#35 Rabbit group

"You are finally here...What took you so long?" I immediately said after noticing Karuizawa. There were only 3 minutes left before the meeting time, I was already thinking about going without her.

"Sorry, I spent too much time applying make-up" She said with an apologetic smile but didn't seem to be bothered with our remaining 3 minutes to get there.

"If we won't run we will be late for the meeting. Couldn't you at least walk faster to get here?" I asked her with a little annoyed expression.

"Not good, I don't want to be all sweaty after I took shower and applied my make-up" It felt like she was reprimanding me for not being considerate enough of her needs.

I won't t let me or her be penalized for being late...

The decent idea came into my mind and I grinned while looking at Karuizawa.

"What?" She asked me with a confused and slightly uneasy expression.

"Either you run with me or I will princess carry you there" I smiled evilly, thinking that Karuizawa would rather run than risking being seen intimate with the other boy than Hirata. Although there weren't that many people around, there was still a chance to be seen.

"Eh? I already told you I won't run..." She answered almost without any hesitation which caught me off guard. This is certainly surprising but if you think that I won't do as I said then you are greatly mistaken.

"...Well, it's your choice, princess Kei-chan" I looked around, took off my school jacket and approached her.

"Huh? Wh-what are you doing?" She probably thought that I wouldn't dare to do it.

"You should be thankful to me for being considerate of your reputation" I threw my jacket over her head to cover her face and picked up her into a princess carry position.

"W-w-wait! I will run! I will run!" She almost screamed aloud but I didn't notice any dislike in her voice so I decided to continue.

"Too late, you can't just change your opinion. You must face the consequences of your actions, princess Kei-chan. Please hold on tight" I said with a wide smile and started running towards the room 204.

"AAH! I HATE YOU, FELIX!" Karuizawa shouted but she was still careful not to gather too much attention by being too loud. She put her hands behind my neck and tightly hugged me.

Hm? Maybe it was overkill. I hope she won't be too angry.

After running for only 20 seconds, we arrived before room 204 and I put her down but she didn't stop hugging me.

"...Hey, we are already here" I told her after seeing how she didn't stop the hug after her legs touched the ground. It was a pretty embarrassing situation since my hands were free and I had no idea if I should hug her too or not.

Not being sure what to do, I just neutrally placed my hands on top of her shoulders not to offend her any more than needed.

After a few seconds, she took off my jacket from her head and looked straight into my eyes.

Wow...She had a slightly angered expression with puffed cheeks and one visible tear in her eye.

I have to admit, even though I don't really care much about the romance or opposite sex, she definitely looked adorable.

"Come on, don't be angry, at least we aren't late, haha" I said and wiped away her tear with my thumb but she still appeared to be angry.

"Alright alright, I will make it up to you after the test, is it alright princess Kei-chan?"

"HMPH!" She finally stopped hugging me and turned away from me, to prevent me from seeing her fully red face.

"There is still some time for you to calm down, we can enter after you will get better" I said out of consideration.

She nodded and after a minute I knocked on the door and reply came almost immediately.

"Enter"

We both entered and saw Class A's homeroom teacher sitting on the chair and another 2 students sitting before him.

When they turned around to look at us I immediately got a headache.

Ugh, why does it have to be him again? I thought while looking at a slightly surprised face of Ayanokoji.

Another student was Yukimura, who had not a few arguments with several girls in the previous test. Karuizawa definitely doesn't like him. This team...I already know that it will be hard.

"You two took your time...a few seconds later and you would be penalized for coming too late. Sit down so we can finally start with an explanation" Mashima-sensei said and instructed us to sit down but there were only 2 vacant seats. One beside the Ayanokoji and one beside the Yukimura.

Karuizawa also noticed this and frowned while looking at both of them.

Don't worry Kei-chan! I will save you! I thought and sat down beside the Yukimura.

Upon seeing me sit down, Karuizawa redirected her anger at me...

Huh? What? Was I supposed to say: ("Sorry guys but two of us want to sit together, could you please move?")

At least be thankful that you don't have to sit beside the person you don't like...

..

