Classroom of the Elite, Kusuo Saiki

"I have a question, Qi Mu."

At that moment, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji looked into Kusuo Saiki's eyes and asked...

"How did you determine that the leader of Class B was who he was?"

'? '

Kusuo Saiki was taken aback; he hadn't expected Kiyotaka Ayanokouji to ask such a question.

'Shouldn't you also be able to guess information about the other leaders?'

[Class B adopted a completely defensive strategy, and even I couldn't get enough information from them. If it were me, I would probably give up guessing about Class B's leader, but Qi Mu guessed it. What methods did he use?]

'Oh dear, so you didn't know either?'

Kusuo Saiki was somewhat helpless for a moment. He had always assumed that Kiyotaka Ayanokouji's reasoning and observation skills were enough to easily guess the leaders of other classes, but little did he know that even Kiyotaka Ayanokouji was just an ordinary person.

Even the most skilled detective cannot uncover the truth from a case with no clues whatsoever.

'Actually, it relies on telepathy and clairvoyance.'

Although Kusuo Saiki answered in his mind, he naturally couldn't say it aloud. He could only quickly rack his brains and forcibly make up a reason, and couldn't help but recall Hiyori Shiina's words earlier.

"Because... First of all, the more prominent a person's presence is, the less likely they are to be a leader... So I can rule out Ichinose... But after all, Ichinose has a lot of influence in the class... She would probably choose the person she trusts the most... People would think of Kanzaki first, and he has a strong presence, so I can rule him out too... So I think it's Chihiro Shiranami."

Even Kusuo Saiki himself found it hard to believe his words.

'Oh no, Ayanokouji will definitely become suspicious...'

"I see."

At that moment, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji nodded.

"Ah?"

[As expected of Saiki, his understanding of other people's personalities far surpasses mine. He can even predict other people's actions based on their personalities; he's a monster. It seems there are even more terrifying beings outside the White House.]

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought to himself.

'? '

[Kusuo Saiki is undoubtedly a very dangerous person, but fortunately, for now, we share the same goal and will keep to ourselves.]

Kusuo Saiki was well aware that Kiyotaka Ayanokouji's misunderstanding of him was growing deeper and deeper, but there seemed to be no better solution.

[I hope we don't become enemies with Saiki later. If we do...]

Just then, there was a very urgent knocking on the door.

Kusuo Saiki could hear the knocker's thoughts from a great distance, and he knew he was about to face another big problem.

These two people need to explain themselves clearly!

The visitor was none other than Horikita Suzune.

Chapter 75: I'm not your ally.

'What's going on? Why did Horikita come to us directly?'

Kusuo Saiki was somewhat confused about the situation and could only turn to look at Kiyotaka Ayanokouji beside him.

'This guy must have done something!'

This situation was probably within Qi Mu's expectations.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought to himself.

'? ? ? '

Kusuo Saiki was completely confused, having no idea what Kiyotaka Ayanokouji was talking about.

[Qi Mu's way of thinking is very similar to mine, or even superior, so I need to think in reverse and consider what I would do if I were Qi Mu.]

I told Horikita about some of the things Saiki had done, making Horikita aware of a small portion of Saiki's and my own strength.

[In that case, Horikita should be more inclined to cooperate with us, and we'll have another tool we can use.]

"Hey, hey, hey, is it really that serious?"

As Saiki Kusuo thought to himself, he couldn't help but purse his lips, completely unprepared for things to develop this way.

"What exactly did you two do behind my back? You need to explain yourselves."

The moment Horikita Suzune entered the room, she immediately questioned the two of them.

"What did you do?"

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji looked at Suzune Horikita with a blank expression.

"I don't quite understand you."

"Our class won first place this time, a full 300 points! How did you guys do it? The so-called fever was fake, right?"

Ultimately, I don't know exactly how Kusuo Saiki did it. Perhaps he used some chemical materials to temporarily raise the temperature of his forehead.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought to himself.

I'll just pretend I'm really sick; I don't want to get involved in any more trouble.

Kusuo Saiki was thinking this to himself, preparing to force his way through the situation.

"Actually, I..."

“That’s right, this is Qi Mu’s and my plan.”

Before Kusuo Saiki could even speak, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji spoke first.

"Saiki discovered Ibuki's identity from the beginning, but he still had Yamauchi bring her back. His purpose was to use Ibuki to find out about the identity of the leader of Class D and give him the wrong information to mislead him."

"what?"

Horikita Suzune's eyes widened, a hint of surprise in her gaze.

'what? '

Kusuo Saiki's eyes widened slightly as he shouted in his mind.

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji's words were all unexpected to him.

The original plan was to help Kusuo Saiki distract himself, but now he's telling Horikita Suzune everything.

[I imagine Saiki thinks the same way I do: as long as we train Horikita into a suitable tool, she can act in our place and become our proxy in controlling the class.]

'Hey, hey, hey, I didn't think that much about it at all!'

Kusuo Saiki cried out in his heart, but since things had come to this point, his only choice was to continue speaking along with Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's words.

“That’s right…”

Saiki Kusuo nodded.

"In order to make Class D guess the wrong leader, Kusuo Saiki and I deliberately staged this play."

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji continued.

"I see. I really underestimated the two of you."

Horikita Suzune frowned, her gaze sweeping over Saiki Kusuo and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

[I sensed something was off earlier, and now it seems these two really are capable! I don't know why they're hiding their strength in class, but with their help, advancing to Class A won't be a dream. We've already surpassed Class B, and although there's still a significant score gap to Class A, if we maintain this momentum... maybe we can achieve that in the second half of the first year.]

Thinking of this, a glint seemed to flash in Horikita Suzune's eyes.

[Horikita probably thinks Saiki and I are capable enough by now, and now she's probably trying to figure out how to get our class promoted to Class A.]

'I suspect you're also a superhuman.'

"You two have been using me like a pawn this time, haven't you?"

Horikita Suzune glared at Saiki Kusuo and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

'This has nothing to do with me.'

Even if Saiki Kusuo thought this to himself, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Yes, I can't deny it."

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka nodded.

"When exactly did you two start conspiring? From the very beginning?"

"No, it was about halfway through the exam when we realized what each other was thinking, so we talked to each other."

"In the previous exams, you didn't demonstrate any special actions. Why did you take action in this exam? What is your action philosophy?"

Horikita Suzune's eyes held a hint of doubt.

[Because I've been threatened by Chabashira-sensei, and as of now, I'm not sure if what he said is true or false, so I can't take any overly risky actions.]

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought this to himself, but only said:

"Would you believe me if I said I was moved by how serious you were during the exam?"

"Would a normal person normally tell such an absurd lie?"

In other words, I'm not going to tell you.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka replied.

Horikita Suzune raised an eyebrow slightly, but did not continue speaking. Instead, she turned her head and glanced at Saiki Kusuo.

'I actually don't know anything, and I wasn't originally planning to put in any effort for this exam, but because...'

Kusuo Saiki didn't know how to answer, so he could only remain silent.

"is it?"

Horikita Suzune sighed, but at the same time took a step forward, her extremely serious, even somewhat sharp, gaze fixed on the two of them.

"Fine, I don't want to delve into your past, nor do I want to know your reasons for doing this. But since our goals are currently aligned... I might as well reluctantly consider you two as my allies."

As Horikita Suzune spoke, she pursed her lips slightly. For someone with her personality, these words were the highest honor.

'Just as Ayanokouji expected... I'll agree for now. At least Horikita should be a little easier to get along with in the future.'

Saiki Kusuo thought to himself, but just as he was about to speak, he heard Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's thoughts.