The Class War finished so quick that class still have not started yet. In under five minutes, victory was claimed by the bottommost of the privileged classes.
The murmurs and chatter within the school buzzed loudly as the students discussed the results of this lightning war. Certainly, 3-F was coming into the year as a dark horse as Kato and Evie were strong individual fighters, and the quick victory just now against a higher ranked class might bring them from dark horse to potential challenger status.
Inside of the Assembly Hall was where peace was negotiated. The Assembly Hall was a huge auditorium at one end of the school, maintained by the music department. Just like a commercial theatre, many rows of velvet chairs faced a large and complex stage, filled with enough setups for a professional dramatic play. The seating setup could also be removed by machine to make space for special occasions. To juxtapose the spaciousness, on the opposite end of the school was another room just as cavernous, the main gymnasium.
The Assembly Hall was also where the Assembly met once to twice a week, hence the namesake. When the Assembly convened, this legislative branch of student government proposed, debated and voted on school policies. In theory and in practice, the Assembly was the second-highest authority in the school, while the student council merely implemented the policies that the Assembly has passed. As intended, the Assembly was the rightful sovereign of student life in Korolev Senior. While the student council could in theory operate without input from the Assembly, they were obliged to follow the will of the Assembly if it were to make itself heard.
Peace would be negotiated between the students of Class E and F in the presence of their homeroom teachers and the student council. Although classes were put on hold while a war was occurring, once the war ended and the barrier was lifted, everyone else returned immediately to their regularly scheduled classes. However, despite classes starting very soon, more than just the student council executives and Classes E and F were there. The class representatives from all the privileged classes were present alongside many other members of their respective classes, filling out a good number of seats at the front. Even students from the lower year classes showed up to watch the proceedings. It seemed like this war was of quite an interest to the general populous.
On the stage were two long rows of wooden tables that resembled elongated study booths, and they faced each other with the winning and losing parties sitting on either side. As there was not enough space for every student to be right at the table, folding chairs were placed in rows behind it, almost like a run-down parliament with two opposing political parties.
The student council executives sat at their own small booths at the end of those tables, denoting a position of arbitration between the two parties. Off the stage and in the front row seats of the audience area sat the students and even teachers from the other privileged classes, the entire stage lowered to the level of the audience so that everyone was at eye level. The setup mimicked a real peace conference between two belligerent nations.
“Let’s get started then.”
Mirabelle sat at the helm of the student council executives as student council president. Despite the somewhat limited powers of her position, the student council had the right to preside over the peace of a Class War. Peace agreements were as legally binding as policies passed by the Assembly: in this sense, the student council had a considerable measure of influence in dictating school policy.
Sitting beside her were her three sisters, assembling the Jupiter sisters in one place. Unlike the Elites, who were only really famous among their classmates, the Jupiter sisters were well known throughout the school. Though to be fair, it was Mirabelle and Scarlett that had most of the publicity while Ariel and Bianca had lower profiles.
“Today, the war between Class 3-E and Class 3-F concluded with a 3-F victory. The victory condition was met when 3-E’s class representative Andy Turok’s cleanse tag was saturated completely. As with all wars, the class representatives’ cleanse tags have been restored to no saturation.”
Bianca began with the situation report.
“At seven hundred and fifty seven hours, Class 3-F declared war on Class 3-E using a casus belli first produced by Supervisor Elizabeth Romana, then claimed by Student Kato Danubius, and subsequently confirmed to be true and valid by Lady Eterna. The nature of the casus belli was one of moral justice, pursing a victory in the name of goodwill. If anyone wishes to review the casus belli, the following evidence will be made available in the main library’s Class War archives after peace is concluded.”
Ariel continued with the reason for war. She also took out two objects from her schoolbag: the videocassette tape from Teto’s camcorder escapade and the cassette tape that was Caius’ recording of their radio communications.
“At eight hundred and two hours, the war ended with 3-E’s defeat and the war goal was satisfactorily met. The four students involved in the misbehaviour that led to the casus belli were defeated soundly, and there were minimal casualties on both sides. Therefore, there is reason to believe that Class 3-F’s justification and actions were aligned.”
Scarlett reviewed the results and subsequent consequences of the war.
