01111: The Winner Takes It All

“What are you talking about? That last attack was completely insane! You instantly obliterated Jorougumo with like a single hit.”

“That was only thanks to you keeping it busy. As soon as I was on my own, I couldn’t hold up with its speed!” Kayami-senpai took a few coins and inserted them into the humming vending machine. “Also want something?” she asked. “I’ll invite you.”

“Sure, thanks.”

She selected something and the machine rumbled. My gaze fell back to the conference room down the corridor. The White Hoods had sent us out to discuss who of us would get the spot at the club.

But … no matter how this would turn out, no matter who of us would prevail, it didn’t feel right either way. “Senpai!” I called.

She had just reached into the output compartment. “Hm?”

“Back in the canteen you said that you were all alone. I just …”

“No! I said I didn’t need anyone. This is fundamentally different!” She presented me the two cans. “Hot Lemon or Green Tea?”

“Uh … You paid, so you get to choose.”

She rolled her eyes. “I like both, that’s why I took them. So, come on.”

“I like both as well.”

She examined the two cans in her hands. “Would you mind sharing, then?”

“No, of course not.”

She gave me the Green Tea. “Then drink half of it and we’ll exchange, okay?”

“Thanks!” I opened it. The creaking sound of the metal always sent a pleasant chill down my spine.

Kayami-senpai did the same thing and we toasted each other before taking the first sips. She leaned against the vending machine to face me directly.

“About just now,” I started again. “What I want to say is … Yesterday and today even more, I really enjoyed working together with you. I feel like, we could become a great team.”

Her eyes didn’t withstand my gaze. She looked at the floor, a voiceless sigh left her mouth. All the pain of her past seemed to rest on her shoulders right at this moment. “Yeah … maybe if I survive the mob with torches and pitchforks coming for me after my betrayal of the Black Flags. My actions will surely bring me a lot of enemies, first and foremost my own brother.”

“Why did you want to change clubs in the first place?”

“It is just … this whole school is contaminated with a virus. Not a computer virus apparently, but … for example: we only have a single white hat club, and every other is either neutral, grey, or black hatted. The few members are derided as weaklings and losers. And the entrance exams: There might be applicants who were as capable with IT security as you and me but simply didn’t make it because they were too honest to cheat at an exam. This whole institution is raising criminals and the Black Flags willingly fuel this change.”

She breathed through. “I was part of all that, I know. I did a lot of black hat stuff right from the beginning. It would be unfair to say my brother was solely responsible for that, but he definitely played a big role in all my decisions back then. Through him being the president at the Black Flags it was almost natural that I also became a member. When I came to this school I already doubted them and now I actually know that they are wrong. I don’t want to be part of this club anymore. I want to fight them with all I have. This year could make the difference … if their growth of club points continues at the same rate, Akihiro alone will have the two-thirds majority at the general meeting. He would be powerful enough to dissolve the White Hoods and ban ethical hacking from this school by the end of the school year. And this must not happen. It is only thanks to Fujinami-kun’s efforts that the White Hoods were able to withstand all their unfair practices.”

I watched her little ramble with a smile and took another bigger sip at my can, the flavor of green tea spreading across my whole mouth. It was completely new to me, seeing Kayami-senpai burn for a topic so much. She gazed at me as I did not answer right away and only then seemed to notice that she ranted.

“Sorry,” she uttered, evading my view. “I didn’t mean to … y’know.”

I leaned towards her. “Don’t be sorry! It is awesome how invested you are for that ideal. Don’t you dare to take a step back. I actually didn’t know that the situation looked this dire, but I am one hundred percent on your side! You are not alone, Kayami-senpai!”

This time she returned my gaze. For a few seconds we looked right at each other. Her mouth was open a little bit as if she wanted to say something. Instead of words there was just a long pause. “Isato-kun … I know it will, but I don’t want this to end. Only one of us can win this battle after all.”

“Remember? We said no bad blood.”

“Yeah, but I don’t really know. Back in the café I thought you were just a random guy who chose the White Hoods because he didn’t know any better. But now it feels like I am trying to steal your righteous place.” She brandished her can. “If they decide for me, maybe it is for the better if I decline …”

A tugging tightened my chest. What was this feeling? If she declined, she would stay with the Black Flags. She would stay unhappy in her current position just for my sake. I had not really recognized it by now, but an urge of the same kind had already nested itself into my heart. I as well had thought about the possibility of declining the place in case I was chosen by them. She should be allowed to leave the Black Flags behind, to start anew. I could also find another club, a neutral one and maybe I could change to them later on. Kayami-senpai set the can to her lips and took a few sips.

“Is there really no possibility, that the both of us could join? It’s completely stupid that I can’t decide myself which club I want to join.”

She gently shook her head and chuckeled. “No, unless you would count an attempt to hack into the school’s servers.”

