Subtle but not hidden

Before I knew it, my alarm had been ringing nosier than it had ever did and I was about to throw it but it came to me that I just replaced it which is why it rang that stupid ringtone. I composed myself and shut it off, it had only been 6 am, why did I set it so goddamn early?! Then I realized today was the opening ceremony of that stupid University. I sighed and prepped myself.

Summer was over too quickly and to think I'm going to start over again in this new school, with girls too to boot. I used to enroll in an all-boys school that was well developed in its combat sports in addition to having the most disciplined of teachers, oh I loved that school and most of all because I was its king. Yes, I a first year was the king of an all-boys high school that had seasoned fighters and every mentor was strict and yet I ruled them all. Some credit perhaps goes to my family affiliations but if not for my victories of power struggles and top hold of the number 1 spot in academics and boxing club, I wouldn't have reached where I was now.

I first wore the uniform given me then I fixed my bag which had some notebooks as well as my books and a small knife hidden in one of the books then, I tucked my safe below my bag and then I bid the comfortable hotel room goodbye, starting today I would have to settle with whatever garbage room the University has prepared for me.

I took the bus which was filled with students of my own uniform, they were rowdy and unkempt which annoyed me as this was a direct reflection of the kind of education given by this Duvangelie University, still I should be fine in this chaos perhaps I might even thrive in such a rowdy environment.

I was seated at the farthest seat so I had free reign in observing all my soon to be school mates and I have found them quite dull and pathetic, directly in front of me was a third year who was bragging about break dancing in the plaza in the weekend, the hell is that to brag about? I mean he didn't even say that he won his competition and his body remained soggy, so what exactly is he so proud about? Right next to him his girlfriend seemed so interested in the story of how he successfully did this incoherent dance move named after a dental hygiene kit.

Then there were a bunch of I might only call geeks ahead of them, or no I hear they refer to themselves as Otaku, they were in a heated debate about who was the stronger character of two separate shows, which makes no sense to me, would you argue about who would win between an expert batter and a pro golfer? I mean you could but they belong to separate sports and all of this started when one of the two boys said "Can he beat Geko though?" to the other one…hmm perhaps that's some inside joke of sorts? I'll try to use it when I meet a fan next time they might enjoy it, the two certainly had a cheery argument.

Then right next to them were these two girls gleefully talking about how their friend was pregnant with a boy who was cheating on her with one of their other friends. Oh boy with friends like that, you wouldn't need any enemies. Everyone there seemed satisfied with their own dull lives; flings, dead trends, whatever new music was out, and whatever else one might imagine the cliché shallow high schooler likes.

There was one fairly interesting student however, he was well groomed wearing glasses but which to some degree I found unnecessary for his eyes seemed sharp when he too observed the passengers of the bus with a disgruntled look. To every aspect he seemed like your basic nerd, intelligent looking, composed, well-groomed but with a hint of unfashionable except for one interesting detail. His hands were red and slightly swollen, one that showed the appearance of having been in a fight and beneath the soul of his shoes was a red stain, the darkish hue told me one thing, dried blood.

Now it came to me that he wasn't observing for intel like I was but he was checking for familiar or suspicious faces, perhaps his attackers had followed him or was also going in this school. I gazed away in order to avoid suspicion, I was interested as to why a nerd would be in a fight the very first day of school but in order to see it through I must be subtle in how I observe.

The bus ride was fairly uneventful which was what you'd expect from a 15-minute ride with a bunch of strangers. It seemed that a good number of students were going down so I came down as well to what would seem like a fairly grand school. It was large I have to admit. It's gate alone was big enough to fit two 8-wheelered trucks at the same time, once you enter, the whole school was bustling and every direction you look was a grand building. It was unimaginable for such a provincial area and yet it was all real, a school big enough to fit all of the citizens in the whole province as well as a couple thousand more. I smiled at the whole grandiosity of it all, I first checked the large floor plan at the entrance very well placed for newcomers to not get lost. After a bit of searching I finally found what I was looking for, the principal's office.

You know that a school is high-class when the faculty has one whole building designated for them, and you will know that it is elite when the principal's office is like a rich man's lounge hall. There sat an old looking man who was doing paperwork at an astounding speed, I glanced a one of the paper that flew away as I picked it up and it was one of the Third year student's information. I managed to find all that was necessary before the principal noticed I was skimming over it and walked towards him handing the document.

The middle-aged man finally noticed me and in a weird fashion, he squinted then took out his glasses as if he would see me better without it, then he gasped perhaps realizing who I was.

