The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled.
-The Prestige
______________________________________
"Good morning, Kiyotaka" said Okitani, entering the gym. While I was leaving.
"Hey, how are you doing? You are late today."
"I kinda overslept, I was up all night playing counter strike. Where are the others?"
"They are in the sauna, it seems today's workout a little hard for them."
"All the workout routines, you instruct us to follow are hard. If today was extra hard, then I will consider myself lucky to be absent."
"Actually, because you weren't here today, so tomorrow I will make sure to work you extra hard."
"What! No that's unfair." he cried.
"Anyway, there's still 10 minutes left, atleast do some stretching exercises for today. I will be going now. One more thing, remind the others that today is an important day. So no one should be absent." I said ignoring his protest.
I started walking towards the dorms, it was a fair distance to cover. The gym was isolated, not many people came here to exercise as people preferred the gym at the Keyaki mall. The membership fee was low and we got extra discount for joining as a group.
During my walk, I started thinking about today. 30th April, Today I am gonna reveal the S system to the class. During the conversations with other classmates, I always left a hint about the system but nobody understood it.
The whole month, people either slept in the class, used their mobile phone, came late or were absent altogether. No body paid attention to the teacher other than a select few. Everything was according to my calculations. The class would be zero or atleast close to it.
And if my predictions are correct then tomorrow we wouldn't be receiving any points. The class would start to panic as most of them have already spent most of their points.
That's why I didn't tell them anything before. When they find themselves in such a position, they will look towards a person who is smart enough to lead them.
By revealing the system today, most people will know who that person is and if someone doubts my theory, the result will be out tomorrow.
Only if I was placed in a better class, I wouldn't have to do so much work and lead a class which is full of defects to victory. But then again where's the fun in that. Because when everything is done and dusted, this class will go down as the most dominant class in the history of ANHS. That's my promise because no matter what the school throws at me, I will win. I don't care what methods I will have to use. Whoever I will have to sacrifice. The most important thing to me is my freedom and I will achieve it after graduating from Class A. The freedom from that white hell.
################################
As I entered the classroom, I saw all the students were present. It seems the group leaders did their work.
Last few weeks, I assigned some group leaders to the major groups. Like Hirata, Kushida, Chiaki, Karuizawa, Sudo and Yukimura to name a few.
Sudo was the leader of the idiots, even though he didn't know it.
"Hello there, Ayanokouji-kun. So what is the important news you are going to announce today? Is it something related to the class or something personal." said Kushida in her usual cheerful voice.
"Nooooo, Don't tell me you are dating someone already! " said Maezono.
Hearing this the girls started whispering among themselves. Speculating about who I could be dating. Some look saddened. The idiot company were glaring daggers at me.
"No Maezono, it's not about that and I am not dating anybody."
Instantly, the girls cheered up. That's weird.
"I will do the announcement at lunch, I don't think there's enough time right now. The announcement is related to our future in this school, so I would request everybody to be present."
As I finished speaking, Chabashira-sensei walked into the noisy classroom.
Her entrance didn't alter the student's behavior.
"Quiet down a little, please. Today's lesson will be a bit serious."
"What do you mean, Sae-chan-sensei?"
asked Ike.
He already had a pet name for the teacher.
"It's the end of the month, so we're going to have a short test. Please
pass these to the back."
She handed out the papers to the students in the front row. Eventually,
the single-sheet test reached my desk. It contained questions in the five main
subjects. With only a few questions per subject, it really was short.
"Huh? I wasn't listening, though. This is so unfair!" Yamauchi cried.
"Don't say that. This test is just for future reference. It won't be
reflected in your report cards. There is no risk involved, so don't worry. Of
course, cheating is prohibited."
Her phrasing struck me as odd. Normally, only general grades were
reflected in your report card. But the way Chabashira-sensei said they
wouldn't be reflected in our report cards made me think that the grade could
be reflected in some other way. There will be more time to think about that later.
