Standing at the Top

Part 15 (Volume 3)

Kiyotaka POV

It was now August 7th. Our short stay on the uninhabited island has come to an end. All the students were starting to gather. The results were being tallied. Ryueen showed up alone.

"Now, we will announce the rankings. The classes with the lowest points are Class C and Class D with 0 points."

"Zero?"

Class D was downcast with the outcome of this exam. Ryueen was filled with confusion. His plan has failed miserably. The risks of his plan were undeniable. Only one mistake cost him all of the points he earned.

However, he did manage to hang on to something. His contract with Katsuragi still exists. And with that, he will be receiving about 800,000 private points per month. That was his objective all along.

On another note, Class C and A we're able to guess Class D's leader due to the alliance. Class C seemed to have guessed Class B's leader but they failed to give us physical evidence.

"Coming in second place is Class B with 90 points. And then Class A has come in first with... 467 points."

(A/N: If you're wondering why Class A has so many points, it's because of Ryueen's deal and their monopoly of a lot of spots.")

"""!!!"""

"What's going on?! Why is there such a large gap in points?!" A student exclaimed.

Even some in Class A were confused as to why the other classes had low points.

"The plan worked out great Ayanokouji." Hashimoto clamored.

"Don't tell me... you planned all of this in advance?"

Faced with Katsuragi's words. The Class A students were glaring at me waiting for an answer.

"Yes, I did."

"Then Yahiko's card..."

"I stole it."

"For what reason?!"

"To make sure that Class A comes out on top."

In the middle of the night, during the exam, some boys would act as watchdogs to protect the keycard changing shifts now and then. Morishige just so happened to have a shift during the 4th night. So we took the opportunity to take the card from Yahiko.

"You're wondering why they had such low points, right? That's because I leaked this card to them."

Hashimoto and Kito became messengers to Class B, C, and D. I gave Hashimoto and Kito the keycard and digital camera. Kaneda swapped the keycard for the camera. Of course, they told Ryueen that they wanted to unsettle Katsuragi with the camera.

They snuck out before the evening of the 5th day. Hashimoto searched for and negotiated with Ryueen and gave him the name with the evidence for 500,000 private points as well as the condition that Ibuki and Kaneda would leak it to Class B and D.

"But what about the broken camera?"

"That's from Class C. They also bought cameras as we did. We took it and forged evidence that someone from another class made it here and stole the card. Nishikawa also knew where the camera was hidden so she can break it in front of the class."

"Wait, does this mean yo-"

"That's right. I also caused Yahiko's condition. I forced our leader to retire to make sure that the other classes could not guess our new leader on the last night. This would lead to them having a penalty of 50 points. Of course, all the suspicions of others would be cleared if they saw the dejected expression of Class A students."

"..."

Class A was filled with murmurs. I ignored all of them and went straight to the cruise ship. With that, the plan has been fulfilled. Now they would think that I am essential to the class. However, I have no plans to put much effort into their hopes. When another special exam pops up, they can just rely on Sakayanagi or Katsuragi.

Heading to my room, I went and changed into cleaner clothes. I was ready to fall asleep on the bed when my roommates caught up. Morishige came first, followed by Katsuragi and Machida.

"Ayanokouji... I guess I finally see why Sakayanagi has taken great interest in you... That said, I still disapprove of your methods. Forcing Yahiko to retire, how can you call yourself a student?." Katsuragi said.

"I only did it because you could not. You forced my hand."

"What do you mean?! You set up the whole plan!" He raised his voice a little.

"Appointing Yahiko as the leader was a mistake. He recklessly claimed the cave spot immediately. We had to rush out there and cover for him. By that time, other classes could have been scouting locations."

"..."

"Your contract with Ryueen was another mistake. If the other classes guessed who our leader was we would lose out on that contract. No matter the case, our class would be dealt a bit of psychological damage from getting some of their points taken by Class C."

"But that doesn't matter does it?"

"It matters because private points are not as important as class points but private points are more useful overall."

"More useful? How will that help us against the other classes?"

"First and foremost, negotiations and transactions. Those are commonplace in this school. You can buy anything with private points. I tested this theory a while ago and bought the old midterm papers from an upperclassman. He wasn't fazed at all by this, therefore things like these are not prohibited by the rules."

"You bought old exam papers?"

I nodded. The others were surprised by this.

"I see. Then I must confirm some things. Are you going to help Class A?"

"Yes."

"Then..."

"Let me tell you this now. I don't care who is class rep. I will listen, but I won't necessarily act upon your plans. I will help Class A in my own way."

I emphasized this. Though I plan to lay low until I am put in a dangerous position in Class A.

Wanting to get away from my room, I went outside and went to the deck when suddenly, my phone rang. I looked at who the caller is. It was Sakayanagi.

["As expected from you. It was an excellent strategy. But I thought you refused to stand out? Have you perhaps had a change in mindset?"]

"No, I just don't want to be in danger of expulsion. Those punishments seem to be part of the special exams. I just wanted to improve my standing in the class."

["That is reasonable. It would be unfortunate if your freedom was cut short. What are you doing right now?"]

"Nothing much."

["Then would you perhaps like to meet with me?"]

"Sure, I don't really want to go to my room anyway."

I feel exhausted from explaining every single thing to my classmates. Thankfully, I have done what was necessary. Thinking about it, I would be forced to interact with my classmates a bit more. Would I be able to make friends from either faction? Having been working with Hashimoto and the others would increase the probability of someone from Sakayanagi's side.

No matter the case, the deserted island exam has concluded. The system resembles that of a working society. It seems that the special exams are designed to test different talents a person has. I don't really care much about it, but it seems that they would prove a hindrance to the peaceful life I long for.