Classroom of the Elite - Seven Years After

Talking Points

'This is sufficiently awkward,' I thought to myself.

The fourteen of us were all sitting around a table in a conference room, waiting for each to make the next move. Everyone stuck to their own classes, except for Class B which was divided across the table between the reigning leaders and the rebels who hid from them.

Mikuri was the first to stand out amongst us, refusing to resign herself to sitting in silence this entire time. "I know it's a bit difficult for us to accept that we're going to be in this room together for two hours, but I think that we should at least make the most of the time we're given."

"Taking the lead? Well, I guess I would also prefer not to be silent the entire time. I'm already sick of you all," Satou sighed with her arms crossed.

"You don't have to say every thought on your mind, Satou," Shio responded disapprovingly.

"But I could, and I don't care what any of you think of me, so why not?" she smiled, apparently unbothered.

Mikuri tried to redirect the conversation, "I understand that we all want to win this exam, but I think it would be best if we kept these discussions civil. I'm specifically asking you, Satou-san." She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything to refute Mikuri as she usually would. Perhaps she understood for once that acting out would get us nowhere. "Anywho, I think that for now we can discuss whatever we want. It doesn't need to be all serious, but if anyone else would like to guide the conversation..."

"No, I think we actually do have matters to discuss here," Shio replied without a second of delay.

"What do you mean by that?" Mikuri's smile remained on her face.

"I mean the topic of the lower classes winning the exam while the upper classes completely flunked this exam. Do either you or Nagamatsu have a response to that?"

Nagamatsu raised an eyebrow. "Me? Why me? I have nothing to do with my class's leadership." He was smiling, he wasn't even trying to cover up the lie, the truth was just sitting here in front of us.

"Let's put an end to this ridiculous charade," Yodogawa added. "All of us in Class A can see it, if the other classes can't then they're blind."

"It's not just Nagamatsu and the other Class C affiliates, it's also the matter of Nakanishi who has not appeared to have been involved in any of Class D's endeavors so far. There are more leadership oriented peers than her such as Arakaki, so why was she chosen to be here?" Shio accurately expressed. I was only noticing it now, but she looked slightly tired all the time, like she could never get enough sleep.

In order to redirect suspicions, I could deny it all together or try to turn the tables on her. "I have no way of knowing why I was placed here. Other than being an honors student, I have done nothing during the exam."

"That doesn't explain your injuries. You're telling me that you wandered off in the middle of the night and fell down a hill on a whim? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?" Shio refuted my denial. There should be no way Akiyama-sensei would have known about my contact with Mikuri in the first place, so realistically there should be no reason for me to be assigned to this group. If I was going to be berated I would have no way of answering in a way that would make sense from only the information that Akiyama-sensei should have had, the prime reason for placing me into this group. I am already aware that he is a person with superior ability, but even then he shouldn't be able to predict the future or how I'll develop when he's missing most of the picture. By all means, Arakaki should have been a better choice with her extroverted personality. Although she's flaky with academics, she still helps out a little bit when she has to.