Classroom of the Elite: The true Geniuses

Glimpse of a possible future - Route 1

The rain was heavy.

I held the unconscious girl in my arms.

Today was the last day of our first special exam, held on this desert island.

It wasn't really part of my plan that it would end like this, but unfortunately it did. This silly girl really seemed to care about me, and I really wish I could feel something from this.

But this is not possible.

Even though I try to deny it, it's reality.

So even if you are unconscious, I will say to you.

"I was never your friend or your ally. From the beginning you saw it the wrong way."

The raindrops were falling on my hair and clothes, but I didn't care.

"So I'll explain it in a simple way to understand."

I stared at the unconscious girl with my real eyes.

Even if she was not of seeing.

Even if she wasn't able to hear.

I will tell her the truth.

"You are a mere tool. I don't care one bit about you."

"Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people."

Ayanokouji's Pov:

Similarly to most of the student body, I didn't really enjoy the entrance ceremony. There was too much time spent on lines and too many words of gratitude exchanged between one of the directors and the students. My classmates didn't seem to like the entrance ceremony either, some were more obvious than others, for example Victorique. She looked like she was going to fall apart right there.

The entrance ceremony represents the beginning of a new test for the students. In order for students to enjoy their time at school, they must make friends, and there are only a few important days after the entrance ceremony to do this. Not being able to do this signals the beginning of three tragic years.

As someone who doesn't like trouble, I decided that I would like to establish proper relationships. However, I was unfamiliar with the idea and consequently would spend the previous day agonizing over various scenarios and how I would make friends.

Perhaps I am overthinking it. I could simply become friends with my classmates. Well, at least I hope they are okay with being my friends. Since our class apparently has only 11 students, if I am not able to become friends with any of them...

I really don't want to think about this disaster.

A small observation. During the whole entrance ceremony, we drew people's attention. This was quite normal, the sight of 11 people wearing different uniforms from the others will certainly cause curiosity. Questions like "Why are their uniforms different?" will be on their minds.

Lelouch didn't seem to like all the attention we were getting. Some girls were looking at him with red faces. I heard him mutter. "Not again..." Which confused me a little. Not again what? Was it because the girls seemed to have a fever?

Light also seemed to be getting attention from the girls, but unlike Lelouch who was trying his best to avoid attention, Light just smiled gently at the girls, causing some of them to shout things like "Kyaa."

Hayasaka and Kaguya didn't seem to mind people's attention. They were the same when we were getting attention as soon as we arrived at school. Jabami and Miyuki didn't seem to mind the attention either.

As soon as the entrance ceremony was over, some people approached us. Some girls walked up to Lelouch and Light as they had a smile on their faces. Light's smile looked kind, and although Lelouch's also looked kind, there was a touch of nervousness in that smile.

I didn't understand the reason for this, but I guess I shouldn't waste time thinking about it.

Hayasaka seemed to be able to converse with the girls who approached her quietly. It seems that she did not lie when she said that she was able to fit in with any group with ease. She talks to the girls as if they have known each other for a long time, something that impressed me greatly.

Maybe I should ask her for some tips?

While I was thinking, I quickly noticed something...

Without realizing it, I ended up completely alone.

Even Sora and Shiro had some people with them. Some girls mentioning how cute Shiro was, which made her just hide from Sora. She seemed to be afraid of those girls. In fact, Sora also seemed a little tense, which confused me.

He talked confidently with our classmates, why did he seem nervous now?

Some people asked about the uniform, but they answered evasively, saying that they didn't know either. It didn't take long for things to calm down. Everyone needed to go to their respective classes, and so my classmates and I quickly went to our class.

"By the way, you said your brother is in third grade, right, Shiba?" Light suddenly asked Miyuki.

"Yes, Oniisama should be on the student council." She replied before speaking again. "Ah, it's okay if you guys call me Miyuki, it might avoid a confusing situation if we are together."

"Alright, Miyuki then," Light said with a gentle smile. I didn't miss his little flick of an eyebrow when she said Oniisama.

I was curious about it too, but like the others, I didn't say anything. No one seemed to want to pry too much, or so I thought.

"Why do you call him Oniisama?" Victorique however, was different. "He's your brother, right?" For the first time since she finished her book on the bus, she didn't look bored. Her expression was curious, as was everyone else's.

Everyone's attention was turned to her. Even Kaguya's cold expression seemed curious, although she didn't show it.

Sora and Shiro who were walking hand in hand were also watching with curiosity.

"Sama" is a suffix that shows extreme respect for the person being spoken to. It is usually used with older people, authorities, or simply people who are higher up in the hierarchy. It is also common for companies to use "sama" when treating their customers.

This being so, it is rather strange that she uses this suffix with her own brother.

"We've been together forever before he entered this school," she began, "He always protected me from any situations, even the ones I was guilty of. I have gained a great admiration for Oniisama."

"In other words, you are a brocon," Lelouch commented.

At this moment, Miyuki was surprised and almost tripped over her own foot. She looked at Lelouch with a red face as she waved her hands and spoke a little loudly.

"No, no, no! You've got it wrong, it's not like that!"

"Oh, and what can it be, Brocon-chan?"

Before I knew it, they got into a discussion of Lelouch teasing Miyuki. My colleagues seemed to watch with mixed reactions.

While Kaguya and Hayasaka didn't seem to care that much, Sora and Light were watching with amused looks. Shiro was just watching with an indifferent face. Jabami had the same smile as always, making me wonder how she managed to keep smiling all the time. Victorique was watching bored and Ryuzaki... well, he was as usual. I can't help but think about the mysterious air that surrounds him.

As Lelouch continued teasing Miyuki with a smile on his face, I couldn't help but ask.

"What is a brocon?"

...

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

What's with all this silence?

Lelouch who was teasing Miyuki, looked at me in surprise. Even Miyuki was looking at me like that, well, so were all my classmates except Ryuzaki.

Did I make a mistake?

