(Ayanokoji POV)
(Part 1)
The day after Karma and I were strategizing proceeded as normal - is what I would say if it weren't for all the talks about our battle against Nagumo going around.
As soon as Karma and I arrived in the classroom together, a bunch of our classmates approached us, most of them were from Kei's group. Karma said that they were at the restaurant.
They were all repeating the same questions:
'Did you guys actually challenged Nagumo-senpai?'
'Are you guys insane?'
As soon as they finished asking questions, I turned to suffering incarnate, who was whistling innocently beside me, while averting my gaze. I took my bag, which was filled with a bunch of books I was supposed to return to Hiyori, and a couple of rocks, and I swung it with a lot of force towards his head. He let out a scream as he dodged. The impact it would've made would have given him more than a concussion.
If I had a knife, I'd stab him right here, right now.
I did not appreciate this kind of attention we were getting, but we're too far in to get out of it.
Before we could provide an explanation, Horikita sensed my discomfort and interrupted. She asked them to leave us alone, as this shouldn't be made into a bigger issue than it needs to be. They all hesitantly complied. I thanked her by giving her a nod.
Kei then texted me to meet with her after class. I told her I'll do it as soon as I was done with my appointment with Horikita.
Horikita said that she wanted to speak with both of us in private after class. I told her we'll only go after Karma and I finish our dinner.
Some time later, some of us had our phone received a notification. Those that did received one of the special cards.
I ended up with the Trial Card, Horikita with the Half-Off Card, and Karma with the Bonus Card.
"I never thought I'd get a special card" I muttered under my breath.
This was troublesome. This card was bound to garner me even more attention. Additionally, it's a double edge sword. The requirement says that we need to be in the top 30% for its effect to be used, however not being the top 30% would prove to be a detriment.
It would probably be a wiser idea to trade it with someone, but not many were willing to risk the penalties that came with this card.
It's possible that Tsukishiro had given me the card in order to help force my expulsion, but given that the card can be transferred, that was far too weak of a strategy to pressure me. It would be more natural to interpret it as nothing more than the luck of the draw.
"You really have quite the string od bad luck, don't you?" Horikita called out to me.
"It's truly distressing."
"It would be nice if we could trade within the class freely, still, no one would probably want to hold on to the Trial Card even if we were allowed to."
She's not wrong.
After morning classes were over, it was now time for lunch.
Currently I was eating lunch with the Ayanokoji Group and Karma in the cafeteria. There were a couple of third years around, and some of them were looking at us.
"You guys don't seem bothered by it." Said Keisei.
"Bothered about what?" I asked.
"Well isn't it obvious? I'm talking about the third years staring at you two."
Keisei's pretty observant, so something like this was bound to get his attention.
"We just try our best to pay no mind to it. Honestly, acknowledging it might just make things worse." I replied.
Haruka frowned. "I don't like him. I don't like how he singled you guys out. Honestly, he should've just left you guys alone."
The others agreed.
"He may be the student council president, but that doesn't mean he gets to treat others badly." Said Akito, agitated.
"Don't worry about it." I said. "You guys shouldn't be getting yourselves involved. You might get yourselves targeted by Nagumo."
"Don't worry? How can we not, Kiyopon?" Haruka raised her voice slightly saying that. Luckily it wasn't loud enough to gather the attention of others.
"Haruka's right. I mean, who knows what he'll use that favor for."
Keisei has a point. Given that Nagumo isn't that at all too happy that I've gained Manabu's acknowledgment without even showing much of myself, he may try to use that favor to ruin my life here.
Well, given the circumstances, he won't be getting that favor from us regardless if we won or not. That, and my wish for a peaceful life was already compromised the moment Chabashira-sensei showed Horikita the results to my entrance exam.
"Hey, Kiyotaka, Akabane," Akito spoke up. "if you guys need help, don't hesitate to let us know."
"Yeah, we're absolutely not letting Nagumo-senpai humiliate you guys."
Keisei and Airi both nodded in agreement.
"Thanks for your concern," Karma says reassuringly. "but we brought this upon ourselves. No need for you guys to get involved."
More like you brought this upon us!
"Still though-"
"That's enough, Hasabe. Just promise us that you guys will do well in this exam. You wouldn't want us worrying about you guys too, right?"
She remained quiet for a moment before replying. "Well, sure. As long as you guys make sure to teach that guy a lesson."
Karma gave her a warmer smile than his usual kind. "Of course. We're not letting that blonde hindrance make a fool out of us."
The four of them laughed at Karma's nickname for Nagumo, easing the tension caused by his wager.
I might start calling him that.
"You sure have a way with nicknames, Akabane." Haruka compliments Karma.
"H-hey, speaking of nicknames. Wasn't there something we were supposed to do?" Airi, who had been merely listening and making gestures as a form of reaction to the conversation, decided to speak up with a bit more excitement.
The others looked like they were just reminded of something important. I already knew what it was. It's something we've been discussing for a while.
"Oh yeah." Haruka turns to Karma.
"Akabane, it's been some time, but we were thinking of having you be the newest addition to the Ayanokoji Group."
Karma stopped what he was doing. He looked surprised.
"Wait, what?" He didn't seem to believe what he was hearing. I then decided to speak up.
"Well we've been discussing it for a while. You've been taking part in these gatherings with Haruka and the others for some time now, because you hang out with me a lot."
"Yeah. We were thinking, why not just make it official?"
He raised an eyebrow, perplexed. "You sure you want me around in your group? You do know what I did to Koenji, and even Nagumo-senpai, right?"
"Actually." Akito chimed in. "Yeah, you could use some work on your behavior and you can be kind of scary, but when you're not being that, you're actually pretty chill to hang out with."
"Yeah, plus you've even helped me tutor Haruka and the others a few times. Thanks for that by the way." Keisei said gratefully.
"We'd like it if you can talk to us about movies some more..... a-and...um... yeah..." said Airi.
She actually enjoyed talking about movies with Karma quite a few times. Same goes for the others. For the majority of his time outside he White Room, he didn't have that many people to talk to, so he immersed himself with different forms of entertainment from different forms of media. Video games, manga, movies, anime, shows, books; he's quite diverse in a lot of today's pop-culture.
