Classroom of the Elite: Free Will

V10.5: Chapter 11 - What Am I? Who Am I?

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka POV

Quite a number of things had happened around me just during spring break. There was the incident with Chiaki, and before that, the ones with Suzune and Nao. There was the establishment of a cooperative relationship between Director Sakayanagi, Chabashira, and Mashima-sensei. And finally, there was my bargain with Tsukishiro.

I should probably be most vigilant of all about Tsukishiro. Unlike the other issues at hand, the problem he presented would just worsen if I ignored him. The next thing I knew, I might be getting told I was being kicked out of school. That was exactly why I needed to coordinate with the teachers to try to deal with this situation.

As for what Tsukishiro had said about sending in a student from the White Room, it wasn't necessarily definite, but it was plausible just as Rin had said. There was no way Tsukishiro could come and go in and out of the classrooms and the hallways all hours of the day. He could only attack me through indirect means, like the exams.

But if I was dealing with a student, that was a different story altogether. A student could come and go as they pleased in the classrooms and hallways. They could even come up and make contact with me at any time, affording them more chances to get me expelled. It would be a solid move in terms of gathering intelligence, too. If all of that did become a reality, it would be the biggest change that had taken place around me yet.

And then there were Suzune and Chiaki. Problems internal to the class, so to speak, each having their problems and doubts in regards to leading the class after our last defeat or dealing with Kushida. However, that only applied to the things that were happening around me. As for my internal changes...well, those were still very subtle.

At least...that was true until today.

There were only two days left until spring break ended. Just Tuesday and Wednesday. On these days, when students enjoyed their final rest before the new battles to come, I was determined to do nothing and rest.

It was now past still early in the afternoon when my phone rang, displaying Karma's name.

"Hey, Kiyo, it's me. How're you doing?"

"I'm fine. What's up?" I asked.

"You sound like you're irritated."

"I'm not, though. My voice didn't change."

"Hmm... yeah, maybe," he replied. "Who cares, I didn't call you to talk about your voice."

"Then why did you call me?"

"Coffee."

"Huh?"

"We said we would talk around a coffee at the end of the year, didn't we? So come to Keyaki Mall, I'm waiting for you."

We hadn't agreed to that, though. I just told him to tell me about the answer he'd find around a coffee...

I sighed. "You really do things based on your own time and convenience way too much, Karma."

"Well, whose time and convenience should I care about if not mine?"

I let out another sigh. "Nevermind that. The Shooting Star or the Pallet?"

"Shooting star... you're sighing way too much, are you sure you're not irritated?"

"Don't worry about that," I replied.

"Did you have a fight with Nao?"

"No, why would you think that?"

"In that case you're irritated because you don't like talking to such a loyal childhood friend like me?"