Chapter 92

Chapter 92

Ayanokōji's POV

"Colour me impressed," said Sora with his trademark smirk.

"Huh? Impressed?" Light asked in confusion.

The first allocated discussion period would be starting soon, but before that we'd decided to meet up to hear about the results of Light's plan, which he'd just explained.

"Not by you," Sora said. "By Horikita."

"Horikita? The hell did she do that's so impressive?" Lelouch asked.

"Her growth, I suppose. I wouldn't have expected that girl to even see through Light's cover plan. If you'd asked me, I'd say she would've been too busy acting disgusted and egotistical at the prospect of giving her contact information to a boy."

After her repeated losses over the course of these short months, from Sora's game with her right at the start of the year to the recent island exam in which she was only saved due to outside intervention, Horikita seemed to have developed a bit.

Sora seemed particularly excited about this fact – well, I suppose it is what he was aiming for, even back when we encountered her and her brother in that alleyway. Blank values fun above all, so nurturing their opponents to become stronger isn't unexpected from them.

"I don't understand, though," Kururugi spoke up. "Wasn't Light's real plan actually easier to see through than the cover one?"

Indeed, if Horikita is able to see through the fact that Light was actually after the VIP name, then she also has the ability to realise that he could pull some trickery in order to make her tell him the VIP before he's actually submitted an answer.

In fact, most people who are offered something in exchange for the VIP's identity in this exam would immediately suspect something like that happening. So why did Horikita not? Well, that's simple.

"Most people let their guard down after seeing through somebody's plan." Ryuzaki answered.

It was heavily ingrained in human nature, and was exceedingly difficult to overcome. People are at their weakest when finishing their enemy – they're the most vulnerable when they think they've already won. Being able to break this and remain vigilant even when your victory is assured is definitely not easy.

In fact, I'd wager that not even all my classmates have managed that. It wouldn't be difficult to imagine somebody like Light or Lelouch letting their ego get the better of them, and slipping some taunting words in after assuming their victory.

"Even then, though, it would've been just as simple as asking to see the sender of the mail that Light had forged, no?"

"Perhaps. But think about how much Horikita was juggling at that moment; on top of Light's excellent social ability steering the conversation, she also had already seen through what she assumed was his plan, and was also most likely thinking all about if the negotiation was worth it since it helped Class D, and how it would benefit Class E. Probably more too." Ryuzaki surmised to Kururugi.

"In other words, Horikita is not yet at the level where she can simultaneously consider that much information and juggle that many ideas." Light summarised.

Another factor was the way it was presented – sure, if a lesser skilled person executed the plan, their behaviour might let on that something was up when they presented the mail. However, there was no doubt that Light did it as naturally as possible, as to arouse no suspicion.

"So, anyway, now we're 500,000 private points and 50 class points up. And we know 2 VIPs." Lelouch said.

"Well, presumably. What if Horikita lied to us?" Sora pointed out.

"In that case... shit?" Lelouch said uncertainly.

"Once I figure out the pattern, we can be sure." Shiro said.

"Hang on, 'pattern?' I know you guys were considering the possibility, but now you're acting like it definitely exists. Why?" Kururugi interjected, perplexed.

"It's to do with the wording of the mail we were sent. 'After thorough consideration.' There would be no need to use such wording if it was done randomly." I answered him.

"I-I see... the school certainly has a history of giving hints through their wording, right? It was the same in the first month's explanation."

"Exactly."

Back at the start of the school year, the school had left subtle hints about the S System within the carefully considered wording of the explanation we were given. It's natural to think that a similar thing was happening here.

Additionally, it also would not be unexpected if somebody else outside of our class also made this deduction about the existence of a pattern.

"I'd estimate we need approximately half of the total VIPs to figure it out. As it stands, there are tons of common links between Kururugi and that Inogashira girl." Sora said.

"The selection method may be a trait that all VIPs share, huh... wait, what links are there between me and Inogashira?" Kururugi questioned.

Sora shrugged his shoulders. "You both have two of the letter K in your full names."

"Huh... so we do..." Kururugi muttered.

"There are some possibilities we can rule out, though." I pointed out.

"There are?"

"Yeah. For example, it can't be based on your initials, since I.K. and K.S. don't match up at all." I explained

"It also can't be based on age," Shiro added. "Kururugi is 16, whereas Inogashira is 15."

"..."

Everybody fell silent for a moment as we listened to what Shiro had said.

"Uh, Shiro, why do you know when Inogashira's birthday is?" Light asked hesitantly.

"I know the birthdays of every student in the school."

"R-right... of course you do..." Lelouch said, trailing off.

Another silence befell us, until Sora's speculative voice cut through the awkward atmosphere.

"You know, the thing about having 2 Ks in your name could be correct."

"What makes you think that?" Ryuzaki asked, shifting in his seat.

"Well, on top of Kururugi and Inogashira, the Dragon group has 'Ryūen Kakeru' and 'Katsuragi Kōhei,' both of which fit the criteria. Then, in my group, both 'Yukimura Teruhiko' and 'Karuizawa Kei' fit the bill. And take Ayanokōji's group, the snake group, there are also multiple students who fulfil the criteria – 'Yahiko Totsuka,' 'Amikura Mako,' and 'Miyake Akito.'"

"Huh... I guess it could work." Lelouch said. "But how does that help? There can't be multiple candidates left after the selection process. There has to be something extra to narrow it down. Kururugi is the only person in the Cow group with two Ks in his name."

"Perhaps there are two conditions. Like, if there are multiple, perhaps it takes the first person alphabetically? Or maybe the tallest one?" Light suggested.

I observed such conjectures for a short while more, before I decided to intervene. "There's no point thinking this deeply about just one possibility. Besides, once we have a suitable number of known VIPs, can't we just plug them into Shiro and let her return the only remaining possibility?"

"Am I a calculator?" Shiro asked with a sarcastic smirk.

"Don't lower yourself to such a level. You're much better than them."

Surprisingly, Lelouch gave her such a compliment, which seemed to have surprised Shiro quite a bit, as her eyes widened.

Could it be that the only person who'd ever complimented her before was Sora? It would certainly explain her reaction.

"That's right. A calculator couldn't figure out the pattern, after all." Light agreed.

I spotted a genuine smile form on Shiro's face for a split second, before it disappeared and melted back into her usual, neutral expression.

"Anyway," Ryuzaki interjected. "We should go. We only have a few minutes before the discussions start."

"Right,"