Classroom of the Elite, Kusuo Saiki

Hirata Yosuke's expression gradually became serious.

“What you’re saying all makes sense. I think guessing the pairing rules is the core of this exam. Although it’s hypothetical, just like Hirata-kun said, if we don’t figure out the rules for selecting partners based on the quiz results, will we easily lead to a devastating outcome? Regardless of whether it’s just polite talk or not, Chabashira-sensei said that there have been dropouts in previous years’ exams, but basically only one or two pairs of partners have dropped out. Don’t you think there’s something fishy about that?”

Horikita Suzune took another sip of her milk tea and continued,

"Horikita-kun, what you're trying to say is that 'the school has set up a system so that even if you don't understand the rules, it won't seriously affect your final exams,' right?"

Hirata Yosuke answered immediately.

"That's right. If students were paired up based on their similar grades, then students with poor grades would all be paired together, which would definitely lead to a large number of students dropping out. But that's not actually the case."

"Completely unable to keep up..."

Takeru Sudo seems to have given up on pretending.

"The only rule that corresponds to this situation is... Um, Saiki-kun, did you hear what we just said?"

Horikita Suzune's brows furrowed tightly, and everyone's gaze shifted to Saiki Kusuo.

While the others were engaged in a lively discussion, Kusuo Saiki was carefully savoring the pudding in front of him, and an expression of utter enjoyment involuntarily appeared on his face.

"Uh-huh."

Kusuo Saiki then came to his senses and quickly nodded.

"The results of the next quiz will affect pairings. 'High-achieving students will be paired with low-achieving students.' Only in this way can a balance be achieved, and the dropout rate will be relatively low..."

Kusuo Saiki didn't listen carefully to their conversation; he always focused entirely on the food when he was enjoying it. However, he still managed to use his telepathic abilities to get a general idea of ​​the progress of the other people's discussion.

"Ah."

Horikita Suzune seemed somewhat dissatisfied with Shiki Kusuo's behavior, but after hearing him accurately state his thoughts, she nodded in agreement.

"I see....."

Everyone nodded in agreement with Horikita Suzune's words.

“Once we confirm the significance of the quizzes, we can better prepare for the final exams. But what I care about is another aspect: which class should we target? My answer is simple: I want to aim at Class D.”

As Horikita Suzune spoke, her gaze met that of Kushida Kikyo.

For Horikita Suzune, she was determined to defeat Kushida Kikyo and Ryuen Sho, no matter what.

"The reason is obvious: it's a matter of overall academic ability. Class D is inferior to Class A and Class C in terms of academic ability, that's all. Do you have any questions?"

Although Horikita Suzune said this, her reasons went far beyond that.

At this moment, Kikyo Kushida maintained her usual lovely smile, her gaze fixed on Suzune Horikita.

"If that's what Horikita-kun thinks, I absolutely support him!"

Kikyo Kushida said with a smile.

However, a hint of murderous intent flashed in her eyes, which only Horikita Suzune could detect.

[Horikita Suzune, I'm going to completely destroy you in this exam.]

Kusuo Saiki clearly heard Kikyo Kushida's innermost thoughts.

Not only that, Kusuo Saiki heard even more words.

"I support Horikita's idea."

Hirata Yosuke nodded, and the others present also expressed their agreement.

'Class D... I'm afraid they'll definitely make a move...'

Although Kusuo Saiki certainly didn't want to have any further contact with Class D in order to avoid trouble, everyone else present had already agreed, so he certainly couldn't vote against it.

"I will also ask the senior students in the club about the quizzes."

Yosuke Hirata addressed the crowd,

"That concludes our meeting for today. Thank you all for your hard work."

People gradually left the coffee shop.

Takeru Sudo and Yosuke Hirata are going to a club activity, Suzune Horikita and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji seem to be heading back to their dorm, Kikyo Kushida is heading in another direction, and Megumi Karuizawa wants to take Kusuo Saiki to the movies, but the latter declines, saying he has something to do that evening.

After parting ways with the others, Kusuo Saiki seemed to have gone to a deserted place, activated his invisibility ability, and quickly followed behind Kikyo Kushida.

During the meeting, Kusuo Saiki overheard Kikyo Kushida's thoughts: she and Sho Ryuen were planning to meet later to discuss the upcoming exam.

Putting these two together is bound to lead to trouble.

To prevent any unforeseen events, Kusuo Saiki decided to follow Kikyo Kushida and see what they were up to.

While Saiki Kusuo was following Kushida Kikyo, he also noticed that someone else was secretly following her – Ishizaki Daichi from Class D. However, because Saiki Kusuo activated his invisibility, Ishizaki Daichi did not notice his presence.

