First Monthly Challenge

Aphrodite POV.

When Victor left the classroom with Sue, everyone immediately speculated on them working together. "Did Victor just betray us?".

"Sure did, he actually listened to that girl and left us. How disappointing".

Most of my idiotic classmates began to criticise him without knowing the full story. A bad habit for everyone is assumption. I for one could clearly see the fear in Victor's  eyes as he left the classroom. He forced himself to go along with her, the question now is why?

Humans are so rotten, just look at them.  "Next time I see Victor,  Imma punch him" Fugo said furiously.  "That guy's a jerk, he cares little about the group".

 "Remember when he denied Aphrodi's suspension. He can't be depend on".

Hearing the voices of my classmates is so infuriating. My skin itched with every statement that came out of their mouths.  At this rate,  a rumor is going to spread about how Victor betrayed his class. He'll lose respect from the Student Council and possibly Xavier too. As one of the few humans I tolerate I should help him out. Who knows, maybe I can recruit him to join my revolutionary force after today.

Thinking back, Victor made one phone call to solve the mystery on Nayeli's brother death. It could be that he framed the person but he is more impressive if that's the case. I won't look deeper in the matter, I want Victor on my side. 

"Shut your mouths! Always quick to light up your classmate, yall makes me sick!"

They all looked at annoyed when directing their anger towards me instead of Victor.  I find it funny how everyone is using the last five minutes before the treasure hunt starts on quarrelling instead of going through the hand signs we are planning on using or even strategizing in general.

I walked up to the person who is always around Victor. They are seen as the awkward pair of Class 1B. "Aoi, what do you think of Victor's behaviour just now?" I asked her.

....

I know sign language in it's entirety, I am well aware Aoi does not speak to others. I thought she would have gave me an hand signal that I could understand but instead she gave me a frown. A face like that can be Interpreted in several different ways. Could  be that she's  upset that I approached her or maybe she's mad because she does not know the answer to my question. Or she's  like the others who are suspicious of Victor now. Aoi sure is a strange one, she does not speak so the least she could do is master sign language. 

... ..

"Who drugged you Aoi? I bet it was on purpose".

I believe there is someone in Aoi's life that makes her life hell on earth. Dysarthria is a total bitch no matter how you slice it. Only if the students took time to fully understand Aoi's situation, she could have gotten sympathy along with some more friends.

.....

She put her index finger on my lips. Probably means she does not want me to address her lack of speech.  "Fine I won't. Jeez you're useless. If you don't know why Victor walked out then nobody knows" I sighed.

Aoi disagreed and pointed at three students in front of the class. They were talking secretive, ensuring that nobody heard them. Xavier, Takeshi and Sayaka sat together with bright look on their faces. Xavier was holding three A4 size papers in his hands as he spoke to the other two.

"Xavier what's that in your hand?" I asked him.

"Nothing, it's something I can't really share ya know.  We have this hunt in the bag" he winked at me. In a way it sounded like he had an cheat sheet of some sort but that would be ridiculous.  How would he have gotten a hand of that?

Ring! Ring! Ring!

"Attention All First Year Students, please put on your wristbands at once. Talk in any fashion three times and that student is disqualified. The Hunt officially begins now!". That voice sounded like Miss Yuki, our school's nurse. Weird to hear her voice instead of the principal's.

Xavier stood up first and began pointing at students. First he picked Aoi and I. That meant he wanted Aoi and I to pair up, before this hunt began Xavier made it clear that he wanted everyone to be in pairs to help each other open chests. He gave me the least annoying member of the class because of my low tolerance.

Aoi and I took the lead and began searching for treasure chests. In the hallway,  it was already flooded with students from different classes. There were plenty of chests lined next to each other and they were all being occupied by another student.  Two meters wide and four meters long, has a key hole at the centre with the dazzling colour of orange and red. All chest looks the same so determining the value between the ones in the halls are pointless. 

"Yow!". I called out to a student trying to open a chest.

"What is it dude?" the boy asked me as he turned around.

THUD!!

