"Oh, good...yawn...to see you, Ayanokouji-kun. Sorry, did my alarm
startle you?" she asked.
"Oh, no. Looks like you slept well."
"Ha ha ha, sorry about that. I just passed out; I slept like a log. You're
here early, though. Don't we have twenty minutes until the discussion?" she
asked.
"I should be asking you the same thing. When did you get here?"
"An hour ago, I think. I wanted some peace and quiet. Since my friends
are going in and out of my room, it's kinda noisy."
Apparently, this was the best place for a nap.
"Besides, I wanted to gather my thoughts," she added. Rather than
looking refreshed by her nap, she seemed struck by sudden inspiration.
"Any results?" I asked.
"More or less."
She stood up. Then, for some reason, Ichinose walked over and sat
down next to me. The two of us were alone in the room. The space between
us was shrinking. Even though I couldn't hide my nervousness, Ichinose
didn't seem to notice.
"There's still some time left until the discussion starts. Why don't we
have a little chat? If it's not a bother, that is," she said.
"Oh no, it's not a bother. I don't mind."
"Okay. To tell you the truth, Ayanokouji-kun, I want to ask you
something. I've asked all my classmates this question, including the boys.
But I've been thinking about asking the other classes for a while now. I've
just been kind of curious. Ayanokouji-kun, do you want to ascend to Class
A?"
I'd been wondering what she would ask me, but the question was
something surprisingly ordinary.
"Well, yeah. Of course I do. I've thought about getting up to Class A.
No, wait...I guess it'd probably be more accurate to say that I must aim for
Class A."
"Because of the guarantee of college or a career?" she asked.
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In our school, students from Classes A through D competed against
each other. The greatest privilege— being guaranteed to advance into any
school or career path—was only limited to those in Class A. Many might
think that sounded like a trick. The school pamphlet was rather ambiguous,
so the details were murky.
"Nowadays, you can't just enter college or get a job that easily. Jobs,
especially," I said.
"I think so, too. But don't you think placing too must trust in the
system could be dangerous? There's something about that 99.9% percent
they're not telling us. Something dangerous," Ichinose said.
Ichinose was referring to the "99.9 % college and job placement" rate
that the school touted. She had a point about hidden pitfalls. Let's say I
wanted to be a professional baseball player, but had no experience playing
the game. How would the school go about making me a pro? Even with their
professional connections, they were limited. And even if you did play
regularly in school, that didn't guarantee you'd go pro. Even if you graduated
from college or went on to graduate school, that didn't guarantee you any sort
of future. Really, only a fraction of people really managed to accomplish
what they set out to achieve.
Statistically speaking, only one of every six students can achieve their
dreams. At first, you might think that's a high percentage, but the data's
ambiguous and the statistics are fuzzy. Being a professional baseball player
isn't the same thing as becoming a top-ranked player. If you gathered up
everyone who qualified as a professional baseball player, including trainees,
you'd have about 900 to 1,000 people. However, if the dream is to play as a
regular on the team and take down your opponents on your first attempt, then
maybe a hundred people max could do it. Finally, even if you secured a spot
as a regular player, you must continue playing against your rivals, always a
linchpin for the team.
In other words, no matter what you chose, it's unlikely you'd achieve
your dream. And it's an extremely difficult thing to do. Many students just
continue boring, tedious lives, with vague lip service paid to dreams as the
years pass. To actually achieve a dream requires a lot of effort and luck.
"But this school... Well, it does have an incredible amount of
influence, right? Most people who get anywhere in life succeed because
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someone influential helps them. Or are you not interested in that, Ichinose?"
"No, I'm not saying that. I want to graduate from Class A. I have a
dream I want to make real," she answered.
Even though she was smiling, her eyes were unwavering and serious.
"The school system's all well and good, but if you can't graduate from
Class A, it's a mark of failure. This school is all about ability, and if your
abilities can't carry you here, it's unlikely you'll ever be labeled an elite.
Students are ranked based on perceived superiority or inferiority. Right now,
between the two of us, Ayanokouji-kun, only one can achieve their dream.
Ah, but then again, we could both lose out on our goals."
Even though we were chatting like friends, only one of us could win.
"You've heard there are exceptions to the rules, though."
"Hmm? You mean when someone manages to accumulate twenty
million points?"
"Yeah. There hasn't been a single student in the school's history who's
successfully pulled that off, but it is theoretically possible."
"Oh yeah, for sure. I suppose if we factor that in, it's possible for both
of us to graduate from Class A," she replied.
"Be that as it may, whether or not you can really earn twenty million
points is another problem. Even if you score well on the exams and save your
points, it probably wouldn't be enough," I said.
Going by this test alone, it seemed possible to earn a great number of
points, depending on how hard you worked, but we'd only had two such
exams. From this point forward, it was possible that the number of such tests
would be reduced, and the chances of being penalized could increase.
"That's true. Even if you're extremely economical, it's unlikely
someone could manage to save even half that amount," Ichinose mused.
"Yeah. Class D's financial situation is especially awful. Even though
Horikita's trying her hardest, the points from the island test have yet to be
deposited. Actually, it's entirely possible we'll lose them in this test," I said.
"Are you a thrifty person, Ichinose? You don't strike me as someone
struggling to get by."
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"Hmm, I wonder about that. Personally, I'll use points sometimes and
save them sometimes, just like anyone else would. Even though I'm in Class
B, I don't really have that many points saved." Ichinose responded to my
question with ease. I didn't see any indication she was hiding something from
me, but...
"Ayanokouji-kun."
"Hmm?"
Ichinose suddenly turned toward me. She looked me right in the face.
"It seems like you saw it, a while back," she remarked.
I couldn't look away from her beautiful eyes. It was almost as if they
were drawing me in. Ichinose was even cleverer than I'd imagined. I guess
she'd seen right through my plans.
