Kazuki YamagataKazuki arched an eyebrow and said, pointedly, to Rin and the Professor, "Legitimacy is what drives those under you to do more than the bare minimum needed to avoid punishment.
You two have none from me from this point on - Good day."
And he marched off to detention, letting Matsuru walk him and the other students out, even as he thought,
How did that damn professor realize I was scheming? Or was he using a stereotype and accidentally found himself correct? Well, no matter; I have potential partners for the scheming he mentioned, thanks to his actions - But why would someone so smart deliberately take the most alienating course possible? Doesn't he see that this instance of collective punishment would drive most of us into each other's arms?He dismissed the possibility it was deliberate, pending evidence, and was now weighing which of the other students he needed to fall in with his plans - His social skills were borked and thus he needed a
diplomat, someone who can get others on his side and smooth any potential disputes and misunderstandings over. He also needed an
intelligencer who could collect and analyze information alongside him so that he was not blindsided by things he didn't know all the time. What was he useful for, then? Why, the nitty-gritty of
combat; he may be a Quirkless, but he had experience in licensed
murder.
Kazuki Yamagata can even tell himself that he knew that killing people was wrong; that necessary evils were
still evil. That allowing too much violence risked making mistakes.
But how self-aware was he, if he can ask himself? When pushed to it, can he suppress his murderous instincts and not go off the deep end? Pursing his lips, Kazuki decided he needed a
counterbalance, someone who could keep him on the straight and narrow and not become as bad as the enemy - No, opponents for now; thinking of people as enemies so quickly is bad for one's mental health and the behavior required to achieve his goals.
He'd wait to be put in detention, and try and get the seat next to Mia; he needed to be in close reach of the no-doubt outraged young woman so that he could try and pass her a message on old-fashioned paper, a note carefully slid to her table, saying in childishly neat and perfect English:
Cherry Blossom, I should have sided with you from the start. Forgive me for asking this of you, but can you smuggle more notes to the other students here, if you want?Then he tried to locate Yui Kazuma, Jun Mawatari, and the other students who were more vocal against their professor's decision; he planned to approach them should Mia give her consent to being his note-passer. What notes did he plan to pass? Well, a simple set of questions:
So, who here hates Jun and the Professor after their actions? What can we legally do about it? And more importantly, what should we do about it that won't end our education early?There was a fine distinction between the second and third questions, an implication that took some thought to see. But that was fine; Kazuki knew that those smart enough to see it were ideal recruits for the conspiracy he was trying to form, assuming that Mia would be on board - Which she might not be.
Senbonsakuraza had always snubbed the more unhinged members and aspects of the other Hawks Agency members, and to be blunt, he, Kazuki, also known as
Armory, was an edgier person at fifteen and sixteen than he was right now. So Mia had a good reason to think he had not grown out of the bitter and angry young man who relished the use of weaponry against villains with Quirks. Nevertheless, he held no hate and a massive amount of admiration for the older young woman (yes, awkward phrasing!) so he wanted to befriend her or at least be on her good side.
Was it too late for him and her, though?
All the while, the irritating feeling that this state of affairs was
somehow deliberate on Rin and Professor Shimura's parts was still burning at the back of his head... Was this part of an even larger set of manipulations?
Kazuki arched an eyebrow and said, pointedly, to Rin and the Professor, "Legitimacy is what drives those under you to do more than the bare minimum needed to avoid punishment. You two have none from me from this point on - Good day."
...
Alternatively, if Mia continued to surprise him with her defiance and ability to find the unorthodox 'Third Option' that was better than the presented options, Kazuki would choose another course of action as well - Swallow his pride and arrogance and just accept that Mia/Senbonzakura was
the woman with the plan and go along with her actions and thus reap the benefits of her success and his part in it, suspending his own plans for the time being so he can learn how to plan better.
In this alternative scenario, instead of assuming Mia would go along to detention, Kazuki would openly move to accompany her, saying within everyone's earshot, "I was wrong not to have sided with you, Ms. Mathers - Let's do this together; you'll want an extra pair of arms and legs for what you will need to do."
The irritating feeling this was a deliberate gambit on the part of Rin and the professor to drive certain students into working together still won't leave him even in this scenario, but Kazuki knew better than to discuss this with Mia or anyone else, not when he had no proof at all and could just be indulging in wishful thinking.
@Lewascan2,
@Aku the Samurai,
@Thayr,
@Verjil.