Saiki Kusuo's Classroom of the Elite

"Oh?"

Upon hearing Hashimoto Masayoshi's words, Ryuen Kakeru's eyebrow twitched.

[This guy... has he noticed Saiki?]

As the image of Saiki flashed in his mind, Ryuen Kakeru's heartbeat quickened slightly.

"I've investigated Albert and Ishizaki before. They're not the type to get along peacefully with others, but in our group, they've been unusually obedient—the most likely explanation is that the so-called X is in our group."

Hashimoto Masayoshi said with a smile.

"And Ryuen, just now, there was a flicker of hesitation in your eyes."

'Yare yare, has Hashimoto noticed too?'

Saiki narrowed his eyes slightly. First Koenji Rokusuke, and now Hashimoto Masayoshi.

Koenji Rokusuke was fine—after all, he was the type to do as he pleased and wouldn't reveal Saiki's secrets. Even if he did, others might not believe him.

But Hashimoto Masayoshi was a different story.

Even though he was someone who could switch sides for personal gain, they were currently on opposing sides. If Sakayanagi Arisu turned her attention to Saiki, it could lead to a lot of trouble.

The worst-case scenario would be Saiki having to use his mind control abilities.

"Oh?"

Ryuen Kakeru chuckled dismissively.

"I wasn't hesitating. You're just seeing things. So, who do you think it is?"

"At the very least, Koenji is a possible candidate. If that guy were to act for the sake of the class, honestly, I have no idea what would happen to Class A. Plus, there's Hirata and Yukimura, who are both high achievers, and Sudo, who has one of the best physical abilities in the grade."

"Haha, Koenji?"

Hearing Hashimoto's words, Ryuen Kakeru actually laughed. Saiki, who was nearby, also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Leaving aside the others, I don't think that guy would take any action."

Hashimoto Masayoshi also laughed:

"That's true, but he might still act on a whim. Even so, there's no telling when or how things might change. I'll be cautious. Even if Koenji and the others rise to Class A, as long as there's room for me to intervene, it won't be a problem."

"Whether or not you have that kind of power is debatable, but do your best to avoid losing out."

Ryuen Kakeru looked at him and shook his head.

"Even if you're taking a big dump, taking too long can be troublesome."

"Hmm."

Their conversation was almost over, but just then, footsteps could be heard approaching. However, Saiki had noticed the newcomers even earlier.

"First-years having a secret meeting at this hour, huh?"

Nagumo Miyabi and Horikita Manabu had also arrived.

"Huh?"

Standing in front of Ryuen and the others, who were about to return to the school building, were Nagumo Miyabi and Horikita Manabu.

Although Ryuen Kakeru paused for a moment, he quickly lost interest and stepped forward, heading straight toward Nagumo Miyabi's path.

However, Nagumo Miyabi had no intention of moving aside.

"Get lost."

Facing Ryuen Kakeru's glare, Nagumo Miyabi maintained a meaningful smile.

"I've heard about your delinquent reputation. You're Ryuen, right? I need to have a little chat with Horikita. You can join us too. And you over there, you can stay as well."

Nagumo Miyabi turned to look at Hashimoto Masayoshi.

"I'm not interested."

Ryuen Kakeru ignored Nagumo Miyabi's words and walked past him, even deliberately bumping his shoulder.

"So bold. Aren't you afraid of me, Ryuen?"

"I don't care if you're the student council president or whatever. I'll crush anyone who gets in my way."

"Oh—"

"I don't dislike people like you, but you're just not suited for my student council—"

Nagumo Miyabi paused for a moment.

"How about joining as an outsider for a bet? In this special exam, which group will score higher—mine or Horikita-senpai's? One bet for 10,000 points. How about it? No matter which side you bet on, if you guess correctly, I'll pay you that amount. Of course, if you guess wrong, you'll have to pay up."

[Ryuen, I've already investigated you. You're capable, but last semester, your actions seemed to suddenly stop. Why is that?]

"Boring. I'm not interested in such small change."

"10,000 points is small change? In Class D, you're always short on money, right? I can increase the amount if you'd like."

"Then make it a million. If you can raise it to that amount, I'll join."

After saying this, Ryuen Kakeru turned to leave.

"Hahaha, how interesting, Ryuen. What a bold joke. You can go now."

It seemed he thought Ryuen's proposal was a joke.

"If you don't even have the courage to raise it to that amount, don't propose any bets to me."

"Hey, first-year over there, do you think Ryuen can actually come up with a million points?"

Nagumo Miyabi narrowed his eyes slightly, curious about whether Ryuen Kakeru could actually produce a million points.

Nagumo Miyabi asked Hashimoto Masayoshi, who, knowing about Ryuen's secret agreement with Class A, was well aware that Ryuen Kakeru had those points. However, he had no intention of revealing it.

"I don't know... Since we're in different classes, it's hard to say."

Hashimoto Masayoshi shrugged.

"If I could confirm it with a phone, I'd be willing to go along with it. What a shame."

"Then I'll be leaving too, senpai."

With that, Hashimoto Masayoshi and Ryuen Kakeru prepared to leave.

Nagumo Miyabi seemed to have already dismissed them from his mind. He shifted his gaze from the two and looked at Horikita Manabu.

"By the way, I remember there's a first-year student you've taken a liking to... Who was it again? Do you know?"

Nagumo Miyabi glanced at Hashimoto Masayoshi and Ryuen Kakeru.

"Oh, right, right. I think he's in the same group as this first-year. It's Saiki."

[I want these first-year students to become aware of the existence of that Saiki.]

'Hey, hey, why are you suddenly dropping my name out of nowhere?'

Saiki was completely baffled.