"Sorry. When you were using your phone earlier, I just happened to
look at the screen. I was a little curious, so I was thinking of asking you about
it."
"Ha ha, you don't need to feel guilty or anything. It's not like I'm
blaming you. I mean, it certainly is a lot of points, right?"
Yeah, it was. Before the first semester had ended, Ichinose had already
amassed an insane amount of points. Even if I saved all the class points that
were doled out on the first of every month and didn't spend a single one, I
still wouldn't have been able to save that many.
"But I can't really give you any details. Sorry," she added.
"No need to apologize."
"Of course, if you did manage to obtain that information, Ayanokouji-
kun, and even if you shared it with Horikita-san, you wouldn't go blabbing to
everyone, would you? I mean, even though you saw my phone, if someone
else decided to ask about it, you wouldn't tell, right?"
"I don't plan on telling anyone else. Besides, I might've been mistaken.
I won't pry."
Even if I did pry, it wasn't like I'd get a satisfactory answer.
"Have you found a way to win this thing?" I asked.
"Hmm, I think so. At least, I think I've found a hint." I didn't think she
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would answer that honestly, but Ichinose sounded relaxed and confident. She
seemed the type of person to act on her own initiative and not waste time.
"In that case, this contest will come down to a battle between A and B,
I suppose."
"We won't know that until the end. My path to victory is—"
Right before she finished her thought, members of our group poured
into the room, one after another. The Class A students were first to arrive, but
they took their seats without giving us so much as a greeting.
"Oh, what's this? You're here already, Ayanokouji?"
"All alone with Ichinose-dono? My word, how suspicious. A
clandestine rendezvous, wouldn't you say?"
Yukimura and the Professor bombarded me with questions as they
walked into the room together. I couldn't especially tell if they were
impatient or depressed, but it seemed they'd given up on winning. On the
other hand, the Class B students seemed rather relaxed.
"This is the end, huh? So, have you found any hints?" asked
Hamaguchi. He spoke gently to me as we waited for the final discussion to
begin.
"To be honest, I have no idea. We haven't really been able to talk,
which means we haven't been able to engage," I said.
That was my official answer, but I'd already executed the strategy I'd
been plotting since the test began. My plan involved the phones we all
received from the school. I had switched the VIP's phones as a means of
camouflage. Kushida was the Dragon group's VIP, but what if Kushida and
Horikita switched phones? If someone spied on her phone, they'd suspect
that Horikita was the VIP.
Then, if a traitor submitted Horikita's name as their answer, they'd be
making a mistake. We would win.
"Good evening. Nice to see you all," Ichinose said warmly.
She was smiling, just like always. I set the trap immediately. We didn't
know who else had a hidden agenda, after all. I'd been waiting for Ichinose to
talk, and decided to cut in before she spoke up again.
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"Um, excuse me. If everyone's okay with it—"
"I have something I'd like to ask—"
Both Hamaguchi and I started talking at the same time.
"Oh, sorry. Go ahead, Ayanokouji-kun."
"Oh, no. You can go first. I don't mind," I said.
How annoying. Well, this didn't get in the way of my plan, but any
unexpected trouble could make things unstable. I decided to let Hamaguchi
speak first. I'd chime in after thinking things through. Then, Hamaguchi
shattered my plans in an unexpected way.
"For the past three days, I've been thinking of how we could achieve
Outcome #1," he said.
Hamaguchi launched into an explanation of his plan which,
surprisingly, was quite like mine.
"There is a way for everyone here to achieve Outcome #1," he
continued.
A faint glimmer of hope shone in everyone's eyes. "Is that really true,
Hamaguchi?"
"Yes. I came up with this idea after listening to everyone here,
including Ichinose-san and Machida-kun."
"I can't believe it. There's no way we can arrive at Outcome #1
without discussion," Machida huffed.
"Let's hear him out first. Hamaguchi-kun isn't the sort to speak without
thinking," offered Ichinose.
"I'm going to show you all my phone. Of course, the school sent us all
an email. I think you all understand what I'm getting at? Because we're
prohibited from tampering with or misrepresenting the emails we've received
in any way, there's no way to deceive one another. That's why the answer is
simple. We show each other our emails, and then we find out who the VIP is.
That's how we'll discover the truth."
"This is dumb. Why would anyone show their phone just because you
told us to? Someone could betray us all the moment we show our emails. No
one would do this," answered Machida flatly.
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It was a hopeless plan. Naturally, Machida-kun was flabbergasted.
"It's certainly true that if the VIP knows they could be betrayed, they
wouldn't show their phone. However, from the perspective of someone who
isn't the VIP, there's no risk in exposing your identity. The test will be over
soon. If we don't make a move, we lose our chance of winning. Suppose
there's a class working together to cover for the VIP. It's true that none of
them would show their phones. But this way, it's possible to narrow down the
list of candidates."
"Even if you find out the VIP's identity or the class they belong to, the
moment someone decides to betray you, it's over. The problem hasn't been
resolved. Or are you suggesting that the first to betray us wins?" countered
Machida.
Through Hamaguchi's strategy, it was possible to successfully weed
out the VIP. But that was it. In the end, people weren't going to play nice.
"In that case, please be quiet and just watch. If you don't participate,
Machida-kun, it'll still be fine," Hamaguchi answered.
Hamaguchi showed everyone the email that he'd received.
"I agree with Hamaguchi-kun. I'll show mine, too."
After Hamaguchi showed his phone, Beppu from Class B followed
suit. This didn't seem like some spur-of-the-moment idea. This seemed like a
strategy Ichinose had come up with. Strangely enough, her plan was exactly
the same as mine. However, I didn't know how far she'd thought this
through, or what her moves were. If she simply believed everyone would go
along with this, then it was quite simply reckless.
"I think it's a surprisingly good strategy. I don't have any objections,"
said Ichinose.
