The weekend passed and the last week before winter break was finally upon us.
Ike and his group gave me weird looks as soon as they got inside the classroom. It was easy to deduce why, but I'll have to wait until the end of today's classes before I can truly find out.
After the last bell, the teacher grabbed their things and walked out of the classroom. All of us were ready to leave too, but...
"Everyone, do you have a minute?" Ike raised his voice to gather the class's attention.
"What's the matter, Ike-kun?" Hirata asked.
Ike scanned the room, and apart from Kouenji who nonchalantly stepped out of the room while acting like he didn't hear anything, everyone was actually curious about what he had to say.
"Ryuuen reached out to us yesterday."
The reactions were immediate and the murmurs rose to a clamor.
A gashing sound of metal made everyone turn to a certain girl. She noisily moved her chair and sat back down which was a contrast to her usual elegance. Horikita Suzune made her stance clear. She was ready to listen.
Soon, everyone followed suit. Hondou and Yamauchi brought a Bluetooth speaker in front and placed it on top of the teacher's desk.
"I'll let you guys listen for yourselves," said Ike.
Everyone started to look confused. They thought Ike would talk about what he and Ryuuen had discussed. Of course, the smart ones thought that maybe Ike and the other two recorded the conversation, but they instantly rejected that notion after taking their usual stupidity in mind.
After a brief second, the Bluetooth speaker started producing noise. It made scratching sounds before footsteps were finally heard. Of course, it didn't take long until those footsteps stopped.
"I got the test questions."
Everyone instantly tensed up after hearing a familiar voice. They thought they'd never hear his voice again, but they were wrong.
"Kukuku, good work, Miyamoto."
The person who mentioned his name was none other than Ryuuen.
Suddenly, the mic started making static noises as if it was rubbing against something just like earlier.
"Hey! What are you-?!"
"Ohoho, what do we have here?"
Ryuuen's voice became much louder and clearer. He must've taken the bug from Miyamoto.
"H-How did you know-?!"
"I'm not dumb, that's why. Well, I'll be taking this for now."
"Shit..."
The mic made static noises before sounding a bit muffled once again. It seems like Ryuuen kept it inside his pocket.
"Damn it..."
"So? What about the other thing I asked you to do?"
Miyamoto answered with silence.
"I don't like repeating myself, Miyamoto."
"Tsk... Yeah, I picked a fight with Ayanokouji just like you asked. The whole class saw it happen. Even some of your classmates got to take a peek since our door was wide open. You can ask them if you don't believe me."
"Is that so? Don't worry, I believe you." Ryuuen replied before chuckling. "Kukuku... I wonder how Ayanokouji feels about you now?"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"He might think you're an enemy. I wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly wanted to expel you."
Suddenly, I felt some eyes in my direction.
"What in the world are you talking about? Expelling me over something like that is going overboard... And Ayanokouji won't do that, cuz' if he did, then the whole class would be in trouble."
Ryuuen audibly snickered.
"Interesting. Let's set the matter with you getting expelled aside. I'm curious about what you said. Do you really think Ayanokouji cares if your class gets in 'trouble'?"
"That's... what I'd like to think. I mean, he carried us to Class A, after all."
"Kukuku. Perhaps you're misunderstanding something, Miyamoto."
Miyamoto fell silent once more.
"I know how Ayanokouji thinks. To him, the rank system is just a game. It's all for his own entertainment. I mean, just look at him now. The moment you guys made it to Class A, he dipped and started lazing around," he declaimed. "Ayanokouji had already won. If he really did care about your class, he would've stayed as your leader until the gap was wide enough that Class B wouldn't be able to catch up until we graduate."
"W-Well... I guess you have a point."
"Oh? You're starting to sound convinced."
"It makes sense. You claimed that our class would just continue losing, and you said that Sakayanagi-san from Class B thought the same. And even though Ayanokouji helps out like a normal honor student, he doesn't seem to care as much as he did before..."
"Heh! I'm sure he wants to do even less than what an honor student does." Ryuuen's tone instantly went from relaxed to serious. "If I were you, I'd be careful about getting expelled by someone like him."
"Ugh... Well, I wouldn't have to worry if you didn't set me up like this! You just went ahead and made him angry at me!"
Ryuuen suddenly laughed out loud.
"Haha! The only reason why I wanted you to do that was so I could mess with Ayanokouji a little bit. It's not up to me whether he wants to expel you or not."
"Ugh, whatever. Ayanokouji won't be able to expel me. I mean, what can he even do?"
"Meh, who knows?"
"And, well... He shouldn't be that petty, right?"
"Petty? C'mon, Miyamoto. You're the third traitor in your class. And unlike Kikuchi and Mori, who Sakayanagi used, you're actually willing to work with me. He doesn't need to be petty to get fed up with snakes. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to expel all three of you."
"That's absurd...! And you don't know that!"
"That's right, Miyamoto. I don't know. Nobody really knows."
"Tch... Damn it."
Only a couple of Miyamoto's heavy footsteps could be heard before all the sound disappeared.
"..."
The class was silent. Some of them don't know how to react while others don't know if it was even necessary to react.
"I see. I get the implications, but that's where it all ends." Horikita gave her comment with a sigh.
"What...?" said Ike.
"But that's evidence right there," Yamauchi insisted.
"Evidence? What's the evidence?" asked Karuizawa.
"These are just statements from Ryuuen-kun and Miyamoto-kun. I don't feel like they could be considered as evidence." Hirata pitched in to defend me as well.
