The Defectives (CotE x Male Reader)

Hope Rekindled

(Y/N)'s POV

The next day, I decided to make a move, but rather unexpectedly, Sakura called for me. I decided to go talk to her

(Y/N): Looks like the test is over for the Cow group.

Sakura: Yeah...

She showed me the email she received.

"The test has now ended for the Cow group. Those in the Cow group are no longer required to participate any further. Please be careful not to disturb the other students."

It was exactly the same kind of email we got after the Monkey group finished. It was a brief message, devoid of context. Leaving aside the time Koenji got carried away and ended the test for his group, right now it seemed that people were betraying each other for two very different reasons. They were either betraying with certainty, or betraying because they felt impatient.

(Y/N): Sakura, were you the VIP? Or was it someone else?

She shook her head in denial.

Sakura: No, I'm not the VIP. But I'm not sure about Sudou-kun or, um, the others...

She didn't seem to have any idea whatsoever.

(Y/N): It's alright. I don't know the identity of the VIP in my group, either.

Sakura: Okay. Thank you, (L/N)-kun. I'm happy you told me that.

(Y/N): Oh, how are things with Class A? I heard rumors that none of them are participating in the discussions.

Sakura: Yeah, it's just like what the others have been saying. None of them have talked at all.

Katsuragi had been rather thorough in carrying out his plan. If that was true, then Class C had to have been the ones to trigger this new turn of events. But I was still left with doubts.

Ryuen claimed he understood the school's rules, and I had my own ideas. However, it was still impossible to know whether I was correct or not.

If I accidentally misread the rules, the class would self-destruct and take massive damage as a result. So far, the test hadn't ended for anyone other than the Cow group—proof that Ryuen still didn't have a sure answer either. As we neared the end of this mysterious exam, many students were probably feeling perplexed.

(Y/N): If there's anything else, please let me know. You can talk to me anytime.

Sakura: Thank you, (L/N)-kun. See you later.

I bid farewell to Sakura, who waved her hands adorably. Then I headed toward the ship's lower levels. I proceeded down to the lowest level, where people didn't generally go. Although we were prohibited from going there, the area wasn't locked.

There was no one to come if you called, no matter how loud you shouted. Including the regular entrance, there were only two ways in or out of the room. The other way was a door that led to the emergency staircase, but the workers didn't appear to use that. Judging from the dust, I knew that it hadn't been used in a long time.

(Y/N): 'If I just kept an eye on the regular entrance, I could monitor the situation completely.'

Another convenient thing was that phones had almost no reception here. Though you could occasionally get a little signal, sending emails or chatting was a pain in the neck, and it was next to impossible to make a call.

(Y/N): Good. All the pieces are in place.

All I had to do was make sure everything happened in the proper order. First, I would contact Hirata, and then he would call Karuizawa. Since I wanted to postpone things a little bit, I'd probably need to have him call Karuizawa an hour or so earlier. I returned to the upper decks to make the call.