Chapter 19: Actual Situation

After seeing Ayanokouji's true nature displayed in the previous episode, many students began to discuss with a feeling of dread in them.

How could they not? After knowing that there is someone like Ayanokouji in this school, many students feel a certain fear of him.

Even the students in Class D were at a loss for words after seeing the true nature of their classmate.

They were eager to ask Ayanokouji about what was shown earlier on the screen, but they didn't dare to ask him that question.

*Claps*

Hearing the familiar sound of clapping, many in the audience began to calm down and turn their gaze to the one who had been on stage all this time.

Batler who saw the situation in the theater room could only smile, "Since the preparations for the next episode have been fulfilled, let's continue the Episode Seventeenth Theater Room, Actual Situation."

Hearing that the next episode was about to air, many students began to focus their eyes on the screen that was slowly beginning to glow.

[In the end, even after I entered this school. Nothing had changed. No, perhaps it was that I had no intention of changing anything from the start. For better or for worse, it was the same as that time. The reason for that was very simple. I understand myself more than anyone else does. Both my strengths and my weaknesses, I know them all.]

Seeing that it wasn't about Ayanokouji that was shown in the current episode, many audience were quite surprised. They had thought that the current episode would tell about Ayanokouji's true situation, which caused him to have thoughts like those in the previous episode.

Could it be that they misunderstood the clues in the title of the current episode?

Looking at the title of the current episode, it is likely that they misunderstood the clues in the episode title.

The screen clearly shows that it is a woman speaking, and although the image on the screen is still not very clear because the show has just begun, the silhouette of a woman can indeed be seen on the screen.

As for Class D, they felt that the female voice on the screen was quite familiar to their ears.

"This is probably Karuizawa-san's voice." Mori felt this possibility was very true because the voice sounded similar to the voice her friend had.

Most of the students who knew Karuizawa, agreed to the possibility, but they were curious about what she meant on the screen.

Nothing has changed?

What was it that had not changed? They were very curious about that.

Unable to resist curiosity, they tried to ask the question to Karuizawa who was currently sitting next to Ayanokouji, they forgot that the person being asked was the girlfriend of a person they considered scary after seeing the previous episode.

Karuizawa who heard many of her classmates start asking her questions could only sigh because honestly she had expected something like this to happen.

"Most likely you will all see it later in the future, so there's no need for me to explain too much right now."

Hearing the answer given by Karuizawa, many students began to speculate in their minds because it was strange to see the quiet behavior that Karuizawa currently had.

[I know none of the boys and none of the girls like me. Even though I understood that clearly I didn’t think to change. But it doesn’t matter. Because I had long since stopped perceiving it as hurtful. Because I myself wanted this.

As I got out of the shower attached to the student rooms, I looked at myself in the mirror while water droplets accumulated on my skin. How many, just how many times, have I wanted to smash this mirror into pieces? Every time I see wounds of the past in it, I am reminded of my horrid past. Suddenly feeling dizzy and nauseated, I quickly put my hands on the sink and vomit into it.

Why? Why am I looked at with such eyes? Why? Why do I have to suffer like this? Why? Why? Why?

I repeated the same question to myself countless times. Words that no longer carried any meaning. The past is immutable. I cannot change anyone or anything from the past anymore.

God has been very cruel to me. My very personality was destroyed by the nightmare of that time, I had also lost my youth, my friends and myself to it. I need to correct that mistake now. No matter how much they hate me, it’s still better than suffering that again. Yes. I don’t need ‘youth’. I don’t need ‘friends’. The most important thing is that I protect myself.

I will do whatever I must to ensure that. I am…a parasite. A weak creature incapable of surviving on its own.

...]

The audience who heard Karuizawa's thoughts were speechless, as they did not expect the Karuizawa they knew all along to have such a suffering mind as shown on the screen.

It was clear from her words on screen that Karuizawa probably had some pretty tragic past to make her have thoughts like this.

Some people who had more mental capacity could begin to speculate that perhaps Karuizawa's past was something extremely tragic, which caused even a strong girl mind like Karuizawa's to refer to herself as a parasite and a weak creature unable to survive on her own.

They did not dare to speculate too wildly, because their speculations were not necessarily true.

Although there were definitely people who expressed their personal thoughts to Karuizawa, "Karuizawa-san, is it possible that you were...?"

Even if the person's words were not resolved, the audience knew what the person was implying, and did not dare to imagine that such a situation could be experienced by a student at a school like this.

Karuizawa understood what those words might imply and simply shook her head, "My situation at that time did not reach that level."

Hearing the confirmation given by Karuizawa, many audience breathed a sigh of relief as their speculations had not been correct.

Katsuragi who saw that the situation had started to calm down spoke the thoughts she had all along, "Is it possible that you don't see the similarities between Karuizawa and Ayanokouji?"

Hearing Katsuragi's words many of the audience members were confused, not understanding what she meant.

Unlike the audience who did not understand what Katsuragi meant, some of the audience who had greater mental capacity could begin to understand what he meant after they recalled what Karuizawa had said on the screen earlier.

"They have similarities in some situations such as they will do anything to realize the desires that both of them have." Nagumo could easily understand what Katsuragi meant.

Hearing the words of the student council president, many audience began to understand what Katsuragi meant all along.

"Karuizawa-san will do anything to protect the life she has, while Ayanokouji-kun will do anything to achieve the victory he wants." Ichinose could begin to understand the situation of why Ayanokouji had a dating relationship with Karuizawa.

"Karuizawa doesn't care about the hatred her friend has to protect the life she has, and Ayanokouji doesn't care about his friend whom he manipulates to achieve the victory he wants." Kanzaki added to the opinions held by his class representative.

"So that's why he chose that girl, over every other girl who had interest in him?" Ryuuen laughed amusedly at how the man chose the girl to be his partner.

Hearing their discussion, many audience could begin to understand also how the two of them could be so compatible in their current dating relationship.

“You’re Karuizawa-san, right? There’s something I want to ask you.”

The girl from Class C named Manabe called out to Karuizawa. Karuizawa herself didn’t seem to be expecting her name to be called out here, and she quickly turned away from her phone.

“What?”]

Seeing that the perspective had changed to Ayanokouji's again, many students began to notice some patterns occurring within this theater room.

With how Ayanokouji's mind was as structured as they had seen it all along.

That was most likely why the theater room had been using Ayanokouji's perspective to display what was being shown in the theater room.

Plus somehow almost all of the problems that occurred in this school and its classes were intervened by Ayanokouji.

Looking at all the episodes they have been watching, it can be seen that Ayanokouji is always included in the problem.

[“Perhaps it’s just my misunderstanding, but over the summer holiday, did you have a quarrel with Rika?” She asked.

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean? Who’s Rika?” Karuizawa asks.

“She’s from our class. The one wearing glasses? She wears her hair like a dango? You don’t recall her?” Manabe replies to her.

“I don’t. You’ve got the wrong person”.

Karuizawa brushes them off as if they had nothing to do with her and glanced back towards her phone. But Manabe’s next words caused a change in Karuizawa’s expression.

“Isn’t it strange, then? We heard a different story. That Class D’s Karuizawa bullied our Rika. That she was waiting in line at the cafe and you pushed her out of it” Manabe says.

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about. Do you have a problem with me?” Karuizawa replies.

