Chapter 53

Chapter 53

"So we are staying here?" Shiro murmured, still on her brother's lap.

"That's right. You, Shiina and I are going to have a lovely time together, left here by ourselves." Sora said with a grin.

"Hmm? Is there a double meaning there?" Lelouch asked mockingly.

Double meaning? What did that mean?

"H-huh?!" Shiina went red and quickly looked away.

"Don't be dumb. She's my sister!" Sora shot, poking his finger at Shiro's head.

"Nii rejected me..." Shiro sighed, deflated.

I scanned my gaze over the others. Shiina looked flustered, while Light held his head in his hands. Ryuzaki was staring at the scene apathetically, as always, while Kururugi was just looking away. Was I missing something?

"I don't get it. What double meaning?" I asked.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Seriously?" Sora stared at me in astonishment.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Y-you seriously have no idea what we're talking about?" Lelouch asked for confirmation.

"I don't. What's so strange about having a lovely time together?"

I tilted my head in confusion, while all the others just stared at me with their jaws hanging open. Apparently, I was severely out of the loop.

"Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter." Light said, scratching his cheek.

"Protect Ayanokōji's purity." Shiro stated cryptically.

"I need to evacuate here immediately, before my brain cells take damage." Sora announced, retreating towards the cave entrance followed by Shiro and Shiina.

After that confusing dialogue, the rest of us split up to go to our respective destinations. Lelouch and Kururugi set off toward the heart of the island, pathing towards where Ryūen's beach was located. Meanwhile, Ryuzaki, Light and I made our way across the short distance towards the tower.

I decided to split off and go to the hut first, so that I would arrive at the tower with nothing urgent to do. I was also quite interested in seeing the Class A observation operation.

After scaling the ladder on the cliff and ensuring there was nobody watching, I renewed the hut spot and made my way back up. I made my way through the trees, towards the area where I knew the tower was located.

As I arrived, I assumed that Ryuzaki and Light were already in the tower. I drew closer to the wall of the facility and, as I did so, the bushes nearby rustled despite the absence of wind.

"So, you won't occupy this spot out of more than a sense of prudence?"

"What are you doing here? Are you here to claim this spot, perhaps?"

Two guys sprang out of the bushes as if they'd been waiting for someone to fall into their trap. I was surrounded. One of the guys immediately went over to the terminal to check on its status. He was likely checking to see whether I'd claimed the spot or not.

"Who are you? I haven't seen your face before."

I found it slightly surprising that he didn't know who I was, but dismissed the thought. Except for the class leaders, I suppose nobody would pay especially close attention to our class. The guy in front of me brandished a tree branch like a weapon, thrusting it toward my throat. He was trying to threaten me.

"I'm Ayanokōji, from Class D."

I obeyed him and offered my name.

"Search him. See if he's got anything suspicious."

As they approached me, just one thought entered my mind – I absolutely could not let these two find the key card in my possession. Since they were on either side of me, I reflexively held my arms out to either side of me as a guard before speaking.

"Don't try to search me." I ordered.

"Huh? Are you talking back to us? Do you even understand your position?" One of the two raised his voice at me.

After he said that, I sensed the gazes of two people on my back. I glanced briefly over my shoulder, and made eye contact with Ryuzaki, who was peering out discreetly from the top of the tower beside Light. I tried my best to signal with my eyes that I had this under control, and they seemed to understand as they both decided to stay quiet and just watch. There was no need for them to reveal themselves here.

Although, the fact that the two surrounding me weren't aware of their presences was intriguing. That meant that they'd arrived here not long ago, somewhere in between the time when I split up from them and now.

"You don't have the right to search anyone you want." I stated calmly.

One of the guys waved the stick at me menacingly. "We don't need the right. It'd be better for all of us if you just complied."

"Are you going to commit a violent act to search me? That's against the rules, you know."

"It's okay. Nobody will find out." One of them sneered at me. "Now, lower your arms and let us search you."

"I refuse."

I shifted my gaze between the two for a brief moment while they silently stared at me. Then, a blur of brown flashed across my vision. They'd swung the branch at me. It would've been easy enough to avoid it, however...

Smack!

A loud slap echoed through the trees as I caught the branch. I felt a stinging sensation burning on my palm as the coarse stick struck my hand, but I ignored it. It wasn't anything significant to me.

I tightened my grip and, putting a bit of strength behind my arm, wrenched the branch from the boy's possession. I threw it some distance away while still keeping my eye on the stunned pair.