Karma thought for a moment with his head down. He then raised his head and gave his answer.
"Well, okay I guess."
He scratches his cheek, which had a tint of red to it, and averted their gaze.
"Uh... Thanks for having me in the group."
We all noticed the peculiarity in his behavior, and Haruka was the first to point it out.
"Wait, are you actually blushing?! Aw that's cute!"
Karma grimaced, and wide-eyed. "Shut up..." He said silently, but everyone heard it.
I guess they couldn't believe that the sadist would actually get embarrassed by kind gestures towards him. I was also quite surprised. I've never seen this side of him. It really just goes to show how much he's changed since leaving the White Room.
The others were laughing quietly. They were apparently enjoying this side of Karma. The same goes for me as well. Now I have something to get him back with.
"Since you're officially part of the group now, we'll call you Karma as well. Feel free to call us by our first names too." Said Akito.
Karma returned his gaze towards them, sighs and regained his composure.
"Well I do prefer being called Karma. That's what my whole class from my third year of Junior High call me, so yeah. In that case, I'll be calling you Akito, Haruka, Airi, and Ter-"
Keisei stops him before he could finish. "Actually, please just call me Keisei. It's the name my father wanted to give me, and it's also what he and these guys - minus Haruka - call me."
Karma looked a little taken aback, and thought for a moment. "By the way you're speaking, I'm guessing you don't have a good relationship with your mother then?"
Keisei looks down, unease starting to rise from the pits of his stomach after being asked that question.
Sensing his discomfort, Karma retracts his question. "No, don't answer that question. I won't press for anything you don't feel comfortable with. Just let me know if that's the case, Keisei."
Keisei raises his head to look at him. "Thanks for understanding, Karma." He said sheepishly.
Haruka then decides to ease the uneasy atmosphere.
"Well the others are gonna be calling you by your first name, but I think I'll call you Akane!"
Karma stares at her, and blinks slowly.
"Why?"
"Because Akabane starts with 'Aka' , and ends with 'ne'. So, 'Akane'."
"Uh, no that's not what I meant. I mean, why not just call me Karma like the others."
Akito chuckles in amusement. "That's just Haruka."
"She always gives her guy friends nicknames." Airi added while giggling softly.
Indeed. Even though she's been calling me 'Kiyopon' for nearly a year now, it still feels weird.
"Can't you just make an exception for me and call me by my first name instead? Akane feels like a completely different person."
Haruka just shrugs. "I gotta keep up the tradition."
Karma sighed, surrendering in defeat. "Well it's not like it's the first time I've received a nickname."
"You've had nicknames before, Karma-kun?" Airi asks.
"Mhm."
"What kind?" Haruka inquired.
"Ah, all sorts names!" Karma said excitedly as he clasped his hands together all excitedly.
He then began counting with his fingers as he lists of his many nicknames.
"Well there's: 'Demon', 'Delinquent', 'Sadist', 'Halfway-Chuunibyou', 'Semi-Senioritis', 'The Devil of Kunugigaoka', 'The Handsome Devil of Class E', 'The School Hell Hound', 'Sensei's Number One Tormentor', 'The Devilish Mathematician', 'The Honor Student Bad Boy', 'The Evil Genius', 'The Hospital's Number One Contributor', 'The Harbinger of Chaos', 'Spawn of Demons', 'The Evil Mastermind', 'Asano's Pain and Suffering', - "
"Okay, you can stop now." I cut him off. The others were just listening in stunned silence.
"Really? I still have a couple more." He said.
"I'd rather we not spend the rest of our lunch listening to every name you earned through infamy." I sternly said.
He crossed his arms, pouted, and turned his head away from me. "Hmpf! You're no fun."
After he stopped talking, Akito let out a faint laugh.
"Okay, I know I'm not supposed to be laughing because of what your reputation earned you, but you guys have to admit, it's pretty funny."
The others can't help but agree, and also started to laugh.
"Who gave you these nicknames, Akane?" asked Haruka amusingly.
Karma hummed. "My classmates of course. Sometimes my rival and his group."
Keisei raised an eyebrow. "Rival?"
"Mhm. It's usually me and him vying for the number one spot. He's the son of our former principal."
"Oh, that's why he's so smart."
"Well, he isn't just smart, Keisei. He's also pretty strong. He's fairly trained in martial arts too, but he lacks experience in fighting, so he could never beat me."
"I guess that makes sense, even if your reason for experience is because of your delinquency" Keisei said dryly.
Karma shrugs. "Hahaha! Yeah. He's still a slug though."
Haruka laughs. "You call him a slug?"
"Oh I call him many things!" Karma said excitedly as he, once again, begins counting with his fingers as he lists off every insulting name he gave his rival.
"'Slug', 'Bitch', 'Angry Gremlin', 'Princess Peach', 'The Principal's Lapdog', 'Big Tsun-Tsun', 'Closet Otaku,' - seriously the guy can't admit he watches Dragonball and Naruto - there's also 'Carbon Copy', 'Chihuahua', 'Sore Loser', 'Cocaine Eyes', 'Daddy Issues', 'Forever Second Placer' - he almost ripped my head off with that one."
The others were trying their best to muffle in their laughter, but as soon as he was done listing of the names he's given his rival, they all burst out laughing. I'd be lying if I said this wasn't at all amusing.
"I thought you guys were friends." Said Akito.
This caused Karma to flinch. "Friends is the farthest thing we'll ever be. Murder seems more likely."
"You guys really don't like each other, huh?" Keisei asked curiously.
Karma shook his head. "Nope."
"You know, Akane, your provocations and name calling are probably gonna get you in hot water one day." Haruka said.
"Meh. Add it to the pile. About over half of the guys from my old school probably want me dead anyway." Karma answered, sniggering. "Didn't stop me from taking the top spot though. There's an unspoken rule back where I'm from that the one who gets the top spot gets bragging rights."