“Class 3-F is determined to be clearly in the right. As such, 3-F will be given generous liberty in its conditions for peace. I’d like to remind everyone that proposed peace resolutions have only two rounds of debate, with a short recess in between, before being reviewed as its final form by the student council executives, who will then ratify the peace as lawful and sovereign of Korolev Senior.”
Mirabelle finished off the student council’s ceremonial opening. On one side, right at the front and at the tables were the Elites of Class 3-F. On the other side, Andy and several other students sat at the front of the opposing table, his complexion still poor from the pain he experienced.
At the same end of the tables as the student council were the homeroom teachers of each class. Sisi sat next to Kato, the class representative for 3-F. The opposite homeroom teacher, Mr Khosa, sat next to Andy, his expression a bit distant as he was not in position when the war began and thus was powerless during this entire adventure.
Though Kato was the class representative, it was Eon who rose up from his seat gracefully to address the room.
“I am Eon Koziko, student council member and Assembly member for the Class F constituency. I will represent Class 3-F.”
The short-haired girl sitting on the other side of Andy also stood up, mirroring Eon.
“I am Candice Horie, Assembly member for the Class E constituency. I will represent Class 3-E.”
Like most of the people on that bench, Candice too was visibly glum as a part of the defeated party.
“I am Callisto Jupiter, student council president, Class B representative, and Assembly member for the class representative’s constituency. I will be the arbitrator for this peace negotiation.”
Mirabelle used her real given name instead of her middle name. As a side note, their father gave them the unorthodox given names, while their mother gave them their feminine middle names.
“We can start with the winning party’s demands.”
“Thank you, Madame President. As you and the student council executives have already confirmed, our war goal was fulfilled in its entirety, both in practice and in spirit. Therefore, I propose the following terms to also be just and reasonable with the results of the war.”
Eon remained sober as he turned away from Mirabelle to face the enemy class in front of him. The people around him tensed up in anticipation for the first round of demands.
“First, the points. Currently, Class E has twenty points while my class has ten. This is, of course, the initial allotment of score at the start of the year. I will first demand that ten points be transferred to Class F.”
The point system of the Class Wars was the heart and soul of the game. At the beginning of the year, each of the privileged classes begin with a number of points, starting with sixty for Class A, and then ten less for each class lower, down to Class F’s ten points. The unprivileged classes were also part of the Class Wars, but they begin with no points. The point system was a zero-sum game, and the objective was to steal as many points as possible from the other classes. Given the natural strengths of the classes, Class A was expected to ultimately win every year.
But there were other demands that could be made instead of just taking points. In a typical peace, demands with a mixture of the two would be made. In this case, lesser points could be demanded if you were to demand other things. The valuations of the demands were debated between the parties, and then appraised and determined by the arbitrators, i.e. the student council executives and the Supervisors.
Several in the audience and the two benches nodded. A clear-cut victory with a war justification as righteous as this one could have stripped Class E of all its points. Clearly, Class F was intending to make additional demands, and they expected so. The two teachers also nodded in agreement, satisfied with the first demand.
“Second. I would like to establish a restricted zone for students of Class E. The 3-F classroom, the section of corridor immediately outside of it spanning the physics room to the stairs next to it, the aforementioned set of stairs, and the entire section of lockers in the atrium next to the social studies rooms. These areas of the school will be off limits to 3-E students.”
The crowd and the two benches began rumbling with surprise and interest. This second demand was most likely the true demand that Class F wanted from the peace terms and would not be willing to back down from. Banning students from going to certain parts of the school was certainly a huge demand to ask for.
Without giving anyone a chance to discuss it, Eon marched forward with his justification.
“Yui Tereshkova was the victim of extortion, blackmail and sexual harassment. Normally, these are criminal offences that would be settled by the judicial institutions of this country, rather than in an international diplomacy role-playing exercise like this one. I bring it to the arbitrators that this is a serious issue in and of itself, even outside of the Class Wars.
“The restriction zone is a guarantee that protects my classmates from theirs. And if anyone thinks this is belligerent, that is exactly my intention. We do not trust Class E to not allow the same scenario to be repeated again.”
The murmurs in the Assembly Hall turned into open conversations as Eon did not hide any of his animosity towards Class E. Many students stood up as well, discussing among themselves the ramifications of this peace term.
