COTE V10 - Chapter 4 (Revised)

Brother And Sister

The third morning after the additional exam was announced.
The voting will be held on Saturday, the day after tomorrow. We will have to choose one of our comrades to drop out of school in a very short period of time.
The cold air seeped through my body when I opened the door of my room.
I walked out through the hallway and went down to the 1ST floor lobby, and there was Sudō who showed up from the staircase.
“Well, you are using the stairs.”
“Well, sort of. I think that it could be my workout, even though for a short time.”
Between his study and his club activities, perhaps Sudō has been leading his life like the most students the most right now.
We both remained walking side-by-side on our way to the school.
“I’m stupid and short-tempered, but I have greatly improved now. That’s why I absolutely don’t want to drop out of school.”
It felt more like he was partly talking to himself, rather than brought up the topic to me.
“I don’t mind if I was being hated by someone, for me to stay in this school. Do you think I’m wrong?”
“No, I think you were right. Those who strongly desired and wanted to stay in this school, tend to survive in this exam.”
“That’s right.”
After we arrived at school, I happened to feel a sense of discomfort as soon as I entered our classroom.
Sudō headed towards his own seat without noticing anything.
The atmosphere has changed. I’m not an insensitive type of person, even for saying bad things.
I sensed that the atmosphere was different from yesterday in some ways, at the moment I stepped inside the C-Class.
There was a familiar sight right in front of me. I was witnessing the daily routines in our class.
That’s right, I was witnessing the scene where friends were chatting and talking with each other happily as usual. That’s exactly why I sensed that ‘Something was wrong’.
My classmates should have been so cautious and restraining each other until yesterday. However, a strange sense of unity has been established amongst them.
“Good morning, Ayanokōji-kun.”
It was Hirata who called out to me.
“Good morning.”
I replied briefly and peeked at Hirata’s expression.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
I wonder if he didn’t notice anything, or he was pretending not to notice it.
Hirata looked me in the eye with the same expression as usual.
“No, nothing.”
“Really? Please cooperate with me as well today.”
Hirata, who has ended his greeting, headed towards those girls who called out to him.
However, the sense of discomfort that I felt was fading as time passed and the number of students increased in the classroom.
A conclusion can be drawn from it. I supposed we could say that it has implicitly shown the existence of a large group to face this exam.
And they have begun to reach an agreement not on who they will protect, but who they will get rid of.
There were only 11 people in the classroom.
Even 10 people if we excluded Hirata, the target person would be in a danger zone by itself, if all of these 10 people were teamed up and cast the Criticism Vote for someone.
The members were those guys, including Ike and Yamauchi. And then some girls who have some relationship too with someone like Ike and friends.
There’s a possibility that those who were presence at this moment, has teamed up as a large group.
But the strange thing is that there were also some of the group members who were led by Kei. I still haven’t received that kind of report from Kei.
“Good morning.”
Shortly after, Horikita has arrived at school as well.
Her attitude was the same as usual, but she was kind of looking at the surroundings for a moment.
“……What has happened?”
“Did you sense it too?”
“Yeah. Well, I feel a bit uncomfortable. Why don’t you go and ask them in person, if you are concerned?”
“I’d rather not. People said we shouldn’t look for unnecessary trouble, you know.”
At least it’s not something that we could try to confirm carelessly.
“Is there something unusual has happened?”
I sent a message like that to Keisei who has arrived at school earlier.
“I don’t know. However, I had the feeling something was different from yesterday.”
It seemed Keisei didn’t know the difference, but he had also noticed it was suspicious.
“Perhaps a large group has been formed. Our classmates are strangely calm.”
I sent a message in order to let him notice the difference.
Keisei, who received the message, looked at the surroundings, and then he looked at me.
“Indeed, you were right. Obviously the gloomy atmosphere has changed. I’m glad that you have noticed it, you know.”
“We will be sensitive to the changes in our surroundings, if we have few friends.”
“There’s a possibility that they have discussed about who they will get rid of, if they have formed a group of more than 10 people, right?”
“The student, who they have targeted, is quite in danger.”
“Well, I wonder who has formed the group…… Are we safe?”
Keisei, who felt so anxious, was conveyed to me through his message.
The more they increased their group’s number of people, naturally the more those students who aren’t too close with them will be joining their group as well in order to make up their group’s number of people.
It’s not easy to lead that group.
We stopped the messaging for the moment, since the number people in our classroom has increased.
We can continue this discussion during our lunch break or even after school.

