Classroom of the Elite: Free Will

V5: Prologue - Bet's On

"I simply thought it would reassure you."

"I see, so we write our bet and sign this," he handed the contract to Horikita-senpai who began reading it carefully. "If the president consents, then I accept the bet."

We turned to Horikita-senpai and waited for him to finish reading the seven pages document. Once he finished reading it, he lifted his head and nodded.

"I consent to this bet."

"Now, which class do you bet on, Nagumo?"

He chuckled.

"What kind of question is that Karma?! Class 2A of course! Why don't you tell us your bet instead?"

My smirk grew, this was great.

"With pleasure, Nagumo... I place my bet, on Class 2B."

A series of "Eh?" and "What?" was heard all over the room. Nagumo though, laughed.

"Hah! Are you for real, Karma?! Not 1B?"

I shrugged.

"I can bet on whichever class I want. I pick Class 2B, it's as simple as that. Horikita-senpai? Do you accept these bets?"

He nodded slightly.

"I do."

With Horikita-senpai's approval, we signed the contract.

The winner would receive twenty million private points. Of course, neither Class 2A nor Class 2B ended the festival in first place there would be no winner, therefore, no need to pay any points to anyone.

Ichinose and I were the last ones to leave the student council room.

She appeared uncomfortable for the bet I made with Nagumo. I should confront—

"Are you sure that was okay, Karma-kun?"

It seems she decided to confront me on her own.

"Don't worry, I won't lose."

"But Nagumo-senpai controls his whole year, how do you intend to win?"

I place a finger on my lips and smiled.

"That's a secret."

She frowned at my response but didn't try to know more about my plan.

"We don't have enough points."

"Your fears are useless. I'm telling you Ichinose there's no way I'll lose this."

"I just don't want to do anything reckless, Karma-kun. Our class won't accept this."

"They don't need to. They won't know anything about the bet. You can consider it our little secret," I smiled gently.

"Karma-kun, this secrecy is exactly why Ryuji-kun is so mad at you."

I dismissed her comment with a wave of my hand.

"Don't mind Kanzaki, I'll take care of him on Monday."

She bit her lip.

"What is it?" I inquired.

"You don't call him by his given name anymore..."

"It's temporary. You'll see, after the sports festival he'll beg for me to return."

"To return?"

"Oops~ slip of the tongue. It's a surprise, you'll see on Monday," I winked.

She sighed.

"You're not really making it easy to trust you..."

"It shouldn't be easy to trust," I mumbled not looking at her.

"Hmm?"

"Eh? Oh, nothing, just remembering something," I brushed off my comment.

"Is that so...?"

I nodded.

"If you say so...," she muttered before raising her head and meeting my gaze. "Karma-kun, can you tell me why you want those 20 million private points."

As a response I addressed her a smirk. She could draw her own conclusions.

As we arrived at the stairs and I began to walk down the stairs, she stopped and looked at me straight in the eye. When she spoke, she did it with a voice full of distress.

"Karma-kun. Can I really trust you?"

My lips curved upwards forming another smirk. I put a hand in my pocket while the other held my bag.

"That's for you to decide, Ichinose. Will I leave the class if I win? Will I bankrupt the class if I lose? Am I searching to gain those points for the sake of the class or for my own? You're smart enough to see the big picture Ichinose."

Personally, I didn't care what she chose.

After all, at the end of this festival everyone in Class B would know their place.

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With this Volume 5 begins.

This takes place before the Pool chapter, though.

Update on the Class Rankings as of September 1st:

Class A: 1088

Class B: 751

Class C: 595

Class D: 425