" I asked feeling embarrassed at the nickname as the heat raised to my cheeks. I was sure they might have turned a bit pink by now. I even purposefully dodged the question. "Wait-" Sensei cut her off to answer me. "As your homeroom teacher, I'm aware of your age, Takahashi Kun." She explained as I understood it was true. She has my test form. Of course, she'll have access to my student data too. I just looked away and chose to stay silent.
"Is he younger than all of us?" Kouji San asked and I didn't know why he was so curious. Though his voice was just the same. Horikita was looking at me curiously too. "Yes. He's currently 14 years old. However, he'll turn 15 after September. So the school chose to accept him." She explained making the gears in my head turn. Lrot San... Why didn't you cover for me? I thought you changed my documents. Or was it the school that identified the other ones? I sighed understanding that it was no use to think of it anymore. "I see..." Horikita San trailed off deep in thought.
They moved on from me back to the topic again. "Horikita, do you realize it now or do you want me to give you more details?" Sensei asked her with a sharp glint in her eyes. It seemed like she was trying to provoke Horikita San. She wants to provoke all three of us somehow. "No, Just stop here. If I keep listening, I think I would go crazy and destroy all the furniture here." He rejected it instead of Horikita San. "If you do that, Ayanokouji, you will be demoted to Class E." Sensei threatened him like she was capable of doing that. Now that I think about it, can teachers expell students on their own accord?
"Sensei, are you implying that you'll expel Ayanokouji San?" I asked her while frowning as the glint in her eyes disappeared. "Please don't worry about it, Takahashi Kun. That was just a sarcastic remark. It shouldn't concern you in any possible way." She dismissed me quite easily... "The conversation ends here. Since, I have a staff meeting to attend later on, all of you may go now." Sensei literally forced us out of the room with that sentence and I was quite confused about what happened earlier when I wasn't there. I knew there was some context I missed which was keeping me in the dark now.
Kiyotaka's POV:
Chabashira Sensei pushed the two of us out of the room and Takahashi followed behind silently. Takahashi's nature had quite down a lot after she revealed his age to us. Is he worried about her knowing his secrets? That's a possibility. He continued walking without another word. I looked at Horikita. "Anyway... Shall we head back? I asked walking away and going closer to Takahashi without waiting for her.
"Kouji San, why did you keep insisting that your test results were a coincidence?" I didn't expect Takahashi to start a conversation with me on his own accord but again, he did stop avoiding me, unlike the other times. "Because it really was." He clicked his tongue at my answer and started ignoring me again. "Wait a moment." Horikita called out to us from behind. Yet, neither of us stopped in our tracks.
She eventually caught up with Takahashi who seemed to be in a down mood at the moment. "Takahashi Kun, Don't you think that you were placed in the wrong class?" She asked him to which he shook his head. "I don't see where that question's coming from, Horikita San. Nevertheless, I don't mind about which class I'm placed in." He answered in a bit of a light voice. I see it now. He's off his limits.
Horikita stopped in her tracks getting serious. "Even though you're smart enough to be placed in class A?" She asked him as Takahashi sighed and stopped in his tracks. I stopped walking as well. "Please, I'm aware of my own flaws, Horikita San. I wouldn't be so confident about being superior to others like you do. If anything, that attitude is one of your flaws. It seems you aren't aware of your flaws." He explained as we started walking again.
"Then how about you two help me reach class A? It'd be beneficial to us all." She asked us ignoring his words quite openly. "I don't want to keep thinking of strategies." I rejected her request and glanced at Takahashi who glanced back at her while walking. "I'm not obliged to help you at all, Horikita San. If anything, we've barely known each other." The cat explained as he continued in his path. "It's fine if I'm the one who'll be doing the thinking part. I just need your cooperation." Horikita replied and I thought this was the right chance to test him. Don't even think of taking away my pawn, Horikita.