[Saiki, to me, isn't someone worth paying attention to. Among the first-years, he clearly doesn't have the same presence as Koenji. But why is Horikita so fixated on him?]

[But Horikita definitely wouldn't expect that his interactions with Saiki have been noticed by me.]

[Just in case, I can have other first-year students act as my eyes to see if that Saiki is someone worth paying attention to.]

'Yare yare, what a hassle...'

Saiki never expected that one day he'd be caught up in his own drama.

"What do you think, Hashimoto? Do you know anything about Saiki?"

"What do I think...? No, I think he's a pretty ordinary student..."

Upon hearing the name, Hashimoto Masayoshi's eyes flickered with confusion.

[Saiki? Why would President Nagumo specifically mention him? He seems like a pretty average student, right?]

Unlike Hashimoto Masayoshi, Ryuen Kakeru stopped in his tracks, his expression growing serious.

"Right? But Horikita-senpai seems to hold Saiki in high regard among the first-years."

"Is it because of that exciting relay race during the sports festival?"

"That's usually the case, but it seems there's more to it. It's not Sakayanagi, not Ryuen, and not even Ichinose. The person Horikita-senpai values is Saiki. I thought you, being in the same group as him, might have noticed something."

"No..."

Hashimoto Masayoshi shook his head and began to recall his interactions with Saiki.

Although Saiki was the group leader, he usually didn't stand out much.

"What's going on, senpai? Isn't it about time you told me the reason?"

Nagumo Miyabi smiled as he looked at Horikita Manabu.

"You're spouting nonsense, Nagumo. When did I ever say I valued Saiki? Spreading false information won't do you any good. You should know when to stop teasing the first-years."

Although Nagumo Miyabi's awareness of this surprised Horikita Manabu, he remained calm in his response.

"My apologies, senpai. You're right~ Sorry, Hashimoto, I was just joking earlier."

"Is that so..."

Hashimoto Masayoshi's eyebrow twitched. He didn't think Nagumo Miyabi was joking.

[I'll need to pay more attention to this Saiki guy from now on.]

'Yare yare... more trouble for me?'

Saiki sighed inwardly.

"Horikita-senpai, why don't you withdraw from tomorrow's exam?"

At that moment, Nagumo Miyabi suddenly spoke up.

"Withdraw?"

"Yes."

"That sounds even worse than the joke Ryuen made earlier."

"I'm being quite serious, actually. It's just—"

Nagumo Miyabi showed a wolf-like grin.

"This is for your own good, senpai."

"Explain it in a way I can understand. You have a bad habit of jumping to conclusions in your head, and it seems you still haven't fixed that."

Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses.

"My apologies. Being able to see the future outcome so clearly is something that requires careful consideration. If you don't withdraw, senpai, you'll regret it. This is my act of mercy. I could have chosen not to warn you and simply set you up, but that would be too cruel, wouldn't it?"

"What are you planning? Depending on the situation, I might not accept."

"I understand. The competition is supposed to be fair and square, without involving others. But if we proceed with the exam as is, we won't know who will win until the results are out—of course, I expect it to be a close match. That's why I want to win, and to do so, I've taken some measures."

"And that's related to asking me to withdraw?"

"Because doing so would minimize the damage, senpai. Can you figure out my plan? No, you can't, can you? No student in this school can predict my thoughts."

Nagumo Miyabi's smile took on a hint of madness, as if everything was going according to his calculations.

[Horikita-senpai, you'd never expect it, but I've already tampered with your dear secretary's group~ If you don't withdraw, your secretary Tachibana will be expelled~]

[What kind of expression will you make when she's expelled, Horikita-senpai?]

[Your class will surely spend points to save Tachibana, but in doing so, your Class A throne will be in jeopardy.]

"Your plan is simply to use the girls from Class B to get Tachibana expelled, right?"

Facing Nagumo Miyabi's scheming demeanor, Horikita Manabu responded with complete calm.

"What?!"

Upon hearing Horikita Manabu's words, Nagumo Miyabi's face showed genuine surprise for the first time.

It was an involuntary expression, completely unfeigned.

Both Hashimoto Masayoshi and Ryuen Kakeru saw the change in Nagumo Miyabi's expression.

"Horikita-senpai, what are you talking about?"

Nagumo Miyabi's voice trembled slightly as he stared intently at Horikita Manabu's face.

[Why does Horikita know my plan?]

[No one in this school should know about my plan! In Horikita's eyes, I should be someone who keeps his promises!]

[What's going on?!]

"I've already seen through your plan."

Horikita Manabu explained slowly.

"Over the past two years, you've carried out every task I've given you, all to build up a facade of trustworthiness in my eyes. Your goal was to use that trust in this exam to get someone close to me expelled, wasn't it?"

"..."

Nagumo Miyabi didn't respond. He never expected Horikita Manabu to have seen through even this layer of his plan.

Could it be...

That he had still underestimated Horikita Manabu's abilities?

"You had the other members of their group intentionally fail, bringing the average score below the passing line. Then, you planned to use the leader's collateral power to drag Tachibana down with them. That was your goal from the start, wasn't it?"

Horikita Manabu continued.

"However, as the former student council president, I still have some authority. I've also explained the stakes to those students. As long as even one of them wavers, your plan will fail. Nagumo, you've lost my trust, which is the most valuable thing. So, our competition no longer holds any meaning. I won't accept any more challenges from you in the future."

"...I see. As expected of Horikita-senpai. To think you'd even know about this!"

Beads of sweat formed on Nagumo Miyabi's forehead. Having his carefully crafted plan completely seen through by someone else was incredibly frustrating.

"I didn't think Horikita-senpai would be able to figure this out... How did you notice?"