Classroom of the Elite - Manipulation at its Finest

"So let's begin to talk about how we found ourselves here, shall we ?"
Sakayanagi's words instantly shifted the whole atmosphere of the spacious room.
While there obviously was a certain pressure due to Ryūen and Kōenji's attitude earlier, the tone Sakayanagi used took it up a notch.
"Yes, we definitely wasted too much time." Kanzaki instantly agreed, glancing at Ryūen and Kōenji with a disapproving expression.
"Nice to know we share the same opinion. Then, should I go first ?" Sakayanagi rhetorically asked. "A good start would be to ask : did anyone notice something weird before fainting ?"
While it remained a basic way to begin the interrogation, it indeed was a good start.
Even though I did not remember anything suspicious, maybe another had a clue.
It would be lying to say it was not welcome at the moment.
But unfortunately, it seemed fate was not with us, as no one spoke up nor raised his hand.
"So disappointing... But at the same time so predictable." Sakayanagi sighed.
"If anyone has noticed even the smallest of thing, please say it ! It could always be helpful !" Ichinose added, desperately looking for a clue, whatever it might be.
"No use to insist on this question, Ichinose-san." Sakayanagi said with an amused smile, as another silence invaded the room. "Instead, I'm curious about a matter we have seemingly forgotten until now."
She took the time to change her hand holding her cane before continuing.
"It's already been a while since someone arrived, so I don't think I'm mistaken when I say it's a matter of fact we're only sixteen here. Now that it is said, can I ask for everyone here to say in what class they are assigned ?"
Sakayanagi's question came out as weird for most, but it actually was an excellent one.
Actually, this had been one of the point I was concerned with. The fact that Sakayanagi asked about this that early could only be good for the future.
"Eh ? How does this hold any connection to our situation ?" Ishizaki questioned, confused.
"It doesn't matter whether I answer or not. We'll see soon enough if my reasoning is right." Sakayanagi replied, but her smile clearly implied that she did not think one second she was wrong.
"O-Okay ?"
"Kuku. Of course." Ryūen chuckled, apparently having caught on what was Sakayanagi's goal with her question.
And so, one by one, we announced what our class was.
"Class 1-B."
"Class 1-C."
"Class 1-D..."
And this went on, without any disturbance from either Ryūen and Kōenji this time.
Once finished, the others seemed to have understood what was the point of the question too.
"It's weird... We're exactly four student students of each class."
"Eight girls and eight boys too !"
"Right ! Is it a coincidence ?"
"It's hard to think it is the case, though..."
Yes, Sakayanagi was right since the start. Out of the sixteen students reunited here, each class was represented by four of them.
If we randomly picked sixteen students out of the one hundred sixty entering this school, it was very unlikely that we would ever reach this result.
Not to mention, we exactly were one-tenth of the first years students... and this surely was what helped Sakayanagi to notice it.
It was simply too hard to believe all of this was a simple coincidence.
"Ahem." Sakayanagi cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the whole room by this simple act.
Naturally, she had gained a certain figure of authority thanks to her title and her natural confidence, while some could argue it looked more like smugness.
The fact that she also found such an unorthodox detail only strengthened her position, also to the likes of Kanzaki and Katsuragi.
"Four students of Class 1-A, four students of Class 1-B, four students of Class 1-C and four students of Class 1-D. I think nobody here is foolish enough to believe this is a pure coincidence. Then, what can we figure out of it ?"
Sakayanagi's sincerely curious tone made me question if she was simply testing us, or if she was legitimately wanting to know the answer.
"Well, if it really is intentional..." Ichinose started hesitantly. "Doesn't that mean we were sort of chosen to represent our classes ?"
"Fufu. Represent our classes ? Yes, I believe it is close to the truth, if it is not exact."
It was the easiest conclusion to reach, of course. But...
"But in that case, for what purpose ?"
Sakayanagi asked what everyone was asking themselves.
She heaved a sigh before continuing.
"Normally, I would say that it is a test from the school to see our overall abilities. After all, school is for Ultimate Students and not quite close to any normal schools. But the more we think about it, the more it becomes evident it isn't actually possible."
"A-And why's that ?" Ichinose fearfully wondered, not giving up on hoping our situation was not actually bad.
I noticed she was trembling a little, and I consequently concentrated my attention on her expression.
Frowning, she was biting her lip to try to refrain her emotions to come out. Her eyes contained buried fear in them, and I understood that Ichinose, too, had grasped what were the problems in what Sakayanagi had advanced.
