Doodloodloo

At one in the afternoon, Takahashi Ren pushed open the door to Room 201 right on time.

Everyone else had already arrived and was seated in a circle, leaving only one empty chair.

Then the announcement came over the speakers.

"The first round of group discussions will now begin."

Once the introductions were over, Shijo spoke up. "We in Class A will not participate in the discussion. Please allow us to remain silent."

"What?"

"Are you serious?"

After a brief, deathly silence, questions erupted from all sides.

Shijo briefly explained Class A's strategy.

Then, under everyone's astonished gazes, Shijo was the first to stand, with Satoshi Satonaka close behind.

Takahashi Ren followed the two of them, moving to a corner of the room. Through their actions, the three made Class A's decision clear.

The others exchanged glances, and for a while, no one spoke.

Even with a phone for company, sitting there alone for an hour was bound to get a little boring. Fortunately, Takahashi Ren was well versed in the art of zoning out.

When the first discussion ended, he left the room and went straight to the café on deck.

He pushed open the door. There weren't many people inside.

Ai Morishita sat by a window, a strawberry milkshake in front of her and a phone in her hand, looking at something he couldn't see.

Takahashi Ren sat down across from her and asked, "What is it?"

"Can't I ask you to meet me if nothing's wrong?"

"You can."

"Want something to drink?"

"No, thanks."

"You just missed a chance to let me treat you."

"Yeah. You treated me last time."

"Did you think there was something strange about the school's wording, 'rigorous adjustments'?"

Ai Morishita put down her phone, her expression a little more serious than usual.

"You mean the line in the email, 'Following rigorous adjustments, you have not been selected as a VIP'?"

"Yes," she said. "Don't you think deliberately emphasizing those words was unnecessary?"

"Hmm... now that you mention it, it does bother me a little."

"So I think the school didn't choose each group's VIP randomly. They followed some kind of pattern."

"Have you figured it out?"

"Doodloodloodloodloodloo-"

Takahashi Ren slowly produced a question mark.

His expression probably looked like that famous image of an old man looking at his phone on the subway, with "What even is this?" written all over his face.

"What's with that look?"

"No, what's this 'doodloodloo' supposed to be...?"

"That's the sound of the Little Ai computer calculating. Running at full capacity. Please do not disturb. Doodloodloodloodloodloo-ding!"

"..." Takahashi Ren froze for a moment.

Although he had long since grown used to Ai Morishita's quirky antics, he still couldn't keep up with her train of thought sometimes.

Still, this was who she was. That serious demeanor earlier had actually felt a little unfamiliar.

Ai Morishita gave a soft "hmm," opened her eyes, and let out a long breath that sent her bangs fluttering slightly.

"Couldn't calculate it."

"Okay, I get it." Takahashi Ren didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You really didn't need to give me such a detailed demonstration."

"That won't do." Ai Morishita looked perfectly serious. "Without sound effects to assist mental calculations, the CPU will overload."

"So you want me to help you find this pattern?"

Takahashi Ren brought them back to the topic. If he kept going along with her tangents, they might never finish.

"Not entirely."

Ai Morishita picked up her straw and gently stirred her milkshake. "I just wanted someone to talk to about this idea. As for whether the pattern actually exists, or whether you can find it, that's up to you."

"I'm completely in the dark right now too," Takahashi Ren said honestly.

Without a word, Ai Morishita handed him her phone.

The screen displayed the email she had received earlier. Takahashi Ren glanced at it. She was the VIP.

"Do you remember the names of everyone in your group?"

"Yes." Ai Morishita took her phone back and handed him a slip of paper instead. Several names had been neatly copied onto it: the member list for her group.

There was still too little information. But he had the system. It was time to use his superpower.

He brought up the system interface, selected Module Three, and entered the zodiac grouping rules, the VIP selection method, the school's "rigorous adjustments" email, and the Sheep Group's full member list in the [Cause] field.

Finally, in the [Result] field, he entered "Sheep Group VIP: Ai Morishita."

[Analyzing...]

[Conclusion: VIP selection is based on the group's position in the twelve zodiac animals, following the names' gojūon order. Probability: 89%.]

[Recommendation: Confirm the identities of VIPs in other groups to cross-check whether this pattern applies.]

If only I could confirm the VIPs in the other groups.

Still, the system had only given an 89% probability this time. The missing 11% was probably because the sample size was too small.

"Gojūon order."

"What?"

"Take your Sheep Group, for example."

Takahashi Ren said, "The sheep is eighth in the zodiac. If you arrange the group's names in gojūon order and count down the list, the eighth name is yours."

Ai Morishita checked it once and said, "That works."

"Impressive, Takahashi Ren," she added, freely offering her praise.

"You were the one who first noticed something was off about 'rigorous adjustments,'" Takahashi Ren said. "I just followed your line of thinking."

Besides, Ai Morishita had also volunteered the most crucial information: her identity as the VIP.

"When the exam's over, I'll give you half of the school's Personal Points reward."

Takahashi Ren already knew who the Snake Group's VIP was. Following the pattern, it was that person from Class B.

"Really? That's a whole two hundred and fifty thousand points."

"Yeah."

"You said it. I won't turn it down."

"Of course. If you're worried, you can even record me now."

"You make me sound like I'm terribly petty." Ai Morishita gave a little huff.

Takahashi Ren smiled without saying anything. It had only been an offhand suggestion; he hadn't expected her to take it seriously.

A little while later.

"Are you going to tell Katsuragi this conclusion?" she asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because telling him wouldn't do any good."

Takahashi Ren said, "Leaving aside whether Katsuragi would believe me, even if he knew the pattern, he wouldn't change his plan now."

"What about the Sakayanagi Faction? Telling them would count as a major contribution, wouldn't it?"

"For them, it certainly would."

Takahashi Ren said, "But at the same time, I'd be disobeying Katsuragi's orders. Do you think someone who defies their leader will end up well?"

"Besides, once word gets out to the other classes and they set their sights on me, the trouble will never end."

"Sounds like the drawbacks of telling people far outweigh the benefits."

As Ai Morishita spoke, she picked up her phone and rapidly tapped the screen a few times.

"Are you going to tell someone?" Takahashi Ren asked.

"No. I'm chatting with Yamamura." She didn't look up. "It's private girl time now. Boys, please take the hint and leave."

Ai Morishita had issued her marching orders.

Takahashi Ren took the hint and stood.

As he walked toward the café's door, he faintly heard her say behind him, "Listen, just now, Takahashi..." Her voice rose at the end, carrying a hint of the slyness of someone whose prank had succeeded.

He didn't look back.