As soon as the pop quiz began, I scanned the questions. There were
four questions per subject, for a total of twenty. Each question was worth five
points, for a total of one hundred points. Most of the questions were
extraordinarily easy, to the point where it was almost a letdown. In fact, the
questions seemed to be about two levels less difficult than the ones on the
entrance examination. It appeared far too easy.
However, just as I thought that, I reached the end of the test. The final three questions were an order of magnitude higher in terms of difficulty. The final math problem couldn't be solved without complex formulae.
"No way. These questions are seriously way too hard..."
These questions couldn't be geared toward a first-year high school student. The final three questions were clearly of a different quality than the others, so it was possible they'd been put on the test by mistake.
Well, I guess I'll just solve these problems the same way I did on the
entrance exam.
Chiyabashira-sensei monitored us. As she slowly patrolled the classroom, she kept a watchful eye to dissuade us from cheating.
I quickly glanced at Horikita, who given how she attends the classes seriously would never even think of cheating. Her pen danced across the paper as she filled in all of the answers. It looked like she was easily going to get a perfect score.
I slept during the test until the bell rang. Many people looked at me with surprise, including Sae-sensei when I submitted the answer script.
################################
It was lunch break and most of the class was looking at me expectantly. Even Chabashira-sensei was interested. However the biggest surprise for me was that Kouenji was present too. Since the swimming competition he has grown some sort of respect for me, while he would straight up ignore the class and call them peasants, he acknowledges me. I took the stage and looked at them with a serious expression.
"I've got some bad news. Tomorrow, we won't be getting any points."
"What? What are you saying Ayanokouji-kun, don't say that." cried Shinohara.
"He has clearly lost it. We don't even need to discuss about this. The school told us that we will get 100,000 points each month." said Yamauchi.
"Did they? If I remember correctly sensei said that the points we get reflect our performance and our worth. She never said we will receive a fixed amount of points."
As I continued more and more people fell silent.
"Now I am not saying that my theory is 100% correct but hear me out. Since the first day of the school, I felt something was wrong. For a school boasting 100% employment rate, it was absurdly lenient. As I observed more, enquired with some seniors who neither denied nor agreed with me." The enquiring seniors part was a lie to make them believe me.
"Yukimura, do you remember about the hidden cameras that I told you about?"
"Yes, wait do you think, they are there to monitor us and allot points accordingly." said Yukimura.
"I am pretty sure that's the case."
"Then, why would I not get any points? I behaved perfectly and never slacked off in the class." he asked.
"That's because the school doesn't evaluates just you as an individual but as a class. My guess is there is a certain number of class points allotted every month, according to which we get our private points."
"What? That's unfair and illogical. Why shouldn't I receive points when my idiotic classmates are the one being idiotic." said Horikita, immediately grabbing the attention of our class in a bad way.
"It would explain the free section at the convenience store or the free vegetables meal set. I don't know if you guys have noticed but only the seniors who are from Class D, are found buying those." I said.
"That's not all, now I would request all of you to not get offended but I think the school sorted us in our class according to our potential and talents. For example class A consists of the best students who have bright future ahead of them. Then Class B having good students but inferior compared to Class A. Same with Class C having the third best population and lastly us, Class D. Sodou do you remember on the first day, how those seniors called us defects."
"Hey, who are you calling defective. I am easily the best student in this school." said Miyamoto.
"Ayanokouji-kun, it's rude to call your friends defectives, I understand you have a theory, but that's mean." said Kushida.
"As I said it's not me, blame the school and I am not saying that I am better than any of you, I am a part of this class too, aren't I? But if you think rationally and without any bias, we do have a lot of flaws, don't we?"
"Maybe someone had a bad past."
"Maybe someone's nature in the class is undesirable."
"Maybe someone is good in studies but bad in physical activity or vice versa."
"Maybe someone isn't good at anything at all."
As I said this I looked at Kushida, Karuizawa, Horikita, Yukimura, Sudou and Yamauchi in that order. Kushida and Karuizawa had shocked faces when I looked at them saying they had a bad past.