Simply, she was too afraid to point it out by herself, because it would mean acknowledging the unsettling situation we were in.
"What, still in denial ?" Ryūen mocked, not caring at all about Ichinose's feelings. "Then I'll have to open your eyes myself."
Unbothered by everyone's glares in the room, Ryūen kept talking.
While some might not have understood everything, they clearly had a bad impression of Ryūen and the more he talked, the more this impression confirmed itself.
"Do you really think the school is willing to go as far as to isolate the second and third-years, as well as the one hundred forty-four other students in our year ? Let's admit it is the case, even if it's highly unlikely. Can you explain the walls surrounding the campus ? Can you explain that, despite the fact that we all reunited here, nothing happened and nobody came ?"
Ryūen's rapid succession of questions sounded aggressive, challenging Ichinose to deny them.
"I-I know that !" Ichinose replied with a shaken voice. "But then, if you're really implying we got kidnapped, why are we in this school to begin with ? Why are we so free of our movements ? How is it that the only thing keeping us from escaping this place are walls, which aren't even denying us an escape if we make an effort ?" she launched a counter-attack.
"Kuku, good questions." Ryūen's smirk went unbothered by Ichinose's display. "But come on, you know we can find logical answers for that."
That was true. Ichinose's questions compared to Ryūen's were a lot easier to speculate about and to reach a logical conclusion about.
If I were to try to find a reason as to why we were given so much freedom, I'd say it's either because we weren't kidnapped for a ransom or because the ones who organized this were not worried in the slightest about the possibility that we could escape.
This also meant that there might be others obstacles beyond those walls... Or that if we tried to go past it, no matter the means, we would just be stopped.
Just thinking about it was frightening.
"Ichinose, even if it doesn't please you, not that it please me, of course, you must admit that Ryūen is right." Kanzaki sighed tiredly.
"H-Huh... I guess so... Sorry, Ryūen-kun, I let my emotions dictate my thought process." Ichinose sheepishly lowered her head.
Ichinose's sincere apologies, even though she mentioned Ryūen, were more so likely directed towards the entirety of the students here.
Or at least, it's what I thought since she didn't directly face Ryūen.
And surprisingly or unsurprisingly, words of comfort were spoken to her.
"Ichinose-san, I don't think you should apologize for being disoriented by our current situation." Shibata tried to reassure her.
"Besides, debating and trying to find answers should be our priority right now, which is what you're doing." Himeno added.
"They're right." Kanzaki agreed, smiling gently at Ichinose. "One must not hesitate to disagree or ask questions, or else some confusion may happen at one point."
"Yeah !" Karuizawa bluntly said. "And your questions weren't dumb at all, in case you wondered.
Naturally, the five persons who showed their emotions normally and without too much hostility looked much closer and less defensive than anyone else.
Wait, maybe I should express my support too ? If I manage to do it correctly, I maybe could join the future group they'll form...
"Thanks, you guys..." Ichinose embarrassingly scratched her cheek.
Damn it. Without realizing it, I missed the timing. Why was it so hard to speak up when you needed to ?!
This apart, I found myself admiring the courage they had to openly comfort someone they barely knew.
Maybe that the first impression they got of Ichinose played a role in this, but this didn't remove the fact that it was impressive.
Well, perhaps I was biased because I obviously didn't know a thing about social interactions, but those were my honest thoughts.
"Should we take the time to summarize what we currently know ?" Katsuragi politely asked, being considerate of everyone's opinion this time.
"Sounds great for me." Kanzaki did not lose a second to support his idea. "Like that, we'll be able to see what we might have missed."
"Then, should I do it ?" Sakayanagi said, apparently not against the idea. "I believe I'm the most appropriate person to do that, right ? After all, I've woken up here."
Out of nowhere, a new piece of information appeared. Sakayanagi Arisu, who until now handled the conversation with flying colors, put a new topic to investigate on the table.
For I and Horikita, who were the last ones to enter the spacious room, it would only be logical to think that everyone was placed in the same situation as us.
But it seemingly was not the case, as Sakayanagi was emphasizing. My eyes unconsciously found their way to what she was holding in her right hand.
"You've woken up here, Sakayanagi-san ?" Ichinose exclaimed surprisingly.
"Yes, alongside with Kamuro-san, of course. But should I begin to sum up everything we learned first ?"
Not letting anyone ask more questions, Sakayanagi formulated a rhetorical question.
