Chapter 81

Chapter 81

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Ayanokōji AOV

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Midnight. Or more precisely, two hours past midnight. After not having slept for four consecutive days, I'd fallen into the warm embrace of sleep very early, just a short while after Kushida had left the room having heard my explanations. As a result, I found myself waking up at this unreasonable hour.

I grabbed the room's key card and, taking care not to wake Sora or Shiro, I lifted by heavy body from the bed to rouse myself.

Since students were required by the school's rules to sleep in their jerseys, they were also allowed to leave their rooms while wearing them. As such, there would be no problems with me leaving now.

Exiting the room quietly, I closed the door slowly behind me and began wandering down the dark corridor of the ship.

Once I reached the deck, I stopped for a moment and gazed out at the dark blanket that stretched across the skies, dotted full of twinkling stars that burned an unfathomable distance away.

The scenery, accompanied by the night's ocean, instilled a sense of boundless scale within me. The feeling that, no matter how much time I had, I would never even scratch the surface of what lay beyond my shallow perception of the world.

Is this what they call freedom? What an unfamiliar feeling.

I decided to do some light exercise. If I spent my time at this school neglecting my body, my physical ability would definitely deteriorate. Consequently, I concluded that such exercise was necessary to maintain my physique.

I did an indeterminate number of push-ups, sit-ups and squats, not bothering to count the number.

I merely repeated the motions atop the lonely ship deck, accompanied by nothing except the dark and the occasional sound of waves lapping below the ship as it sailed through the water.

Once I had began to work up a sweat, I sensed a presence behind me and paused my workout.

I turned around and was met by a silhouette standing against the shining stars behind him, only discernible by his defining hair that spiked out from the rest of his slim shadow.

"Ryuzaki," I called out to him.

He stepped forward and approached me, entering into the faint glow of the moonlight just enough for me to be able to see him properly.

Ryuzaki had dark bags under his eyes, as usual, and appeared tired. I guessed that he hadn't yet slept.

"Ayanokōji. It's a coincidence to see you out here, all alone."

"Yeah. What are you doing, Ryuzaki?"

"I just decided to go for a stroll because I couldn't sleep. I see you were exercising? Your form is rather impressive."

"Well, some exercise is required if I want to maintain my physique," I responded.

"Well, that makes sense."

Ryuzaki walked past me, to the edge of the ship, and leaned on the railing as his pitch-black eyes gazed out towards the black ocean. I followed suit, and stood next to him, looking out in silence.

"What do you think of this school, Ryuzaki?" I asked eventually.

Out of everyone in my class, Ryuzaki was by far the most enigmatic. Most of all, I was curious to know about his thoughts.

I'd seen him laugh and smile a few times before, but, I couldn't recall ever seeing him looking like he's genuinely enjoying himself. Rather, he always wore some variation of an apathetic expression, as if everything he does at this school is no more than business work.

"What do I think? Well... it is certainly unique, to say the least. As far as its effectiveness goes, I'll have to wait before I can decide that. It has its merits, for sure, but it is also flawed."

"Really? This school certainly likes to boast about how it prepares its students for future life in society. Do you think that it fails at this?" I retorted.

He locked eyes with me.

"How many occupations do you know where you'll have to survive in the wilderness while competing with other groups for designated camping spots? This school also seems to be very nonchalant about dishing out expulsions, too, which I do not agree with. They boast about their highly impressive, near 100 percent placement rate for students advancing into higher education or entering the workforce, but I don't think it's all that impressive when they're so eager to eject students. They claim to be crafting Japan's future leaders but, to me, getting rid of students so easily just shows that this school's education is selective, and that they are incapable of properly teaching a large chunk of the student population."

The current global education system was, to put it bluntly, outdated. It was created during the industrial era, as a mechanism to produce factory workers. That's why schools all over the world adopt an approach of issuing instructions and expecting students to do exactly as they're told – the most effective workers during the education system's era of creation were the ones that could best carry out their instructions to the letter.

