Outsider : Classroom Of The Elite

Chapter 4.10 - Outsider

I leaned against the railing of the ship's upper deck. The ocean breeze ruffled my hair as I stared out into the dark horizon.

"This deck's more deserted than I expected,"

Suddenly, Horikita said while approaching. This meeting place was isolated and away from the other students. Unlike in the original, she seemed to be taking the secrecy route this time.

"You picked the location," I responded.

Horikita didn't respond. She crossed her arms and silently walked to stand beside me... "What are your expectations for the results?"

"You tell me." I tilted my head slightly. "You seem very confident."

"I am," she replied. "Dragon group handled the exam perfectly. Kushida-san played her part, Hirata-kun handled the environment, and I made sure there were no leaks. Ryuen-kun or the others shouldn't have anything to work with."

"Bold claim." I remarked.

"I trust my group."

I glanced sideways before looking back at the water. "...Fair enough."

Horikita's eyes slightly twitched at that response.

"What? Am I not catching something I should?"

The obvious thing... Yes.

"What do you make of those three emails sent that we received moments before the submission period?" I clarified.

"Three emails?" Her composure faltered for a second.

"Exactly a minute before the deadline... Three retirement emails." I held out three fingers in front of her face. "Horse, Rooster, Pig."

Horikita went silent for a minute, trying to see the pattern of the group names before realizing, "Those are... Class A's groups."

"Yes," I nodded.

"They must've lost a significant number of points." Horikita tightened the grip on her skirt. "Even so, that doesn't mean it was Ryuen-kun. It's reckless to assume—"

"......Hm?"

Well, I didn't even interrupt her. I just faintly curved my eyebrow. That must have given her enough hints; enough that she stopped mid-sentence.

"You think Ryuen-kun planned this?" she narrowed her eyes.

"That guy probably doesn't leave things to chance." I said. "...If those emails went out, exactly a minute before the safe zone, then that only means one thing."

That he was purposefully taunting us.

Horikita's lips thinned into a line, but she didn't reply. And exactly at that moment...

Bling!

Before she could gather her thoughts, a sharp ping notification rang from all the smartphones throughout the ship. The ping that'd ring even if the phone was muted. A school announcement.

Horikita instinctively reached for her phone. I didn't bother retrieving mine. Instead, I leaned slightly toward her to catch a glimpse of the screen.

The subject of the email was: "Results"

Her fingers dragged across the screen as she opened the email through the notification panel. She speed-read the entire email. As soon as she was done, her eyes widened.

"H-how could this be...?" she muttered.

I studied her expression closely. It rapidly shifted from confusion to disbelief, and finally to something close to frustration. Feeling intrigued, I also dragged my gaze towards the screen, even though I already knew what the likely result of this exam was.