Smiling, Ichinose reached for her cell phone in her skirt's left pocket.
"I've been agonizing over this for a long time now, but after hearing
Hamaguchi's plan, I get it."
Ichinose pulled out her phone. I decided to step in and interrupt before
she could execute her strategy.
"You're serious about this, huh? Well, if you're all going to bet on that,
I think I'll join in, too," I said.
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Before Ichinose could show everyone the contents of her email, I took
out my own phone and offered it up. But it wasn't actually my phone; I'd
switched it with someone else's.
"Ayanokouji-kun...are you okay with this?" Ichinose asked.
"Sure. After hearing Hamaguchi out, I honestly don't think we have
another option. I'm really bad at communicating, so all I can do is show you
the truth," I answered.
"Wait, Ayanokouji. There's no way this kind of strategy is going to
work," said Yukimura.
He tried to stop me, but I showed everyone the email on my phone.
Everyone saw that I wasn't the VIP. An incredible amount of water was
building behind this unseen dam. If even the tiniest hole opened up, the dam
would collapse, and we'd be left with a muddy stream of water. My actions
opened that hole.
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"Yeah. Okay. So you're not the VIP, Ayanokouji-kun."
"Okay. I'll show mine, too."
Among the large number of people still scoffing at Hamaguchi's
strategy, a lone girl agreed. It was the person I'd least expected: Ibuki Mio.
"Are you nuts? We don't get anything out of this!" shouted Manabe.
However, Ibuki's response was well-reasoned. "Anyone who isn't the
VIP or who's not in the same class as a VIP gains nothing if things keep
going like this. Class B understands that. If we sit around, we won't catch up
to the classes above us. That's why they're showing everyone their phones. I
agree with their idea," she answered.
"That's—"
"Or maybe you're the VIP," said Ibuki.
Ibuki didn't talk to Manabe as if she were an ally. She spoke like
addressing an enemy.
"N-no. I..."
"In that case, show everyone your phone."
Ibuki's words threatened her classmates. Manabe and her friends, as if
accepting Ibuki's order, showed everyone their phones. The hunt for the VIP
had begun. Karuizawa took out her phone, which had a strap attached, and
handed it over.
"Wait. It's not just Ayanokouji-kun? You're going along with this,
Karuizawa? You agree with this?" Yukimura was puzzled.
"I'm doing this for my own sake. I want those private points," said
Karuizawa.
Her email said she wasn't the VIP. Karuizawa was in the clear.
"Um, so what should I do?" muttered the Professor.
"Think for yourself, Sotomura. This is voluntary."
"Uh...well, I don't want to get wrapped up in this, so I'll just get it
over with."
The Professor, seeing how the tide had turned, reached for his phone.
Yukimura grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Do you really think that
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showing everyone your phone is the right move?" he asked.
"You know, you've been really jumpy. You're not the VIP, are you?"
Ibuki asked.
Yukimura's expression stiffened.
"Whoa, seriously?"
"Yukimura isn't the VIP. I heard as much earlier," I said.
However, some of the students burst out laughing.
"You expect us to believe that? You could be lying." Manabe cast a
doubting look over at Yukimura.
If I continued denying that he was the VIP, it would only invite further
suspicion. But I couldn't make my move yet. That's because Yukimura
was...
"It's too early to draw any conclusions. Yukimura-kun has a point,"
Ichinose said. Once again, she reached into her pocket and took out her
phone. "I got a little caught up and missed my chance earlier, but I'll show
you now," she said.
Ichinose proved that she was not the VIP.
"Wait, Ichinose. Earlier, you said you'd been keeping quiet about
something until now?" Machida clearly hadn't forgotten.
"Ah, that? I had the same thing Hamaguchi said on my mind earlier,
and wanted to talk about it. That's it."
"The same thing?"
"As Class B's representative, I'm a little jealous that Hamaguchi-kun
beat me to the punch."
By now, everyone except the Class A students and Yukimura had
proven themselves to not be the VIP.
"..."
Everyone understood the meaning behind Yukimura's long silence.
Machida and the other Class A students stared at him inquisitively.
"Fine. I'll show you. All I have to do is show you, right?" he muttered.
Yukimura, no longer able to deal with the pressure, pulled out his phone.
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"Before I do so, I want you to promise me one thing," he said.
"Promise? What do you mean, Yukimura-kun?"
"I don't want anyone here to turn traitor. Especially you, Class A. I
want you to take out your phones and put them in front of you. That goes for
everybody. Everyone, put your phones where I can see them," he demanded.
He directed his statement at Machida, who responded with a snort.
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
"Exactly what I said. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Well, fine. Whatever. If you want to see my phone, here."
The Class A students, who'd been sitting some distance away, calmly
came over and placed their phones on the table. After they did that, Yukimura
made his move, looking downcast. He pulled his phone out and turned it on.
He entered the six-digit password, and logged in. Yukimura opened the
school's email and lifted it up so we all could see.
"I'm sorry for lying to you, Ayanokouji," he muttered.
Class D was the most surprised by the revelation.
"I'm the VIP."
A different email from everyone else's was displayed on the screen.
"Wha— Y-Yukimura-dono, you're the VIP?!" the Professor
stammered. He looked astonished, as if he couldn't believe what he was
seeing. This basically meant we'd given up the 500,000 points that Class D
had gained. However, I'd exchanged phones with Yukimura in secret.
"If I'd known things would turn out like this, I would've talked from
the start..."
Karuizawa looked genuinely shocked and uneasy. To look at her and
the Professor, you'd think the two of them could never have imagined that
Yukimura was the VIP. Machida stood and peered at Yukimura's phone.
"The email seems authentic. All of the other personal emails are
Yukimura's, so there's no room for error."
Machida, after checking Yukimura's private email and chat logs,
confirmed the truth. He still appeared doubtful, and Ichinose tried to explain
the situation calmly.
