Third Person's Point of View
ICHINOSE THEN TURNED HER HEAD to Axel and Kiyotaka.
"We've also been thinking about it for a while, if the VIP were in our class there's always the option of simply switching phones with them. Using the password to pass oneself off as the VIPwas also one of the things we thought of. But you see, there is a weakness in that strategy. It's the fact that a phone number exists. Even if you can perfectly replicate your history and apps, you can't do anything with your number. Once, me and Hamaguchi-kun tried swapping out SIM cards, however, the SIM cards we were provided were locked onto our specific terminals so even if we swapped it, we couldn't use our swapped SIM cards. That means if you've swapped your cards too, I wouldn't have been able to call you. It doesn't matter who switched phones with who, as soon as I call that number, I can easily find out who the real owner is. If I couldn't do this, I wouldn't have even come up with the plan to reveal our phones after all. Simply exchanging phones and replicating the history went perfectly this far, but you must have never expected that we would use the fact that the SIM cards are locked to specific terminals to check, did you?" She explained without batting an eye.
At that moment, the announcement that the 1 hour discussion period ends in five minutes came in.
"Shit!" Yukimura turned away.
"Too bad, Yukimura. That was a good try, though." Machida grinned.
"In any case, we've already determined that Ayanokouji-kun is the VIP. Machida-kun, promise me that we will aim for the first outcome together without betraying anyone. " Ichinose said.
"Naturally. Trust in me, let's go." Machida said.
Having been called by their friends, the three students of Class A were the fastest ones out of the room. Ichinose then turned to the others left in the room.
"The ones who believe will be saved, you know. I will never betray you. That's why I also want Class C to do the same. You just have to bear with it for 30 minutes."
Manabe and the others simply nod their heads in response. Yukimura glanced at Kiyotaka.
"I was a fool for following your plan. This is the worst." Yukimura muttered.
Axel on the other hand remains unfazed and just looking at the ceiling. No less than minutes everyone left the room, leaving Kiyotaka, Axel and Ichinose alone.
"Now we just have to trust everyone."
"Yeah. I suppose so." Kiyotaka said. Ichinose turned her head to the two boys.
"Ayanokouji-kun, you're quite calm. Aren't you worried? And Arison-kun, you've been really close with Ayanokouji-kun, you're not affected by this outcome?"
"Hmm not really...by the way..I'm sleepy. We're going back to our room, Ichinose-san." Axel said and grabbed Kiyotaka's hand and they going now towards the exit room.
"Hey, wait a minute."
Ichinose stops them by putting a hand on their shoulders.
"Who was the one that came up with this plan to swap phones?"
"Of course, that's Horikita." Kiyotaka answered immediately. With that response, Axel just looked away with a grin but Ichinose didn't see that.
"I see. Then please tell Horikita-san, that her plan was a huge success."
"Huge success? Don't you mean to say "huge failure?" Axel said with slightly disappointment in his face but Ichinose just let out a smile.
"You didn't expect us to have thought of the same plan did you?"
"Sorry for lying to you like that, even after we agreed to an alliance with you. Are you angry at us?" Kiyotaka asked.
"Of course not. We also started our own plan without your knowledge, so we're even."
"I see. Horikita will be relieved." Kiyotaka replied. After that they moved to leave the room.
"The important part isn't over yet." Kiyotaka turns around to face Ichinose.
"The important part?"
"You're bad at dealing with people, Ayanokouji-kun, Arison-kun. Indeed the SIM cards we're given are locked onto their terminals. But, there's a way to release that lock right? I asked Hoshinomiya-sensei to check but, it seems with enough points, you can unlock the terminal lock right away. That's what she told me. The answer that comes after a false answer is revealed. Most people will take that to be true. After Yukimura-kun, who solved the password to unlock the phone, was outed as not being the VIP. The moment that lie was revealed, the truth that Ayanokouji-kun is the VIP reared its head. And the fact of the SIM card sealed the deal. Nobody would suspect anyone other than Ayanokouji-kun now. But that itself is the real trap. I did say the swapping strategy is imperfect, but that was a lie. But of course, you need to make a double-layered trap for it. If this trap is laid out, the truth will forever be buried in darkness. There would no longer be a way to ascertain who the real VIP is with 100% certainty." Ichinose said and let out a sigh.
The real VIP student is Karuizawa Kei, who had swapped phones with Kiyotaka. Axel used his pointsbeside he almost a half million points to, he used that to unlock the SIM and transfer his number to the phone. He then approached Yukimura under the pretext that he's the VIP and swapped Karuizawa's phone with Yukimura's, telling him it was his phone.
"If Class D didn't have the VIP in it, what would you have done?" Ichinose then asked.
