Another Like Me - Part II (CoTE x OC)

𝕊𝕊.𝟘𝟙 - 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔼𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕪 𝕆𝕗 𝔸𝕟 𝔼𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕪 (𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕠𝕤𝕙𝕚 ℍ𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕞𝕠𝕥𝕠)

( Hashimoto POV )

I watched as Takeyama Keisuke made his way towards the rear end of the building, one that is not frequented at all. There is nothing of interest there, so I can assume that he probably has plans to meet up with someone.

This was an opportunity of a lifetime. It would be a shame if I missed it.

I kept my distance, making sure that Class S's fearsome leader does not find out that I'm tailing him. I think I did reasonably well.

I secluded myself into the interior of the shaded portion of the wall. The night sky stretched out into the horizon, and billions of stars shined their natural light onto the rather dull surface. It was around 8pm, and things were getting wrapped up just about now.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ryuji Kanzaki approach Takeyama. Was this some sort of class affair meeting between Class B and S? It does look like it.

Strange.....

"Thank you for coming, Takeyama-kun."

"Don't worry about it. Something important?"

"I'll skip straight to the point. I want to strike a deal with Class S, a temporary alliance."

I listened in to their private conversation. It seems Class B has taken the first step towards securing Class S's cooperation. If things continue to move on ahead as they do, then Class B will probably gain the support of the most dangerous class, and things will start to look a bit bleak for us.

Currently, Class A does not have a leader. Ever since Sakayanagi departed the class, things haven't looked much in shape anymore. Everyone seemed to have reluctantly accepted Katsuragi as the leader again, although no formal confirmation of it has been declared yet. Katsuragi is taking advantage of this mayhem situation and is trying to win back the favor of his class.

But the students of Class A are smarter than that. We all know what Katsuragi is trying to do. And because we know, we're refusing to cooperate with his tactics. His methods of solid defense and restricted offense is age-old, and won't do us any good. At most, it could probably lead to us dropping from the pedestal known as Class A.

But that is where we're making a mistake, and this is where I feel I should switch sides.

Because we're downgrading Katsuragi, and are blatantly refusing to accept him as leader, our class continues to remain leaderless. We've reverted back to the same situation that we had right at the beginning of the school year — except that it is worse. We had two coexisting rival leaders during that time, but now we have one leader that no one is ready to accept. It is undeniably weakening our class.

I wonder if I should take the helm in Class A?

As enticing as it sounds, I know I'm not cut out to lead. It's sweeter to stay by the sidelines instead, and bet on the person you think will win. That's how the world works, to be fair. If you had to bet on a certain jockey in a derby, you'll definitely go for the horse that has a better track record. Nothing surprising there.

But we've lost our trump card, Arisu Sakayanagi, to Class S. Things were going to get incredibly difficult for the rest of the classes now. Even though we have the numbers advantage, it doesn't count if the Special Exam has nothing to do with class strength.

I let out an indignant sigh, and continued to listen in to their conversation.

"..... taking this too far, Takeyama-kun," I could hear Kanzaki say in what I assumed was an irritated voice. "You're abusing your authority."

"Am I now? Do the math yourself, Kanzaki. 100,000 Private Points per person per month is 400,000 for four people. Divide that by the thirty nine students in your class, and that gives 10,000 Private Points per month. As long as you possess even 100 Class Points, you'll be able to pay at least this much. A simple calculation, isn't it?"

So Takeyama-kun is milking funds out of Kanzaki as though he were a bank......

I was once again reminded of the sheer wit and intellect of the man known as Takeyama Keisuke. This alliance was called by Kanzaki, so that Class B could get some respite from the looming threat of Class S. However, Takeyama had completely dominated the negotiation, and he'd turned it into his favor.

So now instead of Class B being protected from Class S, Class S is protecting Class B. This minor psychological difference seemed to have sealed the deal for Kanzaki's class. Takeyama could call off this alliance at any time, and attack Class B when he sees fit. And when they're not attacking Class B, they're receiving a constant income from the same class.

Kanzaki had been completely fooled. He was hoping for a cooperative relationship, and somehow getting ahead of the other classes in the race to securing Class S's trust, but it's only made their financial status weaker.

If I were in his place, I would not have accepted this deal. But it seemed that the fear of Class S attacking Class B made Kanzaki agree to this harsh treaty.

Such a brilliant mind..... it's a shame that Takeyama's not in our class. Class A would have been undefeatable in that case.

"I think we're done here. Thank you for coming, Takeyama-kun."

"No worries."

The conversation was over, and Kanzaki headed back towards the main building. Takeyama stood his ground for a bit, and I swear I saw him staring at the spot I was hiding at for a few seconds.

Soon, he let out a disappointed sigh, and turned to leave as well.

Did he notice me? He probably did. I wouldn't expect anything lesser from him.

After making sure that I really was alone in the night, I finally made it out of my cramped reconnaissance spot, and headed back to the dormitories as well.

I mulled over the implications that this treaty would have on Class A. It mostly did not affect us much, but it might have increased the chances of Class S going for an all-out attack on our class. Now that Class B has temporary protection from them, the probability that they'll attack us has increased.

Things aren't looking good for Class A. Without Sakayanagi leading us, we'll soon hit rock-bottom.

And that's maybe why I should start nudging baldie--- sorry, Katsuragi in the right direction. He needs to understand that to survive the cutthroat competition in this school, one must let go of outdated notions such as a rock-solid defense.

In this school, tactical relationships is the suited option in the long run. We need to gather the trust of the class which currently has the greatest chance of toppling us from the pedestal, and that is Class S.

Because after all, the enemy of your enemy is your friend.

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A/N's:

Look who's back with a chapter :)

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