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"There's no way it could be fake. After all, the school explained the
rules, right? Copying and transferring the email is forbidden. As long as the
email was sent from the school's email address, there's a 0% chance it's a
fake."
She was right. Creating false information was strictly prohibited. If you
broke that rule, expulsion awaited you. Therefore, everything laid out here
had to be the truth.
"So that means it's definitely Yukimura-kun."
Manabe nodded. The important thing here was the process that had led
to Yukimura's revelation. Whether the person holding that phone was
actually the true owner of that phone was irrelevant. In other words, judging
whether or not that phone belonged to Yukimura was a surprisingly difficult
task. The idea that someone had switched phones wasn't outside the realm of
possibility.
However, showing everyone the process of entering the six-digit
password and unlocking the phone was a different story entirely. There was
no way a student could know someone else's phone password. Everyone
unconsciously acknowledged that Yukimura must be the owner of the phone.
This wasn't the result of deduction, but rather of preconceived notions.
"I'm sorry, Yukimura-kun. This happened because I came up with this
idea at the very last minute," I muttered.
"No, it's okay. It's probably for the best. I thought I could lie my way
out of this, but I was wrong. I'm sure you, Sotomura, and Karuizawa would
agree this was for the best," said Yukimura.
Everyone now thought of him as the sort of person who wanted to
secure points for only himself.
"Well, now everyone knows the answer. It's me," Yukimura said.
If we all cleared the test together, everyone in our group would receive
500,000 points. Outcome #1, which at first had seemed impossible to
achieve, now appeared to be in our grasp. Ichinose nodded, and pleaded with
Class A more strongly than before.
"Please. Cooperate with us. Don't let Yukimura-kun's courage go to
waste. I don't want you to betray us."
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"We've been acting on Katsuragi-san's instructions from the very
beginning. We won't do anything on our own," answered Machida.
He said that, but the group would disperse right before the test ended.
During that thirty-minute window of time, we had to trust not only in our
own classmates, but in students from other classes.
"I want to believe... No, I do believe in everyone." Yukimura begged
fervently.
He begged everyone, from every class. I wondered if the students
who'd spent so much time together over these past few days had started to
form bonds of friendship. I wondered if they would accept Yukimura's
wishes, and if everyone would work together.
No, they wouldn't. I was sure of that.
Someone would turn traitor. I had no doubt.
And if that happened, then the ones who had switched phones—Class
D—would take the victory.
Yukimura must have believed that, too. I imagined that he was
practically dying from holding back his laughter. However, his joy
disappeared when the phone started vibrating with an incoming call.
Panicking, Yukimura lunged forward to snatch the phone, but dropped it. By
sheer coincidence, the phone fell face-up.
Since the phone was on silent, the table shook as it continued to
vibrate. The caller ID said "Ichinose." Ichinose, holding her phone to her ear,
looked at Yukimura and me.
"What are you doing, Ichinose? There's no point in calling Yukimura's
phone at a time like this," said Machida, looking suspicious.
Only Yukimura and I understood what was going on. She quietly hung
up the phone.
"The school said that altering or copying the emails is forbidden, that's
true. That's why the email we saw was the real thing. However, there's no
rule saying that you can't trick people with the phone itself. Do you
understand what I'm getting at?"
Ichinose picked up the phone and handed it to me.
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"The person this phone belongs to, the real VIP...that's you, isn't it?
Ayanokouji-kun? I called you just now, not Yukimura-kun."
I'd exchanged numbers with Ichinose some time ago. And even in the
event she hadn't known it, she would've done her research just to be safe.
"B-but isn't that odd? Yukimura unlocked the phone right in front of
us. I checked his private email history just to be sure," said Machida.
"That was all fake. He could've easily gotten the password ahead of
time by simply asking Ayanokouji-kun. Besides, it's possible to replicate call
history, email, apps, and so on, though it would take a bit of effort," said
Ichinose.
Machida's face flashed a different, angry color. He snatched the phone
out of my hands.
"It's not easy for people to lie like that, especially when the goal is
within reach. In those last moments, either through negligence or
nervousness, they'll leave some kind of opening. Yukimura-kun lied, and his
gestures and behavior seemed different from the way he normally acts."
Ichinose had completely seen through my attempts at subterfuge.
Yukimura turned pale as she spoke. It was doubtful that he even heard her.
"We've been thinking about this for a while now, too. If the VIP was in
your class, one option would be to swap phones. You could mislead people
by showing off the password to unlock the phone."
Apparently, Ichinose and the others had come up with the same
strategy that I had.
"But you see, there's a weak point to that strategy: a phone number.
Even if you perfectly duplicate everything from call history to apps, you can't
change the number. Hamaguchi and I had tried swapping SIM cards once to
see what would happen, but the SIM cards are locked to their designated
phones. If you'd swapped them, I wouldn't have been able to call you. It
doesn't matter who switches with whom: Once I hear the phone ring, I can
find the owner. If I couldn't do that, I wouldn't have proposed this idea in the
first place," said Ichinose.
Ichinose and Hamaguchi had been two steps ahead. They'd probably
orchestrated everything, agreeing that Hamaguchi should be the one to
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broach the topic. In one second, the truth had come to light.
"You did everything almost perfectly. But you didn't anticipate that
our SIM cards are locked to specific devices, did you?" Ichinose gloated.
An announcement came through the speakers, telling us we had five
minutes left before the discussion period was over. We were told to break in
the next five minutes and return to our rooms.
"Damn it!" shouted Yukimura.
"Too bad, Yukimura. It was a surprisingly good try, though," said
Machida. He and the others laughed, furthering the mockery.
They glanced over at me, the one also complicit in this plan. Yukimura
was still visibly upset and shaking, and so was the rest of Class C. Classes C
and A appeared shocked. I'm sure they had many questions, but the rules
prohibited us from talking any further.
