“So, you’re going to be Sudou’s substitute, Ayanokouji?” Chabashira-

sensei asked.

“Yes.”

“Rather unusual, since you tend to prefer watching on the sidelines.”

Ike : Hey what is this video about.

Dio : This is from when ayanokouji teamed up with kushida for the three legged race.

Everyone in our class had a slight reaction on their faces when they heard Kushida's name.

“You’re taking Sudou-kun’s place, then, Ayanokouji-kun? I’m looking

forward to racing with you!” said Kushida.

“Yeah, same. I’m not all that fast, though, so you’ll have to forgive

me,” I replied.

Ryueen : Kuku , yeah of course you're not fast at all.

Sudou : Yeah man you really surprised as that time.

Shibata : Yeah , no kidding.

“In the three-legged race, coordination’s more important than simple

speed,” said Kushida.

“Yoo-hoo! Ayanokouji-kun! Oh, Kikyou-chan, too. Looks like we’re

competing in the same group, huh?” said Ichinose, walking up to us. Beside

her was her partner, Shibata.

“Oh, wow, real tough opponents!” Kushida said. “To think the two of

you are teaming up…”

“Well, Shibata-kun might be tough, but I’m really not all that special,

you know? I haven’t gotten first place in anything yet,” said Ichinose.

“Really? Wow, that’s unexpected,” replied Kushida.

“I placed second one time, but I got fourth or fifth for all the rest of my

events. To tell you the truth, someone else was supposed to participate in this

three-legged race, but I guess she sprained her ankle before lunch. Quite a

few people got injured this year,” said Ichinose. Apparently, Class B had

some absentees of their own.

“Hey, Shibata-kun,” Ichinose said to her partner. “Is it okay if I tie the

cord now?”

“Okay.”

The Class B pair cheerily tied their legs together.

“Well then, I suppose we should… Um, would it be okay if you tied us

up? It’d be weird for a guy to do that,” I told Kushida.

Sakayanagi : fufu , you have manners Ayanokouji-kun.

“Sure.”

“Anyway, I can’t believe Horikita-san went off looking for Sudou-kun

like that,” Kushida commented. “It’s just that, well, she absolutely never cuts

class. She’s very conscientious. Don’t you think it’s odd?”

“Yeah, I was surprised.”

Horikita : Oh really.

Ayanokouji : come on, what else was I supposed say at that time.

“You didn’t really look all that surprised, though.” As Kushida said

that, she crouched down and pulled the cord around my leg.

“I suppose it’s hard for people to read my face. Always has been.”

“You mean, you have a good poker face?”

“Kushida.”

“Hold on just a little longer, okay? I’ll be finished soon,” Kushida said

sweetly while she expertly tied the cord around our legs.

I decided to cut to the chase.

“It’s you. You’re the traitor who leaked Class D’s participation table to

Class C.”

Class D : WHAT

Ryueen : Kukuku, I like where this is going.

Matsushita : is that really true ayanokouji-kun.

Ayanokouji : Just watch you'll know soon.

Keisei : Why would she do that.

Ike : Wait, is it really true I mean is she really the traitor. I still can't believe it.

Sudou : Kanji, you already saw her real nature in the previous video right.

Miyamoto : Even if she has a dark side to her doesn't mean she will betray the class, right.

Koenji : Haha , you idiots still can't believe it even after seeing the real thing.

Hirata : Guys, calm down first. Let's continue watching the video. We can ask questions later.

“Come on, Ayanokouji-kun. What’s the matter with you? Even as a

joke, that’s a cruel thing to say,” she replied.

“I saw you. You took a picture with your phone of the participation

table we drew on the blackboard.”

“I did that to record the information, so I would remember.”

“Didn’t we all decide to write down our turns by hand, though?”

“Oh, really? Sorry, I forgot.”

Akito : So that's the reason why you said kushida is a traitor.

Hondou : But that's not enough evidence to prove that kushida‐san is the traitor.

As Kushida finished tying us together,

she slowly stood, beaming her usual smile. “Is that all that made you suspect

me?”

“Sorry, but I’m sure I’m right. If it weren’t true, Class C couldn’t have

massacred us like this,” I replied.

It was rare for me to be standing this close to Kushida, just the two of

us. This was the perfect opportunity for a chat.

“Um, but even if someone leaked Class D’s participation table, that

doesn’t necessarily mean Class C could crush us, right?” Kushida asked.

“That’s right.” Class C hadn’t been completely unmatched in every

competition, which made it difficult to level any accusations. Even if they’d

figured out Class D’s entire order, they still wouldn’t have known everything

about Classes A and B. However, the leak would’ve significantly raised Class

C’s chances of winning.

Kanzaki : Yeah , it will surely increase their chances of winning.

“Hey, Ayanokouji-kun. Assuming that I am responsible for leaking

Class D’s information… If my taking a picture led you to determine that, it

must mean you knew the participation table was leaked, right? In that case,

why didn’t you change the table after I took the picture? Couldn’t you have

submitted a new participation table later as a countermeasure? If you did that,

the picture I took would’ve been useless, don’t you think?”

Shinohara : Yeah , that sounds quite reasonable.

Onodera : Even if most of the students didn't trust Ayanokouji-kun at that time, you could have still told that to hirata‐kun or horikita-san.

Ayanokouji : I've explained that in the video.

“Pointless. That wouldn’t matter if the traitor was a Class D student.”

“What do you mean?”

“Say we altered the participation table just like you said, Kushida.

Even if we submitted the new table secretly, as long as the traitor was from

Class D, they could inspect the new list at any time. Anyone in our class had

the right to see it,” I replied.

Katsuragi : Yes , he has a point .

“But if you hid the table until the last possible minute before

submitting it, even if someone did happen to see it, they wouldn’t have had

time to meddle.”