Keisei answered with interest. "And I'm guessing you were the one on that spot, hence why they couldn't do much with you?"
"You bet. If you think I'm bad because I kept flaunting my wins right at their faces, then let me tell you, those guys pretty much made me look like a saint, before I was numero uno."
Everyone reeled back in surprise. "Wait, really?"
Karma nodded. "Well at least for me, there's a line I won't cross. It's kinda like with this school. The ones at the top tend to belittle the ones at the bottom. Before I ended up being placed in the bottom class, I was somewhere in the middle. I never really cared which class you were from. I treated everyone the same."
Everyone listened with interest.
"Then what happened?" Asked Haruka.
Karma closed his eyes and hummed in thought for a moment, most likely recalling his time in Junior High. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and gave a response. "That..." He closed his now empty lunchbox, and packed up. "Is a story for another day. I don't mind myself being late to class, but I'm pretty sure you guys do, right?"
Although he told me that he was placed in E Class due to his behavior, there were clearly some stuff that he left out. He probably didn't feel comfortable sharing it.
"Well, yeah I guess you have a point." Said Haruka.
Sensing his discomfort, everyone decided to just leave it at that, and let Karma tell his story another time. We then packed up our stuff, and left for our classroom.
(Part 2)
After school ended, Karma and I met up with Horikita in her room. She wanted to discuss our duel with Nagumo. Karma and I made sure to eat dinner first, as I didn't want to be subjected yet again to another one of her food bribery.
Right now we were sat around her table, as she was giving us a stern look.
"Ayanokoji-kun, Akabane-kun, you know why I called for you two here, right?"
Karma, in all of his glory, was the first to respond. "Is it to tell us that you got yourself a boyfriend?"
Horikita flinched in embarrassment. She tried her best to compose herself, but she was clearly annoyed by his attitude.
"No. Listen-"
Not wanting to have this talk, I decided to match Karma's energy, just this once.
"Did someone confess their love to you?"
Horikita looked surprised that I would go along with Karma's antics, however before she could say anything, Karma beat her to the punch.
"Ooh. Kiyo, maybe she's the one who wants to confess to someone."
"I-"
"Maybe. Who is this guy, Horikita?" I asked, cutting her off.
"No listen-"
"It probably doesn't matter who. Whoever it is, I, the best wingman of Japan shall assist you on your journey to love." Karma bows like a butler while saying this.
"No! I'm not-"
"Now, now Horikita." He wags his right index finger. "There's no need to hide it. If you want to confess to someone, all you have to do is leave flowers for him everyday on his doorstep. On Monday, leave an Agapanthus. Tuesday, a Strawberry Flower. Wednesday, a Peony. Thursday, an Easter Lily. On Friday a-"
"Enough, both of you!" Horikita snapped, completely fed up by us.
I actually wanted him to finish what he was saying. It may prove to be useful in the future for my dates with Kei. I'm always willing to try out new things for our relationship.
"This is no laughing matter!" She said loudly and sternly. "Could you both, stop playing dumb and please take this seriously?!"
We both sighed. Karma then rested his face on his palm and asked. "If this is about our duel with the Blonde Hindrance, then we have nothing more to say, other than he started it."
Horikita sent him a glare, unhappy by his disrespectful attitude.
I've been wondering for a while, but does glaring strain your eyes? If it does, how bad is Horikita's eyesight? She glares at people a lot afterall.
"If you're referring to Nagumo-senpai, then yes. Regardless of who started it, the fact that you still took it up and even threatened him with a fork is a serious issue."
Karma hummed. "To be fair, he invaded my personal space. I was just defending myself."
"True, you did, but you also accepted his duel, and even asked him to come at you like he wants you dead. Do you have any idea just how troublesome this is?"
I then decided to comment on that. "I did try to lecture him afterwards."
Horikita glances at me. "Of course you did. I don't take you as the type to want to attract attention, although your recent actions seem to suggest otherwise." She said with a hint of suspicion.
A reasonable assumption, however-
"In my defense, Karma made that decision without me."
Thinking hard on it now though, I may have considered doing what he did and conditioned a favor from Nagumo should we win. It's not like we had much of a choice. Tsukishiro's got us backed in to a corner.
"I'm well aware that you two possess immense capabilities. In the one year I've spent with you Ayanokoji-kun, I've seen what you can accomplish while remaining in the shadows. As for you Akabane-kun, you've demonstrated yourself to be someone who can go toe-to-toe with strong opponents, like Ryuen-kun, and Albert-kun. It's even thanks to the three of you that our class was able to come out on top last exam. However, this exam is against students from different years. I'm confident that you can take on Nagumo alone, but in this exam, he isn't your only enemy."
Although she knows that we'll have to fight students from all three years for the top spot, including our own classmates, she isn't aware of the special conditions put in by Tsukishiro. We have to be prepared for the eventuality that we'll be heavily targeted. The only ones who know this are me, Karma, the third years, and the second years. Well, they to some extent anyway.
"Look." Karma sat up straight. "It's not like we have much of a choice. You're well aware of the 20 million bounty on Kiyo here, right? Since we don't know when that'll go away, or if it will go away or not, that protection point would be useful for him."
Horikita is well aware of the 20 million bounty, but she doesn't know that it's been doubled, and that it'll go away if we win. Karma may have lied, but the protection point prize is certainly useful. It's enough to convince Horikita that we do in fact want to aim for it.
"Then let me ask you. Can both of you achieve first place?"
Karma and I looked at each other, before giving an answer.
"Although I don't like Karma making moves behind my back, I am serious in getting the top spot." I said.
"Same goes for me. If they really come at us like they want us dead, it might slow us down a bit, but we'll manage." Karma added.
Horikita pauses for a moment, then sighs. "It's not that I underestimate you both. It's that I just don't like how you two are being so risky here. You do know why Nagumo-senpai is doing this, right?"
"Because of your brother?" I pointed out.
"Indeed." She said as a matter-of-factly.
The man known as Horikita Manabu was not someone who was easily impressed. While he does not necessarily look down on others, he's not the type to openly speak highly about someone. He can give praise to those he deems worthy of it, like Sakayanagi, and even Katsuragi, but there is a level of respect that he reserves only for those that truly catch his eye.
