Hashimoto Masayoshi POV
"No! no! no! no!"
I took out my VR headset to find Nishikawa smirking at me.
"Why did you do that?! We lost!"
She chuckled.
"I'm sorry, it's just... it was so funny seeing you struggle with all those zombies."
I gave back the headset to the staff lady and walked away.
"Yeah, I'm glad you found amusement in my suffering."
She quickly caught up to me as I left the VR store. We had been playing for the past hour a game called Arizona Sunshine where Nishikawa and I were a team and we had to kill zombies in waves. We had been doing great until the wave 19 where the number of zombies on my side was enormous. Meanwhile, on Nishikawa's side there was barely any zombies.
And she didn't help me at all. She just remained there, laughing.
"No need to be so cold, Hashimoto-kun. We arrived at the 19th wave, so it isn't bad at all," she said cheerfully.
"I wanted the record."
"The record is the 51st wave, we wouldn't have gotten there anyway."
It annoyed me but that was true. According to the staff lady the record had been established a few days ago by some guys called Yamauchi and Hondo. I had no idea who they were, but they must have spent quite a long time to get to that wave.
"Say, Hashimoto-kun," Nishikawa spoke in a serious tone after walking in silence for a bit. "Did Nao tell you something?"
I eyed her suspiciously. Usually, I was the one bringing up the subject to find more information.
"Just that my guess wasn't the correct one."
She nodded to herself looking thoughtful.
"Why the question?" I inquired.
"... Our last group discussion will begin soon. I thought she would have told you something by now."
"Well, she didn't," I paused for a second. "She did give me back my phone, though."
She looked at me, surprise showing in her face for a moment.
"Really?"
"Yeah," I showed her my phone to prove my words. "Do you know something?"
A smug smile appeared on her face.
"Well. I suppose there's no harm in telling you a bit about it..."
"KEMPS!"
Yamada pronounced those words once again.
Shiina showed her cards revealing four sevens.
"Yes," she celebrated. "Well done, Albert-kun. We won!"
"YOU TOO, SHIINA," he replied in his strong Japanese accent.
"Agghhhh!! Masumi! You missed her sign again!" Nishikawa protested.
"It's not my fault," Kamuro defended herself. "She didn't do anything."
That was true, as far as I had noticed, Shiina hadn't done any movement indicating she had the four cards of the same value.
"She must have done something!" Nishikawa protested for the sake of continuing the argument since she wasn't angry at all. "Their four points were exactly the same."
"Then you should have paid attention to Shiina instead of me. Whatever, we're done here," Kamuro stood up and sat back on her chair.
Shiina giggled cutely.
"I can tell you what the sign was if you like," she mentioned.
"Really?" Nishikawa took Shiina's hand and addressed her puppy eyes.
Shiina nodded.
"Really. You see, I just met Albert-kun's eyes."
"Huh?" Everyone, including me, joined Nishikawa's confused sound.
"You expected me to notice that?!" Kamuro blurted out at Nishikawa.
Nishikawa only laughed sheepishly.
"Well," I decided to intervene. "Shiina and Yamada's team wins the final 4 points to 2. You win the 17000 points. I'll transfer half to each, now."
They nodded. I took out my phone and proceeded to transfer the points while Sato, Kushida, Amikura and Ando congratulated the winners and comforted the losers.
As everyone calmed down, I decided to pass to the action. We still had about half an hour before the end of the meeting, so it was a good timespan.
"Listen to me for a moment please. Class D, I have an offer for you."
They all turned to me with inquisitive faces.
"An offer? What kind of offer, Hashimoto-kun?" Kushida asked tilting her head.
"You tell me who the VIP is and in exchange I transfer you the 500,000 points," I stated, a smile on my face.
"What?" the three of them asked.
Miyake was the first one to get out of his stupefaction.
"How can we give you the VIP, Hashimoto. We don't even know who it is."
"Allow me to doubt that statement Miyake. I know for sure that one of you is the VIP."
"And how can you be so sure of that?" Kaneda asked.
"The game of course."
"The game?" Amikura intervened. "But Kushida-san and Sato-san were the first ones to lose and I don't see how Miyake-kun would be more suspicious than anyone else."
This time it was Nishikawa who joined in.
"That's an interesting point, Mako-chan. However, do you really think Sato-san and Kushida-san lost that badly just because they weren't that good at the game?"
"Well... that's..."
"We all know that the VIP from this group is not in Class A. So, I propose that Classes B and C show their phones. That way we will be able to confirm my statement."
"That's good and all, Hashimoto but I don't see why we would just let you get the class points," Nishino declared.
"I agree with the idea, Hashimoto-kun. Here, this is the email I received."
Shiina offered me her phone and I could confirm that she wasn't the VIP. I passed the phone to Nishikawa who smiled at Shiina.
"Thank you for cooperating—"
"Why did you do that Shiina? We have no reason to—"
"I SUPPORT SHIINA," Yamada stated showing his phone and interrupting Kaneda.
He wasn't the VIP either.
