Chapter 59

Chapter 59

For somebody like Light, a model student with great social skills, gathering information was probably a trivial task. Light was the only person in Class D that could do such a job – Lelouch was popular, and certainly had the conversational skills to back it up, but was far too disinterested to even attempt to make use of his popularity. I, on the other hand, was apparently evaluated highly by the girls, but didn't have the social ability to back it up. This meant that Light was an indispensable asset to our class.

"It's a little off-topic, but, have either of you ever thought that Class E is the only class other than us that doesn't actually have a proper leader?" I asked.

"Hmm... now that you mention it, you're right. The only difference is that we don't have a leader because everybody is competent, whereas Class E don't have one because nobody is competent." Ryuzaki stated mercilessly.

"That's a little harsh," Light said. "But I can't exactly say that it's wrong, either..."

Hirata has been trying his best to keep the class together, but the disarray is clear to see in this exam. Hirata and Kushida work well as students that can support the leader of a class, but neither of them possess the necessary qualities nor ability to actually lead.

A leader has to be prepared to keep their composure and make big decisions, knowing that their choice will impact their entire class. Not only that, but they also need to be prepared for any losses – if you go the entire time expecting no expulsions, then you'll break when one inevitably does occur.

Speaking of, I wondered how our class would deal with expulsions. It costs twenty million private points to negate an expulsion, a sum that Class D could never pay. In other words, our class is at by far the biggest risk – if an exam where expulsion is unavoidable happens, then we'll be in serious trouble.

While I was lost in thought, we'd apparently arrived at our destination. Light and Ryuzaki stopped walking, and I almost bumped into them in surprise. After being snapped back to reality, I took a moment to scan my eyes over the scene before me.

"Well, I suppose this is the one thing that Class B is good at..." Light commented.

Similarly to us, their class had made practical use of their spot, with many trees surrounding a well. They didn't have enough space to spread out three or four tents, so they'd made good use of the space by putting up hammocks. Despite starting in much the same way, our class had chosen completely different items. I was rather curious about some unfamiliar equipment near the well, but what surprised me the most was the atmosphere.

"Huh? Yagami-kun? Ryuzaki-kun and Ayanokōji-kun too?"

Someone called to us, almost as if she'd sensed the arrival of sudden visitors. Ichinose was trying to tie a string around a tree to put up a hammock. She wore a jersey, which really suited her, and appeared lively. Kanzaki sat a little further away from her.

"Your class seems to be functioning well, despite obstacles."

"Haha, yeah. It was really difficult at first! But we tried a bunch of different things, and it worked out. Though the list of chores just keeps on increasing. There's still a ton of work left," said Ichinose with a big smile.

"Oh, I apologize if we're getting in your way." Light bowed his head.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That probably sounded like I was trying to drive you guys away. I think it's all right if you hang around for a while."

Ichinose welcomed us without any hint of protest. She invited us to sit on the hammock, but Light declined the offer, so Ichinose sat instead.

"Oi, look," nudging me in the side, Ryuzaki spoke in a hushed tone.

I averted my eyes over to where he was looking, and spotted a boy. He wasn't sitting alone, per se, but the distance between him and the rest of Class B was noticeably bigger than the distance between everybody else.

"It's just as we figured, then." I responded quietly.

"Hmm... This class is by far the most unified, isn't it?" Light said, cutting into my and Ryuzaki's exchange.

I took a quick glance around. There was a feeling of true solidarity here, with no disorder at all. Each individual student carried out his or her role. Additionally, everyone seemed to be fulfilling their duties happily. Normally, you'd find someone who hated their job or trying to skip out on it.

"I assume that's because you're leading, right, Ichinose?" I surmised.

"Yeah. For the time being, anyway."

Ichinose had managed to unify her class both in and out of the school.

"Hmm, what about Class D? Does your class have a lot of unity?"

"Our class is small, so we don't have any problems getting along. We're more like a friend group than a class," Light answered with a smile.

"I suppose having a class that small has its pros and cons," Ichinose mused. "Honestly, it was very surprising when we first found out about the fifth class. At first, we all thought it was just because you were all too smart for the regular curriculum, but..."

