Unveiling the Mastermind - Classroom of the Elite Reaction

Sudo's Trial - Convincing Sakura/Trial

"If you could keep this a secret from everyone... That would really help me out."

"A secret meeting away from prying eyes...now I'm a little interested," Asahina rubbed her chin.

"Do you plan on making a comment every time he interacts with a girl?" Nagumo sighed.

"What? I have an inquisitive spirit," Asahina complained.

I received two messages from her in quick succession. It was more like texting than email. What exactly was she getting at, I wondered? I thought about asking her why, but then stopped typing. If I bungled this, she might keep messaging me, but it would probably get more difficult to pay her a visit. I had the gut feeling that it would be better for us to meet directly, so I started rewriting my response.

"I'll head over there in about five minutes."

After sending my reply, I reached for my coat but stopped. Since we were in the same dorm, going out with just a jersey on was probably fine. I headed towards Sakura's room. The upper level...in other words, where the girls lived. This was my first time setting foot there. The school didn't necessarily prohibit boys from entering. Even if someone saw me going there, it wouldn't be a problem. In fact, the popular guys often headed up there to hang out and have fun.

Although we were allowed a relative degree of freedom, entry was prohibited after 8:00 PM. Naturally, going to the girls' floor in the middle of the night was prohibited.

I pushed the elevator's call button. When the doors slid open, Horikita was standing there. What horrible timing.

"Why does it matter that Horikita-san was there?" Mori asked.

"Because I thought she was extremely likely to ask questions about why I was headed for the girl's floors," I explained.

"Oh right, Sakura-san asked you to keep it a secret!"

"............"

For some reason, I was completely unable to move. I just stood there. Was this good luck or bad? In the case of bumping into an acquaintance, I had to wonder.

"What? You're not getting on?" she asked.

"You do look quite odd just standing there, staring," Utomiya commented.

"It kinda makes you look guilty of something, Ayanokoji," Hashimoto chuckled.

Well, I was about to be guilty of lying.

While she stared at me, she tried to close the doors.

"Ah, yeah. I'm getting on..."

While I felt like this was probably a bad idea, I hopped in and pushed the button for the eleventh floor. I saw that the button for the thirteenth floor was also lit. That must've been Horikita's floor. For some reason, I got the strange feeling that she was watching me from behind.

"You're...heading home late tonight, huh?" I asked, without looking at her. The silence was unbearable.

"I was out shopping. Did you not see?"

"God, this is too awkward for me," Nagumo slouched in his chair.

I heard the rustle of vinyl bags.

"That reminds me. You cook for yourself, don't you?"

"You cook, Suzune?" Sudo asked, instantly intrigued.

"I do,"

"Huh. I didn't know that," Sudo struggled with what to say in response to her blunt answer.