Shinji was walking through the ship's hallways, until he stopped in front of a door, and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the door opened, revealing Kei, who said:

"Shinji-Kun, you came! Quickly, come inside!" Kei said, and Shinji entered the room.

"Shinji-Kun, tell me what I'm supposed to do!" Kei said with a panicked expression

"First of all, relax. Being the target isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you manage to hide your identity, you'll get a lot of points, you know?"

"But that's only if no one will figure out I'm the target. I know that I'm not one of the smartest people, so I don't know if I'll manage to hide it!"

"That's what you're worried about? If that's the case, I can easily help you. Do you have a computer and a USB cable here?"

"No. Why?" Kei asked with a confused expression on her face

"Then we'll go to my room. I have a computer and a USB cable there"

"But why do we need these things?"

"I never told you, but I'm pretty good with computers. So, recently, I've managed to hack into some of the student ID's functions. One of them is the text function. I can easily erase the message you received from the school that informs you that you're the target and replace it with the message the rest of the students received, stating that you're not the target since I received it as well"

"Really!? You can do that?"

"Sure. It's pretty easy, once I've managed to hack into the text function"

"Thank you! You're the best!" exclaimed Kei in joy, and jumped on him, hugging him tightly

"But I do want to receive something for it..." Shinji said with a mischievous smirk, as he sneaked one of his hands to Kei's waist.

"What do you want?" asked Kei, and then she saw his smirk and started to get worried

"Well..." Shinji said and used his other hand to grab her chin, keeping her in place. Then, he leaned forward, so his mouth was near her ear, and whispered:

"What about a little kiss? We've been dating for a while, but we haven't done any progress..."

"B-But it's just a fake relationship! We don't need to do that!"

"You and I both know that you used that as an excuse to date me. While you did want protection, it's obvious that you also have feelings for me.

I mean, you get flustered every time I tease you, you blush every time I initiate close contact with you, and you get shy whenever we're going on a date. I'll have to be stupidly dense, for me to not notice your feelings" Shinji said, as he moved back to look at her face, with only a few inches separate them

"Shinji-Kun..." Kei whispered with a massive blush on her face, as she moved her hands to lay on his chest. Shinji smirked, and then moved forward, and eventually gave her a light peck on her lips, and pulled back, leaving Kei as a blushing mess

"Now, we need to hurry and go to my room, or else your roommates will find us here" Shinji said with a teasing smirk, as he stepped back

"Y-Yes, You're right!" Kei said with an unnatural enthusiasm, and run out of the room

Shinji chuckled, as he thought:

'Another one has fallen... Kei is now completely mine and will do whatever I ask of her... Now, I need to start to work on the harder ones...' he thought, as he calmly walked out of Kei's room, and saw her waiting for him outside of the room.