"Same as you. I'd tried to figure out who was the VIP amongst the classes, swap phones with them, and pass myself off as the real VIP instead." Axel explained.
"So it's out, huh?" Ichinose then started pulling out phones from her left and right pockets. One of them belonged to the VIP from Class B from another group, one of them from another student who wasn't the VIP from another group.
"By the way, this is just my prediction but if I go from the flow of today's discussion. The identity of the VIP is Karuizawa Kei-san. Correct?"
Having written that, she shows her screen. That was the 'betrayal' mail she was going to send to the school now. But before anything could happen, their phones and Ichinose's both rang at the same time.
The exam for the Rabbit group has now ended. Please wait for the announcement of results.
"Somebody betrayed us in the end, huh? It's either Class A or C, one of them." Ichinose nodded her head in understanding the situation.
"Why did you suspect Karuizawa?" Kiyotaka asked. Ichinose then faced Kiyotaka.
"The same reason as Yukimura-kun. Because she's been acting differently from usual too. She usually doesn't care about Ayanokouji-kun, but she's been looking at you and Arison-kun quite a lot, and she's been making faces at you more than necessary. But that wasn't proof that Karuizawa-san was the VIP either, so either way I wouldn't have sent that mail."
"Then why didn't you tell anyone about that? That way, the lie would have been revealed." Axel asked. Ichinose just laughed. Her smile right now was a deep and genuine one, the deepest and most genuine one they had ever seen.
"That's obvious, isn't it? A or C, if either one of them gets it wrong, it's still a plus for us. From the start, I had neither intended on clearing it together with everyone through outcome 1 nor betraying everyone through outcome 3. The moment the VIP wasn't in Class B, I had always intended to let another class betray us on purpose. I think the betrayer this time is from Class A."
"Machida..huh." Kiyotaka.
"No, no. It's Morishige-kun. He's from Sakayanagi-san's faction. He probably doesn't want to meekly obey the Katsuragi faction. He probably thought it was better to betray and just take the points, that would be about it? Ayanokouji-kun, Arison-kun, you're unexpectedly amazing. The conversation you just had with me, was made up on the spot wasn't it?" Ichinose giggled.
"If you're going to praise, praise Horikita. She just gave us several hypothetical situations and we obeyed her orders." Kiyotaka bluntly said.
"I'll be leaving then. It'll be bad if we end up breaking the rules." Ichinose said, smiling at the two boys. The two boys just nodded their heads. Before they left, they suddenly received 4 messages from the school.
"W-What does this mean?" Ichinose looked surprised.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.───
KIYOTAKA, AXEL, AND KARUIZAWA meet at the café. Karuizawa walks in as she is called out by the two boys.
"Sorry for making you wait." Karuizawa said as she sat on the seat.
"Sorry for calling you out this late." Kiyotaka apologised.
"No, that's fine. Ahh, umm...I was wondering if everything went alright." Karuizawa asked, Axel just nodded his head while sipping on his juice.
"It's fine. I'm sure the guys from Class A sent the mail to the school with my name on it." Kiyotala assured her.
"How can you say that for sure?"
"Isn't that because the paper you gave me meant something, Ayanokouji-kun, Arison Good work on the exam, the three of you. Mind if I take a seat?" The three turn their heads and see Hirata in front of them.
"Of course, Yosuke." Axel smiled, making Hirata happily sit beside them. Karuizawa shifted uncomfortably and looked away from Hirata. It is now 10:55 PM. In 5 more minutes, an email will be sent to all the students.
"It's almost time. Is Horikita-san not coming yet? Shouldn't we contact her?" Hirata asked.
"She's the type to always cut it close. We can afford to wait another four minutes." Kiyotaka said while shook his head.
A minute later, a girl with black hair arrived. "Ahh. It looks like she's here." Horita looked tired as she walked towards them. She then let out a heavy sigh.
"If I see this bunch meeting in front of my eyes like this, I can't help but sigh."
"So meanie Horikita. By the way, what's that behind you?"
"If you pay any attention to him, you lose. Just think of him as a ghost riding my back and ignore him that way." Horikita said and sighed, making Sudou let out a whine.
"Don't say that, Horikita. I thought you would be anxious during the exam period and I got worried about you, that's why I called out to you like that."
"You're in my way, get lost."
"D-Don't say that. I challenged this exam with my very best efforts, you know."
Horikita put her hands on her waist as she glanced at Sudo.
"Then do you have any confidence that you left behind a good result?"
Sudou nervously scratches the back of his neck. "I was only a step away from that. But it looks like someone faster than me sent the mail first."
'Good...he already likes Horikita. That's good Sudou.' Kiyotaka thought while he hummed in satisfaction.