Ichinose gestured to the area around us, seemingly pointing out the existence of special exams. Like Ichinose said, there'd normally be no need for the school to create an extra class just for the seven of us – it was only because we were required to compete that Class E even existed.

"We were quite surprised too, when we found out about Class E." Ryuzaki said.

"Ehh? What do you mean?" Ichinose asked quizzically, a look of confusion on her face.

"When we first enrolled here, we didn't know that there were normally only four classes. It wasn't until our first homeroom that we learned about the fact that Class E doesn't normally exist. The fact that a special class was created just to accommodate us gave us some useful hints about the school, though." Ryuzaki elaborated.

"Yeah. It was dubbed 'Class E' for 'experimental class,' which gave us suspicions about something akin to these special exams even back during the first week." I added.

"You guys predicted the special exams all the way back then?! If that's true, then you've certainly lived up to your reputation as geniuses." Ichinose responded in awe.

"Well, at a normal school, there'd be no reason for them to create an extra class for us. That alone wouldn't have been enough, but Ayanokōji and I happened to hear an upperclassmen mock a Class D student for being allotted to Class D. We figured that, if Class D is regarded as a lower class, there must also be some way to be promoted from that status." Light explained.

"And that lead you to deduce that you'd be doing that by stealing the positions of the other classes, huh. Mmm, it makes sense when you spell it out for me, but it's still amazing that you guys thought of all that so early on." Ichinose praised us again.

It was true that not just any class could come up with what we did. Even knowing that you were a specially created class, and that the classes are sorted by status, you'd still have to be exceptionally talented to deduce the existence of class competitions based on just that. The fact that Class D did it was a testament to our ability.

"By the way, have you seen Class C?" Light asked, changing the topic.

"Mhm. They seemingly have no intention of taking this test seriously. There are four days remaining, and they'll run out of points well before the test is over. I can't imagine they'll be able to change their situation even if they enter into 'point-saver mode' right away. They're not even looking for a spot. I can't even begin to understand them."

Ichinose didn't seem able to come up with the answer to their madness.

"Well, our consensus is that Ryūen is definitely planning something. The sole benefit to his strategy is that it nullifies all negatives and penalties throughout the test." Ryuzaki said.

Yesterday, two Class C students had turned up at our spot, inviting us to join them. Kururugi and Lelouch had gone with them, and informed us all of the situation at the camp when he returned for the evening roll call. We hadn't seen much of Lelouch or Kururugi recently, as they'd spent all their time except for roll call at Class C's camp.

"Pardon me, Ichinose-san? I'm sorry to interrupt. Do you know where Nakanishi-kun is?" asked a male student in a rather reserved voice.

It was the student that Ryuzaki had pointed out to me earlier.

"I think Nakanishi-kun headed down to the shore. Why do you ask?"

"I thought I'd offer to help. Is that unnecessary?"

"Oh no, not at all. I'm really happy you feel that way, Kaneda-kun. Can you head over and follow Chihiro-chan's group? If you tell them I told you to do so, it'll be okay."

"Okay. Thank you very much!"

Light narrowed his eyes. He probably hadn't noticed the student when we'd first entered the camp, since he was tasked with being our main man when it comes to all things social.

"A Class C student?" He murmured under his breath.

"Do you know him? It looks like he had some kind of dispute with Class C. He said he'd get by on his own, but I couldn't just leave him. I haven't asked him about his situation yet."

"O-oh, no, we've just heard rumours that a Class C boy was kicked out of the Class C camp after a dispute with Ryūen. That's how I inferred who he was."

Light fumbled over his words a bit. He'd probably guessed that the student was from Class C because of Shiina and Ibuki, but made a mistake by letting on that he knew he was from Class C. We didn't want to reveal that the Class C students are actually spies, so Light had needed to come up with a different explanation for how he knew about the Class C student on the spot.

"I see. Isn't it terrible that Ryūen-kun will do that to his own classmates?" Ichinose said solemnly.

