Toma Hisoka POV
I was relaxing on the main deck at a cafe.
Since the third day of the exam was a break period, we could do whatever we wanted. That said, there wasn't much to do anyway, now that a lot of groups have finished the exam. Thanks to Kouenji's rogue move, I signaled Matsushita and Ryuuen to start submitting names through email, names of the Class A VIPs I mean.
After that, I left absolutely everything to Hirata and Ryuuen for them to discuss. I even offered them to include Class B as a nice big "fuck you" to Katsuragi. Besides, Sakayanagi told me to bring him down, then why don't we bring him down to the very bottom?
My part of the plan is over, so now I'm free to do as I please for the rest of the exam. Whatever the results, whether Ryuuen betrays us and takes down every other VIP in the exam, I don't care. For now, I can just think about other things like how I can deal with Yuko, and the looming threat of those men in black coveralls.
If I were to think as if I was alone, I'd be very wrong. Sure, right now I can't really get any help, but Sakayanagi is a possible ally. She and the Chairman were the ones to give me the info about those men. Since I'm a student, I'd barely be able to investigate that myself, so I'll just stay on my toes for now.
As for Yuko, I definitely need to deal with her alone. I can't involve anyone else because they don't know of her existence, not even the Sakayanagis, if I assume they don't have that much information on us. Shizuko's DID formed after mother died after all, so they'd only know if they looked into her medical records, which I made damn sure were hidden extremely well.
The physical, printed copies of those medical records were burned, but I had requested the doctors for electronic copies, which I have on me. Yeah, I brought it here to ANHS when e boarded the bus, it was a USB that I could plug into a PC or laptop at anytime if I needed them.
Currently, that USB was hidden inside my school bag, which was in my room back at school. Even if the school staff would go through my room, they'll see it as a personal belonging and not mess with it. It's not as secure as I want it to be, but it's better than nothing.
Back to Yuko, I could approach the problem in three different ways. The first is ignoring her completely, then let her come to me, a lure tactic. The second is that I approach her directly and see if she'd agree with working with me to keep the DID secure.
The last is the option I've been dreading, the option of violence. I can't hope to fight her, I just can't bring myself to do so. She's the one person I don't want to fight, like at all. Sure I don't wan to fight allies like Ayanokouji, Matsushita and Kushida, but they may very well betray me at any second, so I'm keeping my distance.
Whether it's Shizuko or Yuko, or whatever alter there is, she's still my little sister. I'm not Horikita-senpai, I care about my little sister very much, and I just don't want to hurt her. At times like these I can't help but think, what would mother do?
Someone tapped my back before I could think of anything further. Turning around from my seat, I saw Shizuko, no, Yuko, waving at me in a rather cute manner.
"Good afternoon, onii-sama." She said.
"Afternoon. Anyway, what did you want? I'm trying to thinking here."
"Haven't I said that you should stop thinking for once?" She replied, taking a seat across me.
"What's it to you? I need to plan our next move."
"Next move? Onii-sama, the exam is practically over. You saw the messages this morning didn't you? Only Dragon, Rabbit and Horse groups remain."
Which meant only Class D's VIPs were spared. They must still be discussing which class should guess our VIPs.
The deal was we target Class A's VIPs while negating each other's earned points by guessing each others leaders. For example, Class A loses 150 class points while the rest of the classes don't lose or gain any by negating the earned class points from guessing each other's VIPs.
That was what I told Ryuuen anyway, but he seemed really interested in that plan. I definitely doubt he'd stick to is word, but all we want out of this exam is to burn Class A's points as much as possible. I don't think Sakayanagi would mind anyway, she was the one to ask me to take Katsuragi down, after all.
"I'm talking about next semester. I have a deal going on with Sakayanagi, so I have to plan ahead in case she tries to use me."
"I doubt that's the only thing you think about." Yuko said with an uninterested look.
Sharp as usual.
"Of course that's not it. Is it not obvious that I also think about how to deal with you?"
I looked her straight in the eyes as she slowly formed a smile. Yuko put up her right index finger and pointed it at me.
"Are you perhaps trying to flirt with me?"
"Do you have any idea how disgusting that would be? We're related by blood."