I looked at her.

She looked back at me, fright shooting into her expression. “No.”

I shrugged. “If it’s the only possibility?”

She swallowed and took a last sip before holding her can in front of my nose. I took it and gave her mine. “But is that risk of getting expelled worth it?”

I fought against the urge to bring my face closer to hers and shout something. That it was worth it and that I did not want to lose this feeling, did not want to lose her. Instead, an undistinguishable noise came out of my throat, and I got warm around the cheeks. What was I even thinking there? I didn’t want anything from her. I acted up as if someone would rip me the most precious person out of my arms. But she was not like that for me. I loved a girl with dark hair and beautiful blue …

“Hey, you guys can come back in!” Came Ouzen-senpai’s voice from behind me.

I winced and looked back at him. There was this warm smile on his lips. Kayami-senpai and I exchanged a look before we got back into the room. Naoki-senpai offered us the seats right next to the three. He repositioned his chair to face us. “First of all,” he began. “I didn’t even expect you to get this far.”

Was this some kind of Déjà vu? I took a sip from my can, Hot Lemon this time, as we had exchanged our drinks. The nice warm and sour smell was completely different from the green tea, but it tasted just great.

“As you perhaps know, Jorougumo is still regarded as the safest packet inspector of the world … with the DoS extension we used maybe not the most legal one, but that doesn’t change anything. So, what the both of you managed to achieve together is something our club in its current state could only dream of. The only trump card we have at our hands is Ando-sensei as our club advisor. He and his expertise.” Naoki-senpai’s look wandered to his other club colleagues. Ouzen-senpai evaded his gaze, appearing a bit daunted by the fact himself.

“That is not true. It’s only since you are so small compared to all the other clubs. You just can’t do anything about them,” Kayami-senpai snapped. Her hand clenched a bit around the can in her hands, slightly deforming the metal.

“Maybe … but only to a degree.” He swallowed. “I want to announce our decision. As you know, we can only afford one place with the current club points we have.”

“We talked about this as well,” I said. “Why don’t we hack into the school’s systems to assign the missing points to us?”

A bitter smile rose onto Naoki-senpai’s lips. “First of all, it would be a bite much bigger than any of us could chew. This school is one of the most secured places on earth, that especially goes for the servers operating it. They have countless security measures in place to prevent even the most experienced student on this school to take advantage over their situation. But that is not the reason, why we won’t do anything like that.” He looked me straight into the eye with an urgency that I haven’t seen from the laid-back Naoki-senpai by now. “We won’t hack into a system for our own advantage because we are White Hats.”

A light gasp left my mouth without me intending it.

“Only Black and Grey Hats hack for their own advantage. We might have it harder in this unfair world. But we still have our ideals, our humility, our trust and our honor. We comply to the rules even if everyone else doesn’t. Only through this our word receives its value. We have to trust each other and that is why we decided that we take the decision together with you.”

My gaze wandered to Kayami-senpai. “What does that mean?” I asked. She looked back at me and drank from her green tea.

“We want both of you.”

Kayami-senpai choked slightly, coughed and jumped up. “But you can’t! You should rather take Isato-kun. I already have a club and … what would you do if I’m a mole?”

Naoki-senpai looked deep into her eyes for several seconds. “I trust you. Someone with eyes as kind as yours can’t follow an ill intent. I just know that you don’t trust us yet. But we’ll work through that in a minute. Before, we have another thing to propose to you.”

The blonde girl right next to me nodded. She slowly sat down again. “You say that as if you would have the club points already.”

“No, we don’t have them yet. But I know a way how we can obtain them. It’s a big gamble and that is why I want to hear your opinions on that as well.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll talk to your brother, Akihiro-senpai, and we will challenge the Black Flags to yet another Kibansentou. I will explain our situation, that we have two people we would like to take in but can only afford one space. The wager is the amount of club points for one spot, but if we are honest by extension, we also fight for something else: For you, Kayami-san. And I’m sorry that all of this kind of takes the shape of a horse trade with you being the horse, but it is the only pressure we have against your brother.”

She pushed her palms onto her knees, clenched her hands.

“He won’t be able to decline this offer. If he does, then we would give you the free space we still have, and he would lose you. However, the stakes are very high and we three alone don’t stand a chance against the Black Flags if they make serious. I will demand that you two assist us at this Kibansentou. That is my offer.”

Silence flooded the room. Such a big risk for just the two spots? I breathed through. “You could also give Kayami-senpai the spot. With her you can get enough club points and I will just follow …”

A small hand at my shoulder made me wince. Kayami-senpai smiled. “This battle might have high stakes, but it could also have a signaling effect for the whole school. It might show people that White Hat hacking at this school is not dead. It might even bring a few undecisive people to doubt the practices of Akihiro or make more people come to the White Hoods.”

