"The people who vote don't decide the results. The people who count them do." -Joseph Stalin, hinting at the corruption of the Germans back in the 1930s.

-_-----Bonds and Betrayals-----_-

Day 8.

The second week started, and after indirectly forcing Alya into retirement, I was now all alone, just like in the past.

However, this time I have a lot more experience and knowledge about the humans who I am fighting against.

But in the end, I am not going to measure myself with them. I can't score realistic measurements when facing children.

The only thing that could push me a little more than usual, is only then, when they join forces, uniting themselves to take me, first place in the current special exam.

To avoid such scenarios, I went ahead and excluded Alya from the exam as soon as possible, well...it could've gone faster but I like it when I am already ahead in terms of decisions.

Why? Simply because I wanted to reduce the chance of being hit critically. If someone went on to target her, I cannot do much against it, without showing full potential.

That is simply not possible. Thus, I choose to exclude her, protecting her from any damage and directing it towards me, and if someone tries something weird against me, I will just give them the same back, but 10 times harder.

The potential of her falling into enemy control will completely disappear, I mean, they cannot control something that doesn't exist anymore, can they?

As smart as it seems, this will cause many conflicts in our class, we might have won, but the fact that our leader retired, even though being first place is very controversial.

And that the reason is that she was surprised by a sudden confession of mine, is even worse.

So, if we end up second, it's her fault, creating a situation when 'the best or nothing' counts.

A: We get the first place or B: She loses control of the entire class.

Nothing in between. And I am prepared for the worst-case scenario. Well...partially. First, I need to pre-move now, securing the trust of Horikita and Kushida in case scenario B happens.

Hirata told me, since we met at the center, that their teams, Kushida - Yukimura and Horikita - Hirata, are staying in the southeast, in the rain they mostly move to the east due to the density of the forest, keeping them dry.

A good strategy. In the south, there are Chabashira and Class-D staff members, which means if something happens, you can easily get to a trusted person quickly.

Unlike in the north or the west.

The south is also quite nice for the night and for water supply, making it a good stay, it is also a bit less populated than the rest, making it somewhat safer.

But it isn't any longer until the morning sun rises. I checked a lot of tents, finding some sleeping Class D and B members along the way.

-------

Finally, after a lot of searching and sneaking around, I found these four, all of them sleeping, and well, they were a lot smarter than I thought.

They had two tents as well. In total. Kushida and Horikita shared one, and so did Hirata and Yukimura. With that, they would escape any weird rumors, feel more comfortable, and sleep a lot better.

Plus there is a lot more privacy.

But to not interrupt their sleep, I laid down under a tree which was located directly in front of these tents, waiting.

Also, I got rid of my tent, saving weight and giving up minimal comfort. Sleeping outside on an island is a lot better in my opinion. Except for the fact that privacy isn't that much of a factor of importance anymore.

I can sleep wherever and whenever I want to. Without needing to set up my tent twenty times a day, and without having to carry three kilos extra.

It surely sounds weird, but I am only using basic logic and I am also acting in a way where it is the best condition for me.

I need to get first place, after all, to remind them who the boss here is.

Cough cough Of course, just because I like winning, and absolutely no way that I want to shush Horikita with this.

Nooo.

I am not that kind of a guy. I am a kind person. Really. Believe me. Please.

Anyways. Enough inner monologue, Kiyotaka. Now it's dialogue. Something you are horrendous in. But, it's a freshly awake Kushida. Nothing is going wrong here.

No need to talk about stupid stuff now, besides, she won't judge anyway...So who cares?

"Mornin' Kushida." I greeted her like usual, but somehow, she was surprised and looked at me in horror.

"...Morning- What the fuc- I mean, why the hell are you here?!"

Did she out of all people just swear right now? I didn't even know she was capable of doing so. I mean, just look at her. Originally I thought the only type of threat she could pose was, that she might kill you by placing a pillow on your face during your sleep.

"I like to watch people sleep."

"Please what?! Could you repeat that?"