"Just let me daydream every once in a while."
"That makes no sense." I said.
She put her hand back down. Yuko's face began to turn stern and serious.
"Let me be blunt for a second, onii-sama." She said, her voice low and uncharacteristic.
"Now that's interesting. Go ahead then." I said, my attention turned to her.
Yuko moved her fingers around the table playfully. A glint of light was seen through her glasses as she opened her mouth to ask a question.
"How long are you going to remain a coward?"
A coward huh? That's a fitting word for what I'm doing right now.
"That depends. Once I think of a way to solve all the current problems, I'll probably stop."
"You're acting like how you did during the year mother died. I wonder, is my existence truly repulsive to you?"
"No, a better thing to say would be that you are an unknown. I can't see you as an ally or an enemy, that makes you neutral. Someone that's neutral could always shift to either side."
"Or not shift at all. Tell me, are you able to say that's the case to everyone that is neutral? The best example would be you. You're neutral to the situation of class battles and you even made deals so that you can stay that way."
"Neutrality is the way to go when you don't have proper information."
"And yet you criticize neutrality. Honestly, you are being a hypocrite right now."
"All the more reason to not care about myself. What matters to me is that you would have a good future."
"And what matters to us is that you are with us every step of the way." She said, standing up.
"Us? So you speak in Shizuko's stead?"
"She is not ready to come back out, that's why I'm still here. In the event that you've fully given up, I have to be the one to take charge. You wouldn't want your dear little sister to turn into a monster, right?"
I stood up from my seat, our eyes looking straight at each other.
"What person would want their sibling to become such a thing? I already am a monster, doing what needs to be done just so we could survive."
"And yet you can't bring yourself to hurt us. What if just so you could survive, would you do the deed of hitting us?"
"If it comes to that, I'd rather you'd be the one to kill me than the other way around."
Done with what I had to say, I walked out of the cafe and towards the lower decks. Yuko was trying to provoke me, I could feel it, but I'd never do something like hit her. As I've said before, I can't bring myself to do it.
Avoiding the crowds, I slowly made my way to my room. I was hoping to get myself some more time alone so that I could think. Realizing that my roommates are probably there, I decided to head somewhere else.
While exploring the ship before we got to the island, I had found a pretty good spot to meditate. It was at the back side of the ship, a hall leading to a room where not many people go towards. I kept that place to myself in case I needed to be alone.
It took me around fifteen minutes to get there, but I was lucky that I didn't see or hear anyone in the area. With a view of the ocean, I decided to think back to what Yuko was trying to say.
It was obvious that she was trying to get a reaction from me, but why did she do it? There wasn't any reason to try and make me have negative impressions of her. That said, I know her to be quite the seductive type. The reason with the highest possibility of being true, was that she just wanted to get a reaction for her enjoyment.
That said, I also know her to be quite reasonable. Whenever we talked a few years back, she seemed to always want something out of me. Whatever the real reason is, I'm not in the mood to piece everything together just yet.
"This is quite the nice view, isn't it?" A voice behind me said.
"...Of course you followed me here."
Slowly, I turned around to face Yuko, only to be met with something I didn't expect. She slapped me straight across the face. When I turned to her again, she gestured for me to come at her.
"Hit me." She said bluntly.
"What? No, I'm not gonna-"
She kneed me in the stomach and performed a low sweep, causing me to lose balance.
"Get up. Come on, hit me."
"I'm not going to hit you."
"Eye for an eye, right? Hit me back."
"No."
She grabbed my arm, forcing me to stand up again. Yuko punched my torso three times, then aimed a high kick at my left temple. With an attack like that, I'd sustain a lot of damage to my head, so I dodged it.
"I'm not going to stop until you hit me, onii-sama!"
Yuko launched a barrage of punches and kicks. With most of those aimed at my vital points, I had to keep dodging. Whenever I caught glimpses of her face, she looked rather angry, but her eyes were slowly getting watery.
"Why are you even doing this?"
"Because you're being such an idiot! Now just hit me!"
"You know I can't do that."
She shoved me into the wall then instantly kneed me in the crotch.
"Agh!"