"Firstly, the last memory everyone has is the one where they enter the bus, which was supposed to bring us here. But, for an unknown reason, nobody can remember what happened afterward. The only thing we know is that we woke up here, scattered around the school, for not any apparent reason. There is no sign of anyone else here besides us, and unexplainable walls are surrounding the campus." she narrated. "I myself woke up here, in the gymnasium, next to Kamuro-san. And as more and more people began to come, I noticed something strange."
Sakayanagi didn't fail into making us crave for more information. In fact, she had leaded the conversation since the beginning and dropped every bit of information she had bit by bit to keep our attention and curiosity to the highest.
An impressive feat indeed, that I unfortunately could only dream of replicating one day.
"Something strange about what ?" Kanzaki pressed.
"Hmm... Do you have any idea about it is, Kamuro-san ?" Sakayanagi did not pay much attention to him, and preferred to ask Kamuro about it.
The two were next to each other, although there was a respectable distance between them.
Kamuro looked at Sakayanagi weirdly, harbouring a frown.
"... Are you trying to make fun of me ?"
Even though she didn't seem talkative, it seemed she wanted to try to guess, as she put an air of thinking on her face.
"But... If I had to guess, I would say that it is the fact that almost everyone here arrived in groups of two." Kamuro hypothesized without much conviction. "Am I wrong ?"
"Fufu." Sakayanagi chuckled, apparently happy that Kamuro took it seriously. "Yes, that's it. You're exactly right, Kamuro-san."
"... You're a weirdo."
Besides the odd interaction between the two, a new piece of information that made us speculate even more about the situation made its appearance.
"As Kamuro-san said," Sakayanagi ignored Kamuro's comment and addressed to everyone once again, "most of the newcomers came by groups of two. Respectively, Ichinose-san and Kanzaki-kun, Shiina-san and Katsuragi-kun, Hashimoto-kun and Shibata-kun, Amikura-san and Ibuki-san, and to finish, Ayanokouji-kun and Horikita-san. As you can deduce, the only four who came in alone were none other than Ryūen-kun, Karuizawa-san, Kōenji-kun and Ishizaki-kun."
Guessing to where was Sakayanagi getting was hard. It's the reason everybody kept listening attentively, except Kōenji, who seemed to not pay a bit of attention to what was happening, as he had his eyes closed and smiled for a mysterious reason.
From the side of my eyes, I saw him nod at himself, with a satisfying expression.
At this moment, I would have done everything to know what was on his mind, even reciting the names of every book I read based on my memory.
"Does that mean anything, I wonder ?" Sakayanagi continued with a slight pause. "I would like to answer, but before so, I would like to listen to the versions of these four right here... I may be worrying about nothing, after all."
Although she said that, her smile showed that she was confident enough in having found something.
"Wait... You're asking me why I wasn't with this monkey ?" Karuizawa pointed Kōenji with her finger.
"Does that mean that you originally were ?" Sakayanagi asked without a rest, not letting Kōenji the time to complain about the nickname he was given, even though he didn't seem to particularly mind.
"Well... we crossed ways, but he left me as soon as we met. This guy didn't even acknowledge my presence !"
"Why would I care about an ant lost on its way ? Consider this as the dilemma I was facing." Kōenji replied nonchalantly, not bothering in the slightest to even give an apology in appearance to the outraged Karuizawa.
"You... !"
"Enough, enough." Sakayanagi, not paying attention to their antics, then turned to Ryūen and Ishizaki. "What about you ?"
"Hmm... You might find that weird, but me and Ryūen didn't meet at all, unlike all of you." Ishizaki answered without much hesitation.
For some reason, Ishizaki looked like the type of person that would have a hard time lying. Let's say that his face was rather expressive.
"Really ? Then could you tell me by any chance in which room you woke up ?" Looks like that wasn't nearly enough to convince Sakayanagi.
"Yeah, sure. I woke up on the floor of the library," The mention of a library made the girl named Shiina beam her eyes with curiosity, which was expected since she introduced herself as the Ultimate Reader, but no one except me seemed to notice it. "All by myself."
"Pfff."
Ryūen's snicker attracted in one instant the attention of the whole room. It looked like he was on the point of bursting out laughing.
"Ishizaki, you're one big liar, aren't you ?"
"H-Huh ?!"
"What do you mean, "Huh" ? We were together for a long time, y'know ?"
Ishizaki was frozen, his face showing nothing but pure confusion.
"Ryūen-kun, please stop fooling around and just get to the point."
The mostly-quiet Horikita spoke up, understanding that Ryūen was once again playing with the brains of everyone in the room.