"Are you sure about this, Shiina-san?" Nishino queried. "We're not only giving up those points but also letting Class A have them."
"That's right, Shiina-san," Ando expressed her doubts as well. "If anything, we should all be aligning to take those points away from Class A."
I tried to hold back my laughter, here it came...
"Class B will follow. If an arrangement between Classes A and D takes place, we will not send any messages and remain bystanders in this group," Kanzaki affirmed.
Ando and Amikura quickly turned to him baffled.
This was amazing.
I had been so worried on reaching an advantageous Outcome in this group and finding out what Tomori ans the Princess were planning that I became completely oblivious to the grand scheme of things. Our leaders had been playing around with us all along.
When Nishikawa explained that to me, I laughed at myself for my absurdity.
Since I had free rein to act, I thought it would be a good idea to do this in front of everyone. See the different reactions and who would step up to defend my point. I wonder how they will justify their position without letting all the background alliances slip.
"K-Kanzaki-kun, but—"
"Class B will remain as bystanders. We will act as witness of your agreement if you like but we won't do more," he spoke again giving his classmates a heavy look, they immediately stepped back.
I narrowed my eyes at this. Was there some kind of problem inside Class B?
"Will you show your phones then?" I asked Kanzaki.
"No. As I say we will be bystanders. If anything, I will tell you the VIP of this group is not in Class B."
"Well, we'll have to content ourselves with that," Nishikawa spoke. "Nishino-san? Kaneda-kun? Will you show your phones?"
Nishino glanced at Shiina who addressed her a reassuring smile. With a sigh, Nishino reached for her phone and showed her email.
"But I don't understand, Shiina. Why do this? We don't owe them anything and we gain nothing from this."
This was a problem. If I wasn't able to get the guarantee that Kaneda wouldn't do anything I would have to wait until after the discussion to reunite with Miyake, Kushida and Sato.
"I consulted with Ryuuen-kun, Kaneda-kun. He said it was up to me and I have decided this is what we have to do. Would you like to see my conversation with Ryuuen-kun?"
"Eh? No... If you say that Ryuuen-san gave you free rein to decide then I believe you, but I don't understand what makes you think this is the best course of action."
As Shiina opened her mouth to reply. Yamada stood between them.
"SHIINA OWES YOU NO EXPLANATION."
"Eh? I just want to understand her reasoning Yamada. There's no need to resort to violence."
Yamada crossed his arms and spoke again.
"SHIINA SAYS WE SHOW EMAIL."
"Hee-hee, it's okay, Albert-kun," Shiina stood by his side and placed a reassuring hand on Yamada's arm. "To answer your question, Kaneda-kun. I think we should allow Classes A and D to negotiate. If we don't, then they will just go on our back. Hashimoto-kun offers us the opportunity to be witnesses, we shouldn't waste it."
"That's—"
"You say that we gain nothing, but we do. We get to see a negotiation between classes and one between important members at that. If they go on our back, then we will truly gain nothing."
"...B-but we can still try to guess the VIP!" Kaneda made another attempt. "We know that it's one of those three."
"Certainly, we could try that. But are you willing to take that risk, Kaneda-kun? Will you take responsibility and face Ryuuen-kun if your mistaken with your guess and we lose fifty valuable points?"
I was honestly surprised by how Shiina was brushing off all of Kaneda's arguments. First, she made him see that whatever happened I would negotiate with Class D, it was up to them if that was here in front of them or on their backs. Then, she appealed to the fear Ryuuen inspired on his classmates to make Kaneda back down. If he sent an email to the school with a guess and failed to identify the VIP, then he would have to face Ryuuen's wrath. Suddenly, to him it wasn't a one on three chance of getting it right but a two on three chance of getting it wrong. Kaneda's view on sending an email had turned defeatist.
He bit his lip and gulped and the idea of facing an angry Ryuuen.
"Fine then. Here."
Grabbing his phone, he showed his email to everyone, confirming that he wasn't the VIP.
All eyes turned to Class D.
Seeing no escape, Miyake bit his lip and spoke.
"Yes, the VIP from the Snake group belongs to Class D."
"So, are you willing to negotiate?" I asked him.
He didn't have any choice. At this stage, refusing to cooperate would only alienate him and his class from the group. Antagonising themselves and becoming the centre of the critics wasn't exactly a good call. Moreover, my statement regarding the VIP being a Class D student had turned out to be true, refusing to negotiate was risking a betrayal from me and if I happened to get it right, then he would really gain nothing and would have to return to the leaders of his class with a failed mission.
"I am, but only if Sato-san and Kushida-san agree as well."
He turned to them wanting a consensus. I suppose he didn't see himself as the leader of Class D in the Snake group.
"If you think it's okay then I'll follow, Miyake-kun," Sato mentioned. "I trust your judgment."
"Me too," Kushida quickly followed. "We will support your decision Miyake-kun."
"I see... What's your offer then?"
I grinned.
"The integrity of the 500,000 points I will receive for sending the email will be transferred to you. Class A gets the class points, Class D the private points, as simple as that."
He shook his head.
