Chapter 6: Katsuragi’s Counterattack

Chapter 6: Katsuragi’s Counterattack

Chapter 6:

Katsuragi’s Counterattack

A ROUND THE TIME that Hirata and Hamaguchi’s battle was about to begin, another battle between representatives was also about to start. The two representatives were staring intently at the participants who had entered the discussion room.

Discussion No. 1

Participants

Class 2-A

Shimizu Naoki, Machida Kouji, Yoshida Kenta, Fukuyama Shinobu, Motodoi Chikako, Yano Koharu

Class 2-C

Sonoda Masashi, Oda Takumi, Yamada Albert, Yoshimoto Kousetsu, Isoyama Nagisa, Yamashita Saki, Kinoshita Minori

It was Class A vs. Class C, with Nishino and Sanada going up against each other as vanguards for their respective classes.

“Hello. Let us both give our best efforts, Nishino-san,” said Sanada.

Once the two of them were all alone in the classroom, Sanada, feeling slightly nervous, greeted Nishino politely and took his seat first. Sanada, who always endeavored to maintain a polite manner of speaking even when engaging with fellow classmates in his same grade level, showed no change in his usual demeanor even in the face of his enemy. Nishino, however, didn’t look very kindly upon Sanada’s type. By her own admission, she acknowledged that she had a coarse, ill-mannered personality, she wasn’t fond of speaking in polite expressions, and she primarily spoke informally. That was why she assumed that she wasn’t very compatible with people who used such formal, almost ceremonious language.

However, insignificant feelings of like or dislike were nowhere to be found right now. Rather, she was instead feeling incredibly nervous over being entrusted with the responsibility of acting as vanguard for such a major event, and her body went rigid. Even someone like Nishino, who wasn’t afraid to deal with hooligans like Ryuuen, wasn’t accustomed to the atmosphere of these serious exams at all. Though her role was called vanguard, she was playing a part in the class competition.

Nishino couldn’t help but feel the intense pressure. A representative who thought that this whole thing had nothing to do with her, she was handpicked by Ryuuen out of the entire class, without any warning. She bitterly regretted her decision to simply accept his selection without giving it more consideration. It was clear from the way that she stood there stock still, forgetting even to sit down in the chair, that she wasn’t in her normal state of mind.

Sanada felt a little bewildered, wondering if he should offer her a helping hand.

“Nishi—”

Just as he started to call out her name, Sanada suddenly cut himself off. He reminded himself that such careless kindness on his part could come back to haunt him. If his adversary was feeling overwhelmed here, then his only real option was to make use of that. Sanada quietly took deep breaths, suppressing his feelings of guilt. When Nishino finally sat down in her chair, the exam began, as though it had been waiting on her.

“The discussion will now commence.”

Along with that announcement, audio could be heard coming from the monitor.

“The End-of-Year Special Exam will now commence. Each student’s role is displayed on his or her tablet. Please check your assigned role before starting the first round of discussion.”

On the other side of the cold, sterile monitors that were set up in the room, the participants had taken their seats. Then, the discussion began with no time to even compose themselves. The tense Nishino, who hadn’t relaxed in the slightest and whose vision had narrowed, continued to stare intently at the monitor without even once checking on how Sanada was doing.

“U-um… So I guess everyone’s already confirmed their roles already…?” wondered Nishino, aloud.

Nishino couldn’t recall what had just happened in the room prior to the moment when the participants were confirming their assigned roles. It felt like the discussion had begun before she had even realized it, causing her to panic a little. However, the video playing out in front of her eyes was proceeding in real time and couldn’t be paused or rewound. The hectic, rapid conversation from the participants reached Nishino’s ears, regardless of whether she wanted to hear it. From the right to the left. She couldn’t keep track of the conversation in her head and couldn’t even understand the contents of the conversation whatsoever.

“Please nominate or pass, starting now. You have one minute.”

“Huh? Wait, has, uh, five minutes passed already…?” stammered Nishino.

The signal for the end of the first round had been given without Nishino managing to make heads or tails of anything that was going on. As a conditioned reflex, Nishino hurriedly looked down at her tablet in a panic. On the screen were the names of the fourteen participants, displayed together neatly. Normally, if you didn’t understand what was going on, one would expect that it’d make sense to pass that turn. However, Nishino continued to look at the names of the students, her thoughts a confused mess.

