Chapter 29:

Ace was walking into his homeroom, already making plans for the day. He had a meeting with Amy and the student council. She, as part of the Rank 1 homeroom, had been allowed to bring an advisor, so he would make sure to keep track of all the important people in that meeting. He had already scoped out all the important characters, and had gained all information that money could buy, he was as ready as he could be, and Ace knew Amy would be as well. However, he had used his grandmother's connections to find more information on the most important characters, the upper ranks of every year, and the various groups and organisations they had created. It was slowly reaching him, but it would still be some time until he would get all the information he wanted. His family's connections was an advantage he was planning on abusing, her connections with the over and underground of the upper ranks of society were amazing, and it would only benefit Ace if he began to build these connections for himself as well.

He was also planning on learning how to hack, it would take a while, and he would have to be extremely careful, but if he could enter some hacker clans and begin to make relations with some, it would bring his information gathering to another level. He was planning on putting a break on studying, and was planning on learning how to code and prepare firewalls, worms, viruses… He thought he would enjoy the idea, building the perfect attack and the best defence, and testing them against a multitude of opponents.

As he entered the classroom, he sat down and began to read one of the textbooks for advanced psychology, he was planning on taking both psychology and sociology as electives, along with business. He had given on up on picking others as he could only stretch about three without becoming unable to play daily for multiple hours. Plus, he actually thought he would enjoy taking classes for those subjects, and as a bonus, his grandmother would be happy.

He felt a buzz on his pocket and took out the Noxia, reading the notification to meet up in the School Council office instead of going to his first class, the teachers had already been made aware of it. He kept on reading and only said hi to Sophie and Amy when they came into the classroom.

They stopped at a large, wooden door with metal handles, where students were waiting for them to enter, "Ready?", Ace asked, he knew Amy had prepared strenuously for this, a major part of her future school career was riding on this first meeting and impression. "Like always", she said, while giving him a confident smile and motioning for the students to open the door for them. Ace slowed his pace, ensuring he was walking exactly 10 centimetres behind Amy, she should be the first person they notice, he was only there to support her with any facts or strategies she may not have thought of, while also taking notice of the reaction of most people in the room.

It was a vast room, with circular, coliseum-like stands, and an empty space in the middle where a small platform had been raised with a stand for anyone that wanted to address the whole council. There was an area for each year, increasing clockwise. The Homeroom Presidents would sit according to rank, with Rank 1's at the front and Rank 20's at the back.Ace also noticed that next to each seat for the Rank 1 was another chair for what Ace assumed would be the advisor. He sat, ensuring to keep his posture perfect and his face impassive, he was already noting down the reactions of everyone in the room, they would begin in 10 minutes but most people were already here. Ace enjoyed the time that followed before the meeting began, he could see that most people, even the older students were nervous, but there were some exceptions. In the junior class, in the Rank 1 Homeroom spot, a short, blonde girl sat in the President spot, with a massive tan man behind her, or at least he looked like a man. He was massive, engulfing the chair, and seemed to be looking around for something. 'Trying to spot threats.' Ace thought, he remembered the actions his bodyguards usually carried out, and it made him grin.

"Amy", Ace said, "Don't worry about a thing, the guys that look worried are clearly waiting for someone, but that someone is not here yet, they are probably waiting for the School Council President."

Ace had noticed that Amy was slowly getting overwhelmed by the atmosphere, the worries of all the students were clear in all their fidgeting and sweating, it was only the Rank 1 students that seemed more at ease, even if the sophomores still looked a bit uneasy. And suddenly, the doors opened again and a girl came in, someone that Ace clearly recognised, Leilah. She was staring ahead unflinchingly and took her seat, when Ace noticed who was following her. He had dyed grey hair, and had modified his uniform as much as possible, with a chain hanging on his trousers, and his rolled-up sleeves to his elbows showed his tattooed forearms, and strong hands that had thick silver and black rings in each finger that seemed to have been made to go along with his uniform. All in all, he looked like a gangster straight out of a comic. His eyes were black, or well, a very dark brown that seemed black under the lighting. Ace knew that no such a thing as naturally occurring black eyes existed, but he had also never seen someone with eyes as dark brown as his.

As he cast his gaze around the room, Ace met his stare and although surprised, after about half a second of eye-contact, he moved on, however, Ace noticed the barely perceptible upwards curl of the lips.

Ace knew who he was, or well, he knew of him, truthfully, information on him was much harder to get than anyone else, however, Ace knew of at least half a dozen of his aliases, and the fact that he had tight links with both the Triads and the Yakuza. Ace had not been able to find out much apart from the fact that he was deeply involved in underground matters, and the fact that he had a fearsome reputation. However, it was that reputation that truly mystified Ace, most criminal bosses, would have reputations for being ruthless or reckless, however, Zach, as he was called in school, was known for exactly the opposite, he was kind with people, some may say even merciful. Now, that was scary.

The underground worked in a way that depending on your reputation, you would be pushed around or not, and yet, regardless of his reputation, Zach had reportedly not had any real confrontations in months. If someone compared this fact to his reputation, it made no sense, and just because of that, Ace was more intrigued than with any other student in school.

He knew about Leilah, she was his tutor, after all, she had a good family backing her, but she had received sponsorship from his grandma as soon as she finished her first year, which made her popularity skyrocket, and she had been Rank 1 President, in all her classes since then, and was now the School Council President.

