Saiki Kusuo's Classroom of the Elite

"Horikita-senpai?"

Yukimura Teruhiko's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected Horikita Manabu to show up here.

"Oh, Horikita-senpai, you're here too?"

Nagumo Miyabi turned his gaze toward Horikita Manabu.

"I heard you came to visit the first-years."

Horikita Manabu said expressionlessly.

"Yes, I said I came to bond with the first-years."

"You didn't tell me that."

"Didn't President Nagumo say he already informed the third-years?"

Yukimura Teruhiko asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Well, the third-years aren't just Horikita-senpai, are they?"

Horikita Manabu didn't pay much attention to this and instead walked straight up to the group. He picked up the deck of cards and examined them closely—it didn't take long for him to pull out the Old Maid and show it to everyone.

"There's a crease on the back. If you don't look closely, you'd never notice it."

"What?"

Everyone in the room was shocked.

"It might just be a coincidence..."

Yukimura Teruhiko said.

"This deck should have been freshly opened. It hasn't been used before, so there's no way it could have such a crease."

Horikita Manabu lowered his head and looked at Nagumo Miyabi, who was sitting nearby.

"Nagumo, is this how you bond with the first-years? I'm sure you must have bet something with them, like who's responsible for making breakfast or cleaning, right?"

'Yare yare, as expected of Horikita-senpai. He really knows Nagumo well.'

Saiki thought to himself.

"Nagumo, you were planning to use this trick to win against the first-years, weren't you? To shift more burden onto them..."

Before Horikita Manabu could finish, Hashimoto Masayoshi slowly raised his hand.

"Um... Horikita-senpai, we won."

"...Huh?"

Horikita Manabu's eyebrow twitched, and he turned to look at Hashimoto Masayoshi. This was the first time Horikita Manabu had shown a visibly confused expression.

He had guessed Nagumo Miyabi's intentions, he had guessed Nagumo Miyabi's methods...

But the one thing he hadn't guessed was that Nagumo Miyabi would lose.

[Nagumo used tricks and still lost? How is that possible? While luck is a factor, cheating should significantly increase the chances of winning... And yet, Nagumo lost? Did he lose on purpose? No, that's not his style. Could it be Saiki? But it doesn't look like Saiki got out of bed... Strange...]

Horikita Manabu's mind raced as he tried to make sense of the situation.

"That's how it is. I lost to the first-years, so I don't accept your accusation of cheating."

Nagumo Miyabi hid his inner anger and replied in his usual tone.

"As per the agreement, the two breakfast shifts originally assigned to the first-years will now be handled by us second-years. It's getting late, and lights-out is soon. Goodnight, everyone."

With that, Nagumo Miyabi left the first-years' room, taking Kiriyama Ikuto with him.

"I'm sorry, President..."

Kiriyama Ikuto said apologetically. Although he opposed Nagumo Miyabi in his heart, his final mistake had led to extra work for the second-years.

And now, he couldn't reveal his true feelings.

"If only I had understood the hint in your tone..."

"It's not your fault. My misjudgment led to the loss."

Nagumo Miyabi said, though his gaze didn't fall on Kiriyama Ikuto.

"There's definitely a troublesome guy among the first-years... Koenji. That guy really annoys me, but I can't deny his talent. If I can bring him into the student council, that would be ideal. If not... after Horikita-senpai graduates, he'll be my source of entertainment..."

Meanwhile, Saiki could clearly hear the conversation between Nagumo Miyabi and Kiriyama Ikuto.

'Yare yare, without realizing it, Koenji has become the scapegoat...'

Saiki turned to look at Koenji Rokusuke, who was lying on his bed without a care in the world.

'But... it shouldn't have much impact.'

"It's getting late. You first-years should get some rest too. Don't waste too much energy."

After saying this, Horikita Manabu also left.

However, before leaving, he specifically turned to look at Saiki.

Saiki, of course, knew what he meant.

...

1 AM.

The day's training had left the students exhausted, and they quickly fell asleep.

However, Saiki wasn't asleep. Instead, he turned to look toward the door.

A faint light seeped through the gap between the door and the hallway. It was Morse code, communicated through flashes of light.

Since the corridors of the school were pitch dark at night, each room was equipped with several flashlights. Someone must have brought one out.

Saiki sighed. He knew what this Morse code meant.

The person signaling with the flashlight was none other than Horikita Manabu.

Before entering the school building, Horikita Manabu had secretly made this arrangement with Saiki.

'Yare yare, why does it have to be Morse code...? But then again, even without this method, I could've just used telepathy to know he was here.'

Saiki thought to himself.

'I'll just go out. It shouldn't be a problem to go to the bathroom at night, right?'

Just as Saiki was about to get out of bed, he heard a thought from directly below him.

[There's a flashing light outside the door... Is that Morse code?]

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had also noticed the anomaly outside.

'Yare yare, I forgot you weren't asleep.'

Saiki narrowed his eyes slightly. With his telepathy, he could easily tell who was asleep and who wasn't.

To avoid any future trouble, he used his powers to force Ayanokoji Kiyotaka to fall asleep. Then, he climbed down from the top bunk and left the room, heading to the bathroom.