The nomination time limit ticked away without stopping. Then, once her eyes focused on Yoshida’s name, she recalled the discussion earlier. She could hardly remember anything, but she had the feeling that there was something suspicious, somehow. It was a vague memory, but it flashed through her mind with unusual clarity. Though she wasn’t sure whether it was true or not, the way Yoshida had been acting and the things she said seemed to be telling Nishino that she was the model student. Though Nishino felt like she was in a daze and about to faint, she managed to use her tablet. Somehow, she entered her choice on the tablet before the time limit was reached, but then…

“Because Nishino-san has nominated erroneously, she will lose one Life Point.”

It was a reckless, impulsive move, to suddenly nominate someone as the model student. As a result, she lost one Life Point. Sanada, watching Nishino silently, had calmly avoided the option of nominating, counter to Nishino’s example.

“They weren’t the model student… Huh. I don’t get this at all…” murmured Nishino.

Perhaps it was from feeling flustered, but Nishino spoke to herself loudly, her words even reaching Sanada’s ears. Because the teacher used their power and succeeded in blocking the nomination from the model student, only one student was removed from the room this round. With the number of participants reduced to thirteen, the second round of discussion began, but Nishino’s mental state had remained essentially unchanged, and she showed no signs of improvement, letting the time pass in vain.

Nishino, not knowing what to do, pulled her eyes away from the monitor and tablet for the first time, and looked over at Sanada. Up until now, she had only looked back and forth between the monitor and her tablet. Sanada noticed Nishino’s gaze but pretended not to and, while acting as though he were about to make a nomination, chose to pass once again. Sanada wasn’t good at acting by any means, but it was effective enough on Nishino right now. As if to demonstrate proof of this, Nishino once again pushed ahead with an unsubstantiated nomination.

“Because Nishino-san has nominated erroneously, she will lose two Life Points.”

Nishino had once again misidentified the role. The sequence of events was exactly the same as the first round, which just made the wound even deeper. Fukuyama, after being nominated, was ejected from the room. After this round, Nishino had lost a total of three Life Points and was now pushed into a position where she could be unceremoniously defeated all too easily if Sanada correctly nominated any specific role, not just the model student.

Sanada decided that he should continue to fight mainly by passing, based on the consideration of the possibility that Nishino would self-destruct and defeat herself. However, once they entered the third round, Nishino had already lost most of her courage to nominate anyone. For that reason, both representatives decided to pass, and Isoyama was ejected from the room after being nominated by the model student.

Sanada, who had been watching the participants’ discussion intently thus far, noticed that Nishino’s gaze on the monitor screen was focused only on the participants from Class A, her rival class. She was unable to see the whole picture, held captive by the absolute that was “Class A vs. Class C.” However, Sanada realized that it was also important to consider class alignments and loyalties separately, and he deliberately discarded the idea of focusing his attention on the students from Class C. If Nishino was only looking at Class A, then Sanada would have an overwhelming advantage, since he knew those students better.

Then came the fourth round. There was a major development in the discussion when Shimizu, who came forward and self-identified as the graduate, declared that Kinoshita was not the model student. However, at that moment, Yoshimoto came forward and claimed to be the real graduate, and that Kinoshita was the model student. At this point, one or both of them had to be lying.

The time had come for the representatives to make their nominations once again. Here, Sanada chose to pass for a fourth time, using almost all of the time available to him, just barely squeezing it in before the time limit was up. That was because while he was tempted to make a nomination, he hadn’t yet come to a solid decision.

As for Nishino, who had her back against the wall, some valuable information had finally come her way. She didn’t want to let it go to waste. If Sanada had discovered what the roles were, there was a strong possibility that she would lose. Still, she had no choice but to push ahead and make a nomination, even if it were risky. Nishino figured it was fine to declare that Shimizu was the graduate, since she had come forward first and said as much, but she chose to keep her evaluation of the position to herself, just in case. And the results showed that…

“Because Nishino-san has nominated erroneously, she will lose two Life Points.”