"I said, that I fell asleep here. I didn't know you were settled here."

She stared at me in disbelief, sighed, and went on to wash her face at the water stream. Fixing her appearance before taking a seat next to me.

Kushida was always something I was grateful to have inside my class, someone who fixed mentality and personal issues between the individuals in our class, getting supported by Hirata a lot.

But, there was something that I was or am still unsure of. And that is the fact that she is placed in the same class as Yamauchi.

That alone is a huge insult, but let's put that aside. She was placed in a class full of defectives. Her academic, physical, and social ability alone should put her higher than Class D, maybe even to the point where she is suited to be in either Class B or A.

She isn't doing anything weird at all, just there is something bad that is stitching out.

"You wake up pretty early, Kushida."

"Hmm~ Isn't that a nice quality to have? The earlier you wake up, the longer the day is, the more you get experienced in various situations"

"That may be true, but on this island, the better option is to maintain a lot of rest, skipping through the days. Avoiding the risk of retirement due to a lack of basic stamina."

Originally, I planned to sleep and waste time as much as possible, to get this exam over with. Since I have absolutely no motivation at all.

It's just like always, as good as a headstart they might receive, in the end, I am going out as the winner. And this never changed. And I guess it will never change.

It got a lot worse over time, to the point where 'serious' competition gets boring to me. And measuring myself with children is an insult in itself.

"Sure it is. But we four decided to rest earlier, to skip the more dangerous nighttime and enjoy more of the daytime. The sun still isn't rising right?"

It was still dark, and I guess it would be roughly 23 minutes until the sun started rising and the area would light up. Until then, I have enough time to admire the dark scenery of a forest.

Kushida's face in the dark was also a lot more beautiful than during the day, the eyes were glowing in the moonlight

Just Alya's eyes were brighter and more beautiful.

"About half an hour until that. Who guessed we both wake up at 4 a.m.?"

"That's true~ Rarely anybody wakes up in these early hours. Besides, where is Kujou-san? Did she just leave you sleeping here or?"

How should I tell her? I mean, the leaderboards refreshed just two hours ago, and everyone was asleep during that time.

I can't blame her for not knowing, can I?

"She retired."

"H-Huh?! You are all alone?! Why did she retire?"

Just like expected, the reaction was a surprised face. I don't think it would be good to reveal the reason at all, Alisa will cover up once this becomes a bigger topic.

"It has its reasons. Despite being all alone, I am still in first place. Being the highest placed duo, despite being a solo participant."

"T-That is impressive itself, but I am surprised she went on to retire..."

I am waiting for the reaction of Horikita, Yukimura, and Hirata once they wake up. They will be even more surprised, after all, it's an unexplained retirement for bystanders.

"Don't be. Class D will come out on top. As long as that is the case, you should be grateful that she did an amazing job, maybe even better than we two did, despite our duos being in the top 10."

There is no need to worry. After all, we are comfortably in the first or second place. Both would be a win for us since Class C and A will lose points either way.

This means Yuki's Class will catch up, and so will mine. However, there is another problem. Leaving Kanazaki at the power in Yukis' Class is dumb. Mostly for me, since it will make the process of cooperation a lot harder.

For that, a parallel plan is already in the works, but more to that, later.

"...I hope so. Honestly, Suou-kun, I was skeptical at the beginning. I was unsure if this class was capable of even staying united, without any intern fighting until the end of the exam. However~, it turned out to be a lot better. And somehow, I turned out to be glad about the fact that Kujou-san won against me, Hirata, and Horikita at the elections. It was quite frustrating to lose to one person despite being a 'majority', but we should let old topics die slowly."

She looked at me with a bitter smile, I am not against it. I was skeptical of my own. I was unsure of what this class was capable of achieving until I started to work on it.

It is still a huge construction site, as only Alisa is done. The rest will follow eventually.

"With Kujou-san in the leadership, our class began to build up some sort of chemistry between everyone. Even Sakura-san went on to socialize a little bit more~. And last but not least, she gave you some spotlight as well, which you truly deserved with the achievements you have got. First place, that's impressive."

