COTE: Class D's Masked Guardian

SS 1. Chabashira Sae - The Weak Cling to the Strong

Three weeks had rapidly passed by and it was almost the end of April. And, like every other year, my class was subjected to a test, one where they were told wouldn't affect their grades.

Of course, it's always just a cover up for the s-system, which usually works incredibly well on the lower classes like class D, class C, and on occasions, even class B, but this year, things were drastically different.

And the most game breaking difference? Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was in class D.

Class D would have a large advantage, given the fact that Ayanokouji could see through almost everything that I and the school had done so far. So, I was expecting him to take charge like always.

"Alright class. Today, we'll be taking a short test. Don't fret, this will not be impacting your grades whatsoever, it will only act as a display for what you currently know," I announced to my students, passing them the handouts.

Expectedly, there were a few complaints, however, before things could escalate, Hirata Yousuke had intervened.

"Everyone, I don't think there should be a reason to complain. If we were all studying correctly, I'm sure no one would do too badly on the test," he reassured his classmates.

"Hirata-kun's right, guys. If you payed attention during class, you'll be fine," called out Karuizawa Kei.

"Mhm! If we do our best, none of us will fail!" exclaimed Kushida Kikyou.

Finally, after the interjections of the three pillars of class D, the fourth stood up from his seat and began to address the class. "Don't worry too much about this test. I'm sure that it only serves as a way to introduce the 'failure equals to expulsion' rule. And, since we already know that, we can just focus on trying our best and using this test to help us study in the future."

The input of the four most influential figures within the class had calmed the others down, and they were finally ready to start.

"Now, cheating is forbidden, so please refrain from doing so. This test will be conducted under regular exam conditions. You may now begin."

Observing my students, most of them - with the exceptions of Sudou Ken, Yamauchi Haruki, and Ike Kanji - found no struggles with the first five pages (one for each subject). A few of them in particular were speeding through the test faster than their peers. Those were Kouenji Rokusuke, Yukimura Teruhiko, Matushishita Chiaki, Horikita Suzune, and of course, Ayanokouji.

However, only Ayanokouji could continue at the same pace, as everyone, as they reached the final page, would be left just sitting there and staring at their papers, with no idea what to do.

This result was as expected, due to the level of the questions on the last page. While there were only three, they were made to be given to second year students, meaning that they covered topics unknown to the first years.

After a mere ten minutes, Ayanokouji walked up to the front of the room to hand up his test. Taking a quick scan of his answers, I could conclude that he had gotten full marks, as I had anticipated from him.

After all, he was the boy who Nagumo Miyabi has been tirelessly working and meticulously planning a strategy to corner into playing his game. The only one to have done so was Horikita Manabu, who had only gotten the first vice-president's attention because of his position within the council.

In the three weeks that Ayanokouji had asked the president to send a certain video to Nagumo, the second year had long since completed his plan, and it consisted of many deeply thought through traps that would emotionally and mentally imprison even the esteemed student council president.

Meanwhile, despite knowing all of this, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka still chose to continue enjoying his free life as a high school student. After all, at the start of the next month, he would lose a significant amount of his time due to the start of his vice-presidential work alongside Ichinose Honami from class B.

In the meantime, he found himself strengthening his friendships. Specifically those with Hirata Yousuke, Matsushita Chiaki, Karuizawa Kei, Horikita Suzune, and Kushida Kikyou.

On the surface, it would look as if Ayanokouji simply wanted to make friends, however, beyond that, there was a hidden purpose of selecting such different individuals to befriend.

Alternatively, Ayanokouji saw potential in both Matsushita Chiaki and Horikita Suzune. As the only two people in class D who understood the terrifying potential of class A, Ayanokouji had taken their growth into his own hands, and made sure to nurture them by first establishing a bond that neither of the girls would want to discard.

Karuizawa Kei was a more complicated topic. With her small crush on Kiyotaka escalating each day, their closeness was noted by everyone in the school. Rumours spread like wildfire, and word that the vice-president may have been dating Karuizawa Kei caused massive amounts of silent uproar. The jealousy was subtle, but obvious to those of who were suffering from the same fate.

After all, unbeknownst to Ayanokouji himself, he was ranked first in the Ikemen rankings, topping even Nagumo Miyabi and Horikita Manabu. Although only a few actually had developed anything as serious as a crush on him, Ayanokouji was seen as perfect boyfriend material because of his position, good looks, and friendly nature.

On the opposite side of things, boys would seethe to themselves at the supposed couple, as almost all of them often do with newly formed pairings.

Finally, Kushida Kikyou was made as Ayanokouji's priority. The unknown threat of the individual widely known as the angel of class D was one that Ayanokouji could not take lightly under any circumstances. The prospect of her being able to destroy a whole class would mean disaster for his goals. So, no matter what it took, Ayanokouji had to silence the ticking time bomb, and he believed that first forming a significant relationship with her would allow him to slowly gain trust and extract information from her.

As his teacher, I know I should be guiding him away from this path of his; one where he remorselessly uses others as tools. But... I just can't.

Everything I'd planned since the chairman told me of his potential would have gone to waste. The acts, the meticulously schemed scenarios, my deep search for information, all of those would have been for nothing if I were to stop Ayanokouji from treading on this dark path.

For the moment, my and his ambitions align, so I won't do anything to change that. Instead, I'll do everything in my power to help him. Whether it be information gathering or the like, I'd do it for him.

The only thing I hoped for was that he didn't realise just how desperate I was to reach Class A. I knew it would be inevitable, the day when he finds out about my past, but I wanted to keep it away from him for as long as possible. And to do that, I will even ask Chie for information regarding his popularity amongst the girls.

I will continue to act as his messenger and source of information, and that will allow me to reach the goal that I had always wanted to accomplish.

In society, the weak often cling to the strong. They find their only path to success being to side with the superior person. In the case of Ayanokouji and I, he is the strong, superior being, while I am the weak, clinging on to him in hopes of reaching class A.

It's irony at its finest. The teacher being the inferior one compared to their student, how unthinkable. But Ayanokouji is a man beyond his years; with intelligence that surpasses even the greatest minds in the history of modern society.

And because of that, I will continue to cling onto him. For how long? Well, to quote a certain student of mine, who knows?