Classroom Of The Elite 2nd Year - Full Volume
vol 4.5 Chapter 1

I had expected that he would agree with me but a different opinion came from the other side of the phone.

"Is that true? I think someone with actual strength could have been accurate” Horikita said.

"No, no, just espers or whatever that is can be accurate"

It seems Horikita believed in something coincidental. Something like predicting a person's future from their face, hands, or date of birth. I don't believe in anything unrealistic.

"It doesn't mean the Oracle doesn't have the power to see the future. Isn't that obvious? It's not as ridiculous as believing in ghosts, but not for psychics. Forecasters have access to a vast amount of information about your past, in other words, they base their predictions on human patterns. So the skill of a fortune teller who is able to guess such things from their customers is indeed high" Horikita said. So she's not just an imaginary woman but actually has answers based on theory.

"In other words, the power that comes from cold reading, huh?"

T/N: Cold reading (Reinterpreting cryptic statements in any way that will help to make predictions).

"You know very well some of the 'thick-faced' things "Horikita replied in disgust.

"We cannot see ourselves objectively but astrologers are very expert. In no time at all, it can extract information about you and find out something that others are unaware of. And that's what's left as a result of the prophecy. Can we think of it that way?" Horikita.

Cold reading. It generally means reading one's mind without prior preparation.

It's a technique that pulls information from someone through casual conversation to make them think that you know more about them than you actually do.

Using the skills of 'observation' and 'insight' to get information on your target and make them believe that you can see the future and the past using the right words.

Easy to say, but actually doing so while avoiding the distrust of the target and making them believe requires a high level of skill.

"I'm a little interested" I said

"I'm happy, I think it'd be better if you left"

"Then why don't you come?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"I'm pretty serious"

"I refuse"

I tried to slip the words of the invitation into our short talk but he grillfully rejected them all. But I still have my own reasons for not being able to accept his rejection simply.

"I'm an amateur in divination, so I think it's better to have someone like Horikita with me"

"I'm sorry, but I'm gonna miss it, I'm the kind that sucks at dealing with crowds, you know that, too"

That's absolutely true. Of course there would be many disciples swarming around the fortune teller who happened to be a hot topic at the moment. There was even a possibility that it was not only the disciples but also the adults who were about to leave. I definitely wouldn't be able to imagine Horikita being in such a crowd.

I tried to reaffirm it without giving up, but even if I changed my ways, I would immediately arouse Horikita's suspicions. To me, if I really understood Horikita's sentence, there was no longer any reason to hold on. I'm sure Sudou won't make a big deal either. Might as well.

As soon as I gave up on taking her, I turned off the phone. Then for a while I sent a message to Sudou in the chat. Of course, it quickly turned into a sign of 'read' and disgruntled words returned to me.

Sudou has replied “Then it doesn't come" to me via message. As I expected, my existence was only needed by her to bring Horikita along and since I had already failed, I was no longer of any use to her. But I have to admit that it would be strange for two men to go together to a fortune teller.

"Although so ... Forecaster, huh?" At first I wasn't interested, but after my conversation with Horikita, I became a little interested. I think I'll check it out tomorrow.

⁰ₒ⁰

Who actually thought that meeting that fortune teller was such a good idea?

"Maybe I'm crazy..."

I know that, but the early morning in late August was already being attacked by a heatwave making it feel like a burning hell. I could even see a mirage formed and gently shaking in the concrete that lay before the roadside tree. Of course the school facilities are all air-conditioned so we do not feel the heat there. In the hallway, in the lobby or in our room. However, when exposed to direct sunlight, a person will immediately sweat.

That's how humans die. While thinking about such a thing, I desperately tried to find some shelter. Lucky for me, the school offered a large plot of land that had few trees planted. Thanks to that, there will be no such thing as a lack of shadows to block out the sunlight.

It is currently 9:30 before the disciples begin their various activities, I headed towards the rumored fortune-teller location. It seems like they started divining at 1 0:00, but I don't plan on lasting much longer. I will do my fortune-telling quickly and leave immediately. That's my aim. But as I approached my goal, I realized that my hope had been betrayed.

At the Keyaki Mall that I expected to be mostly empty, the crowd of students wearing summer clothes were already there. While I hope not all of them will be here for the same reason as me, that is unlikely to happen.