“Not really, just checking. If that’s true, I want you to go apologize to Rika. Rika’s the type to keep quiet over matters like this, so it’s our job as her classmates to stand up for her” Manabe says. It looks like it’s not just our class, Karuizawa has a reputation as a troublemaker in other classes as well. I turn my eyes away from them. After all, even Class C can be a pain to deal with. Karuizawa also tries to ignore them but it seems to have made Manabe angry.]

Seeing the behavior carried out by Karuizawa which caused a problem to come from class C, her classmates just sighed.

Because they really understand the problems that Karuizawa has always done while in their class.

Maybe this is what Karuizawa meant before, that she will do anything to protect the life she has even if all her friends hate such actions.

Is everything Karuizawa has done so far an act faked by her?

Many audience are already thinking about this possibility, because judging from what was shown earlier, Karuizawa's mental state is quite problematic.

[Manabe then takes out her phone and points the camera towards Karuizawa.

“Then you won’t mind if I check again with Rika, will you? If you didn’t do anything, then you surely won’t have a problem with that right?”

And at that moment, Karuizawa suddenly stood up and grabbed the phone from Manabe’s hands. She used quite a bit of force as the phone flew through the air and fell down to the floor with a thud.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Manabe shouted at Karuizawa.

“That’s my line, don’t take photos of me without my permission, I already told you I didn’t do it!”

Both sides were denying the other’s claims, and as their argument heated up, Ichinose stared at them as if trying to discern who’s in the right and who’s in the wrong.

“What’re you going to do if my phone breaks?”

“What? Just tell the school and get yourself a new one!” Karuizawa sharply replies to Manabu.

“…There were some precious photos in that phone”

Manabu tells her as she picks up the phone and stares at Karuizawa with eyes harboring a grudge. Two other students from Class C backed up Manabe by standing in front of Karuizawa as if to intimidate her.

“What…..are you trying to say I’m the bad one here?”. “If you really are innocent, why are you so defensive? Let me take your photo” Manabe tells Karuizawa.

“I….don’t want to”.

I expected Karuizawa to respond with even more force, but she sounds surprisingly weak. Or more precisely, despite her trying to sound tough I could hear the fear in her voice. Perhaps that’s just my imagination.]

Seeing Karuizawa's situation on the screen and hearing Ayanokouji's words in his mind.

Many audience are thinking about the possibility that the situation they thought before, could be the truth of the current situation.

Looking at the clues given by the title of the current episode, it is likely that they will now see the actual situation experienced by Karuizawa.

With how the actions that Karuizawa has on the screen are very suspicious and unlike the actions taken by Karuizawa usually.

The Karuizawa they know is stubborn and not afraid to face the situation she is in, while the Karuizawa shown on the screen seems very afraid and passive in her actions.

[“Aren’t you just trying to hide your acts?”

Manabe locks the camera onto Karuizawa as if forcibly trying to take a picture of her.

The girls from Class C watch this unfold while cruelly laughing as if enjoying it. Only the last Class C student, Ibuki, took a different attitude and did not join in. She looked at Manabe as if in disgust but did not stop her.

“This is stupid” Ibuki said.

“Stupid? What’s that supposed to mean? This has nothing to do with you, Ibuki-san. You’re not even Rika’s friend” Manabe tells Ibuki.

“That’s right, I have no stake in this. So I’m just observing” Ibuki said with her arms crossed as she looked away from the scene. Manabe did not seem to like the attitude Ibuki took with her, but instead of confronting Ibuki, she started to raise her voice against Karuizawa instead. That might be because there is a definitively established hierarchy in Class C in which Ibuki ranks above Manabe.

“In any case, I’m taking that photo” Manabe finally says.

“No!…please say something to stop her” Karuizawa looked towards Machida from Class A and pleaded with him for help.

“Manabe, if Karuizawa is objecting to it, then stop” Machida then speaks out.

“T-this has nothing to do with you, Machida-kun”.

“It doesn’t matter, from what I’ve heard it seems like you’re in the wrong Manabe. If Karuizawa refuses to let her photo be taken, it’s wrong to forcibly do so against her will. It would be much better if you talked with your friend yourself to confirm your story” Machida rebukes Manabe.

Of course Machida is in the right if what she says is true. But taking photos of someone against their will is a violation of manners. Manabe also recognizes this fact as she withdraws when confronted with that argument although it does not seem like she was satisfied stopping here.

“S-stop with the strange accusations, really. And thank you, Machida-kun” Karuizawa looked at Machida respectfully and thanked him. Even though he was from Class A, it didn’t seem like he was completely heartless. Takemoto and the other students didn’t seem to be interested at all though.

“…I only did the right thing” Machida replies to Karuizawa with a slight blush.

Perhaps this is the beginning of a new love for Machida and Karuizawa? But Karuizawa already has a boyfriend named Hirata so there’s a slight problem there. But it seems like the conflict between Class C and Karuizawa will be a problem going forward.…]

Seeing this, it further strengthened the speculation that audience had that Karuizawa might have been faking her brave feelings all along.

"So most likely, this is what she meant by her being a parasite." Katsuragi felt that this possibility was very high after seeing Karuizawa's behavior on the screen.

"What do you mean by that?" Some students did not understand what Katsuragi said.

"Do you know how parasites live?" Katsuragi asked the students.

How do parasites live? They certainly knew that parasites can usually only live through their host.

Host...

So like that, they knew now what Katsuragi meant.

"Parasites cannot live without a host." Ryuuen said contemptuously towards some of the students who were struggling to even understand that.

"Karuizawa-san's situation perfectly illustrates that, first Hirata-kun, second Machida-kun, and finally most likely Ayanokouji-kun as well." Sakayangi felt that the whole situation was very likely true.

"Parasite and host, that probably does describe the situation that Karuizawa and Ayanokouji are in." Kanzaki began to feel that the more he knew about the D class students, the more strange he felt because almost all of the D class students had certain problems within themselves.

It wasn't just Kanzaki who thought this, many students understood this as well.

And it further strengthened the theory that all the D class students had some problems in their past lives.

[“I’m going back” Karuizawa promptly said that as she stood to leave, but her legs were shaking as if she were feeling numb.

But in her panic to leave the room, Karuizawa accidentally stepped on Manabe’s feet.

“Ow!” Manabe screamed in pain.

“Ahh…sorry. I didn’t mean to” Karuizawa softly apologized before quickly leaving the room.

“What…what the hell!?” Manabe shouted at us. She seemed to be angry both from the pain and Karuizawa’s attitude and is lashing out at us. I quickly avert my eyes to avoid getting involved and escape.

“Let’s go too, I’d like to hear from Hirata as well”.

Since the other classes were already making their moves, it seems Yukimura wants to come up with a strategy for our class too. Sotomura stood up in response to Yukimura’s statement. At the very end, only the three from Class B and Ibuki were left in the room.

“I’m hungry again, do you think there’s a lunch buffet going on?” Sotomura asks. No, no, you’re the abnormal one here. What kind of body do you have to be able to digest all that food you ate in one hour. Normally, you’d get fat if you eat that much. But I doubt my sincere advice will reach his heart.

“Hey Yukimura, did you notice Karuizawa was acting strange?”

I asked Yukimura immediately after we left the room. But Yukimura only made a strange face towards me in return.

“She’s always strange” He said earnestly.

A straightforward response, but that’s not what I wanted to hear, it’s just my intuition but there was something definitely off about Karuizawa’s behaviour. Sotomura didn’t seem like he noticed a thing. I switched on my phone which I had turned off when entering the room and there were messages from Sakura. I checked the contents and it seems she wants to meet me if I have time.