1
At lunch break. I was chatting with the Ayanokōji group members.
Mostly it was about the additional exam, even though I said that we were chatting.
And obviously, the first topic was about the changes in this morning atmosphere.
It started from Keisei, who has arrived at school early, and he was telling to everyone about there was a sign that a large group has been formed in our class.
“……Well, I see. Indeed, perhaps I had a feeling that today’s atmosphere is also more cheerful than yesterday.”
“But it’s still in speculation phase……, right?”
“Well, that’s true. There’s no evidence either that a large group has been formed, and it’s not necessarily that they have even narrowed their target down to 1 person.”
After all, we only said that we could sense it that way from this morning’s situation.
“Do we to try to find out from someone about it right away?”
“Well, I wonder how. If we chose the wrong person, they should convey to their group leader too about us, who were trying to find out the information about their group. If that happened, there are fears that they will turn their target towards someone in this group.”
Keisei said that he only wanted to avoid that.
“We haven’t been invited to their group, but I suppose there’s a reason why only us who weren’t invited, right.”
If they have a large group, they can even invite anyone to their group other than the person who was their ultimate target. It would be an ideal situation to surround and corner 1 person with 39 people. However, it won’t be so easy in reality.
“Perhaps……, their target is a student who has a close relationship with someone among us?”
Haruka quietly stared at our group members and concluded.
“……Or…… perhaps someone in this group has been chosen as their target.”
“Don’t, don’t say that, Haruka-chan……!”
Airi was terrified, but Haruka’s remarks weren’t entirely a joke.
“Perhaps their movement to form the group had happened from the first day. And then they began to invite the comrades who they can trust, and I suppose that sign had just been revealed today, on the third day.”
I suppose Keisei’s conclusion was right too.
Their number of people was too many for increasing in one day.
We could say that they have made a move since the day the additional exam was announced.
“Perhaps they will get in touch with someone among us within today, if they are still going to increase their members.”
“For example, what if they decided to target someone among us as what you had said? If they threatened you and said they will make you to drop out of school unless you would cooperate with them…… what will you do?”
Unintentionally, but Akito has brought up a serious issue to all of us.
“That’s so obvious, we have decided to give priority this group, haven’t we.”
“For example, even if they decided to target you, Haruka, as the consequence?”
“That’s…… however, I don’t think that I wanted to stay in this school by betraying my friends. That’s why I will tell them my complaints, if they came to talk with me like that.”
Haruka responded that way to Akito, even though she was slightly hesitated.
“I’m also the same. I will never betray my friends.”
Airi nodded earnestly, even though she looked anxious.
“How about you? Keisei.”
Keisei who was silent, spoke out his true feelings a little while later.
“……Basically, I also agree with Haruka and Airi’s opinions. However, that way actually isn’t wise. We almost certainly can’t avoid from dropping out of school in this exam, if we are really being targeted. It sounds great if we said that we were expelled from school to protect our friend…… but it definitely will be painful for us.”
“That’s…… Kiyopon, what do you think?”
Everyone’s eyes were gathered at me.
Well, I should try to convince everyone to a certain extent, in order to unify our thought at this moment.
“I’m against that kind of way to make a complaint to them like Haruka said.”
“Then, are you saying that you would betray your friends to join in the large group?”
“No, it’s impossible that I would cooperate with the other party’s group to rid of my friend. However, we had better pretend to obey them on the surface. It’s not a good idea to act stubbornly when you thoughtlessly wouldn’t cooperate with them.”
We simply have to avoid letting our emotions alone take priority.
“We pretended that we would cooperate with the other party, and find out about how many people in their group who are going to cast the Criticism Votes at this moment, and who they are going to invite to their group next. We have to obtain the information about those matters. Am I wrong?”
“……Indeed.”
Haruka, who had been furious, has regained her composure.
That information won’t be given to us to that extent, if we turned down the other party’s request recklessly.
At that time, we would never know who the other party was aiming at.
“Even though we pretended to be their member, they wouldn’t know who cast the Criticism Vote for whom on the exam day, since it will be anonymous vote.”
In other words, we can hide what really happened from them.
“You mean that it will be more advantageous for our friends by doing so, right.”
I nodded to confirm.
“Besides, there’s a possibility that the mastermind who led the large group itself is a sharp-witted person, if they have enlarged their group quietly from the first day, and has a decent number of people on the third day. He/she has handled the matters cautiously and boldly, and didn’t even let us identify the person who they will force to drop out of school. Well, it seemed Hirata and Horikita also didn’t realize the existence of this large group.”
