章 30: Chapter 30 - The Mastermind

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Have you still not given me your power stone? Powerstones are greatly appreciated, and so are reviews I would really appreciate more reviews.

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"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake." ~Napoleon Bonaparte

"Slow down, Ryuk. There are plenty of apples here. Plus, if you're so focused on eating, you might not notice if someone comes close by," I said, receiving a nod from a full-mouthed Ryuk.

Saying that, I continued to play with Ryuen's walkie-talkie that was now in my possession. A breeze hit, and it was relaxing—perhaps the most relaxing moment I've had since arriving on the island.

The breeze, the shaking of the trees and leaves around me, the sound of water from the small river to my side, and, of course, the lack of idiots all helped my state of relaxation.

"So, what's the plan now? You've given all the materials that previously belonged to Class C to Class A, and you asked the school to make you the cardholder of Class C instead of Ryuen. So, there isn't much to do," Ryuk said.

"You're right. All there is to do now is wait and hide," I said, situating myself by a tree.

"Then what's the point of all this? You said it yourself: the contract with Class A is unimportant. As long as you give the items you've purchased with points to them, you really have no other obligations to them. So, why stay here?"

"Isn't it relaxing here, Ryuk? It's peaceful, there are apples, and there are no people bothering us," I said, closing my eyes.

"I guess I can't complain as long as we have apples here. But Light, if you really dislike people that much, I have a special notebook that can—"

"Stop spouting nonsense, Ryuk. How could a notebook help me deal with my problems?" I responded.

"No, but I'm serious, Light. It can…"

But before Ryuk could explain the notebook to me, I had already fallen asleep.

***Day 6***

After waiting for a call from the walkie-talkie, one finally arrived.

"Hello, Ibuki here. I've acquired Class D's keycard. I'll be heading to the meetup location now."

A question rang in my head: why does she have the actual keycard and not just a picture?

But I pushed my questions to the back of my mind and responded, "Good job. I'll be heading there too, but I'll stay hidden."

"Why—" Before Ibuki could blow my cover, I quickly responded.

"Don't say anything suspicious. Just know that Ryuen had to leave early. I need you to be the one who contacts Katsuragi for me. You will handle the dealing; I'll stay in the background."

"I understand," Ibuki replied, ending the conversation. With those final words, I stood up from the tree I'd been using as a home and stepped into the rain, making my way to the meetup location.

I stayed a decent distance back and merely watched. Ibuki seemed to be the first to arrive at the location. She just stood there, waiting for Katsuragi. After a few minutes, he finally made his appearance.

"Ryuen isn't here. I hope this isn't some trick or a waste of my time," Katsuragi said, approaching Ibuki.

"Ryuen is too busy to deal with someone like you, but this is no trick. I have the keycard right here," Ibuki said, taking a green card out of her tracksuit and handing it to Katsuragi.

"Impressive, it's the real deal," Katsuragi said, quickly handing the card back. "Your class has upheld its side of the deal."

"While we know their leader, we couldn't get Class B's keycard," Ibuki explained.

"No need then. Now, if that's all, I'll be going. No reason to spend more time here than necessary," Katsuragi said, making his exit.

"It's clear, Light," Ryuk said after a few seconds. So, I came out of my hiding spot and walked towards Ibuki.

"So, are you going to tell me what you're doing on this island instead of Ryuen?" she asks.

I let out a sigh before responding, "It's complicated. Let's just say Ryuen probably wants to kill me right now. Ah, I was going to ask, why do you have the original keycard and not just a picture?"

"My camera broke," she responds simply.

I nod my head. It was strange, though—a new camera suddenly breaking. But not impossible. Well, it doesn't matter. Looking at Ibuki, it's obvious she couldn't secretly snap a picture of Class C's keycard. She had to fight for this card, but the noise she probably created will work to my advantage.

"Are you alright? You look tired and beat up."

"I had to fight Horikita for that card. It was a pain, but I got it."

"I see. Well then, you should return to the ship. I think Kaneda will be returning tonight as well." And with a nod of her head, Ibuki left.