The whole class was pindrop silent. I didn't stop and continued.
"About the 100% employment rate, I think only the students who graduate as a Class A student can get that privilege. That's why there is a class hierarchy."
I think that was the last straw and the dam broke. Everybody started shouting and screaming. It was chaos and in the middle of it, Kouenji was enjoying himself.
"They tricked us! The school tricked us."
"How can they do that, first they promise heaven and then send us to hell."
"Is it even legal, lying for the sake of the reputation of the school."
Did they really think that this school will give them free money to spend and set there future up without them doing anything. Truly I have seen the peak of human foolishness. They don't even know how the real world works. If they think that this is hell, then who knows what will happen when they enter the outside world as an adult.
I looked towards Chabashira-sensei, she was looking at me with a mixture of surprise and hope.
"Sensei, can I meet you after school today? I have something to discuss in private." I asked.
"Yes, meet me at the staff room after the class has ended." she replied. I then turned my attention back to the class.
"Everybody, please let me speak. I am not finished yet."
"What more, are we gonna become slaves if we graduate from Class D." said Ike.
"Actually, now I am going to tell you the good news."
"Wait really, atleast there is still some good in this world."
"Yes, our class points would nearly be zero. Yes, we were labeled as defective by the school, but that doesn't mean we will accept it and sit back. Do you think you deserve to live the next three years of your life like this?" I asked loudly.
"Hell, no"
"No"
"Never"
There answered back together.
"No, we won't. We will fight and we will win."
There was a cheer of yeah's and yes. The whole atmosphere went 180. I continued
"The school deducts our points based on our performance in exams and our behavior in the school premise. Not only in the classroom, note that. From here onwards we will improve our behavior, we will attend classes regularly and pay attention. We won't get ourselves in trouble, we will study with diligence. If we do that, we already take our first step towards the top."
Fortunately everybody agreed. I expected some resistance but I guess, I underestimated them.
"But Ayanokouji-kun, how do you expect us to reach Class A with doing just that. I am not disagreeing, I really think we should improve ourselves, but if our class points is really zero. Then other classes must have a pretty good lead." said Hirata.
"That's a good question, Hirata. When I came up with this theory, I too hit a road block there. How can lower classes have any hope to surpass the superior classes. The answer I came up with was, some kind of test. These will be different from our normal exams. There content is still unknown to me but they will offer class points as a reward. Winning these will help us propel our class forward."
"So, you mean we will be competing with other classes directly to get points?" said Horikita, for the first time since that rude remark.
"Yes, I am sure of it. But don't worry about that now. I don't think they will introduce special tests this early. Our first hurdle would be our upcoming exams. So if I may have all of your permission, I would like to propose the idea of the study groups. I think we will get the results for this exam tomorrow, right?" I looked towards Sae who nodded.
"Then the students who will get the best results will lead the study groups and help the academically weaker students. I will make the groups and send the names in the class group chat."
"I'm in, if you will teach me Ayanokouji-kun. I will surely ace the test." said Karuizawa.
"Look who you are asking to teach you, in today's test he just wrote for 10 minutes and slept the entire time, he doesn't know anything. Atleast I wrote the test for 60 minutes. You would be better off studying with me." said Yamauchi proudly.
Karuizawa was disgusted, almost to the point of puking.
"Yamauchi, you write in 60 minutes because that's all you could have written whereas Kiyotaka wrote for 10 minutes because that's all he needed to ace the test." replied Chiaki.
"Really, then let's see who gets the better score tomorrow. If I win, the Matsushita-san you would have to date me." said Yamauchi, clearly seeing an opportunity to feel the touch of a woman only time in his entire lifetime.
Matsushita didn't hesitate and agreed even though there was no punishment if he lost. But I wasn't going to waste this opportunity.
"But Yamauchi, if you lose you would have to listen to every instructions fromher for the whole month."
