Kacie's brief but brilliant analysis was spot on. No one could fault her reasoning. If there had been anyone who was still harboring any kind of doubts or criticisms to her brilliant breakdown, her phenomenal insight into the nature of the match had quenched them all. Calista was no doubt impressed. But figuring out the first stage was only about thirty percent of the whole process. The next stage would be organization, and finally- logistics.
"Kacie is right..." Calista was the one speaking now. "We need someone who can go in with a diabolical level of aggression and strength at the last stage, and end it all. We need a wild card."
Calista ran her eyes across her five students, pretending like she was trying to figure out who was best for this role. The truth was that she already knew who she was going to pick. It was very clear. But she couldn't afford to be seen playing favorites. She had to give off the impression that she was considering everyone else equally.
Finally, she allowed her gaze to linger on the one person she was confident would pull this off.
"Shiranui! You will be our ace in the hole, our dragon on the leash. You will go last and finish the job."
Everyone nodded their accent. They had all come in here a few minutes ago with no plan whatsoever, but within a very short period, thanks to Kacie's innate ability to see things objectively, and thanks to Calista's leadership skills, they were now on the precipice of victory. The first stage of the plan had been locked in now. The rest would be a walk over.
While Calista and the others were busy congratulating themselves on what they had managed to come up with, another hand shot up in the air with the energy of one who wasn't in totally in line with this plan. Calista was about to build on Kacie's logic when she saw Zavier's hand shoot up in the air. Clearly, not everyone was in support. Maybe Zavier had a counter offer, or maybe he saw something that no one else was clearly seeing. Whatever it was, Calista was very eager to hear what he had to say, so she indulged him.
"Yes Zavier? It seems you have something on your mind, why don't you share it with us?"
Not even bothering to get up on his feet to lay bare his problem, Zavier reclined in his seat like with the indifference of a bum, and casually made his grievance known to the teacher;
"Well, it's nothing really. It's just that recently, my mental strength has been at an all time low. So I would like to formally put across my request to get as much rest as possible..."
Calista raised her eyebrows and gawked at Zavier. Was he being serious? But he wasn't done.
"That being said, I think it would be better for me to go last."
Calista had been expecting some genius input, or at least some forward thinking analytical breakdown to build on what Kacie had going down. Anything but this. She looked queerly at Zavier, the Adam boy was being pretty laid back about this whole thing. She could definitely sense that there was an ulterior motive.
Zavier's sudden sketchiness was largely as a result of the fact that he was a man with secrets. And people with secrets either come across as plain, or they stand out like a sore thumb. Zavier was of the latter category. As it stood, Zavier had a whole lot of things to hide. Starting with the fact that he was connected with the mysterious trio that had been prancing around like a group of invincible ninjas (the masks gave them a whole different vibe that was similar to that of the ancient order of warriors).
Zavier's reality was more delicate that he would have liked to admit. There were a lot of things he couldn't afford. But his biggest problem was hiding his abilities and keeping them under wraps. If he were to find himself in a situation that he couldn't control by fighting like a regular student, then it was very likely that secrets would definitely come to the limelight. No one needed to tell him just how disastrous it would be for him and for his family. Scenes of him being poked and prodded like a lab rat filled his mind.
There was no way he could afford to let that happen. He also couldn't afford to be connected in anyway with the mysterious trio. That was also another problem.
Zavier might have fooled everyone else, but the one person who could see through the smoke and mirrors was Nadia. His awkward behavior was more apparent to her than it was to anyone else in the room. His entire speech about needing more time to rest, as well as his desire to come last wasn't consistent with the Zavier she knew at all. Something didn't feel right about the whole charade.
But like an annoying itch that she just couldn't reach, Nadia couldn't lay her finger on the issue. But she was resolved to find out either way. So, not wanting to embarrass Zavier by mooning over him publicly, she decided to use humor instead.
"Zavier don't tell me you're terrified of getting your ass kicked by the other elite high school students?! Aren't you a little too big to be so scared?!"
She poked Zavier's belly with her finger tips as she delightfully cracked the joke. "Don't tell me that's why you're doing this on purpose?"
Zavier caught on to what Nadia was trying to do. He knew that she was merely expressing her concern through humor, as she didn't want to embarrass him by being all mushy with him in public. It was a meaningful and yet harmless, well-intentioned joke, and he knew it. But in order to sell the lie properly, Zavier just had to put on a show. He took a deep breath as he prepared for the theatrics that was to come. He wasn't going to enjoy it, but it was necessary.
It was just unfortunate that Nadia had to be the one on the receiving end of this whole debacle. So, much to everyone's surprise, Zavier altered the relatively calm dynamic of the room by going all nuclear on Nadia;
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! That role should be reserved for ME!!"
The entire conference room was quiet for a whole minute. If a single pin had dropped to the ground, it was very likely that it would have been heard. Everyone was surprised. The room had been very placid all through the course of their meeting, so Zavier's retort had changed the mood completely. Nobody knew what to say, no one knew how to react to Zavier's retort. All eyes just remained on him like he had just committed an abominable offense.
Everyone was shocked, but no one was more stunned by Nadia. She froze up like a deer in headlights, still trying to process what had just happened. Could it be that she had imagined it all? Had it all been in her head? Did Zavier really just raise his voice at her?! The poor girl couldn't wrap her head around this at all. No one could, the echo of his retort hung in the air over them like an awkward spell. No one said a thing. It had all been too sudden.
She wasn't used to second guessing herself. She could be a bit spontaneous sometimes, but ultimately, her entire personality was hinged on the fact that she could be very methodical in her approach to solving problems. This time, Zavier's confidence forced her to go over her plans from the very beginning. She had been shaken, but she had to be sure. She couldn't afford to lose face in front of her students.
For Calista, this whole thing had started when she received a peculiar bit of news from a trusted source. Calista could doubt anyone who came to her with unverified information, especially since in a tournament of this capacity, with lots of folks from different places moving around, false information was bound to flourish here. Therefore, true information was more valuable than anything here.
But Calista had her ways. Or rather, had her way (singular), and it was in the person of the distinguished Mabel. If anyone were to have any credible information pertaining to the tournament, then is would definitely be someone as dignified as Mabel.
Calista had learned a disturbing piece of information from Mabel; she heard that virtually all the data which had been collated from the first round of the tournament had been blocked! Every single thing! All the parties involved had been banned from discussing anything pertaining to the first round. Mabel had assured her that she was very much aware of Zavier's excellent stats during the first round, she had been keeping close tabs on Zavier all through and it was safe to say that he was in top form.
Calista had been a little shocked, and also a little bit delighted by that bit of news. But unfortunately, Mabel had buried the lead on that one by starting with the good news. She confessed that even though she was personally in the know, the other professors weren't at all aware of Zavier's excellent stats. The only thing the professors saw were Zavier's regular past results that had been handed to them in transcripts. That was what they were focused on. After all, they were academics, and facts & figures would always make more sense to them.
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