Classroom Of The Elite 2nd Year - Full Volume
Epilogue #3
Before Ichinose could reveal the contents of the message, I offered my own phone. But this is not my cell phone, but one that I exchanged with a certain person.
"Ayanokouji-kun .. are you okay with that?"
"Yes, after listening to Hamaguchi, I thought there was no other way but this. Since I'm so bad at communicating, the only thing I can do is show the truth, so that's what I'm going to do"
"Wait for Ayanokouji, I object. There was no way this kind of blunt strategy could go smoothly" Yukimura desperately tried to stop me, but I ignored her words and showed my message.
That way, I prove that I'm not a "target". And a huge amount of water has accumulated in this invisible dam. Even if a 1 centimeter hole were to be opened, the dam would definitely collapse and turn into a huge current. This action is a trigger to open the hole.
"Hmm... it looks like Ayanokouji-kun is not ‘target’. Alright. Then I'll show you mine too"
Now who will follow it up? From among the large crowd, people who were still laughing at Hamaguchi's strategy, a woman voiced her agreement and agreed. He was the least expected. Mio Ibuki.
“Are you crazy? There's no advantage to us by doing this" He's Manabe who objects to Ibuki's risky actions. But the words Ibuki said were the right response, a good reason.
"People who are not their own ‘target’ nor belong to the same class as ‘target’, there is no advantage in maintaining that status. Class B also understands that if we do nothing, we will never catch up with the class above us. That's why they showed me their phones and I thought the same thing as them, that's all, " Ibuki said.
"But that..."
"Or maybe, you are ‘target’ ?" Ibuki told Manabe, who was supposed to be his ally, in the opposite way as the enemy.
"T-no t-it ..."
"Then you can show it, too, your phone"
On one hand, his words could be considered a threat to his own allies, as if they finally understood, Manabe and the others also took out their phones. The hunt for "targets" is ongoing. Karuizawa also took out her phone with a strap on it and handed it in front of everyone.
"Karuizawa, are you also coming with Ayanokouji? Are you going to follow this strategy, too?" Yukimura asked.
"I'm just doing this for myself, because I want personal points as well" Karuizawa replied. A message from the school said that he was also not a "target". Karuizawa is also considered safe.
"... ehhh what should I do?" Sotomura.
"Think of it yourself, Sotomura, it's not compulsory but voluntary, you know"
"Uuuu.. I think I can handle it”.
In a situation where many disciples had joined, since there was no other choice, Sotomura also moved to show her the phone. However, before he could do that, Yukimura quickly stopped him.
"...do you really think that this is the right thing to do?"
"Since a while ago, why haven't you come? Is it possible that you are ‘target’?" In response to Yukimura's strongly opposing strategy, Ibuki denied him with the question. At that moment, everyone could see Yukimura's expression harden.
"Uwa .. Are you serious?"
“Yukimura is not ‘target’, I initially heard like that" I quickly followed up. But spontaneous laughter came from some of the disciples.
"Did you really expect us to believe your words just like that? You may be lying" Manabe said that at first glance he doubted Yukimura as a fact.
Of course, continuing to deny that he was the "target" here would only invite further suspicion to him. He should know that too. But I can't make a step here yet. Because Yukimura is --
"It's still too soon to draw any conclusions, because Yukimura-kun also has points" Ichinose, who has witnessed a growing series of events, said as he once again pulled the phone out of his left pocket.
"I'm a little stuck in the flow, but I also want to show my phone" he said as he once again proved that he wasn't the group's "target.
"Wait, Ichinose. Earlier, you said there was something you wanted to tell us. You said you'd keep quiet about it all the time" Because she didn't forget that statement, Machida pressed the question to her.
"It's just the fact that I always had the same thought as well, that's all"
"... same thought?"
"I said the same idea, but as the leader of Class B, I only regret having been defeated by Hamaguchi-kun" After all, I just regretted that I was defeated by Hamaguchi-kun, it seemed like everyone other than Class A and Yukimura had already proven themselves to the group that they were not "targets"
"........." All the disciples here were not so conscious as they did not understand the meaning behind Yukimura's silence. Machida and the other students from Class A as well, had at some point approached Yukimura to look at him.