"Let's see how it turns out. But right now, I need to talk under 10 eyes. Once all four of you are awake, we should maybe talk, since the exam is getting into the late stages."

"Should I go and wake Horikita-san up? I guess she wouldn't mind waking up earlier than usual." Just as she tried to stand up and wake her up, I grabbed her by her wrist.

I didn't pull her closer or do some sketchy stuff. I remained quiet and waited for her to understand the signals I gave her.

And well, I didn't even have a delay until she caught up. Kushida just froze on the spot, just like everyone else when they got into physical touch.

"T-That was fast..."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to make it feel hostile. No need to wake her up. Let them sleep, after all, it would only be a selfish request in the end. To not waste any time here, I'd suggest meeting up at the center at around 3 p.m. once the first event ends. We will continue this conversation until around 5 p.m., walking to the next event together."

"...Sounds good! I guess we will see each other then, also, take care of yourself."

I nodded and left moving away from their camp, finally getting a meeting out of the talk with Kushida. With that, most of my plan is done regarding that 'quattro'.

Well, you can't call it quattro, can you? I mean, people would mistake it for the all-wheel-drive system from Audi. I don't blame them for it, that was originally my first thought about it as well.

But what should you call a team of four then? One participant is a solo. Two are a duo, three are a trio and four are a?

Two duos? One trio and a person? Four solos?

There is no fixed definition I guess. But that was just a random thought I guess...

Lately, many random thoughts have gotten into my brain, and one of them is quite weird. No. It's not the quattro.

It's the question about infinity. What is truly infinite? Which is also scientifically proven?

One thing I can think of would be the universe...But is it infinite?

Anyways. Let's put that topic aside, for now, let's focus on the next goal ahead. The part about fixing Class-C's plans a little. After I had bought the GPS scan of every duo on the island in the center.

This means I have to rush to the center, buy that GPS radar, find some Class C students, sabotage them, get to the first event of the day, win it, then get to the teams of Kushida and Horikita, and then finally meet up with them at the center.

Quite the troublesome day I guess...But troublesome doesn't necessarily mean it is hard to accomplish.

It's just painfully annoying to get Class C to lose. I thought of not having to interfere at all, but Class A is being led by children, just like Class B and C.

Truly disappointing to be honest. I have expected a lot more from Sakayanagi and even more from Katsuragi. The fact that Sakayanagi is struggling to beat such an idiotic enemy is kinda confusing.

I mean...How is she supposed to beat Alisa? No. The leader of every class could easily demolish her. Alya as of now has absolutely no chance and can't allow any mistakes.

No. That is stupid as well. I want her to rather make mistakes now than later when it gets too important to afford the slightest mistakes.

Horikita would have been a different matter altogether. I think it was a bit stupid to choose the Alisa Route of winning, but I guess it will be a lot more entertaining.

And making Horikita emotionally attached to me is almost impossible. She is the hardest nut to crack.

But there is nothing I can do, is there? I guess this school isn't pushing anyone. After all, this tiny exam should just signal the beginning.

What comes after, should be way more complicated since the experience and skill level will rise among the students.

Nah. I don't think they will get more complicated. They would rather just allow more menacing and unpredictable tactics than this one.

Here it is barely a way of measuring yourself with the others, you can't prevent losing in the first place.

You can only reduce the area of high impact. That's it. Except you are an Ayanokouji.

An Ayanokouji who lives up to that name.

---------□♡□♡□---------

After purchasing a GPS Radar, I was set to start and sabotage Class C since it was still the morning hour.

Or more like...Rush hour?

Don't get me wrong, this is not about the true definition of Rush Hour, it's more about what this Rush Hour is about.

And this one is about sabotaging. The time right now is a death zone for anyone. Half is awake and half is asleep. Nobody can frame you, because if nobody saw you, it never happened.

However, I want to do it cleanly and smoothly, without raising too much suspicion. I need to memorize every student whom I am going to sabotage though...

