Third Person PoV

" Fuu............haaahh......." Kiyopon's snores filled the room as he slept peacefully on his bed to pass the time.

He was currently wrapped around by his blanket like a burrito for some odd reason.

Even PoV-chan does not know why that happened.

Maybe Kiyopon aimed for maximum comfort?

Haah....it's still hard to decipher him fully.

But a noise instantly woke our silent protagonist from his slumber.

Kiyopon immediately propped up on his bed.

" Oh, sorry. Did I wake you?" An apologetic voice said.

Kiyopon's eyes landed on Hirata Yousuke.

Hirata was currently getting ready to go out for his group meeting.

Kiyopon nods in response, implying that it was no problem.

Kiyopon was planning to wake up sooner or later anyway to discuss with Horikita.

Hirata sighed in relief, " That's good. I didn't mean to interrupt your sleep if you were really tired." He said.

Kiyopon simply nodded.

Hirata noticed that Kiyopon was still in his burrito form but made no comment about it.

" Ah, my meeting is about to begin. Would you like to come with me? Besides, I believe that the notification will come soon after my meeting." Hirata said.

Kiyopon turned his head to look at the clock.

It was just before 20:30. Whether due to coincidence or fate, that just happened to be the time Horikita had been summoned to her meeting.

Kiyopon looks at Hirata and nods.

" Very well. I'll wait for you outside. " Hirata said and began walking to the door.

Kiyopon nods.

But...

As Kiyopon tried to shuffle and move.

The burrito blanket was too strong....

"....."

Kiyopon tried to twist and turn but he couldn't seem to free himself.

Kiyopon decided to call out to Hirata but-

Click! The door had already been closed.

Hirata had left the room and was currently waiting outside.

"....."

Kiyopon lets out a quiet sigh.

Kiyopon had spent 5 minutes trying to free himself from the burrito roll until he finally tumbled to the floor.

Hirata had wondered why he heard a loud thump so he quickly checked back into the room to see a funny sight.

On the ground, was a Kiyopon wrapped into a burrito by his own blanket, whilst wearing a seemingly irritated expression.

" Um.....do....do you want me to- pfft....I'm sorry...!" Hirata tried to hold in his laughter.

Kiyopon felt embarassed being seen this way.

After laughing for a couple of minutes, Hirata regained his composure and proceeded to gently unroll the Burritopon.

" Come, we're going to be late." Hirata said but Kiyopon grabbed his sleeve.

Hirata turned to look at Kiyopon, " What is it-" Hirata paused as he saw Kiyopon staring at him with a grave expression.

Kiyopon grabbed his notebook and began writing.

It said.

Hirata only smiled and patted Kiyopon's shoulder.

" Don't worry. I would never do such a thing." He assured our silent protagonist.

Kiyopon accepted his response but was secretly making contingency plans in his head if this ever leaks.

Kiyopon and Hirata were currently making their way towards the designated meeting spot.

" Hey, Ayanokoji-kun. Is it just me or does this exam feel a bit strange?" Hirata spoke.

Kiyopon responded with his notebook.

it said.

Hirata nodded.

" Yukimura-kun told me about the rabbit group right after your group's meeting. And then several classmates also came to me to talk about it. It seems like everyone is receiving explanation of the tests." Hirata said.

Kiyopon nodded.

Hirata looked at Kiyopon.

" I know you said that you don't have much to think about the exam. But have you noticed anything weird?" He asked.

Kiyopon shrugs.

Hirata continued, " Well, I noticed that the explanations seemed so........scattered. At first, I thought maybe the school wanted to avoid confusion and trouble and concluded that as the reason to why they are telling us in groups but.......now that I think about it again...." Hirata trailed off.

Kiyopon wrote on his notebook.

It said.

Hirata nods, " Exactly." He confirmed.

Kiyopon agreed with Hirata's doubts. The school was using an inefficient method on purpose. Perhaps the school was currently testing their thinking.

Kiyopon inwardly sighed.

He still felt a bit sour that his 'vacation' had to be delayed because of another exam.....

" I'm planning to ask the teacher about that later." Hirata said as they were now close to their destination.

Kiyopon was curious on how Hirata would deal with things in this exam.

Hirata excelled in acting like glue for the entirety of Class D, he usually acted on the behalf of Class D on multiple occasions.

But now that Class D was split up into different Zodiac groups....

He wondered how Hirata would fare with these rules....

Hirata and Kiyopon's eyes widened at the sight before them.

Ryuuen and Katsuragi were currently having a seemingly tense discussion.

A stare-down.

Horikita was standing by the side and calmly observed them.

Hirata and Kiyopon went to Horikita.

" Horikita-san, sorry I'm late. Did something happen?" Hirata asked.

