Chapter 105 :: Blue Ocean

Chapter 105 :: Blue Ocean

Ayanokōji's POV

On the final day of the Zodiac Exam, which had functionally ended already, all seven members of our class gathered in the main café of the ship.

We'd made sure to arrive early while the cafe was as good as empty so that we'd be able to secure a table with enough seats, and people from various classes had begun trickling in since.

The time was currently 10:49pm, or eleven minutes before the results of the test would be announced.

"This test was so annoying compared to the last one," complained Lelouch in a sulking tone.

"Because there was pretty much no possible way for us to win, being in only seven groups and only having one VIP?" Light asked before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Obviously!"

"This exam, for our class, was more about minimising losses than maximising gains, the complete opposite of the island exam," Sora commented, stroking the hair of the short girl seated in his lap.

"Yeah, and damage control is boring!" Lelouch reiterated.

"It may be boring, but it is something every great leader must do occasionally," Ryuzaki said.

Whether you were a prime minister trying to appease citizens or a company CEO attempting to stifle controversy, you were in essence doing the same thing.

If you are a prominent figure, there will always come a time when you're under attack and can do nothing but minimise the damage done. As a result, it was good that this school provided opportunities for us to practice that skill.

"Oh, if it isn't the lab rats! Don't mind if I join you, right?"

Stepping up to where we were seated, the imposing figure of Ryūen forcefully shoved a nearby table against ours, forming a single giant table, and sat down without waiting for permission.

"I don't recall anybody saying 'Go ahead,'," Lelouch said confrontationally.

"I don't recall caring what you think," Ryūen shot back with a smug expression.

I found myself genuinely impressed. Ryūen had no problems with going alone to intrude on another class' gathering. He certainly acted like he owned the place.

"It's okay, Lelouch. Ryūen probably doesn't have any friends to share the exam results with. Being inclusive is the right thing to do," Sora said with a grin.

Ryūen looked him in the eye. "Don't get haughty with me, Sora. Who's the one pissing himself when it's just me and you, hm?"

Ryūen was obviously referencing the incident that took place between him, Sora, Karuizawa and Manabe yesterday on the emergency stairs.

Of course, since the rest of Class D didn't know about it, they wore confused expressions.

"The pen is mightier than the sword, Ryūen. Who cares if you can throw your weight around when nobody is watching?" Light retorted.

"Everyone who isn't under 24/7 observation should care, since they may end up next on the chopping block. And try bringing a pen to a sword fight, see what happens."

Ryūen, taking no arguments, remained firm in his methodology and shot down every point made against him.

The clacking of multiple pairs of feet against the wooden floor reached my ears, and I turned to look over my shoulder.

My eyes fell upon the three primary figures of Class E: Horikita, Kushida and Hirata.

They all stopped and scanned their eyes over the room, presumably looking for a free table, to no avail.

"Everywhere's full, Suzune, should've come earlier. But, being the generous individual I am, I'll let you sit right here next to me," Ryūen called out provocatively, smacking the back of the empty chair behind him with his hand.

Horikita looked as if she wanted to refuse, but she had quite literally no other option than to sit at our joint table.

"I won't ask you again. Stop calling me that," Horikita said coldly as she made a point of sitting across from Ryūen.

"Combative as usual, eh, Horikita?" Sora remarked as Kushida and Hirata reluctantly sat next to Ryūen.

"Don't talk nonsense, Sora-kun. I'm avoiding having to deal with idiots, not inviting them to a fight," Horikita curtly responded.

While it was true that coldly brushing off everybody would prevent any verbal battles from breaking out, it was also true that doing so would cause people like Ryūen to target you more in the long-term.

It would be much more satisfying to crush somebody like Horikita than it would be someone like Ichinose.

A brief, awkward silence fell over the table. After what seemed like a small eternity, the voice of Lelouch broke the quiet.

"So, you guys teamed up. How'd that happen, huh?"

The three Class E students looked surprised, while Ryūen simply showed a smug smile.