Sora faked a cough as she looked at me.

"Tell me, Ayanokouji. You don't have a brother or sister, right?"

"No."

As far as I know, I am the only son of this man. I didn't know the bond of siblings, but from the way he said it, I can assume that the term "brocon" has something to do with the fact that you have a brother or sister. For some reason, as soon as I said this, the expressions of some of my colleagues became a little softer.

"Well, I see. In that case, it's normal that you don't know about it. Briefly speaking, brocon means that the sister possesses a brother complex, while siscon is the opposite, meaning that the brother possesses a sister complex."

Even after this explanation from Sora, I was still confused.

What the hell is a sister complex?

"V-you don't know what that means either, do you?" Sora asked upon noticing my expression.

"No, but with your explanation, I can assume that you are a siscon while Shiro is a brocon?"

Although I don't know what a sister or brother complex is, according to his explanation, it is clearly something to do with siblings. And since Miyuki said that she was quite close to her brother, it must have something to do with it as well. Sora and Shiro were also quite close from what little I observed of them. They were always near each other or holding hands, plus they always seem to play cell phone games together too.

As soon as I said this, again the room was awkwardly silent. It didn't take long before I saw some of my classmates looking at Sora and Shiro with strange looks, as if a light had gone on in their heads after I mentioned it.

Shiro squeezed Sora's hand tighter as he started to sweat from all the pressure I had accidentally put on him.

I guess having a sibling complex is really something, huh.

"It's really weird..."

"Indeed."

"Well, now that Ayanokouji has mentioned it..." Lelouch began. He looked at Sora and Shiro with suspicious glances. "You guys don't have a sibling complex, right?"

"Of course not!" Sora denied as he looked at me and pointed the finger of his free hand in my direction. "Don't slander my name like that, Ayanokouji!"

"Slander your name?" I was really confused. "I'm just saying what it sounded like from my observation. According to your explanation and what Miyuki said earlier, the term 'siscon' and 'brocon' requires the sibling to be quite close to each other. You two seem very close, don't you?"

"Just because we are close to each other, doesn't mean we have a sibling complex!"

But I don't even know what that is...

"Does Sora-san really not have a sister complex?" Jabami, who was silent until now, finally opened her mouth and asked.

"No! Shiro and I are just very close, there is no sibling complex!"

"Hmmm."

Kaguya who was watching everything in silence, hummed

Sora looked at her with sharp eyes.

"What is it?"

"We should hurry. We don't want to be late on day 1, right? What kind of elite would we be if that happened?" she said.

"Oh, it is. Let's go."

Well, I'll just look up on the internet what this sibling complex thing is.

We quickly walked to our Class. It was on a different floor and hallway than the normal classes. The reason we know where it is, is because it was in the e-mail that the principal sent to us. Strangely enough, it was on the same floor as the teachers' office.

As we walked along, I noticed Lelouch looking at Sora and Shiro with a strange expression. Was he still suspicious of them possessing that so-called "brother complex"?

It didn't take long before we reached our destination.

Class 1-E.

The metal plate on top of the door showed that this is indeed our classroom.

As soon as we entered, we scanned the place. There were two rows of five chairs behind a single solitary chair in the front, which coincidentally had my name written on it. I couldn't help but think that the principal, or whoever was responsible for this, was trying to irritate me somehow.

It's not enough that I'm a normal lonely person, am I also going to sit in a bit of isolation?

"Looks like it's just us," Hayasaka's voice said.

I'm sure everyone already expected that we were the only ones in this class, but now we have confirmation. Looking to the side, I noticed Victorique looking up. Curious, I followed her gaze.

Cameras.

There were about six very small cameras in each corner of the classroom and in the middle of the room. You had to pay very close attention to notice the cameras. Wasn't that a lot for a class of only 11 people?

"Guys," Victorique's voice spoke as she pointed up. "Is it normal to have cameras inside the classroom?"

Everyone looked at where she was pointing. They quickly noticed the small cameras.

"It certainly isn't. Cameras in places like the hallways and in stores would be normal," Lelouch commented.

Wait, isn't it normal to have cameras inside the classroom?

"They're pretty small cameras."

"Yes, and there are 6 of them. Isn't that overkill for our exceedingly small class?"

"I agree, there is something very strange going on here."

"Well, this is an elite school, isn't it? The Tokyo Advanced Development school that offers a 100% employment rate if you manage to graduate from it."

Victorique, Light, Sora and Kaguya expressed their opinions. Kaguya seems to be the one most used to these elite topics and how one should behave in society. I agree with all of them, but there is something that makes me suspicious about this 100% employment rate...

The class door was opened.

All the attention of the class went to the new person who had entered.

A woman entered the classroom with a large folded white sheet of paper in her hands. A very beautiful young woman with lilac hip-length hair that has a small ponytail tied in the back with bangs hanging down the left side, light blue-green eyes, and very large breasts. She wears a white lab coat with an official/commercial shirt, dark gray skirt with long dark socks. If I had to guess, I would say she is no older than 23. Pretty young.

"Everyone take a seat so I can begin the explanation."

It seems that she was our teacher. I can see Sora with a raised eyebrow as he went to sit down. Shiro sat in the chair next to him that had her name written on it. It didn't take long before we all sat down in our respective seats. I was the person who was sitting in the only lone chair in the front, something that probably made me sad.

I sighed at this.

"Okay, let's get started. Good morning, everyone. My name is Ayame Himuro and I will be your permanent classroom teacher for the next three years. I will also be the permanent instructor for this class and my specialty is science and I am quite strict when it comes to my specialty. The opening ceremony will be in an hour, but before that I have some materials written with information about the special rules of this school for all of you, as well as the admission guides."

Ayame-sensei passed to each of us the familiar documents we received after being accepted into the school.

This school differed from the multitude of other Japanese high schools in some important aspects. Here all students were required to live in dormitories located on the school premises. Also, except in special cases, such as studying abroad, students were forbidden to contact anyone outside of the school. Even contact with their immediate family was forbidden without permission. Naturally, leaving the school premises without permission was also strictly forbidden.

