Ayanokouji POV
Kei and I are turning in our exam questions, but our deciding target isn't Class A but Class C since they have had more momentum than Class A. I've managed to convince both Karuizawa and the Ayanokouji Group to suggest to Horikita that they should target Class A since Class S will handle Class C themselves.
We sent our questions to Shigeru-sensei but before we did Kei whispered something to my ear.
"Hey, are you getting that feeling that someone's been watching us?" he asked
"Don't worry I know Ryuen has been following us" I replied
"Well, are these your final questions?" sensei asked
"Hold on before we give these questions may we ask Chabashira-sensei something?" Kei asked
"What do you want from her?" he asked
"I'm here, what is it that you want?" Chabashira-sensei said as she walked towards us
"Was there anyone from Class D that sent the test questions?" I asked
"Yes, it was Horikita" Chabashira-sensei replied
"Are you sure? there isn't anyone else before Horikita arrived here?" Kei asked
"Why ask a question like that?" she asked
"Well, you see we have a source that told us there was someone who already arrived here and submitted the exam questions, and that person is from Class D" I answered
"Ohh I see now, yes there was someone who came here before her"
"And would you mind telling us who this person is?" I asked
"It was Kushida" she replied
Now if you're wondering how we got this info, well....
*Flashback*
*ring* *ring*
"Hello"
"It's me Hikigaya"
"Wait how did you get this number?" I asked
"Ichinose gave me your phone number" he replied
"Well, that makes sense"
"I need to tell you something"
"What is it?" I asked
"You know Ryuen is up to something right?"
"I'm aware"
"But are you aware about what he's doing?"
"No, at least not yet" I said
"Well, I followed Ryuen and I saw him conversing with this girl from Class D"
"Class D?"
"I'm sure you can guess who she is. She told him about swapping test questions to their sensei"
"Really now"
"Yes, I suggest you warn Horikita or someone in that class before it's too late"
"Don't worry, I'll get to that" I said as I hung up.
Even though thanks to Karuizawa that Horikita is now well aware of the traitor, I can't let her guard down, so I gave her a text message for a heads up.
*Flashback ends*
"I'm guessing Horikita already told you ahead of time to only accept her test questions and to anyone else"
"Exactly" she said
"Good, I just wanted to confirm that, thank you" I said
"Also, Chabashira-sensei?"
"What else do you want?"
"Can I go see Mashima-sensei"
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It's the morning of the exam and as I walked up the stairs, I met up with Hirata while I was minding my own business.
"Hey Ayanokouji-kun" he greeted
"Hi"
"So how is Karuizawa-san?" he asked
"I mean she has been eyeing on you for some time and even your own classmates saw it too" he added
"Is that so?"
"Well at least from my perspective" he said
"Ayanokouji-kun" I heard a girl's voice, and it was Sato
"Hey Ayanokouji-kun how are you doing?"
"I'm fine"
"Great, I hope we do our best in the exams." she said
"Yeah, good luck to you too Sato"
"Thanks, I'll be heading off now" she said as she walks away
"Looks like you've been getting along with the rest of Class D huh?" Hirata said
"I am pretty happy to see that even if you are from a different class, I mean if your relationship with her isn't a sham, then things can go smoothly...sorry I think I said too much" he added
"No, it's fine" I said before continuing to walk
"Wait"
"hmm?"
"I know that you and Katagiri-kun have been helping us, in fact I know that one of you two is X"
Wait how did he know that? *sigh* I wonder if Karuizawa accidently told him that.
"You have been helping both Horikita and Karuizawa haven't you?" he asked
"And what if I did?"
"Well, all I can say is, thanks Ayanokouji-kun"
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The test begins and Shigeru-sensei has handed us the test. The test came from Class B. I'm surprised that Class B targeted us. This must be Hikigaya's doing, well I guess that's the price I paid for getting information from him. He really wants to beat us
But either way the test that they gave isn't that difficult. I easily answered the test with ease.
