Moving at a fast pace, Kouenji and I quickly made it out of earshot of our classmates' insults. We moved quickly through the lush jungle of the island, neither of us really pushing ourselves, but also bordering on the edge of effort, as if daring the other to lose.
While I didn't much care for competing with others, Kouenji was always interesting. At least he gave me the chance to keep my physical skills up to scratch, because I was certain they would degrade over time if I didn't have a reason to keep training them.
"I assume we will be taking a look at the cave?"
I hadn't told Kouenji where we were going yet, but he had been able to make the same deduction I had.
"Yep. Katsuragi had a noticeable reaction to the hints the school gave us. I thought it would be likely he would go to the cave."
"Hahaha Baldy-kun must think no one else would notice the hint then. He must have forgotten about my amazing self."
Of course, it was only a gamble. There was no evidence that Katsuragi would go to the cave, or that he had even noticed. But if he had, I suspected he was smart enough to recognise it as the best location to claim.
"Even if he doesn't show up someone will. It's the best spot, so we can always just wait and see."
"If you're expecting me to simply sit and wait for a possibility of entertainment, you seem to have no idea of who I am, Ayanokouji-boy."
That was true. Kouenji only did things that interested him, so if he felt the situation grew tedious he would leave without a second thought.
"Of course, I know. But you're going to retire from the exam anyway, right?"
We both stopped jogging at the top of a small mound, Kouenji turning to face me with a deadly grin on his face.
"Are you intending to win?"
"Unlike you, I find this competition interesting enough for me to care."
That was the crux of the matter. I was invested in winning the exam. Kouenji was not. The only reason he had stuck around this long was probably because he had no valid reason to drop out yet. But running around in the jungle was an easy way to acquire an injury enough to put him out of the special exam.
"Then there should be no problem with my departure. Do you plan to stop me?"
"Not at all. I've already been planning on the basis that you leave. It's just a shame to lose your talents."
"It would be a shame to waste my talents on something as mediocre as surviving on an island."
I couldn't argue with that.
"Besides, those ugly defects don't deserve having me around while they camp. It would degrade my very soul to have to sleep in a tent with such lesser people."
Now he was just being his narcissistic self.
"You don't think there is value in leading them? With their incompetence, it wouldn't take much to turn most of the class into your loyal slaves."
"What use is a slave if they're incompetent. The effort I would expend on taking control of the class would be wasted on such disgusting creatures. Besides, you are not controlling the class either. It's much more fun to watch them run around like animals with no idea what's going on."
We really did have similar ideas on fun. A class divided was a lot more enjoyable to deal with than a class united. And their inability to understand how they ever did well would be a powerful smoke screen to all but a few in the grade. If our own class didn't know what was going on how was anyone else supposed to.
"Why are we here anyway. If we wanted to reach the cave, we should have veered slightly further to the east." Kouenji had been the one leading us on this side path, and I wasn't sure why.
"True, but I felt that I might as well help in some way. Did you not pay attention to the island properly? I expected more, Ayanokouji-boy."
I took a moment to look around the area we were at. Kouenji had led me here for a reason, and he claimed it was to be helpful, so he was obviously highlighting something important.
It took a moment, but I soon noticed a flash of yellow throw the trees, just below the top of them.
"The corn field."
"Hahaha so you did see it after all."
"I'm not as tall as you. You can see over these trees much easier than I can."
It was true. Kouenji was taller than me, a fact that had to be acknowledged. It did give him an advantage over me in some situations, like now.
"Excuses are the refuge of the pitiful, especially when it's something as petty as height."
"I should thank you for leading me here. I had noticed it, but I wasn't sure how to get here."
I had spent most of my time on the boat dealing with Kikyou and noticing main features of the island. Smaller details like the paths between spots was something I hadn't taken careful note of. I had a rough idea of how to traverse the island, but other than that I hadn't a clue.