Horikita has faintly noticed it, but there was no sign that Hirata has really noticed it.
It’s not surprising even if the information was leaked, but they have secured it at critical moment.
“Well, I suppose they wouldn’t involve Hirata, since that guy stood neutral to anyone. He would have opposed it if they asked for his cooperation carelessly, and perhaps he would try to dissolve the large group.”
“Anyway, that means their leader is such a sharp-witted person, right.”
“You are amazing, Kiyotaka-kun, how you can even find out that kind of things!”
‘Pop pop’, Airi was clapping her hands with delight as if it was about herself.
“Well, that’s true. It wasn’t me, but Kiyotaka also, who noticed something unusual this morning.”
“I told you, right. We could sense something unusual unconsciously, if we spent too much time alone. Besides, it doesn’t mean that the large group’s existence has been exposed, it’s still in speculation phase.”
I was only continued our conversation, without any evidences whether it was really existed in reality.
“You mean that we had better be cautious, right.”
“However, it will only be a depressing conversation, you know. Do we have a little more cheerful topic?”
Akito said with a sigh while fiddling with his cell phone.
All the members shook their heads.
“I feel like that’s just impossible, even everywhere. We won’t be able to enjoy it, even though it’s something amusing, if we have to face some kind of reality that someone from our classmates will be gone very soon.”
Our anxiety continued to spark slightly, even though we were teaming up with our friends.
“When I thought that way, I’m…… anxious too……”
“You are still saying such things, Airi. You definitely will be fine too.”
‘Tap tap’, Haruka said while stroking Airi’s hair tenderly, in order to relief her anxiety.
“But……”
“If I had to say, then I’m more suspicious that it was me who was being disliked by the girls.”
“Well, I guess so.”
Haruka fiercely glared at Akito, when he nodded in approval.
“What. You said it yourself, right.”
“It’s fine for me to say it myself, but don’t you think that it was unpleasant thing if I was told by other people?”
“……I suppose.”
Akito gave in to her undeniable and reasonable argument.
It seemed Airi lost her self-confidence even more, after she was seeing that kind of situation.
“Haruka-chan is cute, even has a good sense of humor, smart, and ……”
“No, no…… I think you shouldn’t say about the first point at least.”
Haruka stroked Airi’s head to comfort her while she was being surprised.
“I suppose the girls don’t need for to worry so much. There are too many guys who attracted attention among boys.”
Keisei backed up Haruka too with the intention to comfort Airi.
“I think that it’s the boys who are in danger, you know. It’s pointless even if we behave earnestly at this moment, right.”
“Indeed, compared to the girls── Hey, it’s Hirata-kun over there, right?”
It seemed Haruka has a bit of a doubt while saying it. We all followed her gaze direction.
1 person was there, and it was really the figure of Hirata who walked without any spirit.
The guy who usually stood tall and has never stopped smiling.
However, we couldn’t sense his spirited impression from his face, even for flattery.
“Just as I thought, I guess he is worried about the exam this time.”
“Well, I guess. He looks like a different person.”
Both of them, who were seeing Hirata off, looked worried.
“Well, even though he doesn’t have to worry about himself who will be expelled from school. He is burdening himself too much, right.”
“Someone will be expelled from school this time. Well, although that’s inevitable.”
They were looking at Hirata with sorry sight in a certain sense.
1 e-mail delivered to me who was listening to such conversation.
Apparently, it’s not from the sender who I can ignore either.
“Sorry, I was being called out for a moment.”
“You were called out by whom?”
Haruka, who was curious, turned her gaze towards me and looked interested.
Airi looked at me too with anxious face.
It was Horikita. Well, perhaps it’s about the exam this time.”
“Ah, right.”
Haruka lost her interest as if she had realized something.
Perhaps she was recalling Horikita’s conversation with Ryūen a few days ago.
They saw me walked away and left the café.

2
The meeting point was on the school route, which wasn’t suitable for lunch break. It was a rest area, which was located on that route.
It’s different when it was in the Spring and Autumn, but nobody would like to go outside in this season.
“Well, I’m sorry for calling you out.”
“Not really. I’m sorry to keep you waiting in cold weather.”
“I don’t mind.”
The other party who met up with me was Horikita. However, that person wasn’t the younger sister, Suzune, but the older brother, Manabu.
“……Hello.”
Tachibana bowed her head slightly.