Nagumo, the first person Manabu has ever spoken so highly about, wanted to see what was it about me that caught Manabu's interest. Because I hide my abilities, he probably doesn't see much in me, however my perfect math score, as well as my performance last exam has changed his opinion towards me. He was beginning to see that there was more to me than I let on. It also doesn't help that Karma and I have a history, someone else whom Nagumo set his eyes on.
For sure, things will only get more difficult from here on.
"Whatever's going on between you and President Nagumo is your own personal matter, however, you are still a valuable member of Class D. I don't want anything regrettable happening to either of you."
In other words: 'don't let yourselves get expelled. Class D won't be the same without you.'
These days, Horikita has been relying on me less and less, which is a good sign of her growth. However, she still has some flaws to work out. If she continues at this pace, someday she'll become a leader worthy of a challenge in the eyes of Sakayanagi and Ryuen.
While I've filled up some of the holes in her plans, she has been working tirelessly at the forefront to keep the class moving forward. Someday soon, I will no longer be needed to provide her with assistance.
"Don't worry about it." I reassured her. "If you recall what I said to you while we were on our way to the student council room, you should know that we won't let ourselves be beaten that easily."
I once told her that our capabilities were paramount, and no one could knock us over our the top spot.
Still, it's not like we don't lose. In fact, back in the White Room, we lose to each other all the time, just not to anyone else. It's how we've come to grow a mutual respect for each other, even if he can be pretty annoying.
It may have been years since we've last been a proper team, but we've been doing pretty well so far. Since we knew each other's way of thinking, it's not that hard to preempt the other's thoughts, and synchronize should the situation call for it.
Horikita hesitated for a moment, but decided to accept my response.
She sighed. "As long as you two take the top spot and be careful, I won't say anything more. Goodluck to you both, and show Nagumo-senpai why my brother praises you."
We both nodded in response. After some time, we both left her room.
(Part 3)
After our conversation with Horikita, Karma left for his room and I went back to mine. A few minutes later, Kei arrived.
Since we've both already had dinner, I only prepared some tea for the both of us. As soon as we both settled down, she addressed the elephant in the room.
"Kiyotaka, are the two of you seriously gonna go up against Nagumo-senpai?" She asked, concerned.
"Seems so."
"Well, I feel like if it's you, Kiyotaka, you can definitely win. You even have Akabane-kun as your partner."
"Aren't you getting a little over excited about this? Even with Karma by my side, securing first place won't be easy?"
"Well, I've seen what you can do! I'm confident that you alone could probably win, but since it's you and Akabane-kun, your chances of victory is pretty much guaranteed!" She said with unwavering confidence.
Well it's not like her assumptions are baseless. We did overturn the whole situation last exam, along with Koenji that is.
"Ah! I just realized. With you getting all the attention lately, and if you win this exam, it'll just make it harder for us to come out that we're dating!" Kei said while tugging on to her hair anxiously.
If word got out that I'm Kei's boyfriend after everything that's happened recently, it'll just paint her in a bad light. While we were at this topic, I decided to ask something I've been curious about recently.
"Speaking of, how are your friends taking the whole us being in a relationship thing?"
On the first day that Karma and I assumed command for training, it was revealed to some of her friends that Kei and I have been dating since the end of Spring Break. While it definitely came as a shock to them, I'm curious as to what they think now.
"Well, at first they found it odd. You already know the kind of reputation Hirata-kun has for himself. I mean, us together was probably the last thing on their minds, but your reputation has been improving a lot recently." She said joyously. "It'll probably improve a lot more depending on this exam."
"I see."
Kei and her friends were present when Nagumo challenged Karma, and by extension me. They witnessed what went down between them, and saw that this wasn't something to be taken lightly.
"There is one thing that was super hard to explain to them though."
"Which is?"
"Your relationship with the former Student Council President, Horikita-senpai."
"What did you tell them?"
"All I said was that you two became acquainted through Horikita-san. However, I'm pretty sure they knew there was more to it than that. By the way Nagumo-senpai spoke, Horikita-senpai has a high opinion of you. That wasn't something that got over their heads."
It's odd enough that Horikita Manabu and I were acquainted, but it was especially odd to hear that he acknowledges me as someone worthy of standing on the same stage as him and Nagumo.
Me, a Class D nobody, who has little to no presence until just recently, was acknowledged by one of, of not the best graduates produced by this school. Someone, who garnered so much respect, that he became student council president in his first year; and defended his spot in Class A for a whole 3 years.
News like this was definitely a punch in the gut for them.
She continued. "Even though they didn't buy it, I was able to at least convince them not to make a big deal out of it, and not to let it get around."
I'm pretty sure word of that would go around eventually, but the challenge by Nagumo was such a hot topic, that it drowned out my acquaintance with Horikita's brother for the interests of others.
"You're probably gonna have them coming up to you asking questions." She looked down meekly, and her voice softened. "Sorry. I wish I could have done more."
"Don't worry about it." I said reassuringly. Her apology was unnecessary. "It's not like you could erase everything that happened yesterday. What's done is done."
"Still though, it's not like you like the attention you're getting."
"While it's a bother, I can't remain incognito forever. Especially not with that red-headed devil around."
Although Karma gave me a push in order to show more of myself, Manabu's words are my driving force.
While living a peaceful life was originally my goal, was it a fulfilling one?
After asking myself that question, I've to a conclusion.
"You're already starting to get pretty popular, you know?" Kei said.
"I'm popular?"
She scoffs. "This part of you is something I really hate! For how perceptive you are, you're pretty clueless about a lot of basic social cues!"
Okay, that's pretty much true. I'm still learning about "normal", but I haven't quite reached reached the point where I can converse about trends and whatnot. I mean I can, it's just I won't be able to maintain it for long.
"You're not gonna argue?" She asked.
"I really can't." I said bluntly.
She hummed. "Were you sheltered your whole life, Kiyotaka?"
"Why do you think that?"
