"Don't Get Caught."-Asher

Heath Salamander was the definition of a man with an aura. Every step he took seemed charged with some type of energy that reeked of pure power and ego. He was like a pumped up version of that rich kid, only more intimidating. He leaned over the podium with his hands clenching the sides of the square face. His eyes were so dark that they looked black, hell, they probably were black for all I knew about this guy.As soon as he stepped up to the podium all noise in the room ceased. He just had that commanding of a presence. With a massive click all the lights in the auditorium shut off and one massive spotlight shone down and Heath and his podium. The bright light accentuated his sharp features and he looked even more unnerving then his wax figure. And then he began to speak. And instantly I got a look into who this man was as a person. His voice was powerful and it carried so much that he didn't even need to use a mic.

"While I was growing up in the U.S. my father had told me something. He told me to not let all of the government propaganda fool me. We aren't living in some perfect utopic society. No. We live in a Meritocracy. How much you earn and how much you achieve is based on how hard you work, and your talent and ability. Contrary to the words of the founding fathers all men are not born equal and in fact, equality is just a lie you've been fed your entire lives." Pretty bold statement. "Now you may be wondering. This is a private island off of the coast of Japan, why am I talking about the founding fathers of America?" He paused. "Well its because I believe that how much you are worth is dictated by how hard you work. The fact that you have been invited into this schools speaks volumes about your talent and ability." Heath began to pace. "You see I believe that the government and judicial systems of the United states is wrong, that it has a fundamental flaw, a flaw that I will expose. And once I do I will crush the pitiful ideal of a democracy."

A few mutters of confusion came from some first year students. Confirmed, this guy is a mega weirdo.

"How will I achieve this? You may ask. Well thats where this institution comes in to play. Me and the Japanese government have teamed up to create this. To take down the United States I need to people with not only intelligence but the skill to take down the U.S secret services. In this school not only will you learn regular advanced curriculum but you will also learn the skills of artful assassination. There will be five test where the separate years and classes must gain points by assassinating students from other classes." He held up a finger with a chilling smile. "One rule. Don't. Get. Caught."

To say the auditorium exploded was an understatement. Although it was only the first years shouting, if you didn't know any better you could mistake it for a packed football stadium. The reactions were slightly mixed, but the general consensus was the same. What the hell did he just say? Some students began to cry and whimper, others screamed in outrage, and some laughed awkwardly, trying to play it of as some kind of joke. All of the noise in the auditorium came to an abrupt halt as the sound of shrieking microphone feedback pierced through the veil of noise. Heath Salamanders booming voice came over the microphone. "Calm down, Calm down. And for those of you wondering, no this isn't some kind of joke. He pointed to the 2nd through 3rd years. "Ask you upperclassman, they'll definitely have some stories to tell you."

So that what it was. That's what the upperclassmen were hiding from us. From the moment I had entered the school till now, all my interactions with any of my seniors had been very suspicious. That time in front of the bathroom, and both of my interactions with Tanaka. The upperclassman were trying to hide this from us. I had to say, they did a better job than I expected they could, from how huge of a secret this was. I looked around, analyzing the rest of my classmates reactions. Although I didn't let it show on the outside, my nerves were starting to rise as well. If he's serious about this, whats going to happen to us? Killing each other? Don't get caught? Overthrowing the U.S Government? I looked back up at the suited, smiling madman that stood at the podium. Who is this maniac.

Heath continued. "I know you probably have lots of questions about this. And tons of emotions running high. Your homeroom teachers will handle most of that tomorrow, because today the first years will be heading home early to have time to mentally prepare for the trials that are approaching."

"Trials!" Some girl in the back exclaimed.

"Over the course of the regular school semester there will be multiple trials that will help to sift the best, from the best."

Another first year shouted something out. "What makes you think for one second that anyone would actually participate in this! This entire thing is insane!" He looked around the room, trying to get other people to agree with him. It worked. People started to rally up, shouting and throwing things. I didn't participate, and neither did Mina, Liam, and one other first year I didn't recognize. A tall light skin boy with dark blue hair. Taking a look at him something felt indescribably off. The look in his eyes, or the way he stood, but something was wrong. There was an insatiable hunger in his eyes, a hunger that didn't look like it could ever be quelled.

"Well nothing is stopping you from not participating. Like you said, legally, I can't force you to do much of anything." That brought silence and an air of confusion. "But I can do something else." Another pause. "By the end of each trial, the students with the least amount of points, will be expelled, and sent to Japan's Delinquent Reform school, another institution completely under my control."