"Class A were sitting a little too comfortably at the top," he said.

"Attacking Class A also helps us as well as you, you know that, right?" Light interjected.

"Why are you talking as we've just left you be?" Horikita asked with a puzzled expression.

For the first time, I decided to speak up.

"Due to our class size, it's impossible for Class D to come out as the 'winner' of this special exam. However, that also means that it's impossible for us to end up as the losers, too. No matter what the result is, our class will walk away from this exam with a net gain on Class A, courtesy of your plan."

This is the final plan that we, Class D, had come up with.

It was obvious that, after our performance in the last special exam, all of the other classes would be extremely wary of Class D. It's safe to say it was impossible that anybody else would even consider working with us.

Therefore, rather than try to go on the offensive ourselves, it made much more sense to just focus on negating the attacks on our own class as much as possible, and let Ryūen go ahead with his plan.

We are still Class D in name because the next month, wherein the class ranking update will take place, hasn't rolled around yet, but we are functionally in the position of Class B right now. What this means is that, in this exam, the only result that really concerns us is Class A's – so long as they lose class points, we benefit.

Class C is 332 class points behind Class D, which means that even if Ryūen achieves the best possible result from his alliance with Class B and Class E, he still won't be an immediate threat to Class D.

It was unlikely that Class B would be able to overtake us from this special exam, and Class E were so far away from the rest of the classes in terms of class points that their results weren't even worth considering – they're detached from the battle between the other four classes completely.

In other words, Ryūen thought that he'd outsmarted us and Class A and come out on top, but in reality, all he'd done is do what we were going to do anyway for us without causing any damage to Class D at all.

Inaction is sometimes better than taking action, because the outcome of doing nothing is often overlooked, even though in essence it is a branching path of its own. This is a flaw with most people – they often focus on the effect of what has been done, and not the effect of what hasn't. The current situation was a prime example of this:

Ryūen had been used by us, and he didn't even realise it.

"Finally decided to talk, huh, Ayanokōji? Well, while it's true that Class D will've gained on Class A from my plan, it's also true that Class C will have gained on Class D,"

Ryūen challenged my words confidently, and then, after a brief pause, added on a few more words of his own too.

"And don't forget, Ayanokōji. When we're off this cruise, I'll be crushing you personally. If I were you, I'd stop worrying about class points and start worrying about how you're going to word your plea for mercy to me."

I simply stared at him apathetically, contemplating whether or not I should reply to his provocation. Eventually, I settled on some words I'd like to give Ryūen.

"You should try to crush others, like Sakayanagi and Lelouch, before you try to challenge me. After you've improved enough to beat them, you might be closer to my level," I advised.

Another silence enveloped the table, this time caused by a mixture of shock and confusion. After everybody had processed what I'd said, the voice of a raven-haired boy rang out in an uncertain tone.

"A-Ayanokōji... you don't mean to imply that you're above me, do you?"

I remained silent, intentionally leaving the implications of my advice ambiguous.

Suddenly, Ryūen burst out laughing, as if he'd just heard the funniest joke he'd ever heard. After he calmed down a little, he addressed me with an almost mocking tone.

"Kukuku, Ayanokōji, you realise that saying stuff like that just makes me want to destroy you more, don't you?"

"Okay, that's enough. Is it impossible for us to just be civil for fifteen minutes?!"

Hirata, who was unusually worked up, exclaimed before anybody else could respond.

Nobody said anything for a few beats, and then Kururugi also spoke in agreement with Hirata.

"It's 10:56. We'll get the results in four minutes; it's possible to just be non-confrontational until then, right?"

Even people like Hirata and Kururugi understood that it would be unrealistic to expect no verbal conflict to spark after the results of the test are revealed.

"I suppose, for the sake of you snowflakes, I can hold back for a few minutes," Ryūen smiled, before turning to me. "But just one thing – Ayanokōji, I don't plan on backing down."

Ryūen insisted on fighting me, presumably because of my actions during the uninhabited island test. It seemed that my plan had more troublesome consequences than I'd predicted.