" Katsuragi-kun had approached me earlier and wanted to talk to me. He said that he was currently reevaluating his thoughts about me after our victory on the island. " Horikita said.

Hirata nods

" Katsuragi-kun also said our win was entirely by luck and that I shouldn't grow arrogant and consider us equals. He reminded me about our massive gap between our class points. " Horikita said and chuckled. Horikita knew that their win was entirely by luck.

Horikita's eyes glanced at Kiyopon.

' If it weren't for him......we would have definitely lost that exam....' She thought.

Kiyopon tried to pay attention to Ryuuen and Katsuragi's conversation.

Ryuuen had an entourage behind much, similarly like Katsuragi's but the students behind Ryuuen seemed to be more like slaves to their king.

" I originally thought that our group would be comprised of solely students with a high level academic ability. Now that you and your lackeys are here, I'm not so sure now." Katsuragi said.

Ryuuen laughed. " Academic ability? How droll. That kind of thing is meaningless." He responded.

Katsuragi narrows his eyes, " That's incredibly deplorable. Especially when academic success is the most important factor in determining our future. You do realize that Japan is often referred to as an academic society?" He said.

Kiyopon was entertained by this exchange of words.

A Class A leader who was seemingly betrayed by the tyrant leader of Class C.

Ryueen only chuckled and gestured for a response from the students behind him. " Can you believe what this idiot is saying?" He asked them.

His minions agreed immediately, their response to Ryuuen felt almost robotic.

" I won't let you bring your awful attitude to this test." Katsuragi said.

" Awful attitude? What in the world are you talking about? Ha! I can't possibly imagine. Can you perhaps tell me how I am, in fact, awful." Ryuuen responded.

Kiyopon could list down a million ways but stayed silent.

But Horikita decided to interject, " In so many ways, Ryuuen-kun. After all, your class totaled about hmm...... in the last exam, no? Your leadership is quite awful." She said.

Horikita decided to provoke Ryuuen this time, to see what he would do.

After nearly losing to Class C.

Horikita fully intended to learn from her mistakes.

Kiyopon's lips curled up slightly at what Horikita was attempting to do.

But it was unnoticeable , so nobody could really tell.

Ryuuen's eyes turned to Horikita.

" My, My. I didn't expect you to attack me like this, Suzune. Perhaps Katsuragi was right about arrogance, hmm?" He said with a smirk.

" I'd like to refer to it as confidence, Ryuuen-kun. If anything, it was you who was arrogant since it was who , after all." She replied.

" Kuku, I like this new spice in you, Suzune. You are going to be fun to destroy. But let's make one thing clear, " he said and stood in front of her.

" ."

Kiyopon looked at Horikita for her response.

Horikita refused to back down.

" Class D won't lose to the likes of you. You'll never see me beg for any mercy." She said and glared at him.

Silence followed soon after Horikita's response.

" Hey, um....sorry I'm late....what's happening?" Kushida asked as she walked and stood beside Hirata and Kiyopon.

Hirata turned his head to look at Kushida, " Um....it's a confrontation between our class leaders....I should put a stop to this." He said.

It seemed like everyone in the room was zoned into the conversation between Katsuragi and Ryuuen and also when it switched to Ryuuen and Horikita.

" Haah....that was a waste of time. I didn't seem to break through Ryuuen's shell." Horikita said as she sipped her tea.

Kiyopon and Horikita were currently sitting together at a table.

" After carefully examining the members of my group and yours......I can't help but think it's utterly biased." She spoke after she placed her cup down and examined the papers.

Kiyopon agreed.

He wrote on his notebook.

It said.

Horikita nodded in agreement.

" It's certainly unnatural that the leader of Class B wasn't placed in our group. But maybe she had lacking qualities that the school reconsidered her position...?" Horikita said her thoughts.

Kiyopon listened to her.

But he disagreed.

He wrote on his notebook.

it said.

" You're right. But we can do nothing about that now. " she said and looked st Kiyopon, " Are you still going to work behind the shadows?" She asked.

Kiyopon nods.

" I see. Then we should all be careful, especially you. " she said.

Kiyopon nods.

Kiyopon did not intend to underestimate Ichinose.

She was still an unknown factor to him for now.

He wasn't sure if she had something up her sleeve after all.

" Anyway, who do you think I should be most wary of in my group?" Horikita asked for Kiyopon's advice.

Kiyopon immediately wrote his answer.

It said.

Horikita sighs, " That's what I thought as well...... "

Suddenly, both of their phones had sounded a notification simultaneously.

Kiyopon and Horikita quickly checked their phones.

Kiyopon read his text.

' After thorough consideration, you have not been chosen as the VIP. Please remember to be a team player as your group tackles the challenges of this test. The exam begins today, and will be held over a period of three days. The members of the Rabbit Group should gather....' the last bit of info was simply the meeting place.