In modern society, however, skills such as cooperation, creativity and the ability to communicate your ideas clearly are much more valued than they were 200 years ago. This school places emphasis on these values, with things such as their outlandish special exams, but while it is still better than your average school, the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School still has its fair share of flaws.

Ryuzaki's smooth voice brought me back out of my thoughts.

"May I ask you a question, Ayanokōji?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

"Right," Ryuzaki looked into my blank eyes for a few seconds before continuing. "Do you believe that ordinary people can be artificially crafted into geniuses that can rival even the most naturally gifted, given the right environment to nurture their development?"

For the first time since I'd enrolled at this school, I felt my psyche crack just a little.

This question that he'd just asked me was the basis for the ideology that'd been engrained in my mind for my entire life. It wasn't an especially common thought, either – no, this was a very specific question.

Was it just a coincidence?

I felt Ryuzaki's eyes scrutinising me, his dark void-like pupils searching my eyes, expression, and body language for any hint of change. It was highly likely that his observations yielded nothing.

I took a moment to think and carefully construct my answer, taking great caution in selecting my words.

If it was just a coincidental thought, then it shouldn't matter what I say here.

However, if this boy did really know more than he let on, then there's a good chance that this isn't just a random thought he'd had just now.

Now that I thought about it, this wasn't the first time Ryuzaki had attempted to profile me.

Near the start of the school year, I'd noted that Ryuzaki seemed to be paying attention to Light more than usual. He'd go out of his way to accompany him unnecessarily and the like. Almost as if he had a reason to get to know him in particular.

Ryuzaki seemed to have also targeted me at some point. There was also the time back on the island – when Ryuzaki was accompanied by Light and me – he gave Ichinose a great deal of advice.

At first, I'd just assumed that he'd decided to help Class B on a whim but, no, there was more to it. I was confident that his true goal was to profile Light and I based on our reactions.

He'd been fishing to see how we'd respond. He'd wanted to see if we agreed with him, or if we came to a similar conclusion to him.

He was trying to deconstruct Light and I, trying his best to get a glimpse into our minds, and what makes us tick.

"I think that, while natural genius provides a gap between normal people that can never be closed, I would say that it's possible for a highly nurtured, 'ordinary' individual to surpass a natural genius if raised in the right circumstances."

I chose a relatively safe answer. There shouldn't be much he could dissect from that, even if he did have an ulterior motive by asking me that question.

"Hmm, I see. And, what would you say about raising a natural genius in such an environment?"

"Well, as far as learning goes, a natural genius raised in such an environment will surpass an ordinary person raised in that same environment simply by virtue of their capacity for learning being higher."

"I see..." Ryuzaki paused for a moment. "This has been very insightful. Thank you for humouring me, Ayanokōji."

"It's nothing. It was an interesting thought experiment for me, too."

"I'm going to return to my room, now. I really should get some sleep, so I can function properly tomorrow."

"That's understandable. Goodnight, Ryuzaki."

"Goodnight, Ayanokōji."

I watched his back silently as he departed, his figure slowly melting into the shadows.

My curiosity regarding Ryuzaki only increased further.

I thought back to when I first met my classmates, and we all introduced ourselves. Ryuzaki hesitated before giving us his name, almost as if he was thinking of something.

Since then, rather than showing any signs of pursuing entertainment, Ryuzaki's demeanour had repeatedly indicated that his primary goal was not to enjoy himself, like Light, Lelouch and Sora's was.

He'd made repeated attempts to gather intel about his classmates – in particular, it seemed like he'd taken an interest in Light and me. He'd even go as far as helping an enemy just to see how we'd react.

He'd also asked me this question, the question that held great importance regarding my life, but a question that a large majority of people would never even think of.

The more I learned, the more I realised the extent of what I didn't know. To be frank, Ryuzaki was an extremely enigmatic figure, and one that unnerved me more and more with each observation I made.

I felt my eyes narrow slightly as I stood motionless with my back against the waves that crashed against the side of the ship below.

Ryuzaki Rue. Just who are you?