"Well... it's just... it feels like, even though you know a lot, you can be kinda clueless to a lot of things in the outside world. You know, like social norms or something."
Normally I wouldn't say anything to give away my past, but I'll at least indulge this question of hers without giving it away.
"You could say I'm sheltered."
" 'Could say'?"
"If I was completely sheltered, I wouldn't have met Karma."
This was mostly true. Although we were sheltered our whole lives - not counting the past 4 years Karma's been outside the White Room - it was a different kind from normal.
"But, Akabane-kun mentioned a time when you guys were in elementary school."
She's talking about the first time Karma ever crashed our dates. Honestly, that guy....
"Like I said, I'm not completely sheltered. Not in the traditional sense anyway."
Kei looked at me in confusion. "Not in the traditional sense? Alright, you're just making me even more confused. It's like every time I ask you something about your past, I end up with more questions than answers."
It's not like you would be able to fully comprehend the existence of the White Room.
Even if I let her know now, it would just put her in danger.
Kei frowned. "I wish you'd at least open up a little more. I'm willing to lend an ear if you're troubled by something."
I got up and sat down by her side. "Don't worry about it. When the time comes, you'll know. For now, please just have faith in me."
She lied down on her side, her head resting on my lap.
"Okay. But if you won't talk about your past, can I at least just ask something about your friend."
I gently stroke her hair. "I don't know if I can answer, but I'll see what I can do."
"When we were at the restaurant, when Nagumo-senpai mentioned he was willing to be on his life, Akabane-kun seemed to have taken great offense to it."
"It's like a flip switched in him. He went from being uninterested in the conversation, to...some sort of... killer mode or something."
"Did he say something when said switch flipped?"
She nodded. "Mhm. Something like, not taking too kindly at others who are willing to bet on their lives so easily."
If I'm reading this right, it seems that any mention of the word kill or anything related to losing a life triggers his and his former classmates' bloodlust. However, it still feels like something's missing. I haven't gotten the full picture as of yet.
Perhaps it's not the word "kill" or anything related to that that triggers their bloodlust necessarily, but rather how quick others are to gamble on their lives. Karma mentioned that, while they were taught assassination, they were also taught about life and the value of it.
In other words, they don't like it if others don't take the value of their lives seriously. Having had a lot of near-death experiences themselves, and even taken a life, the class of assassins know full well what it's like to put your life on the line, and how it's not something that should be taken lightly.
"Did something happen to him that made him like this?" She asked.
I hummed in thought for a moment. I can't exactly mention Karma's rather peculiar circumstance. "Despite his sadism, he does value life. He doesn't appreciate it if others take theirs so lightly."
"I can get that, but what causes him to act like that specifically?"
By that, I'm pretty sure she meant his - I guess - 'assassin mode'.
"He's not really the most open person. Whether he told me or not, it's not my place to speak for him. Sorry, but what I said is all you're getting out of me. If you want answers, I suggest you ask him."
She hummed. She most likely knows that she won't be getting an answer even if she asked him.
"I guess that's fine for now. You're just being respectful of his wish to not reveal secrets."
"Thanks for understanding, Kei."
She sat up, sat on my lap, and leaned back, resting her back against my chest. She turns her head outside the window.
"Even though most of the moon is still destroyed, it's still quite a lovely evening out, huh?"
"Yeah." I agreed. "Kei?"
"Yeah?"
"This exam, I'm probably gonna have you do some stuff for me. Will you lend me a hand?"
"Of course."
"By the way, this special exam does involve expulsion. If you are in the bottom 5 groups, you'll have to face that penalty. That's why you can't randomly choose who you group up with."
"Yeah. That's why, I wanted to group up with you, Kiyotaka, but because of your circumstance with Nagumo-senpai, I'll probably just get in the way."
She doesn't want to end up being dead weight and slow us down.
"Even if I don't protect you, there's still a way to save yourself, right? That is, to keep a deposit of the amount of private points needed to nullify the expulsion."
"That's true, but..."
Although a large amount of private points were required, as long as you had them, you definitely won't be expelled.
"That's true, but even if you do form a group of 6 students in the exam, you'll still need 1 million points to avoid expulsion, right? I don't have that much."
"How much do you have left now?"
"Um... 240,000 points.... E-even so, I'm considered to be someone who has saved up a lot recently!"
Not that I was making an accusation against that. Since I was in a similar situation, I was hardly one to assign blame.
"So you're short 760,000 points?"
Even though I won a lot of points from the last exam, due to my deal with Kushida, I had to sacrifice half of it. Still, I can provide the missing points to Kei if necessary. However, I'd like to reduce the cost as much as possible.
"Kei, you've got the Free Ride card, right?"
"Yeah. How much is that card worth?"
"Honestly, I can't say that it's a good card. Whether it's in a good or a bad way, the impact on yourself would be the least out of all the cards, as it's neither a card that rewards you for effort, nor a card that helps you if you commit a mistake during the exam."
Since you could only use it to bet on a group that you think would likely win, you could say that it's at the bottom of the list in terms of value.
"... Sure enough, that's true."
Kei more or less understood that from the start, and sighed in disappointment.
"Kiyotaka, your card is the Trial card, right? It's a card that has a strong effect if you win, but conversely if you lose it would be tragic... Ah, of course, I know that you'll have no problem at all. I wanted the Half Off or the Nullify card though."
For a student like Kei, it was natural that the relief cards feel more valuable than cards like the Trial card.
"It's not like there's no hope for the Free Ride card. There are probably also many students who think that the Half-Off card or the Nullify card is worthless. In their eyes, the Free Ride card also holds a certain value."
Unlike the Head Start card and the Bonus card, it wouldn't affect the students who were confident about their abilities; rather, it targeted the students at the middle of the pack who reckoned they couldn't win. Also, since most students were in the middle, it would be easy to find someone to trade with. However, cards like the Half Off card would be coveted by some students in the middle and students in the bottom. Depending upon the cardholder, even a worthless card could dazzle like a gold one.
"I have the points for you, but I'll still find a way to reduce the cost as much as possible."