That hurt like hell itself dammit.
I lost control of my legs out of sheer pain, and hit the ground, back first. Yuko crouched beside me as I winced in pain.
"What would it take for you to hit me? Isn't eye for an eye your principle?" She asked.
"I've never said that before...Why'd you hit me at that very spot dammit, you have no idea how painful it is."
"You've been tortured physically, and yet you still can't bring yourself to hit me."
"I'm not so brutal so as to resort violence with violence immediately."
"What about that incident with Ryuuen-kun's gang, hm?"
"...That was different, I was angry."
I can't deny that I did indeed attack them, but I had a reason for it. That reason being that they were trying to harass her, and I couldn't just stand there and do nothing. I didn't even attack immediately, I tried talking with them, but they just kept provoking the both of us like they didn't care.
"So you would only resort to violence when you're angry?" She asked.
"Stop twisting my words."
I slowly got up to sit with the wall as a support, the pain slowly disappearing.
"Do I really need to give you another beatdown?"
"What are you even trying to get out of me? I can't understand your reasoning here."
"Because you're being dumb as hell!" She shouted, punching the surface to my right.
"Then why don't you indulge me with my idiocy? You're a natural genius too, at least as far as I know."
"Shizuko-chan and I may have a considerable amount of intelligence, but I do not think that was because of being a natural genius. We're what we are right now because of hard work, and because of your commitment to taking care of us."
Yuko sat down in a seiza position and grabbed my hand, putting it in front of her face.
"But enough of that. Come on, just hit me."
"How many times do I have to repeat myself? I will never, ever, hit you."
Immediately after I said that, Yuko threw my hand back down then punched my face, hard.
"Then here's a question instead. Do you love yourself?"
"Why would I not? If I don't then I'd be-"
She punched me again.
"Stop fucking lying."
"...Did you just swear?"
"I may be a dignified young woman, but I'm allowed to be vulgar at times. Now, answer the question or I'll keep hitting you."
"Then keep hitting me. Reality is not so simple so as a person would tell the truth all the time."
She just sat there, seemingly reluctant to continue hitting me. Since she didn't seem to want to do anything, I slowly stood up to leave the area.
Much to my dismay, I felt a large force hit my back, and I landed on the floor again.
"What do you even want that you keep pinning me down?"
I couldn't stand up at all, or even move around by crawling. Was she sitting on me?
"You've been forcing me to do these things." She said.
"Huh?"
The weight on my back disappeared, so I rolled over to try and get up. Before I could stand up, Yuko grabbed hold of my left hand and pinned it to the ground. She was on top of me now, looking at me with teary eyes and an exasperated expression on her face.
"Did you think I wanted to hurt you!? You, of all people? No, but you forced my hand!"
Yuko's voice was shaky, almost as if her whole body was trembling. Her tears dropped down on me, with no signs of stopping.
"I love you with everything I have, but sometimes that love needs to be tough. Onii-sama has been so stupid these past few days, thinking that keeping us in the dark wouldn't affect us. You've hurt us, and you don't even know it!"
"I...hurt you?"
"You're such an idiot! Did you not think of how much we'd dig into it? Onii-sama is at fault for everything right now. My appearance is your fault, Shizuko-chan being traumatized is your fault, you in this state is your fault! This was all because of you!"
"Don't you think I know that!? That's why I've been trying to think of a way to solve everything."
"You clearly haven't thought of everything dumbass! Didn't you think to ask for help? I'm right here you know!?"
"Like I've said, you're an unknown. I can't bring myself to trust you after everything you've tried to do in the past."
Yuko slapped me again. I thought she'd start another barrage, but her trembling hands rested on my shoulders as she made me sit up and pull me into a hug.
"You're an absolute idiot at times. Everything I've done to you, and I mean everything, was out of my love for you. From the very day I was born when Shizuko-chan got DID, you were my love. I never wanted to hurt you, but you kept forcing me too..."
Instinctively, I slowly put a hand on her head as she continued to sob.
"Onii-sama needs to love himself, or else we can't protect you."
"I don't need protection. I've already accepted that I would have a bad future. What I can't accept is having you go down with me."
