Vol. 4: Chapter 27 - The Outcomes

It was roughly five minutes before the results were announced.

"Hey~!"

"Honami-chan! Hitomi-chan! Kanzaki-kun, too!"

Kikyou greeted our friends from Class C.

"I'm glad you could make it," said Horikita.

You could've smiled while saying that, you know?

"Oh, Karuizawa-san, hey there!"

"Hey, Ichinose-san." Karuizawa greeted her with a smile.

She stuck close to Hirata, indirectly telling everyone about her place.

This was probably the last time that our group would meet up like this. That said, three unexpected guests joined our little gathering.

"Would you look at that? It's a little afterparty. 'Care if we crash for a bit?"

"Ryuuen-kun, hey there," Ichinose greeted them normally. "Kaneda-kun and Ibuki-san, too."

Kikyou gently waved her hand to say hello as Karuizawa chose to ignore them. Meanwhile, Hirata and Tsube smiled normally in contrast to Horikita and Kanzaki who squinted their eyes in distrust.

"Kaneda... You had us good during the island exam." Kanzaki spoke with a heavy tone.

"Ah, Kanzaki-shi. I'm glad you remember me." Kaneda nodded gracefully. He didn't even feel pressured by Kanzaki's words.

"Now, now. Kaneda-kun helped us a lot when we were on the island. And he didn't do anything to harm our class, you know? We were just careless enough to get deceived. It's our fault for letting our guard down." Ichinose candidly butted in.

I'm sure she had something to say about their provisional points getting purged, but she also knew that this wasn't the time.

Kanzaki sighed, clearing his head with her words.

"That's true." He turned his sights to the obvious mastermind. "But we won't fall for your petty tricks next time, Ryuuen."

"Is that how you welcome other people? Seems like Class C's reputation of being the friendliest class is nothing but nonsense."

For someone who talked like he was taking offense, Ryuuen didn't look offended at all.

"Ehh? Do other classes see us like that? I'm honestly flattered." Ichinose received his mockery as a compliment. Her main purpose was obviously to dodge conflict, but I'd like to think that she was also genuinely gladdened. "That said, what brings you here? I'm assuming Horikita-san didn't invite you."

"Invite? When did I need to get invited to come here? This is a great spot to spend a nice evening." Ryuuen comfortably sat at the nearest table with Ibuki and Kaneda standing beside him. "I'm not too interested in seeing your reactions to the results. All of us should, more or less, know what they'll be at this point. However, I think your thoughts on it might entertain me for a bit. That's why I'm here."

His words made me look around the place. We were in a simple open-air cafe. The clouds began to disperse and the stars started to show themselves as I felt the night grow colder. This was indeed a great place to stay around this time.

It wasn't long until the time hit 11 o'clock. When we received the notification from the school, all of us checked our phones apart from Ryuuen and his two companions.

Rat: Outcome #3. The traitor answered correctly.

Cow: Outcome #3. The traitor answered correctly.

Tiger: Outcome #3. The traitor answered correctly.

Rabbit: Outcome #3. The traitor answered correctly.

Dragon: Outcome #1. The entire group answered correctly at the end of the test.

Snake: Outcome #3. The traitor answered correctly.

Horse: Outcome #3. The traitor answered correctly.

Sheep: Outcome #3. The traitor answered correctly.

Monkey: Outcome #3. The traitor answered correctly.

Rooster: Outcome #3. The traitor answered correctly.

Dog: Outcome #1. The entire group answered correctly at the end of the test.

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 100 cl; Plus 4 Million pr

Class B: Plus 100 cl; Plus 6 Million pr

Class C: No Change in cl; Plus 4.5 Million pr

Class D: No Change in cl; Plus 5 Million pr

"Outcome #1...?" Kikyou stared at her phone with a confused expression.

"No need to thank me, Kikyou. I did this just for you." Ryuuen grinned at her while spreading his arms.

"Sigh... Well, it's not too unexpected. We were under the impression that you knew all of the VIPs, anyway." In contrast, Horikita's arms were crossed as she eyed Ryuuen.

"Since the cat is out of the bag, I can finally tell you that Ryuuen-kun did indeed contact the rest of the Dragon Group around 9:30 PM. His message was simple: "Kushida Kikyou is the VIP". And since there wasn't any risk, all of us gladly took that chance. In the end, our group ended with Outcome #1," explained Ichinose.

"That would also explain your behavior earlier, Ryuuen-kun," said Hirata. "Even if you knew Kushida-san was the VIP, you didn't bother questioning her during the last discussion."

"Behavior? Don't talk like you can understand me, Hirata. There's no need to sound smart just because you beat Class A." Ryuuen laid back on his chair with a mocking smile.

"Aren't you just whining like a loser at this point? Getting Outcome #1 for the Dragon Group doesn't matter when it only serves to benefit our class more. If it's true that you figured out the pattern like I did, then you're foolish for playing around until the very end," argued Horikita.