"Eh? Reduce it... How?"
"There are many ways, but selling the Trial card is one way to get you the required points."
"But then, you'll have to give up the Trial card... Is that really okay?"
"It's more important to prevent you from getting expelled."
"Ye-yeah... Th-thanks."
After saying that, Kei blushed.
Soon after, our conversation shifted to the approaching summer vacation, and the room's atmosphere got more lively, but, there wasn't any further progress in our relationship.
Part 4
"Can I trouble you with something, Kiyotaka-kun?" Yosuke approached me.
"Is it about my duel with Nagumo?"
So far he hasn't asked me about it.
"Good guess, but no it's not it."
I can't say I'm not surprised, since that's pretty much what everyone's been talking about lately.
"Okay, what is it?"
"It's about Ike-kun and Shinohara-san."
Ah, so that's it. On my way here, I happened to witness them arguing with each other about groups. Ike wanted to group with Shinohara, however his attitude ruined his approach. She then decided to go with Komiya from Class B instead.
Even now, Ike hasn't been himself. After hearing that Shinohara would be discussing about their group with Komiya in the cafe, Ike may try to follow them. Depending on the situation, he might cause a scene.
Yosuke, the mediator, wanted to avoid that, so he invited me to come with him to keep an eye on Ike. I agreed.
On our way, we discussed a little bit about the composition of small groups. He thought of a plan to unite the second years against the third and first years in order to prevent any expulsions, but it didn't get anywhere.
As idealistic as this plan is, not everyone would be on board with it. Not only were we competing for the top spot for the class points, but everyone also has their own ideal groups.
"It seems like we can only form groups that leave us with no regrets." I said.
"Yeah..."
"You must've been invited by quite a few people, Yosuke?"
Yosuke was popular with both the boys and the girls, and was excellent in every aspect, so there's no way nobody has invited him yet.
"For me, I'd like to select 2 people from Class D to form a group. Instead of aiming for the top places, I'd rather fight to not get penalized."
It's the students of Class D that he should protect, not the other classes. That was the logical way of thinking. If the student was strong and popular, it wouldn't be a problem for the other person when they formed a group, but for the less powerful students, it would be hard for them to ask for help from
anyone else.
"Will Sakura-san be okay?"
Yosuke was worried about Airi, who was a part of my group and was last in terms of ability. For now at least.
"As of now, she's going to form a group with Akito and Haruka."
"Miyake-kun has good motor skills, so I feel the group is well balanced."
Although Keisei was left out, thanks to his mind, the other classes were trying to scout him for his brainpower. It would be a formidable group if he could choose students who could cover for his lack of physical ability.
"Still, her academics have been improving quite a bit lately, huh?"
True enough. Because Karma's been hanging out with us, even before becoming an official member of the group, the grades of the other members of the Ayanokoji Group have been improving a lot more.
Keisei may be a good tutor, but Karma's methods were both effective, and ruthless. It took some time to get accustomed to, but everyone got used to it, and were rather thankful since they got a huge boost in their grades.
Airi may be last for now, but her recent test scores were helping her close the gap between her, and the person above her. Depending on the outcome of this exam, she might even overtake them.
Still, test scores alone weren't going to be enough to help you rise the ranks. You need to be able to work with others as well. It's part of the reason why Keisei has also been trying to work on his tutelage method. If he can't improve on his physical ability, he'll at least work on being able to work well with others.
As for the others, the last exam showed the difference in skill between us. Airi may be meek, but she can be quite perceptive at times.
After all, she did make a guess that I might have been X at one point, though her reasons for as to why didn't really back up her guess all that much, which made it easy for me to deny it. However, I wouldn't be surprise if she suspects that there's more to me than I let on, especially since I have history with Karma, and our upcoming competition with Nagumo.
Everyone has different ways to motivate themselves for improvement. After seeing some of what I can do for the past few months, Airi probably wanted to do this so that I would notice her some more. Haruka, Airi's best friend, and mentor, is doing what she can to help support her.
"You can thank Karma's and Keisei's tutelage for that." I replied to Yosuke.
"Akabane-kun is quite something, huh? In just the few months he's been with us, he's really outdone himself."
True enough. So much so that he caught the eye of Nagumo. It's especially impressive when you realize he's from Class D.
"Indeed."
"But is it just Akabane-kun though?"
I turned to him asking for a clarification. "What do you mean?"
"I'm talking about the reason for Sakura-san's improvement."
Yosuke is by no means incompetent. He's definitely caught on to Airi's feelings towards me.
"It's still her choice to improve."
"Have you not told them about... well you know?"
Love is an interesting thing. It could either help a person rise from the bottom, or destroy and plummet them to their lowest.
If they ever found out about my relationship with Kei, will Airi use that to help better herself, or will it shatter her and undo all her growth?
"No. Now isn't the right time for that." I bluntly said.
"Do you not trust them?"
"That's not it. I'm just adjusting the time to reveal it when she's ready. I'm not the only one in this relationship, after all."
"I see. You're right. I'm just hoping Sakura-san takes it well."
She would most definitely not, but that's where the others come in.
"She has Haruka and the others to console her. Although things might get awkward between us, perhaps she can take this opportunity to rebuild herself."
"You have a point. What about you though?"
"Me?"
"I've been trying to avoid talking to you about this, because I don't know if you're fine with it, but it's about yours and Akabane-kun's battle with Nagumo-senpai."
So he's finally brought it up, huh?
"It's fine. Better talking about it with you than most other people."
Yosuke's probably one of the few people I feel fine talking to about this.
"I've only heard about through word of mouth, but I'd like to get the full picture, if you're okay with it."
"You're gonna have to be more specific."
I could probably think of different questions he's going to ask, but he'll need to break them down first if I'm going to answer them.
"Okay. First, what really went down between Akabane-kun and Nagumo-senpai the other day?"
"Do you recall last Christmas break when Nagumo approached us?"
"Yes, of course. The situation was pretty tense."
Nagumo's provocations that day made everyone uncomfortable. He really likes to assert himself as the one to lead the conversation.