She pulled away from the hug to look at me. Yuko caressed my cheeks as she chuckled to herself.
"Fufu, too bad. We'll be stuck with you forever, remember that."
"Hey, you're kind of suffocating me."
She didn't seem to hear me, or just wasn't listening.
"Yuko, I can't breathe properly."
"Nighty night, onii-sama. I'll see you another time."
Her grip on me loosened and her eyes closed off, losing consciousness. I had to hold her steady then move her body so that she was laying down.
"I'll see you another time, huh? Alright then, good night Yuko."
Ayanokouji POV
"So? Are you gonna blackmail them too?"
"...No, no I won't."
I quickly deleted the video I took of them. This was and was not a waste of time. I was able to learn a few things from these two whom I swore to protect.
"Isn't that kind of unfair for me?"
This was all a big coincidence. I had hoped in getting Karuizawa to work for me through blackmail, since I was worried Toma-kun would just give up in fighting to stay in this school. Adding her, we now had three girls in the class that are either smart or popular enough to do good alongside us.
That said, the problem of Toma-kun giving up or betraying the class has disappeared, all because of what we saw here.
"Tell no one of what you saw here. The Toma siblings already know of me anyway."
"Ugh, fine."
Though reluctant, Karuizawa knew she didn't have much of a choice right now.
Looking back at what we were spying at, Toma-kun had Toma-san in another embrace. Is this what peace looks like? Getting closure with the ones you love and enjoying your time together? These two always make things look interesting and meaningful whenever they're bonding. Perhaps this was what Toma-kun deemed worthy to protect, the little moments he has with his sister.
"Let's go. I wouldn't want to interrupt their peaceful moment."
"What? Alright then."
"Head back first, I'll follow and head in a different direction."
Karuizawa slowly nodded and did as I said. She had left the area while I waited by looking at the siblings. Toma-kun turned his head a little toward where I was hiding.
"Someone's there, right? Come out."
Well I should've expected this with how observant he is.
"Glad to see you're still very sharp." I said, coming out of my hiding place.
"Ayanokouji, eh? Could you come to me? I really don't wanna move her right now."
I walked up to him and turned to see Toma-san, fast asleep while being supported by Toma-kun's arms. Resigning to his anxiety, I decided to reassure him.
"Don't worry, I won't say a thing."
"Thank you, I'll you a big one if you really do keep your mouth shut."
"Think nothing of it, however I am curious. You called Toma-san 'Yuko', and she was really acting out of character there. If you don't mind, could you explain it?"
"Since you've seen it anyway, I might as well tell you. Shizuko has Dissociative Identity Disorder. Yuko is her alter, and she's been in control since we got back on the ship from the island exam."
"So that's why she's been acting strangely since then. I suppose you decided to hide it because she might get exploited?"
"Precisely because of that. Especially now since there are people like Ryuuen willing to do anything to crush his opponents. At the time, I couldn't really trust Yuko, but now that this happened I suppose I could give her a chance."
"...What does it feel like?"
"Could you elaborate that question?"
"What does it feel like to have a loving sibling?"
Toma-kun looked at me, slightly confused. He chuckled then looked back at Toma-san.
"You could say having a sibling will keep you going in life. I don't know about your family situation, but our parents are gone, so we only have each other. It keeps me thinking that if I don't press on, Shizuko would fall down with me."
"And you're willing to do anything to keep her safe?"
"Within reason, that is. I won't kill someone just to keep her safe, instead it's better to compromise by just talking to them, or if push comes to shove, severely injuring them instead. An eye for an eye and the world goes blind, as they say."
"That's a Gandhi quote, what an interesting way of thinking. But I've heard that you've fought against Ryuuen's old gang before. Doesn't that contradict with what you just said?"
"Not really, you don't know the full story of that incident. I did try to negotiate, but they wouldn't listen, so my hand was forced. Unlike Gandhi, I'm not such a pacifist."
"I see, then I'll leave you to it. I won't say anything about her DID and what happened here. Protect her well Toma Hisoka, you never know who would try to hurt the both of you."
"Thanks for the ominous advice."
After I nodded, I walked away from the area.
