13 Chapter 13 - Superiority
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"Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings." ~Salvador Dalí
"Where are you going, Eru-chan?" Kikyo asked me as I got up from my seat. It was a free period, and some students were chatting, some were eating, and others were just doing their own thing.
"I'm going to visit Class B," I told Kikyo and some of my classmates looked at me. "Is that a problem?"
"Just sit down. If you go talk to Class B, our relationship with them might get worse. Nobody even wants you in Class D." Karuizawa said, not mincing her words.
"Come on, Karuizawa, that's too harsh. Eru can go wherever he wants. And maybe he can check if there's any update on the Sudo situation for us." Hirata said to Karuizawa.
"Well, I'm going anyway," I said to them and walked out of the class. Karuizawa seemed to hate me; maybe she thought I was an easy target. But it didn't matter; if it was someone important who disliked me, I might do something about it. But she was just a common idiot, so there was no point in wasting time on such trivial matters.
I soon arrived at the door of Class B and opened it. I was greeted by a refreshing sight, very different from Class C. Everyone seemed friendly; there was no obvious hierarchy like in Class C, but rather a sense of equality, at least for the most part. There were some who were more shy or less influential than others, but it didn't seem like they were oppressed, but rather that they preferred it that way.
As I stepped into Class B, the students who were chatting turned their eyes to me. But their eyes were not like those of Class C yesterday. They were not wary or hostile but mostly curious and welcoming. This place... was a perfect example of a disaster waiting to happen.
As I entered Class B, a girl approached me. I didn't notice her face at first, as I was distracted by a certain portion of her body. "Hi, welcome. Is something wrong? You look like you're spacing out." Honami Ichinose said to me, leaning forward so that her face was in front of mine.
"Not at all. On the contrary, I found a solution. A big one. Actually, two." I replied.
"What?" Ichinose said, puzzled.
"Sorry, you probably don't know who I am. I'm Eru from Class D." I introduced myself.
"Oh, Eru!" Ichinose exclaimed, recognizing me. Some of the other students looked at me with surprise. "Our teacher has told us a lot about you. You're here because of Sudo, right?"
"I have no interest in the Sudo situation. It will be resolved soon. And I know you don't have any information. I came here because I was curious about the life of a Class B student." I told Ichinose truthfully.
"I see," Ichinose said, looking sad for a moment, then smiling. She quickly moved out of my sight and stood next to me. "So, what do you think?"
Ichinose Honami, I had a suspicion that she was two-faced like Kikyo, but that hypothesis is likely incorrect. Although I still think it is possible, her kindness seems genuine and must have a source or a cause. I would guess it was a past experience, but I have no idea what it could be. This class is frightening. I expected Class B's government to be some kind of republic and that Ichinose was "elected" by consensus, but this exceeded all my expectations. To gain complete control of a class of 40 people in such a short span of time and to inspire such trust and admiration in them, I can feel it in their eyes. They might be a class of sheep, but she has created a perfect dictatorship, and she might not even be aware of it. This is what it is, in essence, if not in name. A socialist dictatorship disguised as a republic. And while it is true that no communist country has ever succeeded, it is also true that there is evidence that communism can work on a small scale.
But while the foundations of such a system are hard to break, especially in this ideal scenario, if they ever do break, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Class B could collapse completely. One of the factors that led to the emergence of democracies was the low level of intelligence of the majority of people in making critical choices. Therefore, if Ichinose is genuinely as kind as she appears, she must also be as stupid as she is foolishly leaving the fate of her class to the whims of the foolish majority. For her own good, I hope that those choices will not lead to the downfall of her class.
"So, what do you think? Isn't it wonderful?" Ichinose said with a smile, clearly happy with the atmosphere of the class.
"It is. It's almost like a utopia." I said to Ichinose. I was genuinely curious about the future of Class D and whether they would succeed or fail.
Ichinose frowned slightly. "Your face doesn't look like you're impressed." She said.
"My face? It's always like this. Besides, some people don't want to live in a utopia."
"I see. So, what are you going to do next?"
"I'll look around a bit. That's not a problem, right?"
"Not at all."
Ichinose said, and I walked away, taking some candy from my bag. There was only one other person who caught my interest in this class besides Ichinose. She was a brown-haired girl with blue highlights and violet eyes. She didn't seem bad-natured, per se, but she seemed more suited for Class C.
But I didn't approach her, as something else was on my mind. Ichinose didn't seem like a schemer. Maybe she was more intelligent than someone like Ryuen in some aspects of intelligence, but she was more similar to Hirata.
'So, I can assume that if Class B is better than Class C and D, and if the class is truly united, then there must be someone who acts as an advisor to Ichinose. I believe all classes are somewhat similar in terms of distribution of talent, but they differ in terms of flaws.' My eyes scanned the class quickly. 'Schemers are skeptical. It's part of their job. Why is he here? Is he a friend or a foe? What is he plotting? These are some of the questions a schemer would have as soon as I entered this class. I would have become the center of their attention.' Then, I saw a pair of eyes glancing at me. As I locked on them and walked in their direction, the pupils shifted. 'I have found my schemer. All hail the people's republic of Class 1-B.'
"You're interesting. You blend in well with Class B. If I was not looking for you, I would have thought you were just another average Class B student."
"I don't know what you're talking about. Who are you?"
"Of course you don't. Well, I'm Eru from Class D."
"I see. I'm Ryuji Kanzaki."
"Alright, Kanzaki. What do you think of Class B and Ichinose?" I ask and pause, but Kanzaki doesn't answer right away. "You don't have to answer if it's inconvenient."
