Classroom of the Elite: The New Elite

Chapter 11

I arrived at our group's room fifteen minutes ahead of the designated time. The reason for that is so I'm able to observe everyone who comes in the room and how they behave. It didn't take long for people to start showing up, with four boys being the first ones to arrive after me. They introduced themselves as members of Class B. None of them seems suspicious at first glance, so I'll leave them aside for now. Ideally, the VIP isn't one of them given the relationship between our two classes. The next batch to enter the room didn't really interact with anyone; they just quietly sat in a corner and ignored the rest of us. I'm assuming they're from Class A considering the two Class C guys I know aren't among them. Despite their limited interaction with us, one of them caught my eye. I'm still not a hundred percent sure, but I'll have to monitor him closely once I get things going.

"You're already here, Morimoto?"

With just a few minutes until the start of the meeting, my three classmates made their entrance.

"Yeah, I got here a little early."

The final group should be here any minute now.

"Tsk."

I turned around to see an annoyed Ishizaki accompanied by Yamada and a girl. Based on the list of group members we were shown yesterday, her name is Shiina. I've seen her in the library a few times, but I've never talked with her.

"I knew you'd be in this group, but it's still a pain to have to see you."

His annoyance was, of course, directed towards me. I'll feign ignorance for now and see how the situation evolves.

"You seem to hold some kind of grudge towards me, Ishizaki-kun. Is there a reason for that?"

Judging by their reactions, the rest of the members aren't aware of what happened between us back on the island.

"You-! Never mind, forget it." 

Wise choice.

That small debacle aside, none of the three Class C students seemed to be hiding anything. With my observation complete, it's time to move on to the next step. I'm usually not one to initiate things, but I'll make an exception here.

"Great. Now that everyone's here, how about we introduce ourselves? Since we'll be working together over the next few days, it'll be good if we get to know each other. I'll go first. I'm Morimoto Hisashi from Class D, and it's a pleasure to meet you all."

What a pain... 

My classmates were caught a little off-guard by my sudden change from what they're used to seeing, but they fortunately followed my lead which resulted in the students of Class B and Class C doing the same.

"The three of us from Class A  will not be taking part in the discussions in this challenge. We won't stop you from discussing things between yourselves, but we won't participate."

So, that's their strategy. 

"The hell? You're just gonna sit there and not do anything?"

"Could you guys reconsider?"

After hearing that announcement, the other group members were naturally opposed, but Class A wouldn't budge. I don't need a whole lot from them, but it looks like I'll have to give them a little push.

"I understand that you'd like to follow your own strategy for this challenge, and, technically, you're not breaking any rules, so we can't stop you."

"You're really siding with them?"

"However, I think at least introducing yourselves is fair, wouldn't you say?"

Seeing me understand their strategy rather than chastising them for it, the three of them agreed to introduce themselves. Of course, there's only one person whose name I care about, but singling them out could backfire.