"Do you know why I called you out at this time?"

"Because you're very concerned about what Nagumo is up to, right?"

Saiki said.

'Though I already know everything through telepathy.'

"Yes. Did he do anything else unusual when he came to your room today?"

"Not really."

"He definitely cheated, but he still lost. Was that your doing?"

"He just had bad luck. Even with cheating, there's still an element of luck in this game."

"That's true, but I don't believe in coincidences."

Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses, paused for a moment, and then continued.

"Let's put this matter aside for now. Have you noticed Nagumo doing anything particularly suspicious?"

[Although Saiki and I are in the same group, it seems he might have seen things from a perspective I haven't.]

'Yare yare, even though this has nothing to do with me, I did get some benefits from Horikita-senpai and agreed to help deal with Nagumo.'

Thinking this, Saiki spoke up.

"Horikita-senpai, do you think Nagumo might break the bet?"

"Are you saying that since he agreed not to involve others, he'll keep his word?"

"Exactly."

Horikita Manabu nodded without hesitation. Having worked with Nagumo in the student council for nearly two years, he could vouch for this.

However, this was all part of Nagumo Miyabi's facade.

"No, Nagumo won't keep his word. These past two years have just been an act to make you think he's trustworthy."

Saiki said.

"Why do you say that?"

Horikita Manabu frowned.

"Because... intuition..."

Saiki made up an excuse on the spot.

"Intuition?"

"My intuition is usually pretty accurate... I feel like you and Tachibana-senpai are close, right? If Nagumo plans to target anyone, it's likely her. For example, he might use the 'responsible person's collateral' mechanism."

Saiki replied.

"Why are you so sure? Do you have any concrete evidence?"

Horikita Manabu immediately asked.

"I..."

Saiki thought for a moment, then casually said,

"After all, I've heard that not just the second-years, but many third-year students are under Nagumo's control. If that's the case, then controlling the groupings should also be within Nagumo's power."

"Is that the basis of your reasoning?"

Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses.

[I never told him about the relationship between the third-years and Nagumo, yet he figured it out. He really is an impressive guy.]

'Sorry, it's because of my telepathy.'

Saiki replied in his mind, then spoke again.

"It's just my theory. I don't have any evidence or anything."

Saiki had already warned Horikita Manabu. He had done his part.

"I don't believe Nagumo would break his word, but your reasoning makes sense. All my actions are based on the assumption that Nagumo will keep his promises. To be safe, I'll need to take some precautions."

Horikita Manabu nodded at Saiki.

"Are you sure you don't want to join the student council? Even now, I can still arrange for you to join."

"Absolutely not. I don't like troublesome things."

"I understand. After this exam is over, if you need anything, please contact me."

After saying this, Horikita Manabu left the bathroom and returned to his room.

Saiki waited a while before returning to his own room.

With his telepathy, he could confirm that everyone else was asleep. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka probably wouldn't dwell on the Morse code he had seen earlier.

'Really.'

Saiki shook his head and used his powers to fly back to the top bunk.

...

And so, Saiki and the others reached their fourth day at the school building.

During this time, the boys had engaged in some meaningless competitions in the bathhouse—at least, meaningless to Saiki. His x-ray vision had already revealed things he didn't want to know, and the dull competitions would only cause him more trouble. To ensure this story could proceed smoothly, he had to use his powers to erase that part of reality.

The morning classes were entirely dedicated to physical education. The students were tasked with walking or running the 18-kilometer round-trip route that would be used for the relay race on exam day, and they had to return before the afternoon classes.

The exam was a relay race, meaning each person would run one to two kilometers during the actual exam. However, now everyone had to complete the entire route. And since this was a mountainous area with steep terrain, many students were already exhausted.

"How long is this uphill stretch going to last? The school must be insane. This is way too tiring. I haven't been resting well these past few days, and my mind feels completely empty."

Ishizaki Daichi panted heavily after passing a sign warning of wild boars in the area.

"And there are wild boars here too?"

"How long will it take to get back..."

"The average walking speed is four kilometers per hour, and the distance is 18 kilometers. So if we just walk, it'll take about four and a half hours."

"You've got to be kidding me! That won't even leave us time for lunch!"

"In that case, we'll just have to run, Ishizaki—if we run, we can finish faster!"

The group members chattered among themselves, exhausted and only able to walk. The second- and third-year groups were already out of sight.

"By the way, where's Koenji?"

At that moment, Yukimura Teruhiko noticed that Koenji Rokusuke, who had been at the back of the group, was missing.

"He changed direction to chase after a wild boar."

Saiki replied.

This was because he had just heard Koenji Rokusuke's thoughts.

[There are wild animals here? Interesting. Let's chase after them for a bit!]

Koenji Rokusuke didn't care about the long trek at all. As soon as something interesting caught his attention, he focused on it entirely.

However, compared to Koenji Rokusuke's thoughts, another set of thoughts was much louder. This was the real reason Saiki knew Koenji Rokusuke had gone after the wild boar.

[Help! Help! Help!!!!!! There's a golden bipedal gorilla chasing me!!!!!! Help!!!!!!]

The owner of this voice wasn't a person—

It was the wild boar.