However, the campus also came equipped with many excellent facilities. With its own karaoke, theater, café, boutique and much more, you can easily compare this school and a small town. The campus spread over 600,000 square meters.

This school featured another unique feature: the S System.

"Now I will hand out your student ID cards. With them, you can access any of the campus facilities, buy merchandise from the stores, and so on. Basically, it's your credit card for the next three years here. At this school, you can buy anything with points - you can buy anything located on the school campus."

Our points, which were loaded on our ID cards, acted as our currency. It seemed that the school would provide it for free.

"Your student cards are easy to use, all you have to do is swipe them through the scanner on the machine as if it were a real credit card. The points are automatically deposited into your account on the first of every month. Everyone must have received 100,000 points for the month. One point is equal to one yen, so the currency value should not be confusing. That's all."

That was interesting. The way she quoted 'anything' and in that 'month' is suspicious. I could feel that some of my classmates also blinked when she said that, but at the mention of us getting 100,000, I felt some eyes go wide. Looking back a little, I realized that those wide-eyed ones came from Sora, Shiro and Jabami.

However, Jabami's expression was different from normal surprise. Her expression looked more like... excited by the amount of points we received? Well, I guess that's normal, since she wanted to study in a school that evaluates students for their gaming skills. I'm sure it won't be long before she asks if it is permissible to gamble with our points.

Victorique's bored expression was completely gone. She was listening to Ayame-sensei's words attentively while she seemed to be thinking about various things. Ryuzaki was also listening to Ayame-sensei with interest.

"This school evaluates students' talent based on merit. You all managed to get accepted, which speaks for itself about your worth and potential. The amount you received reflects the assessment of your worth. After you graduate, all your points will be returned to the school and there is no way to convert points to cash, so there is no reason to save them. You can do whatever you want with your points - you can also transfer them to another student if you wish. Theft and extortion are strictly forbidden and you will be punished if you are found out, so make sure you don't do anything like that or you will get in trouble. This school monitors bullying very carefully and if someone is found to have committed it, the punishment will be expulsion."

Well, if transferring points is possible, then bets should be too.

Also, expulsion, eh. That's certainly a pretty severe punishment.

I again looked at the seats behind me, in order to observe the expressions of my colleagues on this subject.

Light showed a satisfied expression when Ayame-sensei mentioned about the school treating bullying harshly. In his presentation on the bus, he said that he can get along with anyone as long as he is not a delinquent. He really doesn't seem to like delinquents who do bullying, which made me wonder if he was somehow bullied when he was younger.

Sora and Shiro were the most relieved in that regard. If I remember, they gave up their last name, so something must have happened to their family.

Kaguya kept her expression cold as she listened to everything. Hayasaka was wearing a more attentive expression, which was completely different from the animated expression she was showing while she was talking to those girls. Unlike being able to fit in with any group, it was more like she had two different personalities.

Jabami was still smiling cheerfully and Lelouch had an indifferent expression on his face. He seemed used to the subject of bullying.

Ryuzaki and Miyuki didn't seem too surprised by this, they were just looking forward, waiting for Ayame-sensei to continue.

"Okay, before I explain the last thing before I leave, I'll show you this," Ayame-sensei went to the blackboard and opened the sheet she had in hand. "Normally, you're not allowed to reveal this to normal students, but you guys are different. These are the grades you took on the written test you took to assess whether you were worthy of entering this school."

The moment she said "grades" I immediately became worried.

She taped the white sheet to the blackboard and walked out of the way.

The exam was not very difficult. Most of my classmates got perfect grades on all of them, and the few who hadn't made it still had a near perfect grade. Only that really wasn't the problem.

The problem really was...

"..."

"..."

I can feel everyone's gazes on me. I can understand the reason for those stares. Looking at my name that contained the grades of my exams. Math, English, science, social studies and all the other school subjects...

My score was exactly 50.

"Just average, right?" Lelouch's sarcastic voice broke the silence that was established.

"Ayanokouji-san is interesting, isn't she?" Jabami commented with a smile.

He and she, as well as everyone else, clearly remember my presentation on the bus.

I looked at Ayame-sensei while thinking: do you hate me?

I thought about saying that this is a frightening coincidence, but that wouldn't work with them. In that case.

"Well, I didn't lie when I said I considered myself average."

There is no point in making up cheap lies.

"Don't play games with us. Why on earth did you manipulate your grade to get 50 points in all subjects?" Sora questioned me. He was certainly curious, as was everyone else who looked at me expecting an answer.

"Actually, if you think of it that way, it's almost as if he wanted to get the school board's attention," Ryuzaki commented casually. He was sitting in that strange way while he had a finger on his chin.

Their eyes were on me waiting for an answer. Ayame-sensei was just observing everything as if it was none of her business.

You got me into this mess, how about a little help?

"Okay, you can discuss this later. I need to tell you one last thing before I answer your questions and leave." Ayame-sensei's serious tone caused my colleagues to turn their attention to her.

I heard a grumbling from Sora who wanted to know about my score. He would surely ask me another time, as would everyone else here. I sighed at the predicament I had gotten myself into.

At least Ayame-sensei helped me.

"I am sure you have all noticed by now that this class is different from any of the others. You only have eleven students and no one here fits the exact normal description of a high school student."

There really is something going on. I and everyone else have surely noticed that we are not normal students. Even with all this, I couldn't help but be a little worried. If this really is some kind of special class made up of unusual individuals, I could say goodbye to trying to blend in as an ordinary student.

"Actually, all of you have been evaluated by the school as excellent students. One might even call each of you here uniquely talented. In the eyes of the school, you could be considered geniuses in your fields. This year several people with great talent have enrolled in this school, so the school has decided to create a special experimental class just for you: E-Class. Normally, there are only classes A, B, C and D in this school each year, a total of four classes. However, there are other talented individuals scattered among the four normal classes. Do any of you have any questions?"