“That’s true enough, I suppose.”

“Ah, but doing something like that might end up throwing the rest of

the class into chaos later. That wouldn’t be good, either.”

Kushida was right. If we’d waited to submit the table just before the

deadline, like she said, we’d have reduced the likelihood of traitors—but also

severely confused our classmates. Likewise, the other students would’ve

resented us if we secretly changed the roster without consulting them. The

ideal countermeasure would have been to consider the possibility of a leak

from the very beginning, come up with multiple versions of the participation

table as a class, and submit one at random.

Ayanokouji : Do you understand now.

Class D : Haa , you're right.

“I understand what you’re getting at, but I’m not the culprit, okay? I

don’t want to suspect any of my classmates, either,” said Kushida.

“In that case, how about we check with Chabashira-sensei? I’m sure

she can tell us whether any students specifically asked to see the participation

table after we submitted it,” I replied.

“…………”

Kushida shut her mouth. For the first time that day, her smile

disappeared. She’d just implicitly confirmed my suspicions. However, a thin

smile crept back onto her lips right away.

“Hee hee. You really aren’t an ordinary person, are you, Ayanokouji-

kun?”

Ike : Ohh , don't tell me...

She laughed. This was a face I’d seen before. The face of the secret

Kushida.

“I suppose there’s nothing I can do, now that I’ve been found out. Yes.

I leaked the participation table,” she told me.

Class D : What

Onodera : So you really were the traitor kushida‐san.

Keisei : Why did you do something like that huh.

Sudou : Hey kushida answer us.

Horikita :everyone calm down.

Sudou : But suzune..

Horikita : I know you guys are angry at her, but for now calm down.

Hirata : Guys, listen to horikita‐san. We can discuss this later.

“You admit it?”

“Yes. If you asked Chabashira-sensei, you would’ve found me out

anyway. It was just a matter of time. Besides, even if I tell you the truth,

Ayanokouji-kun, I’m confident I won’t be exposed. You haven’t forgotten,

have you? About my uniform, which you touched?”

She was threatening me.

Everyone remembered what they saw in the previous video.

Kei : ' That bitch how dare she threaten Kiyotaka.'

Matsushita : Ayanokouji-kun is she still threatening you with that.

Ayanokouji : No don't worry about it. It was solved.

Akito : Damn , she really is the worst.

Almost everyone agreed with akito's comment.

“No. I can’t expose you as the culprit. That’s

certainly true. Incidentally, this reminds me—during the exam on the cruise

ship, we ended up with the results we did because you had Ryuuen tell all of

the students that you were the VIP, right? Then you asked Ryuuen for a favor

in exchange for that information.”

Kei : So she's the one behind that too.

“And what would such a favor be? What could I want enough to betray

the whole class?”

“It’s what you asked me about before, isn’t it?”

“Ah ha ha! Yes, that’s it. You really figured it out, Ayanokouji-kun.”

“I’d like to hear it from your own lips,” I told her.

“I wanted to expel her. Expel Horikita Suzune. That’s what,” she

replied.

Class D was really shocked to hear that.

Hearing that sudou became really angry.

Sudou : Why do you want to expel suzune you bitch.

Chabashira :Sudou, your language.

Sudou : Tch

Kei : Kushida‐san why do you want to expel horikita‐san.

Satou : Yeah, why ?

Kushida : I have no intention of answering any of you. Besides if you keep watching the video you might get your answers.

“I just don’t understand why you’re going after Horikita so

relentlessly.” I’d hoped for the two of them to resolve their issues before the

sports festival, but it hadn’t worked out that way.

“I’m going to get Horikita-san expelled, no matter what you say. I

won’t change my mind,” said Kushida.

Sudou : Hey suzune , are you really okay with that.

Onodera : Horikita-san, we can't allow her to do as she likes.

Horikita : Don't worry about it anymore. The problem isn't as serious as you think it is now.

“And you’re okay with sabotaging Class D to do that?”

“That’s right. I don’t care if I never make it to Class A, if it means

Horikita-san gets expelled. Oh, but don’t misunderstand me—once she’s

gone, I’ll unite everyone, and we’ll work toward reaching Class A together. I

promise,” said Kushida.

Apparently, there was no changing her mind. She was entirely focused

on her goal. If she had to, she’d probably rope in people like Katsuragi,

Ichinose, or Sakayanagi to aid her.

“Oh, but I reconsidered one thing. I added you to the list of people I

want expelled, Ayanokouji-kun. After you and Horikita have been

eliminated, then I’ll aim for Class A,” said Kushida.

She still wore that gorgeous smile. Her expression was almost

dazzling.

“Have you considered that Ryuuen might expose you?”

“I’m not an idiot. I obviously wouldn’t do anything that left any

evidence behind. Ryuuen-kun is a liar who entraps people without batting an

eyelash. Well, I gambled on whether or not he would betray me,” said

Kushida.

Ryueen : kuku , I would never betray you kikyou , kuku.

I wanted to tell her that there were plenty of ways to deceive someone.

A real mastermind would have found a way to make someone else the traitor

in their stead. A pawn to help them achieve victory.

Sakayanagi : fufu , but those are things only a true mastermind can do.

Ryueen : Kuku , you can't expect that much from a defect, right kikyou .

Kushida : Tch ' That bastard '

Kiryuuin : haha, I wouldn't expect anything less from you kouhai‐kun.

Kanzaki : ' He really is dangerous.'

Matsushita : ' Woah , he really is a mastermind.'

Nagumo : ' What he said is completely true.'

“Horikita-san’s taken a real beating in this sports festival,” Kushida

added. “It’s too bad you couldn’t save her, isn’t it?”

I wasn’t so sure about that.

With that conversation done, we ran the three-legged race, silent

hostility in the air between us.