"Distracted by your woman, I see. Perhaps there still is hope for you after all..."
Kouenji teasing? What was this island doing to his mind? It was imperative he retired as soon as possible.
"We don't have time for such nonsense, if we want to get to the cave before anyone."
I mentally marked down how to get to the corn in my mind. It would be worth coming back for after our little trip, so I had something to show for abandoning the class. I didn't particularly care what they thought, but if I selected a leader, ran off and returned with nothing their complaints would be ceaseless. Really, I just wanted to nap for the first few days, before anyone made their move.
We began to move again, heading towards the cave. Really the stop had only take a few minutes, but Katsuragi, or whoever got to the cave first would be a smart leader. If they were capable of getting their leader to the cave straight away, then they would also be capable of getting their class organised very quickly.
We were almost there, having taken slightly longer due to Kouenji's inability to walk past a vine without swinging on it, when he broached a conversation again.
"I must say I was impressed with how you solved Class C's pitiful attempt to attack us."
I had not expected this of all things to come up in conversation.
"It wasn't that impressive. You could have exposed Komiya just as easily as I did."
"Don't take me for a fool, Ayanokouji-boy. I may seem disconnected from the rest of the grade, but I notice enough, and if there is one thing I am confident in it's my perceptiveness."
This was a serious conversation. For Kouenji to cease his 'perfect human' act and admit he had one characteristic that was better than others was a sign of how serious he was here.
"What are you trying to say, Kouenji?"
I wasn't going to admit to anything.
"You played a dangerous game. It was entertaining, but you walked a fine line with the risk you took."
"I can't ever imagine losing."
"No, I would expect not, at least not to the rabble of our grade." Is he implying that he can beat me? "But it would be a shame to see you gone."
"I never would have thought you cared. How sweet"
"Of course, I care. Who is supposed to entertain a perfect existence if you are gone?"
"So, you'd be bored? How tragic." I suspected that wasn't everything.
"I'd also have to find some other means to reach Class A. I'm perfectly comfortable leaving everything to you, so your departure would only be an annoyance."
Another surprise. I didn't realise Kouenji had any aspirations for Class A. Obviously with me in his class, it was entirely possible he had assumed our rise would be inevitable, but even so there hadn't even been so much as a hint that he wanted to rise up the class ranks.
And I couldn't figure out the reason why.
"What could possibly motivate you to reach Class A? You have a place with the Kouenji conglomerate already, so there is not benefit."
"This is one of the glaring flaws of the White Room; you have no sense of how the world works, demon-boy"
He wasn't wrong about that. Despite the extensive training and education I had been through, I had a fatal lack of understanding when it came to human interaction, and societal norms or expectations often escaped my grasp.
"It's expected of me by my parents to be the best, the perfect human. Such a being couldn't possibly finish school in a class lower than A."
Kouenji had lost his usual lack of interest in everything, his normal smile gone from his face. In fact, he even looked slightly vulnerable. This was the root of who he was. Constant pressure from his parents, who were very important people in society, to be the best had led to this attitude, his superiority complex and narcissism. It was partially an act, it seemed, or it had become his personality as a response to unending pressure.
No matter how much he played down his care for anything and pretended to not be interested due to his superiority over everyone, here he was as his true self, or at least his concern.
I was surprised to see him being this honest, and I didn't expect him to ever do so again. This was his one flaw, his parent's pressure on him to succeed. And for that reason he needed to reach Class A.
For the first person I had a proper conversation in this school with, I suppose I could help him out.
"I have every intention of reaching Class A. If that means dragging an uncooperative person like you as well, then so be it."
Kouenji regained his trademark smirk, his air of superiority returning to him like nothing had happened.
"Hurry up then, Ayanokouji-boy. I can hear voices near us, you wouldn't want to lose to whoever they are, would you?"
He was right. There were voices in the air. I couldn't tell who was speaking or what they were saying, but they were nearby and moving in the same direction we were: towards the cave. It seemed we would be lucky in this gamble after all.