If Ibuki had to fight Horikita for this card, I can assume the shadow leader of Class D knows of Class D's situation. Given their puppet's involvement, they will probably assume the card was stolen under Ryuen's command, given my dispute with Ryuen in camp.

Everything that Class D has done in this exam leads back to Ryuen. Even the walkie-talkie Ryuen kept on his personal table while we were on the beach like a complete idiot. If someone did find and tamper with Ibuki's camera, I can assume they also found her walkie-talkie.

"Well, this all seems pointless," Ryuk said now that it was just the two of us.

"Let me tell you a secret, Ryuk. The leader of Class D right now may be Suzune Horikita, but by tomorrow, the leader will definitely change," I explain.

"Hmm?" Ryuk hums curiously.

"The rules during this exam say you can't switch leaders unless there are special circumstances. For example, how I became the leader of Class C now. Class D has no idea what Ryuen planned with their keycard, so they're in a tough spot. They could lose a lot of points unless they switch leaders."

"I see, but you can't know who the new leader will be," Ryuk responds.

"True," I respond. On the first day of camp, I thought about camping in the arrival area to catch anyone switching their class leader, but I learned that would be worthless. Sakagami stated that when we choose our leader, we must simply let him know, and a keycard will be made. When Ryuen was made leader, he wasn't even there to declare himself as leader. Ibuki went and declared him as leader herself, meaning camping out is useless. And that makes sense, but "Still, that is bold of you to assume, Ryuk."

(AN: Im putting this here and not at the end because im sure there will be arguments about this. I believe this to be canon, as in the anime, sudo got the keycard for Horikita. I'm pretty sure the light novel mentions some side characters saying they will inform the teacher about the class leader. I remember the teachers also saying something akin to what I just said Sakagami said above (to lazy to find the specific quote, but I have read the LN and remember something like this being said). I also think camping would be a boring out, so I'm not going to do it.)

"Oh?"

"It's one of the reasons I was confident that Horikita was the leader of Class D; I already knew the mastermind. Ryuen and I have talked about how Class D's true leader is hiding. That helps us narrow down a few suspects, but not enough to reach a conclusion. So, once I got into the student council, I was instantly intrigued by one thing: student evaluations. It's insane how much power the student council has. Even teachers show you respect, and there's a reason for that. Anyway, I looked over the evaluations of all Class D members, searching for someone with a high evaluation. Two names stood out as I sorted through them: Teruhiko Yukimura and Rokusuke Kouenji. But neither fit the personality I was looking for of the one I was looking for, and they were not really hiding. They both excelled in class but simply lacked a cooperative mindset. Then, I found one name that stood out: Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. He was evaluated as a C in every category except cooperativeness, where he scored a D."

"I see. That's the guy who always looks like he's dead inside, right? Why would such a useless person be a main figure in almost every class issue so far, especially if he's uncooperative?"

"Exactly. And it seems whenever Horikita is around, so is he. But tell me, does Horikita seem like the kind to make friends, especially with fools easily?"

"I understand now… but still, that's all you're basing your conclusion on? It may be strange to be graded a C in everything and constantly be around major issues, but it could just be a coincidence, you know?"

"Yes, I thought so too… Did you know that there are cameras in the cafeteria?"

"…" Ryuk simply stares at me. "Isn't that obvious?"

Hearing his words, I smile. "After Kushida gave the midterm answers to Class D, many were curious where and how she got them. As you remember, that situation was a trap I set to elicit a response. So her answer was as expected: she got the answers from a senior during lunch break. As you can imagine, Class D being idiots, this information spread. It wasn't difficult as a member of the student council to gain access to the school's camera recordings. Even students can formally request recordings. After all, cameras are around the school to make use of or even blackmail others. And obviously, with my position on the student council, I wouldn't need to bother with a request. It wasn't like I was going to use the recordings formally. So, through some scouring, I was able to find a particular day—the only day where Ayanokoji and Kushida walked into the cafeteria together, talked to a senior and left. That's it. They did nothing else that day in the cafeteria, and it happened to be just after our case against Sudo was filed."