She explained several things we didn't know about our class.

This was a worrying development for me. It will be impossible for me to act like an ordinary student. In a normal classroom it would be simple, but in a classroom specifically designed for excellent students, it is simply impossible. They saw my test scores that I took to get the attention of the principal of this school. In addition, there is our uniform that is different from that of normal students.

"Is the reason our uniform is different simply because we are a class of geniuses in the eyes of the school?" Hayasaka asked with a raised hand.

She probably wanted to know if there was some other special reason behind our different uniforms.

"Well, I guess so..." Ayame-sensei replied, but it sounded more like a question than an answer. "The director said that you guys needed to stand out because you were a special class, that way you would be more interesting in his eyes."

Damn you, Principal Sakayanagi.

Kaguya raised her hand. "What is the purpose of the school changing its entire system and assigning us a single class? Would it be a problem if we were placed in other classes next to those talented individuals you mentioned earlier?"

"At the moment, I can't tell you the details, but there is a reason why the school decided to give you your own class. As for your second question, well, I can't say much either, but let's just say that you will find out very soon." Ayame-sensei explained.

It seems that the school was hiding a lot of details about this system. There were probably many things that the teachers are not revealing right now. A rather annoying situation.

"Sensei," Jabami raised her hand. It looks like she is going to ask after all. "You told us that we could transfer points to other people right? If that's true, then are bets allowed?" She spoke with an even bigger smile at that last part.

She really is a betting maniac, it seems.

"If you're talking about game betting or something where students bet their points on the winner, then yes, they are allowed as long as all sides agree. Anything else?"

"No~ Thanks for the answer sensei~"

For some reason, I was really feeling sorry for the people who would bet against her in the future. I have a feeling that she will bankrupt several people.

It was Victorique's turn to raise his hand.

"You said before that this school was based on the talent of the students and that we would get 100,000 points this month, right?"

Ayame-sensei didn't seem too surprised, in fact, it was as if she already expected a question like that.

"Yes, exactly, but what are you getting at?"

"Those cameras that are scattered around the room, they're here not only to monitor the bullying part you talked about, but also for us to monitor specifically, right?" She mentioned the cameras.

Victorique was the first to notice them and pointed at our classmates. She was certainly a sharp observer. I was interested in the things she would ask.

"I can't answer that question."

"Okay, how many points will we get next month?"

"I can't answer that question either."

Victorique frowned. She was going to speak again, but was interrupted by someone unexpected.

"You told us we could buy anything as long as it's within the school campus, right?" Ryuzaki's voice spoke.

"Exactly."

"So, hypothetically asking, if in the case I wanted to buy the right to be late to class for 10 minutes, how many points would it cost?"

That was a very interesting question raised by Ryuzaki.

"5,000 points," Ayame-sensei immediately replied.

"And 15 minutes?"

"7,500 points."

"How many points would it cost to buy one point from an exam for some other person?"

"100,000 points."

He really is impressive for thinking of such things so early like that. Well, she said that anything within the campus was possible to buy with the points. But surely there must be some limit to what the person can buy with the points, although she didn't say that.

"How many points would it cost in case I want to transfer a point from my exam to someone else's?"

"50,000 points."

Ryuzaki followed up by asking how much a certain thing would cost, and Ayame-sensei would answer immediately. Some people like, Shiro, Jabami and Miyuki looked confused. The rest seemed to be intrigued by their exchange. He asked how much the right to change class, change seats and various other things cost. To each question, Ayame-sensei answered directly and quickly, without any hesitation.

Although it seemed confusing to most people, I understood what he was getting at.

Of all the questions on points he asked, there was only one where she refused to answer.

And when he was finally sure, he asked another question.

"The way you answered my questions was quick and precise, without any hesitation. They don't look like numbers taken out of your head, so I suppose you teachers have some big manual stating the price of each of these I mentioned, don't you?"

"Well, maybe?" She neither denied nor confirmed.

"In that case, how many points would it cost to have that manual with us?" He asked again.

I knew from the beginning. Ryuzaki is evaluating how she reacted to each question as he unraveled about the system of this school little by little. If we get this manual, it could be something quite advantageous, since I'm sure that at least most of my classmates have realized several things thanks to Ryuzaki's earlier questions.

"Unfortunately it's not for sale."

"I see..." Ryuzaki sat back down in that awkward position. He cast a glance at Victorique, probably asking her to ask what he wanted earlier.

"You could have asked that too..." She grumbled before turning her gaze to Ayame-sensei. "Sensei, how many points would it cost us to get all the information about the school and the S-System?"

"That's something you guys can't get with just points," she replied.

That arched the eyebrows of almost all my classmates. I was curious about that too.

It's not something we can get with just points, heh...

"Care to explain further, sensei?"

"You all would have something to lose with that, but do you still want to know?" Ayame-sensei asked.

We would all have something to lose, she says? Apparently there is something beyond the individual point system, and since this is something that would affect all of us, according to what she said, I might suggest that in addition to individual points, there are points in sets of our class.

Victorique seemed to think before she started to look at all of us. After a while, she threw herself into her stall.

"No, you don't have to. I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out on our own, without having to lose anything in return," she replied with her head on her desk.

"Well, it seems you have no more questions. In that case, I'll be leaving. Make sure you have fun during your time at this school." With those words, Ayame-sensei left the classroom.

Despite all the restrictions like being forced to live in dormitories, being forbidden to leave the campus, and being forbidden to contact anyone outside, no one seemed to have any complaints. In fact, you could say that we received such preferential treatment that it is as if we had been transported to paradise.

The complete orientation of this government-sponsored school to its students hoped to guarantee a better future. In fact the school strongly advertised this. Many of its former students achieved fame. Normally, no matter how famous or impressive a school may be, the areas of specialization are limited. For example, one school might specialize in sports or music. Another might concentrate on something related to computers. However, at this school, any student could expect to succeed, regardless of his or her field.

