Outsider : Classroom Of The Elite

Chapter 4.4 - Turtle

「The discussion period has ended.」

My power nap was cut short as I heard the monotone voice ringing from the announcement. I fixed my posture and stretched my body, which for some reason felt lighter than usual. When I checked my smartphone, it was already sharp at 2:00 P.M, signifying the end of the hour-long 'Discussion'.

"From this point on, we're free to do whatever we want, right?" Satou inquired.

"Well, we have five more discussion periods left. Why not end this one here?" Amikura spoke.

In the end, the group stuck with the proposed strategy, thus refrained from attempting to disclose the VIP's identity, which gave me a bit of psychological relief.

Students scattered when the discussion was declared over, the previously isolated hallway became crowded once more. The other classes had already started making their move. At some point, the only ones remaining on the room were class C and Kamuro and Shiina.

"We're heading to the deck. Do you want to join us, Levent-kun?" Satou suggested kindly.

Honestly, I was a bit happy to be invited by Satou.

"Thanks. But I already have some prior commitments that I need to attend."

"Oh... That's too bad," Satou slumped her head down in disappointment.

"Maybe next time."

"Then, see you later."

I waved them on their way. My physique was dying to go back and have a long meaningful conversation with the bed. At that time, I was planning on doing exactly that, but then-

[If you're free, can we talk again, today?]

I looked again at the lime message on my smartphone. It was from a certain pink haired girl. She wanted to meet me.

"Perfect timing..." I murmured.

At first I thought it'd be fine if it was on the deck of this level where we had talked before. But Sakura was weak to crowd, she was sure to be reluctant about meeting there. Because of that, I asked her about our meeting location. Immediately she sent me the location.

[Since there are so many people around, why don't we head to the bow?]

Still unable to handle the crowd, it seems.

After sending her the confirmation, I began ascending above the staircase. Since the first discussion of four zodiac groups had just ended, the elevator was going to be intensely packed. Only about ten people could ride at a given time, so it'd probably be faster to take the stairs.

I made my way toward the bow. Unlike the interior of the ship that was full of luxurious facilities, the bow only consisted of a large deck which provided a good view of the water. Because of that, it was usually quiet. There didn't seem to be anyone else around, which meant that we had the entire deck for ourselves.

"Where is she, anyway?"

At first I didn't see Sakura, which is why I began looking around. When I walked near one of the pillars, I heard some stuttering noise coming from behind. She was probably waiting for me there. Deciding not to give her a heart attack I slowly approached her.

"I was thinking about it, b-but... h-how do I do it? It's too embarrassing!" Sakura stammered, but somehow managed to let her words out.

What was embarrassing? I tried thinking about it hard. Yesterday, I gave her some advice on how to smoothen her relationship with her roommates. It required her to compliment them on various trivial occasions.