"It might not be solid evidence, but it's pretty suspicious how their conversation fitted with what actually happened..." replied Hondou.
"Miyamoto was working with Ryuuen, right? This whole thing could be staged," said Ken.
"I don't think so. That would mean Soshi knew that he was going to get expelled. Do you think he'd happily follow such a plan?" Hondou struck back.
"Well... No..."
"Ryoutarou, Haruki, we're not here to push this issue anymore," Ike asked his friends to stand down before facing the class. "Everyone, we're not here to make you go through all of the allegations again. Whether Ayanokouji was involved in getting Soshi expelled or not doesn't really matter anymore. We have no concrete evidence, and Soshi is not coming back."
"Then what's the point of all this...?" asked Shinohara.
"Well, we thought the class should know. It's not like Ryuuen told us to hide it, and even if he did, there's no way we're following that guy's orders..." Ike shifted his gaze on me. "But more importantly, I want an answer to certain a question... Do you care about this class, Ayanokouji? Soshi asked you the same thing, but you didn't answer him properly."
"Why are you asking such a thing, Kanji-kun?"
Before I could respond, Kikyou asked him a question instead.
"What...? Well, it's for the sake of the class, isn't it? I'm sure everyone wants to know as well."
Kikyou's clenched fists were trembling. She wanted to speak her mind, but doing so would most likely reveal some of her true nature and disillusion many people. It probably took everything she had just to not emphasize the word "you" in her question.
"Are you kidding me right now, Ike?" Kikuchi's voice reverberated inside the classroom.
His casual and carefree behavior was nowhere to be seen as it was replaced with the intensity he showed during his argument with Miyamoto.
"For the sake of the class? Seriously? Can you get any more entitled?"
Posed with such words, Ike glared at him.
"If you're saying that it's for the class, then that would include you, right? But why the hell would you give a shit if Ayanokouji cares about the class or not?" Kikuchi asked.
"Why? It's obviously because someone who doesn't give their all for the class shouldn't be--"
"Are you deaf, Ike? I asked why you and your friends would give a shit. Only a handful of people here are actually qualified to say what you were about to say. Why the hell would you care if Ayanokouji gives his all or not? Are you doing your best for the class? You and Yamauchi are the laziest students of Class A. Even after all the painstaking efforts that Horikita-san and Hirata had made to help our studies, the two of you still can't score a total of at least 465 points for eight subjects. I probably suck more than the two of you when it comes to academics cuz' I've been that way ever since I was a kid, but I didn't laze around this time. My overall score in the Paper Shuffle exam was 560 points because of that." Kikuchi paused as he observed Ike and the other two.
Seeing their silence, he continued.
"I would understand if the person complaining right now was Horikita-san or Kushida-san or Hirata or Yukimura. Struggling students like Sakura-san, Inogashira-san, or Sudou can also voice those complaints. Why? They're all doing their best for the class. They have the right to feel frustration if a classmate is lazing around." Kikuchi narrowed his eyes and scoffed. "But what about you guys? Are you taking your studies seriously? Have you joined any sports club to improve your athletics and contribute more to the class?"
The three of them averted their eyes.
"Thought so. Miyamoto was the same so he also had no right to complain about Horikita-san losing to other leaders. He got carried to the top by Ayanokouji and he couldn't stand the thought of coming back down. You guys are just the same."
Some of our other classmates were indirectly hit by his words.
"And even if you wanna complain about Ayanokouji stepping down, he's still contributing to the class more than all of you four combined, including Miyamoto. If the class is losing, it's certainly not because of them. It's because of people like you."
This time, it was probably an intentional strike at those who were guilty since Kikuchi used the phrase "people like you" instead of just the word "you".
"Ah, is that so? Well, I guess you're right. Sorry, Ayanokouji." Ike, who was clearly upset, replied sarcastically.
He tucked his bag on his shoulders and quickly walked out of the classroom.
"K-Kanji, wait!" Yamauchi glared at Kikuchi before chasing after Ike.
"Man... You really dug your claws deep, didn't you, Kikuchi? Well, what you said was right," Hondou sighed before bowing and facing everyone. "Everyone, we were wrong. We were not and will never be in a position to complain... But please understand where this came from. We're just upset about losing our friend..."
Hondou's simple but effective speech instantly garnered pity from the class. The backlash that they would receive, especially Ike, will most likely be reduced to a minimum.
"Um... Horikita-san had already said this, but I'm sure none of us here are not upset that one of our classmates got expelled..." Kikyou stood up in a calculatingly hurried manner. "But for the sake of the class, and hopefully, for the sake of Miyamoto-kun as well... I hope we can move on and become stronger!"
Responses and murmurs of agreement ensued. Kikyou smiled and thanked them in a very heartfelt way.
"Well said, Kikyou-chan. Then, I'll go ahead and chase after my friends now!" Hondou briskly stepped out of the classroom, leaving everyone behind.
"What a hassle," Horikita commented. "That's especially true for you."
"Being targeted is part of the job. You'll have to get used to it too," I replied.
This time, Kikuchi had cemented himself as another central figure of the class. He's not athletic nor is he gifted in academics, so a lot of our classmates can relate to someone like him more. As his influence grows, I'm sure the class will become even more formidable given his abilities in certain areas.
I guess my plan to use Kikuchi to deal with him in the future should be viable, after all.
Author's Notes:
Kikuchi:
Character: Kaworu Nagisa from Evangelion