Giving up any sort of casual pace, Kouenji and I almost sprinted forwards towards the cave, in order to find a place to hide. If we could get into position before anyone arrived, if they claimed the spot it was an almost guarantee we would know who their leader was, or at least significantly narrow it down. I didn't think an entire class could move across the island this quickly, so it would have to be a small number of students.
Soon we arrived at what appeared to be a large hole in the mountainside: an entrance into the cave. At first glance it appeared to be a natural cave, but upon closer inspection the inside appeared properly reinforced. Perhaps the hole itself had been created by human hands.
The school had obviously put a lot of effort into shaping the island. There were tracks worn out to make it easier to move, and I hadn't yet seen any dangerous animals, or potential walking hazards. Overall, it was a relatively fabricated environment.
There was a large ring of bushes surrounding a clearing in front of the cave. Kouenji and I both found places to hide, and not long after, two students walked out of the forest into the small clearing.
"Woah, this place is amazing! Do you reckon it's a spot?!"
Yahiko was the first of the two to be seen. The fanatic sycophant of Katsuragi, and one of his last supporters in the class. I could see in his right hand a grey piece of plastic, almost identical to the one Chabashira had created for Horikita.
It was a foolish choice to choose someone like Yahiko to be leader. While I wasn't certain it was him just because he had the card in his hand, Katsuragi was the de facto leader of Class A for this holiday. Sakayanagi wasn't around and had apparently stepped aside for him for once, meaning he was in control. It would make sense for him to give one of his only supporters the role of leader, since he probably couldn't trust anyone else in the class.
And speaking of Katsuragi, here he was, following behind Yahiko as he entered the clearing.
"It seems likely. The area looks fairly well made, but for now—"
"Sweet! I'm gonna claim it then. Class A can't lose with a spot this good!"
Yahiko, with absolutely no control, ran into the cave. Katsuragi, after being frozen at the stupidity for a moment, ran after him, both of them disappearing into the darkness.
"I have to admit I wasn't expecting that."
"Why you have any interest in competing against such incompetent people is beyond even my comprehension, Ayanokouji-boy."
Both Kouenji and I appeared shocked at the lack of concern Yahiko had shown before going to claim the spot.
"I understand he wouldn't have many options but appointing Yahiko as leader seems like a poor decision."
"Baldy-kun was in a corner. Either he's figured out the loophole or he's just as foolish as the other commoners."
Yes, there was a loophole in the leader rules. I didn't think Katsuragi had figured it out, due to his apparent attempt to hide Yahiko as leader. Or maybe he had figured it out, and also noticed Kouenji and I watching and planned accordingly to outplay our spying.
That was a pointless train of thought. Whether he had out-thought me was beyond understanding for now, although I suspected it was unlikely, and the truth would be revealed in the next few days.
We made our way out of hiding, moving to stand in the center of the clearing, pretending we had only just arrived.
"This is an impressive location."
"I must concur with you, Ayanokouji-boy. If we can claim it for our class we'd have a huge advantage."
Hearing voices, Katsuragi exited the cave warily, his hand clutching the key card in a poor attempt to hide it behind his back. Clearly realising that he had been caught he had taken it off Yahiko before trying to pretend like he was a leader-in-hiding.
"Ayanokouji-kun and Kouenji-kun, right? What brings you all the way out here?"
"We were just exploring. I thought this might be a spot, but it seems like you got here first."
"It looks like Baldy-kun is the leader for Class A then. What a blunder, but I shouldn't have expected more from mere mortals."
"In a cave this size, we should have enough room for two tents, Katsuragi-san. We sure were lucky. We secured a spot really quickly."
Yahiko finally exited the cave, probably having taken a look around based on his words.
"Hey, you two! What're you doing here! This is Class A territory, you better leave!"
I could see the frustration on Katsuragi's face at Yahiko's obvious blunder.