Tachibana still continues to accompany Manabu, even though they have retired from the Student Council.
Needless to say, it made me feel that their relationship now was different from the relationship between the superior and the subordinate.
Tachibana’s attitude towards me in the past was rather harsh, but today she was slightly modest.
Perhaps due to the incident where she fell into Nagumo’s trap, and has been forced to receive the school expulsion measure once.
“Well, I heard that the additional special exam has begun.”
“You are sharp-eared, you know. Well, but it will be over soon as well.”
“It seemed several of the 1ST grade students have already begun to consult with the 3RD grade students about it. However, I suppose there won’t be any 3RD grade student who could help physically.”
“Just as I thought, there’s no Senpai who could lend us the Private Points, right?”
“Well, I suppose it’s difficult. There are also some of the same special exams, which were held every year, but basically they have been arranged in rotation every 3-year or more. It was in order to prevent the current students from leaking the information about the exam.”
Just as I thought, it’s a reasonable course of action.
“And then, I suppose the number of the Private Points we had will influence the outcome in the special exam this time, which will be given to us, the 3RD grade students. We don’t have any Points that we can set aside for our Kōhai.”
I see. That’s the reason why Tachibana’s expression was unhappy. Her class was forced to spend the amount of 20 million of Points by her mistake.
Perhaps it will be a problem if that was meant as necessary funds for their special exam.
“I’m sorry. If I had been more reliable……”
Tachibana was driven by her own guilty conscience, and she bowed her head to Horikita’s brother.
“Don’t do anything unnecessary.”
“Ah, yes, yes……”
I wonder how many times she had apologized and was criticized by Horikita’s brother.
“What about your younger sister?”
“Suzune will never come to me.”
“The special exam this time has never been held before. I need someone who can give Horikita some advice.”
In fact, that girl has been struggling.
She even had got in touch with Ryūen in her struggles. But it was counterproductive as the result.
“In that case, you can take that responsibility.”
“It was an unreasonable request, you know. Horikita and I are a different type of person.”
“In my case, do you think Suzune and I are the same type of person?”
“At least you are better than me, right.”
“……”
A short moment of silence.
“Right now, that girl should have been forced to make a choice in her battle method after this. You are the only one who can guide her for it.”
“It was that girl herself who will make a choice for it, even if it was true.”
That’s true. Well, it’s not something that Horikita’s brother would urge her to do.
Originally, it’s Horikita Suzune, who should judge and decide it.
“Then, what do you want to tell me for calling me out?”
Well, since it’s not a good thing for everyone to talk in this cold weather for a long time.
Let’s advance our conversation, if he didn’t like the topic about her sister.
“It was about Nagumo. I wanted to ask you if there was any unusual development.”
“But I have a feeling that it’s not your usual self for going to all the trouble to meet up and talk with me, huh?”
“It was me who requested it.”
It came from the unexpected figure, and I have understood now why they have arranged this opportunity.
“Since I wanted to know why you were being acknowledged.”
It seemed Tachibana’s eyes were filled with such frustration.
Well, that means Horikita’s brother had accepted and responded to Tachibana’s request, no matter what her motive, so perhaps he considered that it would lead to Tachibana’s growth.
“Was I being acknowledged? Perhaps I had only done disrespectful things to Horikita Ani.”
“I know that.”
I was slightly irritated, when she responded to me so promptly and sharply.
“But…… I have decided to try to broaden my horizons a little bit. I couldn’t see that you have enough ability to be acknowledged.”
“What do you think? What’s your impression after meeting with Ayanokōji once again?”
“To be honest, I really don’t understand him.”
“Well, I suppose.”
What’s that conversation about?
Horikita’s brother also laughed softly, perhaps due to slightly unusual relaxed atmosphere.
“Unfortunately, I suppose we can realize Ayanokōji’s true value after we had graduated.”
“No, since I wouldn’t change, even after you graduated, you know.”
“I think so too.”
However, I have never thought that I was being called outside in cold weather especially for such matter. Well, but I suppose only means Tachibana was seriously traumatized, that’s all.
“Well, since Nagumo was obsessed with you. Don’t you think that he wouldn’t even care to pay attention to me? You should try to deal with him directly once, if you wanted to do it.”
But it’s not an issue worth to request to the guy who seems capable to graduate in A-Class very soon.
But anyway, I suppose Nagumo will definitely setup his traps. No, perhaps he has already made his moves.