“You realize that it does not only protect your class. The no-man’s-land you are proposing will reduce our ability to wage war against other classes. Is it not enough to just have the offenders subject to the restricted zones?”
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Candice responded tersely to Eon’s demand. She was not wrong. The restricted movement of people can severely hamper their future wars. In fact, the most obvious strategy for the opponent of Class E would be to have their class representative camp inside 3-F’s classroom, or the stairway near the physics room, or the section of lockers where the Elites and Yui’s lockers were.
“Trust is a hard thing to gain. In lieu of that, I do not believe you have a position to negotiate on this matter.”
Eon threw the hardball at the opposing class, who although did not appreciate it, neither did they have anything to say about it. It was hard enough for them to negotiate since the war was justified on something that happened in the black market. It made it even harder that the racketeers were caught pretty much red-handed. It was basically beyond reasonable doubt that their party was guilty, before the courts even began the proceedings.
While the audience continued to buzz with discussion, Candice and Andy both turned to their teacher for help. Mr Khosa shook his head, essentially acknowledging the seriousness of the justification that Eon argued. Both turned to each other, dejected. Andy rubbed his forehead in fatigue, while Candice spoke again, still standing up from her seat.
“Then will you be willing to accept a request from our side, unrelated to your demands thus far?”
“We can hear you out first. Then we can decide if we can accept it.”
“It’s simple. We’d like the offenders to be dropped out of the Class Wars for Class E.”
Candice said simply and plainly. Ethan Henderson and his three minions were not present at the peace conference; they were in the faculty staff room, probably in serious trouble.
Eon looked to Sisi and Kato to his left, who nodded at him in agreement.
“Your request actually brings me to my third point, which I think you will find it align well with your request. Third. Investigation into the incident involving Yui Tereshkova will not be made, and we will drop the matter entirely. If you wish to remove those four from your class list for the Class Wars, then we can accommodate that.”
“Thank you very much.”
Candice bowed respectfully.
“Those are our demands, Madame President. If the opposite party is satisfied with them, then we can skip the recess and go straight to the conclusion of peace.”
“Class E, do you have any objections?”
The Class E bench looked a bit lost as they turned to each other in confusion. Certainly, they were a bit surprised that Class F was willing to bend to their request. If it was a different class than Class F, there definitely would not be this kind of mercy.
Speculation ran amok in the audience too. Perhaps this was a sign of respect for the higher class, or Class F was wary for their future wars against the even higher classes, as a subjugation war was a valid casus belli. If a lower class had more points than a higher class, any of the classes higher than those two could declare a “restoration of order” war to restore the old order. This was another mechanism that made Class A’s victory in the Class Wars all the more likely.
Andy and Candice looked again to their teacher, Mr Khosa, both looking expectant. Mr Khosa looked weary and worn out, no doubt frustrated with how much the bad eggs in his class had crippled their chances in the Class Wars. Mr Khosa was a long-time teacher at Korolev Senior and participated in the Class Wars for many years. Scratching his hair, he stood up from his seat.
“Koziko, pass me your demands.”
Upon being asked of by a Supervisor, Eon took the sheet of paper in front of him, walked around the table to the other side and handed it over to Mr Khosa. It was not uncommon to have the Supervisor perform some of these duties for their class. From the way Andy and Candice seemingly depended on Mr Khosa for guidance, it was likely that Class E’s game plan was being led by the teacher. Though to be fair, it was only the third day of classes, so it might just be that they were caught unprepared. Either way, these speculations would spread throughout the third year classes as the audience watched every move on the stage, trying to glean any advantage they could for their class.
Mr Khosa scanned the paper as the people around him waited with bated breath. He took out his pen from his breast pocket and corrected some things on that paper against the table in front of him. Then, he passed the paper back to Eon.
“I’ve specified the restricted zone more clearly, and added our request in detailed form. I think you should find it satisfactory. If you do, then my class has no objections.”
Eon returned to his class, laying it out on the table for his classmates to see. The Supervisor’s word was, as it should be, true. There were essentially no changes to their demands other than the inclusion of Class E’s request. Sisi, too, gave her blessings to these peace terms.