"Hahaha, Class A territory is it? What does that tell you, Ayanokouji-boy?"
"Wouldn't that mean that one of you two is the leader then?"
Katsuragi's face tightened, although he probably already knew we would suspect the two of them.
Yahiko however, had no control over himself.
"What are you talking about! How could you know that for sure!"
"Thank you for the confirmation, Yahiko."
"Green-hair-kun seems to be lacking any form of brains. How you got into Class A is beyond even a perfect existence's comprehension."
It was beyond me as well. Someone like Yahiko would have been more suited to Class C. He wasn't that intelligent and lacked reasoning or physical skills to back it up, but he also didn't seem to be as defective as the rest of our class, more just inferior to most Class A students. He was a perfect follower.
"I don't suppose it matters how dumb Yahiko is when his leader is foolish enough to be caught holding the Keycard. I Guess we're putting down Katsuragi for Class A. It seems they won't be receiving many Class Points."
"Hahahaha Baldy-kun really is an idiot, to go around with the keycard like that. I can understand why Sakayanagi is the Class A leader, and not this pathetic mongrel."
Kouenji had caught on to the idea with me. Yahiko had absolutely no self-control and a complete loyalty to Katsuragi. It wouldn't take much to break him, and toying with him was fun for now.
"How dare you! Katsuragi-san is smarter than either of you! And that bitch isn't in charge of Class A, only idiots would think that!"
"Yahiko, be quiet." Katsuragi had realised the dangers of this situation and that we were targeting Yahiko. But unfortunately, his subordinate had ignored his warning.
"Katsuragi-san figured out the hint on the boat! I bet you two just turned up out of luck, but no one else can match Katsuragi-san!"
"You mean that pathetic announcement about the scenery?"
"Or the inside information he had on Sakayanagi's absence?"
"Which one is it Yahiko?"
"Because we clearly figured it out much faster than you did."
"You lack the self-control to properly serve your leader."
"By running into that cave with the card in your hand to claim it, we know you're the leader."
"If only you had used your pathetic excuse of a brain and exercised some caution."
"It's your fault that we now have confirmation that it's your name on that keycard."
"Congratulations on dooming your class, you creature."
Our constant battering seemed to have broken Yahiko. His face had crumpled at the repeated attacks towards him, with no way to respond. He looked close to tears as the insults continued towards him.
"Please silence yourselves. I can accept fishing for information, but your actions are bordering on verbal abuse, which I will not stand for."
Katsuragi halted our verbal barrage. Unfortunate, since I was having fun, and by breaking Yahiko enough he would have a difficult time over the next seven days acting as leader and securing spots, even though he knew it wouldn't matter.
Because he had to continue securing spots. There was a chance that his name wouldn't be put down, or that other classes wouldn't learn it so gathering spot points was essential. Also, they couldn't risk another class stealing their base while it was occupied. The location they stayed at, at least, would have to be secured so they weren't forced to move.
They also couldn't tell their classmates about this. If the Class A students learned that their leader had been exposed in the first hour of the exam there would be a revolution of sorts. A much better solution would be to wait until the results were shown and hope that the point calculations weren't read out.
Kouenji too had soured at Katsuragi's interruption.
"Very well. Just know that we will be gracing the other classes with our presence and blessing them with this glorious information discovered by two perfect beings."
"You have a high opinion of yourselves."
It was understandable for Katsuragi to think this way, but soon he would accept the fact that we simply on another level. It wasn't ego, and I wasn't trying to rub it in, it was a fact the other students would need to accept before competing against us.
"Enjoy your defeat, Katsuragi."
With that parting blow, Kouenji and I left the two broken men behind in the clearing. Yahiko was crying a little at having failed Katsuragi so completely, and Katsuragi had an unreadable expression on his face, trying to figure out if there was any hope of salvaging this situation.