"Then I suppose you should know by now about my acquaintanceship with Horikita's brother."
"So that race between you two back in the Sports Festival really wasn't a coincidence?"
"Well, you're half right. We didn't really plan that out. It was just something we thought of on the spot."
It was also part of my plan to lure Ryuen into a trap, though I also just wanted to gauge the elder Horikita in a race.
"Ever since that race, Nagumo has been curious about our acquaintanceship. Afterall, it is quite odd that the then student council president, who is known to be one of the best students in the whole school, happens to be acquainted with a student from Class D."
"I suppose I can't deny that."
"Nagumo's been doing some digging. As the Student Council President, he has access to exam results. According to Karma, Nagumo watched a recording of our last exam, and how me, Karma, and Koenji turned the tide. That and my perfect math score must have changed his opinion of me from a Class D nobody, to perhaps someone worthy of a challenge."
Nagumo's non-stop wins, and the Elder Horikita leaving the school have been boring him. His goal right now is to turn this school into a true meritocracy, but he's also looking for someone who could give him a challenge.
"What you three did truly was impressive, but is that all the reason for his challenge?"
He's quite perceptive. As expected of this outstanding man next to me.
"I suppose, to Nagumo, he didn't like how I caught the attention of Horikita's brother without showing much of myself."
In other words, there was also a feeling of jealousy involved. He, who has accomplished many things, was ranked lower than me, who hasn't shown much of myself by Horikita Manabu.
"I'm not gonna ask what else you're capable of, but can I at least ask how you two even became acquainted in the first place?"
Do I really want to tell him that we fought during our first meeting?
"We ran in to a bit of trouble early in to our first year. We just happened to meet by chance."
Well it wasn't a lie.
"I see. But how'd he know there was more to you than you let on?"
"In his words: 'intuition'."
Yosuke chuckled. "So excellence meets excellence then?"
"You're free to interpret that however you want."
Hi level of intuition is the same as Kiryuin's. It's both admirable and annoying. Still, I'm glad to have met him. If possible, I would've liked for him to stay here longer. I've become quite fond of our conversations, even if they were brief.
"By the way, can you-"
"Keep this between us? Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." He said reassuringly.
One of the reasons why I decided to indulge Yosuke a bit, was because he knows when to keep a tight lip. It's the reason why he hasn't told anyone about some of my involvements from behind the scenes, at least the ones he knows of anyway.
Yosuke and I talked about some other stuff, however, while we were going after Ike, a problem surfaced.
The person following us had been keeping her distance, however it seems like she wasn't making much of an effort to avoid being spotted by my. I get the feeling she'd been meaning to talk to me about something, probably about my whole ordeal with Nagumo. I could probably just ignore her, but it may become troublesome in the future if it continued.
"Sorry, Yosuke, but can you go on first?"
"What is it?"
"I remembered something I have to take care of. I'll be back in around 10 minutes."
"Alright. I'll call you if something happens."
Without asking any more questions, he disappeared into Keyaki Mall.
Shortly after, she decided to drop her incognito tailing, and just walked over next to me.
I then turned to her and asked before she could say anything. "What do you want Matsushita?"
"You don't seem surprised to see me. Did you noticed from the start?"
"I just don't show any surprise in my expression."
I'm not the only one she'd been tailing. Karma told me she'd been tailing him for a while now.
"So, what were you and Hirata-kun talking about? About Ike-kun, or about the uninhabited island exam?"
Matsushita, who was standing by my side, raised her head as she judged the situation.
"Is that any of your business?"
"It's not so much about me, it's about you. You're an important existence for us to get into Class A, Ayanokoji-kun."
She seems to have a high opinion of me, but what was her objective?
For how smart she is, she should know that flattering me won't get her anywhere, but I don't think she approached me for no reason.
"Don't be cautious. I approached you because I wanted to ask you something asap, since I might not get another chance to."
I see. Kei did say that Matsushita was with her when they witnessed Nagumo's declaration for a challenge. She also said that I might get bombarded with questions later down the line. This was probably one of those instances.
"If this is about mine and Karma's thing with Nagumo, then I'm not talking."
"Are you really gonna deny someone who went through painstaking efforts to follow you here just to get an answer?"
"Actually, I would." I bluntly said.
She frowned. "You're kind of cold."
"That's not it. I just don't want to talk about it."
"But, you.... actually never mind." She cut herself off before she could finish.
"What? What were you gonna say?" I pushed for an answer.
"Well... I just thought you were fine with talking about it since you told Hirata-kun."
Ah so that's what.
"Though, thinking about it now, I guess it makes sense you'd tell him since you're close, and he's also a class leader."
Unlike Yosuke, Matsushita and I never really got a chance to hold a proper conversation other than that one time during spring break.
"Well, since you know you won't be getting anything out of me, I suppose I'll be on my way now."
Before I could go, Matsushita stopped me.
"W-wait!"
I turned around to look at her.
"What is it?"
"About the Trial Card. Are you gonna keep it, or are you gonna sell it?"
"Good question." I answered vaguely. "I suppose we'll just have to see."
"If you are gonna keep it, it's a huge risk if you guys don't get in the top 30%. I know you and Akabane-kun are pretty capable, but if you guys want, I can lend a hand. I'm willing to cooperate. We're classmates after all."
I don't think she didn't have any good intentions, but the essence of the matter lay somewhere else. While suppressing my desire to hurry up and go to Yosuke, I turned to Matsushita, who was walking beside me.
"Did you judge that your odds of survival are the highest if you grouped up with us?"
".... So I've been exposed?"
Matsushita narrowed her eyes and smiled, raising the white flag early.
"I don't think it'd be difficult to stay in the top ranks if it were you. Even ifwe don't end up on the podium, we're bound to reach the top 30%. It wouldbe more dangerous if I put my friends first and make a half-assed group withthem."
"Even if it were possible, you do realize the risks of being grouped with me and Karma, right?"
Ordinarily, anyone who isn't confident with their ability wouldn't want the trial card, however, in her mind being grouped with us wouldn't be so bad. The problem isn't us holding the trial card, however. The problem lies in our competition against Nagumo.
