Classroom of the Elite: True self [On Hold]

C1. The final meeting

"I see." She replied with downcast eyes.

Ichinose Honami, someone who benefitted from my choice, couldn't say anything else. An awkward silence enveloped the room not long after.

"Things like this should be happening more often from now on. Don't dwell too much over it." I advised.

"You are right. 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth', huh?" I nodded.

Advanced Nurturing High-School is a place that has many mechanisms that encourage this kind of thing. If you can't adapt, you fail. That is the ultimate truth of this facility. Not so different from the White Room in that sense.

And, just as before, I can foresee the fall of many promising students who can't comprehend what is expected of us.

Is Horikita one of those who will inevitably break? Is Ichinose? Only time can tell. But it remains true that others will rise in their place when someone falls. This is the cycle of life. There can never be such a thing as equality.

"How are preparations going?" I asked.

"Quite easy, actually... I took some time to get everyone on the same boat without raising suspicions, but Class B is now completely aligned." She smiled, her upbeat personality showing itself once again. "Immediately after the final meeting ends, everything should go down!" 

To Class B, such arrangements should be a walk in the park; This is the value of their unity.  Ryueen's Class C should also be able to pull it through, but every method has its ups and downs, and the Tyrant of Class C still hasn't learned from his mistakes; His arrogance was his undoing on the island, and it will be the cause of his defeat again.

"I'll also make sure everything is all right on my end."

Nothing too grand is required on my part. Unlocking my phone, I write a message that will be automatically sent at a later time. After making sure the contents are ready, I put my phone back in my pocket and closed my eyes.

The rest of the time before the meeting, I enjoyed idly chattering with Ichinose, but it didn't take long before the other members of the Rabbit Group started flowing in.

The members from Class A did everything as usual. They walked in without caring for anyone else and isolated themselves.

Karuizawa tried to act like her headstrong usual self but, apparently, it was too hard for her to keep her eyes off of me. Sotomura and Yukimura were completely out of the loop, as expected. The latter two greeted me and raised questions about me and the leader of Class B.

Manabe seemed a lot more restless, even biting her fingernails. Well, I guess that's to be expected after everything that happened.

Hamaguchi entered the meeting room and immediately acknowledged Ichinose's presence with a nod, then walked to his usual seat.

"Everyone, this exam is about to be finished now. How about a final game of cards to end it all on good terms?"

Ichinose didn't waste any time making her move. A few students raised an eyebrow but just shrugged it off. They were probably expecting a final move to lure the VIP out, not the repetition of what she had been doing since the start.

In fact, that should've been her initial plan: to induce a traitor to make a mistake. She merely wanted to change the difference in cp between the four classes. But that's no longer the best course of action. Instead, the order from the head at the top of Class B to all of her classmates was to stop any form of discussion from progressing in all groups.

Kanzaki, and the other Class B members from the Dragon group, would have to be extra careful not to make it too obvious, though. Any change in the room's atmosphere would surely be noticed by the likes of Ryueen, Katsuragi, and Kushida. Fortunately, the forte of Class B is their communication skills, so I'm not particularly worried.

Right after we started playing, I heard a beep from Manabe Shiho's phone. After looking at what seemed like a message, Manabe anxiously looked around the room.

'What did she receive just now?' I wonder. Well, nothing to do with me, I guess.

We kept playing this game called 'Old Maid'; and I made sure to win some of them. There was no immediate benefit from doing so, but I decided to do it anyway. Losing was never part of my character.

The regular time for discussion passed by swiftly and, soon enough, we would all be going to different places—some with more urgency than others.

It's impressive how much time flies when you are having fun.

'10'

As the pointer on the clock approached the mark that would mean the ending of the 1-hour meeting, I noticed two people taking their phones out of their pockets.

'8'

They were Ichinose Honami and Manabe Shiho.

'6'

They followed the same pattern of typing with their fingers... 

I wonder what it is that they are typing.

'4'

The other members of Rabbit Group were preparing to take their leave. Some had disappointed looks on their faces. The outcome where nothing happens and the VIP gets away is certainly the most boring one. 

'Well, they'll be wishing for the boring end soon enough.'

'2'

By now, both girls had finished writing the contents of their message. All that is left now is a final push.

'1'

The ending of the final meeting was announced by a succession of numerous beeps from every phone in our room, and in the rooms beside ours as well. The melody didn't last more than 7 seconds, but every student from ANHS received 10 messages announcing the end of the exam for all remaining groups.

'Are all of them making the same expression of surprise?' I questioned myself.