Warmth Of A Genius | Classroom Of The Elite

Move 20 - Katsuragi's Faction

"What about your favorite food? Do you have any siblings? What about a dog? Cat? Actually I could definitely see you having both!"

Tamiya and I look back at Yoshida who's been bombarding Totsuka with question after question about his life. It started off innocent enough, but as time passed he's been more excited about it all. The pace at which he was firing off questions started increasing as well, leaving Totsuka overwhelmed and annoyed.

"I... had a dog when I was a kid. My parents wanted to get a cat down the line as well, maybe after our dog passes away. She's quite old by now."

But surprisingly, whether it was to get Yoshida to calm down or to pass the time as we were traveling through our route, Totsuka was humoring him. Considering that this was the most he's spoken in a while, Tamiya and I decided not to bother them. But we did notice an interesting trait about Yoshida.

"Hey Totsuka-kun, are your parents rich? You definitely act like they are!"

Yoshida is surprisingly blunt. What I found more interesting though was that Totsuka didn't get mad at any of those out-of-pocket questions. If I had to guess, Yoshida's chipper tone and seeming innocence in asking those questions had something to do with it. But I found it fascinating that the tone of your voice could impact the meaning behind words so much.

"Pfft-"

I looked to my left to see Tamiya holding her hand in front of her mouth, trying to stiffle a laugh due to Yoshida's questions. Just like Totsuka she started off rather annoyed about the constant chattering, but she couldn't help but crack a smile or almost laugh whenever a sudden blunt question came out of Yoshida's mouth.

"Weirdly enough, I think I can see those two becoming best friends." Tamiya whispered to me, an amused look on her face.

"Well it's certainly better than having him depend on Katsuragi as if he were oxygen." I said.

I found myself in a unique position where, even without talking to Katsuragi's faction, I found myself learning more about them by just observing them. Yoshida was blunt but he doesn't mean anything he says maliciously. Totsuka seems like he has, as Hashimoto once put it, 'a stick up his ass' but is weirdly open to random banter like this. Meanwhile Tamiya...

"I've got to admit, I'm kind of surprised, Tamiya. From what I've seen, I figured you were a bit more serious in your everyday life."

"Huh?" Tamiya looked at me with a surprised expression, before looking in front of her again and seemingly zoning out for a moment. "Ayanokouji-kun, you and I have only talked during meetings with Katsuragi-kun, correct?"

"That would be correct."

Tamiya nodded. "While I can't say I have the same amount of energy and sunshine in my head as Yoshida-kun, I don't exactly wear a frown on my face wherever I go."

"Interesting... Could you tell me more about yourself then?"

Out of everyone in Katsuragi's faction, I was most curious about Tamiya Emi. Mainly because I had the least amount of information on her, coupled with her ability to calmly assess a situation she seemed like Katsuragi's strongest asset so far.

"Huh? Uhm... Sure..." She said, suddenly going a lot quieter than before.

"Sorry, that question was just a bit sudden, I suppose. But seeing as we're all in the same faction, we should get along." She nodded, almost as if she were trying to convince herself of that fact.

"Was there anything in particular you wanted to know, Ayanokouji-kun?"

"Hmm... Actually, regarding your grades. I noticed they weren't the greatest, but then I was quite surprised when I saw your scores for math during our midterms. Is there any particular reason for that?"