"Now that everyone is here we can finally begin with the explanation"

"In this special exam, all the 1st year students will be divided up into groups based on their zodiac signs. The purpose of the test is to assess your 'thinking ability'" Mashima-sensei started explaining the meaning of the test, I closed my eyes and started quietly absorbing the information.

"What do you mean by 'thinking ability'?" Karuizawa who was quiet the entire time since we entered the room suddenly asked.

Mashima-sensei frowned upon being interrupted.

"I will explain only what I have to, I won't answer any additional questions during the explanation so you better quietly listen to everything I say" He said with a stern look.

Karuizawa had a dissatisfied expression but when she looked at me, I motion to her to be quiet by placing my index finger near my mouth with a comforting smile.

"...Anyway, there are three required attributes that people who function well in society are required to master: ACTION, THINKING and TEAMWORK. These skills are necessary for you all to become successful adults. The last test on the island emphasized teamwork quite heavily, however, this one will emphasize your thinking. The ability to critically think, analyze the situation at hand and resolve the problem given. The ability to work creatively with your imagination and work determinedly towards resolving the problem, these traits will become vital for you to complete this test flawlessly. That should be all"

"Can I ask why are there 12 groups but only 4 of us are here? Shouldn't there be more of us?" Yukimura asked quite an important question.

"The 4 of you here will be considered as a team for the remainder of the exam. There are also other groups of students receiving the same explanation as you. Some of them might later even become part of your team and-"

"If that's the case, why don't you gather all the members here and explain it all at once? Furthermore..." Karuizawa interrupted sensei once again and looked with a dissatisfied expression at Yukimura and Ayanokoji.

Yukimura seemed to notice her look and he didn't plan to take it quietly.

"Shut up for a while and just listen, will you? Mashima-sensei was still explaining the things and you once again interrupted him. And stop looking at us with such eyes...you will probably be the one dragging us down like during the survival test" Yukimura said with a cold tone.

"Huh? I just asked the simple question and I can look at you however I want! And what do you mean by dragging you down? When the hell did I drag the class down?!" Karuizawa retorted back.

I noticed how Mashima-sensei was staring at us like we were a bunch of small kids arguing for the

new toy.

"Karuizawa-san" I lightly said with a bit domineering tone.

"...hpmh!" Upon hearing me call her name out, she turned away from Yukimura and stopped arguing with him.

Mashima-sensei's expression changed to a slightly surprised one after seeing this and Yukimura wasn't an exception.

"Your class isn't the only one being divided into groups...Meaning that your allies will become students from other classes" Mashima-sensei continued with the explanation.

"Wait, we will be on the same team with the different classes? Why? Shouldn't we be competing with them instead of befriending them?" Karuizawa asked with a confused expression.

"I agree with her this time..." Yukimura also wanted to know the reason behind this.

"You shouldn't always think about competing..." Mashima-sensei said with full of wisdom.

"..."

"..." Both Karuizawa and Yukimura were quiet after what sensei said.

"Right now you don't need to think about 'understanding' but simply to 'think'. The group you are assigned to is the zodiac sign 'Rabbit'. Here's the list of all the members assigned to this group. You will be required to return the list when you leave the room so I recommend you to memorize the list before leaving"

We were given a list of the members of our 'Rabbit' team.

A-Class: Takemoto Shigeru, Machida Kouji, Morishige Takuro

B-Class: Ichinose Honami, Hamaguchi Tetsuya, Beppu Ryouta

C-Class: Ibuki Mio, Manabe Shiho, Yabu Nanami, Yamashita Saki

D-Class: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Karuizawa Kei, Walker Felix, Yukimura Teruhiko

Ibuki and even Ichinose...huh?

"In this exam, you are required to completely ignore any differences between classes A to D. If you can do so, it will definitely be easier for you to clear this exam. From this point onwards, you guys no longer belong to class D but rather to the 'Rabbit' team. Further instructions on what to do in this exam are printed on the list I just gave you, however, you can't take a photo so you better read them thoughtfully"

Time to use my "camera" inside my eyes. I am really lucky to have a photographic memory.