Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Solace

Vol. 6: Chapter 2.2 - Tutors' Meeting

"We'll have a meeting. Would you like to join us?" Horikita approached me as I grabbed my bag.

"Sure," I replied.

The first suggestion for the meeting place was Pallette, courtesy of Karuizawa, but it seems like there were going to be a lot of us. So, we opted for the usual karaoke place.

Horikita and I decided to walk together while having a little chat.

"What do you think?" she asked. "About the exam..."

"It's gonna be a bit tricky, for sure-- and a lot of work for the tutors."

"That's true..."

"We'll have to create our own test questions. Does that ring a bell to you?"

Seeing that I was appraising her understanding, Horikita thought seriously before answering.

"You're talking about the participation table during the festival, aren't you...?"

I nodded.

"The risk of having a traitor is still there-- is what you're trying to say..." Horikita had a grave look on her face.

"You've talked about it with Hirata, haven't you? What did you guys decide to do?"

"We didn't agree on anything conclusive just yet. There are a lot of things to consider."

"Personally, I think you should tell everyone that you found the traitor."

"What?" Horikita was surprised by my take on the matter. "But doing that would cause panic and unease inside the class..."

"Quite the opposite, actually. Everyone had pretty much deduced that a traitor gave away the class's participation table for the sports festival. If you keep things the way they are, our classmates will start doubting each other."

"I see... So that's why Hirata-kun didn't like the idea of permanently keeping things under the rug." 

"Of course, you have to reassure them that the traitor only betrayed the class because they were cornered by Sakayanagi."

"That's the best way to do it. But it's strange... If Hirata-kun had the same opinion as you, why didn't he tell me immediately?"

"Who knows? As you said, there are many things to consider."

"I suppose that's true..."

It would be the best course of action for Horikita and the class. And of course, that also goes for me.

Horikita and I waited near the karaoke place until the others came. The members of the meeting were the seven tutors, including me, along with Karuizawa and Ryuuko. There were nine of us, in total. The meeting officially started after our drinks came in.

"Thank you for coming," said Horikita. "Firstly, I would like to hear your opinions on this exam."

"I think it's going to be a bit troublesome considering the pairing system," answered Matsushita.

"Not only that. I'm sure the test questions will be extremely tough if we consider the fact that fellow students are going to make them," followed Yukimura.

"Yukimura-kun is right," nodded Ryuuko. "Since it's a competition, they will most likely try to get us with tricky wording. A straightforward question can appear unsolvable, and vice versa."

"But couldn't we just do the same to them?" mused Karuizawa. "Like, if they're gonna make it hard for us, let's just make it harder for them. Right, Yousuke-kun?"