“……Nagumo-kun has been keeping in touch secretly with the 3RD grade B-Class recently. I think that he has decided to fully support them, just like during the Training Camp.”
He wanted to defeat Horikita’s brother. Well, perhaps he has set his goal to drop Horikita’s brother to B-Class for it.
“Well, troublesome topic is endless. I truly wish to spend my time peacefully.”
“You can’t afford to ignore Nagumo’s issue like now, for the sake of the 1ST grade students can also spend their time peacefully in the future.”
Horikita’s brother was convinced that a dreadful situation will happen next year.
Nagumo will begin to act ruthlessly as he pleases, when Horikita’s brother who he should defeat has gone.
We could say that I will suffer some hardship, if I haven’t taken any measures at that time.
“I’m going to do what I can.”
I replied that way for now.

3
There were several incoming calls from Kei on my cell phone on that evening, when I came out of the bathroom after taking a shower.
I could sense that there was an urgent matter, since she had been making a call to me every minute.
I picked up my cell phone and tried to return Kei’s call while drying my hair hurriedly, but there was another incoming call from Kei herself shortly after, so I picked it up just like that.
“Hello.”
“Ah, it’s finally connected……!”
“Well, it seemed you are very impatient.”
“You said I was impatient…… Hey, something terrible has happened, Kiyotaka.”
“Something terrible?”
“I don’t know who has taken the initiative, but…… you were almost being forced to drop out of school by everyone.”
“I see.”
“You, did you know that, since you said I see?”
“No, I heard it for the first time. But I sensed it faintly that someone was being targeted.”
I really knew it now that the target was me.
“How could you be so calm?”
“Do you know how many people who are going to vote for me?”
“I don’t know exactly…… But, I think that about half of the people in our class have already agreed to it. It seemed they have threatened everyone and said that if anyone told Kiyotaka about this matter, that person will be targeted by them next time.”
Well, I suppose they would make 1 or 2 threats like that, since they wanted to entrap someone.
I see, perhaps they have controlled the majority of our class.
Well, even if the Praise Tickets from Ayanokōji group and 1 ticket from Kei were cast for me would be useless.
“Are you fine with it? You will be targeted by them.”
But of course, it was a topic if I announced to everyone about what I heard from Kei.
Well, I don’t know who it was, but he/she did a great job.
The strategy to target a specific person and force that person to drop out of school itself is simple, but it’s impossible to unify those votes easily.
Basically, since the person who proposed to nominate a specific person to drop out of school will be considered as a ‘Bad person’.
There’s even a possibility that the mastermind will be forced to drop out of school instead, if it was being heard by someone who was close to the student who was being nominated as the target, or the student who has a strong sense of justice.
There won’t be much people who opposed to judge a bad person, even though there would be some people who opposed to judge their comrade.
That’s why even those students, who are relatively sharp-tongued like Haruka and Akito, didn’t talk to us about taking the initiative to get rid of someone.
All of us have only decided to vote for each other, and gave our opinions about the candidates in our internal group discussion.
The mastermind who has targeted me isn’t afraid of the risk that he/she will be targeted to drop out of school.
“Hey, you will do something about it, right. I mean, I think you can do something about it, right?”
“I wonder. It was a troublesome situation, if half of our class has become my enemies.”
I haven’t entirely come out of the crisis, even if I gathered up around 10 votes of the Praise Tickets in total.
That group, who has been conspiring against me, will obviously cast their Praise Ticket for their own comrades.
I will be fully facing the danger of being expelled from school.
“I’m very grateful for telling me about it.”
“That’s fine, but…… seriously, what you will do.”
“What I will do, huh. I’m going to think about it from now.”
“Even you who seemed flawless, had been careless, you know, and perhaps you would have been forced to drop out of school easily without realizing anything, if I wasn’t there, right.”
“That’s the reason why I have you for the moment like this.”
“Ah, I see……”
I have ensured the competent person who could obtain the scope of information that I couldn’t reach, that’s why I can find out about my dropout crisis in this way.
“I will contact you again later.”
“Yeah, I understood.”
I ended the phone call with Kei.
I also wanted to talk a little bit about March 8TH circumstances next week, but I will drop that subject for now.
First of all, I need to find out why I was being targeted.
“Then──”
I held my cell phone tightly, and began to analyze slowly.
Well, I wonder who I should call, since that point would also have a huge influence in the future.
I should rule out the mastermind who targeted me, as well as his/her followers.
On the other hand, my situation would never change for the better, if I talked with an incompetent people.
