The Mastermind

Aoba Academy had three main buildings. One for the faculty members and the Student Council, one for its rich club system, and one serving as the main lecture hall complex. During the day, students of Aoba would naturally gather at the latter the most.

Of course, that was meant for the regular classes, or at least, for a required one.

Dimensional Science was a special case. It was not a required class for any of the current career paths in Aoba. And if that was not enough, the teacher in charge of the subject – whose identity no one actually knew for sure – always came with strange rumors, one way or another.

Zain had been told all of this by Mike, who was the only one who knew the entire truth but refused to tell further due to a promise he made with the teacher. However, even with all of that information, the young man didn’t expect the class to literally consist of two people.

“Is this normal?” Zain asked, his voice echoing through the empty room.

“Huh? Yeah… pretty much,” answering him was a loud yawn from Mike sitting across a few tables. “It’s my first time seeing it for myself, though.”

“And the teacher’s pretty late, isn’t he?”

“That part is weird, yeah,” Mike glanced over at the clock on the wall. “Usually he’s very early.”

“Well… what do we do now?”

“Wait, I guess. Until 20 minutes has passed. Then we’re legally allowed to leave.”

“But shouldn’t we wait for him? You know, with that.”

“If he’s this late, there’s already no chance of him showing up,” Mike shook his head in disappointment. “I just wish he’d told me beforehand.”

“Yeah… shame…”

Zain said that, but he, not Mike, would know better than anyone else that the teacher would not come to class. The young man was dying to tell his partner about it, but as his mind drifted to the conversation he had the night before, he couldn’t utter another word.

The night before…

“S.T…” Zain uttered in shock. Never in his mind could he believe that his target would appear so soon, and directly coming to him instead of him having to find out as well.

Nevertheless, there was no way Zain could let go of this golden chance. “The pleasure’s all mine.”

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m calling you on such short notice,” on the other side, S.T. continued. “So, I’ll cut to the chase. I want you to aid me in a task.”

“What kind of task? And why me and not Mike?”

“Let me explain.”

From AISLE’s eye came a series of holographic documents, filled with information on various people of different backgrounds. However, a closer glance, and Zain could spot a crucial detail.

“Isn’t this… information on Aoba’s students?” The young man asked, pointing to a document on his right end. “This one is mine.”

“Correct. That is all of the current students’ information in Aoba’s database right now,” answered S.T. “Do you recognize something suspicious when I said that?”

“All of the current information…” Zain mumbled, and it was that phrase that kicked up an idea in him. “Wait, this is all of it?”

Quickly scanning through the pile of documents, Zain started counting. “One… two… ten total?”

“Ten total. That’s right. Ten new students were registered today, and those were the ones who took the added entrance exam. The rest… they’re all gone.”

“But… how did it happen?”

“I don’t know myself,” answered S.T. “And that’s what I want you to find out for me.”

“What if I was the one who did it?” Asked Zain. And normally, he would be correct to ask that question. But not in this case.

“I’ll say it right now: the culprit cannot be someone from outside the school. Aoba Academy’s security is the best in the world, designed by yours truly. Breaching the school’s data from the outside is impossible.”

“So, the culprit has to be someone from the inside – a student or a faculty member,” Zain, seeing the way the conversation was going, continued. “And that’s why you went to me, because I have the best combination of alibi and ability out of everyone else.”

“Correct. I don’t want to suspect my students, but even Michael himself isn’t completely out of the waters. Remember, after me, he’s the most likely to be able to break through Aoba’s defense, and I’m sure you know what that means.”

“… Do not tell him of our conversation tonight.”

“Indeed. I won’t be coming to your classes for the time being, but I will be maintaining contact through your AISLE. For now, farewell, and I wish you luck.”

Back to the present

The whole conversation was why Zain, though knowing that what he would be doing would be meaningless, still had to come to an empty class to avoid suspicion. Luckily for him, Dimensional Science wasn’t his only class for the day, or else he’d be on the verge of dying of boredom.

Most of the school day was uneventful still, but it at least gave Zain something to do until classes were dismissed at three in the afternoon. At which time, Aoba Academy went through a complete shift.

Everywhere in the school became bustling with life. Students going in and out of the club buildings for their activities, creating a beautifully chaotic cacophony of sounds. And soon enough, Zain would also be dragged into the same festivities.

“Hey, you two!” Lewis waved from a distance. “Come to the clubroom!”

“No way! You already got us a clubroom?” Mike answered with excitement.

Zain, meanwhile, was rather surprised at the news.

“Does Aoba not have an NLS club before? Why do we only have a clubroom now?”

“Well… we did have an NLS club…” this time, Lewis scratched his head in embarrassment. For all the flack he gave Zain in their initial meeting, it was not a good look for him to basically make the same mistake.

And the latter realized this also. “Past tense?”

“It was still up and running until recently…” Mike explained, “when Sensei decided to shut it down…”

“Shut it down? Why?”

Zain might have asked this, but in his mind was already an inkling of answer. He’s been too busy dealing with the data breach, it seems. Shutting everything down might be a tad overkill, but at least I can understand his reasonings.

Meanwhile, Mike was still sighing in frustration. “I don’t know. I’ve tried to contact him, but he would never answer me.”

“But hey, we’ve got a clubroom opened again!” Lewis tried to break the dreary atmosphere. “How about we gather there for now?”

“Uh… I’ll have to pass today, sorry,” Zain waved his hand in refusal. “I got, uh… some stuff to do.”

“Yeah… same for me too…” even Mike also scratched his head in embarrassment, letting out an awkward smile.

Hearing those words left Lewis drooping like a sad kitten. “Oh…”

“B-But don’t worry!” Mike added. “We’ll get there as soon as we can on another day! And when Sensei comes back, you bet we’re gonna all be there!”

“… Yeah! I can’t wait until then!” Lewis’s face soon beamed with joy once more as the boy left the premises. And as soon as the sight of him was gone, the remaining two in the scene quickly dropped their facades and went straight to each other.

“All right, out with it,” Zain was the first to question. “Isn’t he your best friend? What are you doing?”

“I have to find a way to contact Sensei, of course,” Mike wasted no time for an answer. “He’s never been like this before, it’s too weird for my taste. But I digress; you don’t have anything to do yet without him, so why are you refusing?”

It could be called a mistake on Zain’s part. What Mike said was true; Zain had nothing to do without contacting S.T. (but Mike didn’t know that he did), and just refusing what would be one of your long-term teammates wouldn’t be a wise thing to do. If he wasn’t careful, it could be a mistake that cost him the entire game.

Zain, however, was smarter than that. If he couldn’t tell him the truth, then he’d just reveal a part of the truth. Information taken at face value could be used in many ways, after all.

“I want to make a round through this place first. We don’t know what really is going on, right? Then the best way for us to tackle things right now is to gather information.”

“… You have a point,” Mike nodded in agreement. “Then let’s do it like this: we’ll search for both of our problems, and if there’s any information we receive, we share with each other. Sounds good?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

And just like that, even though the two didn’t know a thing about what the other side was planning, Zain and Mike returned to their old partnership. Of course, the former knew that all he’d get about S.T. would be a fat “nothing” coming from the other students, but as long as he got what he needed, it would be fine.

“Now, where to go first…”

Zain mumbled as Mike left the premises also. Aoba Academy was an incredibly big place, filled with students and staff alike. Narrowing down to a few suspicious individuals for him would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Which was exactly why he wouldn’t do it by himself, as the young man soon identified his next target.

Who thought I’d be using him again this early? A smirk formed on Zain’s face as the door to the Student Council Office slowly appeared in front of his eyes.