That definitely brought a reaction to the crowd of first years. Most of the first year students were Japanese so they already knew about the dark reputation the JDR had. It was like those urban myth's that western parents used to scare their kids. 'Get your grades up or they'll send you to the JDR with the, "Demon Kids." I had seen some of the kids who came out of the JDR, and despite the word 'reform' being in the name, the school only served to make these students issues worse. The school is known as a prison, seeing as how it generated over 56% of Japan's most dangerous criminals. No to mention, just like this school, it was completely separated from the mainland of Japan. Being sent there was the same as being shipped away to hell.

"That's all I have to say for now. You are dismissed." 

 * * * 

I was walking up the stairs to my dorm when I heard the sound of someone calling out my name. I turned back and saw Mina standing at the bottom of the stair case, bag in hand. This is going to be interesting. I thought to myself. "I assume that because you've gone out of you're way to reach me, you have something very urgent to talk to me about." Mina looked disgusted that she even decided to look for me, but she forged on.

"During that man's entire speech, I noticed that unlike all of the other students who were freaking out over the idea of assassinating, and being expelled an sent to the JDR, you seemed relatively unfazed. Why is that." She asked, a suspicious glare in her eye's.

I sighed, something I had done way to much for one day. "So I'm guessing that you're suspecting that I knew something about this, and willingly kept it from the entire class?" I ventured.

"It wouldn't be too far fetched to assume that. You have no real loyalties to our class, or to anyone in fact. So tell me."

"Okay, I can see that there is a huge misunderstanding. First of all, the only students who would have known anything about what Heath revealed in the assembly were the second through fourth years. Second, I wasn't the only one to have a calm reaction. I also noticed that you had a pretty laid back take on the whole situation. If there Is one person you should be suspicious about it's that boy with the dark blue hair. I'm sure you noticed the look in his eye's."

"Ohh! What are you guy's talking about?" A voice from behind Mina exclaimed. Mina stepped to the side to reveal Hikaru. She was one of the main people trying to rally the other first years to rebel against Heath's cruel ideals. She tried to display a bright demeanor, but it was very obvious that she was extremely distressed by everything that had unfolded. She was the type of person who wore her emotions on her sleeves and it made her extremely easy to read.

"Hikaru, what do you think about the situation at hand right now." I asked. I was interested in gathering information on my classmates and the easiest way I could do this is by analyzing how they reacted to the bombshell that Heath dropped.

An even more miserable look fell over her face. "When I first heard it, I couldn't believe my ears. My initial reaction was that of, revulsion. The Idea of having to choose between…" She couldn't even say the word killing. "Or having my peers expelled is a choice that I never want to even think about, let alone actually pull through with"

Her reaction was exactly what I expected it to be. Hikaru was the type of person that go out of her way to help a homeless person on the street, or run a few miles to pick up gas for someone whose car had run out. "Do you think that we could call the police?" Hikaru fumbled with her bag looking for her phone.

"No can do. I already tried it." Another voice from behind me said. I looked back and saw Liam leaning back on the railing, holding out his phone. I briefly wondered how he got there without anyone realizing. I turned my attention to his phone screen. He had typed the emergency number for Japan, 110. When he pressed the call button an AI voice came onto the line and said,

"The number you have dialed is unrecognized in your telephone service."

"Blocking out the number of all emergency services and making it so you can only contact staff members and students within the school, eh." I said, leaning back against the stairs railing as I began to think.

"It wouldn't make sense for the school to allow students to contact the emergency services, seeing a how messed up this place really is. But it does bring up the question of what part of the Japanese government would even decide to fund something like this?" Mina asked, directing the question at no one in particular.

"Aren't the Japanese government allied with America. Why would they even consider promoting something like these." Hikaru asked, more and more emotion creeping into her voice.

"No idea, I never really trusted the government much, but something like this seems completely ridiculous. Even if we assume that the Japanese government was corrupted and that they wanted to break their alliance with the U.S., they would know that they are severely outmatched. And their solution to the situation is a bunch of high schoolers.?" Liam added on.

"Not to mention that the way Heath was talking about overthrowing the U.S, it doesn't seem like Japan has reached out to any other countries either." Mina interjected.

"The should also know that a group of inexperienced kids are going to have little to know value against the full force of the U.S. government and military. And now as part of our quote on quote training, they're promoting us to kill the other students. Even if they managed to create the perfect assassin, what use is going to be if there's only one left by the end of it all."

None of anything made sense. We all stood there in silence as we contemplated the implications of everything we had just discussed. That's when the voice of someone else broke through the silence. "Well, who really cares about the specifics, the only thing that matters is that now we're all enemy's." Everyone's eyes snapped upwards to the person who was hanging off of the railing above us with only his legs.

It was the blue haired kid.