".....alright I understand, I'll show you. I just have to show it, right?" No longer able to withstand the pressure of the friends directed at her, Yukimura gave up and pulled out her phone as well.
"But before I do, I want you to promise me one thing" he said.
"Promise? What do you mean by that, Yukimura-kun?"
"No one here would be a traitor. Everyone here, especially Class A, I want you to take your phone and put it where I can see it. No, all of them. Everyone put your phones where I can see them" Yukimura said. He had already directed the statement to the group representative here, Machida, but Machida answered him in an unwelcome tone.
"I don't understand what you mean. Whatchu mean?"
"Persis like what I said. There is nothing more and nothing less"
Approaching Yukimura, all the students from Class A took out their cell phones and placed them in front of him. After confirming the fact, without any hesitation in his expression, Yukimura moved. Yukimura took the phone out of his pocket and turned on the screen, then entered the required 6-digit password and logged into his phone. Then he opened the message sent to him from the school and raised the screen directly for everyone to see.
"... I'm sorry for lying to you, Ayanokouji ..." Yukimura apologized while opening a message sent from the school. Most shocked after seeing the sentence written in the letter, it was of course a Class D member.
"I was the target .." said Yukimura. On the screen there is a different message than what other people receive.
"A-what's Y-Yukimura-dono been ‘target’ all this time?" Sotomura looked at him with a look of wonder. It also means that we've just let go of the 500,000 points that should have been given to Class D. However, Yukimura is the one who I exchanged his phone for in secret.
"If I knew everything would end like this, I would have spoken from the beginning" Yukimura said.
Karuizawa also looked surprised from the bottom of her heart and her expression showed unease. Looking at the scenery of the two people who would never think of Yukimura as a "target", it made sense. Machida then stood up and peeked at Yukimura's mobile message once again.
"It looks like the message is real, all the other private messages seem to belong to Yukimura without any doubt" Machida said after checking even Yukimura's private chat without permission. Towards Machida who approached the situation suspiciously, Ichinose tried to explain the situation calmly.
"There's no way it's fake, after all, you know the rules the school has set. Regarding the messages sent by the school about the exam, copying the letter and moving it deliberately was forbidden. The message was sent from the school address, the false possibility of it being zero" Ichinose said.
Precisely, from the very beginning, falsifying the information in this exam was clearly forbidden. Since the punishment known as expulsion awaits those who break the rules, everything laid here is nothing but the truth. Even if one overcame this hurdle by lying here, the matter would still wait for them after the exam ended, then the result would be the same.
"That means it is Yukimura-kun” Manabe nodded in agreement.
What is important here is the condition of the Yukimura message that will eventually be shown. Whether the person holding the phone is the owner or not has nothing to do. In other words, making a decision whether the person in question is the owner of the phone or not is a very difficult task.
Especially for students who were on guard during the exam, thinking that someone might have already exchanged their mobile phone with someone else was not a sudden guess. However, casually entering a 6-digit password and unlocking the phone in front of it makes everything different.
There is no way students can know the password of other students. They would definitely draw such a conclusion almost unconsciously by assuming such a thing if it was their phone. It is not rooted in reasoning but rather a prejudice that has been ingrained in their minds for many years.
"I'm sorry Yukimura-kun. I think of this as a last resort ..."
"No, I think it's the right thing to do, somehow I tried to get away from this, but it's wrong, I'm sure Ayanokouji and Sotomura, he said, and also Karuizawa will feel this is the right thing" Yukimura replied. With that said, he made himself look like a person trying to secure points safely just for himself.
"... with this everyone should know if ‘targetnya’ is me, So you should have arrived at an answer" he continued.
That was right, by completing the examination with everyone, the entire group could earn 500,000 points. The first result that seemed unachievable at first could be obtained now. Ichinose nodded his head once more with more strength than before, he pleaded to Class A.
