Counterattack 3

"Are you kidding me!"

Shock filled Ishizaki's eyes.

He whipped around to look at Horikita Suzune, but she looked just as bewildered.

"Kamuro, you can stop recording now," the blond young man said, waving a hand.

"I know that without you telling me."

The girl called Kamuro put away her Student Terminal and tucked it securely into her pocket.

Ishizaki's expression darkened. Gritting his teeth, he said:

"You're from Class A, aren't you?"

"Yoshi." The blond young man snapped his fingers and smiled casually. "That's right! But there's no prize."

Then he straightened his clothes and said, "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Hashimoto Masayoshi from Class 1-A, and this is..."

"Kamuro Masumi, Class A," the girl beside him said.

"Class A..." Horikita Suzune murmured. Her brow furrowed deeper and deeper. She raised her puzzled eyes and asked:

"If you're from Class A, why are you here?"

"Oh?" Hashimoto Masayoshi looked intrigued and rubbed his chin. "Don't tell me you didn't know? We're your allies, after all."

"Allies?" Several conversations she'd had with Horikita Etsuka surfaced in Horikita Suzune's mind.

"Etsuka, how confident are you about this?"

"I don't know. We have to make sure the information we get doesn't leak, and that the person providing it won't betray us. I'd say fifty-fifty."

"Hmm... A fifty percent chance is worth pursuing. No matter how much we try to persuade Sudo, it doesn't seem to work."

Horikita Etsuka leaned back in his chair and gazed up at the bright sun, speaking casually:

"But the more allies we have, the better we can handle risks. It'd be great if a few more allies suddenly showed up when the time comes."

"How could that happen? Without some certainty, the other classes definitely wouldn't believe us. They might even think it was a scheme within a scheme."

"Yeah, Sis." Horikita Etsuka's lips curved up, and he smiled, showing his white teeth. "You're right."

"Hey! What are you even talking about? And you, Hashimoto Masayoshi—why did you have that girl beside you record everything?"

Sudo grumbled furiously.

He was completely bewildered. He'd already been thrown when Horikita Suzune and Hirata showed up; the appearance of Class A had given him an even bigger headache.

"Heh... We lost," Ishizaki said, his eyes devoid of any fight. He simply admitted defeat.

Komiya clenched his fists but didn't dare say a word.

Kondo, meanwhile, clutched his stomach with a pained expression and raised his hand slightly.

"Um... My stomach hurts a little. Could I go to the infirmary first?"

"Of course. That's your right." Hashimoto Masayoshi shrugged indifferently and stepped aside.

And so the three students from Class C left, supporting one another. Their retreating figures looked utterly dejected.

"But you'd better keep your mouths shut. After all, you could be expelled for provoking Sudo into attacking someone," Hashimoto Masayoshi added at just the right moment.

The three supporting one another stopped. Ishizaki slowly replied, "Got it..."

Hashimoto Masayoshi waved a hand. "See you! Remember to invite Ryuen to Mos Burger tomorrow so we can talk!"

Ishizaki didn't answer. He simply gritted his teeth and left, looking dejected.

No one discussed whether they should report the matter to the school. They'd already made up their minds.

[Points are the most useful tool in this school...]

Of course, Sudo was the only one with a pounding headache. Later, he anxiously asked whether this incident could get him expelled.

After everyone had left the school building, footsteps suddenly sounded on the fifth-floor stairs.

Nakanishi Jiro held a video camera in one hand. With the other, he rubbed his neck, twisting it until it cracked.

Watching the footage play over and over on the screen, he murmured to himself, "That should mean I've finished the task Etsuka gave me, right?"

That night, in room 528.

Ichinose and Kanzaki Ryuji met at the door. They exchanged a knowing glance, then Ichinose reached out and knocked lightly.

"Horikita, we're here."

Click. The door opened. Horikita Etsuka stood in the doorway wearing pajamas. He stepped aside with a yawn and said:

"Come on in."

The two entered the room. Ichinose had just closed the door behind them when Kanzaki Ryuji couldn't help speaking up.

"Horikita, I didn't know you were so childlike."

"Childlike?" Horikita Etsuka said, taken aback.

"Sure is." Ichinose looked Horikita Etsuka up and down in his dinosaur pajamas, then gently flicked the long tail.

"That's so cute. So you have this side to you, too, Horikita."

Horikita Etsuka's face darkened. He didn't want to say anything. Could he tell them his big sister had picked them out for him?

After teasing him for a bit, they got down to business.

Kanzaki Ryuji spoke first:

"Horikita, you were right. Class D really couldn't keep Sudo under control, and Class A took the opportunity to get evidence that Class C had instigated the incident!"

Horikita Etsuka sat at the desk, resting his chin on one hand.

"Sudo has a terrible temper, and no one can predict what he'll do next. You just have to imagine the most extreme and violent possibility, and you can figure it out. It's nothing special."

"But that's still impressive! We've all only been here a few weeks. We might not even know our own classmates that well, yet you understand Sudo from Class D so thoroughly!"

Kanzaki Ryuji's admiration was heartfelt.

Horikita Etsuka just smiled without replying.

He couldn't exactly say that he headed toward Class D every day after school, followed Sudo around like a stalker, and analyzed his state of mind based on the way he interacted with people, his microexpressions, and everything else.

"But still..." Kanzaki Ryuji seemed to think of something and sighed. He shook his head.

"It's a shame Class A didn't do anything else during this incident. Otherwise, we might have gotten something on them."

"There wasn't much they could do." Ichinose tapped her cheek lightly with her index finger and spoke thoughtfully:

"Class A already gained a lot by recording the conflict between Classes C and D. It wouldn't be worth their while to meddle in it and risk getting caught."

"Yeah, that's true," Kanzaki Ryuji said, nodding in agreement.

"Now that we've finished discussing this, let's talk about tomorrow." Horikita Etsuka turned to Ichinose and said:

"Then we'll stick to the original plan. Ichinose, you'll represent Class B in the negotiations."

"Okay." Ichinose nodded, but she still asked with some curiosity, "But... Horikita, why aren't you going yourself?"

Kanzaki Ryuji looked at Horikita Etsuka with the same curiosity. He wanted to know, too.

Horikita Etsuka stretched and placed a blue bottle cap and a white one on the desk.

"Suppose I set a rule for these two bottle caps: the one that manages to turn its entire body blue first wins. Which do you think has the best chance?"

"The blue one," Kanzaki Ryuji answered without hesitation.

"Then what if the rule is to turn your entire body white?"

Ichinose seemed to understand and answered thoughtfully, "The white bottle cap."

"Then what if the rule isn't white or blue, but red?"

"Hmm... I guess they'd have about the same chance?" Kanzaki Ryuji said.

"So when the rules put one side at a disadvantage, everyone on the field starts from the same line. And that means..."

"That means a transparent bottle cap has the biggest advantage!"

Ichinose finished Horikita Etsuka's thought. She touched her thumb and index finger together to form a circle, then slowly placed it on the desk.

Ichinose blinked her lively eyes at the handsome Horikita Etsuka, a glimmer seeming to move in her gaze.

It was a strange feeling, like being on the front lines while knowing that the rear was stocked with plenty of strategic supplies.

[Horikita is Class B's transparent bottle cap...]