"If I win, I get to date her and if I lose, I will be her slave. It's totally awesome. Oh, I wonder what naughty things she will order me to do. I almost want to lose now." he said that out loud.
And now I have seen peak human degeneracy. The girls had to restrict Chiaki from hitting him.
"Okay, the timings for the circus is over, Yamauchi. You can stop being a clown."
"Just you wait, I will show you tomorrow whose the real clown. What do you say guys, we will show this ikeman his real place." he said to his clownmates.
Ike, Sodou, Miyamoto and Hondou agreed with him. Maybe if they pool all their score, then they might win.
The lunch break was almost over so I took my seat again, opened my Bento and started eating. Everybody started eating there lunch as well. Karuizawa and group were to depressed as they were not going to receive any points for the next month, so they forgot to invite me which was a relief.
After the lunch, the classes resumed but I could feel a gaze from a black haired girl beside me.
"You know it's rude to stare. If I did that, I would be labeled as a certified creep." I said without looking towards her.
"Huh, don't assume such things, Ayanokouji-kun. I wasn't staring at you."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night. Although, I didn't expect to have a conversation with the cold hearted queen of our class."
This was the first time, Horikita and I were having a conversation.
"Don't call me that unless you want to get stabbed by this."
She showed me a compass, although it wouldn't hurt much, but getting stabbed is always messy.
"Sure, go ahead. If you want to get stabbed with a knife that is. Rest assured, I won't hold back." she was surprised. I guess nobody ever talked back to her before.
"We are getting off topic, so why were you staring at me?"
"I wasn't thinking about what you said about our class being full of defectives. That may be true but I wouldn't be here. So, either the school made a mistake in placing me in this class or your theory is incorrect."
Interesting, so her flaw is her superiority complex. One might say that she is similar to Kouenji, but he can definitely back his claims. Horikita on the other side needed a reality check and I will be the one giving her that. I have no interest in showing off, but if I didn't remedy this early, it might become a problem later on.
"You saying that just shows that you are no better than the likes of Ike and Yamauchi."
"How dare you compare me to those degenerates."
"Should I not? The way you are considering yourself better. Just like Yamauchi did. So let me ask this once again, are you superior to everyone in this class."
" Yes, I am. Unlike Yamauchi, I can do what I claim."
"So, what do you claim. Choose one field where you can beat me and if I loose. I will accept that you are superior to me in front of the class."
"You are just digging your grave. Maybe you can swim fast and you are somewhat smart. But you can't compete against the likes of me. I could beat you in any exam."
"Well, then why don't we have a wager as well, just like Yamauchi and Chiaki. If I win, I get to boss you around for the whole month."
"Then get ready to be embarrassed in front of the whole class tomorrow." she finished and focused on the board.
It seems tomorrow would be an interesting day......
______________________________________
Heya guys
Another chapter done, next would be the first of May. The day of revelation.
How do you feel about the bet with Horikita, although it was quite cliche, I just went with it.
The whole revelation thing was hard for me to right as I am very bad at writing conversations. Although I feel, I am improving.
For all those worrying who will be the ship.
Honestly, I even don't know myself. But there are certain banned ones. Like Kei because she will have the role of a best friend. Not Horikita, because I have some ideas for her. Not Sae, because she will be like a mother figure for kiyo. If you choose Ichinose, then you would have to wait till the mid second year as I have plans for her character. If you choose the queen, who would be introduced soon, then I would have to work hard to come up with something. But you are free to comment any good ideas.
I want to develop Kiyo's character in the story. It will be his story of becoming a human. Although still remaining the badass he is. The transition will be slow. He wouldn't be caring for others, in the first or second month. But till the end of the first-year he would be a lot different of a person than he is now.
The first volume is on the verge of completion and I would have to read the second volume again, as I don't remember anything about it.
Talking about remembering, how do you guys like the anime season 3. I feel even though it skipped a lot of things and a boring first half, it still a solid season. Last few episodes have been peak.
On that note, that will be all for now.
Have a wonderful day.