Omniscience

 Everyone’s hearts were beating. All waited in anticipation. Every eye was focused on the curtain that was yet to be drawn. The lights awaited the signal to illuminate.

Behind the curtain was our class’s grand orchestra. The participants waited for their entry. Deciding not to be spoilsports, the non-participants cheered us from behind. Now, they wished they participated in any way, it was too late for them.

As for us, we will be bearing the flag of the Class Gold to its decisive battle, which might be the last.

Could we end this tradition of discrimination that lasted since the acceptance into this school? The tradition that was occurring before I came? The tradition that has started solely for the reason that they were a little inferior to them? The tradition that has waged and raged war since nursery, causing many of the childhoods and foundations of their lives to be damaged—ruined?

This was how important this event was for our class. It wasn’t supposed to be some transient as supposed by the other classes. They thought we’d lose ingloriously again. But this time, I knew we had victory because of the efforts placed by my classmates.

And I hoped that this event would abolish such conventional wisdom.

We witnessed the red stage curtain drawn to the side and the exact moment when the stage lit up. The spotlight focuses first on the orchestra.

Then, the orchestra started their concert.

The audience gasped. The previous performances weren’t this enthralling; they paled in comparison to our grand opening. Everyone now intently watched us——the class that was arbitrarily thought to lose.

Lively waltzing, we entered the stage in pairs from either side. Then, we formed up into groups of four. But since there were only thirteen participants, we chose Miyazono to be left out. The rest, including me, danced with our respective partners.

As practiced, we danced in tune with the music. Most of us were in sync. The errors were unnoticeable and minimal.

But the biggest error of all was our outfits.

Thankfully, with Morisaki’s little expertise, she made our clothes presentable and matched the new theme: ‘Rich people were once poor.’

It was exhilarating. The spotlights that followed us, the cameras flashing, the audiences seldomly cheering. It was dizzying and hallucinating, but I only focused on the steps. We all strived to perfect the performance.

All was going well until someone—

“Ah!”

—tripped.

We all paused, quickly thinking about what to do. All looked at me. I signaled them to prepare for our exit.

Then I raised my arms and dance-walked toward the fallen dancer——it was a girl, luckily, so my act made sense.

I acted as if this was part of the performance; she interpreted and followed my lead.

Gently, I lifted her by her arm, made her twirl, and let go of her hand toward the exit.

Then, Miyazono appeared from the same exit. The slightly-modified dress compliments her ballet dance as she went toward me.

I took her extended hand, and we started to dance.

But this dance wasn’t the one we practiced, at least not with our class.

Minutes earlier…

“We have to talk.”

“What is it, Miyazono?”

“Are you forgetting about me?”

“How am I forgetting about you?”

“I have a dress in perfect condition, and I am fit to dance. Didn’t I follow all the steps flawlessly?”

I thought she shouldn’t mention that herself.

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to imply.”

“I know you’ve been practicing a different repertoire other than this one.”

I was taken aback. “You saw me in the gym?”

“French Valse Boston de deux——I know that dance.”

I was confused about what she was trying to say, but I realized what she meant. But it was very prideful of her to not directly offer her help, making me ask for help. Miyazono, weren’t you crafty?

“Miyazono, could you please help me—us? I have a perfect plan for this, so if you don’t mind—”

She sighed, “It can’t be helped.”

Everyone’s stares intensified. They were captivated by this final act of our performance. Though, I should credit Miyazono for her gainly and alluring dance. Not only was she beautiful with her dress and makeup, but her flawless movements flaunted her lovely form. She bewitched everyone.

Being so close to her, I was experiencing the effect at its strongest. I tended to ignore appearances, but she made me conscious of her raw beauty, so much so that I staggered at some steps and almost tripped, but she noticed this and lead me with a firm hand.

Finally, the dance ended with our cast bow. The hall roared in cheers and applause. I tried my best to keep still while I sweated and panted. I wondered if my sweat has released its stench. I glanced at Morisaki, but she was cool, calm, and steady.

As suspected, she did have experience in dancing, most probably ballet.

Then our class exited the stage.

Our class celebrated, patting each other on the back, complimenting each other, and thanking everyone for their hard work. This was the first time I felt unity in our class.

Of course, we couldn’t celebrate just yet because Palladium has come to ruin the elation.

