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"THE STUDENT COUNCILS OF all houses will have annual meetings, but at times only the president, vice, and the school representative attend them. These meetings are crucial because they happen before the Annual Brotherhood Reranking. Why do you think that is?" Sir Barron asks.

     "It's because there is a possibility that a brotherhood will be transferred to a different house after the reranking," Antonio—rank 8—answers, and sir Barron nods his head.

     "That's right. The reranking will happen at the end of this month, which is the middle of the school year. If a possibility that, let's say, Busters loses, our House has to be prepared to welcome the new king, as well as the new brotherhoods who will be transferred in J.S High," sir Barron explains, and the thought of that made the rest of them uneasy.

     No wonder the brotherhoods are so focused on that reranking. It would be a complete disaster if any of the royals changes now. It would particularly be more troublesome for Max since he's trying to get their approval. If they get transferred, then what's the point now?

     "That will be all for today. We'll discuss computations and the handling of school funds tomorrow. Make sure to be here," sir Barron says, and everyone stood up from their desks and started fixing their things as sir Barron left the room.

     Today was Max's official first day as a member of the infamous top 10. Despite classes being over, Max and the other top 10 white uniforms were required to stay after class for their private lessons. It was an overwhelming task, but it's one of the few things you have to do if you want to be considered the best.

     "Hey Max," Justin calls out as he approaches Max with a bright smile on his face. Justin has been gloomy ever since he got removed from the Elites, but after his twin brother Dustin got promoted again, Justin went back to his bright self. Max wasn't close with him, but he couldn't help but be relieved.

     After taking his bag, Max turns and looks at Justin, wondering what he had to say.

     "Are you heading home? The others and I are planning to go to a pub. It's called the Mask if you've heard of it," Justin says, and Kenzo and the other rankers looked at Max, hoping Max could join them too.

     Despite this being Max's first day with them, Max realized a couple of things. One, all the people in the top 10 are hands down the best students of their year, be it character, personality, or wits. Another thing is that, despite the prejudice the others had with the Omega Society (Specifically the society leaders Kenzo and Thomas who used to look down on the omegas in the past), all of them were kind to an extent. They weren't pushing each other down, but in fact, were helping each other become better.

     Can't say the same thing about Heaven J. Carter though, but the rest were fine, especially the Elites.

     Even just this morning, the members of the Elites dropped by and taught them a couple of things. They were teaching Max and the others what their roles would be if they were to replace them in the council. There weren't any bitter intentions.

     These top 10 students in itself were the epitome of J.S High's great name. They were the face of the House of Kings. They were the white uniforms who the other white uniforms wanted to become. It didn't matter what rank you are. As long as you're already able to get into the top 10, everyone will automatically know how great you are.

     Max couldn't help but compare this to Crème de la Crème too since the heirs in that group are almost the same here. It was like the perfect parallelism.

     "I'm not sure but—" When Max looked like he was hesitating, Justin suddenly had a playful look on his face. He thought of something that might change Max's mind, so with a grin on his face he says, "The Elites are coming too you know."

     Max was surprised by the way Justin said it, and he honestly lost his composure, but before Justin could even say anything else, Max clears his throat and quickly says, "Alright, I'll come with you."

    Justin happily starts jumping up and down as they head out of the room together.

     Max wasn't the type to go out after classes. He doesn't even do this with Ari and the others so he's surprised that he's going out with a bunch of people he barely knows. Max is just trying to convince himself that this is going to be a learning experience for him.

     "Don't worry, we're going to have a lot of fun," Antonio reassures him, walking close to Max and draping his arm around Max's shoulder like they were already the best of friends.

     Max wasn't the touchy type, but he didn't want to be rude so he just let Antonio put his arm around him. When they got out of their room, the Elites were surprisingly waiting for them outside. Even Heaven was there too.

     "How were classes?" Ian asks.

     "It was great, president Ian. Sir Barron just went back to some of the basics so Max could catch up," rank 7 Kenzo—who's also the club leader of Beta Society—respectfully explains, making Ian smile in satisfaction.

     "How about you Max? How have you been doing so far? Are you fitting in well with the others?" Ian then asks.

     Max looks at Ian and was about to answer him, but then he spots Gavriil standing right behind him with his arms crossed. At first, Max thought that he was staring at him, but then he realizes that Gavriil was actually staring at Antonio's arm that was around his shoulder.

     Without thinking about it, Max quickly pushes Antonio's hand away, surprising both Ian and Antonio. 