Shimizu, who had proclaimed to be the graduate, was actually the model student. In believing her, Nishino had ended up majorly self-destructing. Sanada, on the other hand, had succeeded in defeating Nishino, the opposing vanguard, without losing a single Life Point.

“Since Nishino-san’s Life Points have been depleted, we ask that she please leave the room at this time.”

“What the hell?! I don’t get this at all!” snapped Nishino.

Though she was irritated with herself over what happened in this exam, Nishino was ordered to leave the room before her frustration could set in.

“ Phew … I’m glad that my opponent was Nishino-san…” said Sanada. In the end, he had won just by passing, without ever having to make a nomination. “At any rate, I think that the best way for me to win is to take it nice and slow.”

After watching several discussions, he realized that it wasn’t easy to detect truth and lies over the monitor. While Sanada readied his mind, so that he could deal with the next opponent calmly, he waited in the same room for the next battle to come. During the interval, however, Sanada began to find himself assailed by mixed feelings. He couldn’t wholeheartedly be happy over the fact that he had won a complete victory over Nishino. It had been two years since he had come to this school, but he still honestly couldn’t get used to the idea of winning. Light and shadow. On the other side of it, there was always a loser. Sanada had never been good at directly confronting that reality.

“No, this won’t do. I need to…put in my best effort, for the sake of the class,” said Sanada.

After another five minutes or so, the center from Ryuuen’s class set foot inside the classroom. Sanada, shaking off his feelings of gloom, stood up and smiled at this new arrival.

“Katsuragi-kun, hello. Let us both give this our best effort,” said Sanada, addressing Katsuragi with the same polite manner that he’d used with Nishino. “It’s been quite a while since the two of us have spoken like this.”

“Yes. I suppose it has been a long time since we last spoke,” replied Katsuragi.

The two of them faced each other. When they were together in Class A and learning in the same classroom, they weren’t particularly close friends, but they weren’t at odds with each other either. They were just ordinary classmates, so to speak.

“When I heard the rules for this special examination, I thought for sure that you would be a representative,” said Sanada.

Katsuragi stopped walking once he heard those words, and, looking at Sanada’s facial expression, he sensed his intentions.

“It would seem you defeated Nishino with ease,” said Katsuragi.

“I don’t know if I’d say ‘with ease,’ really,” Sanada replied. “I didn’t do anything in particular. It seemed more like she was simply overwhelmed by the exam is all. I would like to ask you one question before the discussion begins, though. Why was Nishino-san chosen as a representative? I thought that surely there are some students a little better suited for the role in your class, Katsuragi-kun. Oh, Nishino-san did try very hard, of course, and I’m sure that she has many good points, but…”

Sanada tried to emphasize the fact that he certainly didn’t think less of Nishino by any means, but he still had doubts, thinking that there were others who were more suitable. He had considered the possibility that she had been a substitute representative, but since there wasn’t a single student absent from Ryuuen’s class, he’d dismissed that idea.

“Well, now. Even if you ask me, I cannot answer your question. It was Ryuuen who chose the representatives,” said Katsuragi.

“I see. So, I suppose that means if I defeat you, Katsuragi-kun, then I will be able to hear the answer,” said Sanada.

“It does indeed,” replied Katsuragi, walking to his seat and slowly sitting down. “However, you should know that it won’t be easy. Just as you want to ask Ryuuen why he appointed Nishino, I have business with Sakayanagi above you.”

It was a clear declaration that he intended to defeat Sanada, as well as Kitou, who was next in line after him.

“Please go easy on me,” said Sanada, humbly.

From that point on, there was no more private talk between the two representatives whatsoever, and the room was silent as they waited for the signal for the discussion to begin.

Discussion No. 1

Participants

Class 2-A

Satonaka Satoru, Tsukasaki Taiga, Sugio Hiroshi, Morishige Takurou, Tanihara Mao, Tsukaji Shihori, Yamamura Miki

Class 2-C

Ibuki Mio, Inoue Toa, Okabe Fuyu, Suzuhira Miu, Morofuji Rika, Yajima Mariko, Yuube Yoshika

“Please begin the first round of discussion.”

When the representatives had prepared themselves, a voice over the monitor broke the silence, announcing the start of the discussion. Both representatives stared silently at the multiple monitors, listening intently to the discussion among the fourteen participants captured from various angles.

