Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Solace

Vol. 6: Chapter 4.1 - Mise-en-Scène

November 5th, Friday.

Haruka will be sleeping over at Airi's place tonight, while the guys of the Ayanokouji Group will go home.

"Your birthdays are so near to each other. I feel like we're celebrating once a week," said Akito.

"Your birthday's on the 13th of July, right, Akito?" I asked.

"Yep. I'm the outlier," he shrugged.

"It's my first time spendin' this many points in a short while. Not that I'm complainin' though, since it's for my friends," said Ken.

"It's fine. We're filthy rich, thanks to how much class points we have..." Akito laughed, almost sounding guilty.

After the third study session, the Ayanokouji Group decided to celebrate Haruka's birthday in Airi's room. We decided to splurge by ordering high-end restaurant food instead of going for homemade ones. Well, it's mostly because we didn't have that much time to prepare considering our current schedule.

"See ya', Kiyotaka."

"Let's talk about our plans for tomorrow in the chat later."

"Sure. See you tomorrow," I replied.

When the two of them left, I went inside my room and called a certain person.

"Hello? Ayanokouji?"

"Ah, Chabashira-sensei. I'm just here to check up on everything."

"Oh, about that. Rest assured. The chairman has done what you asked for. You can check their website right now. The changes were made without any issues, and all other devices except for the ones in this school have restricted access to that page."

"Alright. Just as planned," I replied. "What about him?"

"He just bought the information from me a little while ago... Well, at this point, I can't even tell if your timing is just perfect, or if you predicted him to buy it on this exact day."

"I just got lucky. I figured he'd make his move soon, anyway."

"Is that so? Well, it doesn't really matter. Just be sure to give me the date when the time comes. Sakuragaoka Academy's higher-ups weren't happy with how sudden the request was. But because of Chairman Sakayanagi's position and that school's relation to their former student, they can't just decline the request, even if they don't know the details."

"It's vague, but I'm surprised they didn't buy the reason. It's not like we were lying."

"Saying that it's 'vital for making a promising student like Kushida Kikyou overcome her past', wouldn't be enough."

"But they still accepted in the end. The higher-ups were most likely delighted with the fact that the chairman himself seemed to favor Kikyou. If someone like her becomes a prominent figure in this school, Sakuragaoka would gain more prestige."

"Exactly."

I figured that much. That's why I wasn't worried about the chairman's "request" getting declined.

"For now, I'm just glad they're being cooperative. This shouldn't last too long. We'll reach the climax soon, and after that, everything will be back to normal for that school," I said. "How about you, Sensei? Aren't you curious about what this plan entails?"

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious, but you don't have to worry about me doing anything unnecessary. If possible, you can tell me about it after everything's over."

"I'm grateful. It's nice to have one less person to worry about."

"We're on the same side. And it's the least I could do to help. Besides, even if I don't know the details of your plan, I can at least understand that the whole class will benefit in the long run if you succeed."