"Would you like to join us, Mochizuki-kun?" Kushida cheerfully asked as I passed them on the way to the test location, Hirata nodded indicating the same.
"Sure, why not. Though I must say it's quite amusing to see you together."
"Ah, we were just discussing some things." Hirata replied.
"Hmm? And what might that be?" I asked.
Knowing him, he'll tell me right away. Probably because I'm a trustworthy guy if I say so myself. The problem is how Kushida will act.
"M—"
"Nothing special! We better get going or we'll be late." Kushida interrupted him.
Yeah, like I thought. She doesn't want me to get involved with the class. I can easily gain more influence if I learn about most of the internal conflicts.
"Just tell me while we're on our way." I suggested.
"Th—"
"Oh? Isn't Horikita there?"
Damn. she's not even trying to be subtle about it. Even someone like Hirata noticed something was wrong. Kushida went to Horikita. It went as anybody expected. I observed them until I felt the sensation of a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see a troubled Hirata.
"Do you...not have the best relationship with Kushida?" He carefully tried to put it on the best possible words he could.
"What makes you think that?" I inquired, not even surprised or angry that he asked just interested in what his thoughts are.
"Your actions are ...definitely antagonistic towards her. Perhaps something happened between you?"
I stared at him with an unreadable expression. My lack of response worried him.
"O-o-of course, it's just my assumption! If that isn't the case and I'm misunderstanding it, please tell me!" Panicking he waved his hands around.
"Nah, it's all good. You're right for the most part." I patted him on the back, reassuring him that the question didn't bother me.
"Then why...?" He muttered in confusion, which I heard.
From his perspective it doesn't make sense. Why would I, a fellow classmate, dislike Kushida, one of the most likeable people in the school year? There isn't an explanation that he can find so he decided to directly ask me. As the class leader he realizes that dissatisfaction, disagreement, and disputes will occur.
Since he trusts his classmates a lot he wants to prevent them before it happens, hence why he tries to resolve some problems prior to them becoming bigger. But when it comes to my case, he can't figure out why or how to resolve it as my behavior towards her. Normally when someone doesn't like someone else they either keep it to themselves or tell it to their close friends.
Although I don't openly say how I feel about her, my actions pretty much speak for themself. Hirata being the person he is became aware that my influence increased in the island exam meaning that if I ever decide to state my displeasure there surely will be conflict in the class. Yes, most of them will side with Kushida but that doesn't mean everyone will. The people will get divided into factions. Because if I ever do that I'll easily convince my stupid classmates.
Well, I doubt that he thought this far. Hirata most likely is worried about his classmate and wants to help him.
"Nothing important happened between us. It's mutual since she also hates me." I shrugged indifferently.
"That's very hard to believe." Hirata mused.
Seeing that Kushida and Horikita were finishing up their conversation, I quickly finished mine too.
"About that."
"There's a reason she's in Class D. Don't forget that also applies to you. You can trust your classmates all you want but know the consequences of blindly trusting them. That's my advice for you. Remember it or you'll regret it."
I lightly flicked him in the forehead to pull him out of his shock state.
"Y-y—I'll keep that in mind." He coughed nervously.
"Horikita will be joining us!" Kushida came back with Horikita.
I didn't expect her to join us. Noticing how Hirata was acting she slightly smiled. Tch, this bitch really likes meddling in everyone's business, huh?
"What were you guys talking about?" She innocently questioned.
"None of your damn business." The words I said couldn't be heard as Hirata spoke louder.
"It's about the exam."
"Is that so?" She tilted her head, not believing him.
"We better get going." Horikita sighed and started walking.
For once I'm grateful for Horikita's attitude. The only thing we have in common is not liking Kushida. Naturally, it's for different reasons.
"She's right." I said, catching up to her pace leaving Hirata and Kushida.
Hopefully she doesn't try to pry further into the topic. Luckily I didn't tell him anything important, just some of my humble advice.
"I'm surprised you actually joined us."
"I'll have to say the same thing about you, don't you hate Kushida?"
"For starters I don't have a stick up my ass." I shook my head as I didn't understand people who did.