"Are you asking us to follow your orders around, Horikita?" I asked making Takahashi stop in his tracks. "Yes. That's exactly it. And then we can-" Takahashi cut her words off with a sharp glare from his eyes. "That'd be enough from you, Horikita San. I don't care about your superiority complex. But, I despise people who look down on others. Especially when they consider them as some kind of objects." He turned away from us and started walking away. "Now, if you'll excuse me."
The quiet and calm-natured Takahashi showed his intense side again which honestly interested me. I should be careful when I manipulate him. I looked back at Horikita who was dumbfounded by his sudden outburst. "You went too far this time." I said as she sighed in frustration. "Yes, it seems like I did. Nonetheless, your help will be enough for me to reach class A." She said as if she wasn't just lectured by the calmest person in class who was mad at her.
"I didn't mention anything about helping you out." I refused thinking if I could use the same words as she did in class. "No. I heard your inner voice. I'm glad that you agreed to help me." She said and soon started walking away. "Did you not hear what I said?" I asked as I wasn't willing to get dragged around. "I did. And thank you in advance." She ignored me and walked away. This whole ordeal made me late to look for the cat again. He might be on the rooftop.
I took the stairs and went towards the rooftop. I wasn't able to hear any voice so I peeked in a bit to find the space empty. That was a surprise because he used to always come here for a breather. "Then the other possibility is his dorm room." I never followed him to his room so I wasn't aware of his room number or his floor.
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3rd person's POV:
The white-haired boy reached his room in a hurry and closed the door behind him. Sora dropped his bag as he leaned on the door with his back. He took deep breaths and sighed while crouching at the entrance. "It feels like the more far I run off from them, the closer they get. I'm not even sure who is more active in between them..." He muttered under his breath as he took in the familiar silence in the room. He sighed again and slowly got up while lifting his bag. He took off his shoes and went into his bedroom keeping his bag in place.
Sora glanced at the headphones that were resting on his study table. He grabbed them and put them on while connecting to music. He got himself comfortable with the tune and walked into the kitchen to make cold chocolate for himself. He collected the ice and waited for the mixer to settle down.
Sora got his mug of cold chocolate and sat on his study chair. He took off his headphones and sipped some chocolate finally calming down. "Chocolate drinks are the best..." He relaxed in his chair and let the gears in his head turn. "So, I assume Lrot San's fake documents didn't work." He took a sip again from his mug and started thinking again. 'Either there was a mistake in the process or the school knows its way around things. If it were to be the latter, then there is a chance that they know my background. But they weren't able to find the originals yet...'
He gulped down all the remaining chocolate at once when that thought came across his mind. "...What if they try to make a deal with him?" The boy gulped in fear and shook his head in denial as his white hair got messy. "No. He won't go through so much trouble to make a deal if he has influence here. And the school wouldn't even dare to take me in if they were to make a deal in the first place. Which means... the school is providing me protection as I wished for." He sighed in relief resting his head on the desk. "Then, I'll be fine as long as I survive." He sweatdropped as he remembered that this school was of no peace to him. "That said, I'm not particularly at peace here. A stalker. Two enemies from other classes. An ability hiding student who I need to keep an eye on. And... a troublesome class."
__________________________
... "Come back, Little-"__
Sora abruptly woke up and sat on his bed. He breathed heavily trying to calm his breathing. He took the glass that was on the nightstand and gulped down the cold water. He took a deep breath and sighed. "It's that... dream again." He rested his right hand on the back of his neck for comfort and looked at the clock. "It's already time for the morning jog..." He slipped through his covers and stepped into the bathroom to get ready.
___
The white-haired boy walked towards his class as usual and slid the door open hoping that there was no one else. But he was surprised to spot a bunch of girls. He stepped in silently without making any sound as the girls were busy discussing something. He silently took his seat and sighed. "No! You can't be interested in him just because you feel like he's cute." "Like I said, he's my type. So, I don't care about you people." Sora didn't mind any of their words as he had no idea what all that idiocy was about.