All of the participants were different from those who had been there previously, and these new participants were discussing for the first time. In other words, the situation was exactly the same as in the first discussion, with the proceedings going awkwardly, with everyone fumbling to say something. For that reason especially, it wasn’t easy to determine who was assigned what role.

Five intense minutes of diversionary tactics, shows of force, and sounding each other out. There were particularly few clues to be gleaned in the first round of discussion, but even so, the representatives watched intently, reluctant to even blink. Sanada had focused only on the students from his own class in the second half of his battle with Nishino earlier, but this time, he chose to go back to the basics and observe the whole group. The long-yet-short discussion period ended, and the representative’s time had come.

“Please nominate or pass, starting now. You have one minute.”

Their first nomination. As long as no explicitly blatant information was revealed, Sanada had decided to stick with the same strategy he had used when he had completely shut out Nishino. If he rushed to make a nomination carelessly, there was a good chance that he would self-destruct and lose points, just like Nishino. Sanada remained unscathed, with five Life Points.

While vanguards had less leeway than centers, he still had a good number of Life Points left, which was a significant factor. Even in the unlikely event that Katsuragi were to correctly identify the model student, Sanada would still have two points left. With that much, he would at least have a chance to counterattack against his opponent. However, even so, he wasn’t going to hurriedly enter his choice to pass.

He decided to take his time and think things over, to give the impression that was going to make a nomination. On the other hand, although it was his first battle, Katsuragi stared intently at Sanada, without making any attempt to hide his gaze.

“You have an advantage because you experienced the exam first, don’t you?” asked Katsuragi.

“I’m not sure. But I think there must have been some information that could have been gleaned from the discussion we just observed,” said Sanada.

With his response, Sanada tried to make a show of indicating that he had taken a few clues into his decision. However, perhaps the fact he was unaccustomed to acting was his undoing, as Katsuragi’s only response was to narrow his eyes. He seemed to notice Sanada’s attitude, what he was thinking, and what kind of strategy he was using. Neither of them had entered their choices on their tablets, and the clock was ticking.

“Are you agonizing over the decision of whether to nominate someone or not?” asked Katsuragi, pointing out that Sanada’s fingertips weren’t moving across his tablet’s screen.

“I suppose so. There are some participants that I have thoughts about, and I was wondering if I might simply take the plunge and make a nomination,” said Sanada.

Sanada was going to use as much time as he possibly could and continue to act the part of a student considering making a nomination. He was hoping that would provoke Katsuragi, make him flustered, and get him to rush to make a nomination of his own.

“Have you decided what you are going to do, Katsuragi-kun?” asked Sanada.

“I cannot answer that. But I’m sure you understand what to do better than I do, since you fought Nishino before me. I’m sure you can nominate without hesitation,” said Katsuragi.

Katsuragi urged Sanada to go ahead and make the nomination, in a special exam where if someone got a preemptive hit on their opponent, it would make things more difficult. Did he still not understand the essence of this special exam, or did he understand it and make that statement anyway? Sanada thought about it, but once the time limit approached, he relaxed his shoulders.

“No, I think that I will refrain. It seems like it would be difficult to narrow things down now, at the very least,” said Sanada.

Moments after Sanada entered ‘pass’ on his tablet, Katsuragi had finished making his choice as well. Sanada nodded internally at his decision, telling himself that he shouldn’t panic, and just enter his choice in the second round or later. However…

“I see. In that case, I suppose I will not hesitate,” said Katsuragi.

“Huh?” said Sanada, blinking.

“Announcing the results. Katsuragi-kun identified Morishige-kun as a position holder, so Sanada-kun loses one Life Point.”

Sanada had expected Katsuragi to be on the defensive, but he pressed ahead and made a nomination in the first round and succeeded. An announcement was made, and Sanada lost one Life Point before the second round.

“How…did you know?” asked Sanada.

“Actually, I should be asking you, how did you not, Sanada?” Katsuragi replied. “Morishige is a student in your class.”