"That's just how Ryūen Kakeru operates." I replied.

"But what's the point?"

"Perhaps it works for him?" Ryuzaki pretended to speculate.

"Even if it does, who would want to win like that?" Ichinose said distastefully.

As she said that, the image of a brown-haired, emerald-eyed boy flashed through my mind. It sounded like something he'd say.

"Ichinose Honami," said Ryuzaki as he quickly approached the hammock she was sitting on.

He leaned forward, placing his face dangerously close to hers and staring into her eyes with his pitch-black pupils.

"E-ehh? Ryuzaki-kun? What are—" Ichinose stammered, but Ryuzaki cut her off.

"Don't you ever have the thought that you're terribly naïve? By always acting like such an angel, you're limiting what you can do by a large amount. Additionally, not every enemy you come across will abide by the arbitrary rules that you call 'morals.' You don't even consider the possibility of your opponent doing something underhanded, even though a majority of them will probably do so if it means victory." Ryuzaki lectured her in his smooth voice, keeping his gaze locked on to hers.

Ichinose looked shocked for a moment, but composed herself and thought for a while. Eventually, she resolved herself and stared back at Ryuzaki, seemingly prepared to give her answer.

"I'm aware that I may be naïve. Even if others choose to stoop low, I will not. I will fight honourably and righteously, even if it could cost me. However, because of my reluctance to use underhanded methods, I struggle to predict such methods that my enemy may use." Ichinose answered, admitting her faults.

Light and I looked at each other briefly, before turning our eyes back to Ryuzaki. He didn't immediately reply, and instead raised his thumb to his mouth and chewed on it as he thought.

"You are not a competent leader, Ichinose Honami," he said, causing her to lower her head shamefully. "There is no reason to bow your head, however. Just because you aren't a suitable leader, that doesn't mean you are incompetent. Far from it. It just means that you've been given the wrong role."

"The... wrong role?" Ichinose looked up at him, perplexed.

"That's right," Ryuzaki replied, standing back upright. "You are perfect as a second in command of sorts. You are best suited to acting as the glue that holds your class together. You said yourself that you aren't able to fight against people like Ryūen. Instead, you should allow another to take the place of the primary leader and strategist, and instead you should focus on shadowing them and rallying the rest of your classmates around the leader's ideas. Trust and unity are your class' main weapons, but that's not good enough on its own. When combined with an at least decent strategist, however, they can amplify your class' prowess greatly."

I agreed with everything Ryuzaki said, but I couldn't help but wonder: What the hell was this guy trying to do?

I thought about Ryuzaki Rue. This eccentric boy, unruly black hair, dark bags under his eyes. A number of quirks, such as always sitting in an odd manner. He also appeared to have some kind of sugar addiction, as he always ordered excessive amounts of sugar in his coffees and was often seen snacking on various sweets and candies.

Despite all that, his mental abilities were nothing short of incredible. As well as easily getting a perfect score in exams, he was able to come up with high-depth insight like he did just now, as well as possessing great deductive prowess and the ability to think up tactics, often times on the spot, that nobody could expect.

This all begged one question: What exactly was he after? There was no merit in him telling all of this to Ichinose now. In fact, it could well come back to bite him if she takes his advice to heart. So why? Was he just doing it for amusement, to create a stronger enemy similarly to Sora and Shiro? Or was there a different reason for his behaviour?

"I see..." Ichinose wore a deeply thoughtful expression.

After a short while of silence, Light tugged back his sleeve and looked at his watch. Upon seeing the time, he turned to us.

"Hey, I hate to cut our conversation short, but I think we should get going. If we don't, we might not make it in time," he said to Ryuzaki and I.

"You guys are going already?" Ichinose asked, looking slightly disappointed.

"We promised our classmates that we'd be back soon, so we don't want to make them wait." I lied, earning a subtle nod from Light.

"Ah, right. In that case, I won't keep you any longer. Goodbye Yagami-kun, Ryuzaki-kun, Ayanokōji-kun!"

We waved her goodbye, turned around, and headed toward our next destination