Classroom of the Elite: Reaction

Act 1: X - Dim lights

Ayanokouji was still deep in thought, trying to anticipate the recording's contents before they are shown. Meanwhile, in a dimly lit corner of the room, Nagumo, along with the group of students who'd been trying to find a way through the walls, was engaged in a heated dispute with a blonde boy from class 1-D. This boy was none other than the infamous Kouenji.

"Have you not understood that your attempts are nothing but futile? Must I spoon-feed you the answer?"

For the past two hours, the "wall breaching" efforts have been directed at a specific part of the wall. This part differed from the rest due to its material, which felt flexible to the touch. The group had begun to break through it, but Kouenji chose to step in and put a stop to everything.

Even among the first years, he was an unknown quantity, so people were quick to assume he had just gone mad. However, ignoring him wasn't an option due to his large stature and his apparent choice to physically block their path. In fact, all attempts to get him out of the way had only resulted in people getting hurt.

"What the hell is your problem a**hole!?", cried Ishizaki. "We're trying to get out of this place, isn't that obvious!?"

His stance was not only a reasonable one, but one that was shared by basically everyone in the large living room-like hall. Sadly, his cry lost a bit of its impact due to the pyjama he was wearing. It was certainly interesting to see Ryuen's delinquent henchman clad in pictures of little ducklings.

Ryuen and Albert weren't currently here to help out, and it seemed no one was too inclined to get them. Perhaps they want to sort this out on their own to avoid getting berated by the tyrant, is what Nagumo thought.

The vice-president was desperately trying to make sense of the situation. However, he was sleep deprived and hadn't stopped working for the interests of everyone else since the very start. He didn't want to be outdone by Manabu Horikita, but his thoughts were getting messy and unorganised. Once again, he was reminded of the fact that he's been awake for over 24 hours now.

One thing that he did know, however, was that, if people had any morale left, it would keep dropping the longer they remain without a solution.

Kouenji, however, didn't see things that way.

"It seems that you all truly are hopeless without me, so let me explain.", he started. "First, I have a question for all of you. Who provides us with the necessities to live?"

The answer was obvious.

"Of course the kidnappers would provide us with food. Otherwise, there'd be no point in any of this.", answered Nagumo.

What he was referring to, which some people didn't get right away, was that they were at a stage where, no matter the reason for why they were kidnapped, they would still be provided with food and water. A hostage situation wouldn't do if said hostages died prematurely, and the same would go with psychopaths simply wanting a reaction out of the students. Furthermore, if this were an execution ground, the kidnappers wouldn't have provided the first batch.

In truth, there was one possibility in which more food would never come, that being the kidnappers only giving the first batch as a beacon for false hope. It may be an illegal experiment, but Nagumo saw it best not to point that out.

"But, you must recognise that this assumption you're making is a very fragile one.", Kouenji said, wearing a smile while he nudged the blonde second-year towards the answer.

Nagumo was slowly starting to understand the eccentric's point.

"You mean it's too dangerous to risk angering the kidnappers at this stage?"