"Come on now, what I said wasn't untrue, but you of course have to antagonize me directly." Ryūen replied, pretending to be hurt, but the smirk he was wearing left no place to doubt.
"Just... Cut off to the chase." Horikita was surely on the verge of verbally destroying Ryūen, like she did with me earlier. Wait. Why didn't she already ? Why was I the only one to receive this shameful treatment ?
... Life sure is unfair.
"As you want, milady." Ryūen ironically said. "So, as I insinuated, I also woke up in the library, next to this dumbass. The thing I left out is, that he was unfortunately still asleep."
Ah.
So all this comedy was for... this. One could without any effort understand the feeling of anger directed at Ryūen being amplified little by little, sentence by sentence, he pronounced in this room.
"W-What ?" Ishizaki opened his mouth in disbelief, horrified. "W-Wait, you didn't do anything with my body, did you ?!"
Poor Ishizaki. Obviously, if you learned that someone like Ryūen had watched you in your sleep, you would react like that. I got a shiver in the back, just thinking about it.
"Ryūen-kun." Sakayanagi appealed calmly, not paying any mind to Ishizaki, who was checking his body. "May I know why you decided to leave him be ?"
"'Cause I wasn't feeling like waking him up nor waiting for him to wake up, what else ?"
I didn't know him for long, but that was obviously in Ryūen's character to act and answer like that, so no one was really surprised by this answer.
Rather, he succeeded in making a few people fuming. Since the beginning, Ryūen was in opposition with everyone, wasting time for nothing and simply joking around, delivering every single piece of information with unbearable antics, slowly burning the patience most allowed to give him.
However, no one exploded. Precisely because that was all Ryūen was waiting for. Fortunately, everyone seemed to understand this fact, even Karuizawa, who was acting rather impulsively until now.
"I see. Thank you for your cooperation, Ryūen-kun."
Sakayanagi, who believed that something was up with the four, found nothing.
Despite that, she didn't look upset at all. Rather, she seemed amused, as if she just won a game.
That was strange.
"... Aren't we just back to the start ?" Kanzaki asked, understanding that this subject reached to nothing, a tad disappointed.
Of course, looking at it from an objective standpoint, it would be the case. But this conversation allowed any doubts that anyone could have had, now or later, to be gone. By consequent, I would say that everything that was talked about just now was useful.
"Not exactly, but that doesn't matter." Sakayanagi responded. "Still, it looks like we won't learn much more by staying there, will we ?"
"Right, we should look for clues !" Ichinose added.
"Yes, and find a way to escape this unfathomable school, if possible." Katsuragi agreed.
"Boooooooring !"
All of a sudden, an unknown voice made its way towards our ears. A childish, innocent, but condescending voice, who announced anything but good news. This, was as clear as water, as everyone tensed up.
"By now, you should already have panicked, yet you're all looking like there's nothing to worry about !" Little by little, the voice was approaching. "Really, students these days are no fun at all."
The owner of this voice then came to light, appearing behind the bleachers. And unexpectedly, it belonged to... a bear. Or rather, a doll.
Divided in two sides, one white, which had a normal eye, one black, which had a red eye, one could argue it looked either cute, or creepy, or ridiculous. Only one thing was certain at this moment : it was not human.
"Hello, dear students ! As planned, everyone is here ! Welcome to the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Ultimate Nurturing High School ! Wow, such a long name. Maybe I should narrow it down a bit... Anyway ! I'm officially your new chairman, Monokuma !"
Insensitive to our shock, it continued to talk, introducing itself, without breaking a sweat, while moving itself to the center of the gymnasium.
"A bear... talked ?" Ichinose asked, in awe.
"I'm not a bear ! I'm Monokuma, your chairman ! What a youth, having no respect for their elder..."
"Kuku, no matter how you look at it, this thing is definitely not a bear." Ryūen snickered. "And it says some interesting things, too."
"Finally, one that understands !" Monokuma said, over the moon.
Incomprehension. That was what everyone was feeling right at this moment. How could you not ? Out of nowhere, a creature announced to be our chairman, the one who ruled this place, and made on the way some creepy comments.
Even Sakayanagi, who acted the most composed until now, flinched.
I, too, was lost. The situation as a whole was the weirdest I ever encountered, and it said a lot about it.
However, there was a logic explanation to this bear. One that everyone could guess.
"Heh. Isn't it just a robot ?"
Ibuki, one of the most quiet until now, came up with it.
"A-A robot ?!" Monokuma exclaimed, outraged.
"Of course it must be one. Such a creature... couldn't possibly exist without technology." Horikita agreed, looking at Monokuma disdainfully.
