Chapter 4: Double Question

“You’re joking, right?”

The first thing out of Horikita’s mouth sounded very accusatory.

“Unfortunately, it’s the truth. Kouenji just ended the test for his group,” I said.

“Are you an idiot? Why didn’t you stop him? Wasn’t that your responsibility as his roommate?” she asked.

“That’s an impossible task. Besides, there’s nothing I can do about it now. No use crying over spilt milk.”

Kouenji’s treasonous act had circulated around the ship, and naturally the classes were in an uproar. Even though we’d chatted yesterday, Horikita wanted to meet face-to-face today. She seemed unconvinced by my words, because she was still shaking her head.

“When I see him next time, I’ll reprimand him myself. I’ll make him beg for mercy.”

“You already know that’s pointless, right? He won’t listen. He’ll just confuse you and waste your time. It’ll be a headache. For the time being, we should concentrate on our own groups.”

She’d keep blaming me for Kouenji because he was my roommate. I decided to change the subject.

“It’s true that my group is filled with troublesome opponents, but I’ve no intention of falling behind,” said Horikita.

She certainly had an iron will. Well, I supposed I would have to leave the matter to her. I had problems of my own, specifically with Ichinose and the others who’d been secretly sent by Hoshinomiya-sensei to spy on me.

“I was thinking. You’re a girl, more or less. I wanted to ask you something,” I said.

“I really don’t like the way you said that. ‘More or less’? I am a girl.”

Horikita had misunderstood what I’d meant. She looked disgruntled, and turned away from me.

“Oh, uh, that’s not really what I meant. I meant there was something I wanted to ask you, as a girl.” Since she’d probably get angrier no matter what I did, I cut to the chase. “I want information on Karuizawa.”

I’d planned to contact Karuizawa, but had never talked to her before. If Karuizawa ranked the boys in our class, I likely would’ve been last.

“You want to talk to me about Karuizawa?”

“Yes, exactly.” I nodded. “I’d like to know more about the people in my group, but it’s not easy. I should be able find out whatever I need to about the Professor and Yukimura, but I’m at a complete loss with Karuizawa. After the test on the island ended, Karuizawa invited you out to lunch. Right?”

“I turned her down, though. You know that. I have no interest in Karuizawa-san. If you want information on her, why not talk to Hirata-kun? If he’s helping you, you’ll be able to contact her easily.”

That was certainly true. Unfortunately, prior to the test, I had also passed on the opportunity to have lunch with Karuizawa. Hirata probably remembered that, so I wanted to avoid asking him about this.

“Do you think she’s the VIP? Is that what you’re worried about?” Horikita asked.

“There’s that. But more than that, I can’t understand Karuizawa’s behavior. That’s why I’m worried.”

“Well, isn’t that none of your business? Besides, her behavior isn’t logical. I think it’s a waste of time,” she countered.

“Horikita, I don’t think it’s good to write people off like that.”

“Write them off? What are you talking about?”

“You and Karuizawa don’t get along at all because you’re both willful, so you see her as nothing more than a nuisance. You understand that she may also have strong points, too?”

“She has strong points? I can’t really imagine any. Isn’t she just flawed?”

In terms of cooperativeness, Horikita was probably at the same level or even worse than Karuizawa.

“When you first see someone, you make judgments based on their appearance. You might determine if someone is cool or cute, for instance. Basically, you read people. Call it your first impression; that’s simple enough. Next, you learn about their inner self through conversation and seeing them in action. You’ll see whether they’re sociable, belligerent, passive, etc.”

Horikita crossed her arms, acting like my words were obvious. She waited for me to continue.

“But that’s still just as superficial as their outside appearance. Their innermost thoughts aren’t going to be immediately apparent from that. For example, take Kushida, Ibuki, or even me. There’s a difference between a person’s outer and inner selves.”

“So Karuizawa has some secret self?”

“Almost everyone does. They may not be aware of it themselves. You do, too.” Whenever she came face to face with her older brother, she exposed her fragility.

“I’m still not entirely convinced. However, I imagine you’ll learn more about her by spending time together,” she said.

Of course, that was easier said than done.

“So, what are Karuizawa-san’s good points?” Horikita asked.

“I still can’t really describe it, but so far I’d say it’s her ability to assume control. She can take the initiative. In fact, her position in Class D is unshakeable.”

However, in the Rabbit group, that part of her stayed hidden, which exactly why I needed to uncover Karuizawa’s true nature as quickly as possible.

