Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Self-Test

"I see... So they're the VIP." Yukimura wore a grave expression upon learning the names of Class B's VIPs.

The four of us agreed to let a select number of people know about a fragment of our plans. The likes of Yukimura should put that information to good use.

"Yes, I want you to be on the lookout, Yukimura-kun," said Hirata.

"Sigh..." Yukimura exhaled, slightly slouching his back. "Of course. If it leads our group to victory, then I'm willing to work with even her."

Yukimura didn't mince his words even though he was right in front of Karuizawa's boyfriend. Well, it's not like Hirata isn't used to it. In contrast to the girls who respect her a lot, Karuizawa's reputation amongst the boys isn't the best, to say the least... though most of us still think she's really cute despite her attitude.

If she wasn't Hirata's girlfriend, I think some of the boys in our class might go for her.

"I heard about it from Kikyou— that there was a dispute between her and a bunch of Class D girls," I said.

Thanks to Kikyou's massive social connections, I held all the vital information from every group. The matters in Yukimura and Karuizawa's Rabbit Group are one example.

"Ah, yeah... That Karuizawa, really... I witnessed her arguing with three Class D girls during the discussion. 'You remember that girl one who catfished Yamauchi; Manabe Shiho? Yeah, her and a couple of her female friends," he narrated.

According to what Yukimura has told us, Karuizawa shoved a student named Morofuji Rika in a cafe earlier this summer. And Manabe Shiho, along with her friends, demanded she apologize.

"The conversation was civil at first, but she just had to do that..." Yukimura shook his head in frustration.

Obviously, Karuizawa would feign ignorance even if she knew about it. In response to her denial, Manabe tried to take a picture of her in an attempt to confirm her identity with Rika. That's when the tension skyrocketed. Karuizawa, in a panic, slapped Manabe's phone away from her hand. One side argued that taking someone's picture without permission is wrong, and the other argued that knocking someone else's phone to the ground is wrong.

Yukimura sounded so fed up with it.

Hirata and I were aware of the reasoning behind Karuizawa's behavior, so we stayed quiet and continued listening. To be honest, it sounded like a fight between elementary students, but girls of their nature would inevitably clash that way.

"Manabe-san and her friends are known to be troublemakers within Class D, so I don't think things will end there. If you feel like they're planning to harass Karuizawa-san, please let me know, Yukimura-kun. I'll try to mediate the situation for them," said Hirata.

"Yeah... I don't know the truth so I won't make any judgments, but if Karuizawa's at fault, then apologizing might do her good," replied Yukimura.

It may have sounded like a good and natural response from "Hirata", but Yukimura didn't notice how strange it was coming from a "boyfriend".

Anyway, I've heard a lot about Manabe Shiho and her group of friends. Even if Karuizawa apologizes for what she's done, there's a big chance that they'll continue to gang up on her, especially since she's alone.

Also, it's my chance to see just how true Karuizawa's so-called past is.

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Around 5:00 PM, on the main (5th) deck.

Ichinose-san and Kanzaki-kun arrived at the exact promised time.

"Sorry for the hold-up, Horikita-san, Ayanokouji-kun. We originally planned to come sooner, but a few of our classmates needed my help on something." Ichinose-san apologized with a smile.

As usual, unlike Kushida-san's fabricated smiles, hers looked genuine.

Though as of late, Kushida-san's smiles tend to look genuine, too, especially when she's around Ayanokouji-kun.

Well, it's not like I'm experienced enough to accurately judge whether a person's smile is genuine or not, anyway.

"It's nothing to worry about, Ichinose-san. Ayanokouji-kun and I have been enjoying some nice tea," I replied.

"You mean you're enjoying some nice tea..." Ayanokouji-kun followed up with a side comment.

"Ahaha. Well, well, I would still like to apologize since I'm the one who asked you to come."

Ichinose-san and Kanzaki-kun took their seats and ordered drinks. Once again, the four of us are sitting together around one table.

"It seems like our usual conclave came sooner than expected," said Kanzaki-kun.

"You bet. I'm just a tagalong right now, though." Ayanokouji-kun replied with a shrug.