"You never learn when to shut up. You're almost as repulsive as Ryūen-kun." Horikita touched her forehead in annoyance.
"So does that mean that you like me?" I teased.
"Huh?" She looked offended and disgusted that I even asked.
"That's why you should loosen up and be able to take a joke." Now it was my turn to sigh.
"That was a joke?"
"No. I meant your attitude as a whole, not just this moment. Now that you're the central figure of the class you should act like one." I explained.
"And why should I listen to you?" She glared, awaiting my response.
"Soon you will come to a point where you'll truly follow my advice. Once that moment happens I'll tell you the reason why." Those were my last words to her as I stopped talking to her.
"What's that supposed to mean...?" She whispered.
Soon we arrived at the second-level room with a nameplate that read "Dragon." The test had just begun, so the hallways were packed with students. Even so, it didn't feel cramped, most likely because the ship was so large. They went ahead, I stayed behind to pick up a phone call.
"What is it?"
"Nope, I have my own plans, I can't help you, Ayanokouji."
"I know, but if you really need it I'll be there."
I ended the call, not wanting to waste more time. I entered the room. There were fifteen people, excluding me, and all sat in chairs arranged in a big circle. Given only one seat being left, it's safe to assume that I was the last one to arrive.
The students I recognized: Katsuragi Kōhei, Ichinose Honami, Kanzaki Ryūji, Ryūen Kakeru, Kushida Kikyō, Hirata Yōsuke, and Horikita Suzune. The others who I know their names because I memorized them and are in this group but can't match face to name: Nishikawa Ryōko, Matoba Shinji, Andō Sayō, Tsube Hitomi, Suzuki Hidetoshi, Sonoda Masashi.
Students mostly divided into natural groups based on their class, but I sat a little further away, as if isolating myself. Then a voice came through the ship's loudspeakers.
"The first group discussion begins now."
A short, concise announcement. Naturally, no one was taking the lead. The silence wasn't awkward, rather they were waiting for the other one to make a move.
However Ichinose being the person she is, cracked a small smile and stood up.
"Your attention, please! I think we ought to introduce ourselves. After all, there are probably people here who haven't met before."
The reactions varied, in particular the one I focused on was Class A. Katsuragi had no intention to speak and seemed to want the other two to follow his example, though they ignored him.
"I'm Nishikawa Ryōko! Pleasure to meet you all!" stated a semi energetic girl.
"Matoba Shinji, nice to meet you all." spoke an reserved boy.
"Would you look at how 'your' class doesn't even listen to you anymore, Katsuragi." Ryūen smugly mocked.
"Couldn't be me." I scoffed.
I won't be leading a whole class but those few members I will order around will definitely listen to me. I will say that he's going through something. I've always converted my plans into reality. There only times I failed were due to me either not caring or an unknown factor ruined it which is rare. Even Kiyotaka struggles to match me in that aspect. And before someone disagrees I meant something else. People turned their heads in my direction. Since I didn't pay attention to it and chose to ignore them they continued with the introductions.
"Ahem, as you may know I'm Ichinose Honami. I hope we can get along! My classmates here are Kanzaki Ryūji, Andō Sayo, and Tsube Hitomi!" She pointed at them in the order she spoke their names.
"My turn, eh? Ryūen Kakeru, the master of these two slaves, Suzuki Hidetoshi and Sonoda Masashi." The other two students beside Ryūen meekly nodded in response.
Ichinose, worried about their treatment, was about to say something just for Kushida to begin speaking, which I found was on purpose.
"My name is Kushida Kikyō. Let's get along! The one beside me is Hirata Yōsuke!" she smiled.
"As Kushida-san said, I'm Hirata Yōsuke. I hope to get along with you all."
"Horikita Suzune." Reluctantly she quickly introduced herself in the shortest way possible.
"With a face like that you're wasting your
beauty." Ryūen sarcastically said.
Choosing not to respond she instead coldly glared at him making him smirk in amusement. As it was my turn I placed my elbow on the table and a fist on my cheek.
"There's no need for an introduction. You should all know my name by now." I voiced with confidence.
The irony of how the class leaders know who I am but every other student doesn't. Will they get what I mean?
