The Defectives (CotE x Male Reader)

A Complicated Situation

(A/N: Damn, I can't think of what title to write for this chapter @_@)

(Y/N)'s POV

After hearing the explanation regarding the special test by Mashima-sensei, the four of us walked from the room. I felt discontent from my neighbors, who seemed to be harboring unpleasant feelings. I pretended not to notice.

Yukimura: I hate to say this, but if we have to be in the same group, we need to put up a unified front. A lot of things will depend on who the VIP is, but for now, the four of us should discuss things.

Yukimura spoke as we left Mashima-sensei and walked down the hallway.

However, Karuizawa showed no concern at all for the future. Ignoring us, she took out her cell phone and walked away.

Yukimura: H-Hey, Karuizawa. Are you listening?!

Karuizawa, totally unconcerned, started to make a call. I was kind of impressed. It was like she had nerves of steel.

Karuizawa: Ah, hi, Hirata-kun? There was something I wanted to talk to you about.

She was probably going to complain to Hirata. She quickly strode down the hall and disappeared.

Yukimura: Grrr. Why on earth was I lumped in with a bunch of space cadets?!

Sotomura: Oh ho, you uttered that exact same expression word for word not five minutes earlier, did you not? Hah!

As I walked beside the two of them, I tried to process and simplify the information about the special test. I managed to come out with four possibilities.

The first option, "The VIP shares his or her identity with the entire group, and we all clear the exam," required that we wait for the test to end, and then have everyone submit the correct answer. In that case, the reward would be incredible. But it would be highly difficult to get such an outcome. Some groups might have an advantage due to the varying number of people on each team. It was highly possible that someone might betray the others if they knew the answer. Most people would want to earn a reward, and would betray others before they themselves were betrayed. Real harmony would be difficult to come by.

The next option, "Someone else tries to answer at the end, but they incorrectly guess the name of our VIP." That would happen if we failed to discover the VIP's identity even after searching within our group. This might very well happen. If the VIP remained quiet, people probably wouldn't discover their identity. On top of that, they'd earn 500,000 private points as a reward. However, even though anonymity was ideal, it largely depended on what you could and couldn't do. You'd have to come up with lies on the spot. Your class and the other classes might grow to resent you, if they found out.

The third option, "The traitor finds the VIP." In that case, a student learns the VIP's identity. They either submit their answer right away, or send the school an email after the test ends with the correct answer. Incredibly, in this case the test could end immediately after it begins. The traitor would earn fifty class points and determine which classes would end up on top. In addition, the individual traitor would earn 500,000 private points. This meant that someone could deceive another class and contribute to their own. For everyone, this would be an ideal result.

Finally, the last option: "The traitor is misled about the VIP's identity." This option had the biggest downside. If you were mistaken and guessed incorrectly, the person who submitted the incorrect answer would be slapped with a penalty, causing his or her class to lose fifty points. On top of that, the VIP would receive private points, and his or her class would receive class points. I wanted to avoid that outcome most of all.