     "I-It's been great. Everyone's nice," Max says, adjusting his uniform before clearing his throat like he was trying his best not to look awkward. It was a pretty funny sight since Max wasn't the type to be easily flustered, but it seemed like just a single look from someone can make him act indifferently.

     "Well then, shall we go? I already requested to borrow J.S High's van," Ian explains, surprising Max because he didn't know they could freely burrow such a thing, but it's really just one of the few perks they have.

     "This is going to be fun, Max! I haven't been able to talk to you before so I'm glad we can chat freely now," Justin says, grabbing Max's arm as the two of them walked towards the exit.

     Max smiles and nods his head in agreement. To be honest, if this was the old Max he'd push Justin away and tell him that he's not interested in making friends, but with everything Max experienced, Max was happy to have new friends if he had the chance. Of course, that doesn't mean he'll drop his guard down.

     "Hey Sinclaire," a voice suddenly calls out, making Max and Justin turn their heads to see who was calling out for him. When they saw that the man who called for Max's attention was actually Heaven Carter, the smile on Justin's face instantly changed. If Max didn't know any better, he'd assume that this was Dustin.

     "Looks like you're fitting in well," Heaven says with a smile that he'd usually show to his fans when he was still the bassist of the monarchs; fake.

     "It's only been the first day, but everyone has been helpful. I hope to learn from you too Heaven," Max says with an equally fake smile. Max didn't want to make a scene because he knew that it was exactly what Heaven would have wanted.

     "Is that so? That's good, but if you're trying to rank up, I suggest you don't hang out with those who were already in the Elites but ended up ranking so low. It wouldn't do you any good," Heaven suddenly says, and that statement immediately angered Justin.

     "Excuse me but what the fuck are you trying to say?" Justin says, making Heaven smirk.

     Heaven was about to give him a reply that would anger him more, but then Dustin, Justin's twin brother, appears from behind them and faces Heaven with the serious expression that he always has on his face.

     "If that's the case then Sinclaire shouldn't be hanging out with you either. Have we all forgotten that you got demoted too?" Dustin fires back, and Heaven's calm expression instantly changes.

     Heaven was about to grab Dustin by the collar, but just in time, the Elites' secretary, Richard Young, grabs Heaven and pulls him away. "If the Elites were solely chosen based on one's attitude Carter, you wouldn't even be in the top 100. Get your attitude in check or I'll ask sir Barron to deliberate you. Remember, having enough points isn't the only thing that's going to keep you from clinging to the Elites," Richard warns before pushing Heaven away.

     Ian and Gavriil who were talking earlier stopped to see what was happening too, but when they noticed that Richard was able to handle it, they didn't intrude anymore.

     Heaven, on the other hand, looked furious, but he doesn't try to say anything to Richard, knowing that Richard is in a much higher rank than he is.

     "I'm heading home," he says instead, bumping into Dustin as he went in a different direction. No one even tried to stop him.

     "How did that man even enter the Elites? Now I miss Vijay," Antonio says with a pout as Max and the others looked back at Heaven until he was gone.

     "Justin, are you okay?" Richard then asks as he approaches Justin.

     Justin lets go of Max's arm and just laughs it off. "It's fine Richard, really. That guy's just bitter because Dustin beat him in the ranks."

     Richard knew that Justin was lying, but Richard doesn't say anything anymore and just smiles before patting Justin's head. Max couldn't help but smile at them because he realized that even though Justin wasn't part of the Elites anymore, the Elites were still taking care of him, just like they were with their dear friend Felix. Even though Felix could easily take care of himself.

     "Heaven was a great member when he was still in the rank 10. He was kind and responsible, especially since he was a member of the Monarchs. He'd sometimes play his bass and sing songs for us," Richard suddenly explains, and Max wasn't at all surprised.

     During the time when Max was helping Cj find investors for his company, Max got the chance to work with the Monarchs, and that included Heaven. Heaven was a talented member, and at the same time, he was a loyal underling of Cigarettes. He was one of the members of Ashes, a group of underlings that was supposed to become the members of Cigarettes. At the same time, they were the underlings that Cj trusted the most.

     Cj created the underling concept, so nothing could have been more important to him than them. So when Cj found out that Heaven betrayed him, that he was the one that told the Elites about the outside matters that Max and Cj did that got them both suspended, Cj felt betrayed.

     "Heaven changed after he got into the Elites. It's almost like something happened to him," Thomas—rank 6 and the leader of Alpha Society—says, and the others couldn't help but agree.