"Anyway, we've confirmed that Ayanokouji-kun is the VIP. Machida-
kun, promise me that we'll aim for Outcome #1, and no one will betray
anyone else," urged Ichinose.
"Yes, of course. You can trust me. Let's go," Machida said.
The three Class A students left the room right away, before anyone
else.
"There's so much to gain by working together. That's why we'll never
turn traitor. That's why I want you in Class C to do the same. Please, just
bear with it for thirty minutes," Ichinose pleaded.
Manabe and the others nodded and left the room. Yukimura looked at
the phone I was clutching.
"I was wrong to go along with your plan. This sucks," he fumed.
One by one, everyone left the room, leaving me alone with Ichinose.
"Now all we can do is to trust everyone," she said.
"Yeah. Guess so," I answered.
"You're really calm, Ayanokouji-kun. Aren't you worried?"
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220
"Not especially. I can't do anything but believe, anyway. I'm heading
to my room."
There was nothing to gain by staying here.
"Hey, wait a sec."
Ichinose placed a hand on my shoulder. In that instant, I felt the tension
between us.
"Who came up with the idea of swapping phones?" she asked.
"Horikita, of course."
"I see. Please tell Horikita-san something for me. Tell her that her plan
was a huge success."
"A huge success? Don't you mean a crushing defeat? We failed, hard.
You saw through everything."
"Ha ha ha. You didn't expect us to have come up with the same plan,
did you?"
"I'm sorry. Sorry for trying to deceive you like that, especially after I
agreed to be your ally. Are you angry?"
"Of course not. We went ahead with our own plan without telling you,
so we're even."
"I see. If you mean it, I'm sure Horikita will be relieved." I grabbed my
phone and headed for the exit.
"W-wait, wait a second. We still haven't gotten to the critical part yet,"
she said.
"The critical part?"
"Come on. You're surprisingly bad at dealing with people,
Ayanokouji-kun. It's true that the SIM cards are locked to their respective
devices. But there is a way to release that lock. Isn't that right? I checked
with Hoshinomiya-sensei to confirm. She said that with enough points, you
can unlock the device right away," said Ichinose.
In that instant, I felt a faint electric current run down my spine.
"After a falsehood comes to light, most people will take the answer that
comes after it to be the truth. Yukimura-kun was determined not to be the
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VIP, even after he showed everyone how he unlocked your phone using the
password. The moment that lie was revealed, the truth that you're the VIP
came to the surface. The SIM card was the deciding factor. No one would
suspect anyone else as the VIP now. But that was the trap. I said the idea of
swapping phones was an imperfect strategy, but that was a lie. That's because
swapping phones is extremely effective. Of course, it must be a double-
layered trap in order to work. In that case, the truth will remain in the
darkness. There wouldn't be any way for anyone to determine, with 100%
accuracy, the real VIP's identity."
Ichinose had seen through my plan. She'd seen through the plan behind
the plan. She realized the truth I'd kept hidden even from Yukimura. First,
she knew I was not the VIP, but that I'd approached Yukimura under the
pretense of being exactly that. As proof, I used the real VIP's phone to
contact him. But the real target—the real VIP and the owner of that phone—
was Karuizawa. She'd hidden that fact very well. The only person she'd
secretly told was Hirata. Hirata kept that from both me and Yukimura at first.
That's why he pretended not to know who the VIP was when we spoke about
it. However, after I learned about his and Karuizawa's pasts, Hirata told me
the truth. Then, after I used Manabe to bully Karuizawa, I took the
opportunity to swap our phones.
Of course, I replicated the email and call history, just as I did with
Yukimura. Naturally, I then used my points to do a SIM lock release. Doing
so wasn't illegal and could be done free of charge at any major retailer. We
may have been on a ship at sea, but I'd been positive that the school would
have something prepared to replace or repair our phones should they be
damaged. That's why, while using Karuizawa's phone, I was able to transfer
over my number as well.
Then, I swapped that phone with Yukimura's. Of course, I had told him
it was my phone, and he believed me. If my deception were revealed, he'd be
extremely angry.
A simple person would have never noticed that Yukimura and I
switched phones. A clever person would have noticed the swap and accused
me of being the VIP. But they never would have come to the conclusion that
Karuizawa was the real VIP.
"If the VIP wasn't in Class D, what would you have done?" asked
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Ichinose.
"The same as you. I would've tried to find out who the VIP was,
borrowed that person's phone, and had another one ready. Then, I'd step
forward and claim to be the VIP myself."
If the real VIP then came forward to point out the lie, the writing would
be on the wall. Simply believing that Ichinose was the VIP meant that the test
would end with the traitor making a mistake. In the latter situation, Class B
would be awarded no points, and the gap would either decrease or increase
between the classes.
"So I've been found out, huh?"
Ichinose started pulling phones from both pockets. One belonged to the
VIP from a Class B student's other group, and the other was a phone from a
different student who, most likely, wasn't a VIP.
"This is just my prediction, but based on how today's discussion
went..."
Ichinose quickly typed a short message on her own phone.
"The real VIP is Karuizawa Kei-san. Am I right?"
She showed me her phone. That was the betrayal message she was
going to send to the school. However, before anything could happen, both my
phone and Ichinose's rang at the same time.
"The test has now ended for the Rabbit group. Please wait for the
results announcement."
"Ahh, I guess someone turned traitor, huh? I wonder, was it Class A or
Class C?"
"Why did you think it was Karuizawa?" I asked.
"The same reason as Yukimura-kun. She's been behaving unusually.
She normally doesn't seem to care much about you, Ayanokouji-kun, but she
kept looking over at you, and her face tightened. But there's still the
possibility that she isn't the VIP, so I couldn't have sent that email."
Apparently, Ichinose had completely seen through my plan.
