69 Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Lelouch's POV

This is so much harder than it needs to be. Why did I volunteer to do this?

I didn't think about it at the time, but the other classes have all moved from the spots by now and found a new base camp. As a result, we have no idea where they are now.

I trudged through the humid forest, Suzaku's footsteps padding along beside my own. We were drenched in hot, sticky sweat, as we didn't have any water with us. We spent what felt like an eternity stumbling through protruding shrubbery and across uneven ground until we finally found our target.

Their new camp was on the beach that we started at. I stood at the edge of the trees, peering out, and noticed something curious. Their class looked much bigger than before.

I scanned my eyes over the scene before me, until I finally noticed the cause. Ichinose Honami.

So, Class E and B have decided to camp together? Well, I suppose that there's no danger of their leader being discovered by each other now that they don't have any spots to claim.

"This may not go as expected. The presence of Class B changes things. It probably won't be possible to strike up a deal with only Class E now that they've bonded together. In fact, us striking up a deal with anyone is unlikely now, after the stunt that Ayanokōji pulled."

I explained the situation to Suzaku, as I normally do. By now, I had a good understanding of the kinds of things that Suzaku would deduce on his own, and what I'd need to explain. Because of that, I didn't need to ask him if he understood things very often, if at all.

"So our options are to either attempt to negotiate with both classes, or call off the plan." Suzaku concluded.

"Right." I narrowed my eyes and thought for a short while. "Well, we calculated that both Class B and E would be extremely low on points by the end. Giving Class B a small boost shouldn't hurt us really. If anything, it's helpful that we can now deal an even bigger hit to Class A."

"I see... That makes sense."

"Well, there's no point us just sitting around here watching. Let's go start some diplomacy!"

I strutted out onto the plane of sand, instantly gaining the attention of all present. Initially, they assumed that I was just here on business with the school itself, which had its facilities set up on this beach, but I looked straight at the place where Ichinose, Kanzaki, Horikita, Hirata and Kushida were standing, and began walking towards them.

Horikita's expression turned sour as she noticed my approach, which caused me to crack a grin. I loved how easy it was to get under her skin. Messing with her was fun.

"Yo," I called out to the group.

"Lelouch-kun? And Kururugi-kun. Do you guys have business here?" Ichinose said as we joined their group.

Our group was now quite a prominent one. We had key figures from three different classes all in a group of seven. The Class B and E students on the beach started to look at us and chatter to each other, presumably about my presence. I didn't mind, though.

"You have business with us? Is it being an annoying idiot, as usual?" Horikita asked scornfully.

I gave her a laugh. "No. Actually, I'm not here to annoy you this time."

"'This time?'" She echoed. "Ugh, whatever. What is it?"

I briefly considered the best way to word my proposal to them, but eventually dropped it and decided to say it outright.

"I'm here to give you the name of Class A's leader." I stated.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What?" Hirata looked at me, baffled, similarly to the rest of them.

"I'm here to give you the name of Class A's leader." I repeated.

"Yeah, we heard you the first time!" Horikita snapped. "What we're confused about is what the hell you're thinking."

"It's simple. Currently, Class A are in the best position, both in the class rankings and in this exam. Therefore, it would be beneficial to us all if we can damage them as much as possible. That's why we in Class D are willing to share our knowledge of Class A's leader that we worked so very hard to find." I explained.

The group fell into silence as they all mulled over what I'd said. After a while, Ichinose spoke.

"Logically speaking, your words make sense. But what if you're just saying all that so you can give us the wrong name and make us lose points?"

"Well, in that case, I'd be an idiot. Why would I choose to continue beating down on Class B and E, who're already down, and ignore Class A, who've been breezing along merrily this whole exam?" I scoffed.

"Your level of idiocy isn't a factor here," Horikita interrupted. "The fact is that there's a possibility of that happening, which means that we can't even consider negotiating with you."

Something intelligent actually came out of Horikita's mouth? It was true that my current offer was a giant risk for them; even if it would be extraordinarily foolish of me to betray them, they would be hurt badly in the case that I did.

"I see. Well, if it'd help ease your mind, I can provide proof that I'm not lying about Class A's leader." I said smoothly.

"What? You can?" Hirata asked doubtfully.

"Of course. I wouldn't come here if I couldn't. The proof that I'm not tricking you is simple: we write down our guesses for each class' leader on the roll call of day seven, but that won't be done in a strict timeframe. You can come over to our camp and watch as we write the Class A leader's name as our own guess." I elaborated.

The five of them adopted a thoughtful expression.

"Hmm... It doesn't seem like there's any loopholes..." Kushida murmured.

"I think we should take them up on their offer, Ichinose," said Kanzaki.

"Something underhanded like this?!" She exclaimed.

"It isn't really underhanded. It's just an exchange of information, after all." Suzaku cut in.

"Besides, think about those words that've been bothering you recently. This is exactly what he was talking about." Kanzaki said cryptically.

I had absolutely no idea what he was referring to, but it seemed to work, as Ichinose resolved her expression and spoke determinedly.

"Okay! On behalf of Class B, I accept your offer, Lelouch-kun!"

"Are you sure, Ichinose?" Horikita asked anxiously. "Don't you want to think—"

"I'm glad that we could come to an agreement," I interrupted her, to stop her from saying something unnecessary, which earned me a glare.

"It was the right decision. We can't keep avoiding conflict forever. We need to go on the offense sometimes." Kanzaki said rationally.

"Right. And what about you guys?" I said, turning my attention to Horikita and co.

"Well... Can we have some time to think about it?" Hirata requested.

Suzaku must've been expecting me to say something completely different, because he looked surprised by my next words.

"No. I'm a busy guy, you know, I've got things to do. This is a one-time proposal."

Now that Class B had accepted, it gave me leverage to pressure Class E into going along with it too. By not giving them time to think, it would force them to make a quick decision. And the most likely decision they'd make would be a 'yes,' after observing my exchange with Ichinose and Kanzaki.

A common negotiation tactic.

"I see... In that case, I think we'll accept your offer, too."

Horikita said after a quick discussion with Hirata and Kushida. It seemed like they'd decided that there were no loopholes.

"You'd better not be wrong, or do something stupid like intentionally guessing wrong." She warned after a second.

"Oh, please. We wouldn't be guessing them if we weren't 100% sure ourselves. And who would do something as idiotic as intentionally guessing wrong? All that'd do is help Class A and C." I scoffed.

"Just making sure,"

After wrapping up that piece of business, I thought of a plan on a whim. Rather than returning straight back to the camp as originally intended, I decided to do one last thing here while I had the opportunity.

"Where are you going now?!" Suzaku asked in bewilderment.

"You'll see."

To be fair, he probably wouldn't see, but I just said that to shut him up. There's a high chance that Suzaku will be looking at me like I've lost my mind in a couple of minutes, but that doesn't matter.

All the best people are out of their minds, anyway.

I sauntered over to a tent where the school had set up, approaching the staff member that was running it. It was Chabashira-sensei, the homeroom teacher of Class E.

"Can I help you?" She asked coldly as I walked over.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can, actually," I replied.

I turned to Suzaku and gave him a sly grin, before looking back at the teacher who was waiting for me to elaborate.

"On behalf of Class D, I'd like to purchase some fireworks."