"Please, don't waste Yukimura-kun's courage, please cooperate with us, don't betray us"
"We just followed Katsuragi-san's instructions from the start, we won't do anything by ourselves" Machida told Ichinose. He did say that, but before the exam was over, there would be a time when we would definitely have to disband as a group. Before the exam ended, for 30 minutes of free time, we had to trust not only our classmates but other students as well.
"I want to believe .. no, I believe in everyone ..."
Yukimura said as if it was a wish and every class accepted the same. I wonder if the disciple who had spent time together over the past few days obtained something resembling friendship?
I wonder if they will accept Yukimura's feelings, and be able to work together for victory? No, such a thing is impossible. I'm sure with this, someone will definitely become a traitor. And if so, we from Class D who have already replaced our phones with each other will definitely win.
Yukimura was sure of that. He must have tried to refrain from laughing out loud. However, the pleasure she must have felt evaporated, as Yukimura's phone held onto her suddenly rang and echoed within the room.
Yukimura was the one who was the most shocked compared to others by the incoming call. While hastily pulling the phone from the table, he tripped and removed the phone from his hand. Coincidentally, with the screen on the top right side, it was thrown right in front of us. Because in silent mode, the vibration is sent through the table as it continues to vibrate.
T/N: Maybe what resonates and sounds is the sound of the vibration? The name of the caller is -- 'Ichinose'.
He while holding the phone up to his ear, looked at Yukimura, then with serious eyes,
"What are you doing, Ichinose? There was no point in calling Yukimura at a time like this" Machida said as she looked at Ichinose with a dumbfounded face. After creating a situation where only me and Yukimura could understand its meaning, Ichinose quietly ended his call.
"The school says that 'changing or copying messages' is prohibited, therefore we believe the message before our eyes is undoubtedly the truth. Of course, but there's no rule that says you can't fool someone with the phone itself.Do you understand what that means?" Ichinose said as he picked up the dropped phone and returned it to Yukimura, but to me.
"People who have a phone with a ‘target’ message written on it, don't you think, Ayanokouji-kun? Because just now, I didn't call Yukimura-kun, but Ayanokouji-kun" I exchanged my contact number with Ichinose a while ago. That's why he knows my number. No, even if he didn't know, he would have done some research to find out my phone number.
"B-but isn't it weird? Yukimura can open the mobile password in front of our eyes. I've also checked his messages and personal history before everyone's eyes" Machida said.
"It was faked, he could easily figure out his password just by asking it to Ayanokouji-kun earlier. moreover, all the call history, was, messages and even apps can be spoofed despite making enough effort to do for it" Ichinose replied. After hearing that, Machida changed her expression and quickly grabbed the phone that had been returned to me.
"Someone can't lie so easily, you know, especially when the goal is in sight, they'll definitely become anxious and the opening will reveal themselves. Yukimura-kun is lying and that's why his gestures and attitude look different than usual and look suspicious." Ichinose said, after really looking through my efforts to camouflage.
Upon hearing his conclusion, Yukimura's face turned pale. No, it was indeed very dubious even when he had heard everything.
"We have also thought about it for a while, if that ‘target’ is in our class, there is always the option to replace the phone with them. Using a password to break away as ‘target’ is also one of the things we think of "Ichinose said. It seems, the strategy I faced was already thought through by Ichinose and the others.
"But you know, there's a flaw in that strategy, the fact that there's a phone number, even if you can perfectly replicate your history and apps, you can't do anything with your number. Once, Hamaguchi-kun and I tried to exchange our SIM card, the SIM card gave us locked to our special terminal, so even if we exchanged it, we could not make our SIM card swapped. That means if you've exchanged your cards too, I won't be able to reach you. No matter who replaced the phone with whom, as soon as I dialed the number, I could easily figure out who the real owner was. If I don't do this, In the end I won't come up with a plan to reveal who the owner of this phone is”
In other words, Ichinose and the others simply used this kind of forced tactic to see through the lies. The fact that Hamaguchi suddenly started this topic as well, was naturally part of their plan. So this is the moment that Yukimura and I who have exchanged our phones were revealed.
"Easy swapping phones and manipulating history has gone well so far, but you certainly never thought you'd use the fact that the SIM card is locked on the terminal and checked, have you?" Ichinose.
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