"Why didn't you say anything? At the very least, you could have
exposed my lie," I said.
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Ichinose smiled. The smile she wore now was perhaps the most
genuine I had ever seen from her. "That's obvious. If either Class A or Class
C makes a mistake, that's a win for us. From the very beginning, I never
intended to clear Outcome #1, or to turn traitor and get Outcome #3. The
moment I knew the VIP wasn't in Class B, I knew I would let another class
betray us. I think the traitor was probably from Class A," she said.
"Machida?"
"No, no. Morishige-kun. He's a member of Sakayanagi's faction. I
doubt he'd just quietly go along with Katsuragi's plan. He probably figured
that, if anything, it was better for him to betray the group and take the points.
Don't you think?"
Ichinose laughed and turned her back to me.
"Ayanokouji-kun, you're amazing. You know that? Our conversation
just now proves how cunning you really are, doesn't it?"
"You ought to praise Horikita. She just gave me directions, that's all."
It seemed I needed to re-evaluate Ichinose Honami. She'd managed to
thoroughly avoid risks while devising a strategy that led her to victory.
"Well, I'll be leaving then. It would be bad if we broke the rules,
wouldn't you say?"
However, the moment Ichinose said that, both of our phones played a
unique sound. It played four times, quickly.
"Wh-what does this mean?" asked Ichinose.
She seemed completely shocked as she slowly looked from her phone's
screen over to me.
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5.3
Our ship floated on the dark, lonely sea. As we got closer to 11:00,
more and more people began to gather. The café, which had been completely
silent, started to fill up with people. Eventually, the place was packed. I
secured four seats well ahead of time. A lone girl approached me.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," she said.
Karuizawa Kei approached me rather meekly. Something about her
expression seemed different.
"Sorry for calling you so late."
"No, it's okay."
Since I didn't really have anything to talk to her about, I silently gazed
at the nighttime scenery. However, Karuizawa looked as if she had wanted to
ask me something. I glanced at her.
"Ah, um. I was just wondering if everything really went okay," she
said.
"Don't worry. I'm positive that one of the guys from Class A sent the
school an email with my name," I answered.
I'd had one more piece of insurance up my sleeve, besides the double
phone swap. But because I'd laid my plans well, there was likely nothing to
worry about.
"How can you say that for sure?" she asked.
"I'm guessing you're talking about that piece of paper you gave me.
Right, Ayanokouji-kun?" Hirata's approach from behind made Karuizawa
jump in shock. Well, that was understandable. After all, Karuizawa had
screamed at him and said they were breaking up the other day.
"Excellent work on this test, both of you. May I sit?" he asked.
"Sure."
Karuizawa shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable. She looked away,
but didn't show any sign that she would refuse him. It was 10:55 p.m. In just
five more minutes, an email should be sent to all the students.
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"It's just about time. Is Horikita-san still not here? Shouldn't we
contact her?" asked Hirata.
"She's the type to come at the very last second. We have another four
minutes," I said.
"Ah, looks like she's here," said Hirata.
Apparently, Horikita had arrived earlier than I'd expected.
"Ahh. When I see you people, I can't help but sigh," muttered Horikita.
"You're finally here. Hey, who's that behind you?" I asked.
"Ignore him. Think of him as a ghost that attached itself to my back,"
Horikita said flatly.
"Aw, come on. Don't say that, Horikita. I just thought you might be
nervous during the test, so I was worried about you. That's why I came to
check on you."
Sudou Ken. I hadn't seen him for several days. He stood so close to
Horikita that they were practically attached.
"You're in the way. Get lost," she spat.
"H-hey, don't say that. I gave this test everything I had, you know."
"In that case, do you believe you'll end up with good results?"
"I was just one step behind, that's all. Looks like someone else sent the
email before me," he muttered.
Horikita stopped paying any attention to his lame excuses and sat down
in the vacant seat. Sudou quickly went to grab a chair from a nearby table.
"You're in the way," Horikita grumbled.
"Come on. It's fine, isn't it? I'm just going to listen. You wouldn't cut
out a classmate, right?"
This was a rather unusual group of people. Sudou didn't seem to show
interest in listening to anyone else.
"Anyway, about the chain of emails we received earlier," Horikita
began.
"Yeah. I was hung up on that, too," I said.
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We were talking about what'd happened two hours earlier. Just as I
was about to part ways with Ichinose, we'd received four emails at almost the
exact same time, in rapid succession. They'd informed us about the end of the
test for several groups. The test had ended for the Rat, Horse, Rooster, and
Pig groups. They'd all had traitors.
"Minami-kun was the Horse group VIP, right?" asked Horikita.
"Yeah. Someone discovered his identity," I reasoned.
"Did one of us send an email for the other groups?" asked Horikita.
She was anxious. If you guessed incorrectly, the penalties were high.
"I was a little apprehensive about that, so I went around and asked
people in the individual groups earlier. None of the guys said they turned
traitor," Hirata answered.
Hopefully, they hadn't lied to him. I thought we could trust them to a
certain degree.
"Is Yamauchi okay?" I asked.
"Ah, he's probably okay. Yamauchi-kun was in the Rooster group. It
seems he did try sending an email but agonized over it for too long. The test
ended before he could actually send it," said Horikita.
"I don't know who it was, but betraying the group before he could was
a fine move," I said.
Horikita had predicted that if Yamauchi sent the email, he most likely
would've gotten the answer wrong. She was probably correct. He might
consider himself a reckless, daring guy, but the moment he hesitated to send
that email, it was all over for him. He wasn't the cocksure guy he imagined
himself to be.
"But I don't know about the girls," Horikita said.
"I've already checked. No one sent an email," said Karuizawa without
hesitation. As controller of the Class D girls, she could be as certain as Hirata
of her information.
"I see," answered Horikita flatly. Of course, since Horikita did not have
the necessary social pull, she had no choice but to accept what she was told.
