Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Self-Test

The three of us sat around the campfire at equal distances away from each other. I instantly noticed Ryuuen's ragged appearance. Apart from his bag, some raw fish, and fruits, Ryuuen didn't have any other provisions. Even his shelter was a purchasable smaller tent. If he used the bigger, free tent, Ichinose and I would've found it suspicious when we visited the beach.

"So, what brings you here, Ayanokouji?" asked Ryuuen.

"I thought you knew I was coming. You didn't seem surprised at all."

"Kuku... Did my demeanor make it seem like that was the case? Do you really think I'd voluntarily make my presence known to anyone on this island? Staying hidden was the lifeline of my strategy." He grinned at me with a venomous glare.

"Well, Hashimoto's here," I replied.

"He's here for a different business and it's none of your concern."

"Oh, don't be like that, Ryuuen. Ayanokouji made the effort of walking all the way here. Wouldn't it be distasteful if we leave him out?"

"Heh. You're planning to help Class B, too?"

"Haha, well, not really. Originally, my plan was to help Class B instead of your class, but our princess said something spooky. I changed gears to fit the road as a result." Hashimoto glanced at me with a dubious look on his face.

"Oh? This is the first time I've heard that. What did Sakayanagi say?" asked Ryuuen.

"You don't have to concern yourself with that, Ryuuen. Just be grateful for my gift."

I see. So Hashimoto is one of Sakayanagi's aides.

"By 'gift', I imagine you're talking about Class A's leader? You told Ryuuen about his or her identity, am I right?"

"And why would you say that, Ayanokouji?"

"It's simple. Since Sakayanagi is absent, you'd want to sabotage the class while it's under Katsuragi's leadership. His integrity and influence would plummet as a result," I heaved a sigh. "I knew there was some sort of internal conflict going on within Class A, but I sure didn't expect this. Who knew that you'd put the entire class at risk just to trip Katsuragi up."

"That's just how she does things." Hashimoto shrugged indifferently.

Since it sounds like my conclusion was correct, I'll leave things at that for now.

"Alright, I'll assume that Hashimoto has no intention of telling Katsuragi about this meeting. After all, it'd spell the end of Class D's strategy." I glanced at Ryuuen.

Hashimoto did nothing but smile. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for Ryuuen's response. It seems like he's decided to watch us instead.

"Keh... How the hell did you even find me, Ayanokouji? This place should be far enough from your base camp."

"That's your mistake, Ryuuen. I have the means to find where your camp is." I fixed my sitting position before continuing. "You never really wanted to play the game using the usual conventions. Your goal was to come out on top using the additional rules. Am I correct?"

"You're saying some funny things, aren't you? Stop trying to scare me, Ayanokouji. You're not even sure if I'm the leader." Ryuuen scornfully scoffed at me.

"It's true that the leader can stay on the ship so there's always a possibility that you're not Class D's leader. However, there's a surefire way to find out the truth."

Ryuuen's eyes narrowed and his smile dimmed.

"The spots, huh?"

"I've known about your location since last night. There's only one reason why I didn't snoop around this area during the day. I wanted to make sure that you're unaware of me being on you."

Say, I carelessly try to explore this area and look for spots occupied by Class D. If, by any chance, I fail to find the spot and Ryuuen finds out about me, then he'd simply abandon the spot in this area and change the location of his base camp.

However, I now know about Ryuuen's existence on the island. It doesn't matter whether he scurries out of here or abandons the spot.

His only escape was to transfer his leadership to someone else, but while the rule allows the leader to retire and stay as a leader, he or she cannot transfer his or her leadership to a student who's already retired. Ryuuen should know that already since it was one of the things mentioned in the manual.

"Oh boy, looks like someone's in trouble. If Ayanokouji finds a spot with your class's name on it, you'd be proven as the leader, Ryuuen." Hashimoto commented with a grin.

"Kukuku... Seems like it."

Ryuuen seems unperturbed given how cornered he is.

"Before I go, is it alright if I ask you a few questions?" I asked, looking at the stack of multi-colored berries near Ryuuen's tent. A lot of them aren't native to this island, which further strengthens the fact that a large portion of plant life in this place is artificially cultivated.

"Sure, consider it a reward for figuring out my plan." Ryuuen opened his arms with a wide shrug. He must be in a really good mood.