Only Ryūen and Katsuragi got the hidden meaning, I actually appreciate it since it shows that people understand my cryptic bullshit aside from Kiyotaka.
"Sorry to break it to you but nobody knows who you are." Nishikawa straight up told me which garnered a few nods in agreement.
"No shit."
She gave me an annoyed glance which got followed by the other ones.
"Anyways, I'm Mochizuki Aito. I look forward to being your acquaintance."
I refrained from the urge to use my respectful and polite tone. I'm used to speaking like that due to being in the white room where you have to be respectful to the instructions or else you'll get punished. Some of them are very easy to annoy so I treated them with the attitude needed. It wasn't necessary but I didn't feel like dealing with their mood swings, the only reason I tolerated it was due to them teaching us. If it wasn't for that I would've clearly kept my distance from them.
I even went overboard when beating up white room students who I didn't like. Obviously when I had the chance to or they would've stopped due to all the cameras installed. To my delight, few of them never came back after what I did to them. I don't know whether they dropped out, got eliminated, or something else. Either way I could care less as long as they never showed their unsightly, disgusting selfs to me.
Now that I think about it, I helped tutor a lot of white room students for nothing. Most of them weren't there to repay me. Recalling the one who did it was Kiyotaka, Etsuko, Ayaka, Kanami, and five more who I forgot their names. Ah, I miss them. Too bad they got ruined by a place called white room.
If my expectations are correct, once they learn of Kiyotaka being here he'll order him to come back which I strongly doubt will go smoothly. So the next year we may see a white room product being enrolled to expel him. I know this is a far-fetched theory but you never know with Professor Ayanokouji. He may even send one of his subordinates to have a post at this school.
That's why I'm taking precautions and contacting Mashima-sensei since he appears to actually care for the students at this school, unlike a certain individual.
Speaking of said person, another reason I reached out to him was to restrain the authority that Chabashira-sensei holds over us. I can just tell Mashima-sensei what she's doing. Sure he won't believe me without proof though when I obtain enough he'll see that it's serious. Well, that will only be for use as a last resort. I like her quite a bit and respect how she never gave up on her goal. However, the methods and way she goes about it is something I can't condone.
Satisfied with the outcome Ichinose continued.
"There's something I'd like to talk to you all about. I'd like you all to assume that no one here is the VIP, and I'd like for us all to work together to clear the exam. In other words, I want to know if you think our best option is to pursue Outcome #1."
"That goes without saying." Nishikawa sighed.
"I agree! If we work together we'll be able to get the best outcome." Kushida supported Ichinose's idea.
"I recommend that we don't discuss things at all. It's a way to clear this test easily, and come out on top." Katsuragi spoke for the first time since the beginning of the test.
He probably knew that not speaking will have more cons than pros so he's attempting to pitch his idea in one last hope to convince us though he must know that even this is a futile attempt. Maybe if he was in a different group, unlucky for him with all these different personalities the chances are slim.
"Out of all the four possible outcomes the one we should avoid is someone figuring out the VIP's identity and then betraying the group. Whether they discover the VIP or not, we lose. If we change things around then there will be no consequences in the two remaining outcomes." Katsuragi said.
"I do see what you're saying. Our class points won't rise or fall much and we'd gain a lot of private points." Horikita understood the basics of the strategy.
Coming from a Class D student, they understood the benefits. Private points are a very essential thing in this school. Without it you can't buy the necessities. The different ways you can spend points is another factor why it's so valuable. Even for someone who won't use it in that kind of way, you still can have a comfortable life if you don't consider fighting for Class A.
"There's a problem. Think about it. The school wouldn't distribute the VIP's unfairly. The fact that there is only one VIP in each group is not that important. What's important is that all classes have an equal opportunity to produce VIP's. Otherwise, the test would be unfair right from the start." Kanzaki analized.
"It's certainly true that the school has made a point of emphasizing its commitment to fairness. If we believe that, then you'd be right." Hirata added.
I already have my suspicions for this test. One of them is how the group is split into twelve groups. There are four classes so logically speaking each class will have three VIP's. Picking up what Kanzaki was going to point out, Ichinose took it from there.