Only this school had that kind of brand value.

"Well, what do you guys think?" Sora asked as Ayame-sensei left.

"Things seem too generous, it's clearly a trap," Lelouch commented.

"The school clearly wants us eleven to go against the other classes, even though they have something around three to four times as many students as we do." Sora said.

He was confident of that, and so was I.

This really is going to be problematic.

"Nii, what do you mean by going against other classes?" Shiro spoke for the first time since we entered the room.

"Ah, so you haven't figured it out yet? It seemed pretty obvious to me. What other reason could there be to segregate the bright students from the rest of the student body if we didn't have to compete with them? Let's just sit here in class and be taught like in a normal school, there would be no need for this 'experimental class'. That's probably what Ayame-sensei said with we'll find out soon enough. They want us to face the other classes with talented individuals. Besides, why on earth does it cost 20 million points to change classes, isn't that strange?"

It certainly was. One of Ryuzaki's questions was how many points it would cost for a person to change classes. Ayame-sensei's answer was 20 million. As soon as she said that, almost everyone's eyes widened at the absurd amount. This leaves a very obvious question.

Why would we want to change class?

"There is clearly a hierarchy between the classes," Lelouch said. "There were only four classes - five counting ours - which was created recently. And in the hierarchy, our class is clearly the lowest of all."

Lelouch had a good point. The school wanted to test how our class would fare against the other classes, even with the clear disadvantage we have.

"Well, I was always weirded out by the propaganda that said that people who graduated from the school would have a 100 percent acceptance rate in entering the job market," Victorique said.

"So, assuming we really have a class hierarchy, as Lelouch-san said, the 100% acceptance is only for the upper class?" Miyuki who had been silent for a while, spoke up.

Upper Class.

In other words, the Class at the top of the hierarchy.

Class A.

"There is something essential that we are forgetting," Kaguya spoke as she looked at Ryuzaki. "Ryuzaki's question that sensei didn't answer..."

Ah, that. Of all the questions Ryuzaki asked, there was only one question that Ayame-sensei refused to answer at that moment.

The question was, "How many points would it cost to cancel someone's expulsion?"

"Maybe there's no way to cancel the expulsion?" Hayasaka commented.

"If that were really the case, Ayame-sensei wouldn't have answered that she 'couldn't answer the question at the moment,' which means, in the future she will be able to answer it."

"I have a theory," I decided to enter the conversation for the first time.

I seemed to be the only one, outside of Shiro, who wasn't contributing anything. This class is full of people considered "geniuses" in the eyes of the school, although I doubted that they were all really "geniuses."

"Oh, what theory is that, median-kun?"

"Median-kun? Are you really going to call me that?"

"What, aren't you the one who considered yourself just average? Median-kun seems like a good nickname for you."

Ayame-sensei, why did you have to show everyone the test scores? I'm being bullied right now because of you. If I report this to the school board, Lelouch will be expelled, right?

"You can discuss later, what is your theory, Ayanokouji?

Thank you Light, you are my savior.

"When Victorique asked how many points we could buy the information about the S-System for, she said that we would all have something to lose from it, right? I think that's related to the question about canceling the expulsion that she didn't answer."

"You mean to say that in addition to our individual points, there are some sort of points that our class has?"

"Yes."

"Something like class points?" Victorique commented casually. She had her head buried in her desk. She seemed to be getting bored again.

"Long story short, instead of buying someone's expulsion override with individual points, we need to use those class points?" Light muttered with a thoughtful face.

"Technically, yes. Or maybe we need to use both, and since class switching costs 20 million points, undoing someone's expulsion should be much more expensive," I replied.

This is in case our theory about class points is right. In case it is right, we would need to know how many class points we have. It is likely that each class starts with equal "class points", unless the hierarchy system would affect even this. If this were the case, our class is the lowest in the hierarchy, so we would have fewer points than the others. I really hope that this is not the case.

"I think this theory is possible. If there really are such 'class points', the information about them must still be being withheld by the teachers, resulting in why she refused to answer my question."

"Well, I think the key to having our information will appear at the beginning of next month," Victorique commented. "We will receive our points at the beginning of every month."

"You suggest that the revelation about the 'class points', if they really exist, will be reported at the beginning of next month, right?" Kaguya asked, looking at Victorique.

"Most likely," Victorique stated. "It's like you said before, this is an elite school, right? Ayame-sensei said that the school measures students' talent based on merit. What do you guys think those cameras in our classroom are for?"

"To evaluate us," Lelouch said with conviction.

"Precisely. In other words, tardiness, cell phone use, or things like that in our class will probably be deducted in the points we would receive next month."

This conversation really was not normal. The exchange of information and the discovery we made in just a few minutes was unreal. I strongly doubted that any other class would have arrived at the same result as us in such a quick manner. It would probably take them the whole month to find out about this thing that we found out in less than an hour.

"I guess we'll have to think about it and discuss it another time. It's eight minutes until the opening ceremony starts." Light's voice made everyone stop arguing.

"Boy, it's about to start! We really talk a lot, huh."

With that said, everyone gets ready to leave.

As we walked, I came to two conclusions.

Maybe, it's not so bad to be part of this group, instead of trying to mix with something common for the next three years. I can mix with people with abilities that can match me.

Holding back while I am in this class is not an option.

Hayasaka's Pov:

I expected the opening ceremony of this school to be special in some way, since it was an elite school, but it turned out to be a very generic opening ceremony.

I could tell that Kaguya-sama was the same as me.

In fact, all my classmates seemed bored with this opening ceremony.

I could see a boy with a pathetic face in the row of what looked like Class C. Another boy who had dead fish eyes spoke to him. He called him Cid.

Just as before, I could see several people ignoring the words of the student council president. They seemed to be more excited by whispering about our class, and one of the reasons, of course, was that our uniform was a different color than the other students. I could see the boys looking at Kaguya-sama with a twinkle in their eyes.