“Perfect timing”

…]

Seeing Karuizawa's behavior on the screen, the more they felt that it was likely that Karuizawa had been using a brave facade to protect the life she had.

Some of her classmates felt sorry for the situation Karuizawa was in, what kind of situation might have caused her to fake some of the actions she had in the past.

Sotomura who heard the advice that Ayanokouji had for him could only smile in gratitude.

"Thank you for the advice Ayanokouji-dono."

"So Ayaokouji-kun already sensed something strange with Karuizawa-san's behavior." Sato who felt that she started to discover something new after seeing Karuizawa on the screen.

"It's just as expected with how the observation ability he has shown so far." Matushita also began to feel that Karuizawa might have had some trauma in her life.

[Meanwhile, Karuizawa just kept sighing and fiddling with her phone. There are no rules stating one cannot use their phone during the exam’s discussion period but it is bad manners for her to do that while the consensus was to find the “target”.

Or is Karuizawa actually part of the CIA or FBI and is relaying information to Hirata via phone? If she is, I’d respect her a lot…but I doubt it.

Of course Karuizawa never puts much effort into anything so this behaviour should be normal, but ever since the exam started, I’ve noticed something is off with Karuizawa. Karuizawa acting differently, and the reunion with Ibuki and her argument with Manabe’s group.

And I realized something. None of her actions then were the ‘usual’ Karuizawa. In Class D, whether her reputation is good or not, there is no denying that she, along with Hirata, brought the class together as one. She normally would bring us together as one to clear this exam, whether we had the capacity for it or not, but she never showed any sign of it.

Hirata is Hirata no matter where he is, and Kushida is also always Kushida. But Karuizawa has definitely changed. Or perhaps she’s feeling inferior to Manabe and her group, who rank above her in terms of the school’s caste system. What we need right now for Class D to rise through the ranks is not just gathering more points. Compared to classes like A and B, Class D is still severely lacking in cohesiveness.

Karuizawa Kei, who will be indispensable for that cohesiveness, is an existence who controls the girls of Class D. That’s my current assessment. That’s why I’m worried about her right now.

I need to determine whether she will be a useful existence or a useless existence to me. I cannot afford to take my time in this case considering that the exam period itself is short. Depending on the circumstances, I might need to use force with her...]

Hearing the contents of Ayanokouji's mind as it aired this time, they were reminded once again that Ayanokouji was a horrible human being.

Hearing how he wanted to determine whether Karuizawa could be a useful existence or a useless existence for him, the audience felt goosebumps on their bodies hearing such cruel words.

They were curious as to what kind of reaction Karuizawa would have after hearing the thoughts her girlfriend had, so they turned their gaze to her.

There they saw Karuizawa as usual watching together with Ayanokouji while feeding popcorn to each other, seeing this many audience were confused by the actions taken by Karuizawa.

Shouldn't she be angry to hear how her girlfriend thinks about her?

Karuizawa who felt the eyes of many onlookers on her, just shook her head because she already understood quite well how cruel her boyfriend could act.

"Aren't you surprised by how your boyfriend has been thinking Karuizawa-san?"

Hearing the question, many began to focus their hearing on the discussion that was about to begin as they were also quite curious about how Karuizawa would respond.

"I'm not surprised at all." Karuizawa casually answered the question given to her.

"I quite understand how Kiyotaka views people around him, although the start of our relationship was not good due to some situations that might be aired in the future. We accepted each other's situations well which is why we have a relationship now."

The audience who heard Karuizawa's answer could not help but be amazed or jealous of their relationship. To even be able to accept their respective situations and flaws.

"So Karuizawa-senpai, why did the beginning of your relationship have a bad situation?" Amasawa was quite curious about what caused their relationship to go sour in the first place.

Hearing the question given by the little girl, Karuizawa couldn't help but blush as she recalled their actual first meeting, "Ughh... Kiyotaka was quite a pervert back then."

Ayanokouji who heard Karuizawa's answer just looked at his girlfriend strangely.

Hearing the answer given by Karuizawa regarding the initial problem of their relationship, the audience was speechless as Karuizawa answered with a blushing face and the strange look given by Ayanokouji to his girlfriend.

[Ichinose switches over to her classmates instantly after that. I have observed her for today, but I was unable to ascertain what Ichinose’s real aims are yet. But at least our group is still producing results this way. She might be concocting a strategy she cannot let anyone else know about for all I know. When Manabe of Class C and her friends stood up to leave the room, I chased after them. Once they reached the elevator, I casually called out to Manabe.

“Do you have some time?”

I ask her. Once she noticed me, she quickly went back on her guard since she most likely was not expecting me to call out to her.

“I overheard your argument with Karuizawa. Something about pushing over someone in a cafe or something.” I tell her.

“And what’s wrong with that?” She retorts.

Normally they would not show any interest in me, but when I brought that topic up, all three girls focused their attention to me.

“I’m not 100% sure, but I think I saw Karuizawa push over your friend at the cafe” I told them.

“R-really?” Manabe asked me stiffly. I nod.

“Yeah. I didn’t like how she acted back then, so I thought I’d give you a heads up”

I admit to them. I ignited the fires of argument between Karuizawa and the Class C girls deliberately. Truthfully, I didn’t see Karuizawa do anything like that, but I lied to create this situation. Now, Manabe and the others are sure to take action against Karuizawa. I’m very excited to see how Karuizawa will respond to that, and how she will change…

…]

Seeing the cruelty and manipulation practiced by Ayanokouji once again, the audience could not help but be amazed.

The way he guided Manabe by supporting his opposition to Karuizawa, caused Manabe to have more courage and confidence in facing the conflict with Karuizawa.

It may have been a small manipulation by Ayanokouji towards Manabe, but the impact of that small manipulation was huge. Because by getting support from someone who was in the same class as Karuizawa, Manabe had the mindset that the actions she would take next would have the right moral foundation.

Manabe only needs someone to guide her mind that her actions are right in the standard of moral foundation, and she will do something that may be cruel to Karuizawa, and that is what Ayanokouji wants to happen.

Some audience who have more mental capacity can understand what Ayanokouji is doing, and they feel that the cruelty that Ayanokouji can commit is endless.

Judging from Ayanokouji's words in his mind, perhaps all these actions were to see how Karuizawa would respond to the trouble that would come her way.

[While we were having a serious discussion, Kouenji started to sing from across the room. Having been patient for a while, it seems Yukimura finally lost patience with Kouenji after hearing his humming that would seemingly last forever.

“Kouenji, can you stop humming that annoying song? And I won’t tell you to do it seriously but at least see this exam through to the end. Don’t suddenly retire like you did on the island test” Yukimura rebuked Kouenji.

“It couldn’t be helped, back then my body was in ill shape, I can’t do the impossible” Kouenji simply replied.

“Geh…it’s just a fake illness”

“But to think the exam will continue on for two more days, it sounds troublesome indeed” Kouenji who continued his push ups said that before getting up back on his feet and putting his towel on the bed.

“Troublesome? You’re not even thinking about the exam properly” Yukimura accused Kouenji.

“There’s no meaning in continuing an uninteresting exam, it’s just a simple quiz to find the liar after all” Kouenji told him.

Kouenji then took out his phone and fiddled with it for a while. Then suddenly, all our phones rang at once and we received a mail from the school.

“Kouenji, what did you do?” Yukimura cried out at Kouenji. Then me and Hirata both rushed to check the mail in our phones.