Horkita then takes a seat in the last vacant seat. Sudou panics and quickly moves to pull over a chair from a nearby table.
"You're still in the way." Horikita remark.
"It's fine, right? I'm just going to listen to you. Also, don't exclude me." Horikita let it go as she began the discussion.
"More importantly, the chain of mail we got earlier."
"Yeah, I was also curious about that." Hirata said while nodding.
About roughly 2 hours ago, it was an incident that occurred just as the duo had parted ways with Ichinose. Four mails were sent to their phones one after another. The contents of those mails informed us of the end of the exam for several groups. The (Rat) group, the (Horse) group, the (Bird) group and the (Boar) group. All those groups had their exam ended by the appearance of a traitor.
"The (Horse) group is the one where the VIP was Minami-kun, right?" Suzune asks to check.
"Yes. In other words, there's a possibility his identity was uncovered by someone."
" I see."
Hirata hummed. "In the end, this exam. I wonder why the briefing was done with such a small group of people?"
"When Kouenji-kun sent the betrayal mail, the response from the school was immediate. If we assume that they reply as fast as an automatic response."
"The possibility that the mails were sent together at once is extremely high. In other words, it may be that it's one class responsible for all the betrayals." Kiyotaka added.
"It may have been that they timed their betrayal mails to let us know it was them who did it."
"Yes. I also cannot think of any alternative reason than that. And there's only one man who would do something like that." Before Horikita could continue, another voice rang out.
"As expected, you were here."
"Ryuen..."
Sudou stands up with a scowl. Ryuen did not pay him any attention and simply grabbed a vacant chair before sitting down next to Horikita and Axel who is not bothered by him.
"I thought I'd come and enjoy the results with you. Thanks for being here in such an easy-to-tell place."
"Yes. I chose this place especially so that even you with your stupidity would be able to find this place. Thank you."
"But even so, Suzune, Ax–"
"Arison." Axel corrected him, making Sudou hang his mouth open.
"Yeah, Arison.This is a rather large gathering for you. What's with the change of heart?"
"I was bothered by your persistent nagging. I was consulting them about it here." Horikita also said Axel nod with her statement.
"Don't give Horikita any trouble!" Sudou threatened.
" Sudou-kun..shut up. " Kiyotaka said.
Ryuen laid his head to his palm. "I thought you didn't have any friends that were actually friends. Well that's fine. The results will be announced soon. Did you get any results?"
"More or less. You look pretty relaxed "
"Kukuku. I wouldn't be out here if I weren't. It also seems like the same people from last time are here."
"Oh that's right. Last time during the results announcement after acting all high and mighty, you lost miserably. HAHAHA!" Sudou said and sent a mocking smirk.
And as if to match Sudou's actions, Horikta also looks down at Ryuen with a disgusted expression, while the two boys just observes the situation carefully.
"I can tell you who the VIP for the Dragon group is now."
"I'm sorry but you just sound like a loser at this point. The exam is already over and no one from the Dragon group turned traitor. It can only mean one thing." Horikita replied.
It would only mean that Ryuuen had finished the exam without realizing that Kushida was the VIP. That would be the undeniable truth.
"If you come to know my kindness, you'll be so grateful that you'll wet your crotch." Ryuuen laughs as though he were amused.
"Tell me then. Who is the "target" of the Dragon group?" Horikita said, making Ryuen smirked. And as if he were waiting for her to say that, Ryuuen raised his hand while laughing. He peeps through the gaps of his fingers like a beast, as if he were preparing to leap on the throat of his prey.
"Kushida Kikyou."
"Eh?" Horikita froze with a small, surprised voice. And also, Hirata from the same group seemed shocked too.
"I'm sorry but from the second day of the exam, I already knew that Kushida was the VIP of the group." Ryuen's smirk returns.
"This is a joke, right? If so, you could have ended the exam by sending the betrayal mail. But the exam didn't end like that. That means you only realized it after the exam ended through some other means, am I wrong?" Horikita asks with a suspicious tone.
"I just felt sorry for you after seeing you try so desperately to protect the identity of the VIP, then seeing you so confident, so relaxed and sure about your victory that you would even look down on others. That's why I led you on until the end." Ryuen said and shrugs his shoulders.
"How did you figure it out?" Hirata asked hesitantly.
"Unfortunately the answer to that involves you, Suzune."
"Me?" Suzune looked confused.
"I realized it from the movement of your eyes, breathing, movement of your mouth, your tone of voice and everything else about you."
"Stop with the jokes."
"Joke? Then are you claiming to know how else I would have known the truth?"
"That's...surely you heard that from someone else just now."
"He's not joking, Horikita.." Everyone then turned to Axel, who was oddly calmly drinking milk tea. Ryuen raises a brow of interest.