“Don’t think you’ve won!” exclaimed Takeuchi. “The judges haven’t produced their verdict yet, so don’t think you’ll be so proud.”

“Do you fear that you have lost because of our wonderful dance?” sneered Ryuu. Everyone went silent as we triumphantly and smugly stared at the presumed losers.

“Don’t be so proud! Ya think you’ll win!? Hah! No matter how amazing your works are, the best people always stay up top!” Then, he and his group left, worried about the results.

His words implied that our performance was amazing, but I decided not to point that out. I’d wait for him to eat more of his words until the verdict.

Ryuu came beside me and whispered, “Hey, do you think they’ll sabotage the judging too?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

It was time for the banquet, and as expected, I ate by myself at the lonely table. To my surprise, however, one person joined me.

“Hey, good work!” Ito greeted.

“Good work?”

“Good work for the dance today. Without you, we would have done another normal presentation.”

“The honor shouldn’t be all mine; you guys did your part.”

“But the leader should have all the glory, they say,” Ito patted me as he set his dinner plate and sat beside me. “But it seems like the leader’s underappreciated.”

“This is fine. The cheers and applause are enough.”

“Oh, come on, you should be a little honest with me. No one wants to be alone. Everybody wants some company.”

“Well, I’m the one that differs.”

Then, another one joined. “Yo,” Ryuu greeted, bringing his dinner plate too.

“Here, here, boss, have a seat!” Ito directed him to a seat.

“Thanks. Also, thanks for your work,” he said to me.

“No, no, it’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. Don’t degrade yourself.”

I wryly laughed, “I wasn’t meaning to. Anyways, don’t your parents want you to eat with them?”

“Nah, I eat with them every day. I can eat with them anytime I want, so I can’t miss the rare opportunity to dine with a friend.”

“That’s good for you.”

“What do you mean?”

What I meant was that our lives were the total opposite, but that might be an exaggeration.

In any case, Ryuu was fortunate to have his family in reach. I didn’t have that luxury. If I were to choose one person to dine with unlimitedly, that would be my mom.

But, the world wasn’t so charitable.

“No, it’s nothing,” I smiled.

Gradually, more of my classmates joined me, starting from Ryuu’s friends to Morisaki’s clique, making my table insufficient to accommodate any more.

We gathered more tables and chairs and got together as a whole class——that also included the groups that I haven’t befriended yet.

My heart warmed at this sight. It seemed like the class will get together, befriend one another, talking to one another someday; that’s my dream class. That was the happiest moment of my life.

But, someone was missing. I considered that person to have contributed the most to the performance.

Eriki Miyazono sometimes assisted me in teaching others, though she only did that during the last practice sessions. Sill, I appreciated it. It gave me the boost to do more. I should thank her for securing her dress, or else we would have looked like the absolute fools. Thanks to her, she became my dance partner. Though, it was very surprising that she spied on my secret dance practices.

It was probably because she still didn’t trust me.

That was unfortunate. It seemed that I wasn’t able to gain her full trust, but I was able to earn from her a favor.

No one wants to be sad after eating great food, so there was an icebreaker between the banquet and the announcement.

There was to be a free ball for any couples, romantic or not.

Many boys took this chance to impress their love, and the girls took this chance to seduce their targets, and vice-versa. But for the etiquette of the ball, it was supposed to be aromantic.

The festive atmosphere didn’t change. Parents socialized with each other, mostly for business. Some were making friends, not connections. Some parents struck up a small talk with the Class Gold parents for the first time.

However, the higher class students refused to notice us even with our show of protest through our performance, including the Palladium bullies.

Perhaps them interacting with us might hasten their defeat.

But, I had more fun watching the duos dance and the groups chat. Besides, no one invited me to a dance, except for Ito enthusiastically invited but was reprimanded by Ryuu.

“Bro, are you gay?”

“Yes, I’m gay!”

“Not with this joke again,” Ryuu sighed.

Most of the boys left either to woo or ogle at a girl. Our connected tables were almost empty, but someone sat at the far end of the long table. They were Ren Kaneshiro.

He watched the dances but didn’t seem to enjoy them. The warm lights illuminated his eyes, but his eyes didn’t sparkle. He was probably in some kind of mood, and I won’t dare disturb it.

But, I was disturbed by a cool beauty, “Why, aren’t you so lonely—won’t you like to dance?”