For now, in order to avoid the burning hell out there, I decided to take refuge in Keyaki. Since the activity seemed to be done on the 5th floor, I searched for the nearest elevator.

"Geeh ..."

Such a sound suddenly leaked out from my body. Nearly ten disciples had already formed a crowd in front of the elevator. I wonder if people who are not as smart at communicating the same as me can also understand?

Every time I rode the elevator alone, I was the type of person who repeatedly pressed the 'Close' button as soon as I entered. But I'm not good at riding elevators with a large group of people my age. I need a little courage to go in with the crowd.

It might be a bit of a hassle, but for now, we'll take a detour and choose another elevator somewhere else. There is another elevator opposite the direction where it is currently unused by students and stored as a backup.

"It's soothing ..." I murmured.

It does require additional effort on my part, but I am grateful for the peace of mind that was given to me. Very depressing. After arriving at the 5th floor, I quickly searched for the location of the fortune teller and there I experienced a situation that was more confusing than the previous one.

"There are only people who pair up here"

Boys and girls. Two in one group. In other words, this crowd consisted of mostly disciples with the status of being lovers.There were of course groups with only boys and groups with only girls here as well, but they are only a small part.

Forecasters are basically meant for this kind of thing. Foreseeing a match between a man and a woman was nothing special, it was just that I realized this place was much more uncomfortable than I thought. Not many people come to the fortune-teller alone. Especially with a boy like me. After all, since there was already a queue forming, I decided to march with them and when I did, a woman who seemed to be the one who made the queue called out to me.

"Good morning, will your partner come?" he asked me.

"Pair? No, I'm alone" I replied to him.

Of course, considering the people around us were mostly couples, it was only natural to ask such questions, but I wanted her to think more about us being alone.

"Mnh ..." Maybe he still had to say something, but the woman's face kept apologizing.

"I'm afraid if this fortune-teller-sensei is only for couples ..."

"So it's impossible if I'm alone?"

He nodded slightly and pointed forward. I couldn't see it well through the crowd, but there were some notes warning about the terms.

"We will guide you as a couple. These terms must be known”

That makes sense. There shouldn't be anyone like me here. Since I had not been faced with such an awkward situation before, it was inevitable. It seems like right now, I am in a very difficult position.

Besides, I understand now the reason why Sudou wanted to bring Horikita here. In this clairvoyant format, he and Horikita would have a long time to talk to each other while queuing up to forecast and they could spend a long time together until the prophecy ended.

"That also means, from the start I shouldn't care" I murmured.

"By the way, the queue next to you is the same, isn't it?" I asked.

"... Yes Ukon-sensei only tells luck to couples ..."

"I understand"

I bowed my head towards the officer and left the queue. And the students who had stood behind me, stepped forward. I never thought this kind of trick would be involved. To me, my shadow of a fortune teller was about an old woman by the roadside who was counting coins while doing her job, something like that. But recently, it seems like the forecast recommendation of a pair like this also exists. I thought at least it wouldn't be too bad to have the divination experience once, but how else. There's not much advantage in taking Horikita away anymore, so I'd better step back from here quietly.

"Huh? So you're saying I can't go in alone?"

It seemed that in the queue beside me, there was another victim who came alone as an angry voice could be heard from there. And when I sent out sympathetic gazes in that way, unfortunately my eyes met that person.

"Ah" The short answer came from someone who happened to be my acquaintance. When I pretended not to see her and tried to leave, for some reason, at the same time, she walked in the same direction as me. I hastened my steps.

"Wait" Maybe he thought I was trying to escape (i was trying to escape), but he was after me.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Ask her.

"Where's Horikita?" After asking the short question, the woman quickly looked around.

Ibuki Mio, a student of Class C. She was also like Sudou, seemingly trying to get close to Horikita through me. However, unlike Sudou, Ibuki's actions in this regard made sense. It's just, it would be helpful if he could get to Horikita without having to pass me.

"It doesn't mean I always go with him, I'm alone today"

"Ahh, I understand"

In an exam on an uninhabited island before, Ibuki is sent to Class D as a spy and tries to throw the class into chaos. And then he got into a fight with Horikita and from then on, Ibuki was antagonistic towards Horikita. Competition will be greater in their relationship.

Although her usual tsun attitude did not change, she did have a good sense of fashion and would definitely leave a good impression. If she acted a little more mature, I wouldn't be surprised if she would become popular.