With these two around, I could probably learn a thing or two about human relationships. I won't meddle with their own personal problems that they have with each other like this one, but it's interesting to think that the seemingly inseperable duo could be separated by something as unexpected as Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Toma-sensei, you have some truly determined kids. I look forward to continue working with them.
_______________________________
Before the last two meetings even began, we received a message, or should I say two messages, from the school. The Horse and Rabbit groups were done with the exam, so only Dragon Group remained.
That said, their meetings were over, and now we were just waiting for the results.
Hirata, Kushida, Horikita and I sat alongside Toma-kun and Toma-san. The latter of the two siblings was quite literally snuggling on the former.
"I'm glad to see that you two are getting along again." Hirata said with a warm smile.
"The misunderstanding has been cleared after all. And Horikita, about what I kept saying these past few days..."
"There's no need to apologize, Toma-kun. You were right after all, about almost everything." Horikita said.
"I'm glad to see that you realize it. Then I expect we can somehow get along from now on."
"Yeah, we can try and figure things out again. Thank you for giving me another chance."
"Well this is quite unlike you." I commented.
Horikita gave me her scariest death glare so far.
"...I said nothing."
"Good, because I didn't really hear anything come from your mouth."
"Anyway, the results should come in now...3...2...1."
Simultaneously, we all got a message from the school, and so did everyone else waiting around as they looked at their phones.
Rat: Outcome 3. The traitor answered correctly.
Horse: Outcome 3. The traitor answered correctly.
Snake: Outcome 3. The traitor answered correctly.
Cow: Outcome 3. The traitor answered correctly.
Tiger: Outcome 3. The traitor answered correctly.
Monkey: Outcome 3. The traitor answered correctly.
Rooster: Outcome 3. The traitor answered correctly.
Dog: Outcome 3. The traitor answered correctly.
Pig: Outcome 3. The traitor answered correctly.
Sheep: Outcome 3. The traitor answered correctly.
Dragon: Outcome 1. All participants guessed the VIP correctly
Rabbit: 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: -150 cl, +2,000,000 pr
Class B: +50 cl, +3,000,000 pr
Class C: +100 cl, +3,500,000 pr
Class D: no change in cl, +4,000,000 pr
From the other side of the spacious room, we could hear cackling.
"Class B got an extra fifty, which means they won the raffle for the Rabbit Group eh?" Toma-kun commented.
"Yes, since we didn't really want Class C to gain too many points." Hirata said.
"I can't beleive Ryuuen-kun actually kept his word." Horikita said.
"Kanzaki-kun and I had a rather long discussion with him, so he did in fact keep his word."
"Congratulations to us I guess. Class A got destroyed."
"Kukuku. I enjoyed our cooperation, Toma."
The siblings looked in the direction of the voice. Ryuuen stood there with Yamada Albert right behind him.
"I'm just glad you actually kept your promise."
"'Course I did. Cuz this time we had a mutual goal, but I'd rather have you as my opponent."
Ryuuen extended his hand to Toma-kun.
"What do you say? Wanna be my target in the next exam?"
Toma-kun lightly pushed his sister away and got up from his seat, taking Ryuuen's hand and shaking it.
"Bring your worst, Ryuuen Kakeru."
"So should you, Toma Hisoka. And while we're at it, I'm throwing in Suzune into this mix."
"What? Why me as well?"
"Is it not obvious? From what your shitty classmates have been saying, you and this dude over here carried your class in the island exam. I'm coming for you too, so be ready."
Ryuuen let go of the handshake and started to walk away.
"Let's go Albert. Next time, you two will be my prey."
"I'll always be ready, just like back in junior high." Toma-kun said.
"Kukukuku. Now that's what I oike about you." Ryuuen replied while waving at him.
The tension from that interaction disappeared as Ryuuen left the room. Looking around, a lot of the Class A students looked defeated, especially Katsuragi. Meanwhile at Ichinose's table, they all looked relieved, I guess they really didn't trust Ryuuen and had to gamble everything.
"You and Ryuuen-kun certainly seem to get along." Horikita-san told Toma-kun.