Then, they made their way to Shinji's room, as Kei hugged Shinji's arm with both of her arms all the way


~~~ Time Skip ~~~

Shinji arrived at a cafe and quickly found the people he was looking for. It was Yosuke, Kikyo, and Suzune.

"Why did you take so long?" asked Suzune with an irritated expression

"No need to hurry. The first discussion will only be held in a few hours, you know?"

"It doesn't change the fact that it's rude to make people wait for you"

"Why not? There is a term for being late. It's called to be fashionably late. You should try it sometime!" Shinji said with a teasing smirk

"Please stop it, you two. There is a reason we have gathered here" said Yosuke with a friendly smile, trying to make peace

"Whatever. I don't have time to indulge in his childish provocations" Suzune said and averted her gaze from Shinji

"Even though you were the one who started those "childish provocations"?" Shinji said, keeping his teasing smirk and tone, earning a cold glare from Suzune

"Shinji, can you please stop provoking Horikita-San? We want to start the meeting" said Kikyo

"I guess that if Kikyo's is the one who's asking, then I should stop"

"I didn't know you two became so close, that you're on a first-name basis. Does Karuizawa-San knows about it?" asked Yosuke

"Of course she knows. We're just two close friends. Right Kikyo?" Shinji easily lied

"Yes! Shinji and I are best friends!"

"I believe we didn't come here to discuss your friendship" stated Suzune coldly

"Horikita-San is right. So, first of all, I'm the target" Shinji stated

"Really?" asked Yosuke

"What? Do you think I'm lying?"

"It's not that! I'm just surprised..."

"Do you mind if I see the text message you received from the school?" Suzune asked Shinji

"If you want to..." Shinji said, took out his phone, and after a few seconds, showed it to Suzune

Suzune read the message in a low tone, so only the four of them will hear:

"After concluding, you have been chosen as the target. You may act as you wish throughout the test"

"Looks like you are the target..." said Suzune

"Told you. Now, all we need to do is to make sure no one will find out, and we're good"

"We can't act too secretive through the discussions, but we can't act overly cooperative too. We need to make sure that people won't suspect us" said Suzune

"I agree with Horikita-San. Since Shinji is the target, we need to make sure we won't act suspicious in front of the group, or else they'll suspect us. You specifically, Shinji" said Kikyo

"Who do you think I am? Of course I'll be able to keep my identity as a secret, just like I did in the survival test!" Shinji said, acting a little arrogant

"It seems that we've reached an agreement" said Yosuke, and each one of the four went to his respective way

~~~ Time Skip ~~~

When Shinji arrived at the room, where the discussion was supposed to start in less than a minute, he entered the room and saw all of the other members of the group already sitting. The students from each class sat next to each other, creating four districts within the room.

"You finally arrived, Shinji. You would've gotten a penalty if you arrived late, you know? I've kept you a seat" said Kikyo and gestured at the seat next to her

"Thank you, Kikyo!" said Shinji, and sat down

"Well well, it's nice to see that you've finally arrived, Ayanokoji..." said Kakeru with a mocking tone

"Sorry for keeping you waiting, Ryuen-San. You're SO nice for waiting" Shinji said, with a mocking tone of his own.

Then, an announcement was sounded through the speakers on the wall:

"From this point, we'll start the first discussion. You'll be granted one hour for the discussion, and then you'll be allowed to leave the room"

A few seconds passed in silence, as everyone looked at each other, waiting for someone to make the first move, until a student from class B, who Shinji recognized as Ryuji Kanzaki, stood up, and said:

"Hello, everyone. For those who don't know me, my name is Ryuji Kanzaki, from class 1-B. In the name of my class, we would like to offer you a proposition. We want to achieve the first result, but to do that, the target will have to reveal himself, and we'll need to cooperate"

"I will announce something in the name of class A. We will not participate in any of the discussions. You are free to speak among yourselves as you want, but we of class A won't participate in any of your discussions and plans" said Kohei

"That's quite problematic. Don't you think so, Katsuragi-San? How are we supposed to trust you, if you won't participate in the discussion? It also makes you quite suspicious" said Shinji

"You're free to think whatever you want..." said Kohei

"It's not like you're trustworthy, Ayanokoji" said Kakeru with a mocking tone

"Now I'm offended. I don't remember doing anything that will make me untrustworthy. However, Ryuen-San, I believe, has done quite a lot of offending acts against my class, and the other classes as well.

We all are aware of your actions in the survival test when you didn't only send a spy to our class's camp, but class B's camp as well. You also betrayed Katsuragi-San and class A, as you named their leader.

I'm sure that everyone here thinks, that the most untrustworthy among us, are you" Shinji said, and sent a mocking smirk at Kakeru, making him glare at him, and the tension between them started to rise.

"Now, calm down, you two. We are supposed to cooperate in this test" said Ryuji

"You're right, Kanzaki-San! That's why I'm willing to prove to all of you that we of class D, are completely trustworthy" said Shinji, causing Suzune to look suspiciously at him.