Katsuragi, as he stared at the monitor, had focused his attention for the first five minutes not on the students from his class, but only on the students from Sakayanagi’s. Sanada knew very few of the students from Ryuuen’s class, and it was difficult to detect a student’s quirks and habits in a span of five minutes. Sanada had broadened his perspective, as he believed that looking at the whole group at first was surely the correct move to make.

“There were some students who seemed suspicious among the participants, but you didn’t seem to notice,” remarked Katsuragi.

Katsuragi was doing the same thing that Nishino did, but they were wildly different in terms of precision.

“…You discarded half of your field of vision?” asked Sanada.

“The people that I had chosen to participate in the discussion group are the students who can act reasonably well. I assumed that they would not do something that would give themselves away so blatantly within the first five minutes. That does not, however, appear to be the case for you. Did you fail to notice the look on Morishige’s face, which indicated that he had been given a special role?” replied Katsuragi.

In truth, Morishige had been restless from the moment he entered the room. He didn’t make eye contact with anyone in particular, and only raised the corners of his mouth from time to time. Katsuragi, who had only been focusing on the participants from Class A, didn’t fail to notice how Morishige looked as he scrutinized the students to determine their roles. Of course, there were no actual guarantees, and it was impossible for Katsuragi to have narrowed it down to what role Morishige was in, exactly. However, Katsuragi prioritized the importance of reducing his opponent’s Life Points in his first move and decided to nominate Morishige as a position holder.

“You certainly did very well to pull one over on me. But I will not allow it to happen again,” said Sanada.

Sanada, steeling himself once more and regaining his composure, stared intently at the monitor before the second round began. However, his mind was in turmoil, and he hadn’t yet decided where he ought to be looking. Should he look only at Class A, like Katsuragi had done? Or should he focus on Class C, precisely because he had so little information? Or should he carefully observe the entire group like he had before? Before he could settle on a course of action, the five-minute discussion period started once again.

“I can more or less predict what your tactics were, from the time it took for Nishino to lose, and from the fact that you had completely shut her out. I would say that, in all likelihood, you didn’t make a single nomination, and the match-up ended with Nishino self-destructing, correct?” asked Katsuragi.

Sanada could only respond with a wry, bitter smile at Katsuragi sharply describing what had happened. And although he tried to concentrate on the discussion currently happening, miscellaneous thoughts had inevitably come pouring in. Then, five minutes had passed.

“Please nominate or pass, starting now. You have one minute.”

“I will pass,” announced Katsuragi.

As soon as the announcement was made, Katsuragi deliberately made a public statement, and finished using his tablet in an instant. Sanada pondered whether he could trust Katsuragi’s statement.

“I’m being forced into a difficult decision here,” he remarked.

No new information had emerged clearly from the discussion, though there were some students that Sanada found slightly curious. It was hard to imagine that Katsuragi had failed to notice the same things he had. Considering Katsuragi’s initial determination, Sanada figured there was a possibility that he might nominate a student as a position holder again. In other words, Sanada couldn’t dismiss the possibility of lying.

He stared at the tablet.

Sanada knew that being the first one to lose points was unexpectedly damaging, mentally. In that case, he figured that he should go ahead and attack, even if it meant taking on some degree of risk—that was his mindset now. The person who nominated would only lose one or two Life Points, no matter the worst-case scenario a nomination resulted in.

“If you are pulling back this time, Katsuragi-kun, then… I suppose I will make a move,” said Sanada.

With that, Sanada decided to go on the offensive and nominate someone, just as Katsuragi had done in the first round. The number of participants had been reduced to twelve. One participant with a position had most definitely been removed from the pool, but even so, there was a good chance he could be successful. Now all that was left was to decide whether to go for the model student, or to play it safe and nominate someone as position holder. Or, perhaps, he could attack by aiming for a specified role.

Sanada wanted to get the model student and reduce his opponent’s Life Points by three, so that he could level the playing field. Class 2-C, Morofuji Rika, model student, confirm. Sonoda tapped his choices on his tablet, followed by the confirmation button. After the data was transmitted, there was a brief moment of silence before the decision was made. And then…

“Because Sanada-kun has nominated erroneously, he will lose two Life Points.”

“Ugh… Guess I was wrong,” sighed Sanada.