"I wouldn't say that necessarily. We just talk like that naturally because of the many times I encountered his student gang in junior high. It also doesn't help that-"
Toma-kun suddenly looked panicked and swerved his head around. Because of this, I decided to look towards where Toma-san was sitting, only to find that she's not there. Now how did I not notice her leave? She's like a ghost, I tell you.
After looking around, I found her by the table of abother girl.
"Sigh...Why does she have to scare me like that?" Toma-kun said, slumping down on his chair.
"Do you know who that girl is?" I asked him.
"Oh, that's Shiina Hiyori-san. From what I heard, she's Class C's resident bookworm." Kushida answered.
"We met her on the island, then they got along rather quickly. I guess since the exam is over they're finally able to casually interact again."
"Ah, I can see how they're able to get along." Hirata said.
"Yeah, you can just tell how much they're able to talk about if they have the same interest in books. But enough about that, I suppose I should get going."
"Wait, you're just gonna leave her there?" I asked.
"I interrupted them on the island, I'm not gonna do it again so soon. I just want to relax in my room is all. Enjoy your summer."
Toma-kun stood up then left the room, and no one even tried to stop him.
"I guess this exam did take a little out of us."
"True, but it wasn't as taxing as the island exam. What made Toma-kun tired was probably how he and Toma-san finally got along again." Horikita commented.
"Based on these results, I suppose Class B is the new Class A?" Kushida wondered.
"Yes, since Class A lost a lot of points, it's only natural. We have a long road ahead of us."
"But if we can just keep up our current pace, we can definitely reach Class A together!"
This would conclude the Zodiac Exam. Although we didn't really reap all the benefits, the result is still good enough. Now that Class A lost their lead, the other classes would become more motivated, seeing that they aren't as invincible as they thought Clasd A was.
For now, we can just enjoy the rest of our summer break.
First Year Class standings:
Class A: 924
Class B: 1088
Class C: 592
Class D: 442
____________________________________
3rd Person POV
In a beautiful garden area, seemingly normal, and yet it wasn't, three girls were present.
A girl with a blindfold, who called herself Nao, was being fed scones while sitting by a table with the other two.
A girl with her hair tied in twin tails and glasses was silently sipping her tea in an elegant fashion as she watched the other two in amusement. She called herself Yuko.
The girl that had her hair down was feeding Nao the scones while chatting with Yuko. She called herself Shizuko.
"Onii-sama would be delighted to see us getting along like this." Yuko commented.
"Is this really what happens when we enter a dream like state?" Shizuko asked her.
"Not particularly, but this is the second time it happened, so we might as well consider the possibility."
"I take it that whatever happened between the last day on the island up until now was your doing? I don't remember any of it."
"In time, you'll learn to remember, or I can just tell you about those events."
"That reminds me, I have a question for you Nao-san. Why do you wear a blindfold?"
Nao finished chewing on her scones and swallowed.
"It's not that I'm wearing this. This blindfold is stuck on my face, and I can't really take it off."
"But I heard you sobbing last time, so does it not get wet whenever you cry?"
"I can't really answer that. This blindfold seems to be special since it never gets wet, like at all."
"Nao-chan here is rather vulnerable to insults and the like. And when 'his' name gets mentioned, well you already saw what happened last time, yes?" Yuko mentioned.
"Nao-san, do you have a thing for niisan?"
"I haven't seen onii-chan or heard his voice in a long time, and I really miss him. I really hope we find him soon." Nao said, feeling around for the glass of water that was in front of her.
Yuko guided Nao's hand until she found the glass, then she took a sip. All of a sudden, Yuko's hand started to dematerialize.
"Well, it would seem our time is up. Shizuko-chan, I assume you've accepted us as part of you, correct?"
"Yes, it's hard not to, not after what happened at the back of the ship. You can get rather emotional sometimes, Yuko-san."
"Hmph, I may be refined, but everyone's image can break from time to time." Yuko replied, standing up.
Nao and Shizuko also started to dematerialize, signaling the end of their supposed dream state.
"This is farewell for now. We'll definitely meet again, Shizuko-chan." Yuko said, with a smile.
"Bye-bye." Nao said, waving her hand.
And so, the garden started falling apart, as all three of them disappeared entirely.