Classroom of the Elite: Free Will

V6: Chapter 6 - Friends

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka POV

"Phew... That was tiring."

Ichinose stretched herself as we walked out of the student council room.

After an hour of work, Karma and Nao had let us go earlier so they could speak privately with Nagumo. I supposed the topic of the conversation would turn around the matter of the new applications. Nagumo's policy accepted everyone but the question that came up was what position they would have in the council.

"So? Would you like to discuss about our alliance, Ayanokouji-kun?"

"Sure. Can we go the Pallet, though? Some friends are there."

She nodded happily and we headed towards the Pallet.

"How's your class doing, by the way?" I inquired.

"Hmm? Fine, I guess. Karma-kun prepared a plan and he'll create the questions for Class C."

"You decided to trust him in the end?"

She shrugged.

"It's not like we have any other choice..." she mumbled, then a lively smile formed on her face again. "But I know that deep down, he cares about us. So, everything's okay."

I nodded at her words. Although she said that to me it looked more like she was just trying to convince herself of that.

What Karma had done in the sports festival had surely made her think a lot about. I don't know if she was or had questioned her convictions, but it must have hit hard on them.

Ever since the matter with Kocho during the trial I have been keeping an eye on him to make sure he doesn't go too far again. The basic thing we always told was that we were childhood friends and had always gone to school together. We weren't technically lying, and it was better to keep it that way. Avoiding things that could compromise us and the White Room was imperative. Ignorance is bliss, after all.

Up until now, Karma had been going on the limit of the rules but hadn't really done anything to compromise us again. As long as it remained like that, everything was fine.

I didn't really have to worry about Nao and Mikoto making such blunders, but I couldn't neglect that possibility.

"Tell me if you think Karma has gone too far," I said. "I'll talk to him."

"Huh? I'm sorry, Ayanokouji-kun, but I don't see how you could control him," she replied with a bitter smile.

Usually, I would agree that Karma was uncontrollable. He only really obeyed that man, and back in the White Room, it took him more than a few defeats to accept he couldn't beat me.

"Don't worry. We've been friends for a long time. I know how to deal with him," I told her reassuringly.

She looked at me with a lightened smile, it was as if someone had taken a weight off of her shoulders.

"Thank you, Ayanokouji-kun. At this point, I was starting to think that controlling his antics was my task alone. But you're his childhood friend, you must be used to those antics."

I nodded.

"Why alone, though? Matsuo won't help you?" I inquired.

I didn't mention Kocho nor Kanzaki for obvious reasons.