"Can I have some of those berries?" I pointed towards the red, round berries piled up on the right side of the stack.

"You sure? Those are buffaloberries, you know? They're bitter unless you cook 'em." Ryuuen asked with a smirk.

"They look pretty tasty, though. Just give me some of the sweet ones then."

Ryuuen grabbed a couple of mulberries and threw them at me.

"Thanks," I said before munching on them. "Well then, Ryuuen, can you tell me how you initially planned to win this?"

"Do you have shit for brains, Ayanokouji? I'll get the names of each class's leader, of course."

With his plans crushed, Ryuuen decided to lay out his goals to me.

"That much is obvious. But how would you go about doing so? It's not like you have your goons to do the dirty work. They all retired while you had to stay hidden."

"They've done more than enough during the second day. Remember when I had Komiya and Kondou scout out your place? I ordered Ishizaki and Yamawaki to do the same with Class C. Knowing that your main spots are the river and well, all I had to do was sneak a peak at whoever reinvokes their right of exclusive possession. I planned to do the same with Class A, but as you've guessed, Hashimoto already told me about their leader." Ryuuen explained before glaring at me with a chuckle. "Of course, my entire plan for Class B has been ruined. You can probably finish me off entirely if you tell Ichinose about this."

It's not a bad plan if you're confident with your stealth abilities. It was something that would definitely work against opponents who aren't keeping their guards up. Class D's retirement, our alliance with Class C, and Class A's 'To Each Their Own' strategy... Those three factors will inevitably make our security lax because we wouldn't expect anyone to spy on us. Everything was catered to push Ryuuen's plan into fruition.

"You just had to ruin the fun, didn't you, Ayanokouji? I've already given you my explanation. So it's your turn to give me some answers. Why don't you tell me how you found this place?"

"Our leader told me."

"Yeah, no shit. Who cares if it's you or your leader who found me? What I'm asking is how you found me." Ryuuen leered at me with a soft snicker.

"The one who found you was on the high ground last night. That's how your campfire was spotted."

Around 1:35 AM last night, which was technically already the fifth day, I immediately noticed a light source amidst the darkness covering the entire island. It was very easy to spot given my position at the top of the hill. As long as I don't say anything specific, I can give Ryuuen the satisfaction of knowing how he "lost".

"Ooh, aren't you guys adventurous? You seriously scaled those mountains? It's no wonder Ryuuen's place got busted." Hashimoto, who looked like he was having the time of his life while listening, spoke once again.

Of course, I wasn't obliged to answer him so I chose to stay silent before giving a brief comment.

"I have to admit, we kinda got lucky on that one."

"That has to suck, doesn't it, Ryuuen?" Hashimoto teased Ryuuen with a scoff.

"I see. So it didn't matter how far my base was or how small my campfire was..." Ryuuen leaned back with a self-deprecating laugh.

All this time, his composure didn't crack even once.

"It's checkmate, Ryuuen. You might get 50 points by guessing Class A's leader, but you'd lose them all, anyway. Once I find your spot somewhere around this marshland, I'll be able to confirm whether you're really Class D's leader or not." I ate the last piece of mulberry before facing him again. "We'll tighten up our defenses around the camp. I'll make sure that you'll never guess who our leader is... And if I feel like it, I might just give Ichinose some advice."

I stood up and prepared to leave. However, as soon as I turned around, I felt a small shift in the wind's direction. Dashing up to me with speed, Ryuuen released a sharp roundhouse kick.

*Smack*

I managed to turn around and block his strike at the expense of getting kicked off the ground.

"Nice reaction, Ayanokouji. That was a sloppy block, though." Ryuuen cracked his neck from side to side as he approached me.

"That was dangerous, Ryuuen. Are you seriously gonna do this?"

"Well, you crushed my plan. Do you really think I'd let you get away without a few scratches?"

"It didn't look like you were just settling for scratches, though." Hashimoto leaned back, trying to enjoy the show.

"I'm a pretty good runner. You won't be able to catch me."

"Not if I can stop that leg of yours from moving."

Ryuuen didn't really display any sort of martial arts expertise, but the way he moved displayed his experience with brawls.

He tried to kick me in the stomach with an added momentum from his running speed. I barely dodged to the side before tripping over and getting on all fours.