The cruel results showed that his effort had been in vain. Morofuji left the room, seeming exasperated. The results were unfortunate because Sanada had been correct in his thinking that Morofuji was assigned to a specific role. He now had only two Life Points left.

“That is rather unlike you, Sanada, to go ahead with uncertain information,” commented Katsuragi, speaking as though he and Sanada were still classmates.

“It was because I found Morofuji-san’s behavior to be a little suspicious, I suppose,” said Sanada.

“That might be true. But how much do you know about Morofuji? Perhaps you don’t really know anything about her, do you? You ought to think very carefully about where the behavior is coming from. If Morofuji was the model student, that means that she has an ally. One or two people would have made a significant difference in Morofuji’s state of mind. If it were me in your position, I would have nominated as position holder, if I attacked,” said Katsuragi.

Sanada, while listening to Katsuragi’s comments that bordered instructions, somehow managed to suppress his disarrayed thoughts. It certainly wasn’t a minor mistake, to be sure, but Sanada hadn’t run out of points yet. A successful nomination in the next round would be enough to inflict a serious blow on his opponent. However…

The match continued into the third round. Two girls, Inoue and Tanihara, started arguing back and forth with each other, asserting that the other was the model student, based on substantiated comments. They simply quarreled back and forth, arguing which one of them was suspicious and which one wasn’t. From there, the discussions increasingly veered irrelevant topics. Suddenly, the conversation had gotten all over the place, but there was no rule against getting off topic, and the school wasn’t going to interrupt the discussion unless there was a violation of the stipulated rules.

Sanada couldn’t act recklessly here, and he reluctantly chose to pass in the third round. Katsuragi, on the other hand, deliberately chose to nominate Tsukaji rather than the two students who had stuck out in the discussion. But his attempt was a swing and a miss, and so his Life Points dropped from seven to six. Afterward, although it seemed likely that either Inoue or Tanihara would be nominated by the model student and disappear, it turned out to be neither of them. Rather, it was Satonaka who was ordered to leave the room.

Round four ended with the conversation mostly having been between Inoue and Tanihara. Then, once more, someone other than those two was selected by the model student to leave the room: Okabe. Now, seven students remained. But since little progress had been made in the discussion, it was unclear what the representatives could even do. If a representative nominated a participant as a position holder, they would know whether that participant had a position or not, but if the student ejected from the room by the model student was an average student or in any other position, that information wouldn’t be disclosed. In other words, it was impossible to determine how many position holders currently remained in the room.

Sanada wanted to win here, but now the situation was such that a single mistake would weigh heavily on him. He wanted to see how things looked after one more round; he figured that then, he might be able to narrow it down. Sanada was certain of it, even more than he was in the previous round, and he was sure that Katsuragi was on the same page. He imagined such a convenient development without really thinking it through.

He was overcome by the feeling of wanting to pass. Spurred on by this emotion, he tapped the pass icon displayed on the screen and made his selection. Then, the final confirmation screen appeared, and he was presented with two choices.

“It would appear that you have chosen to pass. In that case, I believe I will go ahead and attack,” said Katsuragi.

Just then, when one more tap on the touchscreen would have confirmed his selection to pass, Katsuragi’s words made his fingers stop. A report made preemptively, out of the mistaken belief that Sanada had completed entering his choice to pass. Now that Katsuragi was making a move, Sanada might not have any more turns to attack if Katsuragi gave a correct answer. Sanada hurriedly canceled the choice he made before, backing out of the confirmation screen, tapped the name of the student he had been thinking of as a possibility, and then simply entered “as position holder” and confirmed his selection.

“Because Sanada-kun has nominated erroneously, he will lose two Life Points. Now that Sanada-kun’s Life Points have been depleted, we ask that he please leave the room at this time.”

An announcement was made, and Sanada suddenly saw the discrepancy between Katsuragi’s statement and the results.

“The model student… It backfired again? But, Katsuragi-kun, what about your nomination? Was it right or wrong?” asked Sanada.

“You thought you were making a wise choice, but it would appear that you got swept up in the moment, Sanada,” said Katsuragi.

“What do you mean by that?” asked Sanada.

“I mean that I chose to pass this time,” replied Katsuragi.

“Huh?” blinked Sanada.