"My, if it isn't Arvior how you have grown! You look very much like your father!"

Perhaps whether no one told the principal I was adopted or this was just his practiced speech for all students, I knew not but at least he knew who I was. That should clarify my intentions here, whatever it was I knew not for Father only told me to visit the principal when I arrived. He was not one for questions, after 7 years with him I already knew better than to ask after I was given the instructions.

There was a bit of an awkward moment as I and the principal locked gazes at each other and the man seemed to have no intention of looking away or saying anything so I instead broke the silence.

"Mr. Desmond, may I ask why it is Father has told me to come to you when I arrived here?"

Father only referred to the principal by his first name and the secretary simply told me to come in, having only mentioned his given name so I acted accordingly having nothing else to call him by. Desmond finally shifted his gaze and stared blankly back at his papers then he talked.

"If you'll please refer to me as Mr. Lubov instead of my given name, I shall be more pleased. As for your father's intentions, I told him that I putting you in the class A would be no problem given your previous results as well as your…affiliations. But he insisted that you would take the entrance examination like everyone else and that no special treatment be given to you that is why you are here today. Whenever you are ready, my secretary shall bring you to the examination hall where you will be answering the entrance examination along with the other transferees and freshmen"

I wasted no time and walked away from this odd man but he stopped me just as I was about to leave.

"How do you like my humble school Arvior?"

"It is very grand"

"I hope you will enjoy your time here, feel free to join any club you would like"

"Ah yes I am very much interested in joining the boxing club or simply any martial arts club"

Desmond Lubov looked at me with a patronizing gaze, much kinder than Lucia's but much too mysterious for my liking.

"You will be disappointed to know that we have a zero tolerance policy against fighting, even as a sport. My school is no Fort Academy; we do not breed criminals"

Did he just insult my school and call me a criminal? As a Lu Gastra I cannot let any disrespect of my pride, Father taught me never to let even a simple insult slide. I retaliated in a likewise fashion.

"That might explain how there's not a single well-bred student here then"

I quickly walked away. I might be punished for my insolence but even Lubov would think twice about doing so to a Lu Gastra especially after accusing me of being a criminal. Sadly, I cannot keep holding on to my family for much longer for my little brother Lucile will soon overthrow me and I might not be Lu Gastra anymore.

I was taken to the examination hall with nothing of significance happening along the way, the secretary was rather silent lady having said barely anything to me. Then I was assigned to a seat relatively far from the other students answering but perhaps that's because I'm a second year and the rest were freshmen. The secretary gave me a thin booklet of questionnaires which were 50 pages long that didn't just include questions about the major subjects but as well as personality and morality questions as well, this school is peculiar in the very least to add that to an entrance exam.

Had I faced this hurdle before me unprepared and honestly then I perhaps would have aced every questions other than the morality and personality ones which relative to the culture one's in and the beliefs both religious and nonreligious, there shouldn't be a right or wrong answer other than those obviously breaking the law. I was about halfway through the test when I realized that I wasn't completely unprepared, I saw before me the results of a student who was assigned to Class B after all.

The assignment of class is naturally a test for me from Father and naturally anything other than A is acceptable, especially in my shaky standing now hence how do I make sure I learn from our little reject here? The assigning of his class was naturally no accident as below his scores were totaled and he received 87%, I did the calculation from the scores from the IQ test alone and in there he had a stellar 98% which meant what gave him such a pathetic grade was not the ones relating the sciences or math but those of the vague enigmatic questions like "Would you consider stealing from the wealthy king to give to the hungry peasant?" At first glance the 'correct' answer seems to be yes right? I mean it's not a selfish act and also by society's standards its actually commendable but if you view this in an impartial point then you will notice two major issues, first that the act of stealing itself is a crime and second that it shows disobedience to the figure of authority, the king.

I assume this is where that boy made his mistake, he viewed things from society's standards and not the authoritarian school that this is despite the otherwise implications. I stagger at the conclusion I came upon, the first and only tip off I got was the principal's remark "We do not breed criminals" which I first assumed to be an insult to me but now it seems like a warning, he wasn't telling me that they didn't create criminals but rather that they don't accept them, and this test weeds out those with inclinations towards the very audience. This gave me a taste of the battlefield I shall be entering, underhanded and unexpectedly mysterious and only the incredibly receptive or the despicably shrew can accomplish the true goals assigned here, whatever it was I knew it existed.