Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Self-Test

Vol. 2: Chapter 7.1 - Disquieted

"Aren't Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun strangely quiet?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Well, I don't particularly mind it. It's honestly better than their usual obnoxiousness."

"Are those bandages?"

"Did a fight happen...?"

Ike and Yamauchi were stiff and nervous the whole morning. The bruises on their faces were also noticed by everyone. Since most of our classmates weren't aware of the catastrophe that was about to hit us, everything went on normally for the rest of the day.

"Ike, Yamauchi, come to the faculty with me." 

After our last homeroom, Chabashira-sensei called them out with her usual expression.

"Sensei, can we come along?" asked Hirata. Horikita and Kikyou stood up along with him.

"Oh, the class representatives? If you want to get involved, Ike and Yamauchi would have to give their consent," Chabashira-sensei replied as she looked at the two of them for confirmation.

"Yes... Please let them come," said Ike.

"Alright, let's go then."

When the five of them left, the class instantly erupted.

"Ayanokouji-kun, what was that?!" asked Satou.

"I knew something was up. Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun were acting weird all day..." commented Matsushita.

"Like, they were nervous as hell for whatever reason," added Karuizawa.

I got up and tried to fill them in.

"Everyone, do all of you remember that one case with Ken?" I asked.

"You mean the one where you speculated that Class D wanted to frame Sudou-kun for violence?" asked Okitani.

"Yeah. As it turns out, I was right. And now, Ike and Yamauchi are their targets," I nodded.

My words created an uproar.

"Hey, what the hell happened, Kiyotaka?!" asked Ken.

"Yeah, 'targets'? How...?" followed Haruka.

"Hondou and Miyamoto were involved too. I asked for their help so we can prevent anything from happening, but Class D predicted my plan... It's my fault," I replied.

"O-Oi... Why are you blaming yourself, Kiyotaka? What happened, exactly?" Akito was confused by my actions.

"N-No! You weren't at fault, Ayanokouji! You got everything right... We were just the wrong people for the job," said Miyamoto.

"Yeah... Those Class D punks tried to use-- no they did use violence against Kanji and Haruki, and we got threatened with it." Hondou and Miyamoto took the blame for themselves. I thought they used this opportunity to look good in front of the class. However, I observed their expressions and judged their genuine self-disappointment. After all, their buddies were in danger of getting expelled now.

Since the class got even more confused, I got straight to the point.

"To give context for Miyamoto and Hondou's words, I assumed that they'd probably do something similar to what they did with Ken. They will isolate their targets, lead them into an inconspicuous place with no cameras, then fabricate the situation into anything they want," I narrated. "I'm sure everyone has noticed Ike and Yamauchi's behavior last week, right? With Kinoshita-san and Manabe-san from Class D."

"Yeah! They were really excited about those Class D girls."

"So they really thought they'd get themselves a girlfriend?"