“I lied,” said Katsuragi. “I figured that you would rather attack than be attacked, after all. It would appear that you failed to see through me.”

“I see… I didn’t even notice that much, huh,” replied Sanada.

Sanada’s response was totally lifeless. Just then, he realized that his heart had been pounding the entire time. He didn’t notice in that first round because Nishino was even more nervous than he was, but he was quite anxious himself. Sanada had been hoping to cut down Katsuragi’s life bar as much as possible, even if that was only a little bit, and win if there was a chance. But Katsuragi had been firm in his resolve and precise in his decision making, letting nothing go to waste, and he had the courage to throw down the gauntlet from the start.

Sanada, having felt like he was surpassed in every way, could do nothing, and lost in front of Katsuragi. He left the room. After watching Sanada exit so that his new opponent could come in, Katsuragi took a moment to catch his breath.

“I’ve lost one Life Point. No problem. I just need to keep pressing ahead calmly like I have been, and it will be fine.”

Katsuragi, arms crossed, suppressed his feeling of wanting to rejoice. Before even considering such proud, lofty ideas as revenge, he needed to defeat the opposing center, after all. Only after he dragged out Sakayanagi, the general, could he let his emotions run as high as he liked.

6.1

K ITOU, AFTER QUIETLY and smoothly striding into the room, glared sharply at Katsuragi and took his seat. The battle between centers seemed like it was going to get off to a quiet start, with neither side offering a single word to the other. However, the situation began to change in an instant. Immediately after the first round ended, Katsuragi made the choice to pass, but Kitou didn’t hesitate in nominating someone. Without any clues, he took a gamble in going for one of the two model students, who were mixed in among the fourteen participants.

“Because Kitou-kun has nominated erroneously, he will lose one Life Point.”

Kitou lightly clicked his tongue at the announcement, but his facial expression didn’t darken. The probability of success was approximately 14.3 percent. He had taken a high level of risk to try to snatch away some of Katsuragi’s Life Points. Kitou didn’t lose his composure precisely because he had already factored in the possibility that he might be mistaken.

“That is rather like you, Kitou, to be so terribly drastic. However, what will you do next time?” asked Katsuragi.

“It should be obvious,” replied Kitou. “I only have to push forward…”

Kitou had lost a point in the blink of an eye, but true to his word, Kitou confidently forged ahead and nominated someone as the model student in the second round as well.

“Because Kitou-kun has nominated erroneously, he will lose two Life Points.”

That attempt had also ended fruitlessly. Furthermore, because the student had been either a teacher or a graduate, Kitou lost two points. Even Katsuragi gasped slightly at the outrageous consecutive blows that Kitou suffered.

“Now you have only four Life Points left. Even so, do you still plan to continue nominating recklessly?” asked Katsuragi.

“Of course,” replied Kitou.

“The content of this special exam is clearly not your strong suit. I’m sure that this must displease you. The choices available to us are naturally limited, but I never imagined you would try something like a suicide mission. Did you get Sakayanagi’s permission to be a representative? Or did she order you, perhaps?” asked Katsuragi.

Kitou deliberately chose not to respond, since his strategy was precisely what Katsuragi had just described. Namely, that if Kitou got even one successful nomination, that would be satisfactory, and Sakayanagi herself had accepted this. Since Kitou had volunteered to be a representative, he was expected to deliver results, no matter how bad he was at this sort of thing.

While the probability of success per nomination wasn’t remarkably high, even if Kitou struck out, he would only lose one or two points. Therefore, what Kitou could do right now was make as many attempts as he could before his opponent could move to nominate. Of course, despite the fact that Kitou had decided his plan of attack from the very beginning, he’d be angry if things didn’t go as planned. Kitou’s irritation showed in how forcefully he stabbed his finger on the tablet on his deck, practically attacking it.

Katsuragi ignored his savage neighbor and continued focusing his attention solely on the monitor in pursuit of his deductions. Kitou, on the other hand, paid little attention to the conversations, letting them go in one ear and out the other, and hardly did any sleuthing. He looked only at the human emotions displayed by the students and looked only at the students who reacted in ways that seemed appropriate. Once again, in round three, Kitou made an erroneous nomination and lost one Life Point. That left him with three Life Points.