"That was risky. What if someone had seen you?" I asked monotonously.

"The school wouldn't punish us based off of someone's word. You'd need proof!" One of them yelled as they rushed at me.

I moved towards the one who had been brandishing the branch, so that I could avoid them both reaching me at the same time. I jumped forwards and landed in a crouched position with my back to him. Then, I swivelled around 180 degrees and snaked my leg out, whipping his out from under him.

I turned my attention to the guy behind me. I righted myself onto my feet as he met me and swung his right fist out clumsily. I stepped to the side and into him to avoid it, and planted my foot behind is. I placed my forearm firmly against his throat, and used it to push him against my leg and trip him to the floor. A basic takedown manoeuver.

I took my distance as the duo picked themselves up. This time, they looked at me warily and didn't make any moves to approach me. Luckily, they sustained no injuries.

"There's no reason for us to use violence." I said.

"What the hell's your goal? Are you acting alone?" They assaulted me with a barrage of questions.

"You think I'd tell you?"

"Tch."

They glared at me for a bit, before turning to look at each other. They made eye contact and nodded, before focusing back on me.

"There's one thing I want to talk to you about before we go. If you tell us the identity of your leader, we're prepared to offer a generous reward. 100,000 or 200,000 points."

"You're asking me to sell out my class for money?"

"You're free to interpret my statements however you wish, but I've made the same offer to other people. This offer is first-come, first-serve. You're better off coming forward and telling me right away."

Class A's strategy essentially had no risks. It was a simple method, which you could implement so long as you possessed an abundance of funds. Although the possibility of it working was low, you couldn't dismiss the possibility that some students might be dazzled by the money and sell out their friends.

"Sorry, but I don't believe it. How would you pay someone? We don't have our cell phones here."

"Yeah, we can't do it now. If you don't trust us, though, we can write a memorandum."

In other words, they intended to sign a contract now and transfer private points after the test.

"A memorandum, huh? Let me ask you something for my own reference... Can you tell me how many points I'd get if I did tell you something?"

"That depends on your attitude."

"Could I have someone trustworthy settle things? For example, someone like Katsuragi. Or perhaps Sa—"

The moment I said the former's name, one of the boys' expressions changed. It went from slightly wary to distinctly disgusted.

"Why did you say Katsuragi?"

"I've heard rumours than Katsuragi is Class A's representative." I lied.

In truth, I already knew all about the factional war going on in Class A, as did the rest of Class D, but there was no merit in letting these guys know that. It's best to keep your cards hidden, after all.

"Don't make me laugh. Sakayanagi is the representative of Class A. Not Katsuragi. We'll be going now."

From what they'd just said, it sounded like the had no more business with me. They turned around and disappeared behind the shrubbery. It seemed like those two guys were Katsuragi's enemies. If that were true, were they working under Sakayanagi's orders? Apparently, Class A were fighting not only the other classes, but themselves as well.

I walked back over to the large structure, and climbed the ladder to the top where I met Ryuzaki and Light sitting on chairs. At the top of the tower, there were four chairs as well as a worktable jutting out of the wall. An adequate base.

"So, you can fight," Light commented as I reached the top.

"I suppose I have some knowledge of self-defence." I said, pulling a chair over for myself and sitting myself down opposite the two.

"You beat them pretty easily, though."

"To be fair, those guys looked extremely weak and clumsy." Ryuzaki remarked.

"Exactly. I'm sure you would've also beaten them, Light."

"I see... Moreover, there was something else interesting there, wasn't there?" Light replied.

"Yeah. The civil war of Class A seems to be in full throttle." I said.

"I wouldn't call it a war so much as an assault." Ryuzaki said, popping a potato chip into his mouth.

So that's where the bag of potato chips that the Class C students threw at us went.

"What do you mean?" Light tilted his head.

"Think about Katsuragi. A model student, respectful, diligent, and conservative. He's competing for the throne of Class A, sure, but do you think he's the kind of person who'll attack Sakayanagi with underhanded tactics like the ones that those two guys working for her would?"

"Now that you mention it, it doesn't seem likely. Katsuragi will probably just try to win the position of leader fair and square."

"And he's going to lose," I interjected. "Sakayanagi has probably covered her bases while also setting up all kinds of tricks to hit Katsuragi with, while Katsuragi will merely be going about things trying his best to defend against her whilst simultaneously attempting to win his classmates' favour."

"When one side is sabotaging the other, who is doing nothing to fight back, the result is clear as day." Ryuzaki agreed