Rank B, And Titles

Jason was sleeping until he heard the morning announcement, but this time, there was a little more to the announcement:

*DING DONG DING DONG*

"Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 AM, and Nightime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beautiful day!"

Oh, that's right! I wanted to let you know that your e-handbooks have been updated! New regulations have been added, so please take a look at it, and enjoy your school life more than ever before!" the bear said, and immediately after he did, Jason's e-handbook vibrated.

Jason picked it up, and read the new rule:

Rule No. 9: Lending your e-Handbook to another student is strictly prohibited.

'Why would someone want to lend his handbook to someone else? Probably someone suggested it since the mastermind didn't add this rule from the beginning, but why would he do that? If the rule was added now, it means that only now the student suggested it, and considering the second floor opened yesterday, together with the bathhouse and warehouse, it probably has something to do with it...

The only thing related to the handbooks in the areas that were opened yesterday are the locker rooms of the pool... well, no one asked me to lend my handbook, so it doesn't seem to be of great importance to me...' Jason thought after he read the new rule. Then, he completed his morning routine and went to the dining room.

When he entered, he noticed that the only ones that weren't present, were Kiyotaka and Byakuya, but he ignored it, as he could probably guess why they're not here, and went to prepare breakfast for himself.

After he finished preparing breakfast, he sat at his usual spot at the corner, and as usual, since he knew that they'll only start to speak about his suggestion when everyone is here, he didn't participate in the conversation of the others, until he heard the sound of a glass being broken, which immediately caused him to look for the source, and he saw the fragments of a teacup on the floor, near the wall. He looked at who the other students looked with shock at, and unexpectedly, saw that the culprit was Celestia.

Then, Celestia started to explain to Hifumi, who was the one who prepared the tea for her, what he did wrong, but Jason saw how for the first time, he could see Celestia's mask, the one she put on from the first day, slowly breaking down until it completely broke, and anger was shown on Celestia's face.

'So her mask isn't unbreakable... that means that if you say or do the right thing, you can break her mask... that is something I should remember, for the future. She is a dangerous and unpredictable one, so I need to have some advantage over her, in case something happens because the mastermind can easily cause any of them to act... I need to get closer to her, to find out what else can trigger her, and break down her mask...' Jason thought, and while he was thinking, Celestia already recovered the mask, and once again, Jason couldn't read her emotions.

Then, Jason approached Celestia and said:

"Just so you know, I think that you're completely right. If you bother to make something, you always have to make the highest quality of what you make. That is why I had a private chef when I used to travel around the world. I don't trust someone other than my private chef and myself to prepare everything I eat or drink"

"That is smart of you. Then, what kind of tea you like?" Celestia said, and from what Jason could tell, she was pleased with what he said.

"In my case, I rather drink coffee. It helps me to stay more focused. I guess that tea is more popular in Japan than in the US, which is why I don't drink tea very often..."

"I see. Then, allow me to recommend you to, what I believe, the highest quality of tea, in which you add the milk during the brewing process"

"That sounds interesting. I never drank tea like that. I'll try it, if the opportunity arises, only because you recommend it"

"I'll be glad if you'll understand just how superior this kind of tea is than all of the other kinds. Then, we may even meet up in a restaurant, where I could recommend you more types of the highest quality of food and drinks"

"It'll be my honor to have this kind of meeting..." Jason said in a dramatic way

"Fufufu~~~ You certainly know what girls like to hear... I wouldn't mind spending more time together with you during our stay here. Aside from you, everyone in here is low ranked, but I would rank you at least as a B" Celestia said with a small smirk

"Rank me as a B?" asked a puzzled Jason

"Oh, I have a habit of ranking the people around me. The most common rank is D. I have no interest in D-ranked people. Most everyone at this school fits into that category, however, from our interactions, I genuinely think that you're at least a B-rank" Celestia said

"Well, I guess that you're pleasant to be around as well..." Jason said, still a little puzzled from her weird habit.

Then, Kiyotaka suddenly came storming into the dining room and said:

"Bad news, everyone!"

"What happened?" Makoto asked

"Byakuya refuses to leave his room! I pressed on his doorbell multiple times, but he never responded!"

"Didn't you thought of the possibility that he's not there?" Jason asked

"I did think of it, but I'm worried that something might have happened to him..." Kiyotaka said, and immediately everyone understood the meaning of his words.

"M-Maybe we should split up and go look for him..." said Makoto worriedly

"Then, I'll go and check his room again!" Kiyotaka said and rushed to Byakuya's room

"And we all will look around the school!" Sakura said, and they all split up.

Jason immediately went to the place where he assumed Byakuya was, and he was right, as he found him in the library, sitting on a chair and reading a book, with a desk lamp open by his side on the table. He noticed how Byakuya was interested in the library when they found it, so he assumed that where he was.

"You made everyone worried..." said Jason as he approached Byakuya

"And why should it concern me?"

"Honestly, it shouldn't, but it isn't how the others see it. Anyway, I guess that you skipping the meeting means that you don't support my suggestion?"

"Of course not. I won't go to sleep together in the same room with a bunch of commoners"

"In a normal situation, I would've agreed with you, but now it's different. So we can defeat the mastermind, we have to do anything we can to prevent more murders from occurring"

"Why would I want that? That way, this game will become boring"

"If you think you can defeat the mastermind on your own, someone who has the same amount of influence and resources as a country, without any help, and no resources and knowledge whatsoever, then you're mistaken. They say that the devil comes in many forms. Arrogance is one of them. Even if on the outside, you were the heir of the Togami Corporation, in here, you're the same as everyone here: a highschool student who was dragged into a killing game. From the point where this game began, all of our titles doesn't matter anymore"

"Are you saying that all of you are equal to me!?"

"We're not? Tell me, what does the title of being the heir of the Togami Corporation helps you in here? What does the title of being the teen who defeated the world champion in chess helps me in here? It doesn't. In this game, all that matters is to survive, and there isn't a title in the world that would help you with that" Jason said and left.

On his way back, he met the others and told them where Byakuya was and then said:

"I spoke with Byakuya, and he said that he doesn't support my suggestion, and because of his refusal, my suggestion became ineffective, as there is no point to proceed with it if not everyone agrees to it, so we'll continue with what we have been doing until now, at least until one of us has a better suggestion..." Jason said and walked back to his room...