“……In that case.”
I searched the phone number from the address book and made a phone call just like that, without contacting the initial person who I was going to call.
Let me finish what I should do first.
The phone call was connected after a short while.
“What.”
It was Horikita Manabu who answered my phone call in the same tone of voice as usual.
“I have something to tell you about the additional exam this time. It’s a very serious matter.”
“Wait a moment.”
I heard a sound of running water and waited for about 10 seconds.
“I was washing the dishes. Since it seemed it’s not the kind of conversation that I should hear through the phone speaker.”
“Well, I’m sorry.”
“It seemed some bad changes had happened, right.”
I have met up with Horikita’s brother during the day. Therefore, I suppose he had noticed it since I didn’t bring up this conversation.
“There was a movement in my class. They have formed a large group and trying to get rid of a specific person who will be expelled from school.”
“It’s inevitable that a large group will be formed from the exam content. So, who was being targeted?”
I suppose perhaps Horikita’s brother would have imagined her younger sister’s face.
“It’s me.”
“That joke wasn’t funny, you know.”
“I didn’t say some kind of joke. Around half of the people in my class have agreed to cast the Criticism Vote for me now.”
“Oh?”
“This guy, who said it, is in a huge crisis. That’s why I thought that I will try to discuss it with you.”
“Are you saying that even someone like you couldn’t do anything in this exam?”
“Simply put, that’s how it is.”
To be precise, that’s why I was trying to take a measure in this way now.
“What do you expect from me? But I think that I can’t help you in your exam, you know.”
“Indeed. There’s only 1 thing that I wanted you to do for me.”
I have a certain idea that I wanted to propose to Horikita’s brother. My next course of action will also change, depending on whether he would accept it.
“……I see. It’s like that, huh.”
“It shouldn’t be a bad thing for you too. You can use the incident this time for your excuse.”
“Indeed, otherwise, I couldn’t accept your request.”
“You don’t need to use that sort of influence as the former Student Council President. I didn’t even tell you to help me directly.”
I believe a student as good as Horikita’s brother, would have understood my intention, even if I didn’t explain to him.
“That means you had planned to fight with ‘That strategy’, no matter who was being targeted in your class, right.”
“Yeah. Anyway, I had planned to get in touch with you. I could also have told you in the daytime, but……”
“Since there was Tachibana at that place, right?”
Of course, I have known that she isn’t the kind of student who would tell it to other people, but I just wanted to make sure.
“What your huge crisis. You weren’t in danger at all from the start.”
“That depends on tomorrow. I would have to act aggressively without your cooperation. You have known well that it’s not a good idea for me to stand on the front stage, right?”
“……I understood. Let’s act tomorrow.”
“I’m grateful for your help. I will contact you once I have identified the mastermind.”
I ended the phone call with Horikita’s brother, and plugged the charging cord into my cell phone.
“The first one.”
I had planned to implement a certain strategy in this exam from the start.
The necessary actions in order to get rid of the unneeded student.
However, I suppose I have to increase the ‘Precision’ of that strategy, if I myself who was being targeted.
Next, I decided to make a phone call to Kushida.
“Good evening, Ayanokōji-kun. I had thought that perhaps I will have a phone call from you today.”
“In that case, I can say that you have known the situation, right?”
“Yeah. It seemed you are in crisis now, right.”
Just as I thought, Kushida has already heard the news that I was the candidate for dropping out of school, huh.
“You wouldn’t say that you wanted me to tell you, since we have a cooperative relationship, right? Since I will be targeted next time, if you leaked out this conversation to the outside…… you know.”
Of course, I suppose that’s not the real reason.
“Who had told you that? About that matter.”
Kushida was curious about the person who has told me the news that I will be forced to drop out of school.
“It was an anonymous person.”
“Humph. Well then, tell me 1 thing. What did the anonymous-san say to you?”
What the anonymous-san said to me, huh.
I remained silent without answering that question.
“Hey, since Ayanokōji-kun is smart. I think that you wouldn’t say it carelessly, right.”
“I failed to understand your point. What you wanted to know about.”
“For example, whether he/she told you about who was the mastermind. Or he/she told you about how many votes approximately we have gathered.”
In other words, the information Kushida wanted to know was located in those details.
She can narrow-down my informant by that alone, if she had told Kei that they have gathered up almost half of the total votes, but she told the other student that they have gathered up almost one-third of the total votes.
“We are reading each other’s thoughts, right.”