Leilah stood up, and addressed the students, "Good morning, I wish to welcome you all back, and to the new students, I wish to welcome you into our ranks, I hope you have settled down adroitly. I will first explain how this meeting will be carried out. All new students will introduce themselves, beginning with Rank 20 and finishing with Rank 1. This will happen after all Rank 1 Presidents have introduced themselves. I am Leilah, and this is Zach, my advisor, if you have any problems, please address your concerns to him, and he will ensure to do all he can to solve them". 'Probably break a few legs', Ace thought, 'Oh wait no, I forgot, he is a kind gangster'. Ace laughed internally at this, he would ask his grandmother about him, she was sure to know more than anyone. He also noticed the fact that Leilah did not give her surname, 'Is it shame at the fact her family has less of a reputation, or does she want to keep and air of mystery?'

Ace wondered about this while all Rank 1 Presidents introduced themselves, for juniors: Elizabeth, the blonde girl with the giant behind her, who was not introduced, sophomores was a boy called Jay, who seemed friendly enough if a bit out of his own element. He also introduced his advisor as Mira, a brunette with glasses, whose parents handled a lobbying firm, she would be good to befriend. Ace thought she was probably vying for the President spot, but for some reason, students had chosen Jay. She sat down calmly, with a stack of papers neatly in front of her, and she was one of the few people that did not seem nervous. Then, it was Amy's turn, they had already discussed what she had to say, they agreed that it would be better for her to say her surname, but for her not to introduce Ace, all the people that mattered knew who he was regardless. In this way, it would also look like she had total control of her year group's situation, which would strengthen her position.

He noticed that most of the people closest to the front rows, stared at him appraisingly, as if trying to figure out why they had not used his surname as well, it sure as hell held a lot more power than almost everyone else's, especially in this school. But Ace just smiled internally, it was basic power dynamics and psychology, the less they knew about his personality, the more they would doubt themselves when trying anything against him or Amy. The facts were telling them that he was a pushover, cornered by his Yeargroup's President, but their instincts were screaming at them, saying to not mess with him. This state of internal conflict was exactly what Am and Ace were aiming for, as it would throw most people off their game, and create a deeper level of respect, as most people did when facing the unknown.

They began the meeting, Leilah spoke about the coming year and the various competitions and activities that the school was going to participate in. Various students then came up to present their ideas on things that could be improved, which would be voted at the next meeting after the Presidents had considered them.

Finally, once the whole ordeal was finished, it was break time, and they had some time to eat a snack and rest before the rest of the classes began. They had been at it for about two hours. Leilah invited all interested to join her for break, drinks and snacks would be provided. She also said that she wanted to meet all the Rank 1 Presidents in her room, and for them to bring their advisors if they so wished. Amy and Ace made their way directly, the other presidents were already going in, and the junior President advisor was towering over the doorway, ensuring only the appropriate people were coming in, and probably that no one was trying to listen in on the conversation - not that anyone would dare.

Leilah was sitting on a chair behind a desk, with Zach standing beside her. "Ok, so here is how it is, Zach handles any of the students that have ties with any underground organisations, and I act as the head of all overground organisations. This way, we can avoid this school becoming a site for warfare, well, unintended warfare that is. Therefore, it is recommended that one of you begin building ties with underground organisations, in order for there to not be any issues in the future."She said this while nodding at Amy and Ace.

Ace then thought of something ingenious he could say in order to break up the tempo of their meeting, "Oh don't worry, I am sure it will all be ok, what with such a kind man dealing with all the issues.", Amy smirked at this, Ace had already warned her to prepare for these types of comments, and she had already steeled herself for what was to come after hearing him speak. She understood that these comments would allow them to take control of meetings, as well as giving a perfect chance for them to observe the reactions of the people assembled.

Jay made a rounded shape with his mouth and let out a squeaky "Ohh" at this, while Mira seemed shocked. Both Zack and Elizabeth squinted their eyes at him, and Leilah just smiled.

"Well, the cat is out of the bag, and even earlier than normal, this is most certainly a new record. But I suppose it was to be expected, you are who you are I suppose.", then, as if remembering something, she said: "There will also be separate meetings for only the Rank 1 Homeroom Presidents, in these, we will probably discuss the teams for upcoming tournaments and such, but now that we are here, we can discuss the upcoming Inter-Academy Knowledge Tournament." Most of you do not know this, but Ace has been drafted already to participate in both his year's and the Global portions of the Tournament.", Zach had no reaction, he most likely knew about it already, but Elizabeth looked at him inquisitively, and so did Jay, if a bit in a more shameless manner. Mira however, seemed to be furious, "B-B-But!", she blurted, "I have been vying for that spot since last year! He has no right!", she said this while pointing her finger at him, and from then on, Ace knew that the probabilities of a relationship of any sort, either friendship or business, was not going to happen.

Leilah sighed, and this time, Zach spoke, he had a suave voice, and he knew exactly what effect it had on most people, "Look, Mira, we know you are extremely capable, but the whole Committee for the Tournament was in agreement, the truth is that Ace, even if he is a year younger, can most definitely do better than you." They were harsh words, but Ace knew them to be the truth, he knew that if he practised on the questions he would be asked, he could probably rank in the top ranks of the tournament. He had already memorised enough knowledge to not have an issue with the school's curriculum, and in this school, the High School curriculum was finished in two years, from then on it was all university-level content. Nevertheless, Ace had been able to Ace the test given to high achieving students even before he had started school.

Leilah had most likely informed them on that, and her word was worth more than any action Mira could carry out.