Most people would walk into the cafeteria without a second thought, but who knew it would be such an ordinary action that would get the shadow leader of Class D figured out.

"I see. When you take that in with everything else, he is definitely suspicious. Then it would seem the chances your assumptions are incorrect are very unlikely. But what if he makes someone else the cardholder?"

"He won't because he has no reason to suspect that 'I, Ryuen,' know his identity as the shadow leader or even that I know a shadow leader exists. As long as no one guesses him, his identity remains secret. But suppose he goes on and tells someone else to become the cardholder. In that case, it becomes more of a headache to keep your identity secret when that person begins asking 'why,' and you also have to worry about that person doing something stupid. But as long as no one knows his identity, he can throw all credit onto Horikita without a care in the world—something that's harder to do if he makes someone else the cardholder. So, from his point of view, there's no advantage to making someone else in his class the cardholder. I've barely talked to the guy, but I've had many indirect confrontations with him. I know how he thinks, Ryuk. I've already won this thing."

(AN: These are the only reasons I can really think of as to why Ayanokoji didn't make anyone else the leader in canon, this and to not illicit panic)

Ryuk remained silent at my proclamation, and quickly the rain subsided.

"This thing's over. It was fun, though, I guess," I say, heading away to find an area to relax.

***The Final Day***

"Yagami, are you awake?"

Hearing that voice, I instantly opened my eyes. It was a voice I knew well—Sakagami's voice.

"Yes, I am. Good morning, Sakagami-sensei," I said, standing up from my sleeping area.

"Did you wash your clothes or something? How are you spotless?" Hearing his questions, I simply gave him a smile.

"I assume the test is over?"

"Yes, all your classmates have dropped out. Anyway, I hope you are capable of closing this out," Sakagami says, handing me a clipboard with a paper listing the letters A, B, C, and D, with C being crossed out.

"Don't you think you favor Ryuen a bit too much, sensei?" I say with a light chuckle.

"I have no favorites. I just haven't seen much of what you're capable of yet, so I simply have no expectations," he responds.

"Right. Well, I can assure you we will be ending this exam with 184 points," I respond, writing down the names of all class leaders on the paper Sakagami gave me.

Promptly, Sakagami took the clipboard from my hand with a smile and led me to the shore. "Let's hurry, or we will be late."

After a short walk, we arrived. There were three groups of classes, but four ships were ready to lead students off the island.

"I have to go up on the stand with Mashima over there, but you can head to your spot. Results will be revealed in a second," Sakagami says, walking away.

It seems I get to make a fashionably late entrance.

Walking onto the beach, I could feel the surprise of multiple students.

"Hey, isn't that Yagami?"

"But I thought Class C forfeited the exam?"

"What's he doing here?"

"Did Class C have someone stay on the island after all?"

"Hey, Katsuragi, didn't you say Ryuen was likely the last one on the island?"

"Yagami is here, but Ibuki isn't?"

"I see Ryuen was never on the island. That's why he didn't meet with me. Well, it's not like it matters. Your class helped me gain over 500 points, so I thank you for your efforts," Katsuragi said after walking up to me.

I almost laughed in his face. 500 points? Is this guy insane? He should be happy to make it out of this exam with 200.

"No offense, Katsuragi, but I think you should double-check your math," I responded.

He frowned at my words. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't want to be rude," I said, looking behind him at his class and the other classes listening in on our conversation.

"Please, don't hold back."

"Well, I think it's better if you figure everything out here yourself," I said before heading to the area for Class C, which was between Class A and D.

As I arrived, the first thing I noticed was Karuizawa shyly waving at me nearby. "I missed you," she whispered to me inaudibly. I gave her a quick wave back and a nod before I turned to look at her classmate, one who was staring at me keenly—Ayanokoji.

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Dont have much to say today just give me your opinions on everything so far. Hope you enjoyed

Would also like to here thoughts about how light learned about Ayanokoji and voted him as I know that was something I had to handle carefully.

Oh and lastly what do you think can you simply camp outside of the teachers area? Given what I've read and explained I doubt it would work with 100% success and I think the scenario I set up is more interesting anyways but would love to hear thoughts.