It said “The (Monkey) group’s test has ended. Students from the (Monkey) group are no longer required to participate. Please be careful not to disturb the other students.”

“The (Monkey) group is yours, Kouenji!”

“Exactly. Now I have my freedom back. Adieu” Kouenji simply said before throwing away his cell phone and disappearing into the bathroom, leaving us all in shock.

…]

Seeing what Kouenji did on the screen, the current second-year students were reminded of the situation during the exam.

That there was one group that had ended early, if Koeunji was able to finish and guess who the VIP was when the exam had not been going on for long, then the confidence he had might not have been an act of arrogance.

If that is true, then it is likely that Kouenji's observational and deductive skills are very good.

Kouenji who saw the students astonished by his abilities simply snorted and crossed his arms in front of his chest, "With the abilities I have, determining who the VIP is at that time is a piece of cake."

The students who heard Kouenji's confident words, only chose to remain silent as they were too lazy to argue with him.

[The students of Class C who were always one of the first out the door do not seem to be leaving yet while Class A, always the first to leave, did so as usual. However, it seems Machida and Karuizawa are busy exchanging their contact numbers with each other and making arrangements to contact each other. Then Yukimura and Sotomura got up to leave.

“Let’s go back, Ayanokouji you’re leaving too right?”

“Yeah” And at the same time, Karuizawa also stands to leave while talking to someone on the phone, seemingly chatting about something interesting. And as she leaves, the three girls from Class C also pass through us to follow her.

“Those three girls. Don’t they seem a bit strange to you?”

Yukimura seemed to have noticed somethign unusual about them and looked at me with a worried face.

“Do you believe so? I have not noticed anything” Sotomura replies to him in a crazy tone of voice.

Leaving aside Sotomura’s opinion, Yukimura’s intuition is correct. It seems the Class C girls are storing up quite a bit of anger in them as well. Yukimura and I slightly peak out of the room into the corridor outside. And we saw the three girls chasing Karuizawa swiftly in the corridor. I would rather not follow them alone. And Ibuki, who also seem to be disinterested in Karuizawa, is not there.

“Might be a personal quarrel between them?” Yukimura looked at me as if to ask what to do.

“Let’s follow them. It might not end up in violence but it might cause a bit of uproar.”

“Damn that Karuizawa, always doing things that makes people hate her…even though I wanted to find the “target” myself.”

While Sotomura left to return to his room, Yukimura and I quickly followed the four girls quietly.]

Viewers who saw that the situation on the screen was starting to become tense, many began to feel a sense of curiosity about the situation that Karuizawa was going through.

Seeing how Ayanokouji had managed the situation all along, many audience couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.

Some audience have started speculating on the situation that Karuizawa will soon be in after seeing her behavior that has been shown on the screen.

It is most likely a bad situation for Karuizawa, with how Ayanokouji managed the situation just because he wanted to see how she would respond.

[As I reached a corner, I heard the sound of a door slamming shut and saw the entrance to the emergency stairs closing. But there was no reason to use the emergency stairs unless the elevators were broken, which meant something else is happening here.

“Hey, what’re you doing bringing me to a place like this?”

I quietly opened the door to the emergency staircase and heard a voice from inside.

“Don’t play dumb with us, you pushed Rika right? Start talking.”

“…W-w-why. Why are you accusing me? I told you you’ve got the wrong person didn’t I?”

The three girls then closed in on Karuizawa and drove her back to the wall as if to prevent her from escaping. But even in a situation like that, Karuizawa continued to deny the accusations without apologizing. Is it really not her then?

“I have something to do now, would you mind moving aside?”

“Then let me confirm it now. I’m going to call Rika now. If it’s really not you, then I’ll forgive you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’ll call the teachers.”

“What are you going to tell the teachers? It’s not like we’re using violence on you right now. If you tell them, we could also tell them you pushed Rika and make it a problem for you too.”

It seems like they have no intention of backing down as they grabbed Karuizawa’s arms as she tried to escape and pushed her back towards the wall.

One of the girls then began using her phone to contact the girl named Rika.

“W-wait a minute.”

Once she realized the situation was that serious, Karuizawa tried to stop them from making the call.

“Why are you in such a hurry?”

“…I just remembered. I accidentally bumped into that girl.” Karuizawa quickly tells them.

“You filthy liar, you remembered her from the start didn’t you? I don’t care either way, but you’re going to apologize to Rika?”

“No. She’s the one in the wrong. She’s an airheaded girl.”

I thought Karuizawa would accept responsibility for it, but it seems she’s as headstrong as ever. Despite knowing she would rile the Class C girls up even more she still said those words.

“She’s really pissing me off. I was even thinking about forgiving her for her actions earlier if she apologized to Rika. Never mind, I’m not forgiving her now.”

And with that, she pushed Karuizawa’s shoulder with the palm of her hand.

“You weren’t going to forgive her anyway from the start…right?”

It was a girl named Yamashita who had always followed behind Manabe until now, that said that.

“Shiho-chan, I can’t hold back anymore. I really won’t forgive Karuizawa.”

“I know right? I’m sure Rika shares the same feelings as you. Let’s seriously bully her.”

This time, with more force, she hit Karuizawa’s shoulder with her palm again. Yukimura tried to open the door quickly, but I grabbed his arm and stopped him.

You are reading story Theater Room : Classroom of The Elite Reaction at novel35.com

Even if we stopped this now, Karuizawa will inevitably be assaulted again in the future. But allowing them to use violence to their heart’s content right now will serve as a deterrent for them in the future. And depending on the degree of violence, it might even be possible to threaten them with contacting the school. And most importantly, right now Karuizawa Kei’s existence is about to change.

“Ha…haaa.”

Karuizawa seemed to be having trouble breathing. Or perhaps she seems to be in pain. But she grabbed her head with both hands. But the sight of her suffering, instead of evoking empathy, brought forth more anger from Manabe and the other girls.

“Even if you act all feminine like that I won’t forgive you anymore.”

She then grabbed Karuizawa’s hair and forcefully raised her head.

“I always hated Karuizawa’s face, don’t you think she’s really ugly?”

“I know right? Do you want to cut up that face of hers?” One of the girls asked.

“S-s-stop”

“S-stop, she’s saying. What happened to that determination you had a while ago?”

It would seem the more you hate your enemy, the more you seek to attack their advantages. If we’re only talking about beauty, there’s no doubt that Karuizawa is the better one. But it seems Manabe, Yamashita and Yabu won’t be satisfied until they deny Karuizawa’s appearance like that.

After shaking silently, Karuizawa became unable to move. There was no longer any trace of the usual her to be seen right now. The true nature of a person always comes out in a dilemma like this. A little more of this and soon I’ll be able to see and know more of Karuizawa Kei.

But it seems Yukimura’s sense of justice had kicked in, as he seems to be unable to hold it anymore. He then quickly opened the door with force and surprised the three girls inside. On the other hand, as though she had been saved, Karuizawa looked at Yukimura with a face of relief.

“What are you doing?”

“W-w-w-w-what? I was just talking with Karuizawa-san, right?”

Manabe looked at Karuizawa with a threatening expression as if daring her to say a word, but Karuizawa isn’t the sort of person to be intimidated by just that.

“Hey Yukimura-kun, do something. They abducted me violently out of the blue and started pushing me around. They’re the worst right? They were annoying so I told them to leave me alone but.”