Well, I understood the reason for this. Kaguya-sama was a beauty and radiated a noble aura. I was also getting a lot of attention, but I didn't care much about that. I started to ramble on about my classmates.

They were totally different from normal students. I was quite confident in my beauty, as well as the beauty of my mistress, but the men in our class didn't even look at us with any kind of desire.

I could understand Sora a little, since he seemed to be very close to his sister.

Lelouch was a man who radiated a noble aura, just like Kaguya-sama. He also seemed to be quite confident about himself, and also liked to give nicknames to others, apparently. Light was the calm and gentle person in the class. Those two will probably be quite popular with the girls.

Ryuzaki... well, to be honest, he is quite strange. I don't understand why he sits in his chair like that, but none of our classmates seemed to care about this, so I didn't think much about it either. But he proved to be quite intelligent when he started asking Ayame-sensei those questions.

The girls were interesting.

Victorique as well as Ryuzaki were the ones who contributed the most to us finding out more about the school's point system. She seemed to get bored very quickly, and according to her presentation on the bus, she was not good with things that required physical activity.

Jabami seemed to be a girl who liked to gamble a lot, and whenever I think of her betting with someone, for some reason, I feel a little shiver.

Miyuki seemed to be more like Light, and Shiro was rather shy. Other than when she was on the bus playing with the cell phone game with Sora, she has only spoken once since she entered the classroom. Even though Sora has already said that she was shy, I still think it is quite exaggerated.

And of all these people, there was him.

The one who was the most mysterious of them.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

I noticed that Kaguya-sama occasionally looked at him a little. Her expression was as if she was trying to remember something. I have been with her for quite some time, so I doubt that she has met him before, otherwise I would probably know him too.

In addition, he manipulated his grade to take 50 exact points in every school subject. Although the exam was not very difficult, it was still a pretty insane thing to do. He took his presentation of considering himself just average to the extreme, in fact.

According to the school, my class is made up of geniuses. I don't really think I'm a genius or anything like that.

So, I can't let it go...

Why exactly am I in this class?

As the ceremony continued, I noticed some people who were almost asleep standing up.

I can't blame people for being bored with this opening ceremony. It was too boring~

After the ceremony, 70-80 percent of the students went back to their dormitories, since we have nothing left to do in school for the rest of the day. The day was coming to an end. Kaguya-sama and I decided to go to the convenience store. We needed to buy some things.

I also needed to establish a source of information before the other classes found out about the S-System. Although some things my classmates found out were assumptions, I really believed it to be true. I needed to contribute in some way so that I didn't look like a useless person just asking questions.

I think I can try to approach those Class D girls with my Gyaru persona.

As soon as we arrived at the convenience store, we found Sora, Shiro and Ayanokouji together. Very interesting.

"Ayanokouji-kun, Sora-kun, Shiro-san!" I greeted them while waving my hands.

They quickly looked at me.

"Oh, Hayasaka, Shinomiya. You also came to buy some necessities, I presume?" Sora asked. He was holding hands with Shiro.

"Yes, but it's really a surprise to see you three together," I conducted the conversation with ease.

"Well, Ayanokouji was curious about the game Shiro and I were playing on the bus and asked us about it. Since Shiro and I were also needing to buy some necessities, we decided to come together while I talked about the game."

So he was interested about the mobile game they were playing.

"Do you like Ayanokouji-kun games?"

I asked casually. The whole time, Kaguya-sama was watching in silence.

"Well, I wouldn't say I dislike them. I was just curious."

His voice came out in a monotone and indifferent tone as usual. Seriously, how the hell does he not change his expression at any point? This was quite strange, no matter how much I think about it. He also spoke to that crazy driver with the same monotone tone without any problems. I really thought that he was going to drive the bus off a cliff to kill us.

Speaking of that driver, I hope I never see him again in my life.

"You don't seem like the kind of boy who likes games," Kaguya-sama spoke for the first time while looking at him.

"I'm really not. Although I have played quite a bit of chess, I am unfamiliar with several games, so I am curious about them."

"No need to worry, Ayanokouji! Shiro and I will show you the beautiful world of games. Once you enter it once, you won't want to leave, right Shiro?"

"Nii is right," Shiro spoke in a low tone.

Her shyness seemed to be quite high compared to normal shy people.

"Well, I'll let you guys guide me then," Ayanokouji replied.

"Trust us!" Sora slapped his hand to his chest confidently, while Shiro just nodded.

What a strange trio...

We casually chatted about a few things as we walked around the store. I picked up a basket and put some basic necessities in it. Like all my colleagues, I opted for the cheaper options because I didn't feel the need to be overly luxurious. But Kaguya-sama and I still bought a few more things than the other three.

She and I are used to living with a lot of money, it will be a little difficult to get used to living with a fairly limited amount. But it needed to be done, after all, we would be at this school for the next three years.

Three years without seeing my mother...

I have to stop thinking about it. There is no point in regretting it now, we are already here.

We didn't come to this place with our parents' permission. In fact, it's likely that Kaguya-sama's family is already doing everything to try to come to this place. But not even the Shinomiya family will be able to get into this school easily, and that is exactly why we have chosen it.

Apart from the entrance and opening ceremonies, I admit that this school is very impressive. The facilities and equipment are first class - according to what I have seen so far - not even the Shuchi'in academy, the school funded by Kaguya-sama's family and other upper class families, offers as much as this school.

But this was to be expected, since we are living in this school for the next three years. If there was no entertainment that young people liked, it would be something very tedious over time.

"Hey, what do you think of that price?" Ayanokouji asked Sora while showing a noodle cup.

"Let me see. 150 yen, the price is right. Haven't you ever eaten one, Ayanokouji?"

Sora's voice sounded a bit surprised, even Shiro was looking at Ayanokouji with a bit of astonishment. From the way he asked, it's as if he had never seen a noodle cup before. Even if the person doesn't eat it, isn't it normal to know the price? I mean, there are probably some in every store that contains food.