"Still, I wonder why only a small group of people were given
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explanations for this exam, in the end?" muttered Hirata, as if he still had
lingering doubts that he couldn't quite shake.
"This exam was all about testing our thinking. It's not like every single
question would have an answer," said Horikita.
Maybe we'd only truly grasp everything after seeing through all the
meaningless bluffs. The truth hid among those many doubts.
"What I'm worried about is that those four emails came in at almost the
exact same time. The school said we had a timeframe of thirty minutes at the
end of the test to betray someone, but all the emails came within one to two
seconds of each other," she said.
"Isn't that just a coincidence?" asked Sudou. Apparently, from Sudou's
perspective, everything was a coincidence.
"When Kouenji-kun sent the email to betray his group, the school
responded without delay. If you think about how fast it was, it must have
been automated," Horikita began.
"So it's likely that all of the emails were sent together. In other words,
the betrayal emails all came from one class." Hirata finished her thought.
That was it. I couldn't think of any other reason.
"They might have sent the emails at the exact same time as a way of
showing off their supremacy," Hirata added.
"Yeah. And there's only one person I can imagine who'd do such a
thing." said Horikita.
Horikita and Hirata had a natural rapport. I was grateful they were able
to do this without me having to jump in. Meeting in this particular café, a
place we'd used so many times before, had been a deliberate move on my
part.
"So. You're all here after all, huh?"
It was so I could invite a particular sixth guest to join us.
"Ryuuen!"
Sudou, after noticing Ryuuen, stood up as if to threaten him, but
Ryuuen didn't pay any mind. He simply grabbed a vacant chair, forcefully
slamming it next to Horikita before taking a seat.
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"I thought I'd enjoy finding out the results with you all. Thanks so
much for gathering in such an easy-to-find place," he said mockingly.
"Yes. I chose this space because even an idiot like you would be able
to find it quite easily. You should be grateful," answered Horikita.
"Anyway, Suzune, you've got a rather large group with you. Have you
grown more sociable?" muttered Ryuuen, looking out at the other four people
gathered around the table and ignoring Sudou completely.
"I disliked your persistent harassment. I was talking to them about it,"
said Horikita flatly.
"Don't you hang all over Horikita!" roared Sudou.
"Sudou-kun, be quiet," Horikita snapped.
"Oh," he muttered dejectedly. Sudou obediently sank back into his
chair. He was surprisingly docile.
"I didn't think you actually had any friends," Ryuuen teased.
This was a defensive strategy I'd devised specifically to deal with
Ryuuen. By increasing the number of people in Horikita's social circle, I had
successfully set up a dummy. With more people to keep an eye on, he would
be unable to catch everything. He'd become negligent.
"The results will be announced any minute now. Are you expecting any
results?" he asked.
"More or less. You look rather relaxed," Horikita said.
"Heh. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't. Looks like the same crowd as the
last time," replied Ryuuen.
"And I remember that the last time they announced results, you were
acting all high and mighty. But then you lost big," Sudou chided, pointing a
finger at Ryuuen and laughing.
Horikita, as if agreeing with Sudou, gave Ryuuen a disgusted look.
"Stop it, Suzune. You know if you get carried away now, you'll just be
embarrassed later. I already know our group's VIP," said Ryuuen.
Whether he was lying or not, Horikita wasn't shaken in the least. She
was convinced that she wouldn't lose to Ryuuen. "I'm quite glad to hear that.
I look forward to the results," she replied with confidence.
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"There's no need to wait for the announcement. Want me to tell you
who the Dragon group VIP is?" he asked.
"I'm sorry, but I'm hearing the irritating whine of a loser. The test has
already ended, and no one in the Dragon group has turned traitor. That can
only mean one thing," she answered. The exam had ended without Ryuuen
figuring out that Kushida was the VIP.
"If you could only understand the depth of my mercy, you'd be moved.
So moved that you'll get wet between your thighs." Ryuuen laughed, as
though such vulgar language was funny.
"All right, tell me then. Who is the Dragon group VIP?" asked
Horikita.
Ryuuen, as if he'd been waiting for her to ask, covered his smiling face
with his hand. He peered at us through the gaps in his fingers, like some kind
of beast in a cage. He looked ready to tear out his prey's throat.
"Kushida Kikyou."
"Huh?" Horikita, who had been unconcerned until that point, cried out
and stiffened. She'd been confident that he'd never get it right. Hirata, also in
the Dragon group, was flabbergasted as well.
"I'm sorry, but I've known Kushida was the VIP since the second day
of the test," Ryuuen said.
"You're joking, right? If that's true, you would have turned traitor and
sent an email. But the test didn't end like that. That must mean you realized
that fact after the exam had ended. There's no other way. Am I wrong?"
asked Horikita.
"I just felt so sorry for you. You were oh-so-incredibly confident in
your victory that you looked down on others. You were desperate to get your
stories straight, assuming no one would get the answer right. That's why I
went along with it until the end."
"How did you figure it out?" asked Hirata. His question contained a
mixture of curiosity and fear. He must've been curious both because he'd so
carefully protected Kushida, and because Ryuuen hadn't betrayed anyone.
"Unfortunately, the answer to that... Well, it involves you, Suzune,"
answered Ryuuen.
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"Me?" she asked, dumbfounded. Horikita must have been desperately
trying to remain calm while replaying the test in her head. When, where, and
how had he gotten the answer?
"I figured it out because of your body. The movements of your eyes
and mouth. Your breathing. Your behavior. Your tone. Everything about you
told me that you were lying," continued Ryuuen in an eerie voice.
"Stop with the jokes!"
"Jokes? If it's a joke, then how do I know the truth?"
"That's... I'm sure you could've just heard it from someone else,"
Horikita stammered.
"I understand how you feel. You don't want to admit that you're the
most incompetent person in the group. But don't beat yourself up, Suzune.
