“Yes, I second,” Chihiro said while raising her hand.

One by one, the rest of the council members raised their hands with giggles and laughs. Aisha looked down at me and bit her lip.

“If we dismiss her, Aisha, then you’ll reclaim your seat as Vice President,” Toshiaki said with a devious grin. “Think about it. Your family can stop sending substantial donations to the school and start focusing on your bedridden mother. You’d secure your position as VP for certain.”

Aisha squinted her eyes shut and slowly raised her hand.

“Guess that’s everyone, Reina. Unfortunately, you’re out. And I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but if you get in on a council scholarship and lose your seat, the academy will immediately dismiss you. But don’t worry, I’ll be sending your good buddy Tiger and his club out the door along with you.”

The muscles in my jaw tightened as I gritted my teeth.

Is this the guy I wanted to have a future with? How dare he make a fool out of me! I can’t call my mother and ask her for help. She’d just brush me off. Father and brother haven’t spoken to me in years. No… this is it. I worked so hard to get here and they’re about to take it all away.

I drooped my head, allowing locks of hair to obscure my eyes.

“Ah, even the proud Reina can fall short of words. Well, I’ll call those security droids to come escort you out. You seem to need some help walking.” Toshiaki said.

Another pair of shoes echoed down the hall, followed by gasps and shocked murmurs.

“F-father? What’re you doing here?” Toshiaki asked.

A pair of black slacks stopped at my side. I didn’t care to look up and turned my attention back to the floor.

“I want the room. Everyone out.” The man said.

The rest of the council members scurried out, leaving only Toshiaki.

“B-but Father, I-I just exiled her from the c-council…”

“Are you deaf, boy? Close the doors on your way out.”

Toshiaki grunted, walked past us, and the doors shut closed.

The man lowered his hand. I looked up to Chairman Homura smiling while moving back his long blonde hair behind his ear. I took his hand and stood up.

“Thanks, but I should leave now,” I said while turning around.

Chairman Homura grinned, then sat in the center seat on the main council podium.

"When you back humans into a corner, they act in desperation," Chairman Homura said. “You saw it firsthand. Though I wonder what would be a more interesting perspective, the desperate or the fearful.”

I stopped mid-step and scrunched my eyes. “You think I was afraid of them?”

“Of course you were. You found yourself in a difficult situation, reacted defensively, and suffered the consequences of losing your composure.”

Though it pissed me off, he was right. I prided myself on being better than others and having a stronger will, but in that moment, I lost control. The situation overpowered me, making me just as petty as the quarreling students and teachers I used to disdain.

“Now, what will you do? Go back to your old district? Ask your mother and father to pay your way into staying in Seya? Or maybe you’ll just give up altogether?”

“I… I don’t know. I had one singular aim for a long time - to be the best. Once I got into Seya, I thought I’d be satisfied knowing I’m the best, but then…”

“Then, Tiger Quinn became the top-ranking first-year and made you doubt yourself.” Chairman Homura finished.

I shuttered at his words, then shook my head. “N-no, he just…”

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

“After your unseemly defeat, you approved his club, hoping to catch up to him. ‘Maybe if I get close to him, I can adapt his way of thinking,’ you thought. But even that came crashing down when he had no elaborate methods and that led you to be stuck again.”

For a moment, I could feel the dryness in my throat. My ears hummed to the beat of my heart as I searched the ground. How is he reading me so well?

“You’re an overachiever, and you made academics your life hoping to get your parents’ attention. But even that failed, so what else do you have?”

“Stop… stop talking…” I whispered.

“You don’t like the truth, because it hurts. But it's paramount to us as beings to see our faults and correct them to better ourselves.”

He then opened the wide vanilla folder at his side and took out four holographic notebooks.

“These are the contracts for the High Royals Gamer’s Club students. Would you like to take a look?”

“Why should I care? I’m no longer acting Vice President, so I’m not their adviser anymore. It doesn't matter to me what you do with them.” I said.

I guess I couldn’t keep my promise to Tiger, not that I cared. Maybe he could plead with one of the council members and have them advise his club. I’m sure some kid would do it for a good price.

