The Trial of the Seven Mysteries was a thing to be feared at Seraphim Academy. This was no ordinary school - because of course it's not, it's the setting of a romantic comedy mangaesque thing - it was, in fact, a school for the elite. By which we mean the rich and the wealthy, or those talented in some way. By which we mean 'not actually rich themselves, but connected to someone rich that likes them'. Which is what 'talented' normally means in the workforce.
Wow that was cynical! Let's focus on exposition for a bit to clear the air.
At Seraphim Academy, ridiculous wagers were the norm rather than the exception. It's what you do when you're born with a silver spoon in your mouth - and then that's taken out and replaced with a golden spoon. Affluenza is a thing for a reason. These boys and girls liked to show off, engage in games of one upmanship.
And so, as is inevitable, that one upmanship (not to be confused with an infinite lives trick in a game) escalated so hard the exponential function wondered what the fuck that was. Which, of course, eventually meant that the ultimate challenge was created. Something that was so terrible that nobody dared attempt it anymore.
The Trial of the Seven Mysteries. It was quite a terrible thing. A representative of each of the seven big clubs at the school - the Theatre club, the Swim Club, the Kendo club, the Cooking Club, the Video Game Club, the Occult Interest Club and the Anime club, would each put together a 'mystery' around the school. And by representative, we of course mean 'alumni'.
Solve each mystery, and your club - whatever club it may be - will gain a functionally infinite budget for the rest of the year. Fail, and not only must you endure the ridicule of the rest of the campus, your club will be automatically disbanded.
Why did the school have such a system? Why else? One of the stupidly rich graduates and supporters of the Academy thought it’d be fun. They had underestimated the cruelty of their students. They had <i>sorely</i> underestimated the cruelty of their students.
Not one person had ever passed it. Some had come close. Some had solved six. But nobody had once managed it. Ever. The corpses of clubs lay in their wake.
"Okay," Hanae said to herself, slapping her cheeks while standing in the lady's room. "Alright girl. You have this. So you've developed a crush on a loudmouthed brash idiot. Big deal. Your first crush had to happen sometime. It's not like you want him to tie you up and spank you while you're face down on his crummy chess -"
Ooh. Oh! Well, that was interesting. Goodness. The instant she thought of that it made her stomach feel quite unrefined. A pleasant warmth spreading out. Why, she had half a mind to go back in there and get into another argument with that... that total <i>hunk</i>.
"The nerve of that boy," Mihoko sniffed as she left the lady's room. "Do you want me to teach him some manners?"
Teach him manners. Which would involve her, obviously, dressed up as a slutty teacher, while he would be a shirtless student... Nnngh! No! What's wrong with her?
"That won't be necessary," she sniffed. Trying desperately to dispel the image.
"Ohhhh, I gotcha," Mihoko said. "The Trial will do worse than I ever could. Don't wanna give him an excuse, right?"
"Ri-Right," Hanae said. "Rui, my next appointment?"
"Student council meeting," Rui replied. Cool as ever. Be like her. Be like her. Unflappable. "Shall we be off?"
Of course. Hanae turned, flanked by her assistants, and they walked down the busy corridor - that proceeded to part like the red sea. All the boys and girls, so beneath her, turned to look. And why not, when their Queen was among them?
"She's so cool!"
"So pretty!"
"So elegant!"
Yes, even among these rich kids she was worshipped like a Goddess. That's the kind of beauty she had. The poise, the grace, the urge to to stick her tongue all the way up that boy's bu-
Her eye twitched. Just a little.
"Oh no! Something must have upset her!"
"Was it you? You're blocking the sun!"
"Eh? No! I was trying to stop glare from getting into her eyes!"
Oh dear it looked like she'd accidentally started another riot. Never mind. The bodyguards would have the rowdy students all in line, it didn't really affect her anyway as she was now entering the student council room, where the president was waiting.
In a dark shadowy room, sitting at the end of a polished oak table. Hands clasped together, glasses over his eyes as he looked down as if in prayer... or perhaps as if he was scheming.
"Oho, so you've come?" the council president said. "Just as I had intended all along. You are walking, dancing along the strands that have been cast, circling deeper into my web of -"
Mihoko put the lights on and Rui pulled out a seat for Hanae.
"Hey, hey! You can't just ignore the menacing aura that I'm laying down! That's unbelievably rude, not to mention self centred to the point of absurdity!" said the most absurd one here. Look at him, standing up with his thick dorky glasses, waving his finger accusingly at them. "If you weren't the Queen of the school, I would surely punish you to a death of a thousand Shining Fingers!"
"Chunni..." Rui whispered. Of course, in addition to being the Student Council President he was the President of the Anime Club, so that was to be expected.
"Eh? Did you say that I am a chunni?" he said, dropping under the table and somehow appearing, standing, right behind Rui. "Why, my dear ex-girlfriend. You say such flattering things. For if even you have been taken in by this illusion about I, Ichiro Saito, then those who do not know me must be so taken in that they are already under my full power! All of my plans are coming together for world domination!"