He continued to lose Life Points by his own self-destruction. Round four followed. Once again, Kitou, undaunted, only went after nominating the model student. For his part, Katsuragi had once again considered passing, but then decided against it. Kitou had missed three nominations thus far, but as the denominator decreased, the probability of success gradually increased. This time in particular, there was a 25 percent chance that he would guess correctly.

Katsuragi, having grasped the trend for the three students Kitou had nominated in the past, considered whether any of the remaining students who fit that trend could be narrowed down as possible candidates for the model student, and he found one student fit the criteria. Even if Kitou pushed ahead and nominated that candidate, Katsuragi should be able to make it a draw if he nominated that same person. And even if Katsuragi missed, he could get away with losing one or two points. He considered the issue from various angles. While normally, Katsuragi would have preferred to wait and see after one more round, he found himself too greedy to take hold of victory to wait, and threw down the gauntlet. And the results were…

“Announcing the results. Katsuragi-kun identified Yamawaki-kun as a position holder, so Kitou-kun loses three Life Points. Now that Kitou-kun’s Life Points have been depleted, we ask that he please leave the room at this time.”

Kitou, a center with seven Life Points, was eliminated in four rounds without managing to land a single major blow.

“Why…?! Damn it!! Why is it that you can get it right, and I can’t?!” huffed Kitou.

Kitou slammed his desk harder than ever before, baring his anger.

“This isn’t an exam you can win without a plan. I know everyone, and that is precisely why I am able to fight wisely,” said Katsuragi.

Katsuragi’s high level of accuracy was supported by his experiences as a member of both Sakayanagi and Ryuuen’s classes. At one time, he had commanded others as a leader of Class A, closely watching his classmates. That was why he was able to recognize the participants’ facial expressions, manner of speaking, and tone of voice, as well as gestures throughout the entire process.

“Leave the room, Kitou,” commanded Katsuragi.

Kitou answered Katsuragi’s blunt order with a glare, but he made no effort to move. Still seated, he slammed his fist on his desk a second time, and then a third.

“Kitou-kun, please exit the room immediately.”

An announcement was made urging Kitou to leave, but even so, Kitou didn’t get up, and just continued to glare at Katsuragi.

“There’s no point in delaying it. The match has been decided,” said Katsuragi.

Those words were the trigger. Kitou, his voice clouded with anger, got up from his seat and stood in front of Katsuragi.

“The exit is the other way,” said Katsuragi.

“Katsuragi…!”

When Kitou called out Katsuragi’s name, he reached with long arms to grab hold of Katsuragi’s collar. Katsuragi took in Kitou’s anger, which bordered on murderous intent, and merely stood up and looked directly into Kitou’s eyes.

“Don’t. Acts of violence are strictly forbidden,” commanded Katsuragi, speaking to Kitou with a calm tone devoid of panic.

However, Kitou didn’t relax his arm, nor show any signs of letting go.

“I recognize your ability. But you simply weren’t the right person to be a representative in this special exam. That is all,” said Katsuragi.

There was a definite reason why Kitou couldn’t hold back his irritation, even though he could blame his own inexperience for losing to Katsuragi. Actually, there was no need for him to suppress his anger over the correct answer.

“Let go of him immediately and move away. If you escalate any further, we will declare this to be an act of violence, Kitou-kun.”

Mechanical words from the proctor could be heard over the speaker. Kitou was furious, but he knew he couldn’t take this any further, and he released Katsuragi’s chest, his hands shaking with fury as he tried to contain his anger.

“I have lost here today…” said Kitou.

Kitou muttered those words bitterly before turning his back on Katsuragi and throwing open the door.

“I had thought that anger might have been for me, but were you looking at Ryuuen beyond me, Kitou?” asked Katsuragi to the loser’s back.

But Kitou left without a word, slamming the door behind himself. Katsuragi watched him exit and then took a breath once he was alone in the room. Katsuragi didn’t know exactly what had happened between Kitou and Ryuuen, but he knew that, aside from the fact that they were in different classes, Kitou tended to regard Ryuuen as an enemy. Katsuragi guessed that Kitou must have been aiming to defeat him and then bring the hammer down on Ryuuen himself.