But something tugged at me. I felt an urge to look, possibly driven by curiosity or a desire to find another infuriating reason to hate this school and blame the damn club for starting all of this mess. If I never stuck up for him and kept my mouth shut, none of this would’ve ever happened.

I walked over and opened the first-page report: Kimberly Monroe.

She’s American, flying from the black-walled Nanoswarm district. Her grades are shit, not too many accolades, no political or economic family status, and an only child with a father who drove her mother to suicide by spending all their money and then killed himself right after.

Next was Chase Winchester. Similar grades to Kimberly, though his grades are better, but not by Seya's standards. He’s raised by a sister who’s a sex worker in one of the poorer British districts. She got sick, and he began letting men… for money….

I averted my eyes.

Is this why Tiger fought so hard for their contracts? Their situations are fucked up. I reached for Paige’s report but curled my fingers back.

I think I’ve read enough.

“Do you understand? These students desperately need these contracts. It could change their lives for the better. Though new clubs need an adviser or they’ll disband immediately, as you already know.” Chairman Homura said.

“Do you expect me to feel pity for them? Plead on my knees and beg for you to re-enroll me? I’m not doing that. They gambled on this, on me, and they bet wrong.”

Chairman Homura smirked, then snapped his fingers. “I’m glad you're the type of person I presumed you were.”

A large holographic screen blinked above us, scrolling up a list of student names, their district, and a set of scores.

“Seya Academy produced dominant leaders that govern positions of power across the globe. Wealthy families took advantage of this and bribed board members and students for their spots to get their heirs enrolled for better influence. I did not build Seya upon this mission, so I replaced the entire board with a new chief coordinator, who is the head of Nex Tech. He implemented a new learning core that categorizes students based on their Leadership Potential Level, or LPL.”

LPL… That’s the abbreviated term I heard after completing my test. I’m assuming they’re looking to gain a large dataset of student scores to prove if this system is adequate or not in terms of placement.

“If all you said is true, the students and instructors all had a right to become desperate. Are you showing me this to prove your son and the council’s actions were justified?” I asked.

Chairman Homura nodded. “No. That was a simple, yet valuable lesson for everyone in this school to realize: you are never in control.”

The data sheet then hit the Top 30 mark, as several additional scores were finalized. Five categories were used to score students: Intellectual Ability, Emotional Intelligence, Visionary Thinking, Effective Communication, and Resilience and Well-being. Each student had a qualitative mark ranging from excellent to unsatisfactory.

Someone named Leila Abbas was at the top of the list, with her highest category being Intellectual Agility. I was down three spaces at number four. Tiger was number seven, and the three other Gamers Club members, Chase, Kimberly, and Paige, sat in the last three slots.

“Out of three hundred first-year students internally at Seya, and over two thousand examinees across multiple districts, this is the top cut fit for our new program. Do you notice anything obscure with the sheet?”

My eyes scanned down the list. It ranged from highest to lowest overall leadership potential, but the cut-off for the last three club members is a bit… skewed.

“All three of the Gamers Club members don’t belong. Their overall leadership potential has an enormous gap between their predecessor, meaning they were placed in abruptly.” I said.

“Good observation. When I discussed the club’s terms with you all, it was perfect timing. The only way we could adhere to the terms laid out was if I entered the club members into this program. But I’m sure you’ll be able to figure out why later.”

The screen then blinked away, and Chairman Homura rose from his seat.

“As you saw for yourself, before your dismissal from the school, you made the cut for this program, so you’re still welcome to stay. However, I have two conditions if the answer remains yes. And please make the correct choice, or your friends may lose out on their grand opportunities.”

I don’t care about the club members, but I do care about staying at Seya. I’ve risked too much for it to be taken away from these imbecile council members. Taking this into perspective, an opportunity like this might not arise again, but that means agreeing to whatever these terms are. But I suppose the Gamers Club would forever be in my debt if I did this for them. That might be useful.

“Yes, I want to stay. What do you need me to do?”