"Oh? How exactly are you planning to do so?" asked Kakeru

"We of class D, will show you our phones, and prove to you that none of us is the target!" Shinji said, making Kikyo, Yosuke, and Suzune to look at him with shock

"Are you now? It doesn't look like your classmates are agreeing with you" said Kakeru in a mocking tone

"He's right. I'm not going to show my phone to anyone" said Suzune

"Horikita-San, we already discussed it. We will cooperate with the other classes, and complete this test. We don't have anything to hide, since none of us is the target, right?" said Shinji with a warm smile

Suzune stayed quiet, as she and Shinji were having a silent conversation with their eyes, until she sighed, and said:

"Fine. I guess that I can show the message I received from the school, but nothing more"

"That's great! You two don't have any problems with it?" Shinji asked Kikyo and Yosuke

"If you think that we should, then I trust you! Besides, I want to cooperate with everyone too!" said Kikyo

"Me too. I want to reach the first result together with everyone!" said Yosuke

"Very well. Then, we also have no problems with showing our messages" said Ryuji, with the rest of the students of class B nodding in approval

"What about you, Ryuen-San? Wouldn't you like to be trustworthy for a change?" asked Shinji

"Don't make me laugh. We of class C don't have to do anything. You're free to suspect us if you want"

"Then-"

"As I said, we won't participate in any of your plans, so don't bother asking!" said Kohei

"That's too bad..." said Shinji, and then, all of the students from classes D and B showed their messages, and all of them weren't the targets


~~~ Time Skip ~~~

~~~ With Kikyo ~~~

After the discussion ended, everyone slowly started to leave, until Kikyo and Kakeru were the only ones left.

"So? What did you want to discuss with me?" asked Kakeru

"Shinji is lying. Shinji is the target"

"Is that so? And how is that possible, if he showed in the discussion that he's not the target?"

"I don't know how, but he told me he found a way to replace the real message he received from the school with a fake one"

"You don't expect me to believe you without any proof, do you?"

"Of course not..." Kikyo said, and took out a recording device, and started the recording. In the recording, was heard the strategy meeting Shinji, Kikyo, Suzune, and Yosuke had earlier, where Shinji says that he's the target, and Suzune reads the message he received from the school.

"Trustworthy my ass! That arrogant prick thinks he can trick me like he did in the survival test! Now, I'll humiliate him, by revealing his identity after only one discussion!" said Kakeru, as he took out his phone, and messaged the school his answer

"You did a good job. We'll have a very good partnership going forward. You can go now" Kakeru said, and Kikyo walked out the room, as she thought:

'How dare he treat me like one of his servants! I'm glad I'm cooperating with Shinji since now I can show this fucker what happens to someone who treats me like that!'


~~~ With Shinji ~~~

Shinji received a message from the school. When he read it, he smirked

"The test for the Dragon group has ended. The members of the group aren't allowed to interfere with other groups' tests"

After reading the message, Shinji called Kikyo, who answered almost immediately

"So? Did you receive your points?" Shinji asked

"Yes. 500,000pp have just added into my account. After I played the recording, he immediately messaged the school.

Still, you replaced the message you received, using the message Karuizawa-San had, only for the strategy meeting, so I could record Horikita confirming that you're the target, and then replaced it again before the discussion. How did you even think of this?"

"I just did. Anyway, I need you to do your second job in the test"

"Already started. I'm on my way to my room, where I'll meet with Shinohara-San, who's my roommate"

"Great. I'm expecting to receive a message from the school in half an hour, stating that more group's tests have ended. Then, we can celebrate properly"

"I'll look forward to it!" said Kikyo, and hang up the call

Half an hour later, all of the first-year students looked at their phones with shock, as they received a message from the school:

"The tests for the Rat, Tiger, Snake, Sheep, Rooster, and Pig groups have ended. The members of the groups aren't allowed to interfere with other groups' tests"

After he read the message, Shinji smirked widely, but then he received a text from Suzune, which made his smirk to widen even more:

"What did you do?"

When he was about to answer her, he heard a knock on the door, so he just texted her that he's busy, and he'll talk to her later, and then he went to open the door. When he opened the door, he saw Kikyo standing in the entrance.

"You're exactly on time" Shinji said and led her inside the room. After she entered, Shinji picked up his bag, and then took out a bottle out of it.

"Did you asked them to send the points?" Shinji asked Kikyo

"They already did. As you said, each one of them agreed to keep 200,000pp for themselves, and they sent the rest 300,000pp to me"

"Then why didn't I received my share already?" he asked

"I wanted to do it here, so you won't have any complaints..." Kikyo said, took out her phone, and a few seconds later, he received a system message:

"You received 1,200,000pp from Kikyo Kushida"

He looked at the message, smirked, and then said:

"Now, we can celebrate properly!" he said with a mischievous smirk, as he showed her the bottle.

"How did you get that? Only students over 18 years old are allowed to buy alcoholic drinks. Besides, I don't drink alcohol"

"That's too bad. Then, I guess that we'll have to start the real celebration right away"

Hearing him, Kikyo started to unbutton her shirt, but then she saw that Shinji is looking at her, holding in his laughter

"What are you doing? Aren't we going to have sex?"

Hearing her, Shinji couldn't hold his laughter in anymore and burst out in a loud laughter

"What? What is so funny? You were the one who said we'll have sex once we'll finish the tests!" she said, feeling confused, embarrassed, and angry, as Shinji continued to laugh.

Only after a minute, his laughter has come to an end, and he said:

"I did, but not here! One of my roommates might come back while we're doing it, and the room is being monitored! I knew you were a masochist, but it looks like you're an exhibitionist too!" he said, wiping tears from his eyes

Kikyo, clearly embarrassed, said with a deep blush:

"You just said that we'll start the real celebration!"

"Celebration isn't necessarily means sex, you know? To think that just a few days ago, you hated me, and now you can't wait to have sex!"

"So? What do you mean by "The Real Celebration"?" said Kikyo, in an obvious attempt to change the subject. Shinji was amused by her attempt, so he decided to drop the subject for now, and then said:

"It's time to enjoy this luxurious cruise ship. We have been so focused on the tests, that we forgot to enjoy our summer vacation. Well, no more. Since the tests have ended, I'm switching modes. I'm switching from The Manipulative Shinji to The Vacation Shinji. No more tests. No secret plans. No blackmailing. From now on, it's only sun, pool, drinks, and music"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"We are going to have a party. A celebration party, to celebrate our recent victories, with all of our class. I'm going to buy exclusive use of the pool for class D, from 12:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day from now on, until the end of the trip"

"Can you even do that?"

"Of course I can. Sensei said it on the first day. In this school, we can buy anything using private points. I already spoke with Sensei, and she confirmed it. You need to send an invite to the party in the class chat group. I'll tell you what to write, and we'll head to the pool"

After a minute, all of the students in class D have received a message from Kikyo in the class chat group:

"Hey everyone!

Since most of the students in our class have finished the test, Shinji-Kun and I decided that we should do something as a class, to finally enjoy this class trip. So, we want to invite everyone to a summer party at the pool! It'll start today at 3:00 PM! Anyone who can, please come to the party! For those who're group's test is still ongoing, don't worry! The party will be until 8:00 PM! I hope everyone will come!"


~~~ With Suzune ~~~

After reading the message, Suzune thought:

'I can't understand what's going on in his head... Having a party during a test... If that's why he said he's busy, I'll swear I'll kill him!'


~~~ With Kiyotaka ~~~

'He's going all out... He's planning to show off his victory in front of all of the students in our year...' Kiyotaka thought, and then watched as Kei gasped loudly, gaining the attention of the other students in the group. Teruhiko and Hideo also looked with shock at their phones.

"Karuizawa-San? Is everything okay?" asked Honami, as she observed the four of them

"It's nothing!" exclaimed Kei

"It's probably because of this" Kiyotaka said, and showed the message to Honami

"What is it?" asked Tetsuya Hamaguchi, a student from class B

"It seems that class D is having a party..." said a surprised Honami

"A party? During the test?" asked a surprised Tetsuya

"What a group of fools..." said Takuro Morishige, a student from class A

"That's weird... first, Shinji-Kun's group finished the test first, then, six more tests ended at once, and now he's throwing a party..." mumbled Honami

'Is he throwing a party because he knows he won? Then, it means that he's the one that caused all of the other tests to end...' thought Mio, as she heard what Honami said