You merely chose the wrong opponent. Besides, this exam was supposed to
be pure chaos. At any rate, Class A is in for an especially rude awakening.
Relax."
"What? What did you do?" asked Horikita.
"You'll understand soon enough."
Apparently, Ryuuen had played a major part in the four betrayal
emails. Once the clock struck eleven, we received notifications at the exact
same time. All of us, save Ryuuen, checked the results:
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.
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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...came out on top," muttered Horikita.
Everyone looked stunned by the results.
"Isn't this great, Suzune? Thanks to your blunder, the Dragon group
managed to clear this test with Outcome #1. Because of that, all the classes
should receive a boost in points," Ryuuen crowed. He clapped his hands and
wore a satisfied grin. "If you beg for it, I'll tell you the answer. How about
it?" he asked.
"Who would—" Horikita started to snap, but quickly shut her mouth.
"Ooh, that look you have. It's pretty sexy."
Ryuuen took out his phone and placed it on the table. On the screen
was a list, and on that list were the names of the VIPs from Class A in the
Rat, Rooster, and Pig groups.
"I made some adjustments and arrived at the root of the test. Then, I
just focused on the Class A students," he said.
Ryuuen had managed to clear the test without targeting Classes B or D
at all. No one should have been able to pull off something like that, but
Ryuuen did.
"I'm sorry to tell you, Suzune, but you're my next target. I'm going
after you with everything I've got. I won't stop until I tear you to shreds, both
in mind and body."
Horikita, unable to attempt a comeback, simply kept staring at the
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results. After obtaining such a huge number of points, Class C had gained an
overwhelming lead. Looking over the results, it became clear that Kouenji
saved our asses, even though we thought he'd been screwing around. If he
hadn't done what he did, this victory would've belonged exclusively to Class
C. Of course, Kouenji's actions had ended up causing stray bullets to go
flying at other VIPs.
"I'm looking forward to the second semester," said Ryuuen.
Ryuuen, his payback for the island administered in full, walked away
with satisfaction. The rest of us weren't exactly in a celebratory mood. If
someone saw the stern looks on our faces, they'd imagine we'd suffered a
crushing defeat.
"I understand that Ryuuen-kun managed to discover the VIPs in Class
A, sure, but I'm not convinced he has some kind of preternatural talent. Still,
how did Dragon Group end up with that result?" asked Hirata.
No one answered, perhaps because no one could figure it out.
"I mean, it's not really a difficult problem. If you just put your mind to
it, it's relatively simple," I told everyone.
"What do you mean?"
"Putting aside how Ryuuen found out the VIPs' identities, all he had to
do was tell everyone 'Kushida is the VIP' before the end of the test, right? Of
course, no one would believe what someone like Ryuuen says. Especially a
group of such intelligent, gifted people. However, the final half hour was
different. Even if you answered incorrectly, there wasn't any risk to class
points. As such, even someone who'd been playing defensively like
Katsuragi could vote, right? If there was even a 1% chance that Kushida was
really the VIP, then they would've gotten Outcome #1, which was the most
convenient for everyone involved."
If he'd just planted the seed earlier, it would've been extremely simple.
But something like that would've normally been impossible. It was a
tightrope act; something that couldn't have happened unless every single
person trusted that Kushida was the answer. Was it even possible? As I
thought about it, I still had doubts. I never would've imagined he could
succeed. How had he gained everyone else's—excluding Class D, of course
—trust? I was genuinely curious.
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Perhaps if he had absolute proof?
"Horikita. I think that we might be in trouble," I said. There was no
quick fix to our problem. Depending on how things went, Class D might be
stuck with these obstacles for the long haul.
"By trouble, you mean Ryuuen-kun? It's true he did very well in this
test, but there's no guarantee he'll be dangerous in the future. Your group
won their test, after all. Didn't they?" she asked.
"You've got a point. I'm probably overthinking things. Don't worry."
Perhaps my feelings were nothing more than a premonition. But what if
they came true? These might be our first faltering steps toward despair. But I
also felt some alien emotion growing inside of me. It was something like
excitement.
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Postscript
Hmm, hmm. (Flipping through the postscript at the end of Volume 3
to verify.) I see, I see.
Apparently, Past Me said something to the effect of "I'll finish my
manuscript soon," when he worked on Volume 3. Well, that's no good. (The
following has been redacted.)
Hey, hello! This is Kinugasa. Wow, it's been four months. Anyway,
here in Volume 4, we have the second round of special tests. Because the
classes had to work together this time, this was a battle of cooperation. Each
class made their own moves based on their own personalities, and you could
see them divided into light and dark groups. I remember my school days,
when I had to hang out with students from other classes. I was uncomfortable
because I couldn't really act like myself around them. People who can just
talk to anyone really are amazing, aren't they?
Anyway, in the next book, the story heads back to the school. The
second semester is about to begin. It's possible that a certain figure from
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's past will make an appearance in Volume 5. Also, it
won't just involve his classmates. Even the upperclassmen will get involved.
Jeez, how many more people are there going to be, anyway? The characters
just keep on coming. There's like an endless supply of them. (I haven't
learned my lesson, I guess.)
Anyway, if I'm able to pull it off before the next book, I want to
release a side story. The story was supposed to be something serious and
dramatic, but sometimes I just want to let off some steam and be silly. It'll be
rather short, though I might structure it kind of like this story.
Ah, and lastly... Well, this is a private matter, but I got engaged the
other day. Sorry, Shunsaku-san! (Some deep meaning there.)
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Author:
Syougo Kinugasa
Born in November. Blood type, AB. Primarily responsible for the
scenario and PC game planning. Most notable works are Guards of Daybreak
and Reminiscence. Regularly purchases special health drinks, but they're
crowding up the refrigerator, which is becoming a problem. Switching to two
drinks a day.