"No, it's fine. I was just thinking. We haven't been here for long, so I had to sort out my thoughts." He says, taking a deep breath. "I think Class B is amazing, especially Ichinose. She's really special, to bring the class together like that. I'm glad I was placed here. It's a nice environment." Kanzaki says skillfully, avoiding any specifics, but I don't care about the details.
"I understand what you mean by the environment. Class B seems like a normal class of high school students who want to enjoy their lives." I say, moving away from Kanzaki's table.
"Are you leaving already?"
"Not yet. There's one more person who piques my curiosity." I say, walking away.
There was something about the girl that intrigued me. Her appearance and demeanor didn't match Class B, but she seemed to talk and interact with the other members as if she belonged. There were two possibilities: either I was wrong about my assessment, or she was just following the Class B crowd without really sharing their views or goals. Maybe she just wanted to avoid standing out, like Ayanokoji. Either way, I didn't concluded I would not learn much from her by talking to her at this moment.
I stopped and turned to Ichinose. "Thank you for the experience. I found it quite interesting." I said to her.
"I'm glad to hear that. You can come back anytime." She said.
"I'll remember that," I said before leaving Class B.
***
The school day was over, and I was about to leave, but Kikyo stopped me. "I'm going to confront the person I suspect is the witness today." She whispered. "It's Sakura, right? She was the least interested in Sudo's case. She seemed to want to dodge the subject as much as possible."
"Good luck," I said to her. "And remember, ideal methods won't always work. I understand if you don't want to use more extreme measures, but sometimes you have to as a leader."
She pondered my words and whispered in a shaky voice, "But what if I get exposed? Won't people hate me?"
"Well, perhaps. It varies depending on the circumstances. All leaders face difficult decisions, and not all of them are despised. If it eases your mind, I wouldn't despise you." I said, startling Kikyo. "But if you're still fearful of being hated, you just need to find someone who can do the dirty work for you or be your accomplice. Take Ayanokoji with you. He may work with Horikita often, but he won't take your glory. And I think he'll help you with whatever you intend to do. And he surely won't reveal anything if you have to resort to more unethical methods. Just use your face; it is cute, so it will work on most males." I said, and Kikyo chuckled and nodded.
"Thank you so much, Eru-chan," she says with a sweet smile, walking towards the back of the class.
I left without further delay, but I didn't go to the dorms or to get some food. I headed to Class A instead. The school day was over, and most of them should be there. Since Kikyo was doing her best for the class, I supposed I should do the same.
With that in mind, I entered Class A and found a different atmosphere from both Class B and Class C. As I walked in, the eyes of the class gradually turned to me. But they were neither friendly and curious nor hostile and malicious. They were questioning but also confident.
"What can we do for you?" Kohei Katsuragi, one of the contenders for power in Class A, asked me shortly after I entered.
"Nothing in particular. I was just curious about Class A. I've heard a lot about it and its students and situation, so I thought it would be better to see for myself than to rely on rumors."
"I see. What is your name, then?" The atmosphere was confident but also tense. I could tell that some of the class didn't regard Katsuragi as their leader.
"It's only fair to tell you. I'm Eru Lawliet from Class D." As I said that, some of the students looked away with boredom or sneered, but a few kept their eyes on me.
"I don't know what you hope to achieve, then. But there's not much to learn from being here. But if you insist, you can look around our class." Katsuragi said, still glancing at me while talking to someone who I guessed was one of his minions.
I chose to approach a certain purple-haired girl. I grabbed a chair, moved it next to her, and sat on it in a crouched position.
"Interesting," I said, gazing at her face.
"Why are you staring at me?" The girl asked, drawing some attention, though some were already watching me because of my previous actions.
"One of the main reasons I came to Class A was to talk to you," I said, then lowered my voice so that only she could hear me. "I know you're part of the Sakayanagi faction, after all."
She looked at me with irritation and said, "That doesn't answer my question. Why are you staring at me, and why are you sitting like that?"
"I'm sitting like this because I find it more comfortable than sitting in what you would call normal. And I'm staring at you because I'm trying to figure you out. Whats your name?"
The girl remains quiet for a moment and responds, "Masumi Kamuro."
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Sorry for the shorter chapter. It was still 2139 (without any author notes), but this is a smaller arc in terms of length, and I didn't want to fill this or any of the following chapters with uninspired scenes, so I opted for a chapter shorter than the 3k words I've been averaging. But I still wanted to give you guys something, so I hope you can enjoy the chapter; this may seem like filler with him just visiting the other classes as Kikyo solves the Sudo problem, but trust me, it is not!
I hope you understand.
**IMPORTANT: I will not be able to write any chapter from Sunday (2/25/2024 CST) forward for about 1 week as I will not be home!!! I will probably draft chapters on my phone, but these will be very rough once I get back; these drafts will hopefully make it easier to continue the story and provide you all with more chapters.**
Lastly if you have questions, worry's, complaints or ideas regarding the FanFic please leave them here I will address all the ones listed her if I can. And the main one I have seen I will address below.
-Will there be romance? In essence yes although it won't be the standard kind. It will be mostly one sided (not entirely) as L does and can care about people (take for example Watari) but I will not touch L's extremely logical and self interested personality. He will always focus on his interest rather then emotional matters as that is just his character. His character will grow but the growth while being major in the grand scheme of things will be small and maybe even unnoticed character wise. If your worried I will ruin L's character by making him extremely loving or caring character don't and if you want L to be that kind of character (loving caring romantic etc) it should be stated I was never aiming for that as then this wouldn't be L in death note!