"Oh, please. You do know that I and Hirata Kun are dating~" Karuizawa's words which included Hirata's name perked up his ears. He turned to finally look at the girl. That was when he understood that they were in love talk he had no interest in. He turned around again and took out the mystery novel that he started reading last night. "That's why stay out of it. We'll be the one ranking Taka-" The girl cut herself off when she accidentally glanced at the all-alone boy. She went still making the others confused by her actions. They all turned to look at the back of the class to spot none other than the calmest person in the whole class.
"Ahhh~!" The girls screamed in sinc jolting Sora awake from his book. He looked at them in surprise as they all got nervous. "You scared us there, Takahashi Kun. We didn't see you coming in." Matsushita recovered from her trance and asked him. "That's because you were busy?" The boy replied back not getting the hang of the situation. "Anyway, Good morning, Takahashi Kun. When did you come into the class?" Karuizawa who was in her seat greeted him. The white-haired boy bowed his head lightly as a greeting. "Morning, Karuizawa San. I came in around five minutes ago." He replied nonchalantly before turning back to his book.
The girls stared at him for a moment and grouped together, this time whispering among themselves. "He didn't hear us. Did he?" Maya Sato asked worried about their gossip. "No. I don't think he out of everyone can stay here if he listened to our rankings." Matsushita reasoned out. "You got a point. After all, he got the first position in both 'Innocent Pretty Boys' and 'Quiet/Calm/Cold Boys'." Karuizawa whispered back. "That reminds me. Which one of us should join his group? I mean, the remaining can join Hirata's group-" Shinohara covered her mouth realizing they might attract his attention if they uttered his friend's name.
They all glanced back to find him wearing headphones and concentrating on his book. A very typical Sora thing. They sweatdropped at the scene but let out relieved breaths. Matsushita stood straight from her leaning position and walked towards Sora. He took off his headphones when he spotted someone coming towards him. He looked up at the smiling brown-haired girl. "Good morning, Takahashi Kun." She greeted him to which he nodded his head. "Morning, Matsushita San."
Matsushita clasped her hands in the back and leaned a bit towards his desk. She made sure she wasn't leaning too close. "We were wondering if we could join your study group. Some of us girls need help. So, if you're okay with it..." She trailed off letting him take the decision. "Um... Matsushita San, how about we discuss this later?" The younger's reply confused her. "Why not now?" Karuizawa came and pressed on him making him nervous. "Hirata San and I were planning on combining the group..." He replied uncertainly.
"Oh. Is that so... Then, let's talk after he arrives." Sato suggested walking towards them and behind her were Shinohara, Inogashira, Hondo, and Onodera. They all nodded in agreement. Sora was quick to sense the danger he was in. 'Did they all come this early so that they could ask me to let them join the study group?...' He trailed off from his thoughts and looked for ways to escape. He suddenly stood up, startling the girls.
"Please, excuse me." He said calmly and walked out of the class leaving the girls behind who were wondering what was wrong. He took the stairs and went to his usual resting place so that he could be away from the girls. The girls sighed in unison when they saw Sora leave them, more likely escaping from them. "And there goes our plan on striking a conversation with him." Karuizawa complained as the others agreed. "Maybe, it was a bad idea to go near him as a group." Matsushita muttered sighing. Shinohara placed a finger on her chin as if she was thinking. "Yeah... He doesn't like groups after all."
The classroom door slid open again as Hirata walked in. "Good morning, everyone." He greeted the girls going near his desk. "Good morning, Hirata Kun." They all greeted him back as Karuizawa went near him. Hirata looked at the empty seat that was near the girls and then glanced around the class. He sighed in exasperation. "Did you girls scare him away again?" He asked with a nervous smile as the girls looked away embarrassed, while some crossed their hands. "He's too hard to convince..." Matsushita trailed off wondering if there was another way to convince.
"Please leave the convincing to me. I'll see if he can take at least three of you as his group." Hirata set his bag down on the desk and started to walk out of the class. "Wait, Hirata Kun. We don't know where he went off to." Karuizawa explained as the blonde-haired boy smiled at her. "Don't worry. I know where he'll be." He walked out of the class bidding them farewell. The girls sighed in frustration at their failed plan.
Word Count: 4597