"That's too simple of an agreement for me to accept it. You'll have to raise your offer."
"What do you want then? More private points? I won't add something as valuable as a favour for a mere fifty class points."
I had no problem with private points, I had managed to gather over four hundred thousand points since the beginning of the year and Nishikawa and Kamuro would also put some of their private points if needed.
"That may be a good idea. How about another 500,000 points?"
I snorted.
"That's delusional. You're making us pay one million points for fifty class points."
"Is it though? I'm just giving each class points a value of two private points instead of one. You can afford it, right? You're Class A, after all."
"Doubling the price of class points is delusional. I cannot consent to that condition, Miyake. Find something else."
We stared at each other as if analysing our behaviour. Miyake must be struggling to find something else to ask besides private points. The fact that we had witnesses from Classes B and C limited his scope considerably.
I had refused the possibility of including a favour in our agreement and if he asked for information I would ask what kind of information, allowing the other classes to see what he was after, what he needed, what interested him and his class. Getting a more long-term agreement wasn't possible either since the stakes on class points weren't that high. After all, you could easily lose fifty class points because of lifestyle during a bad month. Thus, by forcing him to negotiate with a public I had considerably reduced his possibilities.
Basically, it was private points or nothing.
He opened his mouth to speak, but Nishikawa intervened before any sound could escape his lips.
"600,000 points."
He looked at her, narrowing his eyes.
"800,000. I'm being generous, I reduced it of two hundred thousand."
"Oh, yes, Miyake-kun, you're very magnanimous. Still, your demands are too high."
"700,000 then," all eyes turned to Kamuro, no one had expected her to intervene. "What? 700,000 is a good middle ground."
Nishikawa smiled.
"It certainly is, Masumi. Well, what do you say, Miyake-kun?"
He nodded after a second.
"I can agree to that amount."
"Great," Nishikawa then grabbed her bag and took out a notebook and a pen.
She began writing something. When she was done, she passed it to me.
It was a contract, although it had been made in a rush.
It stated that the students Nishikawa Ryoko, Hashimoto Masayoshi, and Kamuro Masumi from Class A engaged themselves to transfer the amount of 700,000 private points to the student Miyake Akito from Class D. In exchange the student Miyake Akito from Class D would provide them with the identity of the VIP from the Snake group thus allowing Class A to gain the 50 class points from the Outcome #3 of the cruise special exam.
Nishikawa had already signed it, so I did the same and passed it to Kamuro who signed it without wasting any time. The contract landed on Miyake's hands who signed it after reading it.
To me it appeared clear that he wasn't satisfied by the agreement, even if receiving 700,000 thousand points was no joke. But it was the best thing he could hope for with the actual conditions.
If he asked for information of any kind, then Class D would gain unnecessary attention since everyone would be more wary of them, and the leverage they could gain in class competition would be reduced since it would be common knowledge what kind of information they had. It would also be ridiculous of him to ask for help on things like studying or future exams because his class was already on an alliance with Class B, and he had no interest in allying with the class at the top.
Besides, just like him, I was in no way speaking in the name of my class.
"You can keep it, Miyake-kun, see it as your insurance that we will keep to our part of the agreement," Nishikawa told him.
"Now, could you please tell us who the VIP is?" I asked.
Sighing heavily, he took out his phone, entered the password and presented an email for everyone to see.
"I'm the VIP."
No one really seemed surprised. For everyone the possibility of Kushida or Sato being the VIP was extremely unlikely. The argument that Nishikawa and I had used by saying that their loss at Kemps had been intentional didn't matter. The idea that they were bad at hiding their game had already impregnated everyone's mind.
If Tomori hadn't refute my suspicions on who I thought the VIP was, I would surely be thrilling for having been right.
As I began writing the email to the school, a phone rang. We quickly realized it was Sato's.
"Eh? Nishikawa-san? Why are you calling me?"
"Sorry, I was just confirming that you didn't swap your phones and since I don't have Miyake-kun's number, I called you."
"If you want to make sure we didn't do anything like that, we can ask Shiina-san to call me. She has my number," Miyake declared.
"That's not necessary, Miyake. Nishikawa's test is enough," I said.
"Okay, email ready, I'm going to send it," I looked at Miyake who nodded.
I pressed the button to send the email and a second later a notification arrived at our phones.
The test has now ended for the Snake group. Those in the Snake group are no longer required to participate any further. Please do not disturb the other students.
"That's it then," I commented. "I'll transfer the points to you as soon as I receive the 500,000 from the school, just give me your contact information."
We exchanged contact information, and with nothing else to do, since our group had ended, everyone began to leave.
I left as well, not really wanting to stay in this room any longer.
You really can't trust anyone, huh?
Miyake had tried to lure me with the identity of the VIP, and I had lured him by acting as if I believed him and yet sending someone else's name.
Maybe it was because both of us had the intention of deceiving the other from the start that the thought of adding a clause against betrayal on the contract didn't even cross our minds.
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I was going to publish this tomorrow but whatever...
Next will be the resolution of the Dragon group.