"Typically this prophecy is done one-on-one, right? I didn't expect this at all, did I?" Ibuki asked me.

"I think so, I do have such a picture"

"So, you didn't tell Horikita to accompany you here?" First, Sudou and now Ibuki. The topic of conversation had always been about Horikita, someone who was not here.

"No, if you want to talk to Horikita that much, why don't you go and see for yourself? Tell him if you want to go see a fortune teller with him"

"Huh? Of course not. Besides, it doesn't mean I have something to talk to her about" then, I want you to not talk about Horikita again and again.

"I was never really interested in divination in the first place, so I have no regrets about being here. How's yours?" Ask her. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sorry ..."

It seemed like this pairing requirement presented a difficult problem for him from what he realized as he shook his head while saying his regret.

"I can't do anything but give up now, I'm also terrible at talking" Ibuki said.

That's a real answer not an answer at all. He says that he is not good at talking, but unlike Sakura, he does not look like the type who would have difficulty in having normal conversations. Actually he was very able to speak to me in the same language.

"Why don't you take Ryuuen?" I said that as an additional joke, but he made a disgusted face just like or even bigger than Horikita.

"I really hate seeing his face even during the holidays. You must be kidding"

"But you were with him on the ship, weren't you? Isn't it normal to think you two are so familiar?"

"...it's only because I feel responsible for not finding out the Class D leader"

He replied weakly like that. If what he said was true, it meant that Ibuki acted together with Ryuuen as a place to account for his failure. That alone didn't give me the whole picture, but it was definitely something that only Class C could understand.

Even so, in the first part of the special exam, the exam on the uninhabited island, Ibuki managed to identify Horikita as the leader of class D and she was not wrong in her assessment. If I don't interfere, he will definitely make a big contribution to Class C.

"I wanted to ask you something, but during the exam on the island, who was the leader of Class D?"

"Come"

"Eitherway? Not that you don't know"

"Even if I knew, I wouldn't seriously tell you, but I really don't know... I think most of Class D is also in the dark, right? Horikita moves in the shadows and she must have taken advantage of it somehow and that's all I can say"

Ibuki looked at me as if looking inside me. But, I'm not too stupid to be seen through such a simple observation.

"... well, if it's easy, I don't need to go through a lot of trouble like this" Ibuki shrugged her shoulders as if she had given up.

"If Ryuuen is such a bad idea, why don't you take the girls from your class?"

"If I had people like that, I wouldn't be in this situation, I wouldn't like all the girls in my class at all"

Even his classmates fall into the category of people he doesn't like at all. Ibuki is just like Horikita. In this case, they are the same characters. And with a trigger, it looks like they'll catch on perfectly.

"But right now you're just talking to me, Ibuki. You should be able to talk to other people normally. I don't think you're so bad at talking to other people"

"That's not true, when you talk to me, you feel that feeling, right? a piercing feeling"

“I think it's true"

Whenever I wanted to talk to Ibuki, I felt that I had been pierced by a sharp saw. Perhaps it was due to Ibuki's expression that looked like she was keeping a distance from others. I'm sure this feeling will also be conveyed to the other students.

"Whatever I do, the mood always ends badly like this, you understand?" Ibuki.

In other words, since he was not socializing, he could not bring along his classmates. It is still doubtful whether the 'father in socializing' is true or not, but it is certain that Ibuki looks like someone who even sees her classmates in an antagonistic light.

I can even imagine if he would doubt the fortune teller with his stubborn attitude.

"Even though you suck at dealing with other people, it's strange that you're going to try your fortune telling"

"That's one of my problems. More like a cat, but on the other hand also allergic to cats. Something like that” That would definitely frustrate you greatly. Even though someone likes something, they still find it difficult to accept or do it, or something like that.

"remarkable. You became a spy in Class D even though you were like that" I told him. Although she always had a tsun attitude, she never showed any sign of discomfort during her spying activities, absolutely not. Even the D class student, without suspecting Ibuki, invited him to join.

"That and this are different, however, talking to other people makes me anxious and because I am anxious, I get nervous. I don't like that, because I can't do anything. It's not that I became like this because I liked it. Why am I talking to you about this? What if we misunderstand?"

Ibuki stopped the conversation as she turned away. But that is also my limit. Before I knew it, the people around us had already increased the queue and only the two of us were left alone.

Connect......