Bet he did not see a punch to the face heading his way. With a single hit, I knocked him unconscious.  Aoi pinched my left cheek not liking what I did. That guy is a jackass. He knows he cannot fulfil the requirement for opening this chest but yet he's still standing by it to prevent others from trying. That pissed me off, so there. I wish I could have told Aoi how I felt.

Aoi puffed her cheeks upset with my behaviour. Who cares what she thinks. On top of the chest was a small laptop displaying a question. There was also a key next to it that was tied up by metal. If I answer this question correctly then the chest will open, if I get it wrong it will change the question to something else. I noticed that when the guy I knocked out was attempting it.

The question says "Which Teacher Here Was Once A Student Of All Star Academy Asian Branch".

Hmm, this question is hard on the surface but there is really only two Asian looking teachers I know working at this school. I have a 50/50 chance of getting the answer correct.

I typed my answer in the laptop while Aoi simply watched.  Before I tapped send, she held my hand. Suddenly began deleting the name I entered. One of our school's  nurse, Miss Yuki is definitely Asian so there should not be anything wrong with my answer.

YOU CAN'T JUST WRITE MISS YUKI'S NAME JUST BECAUSE IF THE WAY SHE LOOKS. THE QUESTION DID NOT ASK WHICH TEACHER LOOKS ASIAN? IT ASKED WHICH TEACHER HERE WAS ONCE A STUDENT OF THAT BRANCH. BAKA!!

She type those words on the laptop in mere seconds. After knowing I read it all, she deleted the sentence and typed in a proper answer. Mr. Rune, she typed his name instead of Yuki's. Strange because I know he looks Australian but whatever,  I'll let her do her thing. After pressing send, the laptop immediately shouted "Congratulations! You are correct".

The metal covering the key fell off with ease. Aoi used the key to open the chest,  to our surprise. Only a note was inside, I tried reading the context of this note but it was in Spanish. A language I know too little about.  But there was one thing I understood,  on every paragraph there was at least on drawing of the heart. This might be a love letter.

So this what our school values as treasure?

Hahaha Hahahahahaha, this school is weird even among the other branches.

From what Mrs Emi told my class and this love letter addressed to our principal, the treasures are all things Mr. Raihan likes. For now that is a fair assumption to make.  Then that means this love letter might be a good start especially if its  his first ever letter. Next, Aoi and I moved on to clearing the whole hallway. 

Honestly the students beside us so far are pathetic.  They struggle to answer questions  Aoi and I spend little time on. The requirements for all the chests in the hallway is to answer a question about Amy random thing relating to the school. However things got different when we went outside.  The first chest that caught our eye was in the duck pond. This time the chest did not have a key hole, neither did it have a laptop on top of it. A gripper was chained next to the treasure chest giving off a bright red light. The two are connected no doubt.

Aoi picked up the gripper and applied all the force she could in her arm. Her best was not good enough sadly. The gripper measures her strength 41, that was very poor. The gripper does not state the requirement needed, what number does it need fir the chest to unlock?

Xavier appeared behind me with Takeshi at his side. Takeshi  lifted the gripper and applied the force needed for the chest to open. From the looks of it, Takeshi barely broke a sweat opening this chest.  But it could not have been this easy right? Every other chest is crowded except this one so that means they all gave up on it. How did Takeshi know he could have opened the chest? Is he that confident in his physique. Xavier smirked as he dragged Aoi and I in the inside again.

He gave us the x formed by his index finger before he left us. Xavier wants us to stay inside, outside is out of the question for Aoi and me. There is a possibility that only physical type requirements are outside,  if that's  the case Xavier is splitting his class between the intellectuals and the strong.

Aoi and I continued on to the cafeteria where we saw a familiar face. It was the blind boy from 1A called August.  I watched as he was typing a code in one of the laptops. The question he took asked 'How do you make a solution for weight loss?'

I can't  believe it, this man is writing a program for the answer. Is that even allowed? So unnecessary,  there is a chance the treasure inside values little in the end.  Why do so much work?