“No way, Kushida, are you the mastermind?”
“Hey, I wouldn’t do such thing. I’m the representative of peace, and completely neutral in our class, right?”
But it seemed she was in a position who closest to the mastermind, even if she wasn’t the mastermind itself.
I continued to talk with her.
“Well, I guess. If you were the mastermind, it’s not surprising even if you were targeting Horikita.”
“Ah, ha ha, well, you were right. That means you have contacted me, even though you knew that it was risky for you to consult with me, I suppose you are definitely in a difficult situation, but…… I wonder what you wanted me to do.”
“I want to know who the mastermind is.”
“There’s nothing you can do anymore, even if you knew it now, right?”
Kushida always observes the situation and shows an appropriate response. It’s not difficult to win her over to my side.
“Please tell me.”
“You are so honest, Ayanokōji-kun. But, since I can’t betray my friend…… I’m just kidding.”
Kushida laughed on the other end of the phone and giggled like a witch.
“Well, to be precise, perhaps I couldn’t tell you honestly about that, even if I wanted to tell you.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s regrettable news for you, but I’m the only one who knew the identity of that mastermind.”
“……It’s like that, huh.”
“As expected of Ayanokōji-kun, it seems you understood me, right.”
The mastermind in our class, who decided to make me to drop out of school, chose Kushida as his/her first adviser.
And it seemed he/she used Kushida to choose the people who weren’t close to me and has enlarged his/her group.
I suppose there are also some of our classmates who would be difficult to refuse it, if they were requested by Kushida who was deeply trusted by our classmates.
“I believe Ayanokōji-kun would be able to find out who is the mastermind sooner or later, right? So it doesn’t matter, even if I didn’t tell you now, right.”
“No, perhaps I will have a hard time, if I couldn’t hear it from you. Since I suppose the other party on your side also wanted to keep his/her identity hidden, you know. That’s why he/she had entrusted everything to Kushida, right?”
“You are so honest.”
“Since I believe Kushida probably has seen thorough my intention, right.”
I thought that I would try to get the information about the mastermind from Kushida, and my strategy was correct. But of course, it could also be a mistake at the same time.
“You handled it well, you know. Even though you would be getting involved in forcing someone to drop out of school.”
“Well, I guess so. It was quite difficult for me to act properly too, but if I refused the other party, would he/she think that I really couldn’t help him/her by my refusal? I would be in troubled if he/she spread a rumor such as I didn’t help him/her, even though he/she had asked for my advice.”
Indeed, it’s quite possible that the situation would be like that.
“I also decided to make a move by calling it as a bitter decision. I don’t want Ayanokōji-kun to drop out of school too, but I also can’t betray the trust of the student who has relied on me and wished for my help, I was in that situation, you know. Moreover, I guess he/she was also giving me an impression that he/she has known a little bit of my weakness. And then, it seemed someone has also spread the words such as that person will be targeted by us, if he/she betrayed us though.”
I wonder if Kushida could probably still remain neutral.
However, I was bothered by the fact that she had accepted to cooperate with the mastermind deliberately.
I wonder if 1 of her reasons for that was probably to protect herself too.
There’s a possibility that she couldn’t join in the group formed by that mastermind, if she refused him/her recklessly.
Or she thought there’s even a possibility that she would be hated by the other party and received the counterattack in return.
If that’s the case, she would take the mastermind’s side to control the group by becoming the main figure, even though she would bear some risks. That scenario would be reasonable.
The person named Kushida is the self-important type of person. And yet, she likes to be worshipped and praised by other people, and then dominated them.
She was the type of person who felt delighted about the people who seemed inferior to her.
“Could you understand? The situation I was put in. I can’t help you, even if I wanted to help you.”
It would be linked to Kushida’s mistake, if we could expose to the public about the person who was the mastermind. Well, he/she had manipulated Kushida splendidly.
“In that case, I don’t think I can force you to get the information about the mastermind. I’m sorry to call you at midnight.”
“Eh. You gave up so easily, don’t you think.”
“I shouldn’t trouble Kushida with my questions. I don’t think I can ask for your help on the matter this time.”
“Do you think that you can find out about the mastermind without relying on me?”
“I don’t know. I have no confidence.”
I retreated at this moment. I tempted Kushida to take a step forward and get closer.
There’s nothing I can do, if she didn’t take the bait.
Anyway, in my strategy, it doesn’t really matter who the mastermind is.
It would only be easier for me to carry out my strategy to progress slightly smoother.