Soon, Kikyo Kushida arrived at the place she had arranged to meet Ryuen Sho, a spot in the school with no blind spots for surveillance cameras.

Despite having surveillance cameras installed in almost 90% of the school, there are still blind spots, leading Saiki Kusuo to suspect that the school did it on purpose.

"You've come, Kikyo."

Upon seeing Kikyo Kushida's arrival, Ryuen Sho's face showed a slight smile.

A few seconds later, Daichi Ishizaki, who had been following Kikyo Kushida, also emerged:

“Longyuan, I just checked, and no one else is following us.”

Ishizaki Daichi was following Kushida Kikyo on orders from Ryuen Sho, but his real purpose was to see if anyone was secretly tracking her.

If Haruki Yamauchi or his other subordinates were secretly following Kikyo Kushida, they would be gradually led to this unmonitored area, where they would be able to use various means to deal with her.

However, it is clear that the other party did not do so.

"You may not have noticed, or he may have already seen through the plan, but it doesn't matter, it's just a small experiment."

Long Yuanxiang didn't care much about the result.

Chapter 107: Not a moment was spent mourning for Grandpa Yamauchi's fate!

Ryuen Sho looked at Kushida Kikyo, a slight smile playing on his lips, and then said:

"Has anything unusual happened in your class recently?"

"Nothing at the moment. We just discussed some things about the next quiz, nothing else."

Kikyo Kushida, mistaking her usual cute face for a disguise, smiled and said to Sho Ryuen,

"They said that the results of this quiz will affect the pairings for the final exam, with those who did poorly paired with those who did well."

"Just as I guessed—and if I'm not mistaken, the only candidates your class is planning to select are our Class D, right?"

"Yes."

Kikyo Kushida nodded.

"Horikita Suzune said that your Class D has the lowest academic ability, so you are the most suitable target—"

"Hahaha, just looking at the class points, that's certainly true. I'm afraid both Class A and Class C will consider our class as a target. But our goal is also clear. As I said, I will crush both Class B and Horikita Suzune. If our class chooses Class B, it will eventually become a showdown between our two classes."

"You keep saying you're going to crush Horikita Suzune, but actually you didn't manage to do it during the sports festival either."

At that moment, Kikyo Kushida's expression changed. She stepped forward, her gaze fixed on Sho Ryuen.

"I don't want you, Ryuen, to be completely worthless."

A murderous intent emanated from Kikyo Kushida.

How dare this guy speak to Longyuan like that?

Ishizaki Daichi, standing to the side, was dumbfounded, completely unexpected that Kushida Kikyo would take such an action.

"Oh? Kikyo, you're quite bold. You're the first woman to dare talk to me like that."

Long Yuanxiang maintained his smile, showing no sign of anger.

Although Ryuu Yuanxiang is someone who likes to use violence, he is a very rational person, and violence is just a means for him to achieve his goals.

He was very clear that he and Kikyo Kushida were now 'allies' in the same camp.

They share a common goal in defeating Horikita Suzune.

Kikyo Kushida wants to use Ryuen Sho, and the latter also wants to use her.

To destroy Horikita Suzune and Class B, they must cooperate.

"Horikita Suzune was found after the sports festival; she already knows about our partnership."

Kikyo Kushida continued.

"This is to be expected. It was only a matter of time before she found out. Kikyo, the exam questions this time were set by the students, which is an opportunity for us."

Long Yuanxiang narrowed his eyes slightly.

"You need to design the questions before everyone else, then submit them to your homeroom teacher, and make sure your homeroom teacher won't accept any more questions from other students. Then you can submit the exam questions to us. That way, our Class D will definitely be the one laughing last in the final exam."

"Well, I see."

Kikyo Kushida nodded, and after exchanging a few more words with Sho Ryuen about Class B, she left first.

"Oh dear, these two are really a handful."

After their conversation, Kusuo Saiki went to a secluded spot and deactivated his invisibility.

'I feel we can't just leave it like this.'

Kusuo Saiki turned his head and looked into the distance. Although he had never wanted to get involved in any inexplicable trouble, the fact that Kikyo Kushida and Sho Ryuen were secretly preparing test questions made him a little concerned.

'If I tell Ayanokouji later, he should be able to handle it. I should hurry back. Oh dear, let's go to another dessert shop and see if they have any new cakes...'

......

The next day, in the morning.

Chabashira Sae gave the students a class period to hold their own meeting to prepare for the upcoming exam.

Horikita Suzune then stepped onto the podium and addressed the audience in an extremely serious tone:

"Thank you all for your hard work. Whether it was the sports festival or the previous quizzes and midterms, we achieved very good results."

Horikita has changed quite a bit since I first enrolled there.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji propped his cheek with one hand and looked at Suzune Horikita.