“Madame President, I declare that these demands are acceptable to both parties, and that peace be concluded between our classes with these terms.”
Eon handed off the paper to Ariel, who sat next to Mirabelle and Bianca. By tradition, it was the secretary who took care of paperwork. The three executives carefully read the peace terms presented to them, ignoring all the eyes that were on them.
After a long and silent minute, both Mirabelle and Bianca peeled off from the paper as they finished reading it. Mirabelle smiled wordlessly at Ariel, who was still reading intently, clearly deep in thought. It was ultimately her responsibility to review the terms of peace.
“One more condition will be added to this peace.”
Standing up on an elevated platform to make up for her height, she faced the two classes in front of her. It has been three minutes since she was handed the paper by Eon.
“After reviewing the terms of peace, I have determined that, according to the precedent set by the casus belli used, the current set of terms is too lenient on Class E. As a result, I will propose a standard amendment to the peace. One of Class E’s seats in the Assembly will be transferred to Class F.”
Another round of gasps sounded throughout the auditorium, but not as serious as the previous round. It was indeed a standard amendment, a precedent set by the many peace treaties that came before them. But it was also the one way that the student council could exert their influence in the Assembly; by gerrymandering the different constituencies that made up the Assembly.
Fortunately, 3-E and 3-F had barely any representation in the Assembly as a class constituency. At the start of the new school year, they were assigned three and one seats respectively. Classes A, B, C and D were assigned forty, twenty, ten and five seats respectively. These made up the class constituencies of the Assembly.
Following that, the Assembly also contained functional constituencies, for example the representatives of each third year class, school club presidents, and the student council executive leadership. Seats in the class and functional constituencies could all overlap in various ways, and depending on the prerequisites for the functional constituency seats, both people and number of seats could change throughout the year.
The transfer of one seat was nothing to be afraid of, but Class A should already be wary of the intentions of the student council, which was controlled by Mirabelle of Class B, an anomaly in the history of this school. Class A was supposed to be the dominant force in the school and normally controlled the student council as well. However, Mirabelle won the presidential elections at the end of the last school year and usurped Class A’s rightful place as kings of the school.
“Wait a minute, that’s surely still too much for a peace term this early in the school year? Even before the first Assembly meeting has even convened?”
Andy protested against the term, but Ariel ignored his complaint, wearing her usual cool expression. Instead, she asked for the Supervisors.
“If Ms Romana and Mr Khosa agree with this amendment, then there should be no problems.”
“I have no objections.”
“The proposed amendment sounds fair enough.”
Both agreed to the terms, to Andy’s disappointment. Being a veteran of the wars, Mr Khosa also knew that the change was reasonable according to precedent, so as a Supervisor he would not deny that fact to give his class an advantage. Andy sat back in his chair, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. Candice looked worriedly at him as she patted him on the shoulder in defeat.
Mirabelle motioned for the room to quiet down to announce the conclusion of the peace.
“Then this peace is confirmed between the two parties, with Class E on one part and Class F on the other, on this twentieth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven, at eight hundred and thirty hours. Peace terms will be effective immediately, and any provisions will be effective as determined. The original terms will be made available in the main library’s Class War archives, while authentic copies will be transmitted at a later date to the parties involved. And finally, I declare that peace be concluded, with the hope that it shall remain lasting and enduring.”
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“Sounded like everything went as planned?”
Teto asked cheerfully as they settled in at their corner of the 3-F classroom during lunch. Today, Teto decided to eat with the Elites. Yui and Mirabelle were gathered together here too, to debrief themselves on their victorious war.
“Everything went as I planned.”
Eon announced proudly to answer Teto.
“For real, everything literally went as he planned. What the fuck.”
Franco rubbed the front of his forehead, seemingly sweating profusely.
“From the plan to capture a casus belli, to the war and the peace, pretty much went all according to plan.”
Kato nodded in agreement as he slapped Eon on the back.
“I think we made good use of our resources. For sure, my pop’s equipment was useful for this particular operation.”
Caius mused lightly with a very satisfied expression on his face.
“Heheh, masterminding the greatest plans of all plans is second nature to me.”