" I'm not the VIP..." Horikita said quietly and looked at Kiyopon.

Kiyopon shakes his head 'no', signifying that he ,too, wasn't chosen as VIP.

They both put their respective phones away and shifted in their seats.

" We weren't chosen. I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad." She sighs.

Kiyopon writes in his notebook.

It said.

Kiyopon had sneakily attacked her.

Or so he'd thought....

Horikita writes her response.

It said.

Kiyopon's lips parted in suprise as he stared at Horikita, who wore a knowing smile.

" I'm not losing to our little game very easily." She says.

Kiyopon writes in his notebook.

It said.

Kiyopon hadn't expected anyone to notice his lips curling up to a small smile.

But it seems like Horikita had been observing Kiyopon at the same time while testing Ryuuen.

Horikita was slowly maturing.....no....

She was maturing faster than that, it seems.

" Well, well. What do we have here." A voice said.

Horikita immediately dropped her smile and turned to look to the intruder.

It was Ryuuen.

But he wasn't alone.

He brought Ibuki Mio. The girl that Horikita defeated.

Ibuki looked irritated as she looked at Horikita.

" Ryuuen-kun, Ibuki-san. I wonder what you two are doing here? I'm having a busy conversation with my friend, after all." Horikita spoke calmly.

Kiyopon inwardly cheered to himself whenever someone refers to him as 'friend'.

Ryuuen smiles, " Sorry to interrupt your little 'date'- wait actually, no I couldn't really give a shit." He said.

" Nobody expects you to." Ibuki mutters.

Ryuuen ignores Ibuki and proceeds to ask Horikita, " Anyway, you received the message haven't you? Were you chosen as VIP?"

" I'm suprised that you are asking me so directly. Even if I were the VIP, I would have no intention of telling you." Horikita responded. " Or perhaps, would you mind telling us about your message?"

" If you wish." Ryuuen said before taking a seat and sitting down in their table." But before that, I am actually curious to know on how you managed to get those results on the island. Mind telling me?" He asked.

" I have nothing to tell you." Horikita said.

Ryuuen chuckles, " Well, I suppose you wouldn't give anything away. But that doesn't matter. There's no way that you should've led Class D to victory after your big mistake of losing the card."

Horikita remembered her failure.

But she stayed expressionless and responded to Ryuuen , " Is that so?"

" Though I am impressed that you managed to beat Ibuki. It was a sight to see her so angry haha!" Ryuuen jabbed at Ibuki.

Ibuki glares at Ryuuen and then to Horikita. " It was a fluke. Let's have a rematch, Horikita !"

" Regrettably, I must decline your offer. Violent actions are considered a violation of the test rules. If you do happen to strike me, I will not hesitate to report it to the school. At any rate, please feel free to do whatever you please." Horikita replied flatly.

" Tch!"

Ibuki was about to close the distance, seemingly ready to lunge at Horikita. But she held herself back.

She'd rather prevent a violation that she may cause affect her class.

Moreover, she was beneath Ryuuen. She didn't have the right to act freely.

" Since we're all together, why don't we have some coffee or tea?" Horikita suggested.

Kiyopon silently took his cup and began to drink.

Ryuuen carefully observed Horikita's expression. " Yesterday, Katsuragi seemed very cautious of you." He said.

" Well, nobody would have guessed that someone from Class D could do so well. Isn't that why you and Ibuki-san are here, to check on me?" She replied.

Ryuuen's smile grew, " You aren't wrong about that. I came here to measure your abilities for myself."

" Of course." Horikita said before calmy taking another sip of her tea.

Ryuuen leaned back on his seat, " Katsuragi and I think differently. When I'm dealing with someone, I'd like to keep an eye on them." He added, " I'm remembering the test on the island. More specifically, the result and the process that led to it. There are only certain types of people that can conceptualize and execute a plan like that. And from what I observed from you in the island, you couldn't had possibly done it." He said.

" Could it be that you're just in denial, Ryuuen-kun? That I'm better than you?" She replied and gauged his reaction.

Ryuuen merely snorts at that.

" At the end of the test, I wrote your name as leader. I was wrong. And there is only one reason I was wrong: the leader was switched right before the test ended. " Ryuuen said.

" That is not hard to deduce. Any idiot could have deduced that. Including Katsuragi, the person you've been making fun of."

Ryuuen puts up a finger as if mocking Horikita like she was wrong in a test, " Ah, but Katsuragi thinks you planned the whole thing. But was that really the case? In my opinion, someone simply used you as a distraction and took the chance to slip right under my nose." Ryuuen said as he briefly glanced at Horikita's quiet companion before averting his gaze back to Horikita.