Ryūen wanted to destroy me individually, which meant that he'd make his move either during regular school time, or during the next special exam if it allowed him to target me specifically.

No matter the case, it meant that I'd have to be on my guard. Ryūen is not an opponent that can be taken lightly.

I allowed my eyes to drift over the rest of the café, my gaze passing over a table of Class A students, including Katsuragi, and eventually landing in the corner of the café, where Ichinose had organised a gathering of what appeared to be every single Class B student in the first year.

"It's impressive that they function as just one unit. They're even more unified than us, despite having six times the amount of class members,"

Ryuzaki, who'd followed my gaze with his own, commented on what I was looking at.

"Their 'unity' is fragile. It's clear that Class C, not Class B, is the most unified class."

Ryūen disagreed with the notion of trust which was personified by Ichinose's class, claiming to use an objectively superior system himself.

"Your class probably has the least internal trust out of any of them. How can you call that unified?" Kururugi argued.

"It doesn't matter how lovey dovey you are, or how much you trust each other," Ryūen shot him a sinister glare. "What matters is that they all do whatever I say, and they tell me anything I ask, just like Class B. The only difference is, my unity will not crumble easily."

Ryūen's ideology wasn't wrong. It was true that, similarly to Class B, his control allowed Class C to act as one singular unit. It was also true that a system of unity that relied purely on trust could be destroyed much more easily than one that was based on ruling with an iron fist.

Even if a secret came out that divided Class C, they would all still be forced to work together by Ryūen's ruthless dictatorship. However, if the same happened within Class B, Ichinose would have a much harder time getting everyone to work together.

Bzzt!

All eleven of our phones buzzed simultaneously. Glancing at the time, which read 23:00, we all knew exactly what the mails were.

Wordlessly, we all looked down to see the results.

· (Rat) --> Due to the traitor's correct assessment. Outcome 3.

· (Cow) --> Due to the traitor's correct assessment. Outcome 3.

· (Tiger) --> Due to the traitor's correct assessment. Outcome 3.

· (Rabbit) --> Due to the traitor's correct assessment. Outcome 3.

· (Dragon) --> Due to the traitor's correct assessment. Outcome 3.

· (Snake) --> Due to the traitor's correct assessment. Outcome 3.

· (Horse) --> Due to the traitor's correct assessment. Outcome 3.

· (Sheep) --> Due to the traitor's correct assessment. Outcome 3.

· (Monkey) --> Due to the traitor's correct assessment. Outcome 3.

· (Rooster) --> Due to the traitor's correct assessment. Outcome 3.

· (og) --> Due to the traitor's correct assessment. Outcome 3.

· (Pig) --> Due to the traitor's correct assessment. Outcome 3.

And based on those results. Increases and decreases in class and private points in this exam are as follows. In this case, cl and pr denote class and private points respectively.

· Class A – Minus 150 cl. No change in pr.

· Class B – Plus 50 cl. Plus 2 million pr.

· Class C – Plus 100 cl. Plus 2 million pr.

· Class D – No change in cl. Plus 500,000 pr.

· Class E – No change in cl. Plus 2 million pr.

"What the... no change? Kōenji's guess was wrong?" Horikita stammered in confusion.

"No, that can't be it. Look, none of the guesses were incorrect; all groups ended in Outcome 3," Kushida pointed out.

Horikita furrowed her brows in contemplation for a couple of seconds, before her eyes widened with shock as she looked up, staring across the table.

"The Rooster group! Yagami-kun, you guessed incorrectly in that group!"

Hirata and Kushida tilted their heads in confusion, indicating that they didn't know what she was referring to.

Yet again, Horikita had tried to work alone, not telling anybody about her plans, and she'd paid the price for it. This time, she has to take a look at herself and focus on self-improvement, now that her flaw, which has been the root of her downfall twice now, has been made clear.

"Sorry, Horikita, but in reality, I'm not even in the Rooster group," Light said calmly.

"What...?"