"Oh and why do you believe me, huh?" Ryuen smirked.
"You know what I know." He said, making Ryuen smile and smirked, he started to laugh and then looked at Horikita again.
"I understand your feelings of not wanting to admit it. But don't blame yourself for that, Suzune. You just picked the wrong guy to mess with. And besides, the exam was chaotic anyways. In particular, the ones you watched out for most were Class A. Relax."
"W-What are you s-saying you've done?"
"You'll know the answer soon enough." Ryuen replied with a grin on his face, making Horikita angrily look at him.
An email comes in at 11:00 PM and they all check the results, except Ryuen and Axel. Well basically Axel is just lazy so he just goes to Kiyotaka and sees it on Kiyotaka's phone.
Rat: Outcome #3. The traitor answered correctly.
Cow: Outcome #4. The traitor answered incorrectly.
Tiger: Outcome #2. The VIP's identity was not discovered.
Rabbit: Outcome #4. The traitor answered incorrectly.
Dragon: Outcome #1. The entire group answered correctly at the end of the test.
Snake: Outcome #2. The VIP's identity was not discovered.
Horse: Outcome #3. The traitor answered correctly.
Sheep: Outcome #2. The VIP's identity was not discovered.
Monkey: Outcome #3. The traitor answered correctly.
Rooster: Outcome #3. The traitor answered correctly.
Dog: Outcome #2. The VIP's identity was not discovered.
Pig: Outcome #3. The traitor answered correctly.
Based on those results, the increase or decrease in class and private points are as follows. "CL" and "PR" are used to denote "class points" and "private points," respectively.
Class A: Minus 200 CL; Plus 2 Million PR
Class B: No Change CL; Plus 2.5 Million PR
Class C: Plus 150 CL; Plus 5.5 Million PR
Class D: Plus 50 CL; Plus 3 Million PR
"Class C...is the top." Horikita murmured.
"Isn't it great, Suzune? Thanks to your misfortune, the Dragon group has gotten the unexpected outcome 1. Now, all the classes should equally receive a large amount of points." Ryuen claps his hands and laughs.
"If you bow your head before me and beg. I can tell you the answer."
"Who would do something like that?" Horikita resort and gritted her teeth.
"That expression of yours, it's pretty sexy." Ryuuen then takes out his phone from his pocket but before he places it on the table.
"You discovered the root of this exam and then focused on targeting Class A."
That statement made everyone stop, and then turn to Axel once again.
"How did you—know?" Ruen asks him with pure shock on his face.
"Well...pure luck." Axel grinned, making everyone shivered at his grin. There was silence. But then, after a minute, Ryuen starts to laugh.
"Man, you figured the fun part. Oh well. By the way, my next target is you, Horikita. In the next exam, I will make sure to especially target you. I will keep going until I have completely torn your mind and heart to pieces." He said and looked at Axel who was innocently looking at him.
"Ahem - and you. I'll take you and the mastermind together, so relax. Look forward to the second semester." Having paid back the debt from the island test, Ryuen seemed satisfied as he walked away.
Axel just sighed and sip again on his milk tea.
"I can still accept that Ryuuen-kun simply gathered information on Class A's VIP's. I can chalk it up to him having a talent we don't have. But how did he get the (Dragon) group's result?" Hirata opens a conversation.
"It's not that hard of a task. If you put your mind to it, it's pretty simple." Kiyotaka said with a sigh.
"What do you mean?"
"All he had to do was announce 'Kushida is the target' before the end of the exam. Of course, nobody would believe in the words of someone like Ryuen. Especially a group of gifted people like that group. But, the closing period alone is different." Kiyotaka explained.
"Even if you answer mistakenly during that window, there would be no risk. As such, even someone playing defense like Katsuragi would be tempted to vote. If there is even a 1% chance that Kushida really is the VIP, the first outcome would be most convenient to all of them after all." he continued, earning a nod on Axel.
"Then, we may face some hurdles in the future. He managed to do well in this exam; that much is true. But there's no guarantee that he will be able to repeat this in the future. In fact, your group actually won, am I wrong?"
"That's right. But don't worry about Horikita." Axel said with a smile. Then he looked at Kiyotaka.
'You have us.'
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.───
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hi! I'm really sorry for not updating. I just became very busy! But yeah! Here's the three updates haha. I finally finished the Zodiac Exam! It ended up longer than I thought T-T. Well, I kinda want to emphasise each word so that the reader can really know what is happening in these exams.
That's all! I will be working on the next volume! But please expect a slower update! I have many stories you see, and everytime I work on it I just have a writer block.
Anyways, thank you so much really! Thank you to all the people who voted and commented! And please you all can request a 'One Shot' or 'Character x OC' just give me a proper idea!
Thank you!