"I never had the chance, I guess."

"What!? Really?"

"Why do you seem so surprised by this? Do you and Shiro eat this a lot?"

"Well, we don't know how to cook. What do you think we eat when we stay up for 7 days straight to break the record in a game?"

"Huh?"

What?

I looked at Sora with a puzzled expression. Even Kaguya-sama seemed surprised by this. They stayed up for 7 days straight, just to break the record in a game? He's kidding, right?

"You guys really stayed up for 7 days playing a game?" Ayanokouji asked.

"Yes!" Sora exclaimed.

"... Why on earth do you look proud about it?" Kaguya-sama asked.

"Proud? Please, we can stay awake much longer than that. That kind of everyday life was normal for me Shiro, right?" He said as he smoothed Shiro's hair.

"...Nii, you practically passed out at the end of day 7, didn't you?"

"..."

I just looked at that not knowing what to say about that conversation. Ayanokouji kept the same indifferent face as always, seriously, does this guy have nerves of steel or something? How is it possible not to react to anything like that?

"Well, I guess that explains why you guys aren't good physically."

"What do you mean by that, Ayanokouji?"

"Well, if you eat the same thing and stay locked up at home all day playing and eating, without doing any kind of exercise, it is to be expected that your physical strength is weak. In fact, I am a little curious about the fact that you have not gained any weight during the time you have been living like this."

"You are forgetting that our exercise is the games."

What the hell kind of talk is that?

"That's kind of interesting, it seems that this school is really generous," Kaguya-sama's voice said.

Everyone looked at her, only to see her standing near a small shelf containing individual portions of food and supplies. There was another black-haired girl next to her, and a boy next to the girl who was next to Kaguya-sama. He had scruffy black hair with noticeable bangs.

At first glance, the supplies looked the same as everything else, but there was a big difference.

"Free...?"

The voice of the girl next to Kaguya-sama said.

"Just like our little friend here said, this school is really generous, don't you think Hori?" The boy exclaimed in a happy voice.

Daily necessities such as toothbrushes and bandages were placed in a box labeled "free". The garbage can also had the words "3 items per month" written on it, and it was obvious that they were different from the other goods.

Even after receiving 100,000 points, there were still free items?

This school was really out to trap the students...

Sora, Shiro, Ayanokouji and I approached the shelf containing free items.

"Well, if they're giving away free items, who are we to refuse?" Sora said as he picked up two toothbrushes. He handed one to Shiro.

"Oh, are you the rumor students?" The boy pulled up a subject. "If I may ask, could you guys tell me why your uniforms are different than ours? Even if it's only in color, it's quite curious."

Well, it was only a matter of time before someone approached us.

The girl standing next to the boy stopped looking at the free items and turned her attention back to us.

"We don't know. That was the uniform that was given to us. We learned it was different when we arrived at school," Kaguya-sama said.

"Oh, I see," the boy had a happy expression on his face. "Ah, I didn't introduce myself, how rude of me. My name is Yuuichi Katagiri, and this ice princess next to me is Horikita Suzune, but I just call her Hori. She is a good friend of mine. By the way, we're from 1-D."

He introduced himself with a smile.

"Who the hell are you calling a friend? Besides, I don't remember allowing you to call me that," the girl, now known as Horikita Suzune, said this in a cold tone.

"Don't pay much attention to what she says. She is a mix between Tsundere and Kuudere."

"Who the hell are you calling Tsundere and Kuudere, Katagiri-kun?" The girl took something from her uniform and pointed at him.

Katagiri's expression completely changed. The cheerful smile on him was replaced by a look of pure terror. What the hell did she show him? I couldn't see where I was standing.

"Ahaha, changing the subject. You guys got some pretty cheap stuff, huh. And those two also got free items. Aren't you guys going to buy more stuff? I mean, we'll get 100,000 points, right?"

"Well, it's obvious. If the school is giving away free items, why the hell would we refuse, right Shiro?"

"Yes."

"How we spend our money is none of your business," Kaguya replied coldly.

"That's cold..." Katagiri commented, before shifting his gaze in Kaguya-sama and Horikita's direction several times. "Maybe you two are sisters?"

"Don't talk nonsense."

"Do you want to be drilled, Katagiri-kun?"

Kaguya-sama and Horikita spoke at the same time.

"Well, can you two introduce yourselves? After all, I don't want to call them 'you guys'."

"Well, why not? I am Sora and this is my beautiful little sister, Shiro. We're from Class 1-E."

There was no point in trying our class or anything like that. Our uniform makes us stand out too much. It's only a matter of time before the other classes send someone to try to investigate us.

"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. 1-E."

"Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you, Katagiri-kun, Horikita-san. I am Hayasaka Ai, I hope we can get along well. I'm also from Class E." I greeted them in a cheerful voice.

"I also hope we can become friends. Although Hori will not speak, she also hopes the same."

"I don't need friends."

"You know, if you keep this up, you'll end the three years with only me as a friend, you know?"

"Since when are the two of us friends?"

Katagiri didn't answer, instead he looked at Kaguya-sama. He was waiting for her to introduce herself.

"I am Kaguya Shinomiya, also from Class 1-E."

"Eh, so all of you with different uniforms are the same class, aren't you. Wait, Shinomiya!? From the Shinomiya conglomerate!?" Katagiri exclaimed.

"Don't shout. Yes, the very one."

Well, his reaction is to be expected. Even Horikita seemed to show a surprised expression as she looked at Kaguya-sama. Her family is well known throughout Japan.

"Hey, shut up! Wait a second! I'm looking now!"

Suddenly, a loud voice echoed outside the store.

"Hurry! Everyone's waiting!"

"Oh, really? Then tell these sons of bitches to complain directly to me!"

It looked like there was trouble. Two boys were staring at each other when they started fighting.

"Come on..." Horikita put his hand to his head. "Where are you going Katagiri-kun?"