"It's true. The Class D member whom belonged to that group was actually Shiro," Sora said, gesturing to the girl on his lap.

"That doesn't make sense! I definitely saw Yagami-kun submit the answer on his own— ... phone..."

Horikita seemed to realise everything mid-sentence, and the energy in her voice quickly died out.

It was exactly because Light was not in the Rooster group that he was able to submit an answer for it without it being accepted, as detailed in the rules.

As with the island exam, Class D students had carefully reviewed the rules for this test, looking for loopholes and nuances that could be used to gain an advantage and form a strategy or tactic.

In this instance, the ability to actually submit guesses without having them count was a very useful detail when it came to manipulating negotiations.

Light's plan in this exam should teach Horikita a lesson: even if you don't plan to use any loopholes or tricks in the rules yourself, it was still important to identify them all, so that you were prepared for what you could potentially face.

"Horikita-san... what are you talking about?" Kushida asked, confusion still present on her features.

"I... I should've told you sooner... I'll talk to you about it after we leave the café,"

Horikita spoke in a deflated voice. It was almost as if she was beginning to doubt her own competence.

In the corner or my eye, I observed the celebrations around the Class B tables. They must be pleased with the result, having came second place in the rankings.

There was also Class A's table, which just screamed of awkwardness. They were all sat in silence, staring down at their phones in resignation.

"So, looks like I win this time, lab rats," Ryūen proclaimed, flashing his white teeth.

"Mhm, I suppose you do," Ryuzaki replied with what appeared to be an acceptance of defeat.

"I'm not satisfied, though,"

Unexpectedly, Ryūen told us that he wasn't satisfied with his victory.

"Huh? Why not?" Lelouch asked.

"Is it not obvious? This exam was so harshly rigged against Class D that it didn't really feel like I beat you at all," he answered.

Ryūen then leaned forward, speaking in a low and menacing tone as his snake-like pupils scrutinised all of us one by one.

"Mark my words, next time, when we're on an even playing field, I'll destroy Class D for real."

Leaving us with that, Ryūen stood up, shoving his chair out behind him with his legs before turning his back to us and walking away, not looking over his shoulder to us even once

"I think we should leave, too," Horikita said quietly.

Kushida and Hirata merely nodded in agreement, and so the three Class E students also got up and departed from the scene, leaving Class D alone once again.

Just before fully exiting, Kushida glanced back to our table, and subtly met my eyes. I communicated affirmation back with my gaze, to which Kushida simply turned and left.

She visibly acknowledged nothing, but I was sure she understood what I'd tried to imply.

"Hm, your group was the only one that ended before all the others, right, Ryuzaki?" Sora said after we all returned our attentions to the table.

"That's right. Considering the results, the only possible conclusion is that a Class E student guessed correctly. If I had to bet on it, I'd wager it was Kōenji," Ryuzaki answered speculatively.

"The chance of him being correct if he guessed randomly is 12.5%," Shiro stated.

"If I had to say, he probably narrowed it down to just one class and then guessed from the students in it," Lelouch theorised.

"Even for someone like Kōenji, it was unfeasible to single out the VIP just from behaviour analysis alone. Chalking it up to process of elimination combined with a bit of luck seems safe for now," Light concluded.

Kōenji had probably just wanted the test to be over with, not particularly caring for the exam, which is why he'd guessed prematurely. However, it was interesting that he'd gotten his answer correct.

For him, it probably wouldn't have taken strenuous effort to narrow the possible VIPs down to three or four students, wherein a correct shot in the dark isn't that unbelievable. But, why would Kōenji bother trying to increase his chances of being right if he didn't at all care about the test?

Was it just because having less class points would decrease his personal monthly income, and therefore, his quality of living? Or was there more to it?

Whatever the case, I was sure all of Class D would agree to get to the bottom of Kōenji's behaviour, which would then result in all of the answers being revealed.

I pushed my chair out from under the table and stood up, garnering questioning looks from my classmates.

"Where are you going, Ayanokōji?" Kururugi asked, puzzled.

"I have some business to attend to."