Classroom of the Elite: Free Will

V7: Chapter 4 - Chopped Himself in Halves

Akabane Karma POV

I served myself some soda and returned to my desk to continue with my work.

After classes ended for the day, I came directly to my room to continue with all the administration of private points for the mixed training camp.

Since the camp was outside school grounds, I had less leverage on the budget regarding elements other than the private points the students received. I had had a certain amount of power over the budget of all the material used during the sports festival and all the materials that could be bought on the island. Although, I owed most of my power over that second one to Runa's influence.

I sat on my chair, and returned to my laptop, going over the information I had on the file I had received from the member of the school council I worked with. Just like for the sports festival, all three years would take part on the mixed training camp. So, the number of private points that would flow was more important than in a special exam like the paper shuffle.

Looking at the file, my mind went towards the one I had given Matsuo. I was somewhat reluctant, but I finally decided to confide in him a bit more. So, I gave him something that should allow him to have a better understanding of what I do. If he was smart, he destroyed it after reading it.

I looked back at the screen of my laptop. The planning was taking shape. If everything worked out as I hoped, Yuki would receive an important number of private points and Class B would skyrocket on the ranking. I wouldn't allow what happened on the island and the zodiac exam to happen again.

At the very least, things were back on track. I defeated Nagumo at the sports festival and destroyed Class C as anticipated. They divided in two factions and Hiroya had somehow managed to make Kaneda betray Ryuuen. I hadn't expected him to pull any of Class C's prominent members to his side. Moreover, his hunt for the Class C spy had been quite helpful.

He served me well all things considered.

Right now, I just needed to finish off Ryuuen or his faction. It didn't really matter. My real target was Mikoto after all.

The other priority was finding real allies inside my class. Actual allies, not only people that do my bidding. That was the reason I had given that file to Matsuo. Yuki was the ally I had as of now.

If my next target was Nao, I needed something more than goons.

Shibata and Mako wouldn't do, they were supportive and cheerful, and that role suited them perfectly. Kanzaki wasn't even on the equation; he was right where he needed to be. Kocho wouldn't do either, she would use any opportunity to backstab me, she cared about the class so she would follow along but that was it, my desire to place her in the student council was mostly due to the fact that she was the next best thing I had after Matsuo. Then, there was Ichinose. I had no idea what to do with her; she accepted my leadership but rejected my methods, there wasn't anything she could do about that, though. If she tried to pull something, she would only divide the class, since the other pillars would support me. And yet, if Ichinose's reticence continued, I could never use her at her full potential. She could very well have principles, however, as long as she refused to face reality, she would remain at a standstill. Unable to advance.

So, my best option was Matsuo. After the sports festival, he had accepted to work for the class and its advancement. The methods didn't matter. Unlike Ichinose, he accepted the reality. Thus, it was easy to accept him. Now, I needed to see if I could actually give him more responsibilities. Yuki couldn't take care of everything on her own. And it wasn't like I would do the petty jobs.

My phone rang indicating a message had arrived. I grabbed it to see what it was about. It was a message from Kiyotaka on the group we had with Nao and Mikoto. We barely used it anymore. He wanted us to meet in his room as soon as possible. Apparently, he was practising his cooking skills and wanted us to try it. I wasn't that eager to go since I preferred to focus on finish this planning for the mixed training camp. That said, I wouldn't refuse a treat. If I could avoid cooking my own dinner, then great.