"It's fun, you know? I think cooperation between classes is a nice thing, especially in our freshman year," said Ichinose-san.

"That's an interesting statement, Ichinose-san. Before we proceed with what you wanted to discuss, can I ask you one question?"

"Sure, Horikita-san. Fire away."

"Do you think our alliance will cease to exist after our freshman year?" I asked.

"Ohh, that's a good question~!" Ichinose pondered for a second before answering. "Yeah, I think so."

"If the alliance between Class B and C lasts for a whole school year, then that would be ideal. But given how close the gaps between class points are, I think it might dissolve even before we become second years," added Kanzaki-kun.

"Yep, I think Kanzaki-kun has a point. It's not like we'll have any bad blood between our classes, though. One of us four (classes) will graduate as Class A, so at the end of the day, we're all rivals competing for the same prize." Ichinose-san crossed her arms as she spoke up with confidence. "Ah-! But of course, even if the alliance is gone, our classes can still cooperate whenever the situation calls for it. I don't like using the word 'enemies' when you guys are obviously my friends."

Someone like Ichinose-san can rally people around herself with ease. It's a quality that I can only dream of having the way I am now. And Ayanokouji-kun has made it clear to me time and time again— that in this school, I needed allies to win.

If I kept trying to work alone, I might've ended up being leagues behind Ichinose-san...

"Thank you for answering my question."

"Ahaha, no worries. Now then, since you've agreed to hear me out, I'll get straight to the point." Ichinose-san gestured with her pointy finger. "I have a strategy that would guarantee a risk-free draw for both of our classes."

"Can I try to guess what that strategy is?" I asked.

"Hm? Do you have an idea? Sure!" she replied.

"Is it some kind of VIP trading strategy?"

Ichinose-san's eyes widened for a moment before her expression turned mellow.

"As expected from you, I guess," she said.

"No, Ichinose-san... I'm just as appalled as you are."

"Eh? How so? Your guess was on point..." Ichinose-san tilted her head in confusion.

"That wasn't my guess. It was Ayanokouji-kun's. We've talked about what you might possibly need from us. A strategy meeting involving the trade of VIPs was his prediction... and it seems like he was right," I sighed.

The two of them smiled bitterly as they stared at Ayanokouji-kun.

"It was just a lucky guess. It's not a big deal." As usual, he's shrugging things off. "So? Care to elaborate, Ichinose?"

"Mn, of course. To put things into perspective, the aim of Katsuragi-kun's strategy was obvious. Since it's been a common conclusion that there's an equal number of VIPs from each class, he wants to keep the status quo by waiting until the very end. It's a solid strategy, but the danger of the VIPs from Class A getting found out still lingers. So, I thought about a strategy where that isn't a problem. In other words; trading VIP names with each other," she explained.

"I see. You want our cooperation to trigger Outcome #4 in all six groups to remove any possible negatives."

It's a foolproof strategy. If we agree to trigger Outcome #4 for all of the groups where the VIPs are from our classes, then the 150 class points worth of penalties and rewards would cancel each other out. If we can successfully pull it off, both Class B and C will get guaranteed net earnings of 1.5 million private points while not having to worry about any minus in class points.

However...

"There are quite a few problems with this strategy, Ichinose-san," I said.

"Mn, I'm aware," she nodded.

"It's easy to identify the flaws considering that only four classes are competing with each other."

"Exactly. In this strategy, speed is important. To remove the possibility of other classes submitting the names of our VIPs, it's essential to do the trading as soon as possible. And that's where the main flaw comes in. As written in the rules, the school will send an automated email to notify all students that a group's exam has been finished. Once we execute the plan, Katsuragi-kun and Ryuuen-kun will instantly notice that the VIPs came from our classes."

"That's under the impression that they know who the VIPs from their own classes are and the group they belong in."

"We have to assume that they do. Those three names are the best cards for anyone who wants their plans to go smoothly."

"I agree with you on that," I nodded.

"Now then, if Ryuuen-kun and Katsuragi-kun notice our strategy, they'd most likely end up doing it themselves as an obvious measure. After all, their classes are the only ones with targets left in the field."