Normally Karuizawa would never care about Yukimura, but she’s probably grateful to him now that he’s appeared here to save her. Her face seemed to convey her relief. But Class C seemed to be hatefully glaring at Yukimura. Almost like saying this has nothing to do with Yukimura.

“I’m just helping Rika with her Karuizawa problem. Since you came here you must have also heard the story right.”

“…I think you should let it go. If they just accidentally bumped into each other, it’s not like Karuizawa’s at fault you know.” Yukimura had no choice but to answer like that.

“You shut up. This has nothing to do with you.”

“…..”

Since he got told to shut up by the Class C girls, this time Yukimura had no choice but to obediently shut up. Karuizawa then started to look at Yukimura as if looking at a pathetic man while I slowly took out my phone quietly.

“Just leave me alone already. Otherwise I’ll call for someone.” Karuizawa tells them.

“Call? Call who? Hirata-kun? Machida-kun? Or perhaps a prostitute like you can call as many men as you like.”

It is said that a fight between women is dirty, and cannot be resolved easily through violence like a man’s conflict. As someone who had gotten himself involved in this, I found it painful to both look at and hear.

“There was a teacher that passed by earlier, I think it’s best if you left.”

Having no other choice, I stepped in and said those words to break the fight up. I’m sure Class C also does not wish to cause a scene here.

“I’m absolutely going to make you bow your head down before Rika.”

It was a threat to Karuizawa by the other side saying they would use any means necessary for that. Karuizawa desperately tried to act strong but it’s obvious she’s no longer capable of that. It seems the other girls have also sensed Karuizawa’s weakness as they looked at Karuizawa from above with condescending looks.

“Are you ok?”

Unable to leave Karuizawa, who seemed to be hyperventilating, Yukimura asked her that.

“Leave me alone!”

Karuizawa quickly slapped Yukimura’s hand away as he moved in to help her.

“What the hell? I came to help you because I was worried.”

“Shut up! Nobody asked you to do it.” Karuizawa said while getting her breath back.

Yukimura took a step back as if overwhelmed by her words. I also stepped back to not get involved in it but Karuizawa stared at me intensely with an angry expression before opening the door of the emergency staircase with force. And then slamming it shut behind her.

“What the hell is her problem? Always causing trouble for us.”

I do understand Yukimura’s feelings of resent towards her. A ‘troublemaker’ is a nice way to describe Karuizawa.

But it seemed he was also tired out by the ordeal, as Yukimura did not say anything more and left from the emergency staircase door as well. Now alone on the emergency stairs, I thought about Karuizawa. And the vulnerable side the leader of the Class D girls had shown then.

The terrified appearance Karuizawa had just now was not only because she was being threatened at the time but due to something else.

…]

Looking at the screen that was slowly going dark, the audience who saw the actions taken by the Class C students at that time only sighed because even if they wanted to scold Manabe for the actions taken against Karuizawa.

They could not do so, because they knew that Manabe had already expelled.

Moreover even if they wanted to scold Ayanokouji for guiding the situation to be like this, they could not because even without Ayanokouji's guidance to Manabe, it was likely that a situation like this would have been experienced by Karuizawa as well. Ayanokouji only accelerated the process that happened back then.

"If Karuizawa-san lowered her ego and apologized for her behavior towards that C class girl, wouldn't this problem be resolved quickly?" Ike felt that the problem would be resolved quickly if Karuizawa's side said an apology.

"It won't be that easy, a fight between girls is a different situation than a fight between boys. Even if Karuizawa-san apologizes for the mistake she made back then, Manabe's side will most likely bully her even more, because they will see Karuizawa as the lesser party for admitting her mistake." Horikita is well aware of the possible situation that would have occurred, had Karuizawa admitted her guilt in the early stages of the conflict. The cycle of intimidation would have continued as Karuizawa would have become the lesser party in the conflict.

[“So you pretended to be Karuizawa’s boyfriend to help raise her status.”

I asked for the truth and Hirata simply smiled at me. I thought this is the full truth—for a moment but I realized the pieces did not fit in yet. Perhaps she used Hirata and Machida to stand at the top of the caste system of the school? No, that alone still doesn’t explain the situation. If she wanted to dominate the class all she needed was to ask Hirata to go out with her and Hirata would probably agree. Her request was now was too tall an order.

Karuizawa’s daily attitude is a very strong one, and she sometimes plays the part of the aggressor in a bullying situation too. But why accept that without questioning her?

And…did Karuizawa really use Hirata and the others to increase her status in the class. That’s also a questionable matter. In this case, you can’t say that she used Machida only to increase her influence in the group. If anything, she showed no interest in the group’s proceedings and remained silent most of the time. If so, there was no need to use Machida from the start.

So what exactly—was the trigger that caused her to approach Machida?

Now I finally feel like I understand the girl named Karuizawa Kei.

‘To protect herself’ Huh?

By process of elimination the only answer that’s left is the truth. There’s no mistaking it.]

Hearing Ayanokouji's words to Hirata that they had a dating relationship just to increase Karuizawa's status, many students were shocked by this latest situation.

But it was already within some people's expectation after hearing that she referred to herself as a parasite, so most likely the first host Karuizawa had was Hirata.

With the personality and kindness possessed by Hirata, naturally Karuizawa would choose a good person like him as a host to protect herself.

In that case, Karuizawa's observation ability might be higher than they thought.

But what was more amazing to them was how Ayanokouji had already guessed the purpose of Karuizawa's fake dating relationship with Hirata.

The students who were in the same class as Hirata, tried to ask about this matter, but after seeing that Hirata had no intention of answering the question because it would definitely be aired in the future, they canceled the intention to ask.

[“You understand now don’t you? To be honest when I heard this answer from you, I had goosebumps.” Hirata said.

“I just heard it from Horikita that’s all, that Karuizawa has her own reasons for using Hirata and the others” I replied.

I tried to deceive him that way, but Hirata’s not such a simple man that he would fall for something like this.

“Ayanokouji-kun if I had to tell you honestly…it might sound rude but I find you creepy. Like an ominous existence. If I’ve offended you I apologize.” Hirata tells me.

“Ominous? Why do you think that?” I asked.

“I’ve been looking at you ever since the school year started. But Ayanokouji-kun then and the Ayanokouji-kun now are like different people. The presence you emit, and the words you use. Almost like you’re a different person than usual.” Hirata tells me.

Hirata has the ability to discern the actions and behaviours of the people around him and never overlook that. It couldn’t be helped that he would notice the difference in me.}

"It was most likely because of the threat given to him by Chabashira-sensei that caused him true nature to come out, right? For even Hirata can see the striking change in behavior that Ayanokouji has." Kanzaki felt that possibility was quite true.

"That possibility is very true, since we've only ever seen a slight indication of Ayanokouji's true nature before the episode 'Kiyotaka Ayanokouji' aired." Katsuragi quite agreed with Kanzaki's opinion.

Most audience agreed with both of their opinions, as very little was shown of Ayanokouji's true nature beforehand.

Development or true nature, only the person concerned knows it and maybe a few people.

[“I already told you right? It’s only thanks to Horikita’s advice. I told Horikita everything about my group. And I just obey the orders she gives me that’s all. The incident on the island test was the same too. Horikita made the right judgments and guided Class D to victory. And the class gained a lot of points as a direct result. In other words there’s a merit in doing this for me too. She’s terribly bad at communication as you know, so I just relay what you said to her and receive orders from her.” I told Hirata.

I spend a lot of time with Horikita, and Hirata who knows me this well surely won’t doubt those words I said.