"I was thinking that since the matter is between you three, I thought that perhaps he won't set his eyes on me."
No, you couldn't be more wrong. This was the exact same trick that Nagumo used against the Elder Horikita during last year's Mixed Training Camp.
"However, thinking hard about it now, I guess it's a pretty naive way of thinking, huh?"
"Correct."
"I was originally going to suggest us forming a large group during the exam, but I guess that won't work out well, huh?"
"No, it wouldn't. It would just place a target behind your backs by Nagumo. Just focus on your own group, and Karma and I will focus on our competition."
She sighed. "I see. Sorry for the bother then."
She was about to leave, but stopped herself. "Oh, by the way, are you guys planning on adding a third member by any chance?"
We had thought about it already. If we were to add a third member to our team, that person could only be a guy due to the gender ratio. That limited our options. To top it all off, they also run the risk of being targeted by Nagumo, and the first years. However....
"We'll burn that bridge when we get there." I said.
"I see. Truth be told, I still feel unsatisfied, since I didn't get the answers I wanted."
I suppose if I were in her shoes, I too would feel the same. Still, my stance remains steadfast.
"Ah, right. Here's my contact information."
Seemingly prepared in advance, she handed me a paper with her ID written on it.
"Alright, I've said what I wanted to say."
Having wrapped up the conversation without wasting any time, Matsushita turned around and began walking back towards the dormitory.
"Well, it certainly doesn't feel bad to have another girl's contact information." I muttered under my breath.
After wrapping things up here, I met up with Yosuke at Keyaki Mall. He briefed me in on the situation with Ike, Shinohara, and Komiya. From the looks of things, things aren't going well for Ike.
Komiya and Shinohara seemed to be having a nice time, while Ike quietly watched, depressed.
Yosuke and I discussed what we should do. We both agreed not to intervene unless Ike goes berserk and causes a scene. We then made the decision to conduct an investigation on why Komiya decided to invite Shinohara.
As soon as we were done discussing things, I got 3 notification on my phone from 3 different people: Kiriyama, Ryuen, and Karma. All asking me to meet with them at some point. I told them that I'm a little busy at the moment, and to just have each of our meetings set up at different dates.
Well, I'm gonna meet with Karma anyway, so I'll be meeting with him once my investigation here is over.
(Part 5)
After conducting my investigation on the matter of Ike and Shinohara, I shared findings with Horikita in the cafe, but she was rather indifferent. After some convincing however, she caved in. However, it was already too late, as Shinohara was now officially grouped with Komiya and Kinoshita Minori, both of whom were from Class B.
I then suggested that we meet up with Yosuke so that we would take measures to prevent Ike's loss of motivation. All three of us then decided to meet up later.
After discussing things with both of them, all three of us walked back to the dormitory. As soon as we arrived at the entrance, Karma, who was sitting waiting for me while playing his game, noticed us and stood up.
"You called for me?" I asked him.
"Yup."
"What did you need?"
Without taking his eyes off from his game, he replied. "I'll tell you once we're in your room. We wouldn't want any unwanted eavesdroppers."
Seeing as this was a private matter, both Horikita and Yosuke were understanding, and went back to their respective rooms ahead of us. As soon as they left and the elevator returned to the lobby floor, Karma and I both got on and headed for my room. Once we were inside, I decided to speak up before he can get too entranced by his game.
"This better be something important. Last week when you were here, you started spouting spells."
(Flashback to Last Week)
"Kiyotaka, will he not leave us alone?!"
Kei and I were in the middle of a date, when this red-head entered my room through the window, and has been bothering us for a couple of minutes now.
"Good question. Karma-"
"Yes, I'm Karma."
"Do you wish to leave on your own accord without this getting physical, or do you want me to toss you out the window?" I said sternly.
"Oh! The latter sounds fun!" He said, clasping both hands and putting on an innocent look, like a child who had just received a toy as a gift from his parents on Christmas.
"...."
Kei just listened, dumbfounded.
"Karma, you need to get out. You've been doing nothing except chanting spells, and it's disturbing Kei."
Karma sighs, and opens the window.
"Ah but before that." He clears his throat and does a pose with both hands out and his head looking up the ceiling.
"Sedah fo stosh krad eht lla yb nediaR eehsnaB eht driaB nomeD eht em evig ,mih yortsed eehsnaB eht ,lleh fo traeh nevow eht ni srednic fo tsettoh ehT."
<A/N: Just imagine this as Karma without all the static.>
As he finished chanting, he stepped out the window, and climbed back to his room.
"Ki-Kiyotaka! What's wrong with that guy?! This is the third time now!" Kei exclaimed, clearly disturbed.
I sighed heavily. "A lot of things."
"What the hell was he even saying?!"
"Not sure."
Next time Kei asks to keep the window open to let in some of the cool night air, I'm declining no matter what.
(End of Flashback)
"Oh don't worry this is different. I reckon you'll like what I'm about to say." He replied.
"Get on with it then."
He put down his game and looked at me with a more serious look. He then opened his mouth, and started explaining. Without me knowing, he had been conducting some investigations.
Interesting. Seems this wasn't a waste of time. Now how will this affect the exam?
<Author's Note>
Eyow! Done with this chapter. It's a lot less serious than previous ones, but hey wanted to try something a little different.
Also, a lot of it follows the flow of the Yr 2 Vol 2, but I've also jumbled up the order of some scenes to match what I was going for.
I would've gotten this out sooner, but I was busy with work, and finishing Crime and Punishment; I'm on page 440 out of 642. Story's getting a lot more interesting now btw. I also just bought a few more books: No Longer Human, The Invisible Man, and Inferno.
Anyway, enough about books. Next chapter should be the last before the exam proper, unless I decide to split it again, but that seems unlikely.
As for when the exam proper arc is gonna be out, I still have to reread it a couple more times to get a better gist of it. I have the action planned out, but I also want to get some scenes from the LN right. Not all, but just those that matter.
Anyway, enough said. I'll see you guys next chapter!