Meanwhile in Class D
3rd person POV
Kushida (in her thoughts): nonononononononono, what is this?! I thought Ryuen changed the test paper for me. He said that he already had it covered but why?!!
Back to Class S
Ayanokouji POV
Now earlier if you remember, I talked to Chabashira-sensei about someone arriving earlier than Horikita, however I also wanted to talk to Mashima-sensei as well since Class A are the ones who sent the questions. My thought is that Kushida could be sabotaging the test somehow with the help of Ryuen. I talked to Mashima-sensei about the test questions that they submitted for Class D to answer he allowed me to check it out since I am not the chosen class to answer it. I looked at the test and I noticed something odd about it as some of them were more difficult than normal and none of it made any sense. I knew Ryuen and Kushida might meddled with the tests somehow and noticed another envelope that was hiding under a cabinet under the desk. So, I checked it out and I noticed that these are also test questions for the exam and somehow Kushida managed to hide it and replaced it with real test questions without Mashima-sensei knowing it. I slip the difficult test on the envelope with the real tests and thanks to Shiro who memorized the seating positions of Class D, I was able to put the test paper at the right place so that it will be distributed exactly to Kushida. I told sensei that the questions here on the desk were fake and the real one was hiding under the desk. Of course, he verified it, and it was indeed that the one hiding under the desk is the real one while the other one that was visible on the top of the desk was fake. But good thing he didn't suspect the fake one that will be given to Kushida.
As we speak, Kushida will be failing the test or get a lower score than Horikita. Yes, when I warned Horikita about Kushida, she also told me about a bet on who can get the highest score, in math in particular. So, this means Horikita will win the bet immediately even before the test starts.
As expected, every one of us managed to do well in the exams. Now I wonder how Kushida did.
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Rooftop
3rd Person POV
Kushida: What the hell is?!! the questions that Class A made that you replaced was completely different. I would surely lose to Horikita now! I can't believe that you would betray me!
Ryuen: kuku, what's wrong? Now do you feel the way I did.
Kushida: you stupid bastard I...
Daigo: hahahahahahha, the look on your face Kushida, how priceless
All of a sudden, a boy with crimson eyes shows himself.
Kushida: What are you doing here?! I thought you're not working with Ryuen anymore?!
Ryuen: he's not but he does have something to tell you Kikyo, so I suggest you listen to him.
Kushida: What are you talking about?
Daigo: That girl, Horikita. She outsmarted you
Kushida: What now?!
Daigo: Don't you get it my two-faced b****, you were played! You were played like a fiddle. The test questions weren't completely different. They were the same, except for yours of course.
Kushida: but how did....
Daigo: Face it, you're completely useless without my help. Besides shouldn't you be confronting someone else by now?
Kushida: huh?
Daigo: heh, you know who I'm referring to, Ayanokouji will be waiting for you soon. Also...
Kushida: Hey! what are you...
He then grabbed something from the pocket of Kushida's uniform.
Daigo: ahh a cheat sheet. hahaha, you really thought you could pull a fast one on any of us? Shame
Kushida: how did this get here, and why are the answers written here..... it makes no sense
Ryuen: kuku looks like you and I aren't the only ones who knew about it huh? but the mastermind, or masterminds I should say.
Kushida: M-masterminds? you mean there's more than one?!
Daigo: Correct, and unfortunately for you, you're already nothing but fodder to my schemes. See Kushida, I never needed you in the first place. You are but a mere tool to be used.
Kushida: but t-that's...
Ryuen: Daigo and I may not see eye-to-eye now, but he does understand the situation. Unlike you.
Both Haru and Ryuen casually leave her as she was distraught by what occurred.
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Yuuichi POV
*sigh* why did Kushida call me in the middle of the night? Seriously I know she provides me with information, but I wonder why she wants to meet me.
I arrived at the meeting point, and I saw Kushida along with Horikita? What's this one about?
