Chaoskouji

Arc 4 Chapter 9 - Finishing Touches

The second meeting for the day was over. After the dramatic events of the mornings meeting, not much was done. Dragon group was the only one that hadn't finished yet, and no one wanted to start another big conversation or VIP hunt, with a healthy level of caution. Who knew what could go wrong next?

Class A had holed themselves up in a corner together, muttering and going over stuff on their phones, with pen and paper on hand for notes. Clearly, they were doing their best to figure out the pattern, and at this rate it wouldn't be long before they did.

I hadn't spoken to Shiina about books, but we did have a short chat about how odd this school really is. As someone who never went to an ordinary school before, it was fascinating to hear about just the slight differences that existed between here and middle school. Just by adding in a competitive element, the nature of high school had changed significantly, or so she said.

Aside from my brief conversation with her, most of the group had played cards for most of the session. Even Ryuuen had joined in, proving himself to be rather masterful when it came to poker, since he found losing a hand just as entertaining as winning. It was virtually impossible to tell how he felt about a hand, since every single one of them was just as entertaining to him. An infuriating development, but impressive, nonetheless.

Kanzaki joined us as well, surprisingly, although I could tell he was chaffing to get something done. Every now and then, he would make a move to speak, or to ask a question, but Amikura and Ichinose were right on top of him to hold him back. I had explained the situation and the plan, and with both of them agreeing it was within the confines of our earlier deal, they made sure to keep their class silent, letting Class A do the work for us.

At this point it was only a matter of time, although they could use a prod.

Somehow though, I had gone from making complex decisions to one of the dullest events of my life.

I was having a late dinner with Matsushita, Mori and Satou.

"Ah this place is amazing! I've never had lobster before!"

"It's been quite a while since I last had it, but this is rather good."

"Eh? You've had lobster before Matsushita?"

"Aha, I mean only once a few years ago, ehe..."

We were in the highest-class restaurant on the ship, one which was usually filled with students exclusively from Class A and B. A stigma had grown around it, as a place only for the superior students. I could hear mutters from around us as we ate, but since we were some of the more well-mannered students of Class D, there weren't any problems.

I had heard that Ike and Yamauchi had been thrown out earlier in the week.

"And Ayanokouji-kun is so brave in Dragon group! Ah, you're standing up to all the scary people and not backing down," Satou exclaimed.

"Yeah! You even said you were the VIP, and no one submitted your name! It's incredible!"

Mori and Satou had apparently started my very own fan club right now, with the number of members amounting to two.

It was understandable, since not much info had been leaked from what was going on in Dragon group most of the grade was in the dark. Of course, some rumours had spread, since the leaders had to plan and had probably asked for advice on what to do, but no one from our class had said a word. Most of the rumours probably hadn't made it to their ears yet, except for the fantastical one where Ryuuen tried to chop my head off with a butcher's cleaver. That one was from earlier today but had made the rounds very quickly.

"It's not that surprising. No one would believe that someone would honestly tell the grade their own VIP's. Besides," and Matsushita's eyes took on a terrifying glint, "I heard that you told everyone you were the VIP on the very first day."