“I mean that I chose to pass this time,” replied Katsuragi.
“Huh?” blinked Sanada.
“I lied,” said Katsuragi. “I figured that you would rather attack than be attacked, after all. It would appear that you failed to see through me.”
“I see… I didn’t even notice that much, huh,” replied Sanada.
Sanada’s response was totally lifeless. Just then, he realized that his heart had been pounding the entire time. He didn’t notice in that first round because Nishino was even more nervous than he was, but he was quite anxious himself. Sanada had been hoping to cut down Katsuragi’s life bar as much as possible, even if that was only a little bit, and win if there was a chance. But Katsuragi had been firm in his resolve and precise in his decision making, letting nothing go to waste, and he had the courage to throw down the gauntlet from the start.
Sanada, having felt like he was surpassed in every way, could do nothing, and lost in front of Katsuragi. He left the room. After watching Sanada exit so that his new opponent could come in, Katsuragi took a moment to catch his breath.
“I’ve lost one Life Point. No problem. I just need to keep pressing ahead calmly like I have been, and it will be fine.”
Katsuragi, arms crossed, suppressed his feeling of wanting to rejoice. Before even considering such proud, lofty ideas as revenge, he needed to defeat the opposing center, after all. Only after he dragged out Sakayanagi, the general, could he let his emotions run as high as he liked.
6.1
KITOU, AFTER QUIETLY and smoothly striding into the room, glared sharply at Katsuragi and took his seat. The battle between centers seemed like it was going to get off to a quiet start, with neither side offering a single word to the other. However, the situation began to change in an instant. Immediately after the first round ended, Katsuragi made the choice to pass, but Kitou didn’t hesitate in nominating someone. Without any clues, he took a gamble in going for one of the two model students, who were mixed in among the fourteen participants.
“Because Kitou-kun has nominated erroneously, he will lose one Life Point.”
Kitou lightly clicked his tongue at the announcement, but his facial expression didn’t darken. The probability of success was approximately 14.3 percent. He had taken a high level of risk to try to snatch away some of Katsuragi’s Life Points. Kitou didn’t lose his composure precisely because he had already factored in the possibility that he might be mistaken.
“That is rather like you, Kitou, to be so terribly drastic. However, what will you do next time?” asked Katsuragi.
“It should be obvious,” replied Kitou. “I only have to push forward…”
Kitou had lost a point in the blink of an eye, but true to his word, Kitou confidently forged ahead and nominated someone as the model student in the second round as well.
“Because Kitou-kun has nominated erroneously, he will lose two Life Points.”
That attempt had also ended fruitlessly. Furthermore, because the student had been either a teacher or a graduate, Kitou lost two points. Even Katsuragi gasped slightly at the outrageous consecutive blows that Kitou suffered.
“Now you have only four Life Points left. Even so, do you still plan to continue nominating recklessly?” asked Katsuragi.
“Of course,” replied Kitou.
“The content of this special exam is clearly not your strong suit. I’m sure that this must displease you. The choices available to us are naturally limited, but I never imagined you would try something like a suicide mission. Did you get Sakayanagi’s permission to be a representative? Or did she order you, perhaps?” asked Katsuragi.
Kitou deliberately chose not to respond, since his strategy was precisely what Katsuragi had just described. Namely, that if Kitou got even one successful nomination, that would be satisfactory, and Sakayanagi herself had accepted this. Since Kitou had volunteered to be a representative, he was expected to deliver results, no matter how bad he was at this sort of thing.
While the probability of success per nomination wasn’t remarkably high, even if Kitou struck out, he would only lose one or two points. Therefore, what Kitou could do right now was make as many attempts as he could before his opponent could move to nominate. Of course, despite the fact that Kitou had decided his plan of attack from the very beginning, he’d be angry if things didn’t go as planned. Kitou’s irritation showed in how forcefully he stabbed his finger on the tablet on his deck, practically attacking it.
Katsuragi ignored his savage neighbor and continued focusing his attention solely on the monitor in pursuit of his deductions. Kitou, on the other hand, paid little attention to the conversations, letting them go in one ear and out the other, and hardly did any sleuthing. He looked only at the human emotions displayed by the students and looked only at the students who reacted in ways that seemed appropriate. Once again, in round three, Kitou made an erroneous nomination and lost one Life Point. That left him with three Life Points.