“Or it will give the White Hoods the coup de grace.” I looked at Naoki-senpai. “How are the odds?”

He directed the question towards Airii-senpai. “With Kayami-chan and Isato-kun we will have a success rate of 30 to 50 percent. The Black Flags are a very big club and occupied with regrouping after the change of school years. Now they are most vulnerable.”

I was still not convinced. The hand at my shoulder stroked me slightly. “Let’s do this!” Kayami-senpai demanded.

How could I even say no to that? I replied with a warm smile. “Okay … let’s do it.”

Naoki-senpai clapped into his hands. “Great. Then we have just one thing left. Or …” He looked at Ouzen-senpai and Airii-senpai. “What do you guys think? Should we wait with the Proof of trust?”

Ouzen-senpai nodded. “It also shows if the flame in their heart is actually burning white.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Ouzen-senpai, you’re the oldest member of the White Hoods. Would you then be so kind and explain our two applicants what it means for us to trust?”

“Of course.” He nodded and stood up from his chair. “You two should know that trust is the most precious thing for us white hats. In order to keep systems safe, we hack into them to find vulnerabilities. During that process we uncover crucial and confidential information about the system and the organization operating it. Black and some grey hats might use the information for their own advantage, sell it or use it in any other despicable way to make money. But the White Hats are different. Whatever information we uncover, we keep it confidential. It is part of our identity to be trustworthy.”

Ouzen-senpai’s gaze wandered to Kayami-senpai. “Even if any of us changes their mind and becomes part of another faction or another club or another organization or whatever else … you have to accept that what happens here stays here. This has to be true no matter what kind of twisted opinion our future holds. To keep this spirit inside the White Hood Club, we also thought out something. We entrust each other with the most precious information about us. Are you two willing to embrace this ideal and share your secret with us?”

“Of course!” I said.

“Sure!” Kayami-senpai nodded.

Ouzen-senpai replied with his warm smile. “Well then … We usually make the new members start. So, who wants to go first and tell all of us their handle?”

The realization pushed the air out of my lungs. Kayami-senpai seemed to be equally shocked. Her head took a color that made me worried that she would pass out any second. Her gaze shot towards me. “Our handle? But … that would … I mean if we tell you, any of us could …”

“What we do is, we build a Web of Trust. I trust Naoki-kun and Airii-chan unconditionally. It lies within their honor to never reveal my handle, the most crucial information about me. We agreed that in case any of our club members leaks a handle, we will reveal all the others. We stand together and fall together, but we know that this safety mechanic will never be necessary because we can trust one another.”

Kayami-senpai still shook like a leaf while her eyes were locked in sheer horror at mine. By now I could only guess how stupid and dangerous it was to tell anyone your handle. Her current expression demonstrated it clearly. “But … I can’t tell you my handle. The only way to really protect information is to never reveal it. That is one of the core principles and you all know that.”

After a long pause it was Naoki-senpai who spoke up first. “Yes, it is one of the core principals. A principal that applies to a world where everyone is a possible threat. It surely is a more secure approach, but we don’t want to be divided as a club consisting of separate entities that distrust each other. We want to be one. Like a family … like one single entity.”

“And what if we lose the Kibansentou against my brother? When the club falls apart?”

“Ouzen-senpai said it: What happens at this club will stay inside this club and if the White Hoods vanish, none of us will reveal our secret.”

“But …” Kayami-senpai clearly ran out of arguments but desperately fought for them. As a former Black Hat, she was obviously used to a different procedure. Her head was still as red as a tomato. She shook like crazy.

I slowly reached out for her shoulder and laid my hand on it. Her dress only had spaghetti straps that left her arm free. Only upon touching her, I noticed the heat radiating from her bare skin. Her gaze shot towards me, scared. The deep blues of her eyes seemed to search for something to hold onto inside mine. I noticed how her breathing got a bit slower.

I gulped. “I’ll go first,” I said. “My name is Isato Kanaoka and my handle Ishikora.”

Her eyes still looked deep into mine, she got nervous again, shook off my hand. “I-I’m A-Anticode.”

Silence for a moment.

“Please,” Naoki-kun started, “don’t ever do this again.” He was as peacefully calm as ever, but something underneath his surface seethed.

“Uh …”

“I know why this troubles you so much. I really do.” His gaze pointed from her into my direction. “It surely is nothing but a stupid coincidence that brought you into this uncomfortable situation. But we don’t lie. Never!”

Kayami-senpai shot a short look at me, then back at Naoki-senpai. “Fuck it!” she yelled and slammed her hands onto the table, forcefully squinting her eyes. It looked a bit like tears were about to form in their edges. Through gritted teeth she said, “My name is Kayami Nakayama, and my handle is ArcticLynx!”