“I wonder what I should do.”
However, Kushida had stopped without retreating. No, she had taken a step forward on her own.
“Ayanokōji-kun is my partner, right. Fine, I will tell you.”
In that case, I will sit back for the moment.
“……Why did you change your mind?”
“Since I thought that I wanted to see what Ayanokōji-kun will do to deal with it, I guess. However, I won’t forgive you, if it was me who suffered the damage as the result, right?”
“I’m intended to put a difference between a good person and a bad person in making an enemy.”
Kushida said ‘That’s good’, and I had a feeling that she was smiling slightly.
“It was Yamauchi-kun, you know.”
She has spoken out the name of the tentative mastermind.
I deliberately judged it as a tentative, since I still have no evidence to conclude whether it was true.
“I see, it’s Yamauchi, huh.”
“Well, you aren’t surprised.”
“Well, he is one of the candidates for dropping out of school. It’s not surprising for me, even if he took the initiative to take an action.”
“……Are you satisfied?”
Kushida’s remarks felt like she was testing me.
“I found some points that didn’t make sense after I heard the name of the mastermind. The student named Kushida isn’t a stupid student who can be manipulated that far by someone like Yamauchi. You should have refused him cleverly with vague remarks as much as you like. I suppose it’s quite risky for you to deliberately cover up the mastermind and devote yourself as his mediator.”
“So, you wonder why I didn’t refuse him, right.”
“I guess since you realized that the real mastermind wasn’t Yamauchi, but it was a student who stood behind the scenes.”
Kushida, who seemed happy up so far, dropped her tone of voice slightly.
“You even knew that.”
“Sakayanagi came to see Yamauchi before, right. Perhaps that kind of incident, isn’t it?”
The incident where Sakayanagi came to visit Yamauchi before the end terms exams had become a topic of conversation, even in C-Class.
I presented the evidence that seemed can be accepted by Kushida, except for my relationship with Sakayanagi.
“I was surprised at that time, you know. Yeah, that’s right. It seemed it was Sakayanagi-san of A-Class who was behind Yamauchi-kun for some reason. I wanted to avoid making an enemy of her, you know.”
“How did you know about Sakayanagi was behind him? Did Yamauchi say like that?”
“No, Yamauchi-kun kept it secret from me. But you have known about the range of my information network, right? A girl in A-Class who told me about it. She said Sakayanagi-san was trying to do something to C-Class by manipulating Yamauchi-kun.”
It was progressing very neatly. Given the situation, I suppose I should conclude that it was Sakayanagi who has also told Yamauchi to get in touch with Kushida.
Hashimoto of A-Class has a slight suspicion about my relationship with Kei.
It’s not surprising even if he advised Sakayanagi to exclude Kei, if they were going to form a group without being known by me.
However, in that case, they shouldn’t have pulled Kei into their group at the last moment.
In that case, I suppose I wouldn’t realize that I was being targeted until a few days later.
“Is it a coincidence that Ayanokōji-kun was being targeted by Sakayanagi-san? Or is it intentional?”
“Who knows. I believe that I didn’t have much contact with Sakayanagi. Well, perhaps she targeted the unremarkable student.”
“Is that so. Well, that’s true. In Ayanokōji-kun’s case, I suppose there would be no one who would even take the risk to tell you about it, except for Horikita-san, Sudō-kun, Satō-san, and Yukimura-kun and his group members, right.”
However, the situation will be different, if we said that the mastermind was Sakayanagi.
I wonder why Sakayanagi would deliberately come to tell me and asked me to postpone our match on the exam this time.
Did she come to crush me and would even break her promise to defeat me?
She should be aware that I won’t be her opponent in the next special exam, if she set traps for me this time.
Since the fact that she made Yamauchi gather the Criticism Vote for me would definitely violate our agreement.
In other words, what she had promised me itself was nothing but a lie, if she manipulated the Criticism Vote for me forcibly.
She pretended that our match was postponed to next time, but it was actually a trap she had set for me.
No…… As far as I can see, Sakayanagi isn’t the type of person who would be satisfied with it. In that case, how I should consider the chaos this time.
“You have been helpful, Kushida.”
“Well, make sure to deal with it properly, and try not to drop out of school.”
I ended the phone call and tossed my cell phone onto my bed.
“Well, I mean that whatever you were planning wouldn’t change what I’m going to do.”
Since I have known who the mastermind was, all I had to do was tell Horikita’s brother about it and have him to handle it properly.