Narrator: Shikakoi Souta
"Hello, my name is Sakayanagi Arisu." Said the frail girl.
"Shikakoi Souta." I said, introducing myself
"Is this seat taken?" She asked with her polite smile...
"Not like my answer matters."
"Oh! Why would you think that?"
"Someone who plays princess in the first month, without showing any shame, would not take a hint."
"Oh! So you have such a high opinion of me, I see."
"You should take a seat too." I ask the girl with twin ponytails, purple hair...
She takes a seat, and Sakayanagi introduces her as, "She is Kamuro Masumi."
"Shikakoi Souta." I said, introducing myself to her.
Thinking about it, she was stealing beer on the very first day of school. At the time, I had stopped her, barely.
After that, I never ran into her, and never expected to meet her in this situation.
Well, no point in thinking too much.
I looked at Sakayanagi, who was feeling amused about something.
What is she planning? I feel like if I try to leave, she will cause a disaster, so I will stay here and wait patiently.
How did a plan to treat myself turn into this?
"May I ask why you are here?" I asked.
"Do you need a reason to greet someone?"
I already have a headache.
"I mean, greeting someone usually creates expectations."
"So what do you expect from me now?" She said, her smile glinted playfulness.
"The reason." Souta said bluntly.
"My my! How direct..."
"I will take that as a compliment."
"It was meant as one."
"So? What are you here for?"
"Can you guess?"
"Curiosity, huh?" Souta murmered
Sakayanagi looekd at him intently, her gaze trying to dismantle him as if to reach his core.
"How me?" Souta asked, exasperated
"A class B student who understood the S-System's essence on the first day, held study sessions enough to beat class A in academics, and has been acknowledged by Ryuen and the student council president. I doubt my curiosity is abnormal, Secretary-kun."
Kamuro looked visibly shocked.
'What did I do to Ryuen?' Is that what they are thinking right now...
"I see I have made quite a name." I said indifferently... But in my mind, I knew that giving her a reaction now would make her more aggressive...
Then, after a moment, I leaned towards her, deciding to use her against herself...
My tone grew more intense, sharp, and a predatory glint appeared in my eyes as I said, "Well then! I assume that you would be more interested in seeing it for yourself."
Her smile grew sharper as well, her competitive streak ignited...
"What do you have in mind, Shikakoi-kun~?"
"You can decide the game. One chance... If I feel like it, I might agree to it, but if I don't... Then I walk out, and this conversation never happened..."
For a moment, I saw her genuinely delighted... It seems she is the type who likes to be challenged and then mangle the challenger psychologically.
This sort of twisted personality, is it because of her inferiority complex due to her disabled body? I guess I am prying too much into her life. Better stop!
"You sure know how to impress a lady."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"Then... In the next exam, the one who wins does the other a favour."
"You sure like to play around... How about the loser does the winner a favour?"
Kamuro was a little shocked... But we ignored her
She smiles again, and I say, "Then it's decided. I will take my leave now."
"You won't eat?" She asked, appearing hurt, only appearing hurt.
"No." I said, as I took my leave...
Narrator change: Shikakoi Souta to Me
Kamuro clicked her tongue and added, "He is annoying. And you are insane."
"You just do not understand him." Sakayanagi replied
"What do you mean?"
"He only behaved that way because I interested him. That is all."
"You mean, he thought of you as fun?"
"No, Masumi-san... He thought of me as prey worth hunting."
Sakayanagi thought of Shikakoi in amusement...
But whether he can do it or not... That is the fun part.
Originally, I had planned to drop out of the exam, but why not give it my all this time...
Please don't be boring, Shikakoi-kun
x-x-x
Narrator: Shikakoi Souta
After leaving, I couldn't help but think of Sakayanagi...
She is undoubtedly a genius, but has stunted her growth. She is the type who wants to win beautifully, but I cannot help but think that constraint holds her back.
A method to win is a method, and if one loves their method, they lose flexibility. And losing flexibility makes you weak.
The same thing I felt with Ayanokoji. He is too fixated on anonymity, which becomes a weakness.
The one most interesting at this moment is Ryuen, who has broken out of his shell of loving the method...
Thinking of this, I can't help but think... Can I potentially go all out in this school?
Probably not...
And so, I wandered around before going back to my dorm...
x-x-x
Narrator: Me
Ever since summer vacation began, Souta's days were full of coding, reading philosophy in the library, and even writing theorems as an anonymous mathematician. His anonymous identity is 'SS', named this way so that if he ever chose to reveal himself, it would not be too difficult.
In private, Souta also increased his workout intensity and his meditation. He truly is very disciplined.
His council duties also increased, and his ideas became well-respected in the student council. Rumours even spread that Souta was more capable than Nagumo and would be a respectable candidate in the next council elections.
Of course, Souta avoided and even shut down such discussions because they wasted time, but that made the rumours even stronger.
Even Horikita, who had just joined the student council and experienced the documentation style of operation of the council, felt it was difficult to adapt to. It also felt strange that Souta was not only familiar with it but also improved various aspects of it.
Then suddenly, every student was called to school, and soon it became apparent why.
They were being taken to the island that the school had promised to the students both before and after the midterm exams, but it was still unexpected that they would be taken on a cruise ship this large.
Souta was not at all surprised, and from what he could see, only Koenji from class D and Sakayanagi from class A felt no surprise at the scale of the cruise.
What Souta was surprised about was how much the school emphasized the need for tracksuits, and he quickly realized that there would be a special exam.
After all, every piece of money spent had to create growth and familiarize the students with the life of the rich if the school wanted the students to hold a candle to other leaders in the world. But they could not openly do this, so they had to disguise it by throwing a special exam in the middle.
Or, they might have just wanted to make a joke out of the students for expecting things to go so well.
Souta was paired with Kanzaki and Shibata for room accommodation, and thus could not openly read "Whether murder is justified" with a straight face.
By no means does Souta want to justify murder and wars, but he wants to know how people think, and this book gives enough examples to prove their point. Because this is by no means such a significant topic in terms of straight intelligence, the only thing that makes it so complicated is emotions, and emotions are never straightforward.
Emotions can lead to evolution and change, which can be both good and bad; as such, Souta always took others' opinions seriously.
Acting on them or not is a different matter entirely.
However, Shibata and Souta were essentially unfamiliar with each other, and...
This is too ridiculous...
They decided to figure each other out by arm wrestling, bringing up the Naruto vs Sasuke's final battle after the fourth Shinobi World War...
(T/N: Referencing Naruto: Shipuden)
Of course, Souta yawned for a minute in the battle of arm-wrestling, and then swiftly finished Shibata, and they became good friends (with a one-sided rivalry) afterwards.
And when the island came into view, Souta found his next target...
x-x-x