Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Self-Test

Vol. 1: Chapter 10.1.2 - A Tease

April 16, 8:00 PM. I was currently on a phone call with Karuizawa Kei.

After we finished talking about the events that happened at Pallete, Karuizawa suddenly burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! By the way, Ayanokouji-kun, what the heck was that earlier?" she asked.

"By earlier... You mean our meeting, right?" I tried to confirm my suspicions.

"Yeah! I tried my best not to laugh, you know?" Karuizawa replied in a haughty tone.

"Well, I thought it would sound natural. The conversation went exactly as I planned, too," I explained.

"Hahaha! It's your tone! Your tone! "Then I'll issue my first command to all of you.", "I want the four of you to lead the class for me.". Hahaha! That was hilarious!" Karuizawa continued laughing. "You totally sounded like a mafia boss! Even I felt some second-hand embarrassment from that!"

I didn't know if her impression was accurate, but it totally didn't sound good from a listener's perspective.

"It's my tone, huh?" I murmured.

"Yeah. Like, if you had the same tone as Hirata-kun, for example, then we wouldn't have felt awkward with your words. One of us might've immediately asked you why. It's a good thing that Hirata-kun shifted the atmosphere for you," Karuizawa explained.

"I see..." The atmosphere was too friendly. If I was threatening someone, then those words combined with my tone would've been more effective.

"Well, I only found it funny because I noticed your expression as well as everyone's reactions. The most amusing one was Horikita-san's. She didn't get your implications immediately so she might've thought you were playing around. Her glare was quite scary, you know?" she chuckled.

"Sigh... Thanks for elaborating on my shameful mistake."

"Sure, sure!" She was in high spirits, having the upper hand in our conversation.

Just like that, Karuizawa continued trying to tease me. After she was satisfied, we continued talking about some other stuff.