"C'mon, Ayanokouji. What are you doing on the ground? Are you a fucking dog or something?"

With a sadistic smile, Ryuuen tried to stomp on my back. I rolled to the left and dodged his strike, but Ryuuen was ready with another kick. I avoided sustaining damage by blocking it with my hands, but I got thrown off to the side once again.

"Oi oi, are you alright, Ayanokouji? Do you need some help?" The relaxed Hashimoto asked me with a smile.

"I'm alright." I slowly stood up and dusted my clothes. Oh... It got stained by the soil, unfortunately.

"The hell? Why don't you fight back, Ayanokouji?"

"We're in the middle of an exam. And even if I fight back, I can't risk losing."

This guy wasn't afraid of breaking the rules. The penalty for his actions is costly, to say the least, but he doesn't even hesitate with his blows.

"Hoh? So you think you have a chance of winning? Interesting... But too bad, I won't let you run away!"

Ryuuen sprinted at me with even more speed. He punched me as soon as he got close but I dodged it after springing my body to the left.

"Not again, you sneaky bastard!"

With a sinister grin, Ryuuen predicted my movements and successfully kicked me in the stomach.

"Agh-!"

"Heh. I wonder who's on checkmate now?"

I held my abdomen with a cough.

"It doesn't matter even if you beat me up right here. Class B will still win."

At that moment, I finally got what I wanted...

"Oh, don't worry about it, Ayanokouji. I won't destroy that face of yours, yet. I just wanted to you have a taste of fear."

Fear, huh?

"Alright, it's getting quite late, so I'm afraid I'll have to go. Ah~, what a shame. I wanted to watch your glorious duel 'til the end, too."

Hashimoto got up and started walking away.

"You might want to drop your leader's name right now, Hashimoto. You don't want Katsuragi to know about all of this, right?" I said while struggling to get up.

Hashimoto turned around and shrugged with a sigh.

"I was hoping you'd be dumb enough to not ask that, but in the end, I guess it can't be helped."

Ryuuen jeered at us while shaking his head.

"Our leader is Totsuka Yahiko. Whether you believe me or not is your own problem."

"You can help me confirm that claim tomorrow. If you want Sakayanagi's faction to come out on top, then you'd cooperate."

"How troublesome, but I guess that's fair. It's just another 50 points, anyway. We'd best be careful, though. The rest of the Sakayanagi faction are in the dark about this."

Hashimoto's figure slowly disappeared. It was now just Ryuuen and me who were left at the scene.

"I'll be going on ahead, too, Ryuuen."

"You're body's pretty tough, Ayanokouji. I'm surprised you're not out cold after that kick." chuckled Ryuuen.

"I braced myself at the right time, that's all."

"I'll only let you go after I see that poker face of yours start bursting into tears. You can run while pissing your pants by then." Ryuuen mocked me as he narrated the things he wanted to do.

He bolted towards me once more, but I'm already done with my business here. I want to take a nap already.

Ryuuen tried to grab my clothes, but I jumped to the side and avoided him. He predicted my movements once again but unlike earlier, I managed to grab Ryuuen by the wrist and push him away by deflecting his weight against himself.

"What the-?"

I ran out of the area as he staggered to his feet. I didn't bother to look back and see Ryuuen's reaction, but I'm guessing that he glared daggers at me.

After a certain distance, I finally used the flashlight to help with my navigation.

Some time passed before I finally stumbled upon an unnaturally placed boulder, similar to the one near our river.

"The hilltop, river, and marsh's devices were placed on boulders while the hut and oak tree's devices were placed on plaques. Other than efficiency purposes, it didn't seem like I needed to think too deeply about the devices in general..." I muttered.

Meanwhile, the devices on the tower and tunnel were attached to their respective walls.

That aside, this spot was occupied by Class D, as expected. Ryuuen's leadership was all but guaranteed.

Finally, it was time to head back. When I reached the campsite, I saw Ike walking out of one of the boys' tents.

"O-Oh... Who...? Ayanokouji...? 'Sup, dude..." greeted the drowsy Ike.

He must be heading out to pee. I handed him the flashlight and got inside the other tent. Akito, Ken, and the other guys were fast asleep. I slipped through the tiny gap in the corner and laid down my body... It was already 3:45 AM.

"Seriously... That was one hell of a farce."