Archons of the Elite

Tears of a bard

Ayanokouji POV

Since the harsh truth behind the school, and the revelation that not only were we at the bottom of the hierarchy, but that a good amount of us had low enough scores to be expelled, I had seen a noticeable difference in Venti's attitude, to the point where every time someone would call a member of our class a defect he'd grit his teeth and turn away.

Absentmindedly he had mentioned that it was cruel to force people to desperately fight just for the ability to be able to do what they want.

I remembered the night where he'd vowed to bring freedom to our class, and seeing this now made me understand how obsessive he was about that ideal.

He'd gone from only talking to our group to quickly befriending almost all the students in the class through one way or another, only struggling with the exceptionally stubborn, shy or eccentric.

Unlike Kushida, his social skills seemed less targeted at liking him, but rather the kinship gained from common difficulties, problems or foes. I'd noticed how easily he'd befriended Karuizawa through their common struggles with the test, exploiting the fact that she sat beside him to talk without it seeming pushy or unreasonable.

However when people weren't looking I'd see him look into a small mirror, it was strange that he seemed so focused on it, as if his reflection was a different person.

Until today when he stood at the front of the class.

"Yoohoo~ everyone! Can you look here for a moment?"

Whereas before his voice would have been met with sighs, it now garnered absolute focus, excluding that of Horikita and Koenji, even managing to capture the attention of Sudo after he'd befriended him through a conversation about basketball.

It had taken so much of his time to talk to and capture the liking of so many people that it was clearly taking a toll on him.

How long until your ideals destroy you Venti?

He began to speak up quickly.

"The midterms aren't far away, and many people, myself included, are either struggling to pass or are already failing."

At the looks of discomfort from many of the students, including the three idiots, as the trio of Ike, Yamauchi and Sudo had been dubbed, and a few others.

"I propose study groups!" He said confidently. "I have an idea for who will go where, but if anyone has any problems then please just tell me, okay?"

He pulled out a sheet of paper with surprisingly elegant handwriting.

Tutors:

Kushida

Yukimura

Hirata

Mii-chan

Horikita

I glanced at Horikita, but she'd been surprisingly quiet since a few nights ago, I hadn't looked into it but it may have been important.

"Not everyone has to attend a study group of course! If you're at an average of fifty or above then feel free to do what you want!"

"Fifty!?"

"How's that fair! The passing grade is only thirty two!"

Venti sighed at the complaints of Ike and Yamauchi.

"We have to be certain you can pass. If the tests get harder then you might not have time to get better if you start out later. You see?"

This leadership thing seemed to be getting to him. It was clear he hadn't done this himself before, but rather just had experience with someone who had.