Outsider : Classroom Of The Elite

Chapter 4.7 - Freak

'Ah, my eyes!'

The dazzling light bouncing off Katsuragi's glossy scalp was blinding. I squinted my eyes to fend off the unexpected assault from the sun.

Fifth deck, on my way to Sakura's meeting place, I spotted a small gathering of students marching towards somewhere. Looking at the person leading the squad, it was a no brainer which faction the students belonged to.

Naturally, I didn't see Kamuro, or Kito amongst the faces, as they were openly part of the Sakayanagi camp. Hashimoto being there didn't really surprise me as I knew, at the time he was a spy working for Sakayanagi. In reality though, he was just an opportunist who'd jump boats whenever it benefited him.

But, someone did catch my attention a little bit, and it was a certain person from my own zodiac group.

Shimizu Naoki, he really was part of the Katsuragi faction, huh?

Even before this, I could tell more or less, based on how passionately he carried out Katsuragi's orders on his first meeting.

"....."

While passing by, Shimizu threw me a sharp glance. I bowed, paying respect to our temporary acquaintanceship as fellow group mates. But he simply turned his gaze away in apathy. Wow..

At any rate, I was getting late for my appointment, so I footed it. This time, I had told Sakura to meet up on the pool side on the fifth deck near the bow. When I arrived at the spot..

..she was not there?

"Is she late or...?" I muttered to myself.

It was unlikely. Sakura was never late when I personally called her. There was only one possibility..

I pulled out my phone and dialed her number to inquire her whereabouts. As expected, I heard a ringtone somewhere nearby. Tracking the source of the sound, I twirled around to see the pink head rummaging through her trouser pockets, eventually picking up the phone.

「H-hello?」 a soft voice came from the speakers.

I raised my hand above my head, waving at her.

"Sakura-san, I'm right here, near the pool. I can see you."

「Ah... Aaa! Levent-kun!」

When she turned around and saw me, her expression beamed.

There she was, a cheerful Sakura Airi, clad in her gym uniform, waving back at me.

I also can't help but mention that some serious laws of physics were at work in her chest area (namely gravity, shear torsion, moment of inertia etc). I forcefully redirected my eyes toward her face.

"Quite early today, aren't you?"

「Y-yes, I, just happened to be nearby... It's good to see you.」 She greeted with a slight bow.

"It's good to see you too, Sakura-san." I bobbed my head up and down, "You wanted to talk about something, yes?"

「R-right. yes, I wanted to tell you something, but...」

Sakura inclined her head, and a cloud of confusion formed on her face before she finished her sentence.

「Shouldn't we, um... shouldn't we get close to each other first?」

"Hmhm..." I hummed.

That's right. I did not move an inch from the spot during this entire conversation. The phone was pressed against our ears the whole time. We were literally standing twenty-something feet away from each other; yet I was keeping the conversation running through the phone.