Domination. Much the same way that she wanted to be dominated by... Or dominate... Ah! Two images competed in her mind! Should she crave to be the one holding the whip or the one being whipped? No! That was the wrong question, the right question should be why she should crave any such thing!
"Hey, hey!" a certain dual voice piped up. Hanae's vision refocused away from reality, and she found herself staring into four crimson eyes that blinked in unison. There were two girls kneeling in front of her. Pretty but petite, moving as if reflections of one another. One wearing a white variation on the uniform, Hitohi, and the other a black one, Akari. The Amazaki twins. Pretty in appearance, but creepy by behaviour. They more or less psychologically tormented their year into voting them into the council. They had this eeries ability to always behave in sync, and you'd never <i>ever</i> see them apart no matter what. "You were staring into space. What were you thinking about just now?"
Oh no. What to say!? She couldn’t just say she was thinking about that… sexy… defiant.. “Mitsuo Itagaki.” That name slipped from her lips! Curse them!
“Who?” Ichigo said.
“He’s…” Fuckable. “A member of the Chess Club…”
“You mean that club whose budget we keep slashing?” The twins said.
"The very same!"
The door flew open, and there he was, standing in the doorway with his arms flung out, jacket flapping off his back like a cloak. The boy she was going to kidnap, tie up in her basement and use as a toy. Or maybe she'd be the toy. Oh gosh what was the matter with her, these thoughts were quite unbecoming of a Queen! There was only one thing she could do in this situation. Assert her authority over him, the same way that she asserted her authority over everyone else in school!
"You!" she seethed, rising to her feet and slamming her hand on the table. "Are you here for another argument?" she sniffed haughtily. "Or are you truly that insistent on taking the Trial of the Seven Mysteries?"
You could hear the gasp echoing from three corridors away. Oops. She had said that quite loudly.
"Oh, that's a funny joke," the twins said, circling around <b>her man</b> like he was a piece of meat. Which he was. But her piece of - Control yourself! Control yourself! "A boy like this will challenge the Trial of Seven Mysteries?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure that he is joking," Rui sniffed dismissively.
"Yeah, this guy had the audacity to argue the point with Hanae!" Mihiko added, giving a curt and annoyed nod towards him. "Even when she tried to warn him of the danger, out of the goodness of her heart."
“What can we expect from someone who got here by… <b>pity.”</b> Rui said.
“It’s called a scholarship.” Mitsuo said dryly. “And how the hell did you know that?”
“You think we don’t background check anybody who interacts with Hanae!?” Mihiko said. "We know everything about you!"
"Everything?" Mitsuo and Hanae said in unison. Oh gosh! That was their first... their first moment of mutual interest! Before long they'd be finishing each other's words and holding hands and most lewd of all...
Head pats. So many head pats! Ah! That was the absolute lewdest thing she had thought of yet!
"Kukuku!" Oh no. That laugh. A chill went down her spine, then right back up again. That laugh always came right before - "Bwahahahahaha! So, a brave fool steps forward to challenge the Seven Mysteries? Even I never dared to dream that I would see this day come again! Which is it, mortal? Is it courage? Stupidity? Or perhaps desperation that pushes you forward? Know this! Once the challenge is issued it cannot be taken back! So? Make your choice carefully, while knowing that whichever path you choose it will be exactly to my design."
Mitsuo stared at the council president for the first time, with the kind of look that one gets when meeting him for the first time.
"That would have been more cool if your fly wasn't down."
"My fly down is exactly according to my grand design!" the president said, nervously moving behind a table to discreetly close his fly. "Then... the die is cast! You can no longer step back! I can no longer permit you to decline the challenge!"
"Fine by me," Mitsuo said, crossing his arms and holding his head up high. So cool. So dreamy. If only he was wearing less clothes... Down girl, down! "So what happens next?"
"Next?" the idiot council president shrugged his shoulders. "Next, Miss Hanae will be your overseer, ensuring that you succeed in solving all Seven Mysteries."
There was something like a large creaking sound as Hanae turned her face away from Mitsuo.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Hanae said, her voice unusually strained.
"I said that you will serve as the overseer, ensuring this fool completes - or more likely fails at his task."
“Why me!?”
"Hrmmm? Who would be better suited for keeping him out of trouble, than the school's very own Queen? Hmph! You'll keep this fair, and it should be an interesting pairing considering how much the two of you have been glowering angrily at one another! Ohohoho! All according to plan!"
Tskkkkk! This was bad. This was terrible, actually. If she was overseeing him, then when this challenge began she'd have to spend at least six hours a day in his presence for the better part of a month! Oh, this was going to do it. This would test the reserves of her willpower. But she could do it. She was strong enough to maintain self control.
For the next thirty seconds, at least. After that, fuck it her loins were hungry for some meat. This month was going to suck!
- Hanae gets home and soon enough some of her family members hear about what’s going on.
- Mitsuo begins his preparations, in particular he begins to study Hanae to see how he can get an advantage from her watching him.
- The assistants scheme to make the mysteries as ansty as possible
- Something else
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