“If it’s Horikita-san, she must have surely judged that saving Karuizawa-san would lead to the class gaining an advantage.” He said.

“Yes.”

“But I do think you’re still amazing, Ayanokouji-kun. You’re different from Ike-kun or Yamauchi-kun.” Hirata admits to me.

“I’m inferior to the both of them.” I replied.

“Even if you’re only following Horikita-san’s orders, it’s still you who’s talking to me right now. It’s not like the conversation will include only the details of her order. To adapt to the flow of the conversation takes clear logic. It’s not something you can simply think up overnight.” Hirata said in response.

“……”

It seems Hirata’s better than I expected. Despite his desire to save her too, he is still able to maintain his normal high abilities.

“It’s something you said but, the reason I accepted Karuizawa-san’s request to be her boyfriend was to help her ‘protect herself’. That’s what she requested. That she wants me to save her. It might be hard for you to believe but, throughout her elementary and middle school years, for 9 whole years. She received a horrifying amount of bullying.” Hirata tells me.

“I don’t doubt you, but this story is real isn’t it?” I asked to confirm.

It seems Karuizawa’s hyperventilation earlier in the day was triggered by her past. Since I myself saw it, I cannot help but believe the trauma of her past.

“Of course I only met Karuizawa-san after she entered this school, but I do understand. I know the look and smell and presence of a person who’s been a victim of bullying. That’s why I agreed to go out with her. By using her position as my girlfriend, Karuizawa-san would be able to escape her past of being bullied. I think right now, the attitude she has isn’t the real Karuizawa-san. She’s desperately trying to act tough isn’t she?” Hirata said to me.

I think normally, she’s not able to control her feelings that well. Victims of bullying have personalities like a sakura flower usually. Plain, obedient and weak. Also on the flip side, people with a strong personality like Karuizawa are also prone to being bullied. But in short, Karuizawa’s current personality is a fake. That’s why she needs someone like Hirata or Machida at her back. Someone who can rule the field for her. In doing so, she was able to regain her influence that way.

“I can understand that now more or less, but wait, what are the benefits of doing this for you?” I asked Hirata.

This may be a common saying, but love is a part of youth for students. Hirata is very popular amongst the girls. Then by pretending to date Karuizawa, he would be giving up on real love.

“Benefit? That would be Karuizawa-san living her high school life without being bullied. That’s all.” Hirata replied to me.

He just said that. It’s not hypocrisy nor love, and not for himself as well.

“Won’t you believe me? If that’s my only reason.” He asks.

“It’s not that I distrust you, but there’s a deeper meaning behind that isn’t there?” I asked him in return.]

Hearing the confirmation said by Hirata that his relationship all this time was a lie made by them to help Karuizawa temporarily protect herself from her past.

Most of the audience began to understand why Karuizawa did this, as mentioned by Hirata that Karuizawa was a victim of bullying and Hirata was very familiar with the characteristics of a person who was bullied in her youth.

Many audience began to feel sorry for the treatment experienced by Karuizawa during her youth, being a victim of bullying for nine years, they did not dare to imagine how Karuizawa's life was when it happened.

No wonder she would do anything to protect herself even if she was hated by her friends.

"Haah... I didn't expect a strong person like Karuizawa-san to be a victim of bullying." Ichinose felt quite sad to hear of Karuizawa's tragic past.

Most of the audience agreed with Ichinose's remarks, but they were more curious about what Ayanokouji said that Hirata did all this because there was a deeper meaning.

[Hirata will not hesitate if it’s to save a friend, but he also recognizes Manabe and the others as friends. The way he cares about others can almost be described as a disease. Since he’s told me this much about it, no doubt Hirata also feels it necessary to tell me about this. He buys some canned drinks from the vending machine and tosses me one. I gratefully accepted it.

“Until my second year of middle school, if I have to honestly say I was an average guy who didn’t stand out much.” He tells me.

“Hirata was…I can’t really imagine that.” I replied. The image was too different from the man who always showed excellent leadership.

“I didn’t stand out too much, but I also wasn’t invisible. My friend was also like that. I was really normal. I had a friend I got along with really well ever since I was a kid named Sugimura-kun. A boy. For six years in elementary school we were together in the same class. And because we were neighbors as well we always went to and back from school together.” Hirata said with a voice filled with nostalgia. And so Hirata recalls his past.

“When we entered middle school, for the first time, we were separated into different classes. But even so, at first we still went to school and back home together. But the days we did that started declining gradually and I began playing with boys from my new class. It’s a normal story you could’ve heard anywhere.” He continued.

It’s normal that in a new environment, one would inevitably make new friends. There was nothing unusual in that itself.

“But you see…even though I was busy playing with my friends. In the back, Sugimura-kun was actually being bullied.” Hirata continued to say while strongly gripping his can of juice. Even an outsider would know what’s happening.

“Sugimura-kun sent me an SOS many, many times. Many times he showed up with his face injured and injury marks all over him. But I instead prioritized playing with my new friends and never took him seriously. Sugimura-kun, who originally had a headstrong personality, always was quick to pick a fight so I never deeply thought about his situation. But when we both became 2nd year students, we reunited with each other. And by that time, Sugimura-kun’s had become heartbroken. His bright, cheerful image was no longer there and marks left by punches and kicks only remained. He was not even allowed to go to the toilet and forced to leak in the middle of class. That sort of thing became routine…” Hirata tells me.

“So you saw it and…”

“Yeah. I think you understand too. But I didn’t do anything. I couldn’t do anything. I was too afraid that I would become the new target. I was afraid that my enjoyable life then would be destroyed…and towards Sugimura-kun who’d always been together with me, I continued to pretend to not see him. I believed that one day the bullies would get bored of him. That one day Sugimura-kun will stop coming to school and the bullying would stop. Or that somebody else would step in and save him. I just kept on thinking self-serving things like that.” He continued.

“And that Sugimura person…what happened to him in the end?” I asked Hirata.

“Even now the memory of that day is burned into my head. After morning soccer practice, I returned to my classroom. And there, I saw Sugimura-kun and decided to wait until going in. Honestly, at the time, I felt uncomfortable. Even though he was a friend I played together with since I was a child, at the time he almost felt like a stranger to me. I could not help but think cruel thoughts like I would be bullied along with him. Perhaps Sugimura-kun also saw my ugly heart, but he didn’t say anything. But almost like a plea for help…that day in the middle of class, he jumped out the window.” Hirata tells me.

“Jumped out? Is he dead?” I asked.

“It seems he was declared brain dead. But even now, his parents are still waiting for Sugimura-kun’s recovery and believe in it. But whether he’s still alive or dead now, I don’t know. The events of that day were still so surreal, I still wonder if it was merely a dream or a hallucination. It was that unbelievable. Because the moment Sugimura-kun jumped, I became acutely aware. By treasuring myself, I pushed my precious friend to his death.” He said. And so that was the birth of the man named Hirata Yousuke.

“I don’t think this will result in Sugimura-kun’s salvation, but, at the very least, I want to repent. And to do that, I thought the only way was to save someone else like him.” Hirata continued.

“It’s not like I don’t know how you feel but, the world isn’t that simple is it? Even right now, someone somewhere is getting bullied. And like that Sugimura you talked about, they’re trying to take their own lives. You cannot stop those people can you?” I told Hirata.

“Of course I understand that. I’m not a hero of justice. But, I’d like to save the people in front of me. I have to save them. That is the responsibility of the me who bears the sin.” Hirata said.