There are many ways to sabotage them, whether it is about injuring them, poisoning them, breaking crucial things like their watches, flashlights... But as I said, I will cause some things. Not directly do them.

And for that job to be done, I need something that will lead to an injury or cause financial damage.

After minor thinking, oil and water should do the job perfectly well.

So I sneaked up to the first tents, I checked if they really were Class C members, and apparently, they were Class C members.

I honestly couldn't care less about some allegations about indirectly causing the disqualification of an enemy team.

Rubbing my hands with some oil, I put some directly on their shoe sole, and then I left.

Many underestimate the effect oil could have on these rocky and slippery surfaces. Oil in addition to that will be over-killing it.

The chance of a slip-up for them is now insanely high, after all, they will only notice when it's too late.

Before anyone could notice, I left their tent and went on to the next one.

I repeated it, but this time, I also 'claimed' the batteries of their flashlights. Not forgetting to give them a defect by breaking the battery-port.

♤Bonds and Betrayals♤

This went on for quite some time, always cheery picking some Class C students, some won't notice it, and some probably will. In total, 7 students were selected to be infected by this.

But I don't think they will get injured by it that fast. They will probably only notice that there was an attempt to sabotage them and will go on to report it to Ryūeen.

It is a dangerous game that I am playing. Getting caught once and it's over entirely. Earlier I had at least an insurance of having someone else on my team, but now, that insurance retired because I wanted to do it myself.

And to be honest, as of now, it was going almost perfectly. I didn't face any problems throughout the exam, and if I did, they fixed themselves.

So there was nothing to worry about.

Nothing except one single person worried me, and that is...

"Nice that you could meet me Suou-boy! I assume you wanted to see my perfect existence, no?"

Alone by the way he talked, it was clear who I was talking to, and well, even somebody without eyes would notice his presence immediately.

"Not at all. Your teammate has already retired, huh?"

Koenji Rokusuke. Place 7th, impressive for being all alone.

But sadly, it isn't a competition between classmates, so we won't push each other I guess. Except he is up for it

"Precisely. Maezono-girl couldn't keep up with my skills, which weren't comparable to anyone's Skillset, except my own. Ayanokouji-boy, you are all alone as well, but first place. Fufu~ Perhaps you are taking it seriously?"

Right. The rich Koenji family. Close business partners with the Kanzaki's, Amikura's, Sulu's, and Ayanoukouji's.

It was not an insanely well-hidden fact that I am a product of crossing the Suou and Ayanokouji genes, training them to the limit.

It was well-known among the families. Even more so after the imprisonment of the last successor of the Ayanokouji, Atsuomi Ayanokouji.

Of course, I have the option to choose and go back to that name, but I guess I will leave that offer open. For now, I need to remind them of reality.

"Even if I didn't go serious on these children, I cannot imagine a reality in which you have a good chance against me at all. Perhaps I misjudged you. Ninth place is truly a disappointment."

It was brutal words that made his eyebrows flinch. Of course, he would get mad at it, I mean, who wouldn't?

However, even though he knew my capabilities to some extent, he remained confident in himself and his abilities. As if the fact that I was a child produced in the laboratory who was modified to reach its physical peak, wasn't existent.

"Fu~ Don't say that, Ayanokouji-boy. Your skills aren't from this world and are considered the greatest by a huge gap. However, it is quite sad that even after the fact of how brilliant you are was public knowledge, they still decided to put you in the same class as Ike Kanji."

"Doesn't the same apply to you? I am quite far ahead of you, Koenji. By the point gap, you are closer to 50th out of 80 than you are to me. Let that sink in. You aren't even close to beating Kanzaki from Class B, despite him also being alone. Pathetic."

It wasn't an insult. It was just a mere fact that he was insanely far off, barely getting into the top 10. If he misses one single event, he will immediately drop down a lot of rankings.

"Well, well, well. You want it, hmm? Then I will greatly accept that challenge. Maybe you will then recognize the