~~~ With Honami ~~~

'First of all, I need to ask Kanzaki-Kun what happened in their group... I didn't had the chance to ask him since my discussion began when he ended his discussion... If Shinji is the one who ended the other groups' tests, it explains why all of those groups' tests have ended.

I already know that none of the groups' tests, where the target is in our class, have ended. Class D is the only class that has a reason not to reveal our class's targets. If it was someone from class A or C, then they would've revealed our class's targets without thinking twice, but we're in an alliance with class D, so they didn't reveal them.

But, it also means that Shinji was able to figure out six targets that weren't even in his group... Is there a certain way in which the school chose the targets?... As I thought, I'll have to speak with Shinji-Kun if I want to gain more information...' Honami thought, and without she, and the other students in the Rabbit group noticed, an announcement was heard, announcing on the end of the discussion


~~~ With Shinji ~~~

"I'm glad that all of you are here!" said Shinji with a wide grin, as he stood in front of the classmates that arrived at the pool by 3:00 PM. Shinji was wearing a floral button-up shirt, blue swimming trunks, black flip flops, and black sunglasses.

"Before we start the party, I want to say something. All of you probably know that we are the class that ended those groups' tests since most of you know that Kikyo asked some of you to name the target in your group, asked around the class for the list of members in each group, and even asked some of you if you were the target.

The truth is, that Kikyo and I suspected that the targets aren't being picked randomly, and tried to figure out the pattern. In our group, Kikyo was the target, so we tried to figure out why did the school chose her as the target. What's different with her, that the rest of the group didn't have, and we managed to figure it out.

However, we needed to confirm if the pattern is working in other groups, which is why she asked around about the groups and the targets. Once we confirmed that it worked, we asked some of you to name the targets in class A and C, and now we're probably going to win in this test too. We didn't ask to name the targets in class B, because we have recently established an alliance with them.

So, we invited you here, to celebrate both of our victories in both tests, and finally have some fun on this ship! We rented the pool for ourselves, from 12:00 AM to 8:00 PM, every day from now on, until the end of the trip! We'll have a private pool, drinks, food, and music in the last couple of days!" said Shinji, shouting the last sentence, and the rest of the class started to shout in excitement

"Now..." Shinji started to say, as he pulled a small remote out of his pocket

"Let's start this party!" he shouted and pressed a button on the remote, and loud music started to play from the speakers in the pool, and the party started!


~~~ Time Skip ~~~

"Are you going to explain what you did? Because I know that you didn't tell the others everything" Suzune asked Shinji, as he was sitting on a lounge chair, holding a beer bottle in his hand, watching his classmates partying.

"All I'm going to say now is that I lied in this morning because it was necessary for my plan. If you want to hear the full story, I'll tell you after the party will end. During the party, I'm Vacation Shinji, who doesn't talk about school and tests. You'll have to wait for the evening, and you don't have a say in the matter, since I won our bet, and you're working for me now"

"You haven't won the bet yet"

"If that's what you want to believe, you can wait to the end of the test" Shinji said. Suzune sent one last glare at him and left

Then, he suddenly received a text message from the school. When he read it, he frowned

"The test for the Monkey group has ended. The members of the group aren't allowed to interfere with other groups' tests"

'Rokusuke Koenji again... and it was a group where the target was from class B... I don't mind it since we earned points from his actions, but I don't like it that he acts out of his own accord... he's starting to get annoying...' Shinji thought, but then, he took a sip from his bottle, and then looked at his classmates again, and smirked inwardly

'Now, I'm at the top of the hierarchy in my class... when I get back, I think it's time to visit a certain student council president...'