He continued to lose Life Points by his own self-destruction. Round four followed. Once again, Kitou, undaunted, only went after nominating the model student. For his part, Katsuragi had once again considered passing, but then decided against it. Kitou had missed three nominations thus far, but as the denominator decreased, the probability of success gradually increased. This time in particular, there was a 25 percent chance that he would guess correctly.
Katsuragi, having grasped the trend for the three students Kitou had nominated in the past, considered whether any of the remaining students who fit that trend could be narrowed down as possible candidates for the model student, and he found one student fit the criteria. Even if Kitou pushed ahead and nominated that candidate, Katsuragi should be able to make it a draw if he nominated that same person. And even if Katsuragi missed, he could get away with losing one or two points. He considered the issue from various angles. While normally, Katsuragi would have preferred to wait and see after one more round, he found himself too greedy to take hold of victory to wait, and threw down the gauntlet. And the results were…
“Announcing the results. Katsuragi-kun identified Yamawaki-kun as a position holder, so Kitou-kun loses three Life Points. Now that Kitou-kun’s Life Points have been depleted, we ask that he please leave the room at this time.”
Kitou, a center with seven Life Points, was eliminated in four rounds without managing to land a single major blow.
“Why…?! Damn it!! Why is it that you can get it right, and I can’t?!” huffed Kitou.
Kitou slammed his desk harder than ever before, baring his anger.
“This isn’t an exam you can win without a plan. I know everyone, and that is precisely why I am able to fight wisely,” said Katsuragi.
Katsuragi’s high level of accuracy was supported by his experiences as a member of both Sakayanagi and Ryuuen’s classes. At one time, he had commanded others as a leader of Class A, closely watching his classmates. That was why he was able to recognize the participants’ facial expressions, manner of speaking, and tone of voice, as well as gestures throughout the entire process.
“Leave the room, Kitou,” commanded Katsuragi.
Kitou answered Katsuragi’s blunt order with a glare, but he made no effort to move. Still seated, he slammed his fist on his desk a second time, and then a third.
“Kitou-kun, please exit the room immediately.”
An announcement was made urging Kitou to leave, but even so, Kitou didn’t get up, and just continued to glare at Katsuragi.
“There’s no point in delaying it. The match has been decided,” said Katsuragi.
Those words were the trigger. Kitou, his voice clouded with anger, got up from his seat and stood in front of Katsuragi.
“The exit is the other way,” said Katsuragi.
“Katsuragi…!”
When Kitou called out Katsuragi’s name, he reached with long arms to grab hold of Katsuragi’s collar. Katsuragi took in Kitou’s anger, which bordered on murderous intent, and merely stood up and looked directly into Kitou’s eyes.
“Don’t. Acts of violence are strictly forbidden,” commanded Katsuragi, speaking to Kitou with a calm tone devoid of panic.
However, Kitou didn’t relax his arm, nor show any signs of letting go.
“I recognize your ability. But you simply weren’t the right person to be a representative in this special exam. That is all,” said Katsuragi.
There was a definite reason why Kitou couldn’t hold back his irritation, even though he could blame his own inexperience for losing to Katsuragi. Actually, there was no need for him to suppress his anger over the correct answer.
“Let go of him immediately and move away. If you escalate any further, we will declare this to be an act of violence, Kitou-kun.”
Mechanical words from the proctor could be heard over the speaker. Kitou was furious, but he knew he couldn’t take this any further, and he released Katsuragi’s chest, his hands shaking with fury as he tried to contain his anger.
“I have lost here today…” said Kitou.
Kitou muttered those words bitterly before turning his back on Katsuragi and throwing open the door.
“I had thought that anger might have been for me, but were you looking at Ryuuen beyond me, Kitou?” asked Katsuragi to the loser’s back.
But Kitou left without a word, slamming the door behind himself. Katsuragi watched him exit and then took a breath once he was alone in the room. Katsuragi didn’t know exactly what had happened between Kitou and Ryuuen, but he knew that, aside from the fact that they were in different classes, Kitou tended to regard Ryuuen as an enemy. Katsuragi guessed that Kitou must have been aiming to defeat him and then bring the hammer down on Ryuuen himself.