"Which means Class A wins via draw. Ryuuen-kun can't afford to be uncooperative when that time comes, too. After all, his class is in the worst position. If a pattern exists, we're still in the race to find out, but the difference is that there are no targets from our classes.

Ichinose-san finished elaborating on the first noticeable flaw in her plan. Seeing how she leaned back and sighed, it seemed like Kanzaki-kun would do the talking for the other flaw.

"The second flaw is the more obvious one. I'm sure you've already taken that into account from the start, Horikita. After all, you never even considered the possibility of triggering Outcome #3 even if it yields the same results," he said.

"Of course. We may be in an alliance, but sharing the names of the VIPs is an entirely different can of worms," I replied.

We can trigger Outcome #4 without any risks. For example, in the Rabbit Group, we can assign Yukimura-kun and Hamaguchi-kun to do the job. Hamaguchi-kun will enter a random name while Yukimura-kun supervises his process to ensure that he doesn't submit someone from Class B. After all, there's still a one in three chance for him to submit Karuizawa-san's name.

This method allows us to trade VIP points without giving out any names.

"We can still sign a memorandum to try and make the plan go smoothly. In the event that the contract gets breached, we can put in penalties that will be effective after the exam. However, even if we sign a pledge, the risk of betrayal cannot be removed because of the anonymity rule. If you can remember that one reminder from the manual; "The rules and instructions will override all contractual conditions.", so a pledge would be borderline useless if we cannot precisely identify who betrays whom," he explained.

That's true. And if the pledge had conditions of penalizing a group of people to ensure the enforcement of the contract, the school would most probably reject it.

The reason for this rule was to prevent a foolproof VIP-trading strategy for two classes by triggering Outcome #3 and then using the 6 VIP names to figure out the VIPs from the other two unknowing classes.

For example, if Class B and Class C use Outcome #3 to execute the VIP-trading strategy, we can find the pattern before sending in our traded answers. If that happens, we can just submit the names of Class A and Class D's VIPs along with our traded answers and win the entire thing— with a fifty-fifty profit distribution, of course.

It would've been very easy if two classes worked together from the start, but none of us are that naive. It's especially true after the island exam. It's become crystal clear to all of us that subterfuge and foul play were highly effective strategies to win in these special exams and the school had taken that into account.

As expected, they've been incredibly thorough. No loopholes can be found at all.

"You knew this plan wouldn't fly from the start, didn't you, Ichinose?" Ayanokouji-kun, who did nothing but listen, finally opened his mouth.

"Yep, you're right," Ichinose-san replied with a grin.

"Then why did you even propose this in the first place?" I asked.

"To let you know our intentions. If Class A and Class D ever work together, we can at least have a last resort," answered Kanzaki-kun.

All of us are on the offensive right now, but if we're forced to play defensive, we'd have a trump card to prevent any casualties. Ryuuen-kun mocked them earlier, but Class C was actually already prepared.

The drinks that Ichinose-san and Kanzaki-kun ordered finally arrived. With more students coming inside, we finally stopped talking about the details of the exam.

"Why aren't you getting as involved, Ayanokouji-kun? I'm kinda curious." At the close of our strategy meeting, Ichinose-san unhesitatingly asked an unrelated question.

"I'm not too good with exams like this. It's one thing to think of stuff, but debating them out loud isn't my forte. That's why Horikita is our team's leader this time," replied Ayanokouji-kun.

Liar. I can still vividly remember the time when you ruthlessly dismantled Chabashira-sensei's motives back in April.

"Really? You're a pain in the butt whenever we argue though..." said Ichinose-san.

"Arguments between friends are different from high-tension debates," Ayanokouji-kun responded lazily.

"See?! Just like that!"

"They're really close aren't they?" Kanzaki sipped his drink with a soft smile. "But both of them are leaders of their respective classes, so even if they're rivals on a fundamental level, seeing them like this doesn't feel strange at all."

"I guess so."

After some more casual conversations, we finally decided to break off.

I quietly walked behind Ayanokouji-kun. I stared at his back with different thoughts running through my mind. I formulated a hunch that may have been brought on by being with him for a long time, but if I turned out to be right, then I'd probably feel a bit conflicted.