     "Well, power changes you after all," Justin adds, and none of them disagreed.

     The nine of them eventually arrive at the Keep where the van was parked. The rankers didn't talk about Heaven anymore to keep the mood going. When they were on their way to the pub, Max had to message his butler Étienne so he'd know that he'll be heading home late. He even sent a picture of the Top 10 white uniforms in the van at his group chat with Ari and the others.

     "Oh no! They're stealing Max from us!" Was the message that Felix sent, while Ari sent angry emojis. As always, Ervin was the only one who was calm with the entire situation, telling them that "Max should keep his friends close, but his enemies closer." Seeing their messages already put a smile on Max's face. He was really glad that he now has friends who he could message like this.

     "Looks like we're here," Ian says, and the nine of them went out of the van.

     The pub named the Mask was a pub exclusively for all the students under the brotherhood association. This is the only place where the students can openly talk about matters that are happening inside their school.

     This was also a pub that Max was very much familiar with. He went here with his friends before and met up with Ian, Gavriil, and the president of the House of Bishops, Justice Thorndyke. He got drunk here too and was taken by Viktor after finding out about his father's engagement with Edith, and then just recently, he met a man named Uchdryd Rease, who gave him a bit of advice regarding Crazy 8.

     "It's the Elites," the students inside the pub say as soon as they entered. Some even unconsciously stood from their seats to greet them, probably out of habit.

     "Let's take a seat there and order our food," Ian says as he points at a long table at the back.

    The nine of them walked to their seats, and as they were walking, the others couldn't help but look and whisper at each other. Every house has its own top 10, but these guys were from the House of Kings, making them the literal best of the best.

     "I heard from a friend of mine that president Ian has 19,000 merit points now."

     "Are you for real?! Our own president only has 12,000."

     Max notices that almost everyone was staring at Ian. Ian really had the aura to grab attention. Like Viktor, he was the literal face of J.S High. What he does reflects on their entire school, so Max couldn't imagine the pressure Ian has.

     But of course, as others were staring at Ian, Max didn't notice the other students who were staring at him too. The news of him finally entering the top 10 spread to the other houses too. Everyone was surprised since Max has only been in J.S High for almost six months. Max almost looked inhuman in their eyes.

     "What do you guys want to eat? Let's just have dinner here and have a couple of drinks after," Ian suggested, and everyone went on to choose the food they want to eat.

     While they were looking at the menu, the bell at the entrance chimed, indicating that they had another customer. Max and the others didn't pay it any mind, but the other students inside the pub started talking.

     Thomas turned around to check who it was, and when he saw the group of students who entered, Thomas's expression instantly turned bitter. "Oh great, it's the Nobles," he says, and Max and the others finally turned their heads to check on them too.

     The Nobles, also known as the student council of the House of Knights, are a group of students who are labeled as the noblest students among all the other student councils. To be more specific, they're like the Student Council version of BND.

     "Why are they here?" Kenzo, who's known to be serious all the time, says before looking away with an annoyed expression on his face.

     "Wait, what's going on? Why do you look like you guys hate them?" Max asks, and the question made Ian laugh.

     "We technically don't hate them," Justin explains to Max. "It's just that they look down on us even though we're from the House of Kings. Just because they're all elegant and princely, that doesn't give them the right to look at us like we're a bunch of savages."

     "Just let them be and ignore them," Gavriil then says while his eyes were still glued to the menu.

     Justin and the others nodded their heads and did what their vice president said, but it was almost like the world was testing them because the five members of the Nobles decided to take a seat beside their table.

     "Oh, look who we have here. It's the Elites," one of them says, forcing Ian and the others to look back at them too even though they already intended to ignore them.

     "Great..." Justin mumbles with a sarcastic tone, making his twin brother kick his leg under the table.

     "President Rothman, vice president Alexeev," the president of the Nobles greeted with a graceful bow.

     President Hero Watanabe, a fourth-year gaffer of D & F High school, also known as the House of Knights. Thanks to him, the House of Knights became well-known. It was even rumored that he was given an invitation to transfer to J.S High, but he declined it.

"I didn't know the Elites are here, but I also didn't know that you'd be hanging out with such...lower ranks," Hero says, and the expression of Justin and the others changed in an instant. They didn't work hard and rank as much as they did just to still be labeled as lower ranks. It was definitely an insult on their part.

     "We're just here to have fun after a long day in school," Ian says, completely not acknowledging the insult.