“Okay. Let’s say for the sake of argument that you’re right, and she has that ability. What do you intend to do? Are you thinking of making her your ally, too?” asked Horikita.

While I thought about how to answer, Ryuuen approached us. “Hey, you two. Having yourselves a nice date in the shade? Let me in on the fun.”

He wasn’t with Ibuki, apparently. He drew closer to us, wearing a creepy smile.

“It seems like you have an awful lot of free time. Not that I care, but there’s nothing for you here,” said Horikita.

“That’s for me to decide. Well then, have you decided how to find the VIP?” he asked. Ryuuen sat down without bothering to ask permission.

“Whatever my plans may be, I’ve no intention of telling you,” said Horikita.

“That’s too bad. I wanted to get your opinion. However, it looks like you haven’t made any progress at all in your search.”

“That’s an interesting thing to say. Are you saying that you know who the VIP is?”

Ryuuen smirked slightly at Horikita, as if expecting her to express disbelief. “I’ve already started to discover the VIP’s identity. Would you believe me if I told you that?”

“No, I wouldn’t. You don’t have any support like Ichinose-san and Katsuragi-kun do. You only have enemies. I can’t imagine you have reliable information,” she countered.

“Well, you’re right that I’m not a professional friend-collector, but making friends has nothing to do with whether or not I can gather information.” He spoke like a teacher rebuking his student for not getting the correct answer.

“Unfortunately for you, I’ve already gotten a handle on the fundamentals of this test. Depending on how things go, Class C will win by an overwhelming majority.”

“No, you can’t be...”

No, what he was saying was probably true. The school always created tests with fundamental laws or rules at their core. That was true of our midterms, final exams, and even the test on the island. If you understood the logic behind those rules, it would be possible to win. This test was likely no different. He must have noticed that.

“It’s an extremely simple matter. All you need to do is find out what class the VIP is from. Then, your next move is to analyze the group,” said Ryuuen.

“I see. Anyone could think of that. But are they going to answer honestly? If the school has a rule that guarantees your anonymity, all they need to do is lie and gain 500,000 points, right?” Horikita countered.

Ryuuen appeared calm in the face of Horikita’s doubts. “You just have to make sure it’s a situation where someone can’t lie,” he said.

“Where someone can’t lie?”

“I take everyone’s cell phones. So if someone lies to me, all I have to do is check everyone’s email, one by one,” said Ryuuen.

“Are you insane? The school doesn’t allow that. If you were discovered, you’d be expelled,” snapped Horikita.

“It’s not really a problem at all, actually. I’m here because it’s not a problem. Do you get what I mean?”

It was a brute-force method that only he could pull off, because he was an absolute tyrant. If he forcibly looked at another student’s phone, then Ryuuen would be punished. However, even if Ryuuen rampaged through Class C, he believed no one would lodge a complaint against him. And if no one complained to the school, that meant they were practically giving him consent.

Ryuuen’s calm proved that what he said was true—that he was operating within the rules. His strategy was to forcibly lay bare all of Class C’s secrets. At any rate, if what he was saying was true, Ryuuen had identified three of the VIPs. That was a huge step toward completing this test.

It was comparable to a quiz where you could turn the page over and find the answer written on the back. If you didn’t flip the page, no one would know the answer, but if you flipped it just a little, you could spy the answer. In other words, Ryuuen probably knew the identities of every class’s VIP.

“Looks like you finally understand.”

“Yes. But you haven’t got the answer yet. If you had, you would’ve sent an email to the school immediately,” answered Horikita.

“Maybe I’m just playing around?”

“You don’t know when someone else is going to figure it out. You shouldn’t be so laid-back,” Horikita snapped.

She didn’t have any proof, but Horikita was probably correct. If he already knew the answer, there’d be no benefit to delaying the result. He should have ended it.

“Now, then. Suppose I’m about to reach checkmate?” he said.

“Ryuuen-kun. While you’re here, I’d like to ask you something. The test ended for the Monkey group yesterday. What do you think about that?” she asked.

“I don’t think about it at all. I don’t really care about small fry. See you again, Suzune.”

Ryuuen left. His parting words made me wonder if he planned on reporting back regularly. I flipped him off, and Horikita made a face.

“I don’t know how much of what he said is true,” she said.

While we kept silent, we peeked underneath the chair that Ryuuen had been sitting in. Under the chair was a single cell phone set to record audio. A single chat message had been sent to that phone. There was no sound because the phone had been set to silent. I couldn’t see everything on the screen because of the angle, but I instantly made out the words “Sorry for yesterday!”