Of course, there was a way to do so, but I didn't expect him to figure it out. He wasn't the sort of man to try such a radical method, but even if he did, I had an alternative method to beat him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
It was an hour later when the class finally found me.
I had been napping when I woke to the sound of voices, the dysfunctional parade that was Class D arriving at the spot I had been waiting at.
Kouenji and I had made our way back down to the beach. Avoiding our class, a relatively easy task since they were still there arguing over the same topics as they were when we left half an hour ago, we made our way down to the impartial testers. Kouenji put on an impressive performance about his injuries, of which they couldn't find any, but since they had to respect his claims, he was allowed to retire from the exam and returned to the boat, costing Class D a 30-point penalty.
I however, cost much less, and purchased a hammock for 2 points.
I had left the beach for the second time and followed what was the most likely path Class D would follow, being the easiest to walk along, before coming across a river and grove that would make an easy camping spot. I felt comfortable in guessing that they would end up there, and my hunch was proven right when Ike ran up with wide eyes, exclaimed for joy at his luck and turned around tearing his way back towards the beach.
So, knowing they would probably end up here, I set up my hammock high in a tree and took a nap, waiting for them to arrive.
I had placed the pile of corn I collected from the corn field on the ground next to the keypad to secure the spot.
"Oi, Ayanokouji! What are you doing up there!"
Ah, the end of my short peace.
Time to face the exam once more.
Authors Notes:
This chapter was a lot of fun. I always thought there was more that could happen with Class A in the island exam, so not a lot more stuff will happen but they're gonna have a more interesting time. I'm pretty happy with this chapter and where this arc is going overall. Things are shaping up nicely as i write, so always a positive moment when things come together.
I do have many assignments due this week. I have written ahead a few chapters, so I won't be doing any more writing this week until the assignments are done, but that means I lose my buffer. It existed for this sort of event, but from now on I'm writing without chances to be lazy. Just a heads up, probably no deviations from schedule but anythings possible.
I gave Kouenji some development here. I'm pretty sure it's not canon, but I could see this as being a very real reason he is the way he is. Parental pressure is not something to joke about, so it makes a lot of sense to me.
I actually have my list of notes written this time so lets get started with the big news of the week for the fandom.
Spoilers here for anyone not up to date with light novels and spoilers before Y2V5, though I don't know why you'd be reading this when there's more canon stuff to read, so go read that now.
WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING TO MY QUEEN
Fucking hell if Kushida is gone I'm gonna be so upset. From this point forth I dedicate Chaoskouji to the memory of Kushida as a decent character, as unrealistic as that dream is. So much potential and such a cool character idea all driven down into 'haha expel everyone go brrr'. It's quite frankly upsetting, and while I can't judge until the volume comes out, if this is the end for Kushida it's going to be disappointing no matter how good the novel is, simply because she's been ignored as a proper character for so long. This brings me into the biggest problem I have with COTE, something I'd never thought about before writing.
There are way too many fucking characters. Anyone who's written a fic knows this, there's so many characters and almost none of them have gotten any development. Every single light novel introduces new characters, giving them a cool concept and depth, before they are degraded into a one focus sort of character without any depth. It's insane how many there are. Sure the early books are less interesting, but at least there's a clear focus on a few characters. It's ridiculous how many characters have been reduced to one facet of their potential simply because there's no way to have that many characters and make them interesting. That's why if Kushida is gone it's gonna piss me off. As someone who's written tens of thousands of words about her character, losing her after she gets zero development despite being the third? fourth? character ever mentioned (Ayanokouji Koueji Kushida Horikita i think is the order) is such a shame.
Jesus this is long authors notes. It's just stuff I really wanted to put into words since it's my biggest and only real problem with the series. It made me genuinely upset to see that image from the upcoming novel, and this is why. I just wanted to get it off my chest, and see if anyone else agrees with me. I'd like to hear other opinions on this.
As always, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for putting up with my rant!