The Circumstances of Class D, Part 2

(Dazai Crowley's POV)

Cerulean Academy, Present Day

Amidst the conversation between Victor and the two girls, I found myself a little curious about something. As such, I asked Ester for her opinion.

"Hey."

"What?"

"You're pretty good at judging a person's true power, right?"

"—I mean, I guess."

She said while shrugging her shoulders.

"Alright then. In that case, who do you think is stronger? Esmes or Ryoku?"

"That's a pretty odd question to ask."

"Is it?"

"Yeah, no, nevermind."

Suddenly, she shook her head and put down her book for a second. Up until now, she has shown little to no interest in the general affairs of the class.

"Let's see…"

Looking down to the girls below, she began scrutinizing what little details there was to observe.

Eventually, she reached one single conclusion.

"Well, both of them hold a great deal of potential respectively. How they scale up against each other however is something I can't exactly say until after I see more about how they wield their own powers."

"I see. That's a fair assessment."

"There is one more thing I should say though."

"Oh?"

"I don't know the full extent of Esmes's "power", but one thing's for sure. If the two of them were to fight, Esmes's attitude would certainly be her downfall."

"I agree."

I think it's safe to assume that as well. Judging from what we can glean from the conversation so far, Ryoku seems to be a lot more mature then Esmes.

"And then there's Ryoku herself."

"What about her?"

Suddenly, Ester went quiet. It was as if she was somewhat reluctant to say what was on her mind.

In addition to that, her face also contorted into a rather strange yet curious expression. Even her eyes began to subconsciously narrow in focus on Ryoku.

"What's the matter? Did you notice something?"

"—I could be wrong…but it appears Ryoku is carrying some sort of darkness around her as well."

"Darkness, huh? Eh, I'm not too surprised. You tend to see those types of people every now and then."

"I know. That's why I thought about ignoring it. But the more I look at her, the more certain I become."

I raised my eyebrow.

"—She shares a "darkness" similar to us."

My eyes widened a little. Not so much out of disbelief per say, but rather, out of pure curiosity.

"....Is that so? Heh. Well, well, well. Seems like my decision has been made."

"Decision? What are you plotting now?"

"Why don't you read my mind and find out?"

"No thanks. I'm not "that" curious. Besides, I'm sure I have a good idea anyway."

As she said that, she went back to reading her book.

"No matter which way you look at it, Esmes is after you. If she rises to power right here and now, I'm certain she'll try and make your school life that much harder. You need to take action now, otherwise, things won't end so pretty for you."

Precisely. To prevent that from happening, I need a plan to protect myself. And the first step to doing that is stopping Esmes from gaining more power, such as being established as Class D's leader.

To do that end, I need somebody else other than Esmes herself to be elected as our Representative.

"With that said, I should say right now that I will be abstaining from my vote." said Victor.

"Huh? Why?"

"Because I have no interest in being a leader. I would much rather leave that burden up to someone else."

After proposing an ideal solution to the class, Victor immediately removed himself from the situation, leaving most a little confused of his decision.

Regardless, as someone who doesn't find much pleasure in assuming a lot of responsibility, I can understand a little of where he is coming from.

"In that case, I will do the same."

Unsurprisingly, the next person to remove themselves from the vote was none other than Roy.

"Right then, is there anyone else?"

One by one, three more hands were slowly raised. Each of them coming from familiar looking faces.

Seems like Judette, Emmel and a purple haired boy have all chosen to abstain, leaving a total of five.

At this rate, I expected the person who was sitting next to me to join in as well. But when I looked towards her, she didn't raise her hand whatsoever.

"You're not abstaining?"

"No."

"Oh? That's a surprise. Are you planning on voting for someone then?"

"You."

"Me? Sorry, but you should know that I don't intend on running for Representative either."

"I know. But you still need my vote, don't you?"

It took me a moment to realize what she was getting at. But as soon as I understood, I chuckled a little.

"I see. Thanks for your support."

She nodded.

"Alright then. If there are no further questions or concerns, then it seems like this matter has been settled. In that case, let's begin homeroom."

With that said, Gwein drew this conversation to its conclusion. From that point on, she began talking to us about school related matters and the like.

Of course, the first day of a new school year will most likely be a short one, especially considering the previous events like the opening ceremony.

Because of that, it wasn't very long until lunchtime came around. As soon as the school bell rang, I heard many sighs of relief from various students.

Most likely they were the ones who had yet to eat.

I myself was one of them.

However, for me, food was the last thing on my mind. I was preoccupied with other tasks I needed to do and questions that I wanted answered.

Speaking of which, there's that matter with Judette and Emmel. I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious as to what their relationship was like.

In any case, after class, the two of them began making their way out the classroom. This time however, it seems like Judette finally noticed me and Alice and waved a little at us before walking off.

"She a friend of yours?"

Ester asked.

"Yep. One from way back when, too."

"Color me surprised."

"It's been a very long time since I last talked to her. But as much as I want to catch up with her, there are some other things I want to take care of first."

"Let me guess. Ryoku?"

"Yeah."

Groan. Suddenly, my stomach growled. Because of that, Ester chuckled a little. It's always embarrassing to hear a girl laughing at you when that happens. Regardless, guess I was hungrier than I anticipated.

"Ugh, alright. Change of plans. You want to hit up the cafeteria first?"

"Did you bring your own lunch?"

"Not this time."

"Tch."

"—So is that a no?"

"Fine, I'll tag along. But next time, bring some food."

"What, so you can steal it from me like last time?"

"Yes."

"Oi."

Ignoring her honesty, we got up from our seats and went off to the cafeteria. However, as soon as we entered the hallway, Mrs. Gwein called out to us.

"Ester Evernore?"

Ester stopped and turned around.

"Mrs. Gwein?"

"There is something I would like to talk to you about. In private if possible."

She raised her eyebrow.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, none at all. I just haven't got the chance to talk to you alone since the day started."

"What is this about?"

Gwein glanced at me for a moment.

"This is about your transfer into the Mainland."

Hearing the word "mainland", Ester immediately got suspicious and narrowed her eyes at her.

"Then I assume my "guardian" is you?"

"Indeed. Therefore, there are a few questions that I would like to ask you, in addition to a one on one talk so that we can get accustomed to each other."

"I see. Actually, this is perfect timing. There were some things I wanted to ask you as well. Dazai?"

"Go on ahead. We can hang out some other time."

"Thank you. I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah."

I don't know what's going on, but judging from the flow of the conversation, I can tell this is important.

Because of that, I don't want to interrupt them.

Whatever it is, I'm sure it would take some time to discuss. Therefore, I shouldn't bother waiting around. In that case, I'll just head out on my own.