“Then how will you decide on this case? You want to save both Karuizawa and Manabe. But that is an impossible task.” I told him.

“I know it’s a contradictory task, that’s why you’re here right now.” He said.

I see, it seems he himself notices his own abnormality. In any case, it seems he cannot help but want to save people he knows.

“I never expected the day would come that I’d tell this story to someone else. Nobody knows about this, that is part of why I chose this school.” He continued. Then after finishing the juice, he threw it into the trashbin. “

Can I entrust this to Horikita-san?” He asks at last.

“If you can promise not to talk halfway, I’m sure Horikita will do something about this.” I replied to him.

“Then I will choose to believe in the two of you. Because that is also my ideal.” Hirata told me.

It seems for now Hirata won’t be participating in the matter of Karuizawa. And most likely from now on, whenever Hirata is in trouble, he’ll probably rely on me. But that would also mean I have succeeded in securing Hirata’s cooperation. That would be a major power I’ve gained on my side. It’s natural that he got his own reward too.

“Hirata. Since you have a large social network I’d like to ask you for a favour. Can you hear me out?” I asked. And with that said, I handed Hirata a piece of paper. And after reading it, Hirata accepted my request without so much as making an unpleasant face.

“And also Ayanokouji-kun. Ever since the exam began, there is still one thing I’ve been hiding from you. I know who’s the last “target” amongst the Class D students…” He said.

…]

Hearing what Hirata said on the screen, many experienced shock because they did not expect that Hirata experienced something almost similar to Karuizawa, the only difference was that Karuizawa felt the bullying herself, while Hirata saw his friend being bullied but he chose to remain silent.

Hirata who remembered the bad experience that he had been suppressing in his memory only sighed sadly.

"Hirata knew Karuizawa as a victim of bullying probably because he had come face to face with victims similar to Karuizawa." Kanzaki was beginning to feel that perhaps the theory they had had all along about Class D was correct.

Most of the audience agreed with Kanzaki's opinion, as it was likely that Hirata saw the form of his friend in Karuizawa who experienced similar situations such as bullying.

After seeing everything that was shown, the audience began to feel that in class D there were no students who felt completely normal. Almost all of the students in Class D have some kind of problem within themselves.

[Having bid farewell to Sakura who left while swinging her little hands cutely from side to side, I now headed down towards the basement. Then I descended into the lower levels of the ship where people don’t usually go.

Although the area was prohibited for students, it was still unlocked to allow the crew access to it. The area where the switchboard room is located, although easy to access, is not a popular spot for people to be in at all.

Although if one shouts with a loud voice, echoes will form, since this place is practically automated no one will normally come to such a place.

There are only two entrances and exits to this place including the regular one. The other one is a door that leads to the emergency staircase and even the crew usually do not use it. From the dust that had accumulated on that door I could tell that much. That means I can monitor the situation just by keeping an eye on the one access that’s normally used.

Furthermore, more conveniently for me it seems that phones do not have reception down here. Occasionally there is sometimes reception down here but most of the time it is extremely difficult to send a mail or chat from down here much less make a call.

“All the pieces are in place.” I murmured.]

Seeing what Ayanokouji was doing on the screen, many viewers began to have a bad feeling because the place Ayanokouji was now visiting was very suspicious.

Don't tell me that she would use this place to carry out such a horrible situation?

Many students began to speculate on what she would want to do in such a place.

The audience began to feel a new sense of unease, as they had never felt this kind of unease while watching in the theater.

[All that’s left is to execute the plan step by step so I won’t make a mistake.

First I’ll have to contact Hirata, then have him call Karuizawa to this place. To make sure there’s enough time for everything, I’d have to call Karuizawa here at least an hour early. For that I ascended back up to the upper floors to make the call.

I’m sure she’ll be cautious after the events of last night’s conversation, but if Hirata calls her out again to speak alone with her Karuizawa will surely respond to that. She did say she would break up with Hirata, but if she really does break up with him, she’s the only one who will suffer from that. As long as Manabe and her group are targeting her, for Karuizawa, the existence of Hirata is necessary for her to continue her life in school.

“I’ve already asked Karuizawa-san to be there at 4PM. I’ll send you Manabe-san’s address to you now.”

I received such a mail from Hirata. As expected, he’s listened to my request excellently and has succeeded in calling her out here. As a bonus, Hirata even knew the contact address of Manabe from another class. If he didn’t, I would have had to run the risk of asking Kushida so it saves me the trouble.

“But I cannot help you any more than this. Don’t make Karuizawa-san sad please.” Hirata added that as a postscript in the mail.

So he doesn’t want her to be sad, huh? If he knew what I’m really about to do to Karuizawa, I’m sure Hirata would be furious with me. But as long as I don’t run into a problem now that’s fine. As such, even if she breaks here now, as long as he doesn’t notice after the event there would be no problem. To use an extreme example even if you commit murder, as long as there’s insufficient evidence, you’re a free man.]

"There's no way he's going to...?"

Many audience were thinking about the possibility that it was this incident mentioned by Karuizawa earlier that caused their initial relationship to sour.

Most of the students who had more mental capacity began to be able to understand what Ayanokouji wanted to do.

With a remote place like the one shown on the screen, there were several possibilities that Ayanokouji wanted to do there.

But according to them there is a greater possibility, if seen from the previous few scenes, Hirata wants help from Ayanokouji and Horikita to overcome the problems experienced by Karuizawa with Manabe.

So there is a possibility that Ayanokouji deliberately brought Karuizawa and Manabe together in this suspicious place, which could result in intimidation of Karuizawa by Manabe.

During the intimidation, it is likely that Ayanokouji will obtain evidence of Manabe's intimidation of Karuizawa. Such evidence might help protect the life that Karuizawa had within the school from further intimidation from Manabe.

With such evidence in Ayanokouji's hands, it was likely that Manabe would be used as a tool by Ayanokouji to spy on Class C.

Those who thought of this felt that this possibility was what Ayanokouji was aiming for all along, to make the situation like this Ayanokouji got some tools for his future plans.

So they can confirm that most likely this action taken by Ayanokouji is an answer to Hirata's request for help with the situation experienced by Karuizawa.

But there are some people who feel a strange feeling because is that really all that Ayanokouji wants from all this?

[I then quickly skip through the text I wrote earlier and sent it. The contents were

“Hey, do you have a moment?” A brief sentence just like that.

As a general rule, the chat application I’m using only allows one account per phone. But there is a slight loophole in that rule, by creating a new major SNS account you can create another account for yourself. Of course, normally there are no students who divide themselves between a main and a sub account. Because there’s not much merit in switching between these accounts. But by doing so, I can contact a third party without having my own identity be revealed as well.

I have to proceed delicately from here on. As long as I don’t make a mistake in the process it should go perfectly.

Despite the message having come from an anonymous sender, Manabe quickly replied to it.

“Who are you?”

Manabe, naturally not knowing the sender, replied with that question.

“Is ther anyone around you right now?” I replied.

“No. I’m alone…who are you?” She asked again.

“Don’t show this chat to anyone. This is for your sake.” I told her.

“Like I said, who are you?” She asked.

“I’m the same as you. We hate the same person. Let’s just leave it at that.” I told Manabe.

Although the ‘read’ sign appeared immediately, Manabe took her time to reply. Perhaps she still doesn’t understand the implication of that sentence.

“Have you mistaken me for someone?” She finally replies.

