Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Self-Test

Vol. 4: Chapter 9.1 - Unfamiliar Group

"You're late," said the cute girl wearing casual clothes.

"My bad."

"Well, whatever."

Karuizawa Kei and I met up on the 7th deck, by the bookstore. She arranged a meeting with Morofuji on the 10th deck, and since her friends would be there, Karuizawa asked me to accompany her, as well. The conversation will be unpredictable, so taking me instead of Hirata was the best idea.

"Have you told them about this?"

"The other girls? Yeah, I have."

Karuizawa began to talk about how she explained the situation to her friends.

She skillfully painted herself in a mature light, telling everyone that Manabe and the other two had been verbally harassing her about being a bully and a hypocrite due to that incident with Morofuji. Of course, Karuizawa didn't deny her fault.

So to make them stop "annoying" her, she decided to apologize. After all, Karuizawa recognized that she was in the wrong for being harsh and mean to Morofuji.

The key thing about this was Karuizawa's attitude towards the act of apologizing. She had to make them believe that this wasn't a big deal to her.

"It's just an apology. 'Not like I'm being forced to apologize for something I didn't do," she shrugged. "That's what I told them."

As expected, she earned the praises of her friends for being mature. Karuizawa saw her own mistake and decided to apologize out of her own free will. That's how it was on paper.

"Nothing less from you, I guess."

"Duh, of course."

Quite a few students were spending their time on the Sun Deck because of the pool area. The two of us continued walking forward until we reached the meeting place. It was a pretty hidden area near the corner of the Sun Deck. Manabe's group was waiting with Morofuji Rika.

"So you came, after all." Manabe crossed her arms with a glare.

"Huh? I'm not a hypocrite like you guys. Of course, I'd come." Karuizawa bit back without batting an eye.

Morofuji shyly hid behind Manabe. She was quite terrified of Karuizawa, understandably so.

"You're Morofuji-san, right?" She shifted her attention towards the frightened girl. "Ah, I remember now. You really were the girl I pushed out of that line."

"Yeah, she's been a lot more reserved when dealing with other people because of you," said Yamashita.

"Excuse me? Sorry, but I wasn't talking to you." Karuizawa gave her a side glance before turning back to Morofuji. "Well, the point is; I was wrong. I got carried away because we were having fun. That's why I'm apologizing right now. I'm sorry."

Manabe, Yamashita, and Yabu narrowed their eyes as she stared at her. Maybe they weren't fully convinced that Karuizawa's apology was sincere.

"I totally forgot about this incident so I guess you could also thank your friends for reminding me. So, do you accept my apology?" Karuizawa's expression was gentle. Even if Morofuji rejected her apology, she was willing to accept it. As long as she managed to apologize, her end of the bargain had been completed.

"U-Uhm... I'm sorry if this became a bigger deal than it should've been... I'm okay now." Morofuji meekly replied.

"I see... Thanks for being understanding." Karuizawa sighed with a shrugged.

To me, it looked like Karuizawa was happy for Morofuji. She had friends who could lean against when things like these happen. Of course, I can't really know for sure just how genuine their friendship is. After all, it reached a point where Manabe and the other two just used the incident as an excuse to air out their envy.