"Ohh Katagiri-kun you arrived" she greeted me
"What's he doing here?" Horikita asked
"Don't worry about that, anyways since you Horikita won the bet, I guess I can reveal my past to you now" Past? well, this is unexpected, but I knew it that was going to be it since I did hear about their bet from Kiyotaka and decided to give Horikita a call to add a condition to their bet and that was to know her past since this is the perfect time to know Kushida more.
"Anyways since you two are here, I guess I have no choice but to tell you, my secret even though it wasn't by Horikita-san's request." Kushida said
"Huh? what do you mean?" Horikita asked
"Listen I don't care about your past but Katagiri-kun told me to request it so he can hear it for himself" she added
"You already lost the bet that Kiyotaka already told me about, so spill Kushida. Tell me about your past" I said
"Straight to the point, are we? very well then."
From there Kushida began telling her story
"You see, when I was in primary school. Everyone around me would celebrate the smallest accomplishments I'd made. When I scored first on the exam or finish first in a race, every one of my classmates praised me and gained their attention to me. It was amazing, it was a feeling of great happiness. I always standout among my peers and I enjoyed that, you could say that I craved for attention and recognition from those around me. But as time goes by, I learned that there are limits that I am aware of. No matter how much effort I put into things, nobody looked at me anymore and they began praising other people instead of me. Which is why I had to do something about it. By helping others with their studies and gaining their trust, I became the kindest person to everyone so that I can become the famous one. It felt great, I was getting all this attention that I needed. But it was a pain to do most of the initiative. I can't throw away my popularity, I tried and tried to endure it, but I couldn't. It was too much for me. So that's when I discovered a blog. Where I can remove all the stress that has been building up within me, from there I was satisfied once more. But one day one of my classmates stumbled upon that blog, and that's where it began. They recognized who created the blog post and they started bad-mouthing me. I don't blame them for that though. They attacked me and mercilessly insulting me even though I was helping them and being kind towards these people but they're attitudes changed overnight just like that. It pissed me off, everything that I've done for them. They spat at my face as their way of repaying me. That's when I decided to turn hostile towards my class as well. I used my secret weapon..."
"The Truth"
"Truth?" I asked
"That's right Katagiri-kun, I used the truth. I blurted all of my classmates' secrets right in front of them. All of the dark truths they've been hiding, I revealed them all. And then, they all blamed each other and started fighting amongst themselves. They pointed fingers at me but now they pointed at each other, and that's what happened" Kushida said as she ended her story
"Wait so this means you, destroyed your own class?" Horikita said in shock
"I was right, aren't I?"
"Huh?"
"I was right all along; I knew that there is something that you've been hiding from me, and this is it. Your past, the reason why you hid under all this facade" I said
"Using secrets against those around you? It's not my first-time hearing that" I added.
"I'm guessing you experienced hearing hard truths as well?" she asked
"It doesn't matter, but as for you Horikita. I really hated you because of the fact that you took all this attention away when you decided to lead the class. It's your fault for doing all of this to me"
"So, you're willing to go this far?' Horikita asked
"Well, well that was interesting." I spoke
"You really are this bad huh Kushida?" I added
"Call me what you like, in the end I'll expel Horikita as well as you and Ayanokouji-kun" she said
"That's where you're wrong. Don't forget I still have recording remember?"
"You're right however, I want you to check your phone again" she said
"Huh? what are you talking about?" I said as I looked at my phone and suddenly the audio recording that I had on Kushida was gone.
"No way....how?!!" I heard Kushida giggle as I try to process what happened
"Call it a final request that Daigo managed to do"
"Request? what request?!" I shouted
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Rooftop
Daigo POV
I gave my own phone a few upgrades which allows me to hack any phone as long as I'm in a 5-mile radius of any nearby phone. I hacked into Yuuichi's phone and secretly deleted the recording. Even though Kushida is useless to me, I am generous enough to do her final request before we cut ties.
Class S, you think you guys are so clever. But in the end, I'll take you all down until I reach my true goal
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"And that's to defeat the Masterpiece"