     "Well, that's the Elites for you," the vice president, Dexter Sullivan, then says. "They don't have a sense of superiority. That's why your students think that they're at the same level as the student council. It doesn't really matter if your rank 6 or rank 600, if you're still not a part of the council then you're nothing," he adds, and Ian just laughs it off.

     "Why isn't Ian standing up for us at least?" Max thought because if it was him, he would have already stood from his seat and said something about it. There was no way he'd let someone say such things to his friends.

     "You know what—" Max was about to stand up for them, but Richard, who was sitting beside him, quickly stops him.

     "You do not fight in every battle Max," Richard whispers to him, and that single statement made Max stop and think for a second.

     Max was the type of student who wouldn't let anyone look down on him. It's an admirable trait, but if he wants to be a president it might not be the best thing because a president, who is considered the highest-ranking student in their house, does not need to prove his worth in every given situation.

     This was also the same thing that Red told him when they went to visit the House of Queens. Max would sometimes think purely out of emotions and not with his head. He let small things affect him, which was a trait that didn't fit the president title.

     Ian was calm despite the terrible things that the president and the vice president of the Nobles said. If he stood up and fought them back, he'd be proving them right. Not giving them the satisfaction would only embarrass them instead.

     "But I guess that's what makes them unique, considering how a lot of white uniforms in the house of kings have no manners," president Hero adds, and the rest of the Nobles laughed like it was some kind of joke.

     Max looked around and saw that the students were giving them weird looks. But when he looked closer, it wasn't them that were receiving such looks, but the Nobles.

     "So much for being called the Nobles," Max mumbles to himself, glad he didn't try to say anything.

     "Well, how about we join your table? Maybe we could teach some of these lower ranks a thing or two about what it's really like to be in the student council," president Hero then says. Justin and the others were practically begging Ian to say no, but Ian smiles and says instead, "Why yes, we would love to."

     Justin grunts while Thomas curses under his breath as the Nobles happily got ready to take their seats beside them, but before they were about to sit down, Ian continues to look at them with a smile before suddenly saying, "I'm excited to hear about those students that got expelled too."

     The moment Ian said those words, the Nobles instantly stopped. Even the other students at the pub couldn't help but look their way because they knew something good was about to happen.

     As Richard said before, you don't fight every battle, but if you do, you choose the right moment to strike. You choose the right moment where you'll be able to give a quick headshot.

     "I'm sorry but what did you just—"

     "It was the Nobles' representative and treasurer right, or was it the secretary? I heard that they bully white uniforms in your house so they could give them points, which is why they got into your council. The Nobles really are scary," Ian says without even changing the smile on his face.

     The president and the rest of the Nobles were surprised that they couldn't even say anything. Max and the others couldn't help but smile just by seeing their reactions.

     "The House of Kings may not be as well-mannered as you think they are, but I am proud to say that there has never been a case in J.S High where a member of the Elites, or even the top 50, bullied a student to get to where they are now," Ian says, now with a serious expression in his face.

     President Hero gulped and looked back at his members before looking back at Ian. "I-Is that so?"

     "You know what, I think there's a much better pub in this area. Shall we check that out instead?" Vice president Dexter quickly asks, and without even saying anything, the five of them left the pub. As soon as they were gone, Justin and the others in the pub started laughing.

     "That's what I'm talking about! You don't mess with the Elites bitches," Antonio says, making the others laugh even more.

     "I didn't say that to embarrass them," Ian suddenly defends, making everyone stop laughing in an instant.

     "All of you...listen carefully," Ian seriously tells them, and everyone did what they were told.

     "Whether you are rank 2 or rank 400 right now, you will always be a candidate for the student council. You are given a chance like everyone else. You are given equal opportunities, and all you have to do is make use of them well. Reflect on why others are ranked higher, reflect on why they're doing better, and use that as a motivation to work harder," Ian says with such diction that it made the skin on Max's hair stand.

     "The members of the Elites are not just based on the number of points you have. It is the determination to stand high and strong among the rest. It is the attitude, the wits, and the confidence that you can carry the name of your house with great pride and honor. That...is what will make you a president," Ian finishes, making the entire pub quiet.

     Max stares at Ian with awe. The students in the pub were looking at him too, students who were probably in lower ranks. Ian knew that they were listening to him. He wasn't just saying that to Max and the other top 10, but to them too, and looking at their faces, Max knew that it affected them as well.

     Ian was their president. He was a president that every single student in J.S High and even the other houses were proud of. He was someone they respected and admired. He was the president...who Max wanted to become.

- END -