“I’m not making a mistake, Manabe-san. I’m contacting you to inform you about the Karuizawa-san you hate so much. I thought I could consult you on the situation, Manabe-san.” I mailed that to her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please stop sending me messages.” She quickly replied. It seems she’s on guard, not knowing whether I’m an enemy or not. A natural reaction. I need to resolve this misunderstanding firstly.

“The truth is, as her fellow classmate, I’ve been harboring a grudge against Karuizawa-san for a while now. That’s why I thought we could cooperate and have our revenge on her. Since I’m her classmate it’s hard for me to exact my vengeance on Karuizawa-san directly, but that’s why I would like to cooperate with you.” I said to Manabe.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m going to ignore you then.” She replied.

Even though she was wary of me, the fact that she still hasn’t cut off contact with me is a testament to how much she hates Karuizawa it seems. It surely stems from her desire to avenge her friend Rika and her own hate towards Karuizawa. I could easily deduce that from the fact that Manabe used force to bring Karuizawa into the emergency staircase.

“Rika-chan is still scared of Karuizawa-san. Don’t you want to help her as a friend? Your face has revenge written all over it you know? But the truth is, you can’t do it even if you want to. Since after yesterday’s events, Karuizawa-san is on her guard. I’m sure she won’t leave Hirata-kun or Machida-kun’s side for a while. And she’ll always be together with her female friends so she won’t be alone either.” I told Manabe.

“I don’t need your help. I just need to bring Rika into contact with Karuizawa-san. The truth will be out then” She said.

“I wonder if it’ll be that easy. I don’t think she would easily admit to her wrongdoing. On the contrary, it would just trouble Rika-chan. If Karuizawa-san uses heartless words she’ll only just end up wounding Rika-chan further. No, that’s not all. If she harbors a grudge, she might even bully Rika-chan further.” I replied to Manabe.

“…Then what should I do? Are you saying ther’s a way?” She asks. Manabe’s desire to settle this with the next confrontation becomes clear.

“There is. You and me. We can cooperate to make sure we can exact our revenge on her in a secure location.” I told her.

“And the guarantee? It looks like you’re just planning on selling me out to the school. This smells like a sub account anyways.” Manabe replied to me.

“If I am indeed selling you out, please feel free to show this chat log to the teachers, Manabe-san. This account has been registered with the school’s phone. In other words, I’m risking my identity to take revenge on Karuizawa-san. That way, I’m the one bearing the most responsibility. Isn’t that right?” I told her.

I’m sure Manabe also understands this well. Even if this is a sub account, once you analyze it thoroughly, the identity of the person behind it can be revealed. If it comes to that, I, as the one who masterminded this plan for revenge, would bear the most responsibility and undoubtedly be punished harshly.

“Then if I show this chat to the school now what would you do, it’s over for you.” Manabe asks me.

“Because I believe Manabe-san is not the type of person to do that. I must trust in order to be trusted after all” I told her. “I understand what you’re trying to say, more or less. I’ll hear you out at least.” She finally said.

After that I repeat a similar story to her multiple times over. About how much I hated Karuizawa. About how I wanted revenge on her yet couldn’t as someone in a weaker position. And about how I overheard how Manabe and her friends were quarreling with Karuizawa. I thoroughly made sure to play the victim.

“Once we return to land, contact with Karuizawa would surely become difficult. Since the school dorms are littered with surveillance cameras, even if you tried to bring her into a private area, there would be eyes watching you. This place, a battlefield with no escape, would be the perfect place for you.” I told Manabe.

This would make sure Manabe and the others realize this place, only on this ship, can they get their revenge.

“So…what are you proposing you can do?” She finally asks me.

Manabe, who seems to have finally caught up with my plan, finally starts asking questions.

“I can call Karuizawa-san. After that, you can take your time talking with her and settling the problem.” I told Manabe.

And with that, through the chat, I sent her a map of the lower levels of the ship.

“Since phones don’t get reception down there. She can’t call for help either. And no one normally goes down there anyways” I said.

“I see…so you can call Karuizawa-san down there as a classmate?” Manabe asks.

“I would like you to decide now whether to cooperate with my plan or not. After I call her, you can decide whether or not you’d like to have your revenge. There would be no problems that way, no?” I asked her.

After that, for the longest time, despite the ‘read’ sign having appeared. No reply came from Manabe. Then. Once the reply came, I became sure I would succeed. IF my plan to convince her via chat failed, I had another plan prepared where I would have to appear before Manabe myself via direct contact. Of course that was dangerous. Since I had taken several pictures of her threatening Karuizawa in the emergency staircase, I could have blackmailed her into following my plan. But the risk is also massive, since I would like to avoid my existence standing out.

“Now. Let me see what you can do, Manabe.”]

[Episode Seventeenth Theater Room, Actual Situation. End]

Seeing the screen slowly go dark, the audience began to discuss after seeing all these plans made by Ayanokouji.

"So is it possible that this is a plan by Ayanokouji to solve Karuizawa's problem...?"

Some of the students began to feel that the possibility was very high, as they did not see any benefit from this other than to solve the bullying problem Karuizawa was having.

"Is that really all Ayanokouji wants to get after making such a plan?" Kanzaki had the thought that this situation was still quite suspicious.

"Most likely it was to get evidence of the bullying done by Manabe." Katsuragi felt it was likely that Ayanokouji would threaten Manabe with the evidence she would have.

"With the attitude that Ayanokouji has, it's impossible for him to carry out this plan just to get a tool like Manabe." Nagumo felt that the possibility of that was very small, because the plan that Ayanokouji had was already underway even before Hirata asked him for help.

"Surely you haven't forgotten what he said when this show first started? She wanted to see if Karuizawa was a useful or a useless." Horikita Manabu had the thought that most likely Ayanokouji still wanted something else from starting this plan.

"Ayanokouji-kun might want to get a more useful tool for his class like Karuizawa-san, Manabe might just be a secondary gift he gets." Sakayanagi felt this possibility was very likely, but like everyone else she felt this possibility could be wrong.

"Kukuku..."

Ryueen laughed at all the discussions these people were having and found it funny that she and all the parties involved in the rooftop incident knew exactly what Ayanokouji was planning to do all along.

"Why are you laughing Ryuuen? Do you perhaps know something about this...?" Kanzaki who saw Ryuuen laughing, felt the possibility of this person knowing some information that they did not have at the moment.

It was not only Kanzaki who had that thought, all those who had participated in the previous discussion felt the same way as him.

"Of course, I've known all the plans Ayanokouji wanted all along." Ryuuen shamelessly claimed that he was well aware of all the plans Ayanokouji had.

Seeing their leader's shameless behavior, Ibuki, Ishizaki, and Albert just shook their heads in disbelief at Ryuuen's extremely arrogant behavior, as only they could possibly know what Ayanokouji really wanted from this plan.

Obviously those who heard the words of Ryuuen were eager to ask for information and clues that they didn't have, but they canceled their intention as it was a waste of time trying to ask Ryuuen such questions.

Episode Seventeenth closes with Ryuuen's shameless behavior, and the few people who canceled their intentions to ask Ryuuen.

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Sorry for the delay, due to some busyness, I didn't have time to continue to make before. so if you want to give suggestions, criticisms and complaints feel free.

Because the number of notifications is more than 600+ and I can't read all the previous comments, so feel free to say it here.

Feel free to give me suggestions on all the scenes you want me to make for the audience to react to.

And one more thing, if anyone has read volume 0, please don't give spoilers, because I haven't even touched on that.

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