"Of course I am one !" Monokuma confirmed, without even trying to deny it. "Wait, you still didn't know that ?"
The passive-aggressive Monokuma threw off most of the students here, too confused to think logically.
"But the question is... Are you controlled by someone ?"
Despite its unpredictability, Horikita did her best to keep an objective eye on the situation, asking the good question.
"Upupu... That's a question you must resolve by yourself, I believe, Horikita-san."
"..."
Even though Horikita tried to make a solid front in appearance, even her was unsettled by the turn of events. That was understandable. No one expected anything this unsettling to happen this early in this school void of life.
And the fact that a robot appeared gave no more doubts : we definitely were under surveillance since the beginning. And the cameras I noticed in the corners of every place I went to did not tell otherwise.
By who and for what reason was only left to our imagination for now, though.
"So, Monokuma..."
Sakayanagi, who spoke up, had the most serious that I ever heard from her since the beginning of the discussion. Should I say that this even sounded menacing ? Or was it just me ?
"You're saying that you are our chairman ?"
Everything in this question screamed to be careful with the answer. I was sure, now. Her tone was definitely menacing. Got it.
Could all girls be like this ? If yes, I would have to do my best to not ever make them mad. Ever.
That was a matter of life and death, I concluded.
"Yes ! You understand fast, Sakayanagi-san !"
But Monokuma did not seem to care at all. In fact, he seemed overjoyed by this question.
"But this is a lie, isn't it ?"
In a few seconds, Sakayanagi recovered her calm, serene, confident tone. Impressive.
"You're accusing me of lying ? You're almost defaming me there, Sakayanagi-san... All I can tell you is that, by now, I'm definitely the one in charge of this school ! And this, is the absolute truth."
"I see." Sakayanagi smiled smugly, fully back on her feet. "We'll be in your charge, then."
The speed with which Sakayanagi regained her calmness made me doubt that I ever witnessed her colder, terrifying side.
Was she ever not in control of the situation to begin with ? No, she surely at one point, for an unknown reason, broke her composure. Otherwise, how she acted would make little to no sense.
But there was no more time to analyze it, as the one who were left out due to their shock began to understand the situation.
"Wait, are you really accepting this thing," Ibuki emphasized, "as our chairman ?"
"Ibuki-san, you don't seem to understand something there. Do you think you even have a tenth of the information that Monokuma possesses ?" Sakayanagi retorted with a sigh.
"So you're saying we basically have to trust this ?" Karuizawa said with disgust.
"No, listening and trusting are two different things." Kanzaki irrupted. "We'll decide whether what this "Monokuma" has to say is trustworthy or not after we listen to it."
"... Makes sense, I guess." Karuizawa conceded.
Worries and hesitation had filled the gymnasium, except for a few. Whispers started to appear, even between the most quiet. It was mostly the ones that arrived together that were discussing, at the exception to some like Karuizawa and Ichinose.
So, I too, turned to Horikita.
"It looks pretty bad, doesn't it ?"
"It does." Horikita squinted her eyes, gazing at Monokuma. "I don't know what is this masquerade nor who organized it, but I'll make it end soon."
"You're determined, I see."
"You have no need to state the evidence, you know ?"
Ouch. Seems like Horikita was not really looking for a conversation, unfortunately.
Sighing, I moved my eyes back to the ones that were conversing. Little by little, the noise quieted down.
Meanwhile, Monokuma was patiently waiting for its turn, amusingly observing us.
"Okay, so we can now commence with our splendid entrance ceremony !"
For some reason, I felt like this was not the entrance ceremony I was supposed to assist to. Thinking about it, I guess nobody felt like that was it.
Stress was accumulating in the room. No one could tell in advance what was Monokuma about to say. What revelations it had in its pockets.
But, somehow, I knew.
I knew that what was about to happen would turn upside down the peaceful life I wanted to live inside this school, originally.
I knew that everyone here was going to have a hard time.
I knew that I surely left a cage just to enter another one.
Despite all of that, my curiosity was piqued. After all, a whole another experience awaited me.
Be it with the people alongside me, or just with this school life that was beginning very differently than what I expected, I was feeling at the same time impatient, anxious and calm.
I hoped that all the questions wandering in my mind would have an answer, no matter the conditions, and that, even for a moment, I could be free.
Those were nice things to hope for, I felt like.
... Little did I know, things were going to take a worse turn than anything I could have imagined at that time.
AN : Thanks for reading, I appreciate any feedback !