Perhaps there was some kind of drama in their class? I didn’t want to court disaster by continuing to look, so I sat back up. Horikita quickly understood, took out her own phone, and sent me a short message:

If that phone is his, we probably shouldn’t say anything careless.

Well, she wasn’t wrong, but who knew what the correct answer was? This was difficult, but it would also be suspicious for us to just go silent.

“Do you think what Ryuuen said was true? About finding out the VIPs from every class,” I said.

Horikita looked perplexed for a moment. However, she seemed to quickly pick up on what I was getting at.

“I have to wonder. I can’t say I’m 100% sure. But...there’s a possibility. I don’t think we can keep up this test much longer, though.”

“Sounds like things are rough for you, too,” I said.

“I’ve got a lot of work for you to do. I need you to find the group’s VIP as soon as possible,” said Horikita.

“Easy for you to say. It’s not like I can find them.”

“I won’t expect too much from you. I just want information about the Rabbit group.”

Our conversation only highlighted Horikita’s capability and my incompetence. That way, suspicion would probably be directed away from me. At any rate, Ryuuen was using his own phone to try and find out more. He was looking for anything he could get.

“If you’re not expecting too much, I’ll do what I can,” I answered.

Without saying anything else, Horikita got up, walked to the elevator, and left. Should I head back to my own room? Or should I come up with a strategy to win the test? I left Ryuuen’s phone alone and walked away.

Eventually, I decided to head back to my own room. I could learn more detailed information about Horikita’s group from Hirata, more or less. Also, Hirata would likely approach this test from a different perspective than Horikita.

However, Hirata wasn’t in the room when I came in. I only saw Yukimura. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking grave.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

He was my roommate, after all, so I couldn’t just ignore him. Yukimura noticed me, but he didn’t respond. He sighed quietly and muttered something to himself.

“For crying out loud, why did we get stuck with this group? Why am I partnered with Karuizawa and Sotomura? We can’t win,” he mumbled.

“What’s with you all of a sudden?” I asked.

“Didn’t you hear? There’s a rumor going around saying that they use guidelines to create the groups. When I heard that all the superior students got grouped into the Dragon group, I knew it was true,” he answered.

So that’s what he was agonizing over. It was certainly true that the Dragon group did seem to feature the best of the best. Considering the conversation I’d overheard between the teachers and what Ryuuen had said, there wasn’t any doubt. Based on pure academic ability, Yukimura certainly wasn’t inferior to Hirata or Horikita. He was probably dissatisfied at being placed in the Rabbit group, which was stuck somewhere in the middle.

Yukimura didn’t use a certain person’s name, but when he looked at me it was clear he was thinking about Horikita. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help him. While I continued listening to him, I returned to my bed and laid down on my side. I thought I’d take a nap until Hirata returned.

Unfortunately, I felt a disagreeable gaze on me. Yukimura stared at me suspiciously.

“Ayanokouji. You aren’t the VIP, are you?” he asked.

“Even if I did deny it and said you’re wrong, what’s the point in checking?”

“Cooperation is vital in this test. We need to adhere to that. If we cooperate, we won’t lose.”

“I see. Unfortunately, I’m not the VIP.”

“Are you sure? You’re not being selfish and trying to hoard points, are you?” Yukimura seemed to doubt everyone as a rule, so this didn’t surprise me.

“I’m not the VIP. Can I believe that you’re not the VIP, Yukimura?”

“Yes, of course you can. I’m not the VIP. Neither is Sotomura, by the way.”

That was sort of like a secret handshake, a magic contract between allies.

“I checked with Karuizawa, too. She said that she’s not the VIP, but whether I believe her is another issue.”

Yukimura normally showed disdain for Karuizawa, so he tended not to believe what she said. He’d know the truth for sure if he checked her phone, but given that they had a tenuous relationship, that would be difficult. You could say their relationship was the embodiment of “good fences make good neighbors.” They liked to keep their distance. They wouldn’t flaunt their good fortune to one another.

Yukimura seemed satisfied for the time being, because he didn’t press the matter any further. I laid my head on my pillow and closed my eyes. I couldn’t really relax with someone else in the room, but it wasn’t too unpleasant. When I really focused on trying to make friends, I could be as adaptive as a chameleon, and it seemed even Yukimura was starting to warm up to me.

I fell into a light sleep, punctuated by Yukimura’s occasional sighs.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***