Katagiri who was moving, was stopped by Horikita's question.

"I am going to see what is going on. Sudou seems to be in trouble."

Apparently, he knew that red-headed boy who looked like a delinquent.

"He is the one who is causing the trouble." Horikita replied.

"He's my friend, you know. I'm sure he has a reason for all this yelling."

After saying that, Katagiri walked over to the red-headed boy, who seemed to be called Sudou, from what he spoke earlier. Apparently, he had forgotten his student card. Katagirii offered to pay for it, and things were over after a while.

"I'm leaving," Horikita said.

After a while, we said goodbye to Katagiri and his delinquent friend and started walking around campus. Sora and Shiro said goodbye to us.

"So, Ayanokouji. Can we talk more about the game tomorrow? Shiro and I want to see our dorm."

"Sure. I want to take a look at my dorm too, but I'm going to stop by a store first."

"Okay, see you later. See you tomorrow, Shinomiya, Hayasaka." Sora left as Shiro waved her hand.

Kaguya-sama waved her hand to Shiro.

After a while, Kaguya-sama, myself and Ayanokouji were alone.

"Those two are very close, no? It seems like an exaggeration most of the time," I commented.

"Indeed. Apparently, they can't stay too far apart from each other. They told me that the principal put them in the same dorm, which leads me to think that it's really more of a personal problem for them."

"Really...?" Kaguya-sama's voice came out a little soft.

I was quite surprised by that fact. Even if they are sister and brother, it shouldn't be possible for them to stay in the same dormitory. The dormitories are separated by sexes. If the principal himself allowed this, it must be a pretty serious problem.

"Well, I'll say goodbye to you. I want to get to the store before it closes."

"Wait, what store are you going to, Ayanokouji-kun? If you don't mind telling me, of course," I was really curious to the store he wanted to visit.

He had a bag in his hand with basic necessities.

"Ah, no problem, it's normal for you to be curious, I guess. I'm going in a store that sells games."

"Games? What game are you going to buy?" Kaguya-sama asked. She also seemed curious about this.

Ayanokouji started to walk away while having his free hand in his pants pocket. His other hand was used to hold the bag containing his recent purchases. As he walked away, he said.

"A chessboard."

Kaguya's Pov:

After the receptionist gave me a key card to my room Hayasaka and I took the elevator. She also took the card key to her room. As I flipped through the manual, I saw the time and day of the garbage disposal and a warning not to make too much noise. She also said not to waste water and electricity, and so on.

"So they don't restrict water or gas use?"

"I thought they would subtract our points automatically." Hayasaka's voice next to me said.

"I thought so too. This school is proving to be too generous."

It's hard to believe that such a pampered and easy life can train students to be admirable adults, but given the current situation, students should probably use everything they've been given.

Even though my family has a lot of money, I was trained from a young age in many things. Even though I am very good at most of the things I do, it doesn't mean that I haven't put some effort into acquiring the results that I can get today.

I quickly made my way to my dormitory with Hayasaka by my side.

The room is about 8 large tatami mats. This is my home from today. And also my first time living alone. Until graduation, I would have to live without contact with anyone outside of school.

I began to wonder if this was really the right choice to make. This school is of such a high standard that even my family won't be able to get in just because they want to. Even if it was only for three years, I was free.

Freedom. In French it's "liberté".

"Hayasaka, what do you think of our classmates?"

I put the two shopping bags on my bed and sat down. I had bought a few basic things and picked up the free set of toothbrushes at the store earlier. I would have to start getting used to living on a limited amount of money.

"They're all pretty unique," her voice came out totally different from how she acted with people around.

Since it was just the two of us, there was no point in pretending.

"I agree."

There were Victorique and Ryuzaki who asked some important questions. I myself planned to ask how many points we would get next month, but it turned out not to be necessary. Ryuzaki also asked several questions that I hadn't even imagined. He asked how many points it would be possible for him to be 10 minutes late in class.

The teacher answered all the questions - with the exception of one - without hesitation.

But there was one particular person I was a little curious about.

Hayasaka's eyes went to the bags on my bed.

"Do you really think it was a good idea to spend 5,000 points on a digital camera for you? Even if we didn't spend much on the other stuff..."

Well, that's true. But still, this digital camera is very necessary for me.

My real dream is to become a professional photographer, so I can start practicing taking pictures while I am in this school.

But I can't tell her that!

"Well, I think it could be of extreme importance in the future. I couldn't buy one with bad quality, this was the cheapest one with decent quality."

"Well, just try to spend as little as possible, at least for the first month."

"You don't have to tell me that."

"Okay. Do you even know how to use this digital camera?"

"Why the hell wouldn't I know how to use it?" You just click the button and take the picture, right?

"All right. Do you need anything? I want to go check out my dorm room, even if it is a copy of this one.

She grabbed her things and was getting ready to leave.

But before she did...

"Hayasaka," I called in a serious voice.

"Yes?"

"I want you to investigate Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."

"Ayanokouji?" She raised her eyebrow. "Why do you want me to investigate him?"

"It's just a precaution."

"Precaution? Kaguya-sama, although I find it unlikely, is it possible that you have met him before?"

I don't remember meeting him, just...

"No. I just want to confirm one other thing..."

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka seemed like a normal boy, if you exclude the fact that he didn't show any expression on his face. He was quiet, and might even seem "innocent" in the eyes of normal people. But...

I get a bad feeling whenever I think of his name.

Hayasaka looked at me for a few seconds before agreeing to my request.

"Okay, what exactly do I need to do?"

"Approach and become friends with him. However, try not to seem too obvious, I have a bad feeling about him."

"Very well."

With that, Hayasaka left and went to her dormitory, leaving me alone in my dark room.

I began to think about the individual named Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. His image...

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka...

Ayanokouji...

... Where have I heard that name before?

"Innocent people are usually, the most dangerous to deal with. Often, the one who seems the weakest, proves to be the scariest of all."

𝔼𝕟𝕕