"Hmm." Ryuuen only smiled at Horikita before looking at Ichinose. "You still don't know anything about the pattern, right? I think you'll enjoy this, then."

He took out a folded piece of paper and flicked it to our table. Ichinose looked at the contents and chuckled lightly. The ink was still glistening, indicating that he had written those names just a few minutes ago.

"The VIPs' identities were dependent on the members' surnames. They were selected based on their alphabetical placements on the list with respect to the official Zodiac Order." Ryuuen briefly explained the pattern with a smug smirk.

"To think it was this easy..." Kanzaki glared at the list of VIPs.

"So all of those clues... were nothing but feints, huh?" said Ichinose.

"You were all treated like idiots by the school. Even Katsuragi didn't have any clue. Only Suzune lived up to my expectations." Ryuuen stood up and walked away with a satisfied smile. "I'm looking forward to the second semester."

We all thought that he and the other two Class D students would be gone for good, but Ryuuen stopped in his tracks and uttered one more sentence.

"No one figured it out in the end, huh?" They resumed their light steps as Ryuuen continued to chuckle in glee.

Those words were a mystery to Horikita and the others. However, what mattered more to the Class C students was the piece of paper that contained the 12 VIP names.

"Ichinose-san, here's the complete list of all of the members from each group, all in the right order. I've marked the VIPs as well," said Horikita.

There wasn't any harm in revealing everything now, so Horikita didn't have a problem sharing it with them.

"Oh, man... It was this simple...? To think that the school would trick us like this. Ahaha, I feel like an idiot now." Ichinose scratched her head with a bitter smile.

"I can't believe I didn't figure this out..." Kanzaki frustratingly stared at the list.

"I don't think you should feel bad about this, Kanzaki-kun. Apart from keeping tabs on the people in the exam, we never really looked at the members' list as a clue. The school perfectly made us believe that we were looking in the right direction. Unless we overcame that border, it was practically impossible for anyone to figure out the pattern without five or six names to work with," explained Tsube.

"We all knew four names, right? But Horikita-san figured it out, regardless. Even Katsuragi-kun failed to find anything in the end. I think that's quite amazing."

Ichinose's tender voice immediately told Horikita that she was receiving an authentic compliment. However, it only served to nettle her even more.

"No..."

Horikita winced. She looked visibly dissatisfied.

"Tsube-san is right... But I don't think I did anything amazing in particular. The realization I had was nothing but a stroke of luck. It was almost a miracle..." Horikita paused for a second before she continued. "Almost as if someone put everything in place."

Katsuragi managed to strike a deal with Ryuuen while keeping Class A's traitors in check. Meanwhile, Ichinose managed to strike a deal with us while planning a large-scale offensive to break a stalemate ending.

Even if she won, Horikita realized that her feats wouldn't have been possible if Ryuuen hadn't stirred up that last conversation during the fifth group discussion— that along with the clues I gave her earlier. Horikita managed to get a victory, but she didn't feel like her accomplishments were better than the other leaders.

Exactly five minutes after giving us the results, another message was received by the students. We checked our phones to see what it was.

Here are the current class standings:

Class A: 1118

Class B: 1212

Class C: 890

Class D: 691

Any changes will be applied in the following month.

"We won! We're going to be Class A next month!" celebrated Karuizawa.

"Yes, everyone in our class will surely be overjoyed," Hirata nodded happily.

"We did it, Hitomi-chan!" Kikyou's bright smile lifted the atmosphere.

"That's great, Kikyou-chan!" said Tsube.

"Congratulations, Horikita-san. You guys are the new Class A. It was a well-deserved victory." Ichinose commended Horikita with Kanzaki nodding in agreement.

"Well-deserved".

Horikita felt disturbed after hearing that word. Her triumph over the other classes didn't feel as earned as it initially did. Deep inside, Horikita stopped feeling like she really won...

Chabashira-sensei berated our class for being defects, and those who retaliated got thoroughly put in place, especially Horikita. The words of her brother, telling her that she didn't deserve to be in Class A, should still be fresh in her mind. It wasn't just for her. Those criticisms extend to every student in her class.

Did they really deserve to be in Class A?

Horikita started to doubt that. I'm stepping down as their leader, and because she fully acknowledges my abilities, she'll become self-conscious about her own abilities.

Demurral, insecurities, and hesitations... not just about herself, but also for the class that she was about to lead. Before I go, I want her to see all of it— feel all of it. Her place at the top will not be easy, and for that, Horikita must lose.

I wanted the class to win, but I wanted Horikita to lose, and that's exactly what happened. I stared at Horikita, waiting for her eyes to wander in my direction. 

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Apart from a single person, everyone thought that I didn't make any moves during this exam, when in fact... I was the one behind everything. However, that doesn't really matter anymore. After all, we've overtaken Class A. 

My Self-Test may have reached its conclusion, but I've also planted the seeds for my class's growth.

In the end, everything went according to plan.