"Yes, if we assume that the class all have an equal number of VIP's, then I certainly think it's possible to earn a large amount of points equally across the board by holding no discussions. However, wouldn't that be unfair to the lower classes to make them throw away this chance?" Ichinose pointed out a big flaw with Kasuragi's plan.
"Being that you proposed this idea knowing well that you would come on top is commendable, I'll give you that." Horikita denied participation at what Katsuragi suggested.
His plan was to play defensively, almost like putting barriers. In order to pull off this strategy, he'd need the cooperation of everyone in the group, a difficult proposition. It was a really simple plan that anyone could pull off. All required is to not talk. You could say that this strategy was a way to break this test. The plan is a decent one but the one who'll be gaining the most is definitely Class A. They'll be earning a lot of private points and they will be able to keep their class points the same.
"Even if we follow this strategy of yours. That doesn't mean the rest of the groups will. Hasn't that shitty defeat in the island exam make you lose most of your influence over Class A?" Ryūen took this opportunity to rub some salt over Katsuragi's wounds.
"I don't see why we would agree when there are more viable options." I backed up Kanzaki's and Ichinose's counter arguments.
"And those would be?" Katsuragi raised an eyebrow at my words, telling me to explain myself.
As if waiting for this chance all along. Ryūen didn't give me the time to speak as he swiftly responded.
"Kukuku, I have a better idea." He smirked, gaining the attention of all of us.
"Knowing you, it won't be anything worthwhile." Horikita scowled at him, dismissing any chances of agreement.
"Not so fast, Suzune." Ryūen smirk didn't falter.
"I support the idea of working together to a certain extent, that is."
People were surprised, notably Ichinose. Who would think someone so uncooperative as Ryūen would agree, is the thought process of most people in this room. Nonetheless when they heard the last words of the sentence they knew it was too good to be true as they could already tell he had already started scheming.
"What do you mean, Ryūen-kun?" Ichinose who was puzzled at his words, asked.
"It's as you say none of the other classes will be gaining anything except for Class A. What should we do to counter it? Of course, we will all ally against Class A and shrink the gap between class points. Isn't that what you want?" Ryūen revealed.
"Supposed we agree, how would we do it? You have not told us anything that would support that you have a decent idea for once." Horikita was the first to speak, clearly criticizing him.
"That is one way to do it." muttered Kanzaki.
"I don't think that's the right choice." Ichinose, being unsure, spoke her thoughts.
"I still think working together for outcome #1 is the best choice." Kushida stated.
"You may have a point, Ryūen-kun. But I will have to decline." Hirata quickly denied it.
"While I do find your statement interesting until we get information, opinions, and options I'll be holding my opinion on this matter." I responded neither agreeing or disagreeing.
The reactions differed per class, Class A wasn't liking this situation a bit, Class B was reluctant to even consider the idea with the exception being Kanzaki who seemed to agree but didn't express it aloud, Class D was a strange case due to most of them not knowing what to do.
While it's a good suggestion, I don't think Ryūen is actually serious and is just trying to stir up some conflict. Being a person who doesn't care about making enemies on the spot it shows that he's willing to make an enemy out of Class A just for the sake of a bit of conflict. I'm aware that his attention lies somewhere other than this.
"That's too bad." Ryūen, still smirking, said, clearly showing that he didn't really care that we rejected it.
A/N
Okay, re read the rules for the test but forgot to read how the VIP is chosen. Yeah, I am a dumbass for not realizing that earlier. I will edit chapter 19 and re publish it to show that I fixed my mistakes.
So no, the mc isn't the vip, it's Kushida if I did the thing correctly.
There are sorted by the Japanese Gojuon Order. So it should be in this order: Andō, Ichinose, Katsuragi, Kanzaki, and Kushida.
And being that Dragon is the fifth in the Chinese zodiac sign, it should be Kushida.
Right?
If I'm wrong please tell me so I can fix it.
The introduction part was meant as a representation of how each class is operating. For example how Class A isn't listening to Katsuragi, how Class B is united, how Class C is being led by Ryūen, how Class D has Kushida and Hirata working together, Horikita although reluctant still helps, and the mc being a wildcard and not caring
How was the dialogue? I hope it was good enough!