As the men took turns congratulating themselves, the other girls in the group took out their lunches and prepared to eat. Of course, most everyone here bought lunches from the cafeteria. Only Yui and Mirabelle brought their own lunches today.
“Yui, how are you feeling? What do you think of what happened?”
Evie asked Yui about the current situation; the situation that the Elites pushed onto her.
“I’m not quite sure. From what Mirabelle said, Ethan and his men aren’t getting much punishment from the faculty staff, right? It was in the peace terms. So I’m not sure if it’s even safe for me to go back to the ward today.”
Yui could only smile sheepishly at Evie. It was true that Ethan’s gang did not meet any real punishment due to the peace terms. If Yui were to go back to the ward, it would be the same as walking right back into the lion’s den.
“Have you left anything important there in particular?”
“No, not really. Just my clothes, some personal trinkets and your normal everyday stuff.”
“Then that’s all right. We don’t have to rush it then.”
“Rush what?”
“Yui, we’re going to your orphanage after school today.”
“What?”
Yui gaped in surprise along with Mirabelle next to her, who spoke up and asked too.
“Why’re you going?”
“To adopt Yui, of course. Karl will bring us there and take care of that for us.”
“Adopt me? That means… I’ll be living with you?”
“Wait a minute. That means Yui will be living with Kato and Teto too!”
“Eh?! I’ll be living with Kato?”
Yui covered her mouth with her hands as she uttered those words with a hint of delighted surprise.
“Ugh. So that’s the final piece of the plan. I can’t believe I didn’t realize the solution was in plain sight.”
Mirabelle shook her head, disappointed with herself. That was the one part of the plan she did not know about. The aftermath.
“Karl is our guardian, and he’s a super nice dude. There should be no problems with you moving in with us. Also, Sisi is also living with us too, just so you know. She already knows about this.”
“Ms Romana is living with you?”
“Yeah. She’s our new guardian, actually. Along with Karl. You’re familiar with Eternia, right?”
“Yes, the organization. You’re all part of the organization, then?”
“Yup. Not too surprising, I’d reckon, but still. I wanna make sure you understand these things. I don’t think that our actions or what we’re giving you here is a bad thing. It’s got to be a big change, but I still have some doubt because we’re basically forcing it onto you. I have to first apologize for everyone here who took such drastic actions without letting you know beforehand or getting your consent.”
Unexpectedly mature, Evie bowed her head in Yui’s direction with her hands in prayer, but Yui immediately reached out to stop her.
“Wait, Evie! You don’t have to apologize. I’m grateful for what you all have done for someone like me. In fact, I should be the one thanking you for giving me a chance to leave the ghetto.”
Yui smiled brightly at Evie, who was still a bit unconvinced.
“Are you sure? We are basically telling you to live with us or suffer the consequences. You’re not worried at all about the future?”
“It’s not like I would be any better off living in the ghetto if all of this never transpired. On the other hand, I’d be lying if I wasn’t worried. But if I haven’t known you and everyone else for this many years, I wouldn’t have the confidence now to say that I’m glad that things turned out the way it did. So don’t be too hard on yourself, Evie.”
“… if you say so, Yui.”
Yui held onto Evie’s hands delicately, trying to conveying her appreciation to Evie.
“Thanks, Evie. I never thought you would be this emotional. It definitely wasn’t my image of you.”
“Maybe. It’s probably only this specific thing though. Many years ago, I was in a similar position as you are right now.”
Evie said distantly. Her voice was calm and collected as usual, but a touch of sadness coloured it with grey.
“Perhaps it was because I was a small child back then, but we didn’t get along at first. It took quite a while before I was willing to trust Kato and his little family. Maybe it’s too far-fetched of a comparison, but I was a bit worried about how you’d feel about moving into a new home without having any choice. To see you accepting us as we are is a relief.”
Evie smiled slightly, returning Yui’s hold onto her hands with her own strength.
“Okay, let’s put the bad and sad away and eat lunch like normal high school students. In the end, that’s what the Elites fought for, so chin up! A happy end like this is as good as you can get.”
Mirabelle encouraged the other two merrily as she helped them open up their lunch boxes. Letting go of each other as Mirabelle brought their thoughts back into the classroom, they listened to the boys next to them rave about the war and delved into their lunch.